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WWE Evolve Premieres on Tubi: A New Era for Wrestling Talent

WWE Evolve made its much-anticipated debut on March 5, 2025, available on Tubi in the US and YouTube internationally. The show has been celebrated for its engaging content, spotlighting emerging talents like Jack Cartwheel, Dani Palmer, and Keanu Carver. While the debut episode featured several notable matches, including debuts from new WWE stars, specifics like a six-man tag team match remain unconfirmed from the available sources. Commentary by Peter Rosenberg and Robert Stone enriched the viewing experience, with Stone expressing his enthusiasm for nurturing young talent through this platform. Fans and critics alike have noted the show's potential as a developmental series, echoing the spirit of NXT Level Up but with a distinct identity. The premiere was marked by excitement, with wrestling legend Shawn Michaels making an appearance to announce upcoming matches, signaling WWE Evolve's promising start in the wrestling entertainment landscape.

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Watch the future of WWE in-ring action, featuring rising WWE prospects as they wrestle with the dream of making it to NXT and, perhaps, to SmackDown and Raw.

WWE Superstars in EVOLVE – Street Profits, Shotzi, Raquel and more!

Before WWE EVOLVE comes to Tubi this Wednesday, see current WWE Superstars from their days in EVOLVE, including The Street Profits, Shotzi, Raquel Rodriguez, Tyler Breeze and more!

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The Weeknd defends ‘douchebag’ character’s sex scene in The Idol following backlash

June 2023

The Weekend has defended his character on the highly risqué series The Idol after a graphic sex scene caused controversy.

The Weekend defended his “despicable” character on the highly controversial HBO series The Idol after a graphic sex scene left viewers horrified.

“There’s nothing sexy about it,” the singer, whose real name is Abel Tesfaye, told GQ magazine on Tuesday of the scene involving his character, a shady club mogul named Tedros.

“However you’re feeling watching that scene, whether it’s discomfort, or you feel gross, or you feel embarrassed for the characters. It’s all those emotions adding up to: this guy is in way over his head, this situation is one where he is not supposed to be here.”

The scene in question features Tedros in an uncomfortably hot and heavy moment with struggling pop star Jocelyn, played by Lily-Rose Depp on the show, which airs locally on Binge.

At one point Tesfaye’s character told the pop icon to “f***in’ stretch that tiny little p***y” while she put her fingers inside her mouth.

The Blinding Lights singer contended that the sex scene is portrayed in such a “gluttonous” way because Tedros, a mysterious club owner, “can’t believe he’s there”.

“You look at him, and this is a score – Jocelyn might be the biggest score he’s ever had. It’s very obvious,” he elaborated. “He’s overindulging, he walks into this house looking around like, ‘Goddamn, am I way over my head? This can be the biggest job I’ve ever done.’”

While Tesfaye, 33, defended the sex scene’s graphic moments, the singer-turned-actor did agree that his character “comes off like such a loser”.

“He’s despicable, a psychopath – why sugar-coat it?” the Starboy singer stated. “There’s nothing really mysterious or hypnotising about him. And we did that on purpose with his look, his outfits, his hair – the guy’s a douchebag.”

Sunday evening, viewers immediately took to Twitter to slam Tesfaye after the lewd scene aired.

A user wrote that they had “lost respect” for Tesfaye after watching the episode.

As Page Six previously reported in March, the TV drama was slammed by alleged cast and crew members as a “rape fantasy” prior to its release.

“It was like any rape fantasy that any toxic man would have in the show – and then the woman comes back for more because it makes her music better,” one crew member told Rolling Stone.

Another told the magazine, “It was like, ‘What is this? What am I reading here?’ It was like sexual torture porn.”

However, HBO stood by Levinson’s creative direction in a statement provided to Page Six.

“The creators and producers of ‘The Idol’ have been working hard to create one of HBO’s most exciting and provocative original programs,” the network said.

“The initial approach on the show and production of the early episodes, unfortunately, did not meet HBO standards so we chose to make a change.

“Throughout the process, the creative team has been committed to creating a safe, collaborative, and mutually respectful working environment, and last year, the team made creative changes they felt were in the best interest of both the production and the cast and crew. We look forward to sharing The Idol with audiences soon.”

Depp, 24, has also kept a positive demeanour amid backlash from viewers for showing too much “breast” and “a**”.

“I love Abel so much,” she said during a post-premiere show breakdown. “He was able to melt into this role in a way that is really difficult for anybody to do.”

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How ‘Succession’ rich is different from ‘Dallas’ rich

31st May 2023

In 1980, American wealth inequality was still near its postwar lows. Today, the very rich are very, very, very richer.

