WWE Granted More Time To Respond To Amended MLW Lawsuit

Two weeks ago, right at the deadline given by the presiding judge, MLW filed an amended complaint in their antitrust lawsuit against WWE. Not doing so would have led to the case being dismissed outright, so MLW's lawyers tweaked it around the judge's biggest issues with their original complaint in the hope of avoiding another successful motion to dismiss by WWE. However, if you're the kind of person who loves reading Jerry McDevitt's legal work on WWE's behalf, that motion to dismiss is not coming today (Monday, March 20) as was originally earmarked as its deadline.

That's because last Monday (March 13), WWE and MLW jointly filed paperwork stipulating that both sides wanted to extend the timetable they were working on with regards to the due dates on WWE's motion to dismiss the case, MLW's opposition to that motion, and WWE's reply to that opposition, with Judge Edward J. Davila approving the extension the following day. The new schedule gives WWE until April 7 to file their motion to dismiss the amended complaint, while MLW would get until May 8 to file opposition and WWE now has until May 29 to reply to that.

"It is the same old stuff repackaged to look different," McDevitt told Dave Meltzer in last week's Wrestling Observer Newsletter, cover dated March 13. "We will be moving to throw it out for good this time." In Meltzer's words, "McDevitt also asked how could they possibly know some of the things they alleged about AEW and that new aspects seem almost more about AEW then [sic] MLW." The main allegations in the lawsuit assert that WWE directly interfered in MLW's talks with various potential domestic distribution partners, with FITE TV, VICE TV, and Tubi all being named specifically.