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2300 Arena

Multipurpose indoor arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

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General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionSep 20, 2026
Entity authorityQ3286639 ↗
Source-derived summary

2300 Arena is a multipurpose indoor arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, used primarily for professional wrestling, boxing, mixed martial arts, and concert events. Originally known as Viking Hall, the venue has since been named XPW Arena, New Alhambra Sports & Entertainment Center, New Alhambra Arena, The Arena and Asylum Arena. It was known unofficially as the ECW Arena when it was home to Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) from 1993 to 2001 and as the CZW Arena and 3PW Arena when it was home to Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW) and Pro-Pain Pro Wrestling (3PW), respectively, during the early 2000s.

The venue has hosted professional wrestling broadcasts including the first ECW pay-per-view Barely Legal, the first Dragon Gate USA pay-per-view Enter the Dragon, and the WWE television special NXT 2300. It has hosted professional boxing broadcasts including Friday Night Fights and Wednesday Night Fights, for which it was named ESPN2's 2006 Venue of the Year.

Recognized as the birthplace of American hardcore wrestling, the venue has been home to the Hardcore Hall of Fame since 2002.

History

1920–1985: Freight house

The South Philadelphia venue was originally constructed in 1920 as a 58,408 square feet (5,426.3 m2) freight house. Railway tracks next to the building allowed freight trains to drop off cargo for storage and then continue on to their destinations. The tracks were eventually paved over to become an extension of West Ritner Street, allowing West Ritner Street to intersect with South Swanson Street. An elevated stretch of Interstate 95 was later erected above the venue.

Editorial summary

Begin with the source’s own compact description: “2300 Arena” is multipurpose indoor arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Arena, Multipurpose and indoor, not as a finished interpretation.

Editorial reviewA dependable orientation record for establishing vocabulary, names and a first evidence trail. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1993, 2001, 2006, 2002—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1993-05-14. For this dossier, Arena, Multipurpose and indoor is the immediate research focus.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The phrase “multipurpose indoor arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.

Evidence profile

Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 20, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q3286639. Authority coordinates are 39.918, -75.147. 2 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1993, 2001, 2006 and 2002.

Critical limits

A concise general-reference account can conceal disagreements about scope, terminology or the weight assigned to individual sources. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

Best used for
  • Subject orientation
  • Search vocabulary
  • Locating named sources
Verify next

The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “2300 Arena”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow 2300 Arena primary sources, 2300 Arena archive and Arena research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “2300 Arena”?
  2. What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
  3. Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “2300 Arena” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.