2300 Arena 2300 Arena is a former warehouse and current multi - purpose indoor arena used primarily for wrestling and boxing events . It is located in South Philadelphia on the corner of South Swanson Street and West Ritner Street . History . Freight warehouse ( 1970s - 1980s ) . The facility was originally a warehouse in the 1970s . Rail tracks next to the building allowed trains to drop off freight 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 . Viking Hall ( 1980s - 1993 ) . The warehouse was given the name Viking Hall in the 1980s after it was bought by the South Philadelphia Viking Club , a local chapter of mummers . They used the building for storage and to rehearse for the annual Mummers Parade . Through the mid 1990s , the Viking Club would also stage midnight bingo games at the venue to raise funds for their organization . ECW Arena ( 1993 - 2001 ) . The building gained worldwide recognition when it served as ECW Arena , home of wrestling promotion Extreme Championship Wrestling ( ECW ) from 1993 until the promotion ' s demise in 2001 . South Philadelphia fans were prominent in the rise of ECW from a local promotion to a national promotion . A dollar store was located next to the venue on South Swanson Street , allowing ECW fans to buy cookware and bakeware that they would hand to wrestlers during shows to be used as weapons . ECW broadcast Barely Legal , their first live pay - per - view event from the venue in 1997 . Immediately following this broadcast , a blown transistor caused the building to lose power . To this day , Barely Legal remains the only wrestling event to be broadcast live on television from the venue . XPW Arena ( 2002 - 2003 ) . Following the demise of Extreme Championship Wrestling in 2001 , 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 , renaming the building XPW Arena and preventing other promotions from utilizing it . XPW went out of business in 2003 , and the lease was voided . Alhambra Arena ( 2004 - 2009 ) . The building ' s name was officially changed to New Alhambra Sports & Entertainment Center in 2004 , and was later shortened to New Alhambra Arena in 2006 and Alhambra Arena in 2008 . The name was suggested by J . Russell Peltz , who began co - promoting professional boxing cards at the venue with Joe Hand Promotions in 2004 . It paid homage to the original Alhambra Movie Theater in South Philadelphia that hosted boxing in the 1950s and 1960s . In March 2005 the venue became home to Wrestle Factory , the wrestling school for Chikara . In June 2005 , an unofficial ECW reunion show called Hardcore Homecoming drew a sell - out crowd and set a record gate for the venue with $ 135 , 000 in ticket sales . Footage shot at the venue in February 2006 was used in the film " Rocky Balboa " . The ECW brand of World Wrestling Entertainment ran a house show at the venue in June 2006 , with tickets for the event selling out in under four minutes . New Jack was banned from the venue following an incident during a Pro Wrestling Xplosion show in September 2006 . He famously ordered Sprite at the venue ' s concession stand and was instead given 7 Up , prompting him to verbally harass the stand attendant . Footage shot at the venue in February 2008 during a Combat Zone Wrestling show was used in the film " The Wrestler " . The band New York Dolls played a concert at the venue on Valentine ' s Day in February 2008 . The Arena ( 2009 - 2010 ) . Joe Hand Promotions announced in January 2009 that after a five - year partnership , it would stop promoting boxing cards at the venue . The venue was then renamed to The Arena by general manager Roger Artigiani . In February 2009 , the venue began hosting regular television tapings for the Ring of Honor series " Ring of Honor Wrestling " . Dragon Gate USA filmed their first pay - per - view event , Enter The Dragon at the venue in July 2009 . Enter The Dragon was later voted Best Major Show of 2009 by the readers of " Wrestling Observer Newsletter " . In September 2009 , independent wrestler Matthew Lowry died following a Combat Zone Wrestling training session at the venue where he collapsed from a brain haemorrhage . Matrix Fights drew a sell - out crowd with the venue ' s first major mixed martial arts card in February 2010 , featuring Cole Konrad in the main event . Asylum Arena ( 2010 – 2012 ) . Roger Artigiani announced in October 20 10 that mixed martial arts group Asylum Fight League had purchased the naming rights to the venue and renamed it Asylum Arena . Musician Stan Bush played a concert at the venue in April 2011 as part of Chikara ' s annual King of Trios weekend . In May 2011 , New Japan Pro Wrestling concluded the NJPW Invasion Tour 2011 , their first ever tour of the United States , with an event at the venue . Chikara broadcast High Noon , their first live internet pay - per - view event from the venue in November 2011 . Arena Operating , LLC ( 2012 – 2013 ) . Arena Operating , LLC ( headed by Joanna Pang of the Trocadero Theatre ) signed an exclusive lease with the venue in February 2012 with plans to renovate and convert it to a concert hall . Prior to the renovations beginning , Evolve presented what was billed as the venue ' s final professional wrestling event , A Tribute to the Arena on January 14 , 2012 . The final event prior to the venue closing was a Peltz Boxing Promotions card on January 21 , 2012 . The building ' s ownership evicted Arena Operating , LLC in April 2013 after Joanna Pang failed to complete her proposed renovations . 2300 Arena ( 2013 - present ) . The venue hosted the première screening of the unofficial ECW documentary " Barbed Wire City " in April 2013 . Extreme Rising promoted the first wrestling card at the newly renamed 2300 Arena in December 2013 . The venue ' s name derives from its newly constructed entranceway at 2300 South Swanson Street , replacing the old entrance at 7 West Ritner Street . Roger Artigiani plans to have the building ' s renovations completed for a grand reopening in April 2014 .