Pro Wrestling eXpress (PWX, also known as NWA East) is a

professional wrestling Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring or ...

promotion that was founded in

North Versailles, Pennsylvania North Versailles ( ) is a first class township in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 10,229 at the 2010 census. The township derives its name from the Palace of Versailles. History North Versailles Township was for ...

in 1994 by Jim Miller and Sean "Shocker" Evans. It is the longest-running promotion in the Pittsburgh metropolitan area. PWX was the main rival of Steel City Wrestling during the 1990s and was an affiliate of the

National Wrestling Alliance The National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) is an American professional wrestling promotion and former professional wrestling governing body operated by its parent company Lightning One, Inc. Founded in 1948, the NWA began as a governing body for a ...

from 1997 to 2012. PWX held a prominent role in the organization during this period. It was part in the annual NWA Anniversary Shows from 1998 to 2000 and brought national and world NWA champions to audiences in the

East Coast of the United States The East Coast of the United States, also known as the Eastern Seaboard, the Atlantic Coast, and the Atlantic Seaboard, is the coastline along which the Eastern United States meets the North Atlantic Ocean. The eastern seaboard contains the ...

. The promotion also collaborated with non-NWA members on the local independent circuit holding several interpromotional shows with Chris Lash's Allied Powers Wrestling Federation (2002; 2009–2010) and participated in Deaf Wrestlefest (2010).

History

Early history

Pro Wrestling eXpress was established by Jim Miller and Sean "Shocker" Evans in 1994. A wrestling school, the PWX Academy, was subsequently opened at the Eastland Mall with B.A. Briggs and Jimmy Valiant as head trainers. PWX also had a weekly late-night television show that aired on WPTT. The first events were held in October and November 1995. The first PWX Heavyweight Champion, B.A. Briggs, won the championship in a tournament held on October 21, 1995, in

. The first PWX Tag Team Champions were crowned in a tournament final on January 8, 1996, in North Versailles, when Sean Evans and Vince Charming defeated Brian Anthony and Paul Atlas. PWX was also one of several East Coast promotions to feature talent from

Extreme Championship Wrestling HHG Corporation, doing business as Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), was a professional wrestling promotion and media company that was based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The promotion was founded in 1992 by Tod Gordon as National Wrest ...

. On December 13, 1996, Blue World Order members Stevie Richards and The Blue Meanie won the PWX Tag Team Championship.

Rivalry with Steel City Wrestling

In late 1997, PWX television announcers Norm Connors and Andrew Lazarchik began holding their own wrestling events in the Pittsburgh metropolitan area under the Steel City Wrestling banner. On September 21, 1997, an interpromotional PWX-SCW show was held at Pittsburgh's Sullivan Hall. Connors and Lazarchik left the company at the end of the year, due to creative differences with PWX management, and began directly running against PWX. This led to a near three-year rivalry that lasted until SCW's close in the spring of 2000.

Joining the National Wrestling Alliance

Around this time, PWX joined the

as NWA East. On October 24, 1998, T. Rantula represented the promotion at the NWA 50th Anniversary Show in

Cherry Hill, New Jersey Cherry Hill is a township within Camden County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the township had a population of 74,553, which reflected an increase of 3,508 (+4.94%) from the 71,045 counted in the 2010 census. ...

, where he wrestled

Abdullah the Butcher Lawrence Robert Shreve (born January 11, 1941), better known by the ring name Abdullah the Butcher, is a Canadian retired professional wrestler. He has a reputation for being involved in some of the most violent and bloody hardcore wrestling mat ...

. Several NWA East / PWX wrestlers also took part in the NWA 51st Anniversary Show in

Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont (United States), Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Meckl ...

