Notable Events
The arena was opened with a concert by Billy Joel on October 17, 1994. The Cavaliers played the first regular season game in the arena a few weeks later, a loss to the Houston Rockets, on November 8, 1994.
The arena has been the site of several WWF/WWE pay per view events, such as SummerSlam '96, No Mercy '99, Invasion (2001), Survivor Series '04, and Unforgiven '08, as well as numerous episodes of Raw, Friday Night SmackDown!, ECW on Sci Fi, WWE Superstars, and NXT. Most notably, it hosted the historic March 26, 2001 edition of Raw, where Vince McMahon purchased his rival Ted Turner's World Championship Wrestling promotion, which was also simulcast on WCW Monday Nitro. And most recently, it hosted the September 19, 2011 episode of Raw SuperShow, which featured Hugh Jackman as a guest star for that night. It hosted the March 12, 2012 episode of Raw SuperShow, which featured James Roday as a guest star for that night and it also feaured the John Cena rap and The Rock concert.
Major national events held at the facility include the 1997 NBA All-Star Game, the 2000 United States Figure Skating Championships, the 2007 NCAA Women's Final Four and the 2009 United States Figure Skating Championships. It also hosted games 3 and 4 of the 2007 NBA Finals.
The Dixie Chicks were scheduled to perform during their Top of the World Tour on June 1, 2003, with Joan Osborne as their opening act, but the show was cancelled, due to illness of lead vocalist Natalie Maines.
The arena played host to the politically motivated Vote for Change Tour on October 2, 2004, featuring performances by Bright Eyes, R.E.M. and Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band (with special guest John Fogerty).
On October 29, 2008, LeBron James gathered almost 20,000 people at the arena for a viewing of Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama's 30-minute American Stories, American Solutions television advertisement. It was shown on a large screen above the stage, where Jay-Z later held a free concert.
The arena hosted games in the second and third rounds of the 2011 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament on March 18 and March 20, 2011. Included in the field were the Ohio State Buckeyes, which have historically had a large following in NE Ohio.
It was also the site of Canadian rock band Rush's concert DVD shoot for their 2010–2011 Time Machine Tour, due to Cleveland being the first U.S. city to give the band radio airplay in the early 70s.
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