Tag: Canada

Update on how new WWE deal affects future AEW Toronto shows

Posted on by Josh Nason

With WWE announcing a new deal with Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment Wednesday, AEW fans were concerned that arrangement would affect the possibility of future shows in Toronto venues like the Scotiabank Arena and Coca-Cola Coliseum.

According to MLSE, those concerns can be assuaged.

TSN reporter Steve Argintaru posted on X Wednesday that when he asked MLSE specifically that very concern, “an MLSE spokesperson told me the new agreement with WWE “does not prevent other events in our venues.”

The new agreement with MLSE, owners of both the Toronto Raptors and Maple Leafs, will see “exclusive merchandise collaborations, original content development, community-focused programs, and regular cross-brand appearances from team players and WWE Superstars.” Athletes from both teams are also expected to appear at a January Raw at the Scotiabank Arena and vice versa for Raptors and Maple Leafs games.

AEW ran at the Scotiabank Arena both at this past September’s All Out and for June 2023’s Forbidden Door. Collision also emanated from the arena in 2023 while AEW made its Toronto debut at the Coca-Cola Coliseum back in 2022, returning there in 2024.

AEW All Out going international for first time ever

Posted on by Josh Nason

AEW will return to Canada this September for one of the promotion’s tentpole pay-per-views: All Out.

Revealed by the arena’s Facebook page on Tuesday, AEW All Out is set for Saturday, September 21st from the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Pre-sales will begin on May 28th with a public on-sale date of June 2nd.

The news was later reported by the Toronto Sun.

It will be AEW’s first pay-per-view in Toronto since June 2023’s Forbidden Door that drew nearly 15,000 with a then-AEW record gate of $1.2 million. They returned to the city’s Coca-Cola Coliseum in March 2024 for Dynamite and Rampage.

It’s assumed the promotion will formally announce the date and location this week, given Sunday’s Double or Nothing pay-per-view.

It will the seventh All Out in AEW history and the first to go international. Five of the previous six took place in the Chicago area with only the 2020 pandemic year show airing from Jacksonville, Florida.

Wrestling Observer Live: Mike McGuire talks All In, Leo Burke, more

Posted on by Mike Sempervive

With Bryan in the UK adding “codswallop” to his repertoire, Mike McGuire joins us for this subscriber-only special. In the first half, we talk about Mike’s career and podcast (which features a weekly Dave Meltzer appearance), growing up in Hart territory, and his fantastic retrospective of Leo Burke. Then, it’s time to go ALL IN talking AEW & more! It’s a fun show as always, so check it out~!

Click Here for the Commercial-Free Download (subscription required)

AEW to make Toronto, Canada debut in October

Posted on by Bryan Rose

AEW is finally heading to Canada.

The company announced during Wednesday’s Dynamite that they will be making their debut in Toronto on Wednesday, October 12 for AEW Dynamite, followed by AEW Rampage on Thursday, October 13 for AEW Rampage. 

The show will be held at the Coca-Cola Coliseum, which has an estimated capacity of around 10,000. Tickets will go on sale Friday, August 26 at 10 AM Eastern.

Dave Meltzer noted in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that the company was looking to make their debut in Toronto but didn’t note when and where they were looking at.

Here is AEW’s current schedule:

  • Wednesday, August 3: Dynamite at Schottenstein Center in Columbus, OH
  • Friday, August 5: Rampage/Battle of the Belts III at Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids, MI
  • Wednesday, August 10: Dynamite/Rampage at Target Center in Minneapolis, MN
  • Wednesday, August 17: Dynamite/Rampage at Charleston Coliseum in Charleston, WV
  • Wednesday, August 24: Dynamite/Rampage at Wolstein Center in Cleveland, OH
  • Wednesday, August 31: Dynamite at NOW Arena in Hoffman Estates, Illinois
  • Friday, September 2: Rampage at NOW Arena in Hoffman Estates, Illinois
  • Sunday, September 4: All Out at NOW Arena in Hoffman Estates, Illinois
  • Wednesday, September 7: Dynamite/Rampage at KeyBank Center in Buffalo, NY
  • Wednesday, September 14: Dynamite/Rampage at MVP Arena in Albany, New York
  • Wednesday, September 21: Grand Slam Dynamite/Rampage at Arthur Ashe Stadium in Queens, New York
  • Wednesday, September 28: Dynamite/Rampage at Liacouras Center in Philadelphia, PA
  • Wednesday, October 12: Dynamite at Coca-Cola Coliseum in Toronto, Canada
  • Thursday, October 13: Rampage at Coca-Cola Coliseum in Toronto, Canada 

WWE NXT airing live on Canada’s Sportsnet 360 starting Wednesday

Posted on by Josh Nason

WWE and Canada’s Sportsnet announced Monday that NXT will begin airing live on both Sportsnet 360 and SN NOW beginning this Wednesday at 8 PM Eastern.

