WWE today announced that the EVOLVE 10th Anniversary event will broadcast live from Philadelphia's 2300 Arena live on the WWE Network the night before WWE Extreme Rules. The event will become the first independent wrestling event to air live on the Network. EVOLVE was founded by Sal Hamaoui and WWE NXT Creative team member Gabe Sapolsky, holding its first event in January 2010 in Rahway, NJ. WWE has been working on a handshake agreement with EVOLVE for several years, finally officially signing a contract to put their relationship in writing several months ago. “EVOLVE was the birthplace for many current WWE and NXT Superstars, so it is only fitting that their 10th Anniversary Celebration will be showcased live on WWE Network,” said Paul “Triple H” Levesque, WWE Executive Vice President of Talent, Live Events & Creative, said in an official press release supporting the event (see below). The timing of the EVOLVE broadcast would put it head to head with AEW's Fight for the Fallen, which will air live on Bleacher Report Live on Saturday 7/13 as well. The EVOLVE event will feature: *WWE NXT Champion Adam Cole vs. Akira Tozawa. *WWE Cruiserweight Champion Drew Gulak vs. Matt Riddle. *Also appearing are NXT stars Arturo Ruas and Babatunde, EVOLVE Champion Austin Theory, EVOLVE Tag Team Champions Joe Gacy and Eddie Kingston, WWN Champion JD Drake and more.
Spoiler: Taker related Apparently he has requested to work with Drew at WM36 and the tag match is to start that story
I like the move but realistically is anyone who was going to buy the AEW PPV going to look at that and go, oh shit, now what do I want to watch? Probably not
Kenny doesn't seem too thrilled with the news but whatever. I wouldn't watch evolve over AEW, but maybe others would. Fight for the Fallen should have the fans it normally would regardless.
It's actually more risky for WWE really, if AEW does a bigger viewer number during the same timeslot of a WWE event. The hype will just grow.
There is zero way to know that unless WWE would share that news. And to this point they have never shared viewing numbers on anything network related. Only sub numbers for stock holders.
I'll watch AEW and check out Evolve after. But i'm glad someone in the company is taking notice. I also like that Evolve now is on the Network. I hope its for more than this event.
We'll see what their numbers are this weekend for Fyter Fest, if they maintain or exceed, that'll tell you the impact of WWE for FfTF.
If I had to make a guess I would think a show that is free would have better numbers than the show that cost a rather high price tag. AEW also has a lot of momentum from such a well received PPV and this card they are giving is solid. Even if AEW numbers were flat or lower than DoN I don't think you can attach that to WWEs impact on them. They are so new and have no baseline to even judge off of. Probably can't properly judge off AEW numbers alone for a year when they have somewhat established some figures.
These "Road To..." episodes have blown away the "being the elite" stuff. Cody is putting out some A+ material.
Yeah, the quality is incredible really. I feel they should be on the main AEW channel. BTE is funny and progresses some story line stuff, but the constant change in sound quality cause they're all recording things differently is annoying lol
They definitely will need to consolidate the YouTube stuff eventually. Not even the shows, just need them all on one page.
Down for anything Cornette. Dude is hilarious even when shitting on something I like. I've listened to his DoN battle royal breakdown multiple times lol
is that HHH getting hired over, or is he too big picture at this point to be considered running one of those shows?
Well that's definitely interesting, can't see either one getting back in the game unless they were promised certain freedom
He has to train for four matches a year. It takes a lot of time to insert yourself into matches and story lines when no one wants you.
Me either. We all know Heyman's demands and Eric likes being isolated in Wyoming and has a cushy gig with Conrad. He wouldn't get back in just for a paycheck.
Neat, cant wait to watch Bischoff have Foley fight a piece of cardboard on *Smackdown. If he could tap into the cruiserweight magic that WCW had, he could be a real hit though. What a goldmine that was that they totally blew.
That's pretty big news assuming they get some creative freedom and can run it their way. Could get me interested again.
But seriously this means nothing unless Vince is prepared to (A) disagree with someone else's idea, and (B) do it anyway. That day will happen when he's dead. So never
We will see, as others have mentioned though I have a hard time thinking especially Heyman would agree to run RAW without some promises being made. There is a history there between him and Vince and dont think he would go back to it without those promises
Apparently on a podcast yesterday Tommy Dreamer said he was going to hop the guardrail at Wrestlemania and kill Paul Heyman and then himself but backed out of it after receiving a call from Jim Ross.
if he seriously said that he needs to go away somewhere and get help. it's not safe for him to be free and independent right now.
honestly if he did that, WWE as we know it would certainly not exist. who knows what it would be, but that's an event that would have completely changed the wrestling business forever.
Basically it was when Paul was lying to the ECW roster telling them not take WWE money when he knew ECW was folding and was making a deal behind the scenes for a soft landing for himself. Never forget, Heyman is a pretty huge piece of shit.