WWN Live-Evolve, I-ppv's

[SomethingSavage]

Yikes. With those changes to the card, I wouldn't be surprised if TJ Perkins and Sabre Jr. steal the show.

I'm not nearly as high on Trent's singles work as some, so I'm unsure about how good the Galloway match will be. Won't have my hopes high going into it.

 

And any Hero match stands a chance of being good, but man. It's so difficult to get psyched about anything Davey touches anymore. I remember liking his last go-round with PWG right before he signed with TNA, but I think even that was only due to the Kyle match.

 

EDIT: And just glancing back at their results page, my timeline's a little off. The Kyle match WAS his last solid performance with PWG, but Christ. His last run of matches with Gargano and Ricochet was mostly awful.

[Grimmas]

I have been plowing through 2015 EVOLVE and every show seems to have at least one 4 star affair or more. The style they produce is this great catch style involving Gulak, Busick and Thatcher that is out of this world great.

Last weekend I watched EVOLVE 47 live and it had a top 5 mach of the year for me so far between Thatcher and Sabre Jt as well as another great match between Chris Hero and Mike Bailey.

I know they don't run as many shows as other companies, but the ones they do are outstanding.

What does everybody else think of EVOLVE? How does it rank with the other indies?

[BillThompson]

For me they have become far and away the best indie running. They'd probably get my vote for best promotion period at this point. I understand the gripes about the crowds they draw, their lack of production values, and the haphazard way they promote their shows. Those are legitimate gripes, but in the end all I care about is the product being presented in the ring. And when it comes to that they have been far and away the best promotion I've seen since their relaunch last year. It helps when you have guys like Thatcher, Gulak, Busick, Strong, and Hero on your roster, but I still find that they present pleasantly varied cards that should appeal to many cross sections of wrestling fans.

[shoe]

Evolve 47

 

Busick vs Williams

 

I like both guys. The mat work here is really smooth.Loving Busick targeting the neck. It was a nice fun opener. Both wrestlers looked good. 3 1/2*

 

Gulak vs Swann

 

Super fun to start. Gulak controlling with a headlock. Loving Gulak's arm work. Swann's selling of the arm is solid. Gulak's counter to the standing 450 was sick. Overall a weird match. It seemed they were working to something and said fuck it. Then went in another direction for the match. 2 1/2*

 

Gargano cutting a promo over his injured friend. What a douche.

 

Hero vs Bailey

 

These guys have had strong matches with one another. Hero taunts Bailey with a scruff of the hair and we are off. That boot from Hero should be illegal in NY. Fuck that looked stiff. Bailey might be the best baby face on the indys. Loving Hero controlling this match with hope spots sprinkled in for Bailey. Not caring for Bailey NJPW selling or lack of Hero's chops. Hero is running the spectrum of nearfalls .Don't think Bailey should be trading bombs with Hero with the size difference. This was a real good match . They cut a good pace. A couple of little things kept this from the next level 3 1/2*

 

Horus/Baretta vs Konley/Nese

 

This is mindless fun. Some highspots early. The PAB cuts off Horus and gets some heat on him. Hot tag time. Horus has looked bad in spots during this match. The big moments were awesome in the match. I wish they'd build to them smarter. Plus the match went longer than needed. Baretta is positioned as a dummy. The bad outweighed the good. 2 1/2*

 

Gargano vs Page

 

This is an Anything Goes Match. They're using a guitar hero guitar as a weapon. This is one of these brawling in the crowd fights. This is entertaining, but if you want some hate filled brawls this isn't it. 3*

 

Swann as a heel doesn't seem like a good fit. We'll see.

 

Thatcher vs Sabre Jr.

 

These guys are the 2 best technical wrestlers in the world. They aren't dissapointing. The reversals of the chokes was really fun. Thatcher manipulating the ankle was nasty. Thatcher now going after the leg. Zach teases the arm breaker. Nice kick by Zack to the arm. Leaping knee by Sabre, and Thatcher capitalizes. A nice rope break. Zach's top rope cross arm breaker was awesome. Sabre jr. is going all nasty on the arm. All different types of things. Thatcher's dead arm selling was great. That finishing run was awesome.The build could have been a tad better. 4*

[MikeCampbell]

I've been hearing Timothy Thatcher get pimped around these parts for ages. I think I'll drop the $15 and check out Evolve 47. I haven't seen an Evolve show since Evolve 2 five years ago.