On November 21, 1980, more than 83 million people – over three-quarters of the entire American TV viewership – watched “Who Done It?“, the episode of Dallas that revealed who shot the love-to-hate-him oil magnate J.R. Ewing. The mystery, which CBS milked for eight solid months, was a consuming obsession, a Texas-sized example of the power of 20th-century TV to focus the world on one thing.

On Sunday (Monday AEST), HBO’s Succession answered the question of who inherits the media empire of the late tyrant Logan Roy in front of a viewership of – well, a lot less than 83 million. (The show’s final season premiere had 2.3 million same-day viewers in the US; delayed viewing on streaming brings the total average audience to more than 8 million.)

Airing its finale to a much more dispersed audience is a fitting end to the saga of a family that got rich off the modern media market, whose final episodes are set against the backdrop of a country that is coming apart.

But numbers aside, Succession is in many ways the premium-cable, late-capitalist heir to Dallas, a prime-time saga that uses delicious dialogue and sibling rivalries to explore the particular nature of wealth in its time. It’s Dallas after 40-plus years of wealth concentration and media fragmentation.

The “Who Shot J.R.?” sensation was, in retrospect, the high-water mark of mass media’s reach. In 1980, three US networks still controlled the entire TV audience, which they soon had to share with cable. It was also a cultural turning point: prime time was becoming fascinated with the rich just as the Reagan revolution was beginning.

Succession is very different to Dallas in the details. There are no twangy accents, assassination attempts, cliffhangers or season-long dreams. Its plot turns are simply, devastatingly inevitable: the show sets up conditions, gives its characters motivations and lets them act in their interests. (Yellowstone is a closer heir to Dallas in both cowboy hats and murder plots.)

And if the Succession audience is smaller, the money is, pointedly, bigger. Rewatched in 2023, the idea of luxury in Dallas looks quaint, almost dowdy. The aesthetic is Texan country club; the Ewing homestead, the size of a decent suburban McMansion, is a toolshed next to the Manhattan eyries, Hamptons manors and Italian villas that the Roys flitter among.

Some of this is a matter of modern premium-cable budgets versus the grind of old-school network-TV production, of course. But it also reflects the changed, distorting nature of modern riches. In 1980, American wealth inequality was still near its postwar lows. Since then, the wealth of the top 0.01 per cent has grown at a rate roughly five times as much as that of the population overall. Today, the very rich are very, very, very richer.

Decadent pleasure

The holdings of Waystar Royco – Hollywood studios, cruise lines, newspapers, amusement parks, a king-making right-wing news channel – make Ewing Oil look like a franchise service station. We know only vaguely how Logan Roy built his empire, but it was enabled partly by the media-consolidation and antitrust deregulation, beginning in the Dallas/Reagan era, that allowed his real-life analogues such as Rupert Murdoch to make their own piles.

Meanwhile, the smaller TV audiences of the cable and streaming age have allowed Succession to thrive as a more specific and more niche entertainment. A series in the three-network era had to appeal to tens of millions of people just to stay on the air – Dallas needed to serve a crowd-pleasing spread. Succession can afford to be a rarefied, decadent pleasure, like an ortolan, the deep-fried songbird, eaten whole, that was featured in a memorable Season 1 meal.

Dallas, like its followers from Dynasty through Empire, was in the populist soap-opera tradition of letting the audience delight in the woes of rich people. Its characters were like us – jealous, envious, heartbroken – just with more money and less happiness.

Succession has its crowd-pleasing and universal elements too. Logan was an irresistible brute, able to pack a Shakespeare soliloquy’s worth of emotion into a two-word curse. The Roy children – Kendall, Roman, Shiv and their half brother, Connor – have developed a survivors’ bond and survivalist cutthroat instincts; one arm joins the group hug, the other holds a dagger. At root, the series’ family themes are talk-show simple: hurt people hurt people.

But its voice, as set by the creator, Jesse Armstrong, is arch and referential; its details demand a range of knowledge or at least the willingness to Google.

Like Mad Men before it, Succession is a drama that also happens to be the funniest thing on TV any given week. (Its earliest episodes tilted the other way, with the rhythms of a comedy disguised as a premium-TV drama.)

But its showmanship is informed by a caustic clarity about the toxic business culture Logan Roy built.

I once wrote that Succession viewers “can enjoy it knowing that we have no stake, except for the tiny fact that people like the Roys run the world”. This final season has emphasised that that is a very big “except”.

