Fightful.com‘s David Bixenspan posted a report containing a leaked email sent by Evolve / WWN booker Gabe Sapolsky to the talent on this past weekend addressing a ‘transition period’ in the company, as well as advice talent should follow in order to be better prepared for a possible WWE career.
It was noted that the email was sent out after WWN was sued by FloSlam for allegations of fraud, but before the news went public. The full email is below:
Hey everyone,
This is an important email so please read it through.
We are about to enter a transition period. I want to use this weekend to prepare for that. A major part of this will be the in ring work. You are all awesome, obviously, or you wouldn’t be booked. However, I want to change some things you do in EVOLVE to make EVOLVE different and also prepare for what’s next.
I will explain more in person, but this weekend please concentrate on these things:
-Make every lock up on the show count. I saw Regal last week and he was at BOLA. I was surprised for him to say that he didn’t see many good lock ups there. Honestly, he said he barely saw one good lock up. I know this might be surprising, especially since some of you were on the show. This is a major thing. It’s about starting your match up with believability. Please let’s put on emphasis on lock ups where you fight for position rather than go into a spot.
-Don’t look into the floor camera at anytime. This is a Vince/WWE thing. I really don’t care if you look into the camera or not, but this is a habit you will have to break as soon as you go to WWE/NXT, so you might as well break it now. I can explain this more in person. It’s a huge thing there, so don’t discount this.
-Make every kick, strike and chop count. I don’t mean go in there and beat each other up. Just don’t waste your kicks, strikes, chops and sell it. In addition, consider who your opponent is. If Keith Lee is striking you, sell it bigger than if someone smaller was striking you. Keep the situation and opponent in mind with your selling and how you do kicks, strikes and chops.
-Don’t do cool stuff for the sake of cool stuff. Everything should be about winning the match. I’m not saying don’t do cool stuff, but don’t do it just to do it.
Have it make sense in your match.
-Challenge yourself to break your normal routine of spots. I don’t care what match rating you get on Twitter. This is small picture stuff. I want everyone to think big picture and long game. I can explain this better in person.
-I’ve been traveling with Chris Dickinson a lot lately since we are from the same area now. We have talked about this stuff extensively in the car. I feel he has a good grasp of it and can explain it from a worker’s perspective, which I can’t. Please get with him on any questions. I’ve also told Chris to take more of a leadership role and point things out, so please be open to what he has to say. Thank you.
-Some other notes:
-Belltime each night is 8pm. Please be at the venue by 5:30pm.
-Sal is is getting hotel in a little bit. If you are flying in, we’ll tell you where to go soon to hang out. Brandon Tolle is arranging all the rides. Please get with him on rides. If you don’t hear from us by tonight, let me know.
-Please remember the EVOLVE rules when it comes to:
-No swearing
-Nothing derogatory towards minorities, women, ethnicities or any other groups.
-No piledrivers.neck bumps, apron spots, anything that drops you on your head.
-Nothing hardcore without permission -No unprotected headbutts
-No mic work without permission
-Be super nice to kids
-No guests in your hotel rooms! We are not going to pay for an extra hotel room cause someone is your ride or you are bringing someone along. We arrange three per room. We are not budgeted for more hotel rooms. No one gets added to these rooms. It is for the comfort of everyone in the room.
-I will send out booking info late night. This weekend is going to be mostly about wrestling. We aren’t going to go big into storyline stuff or angles during this transition period. I want everyone to really concentrate on their matches, think of the fundamentals and making everything solid and make sense.
-If you need anything call or text me [number redacted]. If you can’t reach me and it’s an emergency contact Sal at [number redacted].
I look forward to a fun weekend. Thank you, Gabe
Sent from my iPhone
Some of the topics of note were that although he didn’t note the FloSlam issues or anything about plans specifically, Sapolsky noted a ‘transition period’ for the company, and brought up bad in-ring habits talent would need to break.
Sapolsky also mentioned William Regal critiquing lock ups and other strikes and spots, which would need to be fine tuned in order to be ‘WWE ready.’ Regal did end up responding to reports of the email, saying he did not want his comments taken out of context and felt the need to respond. Regal said his comments were in response to people at the event (BOLA 2017) asking for advice on things to work on, and he offered a general observation, and not a negative critique like it may have been taken as in the leaked email.
Sapolsky also spoke to Voices Of Wrestling‘s Aaron Bentley regarding the leaked email, saying the leak nearly cost him his job as a consultant with WWE and NXT. Sapolsky told Bentley that it “killed something” inside of him after learning that the email had been leaked to the show and other outlets, and insisted that the Everything Evolves podcast host revealed who sent the email.
When they denied Sapolsky’s request, he reportedly told Bentley that not revealing the source of the email was “destroying the company you’re doing a podcast about” and accused Everything Evolves of betraying him and EVOLVE before the conversation between the two ended.
Fightful updated the situation after speaking with Sapolsky about the VOW report, saying Sapolsky told them Sunday’s conversation was off the record, and he had been misquoted about having a job with WWE / NXT. He told them the situation is: “just piling it on at this point and I am in a bad place now.”
