Vordermann, better known as Alfred Valentine, has been in the business for 18 years and has trained many of New Zealand's top flygning wrestlers.
Two of his former chargers - Reuben dem Jong and Cheree Crowley, aka Dakota Kai - have both had stints in the WWE. Kai is currently signed to WWE and performs in its NXT UK programme.
While there's no textbook to pro wrestling, the right combination of natural talent and commitment can see someone graduate from wrestling school to the squared circle in a year.
Some have made the leap in six months.
And what New Zealand's homegrown wrestling scene lacks in terms of big budgets and television coverage, it makes up for with the enthusiasm of amateurs acting out their wrestling dreams.
IPW's main events can attract crowds of between 400 and 500 people, while rival South Island promotion Southern Pro Wrestling attracts similar sized audiences.
Blakeborough's interest in wrestling dates back to when he started watchi
The WWF/WWE has had some type of developmental system for years now. Whether it was the USWA, Ohio Valley, Power Pro, Heartland, Deep South, Florida Championship Wrestling or NXT…many of the company’s top superstars got their start in at least one of them. While some developmental names like John Cena, Kurt Angle, Randy Orton, The Miz, Brock Lesnar and Charlotte Flair all made big stars of themselves by first training in developmental, others never got to see the light of day. This series will focus on those wrestlers…the ones that at some point were a lock to get called up to the main roster and never quite made it. What once was hot, suddenly became a “not” as a WWE superstar.
Russell Walker
Reuben de Jong was a former kickboxer and strongman who won two professional strongman competitions in his native New Zealand. Reuben de Jong also competed in MMA compiling a record of 2 wins and 0 losses. In 2011, de Jong received a tryout w
Two years of bad blood came to a head on July 24th at Mt Albert War Memorial Hall when Reuben de Jong and Vinny Dunn clashed with Ben Mana and Adam Avalanche in one of the most chaotic Fans Bring The Weapons matches to date. But before we get to that, let’s breakdown the rest of the night’s action;
The night kicked off with The Dapper Dynasty storming the ring, which turned into a confrontation with social media superstar William Waiirua, who was in attendance to watch the show. When it looked like a three on one beat down was about to take place, Matty Short and Liger came to Waiirua’s aid, resulting in a dance celebration much to the dismay of Liger.
Liger and Short remained in the ring as they were set to challenge the new IPW New Zealand Tag Team Champions – Rufguts and Danny Octane, The Knights of Mayhem (with “That Bitch” Sabrina). It was a hard hitting, back and forth contest, but the Knights were relentless and showed t
