WWE said it made history with its Money in the Bank premium live event at the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto over the weekend.
The company said Monday that Money in the Bank set a new gate record in Canada as well as made historic marks in viewership, merchandise sales and social media impressions.
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WWE said Money in the Bank was the highest-grossing arena event in Canada in the company’s history and was the most-watched Money in the Bank event of all-time. The special edition Money in the Bank briefcase was the top seller as merchandise sales were up from last year’s event, which took place in London.
John Cena’s surprise return and shocking retirement announcement were among the highlights of the event. WWE said Cena’s appearance captured more than 65 million social media views in its first 24 hours.
The build up to Money in the Bank started Wednesday night with the company dropping "WrestleMania XL: Behind the Curtain" on YouTube. It continued with "Sami Zayn & Friends Do Toronto" and "Friday Night SmackDown" and ended with NXT Heatwave.
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"Weekends that bring visitors en masse to our host cities play an important part in our planning process," WWE president Nick Khan said in a news release. "The results are a testament to our Superstars, our creative team led by Paul Levesque, our media & production team led by Lee Fitting and, most importantly, our fans who both attended and created our massive viewership."
WWE fans saw Drew McIntyre and Tiffany Stratton win the marquee ladder matches to earn future world title shots. McIntyre unsuccessfully cashed his briefcase in later Saturday night. He saw his archrival CM Punk interrupt any chance he had of winning the World Heavyweight Championship from Damian Priest.
Priest pinned McIntyre to finish off the impromptu triple threat match, which also saw Seth Rollins get angry at Punk as well.
Stratton pushed Chelsea Green off of a ladder and onto a couple of tables to secure her victory in the match. She grabbed the briefcase and held onto her shot at winning the WWE’s Women’s Championship for the future.
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Elsewhere, The Bloodline defeated Cody Rhodes, Randy Orton and Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn retained the Intercontinental Championship with a victory over Bron Breakker.
