There is high anticipation for the event.Not only is a Canadian professional wrestling company returning to a place where the National Wrestling Alliance held major matches in the past, but All Elite Wrestling (AEW) star Adam Copeland will finally receive his own full-circle moment.COMPLETE PRO WRESTLING COVERAGE ON OUTKICKAdam Copeland speaks onstage during the "Percy Jackson And The Olympians" panel during 2024 Comic-Con International at San Diego Convention Center on July 25, 2024 in San Diego, California.
(Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images)For Copeland, Toronto is home.Going to Maple Leaf Gardens to watch pro wrestling as a kid was a seminal moment for a young Copeland.
It allowed him to dream about getting into the squared circle himself."Maple Leaf Gardens was the very first time I saw wrestling live, and to see it live and for it to be this tangible thing and wait, these guys and women, they’re real," he told OutKick in a recent interview."I can go see them and actually smack hands with them and that kind of thing? But just the feeling that it gave me as a release and as a place where I didn't have to worry about things as a kid and I didn't have to think about, you know, the stuff that goes on in life.
We lost my uncle when I was very young and I was very close to him and I feel like that was a big hole that wrestling helped try and fill, it doesn't fill it, but you know what I mean."Man, the first time I saw it, I just went, I got to do this.But I'm 9, 10 saying that, right? But it was Maple Leaf Gardens and the fact that it was in that venue added more importance to it for me because all I ever did was watch stuff from Maple Leaf Gardens whether it was Maple Leaf wrestling or the Toronto Maple Leafs.
My world kind of revolved around that arena and I never got down for a Leafs game, but we could afford wrestling tickets and so to get down there, experience so many shows over there over the years and just experience what it felt like because, I've said bef...