Just two years ago, the words “Maple Leaf Wrestling” were associated with a bygone era in the industry. The brand would only be mentioned when brought up by Canadians or territorial-era wrestling buffs, reminiscing about the now-defunct Frank Tunney-owned promotion which dominated Toronto’s entertainment scene throughout the mid-to-late 1900s.
But that was two years ago. Fast-forward not even a full 24 months, and Maple Leaf Wrestling, or, more accurately, Maple Leaf Pro (MLP), all of a sudden means a lot more again.
In a short amount of time, former TNA head booker Scott D’Amore has helped give Maple Leaf Pro many elements that only the top wrestling brands in the world are often able to provide at once.
A national TV deal? They’re airing on TSN2 weekly in Canada and internationally via MyAEW. Partnerships with numerous other major wrestling brands? They co-promoted a show with Tony Khan-owned ROH earlier this year and established a talent-borrowing program with lucha force CMLL. A system to train new wrestlers who can enter their pipeline someday? The recently-announced MLP Academy is perfect for that.
And, most importantly, are they putting on major events? Look no further than this Saturday’s Northern Rising show, where an expected over 2,600 fans will pack into the Mattamy Athletic Centre—the same building that was once known as the prolific Maple Leaf Gardens—for the second-ever Northern Rising card.
“It’s truly remarkable what we’ve been able to accomplish in that short amount of time,” D’Amore recently told POST Wrestling.
With a national TV agreement, live events, and an annual arena show, Maple Leaf Pro has already done more than most promotions. But they aren’t settling with what they have, with aspirations of someday becoming a coast-to-coast flag-bearer for Canadian wrestling.
A challenging, yet rewarding new chapter with ‘Mayhem’
When Maple Leaf Pro first visited the 2,700-capacity Mattamy Athletic Centre in 2025, the event’s promotional style was simple: Put together the most enticing lineup possible. The company had only presented four shows prior to that point, and thus didn’t have many storylines to rely on. Some matchups—like a multi-man tag which pitted one era of the Bullet Club against a newer generation of the NJPW faction—relied on the lore of other companies to put together a plot.
This time, they’re heading back to the venue in a much different scenario. Northern Rising 2 is going live on Saturday shortly following the first season of MLP: Mayhem, a one-hour, 12-episode run of weekly programming.
Over those 12 weeks, Maple Leaf Pro has focused on introducing their cast of local and international characters, giving them coherent storyline arcs along the way: Ontario viral star Psycho Mike has descended into madness due to a losing streak. Rohan Raja lost a championship belt and went to Mexico looking for answers about his identity. Interim champ Stu Grayson wants to establish himself as the top Canadian wrestler, but is doing so just as main titleholder Josh Alexander suddenly comes back from injury.
Each story has been carefully built to climax at this weekend’s show. Some call it a pay-per-view. To D’Amore, it’s more like a “season finale.”
It’s unconventional for wrestling companies to run a seasonal format, with a set start and end date for a show. But D’Amore believes the schedule helps keep the product fresh and focused. Having worked in settings like TNA, where he spent the majority of his career before suddenly being let go in 2024, D’Amore knows that writing for a show that runs 52 weeks out of the year can be challenging.
“It’s always constantly churning, churning, churning,” D’Amore said about weekly TV. “When I was at TNA, when Bound for Glory was over, when Slammiversary was over, it’s like ‘That’s great, that was amazing, that was awesome, well, let’s get back to the writer’s room because we have a show that we have to get ready because we’re back on the airwaves on Thursday.’”
Presenting a one-hour show on TV—which, adjusting for commercial time, means you’re restricted to about 44 minutes—is a tight squeeze. You’re trying to present storylines, sell viewers on certain characters, and of course find time for great wrestling as well. D’Amore, despite his endless experience in writing wrestling for TV, admitted it was a challenge.
“It’s been a long time since I’ve had to book, write, produce a one-hour television series. Really goes back to our TNA days on Fox Sports, then the early Spike TV days before we went two hours. Jeez, it’s been two decades [since then]. I kinda knew, and I remembered the pacing and how quick it had to be, and how much you had to try to get done in such a short amount of time, but it really was a bit of a process to get in the mindset and realize how valuable every minute, every second of television time really is.”
