In recent months, multiple MLW wrestlers have publicly asked for their release from the company including Lance Anoa'i, Arez, Alex Hammerstone, and Juicy Finau.
While Anao', Arez, and Juicy Finau had their requests granted, Alex Hammerstone remains under contract, and he says communication has been lacking since his request.
Court Bauer appeared on Busted Open Radio and weighed in on MLW contracts and wrestlers asking for their releases.
Bauer was discussing ECW and how Paul Heyman would get talent over and they would leave for WWE or WCW, but noted that ECW didn't have contracts the way MLW does.
"Now what happens is you get a guy over and then tampering happens, and all of a sudden a guy says, 'I talked to another office, they kind of want me, I don't want to honor my contract.' That's kind of fucked up. You put all this money into a guy, he wants to have a satisfying conclusion with the storyline, but now you have to blow up your business and the money you put into it for someone to go somewhere else. That's happened, I can't count how many times, and we're vilified. I'm not going to do a shitstorm on Twitter over it. There is their side, but there is another side to this and you don't hear it often," he said.
When Bauer was asked to elaborate on wrestlers asking for releases, Bauer said, "We honor our commitments, so when we're paying the guys and they are happy, that's great. When all of a sudden they can get paid somewhere else and they want to leave, it's like, 'Wait, what about our commitments too? We've honored them.' What do I tell the networks, what do I tell the toy company, what do I tell the fans when they don't get a satisfying end to the storyline, you just want to take off and leave town? In the 90s, that was called a sell out. Now, it's like, 'fuck the companies, it's just about the talent.' There are life savings in this. A lot of families, the people in production, they're committed and their families are invested. When they skip town or want to dip out, they're fucking all those people and the people that put passion into making toys and all those things. They impact and there is a ripple effect. It's happened so many times. I don't cry about it. It's just the realities of the business, and it's changed. A lot of promoters take the high road and are like, 'it is what it is.' You hear one side of the conversation and don't hear the other side. We've done that. If you say something two or three times in wrestling, it has to be true."
Bauer continued, pointing out MJF as an example who did business the right way when he left upon joining AEW in 2019.
"I'll give you a great example. MJF signed and delivered on both ends. We delivered for him and he delivered for us. He was in a position where he asked for more money, he wasn't getting paid a lot, we were starting out and he was the first guy we ever signed. He said, 'I think I should be earning more.' 'Absolutely, we're not going to give you a new contract, but handshake deal, I'm going to give you a significant bump in pay.' He became the highest-paid guy in 2018, 2019. Then, we knew he wasn't going to renew, but that guy put over everyone and he knew he was going to AEW, but did business the right way. He helped our company. He enriched our company, he entertained the fans, and he put over all his friends in the locker room on his way out. That's how you do business and do it the right way. I don't want to babyface Max, he's a piece of shit human," he said with a laugh.
Bauer reiterated that MJF did good business on the way out and made the company better for how he handled things.
MLW Fightland takes place on November 18.
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