Benjamin Thorpe, aka veteran wrestler Ben Mana, is ready for the third annual IPW Whanganui Warfare show on February 8.
Benjamin Thorpe, aka veteran wrestler Ben Mana, is ready for the third annual IPW Whanganui Warfare show on February 8.
The locals defending their turf against the vicious outsiders - the perfect recipe of a fun professional wrestling show as Impact Pro Wrestling (IPW) brings the third annual Whanganui Warfare to the racecourse next Saturday night.
Whanganui Prison Corrections Department officer Benjamin Thorpe, aka veteran wrestler Ben Mana, is set to headline the show against IPW's villainous wrestler Jake Sheehan, leader of the chaotic faction CTRL (aka control).
Allowing the industry veteran to slip into his persona of 'The Modern Day Maori Warrior', Thorpe explains the story about how he knows Sheehan, a former tag team champion and No1 contender to the IPW heavyweight title, will do anything to defeat him, including interference from his cronies.
"If Jake Sheehan wants to bring his entire force of CTRL, including his girlfriend, he better be ready to withstand the might of the man, the myth, the Mana."
It hearkens back to the inaugural Whanganui Warfare show in 2018, where Mana was denied the IPW heavyweight crown in his battle with then-champion Mr Burns, aka David Gerbault, due to outside interference from the Burns faction.
Mana saw first hand how Sheehan and CTRL can crush home town supporters back in November, when the Aucklander faced New Plymouth-born wrestler Dal Knox, aka Dallas Jackson, in the main event of Taranaki Turmoil.
Sheehan used his faction to distract Knox and defeat the former four-time IPW heavyweight champion in his own backyard.
Mana himself was victorious on that card in a tag team elimination match, and is not naive enough to believe his battle with Sheehan will be a true 1 vs 1 encounter.
"[Sheehan] realises the numbers game perfectly.
"But there's a chance I might not be coming alone."
Speaking again as himself, Thorpe is delighted with the continued support for the show locally, with the original sellout of 230 fans being topped last year by 300 for the return event.
The annual professional wrestling shows in Whanganui are proving very popular.
This year's event has naming sponsorship from Barber Town, along with assistance from the Whanganui District Creative Communities Scheme.
"I think it shows Whanganui Warfare is stepping up its game."
The management of IPW have settled on a business model which is not unlike the classic "territory" wrestling found in the United States in the latter half of the 20th century.
Before it became a television and internet phenomenon through the globally recognised WWE, the industry consisted of a series of regional companies, which would have an office in the largest metropolitan area of their particular state.
Companies would hold their regular shows in their largest market, and then travel intermittently out to the wider rural areas of their territory for "spot shows", ideally headlined by wrestlers originally from those places.
IPW's home base and biggest shows are in Auckland, where the likes of Tagataese is the regular main event star.
But when going to Taranaki, local products like Jackson, Daniel Burnell (aka Danny Jacobs) and Shane Whitehead (Shane Sinclair) were featured performers, while for IPW's shows in the Hawke's Bay it is Gerbault and Jackson again, now a resident there, who have prominence.
Thorpe takes on that role in Whanganui and he is not the only one flying the flag anymore.
Ben Mana, centre, is the local star when IPW comes to town, alongside the company's regular main event stars like Candy Lee, aka Leilani Tominiko, and Jamie Tagataese.
After the success of the first Whanganui Warfare, Thorpe was approached by people keen to get into the industry and so set up a training course.
Therefore, next week will see the home town debuts of 'Skyflyer' Jamie O'Hagan and Michael Isaacs, aka 'The Cuz' Mikaere.
