Tag: Court Bauer

Court Bauer Explains How MLW’s Don King Storyline Came To Be

Major League Wrestling has a new World Heavyweight Champion in Alex Kane, and the mystery backer for Kane’s Bomaye Fight Club was revealed to have a legendary backer in famed boxing promoter Don King.

In an interview with the NY Post, MLW CEO Court Bauer said the idea had been in process for nearly two years, since Kane had a falling out with American Top Team leader Dan Lambert.

“There was no other option on the table,” Bauer told the Post, saying that he felt that the company needed to take the opportunity to put Kane in the same lineage as fighters like Muhammad Ali, George Foreman, Joe Frazier, Larry Holmes Mike Tyson, and all the other fighters that King has promoted. “We’re like that’s the perfect landing if we can stick the landing.” Bauer had initial talks with King, but scheduling made Bauer worry that he wouldn’t be able to make the appearance happen, despite already telling an excited Kane about the idea. Kane had been “ecstatic” about being involved with the fight promoter.

“Don King is a legend and a symbol of black excellence,” Kane told the NY Post. “I wanted to tell the world, but I had to keep it quiet.”

Kane’s faction, the Bomaye Fight Club, is taken from the famous chant that fans in Zaire chanted at Muhammad Ali in his fight against George Foreman, “Ali, Bomaye!” which means “Ali, kill ’em!”

King was revealed as the backer of Bomaye Fight Club in a video message that played during Saturday’s MLW Never Say Never PPV, where Kane dethroned Alexander Hammerstone, who had previously been MLW Champion for over 640 days, the second longest reign in the history of the promotion.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

MLW Has Filed An Anti-Trust Lawsuit Against The WWE

Court Bauer’s Major League Wrestling promotion has filed an anti-trust lawsuit against the WWE.

The WWE legal team is working overtime this week … and probably for the next few months.

MLW (Major League Wrestling), the New York-based professional wrestling promotion founded by former WWE writer Court Bauer, has filed an anti-trust lawsuit against World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. MLW is alleging that WWE interfered in some of its business deals and even pressured some third parties to pull the plug on their existing arrangements with MLW.

“WWE’s pattern of predatory and exclusionary conduct has hampered competition in the U.S. wrestling market by deprivingMLW and other competitors of distribution channels, and its conduct has harmed consumers by depriving them of content and keeping prices high,” MLW’s lawsuit states.

MLW claims that WWE sabotaged a “lucrative” agreement between MLW and streaming platform Tubi, which is owned by Fox. According to the lawsuit, a WWE executive contacted Fox and asked Fox to terminate the MLW deal.

As you might recall, WWE and Fox signed a $1 billion broadcast deal in 2018 that facilitated SmackDown’s move from USA Network to Fox. WWE signed another big-money deal with Fox in 2020.

WWE allegedly implied that they would cease doing business with Fox if their demands were not met. Soon thereafter, Fox informed MLW that it had canceled the company’s Tubi contract, which ultimately led to a downturn in MLW’s profits and ticket sales.

MLW also claims that WWE interfered in its deal with VICE TV when WWE senior vice president Susan Levison called VICE to inform the network that Vince McMahon was unhappy that VICE had agreed to air MLW programming As a result, VICE only aired one MLW show.

“WWE has been wrongfully depriving its competitors of critical opportunities for many years, but its latest conduct has been even more unconscionable,” Bauer said in a statement. “I think we speak for the rest of the professional wrestling world when we say that this anti-competitive behavior has to stop.”

In a statement of its own, WWE disputed MLW’s claims.

“WWE believes these claims have no merit and intends to vigorously defend itself against them,” the WWE statement read.

Source: TheSportster

Court Bauer Talks MLW Possibly Working With WWE

MLW promoter Court Bauer sat down with Alfred Nonuwa of Forbes to talk about MLW’s move to Vice TV.

During the interview, Bauer was also asked about a potential partnership with WWE. It was reported by the Wrestling Observer Newsletter last week that MLW and WWE were in talks regarding a potential working relationship. A later report from PWInsider claimed there had been no talks between the two promotions.

Bauer played coy on while saying he’s open to all possibilities if the opportunity is right.

“A collaboration must have a long-term vision and a genuine commitment to enriching both parties,” said Bauer. “We’re having some interesting conversations with some interesting people, and if there is a two-way relationship that feels like it’s a win-win for the companies, the talent and the fans, and has a long-term sustainability to it, we’ll always examine it. You can’t do one-sided. I don’t kiss rings, I don’t need the validation.”

“We’re competing with two billionaires and still growing with deals like Vice TV and growing our footprint abroad with 20+ countries now airing MLW weekly. If, hypothetically, a company is motivated to pursue how it can disrupt a meaningful system or an opportunity where it enhances both parties’ businesses, yes you should evaluate the opportunity.”

Bauer continued, “It can’t just be that you get acknowledged by a billionaire, and then all of a sudden you say ‘okay, how can we serve you as a master?’ That’s not happening. If I do that, what’s the point of even being in business? It makes no sense. If both sides can get something out of it and it’s rewarding, and there’s a favorable strategy for both sides, that could be cool. Is it easy to get those type of things done? Absolutely not.”

Source: Wrestling Inc.

New MLW Trailer For “The Restart”, Court Bauer Talks MLW TV Product, Running On A Larger Scale

Major League Wrestling is preparing their big return to normal operations amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

As seen below, a new trailer has been released for The Restart, which is scheduled for this fall.

MLW CEO Court Bauer spoke with Justin Barrasso of Sports Illustrated and confirmed that the promotion is returning to TV with fresh content in early November, with TV tapings scheduled for October. Filming will take place at an undisclosed East Coast venue.

