Las Vegas might not be the first that comes to mind when you think about big wrestling cities, but there is plenty of history there.
It is one of only 26 cities to host WrestleMania. The Thomas & Mack Center has hosted three WWE pay-per-views through the years, including No Way Out 2001, featuring the 3 Stages Of Hell match between “Stone Cold” Steve Austin and Triple H. Sam’s Town has become a major location for Ring Of Honor, and now, Impact Wrestling. The MGM Grand Garden Arena was a favorite of WCW, who held Halloween Havoc there for five consecutive years, and both WWE and AEW have held pay-per-views there in recent years. Caesars Palace, the venue that hosted WrestleMania 9, also was the home to two Clash Of The Champions shows for WCW, as well as an episode of Monday Nitro. In recent years, it has also become a popular city for numerous independent promotions, taking advantage of the many smaller venues throughout the city and surrounding areas. Now, the city is perhaps best known in wrestling for being the home of AEW’s Double Or Nothing pay-per-view, hosting three of the five DON shows, and the only reason it wasn’t all five was because COVID pushed all of AEW’s shows to Jacksonville, Florida for a while.
That last sentence is what leads many to believe that Vegas is currently an “AEW city.” Perhaps that might give them the advantage with what I’m here to talk about this week.
I’m not sure how much you fine folks keep up with the world of music and entertainment, but on September 29th and 30th, a brand new venue made its debut in Vegas with two completely sold out concerts by U2, which is the start of a nearly three-month residency in Vegas for the band, where they will perform another 23 concerts through December 16th.
Some of you are already wondering what the big deal is, as many of the biggest musical acts in the world will have a residency in Vegas, performing regular concerts at the same venue for months at a time. Well, to those folks, allow me to introduce you to the venue that U2 is performing at… The Sphere at the Venetian Resort…
Yes, that is a real picture, for anyone who hasn’t heard about this place yet. That is the exterior of the venue, which features 580,000 square feet of LED displays on a building that is 366 feet tall and 516 feet wide at its broadest point. Just for shits and giggles, let’s see what else can be done with the exterior of the building…
Real pictures, as crazy as that might be to believe.
It would appear that the possibilities are endless, and again, this is just the exterior of the building. In case you’re wondering, yes, it can do more than just project still shots. The planets spin, the eye blinks, and so on and so forth. I can’t even imagine what it would be like to get high in a Las Vegas hotel room, look out the window, and see a 366-foot-tall eyeball staring at me and blinking, but I digress (shout out to Taz).
The interior of the venue is as stunning as the exterior. It has a listed capacity of 18,600 people, and it features a wraparound interior 16K resolution LED screen, 4D physical effects, and speakers that have “beamforming and wave field synthesis technologies.”
I don’t know what the fuck that last part means, but it seems pretty fancy.
Now, let’s take a look at some shots of what the inside of the venue looks like, from the opening U2 concerts…
The first thing that comes to my mind when I see those interior shots is the levels that a wrestling promotion could reach when it comes to immersive graphics, “TitanTron” videos, effects, and things like that. Imagine that screen for a Roman Reigns entrance. Think about what could be done with that screen for The House Of Black.
Some of you just had your nipples get hard when you read that. Don’t lie to me.
Let’s run down some other stats for The Sphere, shall we?
– The aforementioned wraparound interior screen measures at 160,000 square feet, making it the largest LED screen in the world. The 16K resolution makes it the highest-resolution LED screen in the world, too.
– The sound system consists of 1,600 X1 speakers installed behind the LED panels, and 300 mobile modules, for a grand total of 167,000 speaker drivers that can also deliver sound through the floorboards.
– 4D features such as scent and wind can be used. An example includes watching a speeding car race past you as gusts of wind are aimed at you to mimic… well… an actual speeding car racing past you.
When you put all that together, you’re talking about levels for events that were unthinkable before. This is stuff that would make The Jetsons feel like The Flintstones. Every review of the U2 concerts mentioned how the audio and visual experiences were unlike anything they had experienced before, and that counts the words of U2 members, as well.
With all that out of the way, what about wrestling?
As I mentioned earlier, AEW has made Las Vegas the home of their Double Or Nothing pay-per-views for every non-shutdown year of its existence. Holding their next Double Or Nothing at The Sphere would draw a ton of extra media attention that wouldn’t be there if the show was at the T-Mobile Arena, the MGM Grand Garden Arena, or any other venue they could run in all of Vegas. Even having a show at Allegiant Stadium, where WWE had 51,000+ people in attendance for SummerSlam 2021, wouldn’t bring the type of attention that The Sphere would, simply based on the uniqueness and the novelty alone.
There are some issues and potential roadblocks standing in front of AEW here, though.
