Uniondale, New York has long held a pivotal role in shaping professional wrestling's legacy. The Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum -- "the Nassau Coliseum," for short -- is believed to have first opened its doors to wrestling fans on February 4, 1974, hosting a marquee WWWF card featuring legends like Bruno Sammartino, Mr. Fuji, Larry Hennig, Gorilla Monsoon, Stan Stasiak, and Nikolai Volkoff. This seminal event laid the groundwork for decades of historic wrestling spectacles at the Coliseum, which has hosted virtually every wrestling great at some point in their career; Diamond Dallas Page spoke highly of the Coliseum to the Cauliflower Alley Club's The Ear newsletter
In 1985, the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum hosted WWE’s inaugural Saturday Night’s Main Event, a major milestone that brought WWE into prime-time homes beyond its traditional WWF Wrestling Challenge syndicated slot. The venue would again be a focal point when the show returned to network airwaves in 2024, underscoring its enduring place in WWE's landscape. One of the Coliseum’s highest-profile moments came during WrestleMania II in 1986, where Uniondale served as one of three global host cities for WWE’s flagship event -- a testament to its production capabilities and fan draw.
The Coliseum continued to host marquee WWE pay-per-view events into the 2000s, including the full SummerSlam 2002, The Great American Bash 2008, and Fatal 4-Way 2010. Each brought championship gold and superstars to Long Island, with memorable title matches further cementing the venue's storied reputation. The Coliseum also bore witness to one of WWE’s most harrowing moments in 1999: during a pre-taped episode of SmackDown, Droz suffered a catastrophic neck injury from a botched running powerbomb by D’Lo Brown, tragically ending his in-ring career and sparking serious industry-wide safety conversations.
On a brighter, there have been many notable title changes over the years at the Nassau Coliseum. The Fatal 4-Way pay-per-view is when Rey Mysterio won the World Heavyweight Championship and Sheamus won the WWE Championship in separate four-way matches. Additionally, Saturday Night's Main Event, which had its first edition at the Coliseum, saw a title change in the main event on December 14, 2024, with Logan Paul defeating Jey Uso for the World Heavyweight Championship.
Per archival research, on February 3, 1985, the arena saw Wendi Richter defeat Judy Martin to capture the WWF Women’s Championship, marking one of the company’s early women’s title switches outside of television. Almost three years later, on January 24, 1988, Larry Zbyszko dethroned Barry Windham for the NWA Western States Heritage Championship. Over a decade later, on September 25, 2000, during the waning days of WCW, the Coliseum again witnessed championship history as Sean O’Haire and Mark Jindrak defeated Rey Mysterio Jr. (the same Rey Mysterio who won the World Heavyweight Championship at the Coliseum at the Fatal 4-Way pay-per-view years later) and Juventud Guerrera to claim the WCW World Tag Team Titles.
In the 1980s, the Nassau Coliseum played host to several National Wrestling Alliance events, notably 1987's War Games IV and 1988's Bunkhouse Stampede Finals; the 1988 event happened concurrently with WWF’s Royal Rumble. This rare scheduling demonstrates Uniondale’s recognition by rival promotions during the wrestling boom of the 1980s. Notably, the Bunkhouse Stampede featured a non-televised match where Sting and Jimmy Garvin defeated The Sheepherders (Butch Miller and Luke Williams, the future Bushwhackers).
During the 1990s and early 2000s, WCW also utilized the venue for several Monday Nitro episodes, further highlighting Nassau Coliseum’s appeal to both major national wrestling entities.
Uniondale's Nassau Coliseum has kept pace with its arena competition (e.g. UBS Arena, Barclays Center, Madison Square Garden, Prudential Center) in the modern era. In December 2023, AEW chose the Coliseum for its Worlds End pay-per-view -- their first New York PPV -- as attended by over 10,000 fans. Samoa Joe dethroned hometown hero MJF to win the AEW World Championship, while Eddie Kingston became AEW’s first American Triple Crown Champion by capturing the Continental Classic at the same show.
Touring wrestlers have also left their mark off-camera. The Marriott hotel adjacent to the Coliseum has accommodated countless wrestlers over the years. In 1998, a now-famous incident occurred which led to the arrest of Big Show.
Another wrestling-related angle of significance is related to the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame band KISS, which worked directly with WCW in the late 1990s (while its individual members have worked with and/or been seen at WWE events over the years). The Coliseum is where KISS had "their blood extracted for their first Marvel comic book" in 1977. Per a contract located online: “This is to certify that Kiss members, Gene Simmons, Ace Frehley, Paul Stanley and Peter Criss, have each donated blood which is being collectively mixed with the red ink to be used for the first issue of the Marvel/Kiss comics. The blood was extracted on February 21st, 1977 at Nassau Coliseum and has been under guarded refrigeration until this day when it was delivered to the Borden Ink plant in Depew, New York.” That issue was released on June 21, 1977. (Thanks to Grog Zeichner for this information.)
Uniondale’s role extends beyond entertainment: it also intersects with legal history. In the early 1990s, WWE chairman Vince McMahon’s federal steroid trial was held in a Uniondale courthouse, shining a spotlight on the town and impacting WWE's business practices and public image. Bruce Prichard has discussed on his Something To Wrestle podcast about the post-verdict celebration for McMahon at the Marriott next to the Coliseum.
Across nearly five decades, Uniondale and its Coliseum have hosted generations of pro wrestlers -- from Sammartino to Samoa Joe -- presiding over debut matches, career-defining moments, and title changes. Whether under the banners of WWE, WCW, NWA, or AEW, Uniondale remains one of professional wrestling’s most enduring, historic stages. Additional filming sites on Long Island can be learned about via another one of our LibGuides.
Researched by Darren Paltrowitz on June 18, 2025. Updated on June 21, 2025, July 3, 2025, October 11, 2025 and October 17, 2025.