Judge Dismisses MLW's WWE Lawsuit

The Northern District of California US District Court has granted a request from WWE to dismiss an antitrust lawsuit filed against the company by Major League Wrestling.

Within the reasons for the dismissal, it was stated that MLW had not "included sufficient facts to plausibly allege a relevant antitrust product market" and the promotion's allegations were "insufficient to plausibly allege a relevant product market." It was also stated that MLW did not provide sufficient evidence and facts to support their allegations. 

MLW have 21 days to appeal the decision with an amended complaint and the court noted that "additional allegations may cure the deficiencies outlined above and in WWE's Motion." 

MLW Founder Court Bauer has since told PWInsider: "Our legal team is already at work on amending the complaint. We have every intention to continue pursuing our case against WWE."

Major League Wrestling filed an antitrust lawsuit against WWE in January 2022 in which it was alleged that WWE had made ongoing attempts to "undermine competition and monopolise the professional wrestling market by interfering with MLW's contracts and business prospects." Specific reference was made to MLW's deal with VICE TV and a scrapped streaming deal with TUBI.