WWE has acquired yet another wrestling company, albeit not a competitor like WCW but a partner they have been workng with for years.
PWInsider’s Mike Johnson confirmed Thursday that WWE has completed a purchase of Philadelphia-based EVOLVE Wrestling from co-owners Gabe Sapolsky and Sal Hamaoui after several months of negotiations. No financials were disclosed.
As of this writing, WWE has not responded to a request for confirmation or comment.
Hamaoui also owns the indie wrestling streaming service World Wrestling Network (WWN) which is not part of the deal and will remain operational under his watch. It’s unclear what Sapolsky’s future is, but he has been a WWE consultant since 2018.
It’s unclear whether WWE plans on continuing with events under the EVOLVE name or whether this was simply a play for WWE Network content. Johnson said that it is believed WWE now owns the entire EVOLVE and Dragon Gate USA tape library in addition to some other content which includes early Full Impact Pro footage. He reported that any content involved in the deal will be removed from WWN in a month.
He also said there’s a belief “several contracted EVOLVE talents will be signed and enter the WWE NXT system” but that isn’t confirmed.
EVOLVE and WWE began a working relationship several years ago with a litany of talent currently and formerly under contract having worked there like WWE Champion Drew McIntyre, Matt Riddle, Ricochet, Timothy Thatcher, Johnny Gargano, Austin Theory, Keith Lee, and more. Johnson noted that out of 100 talents signed to EVOLVE deals, nearly half were signed by WWE. EVOLVE’s 10th anniversary show aired live on WWE Network last July.
After 146 events, EVOLVE’S final show was on March 1st of this year with other scheduled shows canceled due to the pandemic.
“There has been a lot of talk in recent weeks regarding the future of Evolve and WWE. It’s not a secret Evolve had major financial issues and the canceling of WrestleMania week was catastrophic to them. They’ve been quiet, having not said anything. There were reports of them selling their tape library and pretty much everything to WWE but when asked, neither Evolve nor WWE would confirm or deny the story”
Left My Wallet is back again with some with EVOLVE title contender, Limitless Wrestling champion and Zero1 USA Northeast owner/promoter Anthony Greene!
Anthony is one of the fastest rising young up and coming talents on the independent scene and someone that I have known since he was 12. He is a wrestling sevante with his knowledge of the business and is also a huge wrestling figure collector. We talk about his collection, his most valuable figure, his favorites, and then we do a deep dive into some rare WCW figures.
Anthony then talks about what ways he is being creative to provide content for wrestling fans during this time, our New England roots, rare indie show DVDs, and more!
Left My Wallet is back again with EVOLVE competitor Curt Stallion!
Although not a sports fan, Curt talked about his time playing high school football in Texas and what that sport means in the Lone Star State. Then, he talks about his ideas for creative content to put out during this hectic time.
We also talk about what video games he’s playing, his love for Pokemon and Dragonball Z, “machismo” in pro wrestling, and his thoughts on social media.
I am trying to bring some new content during this time, so enjoy my effort to send out some good vibes and get to know some new (and not so new) faces in the wrestling industry.
The wrestling world continues to react to the coronavirus outbreak and the large gathering bans happening around the United States.
NXT
Friday’s show in Venice, Florida, was canceled as Sarasota County canceled all public events. That news was not formally announced by their or WWE’s Twitter account as of this writing.
Their Friday Fusion TV taping with AAA in Tijuana, Mexico, is moving forward as planned even though they haven’t acknowledged as such on social media or to requests for comment. However, PWInsider’s Mike Johnson is reporting Court Bauer will not be in attendance as he is reportedly “in the middle of negotiating what we are told is “high level TV talks” and has been back and forth between LA and NYC working on a deal.” Konnan and Mr. Saint Laurent will be running the show tonight which will cover weeks of TV.
Other Shows
The Bullet Club Beach Party set for Mania week in Tampa, FL, has been canceled.
The WrestleCon promoters put out a video answering questions about their Tampa show.
WWN said their WRESTLExpo dates during WrestleMania week will follow WWE’s lead.
EVOLVE’s weekend shows in Chicago, IL. and Livonia, MI, were postponed to May 8th and 9th, respectively. The tryouts/seminars were also rescheduled to those dates as well.
The EVOLVE March 27-29 Recruitment Camp in Port Richey, FL, is still happening as scheduled.
