Court Bauer Talks MLW's First PPV, Women's Division, Possible Expanded MLW Content In 2020

Just days before their first ever pay-per-view, MLW made more headlines by signing longtime writer Chris DeJoseph. He has worked for both WWE and Lucha Underground in the past while also being a producer for several non-wrestling reality TV shows.

MLW founder Court Bauer talked about bringing DeJoseph on board when he spoke to Wrestling Inc. on our WINCLY podcast.

"It's crazy as it was probably in August I was sitting around and talking to my stuff and wondering what Chris was doing," recalled Bauer. "He was doing this show called Big Brother as a producer with them and I go back to 2005 with Chris. He was basically my first friend at WWE when I showed up and we were able to get on the phone and talk. I was like, 'Hey, you wanna jump on MLW?' And basically one or two phone calls later it was a done deal."

Bauer says he thinks DeJoseph is excited to get back in the wrestling game. DeJoseph was also a producer for Lucha Underground which was all the buzz in 2014 but was gone by 2018.

"I think Chris misses being a part of pro wrestling and a lot of people miss that Lucha Underground feel. Chris has got so much experience from live TV which is a pressure cooker. A lot of guys will freeze up in that situation but Chris is a pro's pro," said Bauer.

"It takes a certain type of guy when he's producing pre-tapes that knows how to work with talent. Some people don't get that and don't work with the talent. He gets it and with us expanding out programming on the horizon, someone like that getting into the mix and helping me as we expand is essential."

In addition to their first PPV on the horizon, Bauer also teased some new content that fans can look forward to in 2020.

"We're having some really interesting conversations and I think 2020 is gonna be an exceptional year for us. 2019 was big and we sold out 87.5 percent of our events. Basically only one event didn't sell out and merchandise is up 800 percent from 2018 and we're not even done with the year. So we're seeing a lot of growth and I can't imagine what 2020 is gonna bring," stated Bauer.

One of the hot topics surrounding MLW has always been their lack of a women's division. That will change shortly but it won't be until after the Superfight PPV. Bauer discussed why they are launching the MLW women's division at the TV taping after the PPV and not at Superfight.

"The Superfight marks an end to the 2017-19 chapter of MLW," said Bauer. "We're gonna climax and blow off feuds we've been building for months. We'll then pivot into the next chapter which takes us from 2020-22. That starts with our Orlando show and to me that was a good place to set in motion the women's division and give it the juice it needs on TV."

Much like how WrestleMania is seen as WWE's season finale, Superfight is like MLW's season finale. Bauer says people will be surprised by some of the new talent they are bringing in moving towards 2020.

"People are gonna be surprised by some of the new era guys we're bringing in like Gino Medina, a second-generation luchador whose father wrestled with Eddie Guerrero and Konnan," revealed Bauer. "He's 6 foot 2 and was trained by Booker T. He does a lot of luchador stuff in the body of Alberto Del Rio. He's gonna be someone to watch and he's a stud for us so another new era guy coming your way."

MLW presents Saturday Night Superfight on Saturday November 2nd and can be viewed via PPV and FITE.tv. MLW Fusion can be seen every Saturday night, 8/7c, on BeIN Sports.

Court's full interview with Wrestling Inc aired as part of today's episode of our WINCLY podcast. It can be heard via the embedded audio player at the bottom of this post. Featuring Court discussing MLW's debut PPV Saturday Night Superfight, why Jacob Fatu vs LA Park for the MLW World Heavyweight title is the main event, the La Parka – LA Park lineage, putting together Teddy Hart vs Austin Aries, The Von Erichs turning down NXT for MLW, how AEW books MJF and Jimmy Havoc, MLW closing a chapter with it's first PPV and more.

You can check out past episodes of the WINCLY here. Subscribe to Wrestling Inc. Audio on iTunes or Google Play. Listen to the show via Spotify here or through TuneIn here.