A huge announcement was recently made by MLW that they are headed to Vice TV, perhaps for a new show. MLW’s flagship show known as Fusion airs every Wednesday night at 7PM ET on YouTube, Fubo Sports, the Roku Channel, DAZN, and beIN SPORTS.
Back in January, a second MLW TV program was rumored to air, and at one point, the “MLW Rebellion” name was even teased as a possible name of the show.
Ahead of MLW’s premiere on Vice TV, MLW owner Court Bauer appeared as a guest on Wrestling Inc. Daily to talk more about MLW’s new TV deal with Vice TV as well as a possible second TV program. During his appearance, Bauer said they had a few talks with Vice TV, but then the pandemic hit and all the plans changed.
Bauer also said everything became a big question mark and also from their end, Vice TV wanted to know when they could run and they didn’t have those answers for awhile, but they were able to reignite the conversation down the road and they are really happy with that. Bauer then said ever since January it seemed like they just had some really interesting conversations that are still in play with Vice, and the other things they are working on. Bauer also said they are working on more than just this, but it is definitely a big one for them and they are excited about it.
This is what Court Bauer said:
“We had a few go arounds with them. We actually spoke with them first, with our agency, about last winter. So like, January/February of 2020. Then the pandemic hit, and everybody’s game plan for – whether on our side of the conversation or the network or streaming partner – it all changed.”
“Budgets got weird, ad dollars got weird; everything got weird. Everything became a big question mark. And also from our end, they wanted to know when we could run and we didn’t have those answers for awhile. So like a lot of conversations we hoped we could revisit them and move forward. We were able to reignite the conversation down the road and we’re really happy with that.”
“Ever since January it seemed like we’d just had some really interesting conversations that are still in play with other things we’re working on. We’re working on more than just this. But this is a big one for us; we’re excited about it.”
Bauer then talked about WWE’s deal with Peacock being the reason for MLW to land their deal with Vice TV. Bauer said WWE President Nick Khan did an amazing job of talking with Peacock about the upside of being in business with WWE and wrestling in general, which ultimately got them the deal, but he would also make things bigger for wrestling and get people warmed up and interested in the entire wrestling business.
This is what Court Bauer said:
“We had a few things hit. Some optimism, just ‘hey, there’s a vaccine, now there’s a few vaccines. Now there’s light at the end of the tunnel.’ Budgets start to thaw out a bit, which is nice. And then what happened which I thought was great was the Peacock deal. [WWE President] Nick Khan did an amazing job talking about the upside of being in business with WWE and wrestling in general. And really just, when he was doing the courtship for this tentpole deal, which ended up being a bigger and more ambitious deal with Peacock, part of the process was getting people warmed up and interested in wrestling. He did a hell of a job with his deals with Fox and of course with Peacock. And by saying they’re exiting conversations and completed their discussions, there’s still one free agent (MLW) left in the room. That was a great opportunity for us to knock on some doors or open conversations or reopen conversations. And that’s what’s keeping me busy to this day is keeping these conversations.”
“We have our broadcast deal, we have opportunities in the streaming space. But we also have opportunities still in the linear broadcasting/cable space. It’s like the NBA, NFL, PBC and boxing; it’s not necessarily one place you’re with. You can be with Fox, ESPN; you can be with all these different places, depending where you are. A league, and that’s the beauty of a sports league, can have many partners. And we’re really excited with the Vice partnership, because it just meshes perfectly with where we want to be with the product and the sensibility and culture of what they do.”
MLW’s premiere on Vice TV is set to take place on May 1st and Bauer confirmed that is definitely when MLW will show up and the fans will be able to see MLW.
This is what Court Bauer said:
“MLW’s presence will hit in May.” “We’re going to be putting that out, the exact date, very soon…you know what? F**k it; it’s May 1. That’s when you’re first going to see MLW. This isn’t like new footage, it’s just the library so you can see the 2020 stuff.”
You can check out the trailer below:
