Well, welcome to 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 in the football (Soccer) that the All Whites (Coached by English born Darren Bazeley (A former player who used to play for the New Zealand Knights A-League team) who will be the 3rd All Whites coach at a Football (Soccer) men's World Cup after fellow Englishman John Adshead in 1982, & Ricki Herbert (The former defender who was involved in 1982 (Captained by the late English born Steve Sumner), & the only New Zealand born manager to guide New Zealand through to the World Cup) in 2010 (Led by Ryan Nelsen at the time) go into the friendly against England due in May with a emphatic 4 - 1 win over Chile at Eden Park in Auckland during the FIFA International Series (Our last game on home soil before the Football (Soccer) men's World Cup is held in North America), even though we're without our inspirational leader Chris Wood (A member of the 2010 side that last went to football/soccer's global showpiece event when it was held in South Africa, & was the youngest All Whites player at the time at 18, because now he's 34 years of age, & leading our country's national side at a tournament that is taking place in North America this year (The first time I actually saw the All Whites playing in the World Cup on TV was in 2010 where we had all 3 draws against Slovakia, Italy & Paraguay (And we have never lost a FIFA World Cup match since against Brazil in Sevilla, Spain way back in 1982), & it'll be the 2nd time I could possibly watch New Zealand play in the Football (Soccer) World Cup as we are in a tough draw in Group G, along with possibly but potentially the UAE (If Iran chose to withdraw that tournament due to their war against the US, & they still haven't decided whether the United Arab Emirates could fill in for the Iranians (Who had to lose their late previous Supreme leader (Whose son had taken over from that slain leader who had been the Ayatollah of that country from 1989 until February 28th this year) in which the nation mourned them, so he'll be sadly but greatly missed), the Pharaohs of Egypt (Led by Liverpool's star talisman Mohamed Salah), & one of the European powerhouses of the Red Devils of Belgium (Featuring their key player of goalkeeper who currently plays for Real Madrid (Formerly Chelsea) of Thibaut Courtois) who is currently recovering from a knee injury, & is on track to return to his club Nottingham Forest (Who I could've supported that club since Wood is playing for them, mainly because I'm mainly an FC Barcelona supporter (And Chelsea fan as well due to being my fave English club) for the latter stages of the Premier League, while Iraq (Coached by an Aussie A-League legend named Graham Arnold who imposed a social media clamp down towards their players who are having sleepless nights when the Iraqis who haven't been to football/soccer's global showpiece event in 40 years where they last appeared way back in 1986) are through to the World Cup by beating Bolivia in one of the intercontinental playoff games, but the United Arab Emirates who is the next highest ranked team in the Asia confederation could be an ideal replacement for Iran who chose to pull out from the tournament (And if the UAE don't compete, 3 of their teams such as the Belgians, the Egyptians, & us could be awarded wins against the Iranians via forfeit or walkover I should say by awarding the automatic 3 points in the group) due to their war against the US as well as their travel suspension being handed down by the Americans saying that the Iranians won't travel to countries that are entirely hostile (But the latest update as the conflict in the Middle East means that the fuel prices remain high in which the world is in ruins, & in total shock caused by the invasion in Iran even though with many of our Kiwis are interested or should I say, turning our attention of considering switching to electric vehicles (EVs) as an alternative cost cutting measure because of these being popular sustainable cars that are on high demand which will turn our heads of affording one according to the newspaper report from the Whanganui Chronicle that I saw on April 4th this year (And I'm not happy about the current situation in Iran that has still been going since the last day of February this year (And I just don't know it) with the assassination of the Iranian supreme leader therefore triggering a horrendous conflict in which the Iranians under new management had been overwhelmingly dominant against the joint Israeli-American military effort for which are about to be outnumbered on that occasion, because they need more troops so that they can win the war, but there are none (And I hate the 3 of them such as Iran, Israel & the US (Especially the far-right wing conservative people) due to them being so damn evil just like that country who started that dreadful invasion since 2022 that I can't stand at the moment along with the Iranians, the Israelis, the Americans who are right wing conservatives & the rest of the Axis of Upheaval countries due to me showing hostility between the 6 countries who are classified as downright enemies meaning that I always show solidarity to Ukraine (And Aunty Tan once alluded to me in December last year that if I see a Ukrainian person that I must show respect & kindness towards them), but at least we're safe along with Australia because of having good relations with them except on the sporting field according to the previous stories that I did on my blogs, but recently that Air Chathams have announced that they're expecting to reduce flights as the fuel cost prices have been doubled when the fuel crisis is set to start on April 20th meaning that the inflation rate is still high & serious as surging fuel cost had forced Air Chathams to cut services such as trimming a significant number of flights from several North Island routes which had been affected by the unsustainability following the cost of jet fuel had been skyrocketed not once but twice the amount as the company is the only airline flying to the Chatham Islands providing a vital connection to the mainland for passengers & freight, & has been increased financial pressure due to the rising cost of fuel as the world is crippled with the new oil crisis this year which could be scary (And it's not over), could even be worse than 1973 when they once had the Yom Kippur war which was an invasion between Israel against Egypt, Jordan, & Syria that changed the world, as well as 1979 also when they once had the Iranian revolution a year before the Iran/Iraq conflict took place in 1980 & even worse, in 2022 when they had that dreadful war over there in Ukraine against the country who started it).
And secondly in gaming related news that the Tekken character of Bryan Fury who made his debut in the 3rd game, & has appeared it since is based on the Blade Runner villain Roy Batty who was played by the late Dutch film star Rutger Hauer, while the United Nations agent of Raven (Who first appeared in Tekken 5 (And its expansion pack of Tekken: Dark Resurrection), then Tekken 6 & recently Tekken 8) is also based on African American actor who played Blade of Wesley Snipes, then the most famous of them all is Marshall Law (Who made his debut in the first Tekken before appearing in Tekken 2 before his son Forest took over from him in the 3rd game, & has reappeared since the 4th Tekken game) being based on the late Chinese-American martial arts film star Bruce Lee, as well as the character Nina Williams (Who has appeared in every Tekken game along with Heihachi Mishima, Paul Phoenix & Yoshimitsu) is based off Sarah Bryant from Virtua Fighter who is also based on the character from the Terminator series, Sarah Connor, & another one of the Tekken characters of Lei Wulong who last appeared on Tekken 7 (His debut game was the 2nd one), is inspired by the Hong Kong martial arts action film star & stuntman Jackie Chan.
And thirdly that here are the list of matches taking place at WrestleMania XLII (Which will be hosted by WWE legend, future Hall of Famer, & former 17-time world champion John Cena, while WrestleMania, is like the Superbowl of wrestling (And it's similar to NASCAR's Daytona 500, IndyCar's Indy 500, Formula One's Monaco Grand Prix & the Supercars Championship's Bathurst 1000 as the premier motor racing events in the world & has of the NRL Grand Final (Always held at Accor Stadium in Sydney from 1999 until 2020 & since 2022), the UEFA Champions League final (Held in many big football (Soccer) specific stadiums throughout Europe) & the Super Rugby Pacific final as well as an international rugby test match & a international football/soccer game, an international cricket match & an league international test feel) as well as having an atmosphere of a final of a World Cup, whether its rugby, football (Soccer), cricket (Like the ODI Cricket World Cup & the T20 Cricket World Cup) & league as well as the final of a major tennis grand slam whether its Australia, France, Wimbledon & the United States) over in Las Vegas, Nevada in the United States on April 18th to 19th such as CM Punk defending his WWE World Heavyweight crown against his main rival Roman Reigns (The winner of the men's Royal Rumble this year who is one of 4 members of the famed Anoa'i wrestling family to win the Royal Rumble along with the late Yokozuna, Roman's cousin of the Rock, & one of both the Rock & Roman's relatives of