Rohan Raja is beaming with pride over Maple Leaf Pro’s Northern Rising event, calling it a statement night for the young Canadian promotion. Speaking on Fightful Overbooked’s In The Weeds podcast, the former Impact World Champion said the energy inside the legendary Maple Leaf Gardens was something special.
Rohan Raja (Credits: Fightful)
‘Adam Copeland Had Tears in His Eyes’
Raja recalled one emotional moment in particular: seeing Adam Copeland — who grew up in Canada — take in the arena before performing. ‘As soon as you walked in, even seeing someone who grew up in Canada like Adam Copeland. Seeing him look at the arena and he had tears in his eyes, I’m like, ‘This guy has done everything in his career and he’s stepped in and he has that immediate emotional reaction.’ It just reminded everyone how big of a deal it was. It was just such an honor to perform in that venue.’
‘Everyone from that was on the pre-show all the way to the main event, everyone was there to make a statement. I feel like we did a pretty damn good job,’ Raja added.
Two Years From Debut to TSN Deal
Raja also reflected on how far MLP has come since its very first show — a two-part event in October 2024 that instantly hooked fans. The fanbase kept expanding after the media rights deal announcement in March, which brought the Mayhem show to TSN2 in July.
‘When we got the TSN deal, then it was like — okay, we have to prove that we belong on this network, because TSN is like the ESPN of Canada. It’s huge. Since we’ve been on that, even just walking the streets and stuff, you’ll see replays of MLP. It’s always on in like sports bars and different things, which is really cool,’ he said. ‘It’s like having that more of an extended audience in Canada, which is what wrestling has been really craving, having its own Canadian promotion.’
Elsewhere in the interview, Raja also addressed Andrade El Idolo’s viral pants moment at Northern Rising — a story that already has fans talking across social media.
Also Read: Rohan Raja On 5,000 Fans Screaming For Andrade El Idolo’s Pants At MLP Northern Rising and Steve Maclin Reveals Wife Told Him He’d Face Adam Copeland at MLP Northern Rising
Source: Fightful — read the full story there.
