Formation and first closure (2002–2004) Following the closures and acquisitions of
World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and
Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) by the
World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now known as the WWE) in 2001, Major League Wrestling (MLW) was founded in 2002. Shortly after its founding, the promotion spent three months moving its headquarters from
Philadelphia to
New York. MLW styled itself as an alternative to
WWE's
sports entertainment, following in the tradition of ECW. In 2003, MLW again moved its base of operations to
Florida, and negotiated a deal with
Sunshine Network to air a television series titled
Underground TV, which ran between April 7, 2003, and February 14, 2004. After shuttering in 2004 , Major League Wrestling returned in 2011 as a podcast network, initially focused on producing broadcast and digital content relating to the
professional wrestling industry. Many prominent professional wrestling figures have appeared on the network, including former
WWE and
WCW stars
Kevin Sullivan,
Jim Duggan,
MVP, current WWE executive
Bruce Prichard, former WCW and current
AEW commentator
Tony Schiavone, former WCW and WWE manager
Jim Cornette, and former WCW President and WWE executive
Eric Bischoff.
Revival (2017–present) Return and expansion In 2017, MLW announced that it would once again be promoting wrestling events. Tickets for its first event,
MLW One-Shot, went on sale on July 21, 2017. In the same year, MLW announced it would run more shows in Orlando in 2018. Given the success of its independent outings, MLW was able to secure a television deal with
beIN Sports for a new program, titled
MLW Fusion, which debuted on April 20, 2018, on
beIN Sports USA. Its first episode featured
Pentagon Jr. against
Fenix as the main event. In July 2018, the inaugural
Battle Riot aired as a
Fusion television special. MLW began introducing contracts as part of its growth strategy. In August, the promotion started a working agreement with Mexican-based promotion
Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (AAA). On September 19, it was announced that MLW expanded its partnership with beIN Sports to air
Fusion in
Spanish. In October, MLW announced a Halloween-themed
Fusion television special, and announced the signings of
PCO and Richard Holliday as full-time members of the roster on October 18. It was also reported that Court Bauer and several MLW executives would travel to
Monaco for Sportel, with intentions of making a big push internationally. On November 29, Bauer announced that
Fusion would be broadcast live on beIN Sports on December 14. This coincided with the two-day television tapings in Miami: "Never Say Never" and "Zero Hour"; the live episode was an hour of "Zero Hour"'s events. MLW continued to air live
Fusion specials throughout 2019, including
SuperFight in February and
Intimidation Games in March. The company brought former manager
Jim Cornette on as a color commentator starting March 2, 2019. He continued to work for the company for
Rise of the Renegades,
Battle Riot II, and
Fury Road. In addition to SuperFight and Intimidation Games,
Rise of the Renegades and
Battle Riot II were all revealed to have sold out. In April 2019, MLW moved its operations into a corporate office building in
New Rochelle, New York. On April 18, MLW announced the creation of a new title: the
MLW National Openweight Championship, with the inaugural champion to be crowned during
Fury Road in
Waukesha, Wisconsin. In June 2019,
International Wrestling Association (IWA-PR) owner
Savio Vega was brought in as an on-air talent and backstage agent. This working relationship resulted in the use of the
IWA Caribbean Heavyweight Championship in MLW storylines. On August 18, 2019, MLW teased the formation of its women's division, later announcing its official launch on October 18, 2019. The division's first official match would be later held at
MLW Blood and Thunder on November 9, 2019. On July 5, it was announced that MLW would hold its first
pay-per-view event,
Saturday Night SuperFight, which would be held on November 2. On July 26, MLW announced a working agreement with Japanese-based promotion
Pro Wrestling Noah, which would include a talent-exchange agreement and content collaboration between the two promotions. On August 8, MLW announced that it had reached a new deal with
FITE TV to carry MLW pay-per-view events, with the first event being Saturday Night SuperFight. Four days later, MLW announced a working relationship with Mexican-based promotion
The Crash Lucha Libre termed as a "strategic alliance". On August 23, MLW and The Crash announced they would co-promote their first event on October 5 at the Auditorio Fausto Gutierrez in
Tijuana,
Mexico. On February 1, 2020, MLW announced a working relationship with Japanese promotion
Dragon Gate (DG), which would include a talent-exchange between the two promotions.
