6 minSports
Adam Copeland Wins Street Fight at Maple Leaf Gardens as Maple Leaf Pro Holds Northern Rising
Adam Copeland defeated Steve Maclin in a street fight main event at Maple Leaf Pro Wrestling's Northern Rising in Toronto, realizing a childhood dream of performing at Maple Leaf Gardens. The card also featured title defenses by Josh Alexander, Priscilla Kelly, Andrade El Idolo, and new tag team champions Grizzled Young Veterans.
Adam Copeland defeated Steve Maclin in a street fight main event on Saturday night as Maple Leaf Pro Wrestling held its Northern Rising event at the venue known as Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto, realizing a childhood dream of performing in the building where he watched his first professional wrestling match.
Copeland, a Canadian wrestling legend, had been open about his desire to compete at the historic facility. He previously explained that he never got the chance during his time in WWE because the company moved its shows to a larger arena as it grew in popularity. Maple Leaf Wrestling and All Elite Wrestling opened the door for him to step inside an MLP ring, and his opponent was one of the hottest free agents in the sport, the U.S. Marine-turned-wrestler Steve Maclin.
Maclin had been eager to get his hands on Copeland, even appearing on AEW «Dynamite» to blindside his opponent in the weeks leading up to Northern Rising. There was nowhere to run on Saturday night. The 52-year-old Copeland went above and beyond to put on a show for the Toronto crowd, underscoring his legendary status in professional wrestling.
Copeland suplexed Maclin from the ring apron in between a ladder that was propped upside down near the ropes. He also hit a big splash from the top turnbuckle onto Maclin, who was sent crashing through a table set up outside the ring. Maclin doled out his fair share of punishment as well, suplexing Copeland onto a ladder. The match produced plenty of shocking moments.
Maclin's wife, Ring of Honor pure women's champion Deonna Purrazzo, interfered and sprayed Copeland and the referee in the face. Fellow wrestling legend Rhino evened the odds, spearing Maclin and Purrazzo to help the fight reset. Copeland regained the upper hand, stepping outside the ring and walking all the way up the ramp before turning back, sprinting down the aisle and spearing Maclin through the ropes. He hit one more spear before covering Maclin for the win. After the match, Copeland addressed the crowd and spoke about how special it was to compete at Maple Leaf Gardens.
Earlier in the night, Josh Alexander and Stu Grayson battled for the Undisputed MLP Canadian Championship in one of the matches of the evening. Grayson entered as interim champion while Alexander considered himself the champion after never losing the title, having been out of action due to a knee injury. Alexander did his best to avoid Grayson's major moves early, pushing him off the top rope and causing him to crash onto several security members. Grayson superplexed Alexander and nailed him with a knee to the face, but could not get the pin. In the closing moments, Don Callis jumped onto the apron with a screwdriver. The referee appeared to thwart an attempt to hand the weapon to Alexander, but Alexander still got his hand on it and used it against Grayson without the referee seeing it. He then hit two C4 piledrivers and pinned Grayson for the win.
The Northern Rising card featured two more singles titles on the line. Priscilla Kelly defended her MLP Canadian Women's Championship against Nikki Storm, appearing in control from the start. She nailed a dropkick on Storm as Storm leaned on the bottom rope, then worked her over with a series of kicks that turned into a stomp on her back. Storm had no answers, and Kelly retained the title. Kelly has held the belt for over 55 days since winning it in September at Maple Leaf Pro Wrestling «Mayhem» over Gisele Shaw.
Andrade El Idolo defended the AEW National Championship against Rohan Raja, who had taken out several luchadores on «Mayhem» over the previous weeks. Andrade, considered one of the best professional wrestlers in the sport, was given all he could handle by Raja. Andrade's prowess in the ring took over Raja's innate abilities. At one point, Andrade powerslammed Raja from the ring apron down to the floor. Raja put up a good fight, but Andrade remained national champion when the night was finished. After the match, Andrade shook Raja's hand, signaling that Raja was someone to watch.
1st Faction faced a tough test as Brent Banks and Sheldon Jean put the MLP Canadian Tag Team Championship on the line against Grizzled Young Veterans and Sinner & Saints. James Drake and Zack Gibson of Grizzled Young Veterans made clear in pre-match promos that they intended to conquer, and they did exactly that. Drake and Gibson got off to a hot start, taking out Judas Icarus and Travis Williams from the jump. Just as it looked like Sinner & Saints was going to win the titles over 1st Faction, Bryce Hansen got to the referee before the pin could be counted. The small interference caused a distraction that had a ripple effect on the match.
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