MLW Fusion is back. After a seven month hiatus due to the Covid-19 pandemic, #TheRestart is finally upon us.
A new episode of MLW Fusion premieres tonight on MLW’s YouTube Channel with a double main event featuring some of the league’s top fighters. We will see:
MLW World Heavyweight Champion Jacob Fatu vs. Davey Boy Smith Jr.
World Middleweight Champion Myron Reed vs Brian Pillman Jr.
National Openweight Champion Alex Hammerstone in action
Plus, we’ll get first details of the 2020 Opera Cup tournament.
MLW has release the ‘Cold Open’ video package for tonight’s Fusion. The video includes some classic MLW footage and a recap of the Contra Unit storyline that leads up to The Restart.
MLW Fusion premieres at 7PM EST before replaying this weekend on beIN Sports. Click here for more information on how you can watch.
MLW is set to return to new programming tomorrow night. A new episode of Fusion will air for the first time since the spring. The show will be headlined by Jacob Fatu defending the MLW World Championship against Davey Boy Smith Jr.
Alexander Hammerstone is MLW’s reigning National Openweight Champion. He is part of the Dynasty along with Richard Holiday as well. Hammerstone recently spoke with Chris Van Vliet about how he almost gave up on wrestling after a frustrating experience stemming from a WWE tryout.
As it turns out, WWE contacted Hammerstone in November of 2017 and implied that he was going to be brought into the company.
“It ended up being like ‘Hey, well I think we want to bring you in. We’re going to start the hiring process’. And I remember, I was on the toilet at work when I read that email and I had to read it four times over and then I started crying because I was like ‘Holy crap! Dream come true! It’s happening.’ And then I literally burst out of the bathroom and knocked on my boss’s office. It was just like an involuntary reaction, I was like ‘Jeff, read this!’ and he was like ‘Oh my God!’ and he legitimately called a staff meeting to tell everybody what had just happened and everyone congratulated me,” Hammerstone said.
He continued to talk about how he was getting ready to start his WWE career. Despite what they had told him earlier, however, WWE decided against bringing him in.
“The next step is my whole medical test and it’s not happening, it’s not happening, it’s not happening. And then I start pestering them to see what’s going on. Then in April, and keep in mind in my head I’m moving there in May, so in April they say ‘Sorry to inform you but we’re just way too full right now, we hired too many people this year and we can’t bring you in’. And it doesn’t say like ‘Give us three months’ or ‘Give us this’ it just says ‘We can’t bring you in’. And that was it. And I was like what?”
Similar Stories From Other Wrestlers
Hammerstone’s story is similar to ones told by other wrestlers in the past. Willie Mack once detailed being hired by WWE only to be released before actually reporting to the PC. Taya Valkyrie has told a similar story about WWE reneging on an offer that had been promised to her. This was before Taya started performing with AAA in Mexico.
“A little unknown fact is that about seven months before I went to Mexico, I was offered a contract by WWE. And I went through all the steps, I was waiting to get all my medical tests done, and they decided to not take me, so needless to say I wasn’t given an explanation and to this day I don’t really know what happened,” Taya said on Talk is Jericho in 2017.
Almost Quitting Wrestling
Hammerstone continued to talk about how the experience with WWE almost led to him quitting wrestling.
“And for the next couple of months someone every once in a while would be like ‘Hey, when are you going to Florida?’ and I’d have to explain the whole thing to them. I had to explain this so many times and every time it was like a punch in the gut, you know? So it was rough, man. It was a rough time and literally that experience almost made me quit wrestling. I was very close.”
MLW returns after an 8-month hiatus on November 18th, 2020. That is when the first new episode of Fusion since the pandemic will air on YouTube and Fubo Sports. The promotion has booked Davey Boy Smith Jr. to challenge Jacob Fatu for the MLW World Championship on the show.
“This is a dream match we originally slated for Pay-Per-View this past summer and felt it was the perfect match to give the fans as a thank you for hanging tight and supporting us through #TheRestart,” said MLW CEO Court Bauer.
