A Ghost from the Past Returns
If you have been watching wrestling long enough, the words “Global Wars” carry a heavy legacy. You think of Ring of Honor crossing over with New Japan Pro-Wrestling in the mid-2010s. You think of the Bullet Club running roughshod over North America and those wildly chaotic multi-man tags.
Think back to 2014 and 2015. Ring of Honor was arguably the hottest ticket in North America. When they announced the original Global Wars, it felt like the center of the wrestling universe was shifting. You had Shinsuke Nakamura, Kazuchika Okada, and Hiroshi Tanahashi wrestling in intimate armories.
That era defined a generation of fans. It proved that you did not need a massive cable television deal to create culturally relevant moments. The internet would do the marketing for you, provided the in-ring product was spectacular enough.
Those shows were the lifeblood of the super-indy era. They established a baseline for what cross-promotional wrestling could look like before the phrase “Forbidden Door” ever existed. But the world moved on, companies evolved, and the Global Wars branding quietly collected dust.
Until last night. The revival of the Global Wars name for ROH x MLP Global Wars Canada on March 27 is a fascinating pivot. It is not just a nostalgic callback, but a very deliberate business move by both Tony Khan and Scott D’Amore.
Tony Khan and Scott D'Amore Make a Deal
To understand why this matters, you have to look at where Scott D’Amore was just two years ago. His ouster from TNA Wrestling in early 2024 shocked the industry. He was the guy who literally saved that company from the grave.
Look at what he did in TNA. He took a company that was the laughingstock of the internet, stripped away the nonsense, and rebuilt it around logical wrestling. He put the focus back on the X-Division and the Knockouts, and it worked. Anthem firing him remains one of the most baffling corporate decisions of the decade.
When Anthem Sports removed him, everyone knew D’Amore wouldn't sit still for long. The revival of Maple Leaf Pro Wrestling was his declaration of intent. He wanted to build something uniquely Canadian, but with international appeal and a serious budget.
Now, he gets to operate without corporate oversight. Maple Leaf Pro is his playground. He can book the kind of violent, emotionally resonant wrestling that made him famous. And he doesn't have to answer to a boardroom that barely understands the product.
Partnering with Tony Khan’s Ring of Honor makes perfect sense for both sides. ROH gets a rabid crowd in a historic Canadian market. MLP gets the spotlight and the sheer roster depth that comes with the AEW umbrella.
But let's be honest about the current state of Ring of Honor. Ever since Tony Khan bought the tape library and the brand in 2022, it has felt like a brand searching for an identity.
It produces great in-ring action, sure. Athena's run as ROH Women's Champion has been nothing short of legendary. But the weekly HonorClub shows rarely feel essential to the broader wrestling fan.
Bringing the brand to Canada and letting it clash with D'Amore's hungry roster is a step in the right direction. It forces ROH out of the soundstage in Orlando and into front of a paying, screaming audience that actually bought a ticket for the Ring of Honor name.
The Booking Problem With Crossovers
And that is where the criticism comes in. Cross-promotional shows are a booking nightmare. You have two different sets of executives, two different rosters, and everyone wants their top guys to look strong.
While the action at Global Wars Canada was undeniable, as BodySlam.net outlined in their results, the finishes felt incredibly safe. When you put an established television star against a local indie standout, the crowd wants a definitive winner. Instead, we often get booking gymnastics.
It is frustrating to watch two incredibly talented wrestlers go 20 minutes only for a dusty finish to rob the paying audience of a real climax. Tony Khan has a notorious habit of protecting his contracted talent at all costs.
Look at the history of inter-promotional wrestling. When ECW invaded Monday Night Raw in 1997, it worked because Jerry Lawler and Paul Heyman fully committed to the bit. They hated each other. They let the ECW guys look like genuine threats to the WWF roster.
When you watch modern crossovers, that sense of danger is completely missing. Everyone is too worried about their personal brand. No one wants to take a clean pinfall in the middle of the ring. It makes the entire concept feel like an exhibition match rather than a war.
That protective instinct makes sense on AEW Dynamite. But on an indie crossover show? It completely undercuts the drama. If a Maple Leaf Pro guy isn't allowed to pin an ROH midcarder, what are we even doing here?
Scott D’Amore, on the other hand, comes from a totally different booking philosophy. He favors traditional, episodic, character-driven storytelling. He isn't afraid to let his babyfaces lose clean if it builds sympathy and serves the larger narrative.
Watching these two contrasting styles try to mesh on a single card is fascinating. Khan wants a five-star workrate classic. D'Amore wants an angle that makes the fans furious enough to buy a ticket to the rematch.
