Court Bauer discusses MLW's lawsuit against WWE.
MLW filed a lawsuit against WWE in January 2022 and alleged that WWE attempted to undermine the competition and monopolize the wrestling market. MLW also claimed that WWE disrupted a "major streaming deal which would have been transformative for the company", and that WWE tried to poach contracted talent from the company. WWE tried to have the lawsuit dismissed, and judge dismissed the initial claim in February, giving MLW 21 days to file an amended lawsuit. MLW met the deadline and submitted an amended complaint on March 6.
Speaking with Chris Jericho on Talk Is Jericho, MLW CEO Bauer described how the company's new deal with REELZ came together. He recalled how the company had secured a streaming deal in 2021, but their partner called it off at the last second. Bauer described how he and MLW had to start their negotiations over again
“Rewinding to 2021, I was talking up like, ‘We got this big deal, it’s coming, it’s coming, it’s coming.’ Then we have the media embargo, they knew it was going down, the night before the press release was going out, the papers were signed, and then we’re told, ‘Deal off.’ That, long story short, triggered an antitrust lawsuit with WWE. I’d reached the summit, right, it’s so hard to get a TV deal. It’s not easy. It doesn’t matter how much money you have, how good your product is or not. It’s just a hard thing to do. Especially now, when the content is king era has kind of toppled and the gig is dead and now it’s just a rush to pick up the best deal you can. We got in there right before that shit hit the fan. After that streaming deal went south, I basically had to go back out there and start over, like Groundhog Day, and start shopping and pitching and doing it all over again. It’s like getting knocked down from the top of the mountain and going through it all over again and just trying to keep the business afloat while you go through that. Two years later, and we had to go through the pandemic and we had to go through all this stuff. By the way too, billionaires just doing what they do in the midst of this, it wasn’t easy, and so meeting after meeting, and we got there with REELZ and we signed the contract in December and announced it in January, and we’re just so elated to be there," Bauer said.
Bauer then highlighted the growth of REELZ and emphasized how rare its success is, given the current nature of the cable business. He compared REELZ's rankings to VICE and AXS TV, among other networks. Bauer stated that the move to REELZ is a big step up for MLW, and he's excited that the company has a more prominent platform now.
"REELZ has grown, it’s one of the rare stories of being a cable network that is a success story in 2023. Most are in this contracting state or they’re losing viewership. It’s just the natural progression of cable, and what’s happening with REELZ is they’re growing. They are now a top 25 network. To give you a comparison, VICE is in the high 70s, AXS TV, which has New Japan and IMPACT, ranked like 98 [or] 99. I think TNT and TBS float anywhere, depending on the week, from number eight or nine to 12. The same for USA in that ballpark. FOX Sports 1 is in the high 50s, MTV’s ranked in the 40s. So we’re in a top 25 network. They hover between 23 and 26 most weeks, but that’s huge. I think for us, we’ve had guys like Hammerstone and Fatu in the company. Before MJF was in AEW and Tony Schiavone made his comeback, they were in MLW, but our network at the time was ranked like 136, beIN Sports. So for us to leap virtually 110 channels to REELZ, it’s like, ‘Finally, we got the platform. Finally, people are gonna find out [Hammerstone], Fatu, all these guys in MLW,'" Bauer said.
Jericho then brought up MLW's lawsuit against WWE and wondered how Bauer felt about the claims that WWE came after them and made an effort to undermine the company's business. Bauer responded by citing the allegation that WWE tried to block Ring of Honor and New Japan Pro-Wrestling from running an event at Madison Square Garden in 2018. He noted that other companies have been having issues with WWE's conduct for decades. Bauer also stated that MLW was "almost mortally wounded", so the company decided to hold WWE accountable.
“Look at Ring of Honor and New Japan when they ran the Garden. I know AEW’s had issues, whether it’s contract tampering, whether it’s arena issues. This shit’s been going on for 40 years. Just ask the promoters through the decades, and how were they wounded? How were they damaged? For us, we were almost mortally wounded, and it was time to hold them accountable, so that’s what I did. I think Vince is the kind of guy that just, the WWE as a whole, they want to control, they want to have maximum market share. They want to suffocate the competitors by virtue of, look at how it’s happened. Exhibit A through Z, it speaks for itself," he said.
Bauer went on to state wrestling is a tough, ruthless business, and he has learned that throughout his time in the industry.
Fightful will continue to monitor MLW's lawsuit against WWE and provide information as it becomes available.
Check out the card for the March 14 episode of MLW Underground here.
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