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Whither wrestling in Canada?


So..... TNA's new deal will have no Canadian exposure. The only exposure ROH has in Canada is  through US TV, assuming that you have access to a channel running it on your cable package. The only way to find Lucha Underground is to download it. And while we do still have Raw, Smackdown and Main Event on Sportsnet 360, I haven't been able to find NXT on 360 for weeks. Plus,  the Network in Canada is mostly unavailable, and handicapped.

Given that there seems to be a growing disenchantment with the the WWE product amongst anyone other than casual viewers, do you see some kind of option for Canadian wrestling fans in the near future? I know there is a couple fairly successful promotions in BC And Ontario, but they have no TV. Legend City Wrestling in Newfoundland has a half hour show on NTV, but it seems to be months, if not years, out of date. There used to be some viable options in The Fight Network and ESPN Classics, but most people don't have those stations (I dumped both of them, because the cost of paying extra for those stations and only watching 1 show on them was getting stupid. I know there is the option of Internet, but outside of big cities, that isn't an option (the only way I can get anything close to high speed is through Xplornet, which doesn't allow me to dupe DNS addresses to a US one to be able to use options like Hulu or Network faking).

Is there a desire, a fanbase and enough talent for a viable Canadian alternative to the WWE's monopoly in Canada?

Sent from my iPad


Good question.  ROH is actually fairly easy to access, given that it's on most cable systems up here via FOX Rochester or Buffalo.  WWE barely even runs shows up here anymore, as they haven't been here in Saskatoon since 2011 and ran Regina once last year, I think.  The bigger cities like Vancouver and Toronto will get one show a year typically, but everyone else seems to be on a once per two years schedule.  So it's kind of no wonder that the fanbase is getting eroded.  That being said, I think fans are satisfied with the amount of wrestling currently on TV from WWE, and it would be more beneficial to get them to expand their live event schedule.  There's been lots of smaller indies popping up, but the population is way too spread out to do anything nationally.  

Comments

  1. Yeaaaaaaaaaaah, Rochester!

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  2. Bret Hart losing in Montreal just killed the business in Canada.

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  3. Charismatic eNegro Jef VinsonNovember 17, 2014 at 1:24 PM

    I just can't see locking someone down that long for that much money unless they are a Kardashian sister.

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  4. Boom! Drop the mic and have a good day, sir!

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  5. Charismatic eNegro Jef VinsonNovember 17, 2014 at 1:24 PM

    The back and forth between Jamie Foxx and Samuel Jackson at the end was funny.

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  6. Yeah...salaries are gonna go bananas after this one.

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  7. The other half of the west coast is wondering what you're talking about. We have more water than we know what to do with and don't burn AND our weed is legal.


    So seriously, dicks, eat 'em.

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  8. Yeah, I was the same way. I really couldn't stand Lothario, and didn't get why he was there. Man, that entire 1996 was Vince very much misunderstanding how to get HBK over. If Shawn couldn't go in the ring like he could, God only knows what would have happened to him after he lost the belt.

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  9. Oh yeah, you know every agent in baseball started celebrating this morning.

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  10. Oh there's NO CHANCE IN HELL she doesn't appear on TV again to bask in the warm glow of "Thank you Dixie!" chants on the first show back.

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  11. If he doesn't opt out when he has the ability to, he will be 38 at the end of the contract. The last 6 years or so of that contract is going to be such a bad deal for whatever team he his on. I say whatever team, because he's probably getting traded to someone at some point.

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  12. He will def opt out... unless he breaks down or falls apart.

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  13. The Braves trade is still confusing the fuck outta me. That offense is going to be shit.

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  14. As a native Californian, YOU eat the dicks. And toss the salads.

    Also, fuck you.

    Love,

    Hoss

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  15. His next deal: 14 years/$375M!

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  16. Maybe they have something else cooking?

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  17. It's going to be like the opening shot of Barely Legal with the beaming face of the owner in the first shot reveling in the screams and shouts of her dozens of fans.

