How MLW Contracts May Start Affecting AEW

With MLW soon to return to action, contract issues run wild, brother.

by Andrew Pollard
Brian Pillman Jr
Instagram/@flyinbrian41

As Major League Wrestling gets set to return to action, that could have an interesting impact on certain talents who have recently appeared for AEW.

In a new report from Fightful Select, there are several talents who could be affected once MLW gets back up and running with TV tapings.

Previously, the language used in exiting MLW contracts did not have anything in place to stop performers – such as Brian Pillman Jr. – from appearing for AEW. That, of course, is because All Elite Wrestling wasn’t in existence when a lot of these deals were put together.

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As is commonplace in the wrestling business, most major promotions have clauses in their contracts that prohibit talent from competing for certain other rival companies. For MLW, they actually offered several wrestlers new contracts at the start of the year in order to get past this AEW loophole – but the talents in question turned down the offer on the table.

It’s expected that MLW will soon offer new deals once again to these superstars, and now it remains to be seen how all of this will play out.

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Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.