It’s too early to discuss specifics around what a second season of Mayhem would look like, D’Amore said. An assessment of what Season 2 could look like will only happen once they host a show in Toronto this weekend. But, with the first 12-episode run nearly complete, D’Amore feels confident in his plan to keep airing shows with TSN in Canada and MyAEW internationally.
“I see no reason to change who our partners are at this time,” he said.
A near-instant sell-out
Those working behind the scenes at Maple Leaf Pro knew almost immediately that the second Northern Rising would be a success.
When a general onsale for the event opened last summer, just over 2,500 tickets were snatched up within three days. Before the Mayhem TV show had reached its halfway point, a sellout was declared (Maple Leaf Pro has opened up limited extra seating last week, although a recent WrestleTix estimate showed that just under 150 seats were still remaining). The upcoming event’s sales were a far more enthusiastic response than their first trip to the venue, even though their previous trip was also deemed a success.
“It honestly took us aback,” D’Amore said. “It kind of shocked us. Last year, we sold the event out, but I remember it was just past 5 p.m. on the day of the show when I got the notification from Ticketmaster that we sold out.”
D’Amore had planned all these ideas to help get fans out to the event, tactics which he quickly learned wouldn’t be needed. “Where do we need to spend our time if we don’t need to spend time selling tickets?” he remembers thinking.
There’s no doubt that a lot of the momentum around ticket sales was fueled by the presence of AEW star Adam Copeland, who will be making his first independent booking since 2001 when he appeared at the upcoming card.
Ontario’s own Copeland was motivated to wrestle at Northern Rising due to the venue they were visiting for the second time. Growing up as an avid wrestling fan and Toronto Maple Leafs supporter, performing on the former grounds of the legendary Maple Leaf Gardens was a bucket list accomplishment for a wrestler who has achieved far more than most.
He’ll be facing ex-TNA name Steve Maclin, a heel former U.S. Marine who D’Amore says is the perfect “antithesis” to Copeland’s Canadiana-infused motivations. They’ve feuded on Mayhem for weeks, including a recent segment where Maclin had to be bailed out of jail following a rage against MLP staffers and security.
The main men’s title showdown is a combination of luck and strong storytelling. Main Maple Leaf Pro champ Josh Alexander, who won the title at the first Northern Rising but spent the majority of 2026 on the sidelines due to injury, will face Stu Grayson, an interim champ who won his title amid Alexander’s lengthy time out of action.
It lined up perfectly that Alexander’s return came just as the pay-per-view neared.
“In March when Josh [Alexander] got hurt, we had no idea if he was going to be out for three months or 18 months … To have these two square off in Maple Leaf Gardens, I think, is the perfect cap to the Mayhem season.”
Lower on the card, a tag title match serves as a reminder that part of Maple Leaf Pro’s mandate is to help uplift local names who hadn’t previously received an international spotlight. Tag champs Sheldon Jean and Brent Banks, a combination of a young up-and-comer mixed with a veteran of Ontario’s local wrestling scene, will meet Subculture and the Grizzled Young Vets in a three-way showdown.
For a name like Jean, who has wrestled for a decade but not yet received an opportunity as big as this, it’s a chance to show that he’s a hidden gem in the industry.
“I know what I’m capable of,” Jean told POST. “Just because I know it doesn’t mean the world knows it, and now they have a chance to tune in and witness that. I will not be wasting this opportunity.”
Only the beginning
There are many who might be satisfied with being able to quickly scale in a way as Maple Leaf Pro has. Achieving what they have, especially in such a short amount of time, is no small feat. But it’s not enough for D’Amore, who has an appetite to make Maple Leaf Pro far larger than it is now.
“Have we achieved what we want to achieve? No,” he said. “We want to grow. We want to be national. We want to be in prime-time, which is the goal … We do want to eventually take the MLP brand from coast-to-coast, but that’s a multi-year rollout. Like I said, we don’t want to get out in front of our skis.”
D’Amore’s vision extends even beyond his time with the company. Much like the original Maple Leaf Wrestling, which had a lineage of five separate owners before being sold to WWE in 1984, D’Amore believes his input in the company could one day just be a single chapter in a far longer history.
“I want to create a platform that, whether I sit in this chair, or whether I’m on a beach in Hawaii, or whether I’m no longer with us, that this thing lives on and becomes a system that’s here in perpetuity, run by great Canadians and showcasing great Canadians.”
