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WWE has purchased Philadephia-based independent promotion EVOLVE Wrestling.
As first reported by Mike Johnson of PWInsider, after months of negotiations, a deal between both sides has been reached, and WWE has acquired the EVOLVE promotion as well as their large tape library.
The promotion was owned by Gabe Sapolsky and Sal Hamaoui, who also owns WWN (World Wrestling Network), which is not a part of the deal. WWN will continue to operate a separate entity.
At least one other party was interested in purchasing the promotion, but due to a contractual agreement between WWE and EVOLVE they couldn’t strike a deal.
This led to discussions with WWE that resulted in WWE acquiring the promotion and the EVOLVE tape library. We are told there was at least one other party interested in buying EVOLVE outright but they could not do so because EVOLVE’s contractual agreement with WWE gave WWE the rights to execute their purchase clause or provide EVOLVE with WWE’s blessing to sell elsewhere. After going back and forth, WWE chose to make the purchase.
The belief among sources is that several talent currently under contract with EVOLVE will be offered new contracts with WWE, working under the NXT brand. It’s unknown how many wrestlers the company plans to sign, but the deal did not include existing talent contracts.
The sale also adds additional content to WWE’s vast library, the belief is the entire Dragon Gate USA video library was also part of the deal.
We are told that material will be removed from WWNLive.com in about a month, so any material that disappears would likely have been sold to WWE. So, if you are a WWNLive subscriber, you have a chance to watch the material one last time before it goes into the WWE vault.
EVOLVE began facing major financial issues after canceling their Wrestlemania 36 week events due to COVID-19 pandemic.
Sal Hamaoui is reportedly using funds from the sale to WWE to take care of financial burdens the promotion has faced, including refunding fans for Wrestlemania week tickets.
WWN will continue to run shows for SHINE, ACW, and Full Impact Pro, streaming events from Florida as soon as they are allowed to.