2300 Arena, formerly known as Viking Hall, XPW Arena, New Alhambra Arena, The Arena, Asylum Arena and best known as the ECW Arena, is a multipurpose indoor arena used primarily for professional wrestling, boxing, mixed martial arts, and concert events.
Located in South Philadelphia under an elevated stretch of Interstate 95, it is named after its address at 2300 South Swanson Street.
Maps, Directions, and Place Reviews
History
Freight warehouse (1974-1986)
The facility was originally a freight warehouse that was built in 1974. Rail tracks next to the building allowed trains to drop off freight for storage and then continue on to their destinations. The tracks were eventually paved over to become an extension of West Ritner Street, allowing West Ritner Street to intersect with South Swanson Street.
Viking Hall (1986-1993)
Elias Stein and Leon Silverman of the law firm Stein & Silverman Family Partnership, Inc. purchased the warehouse in 1986. The southern part of the facility was given the name Viking Hall when the South Philadelphia Viking Club, a local chapter of mummers, began utilizing it. They used the building for storage and to rehearse for the annual Mummers Parade. The Viking Club would also stage midnight bingo games at the venue to raise funds for their organization. The northern part of the building was occupied by retail space, most notably a Forman Mills clothing store.
ECW Arena (1993-2001)
The southern part of the building gained worldwide recognition when it served as ECW Arena, home of professional wrestling promotion Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) from May 1993 until the promotion's closure in April 2001.
An NWA World Title Tournament at the venue in August 1994 ended with Shane Douglas throwing down the NWA World Heavyweight Championship and declaring himself ECW World Heavyweight Champion, effectively launching ECW as a national promotion.
ECW broadcast Barely Legal, their first live pay-per-view event from the venue in April 1997. The event was headlined by Terry Funk defeating Raven to become ECW World Heavyweight Champion. Immediately following the broadcast, the building lost power. Paul Heyman commented in April 1998 as to whether ECW would run another pay-per-view event from the venue:
ECW never ran another pay-per-view from the venue. The promotion gradually moved its shows away from Philadelphia, running only 6 events at the venue in 2000.
The final ECW show at the venue was Holiday Hell in December 2000, headlined by Steve Corino retaining his ECW World Heavyweight Championship against Justin Credible and The Sandman.
XPW Arena (2002-2003)
Following the demise of Extreme Championship Wrestling in April 2001, other Philadelphia-based professional wrestling promotions such as Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW) and Pro-Pain Pro Wrestling (3PW) began running shows at the venue. Ring of Honor (ROH) opted to run their shows at Murphy Recreation Center, citing the need to establish their own legacy separate from ECW.
Controversy arose when Xtreme Pro Wrestling (XPW) signed an exclusive lease with the venue in December 2002 and renamed the building XPW Arena, preventing other promotions from utilizing it. Forced to relocate, CZW moved their shows to the new CZW Arena in Southwest Philadelphia, while 3PW moved their shows to Electric Factory.
In January 2003, the Pennsylvania State Athletic Commission banned barbed wire and light tubes from professional wrestling matches in response to violent XPW and CZW events at the venue.
The building's ownership evicted XPW from the venue in February 2003 after the promotion failed to make lease payments. CZW resumed running shows at the venue in March 2003, with 3PW returning in November 2003.
Alhambra Arena (2004-2009)
The building's name was officially changed to New Alhambra Sports & Entertainment Center in 2004, and was later shortened to New Alhambra Arena in 2006 and Alhambra Arena in 2008. The name was suggested by J. Russell Peltz, who began co-promoting professional boxing cards at the venue with Joe Hand Promotions in May 2004. It paid homage to the original Alhambra Movie Theater in South Philadelphia that hosted boxing in the 1950s and 1960s.
The band New York Dolls headlined a concert at the venue on Valentine's Day in February 2008.
The Arena (2009-2010)
J. Russell Peltz and Joe Hand Promotions announced in January 2009 that after a five-year partnership, they would stop promoting boxing cards at the venue and move their shows to The Blue Horizon. The venue was then renamed to The Arena by general manager Roger Artigiani.
