Professional wrestling has become a December tradition in the Dallas-Forth Worth area, hosting several events throughout the years.
All Elite Wrestling (AEW) is bringing two events to Garland’s Curtis Culwell Center this weekend, and legendary wrestler Chris Jericho spoke to Fox 4 KDFW about the area’s wrestling footprint earlier this week.
“It’s pretty much obvious that it’s a great market here in Dallas just because of the great lineage here,” Jericho told Fox 4. “It’s a great market for AEW, too. We’ve made a point of coming here every December for ‘Winter Is Coming,’ and ‘The Final Battle’ was in the Dallas area last year as well. It’s kind of become an annual tradition for us to come to Dallas in December and do these shows.”
Dallas’ wrestling history goes back to the 1930s when promoter Burt Willoughby brought the sport to the old Dallas Sportatorium. The sport took off in the area with the emergence of the Von Erichs in the 1970s, who have produced generations of pro wrestlers and will be honored during Friday’s matches.
“I think the Von Erich story is so huge in a lot of ways that Dallas was put on the [wrestling] map because of the Von Erichs,” Jericho said. “So for us to be able to pay respect to Kevin and the next generation with Marshall and Ross, it’s a big deal for us. That’s kind of what AEW does. We kind of have a tradition of paying respect to the legends of the past, especially locally.”
Marshall and Ross Von Erich will represent their family in a tag team match to wrap up Friday’s event as they return to their home state.
“Whenever we come to an area where somebody’s from or where they live, we usually put them on the show,” Jericho added, “but I think Texas and Dallas, with Kevin being here, is kind of next level.”
AEW will host its “Ring of Honor Last Battle” at 6 p.m. CT on Friday in Garland and the “AEW Collision: Garland” at the same time on Saturday.