Effects of COVID-19 After
AAA vs MLW on March 13, 2020, MLW took a six-month hiatus due to the
COVID-19 pandemic. On April 21, MLW announced it had begun digitizing the 2003–2004 tape library, including the complete run of
MLW Underground TV. On April 30, MLW announced a limited series titled
MLW Anthology to air on Bein Sports starting May 16, 2020. Following the last episode of
Fusion on May 9, 2020, a new digital spinoff series titled
Pulp Fusion would launch on MLW's
YouTube channel beginning on May 29, 2020. On June 9, 2020, MLW reached a new media rights deal to stream its programming on
DAZN. CEO Court Bauer also announced during the same month that reruns of
MLW Underground TV would air on Bein Sports throughout the summer. In August 2020, MLW announced that
Fusion TV tapings would resume in October of that year. On September 10, it was announced that
MLW Fusion would move to Wednesday nights on
fubo Sports Network. On October 10, it was revealed that
Fusion would return on November 18 at 7pm EST and new episodes would also premiere on MLW's YouTube channel on the same night. In October 2020, MLW announced a "strategic alliance" with IWA-PR for the "celebration of inter-promotional events, direct support to the events of each of the companies and collaboration in other types of promotions". MLW would also began incorporating story elements from the now-defunct Lucha Libre promotion and television drama,
Lucha Underground, into an angle involving IWA-PR. Talent formally associated with
Lucha Underground were brought into MLW as part of the "Azteca Underground" stable. In April 2021, MLW announced a television deal with
Vice TV. A block of MLW programming, including reruns of
Fusion, began airing on Saturdays starting May 1. The agreement would further expand when it was announced on September 17 that Vice would air
MLW Fightland as a television special on October 7. On the April 21, episode of
MLW Fusion, Bauer announced that MLW's "new season" would begin on July 10, 2021, at the
2300 Arena in
Philadelphia. Later revealed to be
Battle Riot III, the event would be MLW's first since the pandemic to have a live audience in attendance. On April 29, 2021, MLW announced a partnership with
Revolution Pro Wrestling. In June 2021,
Wrestling Observer reported that MLW had ended its deal with DAZN. it was also reported that MLW had begun taping content in
Los Angeles for a spinoff series that would "resemble
Lucha Underground", with plans to film vignettes in the summer and matches in the fall. It would later be revealed on August 4, 2021, that MLW had signed a deal to produce a new series centered around Azteca Underground, featuring a different roster from that seen on
MLW Fusion. In an update during
Wrestling Observer Radio on November 1, 2021, Meltzer reported that tapings for the series were cancelled because MLW was unable to secure a TV deal. On July 7, 2021, it was announced that
Shimmer Women Athletes co-founder
Dave Prazak had joined MLW to help relaunch its women's division; later to be announced in September as the
MLW Women's Featherweight division. During the television premiere of
Battle Riot III on July 24, 2021, MLW announced a new season of
Fusion to air on "a new home" in the Fall, and a new, four-part mini-series titled
MLW Fusion: Alpha. Initially announced to air in August,
Fusion: Alpha was later announced as "a new season and series from MLW" to premiere on September 22 on MLW's YouTube channel, and would air on Saturdays and Mondays on Bein Sports. On December 7, 2021, MLW announced a new "anthology mini-series" titled
MLW Azteca to premiere on Thursday, January 6, 2022, on MLW's YouTube channel and
FITE TV.
WWE lawsuit and new partnerships On January 11, 2022, MLW filed an
anti-trust lawsuit against
WWE, accusing it of interfering in television and streaming deals and poaching talent. Through the lawsuit, it was disclosed that a streaming deal with
Fox Corporation–owned
Tubi was terminated due to WWE allegedly threatening to pull its programming from the sibling
Fox broadcast network. The suit also alleged that WWE pressured Vice TV to withdraw from negotiations with MLW. In February 2023, the lawsuit was dismissed due to a lack of "sufficient facts to plausibly allege a relevant antitrust product market" and that its "allegations are insufficient to plausibly allege a relevant product market." MLW was given 21 days to file an amendment to its lawsuit. On July 5, 2022, MLW announced a new broadcast deal with Ayozat TV in the
United Kingdom. Two days later, MLW announced an expanded agreement with
beIN Sports USA to carry the promotion's programming on BeIN Sports Xtra, both through its FAST channel and across its
over-the-air television station affiliates, on Friday nights. On October 11, 2022, MLW announced a partnership with
streaming platform Pro Wrestling TV (PWTV), bringing the promotion's programming library to the service. The partnership began on November 3, with the premiere of the
Battle Riot IV event.
MLW Fusion would return for a new season the following week on November 10. On January 20, 2023, MLW announced a new broadcast deal with
Reelz in the United States, with a new weekly flagship show titled
MLW Underground Wrestling premiering on February 7. In February, Reelz reached an agreement with
NBCUniversal-owned streaming service
Peacock for the network's programming and live feed to be carried on the service. However, due to a pre-existing exclusivity agreement with WWE, MLW programming was
blacked out on Reelz's live feed on the service. On February 28,
Variety reported that MLW's deal with Reelz would conclude after 10 weeks. However, in a statement made to PWInsider, the network confirmed that "No decisions have been made by MLW or REELZ and we are both committed to a good outcome for MLW, its fans and REELZ." On March 7, MLW filed an amended lawsuit against WWE, citing WWE's alleged interference with the promotion's deal with Reelz. In March 2023, MLW reached an agreement with the Premier Streaming Network to distribute
MLW Underground Wrestling outside of the U.S. On May 2, 2023, a new partnership with FITE was announced, in which MLW would produce live specials for subscribers to FITE+. The first event under this deal was
Never Say Never on July 8. It would be MLW's first live broadcast since the 2019
Saturday Night SuperFight pay-per-view event, which had also been carried by FITE. On the August 24, 2023 episode of
Fusion, MLW announced a new partnership with
New Japan Pro-Wrestling would begin at
Fury Road on September 3, 2023. On December 11, 2023, MLW and WWE reached a settlement in the former's antitrust lawsuit. MLW's lawsuit was dismissed with prejudice on December 26, 2023. In January 2024, MLW revamped its event schedule to air two events every month: a live, premium event for Triller TV+ subscribers, and a free,
taped TV special for Bein Sports and MLW's YouTube channel.
MLW Azteca Lucha, the promotion's first event to take place at Cicero Stadium since Saturday Night SuperFight in November 2019, would break MLW's all-time
box office record with the announcement that tickets were sold out on April 29. Ahead of
Battle Riot VI on June 1, it was reported that MLW would be moving its streaming events to its
YouTube channel as part of the rollout of its membership program. This ended the promotion's partnership with Triller TV. On June 26, 2024, David Marquez (founder of
Championship Wrestling and the
United Wrestling Network) was announced as MLW's new head of production. It was also announced that David Sahadi (who previously worked for
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling) has joined MLW's production crew. Both would later depart MLW. ==Touring and TV tapings==