When Scott D’Amore was removed from his position as president of TNA Wrestling in February, it sent shockwaves through the industry. The executive was credited with helping turn the tide for the promotion in terms of public opinion and elevating its profile.
It wasn’t long before D’Amore planned his next move, which was dusting off Maple Leaf Wrestling and launching it as Maple Leaf Pro Wrestling (MLP). The original promotion had its Canadian roots dating back to the 1930s and would run shows in the Great White North through the 1970s and 1980s.
No stranger to running the show even before TNA as the owner of Border City Wrestling, D’Amore saw an opportunity to bring an established brand from the past and take its old-school fundamentals into today’s landscape. The ring veteran acquired the trademarks with plans to share archival footage through various platforms. D’Amore is excited to make his creative vision a reality with MLP’s first two back-to-back events, collectively known as Forged in Excellence.
Among the star-studded talent are former WWE Hall of Famer Bully Ray, Raj Dhesi (Jinder Mahal), Gisele Shaw, Mike Bailey, Athena, and more. Adding to the historic occasion is an interpromotional battle between TNA’s Josh Alexander challenging AEW International Champion Konosuke Takeshita.
Here D’Amore opens up about his rollercoaster year leading up to MLP’s debut, what he sees for the future, and more.
Only days away from #MLPForgedInExcellence, Mauro Ranallo narrates a historical overview of the journey from Maple Leaf Wrestling to MAPLE LEAF PRO, from the past to the present to the future!Get your tickets NOW: https://t.co/LZSzF5YaumOrder on TrillerTV:… pic.twitter.com/DGizspz4NK— MAPLE LEAF PRO Wrestling (@MapleLeafPW) October 15, 2024
Looking back, I was like everyone else who scratched their head when the news broke of your TNA exit at a time when there was so much growth and momentum. Was there ever a point where you contemplated leaving wrestling after being burned the way you had?
Scott D’Amore: I look overall at my time with Impact TNA, my second run there, as a very rewarding one. I’m very proud of the work we did. I don’t think it’s an overstatement to say the company was in shambles when Don Callis and I first stepped in to take over. The work we did even after Don left was pretty fantastic. I think it might be the only time or the best example of this. I’ll use a quote someone said after my departure. They said they were taken aback because they’d never seen in the history of wrestling a company revived from the dead the way TNA was.
It was not what I wanted. I thought there was work to be done and thought we could get there with the path and vision I wanted to take the company in, but it was [owners] Anthem Entertainment’s decision, which is their right. Was I happy with it? No. Was it by choice? No Did I agree with it? No. I respect the fact it was Anthem’s choice. Have I thought about a time of not being in the wrestling business? Absolutely. I left the wrestling business on a high level for many years and focused on every avenue in business. When I came back in 2017, it was supposed to be a two or three-day consulting thing, but I wish we would have gotten a chance to finish what we started. Such is life in business. The whole world moves on and part of that is what’s next for me is Maple Leaf Pro Wrestling.
What has been the journey like getting this company off the ground? What challenges have you faced?
I acquired the rights from the Tunney family many years ago. I partially did it partly because I saw where it might go otherwise and wanted to see if there was a chance to do more with it than have it sit in a vault. I didn’t do a great job with it, but this is a chance to do that. Maple Leaf Wrestling from the 1930s until it was sold by the Tunneys to WWE in 1984 and beyond that, WWE continued to use the name in Canada well into the 1990s. This is an opportunity to revive an iconic brand that has sat dormant for far too long.
Something distinctly Canadian. I think you look at Canada’s place in wrestling history as a prominent one. So many have come from Canada and events from here have been woven into history. I wanted to give a platform to give Canadians a chance to sit side-by-side with the best in the world. We have a chance to honor the past while moving it forward. We get a chance to showcase the amazing talent out there. In the last decade or so it has really flourished. It’s an opportunity to take some of the relationships I built over the 30 years in wrestling to make Maple Leaf Pro Wrestling to make it something cool and fun. I think it’s a cool time in the wrestling business. I always felt collaboration was key.
You certainly have that on display with these shows and by what you did in TNA.
