Major League Wrestling

Major League Wrestling (MLW) is an American wrestling promotion created by former WWE writer Court Bauer in 2002. It launched in Philadelphia at a time when WCW and ECW had closed, and fans were looking for an alternative to WWE.

MLW promotes itself as “Hybrid Wrestling”. You see hard hitting American brawls, the stiff strikes and intensity often used in Japan, and the fast, acrobatic moves of Mexican lucha libre. The company later settled its operations in New York, with its current headquarters in New Rochelle.

In its first run, MLW focused on live events and television. Early cards were held at venues like the Viking Hall in Philadelphia, then expanded into New York and Florida. The promotion produced a weekly television series called MLW Underground TV, which aired on the Sunshine Network from April 2003 to February 2004.

The show featured many former ECW names, as well as independent and international talent, and gave MLW a distinct identity as a hard hitting alternative product. Financial and industry challenges caught up with the promotion, and by 2004 it had stopped running events and gone dormant.

The MLW name stayed alive through audio rather than live shows. In 2011, Bauer launched the MLW Radio podcast, which quickly expanded into the MLW Radio Network. The network hosted a large number of wrestling podcasts, including shows with personalities like Bruce Prichard, Tony Schiavone, and Jim Cornette.

For several years, MLW existed mainly as this media brand, with the original match library and podcast network keeping the name in front of fans.

In 2017, MLW returned as a full-time wrestling promotion. The comeback began with the One-Shot event in Orlando, followed by a regular schedule of shows. The company then secured a weekly television deal with beIN Sports for MLW Fusion, which premiered in April 2018.

Fusion helped establish new stars, introduced concepts like the Battle Riot match, and supported new championships, like the MLW National Openweight Title. MLW also formed partnerships with groups like Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide in Mexico and IWA Puerto Rico, which brought in more international wrestlers and allowed shared use of certain championships.

The COVID 19 pandemic in 2020 forced MLW to pause live events, but the promotion stayed visible through archive shows like MLW Anthology and a digital series called Pulp Fusion. It then returned to tapings in closed venues before resuming a touring schedule. At the same time, MLW pursued new media agreements, including streaming deals with DAZN and Fubo, a short 2023 run of MLW Underground Wrestling on Reelz, and a move to FITE+ for live specials and Fusion episodes.

In recent years, MLW has continued to expand through partnerships, cross-promotional events with CMLL, and regular specials on cable and digital platforms, positioning itself as a stable mid-size promotion in the modern wrestling landscape.