In storyline, Fatu’s Contra Unit took control of the promotion by raiding the corporate head offices. During the raid, Smith was left injured, apparently with a broken back. MLW has since revealed he has been cleared to compete. Smith also won last year’s Opera Cup tournament, making him a top-ranked wrestler in the promotion.
Fatu has held the MLW World Championship for a record 492 days at this point. Granted, much of the was during the pandemic period when the league wasn’t running. In total, 8 wrestlers have held the title. No wrestler has won the belt more than once.
MLW World Champions:
Satoshi Kojima (267 days) (7 title defenses)
Low Ki (205 days) (7 title defenses)
Jacob Fatu (492 days) (5 title defenses)
“Filthy” Tom Lawor (154 days) (3 title defenses)
Steve Corino (235 days) (2 title defenses)
Shane “Swerve” Strickland (91 days) (1 title defense)
New episodes of MLW Fusion will premiere Wednesday nights on MLW’s YouTube channel at 7pm ET starting November 18th.
In statement issued over the weekend, MLW CEO Court Bauer said that the decision to drop new episodes of Fusion on YouTube each week was due to overwhelming interest from fans.
“Fans have been blowing up my Twitter for months asking that we keep MLW’s presence on YouTube, so we’re going to do just that,” said Bauer. “YouTube has enabled us to grow and we will continue to enrich the platform with more quality content from MLW.”
The fight card for the November 18th #TheRestart premiere will be announced shortly.
MLW will be moving much of its programming to Wednesday nights, while its flagship series will air nationwide on cable and satellite Saturday nights at 10pm on beIN SPORTS in the United States.
Below is an updated chart showing how you can watch MLW Fusion
Major League Wrestling is gearing up for its restart scheduled for November 18th. That is the date new episodes of Fusion are expected to air. Davey Boy Smith Jr. is expected to play a large role in MLW’s return.
According to a report from the Wrestling Observer, however, Smith only has a few weeks left on his MLW contract and several other promotions are interested in his services.
“He was at Chris Jericho’s Halloween party this past week and spoke to Tony Khan but they aren’t talking any business until after his MLW deal is up,” said Dave Meltzer.
The report also stated that Smith’s MLW contract is up on December 18th, 2020. Several promotions, including WWE, Impact, and All-Japan are also interested in his services. He does not appear to be leaning to any one promotion, it seems.
“He’s had interest from WWE, Khan expressed interest, and there is interest from All Japan, Impact, and MLW and has no favorite or leaning past saying this decision will be made based on offer and whatever makes the most sense business-wise,” Meltzer continued to say of Smith’s free agency options.
The 35-year-old is a 2x WWE tag-team champion along with Tyson Kidd. He’s a 3x IWGP Heavyweight tag team champion along with Lance Archer as well. In MLW, he’s held the tag-team titles along with Teddy Hart & Brian Pillman Jr. and won the company’s Opera Cup tournament in 2019.
AAA World Cruiserweight champion Laredo Kid is joining Major League Wrestling (MLW) for #TheRestart.
Laredo Kid is one of the top luchadores in all of pro wrestling. He is interested in unifying AAA’s Cruiserweight title with the MLW World Middleweight championship, currently held by Myron Reed.
SEScoops can confirm that an inter-promotional unification match is currently in the works and likely to happen in the months ahead.
Laredo Kid made his debut for MLW last year. He’s made a few appearances on MLW programming, including a match against Hammerstone during the MLW vs. AAA Super Series event that took place earlier this year.
In addition to wrestling for AAA and MLW, Laredo Kid has wrestled for Impact Wrestling, AEW and even had a WWE tryout back in 2015, when he wrestled without a mask and teamed up with Sammy Guevara in a losing effort to Los Matadores (Primo and Epico).
MLW returns Wednesday, November 18th with the premiere of MLW Fusion on Fubo Sports and YouTube. The Wednesday episodes replay (and premiere on national television) Saturday nights at 10pm ET on beIN SPORTS.
Major League Wrestling’s #TheRestart campaign has come to a head. In a video released Thursday night, it was revealed that MLW Fusion is returning Wednesday, November 18th.
