Evolve (professional wrestling)

Evolve
private
Industry Professional wrestling
Founded 2010
Headquarters Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Key people
 Gabe Sapolsky
Sal Hamaoui
Parent WWNLive[1]
Website EvolveWrestling.com

Evolve Wrestling (stylized as EVOLVE) is an American professional wrestling promotion based in the Northeast founded in 2010 by former Ring of Honor booker and current Dragon Gate USA vice president, Gabe Sapolsky, Full Impact Pro owner Sal Hamaoui, and wrestler Davey Richards.

The company features a roster of independently-contracted wrestlers from all over the country, as well as several competitors from Japan. The promotion had a close working relationship with sister promotion Dragon Gate USA until DGUSA became dormant in August 2015.

Later that year, Evolve formed a relationship with WWE, essentially making Evolve something of a developmental league for them, as WWE scouts Evolve talent to sign for their NXT subdivision, and eventually the main roster.[2][3]

History

In 2009, Gabe Sapolsky announced a new wrestling promotion via some viral videos featuring one of the company's competitors, Jimmy Jacobs. After this more videos were produced promoting more performers, as well as featuring blogs written by the wrestlers about their feelings regarding the company. The first show, ;;Evolve 1: Davey Richards vs. Ibushi;;, was held on January 16, 2010, in Rahway, New Jersey at Rahway Recreational Center.[4]

During interviews with wrestling newsletter Figure 4 Weekly on its radio show, Sapolsky told editor Bryan Alvarez that Evolve would have stronger emphasis on rules and would not limit anyone based on their own respective style of wrestling in favor of showcasing the talent's individual strengths and covering up their weaknesses.[5] On January 29, 2010, Sapolsky announced that Evolve would no longer be booking Davey Richards as he had signed a new contract with Ring of Honor.[6]

The concept of the promotion was initially an emphasis on the wrestlers' win-loss records. They divided the company into two divisions: singles wrestlers and tag teams. As per the website, some wrestlers would need to earn their way onto the roster by winning a qualifying match, but that since has been dropped.[7]

On November 25, 2011, Evolve and Dragon Gate USA announced the unification of the two promotions. Evolve and Dragon Gate USA will still promote separate events, but the two share rosters, including stables, and Evolve recognizes Dragon Gate USA's Open the Freedom Gate Championship and Open the United Gate Championship as its top two championships.[8]

In February 2013, Evolve announced that they would be holding a tournament to crown the first Evolve Champion as they were eliminatin the records system at that time. The tournament was held in Secaucus, New Jersey, at WrestleCon in April 2013. Evolve used the records of the talent to determine the seedings in the tournament; the top two were Chuck Taylor (10–5) and Ricochet (5–2), and both received byes into the second round. On April 5, AR Fox defeated Sami Callihan in the final to become the inaugural champion. On September 18, 2013, Vito LoGrasso announced that his new Wrestling School signed an agreement to be the Development Center for Evolve.[9]

In November 2014, Evolve, along with Dragon Gate USA (DGUSA), Full Impact Pro (FIP) and Shine Wrestling, all under the WWNLive banner, held a tour of China.[1] The following month, WWNLive announced a long-term deal with Great-Wall International Sports Management for regular tours of Asia, starting in the spring of 2015.[10]

In 2015, WWNLive opened a training facility in Trinity, Florida named "World Wrestling Network Academy", which Evolve shares with DGUSA, FIP and Shine.[11]

During 2015, Evolve entered a relationship with WWE. Evolve's wrestlers were featured on WWE.com,[12] while WWE NXT wrestlers Sami Zayn, Chad Gable and Jason Jordan took part in Evolve events in non-wrestling roles.[13][14] In January 2016, NXT General Manager William Regal and WWE COO Triple H attended Evolve 54.[15] As part of the relationship, it was announced in March 2016 that Evolve would hold qualifying matches for WWE's Global Cruiserweight Series.[16]

Roster

The company's roster is split into several units, with the majority of the wrestlers aligned with one faction or another.[17]

