Scott D’Amore: Tony Khan has ‘changed wrestling for the better’
Working with AEW and Tony Khan has been an enjoyable experience for Maple Leaf Pro Wrestling boss Scott D’Amore.
At the end of March, D’Amore and Khan worked together as ROH and MLP co-promoted their Global Wars Canada event. D’Amore spoke with Late Night Grin about the experience and praised Khan for how he’s made a positive impact on the wrestling industry. He described Khan as being a fun and happy guy, which balances well with D’Amore’s more analytical approach.
“I think it’s been really enjoyable. One of the things is — Tony Khan has a love and a passion for professional wrestling that is near-unmatched,” D’Amore said. “He is a superfan, and he’s very proud of that fact. And the enjoyment he gets out of being around wrestling, creating wrestling, and really making a difference in the business is huge for him.
“I mean, he’s a good guy. You know, people complained about this and that and anything else. And that’s cool. But when you look at it, here’s somebody who has changed wrestling for the better. People make more money in wrestling because of what he’s done and what AEW has done. More people are getting opportunities. And people genuinely get treated extremely well. You’ve got someone who’s taken the pro sports approach to how you treat your athletes and applied that to professional wrestling — and that’s an amazing step forward in our industry.”
It was announced during Global Wars weekend that MLP has agreed to a television deal with TSN in Canada. D’Amore told Late Night Grin that, when launching the promotion, his goal was to create something that would make a difference in pro wrestling and shine a spotlight on Canadian talent. Getting this TV deal is a big step toward that.
“For people that don’t know, in Canada, TSN — that’s The Sports Network. That’s what TSN stands for. It’s basically our ESPN,” D’Amore said. “It was the very first all-sports network in Canada. It’s legendary here. It’s the equivalent for American fans of being on ESPN or UK fans back in the day, the equivalent of being on Sky Sports. So It’s huge.”
D’Amore noted that, like NJPW caters toward the Japanese market, MLP is geared toward Canadian fans but welcomes viewers from all around the world. The promotion is holding an event in Las Vegas during WrestleMania week as part of Palms Slam Fest.
Joseph Currier is the lead editor of F4WOnline.com, directing daily news coverage and writing articles on professional wrestling. He is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts, obtaining a journalism degree in 2016. Joseph joined F4W during his time at UMass and has now been writing about the industry for nearly a decade.
In addition to his work with F4W, Joseph has previously contributed to Sports Illustrated's wrestling coverage. He lives in Massachusetts and is a diehard fan of the Boston sports teams and Liverpool Football Club.