Tag: Evolve

June 25, 2017 in Queens, NY

Evolve returned to La Boom last weekend with a big card headlined by two of their most popular stars colliding for the WWN Championship.

Here’s a quick rundown of my thoughts from attending live.

 

 

During the opening announcements Lenny Leonard shares that this will be the last time both the Evolve and WWN titles are defended on the same show. Silly to make that an actual policy instead of just moving that direction quietly, as the option to have both defended so when appropriate is now limited. Also considering what the WWN title is supposed to be this comes across as inconsistent and unnecessary if it’s still going to be defended on FIP shows when there’s a FIP title defense, etc.

 

1) Tracy Williams vs ACH 

Decent opener, continuing both Williams winning streak and ascension as a threat as well as ACH’s parallel losing efforts and rising frustration. ACH hit a pair of insane topes to Williams that broke the guardrail and wiped out several members of the front row. Given everyone seemed ok, the dives were pretty awesome. Something about Williams’ current style isn’t drawing me into his matches the way he used to, but this was still solid.

After the match ACH’s impending heel turn took another step as he snapped at the ref when asked if he was ok. “Are you serious?” Of course I’m not ok. This is the first match, and I’m better than the first match.”

 

2) Timothy Thatcher vs Jason Kincaid

I was extremely excited for this one, as Kinclaid’s gimmick is a fresh and interesting one and Thatcher is a personal favorite of mine. The advertised clash of styles led to a fantastic encounter, with Kincaid befuddling the vet just a little and trying to adapt to stay alive but eventually getting too much into Thatcher’s grappling game and falling short. Kincaid’s showing cracks in his zen outlook, which should be interesting.

 

 

Thatcher’s relentless grinding down of his opponents is a treat to watch, and he’s downright despised as a heel in NYC so the heat was off the charts (overall the crowd was nicely loud and engaged all night). And the best part is he wasn’t done yet…

 

3) Fred Yehi vs Chris Dickinson 

This was a pretty by the books Yehi match. The crowd’s generally behind him so it was well received. I personally don’t enjoy his gimmick or ring style, so this was my least favorite of the night. Not knocking the effort of either though, and Dickinson looked great.

Yehi has now torn through both tag champs. It seemed to be setting up for a match with Catch Point’s leader (and Yehi’s ex-partner) rather than some sort of tag title match, but in fact it’s been since announced that the wins have led him to an upcoming Evolve title shot.

Jaka consoled his partner after the loss and says there’s no shame in the performance Dickinson turned in. He then polled the crowd about his chances of winning the Evolve title, takes exception to the lack of support, and calls out Sabre immediately. GREAT promo from Jaka to add bite to the match and reenforce his role as the heel despite some hometown support. NYC loves Zack, so this was exactly what was needed to get Jaka booed.

 

4) Evolve Championship Match: Zack Sabre Jr (c) vs Jaka

This was a nice spotlight opportunity for Jaka, and he made the most of it. This was not the typical Sabre match (as good as they are), as Sabre responded to Jaka’s aggression with a fierce edge of his own and it added an extra level of wonderful intensity to everything as they beat the hell out of each other. Jaka was also made to seem every bit a threat to Sabre (before losing clean to keep the champ looking like a world beater), which was a well deserved spotlight on a wrestler who’s been extremely impressive during his time in Evolve. If anyone was in fact “sleeping on Jaka,” they aren’t now. Excellent match.

 

 

After the match, Stokely and Thatcher came out to confront Sabre, but were interrupted by Darby. Thatcher lays into Allin with an incredible, scathing promo about how Darby’s an idiot who risks his health for a crowd of people who won’t care about him once he injures himself to the point where he can’t perform anymore. Man’s not wrong. He then turned to Sabre and challenged him to a No Holds Barred rematch for the Evolve Title.

 

 

As Zack ponders it, Thatcher dropped him with a surprise headbutt, then DESTROYED Darby, ripping the cast right off his arm and applying an armbar as the crowd went CRAZY booing, eventually “re-breaking” the arm! This entire segment was Thatcher’s to carry, and he absolutely knocked it out of the park. EVERYTHING he did was pitch perfect. I really wanted the teased title match to happen at the next NYC show after this…

 

5) Ethan Page vs Thomas Sharp

Sharp is one of the former Gatekeepers, now with a name and an issue with his former employer. He looked good, winning the over crowd in short order with his athleticism and some good fire as he looked for revenge against everyone’s (second) favorite man to hate. Short and intense. I’d like to see more of Sharp going forward. Page got the better of him, which I’ve seen some complaints about but I think was the right outcome for the beginning of such a feud if Sharp’s sticking around.

 

6) Trent Baretta vs Austin Theory

Nice to see Baretta back, and he received a strong reception. This being in the semi-main spot was an interesting choice and provided a chance for the relative rookie Theory to shine. And indeed this was a great spotlight for him, as he pushed the veteran to the limit before falling prey to the Dudebuster. There were a couple of awkward moments as the two lost their balance during complicated spots, but in both cases they adjusted extremely well, kept things from turning disastrously dangerous, and kept the match going with little loss of momentum. Both looked really good overall, the match got better and better as it went, and like Jaka earlier Theory really capitalized on the opportunity he had here.

After a showing of mutual respect, Priscilla Kelly came out and distracted Trent for a Theory low blow. Apparently finally receptive to Kelly’s message and advances, Theory laid out Baretta to loud boos and Kelly followed with a gloating/taunting bite to Trent’s neck (ok then…). Evolve’s getting heel overloaded again, but this was really well done and should provide a good story for the newcomer.

