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Major League Wrestling will finally debut on Tubi tonight at 8 PM Eastern/5 Pacific with their weekly series, MLW Fusion.
The Hollywood Reporter broke the news earlier today, with Court Bauer commenting, "Wrestling should be easy to find and free to watch. We built MLW around that, no paywalls, no subscription barriers, nothing standing between a fan and the show, and Tubi shares that same fan-first philosophy at scale. Starting Sept. 17, Tubi’s 110 million monthly active users have a front row seat on Thursday nights to the hardest hitting hour in pro wrestling, and it won’t cost a dime.”
The debut places MLW back where it initially signed to debut in 2021, a deal that fell apart right as it was to be publicly announced. MLW later alleged WWE got involved, citing the company's then-deal with FOX for Smackdown. FOX owns Tubi.
Major League Wrestling sued in January 2022 and filed an amended lawsuit against WWE in March 2023. That suit, which was settled for $20 million, alleged "WWE’s predatory conduct further impeded MLW in its ability to compete in the licensing of its programming for distribution on streaming services and continues to threaten to deprive MLW of its ability to license its programming for distribution on cable. As a result of WWE’s misconduct, MLW is at risk of its business being irreparably destroyed. In February 2023, MLW’s new media partner -- Reelz -- announced a distribution deal with streaming service Peacock. But as a direct result of WWE’s exclusivity arrangement with NBCUniversal, which prohibits any other professional wrestling programming on Peacock, MLW’s programming is excluded from this streaming deal, which further suppresses competition in the Relevant Market. MLW also is reportedly at risk of losing its cable deal with Reelz as a result of WWE’s exclusivity with Peacock."
MLW exited REELZ after 13 episodes, but REELZ later issued a statement to PWInsider.com that the two sides were in discussion about additional "seasons." The belief upon MLW's REELZ debut was that the two sides had agreed to a multi-year deal but upon the announcement of the REELZ-Peacock alliance, the MLW series was downplayed greatly in comparison to its initial weeks on the cable broadcaster. On 10/5/23, REELZ confirmed to PWInsider.com that the relationship between the two sides would not continue, stating, "We evaluated wrestling on REELZ and decided that it was not a great fit with the current programming direction of the network and MLW agreed so there are no further conversations taking place." In response, an MLW source stated that REELZ's statement did "not reflect the reality of what happened," but declined to explain further.
MLW's lawsuit alleged that WWE's exclusivity agreements (such as Peacock and NBC) create violations of the Sherman Antitrust Act as it pertains to the pro wrestling media market in the United States. MLW argued since it first filed its initial lawsuit that WWE was engaging in unfair practices, including attempting to prevent Ring of Honor (then owned by The Sinclair Broadcast Group) from running Madison Square Garden when allegedly Paul Levesque stepped in to stop it temporarily, that WWE prevented AEW from booking an Arena in Cincinnati several years back and that WWE went after signed MLW talents, including Davey Boy Smith Jr. and Swerve Strickland, neither of whom are currently with WWE.
MLW also maintained that WWE's Stephanie McMahon interfered with a MLW deal with FOX-owned streaming service Tubi, leading to that deal being canceled the night before it was to be announced and a potential deal with Vice TV, which only aired one original MLW special and several older MLW TV shows. WWE conceded that McMahon, who has since left the company, did have contact with the Tubi Exec but denied there was any connection to that discussion and MLW's Tubi deal being canceled the day before it was set to be publicly announced. Since the lawsuit was filed, WWE was aquired by Endeavor and merged with UFC under a new parent company, TKO Group Holdings.
Tubi airs WWE EVOLVE on Wednesdays and features a number of other pro wrestling titles in their Video on Demand component.
MLW issued the following press release:
MLW Sets Streaming Distribution Deal with Tubi
Flagship Weekly Series to Stream Free on Tubi, Thursdays at 8 PM ET
CHARLESTON, SC–Sept. 16, 2026 – Major League Wrestling (MLW) today announced a new streaming distribution agreement with Tubi for its weekly flagship series, MLW FUSION. Beginning Sept. 17, new episodes of MLW's flagship weekly series will stream Thursdays at 8 PM ET free on Tubi.
"Wrestling should be easy to find and free to watch," said MLW Founder and CEO Court Bauer. "We built MLW around that, no paywalls, no subscription barriers, nothing standing between a fan and the show, and Tubi shares that same fan-first philosophy at scale. Starting Sept. 17, Tubi’s 110 million monthly active users have a front row seat on Thursday nights to the hardest hitting hour in pro wrestling, and it won't cost a dime."
MLW FUSION serves up a distinctive brand of pro wrestling, blending cutting-edge, new-era wrestling with the grit, colorful characters and throwback flavor of ’rasslin. Built around big fights, heated rivalries, championship stakes and an anything-can-happen attitude, FUSION brings a rowdy, hard-hitting edge to the modern wrestling landscape. MLW will also continue to produce live special events alongside the weekly series.
MLW is executive produced by Court Bauer, Paul Walter Hauser and Bryan Walsh.
About Major League Wrestling
About Major League Wrestling
Major League Wrestling is one of the fastest-growing professional wrestling organizations in the world, delivering premium live events, television programming, and original wrestling content to fans globally through its roster of world-class athletes and distinctive storytelling. MLW's weekly flagship series "MLW Fusion" airs Thursdays at 8 PM ET on Tubi, and is also available on VEEPS and NJPW World.
For more information visit MLW.com and follow MLW on X, Instagram and YouTube.
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