Just Like Paul: An Honest Look at Gabe Sapolsky

(*This article contains information found on various websites, just about all of which is sourced.  The opinions that are drawn in this article are drawn from available information.  At no point have I, the author, ever talked to Gae Sapolsky personally, and cannot personally validate each and every story sourced.  Yet, I believe where there is smoke, there is fire.  So feel free to believe, or reject the opinions in this article accordingly.  It’s only my goal to shed light on a serious topic of Personal Responsibility.*)

Everyone and their brother knows who Gabe Sapolsky is at this point.  The WWE employee and owner of WWNLive has long drawn parallels to Paul Heyman for his work with ROH’s booking in the early 00’s.  Sapolsky became an indy darling for his skills writing shows that featured CM Punk, Samoa Joe and Daniel Bryan.  He even won The Observer’s Booker of the Year award four years in a row.  He was just like Paul…only for all the wrong reasons.

If I were to tell you that Gabe Sapolsky is a stooge, would you believe me?  No, probably not.  Why?  He’s an indy darling, that’s why.  Yet Gabe Sapolsky is routinely shown to behave in the most childish, and adolescent ways possible.  Don’t believe me?  Let’s go through it.

Screaming Like a Girl?

 

Let’s start with his time in Ring of Honor.  Want to know how pathetic he’s seen by those who work with him?  CM Punk and Samoa Joe openly mocked and belittled Sapolsky.  Punk berates him for “screaming like a girl”, while Joe claims Sapolsky has “temper tantrums”; which is something only children have.  He’s been accused of throwing things at walls, and I would presume at people.  Who does that?  What kind of professional does that?   Could you imagine if that happened in any other fed in the world?  There would be riots.

That’s just one set of stories.  Let’s go on.  Ring of Honor did more than just interview and publish DVD’s of their own talent.  They  also did shoot interviews with legends.  In one interview with Ken Patera, Gabe Sapolsky persistently pushed a sensitive topic with Patera; asking him repeatedly about the incident back in the 80’s that lead to his arrest.  Patera had requested the topic not be brought up, but as Sapolsky needed to cause headlines to sell DVD’s, he persisted.

Now if you’re interviewing Nixon about Watergate, you push the topic.  If you’re bringing up a sensitive topic for the sake of goosing sales around a 30 year old arrest though,  how is that anything but scummy?  Sure, he has a right to do so, no mistake.  Yet, that doesn’t morally justify it.

 

So he acts like a baby, disrespects people he’s paying but that isn’t even the worst of it.  Apparently Sapolsky was deliberately putting people’s livelihood at risk.  Sean McCaffery of DOIVideo and Women Superstars Uncensored went after Sapolsky in an online rant in 2008.  In the blog post(now archived on a wrestling blog), McCaffery accused Sapolsky of persuading the few female wrestlers ROH had at the time from working with McCaffery and WSU.

Apparently this stems from an incident in 2004 when the head of Ring of Honor at the time, Rob Feinstein was shown on  a local NBC affiliate, allegedly soliciting a minor online for sex.   Feinstein has refuted the accusation, claimed it was doctored to make him look bad, and never did anything illegal.  To his credit, he was never charged for the incident.  Because of the scandal Feinstein brought on the company, he was bought out and left with a big sum of money.  There have been rumors, though none by Feinstein, that Sapolsky was part of huge coup to oust Feinstein.  Feinstein claims he was set up by Cary Sulkin and Sydney Eick to get caught by a local NBC affiliate, who was doing their own version of To Catch a Predator.  The story ran on Sweeps Week, a week where networks put their best content forward to bring new advertisers in, and because of the persistent coverage the company took a major hit publicly.   Feinstein eventually tapped the computers at the ROH/RF Video office, where he allegedly discovered proof of the ordeal, as he wrote;

I had also tapped my own computers to spy on a few of my employees. There was a program at the time that I had purchased which allowed me to record everything they did. Well one day I saw emails from one person to another talking about the plans that they had and how everything was working as they had planned.

Now, I have no idea if Feinstein is telling the truth.  There are pros and cons to his story.  However, why I bring this up is due to McCaffery.  During the whole situation, McCaffery and his site became the only outlet to cover Feinstein’s side.  McCaffery alleges that even Mike Johnson saw evidence that would lend itself to Feinstein’s story (photos of the sting-victim), but opted not to run with it.  McCaffery points to his fairness towards the Feinstein controversy as the reason Sapolsky got personal.  As he sums it up;

So anyway that is the most simplified reason for the Gabe/DOI heat. DOI aired RF’s side, even though we presented the other side too of the story. DOI was the only site at the time (and other sites would eventually follow suit) to promote RF Video products through advertising. DOI is a business like anything else, and even if there was a charge on RF, I’d still put up his ads if he continued to pay for them, because everyone makes mistakes.