. Brian Anthony wrestled Naoya Ogawa (Universal Fighting-Arts Organization) and Gary Steele (NWA UK Hammerlock) in a

Triangle match Many types of wrestling matches, sometimes called "concept" or "gimmick matches" in the jargon of the business, are performed in professional wrestling. Some gimmick matches are more common than others and are often used to advance or conclude a ...

for the

NWA World Heavyweight Championship The NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship is a world heavyweight professional wrestling championship owned and promoted by the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), an American professional wrestling promotion. The current champion is Tyrus, who is ...

. Vince Kaplack represented PWX in the "Free For All" battle royal to be named number one contender for the NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship. NWA East / PWX's The Rage (

Samu Samu or SAMU may refer to: Places * Samu, Sierra Leone * Samu, South Khorasan, a village in South Khorasan Province, Iran * As-Samu, a town in the Hebron Governorate of the West Bank * Samu, Sarawak, Malaysia, a settlement near Kerangan Pinggai * ...

and Quinn Magnum) battled The Canadian Cartel ("Gorgeous" Michelle Starr and Crusher Carlsen), representing NWA Canada, to a no-contest. This was a semi-final tournament match to determine the top contenders for NWA World Tag Team Championship. A tournament final for the then vacant PWX Tag Team Championship was held at the NWA 52nd Anniversary Show in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and t ...

which saw Paul Atlas and Jimmy Angel beat Rage to become the new champions. At one point, PWX was one of three groups under the umbrella of NWA East along with the Pittsburgh Wrestling League and World Legion Wrestling. It was eventually decided to consolidate all three groups into a single company. On June 22–23, 2001, PWX vacated all its championships to create four new titles as part of NWA East. Paul Atlas became the NWA East Triple Jeopardy Champion after defeating Jimmy Angel, Kid Cupid, Kid Ego and Scott Venom. Crusher Hansen defeated J.B. Destiny and Dean Jablonski in a three-way match for the NWA East Three Rivers Championship. The Mon Valley Monsters (Cory K and Big Poppa Gator) beat Armageddon (Rapture and Revelation) in a tournament final to unify the NWA East, Pittsburgh Wrestling League and Pro Wrestling eXpress Tag Team Championships to form the new NWA Pro Wrestling eXpress Tag Team Championship. Brandon K also defeated Dirk Ciglar in a tournament final to unify the NWA East, PWL and PWX Heavyweight titles into the newly formed NWA East Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship. On December 15, 2001, NWA East / PWX hosted the 2001 NWA Clash of the Champions at the McKeesport Sportatorium in which Shinya Hashimoto defeated

Steve Corino Steven Eugene "Steve" Corino (born May 29, 1973) is a Canadian semi-retired professional wrestler currently signed with WWE as a trainer and producer for their developmental territory NXT. He is best known for his tenure with Extreme Championsh ...

and Gary Steele in a three-way round-robin "Iron Man" match to capture the then vacant NWA World Heavyweight Championship. After the match, Hashimoto was attacked by a masked wrestler to was revealed to be former NWA world champion Dan Severn.

Naohiro Hoshikawa is a retired Japanese professional wrestler. Hoshikawa competed extensively in Michinoku Pro Wrestling, Osaka Pro Wrestling and Pro Wrestling Zero1 until he was forced to retire after suffering a career-ending brain injury in 2004. Hoshikawa ...

also made his U.S. debut at the event unsuccessfully challenging NWA East Triple Jeopardy Champion Paul Atlas in a

Triple Threat match Many types of wrestling matches, sometimes called "concept" or "gimmick matches" in the jargon of the business, are performed in professional wrestling. Some gimmick matches are more common than others and are often used to advance or conclude a ...

with Nikita Allanov. In February 2002, NWA East / PWX co-held the Best of the Best Tournament with NWA Tri-State in

Titusville, Pennsylvania Titusville is a city in the far eastern corner of Crawford County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 5,601 at the 2010 census and an estimated 5,158 in 2019. Titusville is known as the birthplace of the American oil industry and f ...

