Kaito Kiyomiya: ‘My goal is to be on top of Maple Leaf Pro’
Also–Scott D’Amore details Maple Leaf Pro's place in pro wrestling ahead of its two-night Mayhem card
Follow Undisputed on Instagram & Facebook
The Week in Wrestling is published every week and provides beneath the surface coverage of the business of pro wrestling.
Contents for The Week in Wrestling:
Scott D’Amore details MLP’s place in pro wrestling
An inside look at the past week in wrestling
What should open WrestleMania? And what should close out the show?
Tweet of the Week
Scott D’Amore on Jordynne Grace: “Jordynne has the ‘It’ factor”
Scott D’Amore vowed that, beginning in 2025, Maple Leaf Pro would become a force in the global wrestling landscape.
That quest begins this weekend.
For the first time since its debut event in October, MLP returns for a two-night Mayhem event on Friday and Saturday at St. Clair College in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. Airing live on TrillerTV, MLP will forge forward with its Women’s Canadian Championship Tournament, Rohan Raja will defend the PWA Champion’s Grail, which is MLP’s top honor, against former TNA world champ Rich Swann, who looks to fulfill his redemption story and reclaim gold. The NWA World’s Heavyweight Championship will also be defended when Thom Latimer puts it on the line against former WWE star Baron Corbin, who now wrestles as Bishop Dyer.
“AEW, NJPW, NWA, NOAH, OPW, even WWE ID talent will be in the house for Mayhem,” said D’Amore, who is the president of Maple Leaf Pro. “Veterans and youth, high-flyers and hoss fighters. That’s the vision for MLP, delivering a great variety from some of the best in the world.”
D’Amore was asked if free agents like Josh Alexander and Hammerstone–who both starred in TNA–will appear for MLP this weekend.
“The door is open,” said D’Amore. “You never know who will show up.”
Plenty of recognizable names will appear throughout the weekend. That includes Matt Cardona, Billy Gunn, and PCO.
“When you put a card together you want a bit of everything,” said D’Amore. “As Jimmy Hart says, ‘Pro wrestling is like the circus–when it’s done right there is something for everyone.’ Bishop Dyer is just getting out there after living inside the WWE bubble for so long, and he has a chance to reinvent himself here. Billy Gunn is Billy ‘Freaking’ Gunn, a legend who has spanned generations and can entertain in the ring like few others–and he is a great veteran presence in the locker room.
“Cardona unexpectedly came available for the Saturday night show. He was one of the many who have been super supportive of MLP, so we’re excited to have him. And what can you say about PCO? There is no one–no one–like him.”
AEW’s Serena Deeb, Matt Taven, and Mike Bennett are on the card, as well as Kushida, former TNA star Gisele Shaw–and New Japan Pro-Wrestling’s Taiji Ishimori. There is also a connection to WWE, as Kylie Rae and Zoe Sager–who are part of the WWE ID program–are wrestling in the women’s title tournament in a bout that doubles as an official WWE ID match.
“This is going to be a breakout card,” said D’Amore. “We’ll have a backstage full of people looking to steal that show. Bishop Dyer is coming off a long run with WWE–and he is hungry to prove how good he is outside of the machine. Stu Grayson and Mike Rollins are both on the card, and they have been overlooked for far too long. Alex Zayne and Kevin Knight don’t get the respect put on their names that they deserve. Taven and Bennett somehow seem to always get overlooked, but they’re incredible.
“It’s the same on the female side. Kylie Rae has quietly worked her way up to being not just WWE ID, but into the world’s top 10. Laynie Luck deserves a platform to shine. Gisele Shaw and Taylor Rising are both ready to break out after being under contract with other promotions last year but not being given the ball. That’s going to change. MLP is a landing spot for talent at different stages in their careers, a launching pad to breakout and relaunch careers.”
D’Amore’s strong relationships across Japan allows MLP to showcase matches that won’t happen anywhere else. One that captures the spirit of the promotion takes place on Saturday night when Ishimori and Alex Zayne–both of whom wrestle for NJPW–are in a triple threat against Kaito Kiyomiya, an emerging star from NOAH.
“Kaito lived, trained, and wrestled in Canada,” said D’Amore. “He is a NOAH guy, but much like Kushida, has some real roots here–and he wrestles on night one of Mayhem, too, against Sheldon Jean.”
Kiyomiya, 28, is the face of Pro Wrestling NOAH. Already a three-time GHC Heavyweight Championship, Kiyomiya is now bringing his combination of substance and style to The Great White North.
“My goal is to be on top of Maple Leaf Pro,” said Kiyomiya. “Be on top, be a main eventer in MLP.”