[shoe]

Evolve 48

 

Page vs Nese

 

I kind of zoned out here and there. It felt it went too long. I think both guys are limited and are better working tags.

 

Gargano vs Swann

 

Pearl Harbor by Swann. Swann on top. Gargano is telling the story he can't strike his former friend Swann. Pretty stupid. Gargano teasing a punch, but can't do it again. Finally Gargano can fight. This was just a stupid match. 1*

 

Konley vs Baretta

 

These guys worked this match much more personal than the pevious match on the card. Konley working the back. Baretta is a guy who works better underneath.Just too damn long. 2 1/2 *

 

 

 

Bailey/Horus vs Gulak/Williams

 

A total style clash. This was a total mess. 1/2*

 

Hero vs Sabre Jr.

 

2 guys who are well traveled. Mat wrestling to start. In an exchange of holds Hero nails a pilledriver. Hero with an elbow and targets Sabre Jr's neck. Like how Zack sells the neck while having Hero in the Octopus. Hero is using his weight to his advantage. The Kimura battle was an amazing exchange. I'm loving how both guys are pinpointing their attacks. Zack countering the Gotch Piledriver with a Kimura was sick. This was a great match. 4 1/4*

 

Thatcher vs Busick

 

Anything goes. Thatcher with nasty upper cuts. Busick right at him. Loving Busick punishing Thatcher's mid section. Adominal stretch does more damage to Thatcher's mid section. A surfboard with similar results. Side salto x3 by Thatcher. Thatcher going after the injured thumb. Knee lock to the STF by Busick. Still focusing on Thatcher's core. Thatcher's busted open. Busick is just viciously attacking the bloody ear. Busick reinjures his thumb attacking the bloody ear. Running power bomb by Busick. Elbows to the ear. Side choke by Busick. Thatcher snaps the thumb and gets a tap out. Holy fuck that was brutal in a realistic way.4 1/2*

 

We get a killer angle with Hero elbow taped with Ice laying out Thatcher/Williams/Gulak. It was a sick visual with the ice.

[Childs]

I'd recommend both 51 and 52, though there was no sense of culmination to their year. I guess it's not really that kind of promotion. Also, the Florida crowds were beyond shitty. I'll even take the self-reverential enthusiasm of PWG fans over dead silence.

 

Anyway, was curious how people feel about Gargano in general? (I see from this thread Shoe is mixed to down on him.)

 

I had never paid him much mind but quite enjoyed his matches against Thatcher and Gulak. Maybe that's just a tribute to Thatcher and Gulak. But Gargano impressed me with the way he sold his arm over two nights.

 

Stray observations:

 

- Matt Riddle appears to have real potential, but it's hard to imagine him in a WWE setting right now, given all his offense is MMA stuff.

 

- I find T.J. Perkins' soulless competence more bothersome than the incompetence of many less polished workers.

 

- None of the heels on these shows knew how to work like heels. Not even Ethan Page, who at least makes you want to smack him whenever he talks.

 

- I liked having a Maryland guy to root for in Lio Rush, and his match with Fred Yehi was an enjoyable newbie showcase with a bunch of cool offense.

[Blehschmidt]

I'm glad someone else finds TJ Perkins to be the most talented guy that you just can't bring yourself to give a shit about.

[KrisZ]

Gargano had the best weekend of his career last weekend......both EVOLVE shows were fantastic and ended the year on a high note but yes the Florida crowds are TERRIBLE mostly.

[Tim Evans]

I went to 52. It was a fun show for the most part. I agree with Krisz that Gargano had a break out weekend it seems. I like the guy mostly and he has good theme music. Nice to see him work on the mat and not do his usual spotty moves. Thatcher/Galloway was amazing live and the best match of the night. Only match I didn't like was Page/Rush. I don't think Rush was that impressive compared to Stich Orsiris and Black Baron on the FIP card or even Jason Cade. Page is ok but his "Ole Anderson 1980" gimmick is not over at all.

