MLW owner talks Tessa Blanchard, Masha Slamovich signings: 'I believe in forgiveness'
· Fox News
It’s no secret Major League Wrestling (MLW) has brought in some big names into the company over the last few years with wrestlers like Killer Kross, Scarlett Bordeaux, Austin Aries, Trevor Lee, Shotzi Blackheart and several others being on the roster at one point or another.
Visit umafrika.club for more information.
Two other notable names that caught the attention of the pro wrestling world this year bolstered MLW’s women’s division – Tessa Blanchard and Masha Slamovich (known in MLW simply as Masha).
CLICK HERE FOR MORE OUTKICK PRO WRESTLING COVERAGE
Blanchard, a third-generation pro wrestler, has vehemently denied racism allegations for years even as she’s been featured as a top player in several promotions. Slamovich addressed domestic abuse allegations in September 2025, apologizing for her actions in what she described as a "mutually destructive relationship."
MLW first announced Blanchard’s signing in September of this year and she was initially planned for Fightland. Some confusion pushed back her debut to Saturday Night SuperFight, which takes place this weekend and can be seen on Veeps.
MLW owner Court Bauer addressed Blanchard’s signing in an interview with OutKick Dropkick.
"There are things in this business that happen that are just unique and I really can't talk about it other than saying, ultimately what happened was you had about a 60-day delay on it and instead of her debuting in Charleston for a TV taping, she's arriving at our pay per view, which is a critically awesome moment for it to happen. So, it worked out pretty damn good for us and we're thrilled, CMLL's thrilled and Tessa's thrilled. I think that's all that matters.
"But for Tessa, she's been an incredible part of the CMLL roster, and for her to come over is a huge honor and she was actually supposed to be a part of the original relaunch of MLW in 2017. We had taped stuff of her training and, again, it was one of those weird things where just the timing didn't work and it didn't happen. She was gonna be like one of the cornerstones of MLW at that point in time of our new era talents. And then here we are. That was 2017. Here we are 2026, end of 2026, almost 10 years later. And seeing all of this incredible success she's had in Mexico and she's had elsewhere and it's to come back and do this finally. It's about a decade in the making. So finally, it will not be denied, just like her undeniable. she's gonna be here."
Bauer told Wrestling Observer Radio he was a believer in "second, third chances" for people.
OutKick Dropkick asked Bauer if he share the same sentiment for Slamovich.
MLW'S COURT BAUER TOUTS 'HUGE YEAR' FOR COMPANY AMID MEDIA DEALS, SPLASH MOVES
"I believe in forgiveness," he said. "As a Christian, I believe in forgiveness. I think we're so quick to condemn and everyone gets executed and then they're just on the island of irrelevancy. They are to be forgotten. They are shunned forever, and there are definitely people in this world, in this business, that should be. And there's people in this business that could be, but there are a lot of people that make bad mistakes, terrible mistakes, and they repent, and they realize their errors and their things that they could have done differently. They're young people, they're living in a time where they're just on the go constantly, and then they get to settle down and they get to have perspective. But you gotta have the ability to see that and then you have a conversation with those folks, you see where they're at, and I'm not saying one person in particular, but my approach has always been, yeah, you know, give second chances, give forgiveness.
"I mean, we're so easy to condemn and I think that's just something that if I hadn't had a second chance, third chance, fourth chance, I mean I really sometimes would make a mess when I was younger and you don't realize, you know, maybe this is it for me and thankfully people gave me another chance, and if they hadn't, I wouldn't be here. I wouldn't be in this position, and I'm grateful for that.
"And so forgiveness to me is like one of those things that really I wish would get an equal amount of enthusiasm, especially on social media, versus quick to just let's go out there and let's get our pitchforks and torches and go burn that person down. And once they're torched, they're satisfied and that person's just devastated. Yeah, maybe rightfully, they should be in that moment, on a sabbatical, but let them, you know, it's not all or nothing. I think there's a little bit of nuance there, a little bit of gray area in there, and I think that's where it's important to like let them kind of go on their journey of realizing that and then see if there's a conversation we had when the timing is right, when it's appropriate. That's kind of how … I've never really spoken about that deeply, but that's really where I stand both my heart and in my mind about it."
Blanchard and Slamovich will both be in action at Saturday Night SuperFight.
Blanchard will square off against Keyra and Slamovich will take on Zamaya this weekend.
The pay-per-view, which takes place at Cicero Stadium in Chicago, can be seen on Veeps.