Lords of Pain Wrestling

Lords of Pain Wrestling (LPW) is a professionally-operated e-federation that's featured on the Lords of Pain website. Regarded as one of the most popular e-federations on the world wide web, LPW spans handlers from five continents and ten countries. Comprised of all original characters, LPW features two distinct brands known as Insanity and Inferno. Each brand consists of approximately 25 active e-wrestlers and feature their own championships, shows, and pay-per-view events.

LPW has revolutionized how professional e-wrestling is experienced, thanks to its competitive handlers, strong organization, democratic method for determining results, and impressive presentation. The federation is continuing to write new chapters, while continuing to build on the rich history of its successful past. Much like its winged-logo, LPW promises its participants the opportunity to lift themselves above mere mortality with the impressive work ethic that has been seen over the years. The wings reassure participants that at any moment, they too can fly to fame, glory, and superstardom when they are ready to spread their wings.

The Beginning
Beginning as the Psychotic Wrestling Alliance (PWA), the promotion was founded in the spring of 2003 by Villiano 187. The PWA's original format featured one television show a week called Schizophrenia, which was headed by Phantom Lord. At the end of each cycle of shows, feuds would culminate in a pay-per-view event. The PWA's first pay-per-view was Annihilation, which saw Marty win the PWA World Heavyweight Championship in a tournament final over Phantom Lord in a steel cage match.

Over time, the shows evolved into highly detailed epics that some said featured better wrestling in text than on actual television.

Brand Extension
In 2004, the success and roster had grown so large that a second show was needed, forcing the decision to split the roster. Schizophrenia remained the promotion's headline show under it's own brand, while the newly created second brand was named Pyromania. Early on, Schizo gained a reputation as being the flagship brand due to its more-seasoned roster and longer tenure, whereas Pyromania was structured to help spark the careers of its promising young talent while also allowing its veterans to shine.

Shortly after the brand split, Schizophrenia and Pyromania co-presented its premiere pay-per-view, Altered Reality. On this night, Pyromania crowned its first PWA International Heavyweight Champion, the highest ranked championship on the brand. The title's inception was contested in a Triple Threat Ladder match between Stone, Son of Repoman, and Sashaband. The match is infamous for its ending when all three men climbed separate ladders to reach for the vacant title, only to see all three crash to the mat with the title. From out of the debris, Stone lifted the title to become Pyromania's first International Heavyweight Champion. As Pyromania's champion and behind-the-scenes head booker, Stone dominated the brand during its first year. Meanwhile, Schizophrenia was dominated by SoL, who then was the promotion's longest reigning World Heavyweight Champion and behind-the-scenes head booker. During this time, the production and direction of Schizophrenia was vastly improved with competitors' participation, match writing, and overall e-wrestling experience.

In the summer of 2005 after both brands had been firmly established, the PWA presented its Altered Reality II pay-per-view, where Schizophrenia and Pyromania battled against each other in a series of matches to determine the superior brand. Ultimate bragging rights were showcased in the main event, when SoL faced Stone in a Champion versus Champion match for the inaugural Martinez Cup match. SoL defeated Stone to win the Cup, leading Schizophrenia to just one match shy of sweeping Pyromania at the event.

The Illuminati
Immediately after SoL's Martinez Cup victory at Altered Reality II, both the Schizophrenia and Pyromania locker rooms emptied to toast their champions. After the ring cleared, PWA owner Villiano 187 presented SoL with the Martinez Cup. Shockingly, the Illuminati used this opportunity to blackmail Villiano. Phantom Lord gained control of the production truck and lowered a steel cage over the ring to halt interference from the other wrestlers, while the returning D. Hammond Samuels applied a torturing armbar to his former Latino Meat partner in the ring. The PWA wrestlers tried to foil the Illuminati's masterplan by climbing over the cage, but the Illuminati's newest Pyromania recruits Jaro and Takeover fended off the superstars. SoL forced the owner to sign over the company to the Illuminati or have Samuels break his arm. Villiano submitted to the request and signed Schizophrenia to the Illuminati, only to have Samuels break his arm anyway.

With full booking power, the Illuminati dominated the brand. The stable's reach to Pyromania with Jaro and Takeover only helped the faction's mission. The Illuminati targetted several titles in the promotion, with Phantom Lord holding onto the PWA United States Championship while SoL and Samuels would hold onto the PWA U.S. Tag Team Championship, in addition to SoL's control of the World title. Despite a brief World title reign by fan favorite X|2TX, SoL would regain the title while ruling Schizophrenia.

