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Earlier this week, Mike Johnson sat down with MLP star Psycho Mike in advance of Monster's Mayhem battle with Crazzy Steve and Dan Maff on tonight's MLP Northern Rising 2026 PPV on MyAEW.com. Below is the complete transcript for the discussion, which can be heard at www.PWInsiderElite.com.
Mike Johnson: Hey everybody, it's Mike Johnson in the audio section of PWInsiderElite.com. This Saturday, Scott D'Amore's Maple Leaf Pro Wrestling will return to the former Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto for Northern Rising 2026, a pay-per-view that will be airing for the first time on myAEW.com. Previously, the pay-per-views had aired on Triller, but we all know Triller kind of went by the wayside for all those reasons no one wants to talk about. But myAEW.com will be the home for MLP's pay-per-view, and there are a number of big matches scheduled for the show. We've had some personalities on earlier this week, but perhaps no one has become as unique and as endearing as our guest today, and that is Psycho Mike, who will be part of the Monsters Mayhem match against Crazy Steve—who, as we've seen on Mayhem, has kind of been in Mike's ear—and Dan Maff, the badass from New Jersey who, of course, previously feuded with PCO in MLP. Mike, I'm very happy to have you here. Thank you for sitting down and talking to us for the first time ever. As a Canadian wrestler, you have to be extremely excited not just about this show, but about the fact that MLP has been championing and celebrating Canadian wrestling history and Canadian stars of today such as yourself. When you first heard that MLP was going to be formed by Scott D'Amore and his team, what were your expectations and hopes, and do you think Scott has hit upon them yet?
Psycho Mike: Well, before getting to that, I just wish you lowered the bar—you got me a little nervous already! But no, my first reaction... honestly, I didn't understand the gravity of it immediately. It might sound like a strange thing to say, but I guess I didn't quite believe it right away. Maybe this is just the more cynical part of my brain, where over my wrestling career I would hear optimistic things that you're hopeful for, that there's good news down the line, and for one reason or another, they might not come to fruition. So at the beginning, I wasn't actually sure what it meant. And then the days and weeks went on, and I saw how... I don't even know what word to use here, I'm sorry, but it was surreal to the point where I couldn't believe it was happening. For me, I've never felt more blessed in my life about anything related to wrestling. Even now, I still feel that I'm living a dream that I'm going to wake up from one day. So this has been the best feeling in the world for me. I don't know if that answers your question at all, I'm just shooting from the hip right now.
Mike Johnson: That's all one can do. First of all, if I didn't say this, sitting down with us, I really appreciate it. The thing that got me excited about Mayhem when it first started airing on TSN2—or, for those of us in the States, it airs on myAEW.com for free, and the episodes are also on YouTube now for anybody who hasn't seen them and wants to catch up—was the fact that there were so many talents who don't get that regular exposure here in the United States because the visas are hard to come by or timing never worked out. Those first vignettes with you, where the old school teacher is talking about you and giving background on "Whatever happened to Mike?" and the face, immediately I was like, "This guy is going to end up being one of the cornerstone characters of the show." You could just feel it. It was unique, it was original. I'm assuming Kevin Sullivan and his team helped come up with and formulate the plan for it. What were your thoughts on the vignettes when they were first presented to you, thoughts on how they came about, and maybe give us a little bit of history of how the Psycho Mike that we've gotten to learn and know about on MLP Mayhem came to be?
Psycho Mike: Yeah, well, those early vignettes... it was actually a few days out from shooting before the first round of tapings. Kevin Sullivan reached out to me. It was one of those things where I got the run sheet and all that, and then he was like, "Oh, I'm Kevin Sullivan." But we had a long phone call about it, which wasn't something I was particularly expecting or used to. When we were going back and forth, he seemed to understand the assignment about Psycho Mike, as he was very adamant about my eyes. But it was one of those things where I still couldn't quite picture it in my head, because when it's just dialogue and you're communicating with words, I don't know if the thing I had in my head was matching the thing Kevin had in his head. Then I spent an afternoon getting all the photos and everything, and once he showed it to me, I was like, "Okay, yeah, we're absolutely 100% on the same page of what we wanted this to look like." Once I saw the whole video put together, I couldn't believe it. It's not often that I pop for my own stuff, but when I saw that one, I was like, "Yeah, that's awesome."
Mike Johnson: The second I saw the picture, I'm like, "Oh, t-shirt! There's the t-shirt right there." I just knew, it was like a perfect moment in time. Northern Rising is going to be this Saturday, you're in the Monsters Mayhem match. Obviously, we're looking at a lot of craziness, Mayhem no pun intended, a lot of brawling and things like that. When you enter a match like this and you know there's going to be a lot of eyeballs on you—and I don't mean to put any additional pressure, I think this might be one of the biggest matches of your career—how do you mentally wrap your head around that and prep for that?
