WWN Live-Evolve, I-ppv's

[AstroBoy]

Strong vs. Riddle was indeed very good. I'm all in on Riddle but this match really felt like a huge feather in Roddy's cap and showed what he can be and should be doing all the time. I really hope he's back in the future.

 

Actually gonna say that I liked TJP vs. Tim Thatcher better than any match all weekend. I wasn't sure what to expect but it was a concise, gritty, focused, and pretty hateful match that came across as a real competition. Also a smart finish keeping both guys strong.

 

The news that WWNLive was able to sign Ospreay to an exclusive deal is also a huge coup. Ring of Honor is just a mess right now. The rich get richer and I would rather see Ospreay against this group of guys than against the ROH group anyway.

[Childs]

I was surprised to read in the WON that WWE has apparently passed on Riddle. Has that been widely known? And what the fuck? How could that dude have been any better in his first year?

[Luchaundead]

WWE passed on Riddle more based on him being green and his previous perchance for banned wellness policy substances. The word that went around was his involvement with Evolve was in someways seen as a provisional development deal.

[Childs]

Am I misunderstanding the WON then? I read that as meaning WWE is not interested in him after observing him in Evolve. But maybe that's a total misinterpretation on my part. I hope so.

[Luchaundead]

Read it yeah that's such an odd throw away by Dave and the tense is unclear so unless something has changed the feeling was Riddle will be offered a WWE deal was he can prove to keep his nose clean. At this point he's a can't miss prospect that they would be smart to sign ASAP

[soup23]

Seems like Riddle would have been someone easy to pluck for the CWC if they wanted to.

[GOTNW]

I'll believe it when I see it. Seems like Paul and his team feeding false information in another desperate attempt for Evolve to retain its indy cred.

[...TG]

Evolve 66 tonight has a strong opener with TJP v Cedric Alexander. Good work by TJP on Cedric's knee, and it paid off in the end! Selling could have been better but I liked that the legwork wasn't just time-killing.

[hammerva]

I really enjoyed Riddle vs Thatcher in terms of physicality. The finish was just brutal. The ending with Gulak standing up to Thatcher and knocking him out with a back fist was incredible. That should be fun to watch

 

So not only did Cody Rhodes beat Sabre Jr he made him quit to I believe to an indian death lock (probably something else). Given that Sabre was handling most of the match and that nobody remember Cody winning matches with a submission hold, this was a complete stunner and the crowd didn't believe it one bit. I guess he has to win but I don't about this one. Something tells me that he either beats Hero tonight or loses because of something Drew Galloway does

[AstroBoy]

Sounds like kind of an off note show from EVOLVE based on reactions although I haven't seen it yet. Riddle not winning might be the right move but I was kind of hoping they'd go in that direction.

 

I'm going to predict that Thatcher actually completes his redemption and beats Gulak today. The one thing I hope they don't do is put Riddle with Galloway's group. Interested to see what directions the story will go after today's show. Hopefully Gabe has something good up his sleeve.

[hammerva]

Well they have teased that Galloway wants Riddle on the team. Plus they have shown a few times Gulak really pushing how much of a leader he is which I figure will lead to something with Riddle vs Gulak. Doing it tonight might be way too early. I figure the Thatcher vs Riddle war is over

 

The only thing I don't understand is how the title seems to be extremely important yet Thatcher wants nothing to do with it. I am guessing that until he beats Riddle and Gulak he wasn't really a champ in his mind

 

I don't know if it is a transformation or just something he has always had but the different in Fred Yehi from Dallas to this show is incredible. Always a damn good wrestler but how he is oozing personality with his wacky almost pajamas like gear and yelling "big trouble" and stuff. He is really a pleasant surprise from last night

 

So it sounds like Joey Styles did announcing for today's show. Not too surprising given the ECW relationship with Gabe but I am guessing he is going to be really out of place in this company

[Parties]

Live take on today's show: I'll have more of a match by match breakdown after I can watch it again, but the first impressions were that Riddle-End and Hero-Cody were fantastic (such that if either WWE show has a match as good, I'll be elated), and that I like Thatcher being a full blown heel and Yehi getting mic time. There were some less enticing moments and things the crowd didn't take well to, but it was a show that at least made sense in building to their next NYC outing in a few weeks and have out-of-towners their money's worth. It's pretty cool that they're coming here so often now, and Hero and Riddle are now in a coin toss race for WOTY. Cesaro, Bryan, and Breeze were in attendance, by the way, and I was delighted by the idea of Breeze as part three of that running crew.

