| World Wrestling Network | |
| Acronym: | WWNLive |
| Established: | 2001 (DVD company) 2010 (Governing body) |
| Location: | United States |
| Founder: | Sal Hamaoui |
| Owner: | Sal Hamaoui |
| Website: | http://www.wwnlive.com/ |
The World Wrestling Network is an American professional wrestling organization known for and branded after its video streaming service, WWNLive.[1] WWNLive hosts content both from WWN's "brands", including Full Impact Pro (FIP) and Shine Wrestling, as well as content from third-party organizations.[2]
World Wrestling Network was founded by Sal Hamaoui and Tony Valamontes in 2001 as a DVD company before it later evolved into an internet streaming and video on demand business.[1] In 2003, WWNLive began producing FIP DVDs.[1]
In November 2014, Evolve Wrestling, Dragon Gate USA (DGUSA), Full Impact Pro (FIP) and Shine Wrestling held a tour of China under the WWNLive banner.[3] 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.[4]
In 2015, WWNLive opened a training facility in Trinity, Florida named the "World Wrestling Network Academy".[5] That year, Evolve began a partnership with WWE. Evolve's wrestlers were featured on WWE.com,[6] while NXT wrestlers Sami Zayn, Chad Gable and Jason Jordan took part in Evolve events in non-wrestling roles.[7] [8] In January 2016, NXT General Manager William Regal and WWE COO Triple H attended Evolve 54.[9] As part of the relationship, it was announced in March 2016 that Evolve would hold qualifying matches for WWE's Cruiserweight Classic.[10]
On October 24, 2016, WWNLive and FloSports announced a new streaming service to launch 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.[11]
On November 22, 2016, it was announced that WWNLive would be debuting a new promotion named Style Battle on January 7, 2017.[12] Also announced was the creation of the WWN Championship on April 1, 2017.[13]
On September 21, 2017, it was reported that FloSports had filed a $1 million lawsuit against WWNLive for breach of contract and alleged misrepresentation of iPPV and VOD buyrates.[14] WWNLive, meanwhile, claimed that FloSports had failed to live up to their contractual obligations. Because of the lawsuit, FloSports pulled all future WWNLive events from its streaming service.[15] The following December, WWNLive launched a replacement streaming service, Club WWN.[16]
In July 2020, Evolve's assets were sold to WWE and Sapolsky left WWN.[17] A few weeks later, WWN announced the creation of Grindhouse, a new brand promoted by Eddie Kingston.[18]
| Promotion | Key People | State | Years |
|---|---|---|---|
| American Combat Wrestling | 5th Avenue Entertainment | Port Richey, Florida | 2001–present[19] |
| Full Impact Pro | Sal Hamaoui | Largo, Florida | 2009–present |
| Grindhouse | Eddie Kingston | 2020–present | |
| Shine Wrestling | Dave Prazak | Ybor City, Florida | 2012–present |
| Viva La Lucha | Ruben Zamora[20] | San Diego, California | 2006–present[21] |
| Promotion | Key People | State | Years | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dragon Gate USA | Gabe Sapolsky | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | 2009–2015(Library owned by WWE) | |
| Evolve Wrestling | Gabe Sapolsky | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | 2009–2020 | |
| Style Battle | Gabe Sapolsky | Ybor City, Florida | 2017–2020 |
| Championship | Current champion(s) | Reign | Date won | Days | Location | Previous champion(s) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FIP World Heavyweight Championship | Jon Davis | 2 | [22] | Ybor City, Florida | Anthony Henry | ||
| FIP World Tag Team Championship | The Island Kings (Jaka and Sean Maluta) | 1 | [23] | Ybor City, Florida | The Precipice | ||
| FIP Florida Heritage Championship | Troy Hollywood | 1 | [24] | Ybor City, Florida | Vacant | ||
| Shine Championship | Ivelisse | 3 | Chicago, Illinois | Allysin Kay | |||
| Shine Tag Team Championship | BTY (Jayme Jameson and Marti Belle) | 2 | Fern Park, Florida | Team Aye (Aja Perera and Big Swole) | |||
| Shine Nova Championship | Amber Nova | 1 | Clearwater, Florida | Ivelisse | |||
| ACW Combat Championship | Danny Vincent | 1 | Port Richey, Florida | Sawl Clover | |||
| ACW Cruiserweight Championship | Sage Scott | 1 | Port Richey, Florida | Bobby Flaco | |||
| ACW Heavyweight Championship | Damien Angel | 1 | Port Richey, Florida | Mitch Mitchell | |||
| ACW Tag Team Championship | OAO | 1 | Port Richey, Florida | The International Superstars | |||
| ACW Women's Championship | Avery Taylor | 2 | Port Richey, Florida | Natalia Markova |