Court Bauer Discusses MLW's Cable Deal With Reelz

REELZ is jumping into the squared circle. In a partnership with Major League Wrestling (MLW), REELZ will be the exclusive home for "MLW Underground" every Tuesday at 10 p.m./et starting on February 7. 

"We are really pumped and they're really supportive," said MLW owner Court Bauer on "Busted Open" radio. "These guys are all about it. They were tracking us even as far back as when we were on VICE." Best known for the hit cable show "On Patrol: Live," REELZ ranks in the top 30 networks each week. "Just to give the people kind of perspective, USA and TNT/TBS, they all hoover around that number 11-14 mark in the rankings," said Bauer. "AXS is like 98-99 and VICE is like 77. And BEIN was ranked 127, so we leaped literally 100 channels."

Since 2021, REELZ has aired several episodes of their documentary series "Autopsy: The Last Hours of..." about pro wrestlers – "Macho Man" Randy Savage, Andre the Giant, and Eddie Guerrero. In a press release, Steve Cheskin, the SVP of Programming at REELZ, cited "strong viewership response" to those episodes as a reason for REELZ's decision to air original MLW programming every week. 

The first episode of "MLW Underground" will feature matches from the February 4 taping (MLW Superfight '23) at the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia. The taping is headlined by Alex Hammerstone defending the MLW World Heavyweight Championship against Jacob Fatu. Others matches scheduled are Lio Rush against Davey Richards, and Taya Valkyre defending the MLW Women's World Featherweight Championship against Demi Exo. 

"MLW Underground" will be immediately followed by a classic episode from the MLW library, starting with Battle Riot IV. In addition, "MLW Fusion" will continue to stream on Pro Wrestling TV with a delayed upload to MLW's YouTube channel.

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "Busted Open" radio with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.