Tag: 2300 Arena

Philadelphia street fight added to AEW Dynamite

Posted on by Josh Nason

The final AEW Dynamite in their residency at the 2300 Arena will feature a Philadelphia street fight.

Announced after Saturday’s AEW Collision from the same venue, AEW Women’s World Champion Toni Storm will take on Skye Blue in a non-title match.

Storm issued the challenge on social media following Saturday’s eight-woman tag team match that featured both competitors. A four-way title match for All Out was also made featuring Storm, Thekla, Kris Statlander and Jamie Hayter.

Storm and Blue have wrestled six times against each other dating back to March 2023 with Storm having a perfect 6-0 mark. Blue is looking for her first singles win since July 2024.

Current AEW Dynamite Card | Wednesday, September 10 | Philadelphia, PA

  • AEW World Champion Hangman Page vs. Josh Alexander in a non-title match
  • AEW Women’s World Champion Toni Storm vs. Skye Blue in a Philly street fight
  • Shelton Benjamin vs. Ricochet
  • Mercedes Mone & Emi Sakura vs. Riho & Alex Windsor

VIDEO: Taz’s Hardcore Hall of Fame banner, backstage tribute by AEW’s Tony Khan

Posted on by Josh Nason

Per Taz’s request, his Hardcore Hall of Fame induction, banner and tribute at the 2300 Arena that took place Wednesday did not air on the live AEW Dynamite broadcast.

In an eight-minute live video by Tony Khan seen below, he and Taz talked about the situation and that Taz preferred to not have any ceremony take up time on Dynamite so the focus could be on the current talent instead. Khan said he wanted to put the whole thing on TV, but wanted to honor Taz’s wishes. The two also ran down the card at length and joked about the TV show Seinfeld.

The banner (seen below) inside the former ECW Arena was shown on TV during the broadcast and acknowledged by Taz who said he was appreciative of the gesture and that it was “humbling.” He appreciated Khan and the fans, especially those in Philadelphia.

The ceremony that took place before Dynamite has yet to make it to social media or YouTube as of this writing.

Taz was originally surprised by the honor following last week’s kickoff to AEW’s multi-week residency at the 2300 Arena. Khan said on Friday that Taz asked to have the ceremony pushed to this week so more family could be in attendance.

Tony Khan says Taz’s Hardcore Hall of Fame ceremony delayed to next week

Posted on by Bryan Rose

Taz’s 2300 Arena tribute is being pushed back slightly.

During Friday’s ROH Death Before Dishonor media scrum, Tony Khan said that Taz had asked if they could move the Hardcore Hall of Fame ceremony to this coming Wednesday’s Dynamite instead of Collision so more of his family could attend. 

“He asked for more time to get his family and everybody lined up,” Khan explained. “It’s for him. It’s the least we can do for Taz….it’s a real honor for us to do that for him here in this building. Taz is an indespensible part of the team. ”

Khan surprised Taz on Wednesday by announcing that he would be the latest to be inducted into the 2300 Arena’s Hardcore Hall of Fame. The arena is better known to longtime fans as the ECW Arena, where Taz was a major star in the 1990s.

Here are notes from Saturday’s press conference with Paul Walter Hauser, Shane Taylor Promotions, ROH Champion Bandido, ROH Women’s Champion Athena, and Khan all took questions from the media.

Paul Walter Hauser

  • He took time to praise Khan, saying he provided so many jobs to people. To see Tony create these jobs and this world, he is indebted as a fan. Tony Khan said with his performance tonight Paul Walter Hauser proved that he is a wrestler.
  • He said that he felt more equipped for this match than previous matches, saying AEW cares a lot about performer safety.
  • Hauser said he wanted to pay tribute to people like Mick Foley and Dustin Rhodes by doing a rolling senton.
  • He said he didn’t even feel the tacks connect to the back of his head, he felt the powerbomb and had the wind knocked out of him and as a result didn’t have to sell much.
  • Khan during this segment put over QT Marshall, saying he’s one of the most intelligent people in wrestling.

Shane Taylor Promotions

  • Taylor said our goal was to do our best and win titles and we proved that tonight.
  • The Infantry said that the gear they wore tonight was a tribute to New Jack. Shane Taylor thanked the city of Philadelphia, saying they recognize real rather than “bull****.”
  • Taylor said out of all of his accomplishments, this was the most important title win of his 18 year career because of the people he’s involved with now. They are the most complete unit in pro wrestling. 

ROH World Champion Bandido

  • Bandido says after two years out, since he came back to AEW and ROH, it’s been like a dream. He’s excited to be part of AEW and ROH.
  • He said being ROH Champion now feels incredible. He said he would be back to wrestle during the residency and wanted a Philly cheesesteak.

ROH Women’s Champion Athena

  • Regarding her match with Mina Shirakawa, Athena said it was tough, it was hard, but she is the ROH Women’s Champion. She considered Mina a great opponent but wished she did less dancing.
  • They pushed Athena was nearing 1000 days as champion. 
  • Athena said that ROH was the be all growing up, bringing up names like Samoa Joe and Bryan Danielson. She said now not only is she working with them, she’s proven she is better than them, this platform is where the best wrestle. AEW is where the best wrestle but ROH is where people grind and become the workhorses.
  • Athena says she’s prepared for Mercedes Mone if she is looking to collect a tenth belt. She said she is also changing her mentality for a future Toni Storm rematch.

