WWN Mercury Rising 2015 review

Mercury Rising 2015 was in every conceivable sense the WWN answer to WrestleMania. It played out in front of what will probably, outside of the China tour, be the biggest crowd the company attracts all year. It featured a variety of major matches, some of them grudge matches built up over months, and developments that changed the landscape of the company, impacting on its future. Most obviously it was held just one night before and a few miles away from WrestleMania 31.

But was it any good? Let's run through the show and then come back to that at the end. He'd been injured the night before at EVOLVE 40 but that didn't stop Rich Swann from opening the show with a several minutes long song and dance routine in which he called on several members of the audience to join in with his rendition of Lionel Richie's All Night Long over the microphone. The crowd as a whole, and most of the people Swann called on in particular, seemed self-conscious during this. I don't blame them. It's awkward.

Once the music cut Swann acknowledged his injury, as much to ensure the live crowd were up to speed as anything else, and challenged the Premier Athlete Brand to a tag title match at one of the April EVOLVE shows. The Brand came out and attacked Swann. Johnny Gargano and Ethan Page dashed out to make the save, which fed into the show's opening match of Page versus Caleb Konley.

They had a fun little match, the highlights of which were a Konley double stomp on the ring apron and Page using Gargano's lawn dart. Page survived a Lionsault, the One Night Stand fireman driver, and outside interference from the Brian Cage and Andrea to get the win with a schoolboy roll-up and a handful of tights. It's nice that Page got a win but it's a shame it had to come at the expense of Konley, a guy who went from the middle of the card to the top over the course of last year and who deserves to be treated more like a top guy.

After the match So Cal Val shouted that the loss wasn't part of her plan (well obviously not, Val) before Andrea swerve turned on Brian Cage with a low blow. He was to blame for Konley's loss apparently. This development was a pity. I thought Cage was a good fit with the Brand.

The traditional 'Mania weekend six man tag was on second, although this year it was a six woman tag presented by WWN affiliate Shine. Nicole Matthews (the SHIMMER champ), Portia Perez (collectively known as the Canadian Ninjas), and Nikki Storm were due to faced Shine champion Mia Yim and Shine tag team champions Cherry Bomb and Kimber Lee (collectively known as the Kimber Bombs). Before the match began Andrea and SCV returned to the ring. Andrea attacked Nikki Storm and replaced her in the match. Presumably Storm's two matches in the chick fight tournament which had preceded this show played a part in this decision. Mia Yim, who's also wrestled two matches, contributed less to this match than I'd expected for the same reason.

As a successor to some of the Dragon Gate scorchers that have taken the six man spot in previous years this match didn't hold up. But that's an almost impossibly high standard to meet. Judged at a more realistic level (without the comparison) this was a good match. Everyone got a chance to - ahem - shine, Andrea was presented as a powerhouse, and there was a nice, albeit brief, sequence pitting the two singles champions against one another (something that a match like this really has to do). Mia Yim got the pin for her team when she rolled Perez up following a back and forth exchange of forearms.

After the match the Ninjas argued with Val and Andrea, setting up the return of Nikki Storm. She declared herself the "white chocolate cheesecake of sports entertainment" and challenged Andrea to a match at Shine 26. It set up matches for a show that will be all too easy to overlook, awkwardly falling a few days after the WrestleMania Weekend festivities as it does.

In a surprise move Drew Galloway sauntered out after that. The reason for this early arrival was that he'd been offered a booking back in Scotland the next day and wanted to take it so that he could defend the EVOLVE championship and a newly won Open the Freedom Gate championship there. Not one to disappoint, Gargano accepted the early call and walked down to the ring with Ethan Page for the much hyped title versus title match.

The opening minutes were characterised by Gargano using his speed against Galloway's strength. The action would spill to the outside where Galloway would tilt-a-whirl Gargano onto the apron. Not to be outdone Gargano would toss the former 3MBer into the first row and dive over the barricade onto him. After a lengthy brawl around the arena the pair returned to the ring and Galloway ate a Gargano spear. He fired back with an inverted concrete slam. Gargano responded with a lawn dart.

Moments later Gargano would manoeuvre the EVOLVE champ out to the floor and attempt a suicide dive. Galloway blocked it but failed to block the super kick that followed. Gargano got his suicide dive on the second attempt but wiped out the referee in the process.

Back in the ring Galloway scored with an exploder into the corner. His cover didn't get him a win because there was nobody to count the pin. The Open the Freedom Gate champion escaped a double arm DDT and floored Galloway with an enziguri as Page got up onto the apron to offer him some wrist tape. This was a call-back to Gargano choking out SHINGO at Open the Ultimate Gate 2013 (the first ever DG USA show I reviewed, fact fans), an act which signalled a heel turn at the time. Gargano accepted the tape but, after a brief pause, threw it out of the ring. I thought this really added a lot to the match. It made it clear that Gargano is back to being an honourable lad and sowed about Page.

Gargano turned around into a double arm DDT from Galloway. A second referee ran to the ring to count the fall but Gargano kicked out. The second ref didn't last: he'd fall victim to a misplaced sick kick seconds later. Galloway got caught in the Gargano Escape. He countered into pin for two then took a super kick. Gargano tried to skin the cat but got caught by the EVOLVE champion, who went for a Tombstone piledriver. Gargano reversed into a Gargano Escape. Galloway muscled his way back to his feet and got the Tombstone.

Gargano kicked out but was clearly worn out. Galloway hoisted him onto his shoulders and clambered to the top rope, leaping off for an Emerald Flowsion but finding it reversed into a DDT in mid-air. 'The Whole Shebang' staggered to his feet and super kicked a kneeling Galloway twice. Galloway staggered to his feet and absorbed two more before falling to his feet. Gargano went for a fifth but Galloway sidestepped it and hit him with two double arm DDTs.

Gargano kicked out to a great crowd response then spat in Galloway's face. That caused Galloway to snap. He grabbed Gargano, yanked him to his feet, and drilled him with a jumping tombstone piledriver for the victory.

I thought it was a very good match. There were elements of the Attitude Era to it with the extended crowd fight and the bevy of finishing moves (and the kick outs from them) but used sparingly I think that match can be very effective. It helped to make the match feel more like the big fight it was meant to be. I don't think Gargano and Galloway could have had a better match. It's a shame they didn't get to close the show and the weekend (for the WWN).

After both men had lain about making it clear they were exhausted from their match Galloway took the microphone to cut a promo. He declared that 'Mania 26, where he wrestled in a Money in the Bank ladder match, wasn't his WrestleMania moment, this match was. He put over Gargano and pandered to the fans by saying the ring belonged to everyone. He asked for and received a handshake from the former champion, passed him the microphone, and left. All Gargano managed to say was "thank you" before Ethan Page lamped him and gave him a good stomping. 'All Ego' revealed that he was taking his cue from Ronin, going after Gargano's spot and ending his WWN career.

The turn was an interesting twist which I hadn't expected. They'd been laying the respect on so heavily that I'd expected Page to officially join Ronin and perhaps go after the tag titles with Gargano. This was probably a better option. It introduces a much needed fresh rivalry to EVOLVE.

Tasked with the tough job of following that was a four-way match featuring TJ Perkins, Drew Gulak, Tommy End and Biff Busick. After overcoming some initial awkwardness they got into a good groove. The match didn't dazzle but it had its moments. I particularly liked the sequence where TJP trapped End in a deathlock and fought off Busick and Gulak with abdominal stretches and a northern lights suplex. Perkins got a flash win with the cross armbreaker on Gulak.

PJ Black versus AR Fox was good, though not as good as I'd expected. It was heavy on spots but they weren't quite flashy or bountiful enough to help the match live up to its heavy 'Darewolf' versus 'Daredevil' hype. Highlights included: Black avoiding an attack by moonsaulting from the apron to the floor; Black super kicking Fox in mid-air off a guardrail springboard; another Fox springboard being turned into a triangle choke; and a Death Valley driver from the top rope to the apron by Black, softening 'The Whole Foxin' Show' up for a springboard 450 splash.

The match likely would have benefited from being repositioned first or second on the card. Of course my lack of interest in Fox probably didn't help matters.