 

 

7) WWN Championship Match: Matthew Riddle (c) vs Keith Lee

Anticipation for this was of the charts, and it turned out as awesome as expected. Lee was presented as the champ’s equal, and these two just beat and beat on each other until they both literally fell over. Highlights included a huge pounce from Lee, a Fisherman’s buster on Lee (?!) by Riddle followed by a barrage of sentons, and an incredible nearfall where Riddle just gets his shoulder up by centimeters after a huge Spirit Bomb.  In a beautifully timed and executed finish, both collapse after a vicious Lee headbutt, and Riddle happens to fall on top of Lee for the pin and retains his title. A less than definitive win for the King of Bros, which maintains the tension between him and Lee and keeps the latter strong without having to take belt off Riddle. Incredible match with a extremely well done, appropriate finish.

 

 

After the match Ethan Page took advantage of the situation to attack the already downed Lee and Riddle, rambling in wonderful fashion about hating the two “golden geese” of Evolve and vowing to destroy them. Stokely Hathaway and Tracey Williams joined the fun to berate Riddle as Page continued to choke Lee in the corner. Williams then announced he’ll be challenging Riddle for the WWN title at the next Queens show in August. The feud’s been building well and the match’ll be decent, but I’d be lying if I said I wouldn’t rather have gotten Thatcher vs Sabre. Williams let Stokely slap Riddle to big boos, then they left. As Page continued to gloat the faces recovered and cornered him between them, but he managed to slink away to safety. Left alone, Lee was reluctant to fist bump Riddle, but eventually gave in and all is fine between Evolve’s heroes for now.

 

Overall

On par with the excellent Evolve 79 in February, which was one of the best live shows I’ve seen. Commitment and effort was apparent from everyone here, and even the things that weren’t to my personal tastes were solid and well received. Jaka and Theory had potentially star making performances, and I continue to adore pretty much everything Thatcher, Riddle, Sabre, and Lee do. Check this out on Floslam sooner rather than later.

February 25, 2017 in Queens, NY

Here’s a quick rundown of a phenomenal show from Evolve I had the privilege of enjoying live this past weekend.

 

 

1) Jason Kincaid vs ACH 

Jason Kincaid is killing it with his new gimmick, and ACH has been on a tear since leaving ROH and entering Evolve with something to prove. They put on exactly the strong, high energy opener I was hoping for here. The outcome was never in doubt given the story of ACH’s quest for a shot at the Evolve title, but they still managed to keep things exciting. ACH’s bemusement at Kincaid’s unusual offense made a great backbone story for the action.

 

 

2) 4-Way Freestyle: Fred Yehi vs Chris Dickinson vs Austin Theory vs Anthony Henry

Yehi was in this as a result of failing to unseat Thatcher the night before. Strong dynamic here with Dickinson and Yehi alternately working together and trying to win on each’s own with the newcomers Theory and Henry taking advantage of every opening  to try to swing things their way. I like both Henry and Theory from what I saw here (and the previous night on ippv), although Henry needs just a touch more polish as his impressive offense lost some impact both nights by not being hit cleanly enough so wasn’t quite getting the reactions it should have. Still a very good debut weekend though.

 

 

Great finish with Dickinson, who was exactly the right choice for a strong win here, getting a pin on Theory to kind of steal the victory from Yehi who looked to have Henry finished with the Koji Clutch. More tension between the Catch Point members that look destined to face for the tag titles, but Dickinson offers the CP handshake and things seem fine for now. Nice slow build on that angle.

 

3) Jeff Cobb vs Jaka

Behind the double main, this was the match I was most looking forward to, and man did it deliver big time. Cobb is just so smooth in application of his phenomenal power, and Jaka’s hard hitting style made him the perfect opponent leading to an excellent match that had the crowd going nuts.

 

 

Highlights included a delay vertical superplex that just barely missed the ceiling lights and an absolutely jaw-dropping toss-and-catch German suplex by Cobb. Tour of the Islands finally puts down the tenacious Jaka to reestablish some momentum for Cobb after losing to Galloway the previous night. Jaka and Dickinson are very quickly becoming integral parts of Evolve, and both had breakout performances on this show. As for Cobb, the crowd simply adores him.

 

4) Tracy Williams vs Keith Lee

While Lee’s new to Evolve, he’s a 10+ year veteran of the sport, and it shows. His mannerisms, body language, and just the general way he carries himself all speak to knowing the nuances of his craft extremely well.  He also moves in ways unexpected for someone his size, and it all comes together in such an impressive way that he was immediately loved by the crowd.

 

 

They worked a brilliant match here, with Williams starting hot and doing everything and then some to sell the idea of having a legit chance against the monster. Really this had foregone conclusion written all over it after Lee defeated Sabre at Evolve 78, but he and Williams built things beautifully to a fantastic nearfall after an avalanche angle slam on Lee(?!) that the crowd totally bit on.

Just excellent stuff from both. Lee came off like an absolute star and the crowd’s chomping at the bit to see him against more of Evolve’s top tier talent.

 

5) Ethan Page vs Darby Allin

First of two big grudge matches for the night. This wasn’t announced or listed as no-DQ, which was an unfortunate oversight given the angle of the match. Page dominated this and eventually handcuffed Allin (with help from the Gatekeepers). Allin gets up and tells the ref he’ll continue, and fights off Page with all his might until the bitter end. Page eventually puts him away though, and he and the Gatekeepers then put Allin in a body bag as Page cuts a scathing, derisive promo saying he’s killed his first career and will now refocus on the Evolve title to nuclear heat. The Gatekeepers then carried the sealed bag with Darby inside right out of the arena.

 

 

I ended up torn on this whole thing. I still feel Allin really needs to scale things back before he kills himself, and WHERE THE HELL WAS EVERYONE ELSE DURING THE POSTMATCH?! Sorry, but the company’s top faces really look like assholes staying in the back while Page is literally STUFFING SOMEONE INTO A BODYBAG. Particularly with Yehi getting righteous about something else later and everyone coming to ringside after the main event. You can come out to congratulate the champ but not to save Darby’s life? Seriously?

