Turner's Arena was the name given to a 1,800 seat arena, located at 1341 W Street, near the northeast corner of 14th and W Streets, NW in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, and originally owned by local

wrestling Wrestling is a martial art, combat sport, and form of entertainment that involves grappling with an opponent and striving to obtain a position of advantage through different throws or techniques, within a given ruleset. Wrestling involves di ...

promoter Joe Turner. One of the popular events were bouts featuring local wrestler Swift Eagle and Chief Thunderbird as detailed in the House History Man blog. A photograph and advertisement for the arena appears on page 69 of the book Greater U Street by Paul K. Williams. This venue was an early home to the

Capitol Wrestling Corporation Capitol Wrestling Corporation (CWC) was an American sports promotion company. Run by Vincent J. McMahon from the 1950s until the 1980s, the company was originally a professional wrestling and boxing promotion and later became the holding company ...

, a precursor to

WWE World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) is an American professional wrestling promotion. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority-owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. A global integrated media and entertainment company, ...

, which was started by

Vincent J. McMahon Vincent James McMahon (July 6, 1914 – May 24, 1984), also referred to as Vince McMahon Sr., was an American professional wrestling promoter. He is best known for running the Capitol Wrestling Corporation, later known as the World Wide Wrestli ...

in January 1953. McMahon took over the territory from Gabe Menendez, who had succeeded Turner after his death in 1947. In addition, the arena hosted top professional

boxing Boxing is a combat sport and martial art. Taking place in a boxing ring, it involves two people – usually wearing protective equipment, such as boxing glove, protective gloves, hand wraps, and mouthguards – throwing Punch (combat), punch ...

matches promoted by Goldie Ahearn featuring fighters such as Lou Gevinson, Lew Hanbury, and

Jimmy Cooper Jimmy Cooper may refer to: * Jimmy Cooper (musician) (1907–1977), Scottish hammered dulcimer player * Jimmy Cooper (footballer) (born 1939), Scottish football winger * Jimmy Cooper (boxer), American featherweight boxer from the 1940s and 1950s *Ji ...

. It was also the birthplace of the

Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association The Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (originally and through 1950 known as the Colored Intercollegiate Athletic Association — CIAA) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NC ...

annual basketball tournament, as well as the host to top

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

acts and

Jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

performances. It was renamed Capitol Arena in 1956 once Capitol Wrestling Corporation began broadcasting a syndicated weekly wrestling show from the arena every Thursday night. The arena was closed and demolished in 1965.

References

Basketball venues in Washington, D.C. Boxing venues in Washington, D.C. Defunct boxing venues in the United States 1965 disestablishments in Washington, D.C. {{WashingtonDC-sports-venue-stub