After some excessive plugging from some lad whose name I missed (he was the WWN "ambassador") we got Timothy Thatcher facing Chris Hero. The match took an age to begin as Hero spent what must have been a good three or four minutes milking duelling chants from the crowd in a storyline attempt to rattle Thatcher with his popularity. Thatcher simply stood stocky in the ring and looked unimpressed with the veteran's antics. It was good to see the crowd so hot so it made sense to make use of it.

Instead of going into a dynamic series of strikes and counter strikes they went with the Thatcher standard: mat wrestling and submission holds. This isn't a bad thing but it doesn't provide much variety and does run the risk of cooling audiences down. Thankfully that didn't happen here, although some fans did start singing, which may have been worse. I suspect a more unpredictable approach to the blending of styles would have been more warmly received. 

This match, more than any other I've seen him in, highlighted Thatcher's inability or unwillingness to change things up. He's very good at his style of match but doesn't seem interested in doing much else. Even against someone like Hero, who has plenty of experience and an ability to tap into plenty of different styles, we got the same sort of match we always get from Thatcher. This isn't the worst thing in the world as Thatcher's matches usually have something dynamic and engaging in them, especially in the closing stretches, but it would be nice if they weren't so predictable.

Hero blasted Thatcher with four rolling elbows (the last with the elbow pad removed) and left him limp on the mat. He went for a cover but Thatcher kicked out and slipped on a Fujiwara armbar for the tap out win. After the match Hero slapped Thatcher twice, getting one in return each time. This was a respect thing with no malice to it. They shook and Hero left Thatcher to bow to the crowd.

The main event was the much ballyhooed tag match pitting Uhaa Nation and Ricochet against Roderick Strong and Austin Aries, reuniting as Generation Next properly for the first time since 2011 in PWG (before that they hadn't been together since 2007 in the final match of their ROH run together). The match was notable for featuring representatives of ROH (Strong), TNA (Aries), Lucha Underground (Ricochet as Prince Puma) and soon-to-be WWE (Nation). It was quite the inter-promotional affair. The first half of the match was best described as serviceable, with nothing special happening and a safe pace being set.

Things picked up in the second half. Tags were surreptitiously abandoned and the four worked through some sick double team spots. Roddy and 'A Double' demonstrated that they coud, if given the opportunity, still be of benefit to a tag division. Strong won after avoiding a Ricochet Shooting Star Press before hitting him with a knee and an absolutely wild lumbar check. Ricochet managed a ridiculous number of rotations when he was thrown up to take the move.  

After the match Roddy took a mic and made some babyface comments about how Aries had made him the man and the wrestler he is. Then he swerve turned, cracking Aries and Uhaa with the microphone and grabbing the mic again to say that he'd destroyed Drew Galloway at EVOLVE 38 and was gunning for the newly won titles. Timothy Thatcher came out to run him off and end the show on a positive note by thanking the fans. On the subject of Roddy and the championships he said the road to them went through him.

Going back to the question I posed at the beginning of this review's second paragraph: yes, this show was good. The main event started off slowly but ended well, while Thatcher versus Hero and the title versus title match were good from start to finish and there were again no out-and-out bad matches on the card.

That said I don't think the show was the success that EVOLVE 39 was. On the reflection the first WWN offering of the weekend was the best. It was the most consistent and its big matchs were just as enjoyable as the big matches here. I think the level of spectacle was right for this Supershow but an injury and Black and Fox not clicking quite as well as might have been hoped hampered things just a bit.

Overall though it was a success. The Page turn on Gargano was set up well and should lead to interesting things over the next several shows. Galloway becoming a double champ was a mild surprise but deserved considering the passion and effort he's displayed in his time with the company so far. And the final turn from Roderick Strong reminded us that he's not meant to be likeable or trustworthy. He's been built up as a major challenge for Galloway. Now we get to sit back and watch Galloway overcome him.  

***

Results summary:

Ethan Page defeated Caleb Konley
Mia Yim, Kimber Lee and Cherry Bomb defeated Andrea, Nicole Matthews and Portia Perez
Drew Galloway defeated Johnny Gargano to retain the EVOLVE championship and win the Open the Freedom Gate championship
TJ Perkins defeated Biff Busick, Drew Gulak and Tommy End
PJ Black defeated AR Fox
Timothy Thatcher defeated Chris Hero
Generation Next defeated Uhaa Nation and Ricochet

EVOLVE 40 review

EVOLVE's second WrestleMania weekend offering of 2015 started off strong with the non-title match between EVOLVE champion Drew Galloway and the allegedly departing Uhaa Nation. This was a far better choice for the opening slot than the technical mat exchange between Gulak and Thatcher at EVOLVE 39. It's not that that match was bad, it just wasn't the exciting hook an opener tends to be.

Galloway and Nation spent the early minutes slugging away at one another (because big lads) before leaving the ring. There we got an early highlight as Galloway sidestepped an Uhaa moonsault from the apron and gave him a tilt-a-whirl back onto the ring's edge. Back in the ring Galloway went all Randy Orton and worked over Nation with stomps and a sleeper before 'The One Man Nation' managed to fire back with some clotheslines, rolling German suplexes and a splash from the top rope.

Galloway kicked out of the cover that followed and scored with a power bomb, a German suplex into a turnbuckle and Roderick Strong's sick kick. Uhaa kicked out of all that and the two exchanged a few right hands before Galloway got dropped with a power bomb.

Like the previous evening's Galloway match this one ended with a surprise double arm DDT. Galloway went for it and got it seemingly at random and got the win with it. Clearly this was done to get the move over for Galloway's unification match against Johnny Gargano at Mercury Rising, a match he addressed after his victory. He waffled on a lot but basically his message was that he and Gargano would have a great match at Mercury Rising, which I'm sure they will. He's a passionate, shouty promo is Galloway. That helps when he's repeating the same message two nights in a row.

Match two saw Tommy End, with Chris Hero in his corner, take on Timothy Thatcher. Both men were popular with the crowd but they were easily more into Thatcher. The crowd went wild for him, presumably because he's announced as being from Sacramento, California. We're also assured he's English.

The match was all about Thatcher's mat wrestling being deployed against End's striking. Thatcher's had success early on but End's striking came into play in the match's second half. He smacked Thatcher with a kick to the temple, flooring him until the count of eight. From there a dazed Thatcher was dominated by End's strikes, although End found himself in the frustrating position of being unable to finish Thatcher off. He unleashed his impressive bicycle knee strike but it wasn't enough: Thatcher caught him in a Fujiwara armbar for the tap out victory.

After the match Hero entered the ring and bad mouthed Thatcher. Thatcher ignored him and walked backstage. Hero kicked the bottom rope in frustration then left to allow End to soak up some well-deserved cheers. This was another good showing from End.

Drew Gulak (with five unnamed seconds) versus TJ Perkins followed that. The mat-based 'Legal Eagle' against the nippy flyer could have been a disaster but it wasn't. They went out of their way to keep things fast and avoided sticking with submission holds for too long. TJP's submission abilities helped too, he clearly knows how to blend his flashier moves with hold into counter hold exchanges. Gulak won with the ankle lock after a series of reversals. Nothing occurred with the five nameless lads Gulak brought to ringside. They were just there to get over Gulak's new serious competitor gimmick.

Ethan Page v AR Fox was an exhilarating affair. It was the usual flash and sizzle from Fox (a stark contrast to his maddeningly bland character) and Page kept up fine, which was the most that could be asked of him in this situation. Fox survived a spinebuster onto the apron, a back breaker on the floor, a lifting reverse DDT, and a Tower of London onto the apron before coming back with a springboard Codebreaker, a Lo Mein Pain and a 450 splash to win.

After the match Page talked about how he'd let Johnny Gargano (the man who'd endorsed him) down by losing, which brought Gargano out to the ring. The Open the Freedom Gate champ gave Page a pep talk before bringing up the EVOLVE title v DG USA title match. Again he promised that he'd win that match and leave a double champion, though this time there was a greater emphasis on his history in the company and his contributions getting it to its current state. He offered more reasons as to why we should believe he needs to win the match with this promo than he had at EVOLVE 39.

