As a kid, Scott D'Amore has fond memories of crawling through a hole in the fence around the St. Clair College property from neighbouring Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic Elementary School in Windsor as part of his morning fitness routine.
"I was born and raised a few minutes from St. Clair College," recalls D'Amore. "Every Saturday, we would ride our bikes over to the College to play pickup basketball or shoot hoops."
The gym in which he was shooting hoops is the very same gym where he now produces shows as the President and CEO of Maple Leaf Pro Wrestling.
And on June 12 and 13, 2026, the Classic Gym at St. Clair College will once again be transformed into a wrestling venue. But this time, it will be for a series of episodes of 'MLP Mayhem,' which will be taped and later broadcast on TSN. It's the first time in four decades that Canadian-produced professional wrestling is going to air on national television.
"It's such a monumental moment. And really, when we looked at the different venues where we could host the TSN tapings, it became abundantly clear, quite quickly, that doing it in Windsor and doing it at St. Clair was the way to go," said D'Amore. "The space is fantastic, it looks great on TV and the fans in Windsor are always rabid, energetic, and awesome fans to be in front of it."
The two-day tapings on June 12 and 13, and another pair of events on Aug. 7 and 8 will be converted into 12 episodes, which will make up season one of Maple Leaf Pro Wrestling on TSN, Canada's leading sports broadcaster. The season will culminate with an event at Mattamy Athletic Centre in Toronto, the former Maple Leaf Gardens.
"It's to restore what has always been historically one of the best wrestling markets in the world, but for many decades now, it's been left in the hands of people other than Canadians," said D'Amore. "It's about creating a platform on a national and international level to showcase, highlight and develop talent from soup to nuts."
"We are going to showcase and highlight the unbelievably talented Canadian wrestlers out there by putting them on a large platform seen around the world, side by side with some of the very best talent from around the world," he added.
St. Clair College has been hosting events put on by D'Amore through TNA Wrestling and Border City Wrestling since 2012. D'Amore says Maple Leaf Pro Wrestling is excited to continue the partnership.
"We really value and appreciate our partnership with St. Clair, and being associated with a leader in education, and being one of the leaders in helping shape a positive Windsor on a day-to-day basis," D'Amore said. "I'm honoured and proud to be associated and truly have a partnership with St. Clair College on a multi-tiered level."
Maple Leaf Pro Wrestling is the spiritual rebirth or continuation of Maple Leaf Wrestling, which takes its roots back to the 1930s when it started running in Toronto.
The TSN broadcast will be aired coast-to-coast, as well as in numerous countries around the world, D'Amore said.
"As a Canadian company, as soon as you have the label 'Maple Leaf,' you have, in essence, wrapped yourself in the flag, which we're very proud to do, because we're proud of our Canadian roots and our Canadian history," he said. "We have some of the greatest current Canadian wrestling talent out there. And some of those names aren't yet names that are household names, but they will be."
Most of all, D'Amore is proud to provide a professional product in Canada, and in his hometown of Windsor, Ont.
"You can see some of the best wrestling in the world without having to cross the border, without having to have a passport. You can come right here to St. Clair College and see it," he said. "And I'm stoked to watch these Canadian wrestlers, athletes and performers go out there and do their things on such a grand scale."
"Windsor is my home and something that I'm proud of. I'm proud of what we've built here in the wrestling business," D'Amore said. "I'm proud to come from such a strong, blue-collar, hard-working town where I think that Windsor doesn't get its due for what it is."
While all the success and momentum at times seems surreal to D'Amore, he says this weekend's events will give him a chance to stop, breathe and look at how far the organization has come.
"You've still got a vision for the road ahead of you, but don't discount it and don't lose sight of and enjoy how far you've come from where you started," he said. "I think what we've built here is amazing, and I'm super excited for where it continues to grow."
