Major League Wrestling

Major League Wrestling
Private
Industry Professional wrestling
Digital media
Founded 2002 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Founder Court Bauer
Headquarters Orlando, Florida, United States
Area served
 Worldwide
Key people
 Court Bauer (CEO)[1]
Products Television, pay-per-view, merchandise, Radio
Website mlw.com

MLW LLC, d/b/a Major League Wrestling is an American professional wrestling promotion based in Orlando, Florida founded in 2002 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania by former WWE writer Court Bauer and the promotion moved their bases to New York and later to Florida.[2][3] The promotion ran several live events and tapings for a television show named Underground TV in the Sunshine Network. Founder Court Bauer described MLW's product as "the most violent, hard-hitting action mixed with cutting edge storylines", also described as "Hybrid Wrestling" a mixed of wrestling styles. However, MLW would close its doors in 2004 due to shortage of money after a few sponsorship exits.

Bauer resumed promoting events and tapings in July 2017 for a new television show named MLW Fusion airing on the beIN Sports United States and later beIN Sports Spanish, also introduced contracts as part of their growth strategy.

History

The promotion was founded in 2002, shortly after, the promotion took three months of hiatus to move their bases from Philadelphia to New York.[4] MLW styled itself as being an alternative to sports entertainment. Founder Court Bauer described MLW's product as "the most violent, hard-hitting action mixed with cutting edge storylines", which was favorite for fans of the defunct ECW that had folded the previous year.[5] In 2003, the promotion moved their bases permanently to Florida and got a deal with the Sunshine Network for their television series named Underground TV, which ran between April 7, 2003 and February 14, 2004.[4] These shows were hosted by Joey Styles and consisted of pre-taped matches from prior events. At the time, many fans speculated that the promotion was going to end, due to MLW's booking style and quickly adhered to the reputation of being imitation of ECW and later Ring of Honor due to holding shows after ROH and also using a large part of their roster.[4] The promotion also promoted many former ECW wrestlers such as Sabu, Terry Funk, Shane Douglas and Steve Corino.[6] In March 2004, the promotion ceased operations in March of that year.[6]

In 2017, MLW announced it would once again be promoting wrestling events, the first one was named "MLW One-Shot" with tickets going on sale July 21, 2017.[7] In the same year, MLW announced it would run more shows in Orlando in 2018.[8] Given the success of their independent outings, MLW was able to secure a television deal on beIN Sports United States for their program MLW Fusion, which debuted on April 20, 2018.[9]

In July 2018, MLW continued its expansion by presenting their first two-hour special on beIN Sports, Battle Riot. Additionally, Major League Wrestling began introducing contracts as part of their growth strategy, with former MLW World Heavyweight Champion Shane Strickland the first talent confirmed to have signed a long term deal with the promotion.[10] On September 19, it was announced that MLW signed another deal with beIN Sports Spanish to air MLW Fusion in Spanish.[11]

Touring and TV tapings

In the beginning, MLW would hold one show a month, originally from the Viking Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the original home of MLW before the revival in 2018. However, by the end of 2002, MLW began running two shows a month in, but also in 2003, multiple shows in a weekend were held in New York. The first time MLW left New York was December 20, 2002, for MLW King Of Kings from the War Memorial Auditorium in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Although primarily focusing on the Florida but the promotion didn't held more due to closing its doors in 2004.[12]

In 2018, MLW announced their revival by running shows back in Florida and also returning to New York following their successful deal with BeIN Sports. MLW's touring pattern changed drastically. Instead of running regular shows in cities where the company had a following, MLW began focusing more on cities that carry its television show.[13][14][15][16] On September 18, it was announced that MLW would do shows and tapings in Chicago.[17]

MLW Radio Network

MLW returned with a changed business model in 2011, focusing exclusively on producing broadcast and digital content within the professional wrestling category."[18] MLW Radio Network has grown to consistently have 5-6 podcasts in the top iTunes 100 in the sports category on the average day.[2] Many prominent professional wrestling figures currently appear on the MLW Radio Network, including former WWE and WCW wrestlers Kevin Sullivan, Jim Duggan and MVP, former WWE executive Bruce Prichard, former WCW commentator Tony Schiavone and former WCW President Eric Bischoff.