. Also on the show, Larry Zbyszko defeated Fabulous Frederick, Vito LoGrasso beat NWA Tri-State Champion Magnum in a non-title match, and Rocky Reynolds defeated

Jason Rumble Jason DellaGatta (born July 18, 1972) is an American professional wrestler, trainer, and promoter, best known by his ring name Jason Rumble. He also had a successful career in semi-professional football playing in the New England Football League. ...

to win the NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship. NWA East hosted a "champion vs. champion" match between NWA East Heavyweight Champion Nikita Allanov and NWA National Heavyweight Champion Ricky Murdock the following year as well as bringing in talent from NWA New Jersey and NWA Virginia.

Relationship with the Allied Powers Wrestling Federation

NWA East / PXW had a close working relationship with the Allied Powers Wrestling Federation based in Commodore, Pennsylvania. The two promotions co-hosted several interpromotional shows together from 2002 to 2010. These early shows had the two companies sharing talent, however, a storyline developed which saw relations between APWF and NWA East become confrontational. A showdown of sorts took place at the McKeesport Sportatorium on July 5, 2002, pitting APWF and NWA East wrestlers against each other. According to the pre-match stipulations, the APWF would receive the contracts of NWA East wrestlers if they won the majority of the matches. If the NWA East wrestlers won the majority, APWF wrestlers would be banned from their shows. Bubba Brewer (APWF) defeated Crusher Hansen (NWA East) in the first bout while Spiffy Sean Stylez (NWA East) won the second bout against Kidd Country (APWF) via disqualification. In the final bout, Jimmy Vega$ and Dr. Feelgood (APWF) beat Dirk Ciglar and Brandon K (NWA East) to win the NWA East contracts for the APWF. The APWF-NWA East war continued throughout the summer. The APWF "invasion" came to an end in McKeesport on August 2, 2002, when J.B. Destiny and Sean Stylez defeated Kid Country and Charlie Mansun. APWF promoter Chris Lash was forced to leave the National Wrestling Alliance as a result.

Notable talent

NWA East / PWX featured a number of wrestlers who were regulars in the East Coast wrestling scene and was the birthplace of Crusher Hanson and Michael Tarver. Like its longtime rival SCW, the promotion regularly featured Pittsburgh "legends" such as Lord Zoltan and T. Rantula as well as many regional "indy stars" such as Bubba the Bulldog, Dennis Gregory,

The Hungarian Barbarian Zoltan Nagy (born May 21, 1970) is a retired American professional wrestler, known by his ring name The Hungarian Barbarian, who has competed in North American independent promotions including the Hardway Wrestling, National Championship Wrestlin ...

, Lou Marconi, Frank Stalletto, Tom Brandi, Darren Wyse and

. It also showcased younger up and coming wrestlers including, most notably, Amazing Red, Cody Hawk, Kingdom James, Gregory Iron, Matthew Justice,

Ryan Mitchell Ryan Mitchell may refer to: * Ryan Mitchell (swimmer) * Ryan Mitchell (wrestler) * Ryan Mitchell (Power Rangers) The protagonists and antagonists of ''Power Rangers Lightspeed Rescue'' are all residents of planet Earth with no alien characters ap ...

, Michael Shane,

Quinson Valentino David Barry (born June 2, 1970) is a retired Canadian professional wrestler, trainer, and booker, best known by his ring name Quinson Valentino, who was a star on the independent circuit in eastern Canada and the Maritimes during the late 1990s ...

, Shark Boy,

Sterling James Keenan Matthew Polinsky (born February 24, 1984) is an American wrestling color commentator and retired professional wrestler currently signed to WWE as a commentator and analyst for ''Raw'' and '' SmackDown'' under the ring name Corey Graves. He is a ...

, Xavier, and

The S.A.T. The S.A.T. (Spanish Announce Team) is a professional wrestling tag team mostly seen in independent promotions that consisted of brothers Jose Maximo (Kelvin Ramirez, born October 13, 1983) and Joel Maximo (Julio Ramirez, November 28, 1979) who w ...

