Text by Pat Laprade, from the Lutte.Québec website
European trade site Catch-Newz broke the news today that WWE will present a taping of its flagship show “Raw” live from the Bell Center in Montreal on Monday, April 15, 2024.
And while WWE hasn't announced anything yet, I can confirm this news.
In fact, WWE will be at the Bell Center on April 15, just eight days after WrestleMania 40.
This will be the first Raw in Montreal since 2019, which strangely also took place on April 15th.
Currently, Quebecer Kevin Owens is on SmackDown on Fridays, while his compatriot Sami Zayn is on Raw. However, we recently learned that Zayn has requested a leave of absence from WWE. So we don't know if he will be back by April 15th or not.
But hey, as we know, a lot of things can change in four months. On the other hand, it could well be that the event marks CM Punk's return to Montreal after more than a decade.
The post-post-Mania Raw!
WrestleMania will take place April 6-7 in Philadelphia this year. The post-Mania Raw will also take place in the City of Brotherly Love on April 8th. The company therefore decided to stay on the east coast, as it did in 2019 with New York and Montreal.
At least 10,000 spectators
In 2019, the event attracted 10,500 spectators, while in April 2018, 13,500 fans streamed through the Bell Center turnstiles for Raw. It should be noted that SmackDown was presented at the same arena the day after these two shows.
The last time Raw taped live from Quebec was last August in Quebec City and drew 10,583 fans.
I am therefore expecting a crowd of between 12,000 and 13,000 on April 15th.
SmackDown in Quebec?
I'm already waiting for the question from Quebec wrestling fans! Could the Videotron Center be the host of SmackDown?
It's not impossible.
Although SmackDown was confirmed to take place in Pittsburgh on April 19th, it's not impossible to believe that the show could be taped in Quebec this past Friday, April 12th.
Alternatively, a non-televised program could be produced there on Saturday or Sunday. Be continued!
On this topic, the next WWE meeting will be on December 28th at Place Bell, a non-televised event.