Well-versed with the main event scene in NOAH, this weekend presents Kiyomiya with an opportunity to impress an audience in a continent far from home. But given his background, Kiyomiya feels he holds something of a home field advantage in Canada.
“I went to Canada on an excursion in 2017,” said Kiyomiya. “I trained together with Sheldon Jean while I was there. I am so excited to meet him in the ring on Friday and stand across from each other for the first time. But one thing that is different is that it is very cold. I will deal with the cold Canadian winter with the heavy jacket I was given from Scott-san.”
D’Amore is thrilled to showcase Kiyomiya on the Mayhem cards. During his tenure overseeing the creative process at TNA, D’Amore helped many wrestlers evolve from a match that opened the card to the main event. None did so in a more compelling manner than Jordynne Grace, who is now playing a starring role in NXT.
“Jordynne has the ‘It’ factor,” said D’Amore, who helped book Grace in the 2024 Royal Rumble match when he was still in TNA. “Yes, she is a great athlete–yes, she is a powerhouse, and yes, she is a great wrestler. But strip her of all that and it still wouldn’t stop her. She has ‘it’. Can’t teach ‘it’. Can’t buy ‘it’. Can’t even explain ‘it’ fully, but she has ‘it’. Jordynne is going to excel in WWE.”
D’Amore’s calling card is his ability to create and enhance stars. With Mayhem taking place this weekend, the time is now for a new group to impact the wrestling realm in a significant, elemental, and profound way.
“Stars from around the world will converge for two nights,” said D’Amore. “It doesn’t matter what style you like–technical wrestling, high-flying, hard-hitting slugfests, hardcore, world-class female athletes, we’ve got it–and we can’t wait to showcase it all for you.
“I guarantee that if you have faith and pluck down your hard-earned money to support MLP, either through buying a ticket or ordering the pay-per-view on TrillerTV, you will get rewarded with a return on your dollar you won’t regret.”
This past week…
Roman Reigns returned on Raw, interfering in a fantastic main event that saved this week’s show. Reigns forced Seth Rollins to get the win (meaning his first victory against CM Punk is tainted), then was obliterated by Reigns outside the ring.
A compelling wrinkle was that Paul Heyman–yes, Reigns’ Wise Man–was in the ring consoling Punk. Reigns then laid a beating on Punk, setting up what appears to be a very entertaining triple threat match at WrestleMania.
In a move that is long overdue, Lex Luger is headed to the WWE Hall of Fame. The video of Cody Rhodes breaking the news was exceptionally done.
My biggest takeaway from AEW Revolution? Swerve is the one to take the world title from Jon Moxley, which has the potential to be a massive storyline.
A broken ring post caused New Japan to cancel last Friday’s New Japan Cup show. NJPW instead presented a talk show in lieu of the matches.
Stephanie Vaquer defeated Giulia last night at NXT Road Block, and she is now both the Women’s North American Champion and NXT Women's Champion.
Chad Gable says he wasn’t under the luchador mask, which is a nice wrinkle to the story–one that will likely introduce Fenix to WWE.
Will you be wearing Travis Scott’s new WWE t-shirt?
What should open WrestleMania? And what should close out the show?
Roman Reigns isn’t going to wrestle in the middle of the card at WrestleMania. And don’t expect him to open the show, either.
Reigns’ return on Raw further cemented a triple threat match with Seth Rollins and CM Punk at WrestleMania, which has to be the leading candidate to close out the opening night. There is no doubt what is main-eventing Night Two, as Cody Rhodes-John Cena is the match that WrestleMania is being built around.
Jey Uso cannot have a bigger moment than he would by opening the very first night of WrestleMania and defeating Gunther. That would set the tone for the weekend, which is the crown jewel of WWE’s schedule. The only question then becomes which match will open Night Two.
Charlotte Flair-Tiffany Stratton makes the most sense. It’s a title match, it should be fantastic, and the belt wouldn’t be obligated to change hands a night after Uso (most likely) wins the World Heavyweight Championship in the opener. I’d place Iyo Sky’s title defense in this category, too, except it feels like a match with interference from Naomi–which wouldn’t be a fit for the first match on the card.
A year ago, Rhea Ripley opened the show on the opening night with a victory against Becky Lynch. On Night Two, it was Drew McIntyre defeating Seth Rollins, then losing his newly acquired World Heavyweight Championship when Damian Priest cashed in his Money in the Bank contract. Perhaps we’ll see those title matches flipped this year, with the men’s bout opening the first night–and one of the women’s title matches kicking off Night Two.
Tweet of the Week
John Cena (finally!) returns to Raw next week, which airs live on Netflix at 3pm ET since it is taking place in Brussels, Belgium.