The WWE brought its Smackdown show to Rogers Place in Edmonton on Friday night, yes, the same arena where the Florida Panthers and Oilers slugged it out in the Stanley Cup Final earlier this summer.
Pro wrestlers love being able to play the heel, and on Friday night, Austin Theory and Grayson Waller did so to great aplomb in Edmonton.
Moments after the WWE cameras showed Edmonton forward Corey Perry in the audience with his young son, Theory was introduced to the crowd.
Behind him was his tag team partner Waller.
To get the crowd going, and to go full heel, Waller was rocking a Florida Panthers jersey.
And, not just any Florida Panthers jersey, but a Matthew Tkachuk jersey — complete with a Stanley Cup champions patch stitched on the front.
Not only did the Panthers beat the Oilers for the Stanley Cup, but Tkachuk once played for the Oilers hated rival in Calgary.
Anyway, the wrestling stuff went on once Waller stripped off the Tkachuk jersey (but not before he held it up to taunt the crowd).
Kevin Owens tossed both Waller and Theory out of the ring and threw both of them up against the padded walls separating the spectators from the real action.
Owens did bring in a fan to help out — Oh wait! It’s Corey Perry of the Edmonton Oilers!
What a turn of events!
Yes, Perry was enlisted to restrain Theory so Owens could give him a hard shot to the chest.
That could not have been scripted, could it?
Anyway, to see the entire match — it’s a match in wrestling, right? — check out the video below.
Perry also once played for the Tampa Bay Lightning so, he probably was not too keen on seeing another reminder that the Panthers won the Stanley Cup against his Oilers this summer.
