AEW’s Adam Copeland Talks Wrestling At Maple Leaf Gardens For MLP In October

AEW’s Adam Copeland has discussed the importance of wrestling at Maple Leaf Gardens, which will happen when he competes for Maple Leaf Pro Wrestling.

Copeland explained in an interview on “The Ariel Helwani Show” that he missed wrestling at the Maple Leaf Gardens by a couple of months, as WWE chose to move to the Skydome and the Scotiabank Arena. He said that Scott D’Amore, the owner of Maple Leaf Pro Wrestling, whom he wrestled alongside in his early years in the business, watched an interview of him expressing his desire to wrestle at the venue, following which D’Amore contacted him and asked him if he would like to wrestle there.

“So, really, initially I had thought at some point I might have to put my promoter’s hat on and just run a show there [Maple Leaf Gardens] if I want to get there. And so I was perfectly prepared to do that,” said Copeland. “He [D’Amore] said, ‘Well, I’m going to run it.’ And, you know, obviously I’m like, ‘Well, then I got to do it at some point.'”

The Maple Leaf Gardens holds a special place in the AEW star’s heart, as he watched his first wrestling show there, and he was desperate to wrestle there before calling time on his career. But he knew that he had to get the approval of AEW CEO Tony Khan, who gave him the go-ahead, which he puts down to Khan being a pro wrestling fan.

“But again, got to talk to Tony because, you know, he’s paying me. I get him not wanting to have, you know, a talent on a show where I could possibly get hurt, right? So, I totally understand that, but it goes back to Tony being a fan of wrestling and understanding for me that Maple Leaf Gardens is a very, very, very big deal,” he added.

Copeland said he is excited and eager to wrestle at Maple Leaf Gardens, which will host the MLP Northern Rising 2026 event on October 3.