2300 ARENA
Nicknames: Viking Hall (1986-1993), ECW Arena (1993-2001), XPW Arena (2002-2003), [New] Alhambra Arena (2004-2009), The Arena (2009-2010), Asylum Arena (2010-2012) and 2300 Arena (2013-currently)
2300 Arena (formerly known as the ECW Arena) is a former warehouse and current multi-purpose indoor arena used primarily for professional wrestling and boxing events. It is located in South Philadelphia on the corner of South Swanson Street and West Ritner Street.
FREIGHT WAREHOUSE (1970s-1980s):
The facility was originally, in the 1970s, used as a warehouse. Rail tracks next to the building allowed for 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 (1980s-1993):
The warehouse was given the name Viking Hall in the 1980s after it was purchased by the South Philadelphia Viking Club, a local chapter of mummers. They used the building for storage and to rehearse for the annual Mummers Day Parade. Through the mid-1990s, the Viking Club would also stage midnight bingo games at the venue to raise funds for their organization.
ECW ARENA (1993-2001):
The building gained worldwide recognition when it served as the ECW Arena, home of professional wrestling promotion Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) from 1993 until the promotion filed for bankruptcy in 2001.
South Philadelphia fans were prominent in the rise of ECW from a local promotion to a nationally known promotion that was considered the number 3 in the United States. A dollar store was located next to the venue on South Swanson Street, allowing ECW fans to go buy cookware and bakeware and bring it to the show to hand wrestlers to use on themselves as weapons during the events.
ECW's biggest show at the arena was in 1997 when they aired their first-ever pay-per-view event live from the building. ECW Barely Legal 1997 nearly ended in chaos as just seconds after the PPV feed ended and fans saw the end of the show, the building lost its power due to a blown transistor because of the amount of electric they were using for the PPV event. The event was documented in the film Beyond The Mat, which was released in 1999 and featured exclusive backstage clips from the night of Barely Legal including the all famous Paul Heyman pep speech that night.
XPW ARENA (2002-2003):
Following the demise of Extreme Championship Wrestling in 2001, many wrestling promotions ran shows at the venue. Controversy arose when Xtreme Pro Wrestling (XPW) signed an exclusive lease with the venue in late 2002, renaming the building the XPW Arena and preventing other wrestling promotions from utilizing it. This was during what fans referred to as the Philadelphia Indy Wars of the early 2000s.. XPW went out of business in 2003 and the lease was voided.
ALHAMBRA ARENA (2004-2009):
The building's name was officially changed to New Alhambra Sports & Entertainment Center in 2004, then 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 events at the venue with Joe Hand Promotions in 2004. It paid homage to the original Alhambra Movie Theater in South Philadelphia that hosted boxing in the 1950s and 1960s. In March of 2005, the venue became home to Wrestle Factory, the wrestling school for CHIKARA.
In June of 2005, an unofficial ECW reunion show called Hardcore Homecoming drew a sell-out crowd and set a new record gate for the venue with $135,000 in ticket sales. Footage shot at the venue in February 2006 was used in the film Rocky Balboa. In June of 2006, the ECW brand of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) ran a house show at the venue with tickets for the event selling out in under 4 minutes.
THE ARENA (2009-2010):
Joe Hand Promotions announced in January 2009 that after a five-year partnership, it would stop promoting boxing cards at the venue. The venue was then renamed The Arena by the general manager Roger Artigiani.
In February 2009, the venue began hosting regular television tapings for the Ring of Honor Wrestling (ROH) series called Ring of Honor Wrestling TV, which aired on HDNet at the time.
Major Events That Took Place At 2300 Arena:
- ECW Super Summer Sizzler (June 19th, 1993)
- ECW Ultra Clash 1993 (September 18th, 1993)
- ECW When Worlds Collide (May 14th, 1994)
- ECW Barely Legal 1997 (April 13th, 1997)
- Hardcore Homecoming: An Extreme Reunion (June 10th, 2005)
- UWF-TNA Hardcore War (June 9th, 2006)
- UWF-TNA The Return to Philadelphia (November 10th, 2006)
- CHIKARA High Noon (November 13th, 2011)
- EVOLVE 10 (January 14th, 2012)
- ROH x NJPW War of the Worlds 2015: Night 1 (May 12th, 2015)
- ROH x NJPW War of the Worlds 2015: Night 2 (May 13th, 2015)
- ROH Final Battle 2015 (December 18th, 2015)
- EVOLVE 108 (August 4th, 2018)
- Impact Wrestling x House of Hardcore A Night You Can't Mist (June 8th, 2019)
- EVOLVE 131 (July 13th, 2019)
- ROH Glory By Honor XVIII (August 20th - 21st, 2021)
- NJPW Collision in Philadelphia (April 16th, 2023)
- Impact Wrestling x NJPW Multiverse United 2 (August 20th, 2023)
- MLW Kings of Colosseum (January 6th, 2024)
- Stardom American Dream 2024 in the Keystone State (April 4th, 2024)
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