In February 2009, the venue began hosting regular television tapings for the ROH series Ring of Honor Wrestling. The first taping drew a sell-out crowd and was headlined by Bryan Danielson defeating Austin Aries.
Dragon Gate USA filmed their first pay-per-view event, Enter The Dragon before a sell-out crowd at the venue in July 2009. The card was headlined by Open the Dream Gate Champion Naruki Doi defeating Shingo Takagi in a non-title match.
In September 2009, independent wrestler Matt Riot died following a Combat Zone Wrestling training session at the venue where he collapsed from a brain hemorrhage.
Matrix Fights drew a sell-out crowd at the venue for their first mixed martial arts event in February 2010, featuring Cole Konrad on the undercard.
J. Russell Peltz and Joe Hand Promotions returned to promoting boxing cards at the venue after The Blue Horizon closed in June 2010.
Asylum Arena (2010-2012)
Roger Artigiani announced in October 2010 that mixed martial arts group Asylum Fight League had purchased the naming rights to the venue and renamed it Asylum Arena.
New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) concluded Invasion Tour 2011, their first ever tour of the United States, with an event at the venue in May 2011. The card was headlined by Togi Makabe defeating Rhino, and the undercard featured MVP defeating Toru Yano to become the inaugural IWGP Intercontinental Champion.
Chikara broadcast High Noon, their first live internet pay-per-view event from the venue in November 2011. Eddie Kingston defeated Mike Quackenbush in the main event to become the inaugural Chikara Grand Champion.
Arena Operating, LLC (2012-2013)
Arena Operating, LLC (headed by Joanna Pang of the Trocadero Theatre) signed an exclusive lease with the venue in February 2012 with plans to renovate and convert it to a concert hall.
Prior to the renovations beginning, Evolve presented on live internet pay-per-view what was billed as the venue's final professional wrestling event, A Tribute to the Arena, on January 14, 2012. New Jack appeared at this event, ending his September 2006 ban from the venue. The final event prior to the venue closing was a Peltz Boxing Promotions card on January 21, 2012 that aired live on NBC Sports Network as the debut episode of Fight Night.
The building's ownership evicted Arena Operating, LLC in April 2013 after Joanna Pang failed to complete her proposed renovations.
2300 Arena (2013-present)
The venue hosted the premiere screening of the unofficial ECW documentary Barbed Wire City in April 2013.
Extreme Rising promoted the first professional wrestling card at the newly renamed 2300 Arena in December 2013. The venue's name derived from its newly constructed entranceway at 2300 South Swanson Street, replacing the old entrance at 7 West Ritner Street.
ROH and NJPW jointly presented War of the Worlds '15 at the venue over two consecutive nights in May 2015.
ROH broadcast Final Battle 2015 on live pay-per-view from the venue in December 2015, headlined by Jay Lethal retaining his ROH World Championship against AJ Styles.
The Republican National Committee used the venue for its RNC at the DNC event in July 2016 to counter the Democratic National Convention at Wells Fargo Center.
Philly Fashion Week began hosting the runway portion of its biannual event at the venue in September 2016.
ROH and House of Hardcore signed exclusive deals with the venue in January 2017, preventing other professional wrestling promotions from utilizing it.
Action Karate Feasterville Video
Promotional history
Concerts
These musicians have held concerts at 2300 Arena.
Mixed martial arts
These mixed martial arts promotions have held events at 2300 Arena.
Professional boxing
These professional boxing promotions have held events at 2300 Arena.
Professional wrestling
These professional wrestling promotions have held events at 2300 Arena.
Training
These professional boxing and professional wrestling schools have held training sessions at 2300 Arena.
Tournament history
Amateur boxing
These amateur boxing tournaments have been held at 2300 Arena.
Professional wrestling
These professional wrestling tournaments have been held at 2300 Arena.
Records
This is a list of records set by both individuals and groups in various categories at 2300 Arena.
