WWE World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and vario ...

(formerly World Wrestling Federation and World Wrestling Entertainment), an American

professional wrestling Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring o ...

promotion based in Stamford,

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

in the United States owned by the

McMahon family The McMahon family is an Irish Americans, Irish-American family, primarily known for their involvement in the professional wrestling business. They are the founders, owners, and promoters of the wrestling company, WWE. Vince McMahon, a third gen ...

, has been promoting events in Canada since its founding in 1980.

History

On January 24, 1963,

Toots Mondt Joseph Raymond "Toots" Mondt (January 18, 1894 – June 11, 1976) was an American professional wrestler and promoter who revolutionized the wrestling industry in the early to mid-1920s and co-promoted the World Wide Wrestling Federation. Some of ...

of the

Capitol Wrestling Corporation Capitol Wrestling Corporation Ltd. was an American sports promotion company. It was run by Vincent J. McMahon from 1953 to 1982. Operating as the Capitol Wrestling Corporation (CWC), the company was originally a professional wrestling and boxing p ...

(CWC) got into a dispute with the

National Wrestling Alliance The National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) is an American professional wrestling professional wrestling promotion, promotion and former professional wrestling governing body operated by its parent company Lightning One, Inc. Founded in 1948, the NWA ...

(NWA) over "Nature Boy" Buddy Rogers losing the

NWA World Heavyweight Championship The NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship is a world heavyweight professional wrestling championship owned and promoted by the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), an American professional wrestling promotion. The current champion is Tyrus, who is in ...

Lou Thesz Aloysius Martin "Lou" Thesz (April 24, 1916 – April 28, 2002) was an American professional wrestler. He was a three-time NWA World Heavyweight Champion and held the title for a combined total of 10 years, three months and nine days (3,749 ...

in a one-fall match in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. This disagree led to Mondt, McMahon, and the CWC leaving the NWA in protest, creating the World Wide Wrestling Federation (the predecessor to the WWE) in the process. In 1984

Vince McMahon Vincent Kennedy McMahon (; born August 24, 1945) is an American media proprietor and retired professional wrestling promoter, executive, and performer. From 1982 to 2022, he served as the chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of WWE, the w ...

purchased

Stampede Wrestling Stampede Wrestling was a Canadian professional wrestling promotion based in Calgary, Alberta. For nearly 50 years, it was one of the main promotions in western Canada and the Canadian Prairies. Originally established by Stu Hart in 1948, the prom ...

, before selling it back the following year. Also in 1984, WWF acquired

Maple Leaf Wrestling Maple Leaf Wrestling was the unofficial name in the 1970s and 1980s of the professional wrestling promotion run by Frank Tunney in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. History Queensbury Athletic Club The promotion, initially known as the Queensbury Athle ...

, and continued to run it for a couple of years. In 1986 Maple Leaf Wrestling was shut down, and the name was used for the Canadian broadcasts of

WWF Superstars of Wrestling ''WWF Superstars of Wrestling'' (later shortened to ''WWF Superstars'' and to ''Sunday Morning Superstars ''), also referred to as ''Maple Leaf Wrestling'' in Canada was an American professional wrestling television program that was produced by ...

. In 1985 WWF created the

WWF Canadian Championship In August 1985, the World Wrestling Federation took over the Montreal-based International Wrestling (Lutte Internationale) promotion. Upon joining the WWF roster, IW mainstay Dino Bravo Adolfo Bresciano (; August 6, 1948 – March 10, 1993) ...

, which was given to

Dino Bravo Adolfo Bresciano (; August 6, 1948 – March 10, 1993) was an Italian-Canadian professional wrestler and promoter, better known by the ring name Dino Bravo (). After training under Gino Brito, he started his career in Montreal in the 1970s, wo ...

. Bravo was the

Canadian International Heavyweight Championship The Canadian International Heavyweight Championship was the top singles title in the Montreal-based wrestling promotion Lutte Internationale Lutte Internationale (; "International Wrestling") was a professional wrestling promotion based in Mon ...

for many years for

Lutte Internationale Lutte Internationale (; "International Wrestling") was a professional wrestling promotion based in Montreal from 1980 until 1987. The promotion was founded by Frank Valois, André the Giant and Gino Brito as Promotions Varoussac (VAlois, ROUSSim ...

. Due to his previous success, Bravo was billed as the WWF Canadian Champion in some Canadian cities until January 1986, when the title was abandoned. In 1986 WWF hosted

The Big Event The Big Event was a professional wrestling special event produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) on August 28, 1986, at Exhibition Stadium in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It drew a crowd of over 74,000 fans, which was an outdoor attendance ...

which drew over 74,000 fans. Ten years later, the WWF held an anniversary show of The Big Event,

WWF Xperience Xperience was a live professional wrestling event held by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), which took place on August 24, 1996 from the Exhibition Stadium in Toronto, Ontario. It was considered to be the tenth anniversary of The Big Event whi ...

