Well, welcome to all our readers here in New Zealand & around the world, I'm Whetu Ngapo & you're tuning in to my KiwiAvenger blog here on blogger, but first onto the rugby as the Crusaders pip the Hurricanes before jumping into the lead of the standings in their quest of completing the greatest sporting comeback in history following the Chiefs (Who had been leapfrogged by the Crusaders on top of the table after round 9) defeat in the hands of the New South Wales Waratahs who remain undefeated at their fortress at home, then Blues end Moana Pasifika's chances of 3 in a row followed by the Highlanders who delivered an emphatic win over the Fijian Drua meanwhile the ACT Brumbies knock over the Queensland Reds to remain as the top Aussie side in the competition (And it looks like the Aussie sides are getting competitive following the Melbourne Rebels decision to pull out of the comp last year, with all 4 of their teams are in the top 6 (Including the Western Force who took a bye in round 9), including the new legislations such as speeding up the game for scrums, lineouts, conversions & penalty goals in which players would have to be super fit in these kinds of situations, as well as a loophole regarding to the halfback position that they cannot be taken out who hasn't got the ball, & then the chaser who is the only one to chase the ball to defuse in high ball situations without getting obstructed), but news straight out of the Aupiki competition as the depleted Blues women (Which featured the likes of double Olympic champion Portia Woodman-Wickliffe (Who is like Ma'a Nonu as he became the oldest player to play in the French Top 14 competition, even at the age of 42) who mainly plays at centre because she's getting slow (And she used to be a winger before making the decision to go into the midfield that paid off) go back to back as they become the first side to win 2 championships following their win in the final against Matatu (Including an intercept try by one of the young Blues women players of Braxton Sorenson-McGee sends their adoring home crowd into a frenzy that surely won the final for them) which was marred by one of the most horrific scenes in a game of women's rugby in recent memory as reserve Blues women lock forward Eloise Blackwell, sent from the field for taking young Matatu first five Hannah King (Who got concussed caused by foul play as she was subbed off the field, ending her Aupiki final) out of commission, & will serve a suspension when the Blues women lock horns with the champions of Super W of the New South Wales Waratahs women (Who beat the Queensland Reds women during the Super W final at North Sydney Oval in Sydney just to be there for that occasion) on the 17th of April at North Harbour Stadium (The home ground of Moana Pasifika) in Albany as they prepare to play the historic first ever Super Rugby women's crossover game, but there has been an update as the Blues women win the inaugural Super Rugby women's cross over game against New South Wales women at Moana Pasifika's main home ground at North Harbour Stadium in Albany in an epic women's game of the ages, even though with the Black Ferns expected to announce their Pac 4 squad in the coming days in order to dethrone the champs from last year of Canada (Who almost gone all the way of winning their first WXV1 championship, but they didn't get the result against the dominant English who retained the WXV1 crown last year as well as the women's Six Nations this year in which they just lost once out of over half a century of games being played which was our own Black Ferns in 2022 at the delayed 2021 women's Rugby World Cup), but the latest in F1 as Aussie McLaren driver Oscar Piastri (Who won in Bahrain, & is in line to become the 3rd world champion from Australia as there hasn't been an Aussie world champion in Formula One since Alan 'AJ' Jones long ago in 1980 in the Williams while the late great Sir Jack Brabham was the first where he did it 3 times in 1959, 1960 & 1966) wins in Saudi Arabia with our own Kiwi Liam Lawson in Racing Bulls (Formerly RB) who continues to struggle in which he endured another difficult weekend as he fails to fire despite his car being comfortable, but it's Piastri who takes over as world championship leader after 5 rounds (And is Oscar the one that brings Max Verstappen's dominant but incredible world championship reign to a grinding halt in a big chance to dethrone the defending world champion? Just like Fernando Alonso way back in 2005 as he outperformed his rival Michael Schumacher to become world champion for the very first time, as well as Lewis Hamilton back in 2014 when he outperformed Sebastian Vettel to seal the