 

As for the Florida crowds, Yeah they are shitty but Gabe brings it on himself. At least in Orlando, They have been in 4 different buildings since running Florida. All are in bad parts of towns or way in the back from a major highway. The building they ran last week, Barnett Park had a hindu street festival running in the parking lot and a paintball place right next door. Evolve does little to no advertising around town. You have to follow Gabe on Twitter or Facebook to know when the shows are happening. The only FIP/Evolve guys that are truly over are Gargano and Maxwell Chicago. PAB and Val get heat but sometimes it's go away heat. The building they are running the tag tourney in is right downtown so they should get more people. Plus it's Rumble weekend.

[Tim Evans]

Bumping this because 53, 54 and 55 are this weekend.

 

Went to 54 and I think it was the best show they have run in Orlando. Big turnout to with about 300 people packing the Downtown Rec Center. This is the best building Gabe can run but it's probably expensive. I think some of the crowd was due to them plugging the show at NXT and Regal making and appearance. Even HHH was there.

 

As for the matches, the tags ranged from good to great. Gargano and Hero had a breakout night. Looking forward to what they do tomorrow at 55. Best part of the show was no FIP matches to bring down the crowd. Also was good to meet the Hales clan.

[Childs]

Evolve is really rolling along--one of the few promotions where I generally enjoy most of what's on the card. Watched 53 last night and it would have been a fun show even without the MOTYC btwn Hero/End and Sabre/Sami. I loved that match. They didn't quite nail a few of the more complicated timing spots, but everyone was good, and Hero delivered a boss performance that would've made Misawa proud.

[Dylan Waco]

Last nights show was very fun. Everyone check out Yehi v Riddle. Fred got more on the mat against Riddle than anyone so far and the match was worked perfectly. Was very impressed with The Bravados live. Really liked all of the tags, and they were all different. Excitred for today's show even with a lineup change I don't care for.

[Parties]

Update live from Evolve 57 in Brooklyn, thirty minutes before bell time: Ethan Page is talking to the camera crew while wearing a fanny pack and his gear. More on this story as it develops.

[Parties]

Sabre, Gulak, and Gargano are all out in the crowd selling their merch. Gulak is gregarious and bravely rocking a Catch Point shirt in what I can only assume is a Lady's Medium. Regal signing autographs and taking pictures with fans. It is in an American Legion hall such as this that you get a sense of who Regal is: a world traveler, a vest enthusiast, and a clear-cut badass who feels like he's getting a lift home from Ben Kingsley's character in "Sexy Beast". From 80's South Africa with Tiger Singh to here and back again. Whole joint smells like hot dogs and Bud Light: very close quarters where the crowd is right on top of the ring, moreso than their past NYC shows.

[Parties]

Page's affable goof gimmick continues. Yehi was amazing live: dude is in great shape, works really hard in putting over holds, sells intelligently, and continues to have the best shoes in wrestling. If Regal wasn't taking a good look at him, it's only because of his height. Brilliant elbow smash from Yehi to Page here. Page continues to seem mediocre and his sportsmanship phoniness is wack, but his finisher is either intentionally or unintentionally vicious as he dropped Yehi's head right onto his knee. Really well worked if it was on purpose. Post-Match deal with Premier Athlete was royally whatevs and crowd mocked them the whole time.

[Parties]

Ciampa-Speedball has been changed to Ciampa-TJP. Jeers of "Suicide" and "Fuck TNA" amuse Perkins. "Ciampa's Gonna Chomp You" soon follows and is not a good chant at all. Then comes "Remember the safe word" during a wrist lock. Ciampa hits variety of moves on TJP's trucker hat a la Flair on his coat. Surprisingly good, stiff back-and-forth match. Perkins looked like a real vet here in the way he built to high spots. His chest was bleeding from Ciampa's strikes, and he is a good opponent to make Ciampa's various head drop spots into something coherent. Highlight was TJP's tope to the floor as he rocketed out of that ring like all hell.

[Parties]

Huge reaction for Hero, who's looking... huge? "You're a fuccboi" chants for Riddle. What an amusing heel this guy is, in that it's a different flavor than most grunting angry guys. This guy's a heel because he's sort of an idiot tool, which is an interesting take. Crowd gave him hell for not wearing shoes: Hero worked his feet to the delight of the fans, crushing/biting toes to the horror of all. Hero also had a great escape out of a choke here that required him to do WoS wiggling and a kip-up, which was perhaps the most impressive athletic feat of the night. Riddle bleeding a ton out of his mouth off one of Hero's elbow smashes. Story of the match was that this was Riddle's biggest challenge to date (aside from Thatcher last night), but that he rose to the occasion with awesome flying knees off the ropes and the ability to take a serious beating. It was like the best possible Kevin Von Erich outing, such that it turned him face to some.