The Revolution IS Here
Meanwhile on Pyromania, despite being doused at Altered Reality II, the Pyromania locker-room rallied together and rose out of the ashes. Led by Jaro, the brand's newest International Heavyweight Champion and head booker, Pyromania climbed in the ratings and fanbase. After disbanding from the Illuminati, Jaro created a Pyro spin-off of the stable named The Paragon, which consisted of Pyro's most successful villains. With Takeover as the PWA Western States Heritage Champion, Morpheus as the PWA Hardcore Champion, and Zuma as the enforcer, the Paragon protected Jaro from losing his PWA International Heavyweight Championship.

Pyromania was reaching new competitive heights which had never been seen before in e-wrestling history. Thanks to its compelling storylines, unique matches, and motivated roster, Pyromania was able to create new stars and attract the talent which would lead the promotion into future generations. After a successful title defense at One Way Ticket, the Pyromania locker-room emptied to join Jaro in the ring, pledging a brand alliance to defeat its Schizophrenia counter-part at the cross-brand Altered Reality III pay-per-view. Jaro was the odds-on favorite to defeat Pen for the second Martinez Cup. Pen, who was Schizo's newest PWA World Champion after defeating D. Hammond Samuels at Schizos Wild, was shocked after Jaro announced he would cash-in on his world title shot from winning the 2005 Owner's Cup and challenege Pen for his World Championship.

Pyrogate
Days before Altered Reality III, Jaro, Robb Larsen, and Showstoppa were fired due to their solicitation of PWA talent for the upstart Full Metal Wrestling (FMW) promotion. As a result, Jaro was immediately banned from the PWA, fired as Pyromania's head booker, and stripped of the International Heavyweight Championship. The shocking announcement sent shockwaves throughout the federation, leaving the year's biggest PWA pay-per-view in question. Due to the conspiracy of the backstage events, the controversial story has since gained the nickname Pyrogate.

Despite the surrounding events, Altered Reality III went on. With the Martinez Cup main event in jeopardy, management decided to appoint Schizophrenia's D. Hammond Samuels as the new International Heavyweight Champion (Samuels had recently lost the World Heavyweight Championship to Pen at Schizos Wild). The fact that Samuels was representing a brand that he had never competed for and a title he never won, only fueled fire among many disgruntled fans.

After all the pre-show hoopla had settled, the retiring Pen defeated Samuels to win the Martinez Cup. Pyromania tied Schizophrenia in the cross-brand competition, each winning four matches apiece. But brand pride wouldn't mean much for long, because it was announced that the entire PWA roster would be re-drafted at the next PWA event, Homecoming.

During the draft, Spectre was announced as the new General Manager of Pyromania. With the first overall pick, Schizophrenia drafted Al, who reigned as the PWA Television Champion. With the second overall pick, Spectre was thought to have selected cYnical, who was Pyromania's most recognized superstar and reigning Cleansed Champion. But cYnical was instead traded to Schizophrenia for additional draft picks. Already upset over Jaro's firing, this newest move by management infuriated cYnical to no end, forcing him to boil over and create The Uprising, a faction bent on overthrowing PWA management. With the third overall pick, Pyromania drafted D. Hammond Samuels, thus retaining the PWA International Heavyweight Championship to where it first began. With the rosters reset, thus laid the foundation for a new incarnation.

The Tales of Krimson Mask
In April of 2007, due to creative differences, the PWA came under new management and was renamed Lords of Pain Wrestling (LPW). The LPW name was chosen to coincide with the Lords of Pain website name, while also paying homage to the original Lords of Pain Hardcore circuit that the website first forayed into before the creation of the PWA. As a result of the renaming, the brand names were also changed. Schizophrenia stayed true to its original name, and was renamed Insanity. Pyromania also stayed true to its original moniker, switching its name to Inferno. Also, Inferno traded in its traditional orange colors for a blue color scheme, whereas Insanity remained red.

After Pen's retirement, the World Heavyweight Championship was declared vacant. Insanity's new General Manager, Stanman, declared that a 12-man tournament would be held to crown the new champion. The semi-finals of the tournament were contested at At All Costs, where top draft pick Al and the fairytale rookie monster Krimson Mask advanced to the final. On the first renamed LPW Insanity LIVE from Los Angeles broadcast, Krimson Mask reached the top of the LPW beanstalk when he defeated Al to win the vacant LPW World Heavyweight Championship.

