Show: Wrestling Epicenter
Guest: Court Bauer
Date: 10/05/2026
Your Host: "Arizona" James Walsh

MLW returns to pay per view for the first time in 7 years on Saturday night, November 7th via VEEPS. If you don't know VEEPS, I have ordered a pay per view from them before. Stephen Pearcy, the voice of Ratt, did a concert through them during the pandemic and I was craving live music in the worst way. Now, VEEPS is venturing into pro wrestling with MLW Saturday Night Superfight! Well, as MLW prepares for tomorrow's huge event, their owner, a Wanted Man named Court Bauer, was ready to go Round and Round with the media as we Lay It Down, "it" being the tough questions! We at the Wrestling Epicenter were proud to be a part of the festivities. It was Dangerous but Worth the Risk! And, we hope you find it Way Cool Junior! Sorry, VEEPS has me talking in Ratt song titles. 

Without the schtick, Court did answer everyone's questions and was as down to Earth and honest as can be in doing so. We transcribed a few highlights below including our question. So, check it out. And, if you want to watch the whole thing, the YouTube video is down below. 

MLW Saturday Night Superfight streams live on VEEPS pay per view tomorrow night. Check out www.MLW.com for more details.

Check out www.WrestlingEpicenter.com for mroe great content! Over 900 interviews, news, and our store. Buy somethin', will ya? Nobody Rides for Free, after all!

YouTube link: https://youtu.be/u5ZtvHpxdSk

COURT BAUER:

Joe Dombrowski: All right, I want to welcome everybody into this MLW Major League Wrestling media conference. It's a really exciting time here in MLW, and it's my pleasure to to be here with all of you. Thank you for joining us. My name is Joe Dombrowski, and uh we're going to help guide you along uh over the next several minutes for uh what's going to be a monumental time for Major League Wrestling coming up this Saturday, uh November the 7th. It's Saturday Night SuperFight. It's MLW's return to pay-per-view after a seven-year absence, and uh all fans are able to be a part of it on MLW.vps.com. And uh it's a stellar card that is headlined by a Last Man Standing match for the MLW World Championship, Killer Cross, to be challenged by Josh Bishop, the national championship on the line as Austin Aries takes on Matt Riddle. It's a Chicago Street Fight for the MLW Tag Team titles, as the Good Brothers have revenge on their mind against the Briscoe boys. Tessa Blanchard, major star from CMLL, makes her MLW in-ring debut against a frequent rival south of the border, Kade. New Japan Pro Wrestling's Yota Tsuji to take on Trevor Lee, and Samia and Masha one-on-one, plus of course, the legendary, iconic Mystico will be there. He will be far from the only Lucha Libre representation. Ultimo Guerrero, Titán, Teplario, uh also signed to appear, and uh you never know what you're going to see for Major League Wrestling. We choose violence, and styles make fights. And the architect of so much of that is joining us right now as I welcome in uh the one, the only MLW CEO, Court Bauer. Court, how are you today, sir?

Court Bauer: Hey Joe, what's going on? I want to thank everyone for joining us today for a very exciting big fight week for us because this Saturday, as Joe said, Saturday Night SuperFight, and uh we're really pumped. This has been a big year. Um a lot of things were kind of in a holding pattern until uh we kind of got the distribution deal set, ready, and launched. And that kicked off really in June with uh with Vps and that announcement of our partnership with Live Nation and Vps. And we were then set the path for what would happen in the fall with Tubi and Amazon Prime and all these great opportunities. And of course, the biggest thing is going live, which this is going to be a big part of our future. And so we're really excited to kick it off with Saturday Night SuperFight and talk to everyone today about it.