Contracts

In 2018, after the promotion was revived, MLW signed some talent to exclusive contracts.[19] It also gave MLW power over the performers' dates, but their wrestlers are allowed to perform for other promotions, but they have to prioritize on MLW's dates.[19] These contracts give MLW as much power over their roster as a WWE contract.[19]

Most of the talent in Major League Wrestling are independent contractors and appear in other companies such as Impact Wrestling, Lucha Underground, New Japan Pro Wrestling, Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide and Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre.[19]

Championships

Current

ChampionshipCurrent champion(s)ReignDate wonDays heldLocationNotes
MLW World Heavyweight Championship Low Ki 1 July 12, 2018 100 Orlando, Florida Defeated Shane Strickland at MLW Fusion
MLW World Tag Team Championship Lucha Brothers
(Penta el Zero M and Rey Fenix)		 1 June 7, 2018 135 Orlando, Florida Defeated Jason Cade and Jimmy Yuta and The Dirty Blondes to become the new champions at MLW Fusion.
MLW World Middleweight Championship Maxwell Jacob Friedman 1 June 7, 2018 135 Queens, New York Defeated Joey Ryan to become the inaugural champion at Battle Riot.

Former

ChampionshipDate of entryFirst champion(s)Date retiredFinal champion(s)Days activeNotes
MLW World Junior Heavyweight Championship September 19, 2003 Sonjay Dutt February 13, 2004 Sonjay Dutt 144 Dutt defeated Christopher Daniels to win the title in a tournament final. The title was no longer listed as active after the company stopped hosting events.

Other accomplishments

Accomplishment Latest winner(s) Date won Location Notes
Battle Riot Tom Lawlor June 7, 2018 Queens, New York Last eliminated Jake Hager to win.

Notes

  1. ↑ "Court Bauer (@courtbauer) - Twitter". twitter.com.
  2. 1 2 "ABOUT MLW". 17 April 2017.
  3. ↑ https://www.miamiherald.com/sports/fighting/article216946070.html http://archive.is/1QeRq
  4. 1 2 3 "MLW history 2". Cagematch. September 17, 2018. Retrieved September 17, 2018.
  5. ↑ "MLW Underground announces new deal". SLAM! Sports. April 23, 2003. Retrieved August 13, 2012.
  6. 1 2 "MLW history2". Cagematch. September 17, 2018. Retrieved September 17, 2018.
  7. ↑ "EVENTS". 17 April 2017.
  8. ↑ Reddick, Jay. "Major League Wrestling announces more Orlando shows in 2018".
  9. ↑ "How to watch MLW Fusion on beIN SPORTS starting this Friday". 18 April 2018.
  10. ↑ "MLW Signs Shane Strickland to Long-Term Contract, Moving to Sign Other Talents - 411MANIA". 411mania.com.
  11. ↑ "MLW SIGNS DEAL TO LAUNCH SPANISH LANGUAGE VERSION OF FUSION, NEW SIGNINGS, CHANGES TO SCHEDULE, PILLMAN AND MORE NEWS". Pro Wrestling Insider. September 19, 2018. Retrieved 2018-09-19.
  12. ↑ "Major League Wrestling (MLW)". Cagematch.net. Retrieved September 18, 2018.
  13. ↑ Namako, Jason (April 26, 2018). "Matches set for 5/3 MLW Fusion TV Taping in Orlando". Retrieved September 16, 2018.
  14. ↑ Johnson, Mike (April 28, 2018). "SIX MAN TAG ADDED TO STACKED MLW MAY 3RD MLW BEIN SPORTS TV TAPING IN ORLANDO". Retrieved September 16, 2018.
  15. ↑ Johnson, Mike (May 31, 2018). "MAIN EVENT ANNOUNCED FOR MLW NYC DEBUT NEXT MONTH". Retrieved September 18, 2018.
  16. ↑ Johnson, Mike (August 2, 2018). "BIG MLW TAG TITLE BOUT SET FOR NYC RETURN". PWInsider. Retrieved September 18, 2018.
  17. ↑ Johnson, Mike (September 18, 2018). "MLW TO DEBUT IN CHICAGO". PWInsider. Retrieved September 18, 2018.
  18. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2015-02-20. Retrieved 2015-02-15.
  19. 1 2 3 4 Johnson, Mike (March 26, 2018). "MLW TO DEBUT IN CHICAGO". PWInsider. Retrieved March 26, 2018.

References

  • "Major League Wrestling". OnlineWorldofWrestling.com.
  • "Roster". MLW.com. 2003. Archived from the original on December 10, 2003.
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