[Parties]

In the merch row prior to tonight's EVOLVE show in Queens, Cody Rhodes is giving away tons of pizzas to the entering crowd. Kayfabe lives.

[WingedEagle]

Ha that sounds pretty nice. Would've gone but couldn't convince a single non-wrestling fan friend to skip the late games for it. Shocking, I know.

[Parties]

Tony Nese vs. Darby Allin: This was like a strong Crockett or Mid-Atlantic competitive squash where Allin got in hope spots and Nese looked a lot more confident than he did in the PAB. He has whatever it is that Gabe thinks his viewers want. Allin's quickly and immediately serving a much needed role on the idea of guy who takes a beating while making new stars look great, but who is also getting so over with the crowd that in time he can be pushed as well. Nese still seems off as a talker, but the action and hierarchy story told here was quite good.

Fred Yehi vs Travis Gordon: Great Yehi performance as you get some crazy suplexes and big chops, plus his more comedic stuff, lunges for holds, and hollering. It's a sort of ravenous strong style (almost in the vein of Cavernario) that makes him one of my favorites this year. Gordon got over with the crowd by the end, as he had a lot of impressive flipping counters, cartwheels, roundhouse kicks, etc. Cool "clash of styles" finish as well.

[...TG]

Chuck Taylor/DUSTIN is just not very good right now. Evolve is the only indie I watch, is he good anywhere else?

 

They're much louder than last night, but man Parv would hate tonight's crowd.

[Parties]

Tracy Williams vs. Chuck O'Neil: Williams is quite over with his hometown crowd, even if he hasn't impressed me since his big push kicked off. O'Neil is the least over of the three "new talents" thus far: his fake MMA look didn't connect as he doesn't have it on the mat or in striking. He's in fact pretty indie-tacular in his spots, and actually got booed for an old-school leap-onto-the-opponent's-back sleeper hold. Yehi makes a save at the end while wearing the Papa Hales Supermark t-shirt, so this gets six stars despite actually being pretty mediocre, and probably the worst match of the night.

Drew Gulak vs Dustin: Match got better over time, but what a wack finish. At times it had positive similarities to 80s/early 90s WWF as Dustin was pretty broad here, and Gulak tied him up in old school crab holds and chops. I agree that Taylor is missing something in this character: I like that he's an old-school out-of-shape smug heel, but it's not clicking in the Heat department. He lacks the surreal anti-charisma of someone like Honky Tonk Man, who would be his parallel in some ways.

Ethan Page vs David Starr: Comedy match with some very over topes halfway through. Page and Starr ("King of Taunts") started with shtick of arguing over who was more over, referencing Punk's two minute tap out, pectoral spots, and Starr tea-bagging Page to set the more heated section of the match into action. Felt very sports entertainment ready if this were 2000, and Starr hit a ton of big dives. Crowd really loved this: I've seen Page live four times this year and this felt like him in his element as a comedy-plus-finishers worker. Quite entertaining if only for how much the crowd enjoyed it, and Starr was the most over of the five new talents showcased. He seems poised to become a major player on the indies if they continue to book him, as he's so much what this crowd wanted as kind of a more agile cruiserweight ROH/American version of someone like Marty Skuril.

