WWE Paid MLW $20 Million To Settle Antitrust Lawsuit
MLW was paid a $20 million settlement by WWE to drop its antitrust lawsuit.
With WWE and MLW having settled their antitrust lawsuit at the end of last year, it's now been revealed how much MLW was paid in order to drop this issue.
In a case which dated back to January 2022, MLW filed an antitrust claim which accused WWE of interfering in TV and streaming deals, in addition to poaching talent from the Court Bauer-run promotion. This lawsuit went through various amendments and motions, initially being dismissed in February 2023, before a further amendment was filed by MLW and a subsequent motion to dismiss from WWE was denied in June of that year.
As part of this case, Bauer's Major League Wrestling alleged that Stephanie McMahon interfered to stop a deal that would've seen MLW air on the FOX-owned Tubi streaming service, and that WWE engaged in unfair practices which included blocking AEW and ROH events.
WWE and MLW reached a settlement in December, and it's now been revealed that MLW was paid $20 million as part of this agreement. While this figure wasn't made public at the time of settlement, the TKO Group Holding's 2023 full financials revealed that $20 million number.
"For the twelve-month period ended December 31, 2023, the Company’s consolidated pre-tax results included $34.2 million in costs related to certain litigation matters at UFC and WWE, including the impact of a $20.0 million charge related to the settlement of an antitrust lawsuit at WWE. A reconciliation of Net Income to Adjusted EBITDA for the three and twelve-month periods ended December 31, 2023 and 2022 can be found in the supplemental schedule on page 14 of this release."
As picked up on by the Wrestling Observer, a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission outright names MLW as the other party involved in this settlement.
On January 11, 2022, a complaint was filed against WWE by MLW Media LLC ('MLW'), captioned MLW Media LLC v. World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., No. 5:22-cv-00179-EJD (N.D. Cal.), alleging that WWE interfered with MLW’s contractual relationship with certain media platforms and engaged in other anticompetitive and unfair business practices in violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act and California law. On December 22, 2023, the parties notified the court that they had entered into a settlement agreement in the amount of $20.0 million and stipulated that the case should be voluntarily dismissed with prejudice. In light of the settlement, the case was dismissed with prejudice on December 26, 2023.
Initially running from 2002 to 2004, Court Bauer brought Major League Wrestling back in 2017. MJF, Swerve Strickland, Matt Riddle, Taya Valkyrie, Karrion Kross, 'Filthy' Tom Lawlor, Low-Ki, Brian Pillman Jr., Kushida, and Billie Starkz are just some of those who have called MLW home over the years. There's also former MLW World Champions Jacob Fatu and Alexander Hammerstone, who have both recently become free agents.