Fusion has been on hiatus for several months out of caution due to the coronavirus pandemic. MLW was set to make an announcement during the Youtube premiere of the latest MLW Pulp Fusion digital series. That feed was hijacked by Contra Unit, the heel faction that has seized control of MLW.
@mlw should know that no one ever seizes power with the intention of relinquishing it…your feed has been compromised…corrupted…and destroyed. HAIL??CONTRAhttps://t.co/nAx5Z61wF7
A video was then shown of MLW’s roster ambushing Contra Unit and taking back control. The teaser for the return of MLW Fusion promises reloaded roster, rivals unleashed, championship title fights, interpromotional dream matches and a new breed of fighting athletes.
Major League Wrestling (MLW) has signed a new television contract with beIN Sports. Alfred Konuwa was first to break the story for Forbes.
MLW Fusion, the fight league’s flagship show, will continue to air on beIN Sports Saturday nights at 10pm.
MLW CEO Court Bauer told Forbes, “We are excited to continue to be a cornerstone of beIN Sports’ portfolio of world-class sports content. beIN’s dual language reach will help further entrench MLW as a thriving sports league.”
According to the report, the beIN deal is just one of a series of deals set to be announced by MLW in the months ahead. The league is currently in talks with some of cable television’s biggest networks about additional programming, similar to WWE’s relationship with NBCUniversal (USA Network) and FOX.
MLW is currently gearing up for #TheRestart – a return to promoting live events. The league took a self-imposed hiatus out of an abundance of caution related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Major League Wrestling (MLW) has entered into another strategic partnership with an international promotion. This latest alliance is with IWA Puerto Rico.
According to a press release sent out on Tuesday, the deal will see IWA Puerto Rico wrestlers competing in MLW, as well as MLW fighters being showcased on IWA shows.
MLW CEO Court Bauer touted the benefits of the two companies working together. “We will share resources with the aim of helping each other on the fight and business sides of our two leagues,” said Bauer. “Our goal is to promote the sport and help athletes and fans live their dreams with big fights in both organizations and collectively grow the global awareness of MLW and AAA.”
MLW is currently gearing up for their return to live events, which they’ve dubbed #TheRestart. Details surrounding the official return date are still unknown, but it’s been reported that MLW recently held the first round of TV tapings for the new ‘season’ of MLW Fusion.
Major League Wrestling is coming back soon. New episodes of Fusion are expected to begin airing next month. Storylines for the promotion’s restart have been taking shape on episodes of MLW Pulp Fusion. One storyline involves Salina de la Renta being exposed as a spy operating on behalf of Contra Unit.
“For nearly two years the league, fans and athletes have all speculated and theorized on who could be enabling CONTRA to gain access to arenas with heavy security as well as access to MLW’s headquarters and production trucks. Now, all evidence points towards Salina de la Renta,” reads an MLW press release.
Salina de la Renta In MLW Storylines
In MLW storyline, Contra Unit is a faction that has taken over the company. The last episode before the pandemic featured members of the faction taking over MLW offices in New York. On a recent episode of Pulp Fusion, Konnan revealed that he discovered Salina has been working with the faction.
It appears that Salina de la Renta’s Promociones Dorado was struggling financially. Salina is believed to have owed a significant amount of money to the “wrong people” which may have led to her aligning with Contra Unit.
The 23-year-old from Puerto Rico now lives in the Orlando area.
“All options are on the table, including suspending her license to promote in MLW,” said Court Bauer.
Last year, Salina spoke with SI.com about being the first Latina to serve as an executive producer on a wrestling show.
“This is a sign of change. Not only for women, but for Latinos as a whole. We are often not in a position of power or influence in American wrestling. For MLW to encourage me, and others, to break barriers is important and yes, historic. It is a huge honor to be able to be the first-ever at something.”
Major League Wrestling returned to taping shows this past week. Their latest tapings featured a number of former WWE stars, according to a report by Wrestling Inc.
MLW taped a total of 16 weeks of TV content at the GILT nightclub in Orlando from this past Sunday to Tuesday.
