At ‘War Chamber’ on November 6, 2021, nZo (formerly WWE’s Enzo Amore) made his MLW debut, defeating Matt Cross. He later changed his ring name to Real1.
In a recent interview with Forbes, MLW CEO Court Bauer discussed Real1’s value to the promotion including the company’s plans for organizing larger marquee events in the future.
You can check out some highlights from the interview below:
On Real1: “He’s the most charismatic performer since The Rock. It’s undeniable. You give him the microphone—and I’ve seen guys come close—but he didn’t cut promos until a few months ago in MLW. And he really hadn’t had that national stage since 2018, and now he’ll have that chance with REELZ.”
On AEW stars that have come out of MLW: “When you go out there, people think Tony Schiavone’s big comeback started in AEW. No, he was in MLW for two-and-a-half years. MJF didn’t pop up in the scene in AEW. He was a multi-time champion in MLW, and worked with me and Bruce Prichard when Bruce was at MLW. Darby Allin, another example of that. In a weird way, we were the best-kept secret in the cradle of combat sports when it comes to wrestling. And now is our opportunity, now that we have this great platform and partner with REELZ, to let the world know what’s going on.”
On MLW’s plan for larger events: “We’re starting to build out, and we’re talking with our streaming partners about marquee events. Some people call them pay-per-views, we call them marquee events. What are those cornerstones going to be for us on the horizon? I think it’s important that fans have that critical climax to an event where everything converges, and you’re getting that journey to the point where now it’s time to punch the ticket to see it live. We’re deep in those conversations of shaping what those shows are going to be. Will it be MLW SuperFight? Will it be something else? We’ll be rolling out that stuff soon.”
