Grand Timeline

This article presents a timeline view of key events in Polish wrestling history. It is a condensed version of the Prehistory article and expands on the modern era not covered by that article. An even more condensed version, in the form of a timeline graph covering the modern era, can be found in Chronology.

1800s

  • The precursor to modern wrestling came from circuses, carnivals and sometimes theatres. As part of the show, athletes wrestle each other in single-match events, usually under their real names.
  • Oldest known wrestling show in modern-day Poland, held in Łódź on February 9, 1895.

Before 1918

  • Matches usually pit representatives of different countries fighting each other for supremacy. The fights almost always end in the local champion winning against a foreign opponent, draws and losses are rare.
  • The undefeated Jakob Koch is finally bested by Stanisław Zbyszko. A match between Albert Sturm and Zbyszko ends with a disqualification, the first such case on record.
  • Stanisław and Władysław, his real life brother, travel to USA, where both will achieve some successes in wrestling.
  • Events are held mostly in Szczecin, Wrocław, Bytom, Toruń and Poznań, with a number of other cities getting some shows as well.

Inter-war period

  • Only two known events held, in Wrocław and Warsaw. Stanisław Zbyszko returns to Poland, writes autobiography.
  • First known wrestler to fight under a ring name instead of his real name: Cyklop.

Post-Word War II

  • Poland is somewhat successful in combat sports, winning olympic medals in boxing, judo and classical wrestling, however no pro wrestling events are known to be held in this period.

1974

  • Andrzej Supron travels to USA, discovers pro wrestling on TV. Later meets Killer Kowalski and Ivan Putski, two wrestlers of Polish origin. Putski convinces Supron to try and start presenting pro wrestling in Poland.

1980s

  • Supron wins silver medal in classical wrestling in the Moscow Olympics of 1980. Later, assembles a team of athletes, trains them (despite having no pro wrestling training himself), and stages a couple of events in Warsaw and Poznań.

1993

  • Supron contacts a wrestler group touring Europe at the time, and manages to draw them to Poland for a single show. World Wrestling Superstars is held in Warsaw, with names like Bob Orton, The Iron Sheik, Koko B. Ware and Greg Valentine on the card.

1999

  • Paweł Borkowski contacts Supron, wanting to create the first fully professional Polish pro-wrestling promotion. They create PPWF (Polish Pro-Wrestling Federation), which only manages to hold training sessions, but no shows due to lack of interest.
  • Andrzej Supron buys a ring for PPWF.

2005

  • With pro wrestling still non-existent, a backyard scene begins to emerge. The earliest known backyards are Pomerania Indy Wrestling Group from Gdańsk, and Polish Wrestling Underground. Many of these organizations fold after a year or two, but some thrive. The timeline graph in Chronology of Polish wrestling includes these backyards.

2006

  • Borkowski plans to create a wrestling school, using Supron's ring. It is discovered to be too costly to repair, and the idea is abandoned.

2009

  • Don Roid, an American wrestler, settles in Poland in the mid-2000s. Discovering the non-existent state of pro-wrestling in the country, he opens Do Or Die Wrestling, importing a proper ring and training rookies. Some of these rookies come from backyards.
  • Arkadiusz Pawłowski joins Do Or Die Wrestling, hones his promo skills, becomes a heel manager character.
  • Roid also contacts Supron and Borkowski, quickly gaining their support. However, the organization struggles with selling tickets and gaining the public's attention. Despite that, they hold three small events in Warsaw. One of their wrestlers is Marcin Michalski who will soon take on the gimmick of Jędruś Bułecka.

2010

  • Borkowski and Supron end their relation with DDW, and start Total Blast Wrestling, holding two well-received shows with talent from major European organizations at the time, in Radom and Zawiercie.
  • However, the events weren't financially successful, and the organization folded after the second show.
  • A group of teenage friends starts emulating their wrestling heroes after school in Warsaw. They call themselves Polski Podwórkowy Wrestling.

2011

  • WWE comes to Poland for the first time ever: Smackdown House Show is held in Gdańsk.
  • PXW, a backyard in Głuchołazy in Lower Silesia, starts holding events on a makeshift ring. Among their ranks is one high-flying, risk-taking Terry Shadow.
  • DDW holds their fifth major event near Wrocław.
  • A backyard group in Silesia forms, choosing to name themselves Mine City Wrestling.
  • Supron lends his ring to WKSW.

2012

  • WWE returns to Gdańsk with a RAW House Show
  • DDW holds their events in and around Rzeszów, inviting foreign wrestlers like Mark Andrews and Pete Dunne.
  • Terry Shadow joins DDW's roster and school, as Straceniec (The Condemned).

2013

  • WWE holds another house show in Poland, this time in Łódź.
  • DDW holds their ninth event, infamous for very low attendance. This prompts Straceniec and Jędruś Bułecka to leave the organization and return to Głuchołazy, planning something new.
  • PXW, the backyard from Głuchołazy, folds.

