WINDSOR, Ont. — Almost six full months after the wildly successful Forged in Excellence reboot of Maple Leaf Pro Wrestling, Scott D’Amore’s hometown hosts the second weekend in the promotion’s reboot, Mayhem. Friday night saw four women’s quarterfinals in a tournament to anoint the MLP Women’s Canadian Champion.
In an interview with SlamWrestling.net, D’Amore spoke on the importance of having a platform for women’s wrestling. “I heard somebody say pretty recently that anyone that puts more than one or two at the most women’s match on a card meets its death. But we put four out there, and this is great because they’re great female performers who deserve the platform.”
Participating in the tournament were Taylor Rising, Beaa Moss, Aurora Teves, Serena Deeb, Kylie Rae, Zoe Sager, Laynie Luck, and Windsor’s own Gisele Shaw. The two semifinal matches will be held tomorrow on Night 2 of Mayhem. These will be Taylor Rising vs. Kylie Rae and Gisele Shaw vs. Serena Deeb.
Despite losing in the tournament to Kylie Rae, Zoe Sager has had a busy five months since she was announced as the first Canadian WWE ID wrestler in November. She spoke about how the last few months have gone for her. “I have the biggest company In all of wrestling backing me and it could get to people’s heads. People get egos.”
The Alberta native isn’t going to let this massive opportunity change how she goes about her business, though. “I’m trying to very much be the same wrestler and the same person that I was six months ago before [receiving] the contract.”
A moment like this is important not just for Sager, but for Canadian wrestling as a whole.
“Being the first and as of right now, the only Canadian is, I want mostly to be able to showcase more Canadians, because there’s so much talent.”
Sager’s success is not something she takes lightly, nor takes sole credit for. For Sager’s influences, names like Gisele Shaw and Nicole Matthews come to mind. But another name she looks up to is Port Colborne’s Beaa Moss.
Moss, a 12-year indie veteran, is ecstatic for what this opportunity means for Canadian wrestlers but has slightly different goals for her own career. “I’ve been doing it a long time, and my goal when I came back was just to have fun.”
The fun’s just getting started. The finals of the tournament will be held two months from now in Toronto.
Maple Leaf Pro Wrestling is back at the former Maple Leaf Gardens (Mattamy Athletic Centre) on Sunday, May 11 for Northern Rising.
TOP PHOTO: Zoe Sager and Kylie Rae lock up at Maple Leaf Pro Wrestling in Windsor on Friday, March 14, 2025. Photo by Sully Khan.
RELATED LINKS
- Maple Leaf Wrestling website
- MPLW socials: Facebook * Instagram * X
- Scott D’Amore story archive
