WWE thought it was simply announcing a new home for Main Event. Instead, the move has people wondering whether the company may have accidentally raised a much bigger question about the future of WWE Evolve.
While speaking on Wrestling Observer Live, Bryan Alvarez pointed out that Main Event will begin airing on Rumble every Wednesday at 8 p.m. ET starting October 14. At first glance, it looks like WWE is just putting another show up against AEW Dynamite. Alvarez, however, said the more interesting part is that WWE is also scheduling Main Event directly against its own Evolve program.
“So they’ve got a deal to go on Rumble. But what’s interesting is they have announced that Main Event airs on Rumble every Wednesday at 8 PM. Someone will ask, ‘How’s that a story?’ They’ll go head-to-head with Dynamite. However, it is also going head-to-head with their own Evolve show. They’re putting Main Event head-to-head with Evolve.”
That’s where things start getting interesting. Alvarez said this isn’t just fans connecting dots on social media. According to him, people within wrestling have already begun talking about Evolve’s future, and one of the biggest reasons is how far ahead WWE already is with production.
“Now, a lot of people within wrestling are talking about this because—I don’t know if you guys know this or not—but Evolve tapes in advance.”
Alvarez explained that WWE already has months of Evolve episodes sitting on the shelf. In other words, there aren’t any new tapings currently on the schedule because the company has already banked programming well into next year.
“When I’m talking tapes in advance, they have every show taped all the way through February. They’ve taped the rest of September, October, November, December, January… they have months in the can, meaning they have no other shows to run.”
He also pointed to another factor that’s adding fuel to the speculation: “On top of that, a bunch of WWE ID deals are allegedly coming due in October.” Taken together, Alvarez said those developments have led to plenty of chatter behind the scenes about whether Evolve has a long-term future.
“So the point is, within wrestling there’s a lot of talk about the future of Evolve, or if there is even a future of Evolve.”
He admitted he’d already heard rumors about the show’s future before WWE even announced the Rumble deal, which made the timing stand out that much more.
“I had heard this rumor about, ‘I don’t know if Evolve is long for the wrestling world.’ You hear rumors all the time, but then they announce the very next day that they’re gonna run Main Event against their own Evolve show.”
Nothing has been announced regarding Evolve’s future, and WWE certainly hasn’t indicated the show is going anywhere. Still, putting Main Event directly against one of its own weekly programs is an unusual decision, and it’s easy to understand why it’s become such a hot topic behind the scenes.
Do you think WWE has long-term plans for Evolve, or could Main Event’s move be the first sign that bigger changes are coming? Let us know in the comments below.
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