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WWE just announced that "WWE EVOLVE" will debut on Wednesday 3/5 on Tubi.
We reported a few days ago that there were plans for a taping last month, which was delayed. The taping will be early this month, possibly 2/7.
Tubi is a free FOX-owned service. The irony of the announcement is that MLW once sued WWE, claiming that they got involved and caused the cancellation of several planned MLW series on the free streaming service. MLW later settled for $20 million in December 2023 and now, two years later, a WWE-owned property will debut on Tubi.
Here's everything we reported yesterday:
WWE FILES TRADEMARK FOR 'EVOLVE', EVENTS IMMINENT?
by Mike Johnson @ 9:15 AM on 1/31/2025
WWE filed for a trademark on "EVOLVE" on 1/30.
The trademark filing was for good and services in the realms of "Entertainment services, a show about sports, entertainment and general interest; entertainment services, namely, the production and exhibition of professional wrestling events rendered live and through broadcast media; entertainment services, namely on-going reality based programs; providing entertainment and sports news and information via a global computer network or commercial online service; entertainment services, namely, provision of information and news about sports, entertainment and general interest; providing a website in the field of sports, entertainment and general interest; production of multimedia programs; providing online photos and videos featuring sports and entertainment."
As PWInsider.com has previously reported, there had been talents who had been asked about availability for a potential EVOLVE taping date but we are told that the initial date discussed was postponed. There is a belief among some there could be an early February date at the WWE Performance Center.
That said, there are no current dates listed internally within WWE for anything regarding the brand, which would one would expect to feature WWE ID talents.
Gabe Sapolsky would be in charge of the creative and has been overseeing the WWE ID brand thus far.
World Wrestling Entertainment officially acquired ownership of the Gabe Sapolsky-Sal Hamaoui EVOLVE promotion in 202. It had long been the flagship promotion of Hamaoui’s company, World Wrestling Network (WWN). WWE broadcast EVOLVE’s 10th Anniversary event live on the WWE Network (the first and to date, the only non-WWE promotion to ever stream on that platform) in July 2019.
EVOLVE was created as Dragon Gate USA off-shoot in January 2010 as a way to run without the DG talents coming in from Japan. While DGUSA was a satellite promotion for CIMA and other Japanese stars here in the States, EVOLVE was based on different fighting styles and win/loss records. That was a concept Sapolsky and WWE star Daniel Bryan had come up with leading into the first event under the EVOLVE banner in Rahway, NJ, but as it turned out, Bryan ended up signing with WWE and he was gone by the time the EVOLVE debuted.
EVOLVE ran 146 events over its lifetime, with its final event taking place on 3/1 in Melrose, MA, headlined by AR Fox defeating Josh Briggs. It is believed that nearly half the talents that were signed by WWN/EVOLVE over the life of the comoany ended up signing deals with World Wrestling Entertainment. The list of former contracted EVOLVE who used the promotion as their conduit into WWE is a literal who’s who: Tony Nese, Apollo Crews, Austin Theory, Brodie Lee, Jon Moxley, Drew Gulak, Keith Lee, Biff Busick (Oney Lordan), Johnny Gargano, Malcolm Bivens (Stokely Hathaway), Matt Riddle, Ricochet, Rich Swann, Kalisto, Shotzi Blackheart, Sami Callihan, Timothy Thatcher and TJ Perkins. Darby Allin was signed by All Elite Wrestling after his run with EVOLVE, but that was a different situation that saw Allin buy himself out of his EVOLVE contract in order to be free and clear to sign with AEW.
The demise of EVOLVE was brought about by the reality of a world dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic, which at the time, shut down live entertainment events on all levels. In its latter years, EVOLVE had slid into a role where it existed mostly to help groom WWE talents, brought about by the promotion’s track record at developing future WWE talents. Eventually, the working relationship grew into a signed, contractual agreement between the two sides. That agreement included a clause that would allow WWE to purchase the promotion if it so desired.
Over the last several years of its original existence, EVOLVE’s business plan had been centered around running a weekend of events in major markets, utilizing NXT talents provided by WWE in order to give those talents additional seasoning and exposure as part of EVOLVE’s contracted relationship with WWE. The shows were streamed online as iPPVs, but a major portion of live revenue from the events in recent years were coming from meet and greet sessions featuring WWE talents signing and taking photos with fans before and after the shows. The reality was that EVOLVE, even with the WWE relationship and plugs for their events on WWE’s website, was rarely drawing at the level that it truly needed to be in the black and likely would have shut down several years ago had WWE not gotten more involved.
Like every other independent promotion, EVOLVE was chasing a Holy Grail, seeking the next big thing that would finally make it solvent and successful. Until that was found, they, like every promotion, were fighting for the next dollar to keep them moving. At first it was DVD sales, until that dried up thanks to shifts in technology. Then it was live streaming, which also allowed for almost immediate piracy and while no one ever wants to admit this, streaming in many cases also cannibalizes live ticket sales, which when you are drawing a few hundred to begin with, is a significant number. The Holy Grail then morphed into what every content provider seeks today, a streaming or broadcast outlet willing to pay to license their content.