The Chris Hero v Biff Busick grudge match followed that. Their issues first surfaced at EVOLVE 33, where Biff Busick had talked about his efforts in the 2014 style battle tournament and mentioned Chris Hero as someone the current generation of wrestlers wish to surpass. It was intended as a compliment, an acknowledgement of Hero's accomplishments within wrestling. But Hero took offense and an argument erupted. A few more followed with the final one coming the night before this at EVOLVE 39 where Busick vowed to choke Hero out with the stranglehold.

They had the stiff battle that was to be expected. Busick stayed true to his promise and spent most of the match attempting to apply his stranglehold finisher for long enough to choke Hero into unconsciousness. He applied the hold several times but never managed to submit or blackout Hero. That brought about a shift in approach and he started blasting the former King of Wrestling with suplexes. Hero weathered the storm and then smashed Busick with half a dozen elbows and a Tombstone piledriver for the victory. This match just outdid the main event to nab match of the night honours for me.

The card's lone tag match followed that. It saw the recently (and fairly half-heartedly) reunited Ronin team of Johnny Gargano and Rich Swann take on the new look Premier Athlete Brand of Brian Cage and Caleb Konley. I was again impressed by how good Cage is and felt that it was another strong showing from Konley, who has improved a great deal over the last year.

Gargano was good but not at his best, quite possibly because he was saving himself for his showdown with Scotland's own Drew Galloway the following evening. Considering how much that match has been built up it was an understandable move by the Open the Freedom Gate champ. That left Swann to deliver the thrills and spills. He accomplished this but injured himself in the process, necessitating the match being called to a finish early. Confusingly Konley tapped to the Gargano Escape before the referee announced that he'd ruled the match in the PAB's favour due to Swann's injury.

Had this run its intended course I imagine it would have ended up an inoffensive and fun, though ultimately forgettable, tag bout. But instead it will be most remembered for the peculiar ending. Though, on the bright side, that could be used as part of a Ronin v Premier Athletes story in the future.

The main event saw former WWE Superstar™ PJ Black take on Ricochet in a battle of the high-flyers. They set a breakdown speed and stuffed the match with spots and kept the psychology and lining sequences light (which was to be expected). The story of the early going was basically that Ricochet was a little better than Black, countering or immediately recovering from whatever Black threw at him. This included a great mid-air recovery off a monkey flip, a kip up immediately after a shoulder block, and a drop kick counter to a cross body.

This forced Black to up his game and he started getting an increasing amount of offence in on 'The Future of Flight'. It wasn't enough to get him a victory though. Following a surprisingly vicious exchange of strikes Ricochet got a two count off a top rope reverse hurricanrana then finally put Black down with a nasty power bomb and the 630 splash.

Unfortunate and unavoidable incident in the tag match aside this was another very good offering from the EVOLVE crew. Of the two cards presented this weekend I think this was the stronger. 39 took a little longer to get going with the three more technical matches kicking things off. 40 started with a rowdy bout that drew you in and kept improving right up until the tag match hit (and, again, at least part of the reason that match disappointed was beyond anyone's control). Ricochet versus Black was a superior main event. Black showed he could have been an asset to WWE and Ricochet again proved he deserves all the success he's had.

***

Results summary:

Drew Galloway defeated Uhaa Nation
Timothy Thatcher defeated Tommy End
Drew Gulak defeated TJ Perkins
AR Fox defeated Ethan Page
Chris Hero defeated Biff Busick
The Premier Athlete Brand defeated Johnny Gargano and Rich Swann via referee stoppage
Ricochet defeated PJ Black

EVOLVE 39 review

EVOLVE 39 had the task of kicking off the WWN's schedule of WrestleMania Weekend shows. That's not an easy spot. The group of promotions push the boat out for 'Mania weekend every year and 2015 has been no exception. EVOLVE 40 will boast PJ Black v Ricochet, Ronin v the Premier Athlete Brand and Hero v Busick while Saturday's Mercury Rising event (dubbed a supershow, so you know it's serious) will feature Galloway v Gargano, the reunion of Generation Next, and Hero v Thatcher. There was also external competition with Ring of Honor's Supercard of Honor IX.

It would have been easy to assume that EVOLVE 39 offered little, the bigger, better matches being held off for the cards later in the week. Happily this wasn't the case. The promotion's thirty-ninth show was an enjoyable experience with a solid list of match-ups on offer.

The show kicked off with Timothy Thatcher versus Drew Gulak, with Gulak talking about how he, Thatcher and Busick want to reinvigorate real wrestling before the match. That's something that he did at EVOLVE 38 and I imagien it's going to go somewhere soon, possily later this weekend. I enjoy these sorts of matches but they're tough to transcribe because so much of them is exchanges of amateur style holds which I can't name. That's why I generally skip to the finish of them, as I'll do here. Gulak won a tidy opener with a crucifix roll-up after a brisk exchange of submission hold attempts.

The debuting Tommy End was out next for his match opposite Biff Busick. He's a striker with a penchant for kicks. It was a much faster match than the opener and would have been better in that spot (though I understand the decision to kick off with two known quantities). End got the advantage early on and gave Busick a battering until he got walloped with an uppercut and a half Nelson suplex. End fired back with a bicycle kick but got put down with a lariat.

Back on their feet End put Busick down with an impressive bicycle knee strike. Busick rolled out of the way of the attempted top rope double stomp and returned to his feet to be struck with more kicks. After plenty more striking Busick rolled End down to the mat with his headlock takeover and applied the half stranglehold. End passed out and Busick won.

After the match Busick took a microphone and said he'd choked out Chris Hero's endorsement then promised to do the same to Hero at EVOLVE 40. This earned Busick a smattering of boos before he took a leaf from Hero's book and wandered off through the crowd. End was given a deserved round of applause as he headed to the back. It was a good match from him. He's definitely someone worth bringing back.

Match three pitted Chris Hero against Ethan Page. It was a fun match, featuring the usual Chris Hero blend of strikes and aggressive veteran tendencies. Page mixed in some humour towards the start for good measure. Neither man had the advantage for too long, which helped Page to look competitive against the far more established 'Knockout Artist'. Hero got the win with a rolling elbow.

After the match Hero took a microphone and talked about guys using his name (which was the starting point for his rivalry with Biff Busick). He said he wasn't scared of Busick or his choke hold. Busick returned to the ring and told Hero he'd choke him out at EVOLVE 40 then offered Hero a free shot to "prove" the elbow wasn't powerful enough to knock him out. Hero teased it before saying no because he was looking forward to beating Busick and he wouldn't be able to if he concussed him before their match. Hero went to leave but Busick pulled him back in. They had a tussle where Hero found his elbow reversed into the stranglehold, forcing him to slip out of the ring and retreat. As a segment to refresh everyone on the Hero-Busick issues this was good.

Match number four was the six man tag team match. The new-look Premier Athlete Brand of Caleb Konley (still half of the Open the United Gate champions, in case you'd forgotten), Brian Cage and TJ Perkins took on Rich Swann, Ricochet and Uhaa Nation. The PAB had So Cal Val and a stereotypical Amazonian bodyguard Andrea with them. Swann did his usual blow-up-the-crowd-so-they're-less-responsive-for-the-match routine, but it's over so that's acceptable apparently.

I'd expected the match to be a series of high spots. It was more than that. There was comedy early on (mostly dancing-based) and plenty of very fluid wrestling linking everything together. That said the six lads didn't disappoint on the high spots. Highlights included: a cruiserweight exchange between muscle boys Cage and Uhaa (including a 619 from Cage); duelling power spots between Uhaa and Cage, using their smaller opponents for delayed press slams and stalling suplexes; a sequence in which Ricochet wiped out both Konley and Perkins before being bounced to the mat by Cage; Nation catching Konley on a springboard dive and turning it into a Samoan drop; a great Gory special into the O Face by Konley to Swann; a trio of dives from the ring to the outside by Swann, Nation and Ricochet; a solo twirling tope by Ricochet to Cage; and the match winning sequence of a Swann 450 and an Uhaa Combination on Konley.

