WWE in New Zealand

WWE (formerly World Wrestling Federation and World Wrestling Entertainment), an American professional wrestling promotion based in Stamford, Connecticut, in the United States owned by the McMahon family, has been promoting events in New Zealand since 2006.

WWE in New Zealand
Created by	Vince McMahon
Promotions	WWE
Brands	Raw SmackDown
First event	WWE SmackDown Road to WrestleMania 22 Tour

History

WWE held their first live event tour in New Zealand on March 4, 2006, at the Westpac Stadium in Wellington. This was the WWE Smackdown Road to WrestleMania 22 Tour, which featured a main event triple threat match between Kurt Angle, Undertaker and Mark Henry for the World Heavyweight Championship. This event drew 23,875 people.

The following two years, WWE returned to New Zealand for a pair of SmackDown and ECW co-branded shows. In 2009 and 2011 the Raw brand did a one night show in Auckland, with SmackDown doing a show in 2010. The WWE then took a long break between shows in New Zealand and did not return until 2016. At the 2016 show, WWE announced NXT would be doing a show as part of their Oceania tour. Two NXT Live shows were scheduled for December 5 and 6, 2016 at The Trusts Arena in Auckland and the TSB Bank Arena in Wellington.^[1][2] however these were eventually cancelled.^[3] The following year, in 2017 the Raw brand returned to New Zealand for one show in Christchurch.^[4]

WWE announced the Raw brand would once again return for a live event at Auckland's Spark Arena on August 8, 2020. This show was later postponed three times due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was firstly postponed to July 31, 2021, secondly postponed to August 4, 2022, and lastly postponed with no new date given. The event was finally cancelled on May 5, 2023, over 3 years since its original announcement.^[5]

Events in New Zealand

Date	Name	Brand	Venue	City	Main event
March 4, 2006	WWE SmackDown Road to WrestleMania 22 Tour	SmackDown	Westpac Stadium	Wellington	Kurt Angle vs. Mark Henry vs. The Undertaker for the World Heavyweight Championship
February 23, 2007	WWE SmackDown Road to WrestleMania 23 Tour	SmackDown & ECW	Westpac Centre	Christchurch	Batista vs. Mr. Kennedy for the World Heavyweight Championship[6]
February 24, 2007			Western Springs Stadium	Auckland
June 11, 2008	WWE Smackdown ECW Tour	SmackDown & ECW	Vector Arena	Auckland	Edge vs. Batista for the World Heavyweight Championship[7]
June 12, 2008			Westpac Centre	Christchurch	Matt Hardy, Batista & The Undertaker vs. Edge, Montel Vontavious Porter and Mark Henry[8]
July 3, 2009	WWE Raw Live Tour	Raw	Vector Arena	Auckland	Randy Orton & Big Show vs. John Cena & Triple H[9]
August 5, 2010	WWE SmackDown Live 2010	SmackDown	Vector Arena	Auckland	Kane vs. Rey Mysterio for the World Heavyweight Championship[10]
July 6, 2011	WWE World Tour	Raw	Vector Arena	Auckland	John Cena vs. R-Truth for the WWE Championship[11]
August 10, 2016	WWE Live: New Zealand	Unbranded	Vector Arena	Auckland	Roman Reigns vs. Seth Rollins[12]
September 13, 2017	WWE Live: New Zealand	Raw	Horncastle Arena	Christchurch	Roman Reigns vs. Braun Strowman in a Street Fight[13]

WWE Road to WrestleMania 22 Tour

WWE SmackDown Road to WrestleMania 22 Tour
Promotional poster featuring Batista
Promotion	World Wrestling Entertainment
Brand(s)	SmackDown!
Date	March 4, 2006
City	Wellington, New Zealand
Venue	Westpac Stadium
Attendance	23,875 [14]

The WWE SmackDown Road to WrestleMania 22 Tour was the first WWE event held in New Zealand and took place at the Westpac Stadium in Wellington, New Zealand, on March 4, 2006. The event was recorded by WWE and aired exclusively on WWE 24/7 in the United States. Michael Cole and Tazz recorded the commentary from WWE headquarters in Stamford, Connecticut.

The event was attended by 23,875.^[14] WWE talent and management were impressed with the reactions and excitement by the audience, and also the large size of the stadium. “Holy Cow, this is a coliseum, not an arena,” was one of the WWE wrestler's remarks when entering inside New Zealand's second-largest stadium.^[15]

Results

No.	Results	Stipulations	Times
1D	Gregory Helms (c) defeated Jamie Noble and Kid Kash[16]	Triple Threat match for the WWE Cruiserweight Championship	—
2D	Funaki defeated Sylvain	Singles match	—
3D	MNM (Joey Mercury and Johnny Nitro) (c) defeated Paul London and Brian Kendrick	Tag Team match for the WWE Tag Team Championship	—
4	Road Warrior Animal defeated Matt Hardy	Singles match	5:30
5	Bobby Lashley defeated Finlay	Singles match	8:31
6	The Boogeyman defeated Orlando Jordan	Singles match	3:50
7	Chris Benoit (c) defeated Booker T by submission	Singles match for the WWE United States Championship	11:06
8	Rey Mysterio defeated Randy Orton	Singles match	13:34
9	The Undertaker defeated Kurt Angle (c) and Mark Henry (with Daivari) by disqualification	Triple Threat match for the World Heavyweight Championship	14:32
(c)  – the champion(s) heading into the match D  – this was a dark match

Other on-screen personnel

The setup in the Westpac Stadium before the event.

