The Classic Arenas

[JerryvonKramer]

In this thread I am going to profile all of the classic wrestling venues from the history of this great sport. Feel free to add your own memories, comments, trivia, etc. I'm going to do them in batches of 3 or 4 so that people can spend time talking about each of them.

 

Grand Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles, California

Year opened: 1924

Capacity: 15,300

Legendary Match: Fred Blassie vs. John Tolos (9/4/70)

No. of shows: 5,833

This venue was the wrestling Mecca at the heart of the old LaBell territory from the 1950s to the 1970s where Blassie was a lynchpin. Before that, however, from the 1920s to the 1940s, John Londos sold this place out almost on a weekly basis. Ray Steele was a draw there also, as were Bobo Brazil and Ed “Strangler” Lewis. After Vince McMahon Jr’s WWF bought the LA promotion in 1983, they only ran it three times because Vince preferred to run the flashier LA Memorial Sports Arena and then later the Staples Center.

 

Cow Palace, San Francisco, California

Year opened: 1941

Capacity: 16,55

Legendary Match: Ray Stevens vs. Pat Patterson (7/11/70)

No. of shows: 324

This was the monthly arena for the old Roy Shire promotion in the 1960s and 70s where Ray Stevens and Pat Patterson both made their names. Bobo Brazil and Pepper Gomez  were draws in this area too, and Nick Bockwinkel established his name in Cow Palace shows. Later on, Roddy Piper got his start here. By 1976, Shire started getting burnt out and gates were down and so they no longer ran it (although the promotion wouldn’t close until 1981). Verne Gagne’s AWA then moved in to the area and took residence at the Cow Palace drawing a 10,000 gate in 1983, but crowds dwindled after that. From 1985 onwards, Vince moved in and started running shows with Hogan on top. Verne also ran there as the AWA and WWF actively battled over the use of the Cow Palace. After Superclash II drew a brutal 2,800 in 1987 the writing was on the wall, three months later a WWF TV taping drew 14,700 and the place belonged to Vince. JCP tried their hand running in 1988 with Sting vs. Flair on top drawing only 4,500 which was less than half what a regular WWF spot show drew on month later with Savage vs. DiBiase on top. Vince ran it unchallenged all the way until 1997 when WCW staged Superbrawl VII there drawing 13,324 with Hogan vs. Piper on top. It continues to be used for wrestling to this day although WWE haven’t been there since 2012.

 

The Capital Centre, Landover, Maryland

Year opened: 1973

Capacity: 18,756

Legendary Match: Andre the Giant vs. Big John Studd (7/23/83)

No. of shows: 181

When Vince Sr started running WWWF shows in Washington again in the 70s, he made the new Cap Centre the home of wrestling for the area and they ran shows there every month. In 1980, when the Bruno Sammartino vs. Larry Zybysko feud came through they drew almost 20,000 there but the record was broken by Andre vs. Big John Studd three years later which was matched three years later by Hulk Hogan vs. Paul Orndorff. In 1987, Crockett ran a Great American Bash there which drew a very respectable 15,000 with a War Games match, but by 1989 they were down to 4,200. Survivor Series 1995 took place at this venue.

 

 

The Omni, Atlanta, Georgia

Year opened: 1972

Capacity: 16,378

Legendary Match: Tommy Rich vs. Buzz Sawyer (10/23/83)

No. of shows: 291

Some have called it ‘The MSG of the South’, and Jim Barnett ran amazingly loaded cards at this venue sometimes twice a month from 1973 onwards with both Thanksgiving and New Years Day shows becoming a tradition in Georgia. In 1980, Harley Race vs. Mr Wrestling #2 drew 16,000 there, and GCW sold it out again for Race vs. Tony Atlas plus a tag tournament featuring the Fabulous Freebirds in the Thanksgiving show. After Crockett took over, in 1985, Starrcade drew 14,000 at the Omni with Ric Flair vs. Dusty Rhodes on top and they got that crowd again for the New Years show with Flair and the Andersons vs. Rhodes and the Road Warriors with Magnum TA vs. Tully Blanchard in the semi-main. They ran Starrcade again there in 1986 and got the same number. Many of the regular loop Omni gates around this time, however, fell off a cliff – the lowest point being in late 1993 when Flair vs. Rick Rude drew only 800. WCW would run Omni cards all the way until its sad demolition in 1997. The last wrestling show there was the 3/3/97 Nitro which drew over 13,000 and was headlined by Lex Luger and The Giant vs. The Steiner Brothers.

[SirEdger]

Looking at the roof of the Capital Center in Landover, reminds me a bit of the Saddledome's in Calgary.

[DMJ]

I know it probably won't get covered here because its not so much a "classic arena," but I've longed wanted to write a detailed argument for Cleveland being a top 10 WWF/WWE city.