title & Verstappen who famously beat Hamilton (Who fell short of his record 8th world championship, but is now racing for Ferrari in which he is constantly struggling in terms of pace) in 2021) while McLaren remain in the lead of the constructors championship in their bid of their defence of the constructors title (And the next round takes place at the Miami Grand Prix in Miami, Florida in the United States (And Norris won the Grand Prix in Miami last time out, therefore signalling McLaren's successful start of their road to success in the constructors championship last year as they ended Red Bull's gamesmanship after 2 years being on top in 2022-23 therefore taking over as the quickest car in F1 this year due to the upgrades that they made which carried over from last year in terms of their speed), but continuing onto a motor racing related story that the future World Endurance Champion & ex-F1 driver of our own Kiwi of Brendon Hartley, describes that the racing car from the old A1GP series, that it's just like playing a PlayStation game, just like me driving either a Super Formula SF19 or SF23 cars in Gran Turismo 7 (For which my fave video game is just like the simulators that they're having, for which is known by the slogan: The real driving simulator), reminds me of a combination of both A1GP (Currently defunct since they had their last season in 2008-09 (In that was the only season to be powered by Ferrari) before shutting down altogether due to the global financial economic crisis that they once had in which they fell victim to it) & F2 (Which is the feeder series of F1), while the Formula One car inspired by the early 90's which is known as the Gran Turismo F3500-A, is sorta like modern day IndyCar machinery (For which has a 6 speed gearbox that they're having mainly, with Formula One being confirmed next year as part of the changes to the loophole for the first time since 2005 that a championship winning Renault Formula One car being the last to run with a 6 speed gearbox before switching to 7 speed in 2006, down from the original 8 speed that they're currently having while the design of the F1 car will in fact change, in the sport's biggest shake-up since 2022 in which the current Formula One car used until the end of this season, resembles the racing car design which IndyCar then CART that used in the 90's) in Grid Autosport, as well as Forza Motorsport 7 & Project Cars 3 games, & the F1 games such as F1 2020 & F1 24 that I used to play (And I've pre-ordered F1 25 on the PS5 on the PSN network in case you missed it guys & girls (It's going to feature content from F1: the Movie due to release in June this year (And most of them are locked at the moment so they don't want to spoil the movie according to one of the game developers), but they're bringing back Braking Point story mode from F1 23 which was first featured in F1 2021 after not appearing in F1 24 just like F1 22), but the physical copy of the game doesn't appear on the EB Games New Zealand website, also according to Wikipedia that just the digital version of the game is available in Australia).
And secondly that here are the key matchups at the Grandest Stage of Them All of WrestleMania XLI in Las Vegas, Nevada on Easter Weekend of the 18th to the 19th (Which is Easter Sunday, to say the least) of April which is almost upon them when the biggest wrestling event is shown live on both pay per view & on Netflix as the Austrian wrestler Gunther (Who had been champion since he beat Damian Priest last year) defends his WWE World Heavyweight crown against the man who dominated the men's Royal Rumble this year (2025) of 'Main Event' Jey Uso (The one who last eliminated John Cena during the men's Royal Rumble in January, & is happy to be there in the main event at WM against the champion from Austria, in which the WWE chief content creator of twice hall of famer Triple H kicking off the show on Saturday, then the famous Swedish DJ & music producer of Bosnian descent, Salvatore Ganacci (Who'll appear on Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves game as its celeb guest alongside the famous Portuguese footballer/soccer player, Cristiano Ronaldo) did an impromptu performance that entertained the entire WWE fanbase), then it's the American Nightmare of Cody Rhodes (Who had been champion since he ended the 1,316 day reign of Roman Reigns (Who goes up against 'The Second City Saint' CM Punk (He didn't wrestle at the last WrestleMania through injury) & Seth Rollins (The one who lost to last year's men's MITB winner Drew McIntyre in a title match before Damian Priest cashed in to beat 'The Scottish Psychopath' who was attacked by the injured Punk to become