MLW nearly became a Paramount property in 2025 — until the UFC beat them to it. Founder Court Bauer told Wrestling Observer Radio that Major League Wrestling was “at the one-yard line” of a deal that would have put the promotion on Paramount as a live weekly series starting in fall 2025.
Court Bauer (Credits: Fightful)
“The company they were talking about last year at Paramount, prior to the Skydance acquisition, was MLW,” Bauer revealed. “Those talks started around the time of our LA show; we met with them in April-ish of 2025. It moved fast, and we had the deal pretty much laid out; we were just waiting on standby through June and July.”
MLW Paramount Deal Collapsed After UFC’s Historic Agreement
Then the rug was pulled. In August 2025, UFC and Paramount announced a historic deal putting all UFC events — including pay-per-views — on Paramount+ with no extra charge. Bauer woke up to the news like everyone else.
“One morning we woke up to a Variety press release that said ‘UFC Deal (with Paramount),’” Bauer said. His contact, Jesse Siskal — who has since left Skydance for Redbird Capital — told him, “No one was aware of this deal. It happened at a very high level.” Strategies shifted, and MLW, which never had contracts signed, was left stranded: “We were at the one-yard line.”
Where MLW Stands Now
MLW now airs on Tubi, VEEPS, YouTube, and other platforms, and the promotion is gearing up for its Saturday Night SuperFight event on November 7. Bauer took the loss in stride: “I’m not going to bitch, it’s just another day in the business.” But the revelation shows just how close MLW came to a transformative TV home.
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Source: Fightful — read the full story there.