Jey Uso (Although Roman this year managed to follow his footsteps of his first cousin once removed of Jey's success from last year, therefore propelling but thrusting into the main event at WrestleMania against Punk for the WWE World Heavyweight crown) as the headline act on night 2, followed by Cody Rhodes (Son of the late 'American Dream' of famous wrestler Dusty & brother of retired wrestler Dustin (Formerly Goldust) who is married to his African American wife Brandi & have their daughter of Liberty, but he has since sported his trademark blonde hair in honour of his late dad) putting his Undisputed WWE Championship against his former tag team stablemate during the days of the Legacy of Randy Orton (Also the son of the late famous wrestler of 'Cowboy' Bob who was once an apprentice & protege of Triple H during the days of Evolution along with 'The Animal' Batista & Charlotte's dad of 'The Nature Boy' Ric Flair) as part of the main event during night 1, while Chilean wrestler Stephanie Vaquer also defends her WWE Women's World Championship title against Liv Morgan (The Jersey girl (Along with AJ Lee who is the one that is married to CM Punk) who dominated the women's Royal Rumble during the same year) who emerged as the top qualifier of the men's Elimination Chamber match at Elimination Chamber, & Aussie women's wrestler Rhea Ripley (Who is the highest rated women's superstar in the WWE 2K26 game at 96 overall, as well as being by far, the country's most successful wrestler according to the previous stories that I did (As well as one of WWE's most successful international women's wrestling stars, due to the fact that the WWE has gone so international), & the biggest modern day main star of the show attraction in women's wrestling (Compared to both Canadian Trish Stratus & Lita dominating the women's division in the WWE during the mid noughties decade, especially 20 years ago back in 2006 when they once had the Ruthless Aggression era, so too is the late Chyna that they once had her during the Attitude era in the late 90s, & Irishwoman Becky Lynch (Another one of the successful non-American women's superstars along with Stratus, & Ripley (The Sam Kerr of wrestling), then she is one of the European stars in the making (Just like Germany's Dirk Nowitzki in the NBA, but now they have Slovenia's Luka Doncic, Serbia's Nikola Jokic, Greece's Giannis Antetokounmpo, & France's Victor Wembanyama) just like the only Scottish & British born WWE champion of Drew McIntyre (Also the Andy Murray of wrestling), in which the foreign legion has now exactly taken over) during the New Era (Or more like the new PG era) as well during the late 2010s, then she's fallen behind Ripley in the pecking order in terms of her overall rating in the 2K26 video game), but she's classified as a goth due to her gimmick, & I remember that Rhea's Australian accent is widely regarded as the sweetest in the world according to Pat McAfee, the former NFL punter who hosts his show of the Pat McAfee show that I saw it then which was from the year before just prior to the events of WM 40 where Ripley successfully defended her championship against Becky, & after WrestleMania that she got injured when Morgan attacked her on Raw, especially on Ripley's shoulder that caused a bit of damage, therefore she had made the decision to vacate her title when Rhea delivered the heartbreaking news towards the WWE universe) gets the chance to challenge against female African American wrestler of Jade 'The Storm' Cargill (Formerly from AEW (The WWE's rival company who previously had both Cody Rhodes, & CM Punk as their main stars who thrived the AEW wrestling community, especially the fanatics tuning in) who puts her WWE Women's Championship on the line (Plus there are other matches to take place, such as McIntyre (The only Scottish & British born WWE Champion who lost the Undisputed WWE title against Cody weeks in the leadup to WrestleMania) taking on his new rival Tama Tonga, then that newbie from Nigeria of Oba Femi goes face to face against the wily old experienced veteran of the returning Brock Lesnar (Who made his shocking return in the WWE at Summerslam last year which drew the fans who have gone wild), as well as Bron Breakker (The ex-Intercontinental champion) squaring off against his old stablemate of the Vision of Seth Rollins, & a fatal 4 way women's tag team title match taking place with the Irresistible Forces of Nia Jax, & Lash Legend defending their titles respectively against CharLexa of Alexa Bliss, & Charlotte Flair, as well as Bayley, & Lyra Valkyria, & Brie Bella, & the returning Paige who would take the injured Nikki Bella's place back in March) as the winner of the Elimination