A Toronto promotion that made pro wrestling a Saturday night TV ritual

Maple Leaf Wrestling

The Tunney family's Toronto wrestling promotion ran shows at Maple Leaf Gardens for decades and produced the long-running television program Maple Leaf Wrestling, a Saturday staple for generations of Canadian fans.

Toronto skyline
Toronto skyline, 2012 β€” Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0

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Frank Tunney built a professional wrestling promotion in Toronto through the mid-20th century, running regular shows at Maple Leaf Gardens that drew large crowds for decades and made the arena a wrestling venue nearly as consistently as it was a hockey rink. Tunney's promotion operated as a territory within the old National Wrestling Alliance system, when professional wrestling in North America was organized into regional promotions rather than a single national company.

A television institution

The promotion produced Maple Leaf Wrestling, a television program that became a Saturday afternoon or evening staple for generations of Canadian wrestling fans, broadcasting matches and storylines from the Toronto scene into households across the country. The Tunney family's promotion remained a fixture of Toronto sports and entertainment culture for decades before the territorial wrestling system it operated within was largely absorbed by national promotions later in the 20th century.

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