The match was very good. I'd expected it to be with Nation, Ricochet, Swann, Perkins and the underrated Konley involved. I hadn't expected much from Cage because he looks like a generic muscle guy but he proved to be very agile and solid on crowd interaction. If he improves his timing he could go somewhere.

Uhaa and Swann danced after the match before Andrea low blowed them both and Cage and Konley gave them a beating (including an always popular title belt shot from Konley). Because heels, am I right? TJP didn't join in with the attack and got a telling off from Val. His response was to walk out. The Brand left in a huff.

The penultimate match of the card was for the Open the Freedom Gate championship, Johnny Gargano defending against AR Fox. Gargano had Ethan Page with him at ringside, because Sapolsky adores the concept of young guys paying their dues as the understudies of established stars. After a nippy feeling out exchange the two progressed to the bigger stuff when Fox bicycle kicked the champ and they headed outside for the prerequisite ringside excursion.

Gargano took control when they returned to the ring. Fox turned the tide after a few minutes with a missile drop kick and a bicycle kick. The action spilled outside the ring again as Fox tried to hit topes. Gargano countered each attempt before hitting a senton from the apron. The slingshot DDT scored him a two count on the challenger.

Gargano tried the Hurts Donut but 'The Whole Foxin' Show' countered into a roll-up before leaping to the top rope to hit a Swanton bomb. When Gargano kicked out Fox attempted a 450 splash. Gargano moved so Fox landed on his feet. Because athleticism. Gargano hit a double stomp to the back of the head and a power bomb for two. After an exchange of elbows the two ran through super kicks, enziguris and other related strikes, the champion getting the last word when he put Fox down with a discuss clothesline.

Fox tried leg dropping Gargano on the apron. Gargano moved and hit Fox with a suicide dive which, in a scarily unplanned moment, sent the pair sprawling into the audience. Luckily everyone seemed to be fine. Fox countered a spear with a kick to the head, following up with a Canadian Destroyer for two. A Low Mein Pain attempt was broken by a shove, with 'The Whole Shebang' immediately hitting a buckle bomb and the lawn dart for a two count. Moments later Fox managed to get him with the LMP and a 450.

Gargano kicked out. After more super and yakuza kicks Gargano got a Hurts Donut on Fox from the top rope. The challenger kicked out of that but immediately found himself trapped in the Gargano Escape, tapping out to end a great match.

At that point Lacey made a surprise appearance to ask Gargano about his (potential, at this point) unification match at Mercury Rising. 'The Whole Shebang' promised he'd be the man to win both belts. Well, he would say that wouldn't he?

The main event was a match you would at one point have had to tune into Superstars to see: PJ Black v Drew Galloway for the EVOLVE championship. That this is something that can be said (that they were little more than job guys in WWE) was likely a deciding factor in making the match in the first place. I imagine it's also something that motivated both men. It was a chance for them to show exactly what WWE missed out on by not giving them more opportunities to just get in a ring and wrestle on TV.

They easily surpassed the standards set by the quality of Superstars matches. They told the story of Galloway's power against Black's speed as Lenny Leonard did a great job of talking up their shared history. Which, incidentally, isn't limited to WWE. They first met at an FWA training school in London in 2001. It was very likely the one advertised on the old TalkSport show which Alex Shane made a massive thing of pushing (understandably). Black survived big boots, power bombs and ringside brawling before falling victim to Galloway's double underhook DDT.

One word: height.

Lacey returned to the ring to discuss the title versus title match on Saturday. Galloway initially no-sold that to thank PJ Black for the match and put over the importance of WrestleMania Weekend, ultimately deciding to rename it Wrestle Week (yeah, that'll catch on). Much like DGUSA title holder Gargano, Galloway promised he'd be the one holding both titles at the end of Mercury Rising. Unlike Gargano he offered a little more than a mere promise as reasoning, stating that he didn't want his eight months of hard work establishing himself as a hard-working, talented wrestler to go to waste with a loss on such an important show.

Gargano rolled back out at that point, telling the EVOLVE champion that he'd been in the WWN for a lot longer than eight months and that he'd slogged to make the brand mean something. Galloway told Gargano that he was hungrier because he hadn't had the opportunity to do what he loved while in WWE and told the Gargano to leave the ring. They had a spirited verbal back-and-forth before things got physical and Ethan Page and Rich Swann left the locker room to break things up. All EVOLVE shows end with a promo of some description but this was one of the better ones. They did a great job of establishing the importance of the Mercury Rising unification bout. Definitely one to look forward to.

EVOLVE 39 was both a good show in its own right and a strong start to several days of wrestling from the WWN. There wasn't a single bad match all night and the final three offerings are all definitely recommended watches. Wrestle Week is off to a strong start!  

***

Results summary:

Drew Gulak defeated Timothy Thatcher
Biff Busick defeated Tommy End
Chris Hero defeated Ethan Page
Ricochet, Rich Swann and Uhaa Nation defeated The Premier Athlete Brand
Johnny Gargano defeated AR Fox to retain the Open the Freedom Gate championship
Drew Galloway defeated PJ Black to retain the EVOLVE championship

EVOLVE 38 review

EVOLVE 38 was an odd one. It was initially slipped onto the World Wrestling Network schedule in mid-February, a surprising (but welcome) move just weeks before the big series of shows lined up for WrestleMania weekend. With only a few weeks to put a card together it looked like the show may not be up to the company's usual quality, despite the intriguing announcement of a Roderick Strong v Drew Galloway cage match. But it wasn't a lack of enticing matches that EVOLVE 38 with, it was a stream of talent announcements.

The initial talent list featured Trent Baretta of the Premier Athlete Brand. On February 27 it was announced he'd pulled himself (other accounts claim he was pulled) because he'd been offered a spot as Rocky Romero's new tag partner in Ring of Honor. Perhaps to rub salt in the wound he tweeted pictures from a concert the night before the EVOLVE show.

This left Gabe Sapolsky in a tough spot. Baretta had been one of his most reliable wrestlers (from an in-ring perspective at least) and had been announced as the opponent of AR Fox. Without Baretta one of Sapolsky's favourites was left with no one to wrestle. He came up trumps when he signed Davey Richards but that necessitated another line-up change because Richards' last EVOLVE match had been opposite 'The Whole Foxin' Show'. Fox was switched to a bout with Matt Cage and Richards was announced as the new opponent for Anthony Nese. Ironic, considering Richards was on the show to replace Nese's former PAB teammate.

One final wrinkle came when PJ Black was announced for the show on Saturday. Yes, one night before the show took place. Such a late addition was presumably out of Sapolsky's control and due to negotiations despite it matching his established booking style: he would have been foolish to turn down an earlier than expected debut from Black. But it was still yet another line-up change for the card. It would be the last. Caleb Konley v Biff Busick was cancelled to make way for Konley v Black, Busick being tucked into a fresh match against Martin Stone (a low key addition to the card).

It took a long time coming together but the final EVOLVE 38 show featured a good list of matches. It boasted all new pairings outside of the Strong v Galloway main event and that had its own unique appeal by being a cage match, the first in EVOLVE history. Pleasingly it was as good in practice as it looked on paper and provided the WWN crew with a nice lead-in to their busiest stretch of the year.

The show got underway with Martin Stone v Biff Busick. Other than the wearisome references made to London and England made by the commentary duo of Trevin Adams and Rob Naylor the match was perfectly serviceable. Stone did nothing to make it clear why he was booked but he didn't embarrass himself. The match ended quickly with a rear naked choke in order to protect Busick's number one ranking status. Looking competitive against a late addition like Stone could have undone some of the work that's been done building him up.

Match two pitted the debuting Bill Carr (a name so generic it was once a joke on I'm Alan Partridge) and Dan Barry, collectively known as Team Tremendous, against Larry Dallas's team of Earl Cooter and Jody Kristofferson. I was a fan of Dallas's lads on WWN's China shows so I was pleased to see them introduced to EVOLVE. It was another solid match. Carr, a big lad, had some cruiserweight spots to draw and Barry seemed proficient. Both teams had some strong double team moves too, Barry and Carr using an Electric Chair-Sliced Bread combo to get the surprise win. I'd expected Cooter and Kristofferson to go over as they had a history with the company. Presumably this means more Team Tremendous.