He continues with why Sapolsky tried to keep wrestlers from WSU, saying;

So because I defended and gave RF a forum to speak his peace four years ago, Gabe tries to fuck with my business and tells people not to work with us. How ridiculous is that? Should RF Video tell other sites not to work with ROH? It’s so stupid. All these sites and companies shouldn’t be competing with each other because there’s only one real deal and that’s the WWE. WWE laughs at this petty shit. When WWE does their internet reports for the week and this story appears about Gabe, they will just laugh and wonder why fans buy into the ROH hype….

…There are some girls out there that Gabe is taking paydays away from and for the fans who ask me “How come Sara isn’t going to be there?”, “Why don’t you book Lacey”, “We never seen Daizee and want to see her”, now you know why….

… Instead of asking me “how come you don’t have so-and-so”, email ROHgabe@aol.com and tell him to stop being a dick and let the wrestlers/talent make their money. Or at least tell him to pay these people for the work he’s causing them to miss. If you don’t get a response, remember, Gabe Sapolsky is the same guy who fired Mary Kate from his company because she attended Doug Gentry’s funeral. Even Cary Silken couldn’t give Mary Kate a straight answer on that. Some guy.

Now if you read the whole post, which I hope you do, you can see McCaffery was looking for “dirt” on Sapolsky.  He openly acknowledges his own unprofessionalism and dirty pool tactics.  Though, the accusations are still profound, and they really start painting the bigger story of Gabe Sapolsky

Gabe Sapolsky, beyond his sabotages, tantrums, fits and childish antics, was apparently a nightmare to work with.  According to a now-defunct indy rumor site, Declaration Of Independents (via Bleacher Report), Sulkin fired Sapolsky due to his attitude and being unable to work with him any longer.  The gates and DVD sales were allegedly down (which was true, Sulkin sold ROH about 18 months later to avoid going out of business) and Sulkin needed a change.  Even respected veteran and eventual replacement Adam Pearce admitted to not being able to get a good gauge on Sapolsky when they first met.  Yet, as Pearce worked with and replaced subsequently replaced Sapolsky, Pearce never truly spoke bad about Sapolsky.  I add that last part for proper context.  The truth exists, I don’t need to bend it to fit a narrative.

For those skeptical about the firing rumors, Sapolsky himself even addressed the rumors, saying;

There are several reasons for this all relating to me and my behavoir, but that is for another time if I ever decide to even publicly talk about it.

One funny point to remember from the blog this source is pulled from, is that Gabe Sapolsky wrote this;

My credibility is very important to me…

Well….I guess not.  Right?

 

What’s an NDA Between Rivals?

 

To say that Sapolsky took his firing well is a lie.  While Nigel McGuinness as champ worked for the diest-of-die-hards, the company was in a tail spin under his direction.  A removal was justified.  Though, that didn’t stop Sapolksy from taking pot shots at ROH.  After Sinclair bought ROH, they tried to utilize online web providers like Go Fight Live (our former partner as well) in order to distribute digital pay per views.   The site was dedicated to streaming combat sports, and was far cheaper than traditional pay per view (and less reliable).  The iPPV format was new, and ROH struggled to implement the concept at the time.  This lead to Sapolsky, who had a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA), to being hit with a Cease and Desist from ROH.

According to PWInsider’s Mike Johnson, Sapolsky even admits he wanted to delete the initial post but;

It’s too late to delete that other thread cause everything is out there, but to the people making all the negative comments do you realize I’m just saying we respect and appreciate your business and you deserve the best for your money?

Why does this matter?  Because Sapolsky was now part of Dragon Gate USA, a failed attempt by Dragon Gate to bring the product stateside.   DGUSA was a direct competitor at the time in the same market as Ring of Honor.  Not just that, but there was instances of bidding wars between the two promotions.  At the time period there were only two promotions that ROH had issues with.  The first being IMPACT Wrestling (then TNA) due to issues stemming from years prior and the second being Dragon Gate USA.   There were rumors with ROH/PWG not getting along but those are just that; rumors.

When Sapolsky was with Dragon Gate USA, he even went head to head with ROH on WrestleMania weekend in 2010.  No one did that back then, as the indy scene for WrestleMania was FAR different and only ROH was really utilizing it like so many are now.