Joe Dombrowski: Yeah, Court, I think Vps is something that uh to some wrestling fans may have been a blind spot, and they maybe don't understand uh the scope and the magnitude of what this relationship entails. Um to those that are unaware, what is Vps and why is this relationship so important between Vps and MLW?
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Court Bauer: Yeah, Vps is an incredible premium streaming service. They stream concerts and music and entertainment, and recently got into comedy. Um, and it started about 10-11 years ago, uh for those familiar with Good Charlotte, they launched this service for artists, and then during COVID, it just took off because of the limitations of touring. And they partnered with Live Nation, and now Live Nation uh runs this with uh the Madden Brothers. And, you know, you go there now, you'll see the who's who big bands, whether it's Three Days Grace, Ghost, Bad Omens, all those bands playing uh live concerts there. And they have an access to a library of just who's who when it comes to uh to these artists. It's it's pretty impressive. And, of course, part of that is now building out. And so you look at sports and you look at the opportunities there, and uh we were one of those first meetings, and that started about 18 months ago when we were doing a show in LA, and uh we quickly figured out that there's a future with Vps and Live Nation given with where they're going, where we're going, and giving all the changes, especially for for for fans that want to watch pay-per-view and live premium events, uh this year's been a year that's kind of been, you know, a challenge for folks. And we looked this is this is the perfect opportunity, perfect partner for us to enter with people that really know what they're doing in the streaming world, uh and Live Nation is just incredible when it comes to marketing, when it comes to all the resources that come along with their ecosystem. Um, whether it's Ticketmaster, whether it's their, you know, their outlets like Revolver. So it's been a really positive relationship and partnership, and this year's been about growth, it's about setting those deals, and now building out our future. And uh Vps is a great part of that. Uh you can stream Vps and access the show, whether it's through your if you have Roku, they have a Vps app there. If you have Fire TV, they have a Vps app you can watch there, or Samsung TVs, or Google, or on your phone, on iOS. They're everywhere, they have massive distribution, and so uh you can also watch on browser vps.com and get the show. So, it's really easy to access, and uh they've been growing incredible their scale's been huge the last few years, and so it felt like a good opportunity for us and hopefully for fans, really easy to watch, and really economical. 1995 is the price today. Goes up day of show, so get those pre-ordered uh those pre-orders in today uh through Friday because it's uh you want you want to get that value, and we're big believers in value.

Joe Dombrowski: No doubt. And uh, you know, one of the reasons I'm so excited, Court, we talked about that this is the first time MLW's done pay-per-view in in seven years. This that predates my time in the company. So it's exciting for me as well, especially uh a wrestling town like Chicago, where that crowd is going to be so electric. Um, why is now the right time to make that leap back into pay-per-view and what does Saturday mean for MLW and for you?

Court Bauer: Yeah, I think, you know, part of our strategy was to build out distribution this year. So Tubi, which is has 100 million users per month, which is bigger than Paramount Plus and bigger than HBO Max combined, that gives us the the platform, the pipeline, right there to broaden our audience, grow our audience, not be the best kept secret anymore, but be easily accessible without a subscription fee. And Amazon, and then now we have Vps giving us that live window because I think wrestling's a lot of fun, a little dangerous when you go live. So, we're really excited to return to Chicago, which hosted our last pay-per-view in November of 2019, and bring the next Saturday Night SuperFight, and we hope the next of many to come. So, we're really excited our talent's been really excited. They've been working working hard this this whole this whole year and building this with us. And so it's a it's a great opportunity for our talent, it's a great opportunity for our fans to watch us live worldwide and experience MLW. So, and we're really pumped for it.

Joe Dombrowski: No doubt, and that Chicago crowd it it is going to be electric. Um, before we get into our questions, Court, I'm just curious, is there one match you're looking forward to more than anything this weekend?

Court Bauer: Um, yeah. I mean, I think the main event is a match that just an interesting combination of a major star versus a guy ascending who's just been killing it for us this year and getting himself over with Josh Bishop and Killer Cross, a Last Man Standing match as that match is played out on MLW Fusion Weekly. You've seen their feud from Chattanooga where they ripped apart a ring, to New York City where Killer Cross got rag dolled by Josh and then pinned by Josh Bishop, and you hear the crowd start to go from booing Josh to actually allowing fist bumping him and being into Josh Bishop. And I love in wrestling when you see that ascension, a new guy comes in and parts the see and the spotlight's on him, and it's his moment to shine, and does he live up to it or not? And it's big pressure, big stakes. It's a big super fight. So, I think that match to me really pretty much is MLW and it crystallizes what MLW is about, too. It's like the cradle of combat, a lot of ways where you see the next era ascend, but you also got this incredible talent like Killer Cross, who has been everywhere, done everything, uh and is our our world champion's done an incredible job as the flag bearer for MLW this year. And to see those two on a collision course, based on how it's escalated, it it it feels like a real big super fight. But then you have the debut of Tessa, uh and that's something that's been long in the works. So we're excited for her debut. And then you have a Chicago Street Fight with the Good Brothers and G-Bo, and then you have a a a incredible representation from New Japan and CMLL with Yota Tsuji making his debut and Mystico in the house and all these other talented luchadors. So, you know, it's a it's a hard one to pick. It's like, you know, pick your favorite child kind of thing. I I don't want to select one, but, you know, the main event's the main event, right?