Tony Khan

  • First question asked if we’ll see AEW Dark, Elevation, and ROH content on HBO Max. Khan talked about the success of AEW on HBO Max. More content would be great and they are trying to put up more free content as well, mentioning recent ROH content being put up on YouTube.
  • He mentioned that he made the decision mid-show to make the show free due to streaming issues on some browsers. All current Honor Club subscribers will get a month free as a result of the error. He said that will cost a lot of money, up to hundreds of thousands of dollars. But it’s okay, because they made new fans tonight.
  • Asked if they’ll return to the 2300 Arena. Fans have been excellent, the environment is awesome. He wants to do more shows here and loves Philadelphia.
  • Tony Khan said he was figuring out who was cleared before booking more matches for tomorrow’s Collision.
  • Someone asked if we could see more of Adam Priest. Khan said he was a big fan and scouted him at a recent show, saying he was impressive in the British J Cup. Great competitor. 
  • He mentioned that Anthony Henry asked for the night off and that’s why the Workhorsemen weren’t on the show. 
  • Tony Khan suggested we could see ROH Women’s Pure title tournament matches on Collision, since ROH is taped during these shows. 

Report: WWE NXT returning to former ECW Arena ahead of AEW residency

Posted on by Josh Nason

WWE NXT is returning to Philadelphia’s famed 2300 Arena with an interesting date.

First reported by WrestleVotes on Thursday, an episode of NXT TV will emanate from the former ECW Arena on Tuesday, August 19th — eight days before AEW’s previously announced residency that begins on Wednesday, August 27th through Thursday, September 11th.

WWE has yet to publicly announce the event.

NXT debuted at the 2300 Arena on Wednesday, November 6th, to avoid election coverage the night before.

AEW announced their seven-show residency in May that will see the venue host three episodes of Dynamite, three episodes of Collision, and Ring of Honor’s Death Before Dishonor.

It’s the latest interesting scheduling issue with the two companies.

WWE formally announced that they will hold three shows over the July 12th weekend including NXT Great American Bash, Saturday Night’s Main Event, and Evolution. The Bash will run head-to-head with All In.

This past Sunday as AEW was holding their Double or Nothing pay-per-view, NXT Battleground went head-to-head with it — a trend with NXT premium live events and some AEW pay-per-views.

WWE has date booked at former ECW Arena

Posted on by Joseph Currier

WWE may be bringing NXT to a famous pro wrestling venue next month.

In the new issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer reports that WWE has an upcoming date booked at the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia, which was the former ECW Arena. There’s a belief that NXT will be taking place there on Wednesday, November 6 — but that has not been confirmed.

The first week of November, NXT is expected to air on Wednesday instead of Tuesday to avoid going against election night coverage. That means NXT and AEW Dynamite would be going head-to-head that week.

Meltzer wrote:

WWE has a date booked for the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia. While not confirmed, the belief is that it will be on 11/6, which would be the NXT TV tapings on a Wednesday, the day after the election. The fact there will be a show has been confirmed by many, just not the date. NXT will be on the unfamiliar night and I presume they’ll loaded up going head-to-head with AEW. It makes sense the idea of NXT from the ECW Arena for the first time will get enough buzz to help grow the audience in the attempt to beat AEW.

NXT’s new five-year TV deal with The CW Network began this month with episodes from the Chicago and St. Louis areas. After those two weeks on the road, the show was back airing from the WWE Performance Center this Tuesday.

TNA Wrestling announces Philadelphia TV tapings

Posted on by Joseph Currier

TNA Wrestling is coming to Philadelphia this March for two nights of television tapings.

It was announced today that TNA will hold TV tapings at Philadelphia’s 2300 Arena on Friday, March 22 and Saturday, March 23. Matches for the tapings will be announced in the coming weeks. They will air on future episodes of Impact.

Tickets for the tapings are going on sale at 10 a.m. Eastern time on Saturday, January 20.

“Philadelphia and the 2300 Arena have a long history in pro wrestling as the downtown venue made ECW a household name over 20 years ago,” TNA wrote. “TNA Wrestling had its first major show in Philadelphia in 2006 and the City of Brotherly Love played host to the Lockdown pay-per-view in 2009 and the Bound for Glory pay-per-view in 2011. IMPACT Wrestling had its last stand-alone shows at the 2300 Arena in March 2022.”

This will be the first time TNA has been to Philadelphia during the company’s new era. At Hard to Kill this Saturday, the promotion’s name change from Impact Wrestling back to TNA Wrestling officially goes into effect.

Here’s a look at TNA’s upcoming event schedule:

  • Saturday, January 13: Hard to Kill pay-per-view at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas
  • Sunday, January 14: TV taping at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas
  • Friday, January 19: TV taping at Osceola Heritage Park in Orlando, Florida
  • Saturday, January 20: TV taping at Osceola Heritage Park in Orlando, Florida
  • Friday, February 23: No Surrender (TNA Plus special) at the Alario Center in New Orleans
  • Saturday, February 24: TV taping at the Alario Center in New Orleans
  • Friday, March 8: Sacrifice (TNA Plus special) at St. Clair College in Windsor, Ontario, Canada
  • Saturday, March 9: TV taping at St. Clair College in Windsor, Ontario, Canada
  • Friday, March 22: TV taping at the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia
  • Saturday, March 23: TV taping at the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia