Hampton Coliseum
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Located in Hampton, Virginia, the Hampton Coliseum is a multi-use facility owned by the city of Hampton. It is mainly used to host concerts, and is a regular stop on the World Wrestling Entertainment tour. The Hampton Coliseum was built in 1970, and was the Hampton Roads metropolitan area's (and the state of Virginia's) first large multi-purpose arena.
The Hampton Coliseum was also one of several former homes of the American Basketball Association (1967–1976) professional basketball franchise Virginia Squires. The Squires played there (in addition to the Roanoke Civic Center, Richmond Coliseum, and the Norfolk Scope, all within the state of Virginia) from 1970 to 1976. According to Hampton Coliseum officials, the Virginia Squires played their first game at the Coliseum on October 22, 1970, and their last game on April 6, 1976.
The arena seats about 13,700 (9,777 for basketball). The 1987-1989 Colonial Athletic Association men's basketball tournaments were held there, as was the 1985 Sun Belt Conference tourney.
The Coliseum was home to the Virginia Wings and Hampton Gulls hockey teams in the American Hockey League.
The Hampton Coliseum is also the home of the Virginia Duals annual wrestling tournament, hosting invitational college and high school matches.
The arena was one of the favorite venues of the jam band Phish; their live album Hampton Comes Alive was recorded there. In 1981, the Rolling Stones played a legendary gig at the Coliseum. The show was broadcast on the radio and the bootleg of the show remains one of the most popular among the Stones' hardcore fans. The Stones also recorded a video for the song "Satisfaction" during that show. That video is widely remembered for the fact that guitarist Keith Richards took off his guitar and swung it at a fan trying to run across the stage. In 2006, Dave Matthews Band released its Dec. 31, 1996, show at the venue as Live Trax Vol. 7. It is considered one of the finest shows in the group's history.
[edit] Wrestling
In 2005, WWE held its longest running television show, RAW, in Hampton. On the episode, Chris Jericho was fired by Eric Bishoff for losing the Loser leaves RAW match, one night removed from SummerSlam 2005.
On December 19, 2006, two days after Armageddon 2006, WWE showed up again for their other weekly program SmackDown! and for ECW on Sci Fi. The nights events included WWE World Hevyweight Champion Batista facing off against Santa Claus, and the Brothers of Destruction (Kane and The Undertaker) facing off against Finlay and King Booker.
Hampton Coliseum will be hosting RAW on May 14 2007.