The coronavirus outbreak has caused another change to this weekend’s pro wrestling schedule.
EVOLVE announced today that EVOLVE 147 and EVOLVE 148 have both been postponed to May. EVOLVE 147 was set to take place at the Monaghan Knights of Columbus Hall in Livonia, Michigan this Saturday, while EVOLVE 148 was scheduled for Logan Square Auditorium in Chicago, Illinois.
EVOLVE 147 has been postponed to Friday, May 8 in Livonia. EVOLVE 148 has been postponed to Saturday, May 9 in Chicago.
EVOLVE tweeted: “This weekend’s #EVOLVE147 & #EVOLVE148 have been postponed to May 8th in Livonia, MI and May 9th in Chicago. All tickets will be honored for those dates. We will have a full press release out by tomorrow as we piece everything together. We wanted to get word out ASAP. Thank you.”
Gabe Sapolsky wrote: “This weekend’s Seminar/Tryouts are also postponed until those dates. If you signed up, I’ll email you by tomorrow. Thank you. Be safe everyone.”
Meet and greets with NXT’s Keith Lee, Mia Yim, Tommaso Ciampa, and Jessi Kamea were supposed to be held at this weekend’s EVOLVE shows, along with Kamea, Brendan Vink, Denzel Dejournette, and Jake Atlas being in action.
OTT Wrestling also announced this morning that their ScrapperMania 6 events scheduled to be held in Dublin, Ireland this weekend have been canceled.
We’ve got a WrestleMania update with new matches, an updated card, details on the women’s aspect of the show with new bouts and stars from the past who are scheduled and who are not scheduled.
Also covered in the new issue:
Ticket sales for all the WWE shows that week, as well as how the secondary market is doing right now for the WWE & AEW major events.
More on both the Super Showdown and Elimination Chamber shows.
How the Coronavirus has affected some major shows that were scheduled. We look at the Stardom cancellations, the empty arena show on YouTube, another promotion with a worldwide audience doing an empty arena show, as well a how New Japan is handling the situation.
Complete coverage of NXT Takeover Portland, with business notes, update on Matt Riddle, match-by-match coverage with star ratings and poll results on the show.
Update WWE talks regarding how WrestleMania will be broadcast this year, what AEW should be looking for, XFL ratings and analysis, NXT Japan update, Tito Ortiz training with WWE, Bill Goldberg’s dates, former WWE star tells story about Trump, new WWE documentary, Matt Hardy update, Injury updates, foreign ratings, return of John Cena, WWE bans former star from getting talent for their podcast and why, debut of former top star in Mexico, update on MSG, stock price update, most-watched shows on the WWE Network as well as a look at all the NXT and WWE arena events held over the past week.
Complete coverage of the UFC show from Rio Rancho, NM this past week, with business notes.
Update on the WWE Hall of Fame ceremony.
A note on the biggest Wednesday night ratings movers.
Revolution Pro High Stakes headlined by Will Ospreay vs. Zack Sabre Jr., and how Ospreay’s in-ring style has changed so much over the past year. We look at how pro wrestling handles weight classes as compared to real sports, why going back in time may provide a more updated view than what we have now about weight classes and pro wrestling.
2019 stats on WWE performers including who won this year’s Iron Man award, a well as wins and losses.
Our 2019 Awards ballot.
Regarding the Wednesday numbers, we’ve got full details, demos that each side won, how every segment did and what match ended up as the difference maker.
Full coverage of all the WWE and AEW television shows from the past week.
In-depth looks at the ratings of all the major shows, the key demos and quarters for AEW and WWE, what happened head-to-head and what can be learned from them.
Results of all the major pro wrestling events around the world over the past week.
ORDERING INFO: Order the print Wrestling Observer right now and get it delivered via mail, by sending your name, address, Visa or Master Card number and an expiration date to [email protected] or by going to www.paypal.com directing funds to [email protected].
Rates in the United States are $14.50 for 4 issues, $35.50 for 12, $70 for 24, $116 for 40 and $149.50 for 52.
In Canada and Mexico, the rates are $16 for 4, $27 for 8, $38.50 for 12, $76 for 24, $126 for 40 and $162.50 for 52.
For the rest of the world, rates are $18 for 4, $48.50 for 12, $93 for 24, $155 for 40 and $201.50 for 52.
If you order by mail with a check, cash or money order to P.O. Box 1228, Campbell, CA 95009-1228, you can get $1 off in every price range.
WEDNESDAY NEWS UPDATE
WWE
Ric and Charlotte Flair paid tribute to Reid Flair on what would have been his 32nd birthday. Ric wrote that he’ll be at Full Sail tonight for Charlotte’s match against Bianca Belair on NXT: “Happy Birthday Champ!! Not A Day Goes By That We Don’t All Think About You. Wendy And I Are Going To See The QUEEN Tear It Down At NXT With Bianca Blair Tonight!! Love You More Than Can Be Put In Words!”
The first trailer for Paramount Pictures and WWE Studios’ “Rumble” was released today. The animated film “is set in a world where monster wrestling is a global sport and monsters are superstar athletes.” It stars Will Arnett, Terry Crews, and Geraldine Viswanathan and features Becky Lynch and Roman Reigns voicing two of its characters.
Sasha Banks will be the in-studio guest on WWE’s The Bump next week.
WWE’s YouTube page added a video of the top ten breakups in WWE history.
Other Wrestling
EVOLVE 145 will stream live for free on Facebook at 6 p.m. Eastern time this Saturday. Gabe Sapolsky tweeted about the show being on the same day as AEW’s Revolution PPV: “Before anyone makes assumptions, this show will be ending around the time the other one starts. You can make it a double header. We want more eyeballs on this loaded & important show from NYC as we head to #EVOLVE in Boston area, Detroit, Chicago and then #WRESTLExpo in Tampa”
Kris Statlander, who is challenging Nyla Rose for the AEW Women’s Championship at Revolution, will miss tomorrow’s Bar Wrestling show due to the flu. Bar Wrestling tweeted: “Unfortunately Kris Statlander has come down with the flu and Adam Brooks work visa won’t be ready in time so both will be unavailable for tomorrow’s show. We are working on the card changes now. Thank you for your patience and support.”
DDT, along with sister promotions Ganabre and Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling, has canceled a number of dates through March 8 due to the coronavirus outbreak. However, DDT will be running empty arena shows on February 28, March 1, March 3 and March 7. Tokyo Joshi Pro will run an empty arena show on March 1 as well.
Several NXT wrestlers are set for EVOLVE’s shows in Florida this month.
NXT’s Brendan Vink (Elliot Sexton), Dexter Lumis (Samuel Shaw), Denzel Dejournette, Indi Hartwell, Santana Garrett, and Rik Bugez have been announced for EVOLVE 143 in Ybor City on Friday, January 17. At EVOLVE 144 in Orlando the next night, Lumis, Mansoor, Joaquin Wilde (DJZ), Bugez, Dejournette, and Vink will be in action.
The WWE United Kingdom championship has reportedly been stolen.
According to a report from PWInsider, WWE United Kingdom champion WALTER’s championship belt, along with his passport, was stolen earlier today in Chicago following a smash and grab of a rental car.
The rental car reportedly belonged to Timothy Thatcher, who also had property stolen in the burglary.
Independent wrestlers from the area told PWInsider that there has been a series of incidents similar to this recently in the Logan Square area, where both Timothy Thatcher and WALTER are competing tonight for EVOLVE.
There was an incident earlier this year where the AEW World title had disappeared from a limo Chris Jericho had rented just days after winning the championship at All Out. It was eventually recovered less than a week later by Tallahassee police.
Thatcher will face Arturo Ruas tonight at EVOLVE 142 while WALTER will face Josh Briggs in the main event in a non-title match.
‘Left My Wallet’ is back with EVOLVE VP of talent relations and creative Gabe Sapolsky!
One of the most cutting edge minds in the wrestling business of the last 25 years starts by talking about his love of baseball. The fellow New England native and I discuss our mutual love of the Red Sox growing up and the memories we have growing up with their heartache throughout the 80s and 90s.
Gabe talks about going to Fenway Park, his love of the 80s era Celtics, the magic that encapsulated Boston sports back then, and more. He then describes what endeared him to also become a fan of Philadelphia sports, the defining moment that led him to love the Phillies, his favorite player, and his excellent booking dea for making baseball more interesting and creating those can’t miss pitcher vs. hitter matchups.
Gabe also discusses the huge events coming up for EVOLVE this weekend, their talented roster, and his outlook for independent wrestling in 2020.
WALTER will be in action at EVOLVE 141 in Livonia, Michigan on Friday, December 6 and EVOLVE 142 in Chicago, Illinois on Saturday, December 7. He’ll face Timothy Thatcher at the Livonia show. The next night in Chicago, it will be WALTER vs. EVOLVE Champion Josh Briggs in a non-title match.
Briggs defending his EVOLVE Championship against JD Drake has also been announced for EVOLVE 141. Briggs won the title by defeating Austin Theory this past Saturday.
EVOLVE 141 is taking place at the Monaghan Knights of Columbus Hall. EVOLVE 142 is being held at Logan Square Auditorium.
WALTER is WWE’s United Kingdom Champion. He made appearances at last Friday’s SmackDown and Raw television tapings in Manchester, England. On SmackDown, Imperium (WALTER, Marcel Barthel, Fabian Aichner & Alexander Wolfe) attacked Heavy Machinery until members of the SmackDown roster came out to make the save.
WALTER answered Seth Rollins’ open challenge on last night’s Raw. Their match ended in a disqualification when Imperium attacked Rollins. It then turned into an eight-man tag, with Rollins, Kevin Owens & The Street Profits defeating Imperium.
– Cody needed eight stitches for the cut he suffered at Full Gear last night. He suffered a costochondral (rib) separation as well when he did a dive and crashed on the metal part of the ramp landing on both his face and ribs. AEW listed that he was right now not medically cleared. It was said to not be badly injured.
Dr. Michael Sampson checked on Cody after he hit his head not the ramp to determine whether he could continue. Obviously there would have been hell to pay if it was stopped given they had a long time left and had laid out a major match.
– Will Ospreay injured his shoulder at the New Japan show in San Jose last night. It popped out during a handspring move and he was clearly in a lot of pain. But he did get medical attention. Kazuchika Okada had to work several minutes on his own but Ospreay did come back and he said he doesn’t think the shoulder is out.
– There was also a Matt Sydal injury scare at Evolve. During his match yesterday with Leon Ruff, he got numbness in his arm and feared suffering a neck injury during the match. He was treated backstage and was fine but still had numbness.
– Hangman Page may have suffered a stinger in last night’s match with Pac as he was having problems with his right arm but he is still at this point expected to work against Pac on Wednesday night’s Dynamite in Nashville.
EVOLVE has revealed Matt Sydal’s first two opponents for his return to wrestling as Evan Bourne.
At EVOLVE 139, Bourne will face Leon Ruff. Bourne will then take on AR Fox at EVOLVE 140 the next night. Ruff and Fox are the EVOLVE Tag Team Champions.
Fox finished first in a Twitter fan vote to decide Bourne’s opponents and Ruff finished third. Anthony Greene finished second, with EVOLVE writing that they “have discovered that Greene and Brandi Lauren set up countless fake Twitter accounts to ruin the integrity of the voting.”
La Boom in Queens, New York is hosting EVOLVE 139 on Saturday, November 9. EVOLVE 140 is taking place at the Saint Finbar Catholic Church Gym in Brooklyn on Sunday, November 10.
It was announced last week that Sydal would be returning to using his WWE name in EVOLVE. He was also confirmed for EVOLVE 141 in Livonia, Michigan on Friday, December 6 and EVOLVE 142 in Chicago, Illinois on Saturday, December 7.
“We have so many unique opportunities with the EVOLVE connection to WWE,” EVOLVE’s Gabe Sapolsky said in a statement. “We can put on matches with talent that no one else on the independent wrestling level can. One of these unique opportunities is being able to revive Evan Bourne. I know he is very hungry and looks at this as a comeback opportunity. I’ve know him since 2004 and I’m very excited to be working with him again.”
