The famous 2300 Arena will be a busy place over WrestleMania week, and the venue’s CEO recently discussed the week to come and more. Roger Artigiani spoke with PWInsider for a new interview and you can see some highlights below:
On preparing for the week to come: “Everybody is very well. We’re as we sit, I’m actually sitting here with my partner, Christie. You’ve met her several times, we are, we’re going around the clock right now, trying to put everything together to make next week as perfect as possible, but as in this business of wrestling, all the plans could be as precise as you want them to be. And if anything can go wrong, it will, but we just we prepare ourselves to take care of anything that’s not on the schedule and changes and stuff like that. So we’ve been working around the clock here to make next week, a special week for all the wrestling fans from not just this area, but from pretty much around the world.”
On the arena surviving the pandemic lockdown era: “It was….listen, It was touch and goo. There was no guarantees that we’re gonna make it through that time/ We were shut down…in Philadelphia. they shut down a lot longer than a lot of other place in the country as far as capacity levels and we You know there were times and we weren’t in there if we’re gonna make it another day and like Many other venues. We went for, government assistance with SCA and everything else. So I have a huge debt load right now. We’re carrying a large debt load. During all that time, we still had to pay the rent, and much of the loans we took out just to keep the place open. Went towards rent and utilities and, limited, very limited payroll. So it was some dark days there for a while and touch and go whether or not we were going to just close up shop and move along and, find something else to do. We’re fortunate enough to get enough funding in, that, of course, now we’ve got to pay back. But, we got enough funding in just to keep the lights on and the landlords at bay, because they wanted their money, they didn’t care that there was, we couldn’t open our doors to our customers. They still wanted their money. We got to the point where last year in 2023 when we’re at full capacity, it still takes some time to ramp up. You don’t just open up your doors and all of a sudden you got all these events coming in. It’s taken us, a good year to get ramped up just like other locations. Other locations that have made it are usually the bigger ones that are, your Live Nation places that they have no shortage of of funding to keep them active and running. So it’s we’re along the same lines of the small bars and taverns and, we’re a mom and pop operation. No matter how much business we do here, we’re still, it’s just the two of us putting this thing together with, as a fantastic staff. That carries out everything from production to food and beverage to, front of house and you know We do pride ourselves on our service that we offer everyone.”
On the venue’s evolution from the 1990s when it was the ‘CGBGs of wrestling’: “Listen, you’re very kind to mention CBGBs because it was Taj Mahal compared to this place. Both of us being from New York, I remember CBs very well and yeah, it was a pretty much a nightmare where every soon as you walk in the door, you had to hit breakers just to turn all the lights on. It was a real nightmare when we first came in. Nothing, not a single thing was to code. It just, it was a, it was, listen, it was a challenge and I, sometimes I think back what was I thinking getting involved with this, but it’s turned out to be a lot of hard work on both our ends and we worked extremely hard trying to find the right people to put everything in place and make it so it’s as comfortable as possible for fans. We know the fans, especially, silly fans, but wrestling fans in general. We know that every time they come in there, we get comments all the time. Oh, this is different. This is different. Promoters that haven’t been in here for a couple of years or even a few months. They say, “Wow, this has changed. This has changed.” We try and constantly evolve into, a better facility all around. Back in ’94. I bet you never thought you’d see a wedding here or bar mitzvah or the Phillies ring ceremony being held here. It’s just things that we had in our minds that we could do anything. and we pretty much proven that we can. It’s just it’s been challenging. Sometimes we sit back and say, ‘What are we doing?’ But in the end, we seem to find a way to come through and make a better experience. Back in the day when you first got here, would you ever think that be a chef on duty here? TNA was just here over the weekend and they, they do a professional job of taking care of their talent and they brought a caterer in and I said, we didn’t know you do catering. I says, Yeah, we do. We do catering for the UFC Fight Pass people who come through and record all their shows here. Along with other jobs we have, but now we’re going to be providing catering for the total staff of TNA when they come back in June. So it’s it’s definitely changed over the years. Change over, especially in the last three years, a special we’ve come through with a lot of good things for everybody from the performers to the people coming in and enjoying a cold beer and a real good hot dog or a very good homemade slice pizza.”
On shows being sold out for WrestleMania week in advance: “It’s always a good thing when they sell out in advance. It’s a lot, it’s a lot easier on the scheduling, I can tell you that. We were pretty confident that this would be the one facility that would have no problem selling out some shows as long as you bring the right shows here. I have nothing against any of the so many promotions that are running that week here in the Philadelphia area, just like every WrestleMania. You have to have the right show for the right place. Back when they first announced two years ago, WrestleMania, we were getting calls for rentals and everything. We waited and made sure that we had shows that could put asses in the seats. The last thing we want to do is have a couple of shows here that, only had 200 people here. So, we made sure we went out and we got the right promotions here and it’s gonna be exciting. It’s going to be exciting and very long four day stretch for us.”
on the venue’s ECW Mural: “The infamous mural in the men’s room. Christy put together and It’s taken on a life of its own with people that all they want to do is get their picture and find the mural. We’ve got our share of requests from the ladies that they want one in the ladies room, but we’re working on that down the road.”
On WWE using the venue: “Yes, they are. It’s on Sunday the 7th and I don’t have the particulars for it. They’re bringing some of their top end patrons guess front row seat people and stuff like that, VIPs. They’re gonna be bringing ’em here for a special experience with some WWE talent. It’s private and then we’re gonna open up, after they’re finished, for our watch party Sunday night.”