First of all, you have the owner of The Sphere, a live entertainment and media company called Sphere Entertainment Co. The Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Sphere Entertainment Co. is James Dolan. Dolan is better known for having those exact same titles with… Madison Square Garden Sports and Madison Square Garden Entertainment, overseeing all operations within the companies.
Madison. Square. Garden.
To say MSG has a connection with WWE would be an understatement. A few years back, AEW was looking to strike up discussions with MSG about a working relationship to expand the promotion’s reach in the New York area. Rafael Morffi, AEW’s Vice President of Live Events and Touring, talked about the MSG talks, mentioning that MSG’s “loyalty” to WWE made sure those talks didn’t go anywhere. This would lead to AEW developing their partnership with Arthur Ashe Stadium instead. Tony Khan has said that MSG was appealing to him in the past, but not as much since AEW and Arthur Ashe Stadium started working together. Whether you believe him, or feel he’s just saying that to save face after being shot down, is likely dependent on how big of an AEW fan you are. Either way, it doesn’t sound like we’re going to see AEW running shows at MSG at any point in the near future.
I’m not going to sit here and pretend that I know whether or not MSG’s loyalty to WWE extends to The Sphere, which would probably exclude Sphere Entertainment Co. from having any discussions with a non-WWE wrestling promotion from having a show at The Sphere. Maybe it works that way, and maybe it doesn’t work that way. I do know that it doesn’t seem like an ideal situation for AEW if they were eyeing The Sphere as a potential location for any future shows.
If the rumors and speculation are to be believed, WWE has already been in contact with the right people about doing a show at The Sphere at some point.
Excellent.
Imagine the possibilities.
It doesn’t have to be a WrestleMania. In fact, I don’t see any way that it would be a WrestleMania. Outside of the COVID years, WWE hasn’t had a WrestleMania held in front of less than 71,000 fans since WrestleMania 22 in 2006. On top of that, we already know where WrestleMania 40 will be next year, and we’ve already heard good scuttlebutt that WrestleMania 41 could be heading to U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 2025. Does that mean WWE waits until 2026 to have a show at The Sphere? Would that mean doing a non-Mania show there, and then having Mania there in 2026 or beyond?
Another thing to think about is that WWE’s pay-per-view schedule is already set for the next several months. Their next one is Crown Jewel in Saudi Arabia on November 4th, followed by Survivor Series in Rosemont (Chicago, if you want to be that person) on November 25th, and then that wraps up the 2023 calendar year, unless you’re counting NXT Deadline, which is in Bridgeport, Connecticut on December 9th. 2024 opens up with the Royal Rumble in St. Petersburg, Florida on January 27th. From there, there’s Elimination Chamber in Perth, Western Australia on February 24th, and then WrestleMania 40 in Philadelphia on April 6th and 7th, with nothing else officially announced as of yet. Can WWE wait a minimum of about seven months to have a show take place at The Sphere, or do they hold a random episode of Raw or Smackdown there? One would think you’d want to hold a bigger event there for your debut than a random episode of television, but hey, what do I know?
If WWE wants to be the first combat sports entity to hold a show at The Sphere, the clock might already be ticking. UFC CEO Dana White has already gone public with his intention of holding the next Noche UFC event at The Sphere, to continue the company’s new tradition of celebrating Mexican Independence Day. White said that he wants that date next year, and that he’s already “very excited” about it. Mexican Independence Day is on September 16th, but that falls on a Monday in 2024, so I would assume a UFC show will take place on September 14th, as the company almost always holds shows on Saturday, unless the show is taking place somewhere like Australia.
Some of you are probably thinking that it isn’t a big deal to be first when it comes to doing a show at a new venue. In a lot of ways, you would be correct about that. This is WWE we’re talking about, though. Through the years, time and time and time again, we’ve seen WWE trip all over themselves to be first to have a show at a brand new major venue. I don’t just mean the first wrestling show, either. WWE places themselves in competition with other wrestling companies, MMA promotions, the NFL, college sports, and so on. If a new NFL stadium pops up, WWE and the NFL race against each other to see if said stadium will host a Super Bowl or a WrestleMania first. It’s a badge of honor for WWE to say they’re first, and regardless of what you think about WWE or what you think about AEW, the squad with the headquarters in Connecticut would find a lot of pride in being able to get to The Sphere first. There might even be extra motivation now that WWE and the UFC are working together after a business merger.
This is a very interesting time for both WWE and AEW. On WWE’s side, there’s the merger that I just mentioned, and the company seems to be approaching shows differently, with a bigger focus on doing pay-per-view events in larger-than-usual venues or new places. AEW is trying to build a gigantic television rights deal, is shifting to a pay-per-view model with more and more shows and a possible inclusion on HBO’s Max streaming service. Both sides are looking to make as many big splashes as possible, and I’m of the thinking that putting on a show at The Sphere constitutes as a big splash for anyone that can make it happen.
