12 Most Historic Wrestling Moments That Happened In Las Vegas
10. The AWA's Dying Days At The Showboat
The American Wrestling Association, under the guidance of owner and veteran star Verne Gagne, was once in contention to become the largest promotion in the country. Based out of Minnesota and selling out arenas throughout the 1970s and early 1980s, the AWA had an impressive roster of Jesse Ventura, the Rockers, announcer 'Mean' Gene Okerlund, and Hulk Hogan fresh off Rocky III, among others. However, crowds quickly soured on Verne’s reluctance to fully commit to Hogan as champion and the majority of the AWA’s stars soon left for the World Wrestling Federation.
By the late 1980s, the AWA’s weekly television program was broadcast on emerging sports network ESPN from the Showboat Casino in Las Vegas. The show was a sad affair with half-empty and unenthusiastic crowds watching the likes of an already aging Sgt. Slaughter, the unwanted cheap heat of Colonel DeBeers, an up-and-coming but unproven Curt Hennig, and the always-pushed but never deserving Greg Gagne.
The company once poised to lead the wrestling boom of the 1980s had fallen far and fast, and the AWA’s slow death was on full display on national television in an unpleasant reminder of what could have been.