[Parties]

I think someone's bled hardway in every match on this show: in Thatcher-Konley it was both of them, unless Konley somehow bladed his back for no reason. Konley's good but felt like a lame duck challenger. Match was early on a little by-the-numbers even with both guys working hard, but improved over time even in front of a bored crowd who were talking about Sting's retirement and Thatcher's hair. This built well, as Konley started throwing bombs and Thatcher worked hard to get over submissions to a crowd who didn't want them. Wacky ref bump leads to 2.9 count for Konley. Crowd approves of Thatcher headbutting Konley's valet. Ends up a very solid B+ title defense that it felt like they had to earn it rather than have it gifted acclaim by the audience.

 

Riddle cuts promo on Thatcher that leads to a cheap shot and challenge for a rematch in Texas. Chants of "Cowabunga" and "Marijuana" and "You're a natural baby face, dude" from the crowd. Riddle openly laughing along with the crowd in a way that kind of obliterates kayfabe but works for his character. Leads to Regal coming out and saying that Riddle needs to win the title before they talk about an NXT contract. Teased a future conflict of sorts between the two of them.

As either a work or shoot, they're claiming that Galloway's flight from Orlando was delayed but did take off, so TBD as to what this means for the tag title match.

[Parties]

Long feeling out process in Sami Callahan-Tracy Williams, with Williams as something of a local babyface despite the Catch Point affiliation. Good match but not much in the way of storytelling, compared to what had come before w/ Hero-Riddle. Williams is being built up as a burgeoning star in the company, while Callahan was good if not great in his assault. Highlight was the struggle on the mat where both guys suddenly turned it way up as Williams went for an arm bar. Whenever this was on the mat, it felt like its own unique thing. But during the head drops and brawling, it seemed too much like a lesser version of matches that had already occurred. Still, the finish was strong and it seemed to win the crowd over by the end. No hardway blood, but Sami did chop Williams' neck in such a way that a bunch of massively bruised blood vessels appeared, so I'm counting it and the streak continues.

[Parties]

Gulak-Sabre in front of crowd that doesn't necessarily love cravates. The trading of holds here was really good: Gulak really felt like he was living up to his gimmick as trainer-technician. Really awesome to see the innovative counters so well executed here. Not kidding: a few mins in, Sabre becomes like the sixth guy on this show to bleed hardway. I'm not even a fan of blood, but that's remarkable. Despite the fancy intricacies, this never felt like an exhibition, as everything was cinched and they were unafraid of clubbering. Selling was smart too as Sabre's ankle became the story of the match and his reactions were excellent. Finish got a huge reaction and standing ovation, so if nothing else people are buying Sabre going on this WOTY gauntlet. Could have just been viewing it live, but I'd be interested to see if/where this lands in MOTYC conversations.

Hero trashes Sabre on the mic afterwards, throwing his previously removed boot to the back of the arena and saying that he's beaten previous "Best in the Worlds" Danielson and Punk. Hero felt like the default heel here, as Gulak later cut a promo on him, and the crowd got on him for his weight again.

[Parties]

Bill Carr working in old Adidas pants kind of kills the gimmick, but the main event delivered pretty well. Started as a brawl after Galloway's fired up promo about wanting to fight. Gargano still doesn't do it for me and all his thigh slapping was exposed here. Champs cut off the ring to work Barry as FIP. Carr's eventual gut-wrench duplex on Drew and gigantic tope con hilo were insane. Lots of fun double team spots as you had all of the signature Tremendous stuff and then a lot of arena-sized selling from Galloway. Hierarchy felt well established in that both teams looked good even as Tremendous were over-matched at this point in their run. Galloway was presented as the top star in the company, even over Thatcher really. Show ended without angle or much fanfare, but well worked throughout. Back in NYC six weeks from now on May 7th, which was kind of surprising.

