r4g 0 Report post Posted February 10, 2004 From Mike Johnson: Major League Wrestling's event scheduled for this Friday 2/13 at the War Memorial Auditorium in Fort Lauderdale, Florida has been canceled. Employees of the promotion were told, "As of now all live events have been canceled" in messages left by MLW owner Court Bauer. One MLW regular who received a voicemail from Bauer described it as, "A farewell message of sorts." It is believed that at this point and time, Major League Wrestling is done. Attempts to reach MLW owner Court Bauer are thus far, unsuccessful so we don't have complete confirmation on that fact, but it certainly appears to be the case. The announcement comes just a day after the promotion sent out plane tickets to the wrestlers for this Friday's event. Major League Wrestling had returned just a month ago with a pair of TV Tapings in Orlando, Florida and a slot on the Sunshine Network in Florida. MLW's return to Orlando, scheduled for 2/14, was "postponed" in an announcement earlier this week. The January events were the first live events promoted by MLW since a September 2003 Wargames event in Fort Lauderdale. The promotion announced it was "reorganizing" shortly afterwards. As of 4 PM, Ticketmaster and the venue were still going under the impression that the show was taking place, but the messages left for MLW staff would indicate otherwise. ------------------------- NAH NAH NAH, NAH........... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JoeDirt 0 Report post Posted February 10, 2004 What a horribly run company. No surprise here. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest OSIcon Report post Posted February 10, 2004 What a horribly run company. No surprise here. Tht sums up my thoughts pretty well. Good thing is this means that everyone will be availiable to work the 3/13 ROH show as well as any other upcoming dates that ROH and MLW both had shows on. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
r4g 0 Report post Posted February 10, 2004 and I JUST won free tickets, too. REFUND!!!! A shame, 2/13 was going to be off the charts, but it was bound to happen. This means, however, that ROH and CZW can be free to run Florida without being called hypocrites, and without fear of cramping up the state. ROH kicks MLW's ass anyway. Hoorah! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Markingout Report post Posted February 10, 2004 NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! I saw it coming,but not this quickly. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
The Ghost of bps21 0 Report post Posted February 10, 2004 I knew that this would happen as soon as I got MLW back on my TV. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Corino 1000 Report post Posted February 10, 2004 "Dave Meltzer reported earlier today on www.wrestlingobserver.com that wrestlers were being called to tell them that MLW's show scheduled for this Friday night in Ft Lauderdale has been cancelled and that no new dates are scheduled. 1Wrestling.com contacted Steve Corino, who is scheduled to be involved in the main event of the show in a match for MLW's Undisputed World Heavyweight Title against Shane Douglas, and Corino had not been contacted and was unaware of any cancellation. When contacted by 1Wrestling.com, Shane Douglas said he also had not heard anything about the show being cancelled. No announcement has been made by MLW and 1Wrestling.com is attempting to reach company representatives for comment." -1 wrestling Theres still a chance!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Zack Malibu 0 Report post Posted February 10, 2004 Should be interesting to see if CZDub tries to replenish their talent pool with any of the MLW guys (not Hart or any of the Calgary guys I don't think, but they've got a West Coast connection with B-Boy, and maybe guys like the Samoans or PJ Friedman could work for them too). Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
r4g 0 Report post Posted February 10, 2004 From PWTorch.com: "Major League Wrestling has cancelled all of its previously announced shows and is essentially going out of business. Court Bauer told PWTorch.com moments ago that a pair of investors pulled out of MLW. "Unless anyone is willing to invest in MLW, I would consider the venture at an end," Bauer said. Bauer said he is "shell shocked" by the latest developments, and has not determined what his future plans are. He said he found out about the investors pulling out of the deal earlier today, and has spent most of his time since then notifying his talent roster of the fate of the company. Bauer said the company will fulfill its commitments to overseas television networks who have syndicated deals with the promotion, but there are no plans to generate original content for those shows. Without fresh content, Bauer said the "Underground TV" show will not continue to air on Florida's Sunshine Network." Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
The Ghost of bps21 0 Report post Posted February 10, 2004 They should unify their titles with the NWA like the WWA did when they went away. No real reason...I just think stuff like that is neat. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Max Peter David Report post Posted February 10, 2004 Thank god. I fucking hate MLW. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
r4g 0 Report post Posted February 10, 2004 An MLW invasion of NWA Florida would by kinky. Too bad there's no money to bring in the MLW roster anymore, I guess. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Dynamite Kido Report post Posted February 10, 2004 They should unify their titles with the NWA like the WWA did when they went away. No real reason...I just think stuff like that is neat. I think it would be a cool idea if they could do this with ROH or CZW. Thus giving one of these companies a shot in the preverbial ass. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
