WWE’s motion to dismiss MLW lawsuit granted, amendment or appeal possible

This story has been updated.

The Northern District of California’s U.S. District Court has granted WWE’s request to dismiss an antitrust lawsuit MLW filed against them in January 2022.

However, “the Court finds that additional allegations may cure the deficiencies outlined above and in WWE’s Motion,” and thus, MLW has 21 days to submit an amended complaint or appeal.

In a statement to PWInsider, MLW owner Court Bauer said, “Our legal team is already at work on amending the complaint. We have every intention to continue pursuing our case against WWE.”

Among their reasoning for the initial dismissal, “The Court finds that MLW has not included sufficient facts to plausibly allege a relevant antitrust product market” and that their “allegations are insufficient to plausibly allege a relevant product market.”

In other parts of their reasoning, the Court stated that MLW simply didn’t provide sufficient evidence and facts backing up their allegations.

MLW had filed an antitrust lawsuit against WWE that claimed WWE pressured third parties like Tubi (Fox) and Vice to abandon contracts and prospective relationships with them.

In their statement, it read that some of the harms (MLW) “has alleged—e.g., loss of contract revenues due to WWE’s interference—are specific to MLW, rather than to competition at large.”

“MLW includes a single allegation that consumers would have increased access to higher quality professional wrestling entertainment content at lower prices but for WWE’s conduct, but it appends no additional facts to support this conclusion,” the statement read, citing another case.

With Monday’s dismissal, WWE’s previous protective order request from earlier this was denied as a moot point. WWE had filed a request to dismiss shortly after the suit was filed, but in December, it was determined the case would move forward.