Results
- Stu Grayson def. Jonathan Gresham (Interim Maple Leaf Pro Championship)
- Rhino def. Gama Singh Jr.
- James Drake & Zack Gibson def. Jesse Bieber & Jonny DeLuca
- Gisele Shaw def. Alice Crowley (Maple Leaf Pro Women’s Championship)
Stu Grayson opens Maple Leaf Pro’s first-ever ‘Mayhem’ with title win
The long-awaited debut of Maple Leaf Pro’s first-ever weekly TV program, Mayhem, got started during the early hours of Thursday morning. Airing on TSN2 in Canada (and on MyAEW internationally), Thursday’s show marked the first of 12 weeks for the program’s first season. Here’s a quick recap of how the show went.
The first-ever episode of Maple Leaf Pro: Mayhem, taped earlier this year from Windsor, Ontario, opened with an intro from the show’s commentary duo.
“Oh, Canada! Our home and native land finally has a weekly wrestling TV show again,” said Mauro Ranallo, who stood in the ring alongside heel commentator Don Callis. Ranallo gave a quick rundown of what Maple Leaf Pro stands for: While its roots are Canadian, any wrestler, from any country or promotion, is welcome here.
We then got a quick intro from Scott D’Amore in a video package:
“Everybody says they love this business until it takes something from them. For some, this is legacy. For others, it’s survival. What does it cost to chase something you love? For decades, Canada helped shape professional wrestling. Now, a new generation steps forward.”
After the two brief intros, little time was wasted before we got to the wrestling. It’s just a 44-minute show, after all. Not much time to mess around.
The first match of the night saw interim Maple Leaf Pro Champion Stu Grayson defend against Jonathan Gresham. For anyone out of the loop: Josh Alexander is MLP’s inaugural champ, but has been out for months due to injury. Grayson was crowned the interim champ just recently.
Grayson set up Gresham on the apron early on for his always impressive Apron Tope Atomico. Gresham started faking a back injury as the show returned, forcing Grayson to take the pressure off him for a moment. Gresham stopped playing possum and started to flex his grappling skills, twisting around the arms and legs of Grayson from behind.
Grayson reached the bottom rope to break a Figure Four attempt from Gresham, but the challenger defiantly refused to let go of the hold! The referee showed an impressive amount of leeway, spending a prolonged period of time trying to peel Gresham off Grayson.
Grayson, hurt due to the Figure Four, stumbled and fell while running across the mat. But, suddenly, the champ sprang up to his feet and dropped Gresham with a hard lariat! He was getting a second wind.
Grayson scored a knee strike to the head, then a trio of release overhead belly-to-belly suplexes. A springboard moonsault was dodged by Gresham. Grayson met Gresham at the top for a huge superplex. He followed with a V-Trigger-esque running knee strike, then scored his Nightfall backbreaker for the pinfall win. This was a decent opener. Some of the early goings felt a little awkward, but the closing sequence was fun. A good performance to introduce the brand’s top champ.
We saw a promo backstage from PWA Champion’s Grail holder Rohan Raja, who was seen watching the match. “Am I meant to be impressed?” Raja said. He said he’s the “standard bearer,” and should’ve been given an opportunity on this show over an interim champ.
Rhino, Grizzled Young Vets score wins
Lots of video packages on this show, trying to introduce many names to viewers for the first time. A clip showed that MLP Women’s Champion Gisele Shaw believes nobody in the division is ready for her. We got a video teasing the arrival of Psycho Mike, and a package talking about tag champs Sheldon Jean and Brent Banks, who will be in action next week against CMLL’s Mascara Dorada and Capitan Suicida.
Gama Singh Jr., son of Stampede Wrestling vet Gama Singh, appeared in the ring for a promo, where he flexed that he’s the sole second-generation star in Maple Leaf Pro. He issued an open challenge for a match, which was answered by ECW legend Rhino! This was an expectedly quick win for Rhino, who caught Singh Jr. with a Gore for the pinfall in roughly a minute.
A backstage promo from Stu Grayson following his win tonight saw him put his focus on Northern Rising, Maple Leaf Pro’s upcoming event in Toronto. Grayson said the event is an opportunity for him to once again prove himself.
The co-main event was a quick showcase for ex-WWE and current AEW tag duo Grizzled Young Vets, who faced Ontario talents Jesse Bieber and Jonny DeLuca. This was a fun little squash match, with the duo earning the pinfall win via their double Codebreaker finisher.
We saw a video package from Johnny TV. “When a network needs a star, they know who to call,” he said. He’ll be facing “supporting actor” TJP next week.
Gisele Shaw defends women’s title, Grayson gets attacked as the show goes off air
The main event saw Maple Leaf Pro Women’s Champion Gisele Shaw defend her title against Alice Crowley. This was a big spot for Crowley, a 23-year-old who already has loads of experience, including appearances in GCW, TJPW, and AEW.
Crowley gained some momentum after the show returned from a break, dropping Shaw with a pair of lariats, then a Saito suplex for a near fall. She set up for an Air Raid Crash, but Shaw escaped and instead tried for a roll-up pin.
Crowley caught Shaw with a fisherman suplex bridged into a pin attempt, rendering yet another near fall. The up-and-comer came running off the ropes for a lariat, but Shaw instead connected with a backbreaker then a flatliner. It wasn’t enough for the champ to score the win.
A wobbled Crowley was put away with a running knee strike from Shaw to end the bout. This was a decent one, albeit somewhat short (these limitations are inevitable when you run on a tight one-hour show, minus commercial break time).
Just as the show was about to go off-air, cameras went to the parking lot, where Stu Grayson was attacked by Rohan Raja! The heel attempted to run over Grayson with a production cart, but Grayson jumped over the cart and kicked Raja in the chest! That was a real action film spot, seriously cool. Grayson was putting a beatdown on Raja, but had his momentum stopped after Raja’s manager gave him a low blow. Raja tossed Grayson into the side of a truck, said, “Welcome to my kingdom,” then spat in his face as the show finished up. Looks like the first major program for Grayson is set.
Final thoughts
Maple Leaf Pro’s first-ever episode of Mayhem produced a fun opening bout, along with a few decent, quick introductory squash bouts. They did a good job at introducing numerous names who will be appearing in the coming weeks, and they started the build for their next main title program. And credit to Maple Leaf Pro, much like their other events over the past couple of years, the production quality was spectacular for a show of their size. Overall, it was a solid first episode.
The hurdles this show will have to overcome over the next 12 weeks simply don’t stop at producing a good wrestling show. Premiering in the midst of a busy time for the wrestling media landscape, where there’s weekly TV on six days a week and numerous big brands like MLW and NWA providing their shows for free online as well, MLP might be just another option for people that could go ignored. Plus, the midnight ET airtime in Canada makes it hard for many to catch it live.
What I’ll be looking for in the coming weeks is what Scott D’Amore’s product can do to set itself apart from everybody else. I hope they can give a reason for it to be picked over the endless other options with great wrestling on a weekly basis. In the coming months, we’ll see what their answer is to that.
Here’s what was confirmed for next week:
- Johnny TV vs. TJP
- Brent Banks & Sheldon Jean vs. Mascara Dorada vs. Capitan Suicida (Maple Leaf Pro Tag Team Championships)
