Derailments of Thought

September 11, 2016 in Queens, NY

Evolve was back at La Boom in Queens for Johnny Gargano’s farewell as he heads to the WWE. Before the show the National Anthem was sung in remembrance of 9/11.

One of the themes for the night was a series of “New Talent Showcases,” where newer wrestlers got opportunities against established roster members. The show opened with one of these is the form of Darby Allin vs Tony Nese. Darby has been on the last few Evolve shows but has been unsuccessful, and was given a “win or leave” ultimatum for the weekend. So after Darby’s loss to TJP at Evolve 68 this had the added wrinkle of Darby being gone from Evolve if he couldn’t beat Nese. Telegraphed the finish somewhat, but it did get the crowd seriously behind Darby and there was some doubt cast by Nese’s big win over Riddle the previous night, making it less likely he’d lose to Darby after such a high profile victory.

This was a hot opener. Although Darby’s style still makes me nervous, the spots here seemed better planned and thankfully there was nothing like the scare last time he was in Queens for Evolve 64 (when he came down on his neck after hitting his legs on the guardrail during a summersault to the outside). Nese’s CWC experience has done him well, as he looks sharper than ever. Allin survives long enough to surprise Nese with a rollup for the pin, making the crowd EXPLODE. My personal reservations aside, this was set up perfectly for Darby’s big moment.

Joey Styles comes out to offer Darby a contract due to his win, which Nese grabs away in a nice little tease. He then welcomes Allin to Evolve and hands him back the contract. On his way out however, Nese cryptically warns “this is the last time you’ll face this version of me.” Intriguing.

Fred Yehi was out next for the second of the four new talent tests. Yehi’s “TROUBLE!” gimmick really annoys me, and honestly I’m not a big fan of his ring style in the first place, but Travis “Flip” Gordon  was the best of the newcomers and this ended up a fun, energetic contest.

Yehi wins with the koji clutch, which I’ll admit makes me happy since the move looks vicious and I’ve been waiting forever for someone to make it a feared finisher instead of the wear down hold it’s always been for Christopher Daniels. Definitely want to see Flip return.

Tracy Williams was the next mainstay to be challenged, in this case by Chuck O’Neil. Chuck looks to be another wrestler in Williams’ own vein, working the grapple heavy / quasi-MMA style Williams, Gulak, Thatcher, etc have popularized. This was good, and started and ended strong, but was held back just a little by dragging in the middle. O’Neil needs a bit more “something” to consistently hook the crowd, but he has potential and I’d like to see him back.

As Williams celebrated his win, DUSTIN attacked him from behind with a chair. DUSTIN and Drew Galloway stick his leg in the chair and stomp on it before Drew Gulak and Yehi can make the save. Williams is writhing in pain and Gulak is FUMING. After Galloway and DUSTIN run off he demands the latter come back out for their match.

Gulak is all over him to start, finally showing some real emotion and fire and looking like the valiant fighter he’s been trying to portray. This was all about putting heat on DUSTIN (and Galloway), and worked well in that regard. The finish with Galloway distracting the ref and slipping a chair in the ring for DUSTIN to DDT Gulak onto would be important later.

After Gulak is helped to the back David Starr comes out, and the crowd is quite excited to see him. He’s a bit spotty for my personal tastes, but had a fun contest here with Ethan Page that was half comedy, riffing on CM Punk’s UFC debut, then kicked into hard hitting mode for the remainder.

Highlights included a sick suplex neckbreaker across the knee by Starr, a slick RKEGO, and a finish which saw them fight on the turnbuckle until Ego knocked Starr down and jumped into perfect position for the cradle piledriver. Page helps Starr to the back, so his quest for Gargano’s forgiveness before the latter leaves would apparently unfold before or after Gargano’s match in the main event.

TJP’s last match in Evolve is up next against Matt Riddle, as a result of a challenge by TJP’s manager Stokely Hathaway last time Evolve was in Queens. Before the bell Drew Gulak storms out and asks where the hell TJP and Riddle were when Tracy was being attacked and Gulak was laid out with a chair. Hathaway says sorry but with TJP on his way to WWE RAW he has no time or interest for a war with Galloway and company. Riddle simply says he’s here to wrestle.