Sapolsky tried to undercut WSU and then tried to do the same to ROH.  Kicking a man (or company) when it’s down for personal gain is awful.  Though, this is only the 2nd tier that is the Sapolsky Tiers of Suck.

He Screws More People Than Wilt

He saves face like a real mother-fucker.  Back in 2009, with the support of DGUSA, Sapolsky, FIP owner Sal Hamaoui and then ROH World Tag Team Champion Davey Richards launched EVOLVE Wrestling.  For those unaware, FIP for along time served as a sister promotion/training ground for ROH.  The two promotions were uniquely tied together.  A big “fuck you” move from Sapolsky.

The initial roster featured then FIP Heavyweight Champion Richards, TJ Perkins, Dark City Fight Club, Arik Cannon and others.  Daniel Bryan was even tied to the promotion at one point, but was signed by the WWE shortly after.  Bryan would return the next year after he was fired in the summer of 2010 for two matches.

Now, the set up is important for the punchline.  Davey Richards was heavily involved with the promotion, mostly out of fear that ROH was going under.  ROH was rumored to be selling to someone in the near future, and Richards wanted to be protected.  As his deal was coming up, Richards leapt at the chance to launch Evolve.

However, Ring of Honor ponied up an alleged two year deal and kept Richards around.  Because of this deal though, Richards had to step down from his work with FIP, DGUSA and EVOLVE.  Apparently, Dave Meltzer claims that Richards wanted to do both groups, ROH and Sapolsky’s, but ROH came in with the money and commitment he was looking for and apparently neither side really wanted to share the star.

Despite this, Sapolsky had Richards beat Masaaki Mochizuki for the FIP Championship on a Dragon Gate event, after he signed.  Sapolsky alleges that he believed Richards was only doing TV for ROH, not house shows as well.  Sapolsky has a reputation for lying *allegedly*.  For those unaware of Richards in 2009-2010, he was the toast of the industry.  So to lose him was a big blow to Sapolsky’s attempt to launch EVOLVE.  To say it soured their personal relationship would be like saying that fire is “kind of hot”.  As you’ll see, Sapolsky doesn’t do well with being “betrayed”.  Unless he does it to you.

Now for full disclosure, Davey Richards around this time period was running with Kyle O’Reily and Tony Kozina when the trio infamously stiffed a promoter out of money. They alleged that they were disrespected by him and that’s why they left.  Shortly after that, he was let go from ROH due to them claiming Richards had become “unprofessionalism and unreliability with the company.”  The page that originally hosted the page is now gone; take that as you will.

This leads us here.  After his departure with ROH, fans started slamming Sapolsky with requests to book Richards.  Did Sapolsky remain silent on the matter, to think about it?  Did he release a generic post saying he’ll consider all talents?  Nope.  He slammed Richards.   In a post, Sapolsky claimed;

…when we book a talent we look at both in-ring ability and out-of-the-ring character. Although Davey has made an offer that shows a maturity and a desire to make amends, I still have trust issues. There is nothing more important to me than delivering what we advertise. Sometimes, it is impossible due to injury or travel issues, but I was burned too bad in the past with Davey.
Really?  Trust issues?  This is a guy who outright refused to pay talent (more on this later) but ok, trust.  Sure.   Sapolsky in the same post puts over AR Fox, and praises him empathically, saying;
In closing, I just want to take a moment and thank AR Fox for an amazing year as EVOLVE Champion. Fox has exemplified the athleticism and creativity we hoped the EVOLVE Champion would represent.
Why does AR Fox matter now?  Well, because Fox has issues with Sapolsky.  According to Mike Johnson, via an archive post, AR Fox blasted Sapolsky on Fox’s personal Facebook page.  Fox tore into Sapolsky, saying;

It’s 9 days away and not one match announced on this card. And since there’s a huge lack of communication checking the “DGUSA” website is how I know if I’m booked or not.

So when there was about two weeks left I booked myself. And now they wanna take it personally that I was making sure I lined up booking so I didn’t have an empty weekend without even tryin to understand. Cause honestly my loyalty was to them of if we just talked like “adults” for a few mins I woulda ended up doin EVOLVE anyway cause that’s how I am.

But instead I got responses in all caps with cusses. And tryin to future endeavor me like the WWE. Tellin me they wish me the best and hope to see me on Lucha Underground when a few months back they held me back from it when Lucha sent me details on a contract ha.

