WWE Is Scouting Independent Wrestling Promotions Again
Former ROH chief Gabe Sapolsky, now back with WWE, has been at several indies lately.
WWE appears to be scouting independent promotions again, with the promotion represented by Gabe Sapolsky at at least two recent shows.
Dave Meltzer reported in the 7 November Wrestling Observer Newsletter that Sapolsky was on scouting duty at a DEFY Wrestling show the previous weekend. Presumably, this would have been the indie group's Kingdom Come show in Seattle, Washington on 29 October, headlined by Minoru Suzuki vs. Tom Lawlor (both of whom are with NJPW).
On Monday, Fightful Select reported that Sapolsky, who has been doing scout's work for WWE, was also at a recent Prestige Wrestling event.
Prestige and DEFY rank amongst the United States' most prominent independent promotions in 2022. That WWE would send Sapolsky to these shows makes sense, given his success as booker for Ring Of Honor and later EVOLVE until the latter shut down in 2020.
Sapolsky started work as a WWE consultant in January 2016, forming part of Paul 'Triple H' Levesque's NXT team. That he had signed a contract went public in January 2018. More recently, Gabe was let go by WWE under its previous regime this past January, though the market leaders brought him back in September.
WWE's Relationship With The Indies
NXT's transformation into NXT 2.0 in September 2021 formed part of a wider developmental shift within WWE. With Vince McMahon still at the helm, the company was reportedly looking to move away from signing established, experienced independent stars, focusing instead on younger athletes with minimal or no wrestling experience, looking to sculpt sports entertainers from the ground up.
All traces of NXT's Black and Gold era were done away with. NXT has since shed 2.0's multicoloured aesthetic, though the onscreen product remains largely unchanged despite Triple H's ascent to power in the wake of McMahon's July 2022 departure.
We'll likely find out if scouting the indies yields fruit when WWE announces future Performance Center intakes. A higher volume of experienced workers being brought into the company may indicate another philosophical shift.