Jonah Masirewa

**Jonah Masirewa** is a New Zealand professional wrestler and former New Zealand rugby union player for the Māori All Blacks currently working for Pro Wrestling Infinity.

## Early Life:

Jonah was born the youngest of 4 children to Hoani and Kilistina Masirewa.

## Professional Wrestling Career:

### Grand Prix Wrestling (2010 - 2018):

Masirewa made his in-ring debut for the 1-World Pro-Wrestling New Zealand territory, Grand Prix Wrestling. He would debut alongside Sean Wainui as the Cook Island Savages, winning several squash matches against trainees. The collective appeal of Masirewa's strength and Wainuis speed would make them a popular tag team despite their heel status, even capturing the New Zealand Tag Team Championships on November 9th, 2010. They would continue to hold onto the championships until April 23rd, 2011 to the team of William Birket and Caleb Black, ending their reign after 5 defences. Masirewa's popularity with the fans for his hard-hitting style and powerful displays was on the rise, making him a standout for the company at this time, so much so that the 1WPW Championship Commity personally advocated for him to be the New Zealand representative in the 1-World Cup, over then ace and New Zealand Heavyweight Champion "Blackbird" Tom Caldwell. Although he would be eliminated in the second round by Chinese representative Zang Lu Fang, his performances were received with praise and admiration from the fans. Upon his return to GPW, he would be confronted by his partner Sean Wainui, ultimately turning on Masirewa and bringing an end to the Cook Island Savages, turning Masirewa face in the process. The two would engage in a blood feud over the next several months, ultimately culminating in the companies first Steel Cage match, which Masirewa won.

Following this, Masirewa would be confronted by Tom Caldwell, who had been holding a minor grudge with Masirewa since he was selected for the 1-World Cup, to which Voltaire had been the repeated New Zealand representative over the last 4 years. Tom found difficulty in seeing what was so special about this otherwise rookie and demanded that the two face off for the New Zealand Heavyweight Championship. Tom would successfully defend the title against Masirewa in a 50-minute bout that led to Len even advertising Masirewa as the next great star for New Zealand wrestling.

Following this defeat, Masirewa would continue to compete in one-off matches before once again being offered a spot in the 1-World Cup. Tom once again took issue with this, just having lost his New Zealand Heavyweight Championship, and demanded a match with Masirewa to determine the New Zealand qualifier, a 30-minute bout that surpassed the first, ending with Masirewa debuting the Ignition Crash to win the match. Masirewa would make it all the way to the finals of the tournament before being defeated by Canadian representative Nelson Tethers. Once Masirewa returned to GPW, he challenged Tom Caldwell to a match for his recently recaptured New Zealand Heavyweight Championship to serve as a rubber match between the two. On September 14th, 2016, Jonah Masirewa defeated Tom Caldwell to become the New Zealand Heavyweight Champion, his first singles championship.

Jonah would hold onto the title for a record-breaking 392 days, defending the title 14 times before eventually losing it to his rekindled rival in Sean Wainui on October 10th, 2017 following the introduction of his Blood Haven faction, who assisted Wainui in capturing the title. Masirewa became a bittered competitor following the loss of the title, fitting into a tweener role as he rivalled both the faces of the company as well as the Blood Haven faction of the next several months before forming his own faction in The Warriors. On December 21st, The Warriors defeated Blood Haven in a faction warfare match, which was quickly followed by Masirewa challenging Sean Wainui to a rematch for the title. He would recapture the New Zealand Heavyweight Championship from Wainui on January 15, 2018. He would hold the championship until June 25th, losing the title to Caleb Black. Following the match, Masirewa confirmed rumors he had accepted deals over in the United States and would be effectively departing from GPW.

### Omega Wrestling Alliance (2018):

In July of 2018, Jonah Masirewa was announced as signed to Omega Wrestling Alliance's developmental program Omega Wrestling Tomorrow. He competed for the OWT Championship on October 20th at Uprising: New York, being defeated by Travis Montana. He was later apart of a number of cuts from the program, citing his own departure as elective as he felt he needed to better hone his crafts.

### Pro Wrestling: Infinity (2019 - present):

Jonah made his PWI debut on April 25th, being defeated by Zefar Khan. On April 27th, he competed in a match to determine the first qualifier for the PWI World Championship match along with Erik Holland, River Chance and eventual winner Naoki Ojima.

## Personal Life:

Masirewa is of Māori, Samoan, French Polynesian and Cook Islander ancestry. He attended Manurewa High School where he has the distinction of holding the schools' all-time shotput record as well as being the schools' Rugby team captain. He has a tattoo on his back that reads 'Piki Atu Ki Te Rangi' which translates to 'Aim High, Strive for Excellence', which was the schools' motto.

He is currently in a relationship with Ashley Walker since February 2018.

## In-Wrestling:

* **Finishing Moves:**
	+ *Concrete Slab* (Headbutt)
	+ *Meteor Drive* (Diving Headbutt)
	+ *Ignition Crash* (Fireman carry cutter)
* **Signature Moves:**
	+ Back body drop
	+ Cloverleaf hold
	+ Double knee gutbuster
	+ Diving Senton
	+ Electric chair drop
	+ *Gallon Throw* (Alley oop powerbomb)
	+ Gorilla press drop
	+ Jumping Senton
	+ Knee Drop
	+ Knee facebreaker
	+ Multiple Suplex variations
		- Backdrop
		- German
		- Half nelson
		- Super
		- Vertical
		- Wheelbarrow
	+ Pop up Powerbomb
	+ Powerbomb
	+ Scoop Powerslam
	+ *Shot Put Slam* (High-angle Chokeslam)
	+ Shoulder block
	+ Single knee gutbuster
	+ Spinebuster
	+ STO
	+ Tilt-a-whirl backbreaker
	+ Turnbuckle Powerbomb
	+ Uranage
	+ Uranage Backbreaker
	+ Waterwheel Slam
* **Nicknames:**
	+ "Māori Muscle"
	+ "Mighty Glacier"
	+ "The Juggernaut"
* **Entrance Music:**
	+ "Don't Get In My Way" by Zack Hemsey
	+ **"Juggernaut" by Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes**

## Championships & Other Accomplishments:

* **Grand Prix Wrestling:**
	+ New Zealand Heavyweight Championship (2 time)
	+ New Zealand Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Sean Wainui