Psycho Mike: I'm still in the process of that right now. Have you ever seen the movie Clerks?
Mike Johnson: Of course! That's full circle today.
Psycho Mike: There's this feeling of Dante like, "I'm not even supposed to be here today." This is not the sort of match that, for those who have followed my career up to this point, you would expect to see me in. But for me, I'm up to the challenge, and I can promise you and everybody that you will see things from Psycho Mike in this match that you've never seen before. That's my bar, that's my goal, that's my objective, and I'm confident that you'll see a different Psycho Mike in this one.
Mike Johnson: One of the things that I've talked about with a lot of talents is how unique and special it is that there is this Canadian promotion with such a far-reaching television presence and these pay-per-view shows, because sometimes Canadian talents don't get to come to the United States because visas are such a pain in the ass to get. There are a number of talents, whether it's you, Sinner & Saint, or Rohan Raja, who are getting probably the most attention they've ever gotten in their career because they've got the television exposure week to week for the first season. What does it mean to not just you, but to the other talents to know, "Hey, this company's here, and this is the place for us to shoot to go work for"? In the United States, everyone always wanted to go to ECW, then Ring of Honor, and now AEW for a lot of indie talents. But for Canada to have their own version of that for the local talents who might not get the opportunity initially to come to the States or go to Japan, what has the creation and existence of this company meant to not just you, but so many other people up in Canada?
Psycho Mike: It's a gift. That's the short answer, it's an absolute gift. I don't know if I want to speak for others, but I presume others are feeling the same. I think a lot of us have felt for a while that the Canadian wrestling scene has been kind of put in the corner a bit, not for any malicious reasons or anything like that. So to have a platform now to show and to finally actually get exposure for Canadian talent that may not otherwise have had it, and to show our style and what we are, I've never felt more optimistic about anything since I started on the Canadian professional wrestling scene as I do now. I can't wait to see what my peers, my friends, the people that I broke in with, people that have been hungry and waiting for a chance like this—I can't wait to see what we all do with it. For myself, I've personally had troubles and struggles when it comes to getting dates, as the border is difficult, which is my point. So to not have that particular weight on my shoulder, to not have those hang-ups anymore, I can't wait to show the rest of the world that hasn't seen Psycho Mike yet who Psycho Mike is and what he has to offer. Again, I don't want to speak for others, but I've had conversations with my friends and peers, and I can assure you that they all feel exactly the same. We're all pumped. We can't wait.
Mike Johnson: I do want to ask you... give us a little bit of backstory, because I feel like everybody who falls in love with wrestling and decides to cross the barrier and get inside the ring, they've got a unique experience as to why they wanted to do this, why they felt they could do this. I know you trained under Scott D'Amore, and you also trained a little bit with Harley Race as well. I wanted to get your origin story of what made the lightbulb go off and say, "All right, I want to be Psycho, I want to do this"?
Psycho Mike: How I started wrestling or how Psycho Mike came to be?
Mike Johnson: Both! What led you to the wrestling business, and then how did it evolve into Psycho Mike?
Psycho Mike: So wrestling, I always say that I got into it by accident. It was just a set of circumstances. I was actually in high school doing a technology course, and one of my friends in the class was doing a project where he was creating a website for his cousin, Josh Taylor, who was an independent professional wrestler on the scene at the time. Growing up, kids would play T-ball or baseball or football or what have you, and I'd always ask my mom, "Can you sign me up for pro wrestling?" And she'd just say, "I don't know how to do that." So you don't know how to get involved in it, and just by sheer happenstance, I happened to know somebody that knew somebody that was involved. So I got put in touch with Josh, and one thing led to another. It was a school in Hamilton called Living Legends Wrestling Academy, and that was the first time I ever stepped into an actual ring and took my first bumps and everything like that.
Just around that same time, Johnny Devine was opening up a school in Oakville—I was living in Mississauga at the time. When I saw that, that was really for me the pivotal moment where it was, "Okay, am I going to do this or not?" I bit the bullet; I was nervous, I was uncomfortable, I was uncertain, but I figured if I'm going to give this a go, I have to give this a go. It was through Johnny Devine where I really started to cut my teeth, and I can't say enough about how good the training was and how good of a coach he was. I owe a great deal of any success I have to him.
