Pro-Pain Pro Wrestling, or 3PW, was a

hardcore Hardcore, hard core or hard-core may refer to: Arts and media Film * ''Hardcore'' (1977 film), a British comedy film * ''Hardcore'' (1979 film), an American crime drama film starring George C Scott * ''Hardcore'' (2001 film), a British documen ...

professional wrestling promotion A professional wrestling promotion is a company or business that regularly performs shows involving professional wrestling that has little relationship to the rules of the amateur olympic form. "Promotion" also describes a role which entails man ...

based in

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

. It ran many shows from the former

ECW Arena 2300 Arena is a multipurpose indoor arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania used primarily for professional wrestling, boxing, mixed martial arts, and concert events. Originally known as Viking Hall, the venue has since been named Alhambra Arena, The ...

. Following the close of

Extreme Championship Wrestling HHG Corporation, doing business as Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), was a professional wrestling promotion and media company that was based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The promotion was founded in 1992 by Tod Gordon as National Wrest ...

, many former ECW veterans, such as

Raven A raven is any of several larger-bodied bird species of the genus ''Corvus''. These species do not form a single taxonomic group within the genus. There is no consistent distinction between "crows" and "ravens", common names which are assigned t ...

The Sandman The Sandman is a mythical character in European folklore who puts people to sleep and encourages and inspires beautiful dreams by sprinkling magical sand onto their eyes. Representation in traditional folklore The Sandman is a traditional charact ...

Al Snow Allen Ray Sarven (born July 18, 1963) is an American professional wrestler better known by his ring name Al Snow. He is best known as a wrestler for Smoky Mountain Wrestling, Extreme Championship Wrestling, and World Wrestling Entertainment. Sn ...

and Sabu, made frequent appearances in the promotion

History

The promotion was founded by Jasmin St. Claire and Brian "The Blue Meanie" Heffron and they were later joined by former

promoter

Tod Gordon Tod Gordon (born June 19, 1955, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is an American businessman. Gordon is the president of Carver W. Reed Co. Inc, a Philadelphia jewelry store and loan office that was established in 1860. He is also the founder of defu ...

. In the beginning, 3PW brought in wrestling greats like Dusty Rhodes, Terry Funk, Abdullah The Butcher and Bam Bam Bigelow to add to the roster. The first 3PW shows ran at the ECW Arena, but when

XPW Xtreme Pro Wrestling (XPW) is an American independent professional wrestling promotion owned by Rob Zicari. Zicari originally ran the promotion out of Los Angeles from 1999 to 2003. He appeared on shows as the on-camera owner under the name R ...

Owner Rob Black signed an exclusive lease to the arena, 3PW moved to The Electric Factory. In 2004, 3PW had a show featuring a

Blue World Order The Blue World Order (bWo) was a stable of professional wrestlers formed at Extreme Championship Wrestling's November to Remember 1996 event at the ECW Arena. The stable lasted until August 1998 and was revived briefly in World Wrestling Enterta ...

reunion with Blue Meanie and Stevie Richards. The next month, 3PW hosted an NWA Florida X Division Championship match between Roderick Strong and Mikey Batts. In December 2004, however, problems began to surface. 3PW booker Tod Gordon resigned, walking out during a 3PW event following an argument with 3PW officials when there was apparently no money to pay wrestlers, security and other staff for the event. In April, Jasmin St. Claire was officially replaced as CEO by Richard McDonald. Rockin' Rebel took over as booker, but he and the Blue Meanie soon became involved in a business dispute with Pro Wrestling Unplugged owners

Johnny Kashmere John Kashmer (born November 6, 1978), better known by the ring name Johnny Kashmere, is an American professional wrestler. Kashmere has competed in Ring of Honor, Combat Zone Wrestling, Assault Championship Wrestling, and NWA New Jersey, and in J ...

and

Trent Acid Michael Verdi (November 12, 1980 – June 18, 2010), best known by his ring name Trent Acid, was an American professional wrestler. He worked as a tag team wrestler for most of his career, primarily as part of The Backseat Boyz with Johnny Kashm ...

. When St. Claire stopped receiving her royalty checks, she responded by putting the promotion up for sale in a one-day auction on

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although, no one responded to the $180,000 asking price. Blue Meanie attempted to resurrect the company, but was unable to find an investor. The company's final show was on June 18, 2005. In 2007 Force Entertainment began Professionally repacking and distributing 3PW Events throughout Australia commercially and through the companies' websites, as such the

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...

releases started turning up in supermarkets, video stores, and retail outlets.

Alumni

Male wrestlers

Stables and tag teams

Managers and valets

Commentators and interviewers

Other personnel

Championships

3PW World Heavyweight Championship

3PW Tag Team Championship

References

External links

3PW title historiesCageMatch.de - Pro Pain Pro Wrestling
{{Professional wrestling in the United States Entertainment companies established in 2002 Organizations established in 2002 Entertainment companies disestablished in 2005 Organizations disestablished in 2005 American independent professional wrestling promotions based in Pennsylvania 2002 establishments in Pennsylvania