Former CWF, ECW, & MLW Venue In Ft. Lauderdale Torn Down

A former home of Championship Wrestling From Florida, The War Memorial Auditorium, was torn down in Fr. Lauderdale this week. As PWInsider reports, the War Memorial Auditorium was demolished in order to construct a new venue in the same location.

Plans to destroy the venue were announced by the Florida Panthers last year, with plans to create a new structure that will have a 3,000 seat venue for concerts, conventions, and events. The demolition and construction was initially scheduled to begin in January but were pushed back to this week due to the pandemic.

The War Memorial Auditorium opened in 1950 and began hosting pro wrestling in 1951. In addition to being a regular venue for CWF, the venue hosted events for Herb Abrams’ UWF and several other promotions throughout the years. ECW hosted Hardcore Heaven ’97, its second-ever PPV, at the event and WCW would sometimes host house shows there before the Attitude Era. MLW would also host shows in the venue, and ROH’s Showdown in the Sun events took place in the venue.

MLW’s Court Bauer posted to Twitter to comment on the venue’s destruction, writing:

“Took this photo in June 2003 – the night @MLW sold out the War Memorial Auditorium in Ft. Lauderdale headlined by @cozy_lariat vs. Mike Awesome and Funk vs. @StevenCorino. Such a historic place. Sad to hear it was demolished but excited to see the NEW WMA. Long overdue!”

https://twitter.com/courtbauer/status/1362813341127876611