Steve Maclin talks about TNA and MLW.
Maclin got his release from TNA Wrestling on June 7, 2026. He worked in the promotion for five years, after joining it in June 2021.
Speaking with Fightful’s Sean Ross Sapp, Maclin reflected on his time in TNA.
“I took advantage of every top opportunity that was given to me and try to knock it out of the park. The day I got let go from WWE, of course we talked then. But I instantly knew, ‘Cool, let’s get to work and prove to the world of who the fuck I am.’ I’ve done that. I became a TNA World champion. I became a two-time TNA International champion and the first ever. I tried as best as I could creatively on my end to pitch ideas and do what I could. But then whatever they ended up going with, I would just do it to the best of my ability and go out there and try to give the fans something to be happy about, whether they liked me or they hated me. For me, I love being hated just because it’s a lot more fun. I can get under people’s skin because it’s the complete opposite of who I am outside of pro wrestling in real life where I get to just nitpick and have fun with it. I took every opportunity that was given to me through the three different regimes that were there of Scott D’Amore and then Ariel and then Carlos Silva and the creative teams that were there too of people that left and came and gone. Jimmy Jacobs is up in Maple Leaf Pro behind the scenes. D’Lo Brown is there as well. So it’s like everybody in the wrestling world is still there. You just see each other in a different light. It’s trust and building those relationships along the way as well.”
Maclin also talked about dream matches he wants to have in MLW.
“First that comes to mind is Josh Alexander. I love to go out there and have a war with my best friend. I know he wouldn’t hold anything back and I wouldn’t hold anything back because we know what’s on the line and that would be the Maple Leaf Pro Wrestling Heavyweight Championship, which is the most prestigious Canadian championship that there is. I know how much that means to Josh and I also know how much that would mean to take that off of Josh, being an American, taking it off of a Canadian that way would be a hell of a matchup, I think. A lot of people would want to see that match. I think that where we are in our careers as well, especially with him and AEW and the Don Callis Family, people think that’s where I’m heading and you never know what could happen. The possibilities are endless.
Another one would be a Stu Grayson.”
He then commented on the Undisputed MLP Canadian Championship match between Stu Grayson and Josh Alexander at MLP Northern Rising.
“You’re sitting there like, ‘Fuck, I gotta follow this and with Adam.’ But you’re watching it like, ‘Alright, cool. Now it’s time to like go to work.’ That’s the one thing too, I think going into it, especially with media that I did beforehand, people were like, ‘How do you feel about this match?’ ‘I’m excited just for the whole card in general from Northern Rising,’ because the card was stacked from top to bottom, and you had a variety of everything in pro wrestling that you would want to see in a show. That’s one good thing out of it. So for me, the possibilities are endless of who to to wrestle in Maple Leaf Pro.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Maclin commented on Matt Cardona. Fans can read his full comments here.
Fans can also check out the two-part documentary highlighting Maclin’s journey to MLP’s Northern Rising on the Boots To Boots YouTube channel.
You can watch the full interview by clicking the embed linked at the top of this article.
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