Grappling with pandemic hasn’t been easy, even for those in the professional wrestling business.
When COVID-19 forced Major League Wrestling (MLW) to postpone and eventually cancel its scheduled appearance in North Texas last May, company CEO Court Bauer promised fans a rain check — and that his wrestlers would “do it big in Dallas-Fort Worth.”
That make-up date is now on the calendar.
Bauer confirmed to The Dallas Morning News that MLW will return to the area on Saturday, Sept. 11 for a television taping. The NYTEX Sports Centre in North Richland Hills will once again host the promotion. The news of MLW’s return to North Texas was first reported by Mike Johnson of PWInsider.com.
While exact COVID-19 precautions for the event are still to be determined, Bauer told The News that the promotion will follow a COVID compliance officer’s recommendations and have protocols detailed 30 to 45 days before the event.
“We anticipate full capacity,” Bauer said. “We also expect this [show] to sell out. It’s been a hot ticket.”
The Dallas show will be MLW’s second live event back from a pandemic pause. The promotion will welcome back fans with a television taping in Philadelphia this July. MLW films multiple episodes of its Fusion program at each live event, which air via tape-delay on platforms such as beIN Sports, YouTube, and through a new partnership with VICE TV.
Ross and Marshall Adkisson, the third generation of the legendary Von Erich wrestling family from Denton, are signed with the promotion and are scheduled to perform at the September event. The brothers and former MLW tag-team champions, who live and train on Hawaii’s northern isle of Kauai, look forward to the prospect of wrestling again in Texas as the pandemic allows.
“We’re more excited about this Texas homecoming than we’ve ever been for any match,” Ross said. “I know it sounds cheesy or whatever, but we can’t wait to honor all of the people who believe in us with a level of intensity they’ve never seen from us.”
Other pro wrestling promotions in the United States are already reintroducing live audiences as COVID-19 restrictions are loosened.
Last week, Game Changer Wrestling (GCW), a leading independent promotion, announced two July shows for Dallas and Houston.
While the nation’s largest promotions — World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and All Elite Wrestling (AEW) — have not yet announced any events in North Texas for 2021, both have welcomed crowds of varying sizes back to outdoor events in Florida.
In March, AEW hosted over 1,300 socially distanced fans for its “Revolution” pay-per-view event at Daily’s Place — an amphitheater adjacent to TIAA Bank Field in Jacksonville. Per Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, the company has made 1,740 tickets available for a special episode of its weekly “AEW Dynamite” broadcast on May 5.
In April, the 37th installment of WWE’s flagship event, WrestleMania, saw an announced, socially distanced gate of 51,350 fans across two nights at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa.
WWE plans to host WrestleMania 38 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington next spring. WWE’s Senior Vice President of Special Events John Saboor told The News in January that the company is working to “build the most robust capacity possible” for fans from Dallas, North Texas and around the globe.
Reece Kelley Graham is a digital producer, staff writer and pro-wrestling contributor for The Dallas Morning News.
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