[Parties]

Matt Riddle vs TJP: What a reinvention year for Perkins. Gulak cuts a terrible promo first, asking the guys melodramatically where they were in the melee with Galloway and Dustin. Crowd jeers him for it, Riddle and Perkins both dismiss him, and the crowd cheers TJ leaving for RAW. Riddle is the best worker I know of in the world at this moment, at least until Hero's match in the main event. Their mat work was tremendous and shows how these are great opponents for one another, as Riddle sold a ton and conveyed the size vs. agility story very well. If Gulak/Dustin was too schmozzy, this was the right mix of swag from TJP and violence from Riddle. A great aspect of Riddle's character right now is that genetically he's the best dude on the show, but the knowledge of more veteran workers sometimes gets the best of him. The finish of this is absolutely incredible, telling two great stories at once. Riddle now has what, three or four singles matches that I'd put in the top 10-20 of this year? Then Stokely cut a promo where he quoted James Baldwin and put Perkins over huge. Great delivery from Hathaway that establishes him as a venerable voice of the company, after times wherein I'd found him to be kind of lame this year.

Ricochet vs. Zack Sabre, Jr.: Sabre's heel turn continues, but I like that it's a slow burn, where he's more just cocky than outright dastardly. Whether I care for him much or not, a Ricochet match feels like a big deal and dude has the star quality It factor when seen live. They barely sold a thing, but you know what you're getting here. Comedy at the outset as they toyed with one another, but by the end it was near-falls aplenty. I really enjoyed the finish of this, as the game change shift in tide came via a pretty stunning aerial counter. Both guys were very over and building to a rematch down the road.

[...TG]

Parties is right, those two matches were great. Sabre's counter of the Ricochet's SSP into a triangle was amazing, really should have been the finish. And I too wish Ricochet would sell better but he's so graceful, especially live.

 

Riddle continues to amaze. He actually blew a spot tonight, which I don't recall happening on Evolve at least. TJP's send-off with Stokely was nice - Stokely should have more of a role going forward.

[Parties]

Johnny Gargano/Cody Rhodes vs. Drew Galloway/Chris Hero: A main event anywhere in the world, ladies and germs. Gargano gets the fond farewell treatment, but it felt anti-climactic. Hero is his usual mix of humor and brutality throughout, with perhaps a bit more comedy than usual. Chants of "Thanks for the pizza" for Cody as he hits big dives. Galloway is all crotch chops and dump truck throws, and it's fun to see him work with Rhodes here. I didn't love the home stretch of this as it was not so much a Texas Tornado match as four guys standing in the ring trading spots with too little structure. The crowd at times wondered why the ref wasn't more forceful (both teams were completely out to lunch on any sort of tagging or maintenance of the rules), but the match all told was good. If this is Gargano's last appearance, they should have done a real "brawl to end it all" with him and Galloway. This felt like EVOLVE had to suddenly return him to WWE in mint condition. The final segment felt a bit forced, but hey, they tried something, even if it rang too close to past Gabe booking tropes.

[...TG]

Evolve 70 is tonight. Been decent so far. Highlight was the opener, with Darby Allin going over Anthony Henry. Allin is going to end up in a wheelchair soon so we should enjoy him while he lasts - he did his trust fall/Nestea plunge dive off a springboard this time and Henry barely caught him.

 

The other three matches were okay - even Fred Yehi can't make Chuck Taylor/Dustin interesting for me.

[...TG]

Ethan Page and Timothy Thatcher had a long, boring match that included two ref bumps. Even that couldn't get the crowd or me to care. I've see Thatcher matches that I've liked but this wasn't one of them.

[Edwin]

I was at the show, here's some thoughts:

 

Darby Allin vs. Anthony Hicks

 

I missed the majority of it as I decided to steep out to grab some snacks. I did grasp the second half or so of it and it wasn't anything special.

 

Nathan Cruz vs. Jason Kincaid

 

This did nothing for me either. I wasn't overly impressed by either guys performance to be honest. The entire match just felt kind of flat.

 

Fred Yehi vs. DUSTIN

 

This was alright. Nothing really special honestly. First time seeing Yehi and I thought he was alright. I'm a fan of DUSTIN, but his performance was pretty underwhelming.

 

Gatekeepers Squash

 

These guys are huge. I was very impressed with them, but I'm curious to see how good they'd be in a match where they're not running through their opponents.