Chamber women's match, with coverage of WM XLII is expected to be shown on the WWE Network in the United States, & is available on Netflix (Who has the current broadcasting rights to the WWE, & their games division of Netflix Games has claimed licensing rights to this year's Football (Soccer) men's World Cup tournament, in gaming form) around the world (And my fave WrestleMania memory would have to be the Undertaker famously beating 'HBK' Shawn Michaels (Who ended the career of 'Naitch' a year before that at WM XXIV for Shawn's last ever win at the event) at WrestleMania XV way back in 2009 during the 'PG Era' in one of the greatest matches at the Grandest Stage of Them All of all-time, compared to Ripley's encounter over Ric's daughter Charlotte Flair during the 'Renaissance Era' or the 'Triple H era' I should say in 2023 also during night 1 at WrestleMania 39 where they both started off slowly once the championship match got underway, then the lady known as 'Mami' would gone on to win that epic but thrilling contest where 'The Eradicator' became the WWE Smackdown women's champion at the time in one of the greatest women's matches at the Showcase of the Immortals, of all time, but special & honourable mentions go to the late great Hulk Hogan body slamming the late Andre the Giant at WrestleMania 3 during 'The Golden Era', then Seth Rollins (Who lost to Orton earlier in the day with Randy connecting the greatest RKO finisher of all time when he did it in mid-air as Rollins who also was attempting to pull off his own finisher called the Stomp) cashing in his Money in the Bank contract just to become champion at WrestleMania 31 in a match against Brock Lesnar & Reigns (Who was on the verge of being a victor that could've got away) dubbed as 'The Heist of the Century' during 'The Reality Era', a year after Lesnar who would gone on to end the Undertaker's undefeated streak at WrestleMania during WM XXX in one of the most shocking results in WM history also during 'The Reality Era', & Cody becoming the Undisputed WWE Champion for the first time ever at WrestleMania XL the year before as he at last, beat Roman Reigns to exact vengeance from the result at WM 39 in 2023 where he missed out on that occasion against him (Including a sneak assault from Solo Sikoa (Whose real middle name is Yokozuna is named in honour of his late uncle of Rodney 'Yokozuna' Anoa'i, then he is the son of Fatu from the Headshrinkers who later became Rikishi, as well as the nephew of the late 'Samoan Bulldozer' of Umaga (Solo uses his late uncle's finisher, of the patented Samoan Spike as a tribute to him), & brother of twin bros Jey, & Jimmy of the Usos who will team up with LA Knight against Austin Theory & Logan Paul of the Vision with internet personality Ishowspeed) that left 'The American Nightmare' cold, allowing 'The Big Dog' to take his advantage of defending the Undisputed WWE championship crown), to finally complete the story in one of the most incredible endings to a wrestling event that the WWE universe had ever witnessed as the Rhodes name had been etched into WWE history also during 'The Renaissance/Triple H Era' which was during a Bloodline loopholes title match, as well as the Rock (Now Dwayne Johnson) taking on the late Hogan (Who infamously lost to the late Ultimate Warrior at WM VI way back in 1990 in a match that was colloquially known as 'The Ultimate Challenge', in a champion against champion where one emerged who would gone on in a moment of passing that torch also during 'The Golden Era') at WrestleMania X8 back in 2002 during the last months of the 'Attitude Era' in a match billed as 'Icon against legend' (A year after Rock's loss against 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin (Who infamously faced Bret Hart who won that match at WrestleMania XIII in a submission match in which the fans who had enough of showing hostility towards 'Stone Cold' by appreciating him during the match, while for 'The Hitman' that the WWE universe also had enough of appreciating him by showing hostility towards Hart instead as at that moment, where Austin passed out on that patented Sharpshooter submission hold made by 'The Excellence of Execution') again as well as the WWE title at X-Seven also back in 2001 also during 'The Attitude Era' who hit him with the steel chair being given to the once chairman of the WWE who aligned with 'The Texas Rattlesnake' after the title match 17 times just to wear 'The People's Champion' down by beating the man known as 'The Brahma Bull' during the WWE title at WrestleMania X7 for which was no holds barred (2 years before 'The Great One' who would gone on to finally beat 'Stone Cold' (His last loss at the grandest stage of