Arizona James: Oh cool. Thank you guys, and I want to thank you all for doing this. Um, a lot of great questions were asked. Some of the more on my little note sheet here, but one that wasn't was MLW has always found a way to get the most out of people with strong personalities that maybe had personality clashes in other territories, other companies. What is it about MLW that makes these people fit in and allows you guys to get the best out of these talents that certainly have a lot to give?

Court Bauer: Yeah, it, it's, it's just a, it's a something that has kind of been my thing you, you see kind of sometimes stumble on your thing. And, you know, it's, everyone in the business, like operates with a certain code and you just got to, you know, decode that, like understand them and speak their language. And a lot of times people don't have the patience, don't have the time, or things move too fast, you know, if you're doing weekly live shows, it's harder. Uh, and you have so many other people now knocking on your door, but like I try to knock on the door and, and get a sense for these guys of, you know, what's going on, what motivates you. You know, and, and you know, they're all creative. They're all creative people, passionate people and, you know, being able to express that and get what their goals are out there, uh, on the screen, in the ring, that's important. It just takes time and having the right process to get that through. And I think for us also, you know, it's such a competitive landscape. So I look and see who are the undiscovered, under-valued, under-appreciated talent and then I target those guys. It's kind of like my, my version of Moneyball, I guess. And then I, you know, I built a really incredible roster from that and, you know, I, I believe like some of the talent too, it's like, you know, they've, they've sometimes found challenges or have done things that they regret, and I'm, you know, as a Christian, I believe in forgiveness. Um, and I believe that, you know, you can't judge everyone on, you know, the same level of like everything should be condemned, or give this guy a pass for everything. I think you got to look at case-by-case. There's a lot of grey in there. And so when you, you know, you talk to these guys, like, do they get it? Did they have they wrapped their head around it? Do they, do they, do they have they earned the forgiveness? Have they earned the second chance? Have they earned the third chance? I needed the second chance. I needed the third chance. We all f*** up. You can look at some of the biggest stars that everyone's loved in this business to guys that never got there, and there's not many that just are just innocent. There's something there and that's the, and that's, and that's the reality of it. So, you know, you want to see did they, did they make amends with folks? Did they make amends with themselves? Have they, have they figured it out? Did, have they had the epiphany? The light bulb go off. And then you talk to them, you get, you know, you give them that trust, you give them that opportunity, and you open the door, and you hope that that forgiveness is met with like just roaring success for them, for their fans, for MLW. Um, you know, it works out often pretty well for a, it's pretty good, it's a pretty good thing for us, but sometimes it hasn't worked out and, you know, you try, you know, that's all you can do. Um, but you know, it's again, it's like to the theme of like persistence and resilience, it's like, I'm a big, I'm a big believer in it and those that are willing to, you know, see themselves honestly and, and fix things and make adjustments in their lives, you know, I, I try to give them that shot and, you know, it's, I think it's important. I think there we live in a time where there's a lot of people with pitchforks and torches banging on doors and they just, they go around and they, they get them, and then that's it for them. It's like, well wait, some people that should be it, and that's there's no doubt about that, but there's times when they should get a second chance and there should be a conversation. And I think society's still trying to figure out how to navigate that, which is fair. You know, I've tried my own way and, you know, I, I feel for us it's worked, worked really well and for the talent hopefully it's enriched their lives and enriched their careers and given them and their fans, uh, another shot. So, you know, I think I think that's a big part of where I want to take MLW and it has been for a long time. Um, you know, it's, it's I think it's a part it should be a thing that more people do.