What’s interesting to note here is that the tapings saw not one but at least three former WWE stars taking part in the shows including names such as Lio Rush, Shawn Daivari and ACH.
Out of these three, Daivari reportedly worked both as a talent and a producer. Though it’s not a big surprise as he had been working as a producer for WWE since January 2019 before getting released during the pandemic.
Lio Rush was also released from the company during the budget cuts this past April. He had been in the promotion since 2017 and Rush has only worked a handful of matches since his release.
ACH on the other hand was released from WWE after a bit of controversy. He originally signed with the company back in February 2019 and debuted with the ring name Jordan Myles.
He was released from the promotion in November last year after accusing WWE of racism over a T-shirt design which some felt had a resemblance to blackface.
Major League Wrestling is coming back. The promotion announced today plans to film new content in October that will begin airing in November. MLW’s Court Bauer spoke to SI.com about the news.
“The hibernation is over,” said Bauer. “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.”
Bauer also outlined a strict COVID-19 testing protocol for all tapings. The company has hired a COVID-19 compliance officer to oversee the operations. Talent will be tested before traveling to the tapings, once they arrive, and then again before actually participating in the tapings. That is 3 tests each talent will take before actually getting in a ring.
Bauer also noted the name of the show might be changing from MLW: Fusion to MLW: Underground, the name of the promotion’s TV show from its original run. Replays of MLW: Underground have been airing in place of new episodes of Fusion in recent months.
In terms of how the returning show will look, Bauer teased the matches may have a “Raging Bull” feel to them.
“We’re going to have more of a Raging Bull setting,” said Bauer. “We’ve had the luxury to see what works in this era.”
“We spent the whole summer building our business to emerge from the pandemic ready to run on a larger scale,” said Bauer. “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.”
Major League Wrestling’s Head of Wrestling Operations, Jared St. Laurent, issued a statement recently regarding Davey Boy Smith Jr. The statement is in response to recent reports that Smith was unable to work for Impact Wrestling due to his contact status with MLW.
“(Smith) had an offer from Impact to do a program with Ken Shamrock but his MLW contract prevented it, which is tough because it’s a contract where he’s not getting paid a regular salary, just per appearance,” wrote Dave Meltzer in the most recent edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. The report would continue to say that Smith has drawn interest from both AEW and WWE.
Smith’s MLW contract is believed to be up in December.
MLW Responds To Report Regarding Davey Boy Smith Jr.
MLW then posted the following comments from St. Laurent on Smith’s status with MLW.
“I want to address some misinformation put out there. I had talks with Impact about Davey Boy possibly crossing over and doing some dates. We had a very positive conversation with Impact. Scott D’Amore and Impact were great to deal with and we were absolutely open to it. We gave Davey several options for how we could make this work as well as help him out financially during the pandemic. Davey opted to do nothing, unfortunately. It could’ve been a win/win for all 3 parties. It’s a shame but that is the full story,” the statement reads.
“On a personal level, I’ve known Davey for almost 2 decades. It’s sad to see him elect to end his tenure with yet another company on such a sour note.”
It was also reported recently that MLW sent WWE a cease and desist letter in regards to Smith appearing on an episode of the Bump.
“MLW also sent a cease-and-desist to WWE after Smith appeared on “The Bump.” Smith is scheduled to at least make a WWE appearance inducting his father into the Hall of Fame, but that may be some time off,” Meltzer wrote.
Major League Wrestling hasn’t run an event since March. Court Bauer has been adamant that the promotion would not run any events until it was safe to do so. The company recently posted an article on its website which suggests the league has been looking at how to run events safely.
“I’ve been very encouraged by how the UFC, NBA, the NHL, Top Rank Boxing and DAZN Match Room boxing have managed operations as they restart,” said Bauer. “We’re also seeing TV and film start back up in certain regions in a cautious manner and that’s the mindset you need to operate with during this moment in time: caution.”
Bauer would continue to say that the league has consulted with medical professionals. They have also spoken with NJPW, who recently returned to live events as well. MLW’s Tom Lawlor has been competing on NJPW USA shows as of late.