them all, until he returned in 2022 at WM 38 during the beginning of 'The Renaissance (Triple H) Era' one last time as he had gone on to finish his wrestling career with a win against Kevin 'KO' Owens in his one-off appearance (Although Austin's first match was in his home state of Texas) at WM XIX back in 2003 during 'The Ruthless Aggression Era' after both attempts that he tried, then failed), & 'The Bad Guy' Razor Ramon's encounter against 'Mr WrestleMania' himself of Michaels in a ladder match at WM X which was perhaps one of the greatest during 'The New Generation Era', & WrestleMania eventually becoming KofiMania when Ghanian born American Kofi Kingston who defied the odds of becoming the new champion at the time in an emotional way against Daniel Bryan (Who currently wrestles in All-Elite Wrestling under his real name, Bryan Danielson), especially in front of his kids at WM 34 in 2019 (That was the year before the events of COVID had struck with the pandemic, so WM 35 was held at the WWE Performance Center instead without hardly any fans in 2020 during 'The Pandemic Era' or more like 'The Work rate Era', the only time they did so (And there were matchups including the late Bray Wyatt's win over Cena, therefore avenging his demons from his defeat against him in 2014, then Rhea on her WrestleMania debut beating Charlotte first time round to defend her NXT championship crown, 3 years before their next ever meeting at WM between the 2 women's superstar wrestlers that set the tone in which "Judgment is the Queen") during 'The New Era', or 'New PG Era', well, it's all happening as Bill Lawry would say.
And finally in the rugby that the Crusaders last game at the Apollo Projects Stadium (For which had been opened back in 2012 (A year after tragedy had struck when an earthquake had hit the city of Christchurch on February 22nd that year where Lancaster Park got damaged (The last try scorer at that venue was 'Sladey' himself of future twice men's Rugby World Cup winning All Black of Colin Slade during the 2010 NPC final against Waikato, just 3 months before the earthquake had been struck on February 22nd, 2011 (For which was World Cup year) so they had to close it, then demolish it...But their first match altogether was against the Cheetahs of South Africa, while the golden memories of that ground was Sam Whitelock's incredible run where he scored a magnificent try against the Reds also back in 2015 before even leaving the field with an injury after that amazing run, then the Crusaders 4 titles that they retained the Super Rugby crown back in 2018 against the Lions in the final, then also back in 2019 where we won the championship 3 times in a row against the Jaguares of Argentina, then in 2021 against the Chiefs to defend & retain the Super Rugby Aotearoa title, & last year where they did the same against the Chiefs to regain the Super Rugby Pacific crown at that ground, then Mitch Hunt's field goal that sent the Crusaders fans into a frenzy when they beat the Highlanders back in 2017, & Wyatt 'Crocky/Crockzilla' Crockett's 202 games (For that has been surpassed by wily old veteran of Brumbies prop James Slipper) which was during the final against the Lions that I just mentioned before on this blog also back in 2018, & the Crusaders semifinal win over the Blues which was the most dominant performance ever by a home team at that ground), but their last official sports match at that venue will be a football/soccer game when the Wellington Phoenix will play against the Western Sydney Wanderers during an A-League match on April 18th a week prior to ANZAC day) will be against the Fijian Drua on Good Friday in Christchurch before they move in to the brand spanking new, state of the art Te Kaha Stadium that had already been opened its doors, but the new venue won't host a rugby game until the very 1st match of the Super Round against the New South Wales Waratahs (Who'll play against the Chiefs at FMG Stadium Waikato on the 4th of April on the same day as the Queensland Reds play the Western Force with one of their new players making their debut for the team off the bench of former league player Zac Lomax who switches codes from the sport that he used to play when he played for both the Parramatta Eels NRL & New South Wales State of Origin teams, to rugby now that he is learning the game, & he used to play it during schoolboy level, but we're through the mid-way point during the season), but however he did not play through a hamstring injury sustained during training) due on April 24th a day prior to ANZAC day.
So that is my 699th blog of the year 2026 (MMXXVI) & my 51st of this year, viva Ukraine.
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