 

Timmy Thatcher vs. Ethan Page

 

I thought this was pretty fun live, but I can see why some people may not dig this on video. I thought both guys were pretty good, however Thatcher's headbutt's looked very weak. Ethan's a comedic heel from what I could grasp here similar to that of Chuck Taylor or DUSTIN, except I think DUSTIN is much better at that. The Gatekeepers were at ringside and interfered and there was 2 ref. bumps which I thought was a little odd. Stolkey Hathway running out to confront and make an offer to Thatcher was pretty fun too. Stolkey reminds me of Prince Nana.

 

Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Tracy Williams

 

The first half of this match was somewhat uninteresting and pointless, but the second half was something else. The submission exchanges in this were beautiful. Seeing Tracy roll with ZSJ, I could tell Tracy has trained BJJ before. Tracy looked on a heel hook on ZSJ that looked gross and he looked it on with excellent technique. ZSJ's escape from it was grand as he started slapping Tracy in the face and Tracy did his best Frank Shamrock Pancrase impersonation before they started kicked each other in the face and chest while twisting each others ankles. Tracy's escape from a ZSJ triangle choke wasn't exactly Rampage vs. Arona level brutal, but it looked pretty unsafe and I'd be surprised if ZSJ wasn't concussed from it. Tracy hit a nasty Piledriver after it to boot. The strike exchanges between these 2 were brutal too. From what I've read online, the crowd reaction didn't come out on video, but the crowd was hot for the second half of the match.

 

Chris Hero vs. Drew Gulak

 

Holy heck was this a manly match. My pick for MOTN. This alone made the show well worth the money. These guys stiffed the heck out of each other. They held nothing back and just beat the heck out of each other for over 20 minutes. This felt a lot more like a fight than anything else. Hero's strikes are brutal. He just beat the snot out of Gulak with elbows and big boots. Hero just telling Gulak he's a piece of crap while kicking him was great. Gulak's deadlift backdrop is a thing of beauty. The build up to the backdrop was awesome as Hero continuously taunted Gulak telling him he wasn't going to let him drop him on his head, but he got a huge pop for when he was finally able to deliver it. Insanity all around. Highly recommended.

 

Matt Riddle vs. AR Fox

 

This was a bit short, but very fun too. Riddle is coming along nicely despite still being a rookie in pro-wrestling. His strikes seemed a little weak, but I guess he's still holding back a bit and is still a little timid. His twister submission was an awesome choice for a finisher with his MMA background as it's one of the best and hardest submissions to pull off and looks great when it's actually done. As for AR Fox, he got all of his spots in which are rather amusing.

[Edwin]

Watched EVOLVE 71, I didn't feel it was as good as last nights show.

 

Gulak vs. Thatcher was pretty wild and Hero vs. Riddle was pretty good.

 

I didn't pay a lot of attention to ZSJ vs. Yehi, I didn't like the glimpse I caught of it.

 

Hero vs. Gulak is still my favorite match of the weekend.

[joeg]

So went to Evolve 73. Had a lot of fun.

 

The good- Tommy End vs some guy was fun. Riddle vs Hero was fucking awesome. Gulak vs ZSJ was pretty good too. The main event clusterfuck tag match was not bad.

 

The bad- The crowd was fucking horrible. Absolutely horrible. Like the worst wrestling crowd ever. In a small crowd of two hundred some, there were at least a dozen guys in the crowd whose sole purpose for attending was to get themselves over. The rest of the crowd was pretty quiet which made them stand out even more. I can do quiet crowd that golf claps and pops for big moves by the babyface (the usual Washington DC crowd) , I can do rowdy drunk out of control crowd (the usual Philly crowd), I can't stand crowd with dudes that interrupt the flow of a match trying to get themselves over. Except for Hat Guy.

 

The ugly- this was the weirdest venue I've ever been to. It was a warehouse in a strip mall, that shared a bathroom and concession stand with a flea market. Walking to the back of the sectioned off warehouse I wondered if there was dogfighting, bnb, or cockfight on nights there wasn't wrestling.