Estimated attendance is around 1,400. One side of the arena to the left side of the entrance way was completely blocked off and only accessible to wrestlers, ring crew and staff. ROH would have made their money back from 1,000 tickets onward so they made profit. You can expect them back at the Mattamy Athletic Centre next year.
A lot of Canadian wrestling legends were present for the event, some include "Wildman" Willie Faulkes, Leo Burke, The Cuban Assassin and Les Thornton. Burke gave a talk to some of the talents before the event on the importance of what their doing and the old Maple Leaf Gardens.
I've been told that the original plan was to bring in both KUSHIDA and Alex Shelley as The Time Splitters for the event but Shelley wasn't interested in a return to the States. Alex has only traveled back to America from Tokyo twice since joining the regular NJPW roster over a year ago and has been public on his frustrations while competing in America.
Concerning the spot involving BJ Whitmer and Mike Bennett on the apron, officials weren't aware it was planned. As is normal in ROH talents are given freedom to do as they please but must inform officials of any large spots so they can inform the commentary team and the production crew to enhance it. Neither wrestler told staff members because they didn't view it as a big spot. The match would have continued after with Bennett advancing in the tournament.
BJ Whitmer is expected to miss some time but early signs show no serious damage to the neck, shoulder or spinal regions. He'll be undergoing tests over the next week.
In relation to Mike Bennett, it is interesting to note he signed a new ROH deal only days prior to the event at the tapings in Providence, Rhode Island. He was expected to sign with WWE but ironing out certain details were taking too long. One factor in the equation was Maria Kannelis who Bennett wants to join with him but due to her public feud with The Bella Twins whom WWE officials have placed a lot of trust into with "Total Divas" on the E! Network this was piratically impossible.
A lot of merchandise was sold at the event which will make a lot of talents happy. The biggest sellers were Kevin Steen, Adam Cole and The American Wolves. Steen's "Fight Steen Fight" shirt was said to have virtually been on every second person in the arena.
It should be noted that a lot of talents applauded Davey Richards throughout the night for his assistance of BJ Whitmer following the incident on the apron. Richards is not a paid medical staff member but was one of the first people out to check on his condition and acted as a leader as they strapped him to the stretcher. Davey currently works as a paramedic in his hometown of St. Louis, Missouri.
The Young Bucks return was said to have been well received by both talents and officials. The reason for their poor run last time around was Jim Cornette's inability to use them efficiently as a tag team. Delirious is good friends with them and has been in their ear since he gained the booker position to return. You can expect to see The Bucks on future shows going forward.
Paul London is also expected to feature more regularly in the near future. Officials are delighted with the reactions hes gained and feel his past and knowledge is an asset to the company.
Joe Koff appeared during intermission to speak with some fans around the merchandise tables. Koff was said to have been very happy with the event by this point and said the company had some big plans going forward.
Kevin Steen received the biggest pop of the night and one of the biggest pops in ROH history according to our reporters who attended the show. Steen is viewed by officials as the face of the company and plan to add more emphasis to him going forward with or without the ROH World Championship.
The American Wolves winning the tag titles was planned and the feeling backstage was they plan to stick around as long as the company keeps moving forward. Delirious has worked hard to keep both guys happy, Davey more-so than Eddie as Richards was admittedly angry with the way he was treated by management during the summer of last year. Whether they lose the titles at "Manhattan Mayhem" or not you can expect them to stick around.
Management is trying to work out a deal with NJPW that sees stars such as Forever Hooligans, KUSHIDA and Karl Anderson appear more frequently. Its only been discussed in passing but a cross promotional event in Japan or the US could be on the cards in the future.
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