champion for the very first time) in a triple threat match at WM XLI) also last year (2024), in one of the most incredible WrestleMania matches of all time since the encounter between the Undertaker & 'HBK' Shawn Michaels at WrestleMania 25 way back in 2009 as well as the best endings to a WM ever since 'The Heist of the Century' at WM 31 where Rollins were able to cash in his MITB contract to defeat both Lesnar & Reigns & become champion, therefore bouncing back from defeat against Randy Orton (Who pulled off the greatest RKO in WWE history when Rollins was trying to pull of the Stomp finisher before Orton connects his finisher in mid-air) earlier in the day) set to put his Undisputed WWE Universal Championship on the line against John Cena (AKA the Donald Trump of WWE who became a villain for the first time since 22 years ago) who is searching for his record breaking 17th world title whilst on his farewell tour before retiring, then in the women's department as Bianca Belair looks to settle the score when she goes up against both women such as the one who ended Aussie Rhea Ripley's 2nd championship reign against her old rival, the WWE Women's World Champion of Japan's Iyo Sky (The one who lost the WWE Women's Championship against Bayley (Who won the women's Royal Rumble also last year) last year (2024) who is the modern day equivalent of Bull Nakano), & the former champion Rhea 'Mami' Ripley who wants to make amends after losing the championship against Sky on Raw which ruined her dearly big time, then last year's women's Money in the Bank winner of current WWE Women's Champion Tiffany Stratton (Partner of Ludwig Kaiser since 2022), is gunning to defend her WWE Women's Championship against the woman who returned to the WWE to dominate the women's Royal Rumble this year (2025) just to be there of 'The Queen' Charlotte Flair (The wily old experienced veteran best known as Ric's daughter & partner of Andrade when she was the one who last eliminated Roxanne Perez during the women's Royal Rumble match, & is set to compete her first WrestleMania match since infamously losing the title to 'The Eradicator' of Ripley at WrestleMania 39 which was in 2023, in easily one of the greatest women's wrestling matches at the Showcase of the Immortals, of all time (First they started off slow, & then developing in one of the supposed women's wrestling title contests in WM history when the WWE universe entertained it in style) in a battle of the blonde bombshells, meanwhile LA Knight (The man who ended Logan Paul's dominance as the US champion last year (2024) faces his toughest test when he locks horns against Tama Tonga (Another one of the American wrestlers of Pacific Island descent, but listed as he comes from the Kingdom of Tonga) in a United States championship clash, while Bron Breakker (Son of famous wrestler Rick Steiner & nephew of another famous wrestler who is Rick's brother, Scott Steiner, but uses the Spear as one of his signature moves which is inspired by other wrestlers who mainly use it including Goldberg, Roman Reigns & Jey Uso) goes about defending his beloved Intercontinental title what's still rightfully his whilst making WrestleMania debut against the stern challenges of 'Dirty' Dominik Mysterio (Son of famous wrestler Rey), Finn Balor (The Irishman involved in the WWE) & the ever popular Mexican luchador of Penta in a fatal 4 way title bout.
And thirdly, it's been 30 years since that dreadful Great Hansin-Awaji earthquake had happened in Kobe, Japan were thousands of buildings were destroyed & heaps of people have been killed by the impact on January 17th way, way back in 1995 (Same year that South Africa won their 1st of 4 men's Rugby World Cups against the All Blacks (Who beat England in the semi in Cape Town with the late Jonah Lomu scoring 4 tries including bundling over Mike Catt to score the first of 4th in one of the men's RWC's most iconic moments (In which the man known as 'Quinny' of Keith Quinn famously said when Lomu scored his first of 4 tries in the semi "Lomu! Oh, oh!") in the final in Joburg which united the host country & their leader Nelson Mandela according to the previous blogs that I did, as well as Team New Zealand led by our heroes of the late Sir Peter 'Blakey' Blake & Russell Coutts (This was long before he got knighted in due course) went on to win our 1st of 5 America's Cups that we won the series 5 - 0 against the Dennis Conner (Once our old foe in 1987 & '88 who was embraced by the New Zealand fans following his defeat in '95) led Young America in San Diego, California in which PJ Montgomery famously said to our Kiwi audience "The America's Cup, is now New Zealand's Cup!" as I mentioned