On the other hand, it’s hard to criticize the angle here despite not liking the logic given the incredible reaction it got. The audience was RABID in support of Allin and hatred of Page, and the two of them played their parts to an absolute T. Incredible stuff, despite my personal reservations.

Given the way it played out I kind of hope it leads to Darby becoming Page’s protege when he returns, taking issue with the exact thing I pointed out above and embracing an “if you can’t beat ’em join ’em” philosophy.

 

6) Matt Riddle vs Drew Galloway

I’m a certifiable member of the Bro bandwagon, so was chomping at the bit to see Riddle and Galloway go to war. And that’s exactly what I got. Between Page and Galloway Evolve has two of the best heels in the sport, and the latter was perfect here trying to put down the upstart who spurned his invitation. As I’ve gone on about extensively, Riddle is insanely impressive for his experience and can work any kind of match deftly.

 

 

Both really dug in on the appropriate level of tension and resentment for the story, resulting in a fantastic atmosphere and huge crowd reactions. The beat the hell out of each other to the crowd’s delight.

 

 

I was (pleasantly) surprised with result, as I thought Galloway would win to build momentum going into the WWNLive title match and put the babyface behind the 8-ball in the first encounter of the feud. But Riddle pounding Galloway into defeat then being sneak attacked again worked just as well to keep things going.

 

 

Williams and Yehi came out to save Riddle from being piledriven on his own Progress Atlas title belt, then Larry Dallas (with new bodyguard Earl Cooter) broke the news that all three members of Catch Point were in the WWNLive title match. Ending makes more sense now, as it didn’t occur to me that they’d use Riddle’s Style Battle win to sneak him into that match. Yehi offers the Catch Point handshake, but the group dynamics continue to be an issue as Riddle declares he’ll win and walks off.

Yehi calls him out as not being a team player, but the angle is suffering the same problem as when Gulak did the same a while back: Yehi has a point as Riddle hasn’t been there when his teammates need him but he’s far more loved in the crowd’s eyes so is immune to criticism. For example, Yehi’s accusing “it’s not your show Matt”  was met with a “YES IT IS!” chant from the fans. We’ll see how it all goes.

The title match will be quite interesting.

 

 

7) Evolve Championship Match: Timothy Thatcher (c) vs Zack Sabre Jr

The previous title match between these two at La Boom was one of my favorites of 2015, and I was beyond thrilled when this rematch was confirmed. I’m pleased to say this turned out just as good.

 

 

The support for Zack and heat for Thatcher was incredible. Thatcher finally seemed comfortable in his heel role, hitting all the right notes to whip the crowd into a frenzy. I’m a huge fan of both, and while a lot of fans have (understandably) cooled on Thatcher’s work during the last year he’s provided a solid core from Evolve to build around during his reign. And when he’s on, he’s one of the absolute best around. Sabre’s one of his greatest opponents, and this was a fitting crescendo for Thatcher’s dominance.

 

 

Zack eventually tied Thatcher into knots , and after a few perfect moments of building anticipation Thatcher submitted and the crowd ERUPTED at the crowning of a new champion.

Thatcher teased respecting Zack and handing him the belt, but when All Ego jumped Zack to make a point Thatcher decided to drop the belt and just leave instead. Nice way to keep him a heel. ACH saved Zack and talked Zack up while making it clear he was also coming for Zack’s title, then most of the roster came out to surround the ring in respect to the new champion. Zack gave short, heartfelt comments about inclusiveness in wrestling. Classy move that if possible makes me adore the man even more.

 

Overall

Simply one of the best overall shows I’ve ever attended (despite a few logic issues which may go away as things unfold in the future). Kudos to all involved.

January 28, 2017 in San Antonio, TX

To open Chris Hero’s goodbye weekend Evolve 76 was a strong show despite unfortunate problems with the ring ropes. For his final show with the promotion Hero was set to main event against his most persistent rival.

 

1) Barrett Brown vs Darby Allin

This never gets started as Ethan Page immediately interrupts, but it proves a distraction so the Gatekeepers can lay Allin out from behind. Brown takes exception to Page screwing with his shot, so Page levels him too. Page then cuts a scathing promo calling Allin worthless and the dirt on Page’s foot. He teases a match against Allin, but instead says the Gatekeepers will take on him and Brown.

Darby defiantly says Page is afraid of him and counters with an offer of 3 on 2.

Strong work all around, but this is kind of ridiculous given last night. Zack Sabre Jr gets a reversal DQ for not releasing a hold on Page after the match, but Page and company can attack these two (and everyone else) and be rewarded with a match.

1) Barrett Brown vs Darby Allin

1) Darby Allin & Barrett Brown vs Ethan Page & The Gatekeepers

So there’s no one in the back with an issue with Page to make this even odds? I understand Zack’s in the main, but Page’s rampage hasn’t pissed off ANYONE else?

The Gatekeepers still have no individual names for some reason, with Lenny referring to either as the/that Gatekeeper whenever one does something. I’ll use their Chikara names (Blaster McMassive & Flex Rumblecrunch) to tell them apart here.

Good action to start, with Allin and Brown trying to overcome the odds with high risk. The Gatekeepers are surprisingly game for that, with Blaster performing a great summersault dive to the outside (although he pretty much completely missed Allin and Brown).

Brown’s eventually dispatched on the outside, making the match 3 on 1 for a while. The Gatekeepers keep beating Allin down, then Page comes in, loses the advantage to a fired up Allin, and tags out. Repeat. Good formula/story and Allin plays the fiery underdog well.

Wait, Zack’s out!!! That’s better. Ref’s allowing him to join.

1) Darby Allin & Barrett Brown vs Ethan Page & The Gatekeepers

1) Darby Allin, Barrett Brown, & Zack Sabre Jr vs Ethan Page & The Gatekeepers

Zack’s in workout clothes instead of his gear too, which makes sense since he’s supposed to wrestle in main and explains why he wasn’t our sooner. Still wish something was said earlier to help with the logic, but this is awesome so I retract my most of previous gripes about the setup.

