Could Reno Get More High Level Wrestling Shows?

The author UNR journalism student Jake Santiago on the right with Puerto Rican wrestler Carlito on the left.

The Reno Wrestle Factory regularly hosts events here in the Biggest Little City and in surrounding areas, but for wrestling fans like myself, there’s a yearning for more wrestling.

Not many major promotions visit Reno or stop by. It’s been four years since the WWE last showed up. With our area growing so rapidly, you’d think we’d be a stop more often.

The meet and greet aspect of professional wrestling is also lacking here. Fans love it and a lot of wrestlers depend on these autograph signings and meet and greets to pad their incomes, but there’s none to be found.

For fans here who may want the experience of professional wrestling meet and greets with famous wrestlers, you’re in luck if you have a car. Not too far from here, Roseville, is home to Barrio Toys, a store which hosts major professional wrestling stars and legends for autograph signings and photo ops.

Reno’s wrestling culture is deeper than people actually think though, with the late Jim “the Anvil” Neidhart for example who was billed as hailing from Reno, getting our city’s name out there in his heyday in part of the 80s and 90s. Famed for his role in The Hart Foundation with the Canadian-American wrestler Bret Hart, he was a physically imposing competitor known for his signature laugh, goatee, and the "Anvil Flattener.”

With the new GSR arena oncoming, perhaps more important wrestling events can come back to the our area. Reno has hosted the WWE several times, but the other major promotion AEW has yet to visit.

The RWF does a good job in bringing in wrestlers from Northern California and Northern Nevada, and have an upcoming event called the Small Town Brawl Saturday March 21st at 124 N Main Street in Yerington.  

Still, though, it feels like it’s time for a bigger stage of wrestling here in the 775.

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