Your turn. Have you heard anything about The Sphere before this column? Do you think it would make for a good wrestling venue, or do you think it’s too gimmicky and would be a bit of a sensory overload? As always, hit me up in the comments section below, or on Twitter (@HustleTheSavage), and let me know what’s on your mind. Let’s wrap this column up with my Weekly Power Rankings, followed by my playlist for the week, and I’ll see all of you next Monday.
Weekly Power Rankings
Finn Balor & Damian Priest vs Cody Rhodes & Jey Uso: A tremendous combination of really good in-ring work, a hot crowd, a surprise title change, and storyline advancement. Cody and Jey showed a lot of chemistry in their first straight up tag match together, and even though nobody is expecting their title reign to be a lengthy one, that’s a good sign moving forward nonetheless.
Bryan Danielson vs Kyle Fletcher: Hey, folks, did you know that Bryan Danielson is pretty decent in the ring? It’s crazy. The rumor is that you can put him in the ring with pretty much anyone alive, and he’ll be able to have a really good match with them. Yeah… I’ll believe that when I see it. The kid’s definitely got a bright future, though.
Gunther vs Tommaso Ciampa: There wasn’t a living, breathing human being on planet Earf that was picking Ciampa to win here, but that didn’t stop the match from seeming like a big deal. Another main event for Gunther, another 20-plus minute match, and another great effort from him and his opponent. I really can’t say enough good things about him and the work he’s putting in during this Intercontinental Title reign. He was already one of the best in the world, but he was given this opportunity, and he is hitting it out of the park week in and week out.
Seth Rollins vs Shinsuke Nakamura: The loss takes Nakamura to 0-7-2 in World Title matches on television or pay-per-view since joining the main roster. That’s a shame. This is as dastardly and as sadistic as he has been in the WWE, and it still wasn’t enough to reach the top of the WWE mountain. His matches with Seth have been a lot better than his previous World Title shots, too, but here we are.
Head-To-Head Competition: It’s only for one week because of programming switches, but we’re about to get NXT and Dynamite going head-to-head on television again, and both sides of this “WRESTLING WAR~!” have loaded their show. NXT will see the likes of John Cena, Paul Heyman, Asuka, Cody Rhodes, and the motherfucking Undertaker. Dynamite will feature Adam Copeland’s AEW in-ring debut, Rey Fenix defending the International Title against Jon Moxley, Saraya defending the Women’s Title against Hikaru Shida, “Hangman” Adam Page facing “Switchblade” Jay White, Bryan Danielson facing Swerve Strickland, and I would assume a surprise or two along the way. It doesn’t matter who wins the night when it comes to viewership or the demo rating… we, as wrestling fans, win when we get entertaining television to watch.
Rhea Ripley: For a while, people have been wondering about the leader of The Judgment Day. Is it Finn Balor, who is the only guy in the group to reach the top of WWE? Could it be Damian Priest, who is the largest and most physically dominant member? Is it Dominik Mysterio, who is quite possibly the most dangerous person alive today? What about Rhea Ripley, who is the only woman of the group and is being pushed like one of the most imposing forces in the business? In the last few shows, I think it’s clear that Rhea is the leader. She returned from her attack at the hands of Nia Jax, and she has been angry. Not just at Nia, but with her Judgment Day partners, as she felt they needed to get their shit together. She has done a great job in getting in everyone’s faces, including Dom, who she has never been mad at before. I’m looking forward to seeing how she reacts to Balor and Priest dropping the Tag Titles. She may have them beaten. Actually, she might do it herself.
Chris Jericho & Kenny Omega vs Konosuke Takeshita & Kyle Fletcher: Tony Khan, longtime reader of mine… Takeshita is right there. Right. There. He continues to prove that he can be a top guy in AEW, especially now that he has Don Callis at his side to handle the verbal aspects of being an on-screen character. Make it happen, TK.
Rey Fenix vs Nick Jackson: It doesn’t matter what combination you use, but you’re going to get high quality matches when anyone from The Lucha Brothers and anyone from The Young Bucks share a ring together. This was just the latest example of that.
Chad Gable & Otis vs Ludwig Kaiser & Giovanni Vinci: Live crowds continue to love Gable and Otis, and are almost trying to will them to bigger and better things. It remains to be seen if WWE will truly listen, or if we’ll just get teases like moving Gable to the Intercontinental Title picture, only to have him lose 184 straight matches to Gunther.