This was a bit odd, as Gulak is 100% right to be livid with his supposed teammates for not coming to his aid, but the crowd likes TJP and Riddle FAR more than Gulak so no one was on his side here.

Gulak leaves peacefully and the match begins. I find TJP hit or miss, but when “on” and with the right opponent he can make magic, and wrestling’s biggest rising star Matt Riddle was certainly game, so this ended up being the best TJP match I’ve ever seen.

They traded holds, strikes, and suplexes with a lot of flair and precision. I am constantly amazed with how incredible Riddle’s become in so little time in the sport. Selling from both was a bit lax down the stretch, but overall this was fantastic and was neck and neck with the next match for best of the night.

I was pleasantly surprised with Riddle’s victory, as with his loss to Nese on Evolve 68 I wondered if he was being protected as much anymore, and with TJP still a part of the CWC I wasn’t sure he’d be “able” to drop the fall. It was the right move, and kudos for TJP making Riddle look like a million bucks on his way out.

 

Hathaway said some words, brought out a couple of women, and showered TJP with play money as a goodbye celebration. Stokely’s attempted quotation was awkward and there was nothing to this, but as a moment for the departing TJP it was fine.

Great to see Ricochet back in Evolve, and he and Zack Sabre Jr. had a hell of a semi-main event. Ricochet really shouldn’t have been able to do most of his late match stuff given the way Sabre destroyed his arm all match, but outside of that bit of dodgy selling this was phenomenal. Zack’s precision in everything he does is a sight to behold.

I was mildly surprised at Ricochet’s win here, as Zack had been building momentum, but Zack’s temper tantrum after losing plays towards his increasing heel tendencies and a huge win like this could vault Ricochet right back into title contention.

The reaction for Johnny Gargano as he came out for his final Evolve match was as loud as expected, and deserved. Cody Rhodes got a good ovation too coming out to team with Johnny against Drew Galloway and Chris Hero. Chris is always cheered in NYC, but did his best to reenforce his heel character throughout the match. Galloway and DUSTIN (in the corner with his stablemates) have become fantastic heels, agitating the crowd at every turn and providing some of the clear cut villains Evolve needs.

Cody started against Hero and got some additional cheers early on due to his treating the fans to pizza before the show, and played into it a little to really fire everyone up. Once they got serious this was a hard hitting affair.

Highlights included Cody hitting the delayed vertical on Hero, Gargano eating a hard shot as soon as he came in for the first time for a super close 2 that nearly caused a riot, a virtual “superkick party” on Galloway by both opponents, and an intense sequence where Galloway hit a tombstone and held the position for Hero to grab Gargano for a piledriver.

End comes with double submission on Hero, then Cody breaks the leglock to chase off Galloway, and Hero taps to the Gargano escape. Afterwards Rhodes puts over Gargano and leaves him to have his goodbye moment with the crowd.

Gargano teases walking out a few times, but then grabs the mic… and here’s Ethan Page from behind to pick his spot for the big heel turn. Page DESTROYS Gargano and cuts a scathing promo saying even though Gargano was smart enough not to forgive him when he had fooled everyone else, Ethan Page will always be the smartest man in the room. He then brings out two huge guys in shirts and ties to keep anyone from interfering his “goodbye” to Gargano.

Darby Allin of all people attempts the save, and sure enough it’s so he can be thrown over the top to the outside by the goons onto a gaggle of refs. Where the hell is Gargano’s partner from FIVE MINUTES AGO?! I understand the dramatic necessity of giving Page some time alone with Johnny, and not having his goons easily dispatch of a top face, but this doesn’t portray Rhodes in a good light.

Page has the goons pic up Gargano for the farewell speech everyone wanted and speaks for Gargano in a great dick move that elevates his already molten heat higher. When he’s done he says his goodbye gift is to the locker room, having served up Gargano for anyone with a grudge. He leaves with his muscle and Galloway and DUSTIN are out, storming the stage for the Evolve banner and draping it over Johnny like a burial shroud. Riddle comes out with a big smile and Galloway offers the handshake to finally have Matt join his crusade. Riddle accepts the hand… then uses the grip to kick Galloway in the head. TREMENDOUS. Riddle clears the ring, helps Johnny up, shakes hands, and is endorsed by Gargano as the one to carry his torch. Evolve is Bro.