Ring name Real name Notes
Andrew Everett Unknown
Anthony Nese Anthony Nese
Caleb Konley Unknown
Chris Hero Chris Spradlin
Davey Richards Wesley Richards
Drew Galloway Drew Galloway
Drew Gulak Drew Gulak Evolve Tag Team Champion
Fire Ant Unknown
Fred Yehi Fred Yehi
Johnny Gargano John Gargano
Martin Stone Martin Harris
Shane Strickland Unknown [18]
Silver Ant Unknown
Timothy Thatcher Tim Moura Evolve Champion[19]
Tommy End Tommy Budgen
TJP T.J. Perkins
Tracy Williams Tracy Williams Evolve Tag Team Champion
Trent Baretta Gregory Marasciulo

Other

[20]

Alumni

Championships

Current champions

Championship Champion(s) Previous Date Won Location
Evolve Championship Timothy Thatcher Drew Galloway July 10, 2015 Tampa, Florida
Evolve Tag Team Championship Catch Point
(Drew Gulak and Tracy Williams)		 Drew Galloway and Johnny Gargano April 2, 2016 Dallas, Texas

Former champions

Championship Last champion(s) Date retired Location
Open the Freedom Gate Championship Timothy Thatcher August 15, 2015 Woodside, Queens
Open the United Gate Championship Ronin
(Johnny Gargano and Rich Swann)		 May 30, 2015 Woodside, Queens

References

  1. 1 2 Johnson, Mike (2014-09-19). "Evolve heading to China (no, really)". Pro Wrestling Insider. Retrieved 2014-09-19. WWNLive, the parent company of Evolve, Shine, FIP and Dragon Gate USA.
  2. ↑ Evolve 58 Preview - Shooting Star Press Sports Blog
  3. ↑ WWE relationships leads to changes within Evolve - PW Insider.com
  4. ↑ "Schedule". Evolve Wrestling. Retrieved 2010-01-11.
  5. ↑ Alvarez, Bryan (2009-01-14). "Jan. 13 Figure Four Daily: Gabe Sapolsky on DGUSA, new EVOLVE promotion, ROH memories, booking, more". Figure 4 Weekly. Retrieved 2009-01-14.
  6. ↑ Caldwell, James (2010-01-30). "ROH/DGUSA News: Davey Richards re-signs with ROH, dropped from DGUSA shows including WrestleMania weekend shows". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved 2010-01-31.
  7. ↑ Mr. C.C. (2010-10-19). "Breaking Kayfabe #2 w/Gabe Sapolsky". Retrieved 2010-10-21.
  8. ↑ "EVOLVE evolves -- now unified with DGUSA". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. 2011-11-25. Retrieved 2011-11-25.
  9. ↑ http://www.pwinsiderxtra.com/ViewArticle.php?id=26221
  10. ↑ Caldwell, James (2014-12-03). "Newswire: WWNLive announces long-term China plan, Ross talks importance of Tokyo Dome, New Japan's subscription goals, latest World Tag League standings, more". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved 2014-12-04.
  11. ↑ Caldwell, James (2015-02-19). "WWNLive news: Official new training facility announced". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved 2015-02-19.
  12. ↑ Melok, Bobby (2015-10-15). "NXT’s next breakout stars?: Meet the 5 Evolve wrestlers you need to know". WWE. Retrieved 2016-01-24.
  13. ↑ "10/17 Evolve 49 Results – Zayn, Gargano, more". Pro Wrestling Torch. 2015-10-17. Retrieved 2016-01-24.
  14. ↑ "NXT GM & Tag Team to appear at Evolve show". Pro Wrestling Torch. 2016-01-11. Retrieved 2016-01-24.
  15. ↑ "Evolve 54 iPPV results: HHH & William Regal make an appearance". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. 2016-01-24. Retrieved 2016-01-24.
  16. ↑ "WWE to hold GCS matches at future EVOLVE event". Pro Wrestling Torch. 2016-03-19. Retrieved 2016-03-20.
  17. ↑ USA, Dragon Gate (2009-07-23). "Dragon Gate USA". dgusa.tv. Retrieved 2009-07-20.
  18. ↑ "Shane Strickland". Dragon Gate USA. Retrieved 2010-09-19.
  19. ↑ http://www.dgusa.tv/bio/timothy-thatcher
  20. ↑ "Announcers/Referees". Dragon Gate USA. Retrieved 2010-09-19.

External links

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