Court Bauer breaks his silence on MLW contracts.
On Jan. 15, ROH made headlines when they signed Independent star Rush to an exclusive deal. Rush had been positioned for a big push in MLW and was set to headline MLW's show on WrestleMania weekend against LA Park. By signing with ROH, he was immediately pulled from the MLW show. MLW reportedly tried to keep him through April 4 and the bout with LA Park, but a deal could not be reached.
With ROH swiping Rush from MLW, many questioned the legality of MLW contracts. MLW CEO Court Bauer cleared up any confusion on Rush's contract with MLW.
Our contracts are all legally binding. Rush, Brody and PCO were never under deals. Our contracts allow talent to do TV for all non-WWE companies. Why? We want them to get work. If they get more exposure, they win/fans win/promoters win.
— Court Bauer (@courtbauer) January 21, 2019
NJPW reportedly pushed CMLL owner Paco Alonso to have Rush sign with ROH. All three companies have a working relationship with one another. In light of these reports, Bauer commented on working with CMLL moving forward.
MLW has never had contracts talks with Dragon Lee. While I was told I can use other CMLL guys I was uncomfortable doing so. The only CMLL talent ever engaged was Rush. Once the political alliance demonstrated it was ironclad, @MLW moved away from CMLL talent.
— Court Bauer (@courtbauer) January 21, 2019
We're going to pretty much use talent we have signed or are tied to a strategic partner of ours to avoid this in the future.
— Court Bauer (@courtbauer) January 21, 2019
As mentioned by Bauer above, ROH has a history of signing MLW talent to exclusive deals. MLW used PCO and Brody King for big matches and the two were signed by ROH shortly after. ROH also reportedly tried to steal MLW talent prior to their first Fusion Live special on Dec. 14 but were unable to do so.
You can view Bauer's comments on MLW having to pull Rush from the LA Park bout here.
