Deadlock Pro-Wrestling (stylized as DEADLOCK Pro Wrestling), often referred to simply as DPW, is an American independentprofessional wrestling promotion, founded on November 1, 2021, by Anthony Douglas, James Darnell, and John Blud.[1] On December 11, DPW taped the first episode of their broadcast show, Fire, which aired five days later on YouTube.[2] Since then, new episodes of DPW's Fire and Spark programs have aired on YouTube and the promotion's streaming platform, DPW On Demand.[3] The name of the promotion is derived from the Deadlock Podcast, which is hosted by the promotion's founders.[4]
On November 1, 2021, the formation of Deadlock Pro-Wrestling (DPW) was announced by Anthony Douglas (TonyPizzaGuy), James Darnell (Pulse), and John Blud (Johnny from NewLegacyInc), the hosts of the Deadlock Podcast.[1] On December 11, DPW taped their first show, Fire, which aired on YouTube on December 16.[2] The first episode of Fire introduced a tournament to crown the first DPW Worlds Champion.[2]Fire would conclude on June 3, 2022, due to the series not being considered financially successful enough to continue doing. Thus, the company would stick to its monthly event format.
On January 8, 2022, DPW produced their first internet pay-per-view (PPV) event named You Already Know, which aired on January 15. At the event, Bojack defeated Andrew Everett in the DPW Worlds Championship tournament finals to become the inaugural champion.[5] On April 16, at Forever, The Reality (Chance Rizer and Patrick Scott) defeated The Workhorsemen (Anthony Henry and JD Drake) to became the first Worlds Tag Team Champions.[6] On June 10, at Showdown In The Carolinas, Calvin Tankman defeated Kevin Ku in a tournament final to became the inaugural National Champion,[7] and on August 6, at Believe The Hype, Raychell Rose defeated Rosemary in a tournament final to became the inaugural Women's Worlds Champion.[8]
On January 14, 2023, DPW held their first live PPV event named Live 1: Ali vs KENTo.[9] On April 16, 2023, the promotion held Live 2 in New Jersey – marking their first event outside of North Carolina. On April 25 and 27, 2023, DPW held a two-night collaboration event with Gatoh Move Pro Wrestling in Japan, which marked their first event outside of the United States.[10] On December 2, 2023, DPW announced it would be touring outside of North Carolina for the year of 2024. Such locations included Texas and Illinois.
On March 29, 2024, DPW announced that they had entered into a strategic partnership with fellow independent wrestling promotions West Coast Pro Wrestling and Prestige Wrestling.[11] It was announced on June 7, 2024, all future DPW events, starting from Limit Break, would be made available on Wrestle Universe.[12]
Reception
DPW has been received very positively, gaining praise for their in-ring work, production, and fanbase. Wrestlers such as Kenny Omega and Andre Chase have publicly spoken positively of the promotion. DPW was also nominated for "Promotion of the Year" for the 2023 Fightful Awards.
Programming and events
Current
DPW Spark
Spark is a web television program that airs on DPW's YouTube and the company's streaming service DPW On Demand.[13] The series debuted on December 30, 2021. The series acts as a pre-show to major events.
Fire was the flagship program of DPW that aired DPW's YouTube channel and DPW On Demand.[14] The series debuted on December 16, 2021, originally airing on the DPW's YouTube channel, and concluded on June 3, 2022.
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