WWE Purchases EVOLVE Wrestling

WWE has officially purchased EVOLVE Wrestling, PWInsider reports.

The deal was recently finalized after several months of negotiations. WWE now has the complete right to use the EVOLVE brand name and produce EVOLVE events.

WWE has also acquired the EVOLVE video library.

As we noted in June, EVOLVE had been going through some financial issues and the COVID-19 pandemic made it worse. The cancellation of WrestleMania 36 Week in Tampa was catastrophic for the promotion.

EVOLVE was founded in 2010 by Gabe Sapolsky. Since 2015, the promotion has had a working relationship with WWE. When they signed that deal, EVOLVE created a new LLC, which is the company WWE has acquired. WWE has not purchased WWNLive, which will still reportedly go on.

As for talent, PWInsider reports that the existing EVOLVE/WWN talent contracts are not part of the sale. Though there is an expectation of at least four talents that will be signed and go to WWE NXT.

Apollo Crews, Austin Theory, Drew Gulak, Keith Lee, Johnny Gargano, Matt Riddle, Ricochet, and Oney Lorcan are just a few who used the promotion as a stepping stone to get to WWE.