(Jose Maximo and Joel Maximo). Bobby Shields, a former NWA East / PWX Three Rivers Champion, participated in East Coast Wrestling Association's 15th annual

Super 8 tournament The Super 8 Tournament is an annual professional wrestling tournament held by the East Coast Wrestling Association. The tournament is contested by eight wrestlers in a one-night single-elimination format. History The ECWA Super 8 Tournament was ...

. Female wrestlers Tessa Blanchard and Stacy Hunter have both had notable roles in the company. The promotion also featured talent from

. Blue World Order members Stevie Richards and The Blue Meanie are former PWX Tag Team Champions. Shane Douglas held the PWX Heavyweight Championship in the summer of 1999. In addition to showcasing national and world NWA champions, Robert Gibson, Larry Zbyszko and other NWA legends have made special guest appearances during the 2000s. Jon Burton, a sportscaster for SportsRadio 93.7, was recruited by NWA East / PWX promoter Jim Miller to become a "heel" wrestler for the promotion. Burton initially entered pro wrestling for a one-time wrestling match against fellow radio broadcaster Bubba the Bulldog of B94. He won the NWA East / PWX Brass Knuckles Championship twice while competing for the company.

PWX Wrestleplex and television syndication

NWA East / PWX held the majority of its shows at the PWX Wrestleplex, located at the Eastland Mall, in

. The promotion moved its events from Eastland Mall, which was demolished in 2005, to the Jacob Woll Pavilion in Renziehausen Park during the mid-2000s. It also held events at The Sportatorium and The Palisades in

McKeesport, Pennsylvania McKeesport is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is situated at the confluence of the Monongahela and Youghiogheny rivers and within the Pittsburgh metropolitan area. The population was 17,727 as of the 2020 census. I ...

. In August 2011, the promotion relocated to McKeesport and established a new home venue, what was dubbed "The New PWX Wrestleplex", at the former St. Stephen's Church fellowship hall and school. The property was in such poor condition that it was necessary for a group of wrestlers, students and other volunteers to do a complete tear out and renovation. The move was officially announced on September 24 at what would be the final show at Jacob Woll Pavilion in Renzie Park. In the main event, NWA North American Tag Team Champions Team MEGA (JR Mega and Ashton Amhurst) successfully defended the title against Patrick Hayes and then PWX Heavyweight Champion Stryder. This was the last NWA East / PWX event in which an NWA championship was contested. On October 29, 2011, the New PWX Wrestleplex was opened to the public. The PWX 17th Anniversary Show featured the return of many alumni and included T. Rantula's induction into the PWX Circle of Respect. In February 2013,

Channel 22 Channel 22 may refer to: * XEIMT-TDT, aka ''Canal 22'', a Mexican cultural and educational television station * Mix 22, a channel on XM Satellite Radio Canada The following television stations operate on virtual channel 22 in Canada: * CIII-DT-22 ...

began broadcasting ''PWX Steel City TV'' on Saturday mornings. The promotion originally had a late-night television show on WPTT during the late 1990s but had been off local television during the previous decade. ''PWX Steel City TV'' was syndicated to Channel 26 in mid-

Mon Valley The Monongahela River ( , )—often referred to locally as the Mon ()—is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed August 15, 2011 river on the Allegheny Plateau in north-cen ...

and Channel 56 in Westmoreland County reaching a potential audience of 400,000 viewers. Live shows were filmed at "The New PWX Wrestleplex" using a four-camera setup and a green screen for special features. PXW programming was shown in

Western Pennsylvania Western Pennsylvania is a region in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, covering the western third of the state. Pittsburgh is the region's principal city, with a metropolitan area population of about 2.4 million people, and serves as its economic ...

and parts of

Ohio Ohio () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Of the List of states and territories of the United States, fifty U.S. states, it is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 34th-l ...

and

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the ...

on a total of 12 over-the-air television stations. As of 2015, it is also available online via

Roku Roku ( ) is a brand of hardware digital media players manufactured by American company Roku, Inc. They offer access to streaming media content from online services. The first Roku model, developed in collaboration with Netflix, was introduce ...

and

Vimeo Vimeo, Inc. () is an American video hosting, sharing, and services platform provider headquartered in New York City. Vimeo focuses on the delivery of high-definition video across a range of devices. Vimeo's business model is through software a ...