Zack takes over on the  Gatekeepers until a big spear from Blaster. Brown then missile dropkicks both Gatekeepers but Page Border Tosses him onto the pile outside.

All six men brawl all over crowd, where Allin climbs a pillar and does the Coffin Drop (trust fall) from the rafters onto the pile below. It’s jaw dropping, but also insane. The crowd love it gets will only make it worse, and I’m seriously worried for his long term well being.

Back in the ring a triangle choke by Zack on Page is teased (nice nod to the finish of their match on Evolve 76). Blaster takes over on Zack, leading to an incredible finish where Blaster tries to counter Zack’s triangle choke with a one arm powerbomb, but Zack converts to an octopus hammerlock instead for the win.

This turned into something really fun and well told. It keeps Allin/Page simmering, while giving the faces a needed victory. ***3/4 for the whole thing. Brown was largely in background, but got to show some of what he can do and looked good. Hope he comes back. Still don’t like the inconsistency of logic with Page running rampant, but the story’s compelling otherwise.

 

2) Loredo Kid vs Tracy Williams **1/2

This is the Evolve debut for Kid. Apparently we’re back to “Hot Sauce” tonight, as there was no mention of “Maltese Falcon.”

Mat wrestling early, with Williams logically getting the better of those exchanges in the end. But the as pace quickens Kid takes over. A simple, solid story. During this Kid hit a beautiful summersault to Williams on outside using ringpost as stepping stone.

Williams is at his best when going back and forth. Long periods of ground and pound offense from him and things get slow. This match was a mix. Williams picks up a emphatic win when Kid misses a Phoenix splash and Williams IMMEDIATELY hits diving forearm into the crossface for the tapout. Great finish. Ok match.

 

 3) Chris Dickinson & Jaka vs. Jason Kincaid & Sammy Guevara ***1/2

I don’t know Sammy, but the crowd certainly does. Lenny continuing his excellent job this weekend filling us in nicely on Sammy’s hometown status and how he appeared on other WWN umbrella shows. This tag should be fun given what I saw from the other three on Evolve 76.

Kincaid starts out opposite Jaka, and he’s so smooth in everything he does as he employs hit and run tactics against his larger opponent. I’m still loving his zen gimmick, which he really executes well and keeps it from becoming campy.

Wholesale switches allows Sammy to show impressive agility against Dickinson. Character notes too, as Sammy gloats too long and Chris sneaks behind him and hits a nasty dragon suplex to take control. Catch Point then just grinds Sammy down for a while with pounding offense. The contrast in these teams is meshing well.

Highlights of the match include a neat stalling suplex by Jaka into a doubleteam suplex when Dickinson joins him, a sunset bomb to outside by Kincaid on Jaka, and a shooting star press by Sammy onto Catch Point on floor from the top rope. Towards the end Kincaid wows the crowd when he walks the ropes for a Van Terminator style missile dropkick after Jaka rolls into the far corner to try to avoid Kincaid.

Special mention to the ref doing a fantastic job of keeping track of who was legal during the chaos, as the wrestlers were losing track and covering the wrong people. That’s not a criticism of the wrestlers either – it fits the high speed action well and “in character” it makes sense that everyone would be going for a cover whenever they see a chance. Having the ref properly enforce the rules though adds credibility and aids suspension of disbelief.

Catch Point eventually win this competitive contest with a swank chokeslam Doomsday Device variation. Williams comes out to congratulate his teammates and praises the aerial wrestlers, but pushes the Catch Point style as superior over it.

Then “journalist” Larry Dallas makes an appearance (noting he’s outside talent now and threatening lawsuits if touched). To stir the pot he asks Williams if Jaka and Dickinson are going to get a tag title shot. Kincaid interrupts and cuts a zen promo that’s just the right side on incomprehensible, praising his opponents but poking at Dickinson’s ego. Catch Point needing to him down prevents Dallas from getting an answer, but he declares his involvement a success anyway and calls himself “the straw that stirs the drink.” This storyline direction makes sense and will be interesting to follow.

 

4) Fred Yehi vs ACH ***

Interesting matchup in the wake of ACH’s debut against Riddle, although after Yehi made Thatcher tap it feels like there’s no drama here.

Posturing early on and I’ll admit for me seeing ACH throwing Yehi’s stupid “you’re in trouble” cry back at him was great. On commentary Lenny recounts discussions he’s had with ACH about joining Evolve, which in effect ends up relating a lot of criticism of ROH without mentioning them by name. In a great little touch ACH also put over the opportunity to face Riddle and learning from the experience despite the loss.

Back to the action and Yehi applies a stump puller and says he’s going to make ACH kiss his knee, starting a “kiss your knee” chant. I can’t even. This is a standard Yehi match whenever he’s on offense: technically competent, but dull overall and silly in parts. I particularly can’t stand the stomp based offense. Crowd’s loud for both men though, and when ACH is on offense things are great. And towards the end Yehi gets serious and things in general pick up a lot, including a fantastic slap exchange.

In a bit of a shocker to me, ACH eventually hits the brainbuster and picks up the win! In retrospect Yehi still made the champ tap, so despite this loss he could leverage that into a title shot regardless. Doesn’t make him look like a strong challenger though. Regardless, what this DOES do is immediately establish ACH in Evolve. Hopefully they make a big deal of it, with perhaps a FIP title shot or him and a partner going after Catch Point’s Evolve tag titles. Yehi looks pissed afterwards, but offers a handshake. Good, consistent character work from Yehi.

Predictable when done right is fine (as we’ll see later) and surprises for surprises sake can get illogical, but unexpected results like this that still make sense add a lot to the product. Great call here.