The debuts continued in match three. Newcomer Matt Cage entered wearing a track suit to some excellent music. First ever EVOLVE champion AR Fox entered wearing his weird Marty McFly-in-the-future-hat to his standard, non-excellent music. Within seconds of the match starting the two were exchanging dives out of the ring. They did that for several minutes before heading back into the ring, briefly slowing down for a breather, and going at one another with strikes, dives and double stomps.

Fox busted out an Ace Crusher only for Cage to kick out and respond with a butterfly power bomb and the katahajime. Fox fought out by running Cage back into a turnbuckle and got a long two count off a springboard 450 splash. Another springboard attempt backfired when Cage caught 'The Whole Foxin' Show' in mid-air with a Codebreaker. Fox survived that, blasted Cage with a corner yakuza kick, a couple of super kicks, Low Mein Pain and a 450 splash for the win. The bevy of moves used to put Cage away seemed designed to keep Cage looking strong in defeat (because Fox and Cage are old pals). Cage was the non-former-WWE newcomer to EVOLVE that I'd most like to see make a return visit.

A promo, rare in EVOLVE outside of the post-main event slot, followed that. Drew Gulak said modern wrestlers are more concerned with impressing people than figuring out how to win matches. He revealed his strategy for facing Hero (he'd break him down and pick him apart - insightful stuff) and then called him out to the ring. Hero, who's still sporting the chunky physique he picked up with his "bad back" last summer, entered in a distinctly face-like fashion, a departure from his last appearance at EVOLVE 33 where he went full on heel.

Having twenty minutes to play with they built the match slowly. After starting out with some mat-based locks Hero got frustrated and started striking. Gulak replied in kind. Elbows and knees became the norm from then on, both in and out of the ring. Things gradually escalated as various suplexes were dished out with increasing frequency before the two went back to striking in the form of hard slaps. The finish came out of nowhere: Hero simply picked a dazed Gulak up and Tombstoned him for the win.

After the match Hero put Gulak over as tough then went all bad guy and said him he was too out of it to know where he was. After reiterating that other wrestlers have to earn the right to say his name (the topic that got him so het up at EVOLVE 33) Hero found himself confronted by Biff Busick. Hero threw the injured Gulak into Busick then tried to cheap shot him. Busick fought him off and tried to apply the rear naked choke but Hero ran off through the crowd. Sadly he wasn't shown exiting through a random door. The use of Hero here was excellent.

Busick then helped Gulak to his feet and gave him a pally pat on the back. During the tag match Naylor and Adams had talked about the WWN tag division being in flux and requiring new teams. I suspect that's where Gulak and Busick are headed. To be honest far worse could be done with them.

Caleb Konley, sporting a new beard and a fresh haircut, was accompanied by Anthony Nese for his match opposite PJ Black (formerly WWE Superstar™ Justin Gabriel, obvs). They started out with some speedy rope running and headlock exchanges. It didn't take long to progress to more: they slipped out of the ring for Konley to take a tornado DDT before he took a super kick while performing the McGuinness corner headstand. After a trio of suicide dives from Black, Konley finally took the initiative when he hit the second mid-air Codebreaker of the night a Black springboarded into the ring. Back took a jumping yakuza kick, a back elbow and spinning back fist. Konley missed a springboard moonsault and Black responded by connecting with a top rope springboard moonsault.

Konley got a top rope hurricanrana. Black rolled through into a sunset flip-like pin for a two count. 'The Obsession' got a two count of his own with a fireman's carry into a Michinoku driver (once known as a One Night Stand) and a second with a version of the Liger bomb. Konley tried a superplex but Black fought him off and hung his opponent throat-first on the top rope. That stunned Konley and sent him sprawling down to the mat in position for a springboard 450 splash. PJ Black picked up his first EVOLVE win.

The Premier Athlete lads went to attack but Black escaped. Nese then cut a promo about how he has the best 450 splash in wrestling. Black stood in the aisle smiling then left as Nese called for Davey Richards. The crowd were pleased to see Richards, a significant difference to the hostility he received at EVOLVE 25 when he fell to AR Fox. I imagine this was a nice experience for Richards. I would have booed him had I been there though. Heckling Davey Richards is one of life's greatest pleasures.

They had a very, very good match. The early going saw Richards wrap up Nese with some submission holds and Nese heckling the crowd about his (admittedly impressive) abs. Outside the ring Nese took Richards' punt kick from the apron before managing to make him laugh by trying to escape into the crowd. The laughter continued when Richards did his knowingly terrible Rick Rude hip gyration. Nese survived a Haas of Pain then took Davey to the outside to give him a suicide dive, some loud chops, and throw him into crowd barricades and a girder.

Nese controlled the pace back in the ring until Richards got his knees up on a springboard moonsault attempt. Nese took a handspring enziguri and a super kick before attempting a superplex. Davey fought his way free of that but couldn't avoid being scooped into a fireman's carry and dropped into an Ace Crusher by Nese. That earned 'The Premier Athlete' a two count.

Richards went for a double stomp. Nese avoided then hit the move himself. Richards gave Nese some mid-section kicks, following up with an alarm clock and a lariat. Nese floored the Wolf with a drop kick before hitting his one arm buckle bomb. Richards avoided a 450 splash, scrabbling to his feet to boot Nese in the face and give him a top rope double stomp. Nese kicked out. Richards kicked him in the temple. Nese kicked out again. Richards locked in an over the head single leg crab for the tap out win just after the twenty-one minute mark. This was an ideal semi-main event: they put on a really good match but didn't overshadow the headlining acts.

Much has been made elsewhere of the technical issues presented by the cage. It took too long to set up. The door hung open. It wasn't fixed to the ring properly. I thought it was fine. It did the most important thing and stood up to two grown men being thrown into it. Watching on demand rather than streaming live I wasn't kept waiting long enough to become irritated. Would this have been different if I'd watched live? Possibly, although I understand that fixing a steel cage to a wrestling ring is not a quick process and I would have been happy to wait a fair old while.

I mention this because I want to make it clear that the use of a cage was a good thing. It's obviously not something that could or should be done by the league with any great degree of regularity but as an infrequent treat it's worth the wait. It really added something to the already vicious Strong versus Galloway feud. They made good use of what the cage allowed them to do. In addition to the usual assortment of backbreakers, big boots and stiffness usual from these two they implemented the regular cage-based offense before Galloway did a blade job and got battered by running knees against the cage.

This led to the finish, referee stoppage in favour of Strong. It was peculiar for what is essentially an anything goes, must-be-a-winner environment but it accomplished what it set out to, namely putting Roddy over and making Galloway and his championship reign look vulnerable for the first time in EVOLVE.

After the match PJ Black turned up to chase off Strong then challenged Galloway to make their match in San Jose a title match. Galloway accepted and then talked about how grateful he is for the opportunities he's had since being let go by WWE. He also did a lot of swearing and made the bold declaration that he only wants one championship in EVOLVE, throwing out the challenge for Johnny Gargano to face him in a unification match at WrestleMania weekend. WWN email updates since have intimated the unification bout will happen if Galloway and Gargano have their respective straps come the Mercury Rising supershow. The wording made it seem like a title change beforehand is possible, and that would be a very Sapolsky thing to do, but ultimately I think the unification match will happen.

All told EVOLVE 38 was a strong show. That it was so enjoyable without the involvement of stalwarts such as Johnny Gargano, Ricochet, Rich Swann, and Uhaa Nation (and, for that matter, Trent Baretta) shows that the group is more than a one star company, which is a very good thing in 2015. A strong roster is what modern pro wrestling fans want, not a weak card with two or three heavy hitters at the top (I'm looking at you, WWE). Based on what we saw here the WWN Live events at the end of the month (see here for details on them) should be real treats.