“The hibernation is over,” Bauer said. “We’ll air in November on a weeknight in primetime on Fubo Sports Network, and our content will also be available on DAZN, which includes exclusive content, and Saturday nights on beIN. As for the filming, we’re not going to publicly announce our location. If fans were to show up, it would just cause a wave of complications with the COVID protocol, but we are very excited to return for our fans.”

MLW recently hired a COVID-19 Compliance Officer to help ensure that the company operates safely amid the pandemic. Bauer talked more about the role of Mike Kitlas, and their coronavirus safety protocols.

“We hired a COVID Compliance Officer, Mike Kitlas, and there will be frequent testing,” Bauer said. “We’re going to test before everyone gets on a plane, when they land, and then again during the tapings. We’ll be cleaning the trucks and the set every day. We have a protocol to follow, and we will ensure that guidelines will be met to keep everyone safe. That will include scheduling, transportation, locker room social distancing, and wearing masks, which will apply for talent, staff, and production.”

Bauer also revealed a potential name change for the weekly MLW broadcast. This will start the third season of Fusion, or mark a return to a familiar name for longtime MLW fans with Underground.

“We’ve had a lot of fans let us know they prefer Underground,” he said. “That’s something we’re going to pin down in the weeks ahead.”

Bauer also discussed the new empty arena setting for MLW, noting that the product will be presented uniquely. Bauer is eager to showcase a gritty, MMA type of environment for fans.

“We’re going to have more of a Raging Bull setting,” Bauer said. “We’ve had the luxury to see what works in this era. Our competitors have been forced due to contractual obligations to put programming on the air every night of the week. For us, from a creative perspective, we have been able to recharge, assess and determine the best way to move forward. That is really going to enhance our viewing experience.”

While the MLW tapings in October will feature regulars like MLW World Champion Jacob Fatu, Alex Hammerstone, Tom Lawlor, Brian Pillman Jr., and Salina de la Renta, Bauer noted that there is also potential for new faces from AAA and NJPW.

“We’ll have top talent from MLW and beyond,” Bauer said. “We learned during this break who had our back, and I think people will be very surprised by what opportunities have been borne from that.”

Bauer believes the MLW roster will help create a distinctly different presentation of pro wrestling in the empty arena COVID-19 era. He noted that the company has spent the whole summer building the promotion up so that they can run on a larger scale coming out of the pandemic.

“We spent the whole summer building our business to emerge from the pandemic ready to run on a larger scale,” Bauer said. “It’s now the right time for us to safely get back to work, and our talent is going to put on a great show in our return.”

Source: Wrestling Inc.

 

MLW’s Court Bauer Scheduled For TV Meetings This Week

Major League Wrestling boss Court Bauer is scheduled to attend a series of TV meetings in Los Angeles this week, according to PWInsider.

Bauer will be looking to lock in plans to add to MLW’s TV and streaming footprint in 2020. MLW is currently under a multi-year TV deal with BeIN SPORTS, but that allows for them to create additional content for other outlets and platforms.

The meetings are planned to explore what else MLW can add to their line-up beyond their commitments to BeIN SPORTS. The belief is that now is the time to strike to expand MLW’s programming footprint, especially with WWE, AEW, and Impact Wrestling all locked into TV deals.

MLW and BeIN SPORTS are both said to be happy with their current deal.

MLW will hold their first pay-per-view event on November 9 from the Cicero Stadium in Cicero, Illinois – Saturday Night SuperFight. Below is the current card:

No DQ Match for the MLW World Heavyweight Title
LA Park vs. Jacob Fatu (c)

MLW World Middleweight Title Match
Austin Aries vs. Teddy Hart (c)

Texas Tornado Match for the MLW EM Tag Team Titles
The Von Erichs vs. MJF and Richard Holliday (c)

MLW National Openweight Title Match
Davey Boy Smith, Jr. vs. Alexander Hammerstone (c)

Stairway to Hell Match
Mance Warner vs. Jimmy Havoc

Tom Lawlor vs. Timothy Thatcher

Injustice (Jordan Oliver, Myron Reed Kotto Brazil) vs. Puma King, Gringo Loco, Septimo Dragon

Source: Wrestling Inc.

MLW CEO Court Bauer Discusses AEW & States That MLW Talent Can Work Anywhere But WWE

MLW CEO Court Bauer was a guest on Wrestling Inc’s WINCLY podcast. During the interview, he addressed a number of topics, including MLW’s relationship with other companies.

On Wrestlers Working Elsewhere: “We signed MJF and Lucha Bros… we’ve had these guys for a while so there’s a mutual coolness there,” Bauer said. “There’s not a problem. We don’t block anyone from working anywhere. We only have one company where they’re prohibited working for which is WWE.”By doing that, if they end up on national TV somewhere – that’s great exposure. Now people are familiar with you elsewhere and also here.”

On AEW Entering The Mix: “I am very interested in the seeing the direction AEW goes. My philosophy is tide rises all ships. As long as your business is running at a high level and clicking with your fan base, you’re gonna do fine and the fans will support it. The fans will go beyond just one product. If AEW does well…if MLW does well, then that’s great for fans and the talent. It’s great for anyone. For every success story in wrestling, that helps validate it to a larger audience. To licensing people. To TV people. To potential investors….You don’t want a landscape where just one or two companies are successful – that doesn’t indicate a healthy industry.”

On AEW/MLW Wrestlers Leaving To Join AEW Full-Time: “We have very healthy and open lines of communication with [AEW] and I don’t anticipate it being an issue…. Whenever you can find a way to work together and take the ego out of the equation, you find that life is easier and business is better. The business problem people have in wrestling is ego…. Just get over it. It’s important to stay humble but also to be strategic and see the bigger picture.”