And yea I didn’t like they flights they got me cause they were to the wrong f**kin state of course I didn’t like having my girl drive me an hour and a half to the airport and then pick me from there which means we’d hit tolls 4xs when they coulda just flew my from CT (like every other promoter that flies me) where the airport is 30 mins away from me with no tolls.

So yea man they just made this shit into a storyline but this is what it is. Flights wouldnt of been an issue I still drive 15 hrs to shows. It was jus that our relation is goin on 5 years. I jus want everyone to Know I’m cool n jus wanna wrestle but they got sensitive way too quick over a booking.

Oh look, AR Fox claims Sapolsky was too “sensitive”.  Sapolsky did reply to the post, saying;

I am very disappointed to read Fox’s statement. He has been a very valuable member of our roster and I’ve enjoyed working with him through the years. We’ve had some great times together on the road.

I am very disheartened to read this but I must clarify a few things:

Fox confirmed the April 17th and 18th dates via text with me on March 17th. I contacted him on Facebook messenger on Monday to go over his matches for Florida. He then informed he had taken another booking on April 18th.

Without getting into great detail on the conversation, I treated Fox with the respect he deserved after everything we had been through together. He claimed that I “cussed” him”. I said the F word once in the context of saying, “This is F’d up.”

Fox also claims I used all caps, implying I was yelling at him. The only word in capital is the word “Never” in the context that we never canceled a booking on him.

I am very disappointed and sorry that our relationship has ended this way and wish Fox the greatest of success.

Sure, seems like a reasonable argument.  Yet, remember how I mentioned TJ Perkins?  Well, let’s see what TJ Perkins has to say about Sapolsky.  According to an interview with the Mania Week blog, Sapolsky screwed him out of money.  For clarity, this was from his first stint with Sapolsky around 2010, not the second; when TJP was more of a name and WWE was involved.

Long story short, I rode in the equipment truck from Florida to Chicago, Jersey, Philly, or wherever DGUSA/EVOLVE had their shows.  33 hours one way. I would go straight to the venue and wrestle, and get right back in the equipment van, unshowered, tired, sometimes hurt, and make the 33 hour drive back to Florida.

The two-figure income I was making was losing me money ever single trip. With each match I was given more responsibility and always seemed to do a good job for Gabe; he would always rave about me coming back through the curtain. He used to ask me to make lists of opponents I felt were good enough for me, and told me I would be taking Davey’s place as the cornerstone for his companies, go on the Japan tours, yadda yadda ludicrous stuff. But the money never went up; in fact his business dropped off so bad that my money went down and sometimes I didn’t get paid at all.

I stuck it out for awhile because I gave Gabe my word; I would give him my best and he gave me his word he would do right by me. He never did. Anyhow, there are much more negative things that came into play with my departure but in the end I was offered a contract with MTV (Lucha Libre USA*),enough for me to move home, so I did. I told Gabe I’m sorry but if you want to keep me on your cards you have to compensate me like every other place does, ROH, MTV, internationally, indys, etc…

He said he wouldn’t do that so I left. He wasn’t even mad until people found out he didn’t want to pay me. Then he got upset I guess because he doesn’t want to look like the bad guy. So I loved my peers…hated my boss.

Interesting, no?  That Sapolsky didn’t care he was dicking over Perkins until AFTER the news broke?  Now for some more disclosure, I have/had a barley professional decorum with Perkins.  I can’t stand the guy.  We interviewed him years ago when ROH was using outside podcasts to promote their product on Go Fight Live.  I found him nothing but honest, if not braggadocios.  I have no reason to suspect Perkins is lying and I want to slap the dude.

In every instance, and there are more, Sapolsky then buries that person online; only to then delete the post.  Sapolsky is a man who has no honor, as he can’t stand by his word.  He’s a coward; his “tweet/delete” mentality proves that.  He has no credibility anymore.  Ironic, eh?

Getting in Bed With The Devil

In or around 2014, Sapolsky began his relationship with the WWE.  Now, none of what the next few paragraphs will be about is in any way part of any issue.  It’s simply context.  Around this time EVOLVE has begun to struggle mightily.  Their streaming service wasn’t gaining traction, talent were being signed up, others just quit.  The whole foundation of the promotion was in trouble.  EVOLVE was never a big company.  They’d film 2-4 shows a month on average and sell them online.  Usually through a streaming feature.