***

Results summary:

Biff Busick defeated Martin Stone
Team Tremendous defeated Earl Cooter and Jody Kristofferson
AR Fox defeated Matt Cage
Chris Hero defeated Drew Gulak
PJ Black defeated Caleb Konley
Davey Richards defeated Anthony Nese
Roderick Strong defeated Drew Galloway by referee stoppage

EVOLVE 33: Evolution's End review

The third and final show of EVOLVE’s August reboot weekend, subtitled Evolution’s End as a nod to the company’s new direction, was held in an open area behind a bar. Murals of various pop culture characters (including Ren and Stimpy, George Jetson, and the Koopa Kids) from yesteryear, a wasp, and Ganesha were daubed on the walls, and instead of the concrete of a rec centre or small arena the ground was dirt and stones. I say this not to belittle EVOLVE 33 but to try and paint the most accurate picture possible. It looked like the archetypal indy show.

That’s not that that’s necessarily a bad thing, and certainly not to say that it reflected the quality of the wrestling. What the show made up for in production values it made up for in solid wrestling. And as nobody watches these shows for their excellent production I think that’s fair enough.

Following a pair of short opening matches that saw Trevor Lee and Zane Riley defeat Jason Cade and Aaron Epic and The Juicy Product retain the FIP tag team titles against Dos Ben Dejoes the show proper got underway with Anthony Nese facing Lince Dorado. It was not especially substantial, Nese muscled Dorado around and got the quick win with single leg crab.

After the match Konley told everyone Su Yung was no longer with the Brand (he described her as “an incompetent slut”). Then he called out Chris Hero because he wanted to get their scheduled match out of the way so he and Nese could go partying. That’s how the Premier Athlete Brand rolls.

Hero controlled the match for a few minutes until a Nese distraction allowed Konley to take over with a drop kick. He targeted Hero's arm and gave him some jabs to the face, presumably to look like the disrespectful punk kid. Hero came back with some Misawa styled chops, his release suplex and some boots to the face on the apron. Because Hero loves a boot to the face.

Another Nese distraction allowed Konley to get a spinebuster and a Death Valley bomb. Hero kicked out. He kicked out again following Caleb’s double jump moonsault finisher. Hero then scored with a rolling boot, a rolling elbow, and two Death Blow elbows for the three. Changing things up form the previous two nights Hero headed backstage through the curtain instead of wandering out through the front door. That was presumably because he'd won.

After that the Style Battle Tournament wrapped up with the final two matches. The first was James Raideen and his power moves against Timothy Thatcher and his modern-flavoured British style. There were plenty of elbows on offer too. Raideen got his impressive lariat but couldn't manage the follow up power bomb because of the damage done throughout the bout to his arm. Thatcher countered a second lariat attempt into the Fujiwara armbar for the quick submission win. It was a good way of blending the styles together which, as noted in a previous review, was part of the point of the tournament.

The final round robin match was Biff Busick v Drew Gulak. The story going into the match was that if Gulak could win he’d draw level with Thatcher on points but win the tournament overall due to his victory over Thatcher at EVOLVE 31. Busick, having lost to Thatcher, could win the match but not the tournament, effectively casting him as the spoiler of the tourney for Gulak.

The pair put on a slow, “real fight” type match based around submission attempts and working over joints. It was very good and benefited from good placing on the show, the crowd having been warmed up enough to appreciate a more technical, less flashy contest. Busick won after a backslide after around twenty minutes.

That left Heather Lynn to announce that Busick had won the match but Thatcher had won overall because he'd beaten Busick head-to-head. Thatcher, who had watched from the entrance, celebrated. Busick looked annoyed. Luckily interviewer extraordinaire Joanna Rose was around to delve into the controversy. She told Thatcher he'd put in some tough battles and earned a style battle win. The crowd turned ugly, demanding a deciding match between Thatcher and Busick, which Busick was fully on board with.

Thatcher took measures to calm the crowd, telling them he’d happily have a deciding match at some point but that he wanted to thank people first. That was his opportunity to talk about the stars of EVOLVE’s past, as planned. Among the names he mentioned was Chris Hero. ‘The Knockout Artist’ took exception to this and stormed to the ring, where he told Thatcher he didn’t deserve to say his name because he hadn’t been around long enough. He then handed Thatcher a mic and booted him in the face. Then he shoved a referee and Death Blowed Gulak. Busick stood his crowd and, realising he couldn’t get the jump on him as he had with the other lads, Hero left. This time he walked out through a steel door in the wall that wasn’t shown before or after. The walking out through the front gimmick is excellent and something Hero should do all the time, especially if he can magically summon doors as he seemed to here.

I thought it was a good way of ending the tournament. It got over Thatcher and set up a number of matches for the future for him. It also further the Hero plot. Although he’s not been back to EVOLVE since it seems reasonable to assume he’ll return eventually. When he does he’ll have matches with Gulak and Thatcher waiting for him. Hero versus Thatcher could be particularly good.

EVOLVE champion Drew Galloway versus Open the Freedom Gate champion Ricochet was the semi-main event. They kicked things off with a variety of pinfall attempts and Galloway trying for his double arm DDT. Ricochet escaped that and worked the Scot’s injured leg, going so far as to bust out Jamie Noble’s old Trailer Hitch submission.

Galloway turned things around when he halted a headscissors attempt, slung Ricochet into the corner with a buckle bomb, and then hit a superplex. Ricochet came back with a 360 enziguri. His attempt to dive onto Galloway as Galloway recovered at ringside when he was caught and slung into a wall. Back in the ring ‘The Future of Flight’ slipped out of a supelx and blasted the EVOLVE champ with a Pele kick, a jab to the thigh, a weak-looking Superman punch, a Benadryller and a running Shooting Star press, a combo which only earned him a two count but would have worked as a credible finishing sequence.

Ricochet went for a springboard 450 to a standing Galloway (perhaps he wanted a 450 axe handle smash?) but got clotheslined. Outside the ring Galloway kicked ‘chet in the face and then threw him into a wall. Teasing a heelish attitude Galloway cleared punters out of their chairs and set Ricochet up for a power bomb from the apron. Naturally Ricochet fought out of that because there was no way he was taking a bump onto chairs piled on dirt and gravel. After kicking Drew back into the ring Ricochet connected with a 630 splash for the victory.

After the match Drew put Ricochet and the company over, thanking him for showing him how good he needs to be. Because Drew Galloway is a suck-up promo. That’s what we learned with this weekend of shows.

Then it was time for the Swann v Gargano grudge match. The story behind the feud: both Swann and Gargano were turned away by the DGUSA Japanese competitors when they asked about joining stables. So they, along with Chuck Taylor, formed Ronin and beat a lot of people. Gargano won the Open the Freedom Gate title and went mad during his reign, perceiving Swann as a weakness and turning on him.

The rules were… peculiar. Inside the ring they had to adhere to usual EVOLVE rules, releasing holds on rope breaks, not using weapons, and so. But outside the ring anything was legal. Which meant they could get disqualified for using a weapon in the ring but usually completely legally outside it. While these rules didn’t detract from the quality of the match they didn’t enhance it either. A regular street fight stipulation would have been far less confusing.

Even with the awkward rules it was a satisfying match. There were plenty of outside the ring spots to enjoy: a lawn dart into the wall; Gargano taking a ladder to the groin; Swann hitting Gargano with a bottle (which wasn’t a stunt bottle and came close to overstepping the mark for me, because Gargano could have been badly hurt); Swann lobbing chairs at Gargano; and ‘The Whole Shebang’ hitting a Tombstone piledriver off the commentary stage onto a chair.

In the ring the pair hit their signature spots and wrestled at a breakneck pace. But they were never in there for too long. The story they told was a good story. Gargano wasn't bothered about winning, he wanted to hurt Swann. Swann wanted to overcome Gargano to show he was the better man all along. It was simple and effective and played into their history with one another. Lenny Leonard deserves credit for doing a sterling job of explaining it all on commentary.

There was also a strong finishing sequence. Gargano grabbed a cinder block (this show took place around the time Seth Rollins developed a fondness for caving people’s heads in with crumbly cinder blocks in WWE) and tried to crush Swann’s skull on it with a chair. Swann escaped that and blasted Gargano with a Van Daminator and a piledriver on to the chair. Gargano was propped up on a ladder and Swann dove off the apron with a double stomp, then threw him into the ring and smashed him with a frog splash for the victory.