“We are speaking with some of the sharpest minds at Johns Hopkins University & Medicine on a restart and talked with New Japan’s people on how they’ve approached it – and they’ve done an incredible job… we also engaged some of our athletes who have competed outside of MLW during the pandemic to see what worked, what didn’t, and what could be improved upon.”
In storyline, MLW’s shut down occurred after a takeover by Contra Unit. They have been airing old episodes of MLW Underground in place of new episodes of Fusion.
Brian Pillman Jr. is hoping to be released from his MLW contract. The 26-year-old holds no ill-will to the promotion but as MLW isn’t holding any shows right now, Pillman is hoping they can reach a deal for his release. Pillman spoke to the WINCLY podcast regarding the situation.
“I’ve been actively trying to request my release and free myself of the obligations of MLW,” he said. “Again, no hard feelings but they have obligations towards me too. They have to have so many shows take place in order for my end of the contract to be valid too. So, I think that would also free them up of some responsibility. I think it would be a win-win situation if they released me.”
Pillman’s contract with MLW only restricts him from working shows for WWE or NXT. He was adamant during the interview that he loves MLW but the situation is what it is.
“As far as I’m concerned, there’s not any guarantee on any shows happening. I understand it’s a pandemic and it’s just business. There’s no hard feelings and I absolutely love that company and wrestling has been nothing but good to me for my whole career.”
MLW has not run any shows since March. Court Bauer has stated that they will not until they are certain it is safe to do so.
Pillman has recently been performing on episodes of AEW Dark. This week on the show, he teamed with Griff Garrison in a match against FTR. He’s also wrestled Shawn Spears and Brian Cage in AEW. Additionally, Pillman has been wrestling for Al Snow’s OVW promotion. Earlier this week he participated in TV tapings from Jefferson, Indiana for the company.
Major League Wrestling (MLW) could be gearing up to get back to running live events again.
It’s no secret that the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has delivered a huge blow to the professional wrestling industry, along with the rest of the world. Several promotions have been forced to hold off on hosting events, MLW included. The company hasn’t put on a show since March, when the pandemic began to get out of control.
However, that could all change very soon. MLW’s official Twitter account Tweeted out a photo of their production set, captioning it with a ticking clock. This has led many to believe that MLW is teasing the return of live shows soon.
Promotions such as WWE and AEW have been running empty arena shows for the past several months. They have also used their own talents to serve as audience members, placing them in the crowd where fans would usually be in an attempt to liven the shows up a bit.
Now would be a great time for MLW to get back to work. Especially with the recent news of the promotion partnering up with WAVE.tv for social media content distribution. The partnership will allow for more of MLW’s content to be seen by the likes of Gen Z and Millennial sports fans through WAVE.tv’s combat sports media brand “HAYMAKERS.”
Major League Wrestling is partnering with WAVE.tv, a sports media company specializing in the distribution of sports content tailored for social media across its portfolio of brands.
The agreement will involve the social media distribution of MLW content with an emphasis on WAVE.tv’s combat sports media brand “HAYMAKERS.” WAVE.tv will take highlights from MLW programming and blast it out to its audience of Gen Z and Millennial sports fans.
MLW CEO and Founder Court Bauer touted the partnership in a press release sent out on Tuesday.
“Wrestling has the most active social media fan base in combat sports, so being able to expand and connect with fans in a deeper sense to share our immersive rivalries, fights and athletes with WAVE.tv is a great next step for us. MLW embraces emerging trends and tech and WAVE.tv is a perfect match for the league.”
one week after @WaveTV announced that it secured $32m in series a funding, it has since partnered with @MLW to increase the league's coverage across the sports media brand's 18+ digital portfolios.https://t.co/hlHutFw0w7
WAVE.tv network of brands reaches over 60 million people. Daniel Maas, WAVE’s VP of Partnerships, touts MLW’s rapid growth and the league being a perfect fit for the HAYMAKERS brand.
