 | |
| Deadlock Pro-Wrestling | |
| Company type | Private |
| Industry | Professional wrestling |
| Founded | November 1, 2021; 4 years ago (2021-11-01) |
| Founders | Anthony Douglas James Darnell John Blud |
| Headquarters | North Carolina, U.S. |
| Owners | Anthony Douglas James Darnell John Blud |
| Website | deadlockpro |
Deadlock Pro-Wrestling (stylized asDEADLOCK Pro Wrestling), often referred to simply asDPW, is an Americanindependentprofessional 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 onYouTube.[2] Since then, new episodes of DPW'sFire andSpark 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 includeAndrew 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, andJake Something. Other prominent wrestlers who have also been featured includeRosemary,Luther,JTG,Konosuke Takeshita, theGrizzled Young Veterans,Motor City Machine Guns,MxM, theSuper Smash Brothers,Mustafa Ali,Masato Tanaka, andRoderick Strong.
Championships from other companies have been defended on DPW programming, such asGatoh Move Pro Wrestling'sSuper Asia Championship andTokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling'sPrincess Tag Team Championship.
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 ofFire introduced a tournament to crown the firstDPW 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 firstinternet pay-per-view (PPV) event named You Already Know, which aired on January 15. At the event, Bojack defeatedAndrew 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 firstWorlds Tag Team Champions.[6] On June 10, at Showdown In The Carolinas,Calvin Tankman defeated Kevin Ku in a tournament final to became the inauguralNational Champion,[7] and on August 6, at Believe The Hype, Raychell Rose defeatedRosemary in a tournament final to became the inauguralWomen'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 inNew Jersey – marking their first event outside ofNorth Carolina. On April 25 and 27, 2023, DPW held a two-night collaboration event with Gatoh Move Pro Wrestling inJapan, 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 includedTexas andIllinois.
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 onWrestle Universe.[12]
On November 8, 2025, DPW announced the company would be going on an indefinite hiatus in 2026, with4th Anniversary, being its last ever show in theUS.[13]
Spark is aweb television program that airs on DPW'sYouTube and the company's streaming service DPW On Demand.[14] The series debuted on December 30, 2021. The series acts as a pre-show to major events.
Fire was the flagship program of DPW that aired DPW'sYouTube channel and DPW On Demand.[15] The series debuted on December 16, 2021, originally airing on the DPW'sYouTube channel, and concluded on June 3, 2022.
Deadlock Pro-Wrestling has produced 47 chronological events. The first event took place on January 8, 2022, inRaleigh, North Carolina, at theRaleigh Convention Center. TheDurham Armory inDurham, North Carolina, has held the most events with nine.
| Championship | Current champion(s) | Reign | Date won | Days held | Successful defenses | Location | Notes | Ref. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DPW Worlds Championship | .jpg) | Jake Something | 2 | October 19, 2025 | 30+ | 0 | Charlotte, NC | DefeatedAdam Priest in aSteel Cage match atSuper Battle. | [16] |
| DPW National Championship |  | LaBron Kozone | 1 | December 8, 2024 | 345+ | 9 | Durham, NC | Defeated Adam Priest at3rd Anniversary. | [17] |
| DPW Worlds Tag Team Championship | | Bo-Dash (Bojack and Morgan Dash) | 1 | November 7, 2025 | 11+ | 1 | Cary, NC | Defeated Miracle Generation (Dustin Waller and Kylon King) atShowdown in Cary II. | [18] |
| DPW Women's Worlds Championship | .jpg) | Queen Aminata | 1 | October 19, 2025 | 30+ | 0 | Charlotte, NC | DefeatedNicole Matthews atSuper Battle. | [16] |
| Accomplishment | Winner(s) | Date won | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Carolina Classic 2022 | Lucky Ali | October 15, 2022 | Defeat defending champion Bojack and Kidd Bandit to win theDPW Worlds Championship at World's Strongest 2022. |
| Tag Festival 2023 | The Workhorsemen(Anthony Henry and JD Drake) | June 18, 2023 | Won theDPW Worlds Tag Team Championship in the finals. |
| Carolina Classic 2023 | Jay Malachi | September 17, 2023 | Defeat Lucky Ali to win theDPW Worlds Championship the same night. |
| Tag Festival 2024 | Violence Is Forever(Kevin Ku andDominic Garrini) | July 7, 2024 | Defeated Speedball x Something (Mike Bailey andJake Something) to win theDPW Worlds Tag Team Championship at 3rd Anniversary. |
| Carolina Classic 2024 | Jake Something | September 15, 2024 | DefeatedCalvin Tankman to win theDPW Worlds Championship at Super Battle 2024. |
| Battle of the Best 2024 | Dani Luna | October 19, 2024 | DefeatedMiyuki Takase to win theDPW Women's Worlds Championship at Title Fight in Texas. |
| Tag Festival 2025 | Miracle Generation (Dustin Waller and Kylon King) | July 13, 2025 | Won theDPW Worlds Tag Team Championship in the finals. |
| Carolina Classic 2025 | Jake Something (2) | September 21, 2025 | DefeatedAdam Priest to win theDPW Worlds Championship at Super Battle 2025. |
| Battle of the Best 2025 | Queen Aminata | September 21, 2025 | DefeatedNicole Matthews to win theDPW Women's Worlds Championship at Super Battle 2025. |
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