Deadlock Pro-Wrestling (stylized as DEADLOCK Pro Wrestling), often referred to simply as 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]
 | |
| Deadlock Pro-Wrestling | |
| Company type | Private |
| Industry | Professional wrestling |
| Founded | November 1, 2021 |
| Founders | Anthony Douglas James Darnell John Blud |
| Headquarters | North Carolina, U.S. |
| Owners | Anthony Douglas James Darnell John Blud |
| Website | deadlockpro |
Notable mainstays for the promotion include Andrew Everett, Chris Danger, Calvin Tankman, Kevin Ku, Colby Corino, Jay Malachi, 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, Mustafa Ali, Masato Tanaka, and Roderick Strong.
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
editOn 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
editDPW 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
editCurrent
editDPW Spark
editSpark 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.
Former
editDPW Fire
editFire 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.
Major events
editDeadlock Pro-Wrestling has produced 37 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 | .jpg)
|
Jake Something | 1 | October 19, 2024 | 24+ | 0 | Charlotte, NC | Defeated previous champion Calvin Tankman at DPW Super Battle. | [15] |
| DPW National Championship | 
|
Adam Priest | 1 | July 7, 2024 | 149+ | 4 | Raleigh, NC | Defeated BK Westbrook and Kevin Blackwood in a Three-way match to win the vacant championship at Tag Festival. | [16] |
| DPW Worlds Tag Team Championship | 
|
Speedball x Something (Mike Bailey and Jake Something) |
1 | March 10, 2024 | 268 | 3 | 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 | 359 | 4 | Durham, NC | Defeated previous champion Emi Sakura at 2nd Anniversary. | [15] |
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. |
| Tag Festival 2024 | Violence Is Forever (Kevin Ku and Dominic Garrini) | July 7, 2024 | |
| Carolina Classic 2024 | Jake Something | September 15, 2024 | Defeated Calvin Tankman to win the DPW Worlds Championship at Super Battle 2024. |
| Battle of the Best 2024 | Dani Luna | October 19, 2024 |
DPW Awards
edit
Wrestler of the Yearedit
Breakout Star of the Yearedit
Match of the Yearedit
|
Tag Team of the Yearedit
Event of the Yearedit
Moment of the Yearedit
|
References
edit- ^ a b Rumsey, Connel (November 1, 2021). "DEADLOCK Pro-Wrestling Officially Announced". WrestleTalk. Retrieved December 13, 2022.
- ^ a b c "DPW Fire Episode 1 Review". Parts Unknown Press. December 17, 2021. Retrieved December 13, 2022.
- ^ "DPW On Demand". dpwondemand.com/. Retrieved June 19, 2023.
- ^ "DEADLOCK - Pro Wrestling Lifestyle & Culture". DEADLOCK. Retrieved October 24, 2023.
- ^ Lambert, Jeremy (January 16, 2022). "DPW You Already Know Results (1/15): First-Ever DPW Worlds Champion Crowned". Fightful. Retrieved December 13, 2022.
- ^ DeFelice, Robert (April 24, 2022). "DPW Forever 2022 (4/23) Results: First DPW Tag Champions Crowned". Fightful. Retrieved December 13, 2022.
- ^ Alexander, Brady (July 17, 2022). "DPW: Showdown In The Carolina's Results – 7/16/22". BodySlam.net. Retrieved December 13, 2022.
- ^ Lambert, Jeremy (August 15, 2022). "DPW Believe The Hype Results (8/13): Konosuke Takeshita, Dante Martin, Rosemary In Action". Fightful. Retrieved December 13, 2022.
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ @deadlockpro (March 29, 2024). "As of today, DPW has entered into a strategic partnership with West Coast Pro Wrestling & Prestige Wrestling! The very best independent professional wrestling coast-to-coast" (Tweet). Archived from the original on August 20, 2024. Retrieved August 20, 2024 – via Twitter.
- ^ @W_UNIVERSE_eng (June 7, 2024). "DEADLOCK Pro Wrestling (DPW) @deadlockpro now on #wrestleUNIVERSE VOD!!" (Tweet). Archived from the original on August 20, 2024. Retrieved August 20, 2024 – via Twitter.
- ^ "Spark". dpwondemand.com/. Retrieved June 19, 2023.
- ^ "Fire". dpwondemand.com/. Retrieved June 19, 2023.
- ^ a b Lambert, Jeremy (December 18, 2023). "DPW 2nd Anniversary Results (12/16): Three New Champions Crowned". Fightful. Retrieved December 19, 2023.
- ^ @deadlockpro (July 1, 2024). "[BREAKING] Bryan Keith has suffered an injury & with no available timetable on his return, Keith will vacate the DPW National Championship. The Bounty Hunter held the belt for 323 days including 5 defenses, a record breaking number in both regards" (Tweet). Archived from the original on August 20, 2024. Retrieved August 20, 2024 – via Twitter.