“MLW is a welcome addition to our fast-growing Combat Sports vertical — powered by the HAYMAKERS media brand — where we’ve added over 10 new rights partners in 2020, covering boxing, MMA, wrestling and much more.”
Major League Wrestling has signed another streaming deal.
MLW and Digital Original Entertainment have reached an agreement that will bring MLW Fusion to the new DOE TV streaming network starting in the fall.
“We’re thrilled that Doe TV Network viewers will get to see all of the world class fighters MLW has to offer starting this fall,” said MLW COO Jared St. Laurent. “Whether it’s World Heavyweight Champion Jacob Fatu, World Middleweight Champion Myron Reed or any of the other incredible athletes in Major League Wrestling, anybody who tunes into the Doe TV Network can expect all of the action and excitement MLW is known for.”
“At Doe TV Network we are super excited about bringing Major League Wrestling to our network this fall,” said DOE TV Network CEO Ron “Doe” Williams.
MLW’s flagship FUSION series will premiere on DOE TV in September.
DOE TV Network will soon be available on Pluto TV and be available through all internet-connected TV platforms, Android and AppleIOS/iPadOS, Android TV, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Roku, PlayStation, Xbox One, Chromecast and Virgin Media.
Brian Pillman Jr. recently wrestled a couple of matches on AEW Dark. He dropped bouts to Shawn Spears and Brian Cage. He is currently signed to MLW and has been involved with the new Hart Foundation stable in the promotion. Pillman recently spoke to Talk Sport about the help he’s received in his career from numerous wrestling legends.
Pillman was asked about his relationship with AEW’s Chris Jericho:
“Me and Chris have been close for a long time. That was also somebody that was pulling for me in the company [AEW] and he helped me get the opportunity at the Double or Nothing pay-per-view about one year ago. That was May 22, 2019,” Pillman said.
“So it’s been about a year since I’ve been there, so it’s been a long time. they wanted to see how far I have come and what improvements did I make and I think they were all happy with that.”
Brian Pillman Jr. On Advice From Steve Austin
Pillman also noted he got to speak with Jericho at the tapings as well.
Additionally, Pillman spoke about the guidance he’s received over the years from his father’s former tag-team partner, Steve Austin.
“Steve has offered me advice on several, several occasions,” Pillman said about Austin. He continued to say he asked Austin if he should go into the wrestling business.
“He just told me ‘You can do whatever you want to do. Your father would want you to do what’s passionate to you.’”
Pillman also spoke about his relationship with Bret Hart, Pillman’s father’s former stablemate in the Hart Foundation.
“He’s definitely someone that if I ever needed anything, he would be right there for me. Whenever I’ve seen him, he’s been nothing but family to me,” Pillman said of Hart.
Major League Wrestling hasn’t produced an event since March. The company’s last show was in conjunction with AAA for a card in Tijuana on March 13th.
According to a report from the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, the current plan is for MLW live events to return in December. These plans could change anytime between now and then, however.
“The current plan, and this can change in an instant, is to go back live in December, perhaps in Philadelphia,” wrote Dave Meltzer regarding MLW.
In storyline, Contra Unit took part in a hostile takeover of the company leading to it shutting down temporarily.
MLW’s Court Bauer has previously said the company won’t return to live events until it is safe to do so.
“I will wait until we are sure it’s safe to return. We’re doing that for our fans, our athletes, and our crew, and all of their families. We do not want to put anyone at harm. We’ll see what the NBA looks like once they go live with their season, and we’re seeing what is happening with WWE. This [battle with COVID] is far from the rearview mirror. Our decision to proceed will be dictated by science and experts in the medical world. Until we know it’s safe, we’re going to be as judicious as possible.”
Major League Wrestling has locked up their World Champion, Jacob Fatu, until 2025. According to a report from ESPN, Fatu and MLW agreed to a contract extension to keep the Contra Unit member in the promotion for four more years.
“Major League Wrestling has signed its heavyweight champion Jacob Fatu to a contract extension, sources told ESPN on Thursday. MLW penned Fatu to a deal in late 2019 and this new one extends it four more years, into late 2025, per sources,” an ESPN report reads.
