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With only about two weeks to go before Maple Leaf Pro Wrestling’s Northern Rising pay-per-view, MLP continued the slow burn on this week’s Mayhem with strong angles to lead to the big show.
Mayhem was once again broadcast from St. Clair College in Windsor, Ontario, with Mauro Ranallo and Don Callis on the call. Let’s get to it!
HIGHLIGHTS:
Within the first 15 minutes of Mayhem, I was fully invested. In a cold open, Priscilla Kelly delivered a strong, deeply emotional promo recorded last week following her Canadian Women’s Championship win over Gisele Shaw. She did a great job putting over the MLP Canadian Women’s Championship and all the sacrifices she’s made to reach the top.
From there, we went right to Interim Men’s Champion Stu Grayson storming to the ring and making quick work of the bigger Dior Nolins. Stu then called out Don Callis, demanding that Callis tell him about his involvement with Josh Alexander and how it might affect their unifying Men’s Canadian title match at Northern Rising. Josh Alexander strolled out to save Callis from having to face Grayson.
The two champs went back and forth, leading to a short scuffle. I have really enjoyed Stu Grayson as the fighting interim champ, and Alexander is excellent as a cocky heel. This should be a great main event at Northern Rising.
Callis has actually been a non-entity in this feud so far, but we all know he manages Alexander in AEW. So will he get involved at Northern Rising?
Heck of a way to get the show rolling this week!
The other segment that stood out to me came from the final five minutes of Mayhem. Rohan Raja ran to the ring masked as Capitán Suicida, under the guise of helping Andrade El Idolo following his match with Karl Anderson. Raja took out El Idolo with a chair before revealing his true identity while Anderson and Doc Gallows wandered off. Simple but effective.
REST OF THE SHOW:
Steve Maclin leaving Ontario jail only to learn that it was Adam “Cope” Copeland paid his bail was pretty great. Nice cameo from Maclin’s wife, AEW star. Deonna Purrazzo
We only had two other matches on the show. A short six-man between TJP, Johnny TV and Gabriel Fuerza versus El Reverso, Luigi Primo and Mo Jabari. It was fine. I appreciate the humour and fun Luigi Primo brings to Mayhem, but when Johnny TV and TJP are so obviously holding onto the “pizza dough” on their faces to ensure it doesn’t slide off, my suspension of disbelief disappears.
Alexia Nicole (with Taylor Rising and Kris Chambers) defeated “Big Al” Alice Crowley in a short match that seemed to be a little disjointed in spots. Chambers distracted the ref so Rising could interfere, setting Nicole up to roll up Big Al. Before Big Al could be assaulted by everyone, Jodi Threat made the save. Solid stuff.
Crazzy Steve’s promo on Psycho Mike, somewhat explaining the reasons Steve betrayed “Michael” was fine for what it was.
STRAY THOUGHTS
When I wrote my column last week, I knew that Gisele Shaw had signed with the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), but I hadn’t realized it was an exclusive deal. I guess my idea about the Women’s Canadian title match at Northern Rising becoming a triple threat isn’t going to happen! I will miss Gisele on MLP TV, but this opens the door for opportunities for others.
Thanks for reading! See you back here next week.
MLP Mayhem airs on TSN2 in Canada and on MyAEW.com everywhere.
Eric Lewis is from New Brunswick, Canada. He’s been a pro wrestling fan for as long as he can remember, at least back to WrestleMania VII. During his journalism career, he interviewed wrestling legends including Bret Hart, Trish Stratus, Booker T, JJ Dillon, Christian Cage, Ted DiBiase, Lanny Poffo, and The Honky Tonk Man.
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