Now, the Psycho Mike character formed a few years into my career because early on it took me a while to figure out who I was. I was a bit apprehensive of showing my true colors. Whenever I would perform, I was always apprehensive of showing people the real me because I was afraid that they wouldn't like me. There's a bit of a full-circle moment here as well coming up on the 3rd with Crazy Steve, especially because there was a podcast host at the time, Big Daddy Donnie, who knew me personally and saw that what he was seeing from me in the ring wasn't actually me. He approached me with this idea of doing a tag team with me and Crazy Steve where they would call me Psycho Mike. At first, I hated the name because it's a bit of a goofy name. But the thing that really sold me on the idea was that whenever we were out at a restaurant or a bar or something like that and I would say something that would pop the boys, so to speak, everyone would start slamming their hand on the table starting to chant "Psycho Mike." That's honestly what made me fall in love with the name.
When we did that show, Donnie told me, "I'm giving you full permission to go out there and be yourself, and if it doesn't work, that's on me, but your job assignment today is to go out there and be yourself." I guess it was just getting that permission, getting that little bit of support—because a little bit of encouragement can go a long way—and that was probably the biggest turning point for me to get that pat on the back telling me to just go out there and be yourself, it will be okay. Then the character developed over the years, and now for me, it's come full circle because I'm going to be in the ring with Crazy Steve. In a more long-winded way, this wouldn't be happening without that tag team that started years and years and years ago. So this is a very meaningful and special day for me.
Mike Johnson: When you think about this three-way bout, the Monsters Mayhem match, and you think about all the time and effort that you and everybody else have put into this promotion, what do you hope the future is after Northern Rising? Obviously, everything built for this season to this show, what do you hope comes next for Maple Leaf Pro Wrestling and yourself as part of the company?
Psycho Mike: That's a tough one. I want it to be said in the same breath as WWE and AEW. I want this to become the premier promotion in North America, if not the world. I think there's so much opportunity and possibility here. We have the right people involved. I have all the confidence in the world in Scott D'Amore, Kevin Sullivan, and everyone else that I've met backstage and in the office. We'll be completing our first season, and I think this is just the appetizer. I think you've seen nothing yet in comparison to what we'll be able to do.
Mike Johnson: I wanted to ask you a little bit about some of the Canadian independent promotions that you've worked on a regular basis. There's been a lot of talk about Mystery Wrestling because they're going to have a show in a couple of months at the former ECW Arena in Philadelphia. Hopefully you'll be there, we don't know, it's a mystery! But I love the concept of nobody knows who is going to be there, nobody knows what the matches are going to be, show up and have a good time, see what happens. It's sort of like the gift box, like the loot crate where you don't know what you're going to get until the unboxing. I think that concept's great. You've worked a number of these shows, especially in the last couple of months. Thoughts on Mystery Wrestling and what they've been doing up in Canada?
Psycho Mike: It's been life-changing. I love the concept, I love the product. It would echo a lot of my sentiments as well, where I feel blessed and fortunate to be part of it. It is a natural fit for me, my act, and my character as well. But to be a bit more vulnerable here, I had a similar feeling early on because it's a different audience, right? So yes, it's performed in front of a live crowd, but with how it's streamed on Twitch and a lot of the online content that they produce, there are eyes all over the world watching it that I'm not even necessarily aware of. So I'd always tell Evil Uno, "Hey, never tell me how many people are watching on Twitch, because I don't want it to spook me." But early on with that, I had similar uncertainty where it was, "Okay, if people are seeing Psycho Mike for the first time, are they going to buy it?" I had a bit of insecurity around whether or not it was just something that maybe the Ontario or Canadian scene had gravitated toward. Over the last few years, seeing the mostly positive response that I've gotten from performing there, I can't even describe how good it's made me feel. At the end of the day, when I'm out there, the only thing I want is to make people smile. When I hear that people are, it makes it all worth it. Everything, it makes it all worth it. I can't thank them enough for giving me the trust and chance to do it. Sorry, I'm a bit teared up a little.
Mike Johnson: I was going to say, I understand every time you guys enter the ring, you're going into the unknown, and I don't think enough people take that into account because you're trying to create something based on your hopes that it will work for the audience. You don't know at all whether it's going to work or not; I always equate it to base jumping, right? They think they know what they're doing, they have an idea in their head, they know it should work, but sooner or later the law of averages says something's not going to work. For you guys, I think that's part of the magic of it—if it's not working, you can try and pivot in the ring and figure it out. Sometimes you can, sometimes you can't. But I can assure you, a good portion of our audience is American, and we've heard nothing but positive feedback about you on that show since the first vignette. Corey and Eric, who cover the shows weekly here, are always positive about what Psycho Mike is doing, and it's been a good story building to this match. So I can assure you that what you're doing matters, and what you're doing has resonated in a positive way with the audience beyond just the Canadian fans. Although Eric is Canadian—I don't want him yelling at me telling me that I forgot!
Psycho Mike: Even hearing you say that right now, thank you.