I think 3 out of 4 of the early Survivor Series shows were at Richfield Coliseum (which was where the Cavs played and was situated roughly halfway between Cleveland and Akron), but when Gund Arena was built in the 90s (it is now Quicken Loans Are- wait, it just changed, its now Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse), Cleveland remained a fairly notable WWE town. I'd argue it has often served as a "litmus test" city for better (the Terri Invitational Final) or worse (the birthplace of Brawl for All).

I'm a Clevelander so I'm definitely bias, but one day, I will write it all out and hopefully convince people that, at least in the WWE/WWF history, we're an underrated setting of historic events.

[sek69]

Yeah, as a Pittsburgh native I'm loathe to give Cleveland any credit but there was definitely at time in the 80s/90s where it seemed like nearly every major WWF show was being run there. 

[The Thread Killer]

This is a great idea for a thread.  I'm biased of course, but I really hope Maple Leaf Gardens makes your list.

[Ricky Jackson]

Another biased Canadian here, but the Victoria Pavilion in Calgary is a super-underrated historical wrestling venue imo. Built in 1919 and still standing, according to wrestlingdata it first held a show in 1931, last in 2013, and has hosted 1,309 shows in total. The home for about forty years of Stu Hart promoted/Stampede wrestling shows featuring a who's who of legendary performers, not to mention all the stars who passed through in the 30s and 40s pre-Stu 

[Edwin]

Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan maybe the best (or at least my favorite) Japanese venue. Tons of classic matches from a ton of promotions in Japan have happened in that venue.

[sek69]

Then of course you have Arena Mexico, which has held more wrestling events than any other venue in the world.

[PhilTLL]

7 hours ago, JerryvonKramer said:

 

The Omni, Atlanta, Georgia

Year opened: 1972

Capacity: 16,378

Legendary Match: Ric Flair vs. Terry Funk (12/13/89)

 

If you're talking about Starrcade, the singles round-robin wrestlers were Flair, Sting, Luger, and Muta, and Funk didn't work. In any case, the show was pretty average, and several of the nights you described would be better candidates for "legendary". Or the Last Battle.

Fun fact about the Omni: the exterior weathering steel that created its distinctive rust color did not work as intended, and it never stopped rusting, which eventually resulted in holes large enough for people to climb through. They blocked those off with extremely classy chain link fences. It was a major reason they tore it down.

 

[SirEdger]

Also definitely looking forward (and hoping) that the Montreal Forum will make it on that list. Such a hotbed for pro wrestling in the 50s and 60s, almost at the same level MSG is/was.

[JerryvonKramer]

2 hours ago, PhilTLL said:

If you're talking about Starrcade, the singles round-robin wrestlers were Flair, Sting, Luger, and Muta, and Funk didn't work. In any case, the show was pretty average, and several of the nights you described would be better candidates for "legendary". Or the Last Battle.

Fun fact about the Omni: the exterior weathering steel that created its distinctive rust color did not work as intended, and it never stopped rusting, which eventually resulted in holes large enough for people to climb through. They blocked those off with extremely classy chain link fences. It was a major reason they tore it down.

 

Well shit. Looks like another match is required! I’ve replaced with Last Battle or Atlanta.

[SPS]

This is a cool thread, I always thought it'd be a fun project to make a set of all the best matches from within the most famous venues of wrestling around the globe; some buildings have held decades of legendary matches and I imagine there would be quite a spread of great matches from different groups in some buildings especially places like Korakuen Hall or The Arena in Philly.

  

[Log]

I'm partial to the Kiel Auditorium in St. Louis.  St. Louis obviously has a history as a great wrestling territory, but really it's because this was where I saw my first show.  It was a WWF show in '86.  It had the Sam Muchnick Memorial Tournament and Hogan vs. Orndorff.  I vividly remember walking up those steps and thinking those big bears were so cool (I was 8).  I also remember being a little scared when Orndorff and Heenan came out for the main event and full cups of beer started flying toward the ring.  I went back the next year for a show headlined by Savage/Adonis/Race vs. JYD/Steamboat/Piper in an elimination match.  I had seats close to the aisle for that one.  It was so cool.

[Boss Rock]

Nippon Budokan might be my favorite, although a lot of that comes from my love of 90's AJPW. I read a quote from Kobashi in Eggshells that he always preferred Budokan to the Dome as the crowd was much closer to the ring and easier to hear, which was difficult in the Dome.

[Shrike02]

There are so many venues to cover. It's a neat topic.

The three notable Canadian venues do suffer from a paucity of extant footage, but Toronto, Montreal and Calgary all have a long history of professional wrestling being held in those cities. The Forum and Maple Leaf Gardens are gone now of course but as Kelly mentioned the Victoria Pavilion still stands (and it's the one venue of the three I've not been to so I can still fix that!). 

