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Top ten wrestling venues
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Growing up in Indianapolis I went to a lot of wrestling at the Tyndall Armory, the Convention Center, Market Square Area and even the Indiana State Fairgrounds. As I was reminiscing while bored at work the other day I thought about what would be the top ten wrestling venues known for chaos, blood, history and just being part of the pro wrestling landscape. The list is in no particular order but these are what I would consider the best of the best of wrestling arenas.
Memphis Coliseum--originally built as a hockey arena the Mid-South Coliseum quickly became known for pro wrestling. Eve though Elvis and the Beatles play at the coliseum, the biggest star in the history of the arena is Jerry "The King" Lawler. Many sell-outs and blood feuds revolve around Lawler and the USWA. The Coliseum closed in 2006
The Louisville Gardens--one of the best arenas ever for wrestling. The large square lighting fixture in the middle of the building illuminated the ring perfectly. Although is only seated 6000 it sounded like 60,000 on a night Jerry Lawler was in town. The WWE also presented two "In Your House" PPVs at the Gardens. The Gardens is now part of a $250 million dollar renovation project for downtown Louisville.
The Indianapolis Convention Center--this was home to Dick the Bruiser's and the WWA in the mid-to-late 70s. Centered in downtown Indy, Bruiser would consistently draw 10,000-12,000 people for his three week to monthly shows. Many greats walked the aisle here including Bobo Brazil, The Sheik, Bruiser Brody, Harley Race, Nick Bockwinkle, the Valiant Brothers and Bruno Sammartino.
The Sportatorium--is said to have been built for wrestling. The first wrestling show took place in 1935 and continued until the late 90s. Ironically a fire in 1953 partially destroyed the building in what was rumored to have been arson involving a rival promoter and fire would be the eventual villain not to be overcome when flames would destroy the building entirely in 2001. Fritz Von Erich and his World Class promotion ran the building for years and at one time housed the promotions office.The short lived Global Wrestling Federation also ran here as well as several outlaw promotions. The building was demolished in 2003.
The Cow Palace--was built in 1941 and has hosted many events from basketball to rodeo to concerts and roller derby, boxing and wrestling. Pat Patterson, Pepper Gomez, Ray Stevens and Cowboy Bob Ellis all had memorable matches at the Cow Palace. Also notable was the WWE "No Way Out" PPV where Eddie Guerrero won the title. The building is actually in Daly City and in 2008 tried to purchase the building and surrounding land for development. Governor Schwarzenegger vetoed the sale of the Cow Palace. The Board of Directors for the Cow Palace did agree to allow development of 13 acres surrounding the building though.
Philadelphia Spectrum--for many years was home to basketballs 76ers and hockeys Philly Flyers but was also home to many WWWF and later WWE events. Bruno Sammartino wrestled and sold out the arena many times as did Hulk Hogan. WCW also ran a few shows here until their collapse. The first WWWF Spectrum show featured Bruno defending against Killer Kowalski in 1974. In the 80s Hulk Hogan and Bob Backlund thrilled fans and wrestling from the Spectrum was broadcast locally on the Prism Network. The building is set to be razed and turned into a hotel.
The Louisiana Superdome--was the hottest venue for Bill Watts and his Mid-South, UWF wrestling. The Junkyard Dog was a major attraction for Watts and drew 30,000 to the dome for a steel cage, dog collar match against Michael Hayes. Watts would generally draw 12,000-30,000 people to the dome using JYD, Ernie Ladd, Ted DiBiase, Steve Williams, Jake Roberts and Paul Orndorff. Watts was severely damaged by Vince McMahon when most of Watts' star went to the WWF. The dome sustained heavy damage from hurricane Katrina.
The Omni in Atlanta--hosted some of the greatest wrestling in history, many featuring many time world champion Ric Flair. Though built for hosting basketball and hockey, the Omni produced many outstanding concerts but will forever be known for wrestling. Starrcade was presented four times from the Omni, the Great American Bash twice and Slamboree. WCW Monday Nitro was also presented live from the Omni several times including being host for the last live WCW wrestling event in the building. The Omni fell into disrepair and was eventually demolished.
ECW Arena--was home to one of the most controversial promotions, Extreme Championship Wrestling from 1993-2001. Shane Douglas put ECW and the former bingo hall on the map when he threw the NWA title in the trash and declared himself ECW World Champion. ECWs first PPV, Barely Legal, was broadcast from the arena. Rival promotion XPW ran the arena briefly in late 2002 until they went out of business in 2003. Now, Combat Zone Wrestling, Dragon Gate and Chikara all run occasionally at the arena.
Madison Square Garden--is the mecca of professional wrestling and is the one venue every wrestler wants the chance to wrestle in. Bruno Sammartino headlined over 200 times and sold out over 170 of those. MSG has been home for the WWWF, now WWE since the 1950s and has seen more title changes than any other venue. there have been three WrestleMania events hosted by MSG including the inaugural WrestleMania which was a make or break event for the WWF. SummerSlam, Survivor Series and the Royal Rumble have also been hosted at MSG. Gorgeous George headlined one of the first shows in the 50s for the WWWF with a win over Ernie Dusek. Madison Square Garden is considered the place where you know "you have made it" in the wrestling business. MSG is one of the most famous if not the most famous venue in all the world, especially the world of professional wrestling.
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