No consequences

Succession has long hinted at the Roys’ willingness to play footsie with dark political forces for ratings and influence. Waystar’s right-wing news network, ATN, leaves a popular commentator on the air despite his Nazi sympathies. The family backs a far-right presidential candidate, Jeryd Mencken, who voices openness to the ideas of Adolf Hitler and Francisco Franco. (Mencken fittingly shares a surname with the American writer who said: “Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want and deserve to get it good and hard.”)

Part of the fantasy of past rich-family sagas was that none of the drama affected you, even by implication. When Ewings did each other dirty in the oil business, you were never asked to imagine yourself, somewhere offscreen, seeing your petrol prices go up.

Succession, on the other hand, argues that the problems of today’s hyper-rich inevitably become ours because they have so much influence and so little sense of responsibility. (Its main exception is the Pierce family, the owners of a rival media empire, whose blue-blood noblesse oblige comes across as patronising and ineffectual.) We are swamped in the wake of their yachts and chopped up by the propeller blades, even if the billionaires, sitting on the top deck, scarcely feel a bump.

And while the damaged characters are fascinating, even pitiable, there’s no one among the Roys or their enablers worth rooting for. As with Game of Thrones, if you think the important thing is who finally ends up in the big chair, you’re missing the point.

Throughout the series, the constant has been that however the Roys might suffer, emotionally or on the corporate org chart, they never faced true material consequences. They might be more calculated than F. Scott Fitzgerald’s careless Tom and Daisy Buchanan, but they still smashed up things and creatures and retreated into their money.

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Creative: Human Statue Bodyart

Opportunities, threats and unknowns, by Greg Tingle

Vince McMahon vs Hulk Hogan. WWE WrestleMania 18. King of sports entertainment promoters vs king of professional wrestling.

by Greg Tingle

The world of sports (should say Business of Sports), is an extension of the entertainment and business world, for the most past these days.

Just ask the promoters and management of giants such as the WWE, UFC, AFL, NRL, NBL, Cricket Australia and you get the idea.

Sports betting wasn't invented just for the fun of it. It's designed to make money for the companies and brands associated, hence Australian sports promoters are hoping to retain an element of sports betting in their overall business models, ideally 'live in play', if they can swing it.

Merchandising and sports broadcasting rights are of course a major part of the equation. In recent years the internet platforms have changed the game for sports promoters and presented more opportunities and threats.

The cool kids and their parents are running around with smartphones, hence the whole world can be citizen broadcasters and journalists. The exclusive and precious media elements is all but gone.

The smart operators are standing out from the pack and evolving with the times. WWE's Vince McMahon, Stephanie McMahon and Triple H will survive. So will the UFC's Dana White, but a sustainable business model in these volatile times is not guaranteed. Ever hear of Enron (The Smartest Guys In The Room) or PSINet? Some companies were supposed to be too big to fail, but somehow found a way.

Currently Facebook is experiencing a PR disaster, and its a lot more involved the under perming for a few campaigns.

WWE Mixed Match Challenge has enjoyed a couple of runs via Facebook, which is quite entertaining. Fortunately for the WWE the series is available on a number of platforms including WWE.com, WWE YouTube and the WWE Network. Risk management and cross promotion has proved to be a smart strategy for the sports entertainment giant, and other smart operators should be looking to do the same. You need to reach your sports and entertainment loving audience, no matter where they are.

Sports or The Business Of Sport?

We know the WWE is sports entertainment, and for the most part, match winners are pre determined.

For a number of years some traditional pure sports such as Cricket and Tennis have had their pedigree and pureness questioned and comprised, witness the explosion of sports business and mega sports and media rights. There's so much money involved that some things are happening to sport that shouldn't be.

Let's not even get started on FIFA or the Olympic Games should we? There's books on it, because many things have occurred which move sport into the sports business spectrum.

What does sport need to do to survive?

Live crowd attendance, ticket sales, media and sponsorship rights, and to stay relevant for a start.

To be continued...

Mayweather Promotions official website

Floyd 'Money' Mayweather made plenty for himself and his fellow promoters over the decades

Show Boxing (Showtime) official website

FOX Sports Australia

FOX Sports Australia does (or did) have a business arrangement with CrownBet. CrownBet is now EasyBet. The sports betting industry continues to evolve and is set for more mergers, acquisitions and general shake ups

John Cena and Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson. Both are making the transition to movies and entertainment and stepping away from in-ring performances. For most wrestlers 10 to 15 years is the most time they can expect to perform in sports entertainment

Former UFC champion and living legend of MMA, Ken Shamrock. Shamrock has made the transition into public speaking and Podcasting with business manager Des W. Woodruff. See The World's Most Dangerous Podcast. Many American and Canadian wrestlers, martial artists, sports announcers and such have their own podcasts.