Page turning again and revealing this long redemption thing was all a trick was what I was a little worried about when watching the long simmering angle unfold on past shows. It seemed much more likely to me than Gargano forgiving him and passing the torch, which honestly would have been a bit more refreshing. But in retrospect it wouldn’t have been as impactful as they used the big reveal here to make TWO giant stars and Page plays the evil mastermind extremely well.

I just hope they don’t ever plan to turn him face again, as no one will buy it.

Overall

Excellent show with an incredible atmosphere that was a perfect farewell to the lynchpin of Evolve. Riddle is FINALLY the top face the crowd’s been clamoring for, and even though we’ve gone from a lack of believable heels to a glut of them at the top in just a few shows,  Page’s turn was exquisitely done. I do wonder what he and DUSTIN going 2-0 for the weekend (the only ones besides Yehi to do so) does for the top contendership, because having Thatcher defend against one of them so soon after his own turn would be disastrous. There’s also the Catch Point situation to clear up, as with Riddle’s full turn the crowd will boo Gulak and co if they continue to butt heads with the Bro. But whatever is in store for the future of Evolve it’ll be interesting.

Phenomenal show in both storytelling and action, with a powerful, emotional end. Definitely catch the replay.

September 10, 2016 in Deer Park, NY

Big night for Evolve with Johnny Gargano’s last singles match with the company as he wraps up on his way to WWE.

 

The show opens with Fred Yehi vs Jigsaw. Crowds pretty fired up for both. Yehi’s been a staple in Evolve recently and Jigsaw made a well received surprise return to the company on Evolve 64. Lenny establishes a background story of Yehi needed a win to stay in Catch Point’s good graces.

Jigsaw looked sharp here again, using a variety of strike combinations to nice effect. Yehi was trying to show more personality, which is good, but his repeated “you’re in trouble” taunting is annoying, not entertaining.

Yehi kept going back to the Koji clutch as he was able, and eventually got it dead center to force Jigsaw to tap for the win. Ok opener, but I personally don’t tend to care for Yehi’s ring style and as usual couldn’t really get into this.

Dan Barry is a little bit of a step up from the debuting talent All Ego Ethan Page has been destroying as of late, and they went a different direction with the match. Barry outwrestled Page for a bit until Page loudly “confessed” he can’t do the counter wrestling, leading to Barry giving him a lesson. Barry talked Page through reversing an arm wringer then said “now put me in a hammerlock” only to have a smiling Page respond “what the hell is that?” They continued in that vein a bit. Well done and just silly enough.

Also was an interesting approach showing that Page was having some fun with wrestling again before the match fully kicked into gear. Good back and forth contest from there on, which ended with Page continuing his roll by hitting the package piledriver for the win. Barry sold the move like molten death and Page had to help him to the back. Page mentions he’ll be extending his hand to Gargano tomorrow, hoping to finally be forgiven before Johnny leaves Evolve.

Darby Allin is out to face TJP, who is crazy over with the crowd after his CWC appearances. Story is Allin needs a win this weekend to continue to be booked at Evolve, and as such he wisely ambushes TJP to jump start the match. It’s getting to the point where I don’t want to watch Allin, as while I understand he’s trying to make an impression he takes bumps on the outside that seem way too dangerous and I feel like I’m inevitably going to see him cripple himself someday. Here he tries an attack off the entry way and TJP moves, leaving Allin to crash leg first into the ringpost in midair. Rest of match was decent enough, with TJP mostly dominating and Allin showing resiliency. TJP gets the expected win with the kneebar, likely setting up Allin upsetting Nese tomorrow to earn a job.