Amateur boxing
- Most tournament wins: 4, Jesse Hart
Concerts
- Most events: 3, Sapremia
- First event: Peelander-Z, August 26, 2006
- Longest event: 2 days, Hostile City Death Fest, July 4, 2009 and July 5, 2009
Mixed martial arts
- Most matches: 3, Nah-Shon Burrell
- Most events: 6, Asylum Fight League
- Highest attendance: 1,300, Matt Makowski vs. LeVon Maynard, February 27, 2010
- First match: Daniel Matalla defeated Michael Colisto, October 17, 2009
- Longest match: 3 rounds, multiple instances
- Shortest match: 0:15, Brylan Van Artsdalen vs. Shane Hutchinson, June 11, 2010
Professional boxing
- Most matches: 12, Mike Jones
- Most events: 28, Peltz Boxing Promotions
- Highest attendance: 1,419, Rogers Mtagwa vs. Aldo Valtierra, March 7, 2008
- First match: Earl Clark defeated Kevin Swain, September 24, 1993
- Longest match: 12 rounds, Derek Ennis vs. Gabriel Rosado, July 30, 2010; Enrique Ornelas vs. Bronco McKart, August 10, 2007; Rogers Mtagwa vs. Aldo Valtierra, July 20, 2007; Demetrius Hopkins vs. Mario Ramos, March 3, 2006; Larry Mosley vs. Miguel Figueroa, March 3, 2006
- Shortest match: 0:22, Derrick Webster vs. Obodai Sai, November 25, 2014
Professional wrestling
- Most matches: 144, Ruckus
- Most events: 135, Combat Zone Wrestling
- Highest attendance: 1,850, Mike Awesome vs. Spike Dudley, January 15, 2000
- First match: Road Warrior Hawk defeated Don E. Allen and The Samoan Warrior, May 14, 1993
- Longest match: 1:04:00, Claudio Castagnoli, Eddie Kingston, Gran Akuma, Mike Quackenbush and The Colony (Fire Ant, Soldier Ant and Worker Ant) vs. Atsushi Ohashi, Daisuke Sekimoto, Jaki Numazawa, Katsumasa Inoue, Ryuji Ito, Shinya Ishikawa and Yuji Okabayashi, October 19, 2008
- Shortest match: 0:09, The Sandman vs. Chad Austin, March 4, 1994; Tommy Dreamer and Johnny Gunn vs. Johnny Hotbody and Tony Stetson, November 13, 1993
- Most tournament wins: 4, Claudio Castagnoli
Awards and honors
- 1994 - Best Weekly Television Show by Wrestling Observer Newsletter - ECW Hardcore TV
- 1995 - Best Weekly Television Show by Wrestling Observer Newsletter - ECW Hardcore TV
- 1996 - Best Weekly Television Show by Wrestling Observer Newsletter - ECW Hardcore TV
- 1996 - Five Star Match by Dave Meltzer - Rey Mysterio, Jr. vs. Juventud Guerrera, March 9, 1996
- 2006 - Venue of the Year by ESPN2 boxing program Wednesday Night Fights
- 2007 - Best of Philly: Sports Venue by the magazine Philadelphia
- 2008 - Best of Philly: Guys' Night Out by the magazine Philadelphia
- 2009 - Best Major Show by Wrestling Observer Newsletter - DGUSA Enter the Dragon, July 25, 2009
- 2010 - Best Weekly Television Show by Wrestling Observer Newsletter - Ring of Honor Wrestling
- 2010 - Briscoe Award - Philly Fight of the Year - Derek Ennis vs. Gabriel Rosado, July 30, 2010
- 2011 - Briscoe Award - Philly Fight of the Year - Juan Rodriguez, Jr. vs. Greg Hackett, July 29, 2011
- 2012 - Briscoe Award - Philly Fight of the Year - Bryant Jennings vs. Maurice Byarm, January 21, 2012
- 2015 - Briscoe Award - Philly Fight of the Year - Amir Mansour vs. Joey Dawejko, May 8, 2015
Hardcore Hall of Fame
Banners commemorating the careers of professional wrestlers and wrestling personalities who contributed to the history of 2300 Arena are permanently on display at the venue.
Inductees
Ceremony dates
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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