Gabe Sapolsky
| Gabe Sapolsky | |
|---|---|
 Gabe Sapolsky in 2016 | |
| Born |
Gabriel Sapolsky November 26, 1972 Brookline, Massachusetts, United States |
| Residence | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| Alma mater | Temple University |
| Occupation | Minority owner, vice-president, of EVOLVE, promoter. |
| Years active | 1994–present |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) |
Gabe Sapolsky Jimmy Bower Chris Lovey Matt Pike[1] |
| Billed height | 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)[1] |
| Billed weight | 254 lb (115 kg) |
| Billed from | Brookline, Massachusetts |
| Debut | 1994 |
Gabe Sapolsky (born September 26, 1972) is a professional wrestling promoter and Co-Founder, booker of Evolve, which serves as its vice-president. He is also the vice-president of talent relations, creative and marketing of the World Wrestling Network (WWN). Sapolsky has also held various creative and marketing positions in the professional wrestling industry, notably as the head of marketing, promoting, public relations and administration at Extreme Championship Wrestling, the founder and head of talent relations (Booker) at Ring of Honor, and the vice-president of Dragon Gate USA.
Early life
He attended Runkle Elementary School, and later Brookline High School, graduating in 1990. He received his B.A. in Communications from Temple University and graduated in 1994.
Career
Sapolsky began his career with Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) writing a company newsletter. Sapolsky was hired full-time shortly after graduating from Temple University about the same time that ECW opened its first office in Philadelphia. Sapolsky became a protege of Paul Heyman and handled many different responsibilities, including marketing, promoting and public relations throughout his tenure with the company. He became an official RF Video employee in 2001, shortly after ECW closed.[2]
In 2002, Sapolsky co-created and co-founded Ring of Honor, and was named the booker of the promotion. He introduced a new style of booking. Ring of Honor soon became the most critically acclaimed wrestling promotion of the 2000s under Sapolsky's guidance and leadership. As the booker of ROH, Sapolsky won Wrestling Observer Newsletter's Best Booker award four years in a row from 2004 to 2007.[3] Sapolsky was also the booker for Full Impact Pro, an independent promotion in Florida that used to be the sister promotion of Ring of Honor. Sapolsky used the ring name, Jimmy Bower, for commentary.
On October 26, 2008, Ring of Honor made an announcement stating that Gabe Sapolsky was no longer working with Ring of Honor. After Gabe's departure from Ring of Honor, he also ceased his roles with Full Impact Pro.
On April 14, 2009, Sapolsky announced the launch of Dragon Gate USA (DGUSA) with himself serving as its vice-president. The promotion's first show, Open the Historic Gate was held July 25, 2009 at The Arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was voted in 2009 by the Wrestling Observer Newsletter as the Show of the Year. DGUSA was the American branch of Japan's popular Dragon Gate promotion and as per this connection, it featured the top stars of Japan, and various independent wrestlers in the United States. In early 2010, Sapolsky co-founded Evolve along with WWN COO, Sal Hamaoui. Evolve began as a means of featuring the upcoming wrestlers that weren't in DGUSA, honing and allowing them to develop in a controlled environment, similar to that of the WCW Power Plant and the WWE Performance Center. Dragon Gate USA held its last event in 2014, and is currently dormant.
Since that time, Sapolsky has altered his booking style, and following the dormancy of DGUSA, in August 2014, EVOLVE was relaunched. It has now established a unique identity, shying away from the Dragon Gate affiliation. Evolve and Dragon Gate USA soon both became subsidiaries under the parent company World Wrestling Network (WWN). In 2011, WWN launched its own groundbreaking live iPPV streaming service, www.WWNLive.com, where Sapolsky helped market and produce the infrastructure in order to start up WWNLive.com. Soon after, WWN held its first "Supershows" with a historic two week tour of China. The first WWN Supershow in the United States also took place in 2014. The idea behind the WWN Supershow is to combine title matches and talent from all WWN brands, as well as special guest attractions to the affiliated promotions.
Sapolsky is now the vice-president of talent relations, creative and marketing of WWN, as well as serving as the head booker of EVOLVE and the various WWN Supershows. Sapolsky also helps market the other WWN brands, including SHINE Wrestling, an all women's promotion.
Other media
Sapolsky has been featured on the WWE DVD and network releases of My Name Is Paul Heyman and Journey to Summerslam: The Destruction of The Shield, featuring former mentor Heyman, and former DGUSA and ROH talent in Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins.
Mick Foley mentioned Sapolsky in his book "Foley Is Good.", a #1 New York Times best seller. Former ROH World Champion, Daniel Bryan, prominently mentioned Sapolsky in his book, "Yes: My Improbably Journey To The Main Event Of WrestleMania.", another best seller. In the book, Bryan writes: "It was the first time anybody had chosen me to be "the Man" - the only time, really- and I can't thank Gabe, ROH, and the ROH fans enough for giving me the opportunity to be the guy to carry the promotion."
Sapolsky has been mentioned, quoted and interviewed in numerous podcasts, radio, newspaper, magazine and online articles. Sapolsky has been seen on The Travel Channel in a documentary on pro wrestling in 2002 as well as Strange Days With Bob Saget on A&E. He has also appeared on several DVD releases by wrestling merchandise companies such as Highspots and Kayfabe Commentaries. Sapolsky hosted Ring of Honor's "Straight Shootin'" DVD series, with many wrestling legends.
Sapolsky was the subject of an article on Sports Illustrated's website talking about many subjects including his career, Paul Heyman and Daniel Bryan.
Sapolsky was the subject of an interview by Rolling Stone on EVOLVE and WWE's connection to independent wrestling.
Awards and accomplishments
- Best Booker (2004–2007)[3]
References
- 1 2 "Gabe Sapolsky". Cagematch. Retrieved December 14, 2015.
- ↑ Shoot with RF Video - 4067
- 1 2 Meltzer, Dave (January 30, 2012). "Jan 30 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: Gigantic year-end awards issue, best and worst in all categories plus UFC on FX 1, death of Savannah Jack, ratings, tons and tons of news". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Campbell, California: 27. ISSN 1083-9593.