Scott D’Amore on Process That Led To Maple Leaf Pro Wrestling’s TV Deal with TSN, MLP’s TV Deal Being One-Year Deal with Options, His Belief Mauro Ranallo Is Indisputably Best Combat Sports Announcer In History, & He Tried To Bring Back Mike Tenay to Impact/TNA When He and Don Callis Took Over

A recent episode of The Ariel Helwani Show podcast featured Maple Leaf Pro Wrestling owner Scott D’Amore as the guest. One of the topics discussed included D’Amore’s thoughts about the process that led to MLP’s current television deal with TSN in Canada.

“You know, it’s funny because from the very inception for the idea of Maple Leaf Pro, we wanted to be on TSN. I reached out to them, made a connection through somebody, had a whole discussion. It kind of just sort of stalled. You know, it happens in television, and then last year, as we were running, we said, ‘Hey, I’ve been saying for over three decades, we’re gonna run Maple Leaf Gardens, and we’ve never done it. This is the time. If MLP does nothing else other than run Maple Leaf Gardens, we’re gonna accomplish that goal’ and that was our big thing last year, and then lo and behold, at the event at Mattamy Entertainment Center… formerly Maple Leaf Gardens… one of the head guys of TSN was there… one of the very top guys in the company showed up and I hope he doesn’t get mad but it was David Bross, and he’s like the Executive Director of Programming. He showed up just to check out the show and he kind of looked at it and was like, ‘Wow,’ and then he kind of told me that night, ‘I know you guys had talked to us before and it kind of went quiet.’ He goes, ‘I don’t know if this makes it better or worse but I’m the reason it went quiet.’ He said, ‘There was just so much on the go, and we’re just trying to get organized and we just didn’t have enough hands for the work we had and I just basically said everything below this on this list is done. Don’t pay attention to it…’ Us running Maple Leaf Gardens… him looking and seeing the show and seeing a full arena, and going, ‘Wow, this is cool,’ that got our conversation started again.”

D’Amore also gave his thoughts about MLP’s deal with TNS is for one year with options attached to it to potentially turn it into a long-term deal.

“It’s structured as one year with options, and we’re certainly looking at it as a long-term deal. We know we have to produce.”

D’Amore also gave his thoughts about Mauro Ranallo’s work in MLP and his belief that Ranallo is indisputably the best combat sports announcer of all time.

“Mauro (Ranallo) could read the obituary and make you happy about it. I’m so grateful… We first met each other in Stampede (Wrestling) in the late 90s, when they were doing one of their revivals. We stayed in touch over the years with his time at Fight Network and his career grew and blossomed… I think it’s indisputable to say the best combat sports announcer in history. If you wanna argue this person’s better at boxing, this person’s better at MMA or this person is better at wrestling, there’s conversations to be had. But there’s no conversation about cross-genre combat sports. Nobody touches him…”

D’Amore also gave his thoughts about the idea of Mike Tenay and Mauro Ranallo potentially calling a match together in MLP and how he and Don Callis tried to bring back Tenay to Impact/TNA Wrestling when they took over control of the company in 2017.

“I bring it up every so often. Mike and I still talk, and we will, I think, for the rest of our lives. I’ve brought it up here and there. When Don Callis and I took over IMPACT Wrestling, you know, going into 2018, first call I made was Mike Tenay. ‘Can you come back? Let’s right a wrong. What they did to you was inexcusable. Let’s fix that,’ and he went back and forth but I think ultimately, Mike’s at a great point in his life… I think the idea of getting on a plane on any type of regular basis is something that I think Mike’s kind of left in the rearview mirror. But Mike, if you’re watching, just one time. I mean, maybe Maple Leaf Gardens would be such a great spot for it.”

Transcript h/t: Fightful.com 1, 2, & 3