In 2016, after WWE had been involved behind the scenes for some time, EVOLVE agrees to a deal with FloSlam.  FloSlam and WWNLive (EVOLVE’s parent company) would work together for little short of a year.  The company entered into a deal with WWNLive because they believed EVOLVE was a huge indy promotion, capable of generating revenue for the upstart streaming service.  FloSlam also made deals with smaller groups as well, but WWNLive was it’s biggest client.

However by the end of 2017, FloSlam was dead and it was because of WWNLive.  This is where things get fishy as hell.

FloSlam alleges that Sapolsky and WWNLive officials LIED about the numbers they were pulling in on their shows.  In a lawsuit filed by FloSports, WWNLive provided “just plain false” information about the numbers.  They claim WWNLive was “inaccurate and unreliable” in regards to their data.  This was done, as the lawsuit states, in order to get “hundreds of thousands of dollars”.  Keep in mind the lawsuit was filed while WWNLive and FloSlam were still working together.

In October of 2016 when FloSports, FloSlams’ parent company, announced they were doing a deal with WWNLive it was reported by FloSlam themselves that the WWE was an investor.  The WWE was a financial investor, in a company that provided a service uniquely suited to WWNLive’s need at the time.  FloSports is still up and running to this day, but no word on if the WWE is still involved.  Was this the WWE’s way of propping up a secondary platform, in order to get their hands into the indy market without people realizing they were pulling the strings?  Maybe a way to get the XFL on an outlet, and maybe a chance of convenience with EVOLVE?  I’m not sure.  I do know that it’s far likely that WWNLive and WWE worked together to get them on FloSports then it being random happenstance.

This leads us to the next damning Sapolsky Situation.

In Defense of the King, But Not For the Speaker

Joey Styles was let go from the WWE in 2016.  He had spent years working on their digital media side of things, and had rarely been on t.v. anymore, if at all, since being pulled as lead announcer on ECW.  After he left, he went to CHIKARA, Beyond Wrestling and EVOLVE.  During one of his first shows outside of the WWE for EVOLVE, Joey Styles made a bad joke about the President, saying to fellow commentator Joanna Rose

Joanna, you look great tonight … and if our next President were here tonight he’d want to grab you by the …

He then let the joke die.  That’s what he said.  That’s all he said.  The same thing as Donald Trump.  The exact same thing.  Gabe Sapolsky subsequently fired Styles right after the broadcast, at Styles’s insistence.  The reason why the joke was so “offensive” was because Sapolsky had told Styles “…no political jokes.”  That’s it.

It shouldn’t surprise anyone that Vince McMahon endorsed ol’ Senor Pussy Grabber, and even bought (err…earned?) his wife Linda a seat on Trump’s cabinet.   Sapolsky is in the WWE’s pocket.  Sapolsky needs the WWE’s money.  Sapolsky fired Styles because Vince McMahon would of fired Sapolsky.  It’s really that simple.

Rightfully so, this pissed off Jim Cornette, who tweeted out;

 

In a now deleted tweet from Sapolsky (SHOCKING), he defended “his” decision to fire Styles by saying;

Jim, if you specifically instructed someone not to do something like that on a show & they did it, you would have gone after them with a bat

Yet to my knowledge Cornette worked for nearly four years with Vince Russo, a man he hates, in IMPACT Wrestling and never went after him with a bat.  So maybe Sapolksy is defending himself, or telling baldfaced lies.   Sapolsky is being spooned by the Devil in bed.   Of course he’s going to do whatever he can to save face.

Which takes us to the night he was nearly fired.

Leaking like Vince’s Depends

Gabe Sapolsky sent out an E-Mail based around all the changes the WWE wanted to make to EVOLVE and their style.  He hits every bullet point, and it reads as a typical WWE booked show.  Nothing damning about this, at all.  WWE has their styles, it’s worked (mostly) for 40 years.  I get that.

However the email was leaked by someone in EVOLVE to Fightful.com and VOW’s Everything Evolves.  This email went out right after the lawsuit from FloSports was filed, which makes once wonder if the WWE stepped in and acquired the EVOLVE (or even WWNLive).  That would make sense as to why EVOLVE adapted everything to fit the WWE staple.  So far nothing too bad here, right?  Shady business dealings happen all the time.

Except then Sapolsky shows his true side once again.  While talking to the Everything Evolve podcast hosts, he demonized the group, and claimed their report “…almost cost me my NXT job that I’ve worked 23 years for.”

