After 23 years, WWE wrestling comes home to the dome this weekend in Toronto

CBC

28-02-2025

Wrestling's new era is coming to Toronto this weekend, as the WWE returns to the city's largest venue for the first time in 23 years.
Rogers Centre will play host to the World Wrestling Entertainment's "elimination chamber" event on Saturday, featuring superstars like the Rock and John Cena, now well into his retirement tour.
It's hallowed ground for Toronto wrestling fans, who, depending on their age, will remember the World Wrestling Federation's WrestleMania X8 event there in 2002 or WrestleMania IV in 1990.
With Netflix now the exclusive hot of WWE programs such as Monday Night Raw, bringing wrestling back under the dome represents both the sport's growing popularity among a new group of devotees — and a nostalgic homecoming for Toronto fans.
"To me, it's still the SkyDome," said Canadian wrestler Sami Zayn, who remembers driving to Toronto to watch wrestling before going pro himself.
Zayn, who is set to compete against fellow Canadian wrestler Kevin Owens on Saturday at the Rogers Centre, called the upcoming event "one of those perpetual, sort of can-you-believe-it moments."
The elimination chamber isn't the only event in town this weekend: the WWE is also hosting a Friday Night Smackdown at the Scotiabank Arena, complemented by smaller shows hosted by independent organizations like Smash Wrestling and Superkick'd.
"I'm loving the fact that Toronto is getting lots of love," said lifelong wrestling fan Vanessa Lima from her home in Oakville, Ont. "Toronto is a large wrestling city."
Fans come back into the fold
Speaking to the CBC in front of a wall of glittering replica wrestling belts, Lima said she's seen more and more former fans make their way back to wrestling recently.
"I've been speaking with friends of mine who stopped watching it … and they're getting [back] into it, they're bringing their kids into it," she said.
Outside of the WWE, other brands are also being revived, including Maple Leaf Wrestling — a Canadian promotion that got its start back in the 1930s.
It will host a show at another historic Toronto venue in May: Toronto Metropolitan University's Mattamy Athletic Centre, formerly Maple Leaf Gardens.
Gary Fonseca, a die-hard fan from Mississauga, Ont., is part of a wrestling-focused Facebook group that's gone from 10,000 members to just over 100,000 within a few years.
Fonseca, who fondly remembers the cheering that filled the SkyDome at WrestleMania IV back in 1990, is thrilled to see wrestling heating back up enough to fill the venue again.
"I like the fact that we're able to do that again. I've been waiting for a show at the dome for so long," he said.
For other fans, though, the price tag this time is too high a barrier to get over.
Nathon Gurnick, from Barrie, was there in 2002 for WrestleMania X8, with his ticket running him about $100 to sit in the 100-level section.
With tickets in the same section going for approximately $800 for this event, he's opting to stay home this time and watch on Netflix.
"You have a family of four, and it's going to cost you a grand almost to get decent seats," he said. "It's definitely not a cheap night anymore."