Why is MLW suing WWE?
MLW (Major League Wrestling) is far from a WWE competitor, but they still are an alternative product. Court Bauer's wrestling promotion, which has been responsible for producing some big homegrown stars, has now filed a lawsuit against WWE. There are numerous reasons for it.
WWE has long-dominated the wrestling market worldwide. Since its takeover of WCW in 2001, the promotion has been viewed as a monopoly. It's only had legitimate competition again after the emergence of All Elite Wrestling (AEW) as the #2 promotion in the United States.
But for MLW and Court Bauer, things are a lot grimmer. They have accused WWE of maintaining its dominance by "poaching talent, misappropriating confidential information, interfering with competitors’ contracts and cutting off competitors’ access to their viewing audiences." In a statement, CEO Court Bauer revealed his intentions behind the lawsuit against WWE:
"WWE has been wrongfully depriving its competitors of critical opportunities for many years, but its latest conduct has been even more unconscionable.” I think we speak for the rest of the professional wrestling world when we say that this anti-competitive behavior has to stop."
The lawsuit came about because of two specific incidents. One of which was when they secured a reportedly "lucrative" deal with Fox-owned streaming service Tubi. WWE has been accused of calling FOX Executives and demanding that they terminate the deal with MLW and Tubi, threatening to pull all WWE-related content and end their agreement if it didn't go through. Just days before they were set to air on Tubi, the deal was canceled and it resulted in big losses for the company.
The other instance was when they were in a business relationship with VICE. WWE Senior Vice President Susan Levison reportedly called VICE Executives to say that Vince McMahon was "pissed" that they were entering an agreement to air MLW programming.
While the executive fired back at Levison by stating that what she was doing was illegal, Levison reportedly responded by saying that she couldn't control McMahon.
@MLW are suing @WWE alleging Anti-Trust that WWE executives interfered in and prevented transformative streaming and television deals.
#MLW #WWE https://t.co/qQbO1mFCiW
How did WWE block VICE from airing MLW content?
10PM TONIGHT. @VICETV. https://t.co/JDeUhfOMNh
The lawsuit has revealed that VICE programming is only expanding, and that wrestling is a crucial part of their growth. The wrestling audience is viewed as an important one, which is why VICE supposedly "needs" WWE.
The lawsuit went on to state that because of the interference from WWE, VICE withdrew from negotiations and is now only airing a single MLW program. Both this and the Tubi incident reportedly cost them a lot of money, as well as preventing them from reaching a broader fanbase.
Broadcast deals are now the biggest revenue source for wrestling promotions, with the lawsuit stating that "90%" of WWE's revenue in the first half of 2021 was from their lucrative network deals.