Result
- Nikki Storm def. Dani Luna
- Rudra def. Vaughn Vertigo
- Flash Morgan Webster & Mark Andrews def. Stevie Filip & Tome Filip
- Rohan Raja, Dan Maff, Jonathan Gresham, Sheldon Jean & Brent Banks def. Neon, Psycho Mike, Billy Gunn, Judas Icarus & Travis Williams
Nikki Storm takes down new AEW signing before title opportunity
The final episode of Maple Leaf Pro: Mayhem Season 1 opened with a showdown between Nikki Storm and recent AEW signing Dani Luna. This was a showcase of sorts for Storm, as she’ll be challenging Maple Leaf Pro Women’s Champion Priscilla Kelly on Saturday’s Northern Rising card.
Luna scored a pair of slams on Storm early, but had her momentum stopped after getting pushed off the top by Storm and taking a nasty fall to the floor. Storm followed Luna to ringside, where she delivered a gnarly snap suplex.
Luna started to make a comeback after the show returned from commercials, failing to score with a Luna Landing but flooring Storm with a single-leg dropkick. A powerbomb from Luna was followed into a pin attempt, causing a two-count.
Commentary started to muse about whether Luna could steal Storm’s Northern Rising title opportunity if she wins this match. Luna bounced Storm’s back off the top rope for an impactful Luna Landing, although it only rendered a two-count.
The fight went to the top rope, where Storm knocked Luna off the to the mat then followed up with a crossbody. Storm then scored with her World’s Best Neckbreaker for the pinfall victory. Luna dominated a significant amount of this match despite it not being all about her.
Rudra, Subculture score wins
We saw a backstage promo from Adam Copeland, addressing Northern Rising opponent Steve Maclin: “You have never faced anybody like me. I don’t care if it’s war, I don’t care if it’s on the battlefield. You have never faced someone that doesn’t quit, that doesn’t surrender, that doesn’t take no as an answer. Are you ready for that? We’ll find out.”
Up next, MLP had another quick showcase of Rudra, the new persona of ex-TNA name Bhupinder Gujjar. We saw him make quick work of Dan Parker earlier this season, debuting the gimmick with a two-minute showcase. This time, he was facing fast-rising Ontario talent Vaughn Vertigo.
At one point, we saw Vertigo score a Swanton Bomb (“Vaughnton Bomb”) onto Rudra while he was standing. Looked interesting! Anyway, Rudra took over this match shortly after, dropping Vertigo with a huge front kick, a ripcord knee to the head, then a spear from the middle rope for the pinfall win. Curious if Rudra will get thrown onto Northern Rising in some capacity.
This episode’s co-main event saw the Subculture team of Flash Morgan Webster and Mark Andrews face the Natural Classics, an Australian duo of brothers named Stevie and Tome Filip. This was the Mayhem debut of the Natural Classics, although they previously wrestled on Maple Leaf Pro’s Ignition web series.
Stevie scored a nice moonsault out of the corner and to the floor during this one. Subculture responded moments later with dual dives over the top rope onto the Filip Brothers. Stevie was brought back into the ring, where Webster scored a knee strike to the head, then Andrews connected with a top-rope Shooting Star Press for the pinfall win. A real sprint of a tag bout. I’m certainly interested in seeing more of the Natural Classics.
Andrade sends message to Raja following all-star tag match
The final match of the night served as a nice little preview of some of Northern Rising’s undercard matches. In a 10-man all-star tag bout, the team of Rohan Raja, Dan Maff, Jonathan Gresham, Sheldon Jean and Brent Banks faced Neon, Psycho Mike, Billy Gunn, Judas Icarus, and Travis Williams. A large majority of the names involved in this match had their spot on Northern Rising already confirmed.
Sinner & Saint had an exchange early on with tag champs 1st Faction, facing off shortly before they meet in a three-way bout this weekend. We got a quick look at Dan Maff against Neon (how crazy is it to type a sentence like that). Maff had been all over MLP programming in recent weeks, but this was the first time we saw him work a proper match on Mayhem.
Gunn received an absolutely gigantic pop for a hot tag late in the match. After going on a run of moves, 1st Faction’s Sheldon Jean started posing for the hard cam. As he did this, Psycho Mike slid into the ring and slowly approached him from behind. Jean eventually realized the Psycho was behind him and knew what was coming next…
Mike unleashed a series of bodyslams, first taking down Jean then slamming partner Brent Banks onto him. Neon got into the match and delivered a painful-looking frogsplash onto 1st Faction. This poor team, 1st Faction, then had Jonathan Gresham slammed onto them as well!
The match came down to Raja and Gunn, a sequence which saw Raja score a Flatliner for the pinfall win. This crowd was not wanting to see Gunn eat the pin here, but somebody had to.
A huge brawl broke out as this show neared its end. The Grizzled Young Vets charged down the ramp and started fighting with their opponents for Saturday. Then, Andrade El Idolo, who will be facing Raja at Northern Rising, came out and targeted his rival. He was looking for some revenge after suffering a sneak attack by Raja last week.
Andrade sent Raja out of the ring then connected with a huge Tope con Hiro, taking out Raja and numerous security guards as well. Andrade dragged Raja back into the ring and blasted him in the back with a steel chair to end the show.
While I thought the first two-thirds of this episode felt somewhat pedestrian, the final segment was a great sampling plate of the midcard rivalries set to go down on Saturday’s show. Overall, Mayhem delivered a solid 12 weeks of programming, properly building to a pay-per-view lineup this weekend.
While it’s unconventional to see a seasonal format used for TV wrestling, Maple Leaf Pro made a strong case for it with Mayhem this summer and should consider doing it once again in 2027.
As of right now, here’s how Saturday’s card looks:
- Mark Andrews, Flash Morgan Webster & Mascara Dorada vs. TJP, Johnny TV & Gabriel Fuerza
- Andrade El Idolo vs. Rohan Raja
- Dan Maff vs. Psycho Mike vs. Crazzy Steve (Monster’s Mayhem)
- Sheldon Jean & Brent Banks vs. Judas Icarus & Travis Williams vs. James Drake & Zach Gibson (Maple Leaf Pro Tag Team Championships)
- Adam Copeland vs. Steve Maclin
- Priscilla Kelly vs. Nikki Storm (Maple Leaf Pro Women’s Championship)
- Josh Alexander vs. Stu Grayson (Maple Leaf Pro Championship)
