Deadlock Pro-Wrestling

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Deadlock Pro-Wrestling
Deadlock Pro-Wrestling
Company typePrivate
IndustryProfessional wrestling
FoundedNovember 1, 2021; 2 years ago (2021-11-01)
FounderAnthony Douglas
James Darnell
John Blud
HeadquartersNorth Carolina, U.S.
OwnerAnthony Douglas
James Darnell
John Blud
Websitedeadlockpro.com

Deadlock Pro-Wrestling (DPW) is an American independent professional 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]

Notable mainstays for the promotion include Andrew Everett, Calvin Tankman, Kevin Ku, Colby Corino, Anthony Henry, Emi Sakura, Miyuki Takase, Nicole Matthews, Mike Bailey, Bryan Keith, Tom Lawlor, and Jake Something. Other prominent wrestlers who have also been featured include Rosemary, Luther, JTG, Konosuke Takeshita, the Grizzled Young Veterans, Motor City Machine Guns, MxM, the Super Smash Brothers, and Mustafa Ali.

Championships from other companies have been defended on DPW programming, such as Gatoh Move Pro Wrestling's Super Asia Championship and Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling's Princess Tag Team Championship.

History[edit]

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 finanical 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]

Reception[edit]

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[edit]

Current[edit]

DPW Spark[edit]

Spark is a web television program that airs on DPW's YouTube and the company's streaming service DPW On Demand.[12] The series debuted on December 30, 2021. The series acts as a pre-show to major events.

Former[edit]

DPW Fire[edit]

Main article: DPW Fire

Fire was the flagship program of DPW that aired DPW's YouTube channel and DPW On Demand.[13] The series debuted on December 16, 2021, originally airing on the DPW's YouTube channel, and concluded on June 3, 2022.

Major events[edit]

Main article: List of Deadlock Pro-Wrestling events

Deadlock Pro-Wrestling has produced 24 chronological events. The first event took place on January 8, 2022, in Raleigh, North Carolina at the Raleigh Convention Center. The Durham Armory in Durham, North Carolina has held the most events with six.

Championships and accomplishments[edit]

Championship Current champion(s) Reign Date won Days
held 		Successful defenses Location Notes Ref.
DPW Worlds Championship Calvin Tankman 1 December 10, 2023 137 5 Durham, NC Defeated Colby Corino to win the vacant championship at 2nd Anniversary. [14]
DPW National Championship Bryan Keith 1 August 13, 2023 256 5 Durham, NC Defeated previous champion Andrew Everett at Beast Coast. [15]
DPW Worlds Tag Team Championship Speedball x Something
(Mike Bailey and Jake Something) 		1 March 10, 2024 46 0 Berwyn, IL Defeated previous champions The Motor City Machine Guns (Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin) at Live 5.
DPW Women's Worlds Championship Miyuki Takase 1 December 10, 2023 137 2 Durham, NC Defeated previous champion Emi Sakura at 2nd Anniversary. [14]

Tournaments[edit]

  – Championship victory
  – Championship match loss
Accomplishment: Winner(s): Date won: Note:
Carolina Classic 2022 Lucky Ali October 15, 2022 Defeat defending champion Bojack and Kidd Bandit to win the DPW Worlds Championship at World's Strongest 2022.
Tag Festival 2023 The Workhorsemen (Anthony Henry and JD Drake) June 18, 2023 Won the DPW Worlds Tag Team Championship in the finals.
Carolina Classic 2023 Jay Malachi September 17, 2023 Defeat Lucky Ali to win the DPW Worlds Championship the same night.

DPW Awards[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b Rumsey, Connel (November 1, 2021). "DEADLOCK Pro-Wrestling Officially Announced". WrestleTalk. Retrieved December 13, 2022.
  2. ^ a b c "DPW Fire Episode 1 Review". Parts Unknown Press. December 17, 2021. Retrieved December 13, 2022.
  3. ^ "DPW On Demand". dpwondemand.com/. Retrieved June 19, 2023.
  4. ^ "DEADLOCK - Pro Wrestling Lifestyle & Culture". DEADLOCK. Retrieved October 24, 2023.
  5. ^ Lambert, Jeremy (January 16, 2022). "DPW You Already Know Results (1/15): First-Ever DPW Worlds Champion Crowned". Fightful. Retrieved December 13, 2022.
  6. ^ DeFelice, Robert (April 24, 2022). "DPW Forever 2022 (4/23) Results: First DPW Tag Champions Crowned". Fightful. Retrieved December 13, 2022.
  7. ^ Alexander, Brady (July 17, 2022). "DPW: Showdown In The Carolina's Results – 7/16/22". BodySlam.net. Retrieved December 13, 2022.
  8. ^ Lambert, Jeremy (August 15, 2022). "DPW Believe The Hype Results (8/13): Konosuke Takeshita, Dante Martin, Rosemary In Action". Fightful. Retrieved December 13, 2022.
  9. ^ DEADLOCK Pro Wrestling [@deadlockpro] (December 21, 2022). "🗣 NEW DPW SHOW ANNOUNCEMENT..." (Tweet). Archived from the original on January 17, 2023. Retrieved February 23, 2023 – via Twitter.
  10. ^ Brookes, Chris [@OBEYBrookes] (March 26, 2023). "‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️ @deadlockpw x @gatohmove_jp 4.25 Shin Kiba 1st Ring 4.27 Shinjuku FACE LFG! 🔥#ChocoPro" (Tweet). Retrieved April 22, 2023 – via Twitter.
  11. ^ https://twitter.com/deadlockpro/status/1773761370439184457
  12. ^ "Spark". dpwondemand.com/. Retrieved June 19, 2023.
  13. ^ "Fire". dpwondemand.com/. Retrieved June 19, 2023.
  14. ^ a b Lambert, Jeremy (December 18, 2023). "DPW 2nd Anniversary Results (12/16): Three New Champions Crowned". Fightful. Retrieved December 19, 2023.
  15. ^ Kreikenbohm, Philip. "DPW Beast Coast « Events Database « Cagematch – The Internet Wrestling Database". Cagematch.net. Retrieved August 24, 2023.

External links[edit]

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