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If you are looking for the best in live pro-wrestling entertainment, then you will probably need to take a trip to Las Vegas. This Nevada city may be famous for its glittering casinos, but it has also become the focal point for the world's top wrestling showdowns. But what is it about Sin City that makes it so attractive for these epic bouts?
Thanks to the lax gambling laws in the state of Nevada, Las Vegas has become one of the few places in the US where it is legal to bet on anything from sports to slot machines. But Las Vegas has been suffering from dwindling gambling revenues recently.
The online revolution has brought in new competition for Sin City's land-based casinos. Today it's very simple for any American gambling fan to search and find many options for online casino games in NJ and other countries like Delaware and Pennsylvania, offering attractive bonuses, reward points and daily promotions.
This leads to casino resorts in Las Vegas trying to do all they can to keep new customers coming in. Places like the MGM Grand Casino have hosted some genuinely legendary wrestling bouts, and there are even plans to build an entire WWF Hotel and Casino soon.
From Caesars Palace hosting Wrestlemania IX back in 1993 to Mandalay Bay giving us some great WWE Monday Night Raw events, it's clear that there's been a real effort to introduce more wrestling clashes to Las Vegas. Such moves will keep people coming to Las Vegas whether they like casino gambling or not, and we can expect more top-level wrestling bouts to hit Sin City soon.
Most wrestling fans will probably admit that these fighting events are hardly the most subtle of sports. As such, Las Vegas makes the perfect home for the larger-than-life characters that make wrestling such a fascinating spectacle.
The WWE Friday Night Smackdown bouts at the T Mobile Arena have become some of Las Vegas' most significant entertainment events, and few places can serve up the gaudy glamour of the self-proclaimed 'entertainment capital of the world.'
The desert city has space and infrastructure necessary to host massive wrestling events. Such a phenomenon would be unimaginable in congested cities like New York, although Madison Square Garden has successfully hosted many WWE Monday Night Raw showdowns.
Although upcoming WWE clashes like the rematch between Brock Lesnar and Cain Velasquez are being hosted in distant countries like Saudi Arabia, for such an all-American sport as wrestling, it's clear that only a city like Las Vegas can do it justice.
Similarly, there have even been WWE tours of countries like the UK that attempt to match the razzmatazz of a Las Vegas bout. But just in the way that boxing matches always benefit from the glitz and glamour of Sin City, it seems that wrestling can't stay away from Las Vegas.
While television networks like Fox regularly show wrestling events like the Friday Night Smackdown, falling audience numbers have revealed that there isn't much of an appetite for wrestling among casual viewers.
Previously we have seen wrestling icons like Rock, Stone Cold Steve Austin, Ric Flair and Hulk Hogan bringing new fans to the sport. But now it seems that the demographic for pro wrestling could be ageing and such a phenomenon could play into the hands of Las Vegas which has always promoted itself as being a city for adult entertainment. So although WWE and AEW wrestling might be struggling to get the viewer figures on TV networks like Fox, it will always find a suitable home in Las Vegas.
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