 

4) No DQ: DUSTIN vs. Matt Riddle ****

The “Bro” chants start as soon as no-DQ match mentioned during Joanna’s introduction. DUSTIN’s out first with a chair as a nod to last night, and the crowd boos him mercilessly.

To open DUSTIN swings for fences with chair, but Riddle ducks and takes over with mat wrestling. His advantage continues until DUSTIN eventually connects with the chair. From there they have a crazy brawl that takes place mostly outside the ring. DUSTIN whips Riddle into fans’ chairs repeatedly, wiping out several rows, but Riddle reverses the third attempt to the crowd’s delight. He then has fans hold a chair up to DUSTIN’s head and hits a running kick to an even more gigantic ovation.

Later DUSTIN rushes Riddle to knock onto stack of chairs but gets caught with an exploder onto stack leading to a “Bro-ly Shit” chant. Amusing.

They fight on fighting on a merch table, Riddle misses a senton and splats onto a pile of chairs, etc. It’s pandemonium in the best way.

DUSTIN hits a summersault senton onto Riddle through a table on outside and rolls him in for a doublestomp from top as followup… and Riddle kicks out at ONE! Crowd goes INSANE. Beautifully done. DUSTIN follows with a superkick and a DDT on a chair for 2. He then builds a tower of chairs, but Riddle catches him up top and hits a superplex through said chair tower. Bro’s done with this, and he just viciously slams his fists into DUSTIN’s head a few times in a ground and pound then cradles for the win.

Like last night, this was something different from Riddle and it really worked. Great, great brawl from these two. I want to see more of this DUSTIN going forward, and Riddle’s continuing to prove he can do it all.

 

5) EVOLVE Championship Match:  Timothy Thatcher (w/ Stokely Hathaway) (c) vs Jeff Cobb **3/4

Thatcher’s heel turn is taking full hold, as the crowd’s firmly behind Cobb here. Before the bell Cobb again talks to “Timmy” instead of Hathaway and dedicates match to their trainer Oliver John. Lenny’s really playing up Thatcher’s reign, listing who’s who list of names he’s beaten.

The story is Cobb’s power and perseverance against Thatcher’s surgical assault on Cobb’s arm. I’m more of a fan of Thatcher’s style than most nowadays, but as a heel Thatcher’s slowed things down too much and is too deliberate in pace. This was also much more one sided than I expected for most of the match (in Thatcher’s favor).

There were nice little touches though, like when he was fighting for the gutwrench on the bigger man and Cobb’s excellent selling of the arm (until the end when he forgot it to through suplexes). Cobb did a standing shooting star late that would have been awesome, but he landed nowhere near where Thatcher was laying even before Thatcher moved. Glaring error that broke immersion a bit.

Thatcher kept fighting for an arm bar, but then switched it up and leveraged into a pin for the win in a nice finish. The champ gave Cobb a fake clap afterwards and Hathaway taunted him with the belt. The audience gave an ovation for Cobb after Thatcher left.

 

Main Event: Chris Hero vs. Zack Sabre Jr. ****1/2

The atmosphere is incredible. Hero soaks it in and sings his song on the way to the ring. Despite the earlier love for Zack in the opener, the crowd’s all hero here and serenades Zack with “Hero’s gonna kill you”chants.

Small criticism of Lenny here (in an otherwise outstanding performance all night) as he way oversells the feud: “the one thing Zack Sabre Jr hasn’t done in this company: beat Hero.” Uhm, how about the fact that he hasn’t won ANY title in Evolve? This feud and Sabre’s quest to finally get a win against Hero is a big deal, but that statement was a bit ridiculous.

Hero somewhat hilariously (considering the buildup last night) offers a handshake to open, but Sabre lands a running headscissors into an arm bar attempt and Hero just barely escapes. Good fire and intensity from Zack showing what this means to him.

This was exactly the hard hitting, back and forth war that was expected and needed. Late match in what’s become the standard going to WWE tease, Hero hits a Pedegree and Zack kicks out at one to huge a reaction. Hero looked to destroy Zack and be done with with a short piledriver followed by a regular  piledriver followed by a Gotch version, but Zack reverses the Gotch piledriver into a hurricanrana, ties up Hero’s arms, adds a stretch muffler, then kicks the hell out of Hero’s head with him tied up like a pretzel and ZSJ finally beats Hero. Exactly what I expected from the result, but the journey here was the important part and it was a hell of a journey.

Afterwards Hero gives a classy goodbye speech putting over Zack, Evolve, and the fans. Someone shouts “I love you Hero!”and he responds with “pretty sure I love you too.” This was a long segment, with Hero talking about coming back to the indies, having a second chance in NXT, and about his friendship with Zack and thinking the latter should be champ. In the middle ACH comes out to thank Hero but also claim he should be mentioned alongside Zach in discussion of title contenders. Hathaway comes out, talks to Thatcher’s belt (yes, really. sigh.), and says “his baby” doesn’t think either of them are deserving. As he leaves though Thatcher comes out and simply points at Zack with a chuckle. Zack tells ACH after he beats Thatcher ACH can have the first shot at him.

 

Overall

Fantastic farewell for the “Greatest of All Time.” The main was incredible, there was great effort up and down the card, and Hero’s speech was genuine and emotional. Shame Keith Lee wasn’t on the show after the ring ropes hampering his debut at Evolve 76, but otherwise this delivered in spades and both shows from Evolve this weekend are well worth checking out.

January 27, 2017 in San Antonio, TX

Evolve starts out 2017 in a big way with the return of their champion and a farewell weekend to Chris Hero, who has been on the roll of his life the last year and a rightful centerpiece in Evolve.

This was my first event on Floslam, and the stream was quite good. No buffering problems and a clear picture.

The new Catch Point comes out in force to start, with all five members (leader Tracy Williams, his tag team championship partner Fred Yehi, Matt Riddle, and the two new members Chris Dickinson & Jaka) present. Good way to start. Williams starts to talk about the Catch Point philosophy, but Jaka interrupts to say he’s ready to go NOW! Out comes Kaasa for the opening contest.

