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.
History[]
WWN was founded by Sal Hamaoui and Tony Valamontes in 2001 as an internet streaming and video on demand service. In 2003, WWN began producing Full Impact Pro (FIP) DVDs.
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. 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.
In 2015, WWNLive opened a training facility in Trinity, Florida named "World Wrestling Network Academy".
During 2015, Evolve entered a relationship with WWE. Evolve's wrestlers were featured on WWE.com, while WWE NXT wrestlers Sami Zayn, Chad Gable and Jason Jordan took part in Evolve events in non-wrestling roles. In January 2016, NXT General Manager William Regal and WWE COO Triple H attended Evolve 54. As part of the relationship, it was announced in March 2016 that Evolve would hold qualifying matches for the WWE Cruiserweight Classic 2016.
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.
On November 22, 2016, it was announced that WWNLive would be debuting a new promotion named Style Battle on January 7, 2017. Also announced was the creation of the WWN Championship on April 1, 2017.
Members[]
| Promotion | Owner | State | Years |
|---|---|---|---|
| American Combat Wrestling | 5th Avenue Entertainment | Florida | 2001–present |
| 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–present |
| Viva La Lucha | Ruben Zamora | San Diego, California | Unknown |
Championships[]
- WWN Championship
- Evolve Championship
- Evolve Tag Team Championship
- FIP World Heavyweight Championship
- FIP Tag Team Championship
- FIP Florida Heritage Championship
- SHINE Championship
- SHINE Tag Team Championship
- SHINE Nova Championship
