Before Hollywood, Matthew McConaughey Was a Wrestling Fan at Shreveport’s Hirsch Coliseum

A surprising local connection to one of Hollywood's biggest stars, and pro wrestling, have a Shreveport-based relationship.

For the last few years, Matthew McConaughey has shared stories from his youth, where long before he was an Academy Award winner, he was a kid from Longview, Texas making regular road trips to Shreveport. His destination was the Hirsch Memorial Coliseum...for professional wrestling.

It's a story he's brought up in multiple interviews, and each time it serves as a great reminder of a time when Shreveport was a major hub for sports entertainment.

When Shreveport Was a Pro Wrestling Capital

To understand why someone would drive in from East Texas for a wrestling show, you have to understand how the business worked back in the 1980s. The entire country was split into regions, or territories, and one of the most influential territories in the nation was based in Shreveport. It was called Mid South Wrestling.

The promotion was centered in Shreveport, where they filmed its weekly television shows on the Louisiana State Fairgrounds. Their weekly wrestler interviews were often shot inside local TV studios. This meant that legendary figures like the Junkyard Dog, Ted DiBiase, and Hacksaw Jim Duggan weren't just visitors...they were part of the community. For a whole generation of fans in the Ark-La-Tex, Shreveport wasn't just a city on the map...it was the absolute epicenter of the wrestling universe.

A Future Movie Star in the Shreveport Crowd

During these shows, often sitting in those seats at the Hirsch, was a young kid from Texas named Matthew McConaughey. He has spoken often about his love for the product and specifically name dropped some of the tough guy wrestlers he admired, with Hacksaw Jim Duggan being at the top of his list.

His passion for that era of wrestling is obvious anytime he talks about it.

One time, as he was doing an interview, the hosts decided to give McConaughey a major surprise from his Shreveport past. His reaction is incredible, just pure, uncut fandom from a huge movie star...

That wasn't a one time thing, either. A few years prior, while sitting down with wrestling superstar John Cena, McConaughey once again brought up his trips to the Hirsch Coliseum. He vividly recalled the experience of watching the larger than life characters of Mid South Wrestling.

It's pretty wild to think about all the history that has passed through the Hirsch. Knowing that a future Hollywood icon was in the audience for some of those legendary wrestling nights just adds another fascinating chapter to the building's story.