Maple Leaf Wrestling
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Maple Leaf Wrestling was the unofficial name in the 1970s and 1980s of the professional wrestling promotion run by Frank Tunney in Toronto.
The promotion, initially known as the Queensbury Athletic Club, traces its roots back to 1930, when it was launched by Jack Corcoran, who had previously promoted boxing in Toronto under the Queensbury name. Initially, Corcoran was involved in a promotional war with rival promoter Ivan Mickailoff, but after Corcoran allied himself with the new Maple Leaf Gardens in 1931, he took control of professional wrestling in Toronto. The Gardens would remain the main venue for the promotion for more than 60 years.
Corcoran stepped down in 1939 and handed wrestling operations over to his assistants, John Tunney and Frank Tunney. John died just a few months later, and the promotion was then run by Frank. Through most of the 1940s and 1950s, Frank Tunney's biggest star was local hero Whipper Billy Watson, who became a two-time world champion. Starting in 1969, the shows were headlined by The Sheik for more than eight years.
In 1978, Tunney began working with promoter Jim Crockett, Jr., who ran Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling in the Carolinas. The two would become partners in the Toronto promotion, along with George Scott, a key executive with Crockett who had been a preliminary wrestler for Tunney from 1950-1956.
Following Frank's death in 1983, the business was run by John's son Jack Tunney and Frank's son, Eddie Tunney. They soon abandoned Crockett and joined forces with Vince McMahon's expanding World Wrestling Federation, with Jack serving as a figurehead on-air president from 1984-95 and as the president of Titan Sports Canada.
In 1995, McMahon chose to run the shows in Toronto without any involvement from the Tunneys. The final show at the Gardens was held on September 17, 1995.
[edit] Some featured performers
- Whipper Billy Watson
- The Sheik
- Gene Kiniski
- Johnny Valentine
- Bruno Sammartino
- Tiger Jeet Singh
- Ric Flair
- Dewey Robertson
- Angelo Mosca
