WWE can return to Edmonton after city lifts pro wrestling ban
Decision means WWE's Road to Wrestlemania event may yet make a tour stop at Rogers Place
Professional wrestling will no longer be subject to a combative sports ban, Edmonton city council decided Tuesday, paving the way for the return of a popular World Wrestling Entertainment event.
"We are very pleased with that decision," Tim Shipton, spokesperson for the Oilers Entertainment Group, told CBC News after council's meeting.
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A WWE event scheduled for Feb. 9 at Rogers Place had been postponed by the Oilers Entertainment Group because of the ban. The Sasktel Centre in Saskatoon will host the event on that night instead.
Shipton said there is a strong possibility that the WWE tour will make a stop in Edmonton after all.
"They are excited, as are we, to look at the schedule and identify a date in the calendar when WWE can happen at Rogers Place in Edmonton," he said.
Council put the moratorium on combative sports in place following the death of MMA fighter Tim Hague during a boxing match in June 2017.
According to Shipton, the Oilers Entertainment Group is supportive of the city's efforts to ensure the safety of athletes competing in combative sports.
But he added that the group had argued to the city that professional wrestling should not be included in the year-long ban.
"We felt, in particular with WWE, that it was a distinct category of activity, and really falls more in sports entertainment than combative sport."