Here are the updated lineups for next month’s EVOLVE shows:
EVOLVE 139 (November 9) —
EVOLVE Champion Austin Theory defending against Josh Briggs (if anyone interferes, they’ll be banned from EVOLVE)
JD Drake vs. Anthony Henry in a no holds barred match
Babatunde vs. Eddie Kingston in a grudge match with relaxed rules
Evan Bourne vs. Leon Ruff
Arturo Ruas & Anthony Gutierrez vs. Joe Gacy & Sean Maluta
Curt Stallion & Brandon Taggart vs. Harlem Bravado & Anthony Greene (w/ Brandi Lauren)
AR Fox vs. Colby Corino
Shotzi Blackheart’s final match at La Boom
More with Adrian Alanis, Liam Gray, and others
EVOLVE 140 (November 10) —
Evan Bourne vs. AR Fox
EVOLVE Champion Austin Theory vs. Curt Stallion in a non-title match
JD Drake vs. Babatunde in a match where there must be a winner
Arturo Ruas vs. Eddie Kingston
Anthony Gutierrez vs. a member of The Unwanted
Josh Briggs vs. Anthony Henry vs. Joe Gacy vs. Brandon Taggart
Harlem Bravado & Anthony Greene (w/ Brandi Lauren) vs. Adrian Alanis & Liam Gray
Shotzi Blackheart’s final match in EVOLVE
More with Mike Verna, Mike Donovan, Alame, and others
NXT’s Adam Cole, Tommaso Ciampa, and Johnny Gargano will be available for meet-and-greets at both shows, along with Theory, Blackheart, Ruas, and Babatunde.
Matt Sydal is returning to his former WWE name for EVOLVE Wrestling.
Sydal was announced for four EVOLVE shows today — and he’ll be wrestling as Evan Bourne at them. He’ll be in action at EVOLVE 139 in Queens, New York on Saturday, November 9, EVOLVE 140 in Brooklyn, New York on Sunday, November 10, EVOLVE 141 in Livonia, Michigan on Friday, December 6, and EVOLVE 142 in Chicago, Illinois on Saturday, December 7.
This will be the first time Sydal has wrestled as Bourne since 2013. He’ll also be available for meet-and-greets at all four shows.
“We have so many unique opportunities with the EVOLVE connection to WWE,” EVOLVE’s Gabe Sapolsky said in a statement. “We can put on matches with talent that no one else on the independent wrestling level can. One of these unique opportunities is being able to revive Evan Bourne. I know he is very hungry and looks at this as a comeback opportunity. I’ve [known] him since 2004 and I’m very excited to be working with him again.”
“There has never been a more ideal moment for Evan Bourne to return,” Bourne said. “I’m thankful for this rebirth. I’m thrilled for this opportunity, and I will open everyone’s eyes at EVOLVE. On November 9th and 10th, come see what I’m saying.”
EVOLVE noted that information on Bourne’s matches will be announced early next week.
Shotzi Blackheart has signed with WWE, confirming with an angle that took place at EVOLVE 137 on Friday.
NXT General Manager William Regal came out and congratulated Blackheart following a victory over Aja Perera, retaining the Shine Nova championship in the process. Regal did a promo where he offered her a contract. Blackheart shook Regal’s hand, accepting the deal.
Squared Circle Sirens reported on October 9 that Blackheart, real name Ashley Urbanski, had signed a developmental contract with the company. Blackheart has also listed her final indie dates, which includes dates for GCW, RISE, Beyond Wrestling and SHIMMER.
Her final indie date is with SHIMMER on November 3.
Evolve 138 takes place later this evening with Blackheart facing Savannah Evans. The show will be headlined by Anthony Henry facing JD Drake in a North Carolina Backyard Fight. Cameron Grimes will face Eddie Kingston, Curt Stallion will face Kassius Ohno, Babatunde will face Sean Maluta and Anthony “Sharkbait” Gutierrez will face Arturo Ruas.
EVOLVE Champion Austin Theory made his NXT debut at Thursday night’s house show in Daytona, Florida.
Theory lost to Bronson Reed at the show. Our JJ Williams wrote about the match: “They had a good back-and-forth match with some impressive moments by both. Theory hit a great dropkick and standing moonsault. Reed hit his big splash from the top to win it.”
Theory was part of the group of WWE signees that reported to the Performance Center last month. He’s wrestled on the WWE Network once before, defeating JD Drake at EVOLVE’s 10th anniversary show this July. Theory unified the EVOLVE and WWN titles with that win.
Tehuti Miles also joined the Performance Center last month and debuted at Thursday’s house show in Daytona. Miles is an Army veteran and was formerly part of the University of Maryland football team. He began his pro wrestling career with Maryland Championship Wrestling.
In his NXT debut, Miles lost quickly to Cameron Grimes. Theory wrestled in the next match and cut a pre-match promo about Miles not getting the job done.
Theory will defend his EVOLVE Championship against Josh Briggs at EVOLVE 136 in Queens, New York this Saturday (September 21).
