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6,200 view wrestling show
WWE wants the Chevy Centre to host a televised event.
YOUNGSTOWN — The WWE wrestling event was one of the best-attended affairs at the Chevrolet Centre, the facility’s executive director says.
The WWE RAW presents SummerSlam Tour on Friday, with a main event of CM Punk retaining the world title against Batista, drew more than 6,200 fans to the center.
The facility is designed to hold up to 6,500 for wrestling shows, said Eric Ryan, the center’s executive director.
“We had an enthusiastic crowd with very good turnout,” he said.
As far as attendance, the wrestling show rivals concerts by Carrie Underwood on June 11 and John Mellencamp on April 11, 2006, as having the most people at a Chevrolet Centre event, Ryan said.
WWE officials were so pleased with the turnout that the wrestling company is talking about coming back to the center for a televised event, Ryan said. WWE filmed episodes of its “SmackDown” and “ECW” television shows at the center Aug. 7, 2007.
WWE can’t currently broadcast a show from the city-owned arena because the company recently switched to high-definition television equipment that is too big for the facility to hold, Ryan said. But the company is planning to purchase smaller equipment so it can broadcast shows from arenas the size of the center, Ryan said.
A day after wrestling, the Mahoning Valley Thunder arenafootball2 team that calls the center home played its last game of a disappointing 3-13 season. The team, finishing its second season, was blown out 61-13 by the Green Bay Blizzard.
The announced crowd was 3,416 though some at the game said attendance was considerably less than that figure. It’s likely some ticket holders decided not to attend Saturday’s game
The facility is going to be dark for a while.
The next event on the center’s calendar is a rib cook-off Aug. 14-17. That will be outside the facility.
A Best of Valley 2008 event on Aug. 20 is the next indoor activity at the center.
Also on the schedule is a Sept. 17 concert by the Blue Man Group. Smucker’s Stars on Ice, an ice skating show with music from singer Peter Cetera and the Cleveland Pops Orchestra, is slated for Oct. 18. That show will be televised Christmas Day on NBC.
skolnick@vindy.com