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 | ||||
| |||||||
Other on-screen personnel
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] |