That's a deep-cut reference right there.
It's not every day you see references to 'South Park' out in the wild, but it's even rare to see something as deep-cut a reference as this.
All-Elite Wrestling's latest event, 'Fight For The Fallen', took place in Jacksonville, Florida at the Daily Place Amphitheater, which takes some of its architectural inspiration from Radio City in New York. All pretty normal so far, and yes, wrestling events often take place in live music venues - so again, nothing weird here.
Yet, people noticed how the venue and the setting bore some resemblance to a well-known 'South Park' episode that just so happened to cover a similar topic. Namely, wrestling. The episode, 'W.T.F.', saw Kyle, Cartman and the rest of South Park form their very own backyard wrestling promotion called Wrestling Takedown Federation.
Before long, the promotion had attracted the attention of Vince McMahon and the WWE, but also inspired the ire of a wrestling coach named Mr. Connors who thinks their kind of wrestling isn't real "wrasslin'." Anyway, the episode culminates with the gang putting on a show for Vince McMahon at their amphitheater, which is dressed up to look like a theatrical venue.
What does that have to do with All-Elite Wrestling then, you're asking? Because, as it turns out, the venue was actually picked because it looked like the same amphitheater in 'South Park', right down to the seating arrangements and everything.
Tony Khan, All-Elite Wrestling's founder, confirmed the reference in a tweet after the event took place.
Thank you to everyone who watched @AEWrestling #FightForTheFallen live or on @brlive US/Canada or @FiteTV elsewhere. Over a year ago I dreamed this staging watched South Park, @dailysplace was great tonight! This show wasn’t designed to profit, glad to give back to Jacksonville! pic.twitter.com/jMayB7746Y
— Tony Khan (@TonyKhan) July 14, 2019