5 Notable Empty Arena Matches From Wrestling's Past

It used to be that an Empty Arena match was a novelty, a gimmick rarer than the use of a steel cage or strands of barbed wire. The idea is that with no fans present, two mortal enemies have free reign to batter each other all over the confines of the venue, without any concern over collateral damage. Not that the laser-focused brutes would give a damn about fan safety, anyway.

These days, Empty Arena matches have sadly become the norm. The restrictions placed because of the need for "social distancing" has promotions of all size resorting to closed-door shoots for their events, if not outright cancelling their shows entirely. Indeed, we live in strange and troubling times, and while professional wrestling is far from the only ones feeling the squeeze, to see WWE and AEW in their current state is to understand how sweeping changes have been.

For this little list, let's journey back to some times when professional wrestling ran some notable empty arena matches by choice, where the reasons for holding matches before zero fans had nothing to do with a pandemic.

It used to be that an Empty Arena match was a novelty, a gimmick rarer than the use of a steel cage or strands of barbed wire. The idea is that with no fans present, two mortal enemies have free reign to batter each other all over the confines of the venue, without any concern over collateral damage. Not that the laser-focused brutes would give a damn about fan safety, anyway.

These days, Empty Arena matches have sadly become the norm. The restrictions placed because of the need for "social distancing" has promotions of all size resorting to closed-door shoots for their events, if not outright cancelling their shows entirely. Indeed, we live in strange and troubling times, and while professional wrestling is far from the only ones feeling the squeeze, to see WWE and AEW in their current state is to understand how sweeping changes have been.

For this little list, let's journey back to some times when professional wrestling ran some notable empty arena matches by choice, where the reasons for holding matches before zero fans had nothing to do with a pandemic.

5. Jerry Lawler Vs. Terry Funk (1981)

With former manager Jimmy Hart putting a perpetual bounty on his head, "The King" took on all comers, none badder than famed wildman Funk.

Lawler scored a hollow countout win over Funk on Memphis TV, but the untamed rancher wasn't done. He challenged Lawler to a rematch with no fans, no police, no referee - and no pay. Just a lawless brawl between the two inside Memphis' Mid-South Coliseum.

With only announcer Lance Russell and a camera crew on hand, Lawler and Funk have a brief but spirited brawl, knocking over chairs in their torrential fury. Funk tried to go for Lawler's eye with a sharp object, but Lawler managed to counter it, causing The Funker to just about get the "Moxley treatment".

4. The AWA Team Challenge Series (1989-90)

While the Funk vs. Lawler match was invented from a spark of genius, the ill-fated Team Challenge Series came from desperation (as well as a spark of insanity).

As the eighties wound down, the once proud American Wrestling Association had dwindled into a shell of a shell of its former glory, as their top stars flocked to bigger promotions, and attendance fell dramatically.

To make use of the remaining wrestlers, AWA pooled the talents into three teams, instituting something of a primordial brand extension, as the gangs vied for supremacy. The Team Challenge Series played out in empty buildings, with the earlier run of events relying on cheap technology to simulate a crowd beyond the obvious darkness.

It wasn't exactly Gagne vs. Bockwinkel.

3. The Rock Vs. Mankind (1999)

Certainly the most famous of the Empty Arena matches - you could even recreate the mayhem to an extent on the WWE '13 video game.

After The Rock brutalised Mankind to win the WWF World title at the Royal Rumble, a still-battered Mick Foley goaded Rock into a rematch that would run during halftime of Super Bowl 33, inside the empty Tucson Convention Center.

With Vince McMahon on the call (one of his more underrated performances, given that he mixed announcer Vince and evil boss Vince so deftly), Rock and Mankind pummelled each other with typical wrestling weapons, as well as around-the-arena props like snack food and office equipment.

The Rock's one-line barbs between weapon shots rounded out an entertaining spectacle that ended with Foley pinning him under a keg-weighted pallet to regain the belt.

2. Sting Vs. Kurt Angle (2009)

Friction within TNA's Main Event Mafia led to World champion Sting coming to blows with Angle, resulting in this brawl on an episode of Impact shortly after the Against All Odds pay-per-view.

While Empty Arena matches seem designed as feud-enders (or in AWA's case, promotion enders), Sting and Angle's spat went unresolved after this, carrying over into Destination X the next month.

For the match itself, Angle and Sting warred relatively briefly, fighting into the seats. Angle took a brutal eight foot bump off of a balcony, which was merely the setup for a little more soap opera.

Ally Kevin Nash got between the two as Sting was about to demolish Angle with a chair, but a truce between the top guys could not be reached.

1. Motor City Machine Guns Vs. Generation Me (2010)

Generation Me would be The Young Bucks, back when a much younger Matt and Nick Jackson worked under the names Max and Jeremy Buck. At the time, the pair were feuding with World Tag Team champions The Machine Guns, Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin, and this battle took place on TNA's secondary show, Reaction.

With some rather eclectic camera work (kind of a cross between Lucha Underground and a home movie), the Guns and the Bucks combined their usual brand of frenetic spots and double teams with gritty brawling, a clear upgrade over the Sting/Angle melodrama. In the end, Nick gets put through a table, while a wrist-bound Matt gets mercilessly beaten in the corner.