WWE have acquired ownership of the EVOLVE Wrestling promotion, which has long been the flagship brand of the World Wrestling Network, according to a report from Mike Johnson of PWInsider.com.
The report notes that while there were rumors making the rounds that EVOLVE Wrestling had been sold to the WWE, nothing had been finalized until just recently and that the deal was closed after several months of negotiations.
This now means that WWE will have the complete rights to use the EVOLVE brand name and produce EVOLVE events going forward, whether as live events or WWE Network programming, with no date set as to when there will be EVOLVE/WWN content added to the WWE Network.
EVOLVE has been home to numerous stars from its start in 2010 to its finish in 2020 who have since went to the main WWE roster, WWE NXT, All Elite Wrestling, IMPACT Wrestling and other promotions globally.
Among those stars to have been part of EVOLVE Wrestling over the 10 years, including through association with the EVOLVE/WWE partnership are: Drew McIntyre, Daniel Bryan, Sami Callihan, The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson), Kota Ibushi, The Street Profits (Montez Ford & Angelo Dawkins), Fabian Aichner, Mustafa Ali, EC3, Cody Rhodes, Flip Gordon, Davey Richards, Chuck Taylor, Lince Dorado, WALTER, Chris Hero, Timothy Thatcher, Drew Gulak, Aleister Black, Brian Cage, TJ Perkins, Mansoor, Dexter Lumis, PJ Black, Jeff Cobb, Daisuke Sekimoto, Munenori Sawa, Dick Togo, KUSHIDA, ACH, Laredo Kid, Sammy Guevara, Rey Horus, Bobby Fish, Kyle O’Reilly, Zack Sabre Jr, Darby Allin, Malcolm Bivens, Tyler Breeze, Johnny Gargano, Austin Theory, Jon Moxley, Sabu, Mia Yim, AR Fox, Jonathan Gresham, Cedric Alexander, Ethan Page, Tracy Williams, Eddie Kingston, Tony Nese, Apollo Crews, Brodie Lee, Keith Lee, Matt Sydal, Roderick Strong, Moose, Orange Cassidy, Adam Cole, Isaiah “Swerve” Scott, Willie Mack, Rocky Romero, Lio Rush, The Velveteen Dream, Arturo Ruas, John Silver, Tommaso Ciampa, Marty Scurll, Will Ospreay, Dominik Dijakovic, Michael Elgin, Mark Haskins, Joaquin Wilde, Zachary Wentz, Trey Miguel, Myron Reed, Joey Janela, Richard Holliday, Cameron Grimes, Danny Burch, Oney Lorcan, Matt Riddle, Ricochet, Kalisto, Rich Swann, Kayden Carter, Raquel Gonzalez, Allysin Kay, Brendan Vink, Indi Hartwell, Shotzi Blackheart, Trent, Josh Alexander, Kona Reeves, Shane Thorne, Babatunde, Raul Mendoza, Jessi Kamea, Jake Atlas, Denzel DeJournette and Rik Bugez.