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  18. No it didn't. WWE running fewer shows up here after we continued to cheer for who we wanted to killed the business in Canada. It turns out we were ahead of our time!

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  19. Brian "Crush" Adams is American.

    Bryan Adams, on the other hand...

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  20. We gave you the terrifying black hole of suck that is the Nickleback Guy/Avril Lavigne union, and you're still hung up on Brian Adams?

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  21. Average Saturday night hbk joke is one of the funniest things you said in a while. Rofl. So awesome

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  22. They also gave us Neil Young though, so I could call it a wash there.

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  23. yeah it actually has for a lot of people The tea party is an embarrassment and has destroyed this country enough

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  24. CruelConnectionNumber2November 17, 2014 at 1:48 PM

    Shawn shouldn't be blamed for refusing to do jobs in '96 and throwing tantrums. His brain told him to. Eh, whatever he's the best in the world in 96.

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  25. "for a lot of people". That was not how it was sold, and you know it. Obama said everyone's plan would be lower by an average of $2,500.


    Please, give me an example of how "the tea party" has ruined the country. I was unaware that the "tea party" was a majority in Congress.

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  26. Also, please let me know what "a lot of people" is equivalent to. Some real numbers would be nice.

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  27. I think Hart Killer was being sarcastic. He's not pro-Brett regarding Montreal.

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  28. That's the number that has enrolled. But I'll accept your premise for the sake of discussion: 7 million people is not even 3% of the country. Should 97% get, in some cases, more than double their premiums to pay for everyone else? That math doesn't work.

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  29. I notice no apology there....

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  30. Still not technically an apology...

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  31. Celine Dion is still their worst offense

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  32. YankeesHoganTripleHFanNovember 17, 2014 at 1:58 PM

    The beibs says hello.

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  33. Fine.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9EHAo6rEuas

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  34. YankeesHoganTripleHFanNovember 17, 2014 at 2:01 PM

    How dare you hate on Avril!!! How...DARE YOU!!!

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  35. To be fair, I'm sure lots of wrestlers have pooped themselves.

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  36. besides the tea party crying over the debt ceiling nearly causing a default which caused the rating to drop causing great embarrassment and doing nothing for the last 4 years otherwise while hijacking the government. Heck the republican party didn't even want them around this election. Thankfully the GOP has awoken some and not be bullied by the tea party movement,

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  37. Virgil's Gimmick TableNovember 17, 2014 at 2:26 PM

    Vince McMahon. A man that refuses to run shows in a town because they don't cheer his FAVORITE wrestlers. A millionaire who should be a billionaire.

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  38. I always forget about fall 1996. Whoops.

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  39. Welcome to SAMCRO, Scott. You will feel highs, lows, love the show, feel they jumped the shark about 3 seasons in, then marvel as it gets AWESOME again, then start noting repetitive story arcs and characters, then AWESOME yet again, finally to feel sad that the seasons are too short and they have to rush to get the story told as you hurtle through the final season.

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  40. Yeah. Ireland. But it gets better again.

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  41. I'd feel worse for Canada if it wasn't such a pain in the ass to go visit. Why can I walk into awesome mexico (I'll hear no lame jokes about that place, titties, pharmaceutical drugs, tacos, and whore houses right off the border, beautiful pyramids deeper in down in MX city. ) but I have to clear a whole fucking background check to go into a country with nothing but snow and a shitty version of the network?

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  42. The truth of Affordable Care Act is that the young and healthy will pay for the old and sick. As Mr. Gruber said, they couldn't tell the American people that truth, or the bill dies. Costs are going to go up for the VAST majority of people. Mark my words. All you have to do is at least consider the possibility, and the truth will present itself very soon.

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  43. No. No it doesn't.