1) Peter Kaasa vs Jaka **3/4

I missed the late 12016 Evolve shows, so this was my first look at some of the newer roster members, including Jaka. He seems on par with Kaasa for power, which made for a nice matchup. The theme was Kaasa showing off agility and quickness in between matching power with Jaka, and the later just trying to steamroll his faster opponent.

This threatened to slow in the middle, but a vicious headbutt out of nowhere from Jaka picked things right back up. He seemed to have really good instincts for when to hit a hard strike to keep the crowd invested. I love it when Catch Point stays out as seconds, as it fits their gimmick really well. It also leads to greta moments like Riddle reacting and cheering for his stablemate’s successes.

Unfortunately just as the match seemed to be building to a crescendo Kaasa went to the second turnbuckle for a moonsault and the rope broke beneath him, leading to a nasty spill right on his head. Thankfully he was able to get up and seemed to mostly shake it off, and the two even finished the match. Jaka wins with the sitout powerbomb and  all of Catch Point show respect to Kaasa afterwards. Solid match before the accident, and they recovered nicely. It’s been confirmed that Kaasa’s ok, which is a huge relief considering how bad that fall looked. Had never seen anything like that rope breaking before (until that point…).

After a break for the ring to be fixed Catch Point came back out and Williams praised Jaka for demonstrating their philosophy so well. Chris Dickinson is chomping at the bit to prove himself as well and demands match immediately.

2) Chris Dickison vs Darby Allin **

This was a straight up formulaic power based bully against quicker, daredevil underdog match, and they used the formula fairly well. Allin’s style continues to be too reckless for my tastes, and I wish he would tone it down a bit. Allin gets a quick rollup on the more dominant Dickinson for the win, after which the latter snaps and pounds Allin after the bell. The rest of Catch Point pull him off and try to calm him down. Good booking there, as Allin needed the win and Dickinson’s temper and attitude contrasting with Catch Point’s core approach makes for a good story going forward.

Minor complaint: while Lenny was GREAT on commentary all night and added a lot to the in ring stories, if I never have to hear him say “Dirty Daddy” again it’ll be too soon.

 

 3) DUSTIN vs. Jason Kincaid **1/2

Another first look for me, and Kincaid certain has a unique look and gimmick. He made a good impression here with exciting, innovative offense and I’d like to see more of him. In particular things like him in wheelbarrow position climbing the ropes with his hands into a headscissors were wonderfully inventive. Unfortunately DUSTIN was rather boring on offense here, which he was for most of the match. Outside of an impressive delayed suplex, even the outside the ring brawling was bland. His heel character and the brawling approach isn’t clicking. Later on in the match he got more cocky and mocking, and it was great. That’s the direction he needs to go. I’m glad he’s resisting doing comedy as a heel (which hampered his previous heel run), but he still should be trying to show personality. They put on a very strong finish, and I would have liked the rest of the match to have been in similar vein. Kincaid gets a big win with his “Compassionate Release” submission, which is fantastic both in name and as a move. His zen gimmick goes to show just about anything can work if done properly and with effort and attention to detail.

 

 

4) Grudge match: Ethan Page (with The Gatekeepers) vs. Zack Sabre Jr. ***1/2  

Zack ambushes Page and company from behind during their entrance, takes out the Gatekeepers, and brawls all over ringside with Page. They really should’ve gone easy on the outside the ring brawling in the previous match given the direction here, where it was more appropriate. I like Zack’s aggressive edge here, carrying himself like someone with something to prove. And it really felt like a grudge match, with suitable intensity and moments of taunting and derision between the combatants. Zack having to really fight for the triangle choke victory was great too, as it played with the idea that past a certain amount of time in a hold the receiver would definitely get out.

Zack held on to the triangle after the match, and Darby Allin neutralized the Gatekeepers with low blows for a bit of revenge and to make sure Page would pass out staring into Darby’s own eyes.

Referee reversed the decision and awarded the match to Page for Sabre refusing to break, which fell flat. No other refs came out to try to make him break, Zack had already broken voluntarily by the time the reversal was announced, and Page has done so many “horrible” things to Zack, Gragano, Allin, etc without repercussions that this just makes the refs seem incompetent/biased. Good, heated match though.

 

4) ACH vs. Matt Riddle ****

ACH was clearly hyped up to cut loose a bit and show what he could do post-ROH, and he had a great debut against Evolve golden boy. Riddle came to the ring wearing his Progress Atlus Championship belt, which is a nice touch (and would play into his post match interview). ACH shows some nice grappling skills early on, but Riddle’s Riddle so he eventually gets the advantage on the ground. They had a GREAT stalemate sequence shortly thereafter with incredible evasions and counters, and they’d keep that vibe going all match. This was off formula for Riddle, with him getting super serious (which I adored) and just trading hard strikes with ACH in glorious sequences. Bro to Sleep and Cradle Fisherman Buster combo eventually give the Kings of Bros the win. Unsurprisingly ACH is going to fit into Evolve just fine.

Riddle says 2017’s been good so far (referencing his Progress title and other successes), but he’s the only member of Catch Point without a title in WWN (I assume he’s just talking about Yehi & Williams) and pledges to change that by the end of 2017. DUSTIN attacks him from behind with a chair (which he actually grabbed on his way out of his earlier match in a nice bit of continuity) and taunts him to build up their no-DQ match the next day.

This is the drawback of Catch Point’s gimmick – where the hell were they while Riddle’s being attacked with a chair?! It makes them all look bad, although I understand the dramatic necessity of DUSTIN having to get an edge on Riddle here.