The deal expands a relationship that already includes Raw, SmackDown, Main Event and This Week in WWE airing on Sportsnet 360. The company is also the exclusive distributor of the WWE Network throughout Canada, offering the Network as a premium linear channel.

Like in the U.S., NXT will go head-to-head with AEW Dynamite which has aired live on TSN since their launch.

Of note, the ten year exclusive deal the two sides signed is up in 2024, setting WWE up for another impressive rights deal in a few years.

Sportsnet is a Canadian sports broadcast network owned by Rogers that also holds the rights to the NHL, Major League Baseball, regional rights to five Canadian NHL franchises and regional rights to the Toronto Blue Jays in MLB.

WWE’s Lacey Evans, Canadian police comment on Edmonton traffic stop

Posted on by Josh Nason

After Lacey Evans’ video clip of a Canadian traffic stop went viral, both she and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police have offered their side as to what happened.

Evans (real name Macey Estrella-Kadlec) posted a video where she was pulled over by RCMP in Edmonton where WWE was in town for a Saturday house show. In the clip, the officer is trying to explain the ticket after giving her license back and Evans, jumping into character, asked him if he knew who she was. He said he didn’t know and asked, “Who’s Lacey Evans?” when she said her name. She grabbed the ticket and said she’d pay for it, adding “Canada is terrible”.

As of Monday afternoon, the video had been viewed more than 2.1 million times.

Evans released a statement on Twitter Monday morning, saying that as a U.S. Marine, she doesn’t condone, agree, or promote disrespecting law enforcement officials or making their jobs harder and that the video was created by “both parties” to promote the live show, signing the statement “Sgt. Estrella”.

She also released a statement to CTV News in Edmonton: “My character is a sassy bad guy so I play the role often. The general public now believe this interaction was real when the officer and I planned to start recording and have him walk up again with the citation in hand. As prior law enforcement myself, I didn’t expect people to honestly believe this was real considering I am an entertainer and was in town for a performance.”

However, in a statement from RCMP Corporal Chris Warren to CTV News, the traffic stop was legitimate and wasn’t staged: “That’s news to me. I know the original traffic stop was legitimate and I don’t have any further information at this time.”

NXT TakeOver headed to Toronto in November

Posted on by Joseph Currier

NXT TakeOver is headed to Canada.

WWE announced on Friday morning that NXT will present one of its regular TakeOver specials on Saturday, November 19th from the Air Canada Centre in Toronto. The show will take place the night before WWE’s Survivor Series pay-per-view in the same building. 

After filling the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY for three straight nights over SummerSlam weekend, WWE will hope to do the same in Toronto as the Air Canada Centre is home to TakeOver, Survivor Series, and Raw in successive nights.

Survivor Series will be a cross-brand PPV featuring stars from both Raw and SmackDown.

Triple H cited overwhelming demand as the reason for bringing TakeOver to Toronto. The brand had previously announced a tour of Canada in September, but those three dates have been canceled with the addition of the November WWE Network special. A pre-sale code for TakeOver will be made available to those who purchased tickets to those events.

The Toronto show will be the first TakeOver held in Canada and the second to take place outside of the United States.

Tickets for the show go on sale Friday, September 23rd at 10 a.m. ET.

DragonKingKarl Show: The death of Mark Nulty, pro wrestling historians, Canadian Wrestling

Posted on by Karl Stern

DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Audio Show: Thinking About Mark Nulty and Classic Wrestling History. On this show I want to take a little time and reflect on the contributions of Wrestling Classics owner and former announcer Mark Nulty to the wrestling history community and just where does pro wrestling history stand? What are we still following wrestling for and what is it doing for us? Why are the demographics of wrestling skewed so old and why do wrestling promoters ignore it? We will follow up on a recent conversation between Dave Meltzer and Bryan Alvarez on a recent Wrestling Observer Radio show and take a more detailed look at what it all means.  Then we will examine the biggest draws in wrestling history and talk about who the biggest draw in Canadian history might be and discuss names like Whipper Billy Watson, Gene Kiniski, Bret Hart, Yvon Robert, Roddy Piper, Bret Hart, and more.

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