WWE superstar Roman Reigns with a TAPOUT promotion. TAPOUT and WWE came to business terms. MMA giant, the UFC, came to terms with Rebook, with a mixed reaction from fighters. Conor McGregor is known to make his own deals, as is WWF - UFC cross over talent Brock Lesnar, who is managed by his long time advocate Paul Heyman.

Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman (WrestleMania 31). Lesnar is teasing a switch to UFC after WrestleMania 34 in April 2018. Paul Heyman is the top brass at Heyman Hustle and Looking 4 Larry agency

'Rowdy' Ronda Rousey made made a so far impressive transition into the sports entertainment world via pro wrestling giant, the WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment). She draws ticket sales, positive media, WWE Network subscribers and excitement. With Rousey you never know what might happen. Ronda Rousey official website. Ronda Rousey - WWE.com profile Got to love her ring entrance 'Bad Reputation' by Joan Jett.

UFC Gym Sydney: BRAVE campaign

UFC New York. New York, USA, has long been a favourite of MMA, boxing and pro wrestling promoters. Ever heard of Madison Square Garden?

Non UFC MMA promotions such as Bellator have had some challenges to attract a bigger audience. Many MMA fighters prefer to work for Bellator, stating that the pay days are more fair. Bellator MMA has also been looking to conquer the Google and Facebook online ranking for MMA which are largely saturated by the UFC.

Madison Square Garden. New York

The WWE enjoyed another Australia tour in October 2018. They are aiming to draw approx 60,000 to the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Oh, G'day Beau Ryan at The Footy Show?

WWE's agreement with Nine's 9GO! has been renewed. 9GO! carries a one hour version of WWE RAW and WWE SmackDown. This has helped popularize WWE and pro wrestling in Australia

The pro wrestling industry in Australia is a touch business. Independent promotions such as the AWF continue to have their work cut out for them. Small to medium crowds, no television time and budgets don't allow booking of major venues. Good on them for having a go and sticking with it.

New Japan Pro Wrestling. Home of some of the world's greatest professional wrestlers. They had a mixed experience in Australia with what called be called average crowd attendance. The right media, public relations and communication channels are paramount to success. WWE - New Japan cross over star Chris Jericho helped boost crowed numbers and New Japan Pro Wrestling subscriber numbers considerably. Jericho added 15 to 25,000 extra bums on seats in Japan and at least an extra 15,000 New Japan streaming (New Japan World) buys by all accounts.

Sports in Australia have experimented in making their sport more exciting with entertainment and creative tie ins following the U.S. Cricket Australia 'Best Dressed'. Golden bodypainted models by Human Statue Bodyart

The Human Statue Bodyart 'Best Dressed' models and creating costuming was seen by the Australian sports loving public. Cricket Australia is currently looking to move on from a current scandle involving manipulation of the cricket ball et al

Melbourne Cricket Ground

AFL. Adelaide Oval. Photography and project management on site by Greg Tingle. Creative by Human Statue Bodyart

TMZ and TMZ Sports are getting the lions share of WWE exclusives, which is by design. It's a true win - win by all accounts

Pro wrestling legends such as Terry Funk and Harley Race are a dying breed.

Dusty Rhodes vs Harley Race pre WWE or even before the internet was an idea

AJ Styles vs Shinsuke Nakamura at WrestleMania on 8 April 2018 should be an instant classic

For the longest time pro boxing great Muhammad Ali knew it was the business of sport. He knew how to talk it up and sell tickets. Pictured with wrestler - martial artist Muhammad Ali. Circa 1976. Japan

Andre The Giant vs Hulk Hogan. WWF WrestleMania 3. Stay tuned for the highly anticipated documentary on the life and times of Andre courtesy of a HBO and WWE collaboration

Arnold Sports Festival Australia Arnold Sports Festival

The Arnold Sports Festival has continued to development and become much more than just a bodybuilding comp. This typifies the business of sports, especially in sports nutrition and supplements. Let's not get into a current sports documentary, but we all remember the classic 'Pumping Iron'.

The Nine Entertainment Co. has enjoyed a stellar run in broadcasting Australian cricket. Is it time for them to move on, or does it make good business sense for them to continue to support the game? (GO! is currently enjoying solid success broadcasting the WWE's RAW and SmackDown programs (Thursday and Friday)

The late, great, Kerry Packer, was instrumental in turning cricket into the business of sport. Enter World Series Cricket circa 1977, which took the television time away from Jim Barnett's World Championship Wrestling. WCW had a good run, but allegedly was run into the ground and Nine needed a new money maker.