The future of the legendary Mid-South Coliseum, home of classic professional
wrestling for decades under Jarrett Promotions, looks to be grim indeed.
According to
today's
Memphis Commercial-Appeal, the venue, which was shuttered in 2006, will
be "mothballed" by the city, as opposed to upgrading the venue and utilizing
it.
Mothballing means the city plans to secure and seal off the venue, leaving it
standing but not making any attempts at upgrading it. Instead of
rehabilitating the Coliseum, the city will spend roughly $40 million
on redevelopment of Orange Mound community to enhance its competitive sports
locally.
The future of the Coliseum has been a big topic of discussion when it was
shuttered in 2006 due to the costs needed to renovate the venue in order to
bring it into modern standards. An attempt by Jerry Lawler to run the venue one
last time, featuring a proposed match between himself and Hulk Hogan was denied
by the city.
Wiseacre Brewing had previoiusly researched a plan that would have seen the
company invest $12 million into renovating and lease of the former entertainment
venue. That plan would have seen them yake over the the first floor of the
Coliseum and rent the remaining space to a mix of businesses would have
potentially included restaurants, a bowling alley, climbing walls, a wrestling
museum and a Civil Rights homage."
There has been a huge push from Memphis residents to save the facility, as
opposed to paying to have it destroyed. Memphis wrestling historian and
author Mark James has been very
involved in the campaign and noted in an interview with PWInsider.com several
years ago it would actually cost the city more to destroy the venue then to
renovate and repurpose it.
In today's Commercial-Times piece, the city's plan to mothball the arena, Roy
Barnes, president of the Coliseum Coalition, an advocacy group that has pushed
for the Arena to be repurposed, described today's decision as "real slap in the
face to citizens" and claimed the move was made for political reasons, not to
better the city.
The city is portraying the move as a chance to help the Coliseum, adding time
towards potential investments in improving the facility or to allow the Coliseum
Coalition the chance to raise their own funds towards that goal.
For decades, Monday nights in Memphis meant professional wrestling at the
Mid-South Coliseum, which housed such moments as Jerry Lawler's feud with Bill
Dundee, Andy Kaufman's foray into professional wrestling, Lawler's AWA World
championship win over Curt Hennig and a bevy of names including Ric Flair, Hulk
Hogan, Dutch Mantel, Randy Savage, Austin Idol, Tommy Rich, Paul Heyman, Jim
Cornette, The Rock N' Roll Express, The Fantastics, The Fabulous Ones, The
Midnight Express and even the earliest incarnation of what would eventually
become the "Mr. McMahon" character with Vince McMahon playing heel