Mike Johnson: I literally wrote Scott D'Amore right after the first episode aired, and I was like, "The Psycho Mike t-shirt should be..." You ever see those old shirts like "The Many Emotions of Darth Vader" and it's all the same picture? "The Many Emotions of Psycho Mike" should be all the same picture of you smiling!
Psycho Mike: I actually have an older run of shirts that was conceptually similar. Maybe I'll find it and do a special print just for you.
Mike Johnson: Well, you don't have to do that, but I appreciate the idea! That was my initial thought, I'm like, "This is going to be the calling card right there, you just see where it works." I want to ask you something, because you mentioned Clerks earlier. Are you a big Kevin Smith guy? Do you enjoy the movies?
Psycho Mike: I caught up with his catalog later. The ones that I remember were Clerks and Dogma in particular. Those two in particular that I heard of, everyone was like, "Oh, you'd love these." I'm not a huge movie guy, but then I popped them in and I was like, "Oh man, I've been missing out." I think his stuff is great, yeah.
Mike Johnson: The earlier films are more of my favorites, but I don't think Chasing Amy gets talked about enough at all. I know it's kind of dated itself, but when it was written and released, it had such amazing acting, especially Joey Lauren Adams. Mallrats has aged so well as a fun, stupid, slapstick comedy. It came out and bombed, and then found its second life on VHS and DVD. I've always appreciated him; I'm a New York guy, so New Jersey's right next to us. But to me, especially those earliest films like Clerks that you referenced, to me it's like pro wrestling—it's DIY. It was him with his own money.
Psycho Mike: Yeah, exactly. That's what it was for me, where it's like if you have a good enough idea that you're committed to and passionate about, you can make anything work. So to your point, very DIY, which has parallels to independent wrestling as well, right?
Mike Johnson: Absolutely. And that's what I was going to say: let's be honest, 99.99999% of independent wrestlers and promoters are not walking out with large wallets after the fact. They're doing it for passion and for the wrestlers, hoping to get to a better place where they can get to an MLP or a larger independent promotion that will hopefully pay them on a consistent basis. It's done out of love, and that's one of the reasons why I love indie wrestling so much. I often say my favorite part of going to a show is when I'm blessed enough to be in the building before they officially open the doors, just watching the commotion of people figuring out what they're doing. It's like a twisted version of being backstage at a Broadway show, because wrestlers have such unique personalities. There's something just perfect about that moment of people buzzing with invention and passion as they're trying to create something out of thin air, which is what pro wrestlers do. The fact that you mentioned Kevin Smith, I went, "Ah, kindred spirits there, Psycho Mike and Kevin Smith." For yourself, what do you hope fans get out of the show this Saturday?
Psycho Mike: That Maple Leaf Pro Wrestling is for real and that we're here to stay. For me in particular, my goal or what I'm hoping is that I want to surprise people. I want them to see a side of me that they haven't seen, and I want them to see me do things that they've never seen me do before. And to walk away knowing that Psycho Mike can do more than just be the guy that puts that smile on your face. That's the mentality I'm going in with to this show. I see it's called Monsters Mayhem, and I'm looking at that word "Mayhem" and I want people to see mayhem. It might sound cringey, but that's where my head is at right now.
Mike Johnson: All right, Mayhem it will be in honor of MLP Mayhem and everything else that will take place at MLP Northern Rising this Saturday. Lots of big matches set for the show, which will air on myAEW.com, including Psycho Mike against Dan Maff against Crazy Steve in the Monsters Mayhem match. Sir, I want to thank you so much for sitting down and talking to us. Before we go, I always like to give everybody a chance to plug their own stuff, whether it's social media, upcoming dates, or if you want to send a message to the audience that's following MLP and yourself over the years. By all means, the floor is yours.
Psycho Mike: Yeah, I am @PsychoMike on Twitter and Instagram. We've already plugged it, but I will be plugging it again: October 3rd. This is going to be the biggest match of my life, and I take that responsibility very, very seriously. I can't wait for you all to watch.
Mike Johnson: All right everybody, you can order the show at myAEW.com, and for future details on Psycho Mike, you can follow him on social media. Hopefully we'll have him back again when the stars and constellations align. Maybe, maybe, we'll see! All right, I'm sure he'll be back. Until next time, I am Mike Johnson, we thank you so much for your support of PWInsiderElite.com. Check out MLP Mayhem, every episode is available right now on YouTube so you can get yourself all caught up. There's also a lot of countdown shows and things like that on the MLP YouTube channel so you can get yourself all primed for Northern Rising this Saturday evening live on pay-per-view via myAEW.com featuring our guest, Psycho Mike. Sir, thank you so much for sitting down and spending time with us, really appreciate it.
Psycho Mike: Thank you so much.
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