The Ghost of bps21 0 Report post Posted February 10, 2004 Their titles don't match up with ROH (no cruiser title) and even if they did...ROH fans hate MLW so much they'd riot. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BoboBrazil 0 Report post Posted February 10, 2004 Told you http://forums.thesmartmarks.com/index.php?...topic=43331&hl= Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest OSIcon Report post Posted February 10, 2004 I had a feeling this was due to an investor pulling the plug. Makes sense. You have Court spending these investors money on all of these different things. So they keep announcing new talents and new merchandise which would indicate there is no money problems. However, the investors examine all of the spending that is going on while looking at the lack of returns, and pull out. That's why it seemed to come "out of no where" if you just follow MLW making all of these big moves and never stop to think "where is this money coming from?" It seems pretty basic to me that when you are a small start up company and are using investors as your main source of capital, you should spend very carefully. If you spend small amounts of money, any growth in the business is going to be okay with the investors because you aren't just throwing all their money away. But when you start spending as much as Bauer was, you better show significant improvements right away or else the investors aren't going to stick around. I find it funny that Court was "shocked" by the news when these basic principles seemed very obvious to everyone else. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest ToddRoyal Report post Posted February 10, 2004 Court Bauer had a horrible business plan, and I'm not surprised the investors pulled out. He spent a lot of money flying in wrestlers from all over the world (Canada, Japan, Mexico and all corners of the US), as well as wrestlers like Terry Funk, Sabu and Shane Douglas who have notoriously large price tags, and throwing around cash for six sided rings and other things they could do without. Then the shows drew poorly, with estimates of anywhere from 200 to 400 paid customers each show, with the majority of the crowd being papered. They also had slow, in house video production- eliminating a source of income that makes ROH profitable and keeps promotions like IWA:MS alive. And this was all before the first shutdown. After a brief attempt to run in Philadelphia that was turned back by ROH, CZW, 3PW, USAPro, JAPW and other promotions, they returned to the EXACT SAME business model that was losing them so much money before. This was bound to happen, and I'm not terribly disappointed that it did, since the people in charge of MLW obviously didn't learn a thing from past mistakes. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
r4g 0 Report post Posted February 10, 2004 I'm finding it quite funny whenever someone mentions MLW's "investors" pulling out. The "investors" were his father. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tpww7 0 Report post Posted February 11, 2004 HAHAHAHA Thank you. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
The Ghost of bps21 0 Report post Posted February 11, 2004 See this is what I don't get... you may hate MLW...but you don't have to see it...and all their closing really does is take money out of the pockets of the wrestlers. And if one of the wrestlers you like was booked to work MLW instead of ROH at some point...shouldn't that blame lay on the wrestler who chose his gig? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest The Last Free Voice Report post Posted February 11, 2004 Now that MLW is done, will Low Ki be back in RoH even more regularly than he was scheduled to be? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Max Peter David Report post Posted February 11, 2004 No, that's Z1's fault. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest OSIcon Report post Posted February 11, 2004 See this is what I don't get... you may hate MLW...but you don't have to see it...and all their closing really does is take money out of the pockets of the wrestlers. And if one of the wrestlers you like was booked to work MLW instead of ROH at some point...shouldn't that blame lay on the wrestler who chose his gig? In principal that is all good, but it doesn't really fit here. I don't have a list of MLW shows in front of me, but I would estimate they have ran around 12 shows (give or take a few) in their 2 YEARS of existence. So we are talking about wrestlers missing out on 12 pay checks in two years that MLW provided them. I guarentee that the majority of MLW's roster will be able to find 12 additional jobs in two years to make up for the dates they are losing with MLW going under. If we were talking about TNA dying, that would be a different story. Wrestlers would be losing a weekly paycheck. But losing 12 over the course of two years? Not such a big deal in the grand scheme of things. People just over dramatize things when they act as if MLW going out of business will greatly alter the financial income of the wrestlers who worked for them. The reality is, some won't notice any difference, some may even make more in other places, and a few may miss out on a few paychecks they would get if MLW was alive which in the grand scheme of things, won't kill them financially. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
The Ghost of bps21 0 Report post Posted February 11, 2004 I didn't think of it like that. I guess I agree. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest TDinDC1112 Report post Posted February 11, 2004 Actually, I don't think anyone would even lose a paycheck if ROH folds. There's plenty of weekend indy shows to go around. I think TNA is really the only one where people would actually "lose" paychecks as I don't think anyone else runs on Wednesdays. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
r4g 0 Report post Posted February 11, 2004 Counting the last double shot as one show, MLW ran 9 shows in it's two year existance. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest OSIcon Report post Posted February 11, 2004 Actually, I don't think anyone would even lose a paycheck if ROH folds. There's plenty of weekend indy shows to go around. I think TNA is really the only one where people would actually "lose" paychecks as I don't think anyone else runs on Wednesdays. I don't necesarily disagree with that. Although it is obviously a lot harder to make up 34 dates in two years (17 a year) then it is to make up 9 in two years (4 or 5 a year). Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Silence 0 Report post Posted February 11, 2004 Once the 2/14 show was cancelled, I think many knew that MLW wasn't going to last any longer. It's a shame that it's gone since TNA and WWE are our only promotions to watch on TV once again (unless CMLL re-runs count, along with the god-awful AAA and IWA-Puerto Rico), but wrestlers like Bryan Danielson, Low-Ki, and others probably feel more at home in ROH anyway. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest TDinDC1112 Report post Posted February 11, 2004 One of the reasons I enjoyed MLW was I got to see indy guys being the featured performers in a promotion other than ROH. I enjoyed seeing Lo Ki and Homicide somewhere other than ROH. TNA doesn't count because they're kind of a whole different animal. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tpww7 0 Report post Posted February 11, 2004 RF's responce.. RFWrestling: the only court I know about just went out of BUSINESS RFWrestling: did u see MLW new website RFWrestling: outofbusiness.com Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