Like Yehi earlier, Tracy Williams has also apparently been directed to step up by Gulak, which is somewhat ironic given Gulak’s recent failures. Here Williams is facing DUSTIN in a grudge match. Williams starts hot and is dominating DUSTIN, but Drew Galloway runs right out to hit Williams with a chair. Gulak and Yehi come out to help. Joey Styles makes his first appearance as “totally not a commissioner” to restart the match under extreme rules, sending everyone but Williams and DUSTIN to the back on penalty of being sent home without pay if they come back out. Good brawl with the general story of each man being able to turn most of the other’s weapon attempts against him, including a bag of thumbtacks DUSTIN brought out late. DUSTIN dominated most of the action, as appropriate to try to continue to elevate him as a heel, but Williams held in and eventually locks in the rear naked choke for the win. Bit of a surprise, and a nice one at that as Williams needed it.

Matt Riddle‘s out to a hero’s ovation, as I continue to boggle at Evolve’s insistence at keeping him estranged from the rest of Catch Point and as a heel. Tony Nese gets a similar reaction, but then the crowd erupts even more for the return of Ricochet. Was looking forward to Riddle vs Nese in the first place, but was beyond thrilled to have Ricochet inserted when his schedule freed up. Can’t wait to see him mix it up with Riddle in particular. But wait, Johnny Gargano’s out too. He heaps praise on all three, and suggests Nese and Riddle go out and take the huge spot that will be opening up in the company tomorrow. Nese shakes hands with Gargano, but Riddle refuses and gets booed. Nicely done, but those boos won’t last long.

Fun stuff early with Riddle using his strikes until Nese and Ricochet get annoyed and team up on him, but then end up arguing over who gets to torture Riddle and the latter takes over again. Riddle is just AMAZING for his experience, and totally kept up with his significantly more seasoned opponents. All three competitors were hitting on all cylinders, and this match was fantastic. This and the main were what I was most excited about coming in, and this delivered BIG TIME.

Match ends with Ricochet in dire straights in the Bro-mission, but Riddle sees Nese going up and releases to try and move, but gets hit with the 450 to give Nese a HUGE upset, becoming only the second man to cleanly pin Riddle in Evolve. This makes things interesting for the Allin match tomorrow, as Nese losing there after this win is unthinkable, but if Allin doesn’t win he’s gone.

After Nese and Ricochet exit Galloway comes out to try to pull Riddle to cause again. After his pitch finishes but before Riddle responds Gulak jumps Galloway from behind. Gulak and Riddle have a bit of a stare down, then Gulak sends Riddle to the back and the battle of the Drews begins. Galloway’s ribs are taped and Gulak targets them. Fairly intense match, as appropriate for this type of feud. Slowed down in the middle as they brawled outside, rolling in and out to break the count. I really enjoy Galloway in this dominating heel role, but Gulak isn’t the right type of face to get the crowd behind him as completely as they should be.

Strong match overall though that ends when Galloway hits a tombstone followed by the Future Shock for the win. Galloway needed the win, or his revolution group starts to look like a bunch of non-threatening losers. Odd dynamic for Catch Point though, who essentially just turned face as a group and yet has their leader calling out his members to step up but then losing himself. We’ll see where it goes.

Johnny Gargano’s last singles match in Evolve is the main event in the form of the Battle of the Aces against Zack Sabre Jr. This should be incredible. Joey Styles joins Lenny on commentary. “Thank you Johnny” chant goes up during the intros. I’ll be amazed in Sabre doesn’t win here. Commentary brings up the sweltering heat in the venue, and I have to say the wrestlers have done a great job all night not letting it affect their performances in any obvious way.

A LOT of phenomenal counter wrestling early on leading to several stalemates. They kept the back and forth going all match. Zack’s precision is such a joy to watch. This just built and built and intensity and was everything it was promised to be. Zack eventually trapped Johnny and bent all his limbs in ways they aren’t supposed to go until Johnny was forced to tap.

Zack said some words of praise to Gargano, then Ricochet come out and did the same (and also plugged his match with Sabre tomorrow).  Gabe came in and embraced Johnny then Johnny went outside to greet fans as his music played to end the night.

 

Overall

Great show made particularly by a couple of big matches, with the expected excellent action throughout as well as interesting developments and some definite points of intrigue set up for tomorrow’s farewell show for Johnny.