Possessing the richest prize on Insanity, Krimson Mask and Little Red Riding Hood vowed to use the title as a piece of bait to lure the mysterious man who vandalized their fairytale past. The two learned that their unwanted arrival into the world was due to a vampire wizard named Giancarlo Giovanni, who had combined the Sword of Damocles (a magical sword that the vampire Bloodrose owned) and The Flame (a power that the wizard cYnical possessed). Together, Giancarlo used the combination of the Sword and Flame to cut into a different dimension to dump Krimson Mask and Little Red to Earth while he resumed his plans of realm domination. Insanity would follow the tales of Krimson Mask, cYnical, and Bloodrose's battles against Giancarlo, while also exploring the complicated relationship of Little Red with cYnical. After winning the first-ever DeathCube match at EndGame, Krimson Mask's championship reign reached 14 months.

Michaels versus Samuels
Meanwhile on Inferno, D. Hammond Samuels kept a vice-grip on the supposedly cursed LPW International Heavyweight Championship (since the last two champions had been stripped and forced to leave the promotion). Referring to himself as a "non-champion", Samuels dominated Inferno with an unprecendented seven consecutive title defenses.

After Drew Michaels had been named Samuels' next challenger, Michaels married his pregnant girlfriend, Juliet. After the exchanges of "I Do", the wedding was crashed by a group led by Robert Lillehammer. The newlyweds tried to escape through the crowd, but were intercepted by Samuels. Samuels would hit Michaels, forcing him to fall on Juliet and killing the Michaels' unborn baby. The two squared off at Sacrament in a 60-minute Iron Man Match, where Samuels emerged victorious. But Michaels would not be denied, as he was granted a rematch against Samuels for the title at Dead Reckoning. In Samuels' specialty match, the Tijuana Cage Match, Michaels DDT'd Samuels from the top of the cage to the canvas below, shattering the ring in the process. Crawling out of the debris, Michaels pinned Samuels to end his 17-month reign as champion.

Altered Reality IV and Fallout
In addition to the customary tag team elimination matches from previous Altered Reality pay-per-views, for the first time Altered Reality IV featured Champion vs. Champion matches to determine the better champion of equal ranking. Also, the LPW World Tag Team Championship and LPW United States Tag Team Championship were unified for the first time when the MWA (Tromboner Man and RaTo) defeated the Dark Brotherhood (Eric Scorpio and Ash Strife).

In the main event, Inferno's Drew Michaels squared off against Insanity's cYnical in a Champion versus Champion match for the third annual Martinez Cup. cYnical looked like he had won the match by pinning Michaels after successfully bloodying him with broken glass fists. But unknown to cYnical, Michaels had draped his foot on the bottom rope before the administered three-count. Spectre overruled the decision, citing the instant replay. Outraged, cYnical bloodied Spectre while Michaels recovered. Michaels resurrected from his predicament and rallied back to defeat cYnical, bringing the Martinez Cup to Inferno for the very first time. In the end, Inferno won seven out of eight matches, laying claim as the dominant brand.

However, because of the controversial decisions administered during Altered Reality IV, Spectre stepped down as LPW President and Inferno General Manager after facing fire from several employees.

The Financial Crisis Bodyslams LPW
After Spectre's resignation, LPW began to bleed money due to the global economic crisis of 2008. Forced to take immediate action to find a suitable replacement, the Board of Directors quickly hired a shadowed and mysterious businessman as its CEO to shore up company profits. Wishing to remain anonymous, The Boss as he called himself, assumed the responsibilities of Inferno General Manager, while controversially appointing Little Red to be Insanity's new General Manager. At Homecoming, Little Red drafted Drew Michaels with Insanity's first overall selection, while cYnical went to Inferno with the second pick. But at the conclusion of the show, Little Red and The Boss agreed to trade each champion, forcing Michaels back to Inferno and cYnical back to Insanity.

Heading into Honor Roll, fueled by her hated of cYnical's past manipulation of her, Little Red booked X|X to face cYnical for the LPW World Heavyweight Championship, while Drew Michaels agreed to put up the LPW International Heavyweight Championship in a Fatal Four-way match against NPD, Eric Scorpio, and the mentally unbalanced Ash Strife. Also, Little Red and The Boss announced a tournament called Winner Takes All (WTA), in which the winner would be given full booking control over Insanity and Inferno's upcoming pay-per-views, entitled Resurrection and Take No Prisoners respectively.

