Backstage at Maple Leaf Pro Wrestling’s first TV taping last month, everyone seemed to know exactly where they needed to be.
Camera operators wove through the curtains as production assistants threaded cables around wrestlers coated in body oil, who stretched and taped their wrists and ankles, preparing for their matches. The air smelled of menthol. A few feet away, a woman holding a championship belt was slapped across the face by a fellow wrestler. For a moment, the room went quiet.
“Let’s try it again,” a producer called as cameras got back in position.
The wrestler reset herself, took the slap once more, and work resumed.
The scene took place at St. Clair College’s SportsPlex in Windsor, Ont., where Maple Leaf Pro Wrestling was filming a weekly show called “MLP Mayhem,” part of a new 12-episode TSN deal that aims to lift Canadian wrestling into the mainstream.
Canada has produced generations of wrestling stars, from Bret Hart and Trish Stratus to Sami Zayn and Kenny Omega. But building a sustainable wrestling ecosystem here has proved far more difficult. Maple Leaf Pro Wrestling is attempting to change that by giving Canada’s next generation of wrestlers a place to develop, learn from established stars, and one day mentor those who follow.
“Our mandate is to develop and produce world-class talent,” said Scott D’Amore, a veteran promoter and retired wrestler, who is the founder and president of MLP. “That talent ultimately should be on the biggest stages in the world.”
The effort comes at a time when professional wrestling is experiencing its biggest boom in decades. WWE recently expanded its global reach through a landmark $5 billion Netflix deal. The partnership builds on decades of mainstream success that produced crossover stars such as Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Dave Bautista and John Cena. The launch of rival promotion AEW in 2019, backed by billionaire Tony Khan, gave wrestlers and fans a major alternative, reigniting competition at the highest level and expanding opportunities across the industry. Against that backdrop, MLP is pursuing a very different ambition: rebuilding the kind of Canadian wrestling institution the country hasn’t had in decades.
Originally founded in 1930, Maple Leaf Wrestling was one of Canada’s most influential wrestling promotions, which helped establish Toronto as one of North America’s premier wrestling cities while turning Maple Leaf Gardens into one of wrestling’s most iconic venues before fading away in the mid-1980s.
D’Amore, who revived the brand in 2024, said that MLP’s success won’t be measured by how many stars it keeps, but by how many it produces. He wants to create a Canadian development system where the country’s next generation can hone their craft before moving on to the world’s biggest stages.
“If we’re still featuring the same talent in five or six years in the same spots, then we’re not doing great with our mandate,” he said.
Josh Alexander, one of Canada’s most accomplished modern wrestlers, spent more than a decade wrestling in Canada before establishing himself internationally and signing with AEW.
“Getting noticed as an independent wrestler in Canada has been very difficult for a very long time,” said Alexander, who is now MLP’s men’s champion. “The importance of MLP is that it’s going to highlight Canadian wrestling talent and give a lot of big opportunities to those wrestlers to get seen that otherwise wouldn’t.”
Taylor Rising is part of the new generation of Canadian wrestling talent.
Rising began training at Toronto’s Superkick’d Wrestling in 2017 after attending one of the promotion’s shows as a fan. Since then, she’s steadily built her resumé on Canada’s independent circuit, making appearances for promotions including NWA and AEW. MLP represents another significant step in that progression.
“Now that they’re on TSN, there’s definitely more eyes on it,” said Rising. “It’s definitely possible to get more noticed. MLP is expanding. Lots of things are possible.”
The TSN deal is central to MLP’s ambition.
“You don’t just throw something together and put it on TSN,” said D’Amore. “Getting them to say, ‘Yeah, this belongs on our network,’ was no easy task.”
Veteran wrestler Raj Singh said the TV deal allows storylines to develop, that fans can follow week after week.
“There’s going to be a lot of people that … invest in the characters, invest in the storylines, invest in the talent,” said Singh, who is the son of Stampede Wrestling star Gama Singh.
During the MLP taping in Windsor, there were early signs the promotion was beginning to carve out its own audience. Families filled the bleachers alongside longtime fans in vintage wrestling and band T-shirts. Large LED entrance screens, spotlights, television cameras and elaborate wrestler entrances gave the taping the look and feel of a television production, while the intimate venue still allowed wrestlers to trade insults with belligerent fans just a few feet from the ring.
Jeffrey Kenney, 48, has attended every MLP show since the promotion launched. He believes it offers something Canadian wrestling has been missing.
“It’s important because it’s Canadian and local,” said Kenney. “It’s a promotion that still cares about pro wrestling, not just the business.”
In the ring, wrestlers Rising and Alexia Nicole locked up as the crowd roared.
Backstage, wrestlers crowded around a television monitor while others quietly went over their next match. D’Amore sat three feet from the curtain, watching from a small monitor as wrestlers, producers and crew members drifted in and out, stopping briefly to ask a question before hurrying back to work.
“When we do it right, we create shared moments,” said D’Amore. “These are memories that, decades later, I still share. I think what we do is create that shared community for people. Those shared experiences create bonds.”
On the other side of the curtain, a little girl in a backwards cap leaned over the barricade, cheering with both hands in the air. The bell rang. The show went on.