in my blogs that I did previously (And it'll be in May that 30 years have passed since we claimed the 2nd biggest upset in AC history, behind the Aussie success long ago in 1983), while the Batman Forever movie came out which featuring the likes of the now late Val Kilmer (Who passed away this year) as 'The Dark Knight' & 'The Caped Crusader' of Batman, as well as Tommy Lee Jones (Harvey 'Two-Face' Dent), Oscar winner Nicole Kidman (Dr Chase Meridian) & Jim Carrey (The Riddler) along with the Mortal Kombat movie which starred Robin Shou as Liu Kang while Linden Ashby, Christopher Lambert, Bridgette Wilson, Talisa Soto, the late Trevor Goddard & Cary Hiroyuki-Tagawa played their characters of Johnny Cage, Raiden, Sonya, Princess Kitana, Kano & Shang Tsung respectively such as, & last but not least, the New Zealand Warriors entered the Australian ARL competition while Che Fu was part of Supergroove) therefore causing significant damage & loss of life as Pops alluded to me on the 10th of April. The earthquake, with a magnitude of 6.9 that hit at 5:46am on Tuesday, resulted in over 6,400 deaths, 43,000 injuries, and extensive destruction, including the collapse of buildings and infrastructure while this was Japan's second deadliest earthquake in the 20th century after the 1923 Great Kanto earthquake (That was 6 years before the Great Depression took place which lasted for a decade from 1929 until 1939 when World War II began, & lasted until 1945 where the 2nd World War, ended), which claimed more than 105,000 lives, meaning that the Pacific Grand Prix (Which was won by Germany's Michael Schumacher who became a back to back world drivers champion with just both races to spare since his championship rival of Britain's Damon Hill (Who was criticised by the media in the lead up to the Grand Prix in Okayama over his below par performances in previous races) unable to catch Michael's points total) had been delayed to October 22nd after originally being scheduled on April 16th prior to tragedy being struck as the local infrastructure and communications were badly damaged from the Great Hanshin earthquake.
And finally, the latest in America as Trump's tariff policy takes a U-turn where there will be a cut on tariffs for most countries for 90 days in which there will be a review after the 90th day has concluded in which the American stocks have gone up a notch, except for China as the US struck them with an 125% rate (Meaning that prices have been doubled, tripled or especially quadrupled on that occasion, like most gamers will be livid about the expensive price of the PS5 Pro meaning that they'll have to switch from PlayStation to Xbox for the matter, because of Xbox being an American brand whilst PS5 consoles are made in China (And why the hell not? Oh very funny...Oh my goodness, is that, cellulite? But the United States has since been crippled with a spate of punishing but sweeping tariff policies most recently according to Donald Trump, the current President of the United States for which was chaotic, turbulent, tumultuous & torrid), but I recently discovered that the Xbox consoles are Chinese made because of an expensive price in the US), while the US President is taking credit for a market bounce, in the aftermath of reversing the similar policy that sent it crashing with our country will still feel years of fallout after Trump's tariff U-turn, economists warn as stocks rebound strongly following Trump tariffs U-turn as Nikkei, ASX & S&P all see a surge following the US President's announcement of a 90-day pause on tariffs except China, for which had been presented a week earlier at the White House as a historic game changer for America (In which the nation is in a midst of an ugly rift, but am I being the one who follows American politics according to Pops who alluded to me before on the 3rd of May just before we watched a Super Rugby Pacific game between the Hurricanes & the Chiefs on TV after we had a Asian stir fry meal for dinner?).
So that is my 606th blog of the year 2025 (MMXXV) & my 30th of this year, viva Ukraine & Palestine.
P.S. And the rugby community here in New Zealand is in mourning as John 'Doc' Mayhew (The former All Blacks & New Zealand Warriors doctor who was a personal doctor of the late Jonah Lomu) has recently passed away (According to Grant 'Nisbo' Nisbett telling Justin 'Marshy' Marshall during commentary between the Hurricanes & the Crusaders Super Rugby Pacific game on April 11th), so all condolences go to the family & his loved ones (Although he is survived by his son Nic who is a rugby player), rest in power (RIP).
Dr John Mayhew
1954 - 2025
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