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

WWE (formerly World Wrestling Federation and World Wrestling Entertainment), an Americanprofessional wrestling promotion based inStamford,Connecticut, in theUnited States owned by theMcMahon family, has been promoting events inNew Zealand since 2006.

WWE held their first live event tour in New Zealand on March 4, 2006, at theWestpac Stadium inWellington. This was theWWE 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 ofSmackDown andECW co-branded shows. In 2009 and 2011 theRaw brand did a one night show inAuckland, 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 announcedNXT would be doing a show as part of their Oceania tour. Two NXT Live shows were scheduled for December 5 and 6, 2016 atThe Trusts Arena in Auckland and theTSB 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 inChristchurch.^[4]

WWE announced the Raw brand would once again return for a live event atAuckland'sSpark Arena on August 8, 2020. This show was later postponed three times due to theCOVID-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]

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

TheWWE SmackDown Road to WrestleMania 22 Tour was the first WWE event held in New Zealand and took place at theWestpac Stadium inWellington, New Zealand, on March 4, 2006. The event was recorded by WWE and aired exclusively onWWE 24/7 in theUnited 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]

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

The WWE andSky had an agreement to carry WWE programming in New Zealand from the late 1990s until the end of 2024.^[17] Weekly television programming was aired onSky 5 (previously known as Sky 1 and The Box). Pay-per-views were aired onSky Arena /Sky Box Office.

In August 2014,WWE Network launched in New Zealand.^[18] This was later closed on 1 January 2025, with all WWE programming moving toNetflix in New Zealand as part of WWE's worldwide deal with the streaming platform.

• Professional wrestling in New Zealand
• WWE by country

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata