WWE Evolve: WWE and Tubi Launch Wednesday Night Wrestling Program to Highlight New Talent

For the future of wrestling, WWE is looking to the past. WWE and Tubi announced the launch of a new weekly wrestling show, “WWE Evolve” which will premiere Wednesday March 5, at 8pm ET / 5pm PT. “Evolve” gets its name from the defunct wrestling promotion Evolve, which was purchased by WWE in 2020 following a five-year partnership.

“WWE Evolve” relaunches as a showcase of in-ring action for up-and-coming WWE prospects, including talent from the recently established WWE ID program, a developmental program that works to provide indie wrestlers a more seamless transition to WWE.

“We are excited to work with our incredible partners at Tubi to showcase our young, rising talent to the WWE Universe, as they start their in-ring journey competing each week to fulfill their lifelong dream of becoming a WWE Superstar,” said WWE Senior Vice President of Talent Development Creative Shawn Michaels.

According to a press release, “Evolve” will feature “the most intense and charismatic prospects recruited from college athletics and independent wrestling as they strive to build their in-ring careers and elevate their personas,” emphasizing a focus on homegrown talent from the WWE performance center in Orlando in addition to talent from the first-of-its-kind ID program and NIL athletes.

Wrestlers featured in the “Evolve” teaser include “NXT” stars Wendy Choo, Brinley Reece and Kali Armstrong, as well as WWE ID prospects Sean Legacy, Brad Baylor and Jack Cartwheel.

“Evolve” will mark the fourth WWE show currently streaming weekly, joining Monday night “Raw” on Netflix, “NXT” Tuesdays on The CW, and Friday night “SmackDown” on USA.

source: variety.com

WWE And Gabe Sapolsky Dismissed From Samantha Tavel Lawsuit, Riddle Request Denied

A judge has dismissed WWE and Gabe Sapolsky from the lawsuit filed by Samantha Tavel, a.k.a. Candy Cartwright, against both parties and Matt Riddle. United States District Court, Northern District of Illinois Judge Manish S. Shah dismissed WWE and Sapolsky “without prejudice for lack of personal jurisdiction.” Riddle’s motion to dismiss was denied.

Tavel had filed a civil lawsuit against WWE, Sapolsky and Riddle last October seeking $10 million per defendant for various damages, emotional distress, attorney’s fees, and court costs. Tavel claimed that Riddle committed a series of assaults against her from 2017 through January 2020. She alleges that Riddle first sexually assaulted her in April of 2017 in a parking lot after an EVOLVE show. She claims that Riddle forced her to perform oral sex on him on a bus with other wrestlers after an EVOLVE show on May 19, 2018. 

Judge Shah ruled that Tavel failed to demonstrate specific personal jurisdiction lies over WWE. In a sworn affidavit, WWE stated that they had no involvement in the May 2018 wrestling event and didn’t even employ Riddle at that time.

“Tavel offers no evidence to rebut these facts, so I accept them as true, notwithstanding the complaint’s allegation that WWE controlled Evolve’s events,” Judge Shah wrote in the ruling. “To establish personal jurisdiction, Tavel needed to come forward with evidence to establish a prima facie case over WWE. Because WWE wasn’t involved in the May 2018 event around which Tavel’s injury occurred, her injury didn’t arise out of WWE’s Illinois-related activities. And though she vaguely refers to WWE’s holding events worldwide, and specifically in Illinois, she doesn’t explain when or how WWE held events in Illinois. WWE’s connection to Illinois is vaguely sketched, and its connection to the conduct alleged in Tavel’s suit is nonexistent.”

As for Sapolsky, the judge ruled that Tavel failed to meet her burden regarding Sapolsky. According to Sapolsky’s affidavit, Riddle and Tavel took different transportation after the May 2018 Evolve show to the next event in Michigan and he wasn’t in the minibus where the assault occurred.

“Tavel doesn’t rebut these facts either, so I take them as true,” Judge Shah stated. “Tavel hasn’t sufficiently established a connection between Sapolsky’s Illinois contacts and the claim at issue. She accuses Sapolsky of encouraging or assisting Riddle’s behavior. But Sapolsky didn’t know about the assault and wasn’t in the minibus where it happened. And there’s no allegation that Sapolsky encouraged Riddle’s behavior in the course of his contacts with Illinois. It’s unclear when or where that alleged encouragement occurred. Tavel argues only that Sapolsky was physically present in the state at the time of the assault. Of course, physical presence in the forum state is a ‘relevant contact.’ But when there’s no connection between the defendant’s contacts with the state and the underlying controversy, ‘specific jurisdiction is lacking regardless of the extent of the defendant’s unconnected activities in the State.’ Tavel hasn’t sufficiently linked Sapolsky’s activities in Illinois with the conduct underlying her suit.”

The court ruled that although Tavel’s allegations are contested, they are plausible “and they suffice to put Riddle on notice of the conduct he’s accused of.”

Riddle’s answer to the complaint is due on April 14, 2021, “and the parties shall file a joint status report on April 21, 2021, with a proposed discovery schedule.”

source: wrestlinginc.com

Update On Triple H Creating A Second WWE NXT Show

It was originally reported back in December, exclusively here at Wrestling Inc, that Triple H created a team to oversee a new NXT show, which would apparently be a minor leagues system for the NXT brand. It was reported then that Gabe Sapolsky was leading the team, and that he had been given several agents and writers to help him get more comfortable with writing TV. This was seen as a case of Triple H giving “the ball” to Sapolsky as he is a big believer in his abilities. The idea behind this new show was described as a “NXT for NXT.”

The original idea was for the show to be akin to another promotion running in some of the smaller tier markets that NXT serviced, but with live events likely to not return, the new idea was to just make a TV series. The goal then was to launch the show in early 2021, but the concept was delayed and will likely face more delays.

In an update, Fightful Select has revealed new details on the second NXT show. The working title is “NXT EVOLVE” and there have already been graphics created with that branding, and a new title belt created with that name. Plans can always change but “NXT EVOLVE” is the tentative name of the project.

Sapolsky and Jeremy Borash are both heavily involved in the production, which is said to be noting like anything else WWE is producing. The tapings for the concept took place at the warehouse that WWE briefly used for as a makeshift Performance Center during the COVID-19 pandemic last year.

WWE has already filmed some content for the show, using several of the newer talent acquisitions that were signed since the summer of 2020. NXT’s Josiah Williams, who just did the hip-hop intro for the “Takeover: Vengeance Day” event, was the host of the “NXT EVOLVE” show.

It was noted that the new NXT show had more of a “fight” feel to it. There was no live commentary, so anything that would be added would be done in post-production.

It was also said that planning for this new NXT project goes back as far as two years ago with various versions of the show being pitched and thrown around. Different names had also been discussed for the title of the show, starting with “NXT Underground” a few years ago. It was reiterated that plans for the new show could change as the platform and solid plans are not set in stone.

WWE Issues Statement On Reported Lawsuit Filed By Matt Riddle's Accuser Candy Cartwright

Samantha Tavel, a.k.a. Candy Cartwright, has filed a civil lawsuit against Matt Riddle, WWE, and former EVOLVE owner Gabe Sabolsky, which was first reported by the Chicago Sun Times.

According to court documents acquired by Fightful, Tavel is seeking $10 million dollars per defendant for actual damages, damages from emotional distress, punitive damages, attorney's fees, and costs.

Fightful noted that the suit alleges that Riddle committed a series of assaults against Tavel from 2017 through January 2020. She alleges that Riddle first sexually assaulted her in April of 2017 in a parking lot following an EVOLVE show. She claims that Riddle bragged about the incident with Sapolsky and two others from WWE who "tacitly approved" of the assault.

According to the Chicago Sun Times, after leaving an EVOLVE event on May 19, 2018, Tavel - who was in a relationship with Riddle at the time - said that Riddle forced her to perform oral sex on him on a bus with other wrestlers. Tavel says that she was not comfortable doing the act with other wrestlers on the bus and said, "No." Tavel claims that Riddle then put his hands on her neck and said, "What if I just made you?"

"I never thought he would do anything to hurt me and, in that moment, I was terrified," Tavel said at a news conference on Thursday.

Tavel's attorney, John Chwarzynski, said that the incident was one of the "multitude of sexual assaults committed by Matt Riddle against my client, Candi Cartwright."

"The WWE has painted a picture over the course of the years that female performers are to comply with certain rules," Chwarzynski said. "The WWE, since its inception, has hyper-sexualized female performers and they've profited from male aggression against these female performers."

According to the Chicago Sun Times story, Tavel claims that EVOLVE terminated her in January after she refused to continue to perform "forced sexual acts" on Riddle.

Cartwright first made the allegations against Riddle in June. Riddle admitted that they had an affair, but denied any allegations of sexual assault. In September, Riddle dropped a petition for a restraining order against Tavel. Riddle announced on September 17th that he would be filing a civil suit against Tavel, however the suit has yet to be filed.

WWE Network Acquires Content From Several Top Indie Promotions

Among the new content available on WWE’s streaming service is a collection highlighting how Drew McIntyre rejuvenated his career on the independent circuit.
JUSTIN BARRASSO14 HOURS AGO
WWE is adding content to the WWE Network, Sports Illustrated has learned.

WWE officials have confirmed that shows from EVOLVE, wXw, PROGRESS and Insane Championship Wrestling will begin airing on the WWE Network beginning this Saturday. The shows will add an international flair to the Network, with wXw based out of Germany, PROGRESS a staple of the English wrestling scene and ICW in Scotland.

The new content includes two “Best Of” compilation specials, which feature the work of Drew McIntyre in EVOLVE as well as Keith Lee’s rise in the same promotion.

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.

Rumors On WWE Purchasing EVOLVE

There are a lot of rumors going around in regards to the future of EVOLVE and WWE. The two promotions have had a working relationship since 2015.

There have been reports of EVOLVE selling everything to WWE, including the tape library, and being done for good, but neither WWE or EVOLVE would confirm the reports to The Wrestling Observer Newsletter when asked.

EVOLVE has had major financial issues, and the COVID-19 pandemic hasn't helped. The canceling of WrestleMania 36 Week in Tampa was described by The Observer as catastrophic to the promotion.

EVOVLE, which was founded in 2010 by Gabe Sapolsky, has had a working relationship with WWE since 2015. WWE streamed EVOLVE's 10th Anniversary Celebration on the Network last July, which went head-to-head with AEW's Fight For The Fallen event.

Source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter

WWE Network To Stream Big EVOLVE Event With WWE Stars In Action

EVOLVE's 10th Anniversary Celebration will be airing live on the WWE Network.

EVOLVE's 10th Anniversary Celebration will air as the EVOLVE 131 event, on Saturday, July 13 from the former ECW Arena, the 2300 Arena, in Philadelphia, PA. Tickets are on sale now. The live stream on the WWE Network will begin at 8pm ET.

The special show will feature two former EVOLVE talents doing battle in the main event - WWE NXT Champion Adam Cole vs. Akira Tozawa with the title on the line.

Matt Riddle vs. WWE Cruiserweight Champion Drew Gulak in a non-title match will also take place. The event will also feature NXT's Arturo Ruas (Adrian Jaoude) and Babatunde, plus EVOLVE Champion Austin Theory and EVOLVE Tag Team Champions Eddie Kingston & Joe Gacy. A full line-up of matches will be announced soon.

"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," Triple Hsaid.

WWE began their working relationship and talent exchange with WWN Live's EVOLVE promotion back in 2015. Booker Gabe Sapolsky now works behind-the-scenes for NXT and the WWE Performance Center.

EVOLVE Reveals What Happened With Impact Pulling LAX From Matches With WWE NXT Team, Future Bookings

The LAX were set to work two EVOLVE events against WWE NXT Superstars Montez Ford and Angelo Dawkins, The Street Profits, who also are the current EVOLVE Tag Team Champions.

LAX vs. AR Fox & Leon Ruff vs. The Street Profits in a Triple Threat for the titles was scheduled for the EVOLVE event on December 15 in Queens. LAX & Austin Theory vs. Ford, Dawkins and Darby Allin in a six-man match was scheduled for the next night in Long Island. Shortly after the match was announced a few days ago, EVOLVE's Gabe Sapolsky announced that Impact officials had pulled The LAX from both events.

EVOLVE announced today that they will no longer book Impact contracted talents because of this. They also stated that the two matches were booked "in order to avoid any political issues" and to give fans of both teams what they wanted, "while protecting all parties politically."

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Velveteen Dream Appearing At Two Evolve Shows In September

NXT Superstar Velveteen Dream is scheduled to make very rare appearances outside of WWE in September. He will be working two Evolve events. Evolve has a close working relationship with WWE. Dream will wrestle at at EVOLVE 112 at the MCW Arena in Joppa, Maryland on September 7 and EVOLVE 113 at La Boom in Queens, New York on September 8. It has been revealed that Dream will be facing Austin Theory in Joppa and taking on Darby Allin in Queens. Velveteen Dream, a native of Washington DC, was trained by and worked for Maryland Championship Wrestling prior to signing with WWE.

Gabe Sapolsky To Sign WWE Deal Soon, Backstage News On His Role, The WWN - WWE Relationship

WWN Live's Gabe Sapolsky will be signing a contract with WWE soon, according to PWInsider. The former ROH booker will be working for WWE as a consultant.

Sapolsky has been working for WWE on a handshake agreement for several months, specifically helping out backstage at WWE NXT TV tapings. Sapolsky will continue working with WWN and EVOLVE as this is a continuation of the working relationship between WWE and WWN.

Triple H spoke about Sapolsky during a NXT conference call back in the summer of 2017. He said:

"I like Gabe. I like what he does. I think he's a smart guy that helps to get talent going in their careers. ... It's an opportunity. ... When I have an opportunity for him to be around us and learn from us and I can bring him in and see how his mind works, it's good for everybody.

"I want to work with guys or groups or organizations who are in the business of cultivating talent and not just putting on shows and not just putting on an event, selling some tickets and moving on. ... People that are interested in cultivating talent and helping to push their careers along and to move them along."

WWN Live Announces New Championship To Be Defended Across All Company Promotions

WWN Live issued the following update today, announcing a new WWN Championship that will be defended across all of the WWN promotions:


The World Wrestling Network (WWN) will crown the first ever WWN Champion in Orlando, FL on April 1st at the WWN Supershow: Mercury Rising 2017. Go to www.MoreThanMania.com for more event info. The WWN Supershow will be broadcast at www.FloSlam.tv live.

The WWN Family is a variety of promotions, each with its own championships. Now that all the WWN promotions are broadcast live on FloSlam, WWN officials have decided to tie everything together with a WWN Champion. The WWN Champion will defend the WWN Title across WWN promotions. The format of the tournament to crown the first WWN Champion will be announced in the upcoming weeks.
The WWN Family includes:
-EVOLVE: The prestige men’s promotion.
-SHINE: The prestige women’s promotion.
-Full Impact Pro: The Wild West promotion.
-Style Battle: A tournament based promotion.
-American Combat Wrestling: The old school, regional promotion
-WWN Supershow: A conglomerate of all the promotions on one special event.
The WWN Champion will stand on top of The WWN Family. Who will represent WWN into the FloSlam era? Stay tuned.

Joey Styles Issues Open Letter Addressing His Departure From EVOLVE Over the Weekend

As noted, former WWE employee Joey Styles was fired by EVOLVE’s Gabe Sapolsky over the weekend following a Donald Trump related joke Styles made while on commentary for EVOLVE 72.

Styles has since issued the following open letter:

AN OPEN LETTER FROM JOEY STYLES

Friday night, I panicked on camera during the live broadcast of Evolve 72 on FloSlam when I realized that heel manager, Stokely Hathaway and I would be doing our promo at ringside and not in the ring with ring announcer, Joanna Rose as I had anticipated.

I told Joanna before the show that during my promo with her and Stokely in the ring, I was going to ask her about English tailoring so we could compare my suit with Stokely Hathaway’s suit.

I had no idea what to say when Stokely Hathaway and I were at ringside about to trade promos and I didn’t have Joanna with us to ask about English tailoring.

I panicked and I did exactly what Gabe Sapolsky told me not to do earlier in the week and made a political joke. The joke included a partial quote from the President-Elect that was meant to mock him and then, in-turn, my scripted nemesis, Stokely Hathaway.

I started the joke and stopped quoting the President-Elect without using the offensive word.

Again, I did not utter the offensive word.

I then turned to Stokely Hathaway and said “the word that I will not use, brings me to you.”

As the veteran, I should have walked through the promo segment with Stokely Hathaway and Joanna Rose before the event so that there was no possibility of me putting myself in that position.

Gabe was justifiably furious at me and thought that I had endangered his relationship with FloSports.

After the event, I looked Gabe in the eye, apologized to him, and as not as to put him in the awkward position of having to fire someone he has known for 20 years, told him to fire me publicly and then shook his hand.

More?

Joey Styles Fired From EVOLVE Tonight After Making Donald Trump-Related Joke, FloSlam Comments

Former WWE employee Joey Styles was fired by Gabe Sapolsky after making a Donald Trump-related joke during tonight's EVOLVE 72 iPPV. While on commentary, Styles said the following to announcer Joanna Rose but stopped before the sentence:

"Joanna, you look great tonight, and if our next President were here tonight, he'd want to grab you by the..."

Styles then said the word he was going to use is what EVOLVE manager Stokely Hathaway is, indicating he meant to say "p---y."

Below are comments from Sapolsky, the WWN Live VP of Talent Relations:

"I deeply apologize for Joey Styles' comments and am furious. We've parted ways with Joey Styles and that's my final comment on this. Thank you for your support."

FloSlam, who was streaming the event, also commented:

"We do not support or condone Joey Styles' remarks tonight in any manner, and we support this (Sapolsky's) decision 100%."

Gabe Sapolsky Talks Working Relationship With WWE, Triple H's Influence, Opportunities For Talents

Co-Founder and Vice President of EVOLVE and WWN Live, as well as former Ring of Honor booker, Gabe Sapolsky joined Busted Open with Doug Mortman and Dave LaGreca to discuss EVOLVE's relationship with WWE, Triple H's influence in it, and much more. You can check out some highlights below:

The relationship between EVOLVE and WWE:

"The WWE has been a tremendous help to us and we still continue our relationship with them. It's important that we have this relationship with WWE, not just for the company but for the wrestlers as well and have that conduit for the wrestlers to go to WWE, and that's something they'll always have with WWN. We made sure our relationship there is healthy, they have William Regal coming to our show in Maryland on November 13th, and EVOLVE show, and we're gonna keep going. Hopefully you see these guys move on. Drew Gulak and Tony Neese, they're on RAW almost every Monday, and you're gonna see them at our upcoming events in Queens, New York.

"It's an unreal time where you see this talent going from our evolve shows, and then being on RAW, and then coming back, and then going to NXT, and then we're able to have a farewell for someone like Johnny Gargano like we had last month, and see all the hard work he put in and move on. The opportunity is there, WWE has made this such an exciting time for wrestling fans because of this, because you never know who's going to pop up where next. They've made it an exciting time for the wrestlers, and most importantly WWE has played a huge part in helping the overall health in professional wrestling, and making this work for everybody."

WWE having their finger on the pulse of pro wrestling's streaming service after the WWE Network and their financial backing of FloSlam:

"It's freaking crazy (chuckles). I'm still at the point -- it's been like this all year where I wake up everyday and I don't know what the next e-mail, or the next phone call, or the next text is going to bring. It's amazing because it's like limitless opportunity all over the place, and there is no telling what tomorrow is gonna bring. We'll just have to see what happens. Flo Sports and FlowSlam.TV is gonna have a very progressive attitude, and WWE has shown how much they respect and value the independents and the health of everything by everything they've done. This isn't something they're talking about, they have actually demonstrated it and shown it. I mean when you have Triple H showing up at one of our shows, that is unbelievable to me and that's what happened last January. I still can't believe it and we're ten months later. It's just one of those things where all of this crazy stuff is going on, and nobody really knows what's going to happen next."

Triple H's influence in their relationship with WWE:

"Yeah, Triple H is the man, I mean if you want to talk about a guy that is really right on the cutting edge, and sees the landscape, and has an understanding of where it's gonna develop and the vision of where it's gonna develop, that's Triple H. This thing has been very important to him, our House of EVOLVE has been very important to him, and he's backed up his words with actions. In turn hopefully they've benefited a little bit as far as this talent exchange goes, and we hope it continues. Most importantly I love seeing the talent get this opportunity. This is something that back in the ROH days I'd sit around and I saw these guys working their asses off and the sacrifices they made, and I sad down and said 'hopefully Bryan Danielson will be able to scratch out a living one day.' CM Punk, hopefully the same. Samoa Joe, Austin Aries, Roderick Strong, I go 'I hope it pays off for these guys, maybe they can go to Japan or something.' Now we see it really is paying off for these guys, and the fact that their future is limitless. Daniel Bryan, I know he's got the injury thing and everything, but it looks like he's got a job there for life doing various roles or whatever pops up. I just like seeing it pay off for everybody and hopefully it continues like this, and I don't see any reason why it won't."

Details On WWE’s William Regal Appearing For EVOLVE Scouting Camp

WWN Live issued the following WWN Live Alert that WWE’s William Regal will attend and take part in a wrestler tryout this fall:

August 22nd: ATTN: WRESTLERS– We have huge breaking news! The next WWN Seminar/Tryout for wrestlers will be October 16th in Ybor City, FL at The Orpheum. NXT General Manager William Regal will attend and observe this Seminar/Tryout. Mr. Regal will represent WWE in scouting at this Seminar/Tryout. He will give a lecture on what WWE/NXT is looking for and how they do things. He will also offer critiques and guidance when warranted. This is a very rare and unique learning experience and opportunity. Go here for more info.

EVOLVE To Host WWE Cruiserweight Classic Showcase This Summer

EVOLVE / WWN Live’s Gabe Sapolsky posted the following announcement, revealing EVOLVE will host WWE Cruiserweight Classic Showcase matches next month:

Breaking News: EVOLVE to host WWE Cruiserweight Classic Showcase Matches on 7/16 in Queens, NY, 7/17 in Melrose, MA, 8/19 in Joppa, MD and 8/20 in Brooklyn, NY. More info in the next WWN Alerts. Tix & info on all events at DGUSA.tv.

Another Name Qualifies For WWE Cruiserweight Classic at Evolve 63

You can officially add Tony Nese to the list of wrestlers qualified for the WWE Cruiserweight Classic.

After making his case at Friday’s Evolve 62 event, Nese was added to an elimination match at Saturday’s Evolve 63 featuring TJP, Lince Dorado, Drew Gulak and Johnny Gargano – the other members of the Evolve roster qualified for the upcoming WWE tournament – with the stipulation that if Nese won the match, he would earn his spot.

Nese has been wrestling for nearly 11 years, with stints in TNA and championships in Dragon Gate USA, FWE and PWS. He will join Rich Swann, Tomasso Ciampa, Johnny Gargano, Zack Sabre Jr., Noam Dar, Ho Ho Lun, Akira Towaza, Lince Dorado, Jack Gallagher, TJ Perkins and many, many names still unnanounced when the WWE Cruiserweight Classic kicks off on June 23rd.

Backstage News on EC3 Shooting on WWE at EVOLVE 61

As we noted over the weekend, TNA star EC3 made a surprise appearance at EVOLVE 61 in Queens and cut a promo after the main event, during which he and TNA Champion Drew Galloway took shots at NXT and Triple H.

According to Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer Radio, the promo was not meant to be a WWE vs. TNA angle, but was meant to have an anti-WWE feel. However, it’s being said if WWE had a problem with it, it never would’ve happened. It was speculated that EVOLVE isn’t doing anything that WWE wouldn’t sign off on right now.

Top TNA Star Makes Surprise Appearance at EVOLVE 61, Shoots on WWE and NXT, Takes Shots at Triple H, Bill DeMott and More

Top TNA star Ethan Carter III rushed the ring at tonight’s Evolve 61 IPPV event and, along with Drew Galloway, attacked Johnny Gargano ending the show’s main event. EC3 then cut a scathing promo on NXT, Triple H, independent wrestlers and more.

Featured below is a full transcript of the promo, edited for clarity.

“[Galloway] became a world champion on his own. I became a world champion on my own. So the way I look at it, you know who kinda blew it? The 203. Stamford, CT. Up north. The ‘King of Kings’, that’s who blew it.”

EC3 and Galloway then fight off multiple referees and wrestlers trying to interfere, as EC3 continues his shoot, now addressing the talent that tried to chase him off.

“No, no, I get it. I get it guys, you wanna make the next step. You want to be good soldiers. But take it from us – you know what they do to good soldiers? They put them on the front line and make them take the bullet.”

EC3 then emulates urinating on the Evolve turnbuckle and dropping an “EC2” on the canvas.

“You wanna take that next step? You wanna get to the show everybody loves? ‘Oh we have great matches, compelling characters, great storylines, NXT, NXT, yay! You know what makes a star? Surviving. Try surviving obstacle courses. Getting slimmed. Wheelbarrow races. Six-minute TV matches where you can’t do any of your cool moves. And Redemption Points! Here we stand, a true success story of independence. Independence is not [ ] to the machine; independence is succeeding despite it.”

Carter was of course referring to his time in WWE, where he actual competed in the original NXT concept when the program was a reality competition. Drew Gulak then rushes the ring and is met with the same fate as the others before him.

“Nice boots Gulak. Do you know what this is? This is a microphone. This is how you create box office. This is how you put asses in seats. No flips and false-finishes. This man (points to Galloway) was ‘chosen’ as a reason. If I can be humble for a second – I have been endorsed by the best, only to be destroyed by the worst. So I’m gonna shoot with you real fast, buddy. By endorsed I mean Hall of Famers, world champions, that kind of thing. But when it comes to being destroyed, I can only think of one obese sociopath who’s best known for being [ ]. So hey Bill, guess what – I won!”

At this point, TJ Perkins rushes the ring and is also taken out by both men, finished off with a powerbomb by Galloway. Carter continues…

“I’m not finished! We are the last bastion of the independents here. We are two men – we weren’t failed football projects. We weren’t models. We weren’t body builders pulled out of a gym. We sure as hell weren’t anyone’s kids! We are two men who love this industry, who breath this industry. To us this isn’t a game – this is our god damn lives.”

It was at this point that Ethan Page rushed the ring with a steel chair and the Evolve talent was all able to run off the invading TNA force. The two sides had a staredown and traded promos for a bit before EC3 and Galloway ended up leaving.

This entire angle was to set up a tag team match featuring Gargano and TJP taking on EC3 and Galloway at the next Evolve show on June 10th.

source: wrestlezone.com