, which drew over 21,000 fans. In 1997

Survivor Series Survivor Series is a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event, produced annually since 1987 by WWE, the world's largest professional wrestling promotion. Held in November generally the week of Thanksgiving, it is the sec ...

was broadcast from

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

and is infamous for the

Montreal Screwjob The Montreal Screwjob (also called the Montreal Incident; French: ''Le Coup Tordu de Montréal'' lit. Montreal's Twisted Coup) was an infamous unscripted professional wrestling incident that occurred on November 9, 1997, at the Survivor Series ...

WrestleMania X8 WrestleMania 18 (stylized as WrestleMania X8) was the 18th annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) List of WWE pay-per-view events, event produced by the WWE, World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE). It took place on Attit ...

in 2002 set the attendance record for an indoor event in Canada, at the

Rogers Centre Rogers Centre (originally SkyDome) is a multi-purpose retractable roof stadium in Downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated at the base of the CN Tower near the northern shore of Lake Ontario. Opened in 1989 on the former Railway Lands, it ...

68,236 people. In 2019, Montreal hosted the 2019 WWE Superstar Shake-up.

Broadcast

In its early days, WWF/E programming was shown on TSN for Monday Night Raw and The Score for SmackDown! broadcasts. The programs were also aired on CHCH Hamilton, CJNT Montreal, CKMI Quebec and CKVR Barrie. ECW and NXT were seen on

Global Television Network The Global Television Network (more commonly called Global, or occasionally Global TV) is a Canadian English-language terrestrial television network. It is currently Canada's second most-watched private terrestrial television network after ...

until 2010. Beginning in 2014,

content is distributed exclusively via

Rogers Media Rogers Media Inc., operating as Rogers Sports & Media, is a Canadian subsidiary of Rogers Communications that owns the company's mass media and sports properties, such as the Citytv and Omni Television terrestrial television stations, Sportsnet, ...

. As part of this agreement, Rogers distributes WWE's weekly television shows, ''

Raw Raw is an adjective usually describing: * Raw materials, basic materials from which products are manufactured or made * Raw food, uncooked food Raw or RAW may also refer to: Computing and electronics * .RAW, a proprietary mass spectrometry dat ...

'', ''

SmackDown ''WWE SmackDown'', also known as ''Friday Night SmackDown'' or simply ''SmackDown'', is an American professional wrestling television program produced by WWE that as of currently airs live every Friday at 8 p.m. ET on Fox. Fox Deportes simulc ...

'', ''

NXT NXT may refer to: Professional wrestling * ''WWE NXT'', a professional wrestling television program produced by WWE that began in 2010 ** NXT (WWE brand), WWE's Florida-based brand and former developmental territory * ''NXT UK'', the British spin- ...

'', ''

Main Event In sports, a card lists the matches taking place in a title match combat-sport event. Cards include a main event match and the undercard listing the rest of the matches. The undercard may be divided into a midcard and a lower card, according to ...

'', and ''

This Week in WWE This is a list of broadcasters airing WWE premier weekly television programs (Raw and SmackDown) and Premium Live Events. United States Broadcasters International broadcasting rights Note See also *List of professional wrestling televisio ...

'' on Sportsnet 360. This deal excludes reality series, such as ''

Total Divas ''Total Divas'' is an American reality television series that aired from July 28, 2013, to December 10, 2019, on E!. The series gave viewers an inside look into the lives of female WWE wrestlers from their work within WWE to their person ...

'' (which is produced for E! and shown on its Canadian counterpart owned by

Bell Media Bell Media Inc. ( French: ) is a Canadian company formed by the amalgamation of several companies. Establishment (2011–13) On December 9, 2011, the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan announced the sale of its majority stake in Maple Leaf Sports ...

). As part of this deal, the

WWE Network WWE Network is a subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and digital television network owned by the American entertainment company WWE. It primarily distributes original professional wrestling events, films, television and ...

's live stream was offered as a traditional

TV channel A television channel is a terrestrial frequency or virtual number over which a television station or television network is distributed. For example, in North America, "channel 2" refers to the terrestrial or cable band of 54 to 60 MHz, with ...

for subscribers to cable providers, instead of a standalone service. On September 7, 2017, WWE and

TVA Sports TVA Sports is a Canadian French-language sports specialty channel owned by the Groupe TVA, a publicly traded subsidiary of Quebecor Media. The channel is a general-interest sports network, and the first major competitor to RDS, the only other Fre ...

announced a multi-year agreement to air a weekly recap of ''Raw'' in French.

Pay-per-view/WWE Network events

Weekly Television shows

1995-2000

2001-2010

2011-present

References

{{Professional wrestling in Canada WWE international