Stadiums Limited is an Australian company established in the late 1890s that owned and administered four venues on Australia's east coast at West Melbourne Stadium,

Sydney Stadium The Sydney Stadium was a sporting and entertainment venue in Sydney, which formerly stood on the corner of New South Head Road and Neild Avenue, Rushcutters Bay. Built in 1908, it was demolished in 1970 to make way for the construction of ...

, Leichhardt Stadium and

Brisbane Festival Hall Brisbane Festival Hall was an indoor arena located on the southern corner of Albert Street and Charlotte Street, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It operated from 1910 to 2003, before being demolished to make the Oak Festival Towers apartment ...

. It was founded in 1915 by

John Wren John Wren (3 April 1871 – 26 October 1953) was an Australian bookmaker, boxing and wrestling promoter, Irish nationalist, land speculator, newspaper owner, racecourse and racehorse owner, soldier, pro-conscriptionist and theatre owner. He ...

and Dick Lean Senior who acted as the general manager. Incorporated in its final form in 1915, prior to this, Wren worked with Lean Senior, purchasing the various locations, including the site of what became the West Melbourne Hall, and ultimately Festival Hall from Reginald (Snowy) Baker. Stadiums initially began presenting both boxing and professional wrestling. Wren, as he did in other parts of his life, offered a great deal of money to boxers and wrestlers to perform. The operations of Stadiums Ltd changed in the second half of the 20th century, as the venues began to be predominantly used for live music and for television broadcasts. Notably, it was Dick Lean Junior as the promoter and Managing Director of Stadiums Ltd who booked

the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

to play Australia in 1964 - arguably the most successful Concert coup in Australian entertainment history. Dick Lean became Managing Director of Stadiums, vastly increasing the Company profitability by continuing to promote and bring to Australia many of the major headline acts during the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s - all who performed in the Stadium's venues in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane. The Wren family and others still own Stadiums Ltd as of 2017, and it remains one of Australia oldest private companies. Post an extended period of losses over many years and the sale of the company's last operational asset, Festival Hall - Melbourne, in December 2020 - Stadiums Pty Ltd entered voluntary liquidation and was formally wound up in July 2021.

Notable wrestlers

* Jim Browning *

Primo Carnera Primo Carnera (; 26 October 1906 – 29 June 1967) was an Italian professional boxer and wrestler who achieved international fame during the 1930s. He reigned as the boxing World Heavyweight Champion from 29 June 1933 to 14 June 1934. He won ...

* Vic Christy *

Dean Detton Dean Henry Detton (June 27, 1908 – February 23, 1958) was an American professional wrestler and World Heavyweight Champion who was active in the early portion of the twentieth century. Previously he was a proficient University of Utah football ...

Gorgeous George George Raymond Wagner (March 24, 1915 – December 26, 1963) was an American professional wrestler known by his ring name Gorgeous George. In the United States, during the First Golden Age of Professional Wrestling in the 1940s–1950s, Gorgeou ...

* Dr. Jerry Graham *

Roy Heffernan Laurence Roy Heffernan (12 July 1925 – 24 September 1992) was an Australian professional wrestler. Roy Heffernan toured all over the world, but is most famous for being one half of the original version of the tag team the Fabulous Kangaroos ( ...

Ski Hi Lee Robert E. Leedy (9 February 1921 – 31 May 1974) was a Canadian professional wrestler, boxer and actor, better known by his ring name, Ski Hi Lee (also spelled Sky Hi Lee, Sky High Lee, and Sky Hy Lee). Known for his great height and strength, h ...

* Ed "Strangler" Lewis *

Jim Londos Christos Theofilou (; January 2, 1894 – August 19, 1975), better known as "The Golden Greek" Jim Londos ( Greek: Τζιμ Λόντος), was a Greek American professional wrestler. Londos was one of the most popular stars on the professional ...

* Earl McCready *

Danny McShain Danny McShain (October 30, 1912 – July 14, 1992) was an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. He competed in the southern United States from the 1930s to the 1960s. Early life McShain was born on October 30, 1912, in Little R ...

Billy Meeske Billy Meeske (1891–1970) was an Professional wrestling in Australia, Australian professional wrestler who was three-time Australian Heavyweight Championship, Australian heavyweight champion and one time Pacific Coast Light Heavyweight Championsh ...

John Pesek John Pesek (February 21, 1894 – March 12, 1978) was an American professional wrestler and greyhound racing dog breeder. Nicknamed 'The Nebraska Tiger Man' for his ferocity, aggression and catlike dexterity, Olympic freestyle wrestling gold meda ...

Ad Santel Adolph Ernst (April 7, 1887 – November 10, 1966), better known for his ring name Ad Santel, was a German-American professional wrestler, considered one of the greatest practitioners of catch wrestling. He was a World Light Heavyweight Champio ...

Gus Sonnenberg Gustave Adolph Sonnenberg (March 6, 1898 – September 9, 1944) was an American football player and professional wrestler of German descent and World Heavyweight Championship (Original), World Heavyweight Champion. As a wrestler, he was National ...

Joe Stecher Joe Stecher (April 4, 1893 – March 29, 1974), sometimes spelled Joe Stetcher, was an American professional wrestler and three-time World Heavyweight Wrestling Champion. Known for his ferocity, tremendous leg strength and extensive knowledge ...

* Ray Steele * Sandor Szabo *

Lou Thesz Aloysius Martin Thesz (April 24, 1916 – April 28, 2002), known by the ring name Lou Thesz, was an American professional wrestler and wrestling coach. Considered to be one of the last true shooters (legitimate wrestlers) in professional w ...

Ted Thye Theodore Thye (August 26, 1890 – March 22, 1966) was an American wrestler, promotor and manager in the United States. Professional wrestling career During his career he worked with Emile Czaja and Ed "Strangler" Lewis. Thye was a multiple ...

References

External links

{{Professional wrestling in Australia Entertainment companies established in 1915 Australian companies established in 1915 Boxing in Australia Professional wrestling in Australia Real estate companies established in 1915 Privately held companies of Australia

Notable wrestlers

See also

References

External links