What is dpw & how does it work?

DEADLOCK Pro Wrestling stands as one of the premier independent professional wrestling organizations in North America. DPW utilizes a meticulous matchmaking system to curate compelling cards that determine the premier wrestlers worldwide, epitomized by the coveted championship titles officially recognized by the federation. The DPW roster is exclusively reserved for elite wrestlers, carefully selected through invitation.

In the company of DEADLOCK Pro Wrestling, matches attain official sanctioning once all participating wrestlers endorse a match agreement contract. Wrestlers not only receive compensation for their participation in sanctioned matches but also earn additional compensation for emerging victorious (referred to as the winner's purse). This underscores the significance of not only securing a spot on a DPW card but also achieving victory. Notably, champions and challengers engaged in sanctioned title fights receive a heightened compensation.

While victories hold paramount importance in DPW, particularly in the context of title fights, matchmakers consider various elements beyond mere win-loss records. Factors such as entertainment value, delivering a standout performance, and displaying the spirit of a warrior are pivotal qualities that can leave a lasting impression on matchmakers and fans alike, influencing future card selections. DPW's front office also reserves the right to bestow extra bonuses for exceptional performances, underscoring the organization's commitment to prioritizing exciting and engaging matches alongside the imperative of winning.

The creation of matches within DPW serve diverse purposes such as the identification of title challengers within a division, title fights, settling personal grudges outside of divisional standings, and even at the explicit request of the wrestlers themselves at times. A wrestler's frequency of match offers is closely linked to their win-loss record – accumulating victories increases the likelihood of receiving match offers, while a series of losses diminishes these opportunities. Beyond sheer wins and losses, factors such as fan support, match quality, and the ability to generate buzz also weigh significantly in determining match opportunities.

DPW adopts a unique approach to crafting title fights compared to other organizations. Title fights may be instigated by either, what is called, mandatory challengers or voluntary challengers. Mandatory challengers earn their status by accumulating noteworthy wins securing high positions in DPW's internal rankings AND/OR by winning #1 contender matches. Voluntary challengers can secure a title fight based on their ability to create significant buzz AND/OR a must-see title fight scenario regardless of their standing in the internal DPW rankings - this includes an outside challenge, a highly requested title fight rematch, or a grudge that has erupted into a fight or flight scenario for the champion & challenger.

WHAT IS THIS MATCH TYPE?

Every sanctioned match in DPW has a set time limit unless mentioned otherwise before the match begins,

• Proving Ground: 10 minutes

• Singles: 15 minutes

• X Way (Dance): 20 minutes

• Tag Team: 20 minutes

• Trios Tag Team: 20 minutes

• Championship: 30 minutes

DPW has hosted quite a few different match-types over the years. Here is a breakdown of the more popular ones,

• CAROLINA WARFARE

  • No time limit, no rules, no holds barred. This is the penultimate match in DEADLOCK Pro Wrestling - a match that signifies the end. While Carolina is in the name, the match-type can happen outside of North Carolina. The name was kept the same as a homage to the original match & the home of the company.

• BEST OF 3 SERIES

  • 2 teams of 3, 3 singles matches in a row, the first team to achieve 2 wins is the winner. Every match in the series is contested under regular singles match rules.

• X WAY

  • X wrestlers start in the ring at once. First fall to a finish with NO eliminations. This match has no rules compared to its X WAY DANCE counterpart.

• X WAY DANCE

  • X wrestlers start in ring at once. Wrestlers are eliminated from the match after a pin, submission, or referee stoppage until the last man standing is your winner. As the match is elimination ruling, there ARE rules in this type of match compared to its X WAY counterpart.

How do I watch DPW?

Every event from DPW past, present, & future is available on our premium OTT service, DPW On Demand.

when does X show go up on demand?

All events are uploaded to DPW On Demand the weekend following the events date. Example: if an event occurs on Sunday, the event will premiere live on DPW On Demand the next Saturday/Sunday. The only events that deviate from this schedule are DPW LIVE branded events which are livestreamed simultaneously.

why aren’t all events just livestreamed?

The short answer is: we don’t have the resources to be live all the time. The DPW production team is a small & focused team that is able to deliver the high-quality events that we do because of the extra time that a tape delay live premiere allows us. We are proud to be able to livestream our DPW LIVE branded events and use these events as learning opportunities that will eventually allow us to livestream all our events in the future. As for now, to deliver the quality & presentation that we envision for DPW, this is the way it needs to be.

Why is DPW On Demand so expensive?

DPW is an independently owned company - we have no financial backing. The gate to our live events & subscriptions to our on-demand service are the two biggest drivers to funding the events we run. The biggest thing you’ll notice right away when viewing DPW for the very first time is that our event production is on par with companies with far more money & far more resources - especially in comparison to the independent scene as a whole. As you can imagine, this is not cheap. Instead of pricing our on-demand to scale like most tech companies do where it starts cheap & then becomes expensive over time, which would have put us in debt right away, we decided to be up front with our pricing: this is how much it costs to run the company successfully. We compare the pricing to buying a DVD every month (which is what we did growing up with wrestling & hell it was even more expensive than that just for 1 DVD in 480p most the time) and sometimes you even get 2 or 3 events in a month for the same cost.