2014

  • The former Straceniec, now known as Shadow, along with Jędruś Bułecka, purchase a professional wrestling ring and create Maniac Zone Wrestling. They hold shows in Głuchołazy and various small towns in the region.
  • Director Marek Skrzecz follows MZW's early events with a film crew, recording a documentary feature he'll release as American Dream.
  • DDW moves to Gdańsk, hoping to attract greater attention in a larger metropolitan area than its original home Rzeszów.

2015

  • WWE holds their last show in Poland to date.
  • Don Roid is forced to travel hundreds of kilometers from Rzeszów to Gdańsk to oversee the organization. He quickly gets tired of it, sells the ring and closes down DDW.
  • The buyers of that ring are a group of his wrestlers, including Pawłowski. They start a new organization called Kombat Pro Wrestling, and recruit nearly the entire former roster of DDW.
  • Two backyards in Kuyavia, one from Toruń and one from Grudziądz, join forces. They become Dream Factory Wrestling and obtain a proper ring.

2016

  • Dream Factory Wrestling holds their first events in and around Toruń. They meet Maniac Zone Wrestling when the latter are invited to perform at a Mexican-themed festival in Włocławek.
  • KPW holds their first Godzina Zero (Zero Hour) event in August. This would become their annual supershow.
  • Also in August, Rob Scaffold from the Warsaw backyard group that started in 2010, appears for Dream Factory Wrestling. He will soon bring more friends there.

2017

  • KPW finds a permanent venue in Klub Atlantic, and holds a show as part of SzlamFest, a pop-culture and comics convention.
  • DFW wrestler Revage trains with MZW and appears on their December show. That same show also features the debuting Amisz, Kuba Kamiński and Bartosz Borowsky.
  • The Warsaw-area backyard, PpW, manages to build an actual wrestling ring, though undersized. Rob Scaffold came up with the design and a local welding workshop assembled the metal structure.

2018

  • MZW moves permanently from Głuchołazy to Wrocław. This boosts attendance at their training sessions greatly.
  • A group of wrestlers from MZW's locker room, including Amisz, Kamiński and Borowsky, form a group known as The Greens.

2019

  • Pawłowski quits KPW, reportedly due to disagreements over his character. But he has other plans.
  • MZW finds a new home in Wrocław's Czasoprzestrzeń, and holds three shows there.

2020

  • The backyard group from Warsaw, now known as PpW Ewenement, goes pro and holds their first show, Brawl for the Puppies, donating all gate profits to dog shelters in the area.
  • COVID-19 hits, lockdown ensues, and all wrestling is cancelled for more than a year.
  • Pawłowski announces a new organization, entices many wrestlers to join it, draining the rosters of both MZW and KPW. Due to lockdowns, however, their first show is postponed.

2021

  • Still under COVID restrictions, MZW records a six-episode wrestling series and releases it on YouTube. The series is a tournament for their vacant championship.
  • With the restrictions lifted, PpW is invited to Poznań to perform as part of a craft beer festival.
  • KPW holds their comeback show after an 18-month long hiatus.
  • Prime Time Wrestling is revealed to be Pawłowski's new organization, and they hold their first event in October, in Chorzów. Among their roster are the aforementioned Amisz as Axel Fox, Borowsky as Boro and Kamiński as Jacob Crane.

2022

  • KPW is invited to Pyrkon, Poland's biggest fan convention. The show is successful, and will become a recurring staple of the event.
  • Not to be outdone, PTW becomes part of RyuCon, Poland's biggest anime-focused fan convention, held in Kraków.
  • PTW holds their Underground series of shows regularly almost every month, giving fans more wrestling than ever before. From the fourth show onwards, they are streamed live on FITE and YouTube.
  • Jacob Crane quits PTW after only a year, appears as a surprise contender for PpW and becomes their trainer.

2023

  • PTW holds their fourth major show in Wrocław in June, in Czasoprzestrzeń - the same venue as MZW. The difference in budget and production value, as compared to the rather minimal and utilitarian MZW, is stark.
  • In September, MZW and PpW hold a co-branded show in Wrocław, in the exact same venue, making history as the first such act of collaboration in Poland.

2024

  • PpW buys their first full sized ring from Andrzej Supron, the same one he bought for PPWF some 20 years ago, and later used by TBW and WKSW.
  • PTW holds their infamous lottery. This marketing stunt ultimately backfires, losing the organization money. Many of their talent, fed up and conflicted with the organization, leave.
  • As a result, PTW downscales heavily, both in roster size and ambitions, relocates to Kozłów. The Underground series loses its monthly routine.
  • PpW opens their training facility to the public, dubbed Ewenement Dojo. They hold a summer camp, with initial trainer being Jacob Crane, later replaced by Axel Fox after former's departure to Japan.
  • After exiting PTW, a group of their former backstage crew and talent starts Legacy of Wrestling. The group soon announces their first show to be held in December. For the first time ever, KPW lends their workers (Filip Fux and Chemik) to another Polish organization, making this the first Polish card featuring representation from KPW, MZW and PpW, as well as some ex-PTW free agents. The show was dubbed by some as "Polish Forbidden Door".