New Alhambra Arena

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The New Alhambra Arena.
The New Alhambra Arena.

The New Alhambra Arena is a former bingo hall and current multi-purpose venue used primarily for boxing and professional wrestling events. The venue has a capacity of 1,131 for boxing and professional wrestling. It is located in South Philadelphia on the corner of Ritner Street and Swanson Street.

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Originally called Viking Hall, the building was used for rehearsals by the local Philadelphia chapter of mummers. Through the mid 1990s, it also served as a bingo parlor.

The Sandman wielding his signature Singapore cane during ECW's return in June of 2006.
The Sandman wielding his signature Singapore cane during ECW's return in June of 2006.

The building gained popularity when it served as the ECW Arena, home of professional wrestling promotion Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) from 1993 until the promotion's demise in 2001. The building's name was officially changed to New Alhambra Arena in 2004 following a transfer of ownership. The name pays homage to the original Alhambra Movie Theater in South Philadelphia that hosted boxing cards in the 1950s and 1960s.[1]

Following the demise of Extreme Championship Wrestling, 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, preventing other promotions from using the building. Xtreme Pro Wrestling went out of business in 2003, and the lease was voided.

The facility is today home to regional professional wrestling and boxing promotions. It has been frequented by Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW) since 2001. It became the home of Wrestle Factory in 2005, run by trainers Mike Quackenbush and Chris Hero. This is the wrestling school for Chikara Pro Wrestling. Now, Claudio Castagnoli replaced Chris Hero as the co-head trainer of the Wrestle Factory.

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling promoted a card at the Arena on June 9, 2006 . It featured much of TNA's talent, which included several ECW alumni.

The revived Extreme Championship Wrestling, now a World Wrestling Entertainment brand, returned on June 24, 2006 for the first ECW Arena card since December 2000.

Banners commemorating the careers of these former ECW competitors are permanently on display in the arena:

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The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.
  • In the 1990s, a dollar store was in business next to the arena. ECW fans would buy inexpensive cookware and bakeware before shows and then hand them to wrestlers during matches to be used as weapons. Paul Heyman even bought polystyrene wig heads for fans to hold up during Al Snow's "Head" gimmick.
  • A blown transistor caused the building to lose power immediately following the live ECW Barely Legal pay-per-view in 1997. This occurred 10 seconds after the pay-per-view went off the air.
  • Paul Heyman refused to hold the ECW reunion show One Night Stand 2005 at the venue because he said, "it doesn't even look like the ECW Arena". The building underwent major renovations following a 2004 change of ownership.
  • The Hardcore Homecoming event on June 10, 2005 drew a sell-out crowd and set a record gate for the venue with $135,000 in ticket sales.
  • Named 2006 Venue of the Year by ESPN2 boxing program Wednesday Night Fights. [2]

Active

Defunct

  1. ^ http://www.southphillyreview.com/view_article.php?id=4950
  2. ^ http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/boxing/news/story?id=2542157

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