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  44. My only knock on the show is the repetitiveness. I got introduced to the show early season 5 and marathoned through the first 4 seasons in about 3 weeks. You end up noticing how every early season has similar character types: The Good Cop, the Corrupt Government Agent, the Irish Bad Guy, and the rotating Ethnic Gangs (White/Black/Yellow/Brown). But there comes a point around season 5 where they just seem to say fuck it, throw everything into the mix, and crank the crazy up to 11. Around the time Gemma is standing there with the bloody meat fork in her hand the show has become that insane chick you know is nuts, but god help it you still wanna bang her so bad and you don't care who knows it.

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  45. As a Canadian, I say this:

    Go fuck yourself.

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  46. How DARE you put two "t's" in Bret!!!

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  47. Don't make me come ovah there...

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  48. Is that supposed to be an argument?

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  49. Now now, it's not rape if its part of a deal to kill a chinese guy. Spoilers.

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  50. You guys gave us The Miz.

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  51. Now, now. The Canadian government has apologized for Bryan Adams several times.

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  52. Certainly better than yours Mr Hannity.

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  53. Hamlet--I mean Jax--has had to carry the weight of the world on his shoulders. That and the smoking. Cigarettes will do that to you.

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  54. The girl that hooked me on it... let's just say I was skeptical. Mainly because her sales pitch was "mmmm you get to see Jax's ass all the time!" I was like "uh, that's not really uh..."

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  55. Peaked in the second season. The season three finale was good. Show really declines though. I've only kept watching it out of habit and because this is the final season.

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  56. God I thought season 1 of Heroes was the best show ever, and they immediately undid and ruined it with the first episode of season 2. I gave up on the show mid-season. I have 3 & 4 sitting on a shelf unwatched.

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  57. I know that this really isn't news to anyone, but I still get amazed on a regular basis how many awesome tv show have popped up in the last ten to fifteen years.

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  58. Well they are helped by either cops being on the take or corrupt government agents pursuing their own agendas, but yeah... the occasional surprise warrant search at the clubhouse would have solved an awful lot of crime in Charming.

    Also there are a hell of a lot of bodies out in those woods. Would suck to be one of the guys in the gang who's job it is to bury bodies every week.

    And they do get around from Charming to Oakland pretty quickly. Benefits of being a fictional town I guess: No one can look at a map and go "hey, how'd you ride 96 miles in 18 minutes?!"

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  59. he was at least a tweener (and not 100% heel) in 1997 as well.

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  60. Truth hurts, doesn't it? I'm actually not a Republican, I'm a Libertarian, but more importantly, I know way more about economics than you.

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  61. Ugh libertarians are even worse. Just the dumbest people on earth.

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  62. Oh, may I ask what you do for a living?

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  63. Belittle libertarians.

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  64. "Johnny... I lost my muffler!"

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  65. I heard it from a friend who heard it from a friend who heard it from another that TNA is about to sign a Canadian TV deal with The Moose Lovers Channel.

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  66. Notice I'm the only one who made an argument in this thread. You tried to cancel the argument with insults. You belittle yourself, sir. Good day..

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  67. Your 'arguments' are retarded drivel. Go back to raging against seatbelt laws.

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  68. I can't recall a time I've ever been colder on the product. And I'm not even Canadian!

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  69. So Canadians can watch ROH on stations from Buffalo and Rochester, but i live in upstate NY and get channels from Ottawa and no ROH. Not that i even watch TV but still.

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  70. TNA should just pack up and move to India. Those folks over there will watch anything.

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  71. aka The Calgary Kid!

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  72. How did Bulldog get a main event push? Did Bret push for him? Veteran reward? Desperation?

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  73. I wish the Republicans didn't infect and hijack the Tea Party, because a Gadsden flag would look awesome on my porch. I'll believe GOPers are anti-gov't when they vote to close prisons and cut military spending.

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  74. at least Miz was entertaining on the dirt sheet, Bryan Adams has always sucked

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  75. TNA is far more over with the Indian audience than WWE.

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  76. And really, if THAT many murders were happening in one small California town eventually the government would need to intervene rather than keep playing the odds. I think Charming is in hot competition with the town from Murder She Wrote for most fictional murders per capita.

