MLW Head Court Bauer took part in a media call to promote tomorrow's Fightland Vice TV broadcast.
Bauer thanked everyone for covering the event and thanked everyone for all the coverage since they restarted MLW four years ago in Orlando. They are excited to have a moment during the very exciting time professional wrestling is having.
Bauer was asked about the potential of a live, weekly MLW series. They have a lot of things on the board right now but they are focusing on the special. They are looking at different ways to present wrestling. They are going to tap into news and do news segments.
Bauer was asked about Bray Wyatt and Braun Strowman being free agents. Bauer said he's had conversations with Bray's brother but he seemed to be more interested in farming right now. They have spoken with Braun but didn't come to terms. That doesn't mean they won't come to terms down the line. It's a delicate thing to balance whether a talent makes sense for their audience. 90% of their talent are signed but the other 10% are free agents who can come in and out and try things out.
Bauer was asked about WWE passing on Jacob Fatu and Alexander Hammerstone, leaving the door for MLW to lock them in. Bauer said sometimes you are shocked by it but having been in WWE, sometimes WWE doesn't see things culturally or from a talent perspective. He used CM Punk as an example as someone WWE wasn't immediately high on signing. He said WWE passed on Fatu due to past issues but they had also signed MVP in the past so it doesn't make sense to pass on someone who can be an asset. He signed Fatu and Hammerstone to new deals during the pandemic. He wants the talent to grow when the company grows.
Court was asked the women's division and how frequently will fans see that division. Bauer said his plan is to one day, have the women have their own dedicated league and not have to share any time with the men. They are starting with a featherweight division and they want to expand from there.
Bauer was asked about the Azteca Underground integration. They don't want to superserve it today and not have it ready for the future. He's got an affinity for lucha having working for AAA and as a consultant for Lucha Underground it. They are just rolling it out.
Bauer was asked about Philadelphia as a potential home base given the COVID-19 landscape and why he chose the 2300 Arena. They were looking at where they could have the health of talent, fans and crew safe with the right guidelines and enforcement. They looked at the 2300 Arena, where he ran his first show at 22 and what he liked was their own COVID compliance office and health guidelines. Philly was the last major Northeast city to open up and they were very strict plus they have a tough Athletic Commission. They will be at the Arena regularly except in December as the venue had so many make-good dates there wasn't a date for MLW. They intend it to be their home and for fans to even be able to stop by there to buy shirts there even MLW isn't running.
Bauer was asked about running Mexico before the pandemic. He was directing the show remotely as he couldn't travel as they were negotiating with DAZN. They thought at the time maybe they'd be doing 4-6 weeks, then 12 weeks and then the world changed. They hope to do something internationally in a Latin American country in December but it all depends on COVID and wait until its just before to make the call. If not, then next year, for sure, because strategically, he has to battle two billionaires so he has to be creative and this is a way to do that, plus he's familiar with that market. They want to keep building out their Spanish Language content over the next year. They are talking to international promotions about having title bouts in MLW. Building relationships can be complicated and risky, because you can't always control the "creative fort" 100% of how talents are used elsewhere. Working with each company is different.
The plan down the line is to give the women their own show but you need a media rights deal to underwrite that and make it work so they can have 100% representation on their own show.
When asked about younger talent to keep an eye on, Bauer praised Alex Kane, Aramis, Myron Reed and Arez. They have lots of new talent popping up on Fusion: Alpha, like Calvin Tankman.
Bauer was asked what he's learned from when he first started the earliest era of MLW. He said he couldn't really book yet as he hadn't honed his interested. Gary Albright, Steve Williams, Afa mentored him. Terry Funk and Gary Hart would help teach him. He learned a lot from Gary. Sometimes people in wrestling bust your balls when you ask questions but Gary allowed him to ask questions for hours on end. He was lost before Gary and Funk. They taught him so much and helped him learn. Every experience, good and bad, helps you take the experience and bring the knowledge weaned from it forward. Even if something doesn't go well, you can use it going forward.
Court was asked to compared Fightland to the original event he promoted. Bauer said the hype is similar and its the biggest match they've ever promoted. Wrestling is about hype and then the collision course. There will be a big collision in the main event of Fightland.
Bauer said he wouldn't trade the journey of the company at all. The plan for this match was laid out in February 2020 but they had to wait until it was right ti unpause production from the pandemic.
Bauer was asked about MLW on the West Coast. They were supposed to do LA in the mid-late 2020 and now it's all dependent on each State and the pandemic.
Alexander Hammerstone fought through a badly sprained ankle suffered early in the bout with Fatu but worked through the match. Nicole Savoy need a few weeks for her sternum injury and she'll be fine. TJP tweaked his knee and it doesn't look to be series. Court joked he also tweaked his knee running around. He said Alexander Hammerstone's girlfriend greeting him on stage after the show went off the air was one of the most emotional moments ever in wrestling.
In terms of hope for the viewership for tomorrow's special, if they can reatain 40-50% of the audience from Dark Side of the Ring, he'd be happy.
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