It appeared EVOLVE had indeed discovered that source of income when Flosports launched their pro wrestling platform. They immediately signed WWN as their first brand for that project and threw a ton of money at the promotion. The money was ridiculously great for WWN, but ended within a year when Flo, unable to land New Japan and ROH (who they expected to be the other cornerstones of their platform) instead came to the realization that they had locked themselves into paying out far more than they were bringing in via subscriptions. Flosports broke with EVOLVE before shutting down their pro wrestling platform.
It was a bad break, right down to Flo making all the WWN content free to stream. Lawsuits were filed and blame was placed back and forth when the reality was Flo had made a deal that was ridiculously beneficial for WWN but not for themselves, so they tried to get out of it. In the end, there was a confidential settlement that came out of the lawsuit, but even then, a large amount of money had been spent by WWN, somewhere in the six figure range and at the end of all that fighting, EVOLVE and WWN weren’t exactly left with a huge financial warchest.
In the wake of the Flosports lawsuit being settled, WWE and EVOLVE built a relationship championed by Paul "Triple H" Levesque and Gabe Sapolsky. There had been discussions going back years about working together (even before Flosports came into the picture) but in the world of WWE, things move at a slow, glacial pace until suddenly they are at breakneck speed and there is a massive rush to get things done. The initial working relationship started, a handshake deal that eventually morphed into an official, contracted relationship that saw WWE send talent and assist EVOLVE in many other ways. In return, EVOLVE prepared current and future NXT talents for their future and at times, sent WWN talent to WWE TV tapings and even had EVOLVE matches featured on Wrestlemania AXXESS events.
Had it not been for the WWE relationship, EVOLVE likely would have ceased to exist in 2016 coming out of the Flosports debacle. WWE tossed the company a lifeline when they were certain to drown. While WWE helped support the bottom line of the promotion, the reality is that like Ring of Honor before Sinclair purchased ROH, EVOLVE was now stuck in a position where it ran in circles, creating content for a slowly dwindling group of fans with a small staff that was killing itself to travel, produce, promote their events before moving on to the next event, next week or next month. That was fine when there was a light at the end of the tunnel, and traditionally that light was Wrestlemania week, where a big payday for the promotion was all but guaranteed to be the cash cow that would empower EVOLVE going forward for the next year.
Wrestlemania weekend, for WWN, always meant their most attended events of their year as well as their highest grossing events. 2020 was going to be even more important as there were plans locked in but not announced for the WWE Network to air 5-7 WWNLive events on the WWE Network as part of WWE’s slate of Wrestlemania weekend programming. It would have certainly been the most profitable and most high profile weekend in EVOLVE history...except, Wrestlemania week 2020 never happened.
With the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic, WWE made the decision to pull up stakes from Tampa and instead tape Wrestlemania 36 on a closed set from their Performance Center. That meant Wrestlemania week and all the money that usually flowed to independent promotions and companies, including WWN/EVOLVE, had now disappeared. The pandemic made it impossible to run Wrestlemania week and once March 2020 came, instead of gearing up for the biggest week of the promotion’s existence, everything shut down and it wasn’t wasn’t safe to run, period, as public gatherings weren’t allowed. Every single promotion, many now accustomed to running Wrestlemania week in order to refuel financially for the next year, instead now found themselves in a scenario worse than they could have ever envisioned.
None had shows, none had money coming in, non had anything to provide a foundation for the future and even worse, many were now left holding the bag after untold thousands of dollars in expenditures on promotion, venue rents, tickets, lighting, etc. For the fly by night, cash in hand style business that most independent promotions are, it was a near-impossible task to navigate an escape from. EVOLVE was not immune and was hit even harder. As the pandemic raged on, the reality set in that there was no way to move forward with the promotion’s business plan of running 1-2 major events a month to generate revenue, much less provide WWE with a destination for their NXT talents to continue being prepared for the future. Financially, EVOLVE was trapped having to refund ticket sales for their biggest weekend of the year while also stuck with expenditures they could never, ever recoup....and with contracted talents they were obligated to pay going forward.
In just a few months’ time, EVOLVE went from being prepared for its most high-profile events of the year to standing in a massive financial hole with no way out. They had literally built a foundation for a house that could no longer be built. Even worse, they were trapped waist-deep in the cement they had laid for that foundation. Much like Jim Crockett Promotions in the 1980s, the world had turned sideways financially for EVOLVE and like Crockett Promotions before them, there was no way to survive.
This all led to discussions with WWE that resulted in WWE acquiring the promotion and the EVOLVE tape library. When WWE and EVOLVE officially signed a deal together, EVOLVE created a new LLC, which is the company WWE acquired.
Yesterday's trademark filing is obviously a step towards an official announcement.
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