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| Related, I'm gonna try to work in "YOU HAVE BETRAYED EVOLVE WRESTLING" into random conversations now |
Why did FloSlam file suit? As it turns out, Sapolsky, Sal Hamaoui, and WWN Live misrepresented numbers when negotiating the deal. Apparently, WWN officials claimed that EVOLVE shows averaged 5,000 buys via their own a la carte Internet pay-per-view service, which they parlayed into a six-figure deal. Flo only saw 2,000 subscribers at its peak, which fluctuated based on whatever price point the service was offering at that time. It originally started out at $20/month, but inexplicably inflated it to $30/month a few months back. To counter, even discounting WWE Network and the company's large mass of capital behind it allowing to stream at only $9.99/month, the following is a list of streaming services and their prices, in American dollars:
- Chikaratopia: $7.99/month
- Highspots Network: $9.99/month
- Powerbomb TV $9.99/month
- Demand PROGRESS: $7.50/month
- New Japan World: $8.95/month
- DDT Universe: $8.06/month
- STARDOM World: $6.69/month
Then again, in that regard, Sapolsky and FloSlam were made for each other, because the booker man is one of the most aloof, least customer-friendly people in all of wrestling. His part of the story goes beyond attempting to defraud a streaming service for more money than his services were worth. To be honest, the grift was perhaps the most noble thing about Sapolsky throughout the whole ordeal. Who doesn't want to get all the cash you can from someone willing to give it? The problem is Sapolsky isn't exactly Robin fuckin' Hood over here. He's just as much a wannabe robber baron as every single one of his peers, from Vince McMahon down to Joey Jo Jo Shabadoo, Jr. running vagrant wrestling cards in the alley behind the bar.
The first piece of this half of the story is an e-mail that was leaked to Bixenspan at Fightful from an unknown person in the EVOLVE locker room. That e-mail was innocuous enough; it seemed to confirm that the family of promotions was in a "transition" period without FloSlam, and that he wanted the talent to work on a few things so as to get them ready for a transition into WWE. Basically, the laundry list was work on lock-ups, tighten up psychology, sell smarter, and present yourselves in a more family-friendly manner. Nothing to get worked up over, right? Well, not if you're Gabe Sapolsky, who apparently flipped his shit over the "leak." Perhaps it wasn't so much that the e-mail leaked, but that William Regal caught wind of it and decided to reply to his portrayal in it?
Sensing his nut in WWE was about to be busted, Sapolsky did what he does best; lash out at people not responsible for the problems, of course. Aaron Bentley of the Everything EVOLVEs podcast, had Sapolsky reach out to himy, where he claimed the leaked e-mail almost cost him his job with WWE, and that Bentley and co-host Aaron Taube "betrayed EVOLVE Wrestling" when they would not reveal to him the one who leaked the e-mail. Even more hilariously, he threatened to fire an EVOLVE employee if they did not reveal to him the source of the leak. Even though Bentley claims not to be a journalist, he showed far more journalistic integrity here than the average wrestling writer displays when working with Sapolsky, who is pretty much a spoiled brat who has co-opted so many media sources on his way to a position of undeserved independent wrestling influence. Of course, in that call, Sapolsky said he was "just about done with independent wrestling."
Then again, what if WWE catches wind that he pretty much retorted to journalism by attempting to ruin said journalist? He's since deleted the tweets, but he tried doxxing Bentley by linking to his lawyer profile. Of course, it was a weak attempt at doxxing, since Bentley later tweeted a link to it himself anyway, but it's still a spiteful bullshit thing to do. The reason Sapolsky deleted the tweets, and every tweet he's made this year so far, is probably pursuant to the current lawsuit from FloSlam, but regardless, the action itself shows Sapolsky to be, as I have known for years, a craven megalomaniac in a field of craven megalomaniacs.
I don't know what any of this means for the future of independent wrestling or EVOLVE. For the former, it's probably not going to mean much. Promotions in North America, Europe, and Japan are still doing big business outside the corporate umbrellas of Titan Sports and Bushiroad. Anyone telling you that this spells the end of indie wrestling is vastly overrating EVOLVE's market share. As for EVOLVE, that promotion's future is definitely up in the air. Without funding from FloSlam, the golden parachute for wrestlers evaporates, unless Paul Levesque decides to give it the same treatment it's seemingly giving PROGRESS and Insane Championship Wrestling. If Sapolsky does leave, it would leave a vacuum at the top, since the whole idea of the promotion anyway was a brainchild he had with Bryan Danielson before the latter left for WWE. It could conceivably continue with a new booker, and hey, maybe that guy will actually put some thought into stories.
But for right now, it seems Sapolsky, FloSlam, Hamaoui, and the administration of the wrestling world at large seems like a giant cesspit. The truth is that it's always been like this, and I don't know if it'll ever change unless the workers seize the means of production. Wrestling is not an art that is best consumed through the lens of capital worship; it is by and large built on the backs of labor for labor to receive the applause. It may seem harrowing, but it's just a reminder for you to keep fighting a good fight, and to keep reminding yourselves that these promoters, especially the scuzzy ones like Sapolsky, deserve to be called out at every turn.