Fatu is part of the famed Anoa’i family. His father is Sam Fatu (aka Tama from the Islanders, The Tonga Kid, and Tama Somoa). He is cousins with the Usos. Rikishi is his uncle.
Fatu is just the 7th person to win the MLW World Championship. In part due to the global pandemic and MLW ceasing to run shows, Fatu is the longest-reigning MLW World Champion of all time. As of this writing, he has held the title for 377 days. He won the title from Tom Lawlor on July 6th, 2019 at Kings of the Colosseum in Cicero, Illinois.
MLW is currently airing episodes from the “underground” series from its original run. Court Bauer has said the promotion won’t run events until it is safe to do so. In storyline, MLW has been taken over by Fatu’s Contra Unit, explaining why shows are not currently taking place.
Major League Wrestling is expanding its footprint in South America.
Last month, MLW announced a partnership with DAZN, a premiere streaming platform. The deal got a lot of press for MLW, including a recent feature by the NY Post.
MLW has now coming to DAZN Brazil, a huge market that is sure to bring the fight league additional exposure.
DAZN is available for $19.99 per month or $99.99 a year. Episodes of MLW Fusion are featured on DAZN, as well as the company’s special events.
MLW live events are currently on hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but that has not slowed their output of fresh content. Head over to the MLW YouTube channel to catch up on recent episodes of Pulp FUSION and MLW Anthology.
Brian Pillman Jr. made his AEW Dark debut during last night’s episode of the promotion’s YouTube show. The son of a Four Horseman alum faced off against Shawn Spears, who is managed by legendary Horseman Tully Blanchard.
In a recent interview with WrestleTalk’s Louis Dangoor, Pillman Jr. talked about how he was able to take this opportunity to appear on AEW despite being contractually signed to MLW.
Pillman Jr. explained how MLW became “very apprehensive” about running shows during the coronavirus pandemic. He indicated how Impact Wrestling, AEW and WWE were all running shows in front of no fans during that time.
Knowing this was happening, he confessed it was “hard for me to still and wait for them to bring me an opportunity.”
Instead, Pillman Jr. “went out and chased the opportunities that were available to me.” He noted how his contract allowed him to accept the work. This created a “no-brainer” opportunity he wanted to pursue. As long as there was no conflict, Pillman Jr.’s contract reportedly allowed him to take other work with different promotions.
Brian Pillman Jr. admitted he isn’t sure what MLW’s future plans will be given current coronavirus concerns. Pillman Jr. shared how that kind of uncertainty made it an easier choice to look for other promotions to work for.
MLW CEO Court Bauer recently spoke to Sports Illustrated about a wide range of topics including when the promotion will return to putting on shows.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic, MLW has halted holding events in order to maintain guidelines from health officials to keep everyone safe. In the meantime, MLW has been airing taped shows from before the outbreak and even archive footage.
“I will wait until we are sure it’s safe to return. We’re doing that for our fans, our athletes, and our crew, and all of their families. We do not want to put anyone at harm. We’ll see what the NBA looks like once they go live with their season, and we’re seeing what is happening with WWE. This [battle with COVID] is far from the rearview mirror. Our decision to proceed will be dictated by science and experts in the medical world. Until we know it’s safe, we’re going to be as judicious as possible.”
Tom Lawlor, who is under contract with MLW, is part of New Japan Pro Wrestling’s Lion’s Break Collision series on New Japan World. As a result, there’s been speculation as to whether the two promotions have a working relationship.
This potential working relationship was asked about and Bauer addressed whether there is a partnership.
“All I can say is that the arrangement was worked out office-to-office as opposed to independently. I’m a big fan of what New Japan is doing, and we’ll see where this relationship can take us.”
Bauer continued by stating that Lawlor had a talk with New Japan and they explained the process of sterilizing the rings and testing. Thus, he left it up to Lawlor as to whether he wanted to pursue this.
He added that there was no pressure on Lawlor to not work for NJPW as MLW talent has been performing elsewhere during this pandemic, but he always cautioned them to take all the safety measures possible for themselves and their families.