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  77. That was initially the plan after SOA wrapped but i guess Sutter is going to do something else now

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  78. Bulldog is a fine choice to push as a B-PPV Level challenger since he's a big name but Scott is right, either the booking or Bulldog himself failed to come across as a major threat. He should have won matches far more dominantly.

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  79. TJ: 7000 dollars for a worn shirt? not bad at all.

    http://www.ebay.com/itm/Ring-worn-autographed-OFFICIAL-WWE-Licensed-AJ-LEE-T-Shirt-/151471856660?pt=US_Wrestling_Trading_Cards&hash=item23446d1c14

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  80. And Rush. And Devin Townsend.

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  81. TV shows are generally better written and produced than most movies today.

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  82. Yeah, I bailed after the brutal Ireland thing and then they came back and killed off more characters and I was done.

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  83. Yeah they sort of explain it that the cops are on the take, but still. Wont ruin it for anyone with spoilers here, but for instance, with all of Jax's prior arrests, finding him where they did at the end of last season, they couldn't find one charge to hold him on? Seriously? Or even this season, they kill like 5 people in a hotel room in broad daylight, have enough time to go get a van, remove the bodies, bury them and not one person notices or calls the cops from the flurry of gunshots?

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  84. So why did Ring Ka King only last one season?

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  85. They never really bothered to explain his heel turn back in August. I remember it was something like Bulldog not liking it when the fans chanted "USA" when he teamed with Luger. So basically, Bulldog was your basic foreign heel but because no one really hates the British in the US or Canada (for obvious cultural reasons) that went nowhere.

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  86. Oh just in parole violations alone the entire MC should be serving 20 to life.

    I like to imagine Charming is mostly populated by nearly-deaf retirees.

    ... and tyranny hookers, neo-Nazi meth-heads, ghostly bag ladies...

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  87. Good Lord. It strikes me as super creepy that someone would pay that much for a shirt worn by AJ.

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  88. How about not be stuck in the 90's and just download all of the wrestling you would ever want on the internet like others do?

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  89. I remember being in Canada when she first blew up and she was a fucking icon and every chick idolized her and dressed like her. It was weird yet hot

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  90. On the other hand, you probably won't get killed gangland style by drug cartels and decapitated in Canada.

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  91. And Danko Jones. And Econoline Crush. And LiveOnRelease. And Big Wreck. And The Sheepdogs. So to be fair, they usually give us five good artists for one shitty artist at a time.

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  92. Scott, you are in for a hell of a ride. That season 3 finale is one of the most mind blowing plot tiwsts in a show ever.

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  93. Shut your whore mouth

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  94. Yes, yes it does.

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  95. Word, and I love this season to. Anyone that complains about the slowness clearly has never seen any of the other one. They always start off slow.

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  96. Woah, I hope Scott doesn't read these things. Spoilers dude.

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  97. Hey, hey...my, my.

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  98. The bastard executioner. He has said he's still interested in a prequel at some point. As much money as he's made FX, they'd probably let him do anything.

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  99. Clay had a great heel turn

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  100. It was funny, because the idolized her for not being Britney Spears, once again failing to realize that "rebels" can be marketing puppets, too.

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  101. Canadians get US Big 4 network affiliates from major cities. In America you get the affiliate station from your home market unless you are in a region with no TV signals and your satellite provider doesn't carry the local stations.

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  102. Psst. He's the guy with the anti-Canadian gimmick.

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  103. Probably, but if you do its a hockey stick blade doing the beheading.

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  104. Also, Billy Talent.

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  105. Rock and roll can never die...

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  106. After a lifetime of watching Attitude-era matches in Canada, the notion that WWE doesn't still run heavy in the territory just depresses me.

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  107. Bidder has 0 feedback. I suspect fakery.

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  108. F'ing LOVE Big Wreck. Along with a bunch of other 90s Canadian bands (Sloan, Hip, OLP, Headstones, et al )

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  109. No ROOOO in Canada? I don't know how these things work, but do USA and Canada have different tv channels? Surely TNA could do a deal with a Canadian channel?

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