Do Or Die Wrestling

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Do Or Die Wrestling was a pro wrestling school and promotion, created by Don Roid, an American indy wrestler who relocated to Poland sometime in the late 2000s. It was the first professional (not a backyard) organisation of that kind in Poland, and its history reflects that pioneer status.

History

By the mid-2000s, Roid gathered experience performing for multiple smaller American and various European promotions. In 2008, after settling in Poland and finding about the non-existent state of Polish pro wrestling scene, by way of the Attitude forum, he managed to contact Andrzej Supron and Paweł Borkowski, which then led to the creation of DDW. DDW set out with high ambitions. They planned to host big events (for 1000+ spectators), to have some TV presence, and to invite foreign indy stars of the era to perform and train their own wrestlers. The reality, however challenged these plans, and most of their events didn't see the expected numbers. Because of that, Supron and Borkowski soon parted ways with DDW, and went on to create the short-lived Total Blast Wrestling.

However, the organisation kept on going, producing several events a year. At first in Warsaw, later moving to Rzeszów (where Roid lives with his family) in the south-east of Poland, and finally to Gdańsk. That last move turned out inconvenient for Roid, who now had to travel across the entire country for the shows and training sessions. Additionally, the team in Gdańsk started to run things without his input. Finally, Roid decided to close down DDW and let that team run things under a new banner. After purchasing the wrestling ring from Roid, that team went on to become Kombat Pro Wrestling.

One character in that history, although a non-wrestler, was Arkadiusz Pawłowski. Active on the internet at the time, he had grand ambitions to bring WWE to host a show in Poland, although he had no experience or contacts to pull that off. That didn't stop him from claiming that DDW was going to host a match at Night of Champions II, an MMA event in Włocławek, and he was to book the show and gather sponsors and media coverage. That did not happen, and the actual showrunners denied any knowledge of his actions, calling Pawłowski a fraud. That did not stop him from gaining a role in DDW as a ring announcer and manager. He was also a member of the aforementioned team that took over from DDW in Gdańsk. A couple years later Pawłowski would go on to create PTW, this time with more experience under his belt, with similar ambitions to what DDW originally wanted to achieve.