The WTA final was contested in a eight-man Four Corners Elimination match, in which Wevv Mang Won It All after an assist from Eddie B. due to a prior agreement in which Mang would give Eddie a match against X. Later that night, NPD won the LPW International Heavyweight Championship to end Michaels' reign, while Strife transformed into his Crazy Ash Killa-alter ego and put his estranged brother, Scorpio, into a coma and later buried him alive to cause a media firestorm weeks later. In the main event, X defeated cYnical to become the second-ever two-time LPW World Heavyweight Champion, making it the first show where both world championships switched hands.

With full booking power for Resurrection, Mang went back on his word with Eddie and challenged X for the LPW World Heavyweight Championship after moving the event to Tokyo. During the match, X's manipulation of several stars came to fruition when Pen helped his cause, but it was Eddie B.'s interference that indirectly cost Mang the title when he superkicked the referee before Mang could be declared the winner. Frustrated by the turn of events, Mang was caught using a chair and was disqualified, thus culminating in a successful title defense for X.

A few days later at Take No Prisoners, Mass Chaos defeated White Falcon, making him the third newly crowned LPW International Heavyweight Champion over the past three Inferno shows. Krimson Mask defeated Drew Michaels at conclusion of the Inferno pay-per-view, which after the match, The Boss revealed himself to be D. Hammond Samuels. He announced that the reason he had sanctioned the Winner Takes All tournament was so the winner (who turned out to be Wevv Mang) would run the daily operations of LPW while he leveraged a buyout of LPW through his media conglomerate, Public Enemy Multimedia, LLC. With Michaels allowing Ash Strife into the LPW International Heavyweight Championship Fatal Four-way match at Honor Roll, full knowing Strife's mental condition with his Crazy Ash Killa (CAK) alter-ego and the bad blood between his brother Eric Scorpio, Samuels used that decision to orchestrate the blame on Michaels. After Scorpio’s death at the hands of CAK, LPW’s stock took a nosedive. With the stock at an all-time low, Samuels was able to swoop in and buyout LPW at a fraction of the original bargaining price.

Public Enemy Multimedia
At the following Insanity LIVE from Sydney telecast, the two General Managers formed an alliance, with D. Hammond Samuels teaming with Krimson Mask to end the 22-month Tag Team Championship reign of the MWA's Tromboner Man and RaTo. The hope was to split the mega-popular team so that they could branch out as singles stars and earn more profit for Samuels and LPW. In the match, Krimson Mask and Samuels proved victorious, becoming the second LPW Undisputed World Tag Team Champions.

Also, Little Red entered every Insanity superstar into a brand-wide competition called Body Count. The premise of the competition was for the top five wrestlers who could tally the highest Body Count by the end of the cycle would face X for the LPW World Heavyweight Championship in the second-ever DeathCube Match. At Inferno 14.1, Samuels announced that Mass Chaos would defend the LPW International Heavyweight Championship in a Doomsday Gauntlet against White Falcon, Styxx, Ken Ryans, the reigning LPW Western States Heritage Champion, and reigning LPW Television Champion.

Voting and Promo
To determine its winners and losers, Lords of Pain Wrestling created the "Voting and Promo" method to attempt to award the e-wrestler(s) who puts forth the best competitive effort. Wrestlers are given a card for each show and are asked to write a promo if they have a match in that card's "Voting and Promo Thread”. Usually, wrestlers have eight days to post their promo before a deadline expires. A combined average of promo scores (rated by the writing staff) and vote tallies by participants (also collected in the Voting and Promo thread) determine the winners and losers. All promo scores are scored on a 5-point scale in 0.1 increments and are judged on overall writing, character development, storyline development, creativity, and other intangibles. Each vote also gives a participant an additional 0.1 point for their match score. The method has a checks-and-balances feel to it, meaning that everyone has some degree of input on who wins the matches and not just management.

After the Voting and Promo thread has ended and match results are known amongst the staff, the writing staff will then deliberate how the outcomes of the matches will be settled, which storylines to progress, and which feuds to develop. The shows are written from the perspective of two commentators watching the action from ringside, with additional backstage segments flavored in.

Because of its emphasis on quality shows rather than quick weekly shows that other e-federations exhibit, LPW usually holds its shows once per month. Each show often has the feel of an MMA event, with each match having considerable value.

Trash-Talking
In addition while the shows are being crafted by the staff, there is a "Trash-Talking” thread for each show where wrestlers may post additional promos and converse in and out of character. Often times, these trash-talking segments can instigate feuds which may result in a match.

To become an active wrestler and receive matches, people must sign up in the “Official Sign-Up Thread”. After that, they are encouraged to vote on cards and post promos in the "Trash Talking" threads. Eventually, one of the brands will acquire the said person.

