Pour Me a Cold Draft and Hear Me Out
Bartender, pour me a cold domestic draft and leave the pitcher. We need to talk about Windsor, Ontario, a college campus gym, and a guy who got thrown out of his own house only to build a new one right next door. If you follow this crazy business, you know exactly who I am talking about.
Scott D’Amore getting fired by Anthem back in early 2024 was the kind of corporate backstab that makes you want to throw a steel chair through a flat-screen TV. The man literally built modern TNA from the ashes, only to get handed a pink slip because some corporate suits wanted to tighten the purse strings. It was a dirty move, but D'Amore is not the type to sit around and cry into his Canadian whiskey.
Instead, the man went out and revived Maple Leaf Pro Wrestling. If you are a history mark, you know that name carries serious weight. We are talking about a historic brand that once packed Maple Leaf Gardens.
Now, D’Amore has locked down a weekly television show called MLP Mayhem starting this month on TSN. That is a massive achievement for a brand-new project starting from scratch. But while the Canadian fans are celebrating, the rest of the world is left standing outside in the cold.
How do fans in the United States and elsewhere actually watch this product? That is the big question, and D'Amore finally has some answers for us.
The Canadian Footprint and the Windsor College Gym
First, let’s look at the deal D’Amore secured north of the border. Back on March 28, 2026, the promotion officially announced its partnership with TSN on Twitter. As Ringside News reported, this deal gives them a national broadcast footprint that most indie promotions would kill for.
But let’s not get carried away and start thinking this is Monday Night Raw in front of twenty thousand screaming fans. The actual tapings for the show took place last month on June 12 and 13, 2026, inside St. Clair College in Windsor. Taping your national television show in a college gym is a tough look.
I love Windsor, and it is a historic wrestling hotbed that gave us stars like Bobby Roode and Eric Young. But a gym setting immediately screams local indie rather than a major television product. If you want to compete with the big boys, visual presentation matters.
D'Amore is a master promoter, but he cannot completely hide the limitations of a college campus venue. Still, the promotion is moving quickly, with their next round of tapings already scheduled for August 7 and 8, 2026, at the same location.
The television distribution in Canada is also a bit of a mixed bag. The show will air on TSN2, which is a nationally fed channel, but it will also live on TSN+, their streaming platform. D'Amore mentioned that there will be debut broadcasts, encore airings, and a second viewing window for fans who do not have the premium streaming service.
That is great for Canadians, but it still feels a bit fragmented. In a world where fans want everything in one place, making them navigate multiple windows and sub-channels is a risk. But the real problem is not in Canada.
The real problem is the border.
The United States Problem and the Mythical VPN
If you live in the United States, you are currently locked out of the fun. You cannot watch MLP Mayhem on cable, and you cannot access TSN+ without a Canadian credit card and a lot of headaches. This has led to a lot of frustration online.
Fans have been asking if they need to buy a VPN just to watch D’Amore’s new project. When he sat down for an interview on Stories with Brisco and Bradshaw, D’Amore laughed off the VPN chatter. As reported by Ringside News, he made it clear that the promotion wants to give international fans a legitimate path to watch the show.
D'Amore promised that a solution is coming very soon. The company is actively working on a deal to bring the show to American and international audiences.
“There’s going to be an announcement coming very soon about how people in the US and other international viewers can follow because we get asked that question all the time.”
That is a direct promise, and D'Amore needs to deliver on it quickly. If the show premieres this month on TSN and American fans are left out, the momentum will evaporate. Wrestling fans are notorious for their short attention spans.
If they cannot watch your show easily, they will simply go back to watching WWE or AEW. You cannot build a global brand by ignoring the largest wrestling market in the world. D'Amore knows this, which is why he is teasing a streaming deal to solve the access issue once and for all.
Choosing the Right Streaming Partner
So, where will Maple Leaf Pro Wrestling end up? D'Amore did not name the platform, but he indicated the announcement is close. The promotion has been getting messages from fans in Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, and all over the United States.
They want a global reach, and that means they need a partner with a global footprint. The obvious choice would be a platform like TrillerTV, which already hosts a ton of indie wrestling and pay-per-view events. Another option is a premium YouTube membership setup, which has worked well for other promotions looking to bypass traditional cable networks.
During his interview, D'Amore emphasized that they want to make the process as easy as possible for fans. He wants a legal option that does not require workarounds.
“Just like we’re providing a proper legal path for Canadians to be able to go in the US and take part in these events, we’re also going to provide a proper legal path for fans to be able to watch it without the troubles of searching out this mythical VPN you speak of.”
This is the right attitude to have. In 2026, fans have zero patience for complicated streaming setups. If they have to jump through hoops to watch your product, they won't do it.
But D'Amore's streaming deal needs to be more than just a dumping ground for weekly episodes. It needs to offer a clean interface, high-definition streams, and reliable access. If the streaming partner is a second-rate app that crashes during main events, it will do more harm than good.
The quality of the stream is just as important as the matches themselves.
The Promoter's Ultimate Test
Scott D’Amore is widely respected in the industry for a reason. He knows talent, he knows booking, and he knows how to keep a locker room happy. But running a national promotion is a different beast than running an indie show.
He is entering a market that is more competitive than ever before. WWE has locked down massive media rights deals, and AEW has its own television empire. Even TNA, D'Amore's former home, has its own dedicated app and distribution channels.
Maple Leaf Pro is entering the ring as a major underdog.
The Windsor tapings last month showed that D'Amore can draw a passionate crowd, but he needs to scale that up. A college gym in Ontario is a good starting point, but it cannot be the permanent home if the promotion wants to grow. The August tapings will be a key indicator of whether the company can maintain its momentum.
If the attendance drops or the matches feel repetitive, the buzz will fade quickly. D'Amore has to prove that Maple Leaf Pro is a viable television product, not just a hometown vanity project.
The upcoming streaming announcement is the most critical hurdle. If D'Amore can secure a deal with a major platform, it changes the game. It gives the promotion the reach it needs to build a real fanbase in the United States and beyond.
But if the deal falls through or ends up on an obscure platform, the promotion will remain a Canadian regional secret. The clock is ticking, and the fans are waiting to see if D'Amore can pull off another miracle.
One Last Round Before Closing Time
Bartender, pour me one more for the road. Scott D’Amore has taken a massive gamble by reviving Maple Leaf Pro Wrestling.
He took the fight to the corporate suits by building his own platform from the ground up. He got the TV deal in Canada, which is a huge first step. But the real battle is just beginning.
The American wrestling scene is a meat grinder, and it does not take prisoners. If D'Amore cannot deliver a clean, easy way for US fans to watch his show, all of this hard work will be for nothing.
He has the talent, he has the television deal, and he has the respect of the fans. Now, he needs the distribution. If he pulls off the streaming deal, Maple Leaf Pro could become the coolest alternative in wrestling.
If he fails, it will just be another indie show in a college gym that we talk about in past tense. The pressure is on, and D'Amore knows it. Let's see if he can hit a home run when the spotlight is the brightest.