 

5) EVOLVE Tag Team Championship Match: Tracy Williams & Fred Yehi (c) vs. Evolve Champion Timothy Thatcher (w/ Stokely Hathaway) & Jeff Cobb ***1/2

Hathaway wears Thatcher’s belt down to the ring. The pairing still boggles my mind, but it was useful to set up the story with Jeff Cobb and their teaming here in exchange for Cobb getting a shot at Thatcher next show. Great to see Thatcher back in general. He starts with Yehi and weathers the storm for a while as Catch Point make quick tags while Thatcher just strikes at whoever’s within reach. I like what I’ve seen from Cobb as a power wrestler, and he played that up in his limited time in this match.

Honestly Yehi’s style and gimmick still doesn’t work for me. I don’t find it “unorthodox,” I find it odd and unconvincing. But he’s quite over, so something about it is working for the audience in general. I on the other hand enjoyed this match much more when Williams was in. Speaking of Williams, he’s apparently the “Maltese Falcon” now instead of “Hot Sauce.” Can’t decide if that’s an improvement.

Cobb and Thatcher don’t overtly clash, but they don’t team well either and Yehi eventually catches Thatcher while Cobb’s incapacitated outside and makes him tap to the Koji Clutch (an admittedly awesome finisher). Crowd’s thrilled. I honestly wish Williams was getting this push instead. Good story told with both teams though, and Hathaway ridiculously blaming Cobb for the loss after the match add fuel to Evolve 77’s title match.

 

 

Main Event: Chris Hero vs. Keith Lee ***

“Bask in my glory” is a fantastic catch phrase for Lee that immediately tells you something about the guy you’re about to watch. There was a lot of anticipation for his debut here, and getting the main event slot against a departing legend of Evolve like Hero just increased everyone’s curiosity. Lee’s is a big man, and this was looking like a monster battle of heavyweights. Unfortunately it wasn’t quite to be.

A bit into the match the top rope broke when Hero went to bounce of the ropes. That’s twice for the night. Unbelievable. Thankfully Hero caught himself and was fine, but he was also visibly pissed. He directed Lee and they took the top rope off completely and continued the match without it. After some tentative work in the ring Hero led them outside and they wrestled on the floor a bit. Hero amusingly told the ref “it’s my weekend -no countouts!” while they were fighting on the floor but then rolled back in and made the ref try to count Lee out. Hero’s delivery made it all work. Massive credit to both Hero and Lee, because while this wasn’t the match they wanted to have they did a great job improvising under difficult circumstances. They had some wicked strike exchanges in the center of the broken ring to keep the crowd fired up.

Unfortunately  fate wasn’t done with Evolve’s ring yet. Late in the match Lee went to the second rope (now effectively the top) for a moonsault and IT FREAKIN’ BROKE AGAIN, sending Lee tumbling backward into essentially a senton onto Hero. Hero looked like he had been starting to roll out of the way of the moonsault, so I was actually mostly worried for him being caught in an odd position under Lee on that fall. Thankfully they were both ok (again). Hero hammered on Lee with elbows until finally hitting a (very impressive) Gotch Piledriver on the big man for the win.

Hero praised Lee (and cursed the ring) afterwards, although he said LEe was missing a killer instinct he needed to achieve his potential. At that, Zack Sabre Jr. came out to interrupt and said Hero will see killer instinct tomorrow, and he’s not allowed to leave until Sabre finally beats him . Then “Chris Hero can stay and Kassius Ohno can piss off to Florida.” Great little promo from Zack leading into Hero’s final match.

 

 

Overall

It’s thankfully amazing that no one was hurt with the ring breaking three times in one night, and the talent did an amazing job of adapting. Add in solid performances throughout the card and an excellent ACH vs Riddle match and this is an easy recommendation despite being one of Evolve’s unluckiest nights. Shortly after the show it was tweeted that they already had a new ring for Evolve 77, so hopefully that aberration  is behind them.

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.

August 20, 2016 in Brooklyn, NY

 

Evolve was at St. Finbar Church’s Gymnasium in Brooklyn for the first time as opposed to their usual La Boom location in Queens to provide easier travel to those (like me) making a double header out of this afternoon show and NXT Takeover at the Barclay’s Center later that night. Decent venue size and setup-wise, but there was no AC so it was BRUTAL in the heat department being mid-August in NYC and all. I felt bad for the poor wrestlers.

Ethan Page continued his role as “gatekeeper” of sorts for the roster facing new talent out of their seminars. Here he squashed Kobe Durst handily and cut another promo begging the absent Johnny Gargano to forgive him before Gargano departs the indies in Sept.

Tony Nese has been looking better and better every time he wrestles and I had been impressed with Peter Kaasa in Evolve before his injury and tour of Japan, so the next match seemed like a potential show stealer. Sadly they never quite got on the same page and while fine, this match didn’t live up to its potential. Kaasa seemed uncharacteristically sloppy, especially when on “defense.” Still had nice moments (these two are great in the air and wowed the crowd at times) and was good overall, but odd flow and the previous mentioned things held this back.

 

 

The two matches I was most looking forward to were next, and both Matt Riddle vs Tommy End and Zach Sabre Jr. vs Cedric Alexander delivered big time. Riddle is INSANELY good for his level of experience and in particular showed how far his selling has come during this match. His full commitment to the intricacies of pro-wrestling and his dedication to improve are on constant display. He and End beat the high holy hell out of each other and if this was in fact End’s goodbye to Evolve it was a perfectly fitting one. Would love to see a rematch later in these two men’s careers.

Apologies for the cliche, but Sabre and Alexander put on a clinic, and just edged out Riddle vs End for best match of the show. Sabre showing signs of a cocky bastard personality (which is new for him in Evolve) was amusing and excellently integrated into the flow of the match. Zach’s really taken it up to another level recently and is the most consistently near-flawless performer in the business. Everything he does has precision and meaning, and the crowd was enthralled both by the excruciating looking pretzels he kept tying Cedric up in as well as the vicious strikes he delivered once he turned it up late match.

