Republicans Reserve Old ECW Arena for DNC Week
New Japan Pro Wrestling’s Hiroshi Tanahashi appears at the 2300 Arena before a match in May of 2015. (Photo: Dan McQuade)
There will be only one word to describe the presidential race after next week: Extreme.
The Inquirer’s Chris Brennan reports Republicans have reserved their venue for its “counter-convention” during the Democratic National Convention in Philly next week: The 2300 Arena. That venue is better known by its unofficial name from the 1990s and early 2000s: The ECW Arena.
The old ECW Arena — which has since been gutted and renovated — was the home base for Extreme Championship Wrestling, the popular wrestling promotion that innovated the art form in the 1990s. The arena has also hosted cards for groups such as Chikara, Ring of Honor and Combat Zone Wrestling (which held more shows in the arena than any other promotion, including ECW). Scenes from the acclaimed 2008 film, The Wrestler, were also filmed there.
WWE — which inducted presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump into its Hall of Fame in 2013 — purchased ECW after it closed in 2001. A Republican spokesperson says the GOP plans to have officeholders and other bigwigs at the arena all week for interviews and other attempts to counter-message during the weeklong Democratic bash in Philadelphia.
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