Details On Scrapped Pitch For WWE To Partner With Independent Promotion

WWE

WWE had meetings with a prominent independent wrestling company that it was hoped would lead to a partnership, claims Court Bauer.

Speaking on Ad Free Shows (subscription required),  Bauer explained how he linked up WWE and Lucha Underground to discuss the possibility, saying:

“I set up a meeting with Paul Levesque [Triple H] to go up there and explore what a future could look like in some capacity with Lucha Underground and WWE’s participation.

“For example, was there a world where Lucha Underground could be on WWE Network as original programming or is there a scenario where they were interested n possibly acquiring it or licensing seasons to air for archival reasons?”

It obviously wasn’t just Bauer on his own, as he explains:

“We went to Stamford, I picked up Dorian Roldan and one of the principal investors, Alex Garcia.

“We went in and Paul Levesque and his team were incredibly gracious and very flattering toward all three of us in the meeting.

It was a very ‘getting to know you’ meeting.”

Roldan had served as an Executive Producer for Lucha Underground.

Sadly, the meeting didn’t reap the benefits that Bauer had hoped:

“In the end, it was really up to the ownership of Lucha Underground and WWE to decide if there was a future there and it kind of petered out after the meeting and didn’t go where it needed to go.”

Bauer would cite the complexities of the Lucha Underground structure as a limited factor for progress, saying:

“With Lucha Underground, you didn’t just have Dorian and Alex Garcia, you had several people with a position in the company. Mark Burnett, MGM TV, other investors.

“To get everyone on the same page when you have multiple ownership groups, it’s a lot harder than when you have one guy running it or a managing director of the company or a sports team.”

Whilst Lucha Underground may have only existed from 2014 to 2018, Bauer recognises the impact it has had on the industry, concluding:

“Lucha Underground was the bridge to what we have today in so many companies.”

Bauer himself has kept some of the spirit alive through Azteca Underground in MLW.

Transcript from Fightful.

Check out WrestleShop.com for all your favorite WrestleTalk merch, the WrestleTalk Magazine, wrestling shirts for grown-ups, and more!

• Court Bauer
• lucha underground
• Triple H
• wwe

Share this article with friends