[9][10][11] In 1968, real estate developer Tom Cousins, and former Governor of Georgia, Carl Sanders bought the NBA's St. Louis Hawks, and relocated them to Atlanta, where Cousins made plans to build a new sports arena over an unused railroad gulch in the downtown area.

[12][13][14][15] The arena was considered an architectural marvel that combined innovative roof, seating, and structural designs.

The Omni was noted for its distinctive space frame roof, often joked about as looking like an egg crate or a rusty waffle iron.

Many major and historic wrestling events took place at the Omni, including Starrcade (1985, 1986, 1989 and 1992), the first WarGames match during the Great American Bash tour (1987), and the first Slamboree in 1993.

The World Wrestling Federation also held many events at the Omni including house shows and closed circuit broadcasts until their last card at the venue on November 2, 1992.

In July 1986 challenger Evander Holyfield beat WBA Light Heavyweight Champion Dwight Muhammad Qawi by split decision (144–140, 147–138, 141–143).

Def Leppard recorded footage from the October 7–9, 1988 shows at the Omni for their In the Round, in Your Face video.

[25][8][6] The Omni did not last nearly as long as many other arenas built during the same time period, in part because a number of its innovations did not work as intended.

Most seriously, its designers failed to reckon with Atlanta's humid subtropical climate, which specifically caused problems with the Cor-Ten exterior walls; the weathering steel never actually created the seal that had been envisioned and instead corroded to the point where holes large enough for a person to climb through began showing up along the perimeter of the building.

[5][6] In the late 1980s and early 1990s, a growing number of NBA and NHL teams began to construct arenas with better amenities for their high-end customers to increase revenue.

Although the Omni hosted many events, it lost more than its share due to the smaller capacity and lack of amenities compared to newer buildings in other cities.

This also stemmed from Ted Turner's desire to own an NHL franchise; the Flames had been sold to Canadian businessmen and relocated to Calgary, Alberta a decade earlier.