When 11,000 Memphians Went to Wrestling on Monday Night
Monday night in Memphis once meant wrestling. And on August 16, 1976, nearly 11,000 people showed up. A crowd of 10,962 packed the Mid-South Coliseum for a card headlined by Jerry Lawler challenging Jack Brisco for the Southern Heavyweight Championship. Lawler won. Those attendance numbers help explain something difficult to appreciate today: professional wrestling wasn’t […]
July 17, 2001: Memphis Becomes a Major-League City
For decades, Memphis had wanted a permanent place in major-league professional sports. On July 17, 2001, it finally got one. NBA owners approved the relocation of the Vancouver Grizzlies to Memphis, officially transforming the team into the Memphis Grizzlies.