WWNLive
| Acronym | WWNLive |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2001 |
| Headquarters | United States |
| Founder(s) | Sal Hamaoui |
| Owner(s) | Sal Hamaoui |
| Website | http://www.wwnlive.com/ |
The World Wrestling Network, also known as WWNLive, is a professional wrestling governing body and internet streaming and video on demand service originating from the United States.[1][2][3][4]
History[edit]
WWN by founded by Sal Hamaoui in 2001 as an internet streaming and video on demand service.[4] In 2003, WWN began producing Ring of Honor (ROH) DVDs.[4]
In early 2010, Sapolsky co-founded Evolve Wrestling along with WWN COO Sal Hamaoui. Evolve started out with the idea of featuring the upcoming wrestlers that weren't in DGUSA. Since that time, Sapolsky has honed his booking style. August 2014 saw a relaunch of Evolve, which has established a unique identity with the top talent going today.
Evolve and Dragon Gate USA are both under the parent company of WWN. In 2011, WWN launched its own groundbreaking live iPPV streaming service, www.WWNLive.com. Sapolsky helped market and produce content for WWNLive.com.
2014 saw WWN hold its first "supershows" with a historic two week tour of China. The first WWN Supershow in the United States also took place in 2014. The idea behind the WWN Supershow is to combine title matches and talent from all the WWN brands as well as special guest attractions.
Dragon Gate USA held its last event in 2014 and is currently dormant. Sapolsky is now the Vice President of Talent Relations, Creative and Marketing of WWN with his main concentration on Evolve and WWN Supershows. Sapolsky also helps market the other WWN brands, including Full Impact Pro and Shine, an all women's promotion.
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.[5] 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.[6]
In 2015, WWNLive opened a training facility in Trinity, Florida named "World Wrestling Network Academy".[7]
During 2015, Evolve entered a relationship with WWE. Evolve's wrestlers were featured on WWE.com,[8] while WWE NXT wrestlers Sami Zayn, Chad Gable and Jason Jordan took part in Evolve events in non-wrestling roles.[9][10] In January 2016, NXT General Manager William Regal and WWE COO Triple H attended Evolve 54.[11] As part of the relationship, it was announced in March 2016 that Evolve would hold qualifying matches for WWE's Cruiserweight Classic.[12]
On October 24, 2016, WWNLive and FloSports announced a new streaming service, starting on November 4. Through the service, subscribers can access both live streaming events as well as events from WWNLive's on-demand library, dating back to 2003.[13]
On November 22, 2016, it was announced that WWNLive would be debuting a new promotion named Style Battle on January 7, 2017.[14] Also announced was the creation of the WWN Championship on April 1, 2017.[15]
Members[edit]
| Promotion | Owner | State | Years |
|---|---|---|---|
| American Combat Wrestling | 5th Avenue Entertainment | Florida | [16] |
| Dragon Gate USA | Gabe Sapolsky | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | 2009–2014 (Defunct) |
| Evolve Wrestling | Gabe Sapolsky | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | 2010–present |
| Full Impact Pro | Sal Hamaoui | Largo, Florida | 2003–present |
| Shine Wrestling | Dave Prazak | Ybor City, Florida | 2012–present |
| Style Battle | Gabe Sapolsky | Ybor City, Florida | 2017 |
Championships[edit]
| Championship | Current champion(s) | Reign | Date Won | Days | Location | Previous champion(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WWN Championship | TBD | N/A | April 1, 2017 | N/A | Orlando, Florida | N/A |
| Evolve Championship | Timothy Thatcher | 1 | July 10, 2015 | 564 | Tampa, Florida | Drew Galloway |
| Evolve Tag Team Championship | Drew Galloway and Dustin | 1 (2,1) |
July 16, 2016 | 297 | Dallas, Texas | Catch Point (Drew Gulak and Tracy Williams) |
| FIP World Heavyweight Championship | Fred Yehi | 1 | May 27, 2016[17] | 242 | Orlando, Florida | Caleb Konley |
| FIP World Tag Team Championship | The Hooligans (Devin Cutter and Mason Cutter) | 1 | August 7, 2015[18] | 536 | Tampa, Florida | Savages (Eddie Graves and Teddy Stigma) |
| FIP Florida Heritage Championship | Martin Stone | 1 | May 28, 2016[19] | 241 | New Port Richey, Florida | Donovan Danhausen |
| Shine Championship | Ivelisse Vélez | 2 | June 17, 2016 | 221 | Ybor City, Florida | Taylor Made |
| Shine Tag Team Championship | Better Than You (Jayme Jameson and Marti Belle) |
1 | December 11, 2015 | 410 | Tampa, Florida | The Kimber Bombs (Cherry Bomb and Kimber Lee) |
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ Keith Harris (11 June 2015). "WWE in negotiations with WWNLive for loose affiliation, is it linked to heat with Ring of Honor?". Cageside Seats.
- ^ "PWTorch.com - DEVELOPING STORY: Update on WWE and WWNLive working together after WWE personnel attend EVOLVE show".
- ^ http://www.wwnlive.com/about.html
- ^ a b c "About". WWNLive. Retrieved 22 July 2016.
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ Caldwell, James (2015-02-19). "WWNLive news: Official new training facility announced". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved 2015-02-19.
- ^ Melok, Bobby (2015-10-15). "NXT's next breakout stars?: Meet the 5 Evolve wrestlers you need to know". WWE. Retrieved 2016-07-22.
- ^ "10/17 Evolve 49 Results – Zayn, Gargano, more". Pro Wrestling Torch. 2015-10-17. Retrieved 2016-07-22.
- ^ "NXT GM & Tag Team to appear at Evolve show". Pro Wrestling Torch. 2016-01-11. Retrieved 2016-07-22.
- ^ "Evolve 54 iPPV results: HHH & William Regal make an appearance". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. 2016-01-24. Retrieved 2016-07-22.
- ^ "WWE to hold GCS matches at future EVOLVE event". Pro Wrestling Torch. 2016-03-19. Retrieved 2016-07-22.
- ^ Nason, Josh (2016-10-24). "FloSports announces deal with WWNLive, launches pro wrestling streaming service". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved 2016-10-24.
- ^ Currier, Joseph (2016-11-22). "WWNLive debuting new Style Battle promotion on FloSlam". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved 2016-11-22.
- ^ Johnson, Mike (2016-11-23). "WWNLive launching new title, new brand". Pro Wrestling Insider. Retrieved 2016-11-24.
- ^ http://411mania.com/wrestling/wwn-live-to-create-new-wwn-championship-to-be-defended-across-all-promotions/
- ^ Trionfo, Richard (2015-07-04). "FIP Declaration of Independence report: Swann versus Konley for the world title, Savages versus Solow and Cade for the tag titles, ladder match, and more". Pro Wrestling Insider. Retrieved 2015-07-04.
- ^ "SHOW RESULTS - 8/7 FIP in Ybor City, Fla.: New tag champs, Caleb Konley defends FIP Hvt. Title, So Cal Val, Trina, more". Pro Wrestling Torch. August 7, 2015. Retrieved March 20, 2016.
- ^ "FIP Florida Heritage Championship". Cage Match. Retrieved March 20, 2016.
