MLW asks court to deny WWE protective order request in antitrust lawsuit

MLW has requested a court deny WWE’s motion for a protective order that would prevent confidential information about their talent contracts, disciplinary action and more come out in discovery.

In early-January, WWE filed a motion in the Northern District of California’s U.S. District Court to suspend their obligation to produce documents related, among other things, to WWE’s efforts to recruit wrestlers, all performance evaluations, all documents concerning terminations/resignations of wrestlers, documents related to their efforts to “prevent competitors from booking arenas or venues.”

MLW defended their claim, saying in a January 23rd filing that it’s WWE’s “latest desperate attempt to delay discovery that will expose its anticompetitive scheme” to destroy MLW “and monopolize the U.S. market for the sale of broadcasting rights for professional wrestling programs.”

MLW filed an antitrust lawsuit with WWE in January 2022 that claims they pressured third parties like Tubi (Fox) and Vice to abandon contracts and prospective relationships with them.

From the MLW legal response:

And WWE’s false concern for third parties is nothing more than an attempt to prevent discovery into its predatory scheme which involved, inter alia, preventing its competitors from booking the arenas that were essential to the creation of professional wrestling content.

Later in the filing, MLW pointed to an interview then-Ring of Honor head Joe Koff did with PWInsider where he said WWE blocked ROH from running shows at Madison Square Garden in 2018.

WWE claims that MLW would have “no possible cause of action” relating to its efforts to block its competitors, Ring of Honor and New Japan Pro-Wrestling, from booking Madison Square Garden for events.

WWE’s statement again underscores its fundamental misunderstanding of the antitrust laws of the United States. MLW’s narrowly tailored third-party subpoenas seek records that are relevant to MLW’s allegations that WWE “leveraged” its decades-long relationships with virtually every major arena in the United States to make it harder for WWE’s competitors to book arenas, which are critical for creating professional wrestling content to be licensed or sold in the relevant market. By impeding or delaying its competitors from creating content, WWE unlawfully maintained its monopoly power in violation of the Sherman Act.

It’s unknown when the court will rule on the WWE motion.