Jade Cargill: She officially made her on-screen debut for WWE, albeit in a backstage arrival segment on the Fastlane pre-show. With that said, Triple H himself was there to greet her, the photographers were snapping pictures like crazy, and the clip of her arrival that was posted by WWE’s official Twitter account racked up 1.7 million views in just over 12 hours (with another 370,000 views on YouTube). We don’t know what her future holds, but it is becoming more and more clear that WWE is going to present her in as big a way as possible, making her look like a legitimate megastar.
Eddie Kingston vs Komander: My math could be off a bit, but I believe this is the first match for Eddie Kingston since April 2004 that he wasn’t facing a Japanese wrestling legend or at least someone who regularly wrestles in Japan. The match was still good, though. How about that?
Penta El Zero Miedo v Johnny TV vs Lince Dorado vs Komander: Back-to-back spots for Komander. Not bad. This was a fun match featuring a lot of great athletic spots, but it was also a nice way to tie Eddie Kingston’s past to his present as they all competed for a shot at his RoH World Title.
Christian Cage: He’s less than two months away from his 50th birthday, and has been wrestling for over 28 years. Here we are, though, coming up on the end of 2023, and he might be doing the best work of his career right now. He is so, so easy to hate, and that makes him so, so easy to love. Now that Adam Copeland is in AEW, it opens up several new lanes for Christian’s heel work to travel down, with decades worth of real-life events to pull from.
Rey Mysterio vs Bobby Lashley: Rey is set to turn 49 in December. Bobby turned 47 in July. Neither of them is looking their age, and they continue to have entertaining matches. They deserve their props. If either of them became a World Champion again tomorrow, most fans wouldn’t even complain. That says a lot about both men, even after everything they’ve done and accomplished to this point.
Dominik Mysterio: One reign as the NXT North American Champion wasn’t enough, so he decided to become a two-time champion. In a very brief period of time, he has proven to be a draw in NXT, so the move makes sense to me. It can also be used as a vehicle to get Trick Williams more over, as Trick now has to battle all of The Judgment Day and can look stronger as he conquers the obstacles in front of him.
Powerhouse Hobbs: While I really like him being a member of The Don Callis Family, we’re getting close to the point of needing an intervention, both for him and the people creating his storylines. He has been under AEW contract for three years, and this makes the 51st faction he has been a member of in that span. Either he needs to stay with Callis until the day he retires, or he needs to stay solo whenever he leaves Callis’ side.
Smackdown’s Final Segment: Sometimes a wrestling match/promo/moment is specifically designed to be “for” the live audience. The end of Smackdown was one of those segments, with the crowd going nuts for the inclusion of some of the biggest names in the business and what seems like the setup for a Survivor Series match. It was like watching The Avengers form, and the crowd responded as such.
Ricky Starks & Big Bill: They’re the brand new AEW Tag Team Champions, winning the titles completely out of nowhere. Not only did they win, they ended FTR’s six-month reign in damn near squash fashion. It made everyone start to speculate that FTR could be set to return to WWE, but Dax Harwood had to come out and shut that down. Of course, that’s what he’s supposed to say. More than likely, Cash Wheeler’s reported injury is serious enough that he won’t be back for a while.
Asuka & Charlotte Flair vs Iyo Sky & Bayley: This was a lot better than the Triple Threat at Fastlane, that’s for sure. Clearly, that means Bayley is the glue keeping the entire women’s division together. I don’t make the rules, folks.
DIY: It took a lot longer for the reunion to happen than many people thought, but Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa are finally back together. We haven’t seen them work together since they were on the same squad at NXT WarGames back in December 2021, but you have to go back to February 2019 to find the last time they worked a televised tag match together. They automatically make the tag division stronger, and this is a great spot for both of them right now.
This Week’s Playlist: “8am In Charlotte” by Drake… “WOO” by Denzel Curry, PlayThatBoiZay & Chief Pound… “Into The Sun” by Of Mice & Men… “ZOmbie” by Static-X… “In Vain” by As The Structure Fails… “40 Oz” by D12… “I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me)” by Whitney Houston… “Your Love” by The Outfield… “Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)” by Journey… “Everywhere” by Fleetwood Mac… “Would?” by Alice In Chains… “King Kong” by Jibbs & Chamillionaire… “Dope Boy Magic” by Yung Joc, Chino Dolla, Play Boy Nick & Black Owned C-Bone… “Hood Hop” by J-Kwon… “Return Of The Mack” by Mark Morrison… “Stutter” by Marianas Trench… “Check Yes, Juliet” by We The Kings… “Whatz Up, Whatz Up” by Playa Poncho & LA Sno… “Gone Away” by The Offspring… “Want You Bad” by The Offspring