Court Bauer Provides Update On MLW’s Return, NJPW Relationship

MLW CEO Court Bauer recently spoke to Sports Illustrated about a wide range of topics including when the promotion will return to putting on shows.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, MLW has halted holding events in order to maintain guidelines from health officials to keep everyone safe. In the meantime, MLW has been airing taped shows from before the outbreak and even archive footage.

“I will wait until we are sure it’s safe to return. We’re doing that for our fans, our athletes, and our crew, and all of their families. We do not want to put anyone at harm. We’ll see what the NBA looks like once they go live with their season, and we’re seeing what is happening with WWE. This [battle with COVID] is far from the rearview mirror. Our decision to proceed will be dictated by science and experts in the medical world. Until we know it’s safe, we’re going to be as judicious as possible.”

Tom Lawlor, who is under contract with MLW, is part of New Japan Pro Wrestling’s Lion’s Break Collision series on New Japan World. As a result, there’s been speculation as to whether the two promotions have a working relationship.

This potential working relationship was asked about and Bauer addressed whether there is a partnership.

“All I can say is that the arrangement was worked out office-to-office as opposed to independently. I’m a big fan of what New Japan is doing, and we’ll see where this relationship can take us.”

Bauer continued by stating that Lawlor had a talk with New Japan and they explained the process of sterilizing the rings and testing. Thus, he left it up to Lawlor as to whether he wanted to pursue this.

He added that there was no pressure on Lawlor to not work for NJPW as MLW talent has been performing elsewhere during this pandemic, but he always cautioned them to take all the safety measures possible for themselves and their families.