Recent years

On May 2, 2010, NWA East / PWX took part in Deaf Wrestlefest, an annual benefit show for the Western Pennsylvania School for the Deaf, with Patrick Hayes successfully defending his heavyweight title against Ashton Amherst. Amherst, a longtime NWA East / PWX "heel" wrestler, served as the main antagonist in the 2013 comedy horror film '' Pro Wrestlers vs Zombies''. On November 30, 2014,

was inducted into the Circle of Respect at PWX's 20th Anniversary Show. Samu wrestled his last-ever match in PWX the following year when he and his son Lance Anoa'i joined Quinn Magnum in a six-man tag team match against Payton Graham, Jack Pollock and Stryder. In March 2015, the PWX Wrestling Academy was featured in the

Pittsburgh Tribune-Review The ''Pittsburgh Tribune-Review'', also known as "the Trib," is the second largest daily newspaper serving metropolitan Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in the United States. Although it transitioned to an all-digital format on December 1, 2016, it rema ...

. PWX wrestler Crusher Hanson was profiled by

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette The ''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette'', also known simply as the PG, is the largest newspaper serving metropolitan Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Descended from the ''Pittsburgh Gazette'', established in 1786 as the first newspaper published west of the All ...

a month later. In June 2016, PWX joined Global Force Wrestling and the Renegade Wrestling Alliance for a benefit show at Lackawanna College. Two months later, CBS Pittsburgh named PWX among the best locally based independent promotions along with the Keystone State Wrestling Alliance, International Wrestling Cartel, and

Ring of Honor Ring of Honor (ROH) is an American professional wrestling promotion based in Jacksonville, Florida. The promotion was founded by Rob Feinstein on February 23, 2002, and was operated by Cary Silkin from 2004 until 2011, when the promotion was s ...

Roster

;Male wrestlers Stryder PWX Champion

;Female wrestlers ;Referees ;Other on-air personnel

Events

Futures Cup Tournament

The Futures Cup Tournament is an annual professional wrestling single-elimination tournament produced by the Pro Wrestling eXpress (PWX) promotion, which has been held since 2011.

Ray Mendez Memorial Tournament

The Ray Mendez Memorial Tournament is an annual professional wrestling single-elimination tournament produced by the Pro Wrestling eXpress (PWX) promotion, which was held from 2005 to 2006. It was held in memory of Ray Mendez, a local wrestling fan, who had died. The winner of the tournament earned a title shot for the NWA East / PWX Heavyweight Championship.

Sean "Shocker" Evans Memorial Tournament

The Sean "Shocker" Evans Memorial Tournament is an annual professional wrestling single-elimination tournament produced by the Pro Wrestling eXpress (PWX) promotion, which has been held since 2008. It is held in memory of Sean "Shocker" Evans, the co-founder of PWX, who died from throat cancer on October 2, 2007. It is traditionally the promotion's second biggest event of the year after the PWX Anniversary Show.

PWX Circle of Respect

The PWX Circle of Respect is an American

hall of fame maintained by the McKeesport-based promotion Pro Wrestling eXpress (PWX). It was established in 2006PWX Circle of Respect
PWXTV.com to honor wrestlers who have wrestled for the promotion. ;Inductees

Championships and programming

Current championships

Former championships

Programming

References

External links

* *
NWA East
an
Pro Wrestling eXpress on Cagematch.netPro Wrestling eXpress on OnlineWorldofWrestling.comPro Wrestling eXpress on Wrestlingdata.com
{{Professional wrestling in the United States Professional wrestling in Pittsburgh American independent professional wrestling promotions based in Pennsylvania