JerryvonKramer Posted July 28, 2012 Report Share Posted July 28, 2012 What arenas would you consider to be in the GOAT conversation? Mid-South Coliseum? The Dallas Sportatorium? The Omni? MSG? Philadelphia Spectrum? Tokyo Dome? Tokyo Korakuen Hall? Budokan Hall? Rosemont Horizon? Greensboro Coliseum? errrr ... Caesar's Palace? Difficult to know what the criteria would be aside from "how many great nights did it host" and "historical importance". I don't think this is a lock for MSG, not at all. Interested to hear people put cases forward for different places. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soup23 Posted July 28, 2012 Report Share Posted July 28, 2012 Tough for me to argue against Budokan. It has hosted what I think are the top 3 matches of all time and has been the attraction for a slew of others. You could argue that it has lost a good bit of its luster in recent years with 3,000 people crowds and what not, but it can still arise to the moment and make a title change or match feel special like Morishima/Misawa in 08. #2 would be MSG #3 would be Skydome as a rare venue that always looks great in scope and has featured a hot as hell crowd both times Wrestlemania has been there. Sentimental favorites would include: Omni: Really wish I would have been a little older and could have caught most of the 85-90 shows as when I was old enough to start watching shows there (91-92), the arena in relevance was already on the downswing Georgia Dome: Some hot Nitro crowds and a good crowd for Wrestlemania. ( The Goldberg title win and Undertaker kicking out of the tombstone are still my #1 and #2 moments of live wrestling in my lifetime) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dylan Waco Posted July 28, 2012 Report Share Posted July 28, 2012 The Olympic Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdw Posted July 28, 2012 Report Share Posted July 28, 2012 These are all 1995-96 personal experiences, so the places may have changed: Korakuen Hall Great place to see wrestling. You weren't going to see a Big Match from a Big Promotion there. But you were close, surrounded by the hardest of the hardcore Tokyo fans for the promotion. Workers worked hard, even if it wasn't say Major Show 110%. Fun... that's the word for the place: fun. Budokan Saw two shows there. It's... not that amazing of a place to watch a show. Older, if you're use to more modern arenas here in the US. Obviously if you're watching a great card / match, it would be like any other arena where the entertainment carries the place. The cards I saw weren't off the charts, and no match was a MOTYC level where you could get the sense of what it was like when AJPW was rocking the joint. One regret from that period: not going to an AJPW Budokan. Glad that I did get to see some cards in it... just unlucky not to time out a trip built around an AJPW card there. Was going to to the 9/95 (which ended up Misawa-Taue and the 60:00+ elimination tag) along with the three AJW shows wrapping around it... and it was just the shits that it fell through. Yokohama Arena Much more modern in feel than Budokan. I actually enjoyed it as a place to sit and watch wrestling. Saw a good show there, and the crowd while not a sellout generated good heat for it. Again one of the disappointments: not seeing that level of show in Budokan. Yokohama Bunka Gym Eh. Probably due the show. Felt like a smaller college gym type of setting... without the college campus. Ryogoku Kokugikan Saw... I guess five shows? Thought it was a wondeful place to see wrestling, unlike anything you'd see here. Sumo boxes on the floor level are super cool looking... floor next to the ring is like anywhere... while the front row of the balcony was awesome place to watch from, one of the best I've ever been in. I'd recommend back at the time Korakuen Hall for any promotion (even the shitty ECW-ish show was entertaining for the fans), Ryogoku for a bigger show (which would be New Japan)... and don't have a good AJPW reference to judge the "best" of what Budokan could offer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdw Posted July 28, 2012 Report Share Posted July 28, 2012 Suspect our Lucha fans could site the major ones in Mexico City. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyonthewall2983 Posted July 28, 2012 Report Share Posted July 28, 2012 The Scope in Norfolk, Virginia had a great look to it whenever WCW was there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dylan Waco Posted July 28, 2012 Report Share Posted July 28, 2012 I always LOVED the look of WWF shows at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto. Of course I am a mark for the Portland Sports Arena and Don Owen's entire business model there. MSC to me is the ultimate mecca. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Sorrow Posted July 28, 2012 Report Share Posted July 28, 2012 The Philadelphia Civic Center, The Spectrum,the Louisville Gardens, and the Meadowlands were all awesome. For small Indy shows, in the mid-2000's, the Rexplex in Elizabeth, NJ was outstanding. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jingus Posted July 28, 2012 Report Share Posted July 28, 2012 The only building that I've personally attended that felt like it was worth a damn was the sports arena at the Nashville Fairgrounds. That one has the rare qualification of having actually been originally built specifically for pro wrestling, back in the Nick Gulas days. It's basically just a concrete box, not a hell of a lot bigger than the ECW Arena, but it's got that indescribable Something Special about it. (As a spectator, that is. Actually working shows in the building is a different matter, the dressing rooms are WAY too small, to a nearly claustrophobic extent.) Honorable mention for the little converted one-room-schoolhouse that NWA Wildside/Anarchy called/calls home, for sheer quaintness. The old theater that housed all the Memphis shows in Evansville is neat too, if no other reason than the labyrinth-like maze of backstage rooms. Watching on TV/video, I was always a fan of Hammerstein Ballroom. It kinda reminded me of Shakespeare's Globe Theater: lots of vertical space, stretching upwards from the show floor. It doesn't look quite like any other venue, and I always thought it must be a neat place to watch a show. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordi Posted July 28, 2012 Report Share Posted July 28, 2012 I have found the Budokan to be amazing if you've got decent seats on the floor level, but nothing great if you're up in the stands. I've been lucky enough to be surrounded by maniac fans both times I've been at ringside there. I agree with jdw's general thoughts on the Yokohama Bunka gymnasium but what impressed me when I was there was the incredible sound system. Misawa's theme music was just ear-bleedingly loud and awesome in that venue. The crowd noises carried well there, too. You could hear individual people chanting very clearly. Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium (Now called BODYMAKER Colosseum) has pretty poor acoustics for pro wrestling. In some areas the ring sounds and crowd sounds get washed out, which can subtract from the experience. The cheap seats have a pretty poor view of the ring, as well. On the upside, Osaka crowds can be pretty amazing when they get heated up, and everything looks and sounds just great from ringside there. For my money, Osaka Pro's Minami Move On Arena is the perfect place to see a live pro wrestling show. There literally isn't a bad seat in the house, and having a bar upstairs adds a lot to the fun. I'm definitely going to miss the place when they move to Umeda in November! I'm still looking forward to being part of a Korakuen Hall crowd one day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rzombie1988 Posted July 28, 2012 Report Share Posted July 28, 2012 Kanagawa Kawasaki Shi Taiikukaikan This venue is great. It's big and wide and it has the feel of a Roman coliseum. It's also usually really hot crowd wise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Rob Posted July 28, 2012 Report Share Posted July 28, 2012 (As a spectator, that is. Actually working shows in the building is a different matter, the dressing rooms are WAY too small, to a nearly claustrophobic extent.)It's strange how this is so often the case, that a great place to watch wrestling in can often be the pits backstage, there's quite a few British venues like this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grimmas Posted July 29, 2012 Report Share Posted July 29, 2012 The WWF Boston Gardens shows were always cool due to the distinctive floors. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Posted July 29, 2012 Report Share Posted July 29, 2012 Hard to dispute MSG for me. History of great matches, hot crowds, distinctive look, and from a practical standpoint ridiculously accessible for mass transportation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rzombie1988 Posted July 29, 2012 Report Share Posted July 29, 2012 I also like Shin Kiba 1st Ring. I'll take it over the Dome, Korakuen and FACE. Just a great small arena that really feels like the heart of wrestling. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Franchise Posted August 1, 2012 Report Share Posted August 1, 2012 Grand Olympic Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan Faulconer Posted August 1, 2012 Report Share Posted August 1, 2012 What are the names of the venues that Michinoku Pro ran for the March 16, 1996 and March 9, 1999 shows? I remember hot crowds in a relatively small space that made the shows that much better. There seems to be one particular gymnasium-type place that they ran a lot...or maybe that is a bit too vague for this discussion I also remember a tennis court/green floored and large windowed place being a venue for a lot of my favourite MPro memories. Korakuen is a definite no brainer of course. The Manhattan Center used to be pretty great from 2006-2008. I haven't watched any new ROH since June 2011 so I don't know how badly that has changed. I do remember it getting kind of annoying in late 2009 with so many stupid chants that seemed to take over the show and distract the viewer from otherwise fine wrestling with a hot crowd. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NintendoLogic Posted August 1, 2012 Report Share Posted August 1, 2012 The Scope in Norfolk, Virginia had a great look to it whenever WCW was there. The Scope is a dump. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Log Posted August 2, 2012 Report Share Posted August 2, 2012 My first shows were at the old Keil Auditorium in St. Louis. The first show I went to was a WWF show in 86. Hogan/Orndorff headlined and there was a Sam Munchnick tournament that Harley Race won. It was all smokey in the building. People threw shit at the heels. I was 8 years old, and actually kind of scared. I went back for another show a year or so later with a JYD/Steamboat/Piper vs. Race/Savage/Adonis elimination match. I had a blast. That place just screams old-school to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Posted August 2, 2012 Report Share Posted August 2, 2012 What about the Cow Palace? Also surprised no one has mentioned the ECW Arena, considering its reputation 15 years ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RWOOD Posted August 2, 2012 Report Share Posted August 2, 2012 ive always liked the civc centre over the arena or stadium for on television and live, keep in mind live ive only been to shows in ottawa. corel centre is your standard early 90s 18 000 seater i dunno if raw ever drew more than 11 000 to be honest. the old civic centre had some hot live events in the early 90s and a really good tv taping that i missed in june 1992. theres been some very good raws (2001) and some very bad ones (1997) in ottawa. i wanna make the trip down next time wwe does a ppv in toronto. the raw this fall in montreal doesnt seem worth it based on the damn traffic alone. theres a smackdown in ottawa but i think id rather go see a house show somewhere else in ontario like sarnia since hhh has been tapped to be at the tapings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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