Su Yung, who had made her way to ringside during the second half of the fight, celebrated with Swann. They shared a kiss and then she swerved on him with a low blow! Yes, it was a setup all along! What a jezebel Su Yung is, bah gawd! The PAB ran out to the ring to beat Swann down. Gargano stood in the entrance, torn as to what to do, but ultimately decided to make the save. He helped send the PAB lads packing and then left.

Joanna  Rose got in the ring and asked Swann his thoughts. Which was probably the highlight of her stupidity across the weekend. The man had just been through a tough fight with a man he’d once been friends with and then betrayed by a woman he seemingly had feelings for. Obviously he wasn’t going to feel great after that. I know it’s not Rose’s fault that she was booked to interact with Swann at this point, but she could have found a better way of phrasing the question. Maybe by acknowledging everything he’d just been through?

Anyway, Swann said some stuff about Gargano I couldn't really make out before asking the audience if they thought he deserved an EVOLVE title shot. The crowd chanted “Swann!”, which I’d like to point out wasn’t technically a yes. Then he plugged the next show and left.

Minor niggles aside EVOLVE’s 31 to 33 weekend was top notch. There were a host of highlight matches across the shows and, pleasingly, the three main events were amongst them. It was nice to see newcomers being introduced in a strong fashion and matches being set up for the future too. Overall the weekend can be deemed nothing but a success. Good work on the relaunch, gang.

Results summary:

Trevor Lee and Zane Riley def Jason Cade and Aaron Epic

The Juicy Product def Dos Ben Dejoes

Anthony Nese def Lince Dorado

Chris Hero def Caleb Konley

Timothy Thatcher def James Raideen

Biff Busick def Drew Gulak

Ricochet def Drew Galloway

Rich Swann def Johnny Gargano

EVOLVE 32 review

The second show of EVOLVE’s reboot weekend kicked off with new champ Drew Galloway being introduced by Joanna Rose for an in-ring interview. Galloway explained that he’d chosen to wrestle his first non-WWE match in several years on an EVOLVE card was because he wanted to be surrounded by great talent, going on to say that EVOLVE 31 would not just be about the promotion’s rebirth but his as a performer.

It was a distinctly non-EVOLVE beginning to a show, but with it being a weekend all about tinkering with the tried and tested format that made sense. Galloway seemed better on the mic than he had the previous evening, but he still wasn’t anything special. He deserves points for trying at least.

Which is something that can’t be said for Joanna Rose. She seemed to have very little understanding across the entire weekend of how to perform her role as interviewer. She phrased questions in peculiar ways and was very quick to panto up her reactions. If she’s going to work for EVOLVE in the future it might be a nice idea for her to have a look at some tapes of wrestling interviewers who were actually good. Considering what she’s shown us so far I think Gene Okerlund is probably a good person for her to model herself on.

Anyway, this interview wrapped up with Galloway saying he’d be a fighting champion and that he’d defend his championship in his match opposite Anthony Nese. This brought out Nese, Caleb Konley and Su Yung for the match then and there. Nese worked over Galloway’s injured hamstring for the first several minutes of the match before Galloway managed to start fighting back. Until Su Yung got involved to distract him, natch.

After several minutes Galloway made another gutsy comeback, hitting a drop kick and a pop-up power bomb. Things picked up with both guys going for covers. Nese was particularly impressive, getting a tasty super kick, landing on his feet after a German suplex and immediately hitting a double stomp, and rolling through a double arm DDT attempt. It was Galloway who won though, rolling out of the way of a 450 splash and hitting a double arm DDT to retain his championship. It was a tidy opener, a far better choice than the opener for EVOLVE 31.

Rich Swann showed up to mock Nese for losing the match. Then he revealed Su Yung had spent the night with him. She looked embarrassed and ran backstage with Nese and Konley in hot pursuit.

With them gone Swann congratulated Drew on a "great" match (it was very good, I wouldn’t say great) and told him he wanted the championship. Swann had been scheduled to challenge Hero, you see, and Galloway’s title victory meant that that match would now be non-title. So... awk. Drew said he'd put the title on the line then and there but the ref intervened and told Swann it's all about rankings now and he'd have to win to get to Galloway and a title bout. Swann said he’d do just that.

It wasn't much of a segment but I liked it. It got over Swann's passion for the title, the new rankings system, and Drew's willingness to be a fighting champ. And it did so quickly and efficiently.

Match two was a Style Battle Tournament match pitting James Raideen (coming off a loss to Biff Busick the night before) against Drew Gulak (coming off a win over Timothy Thatcher the night before). Raideen jumped Gulak before the bell and gave him a battering before slapping on a lengthy headlong. A really lengthy headlock.

A chop-fest followed that. Gulak went for some submissions while Raideen stuck with a combo of power and wear down (rest) holds. Raideen controlled the majority of the match and won after a lariat (which Gulak kicked out of at one) and a power bomb. It was a fun match which did a good job of meshing the different styles of the two men. Which, y’know, is part of the point of the tournament.

The Style Battle tourney continued with Timothy Thatcher facing Biff Busick. As the match got underway commentator Lenny Leonard declared that Florida fans are starved for great wrestling. Was this a knock on TNA? NXT? It seemed a peculiar thing to say given that EVOLVE flogs old shows based off the fact that many of their roster members have progressed to WWE developmental.

The match was slower than the previous two. Thatcher worked over Busick's wrist and elbow, which included the use of a kimura. Busick worked the neck and back although he was on offence less than Thatcher. It was a modern counter wrestling match. It was very good, a believable match with a logical style. Thatcher escaped a vicious rear naked chance and won with a Fujiwara armbar. The pair shook hands afterwards.

Match four saw Caleb Konley return to the ring, this time to take on Johnny Gargano. He had Nese with him and boos recorded on his entrance music, which is just about the most indy thing ever. The crowd didn't care about him. They did care about Gargano though. It probably helped that he seemed excited to be there and in a babyface mood as opposed to the creepy uncle mood that had been more common from him for the previous year-plus.

They had a great match. It started with Konley in control before Gargano got annoyed and floored him with a spear. After some brawling outside the ring Konley took control (thanks to a Nese distraction) and worked over Gargano's neck. ‘The Whole Shebang’ got a spear and peppered Konley with punches and chops before spiking him with a slingshot DDT. Konley got a tornado DDT for two. Gargano fired back with a picture perfect suicide dive.

Back in the ring Gargano countered a Boston crab into a small package for a two count. On their feet they traded a crescent kick, a bicycle kick and a super kick before Gargano floored Konley with a discus clothesline. 'The Obsession' got a Death Valley bomb off the top rope, with the crowd going nuts when Gargano kicked out. Konley went for the Oh! Face but found it countered into the Gargano Escape. Konley countered that into a pinning predicament.

Nese shouted that Gargano was a nobody, which got Gargano worked up. He spat at Nese, which, despite it being disgusting, the audience seemed to adore. Fired up, the former Open the Freedom Gate champ slung Konley on the top rope, presumably in preparation of a big finishing move. But Nese distracted him again, allowing Konley to shove him to the mat, hit the double jump moonsault and get the win. Which marked the second big singles win of the year for Konley on a WWN show, the first being his singles victory over AR Fox at EVOLVE 30.

After the match Konley took a mic and said the victory meant nothing. Gragano had been the golden boy and a two year champ, but Konley felt that Gargano was washed up. It was a good sentiment but didn’t have the best delivery. Still, it set up an issue between Gargano and The Premier Athlete Brand, which could lead to some exciting matches. So overall it as another hit.

Chris Hero v Rich Swann followed that. Gargano again tried to jump Swann as he entered the ring. Swann punched him and refs took him backstage. The match was another slow starter. Hero controlled the pace, outmanoeuvring Swann and muscling him around, with the commentary team playing up Hero's size and experience. Hero became progressively more aggressive as Swann survived bigger and tougher strikes.