[JerryvonKramer]

Cobo Arena, Detroit, Michigan

Year opened: 1960

Capacity: 16,000

Legendary Match: Bobo Brazil vs. The Sheik (7/31/65)

No. of shows: 377

The home of The Sheik who ran Big-Time Wrestling from 1964 onwards and shows weekly at Cobo Arena. Dick the Bruiser and Bobo Brazil were both huge draws in this area with the likes of Hans Schmidt and Mark Lewin mainstays up and down the cards over the years also. Bobo Brazil vs. The Sheik was such a classic feud they took it on the road and worked the match pretty much everywhere -- it seemed never-ending. They drew their biggest gates, however, in 1965 with the 7/31/65 match going 60-minute broadway. The venue was known for its bloody brawls. Big-Time Wrestling went under in 1980 and Vince moved in to run shows in Cobo Arena from 1984 onwards. Andre the Giant vs. King Kong Bundy drew 12,000 in 1985. In 1987, Crockett ran some shows there with mixed results and some brutal crowds (1,000 for a loaded card) but also had 7,000 for a Great American Bash date with Dusty Rhodes and The Sheik vs. Kevin Sullivan and Dick Murdoch. WCW continued to run the venue without opposition from Vince all the way until 1997 when WWF moved back in drawing almost 11,000 for a Raw show that featured The Undertaker and the Road Warriors. They last ran it in 2006. It closed for renovation in 2010 and reopened in 2015. 

 

Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Coliseum

Year opened: 1960

Capacity: 10,276

Legendary Match: Jack Brisco vs. Dory Funk Jr. (7/13/74)

No. of shows: 1,186

Eddie Graham bought into the NWA Florida office in 1961 and they started running weekly shows at this classic arena which was one of the destination spots for anyone who was anyone in the world of pro wrestling for almost three decades. Buddy Rogers regularly worked there as NWA champ drawing over 11,000 in 1962 against Boris Malenko. Other stars of this area included Sailor Art Thomas, Thunderbolt Patterson, Jack Brisco, Buddy Colt, and, of course, Dusty Rhodes. Billy Graham also made his name there before going to New York.  Florida was known for good wrestling, smart booking, gimmick matches, and hot angles. After the Crockett buyout, JCP/WCW would run it and used it on Great American Bash tours as well as for Clash of the Champions 13 and 21, and Wrestle War 92 which featured the famous Dangerous Alliance vs. Sting's Squadron War Games match. Their last show Greed 2001 was there.   

[Tenese Sarwieh]

Cool topic for sure. I remember when my brother and I was younger our mom, aunts, and grandmother told us numerous stories about going to the Omni. Them going to sold out shows featuring Flair, Rhodes, Thunderbolt Patterson, and countless others. 

[funkdoc]

On 9/12/2019 at 5:52 PM, DMJ said:

I know it probably won't get covered here because its not so much a "classic arena," but I've longed wanted to write a detailed argument for Cleveland being a top 10 WWF/WWE city.

I think 3 out of 4 of the early Survivor Series shows were at Richfield Coliseum (which was where the Cavs played and was situated roughly halfway between Cleveland and Akron), but when Gund Arena was built in the 90s (it is now Quicken Loans Are- wait, it just changed, its now Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse), Cleveland remained a fairly notable WWE town. I'd argue it has often served as a "litmus test" city for better (the Terri Invitational Final) or worse (the birthplace of Brawl for All).

I'm a Clevelander so I'm definitely bias, but one day, I will write it all out and hopefully convince people that, at least in the WWE/WWF history, we're an underrated setting of historic events.

fellow Cleveland native coming in to second this

Ohio's just an underrated area in general for wrestling.  WCW did some work there too when they got big - hell, i went to the Nitro where they ran the WHO DROVE THE HUMMER angle!  The RAW held on the same night as the final Nitro was in Cleveland too (missed that one sadly).

Going back further, what i find interesting is that we Ohioans weren't really considered a territory in our own right but were a region that multiple other promotions tried to win over.  We seemed to get WW(W)F TV more than anything else even in the pre-Hogan era; when i'd talk about wrestling with older folks i'd mainly hear the Bruno/Strongbow/Ivan sort of names as the ones they remembered.  Georgia Championship Wrestling also tried to work their way into the Ohio market though, and we got their TV too - i first got an inkling of this when my high-school history teacher mentioned Tommy Rich as his favorite wrestler growing up.  And there's the NWF, which had quite a bit of talent overlap with the WWWF...

Can't think of many other states exposed to as wide a variety of styles, outside of the very biggest ones.