When people work together for the overall good, everyone succeeds. I think we will show that. The challenges have been just that it’s a lot to undertake. We started this thing off and realized we needed more hands around. We have the group that was part of Border City Wrestling, our local independent group I was involved in running for three-plus decades. I had an amazing crew that got together after getting so many calls following the news of my termination. They are some of the best I’ve ever worked with. It has been an unbelievable amount of work and not enough people to do it. People have rolled up their sleeves to get things done. Here is a team of people who are an all-star team. It has been a lot of fun and think about how we are going to get there to put on two unbelievable nights of wrestling. These are kind of our statement shows to come out and say, “Hey, this is who we are and what we do and look forward to seeing you in 2025.”
How was it getting Mauro Ranallo back into wrestling?
I think Mauro is the best play-by-play man in the history of the business of combat sports. When you look at it pro wrestling, boxing, MMA, kickboxing, Mauro can do it all. He is the most versatile play-by-play guy in history. Having him here is fantastic. We’ve worked together for a couple of years. First in Stampede Wrestling where both of us were out of our teens. He was the play-by-play and I came in as a heel to work Sabu on top. That’s the first time I met Mauro, and we’ve been friends ever since. He provides so much passion and so much talent and credibility. The process of getting him,
I don’t want to understate it, but it was pretty painless. We kept in touch. When the news got out, Mauro reached out like so many. I was overwhelmed by how many people commented, posted, and reached out directly to check in. Mauro was one of those. We were both at a point where we were having some changes in our careers that were unexpected. We always looked for a project to work together on. He said, “Let’s f’n do this.” There is still a business side to this, even as friends, but we worked it out pretty reasonably for both sides. We kick off with the play-by-play announcer out there. I’m stoked.
We’re days away from Night One of #MLPForgedInExcellence, airing LIVE on @FiteTV on October 19 from Windsor, Ontario, Canada!Get your tickets NOW: https://t.co/LZSzF5XCEOOrder on TrillerTV: https://t.co/Int4qZJrBI pic.twitter.com/yaGyVR1Vcw— MAPLE LEAF PRO Wrestling (@MapleLeafPW) October 17, 2024
You have Athena defending the Ring of Honor world championship. AEW International Champion Konosuke Takeshita defending against a TNA talent in Josh Alexander. How hard was it to put that together?
AEW is a massive international company. Obviously, on a daily basis have a million things more important than what D’Amore is doing in Canada. I found they have been fantastic to work with. I think being able to get Athena, Takeshita here and Don Callis on commentary has been great. It would be completely in Tony Khan’s rights to say, “Those are our people. No.” Were there hoops to jump through, sure. It was really a matter of having a little bit of patience and giving them a chance to work through things on their side.
Collaboration is something that is so cool in this day and age. AEW works with New Japan on a very deep level, Rev Pro, CMLL. Look at what WWE has built. I got to be part of facilitating the TNA and WWE relationship. What they have done and sending AJ Styles to Pro Wrestling NOAH. Is the red tape there? Sure because you have to check all the boxes. I like to think my reputation and track record speaks for itself. They still want to make sure everything is taken care of, but I think there is a level of comfort that if they are coming here and working on an event I’m involved in putting on, they know things are going to be done right. Proper mats, safe ring, medical staff on hand, and everything run in a professional and safe manner.
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What is your business plan for six months, a year, or five years for this company?
I think for 2025 one of the big things for us is making a return to what is formally known as Maple Leaf Gardens. It’s now the Mattamy Athletic Centre. I think there is something to returning to that place. I think that will be a focal point of what we do. You’ll see more events in 2025 domestically and then internationally through partnerships. We announced our pro wrestling alliance with QPW in Qatar and OPW in Australia. We’re going to lean into that and collaborate with others. You look at all the companies represented on these shows this weekend, we’re open for business. It’s going to be a slow and calculated process.
These shows are our proof of concept to see who we are and what we do. As we get into 2025, you’ll see us do more. We’re not looking to be a 52-week television show. I don’t think fans are clamoring for another 52-week-a-year product. I do think we can go out there and do a series of cool events that lead to a culmination somewhere. One of the hard things about starting this is starting from nothing. I think you’ll as we grow characters develop, and build stories and history. I think in six months you’ll see us cutting our teeth and in a year or two you’ll see us hopefully grow into a quality position in the industry. I think we will be.
Maple Leaf Pro Wrestling (MLPW) Forged in Excellence, October 19 and 20, 7/6c, Triller TV.
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