ID Showcase

In June 2024, WWE trademarked WWE ID and WWE Independent Development with the purpose of organizing and conducting a program to help develop wrestlers. That October, WWE ID was officially announced, which would support the development of independent wrestlers at specified schools or promotions and provide them a pathway to the promotion. The first schools and promotions designated under WWE ID were Reality of Wrestling (run by Booker T), Black and Brave Academy (run by Seth Rollins and Marek Brave), Nightmare Factory (run by Cody Rhodes), Elite Pro Wrestling Training Center, and KnokX Pro Academy (run by Rikishi). On November 9, Fightful reported that Timothy Thatcher had been signed as the WWE ID trainer.^[1] In addition to Thatcher, it was later reported by Yahoo! Entertainment that Sean Waltman had been hired as an ID trainer.^[2]

On February 1, 2025, during the 2025 Royal Rumble, WWE announced the launch of WWE Evolve, a Tubi program based on the defunct independent Evolve promotion ran by WWE ID co-founder Gabe Sapolsky.^[3] The program, which premiered on March 5, 2025, features both WWE ID prospects and Performance Center trainees. On February 18, WWE chief content officer Paul "Triple H" Levesque announced the creation of the WWE ID Championship and Women's ID Championship – the championships will be defended in WWE and on the independent circuit.^[4] On August 1, during SummerSlam weekend, independent wrestling promotion Game Changer Wrestling held their WWE ID Showcase event at The Williams Center in Rutherford, New Jersey, which saw Cappuccino Jones taking on Jack Cartwheel in the finals for the WWE ID Championship tournament and ID Champion and Kylie Rae taking on Zara Zakher and Zayda Steel in the finals for the WWE Women's ID Championship tournament.^[5]