A surprising local connection to one of Hollywood’s biggest stars, and pro wrestling, have a Shreveport-based relationship.
For the last few years, Matthew McConaughey has shared stories from his youth, where long before he was an Academy Award winner, he was a kid from Longview, Texas making regular road trips to Shreveport. His destination was the Hirsch Memorial Coliseum…for professional wrestling.
It’s a story he’s brought up in multiple interviews, and each time it serves as a great reminder of a time when Shreveport was a major hub for sports entertainment.
When Shreveport Was a Pro Wrestling Capital
To understand why someone would drive in from East Texas for a wrestling show, you have to understand how the business worked back in the 1980s. The entire country was split into regions, or territories, and one of the most influential territories in the nation was based in Shreveport. It was called Mid South Wrestling…