Chronology
Because of LPW's unique e-federation style, LPW chronicles its shows by its own timeline. Both brands have their own way of numbering their shows.

Since its inception, Insanity chronicles its live shows by listing its host city. Inferno on the other hand, chronicles its shows by numbered denominations. This has been done since the original LPW brand split. The denominations first list the numbered cycle, followed by a period, then by another number to list the show. The latter part of the number can only go as high as four, since the fifth show is reserved for Inferno pay-per-view events which do not get numbered.

For example, the last Insanity LIVE broadcast before EndGame was broadcasted from Tampa Bay, Florida. The show was therefore named LPW Insanity LIVE from Tampa Bay, Florida. For Inferno, Inferno 10.3 represents an Inferno show which is in its tenth cycle and third show since the original LPW brand split.

Pay-per-views
Insanity and Inferno both present four brand-exclusive pay-per-views per season. In the first three seasons, Insanity pay-per-views featured the same rotation every year (At All Costs, Annihilation, Revelations, and Schizos Wild) until 2007 when EndGame first replaced Revelations. Afterwards, Insanity started using original names for all pay-per-views. Inferno had always monikered original names for their pay-per-views, until 2009 when they brought back Sacrament.

After each brands final pay-per-view of the year, the two brands promote and compete against each other at Altered Reality, the annual flagship event for Lords of Pain Wrestling. For more details on upcoming and previous cards, click on the appropriate link:

Supershows
In addition to pay-per-views, Lords of Pain Wrestling also promotes supershows. The first supershow was Honor Roll and held during December 2005. The event featured matches between wrestlers from opposing brands while also awarding the top performers of the past year (i.e. Wrestler of the Year, Tag Team of the Year, and Match of the Year). In January 2009, Honor Roll was re-introduced to honor its best with Achievement Awards.

In November 2006 following the Pyrogate scandal from Altered Reality III, a cross-brand supershow named Homecoming was held to re-draft the entire roster. In October 2008 after Altered Reality IV, Homecoming returned again to re-draft the rosters.

Additionally, both brands have also promoted brand-exclusive supershows in an effort to hype upcoming pay-per-views. Most notably, Inferno promoted Inferno 10.3: Night of Champions during the summer of 2007 to hype Sacrament. Insanity has also done this, more recently in December 2008 for its Insanity LIVE X-Mas Special.

Champions

 * Main article: List of current champions in Lords of Pain Wrestling

Defunct championships

 * LPW World Tag Team Championship
 * LPW United States Tag Team Championship
 * PWA Women's Championship

Apex 25
Lords of Pain Wrestling, in conjunction with The Institute, rank the Top 25 LPW wrestlers from Insanity and Inferno each week with the Apex 25. The rankings are based on victories, quality of competition, momentum, and overall in-ring dominance.

For the latest Apex 25, click on the link:
 * LPW Apex 25 link

Globalization
Over the years, Lords of Pain Wrestling have featured a number of international handlers who have applied their craft to the promotion. The strong global influence can be partly attributed to the early success of the Bad Mamma Jammas, who highlighted a number of different nationalities and distinct cultures within the promotion.

After the Insanity brand acquired the LPW Transatlantic Championship at Homecoming, the title spotlighted the brand's international competition.

Over the past year, LPW has featured handlers who hail from ten different countries, which include:


 * 🇦🇺 Australia Australia
 * 🇨🇦 Canada Canada
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 England England
 * 🇮🇪 Ireland Ireland
 * the Philippines Philippines
 * 🇵🇹 Portugal Portugal
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Scotland Scotland
 * 🇿🇦 South Africa South Africa
 * the United States United States
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 Wales Wales

Spin-off promotions
Due to the vast success of its performers, affiliations, and networks, Lords of Pain Wrestling has seen many spin-offs to its increasingly popular e-wrestling style. Many of the handlers who originally come from LPW have also become promintently featured in these other federations, sometimes with the same LPW e-wrestler, other times as a completely different character.

The most popular and currently active of these spin-off promotions is Full Metal Wrestling (FMW), which formed on September 25, 2006 after the Pyrogate scandal surrounding the events of Altered Reality III. Under the direction of Robb and Jaro, FMW has differentiated itself from LPW with its unique brand identities and innovative methods for encouraging participation.

Other associated e-federations have included Vendetta Championship Wrestling (VCW) and World Wildzone Wrestling (3W). Despite creating its own niche, both of these organizations are currently inactive.