[Eegah]

A great couple of shows for Evolve. I thought Evolve 56 was a better card than Evolve 57 because of the extended Caleb Konley/Timothy Thatcher match and the short Fred Yehi vs Ethan Page match. Obviously they went long on the championship match with Drew Galloway running late but youd figure they would know that from the beginning. My weekend rankings, which are out of my element as a non usual star guy.

 

Chris Hero vs Matt Riddle 03.20.16 ****1/2

Chris Hero vs "Hot Sauce" Trent Williams ****1/4

Zack Sabre Jr vs Drew Gulak 03.20.16 ****1/4

Fred Yehi vs Drew Gulak 03.19.16 ****

Zack Sabre Jr vs Johnny Gargano ****

Sami Callahan vs "Hot Sauce" Trent Williams *** 1/4

[soup23]

Just finished Evolve 56

 

Sami Callihan vs. TJ Perkins- ***

 

Good opener that really started working for me when Sami started focusing on the leg. The finish surprised me a good bit but this was a match that got better as it went along and looking back over the card, it set a nice tone for the show as it was the only match with heavily focused leg work.

 

Jack Gallows vs. Ethan Page- **

 

I guess Page is back to being fun loving and having fun. This was a good showcase for him without completely selling Gallows short. This served its purpose.

 

Fred Yehi vs. Drew Gulak- ****1/4

A brilliant mostly technical masterpiece. I really thought this was one of the more engaging chess matches I have seen in a while with some neat innovation. My favorite spot involved an early pin attempt from Gulak with Yehi getting up and going right into a rear naked choke in a smooth as silk sequence that I had never seen done before. The finish really helped establish Yehi as a mainstay and this was just a pleasure to watch.

 

Chris Hero vs. Tracy Williams- ****

 

Another incredible match and worked in a different way. This was a bomb throwing type match with some deadly strikes, but it also did a unique job of not going over into the overkill territory. I can see some being annoyed at Hero kicking out at one on the piledriver but I liked that spot in this instance as it was the first bit of high impact damage that he has sustained. This match featured a finish that was almost assured but the destination helped both men coming out of it. Hero really is a great wrestler that has a resume of great matches with a ton of people in the past 15 years.

Team Tremendous vs. The Premiere Athlete Brand- ** 1/2

 

Pallate cleanser match. Tremendous has a fun enough gimmick and PAB is a good enough unit even though they still go into their spotty tendencies too often and they feel more like a ROH tag team stuck in Evolve environment.

Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Johnny Gargano- ****

 

I liked this quite a bit too. I have been foreign to ZS JR. a bit as his selling of looking dazed and aloof sometimes strikes me as odd. This match featured some sublime selling from Gargano that was milked up to the end where he couldn't even accept a handshake because the pain his arm was in. The arm work and techinical wizardly of Sabre can't be denied and the work that he did off of Gargano's strikes was effective enough in showing he had to overcome some adversity and wasn't just someone that could put on a lot of painful looking arm submissions. I really look forward with the series of matches Sabre has lined up.

 

Timothy Thatcher vs. Matt Riddle- ***

 

The finish was abrupt here but for a card overall, I liked what they did here. We had seen three great matches that felt completely different so having a RINGS style main event that is over in sub 10 minutes felt like a calculated risk and didn't detract me from wanting to see additional stuff with these two in the future. I do wish the headbutt Thatcher connected at the end would have hit more cleanly but the low blow and ambiguity over whether it was intentional or not created a good mystery going forward and I don't think it really damaged Riddle that much in the way Brock getting caught in the first lost vs. Mir didn't damage him.

 

Overall, an outstanding show with a ton of variety and it sped along at a briskly pace. EVOLVE Is my top indy right now and that is with me being really high on ROH currently also.

[AstroBoy]

EVOLVE 58 was very good live even with the technical problems.

 

Thatcher vs. Riddle was very good but marred by a pretty underwhelming, if smart, finish.

 

TJP's win over Ricochet and continuing Global Cruiserweight push is making him seem like a real star on these shows.

 

ZSJ vs. Ospreay was a fantastic exhibition for both guys and a real cool moment. The crowd was just losing it and I think Ospreay is really solid with the potential to get really really good.

 

The main event tag was real good but hindered by the fact that Tommy End is super bland to me and the ending stretch I think got a little too long and too cute for its own good. Still a rock solid show overall and EVOLVE is just great right now.