Photo credit: Keith Whitter
Well WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment), you did it again! You came to Ottawa, entered the Canadian Tire Centre on a cold Friday night, and set the place on fire. As advertised, the Road to Wrestlemania Tour made a stop in the nation’s capital and fans of WWE were treated to a very entertaining night of sports entertainment.
As discussed in a previous article, there are pros and cons of live shows v.s. TV tapings. While the show wasn’t being broadcast worldwide, there were some great things that you usually don’t see at the TV tapings. First and foremost was the amount of time the superstars were able to spend with the fans. It wasn’t uncommon to see the wrestlers walk around and sign autographs or pose for selfies with admirers eagerly waiting ringside.
There was a woman and her husband seated beside us and her story was an interesting one. She told us she works at a car rental agency and a ‘larger gentleman’ came in to her office earlier that day to rent a car. After she served him, he asked if she liked wrestling. "I’ve never gone," she said and he ended up giving her tickets and invited her and her husband to come to the show. The ‘larger gentleman’ turned out to be WWE Superstar Drew McIntyre who is 6’5 and 265lbs (I’m guessing he didn’t get a compact).
This story is interesting for a few reasons. First of all, it shows the never-ending kindness of WWE superstars but it also took someone who wasn’t a fan and gave them an introduction to a fantastic night. This woman, whose age I won’t guess but let’s say older than 20, was as animated and excited as any youngster who was there. Now I suspect the domino effect will take over. She’ll tell her friends what an amazing time and so on and so on.
Regardless if this was your first or tenth time seeing the WWE live they put on a great show. I’m not sure what the attendance numbers were, but I can tell you the 300 level wasn’t open and there was close to capacity for the 100 and 200 levels and the floor seating.
There were two title matches on the card and while the belts didn’t change hands they were exciting to see.
The road to Wrestlemania is in full swing and tonight the fans in Ottawa got a sample.
It’s worth noting that the WWE Superstar Shakeup, where performers from both shows are present, will be taking place in Montreal this year I April. This is an annual event where wrestlers either stay on their existing show or change from Raw’s famous red colours, to Smackdowns blue or vice-versa. It’s a season premiere of sorts as WWE resets for the upcoming year. Considering their were many fans from Montreal in attendance on Friday I wouldn’t be shocked to see Ottawa natives make the short drive down the 417 to see this once a year event.
Thanks to WWE for another fantastic show!
Dana Brooke, Natalya and Baley over Mickie James, Nikki Cross and Alicia Fox
EC3 over Dean Ambrose
Ascension over Zach Ryder and Curt Hawkins
Bobby Lashley and Leo Rush over Finn Balor (Intercontinenal Title Match)
Drew McIntryre over Elias
Chad Gable and Bobby Roode over The Revival (Tag Team Title Match)
Braun Stroman over Baron Corbin (Ottawa Street Fight)
