"The King of Cool" Jonnie Juice

“Inferno and I turned up to the first class of Martin Stirling's wrestling school,” says Juice. “It was there where we met D-Hoya, X-Rated, Creed and The Ram. We trained together under Martin Stirling and Sa Johnson, and later that year NZWPW was born.”

Having been there for the creation and the rise of the New Zealand wrestling scene, Juice has valuable experience that puts him in a league of his own with very few peers… according to him, anyway.

“We've been here since the start,” says Juice of the aforementioned wrestlers. “We've helped create two successful promotions; we've wrestled people from all three main New Zealand promotions. We’ve all gained experience and knowledge that is incredibly valuable - we're in a completely different league. Even Inferno is, I can admit that.”

In the early stages of his career, Juice was popular with the fans and, along with D-Hoya and Inferno, made up WPW’s hottest stable, the Youngbloods. With youth and athleticism on their side, the Youngbloods clashed with Def Sentence - a group willing to do whatever it took for a win - over the course of 2004.

Juice found himself in contention for the WPW Catchweight Championship at Meltdown, with Def Sentence’s X-Rated defending his title in a Samoan Strap Match. Jonnie put up an impressive showing against the reigning champ, but it wasn’t enough on the night and X-Rated retained his title by touching all four corners after leaving Juice laying on the mat with an X-Spot.

Juice wrestles X-Rated at NZWPW Meltdown.

It could be argued that Armageddon was a tipping point in Juice’s career, the moment he learned that nice guys finish last. In Jonnie’s next singles outing, Juice betrayed his friend Inferno and aligned himself with Def Sentence, forming an unholy alliance that would serve him well as 2005 progressed.

With Def Sentence on his side, Juice was soon back in title contention and challenging Island Boy Si for the NZWPW Championship on the Invasion Tour. Juice came up short once more in his first match with IBS, but he formed a plan for his next title shot: a three-way dance with H-Flame and IBS at NZWPW Meltdown II.

With elimination rules in effect, Juice hung back and allowed IBS to eliminate H-Flame before putting his plan into action. Jonnie threw everything he had at the previously unstoppable IBS before The Ram came to the ringside area and drew the referee’s attention away from the match. At the same time H-Flame returned to the ring, looking to get some revenge on IBS, and nailed the champ with an H-Bomb after IBS had knocked Juice to the canvas. With Island Boy Si down and out, and Juice almost unconscious, The Ram draped Jonnie over IBS as the referee chased H-Flame away, before turning back to the match and counting the pin to make Juice the new NZWPW Champion!

NZWPW Champion, Jonnie Juice.

Unfortunately for Jonnie, all good things must come to an end, and eventually D-Hoya emerged as the man who had what it took to stand up to Juice and Def Sentence, dethroning the champ at NZWPW Power Play 3 in 2006.

“After the loss to D-Hoya I had one final match in NZWPW before leaving for KPW,” says Juice. “The Ram and I tagged together to fight D-Hoya and Inferno, and at the top of the show my hand was raised, victorious over D-Hoya. It would have been a matter of time before that title was mine again, but bigger and better things were on their way.”

The bigger and better things Juice speaks of were, of course, the formation of KPW in May of 2006, but also the inaugural NZPWI Invitational, held August 12, 2006, in which Juice was one of the eight men selected to compete in the prestigious one-night tournament.

“I was a champion, I was hand picked to join KPW, and I was selected for the inaugural NZPWI Invitational,” says Juice. “I belonged there; it was the recognition I deserved. All eight of us earned our right to be there - we were the best at that point in time.”

Juice at the NZPWI Invitational 2006.

The other man representing KPW in the NZPWI Invitational was H-Flame, a man who would go on to ruin Juice’s dreams of becoming the KPW Champion for most of his career, constantly defeating Jonnie to retain the belt ever since their first meeting for the title at KPW Eruption. Juice dismisses H-Flame’s winning record against him though, hoping that fans think of him as a man who constantly beats Inferno, rather than one that loses to H-Flame.

“Everyone has hot and cold streaks. Before KPW I had a winning record against H-Flame. Since KPW's inception I've lost to him. It's not embarrassing, I've already proven myself. Ask Inferno, he knows what it's like to constantly lose to one person through his whole career.”

Aside from wrestling for the KPW Championship over and over, Juice’s legacy with KPW thus-far could be as the man responsible for making Shane “The Technician” Whitehead turn his back on the fans. Juice defeated Whitehead at KPW River City Showdown in 2009, bending the rules to ensure he got a victory. Shane, seeing how ignoring the rules served Juice, turned his back on the KPW fans later that evening and has since gone on to become one-half of the KPW Tag Team Champions, The Renegades, with Kade Morgan.

“Anyone with a spec of intelligence can look at Jonnie Juice's career, see the steps taken to get to the top, and copy and paste that method in an attempt to raise their own profile,” says Juice. “Shane Whitehead has done exactly that - to an extent, as has Inferno. The difference? Like me, Shane Whitehead is a fantastic talent. He will go far.”

Juice sneers at a fan.

“I haven't been bullied,” says Juice, despite Inferno being the man to request the career vs. career stipulation. “I have full confidence in my ability to beat Inferno again. There is practically no other option. We've tried to coexist, it's a waste of time - I hate him and he hates me. Everyone has had enough. It's time for Inferno to go.”

And go he might, as either Inferno or Juice will be forced into retirement tomorrow night at KPW Make or Break. Has Juice started a fire he can’t put out in the form of Inferno, or will his humiliation of Inferno at Wanganui Hometown Challenge be just another chapter in a near-seven year career for the King of Cool?

“I imagine Inferno has been humiliated every day of his life, I know I would be if I were him,” says Juice. “When I embarrassed him at Hometown Challenge it was for my own amusement. It may have motivated him, but what does it number? If the Jonnie Juice/Inferno saga tells us anything, it's that history does repeat itself. Saturday's headlines will read just like those of the past seven years: ‘Jonnie Juice victorious over Inferno, again.’”