Alexander has also been on the roll of his life since debuting in Evolve and working in the CWC. He looks faster and crisper than ever, and more than held up his part of the bargain in there with the greatest technician in the world. Just incredible work from these two, and this and Riddle vs End are easily worth the price of the replay alone if you haven’t seen them. Sabre cuts an arrogant promo after the match further shows signs of heel tendencies. Should be an interesting direction for him going forward.

 

 

Cody Rhodes made his indie debut the previous night at Evolve 66, and continued the transition to his post-WWE career here against Chris Hero. Leading up to the event Drew Galloway had made overtures that Rhodes would be joining his crusade alongside Hero, ECIII and DUSTIN (the former Chuck Taylor) against Evolve and its heroes. Rhodes emphatically turned him down going into this match against Hero. They wisely decided to go for an intense brawl template for the match to keep things reasonable as Cody adjusts to Evolve’s style. He looked good from what I saw, although they fought all over the arena so there were chunks I missed. Cute sequence saw Hero grabbing a sign from a fan with an image of Dusty and trying to hit Cody from the top with it, only to have Cody block, take it, give his dad a kiss and then put the sign down and continue attacking Hero. Galloway eventually ran out to blast Cody in the head with a cowbell behind the refs back, setting up a deathblow from Hero for the pin. Hero worked HARD here to make the NYC crowd, who worship the ground he walks on, boo him and cheer Cody. Good match, which set Cody up as a solid face and built a feud with him and Galloway’s faction.

Galloway and Hero cut promos calling Rhodes an idiot for shunning them, then Drew Gulak runs out to save and calls out Timothy Thatcher (c) for their Evolve title match. I’m a big fan of Thatcher and haven’t soured on him as much as other fans this year and while Gulak isn’t a favorite of mine he’s more than capable of great contests, but this was the epitome of the wrong match at the wrong time in front of the wrong crowd and bombed miserably.

The basics of the match weren’t bad, but they had a planned template and stubbornly stuck to it despite losing the crowd early, never even TRYING to vary their formula and get the fans back into it. It hurts to say it but I expected better from both given their experience and talent. Thatcher’s methodical domination did fit with his post match heel turn, but with that kind of story Gulak needed to be doing much more to make the crowd buy into him, including things like more expressive selling, more exciting and impressive comeback spots, and just generally trying to raise the crowd energy in the face of the plodding monster Thatcher was playing. Bad night for a couple of pros.

 

I’m torn on Thatcher’s victory. The crowd was more than ready for him to drop the title, but Gulak is not a good enough face to carry the company after slaying the monster. I worry about that with all of Catch Point actually, as the only member of the group that are now the defacto top faces of the company that is legitimately, consistently cheered is the one actively trying to stay heel. As for Thatcher, while I feel the match story building to the heel turn was extremely counterproductive to the redemption angle that’s been running all summer as well as to the excitement fans should have had about him finally beating Gulak in Evolve, it was responsive to the fans changing attitude to him and gives a different course to pursue as his reign continues.

The turn was emphatic though, as Thatcher just lays waste to Gulak after the match in response to Gulak finally showing a little respect and offering Thatcher a handshake. Tracy Williams tries to save (why just him?!), but ECIII and DUSTIN (c) attack and destroy his knee while Thatcher leaves Gulak in a heap for Drew Galloway’s (c) crew of vultures to pick at. Galloway grabs a mic and tries to lure Joey Styles to join them as their mouthpiece.

Fred Yehi and TJP FINALLY run out and the no-DQ six man for the Evolve Tag Team titles starts. Williams is brought to the back though, leaving it 3-on-2 for a bit. There had to be a better way to do this, as Yehi and TJP looked liked idiots not coming out to help their stablemates earlier. Don’t know if Williams was written out due to injury here. If not, he was the wrong person to remove as he’s the most interesting member of Catch Point save for Matt Riddle. Speaking of Riddle, where the hell was he during all of this? He needs to be called out be EVERY other member of Catch Point at the next show to have this make any sense whatsoever.

Various combinations of members traded moves in the ring while DUSTIN painstakingly set up a crash pad of chairs for himself to be sent into later in the match. Ethan Page came out after a little while to make the teams even. The crowd was excited throughout this, which helped a lot and is a credit to the charisma and instincts of the wrestlers involved, but objectively the action wasn’t great and I don’t think this will come across as well on “tape” as it did live. A botched finish really cooled things down too, as the ref stopped counting before 3 with no kickout by TJP after an Awful Waffle from DUSTIN. The Waffle has been treated like flaming death as a finish, so I’m going to guess it was the ref screwing up and not TJP forgetting to kick out. I can’t imagine him kicking out of the Waffle only to eat an immediate piledriver for 3 was the planned finish.

Rhodes ran out to save and clear the heels, then Joey Styles came down to respond to Galloway’s offer by insulting every member of Galloway’s alliance and setting up Galloway and Hero vs Gargano and Rhodes as Johnny’s farewell to Evolve on Sept 11 in Queens. Styles comedy was meh and his part wasn’t needed. Rhodes gives a solid end of show promo to wrap things up and reinforce him as a potential cornerstone face of Evolve going forward.

 

Overall

Let’s be honest: the two main events weren’t remotely what they should have been. But I still appreciate Evolve trying to give a wide variety of match types and trying a little too hard and trying to shake things up resulting in having a couple aspects fall apart is INFINITELY better than federations that phone it in or play it so safe everything’s boring. As I mentioned above there are still two matches I think are worth the replay on their own, along with a fun brawl from Hero and Rhodes. While not up to their usual standards overall, even on an off night there’s plenty to enjoy at an Evolve show.

Mild recommendation, and fingers crossed for things to get back to normal and come together better both in the ring and storyline-wise going forward in the wake of Thatcher’s turn and Rhodes introduction as a top face.