LPW Insanity

LPW Insanity is a professional e-wrestling show for Lords of Pain Wrestling (LPW) that currently broadcasts from the Lords of Pain website. The show's name, trademarked by LPW as Insanity, is also used to refer to the Insanity brand, in which superstars are assigned to work and perform on that program; the other brand is Inferno.

The show originally debuted as PWA Schizophrenia during the spring of 2003 as the inaugural show for the Psychotic Wrestling Alliance (PWA). In April of 2007, due to creative differences on how the promotion should be operated, the PWA came under new management and was renamed Lords of Pain Wrestling, while Schizophrenia was renamed Insanity. Because of its longer tenure, Insanity has historically been seen as LPW's "flagship brand".

The Flagship Brand
Beginning as PWA Schizophrenia, the program first aired during the spring of 2003 as the original weekly television show for the Psychotic Wrestling Alliance (PWA). Founded by PWA owner Villiano 187, his first hire was Phantom Lord, who became the promotion's first head booker. During its first year, Schizo broke new ground in professional e-wrestling.

The focus point of Schizophrenia was the PWA World Heavyweight Championship. The first World champion was Marty, who defeated Phantom Lord in a tournament final at the promotion's first pay-per-view, Annihilation. Schizophrenia would also introduce several midcard titles, which included the PWA Western States Heritage Championship, PWA World Tag Team Championship, and PWA Hardcore Championship.

In 2004, the success and roster of the PWA had grown so large that a second show was needed and the decision was made to do a brand split. Schizophrenia remained as the promotion's "flagship show" under it's own brand while the newly created Pyromania (now known as Inferno) became the second brand. The World Heavyweight Championship would remain on Schizophrenia, but Pyromania drafted the title holders of the other three championships, transferring those titles to the brand. As a result, Schizophrenia would commission the PWA United States Championship, PWA U.S. Tag Team Championship, and PWA Television Championship shortly thereafter.

In the first year of the brand split, Schizophrenia was dominated by SoL, the promotion's longest reigning World Heavyweight Champion. 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 the co-brand Altered Reality II pay-per-view, which saw Schizophrenia and Pyromania battle against each other in a series of matches to determine who was the superior brand. Ultimate bragging rights were showcased in the main event, when SoL (who was leader of The Illumaniti faction) faced off against his former Westside Connection tag team partner, Stone, who reigned as Pyromania's International Heavyweight Champion. The two would battle for the inaugural Martinez Cup, the highest accolade to achieve in the promotion. SoL defeated Stone in the Champion versus Champion match, 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 (although later, Jaro would disband from the group and form his own version of the stable, calling it The Paragon). The Illuminati targetted several titles in the promotion, with Phantom Lord holding onto the United States Championship while SoL and Samuels would hold onto the U.S. Tag Team Championship, in addition to SoL's control of the World title. Despite a brief World title reign by fan favorite 2TX, SoL would regain the title.

Eventually, the power of the Illuminati disintegrated from within when SoL and D. Hammond Samuels feuded over the World Heavyweight Championship. The feud culminated at Revelations, where Samuels defeated SoL in a Tijuana Cage Fight to become the new World Champion.

The Revolution
After years of toiling in midcard obscurity due to the influence of PWA management, the "French Canadian Sensation" Pen decided that he had enough of the PWA's current state and rebelled against the system. Pen formed a movement called The Revolution, which consisted of Schizo's most-popular and rising stars such as Al, The Witnesses, and The Misfits. From the beginning, The Revolution gained quick momentum. Al had recently won the Television Championship, The Witnesses were embarking on an impressive U.S. Tag Team Championship reign, and the Misfits' resident leader Headbanger was poised to win the United States Championship. With Altered Reality III right around the corner, all that was left was for Pen to journey into the main event scene and win the World Heavyweight Championship to realize his dream.

Despite Samuels' disdain for Pen's method of gaining the title shot, the match was signed and was contested at Schizos Wild, where Pyromania's PWA International Heavyweight Champion Jaro was named as the guest referee. Despite Jaro's antics, Pen hit Samuels with the Point Blank Drop and pinned Samuels to become the new World Champion. With the win, Pen would face Jaro for the second Martinez Cup at Altered Reality III.

Days after winning the title however, the Pyrogate scandal rocked the landscape of the PWA when Jaro and two other Pyromania wrestlers were fired. With the Martinez Cup main event in jeopardy, management moved Samuels to Pyromania and appointed him as the new International Heavyweight Champion. To further add to the pre-match drama, Pen announced he would retire after Altered Reality III and would vacate the World title.

In the Altered Reality III main event, Pen was able to hit the Point Blank Drop and pinned Samuels for a second straight time to win the second-ever Martinez Cup. Holding the World Championship and Martinez Cup, Pen would go into retirement.

Homecoming
After the events surrounding Altered Reality III, the rosters were re-drafted at Homecoming. With the first overall pick, Schizophrenia drafted fan favorite Al. With the second overall pick, Pyromania was thought to have selected cYnical, who was Pyromania's most recognized superstar and reigning Cleansed Champion. But instead, cYnical was 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.

Before the night was done, Schizophrenia retained the U.S. Tag Team Championship after drafting The Witnesses. In addition to bringing over the Cleansed Championship, Schizo brought over the PWA Hardcore Championship for the first time since the original brand split, when Retribution was drafted away from Pyromania (Schizo would lose the United States and Television Championships to Pyromania).

The Tales of Krimson Mask
In April of 2007, due to creative differences on how the promotion should be operated, the Psychotic Wrestling Alliance came under new management and was immediately renamed Lords of Pain Wrestling (LPW) to coincide with the website's name. As a result, Schizophrenia was renamed Insanity.

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 Insanity LIVE broadcast from Los Angeles, 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. But unfortunately for Giancarlo, Krimson Mask, Bloodrose, and cYnical foiled his plans, forcing to retreat to Morpheus's Dream Realm. After their alliance, the three LPW supernatural superstars competed in a Gauntlet match at Annihilation, where Krimson Mask successfully retained the title.

While Krimson Mask continued his win-streak and search for Giancarlo, Little Red's conflicted feelings for cYnical became well-documented. After cYnical admitted his love to Little Red, she helped cYnical steal Krimson Mask's mask, allowing the wizard to gain new power. In the first-ever Death Cube match at EndGame, Krimson Mask thwarted cYnical's strategy, defeating him, Eric Scorpio, N'itomniskittel, Bloodrose, and Stone to successfully retain the World Heavyweight Championship.

After the match however, Giancarlo captured Little Red after she had been knocked off the steel structure. Giancarlo used his residence in the Dream Realm to haunt both Mask and cYnical, using Little Red as the catalyst. At Dead Man's Hand, cYnical defeated Krimson Mask in a Japanese Death match to win the LPW World Heavyweight Championship. After finding out that Giancarlo had been his mentor of The Flame, cYnical used the Sword of Damocles to kill Giancarlo, rescue Little Red, then gave the Sword to Krimson Mask as his ticket home.

The Age of The Flame
Despite his disdain for representing Insanity, cYnical was scheduled to compete in the main event at Altered Reality IV against Drew Michaels, Inferno's LPW International Heavyweight Champion, 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 utilizing broken glass taped-fists that was gifted to him by his conflicted love interest, Little Red. But unknown to cYnical, Michaels had draped his foot on the bottom rope before the administered three-count. Inferno general manager and cYnical's arch-enemy, 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.

Because of the controversial decisions administered during Altered Reality IV, Spectre stepped down as LPW President and Inferno general manager. Soon afterwards, 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, Insanity drafted Drew Michaels with its 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 cYnical back to Insanity.

Chronology
Because of LPW's unique e-fed style, Insanity chronicles its live shows by listing its host city (unlike Inferno, which chronicles its shows by numbered denominations). Insanity has been doing this type of chronology since its inception.

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".

Pay-per-views
Insanity presents four brand-exclusive pay-per-views every year. Unlike Inferno, Insanity have maintained several of its original pay-per-view names (such as At All Costs, Annihilation, and Revelations). After the fourth and final Insanity pay-per-view of the year, Insanity and Inferno co-promote the joint Altered Reality pay-per-view, which is the biggest LPW show of the year. For more details on previous and upcoming cards, click on the appropriate link.


 * Body Count - August 2009
 * Resurrection - March 23, 2009
 * Altered Reality IV - September 8, 2008
 * Dead Man's Hand - July 23, 2008
 * EndGame - February 10, 2008
 * Annihilation - September 14, 2007
 * At All Costs - April 4, 2007
 * Altered Reality III - November 1, 2006
 * Schizos Wild - September 19, 2006

Supershows
Recently, Insanity has experimented using supershows to hype upcoming pay-per-views. So far, there have been two supershows with more to be announced.


 * LPW Insanity LIVE X-Mas Special - December 8, 2008
 * LPW Insanity LIVE Revelations from Dallas, Texas - December, 2007

Champions

 * &dagger; The LPW Undisputed World Tag Team Championship is featured and defended on both brands.

Audio Team

 * Blazing Phoenix (Play-by-Play Announcer)
 * SoL (Color Commentator)
 * Jonathan Crotchman (Backstage Interviewer)