Court Bauer Weighs In On Rumored MLW-WWE Talks, Wrestling Being ‘Fluid’ Right Now

Court Bauer discussed the rumored talks between WWE and MLW, specifically whether and how they would be of benefit to MLW, in a new interview. As noted last week, a report from the WON said that WWE was in talks with MLW for a deal similar to the one they had with EVOLVE or ECW in the 1990s, which would see them send wrestlers in developmental, who aren’t working on NXT TV, to MLW to get some more experience. Bauer spoke with POST Wrestling’s John Pollock about the report and while he wouldn’t comment specifically on the rumors, he did talk about his approach to those kinds of alliances.

“I’m not going to comment on that stuff, but it’s an interesting time in the world,” Bauer said (per FIghtful). “There are a lot of things that haven’t been done since maybe the 70s with inter-promotional matches and stuff. We, of course, would be intrigued by it, but you have to look and see; what’s the long-term strategy, does it align with your goals, does it align with their goals, does it serve the fans, company and talent to the best of its ability or is it just a quick transactional thing and you’re just looking for the clout and headlines?”

He continued, “For me, I look at this and go, ‘I’m not even done with my media rights deals. I know the valuation of my company is only going to go up. I am not interested in selling. I’m not having any conversations about selling.’ That’s step one. Strategically, how does it mesh? What’s the upside and downside? That’s the stuff you evaluate and if so, you move forward. If not, the conversation disqualifies itself and you go in a different direction. We’ve had those conversations with other folks and we’ve had them with a lot of people. Some you’ll find it works better and it’s maybe a now or later conversation. Right now in wrestling, everything is fluid. The biggest goal I have right now is, how do I maximize awareness for the company so we’re not the best-kept secret in the game anymore? We know other promoters watch us and try to take our talent and ideas, but how do we get fans on a larger scale to know about us? That’s my focus now.”

MLW currently has agreements with other promotions, and has established a “Championship Committee” with Dragon Gate, Rev Pro and more.