Former TNA Wrestling President Scott D’Amore got his next project off the ground this past weekend, relaunching Maple Leaf Pro Wrestling to hold a pair of shows in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. The two events included talent from across the wrestling world, including AEW International Champion Konosuke Takeshita defending his title against TNA’s Josh Alexander. Following Takeshita’s victory, he and Don Callis began beating down Alexander when they were interrupted by a surprising face — AEW star Ricochet.
As soon as the music hit, Callis made his escape as Ricochet entered the ring and launched Takeshita to the outside. He then dove onto the International Champion before hopping back into the ring and grabbing hold of the title, teasing that he isn’t finished with Takeshita.
Earlier this month, both Ricochet and Takeshita took part in a three-way match at AEW WrestleDream with the International Championship on the line, with former champion Will Ospreay as the third man. Takeshita pinned Ricochet to win the match, but it seems Ricochet is now looking for a one-on-one shot at the title. The angle between the two AEW stars closed the show, possibly indicating that the match will take place in MLPW rather than AEW.
In addition to Takeshita, Ricochet, and Alexander, MLPW’s return shows featured performers such as Athena, “Speedball” Mike Bailey, QT Marshall, Bully Ray, and many more. Former WWE commentator Mauro Ranallo could also be heard calling the event alongside Callis, marking his return to the world of pro wrestling after more than three years away.
Source: Wrestling Inc.
Source for Results: Fightful
Maple Leaf Pro Wrestling Forged In Excellence Night 1 (10/19/24) Results.
* Josh Alexander, Stu Grayson & El Phantasmo def. Trevor Lee, Rocky Romero & Alex Zayne
– Mike Bailey is interviewed backstage and talks about how excited he is to face off with Takeshita. He says the experience is nerve-racking, but so is leaving your home country to try and find stardom worldwide. That will be the main event tonight.
– Bret Hart narrates a video package about the past and future of Maple Leaf Pro Wrestling.
– Ahead of the next match, QT Marshall cut a promo about St. Clair College giving an Alumni of Distinction award to Bhupinder Gujjar, his opponent for the evening.
* QT Marshall (with Harley Cameron) def. Bhupinder Gujjar
– McKenzie Mitchell interviewed Kylie Rae.
* Kylie Rae def. Laynie Luck, Taylor Rising, and Aurora Teves
– McKenzie Mitchell interviewed Josh Alexander. He says he’s honored to be the first wrestler to score a pinfall in the new era of MLP, but now he will watch the match between Mike Bailey and Konosuke Takeshita. He will challenge Konosuke Takeshita for the International Championship tomorrow night.
* IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championships: Jet Setters (KUSHIDA & Kevin Knight) (c) def. Rogue Squadron (Sheldon Jean & Rohit Raju) vs. El Reverso & Aiden Prince vs. Brett Banks & Johnny Swinger
* PWA Champion’s Grail: Rohan Raja def. Jake Something
– After the match, Raja was interviewed by McKenzie Mitchell and declared that he was “Ravenous” and wanted to defend the gold globally.
– Bully Ray cut a promo on Raj Dhesi. He called him a “washed-up former champion” and said that he would never ever put him through a table.
* Tables Match: Bully Ray def. Raj Dhesi
– The match ended after Raj had chokeslammed Bully through a table, but the referee was knocked out. This led to QT Marshall coming down and knocking out Raj with a chain and dragging him through the broken table before the referee woke up, so it looked like Raj had gone through the table, so Bully scored the victory without actually doing what he needed to do to score the victory. Bhupinder Gujjar stopped a post-match attack on Raj, setting up a tag team match for tomorrow night.
* Gisele Shaw def. Miyu Yamashita
* AEW International Championship Eliminator Match: Konosuke Takeshita (c) def. Mike Bailey
– After the match, Josh Alexander came down to confront Takeshita, and they stared each other down for the show’s final moments.
Maple Leaf Pro Wrestling Forged In Excellence Night 2 (10/20/24) Results.
* Jet Setters (KUSHIDA & Kevin Knight) & Aiden Prince def. Rocky Romero, Rohit Raju & Rohan Raja
* QPW Qatar Championship Match: El Reverso def. Classy Ali (c)
– Rohan Raja cut a promo backstage, incensed that he lost it in The Opening match without losing the match. He said he would defend his PWA Champion’s Grail in Oceanic Pro Wrestling in December.
– Footage aired of Harley Cameron and Laynie Luck attacking Kylie Rae after last night’s show.
* Kylie Rae & Miyu Yamashita def. Laynie Luck & Harley Cameron
* “Psycho” Mike Rollins def. Trevor Lee, Jake Something, Stu Grayson, Alex Zayne, and Sheldon Jean
* “Speedball” Mike Bailey def. El Phantasmo
– Harley Cameron completely hijacked an interview with Bully Ray and QT Marshall, where she repeated a bunch of Dudley Boyz catchphrases in a funny moment.
* Raj Dhesi & Bhupinder Gujjar def. Bully Ray & QT Marshall (w/ Harley Cameron)
– Darren McCarty appeared in the audience and attacked Bully Ray during the match, setting the scene for the end, which came when Gujjar scored with his Gargoyle Spear on QT Marshall.
* ROH Women’s World Championship: Athena (c) def. Gisele Shaw
* AEW International Championship: Konosuke Takeshita (c) def. Josh Alexander
– Post-Match: Don Callis bragged about Takeshita’s win. He said nobody would be able to stop him. They continued to attack Josh Alexander, and Ricochet came down to save the day. Ricochet and Josh Alexander shook hands as the show came to a close.
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