According to Aaron Bentley, who broke the story for Everything Evolves, Sapolsky called him, and well, let Bentley tell you what happened;

Everything Evolves first received the memo last Thursday evening. On Saturday, it contacted Sapolsky to confirm the email’s validity. Sapolsky did not outright confirm he wrote the memo or its contents, but he described it as “in house business” and immediately requested the identity of the person who leaked it. When Everything Evolves refused to provide that information, Sapolsky threatened to fire an EVOLVE talent at random.

After no conversation for over 24 hours, Sapolsky contacted Everything Evolves to express that the leak personally hurt him and that he was “just about done” with independent wrestling. In response to Sapolsky’s guesses at who might have leaked the email, Everything Evolves again refused to provide the requested information, and Sapolsky requested to speak on the phone.

In the first phone call, Sapolsky stated he sent out emails like the leaked one before every show he’s ever done over the last 15 years and that this was the first time anyone distributed it to people outside the company. He expressed his belief that, by refusing to identify the source of the email, Everything Evolves is “destroying the company you’re doing a podcast about.” In a subsequent conversation, Sapolsky repeated his earlier requests. The conversation ended when Sapolsky accused Everything Evolves of betraying him and EVOLVE.

Fire an employee at random?  Not what a leader does.

 

Back to the Present

And that takes us back to today.  Sapolsky got into it with fans online at the beginning of the week in regards to Aria Blake’s comments.  I disagreed with her take, but Sapolsky downright was offended.   Aria Blake told a story about a friend of hers only getting offered $40 to travel 11 hours to work a show.  He declined.  She became persistent though.  This prompted Sapolsky, who booked Blake in the past, to defend the practices Blake opposed.

Nothing wrong with that.  Eventually Blake listened to IMPACT star Allie, and put away her phone after Blake pleaded with everyone to leave her friend alone; but leave it to Gabe to steal the headlines.

Sapolsky then started tweeting and evening DM’ing (private messaging) random fans who disagreed with him.  In one captured screenshot, you can see Sapolsky yelling at a fan and blocked him for not keeping a private conversation private.  A private conversation the fan was never asked to keep private, by the way.

What kind of professional privately messages fans to harasses them?

This then leads us to the LAX situation.  IMPACT allowed LAX to take bookings on an EVOLVE event as long as they weren’t booked to lose against WWE talent.  This is complicated because EVOLVE’s two top titles are held by NXT talents.  Fabian Achner has the EVOLVE Championship and the Street Profits have the EVOLVE Tag Team Championships.   Sapolsky, knowing full well the issues he’d have booking WWE talent against IMPACT talent, decided to book LAX against The Street Profits, but make it a triple threat match.

He made the first night a triple threat match because he knew IMPACT would be pissed, and it gave him an out, allegedly..  According to Sapolsky himself, he was told that LAX could not lose.  Even if they aren’t pinned, they would lose that tag match.  There is no way Sapolsky would ever book a rival promotions team to go over on a WWE team.  No way.  So LAX was going to lose, obviously.

The second night of the tour LAX was booked on saw them competing in a six man tag match against The Street Profits; with both teams getting a third teammate.  In theory, the teammate for LAX would eat the pin; but they would still lose.  Something that Sapolsky knew IMPACT was against.

Instead of owning up to HIS mistake, he blamed IMPACT for letting LAX take the booking in the first place.  Like it’s somehow their fault he can’t follow instructions.    In Sapolsky’s own words;

…EVOLVE officials had told LAX that the plan was to have matches with The Street Profits that weekend. EVOLVE was informed that LAX would not be able to lose in those matches.

In order to avoid any political issues, EVOLVE made one night a triple threat match and the other night a six man tag. This would give the fans the LAX vs. Street Profits matches they wanted, while protecting all parties politically.

Unfortunately, Impact Wrestling waited until the matches were announced and then pulled the talent the next day. This all could have easily been avoided by not allowing LAX to take the dates in the first place. 

I don’t think it’s unfair of IMPACT at all to pull talent after they see the decisions Sapolsky made; knowing full well what the end result would be.  Because of this, Sapolsky would not use any more IMPACT talents going forward.

You know how the situation could of been avoided?  Booking them against another tag team.  Pretty simple, right?

Sapolsky has a history of unprofessional behavior.  From lying, hurting other promotions unnecessarily, throwing objects, having full blown emotional tantrums, and passing the burden of responsibility on whoever else he can; it’s fair to say Sapolsky turned out just like his mentor.  They both stiffed talents on pay, outright lied to keep the narrative in their favor, behaved improperly and were given a pass due to their status of an indy darling.  However I’ll always see him now for what he truly is; a lying man child.