• Commentators
  • Michael Cole
  • Tazz
• Ring Announcer
  • Tony Chimel
• Referee
  • Nick Patrick
  • Charles Robinson
  • Jimmy Korderas

Broadcast

The WWE and Sky have had an agreement to carry WWE programming in New Zealand since the late 1990s.^[17]

In August 2014, WWE Network launched in New Zealand.^[18]

Programming	Notes
WWE pay-per-views	Broadcast live on WWE Network.[19]
WWE Raw	Broadcast live on Sky 5. A one-hour version is also broadcast on Sky Open.[20]
WWE NXT	A one-hour version is broadcast on both Sky 5 and Sky Open.[21]
WWE SmackDown	Broadcast live on Sky 5. A one-hour version is also broadcast on Sky Open.[20]

References

1. "First Ever NXT Live Events This December!". Scoop. Scoop Media. WWE. September 5, 2016. Archived from the original on 5 September 2016. Retrieved 25 April 2021.
2. Caldwell, James (August 21, 2016). "8/20 "WWE NXT Takeover: Brooklyn" Results - CALDWELL'S Complete Live Report". Pro Wrestling Torch. Archived from the original on 22 August 2016. Retrieved 25 April 2021. NXT announcement: NXT is heading to Australia and New Zealand. It's this December. And it's a long tour from December 5-15.
3. "WWE cancels New Zealand NXT Live events". NZPWI. November 7, 2016. Retrieved 30 April 2021.
4. WWE.com Staff (June 26, 2017). "WWE Live returns to New Zealand and Australia this September". WWE. Archived from the original on 27 June 2017. Retrieved 25 April 2021.
5. "WWE LIVE NEW ZEALAND Saturday 31 July 2021 at Spark Arena". Spark Arena. Spark Arena, Quay Park, Downtown Auckland, New Zealand. Archived from the original on 7 February 2021. Retrieved 25 April 2021. The wait is finally over, after a sell-out show in 2016 that saw 10,000+ WWE fans pack into Spark Arena, WWE returns for one electrifying night on Saturday 31 July 2021.
6. "WWE (Smackdown! & ECW) @ Christchurch, New Zealand - Westpac Stadium - February 23, 2007 (9,000; sell out)". The History of WWE. Retrieved May 15, 2019.
7. "WWE (Smackdown! & ECW) @ Auckland, New Zealand - Vector Arena - June 11, 2008 (8,500)". The History of WWE. Retrieved May 15, 2019.
8. "WWE (Smackdown! & ECW) @ Christchurch, New Zealand - Westpac Arena - June 12, 2008". The History of WWE. Retrieved May 15, 2019.
9. "WWE (Raw) @ Auckland, New Zealand - Vector Arena - July 3, 2009". The History of WWE. Retrieved May 15, 2019.
10. "WWE (Smackdown!) @ Auckland, New Zealand - Vector Arena - August 5, 2010". The History of WWE. Retrieved May 15, 2019.
11. "WWE (Raw) @ Auckland, New Zealand - Vector Arena - July 6, 2011 (6,100)". The History of WWE. Retrieved May 15, 2019.
12. Namako, Jason (August 10, 2016). "8/10 WWE Live Results: Auckland, New Zealand (First day of overseas tour, NXT tour announced, Rollins vs. Reigns)". WrestleView. Auckland, New Zealand. Archived from the original on 11 August 2016. Retrieved 25 April 2021.
13. Martin, Adam (September 14, 2017). "9/13 WWE Live Results: Christchurch, New Zealand (Reigns vs. Strowman)". WrestleView. Archived from the original on 17 September 2017. Retrieved 25 April 2021.
14. Westpac Stadium (2006). "Westpac Stadium Wellington WWE: Road to Wrestlemania Smackdown 22". Westpac Stadium. Retrieved 7 April 2018.
15. Dion McCracken (2006). "Westpac Stadium gives thanks to crowd and NZPWI". NZPWI. Retrieved 7 April 2018.
16. Dion McCracken (2006). "Angle retains WHC in Wellington". NZPWI. Retrieved 7 April 2018.
17. "Here's Why World Wrestling (WWE) is a Hot Investment Pick". NASDAQ.com. 2019-01-25. Retrieved 2019-05-21.
18. Dunn, David. "WWE Network available in New Zealand – NZPWI". Retrieved 2019-05-21.
19. "WWE Pay Per View events". Sky. 2022-02-02. Retrieved 2022-03-03.
20. WWE (17 December 2018). "WWE and SKY extend long-standing partnership in New Zealand". Retrieved 28 December 2018.
21. Dunn, David (3 July 2020). "WWE NXT to air on Prime, Sky 5". Retrieved 6 July 2020.

Notes