Why Maple Leaf Pro Matters
Despite the booking hiccups, MLP is proving it belongs at the adult table. D'Amore has an eye for talent that is arguably unmatched in modern wrestling. He did it in TNA with the X-Division, and he is doing it again here.
The Canadian indie scene has always been a goldmine. Think about the sheer volume of talent that has come out of Ontario or Alberta over the last thirty years. But without a major promotion backing them locally, a lot of those wrestlers end up moving to the States.
MLP is trying to change that math. They are giving local talent a massive platform, and bringing ROH to town only amplifies that mission. You can see the hunger in the undercard matches.
These aren't just guys happy to be on the show. They are actively trying to outshine the contracted AEW and ROH talent. And they are doing it with an aggressive, physical style that feels distinctly old-school.
The name "Maple Leaf Wrestling" carries a ridiculous amount of history. Frank Tunney ran the territory for decades. It was the premier Canadian stop for the NWA and eventually the WWF when Vince McMahon bought it out in 1984.
For decades, Maple Leaf Gardens was the Madison Square Garden of Canada. If you drew money in Toronto, you were a made man in the industry. The Tunney family controlled that territory with an iron fist, and they booked everyone from Ric Flair to Andre the Giant.
When Vince McMahon steamrolled the territories in 1984, Maple Leaf Wrestling was one of the biggest dominoes to fall. The fact that the name was dormant for nearly forty years is wild. It was a piece of intellectual property just begging to be modernized.
Scott D'Amore buying the rights to that name was a massive flex. It signaled that he wasn't just starting another indie fed. He was trying to resurrect a piece of Canadian sports heritage.
When you pair that heritage with the Ring of Honor lineage, you get magic. You are combining the promotion that gave us CM Punk, Bryan Danielson, and Samoa Joe with the brand that built Toronto wrestling.
Looking Ahead to Dynasty
This event did exactly what it needed to do for the immediate future. We are only two days away from AEW Dynasty 2026. Kansas City is going to be electric, and getting the Ring of Honor roster some high-level reps before a massive pay-per-view weekend is smart business.
AEW Dynasty has completely reshaped the spring calendar for Tony Khan. It is arguably a bigger deal than Double or Nothing at this point. Having the ROH crew sharp and ready to go for the weekend festivities is a logistical win.
But the real question is what happens to ROH and MLP after the dust settles. Was this a one-off nostalgia pop, or the start of a genuine working relationship?
If Khan and D'Amore can get past the politics of protecting their respective stars, this could be the most exciting territory battle we've seen in years. The fans want tribalism, but they also want crossovers.
The execution last night wasn't flawless. The commentary booth sounded disjointed at times, clearly trying to balance the talking points from both corporate offices. And the pacing of the undercard dragged heavily in the second hour.
But perfection is the enemy of progress. The fact that this show happened at all is a minor miracle. It proves that the wrestling business outside of the WWE machine is still vibrant, still chaotic, and still willing to take risks.
WWE is building toward WrestleMania 41 in Las Vegas next month. They are leaning heavily on nostalgia with John Cena's farewell tour and the Bloodline drama. They have a stranglehold on the mainstream conversation.
Alternative wrestling cannot compete with that sheer scale. It has to compete on vibe. It has to offer something dangerous, something unpolished, and something you absolutely cannot see on a Monday night.
If AEW and ROH want to maintain their status as the genuine alternative, they have to lean into the chaos. They have to run venues that feel gritty. They have to let their wrestlers cut promos that don't sound like they went through three layers of PR approval.
The polished, corporate sheen of modern wrestling is exactly what fans are trying to escape when they tune into a show like Global Wars. They want to see someone get dropped on their head. They want to hear the crowd chant something completely inappropriate.
ROH x MLP Global Wars Canada offered a glimpse of that danger. It was messy, it was loud, and it occasionally frustrated the hell out of me. But it never once bored me.
For Tony Khan, this needs to be a learning experience. You cannot just rent a Canadian crowd and expect them to cheer blindly for your contracted guys. You have to give them a reason to invest.
For Scott D'Amore, this is a massive victory lap. He proved that he can draw a crowd, produce a major broadcast, and hang with a billionaire's vanity project without blinking.
The ball is firmly in Khan's court now. He has the roster. He has the capital. But does he have the restraint to let ROH be its own weird, gritty thing? Or will he continue to treat it like AEW's developmental brand?
We will find out soon enough. If this crossover becomes an annual tradition, it could completely reshape the North American indie scene. If it was just a one-off way to sell tickets on a Friday night, it is a massive missed opportunity.