This led to Hero throwing Swann out of the ring and lamping him with elbows and boots before rolling back into the ring to take a count out win. Swann guy back into the ring at nineteen and was immediately met with a drop kick. He managed to get back to his feet, hitting Hero with some strikes, a leaping neck breaker, a run-up back heel kick, a head scissors and a hurricanrana to the floor.

A frog splash got Swann a two count. He attempted a rolling frog splash but Hero booted him in the head, elbowed him and hit a second boot. Swann kicked out but couldn't return to his feet. Hero kicked him in the ribs and smirked, then hit a release suplex, the roaring elbow and a Death Blow. By this point the crowd were firmly behind Swann and booing ‘The Knockout Artist’.

Swann fired up as Hero taunted him, hitting three ace crushers. He attempted a 450 splash but was met with knees and a small package… which he reversed for the win. After the match Swann rolled to the outside and Hero lightly slapped referee Jamie Tucker’s head. He threatened an elbow before leaving through the front door as Joanna Rose shouted that everyone wanted answers. Her wooden performance couldn't detract from this being the match of the night: great story, reminded everyone that Swann’s a guy who won't give up, and showed us Hero's going to the dark side (in EVOLVE at any rate).

The Open the Freedom Gate championship match headlined the card: Ricochet defending against Matt Sydal. It was a predictably excellent match, very fast with lots of counters. It even had a sprinkling of comedy at the start. For me it didn't quite beat the previous match for best of the night honours because it didn't have as strong a story. It was the right match to close with though, because as good as Hero v Swann was it was not a main event story. Ricochet won with a Benadryller followed up with a 630 splash.

The champs are here.

After the match Joanna asked Ricochet how he felt. He gave her a kiss on the check and said he's the best in DG USA, DG Japan, the best in EVOLVE, and the best in FIP and he doesn't he wrestle there. He said anyone in the back who disagreed should come out. He talked about how he wasn't impressed with Drew as Drew wandered out and stepped into the ring. The EVOLVE champ gave the Open the Freedom Gate champ some applause and called him cocky. Then he put over the following evening's match (Galloway v Ricochet) and said they'd steal the show. Would they manage that? Stay tuned…

Results summary:

Drew Galloway def Anthony Nese

James Raideen def Drew Gulak

Timothy Thatcher def Biff Busick

Caleb Konley def Johnny Gargano

Rich Swann def Chris Hero

Ricochet def Matt Sydal

EVOLVE 31 review

All the way back in August (no idea how it’s taken so long to get to writing about this) EVOLVE ran a trio of shows in Florida that were marketed as the beginning of the group’s second chapter. Almost a soft, reboot and jumping on point, should you care to think of it that way. It was a good idea. The problems booker Gabe Sapolsky has had getting Dragon Gate guys has resulted in him increasingly relying on the EVOLVE brand name. While EVOLVE shows have rarely been less than satisfying they have also mostly been known as the shows Sapolsky books on which Japanese stars do not appear.

The August weekend was used to make tweaks to the EVOVLE formula and showcase some new names. Chief among the newcomers were Drew Galloway and Matt Sydal, both previously of WWE. The new formula was not explained in depth on any of the three shows, leading me to believe things were being kept vague for some creative wiggle room later (which is fair enough). What we were told, amongst talk of mini-seasons and analogies to college football, was that each set of shows will create a rankings system based on a number of factors (such as wins and losses, quality of opposition, speed and method of victory, and so on) which will determine title contenders and match-ups for the next batch of shows. It seems simple and appealing enough and by all accoutns it seems to be working for them.

EVOLVE 31 kicked off with the first of two Style Battle Tournament matches, pitting Timothy Thatcher against Drew Gulak. It took a while to get going thanks to its lengthy feeling out process but it was good once it built up a little steam. That said it was not the ideal opener. A lively or wild match is what’s needed in the opening spot and this was neither.

Both men worked towards submissions, with Gulak applying the best-looking bow and arrow I’ve ever seen. He would eventually get the submission victory with a grapevine ankle lock.

The second Style Battle match saw Biff Busick defeat newcomer James Raideen, a meaty lad with a straggly mullet from New Zealand. They worked a match stuffed with chops, slaps, big boots, and aggressively applied rest holds. Busick overcame Raideen’s torture rack and impressive lariat and applied a half stranglehold to make Raideen pass out.

Match three was a six man tag pairing Lince Dorado with Dos Ben Dejoes to face The Juicy Product and newcomer to EVOLVE Jesus de Leon. The most notable thing about de Leon is that he was doing a Saiyan gimmick, complete with eye-mounted power scanner. Also worth mentioning is that the Juicy lads had three tag titles each. Among them were the CZW and FIP straps.

It was an action-packed match. Highlights included a hurricanrana from the apron by JT Dunn, a power bomb into de Leon’s knees by David Starr, a twirling DDT by Jay Cruz, a springboard moonsault by Dorado, and a great near fall off a super kick, a German suplex, and a splash by the heel trio. Dorado rolled de Leon up for the win. It should have gone on first. It would have made the ideal opener.

Matt Sydal v Johnny Gargano took a surprising amount of time to get going. Gargano kept things slow to begin with, begging off whenever Sydal began picking up the pace, sometimes slapping on a submission.  Notably he put a halt to Sydal’s first high-flying spot of the match. That showed us that Gargano was every bit the equal of the former WWE Superstar™, exactly as it was designed to.

Sydal eventually got rolling with a series of kicks, a headlock bulldog and a standing shooting star press. A series of rollups was followed by a Gargano spike DDT. Sydal escaped a piledriver on the apron but seconds later got caught by a Gargano suicide dive. Sydal countered Gargano's spear with a knee and worked him over with kicks. They exchanged super kicks (Gargano) and jumping spin kicks (Sydal) but neither took the other off his feet.

Gargano power bombed Sydal and lawn darted him into a corner for two. Sydal got a corner lariat but ‘The Whole Shebang’ grabbed a hold of his arm and applied a modified Hurts Donut from the corner. Sydal got leaping top rope hurricanrana and followed up with a top rope SSP to win a top notch match. 

Gargano was joined by English wench Joanna Rose after the match. She asked Gargano for a moment of his time. Gargano responded by grabbing the microphone and going on a rant about hating Rich Swann and wanting the Open the Freedom Gate title back. He promised to end Swann for costing him the title (which Swann didn’t really do, but whatevs) and making his life hell (I can't speak for the quality of Gargano's life). Joanna Rose disappeared seconds into this.

The Inner City Machine Guns v Premier Athlete Brand match was announced as a grudge match. That was stretching things. In what would be a theme across the weekend Gargano did a run-in during the Swann and Ricochet entrance and got decked by Swann and escorted backstage. The PAB then jumped the Guns (no pun intended) to get the bout started. It was a good call, ensuring the match started off hot rather than building slowly as three of the four earlier bouts had done.

Nese and Konley controlled Ricochet for a minute or two before he managed a tag to Swann. The faces did some fast paced offence, tagging frequently, and the fans ate it up. A highlight of this portion was a modified Rolling Thunder. That’s always nice to see. Ricochet also did a People's Moonsault, a nice, harmless bit of fun.

Ultimately the Brand lads managed to turn the tide and Nese got in to slow the pace down. Swann was isolated, because he's the smaller man and takes a better beating. Plus it's probably best not to have your top title holder get worked over in a doubles outing unless you’re going to have him pinned to set up a new challenger.

By this point Su Yung was on distraction duty. Ivelisse wandered round to sort her out and even the score. Because that’s what Ivelisse does on EVOLVE shows when she doesn’t have a match, she keeps her peepers glued to Sun Yung. In the ring Swann eventually got the tag to Ricochet after kicking Konley in the face. Ricochet cleaned up with a power slam and a tope to Konley and an ace crusher to Nese. Konley came back with a deadlift German suplex. Ricochet responded to that with a float over northern lights suplex into a deadlift stalling suplex.

Following a pair of tags Nese kneed Swann in the head and power bombed him for two. ‘The King of Swerve’ (that’s Swann, not Vince Russo) hit an inverted suplex and rolled into a dragon sleeper. A series of saves and counters led to all four being down on the mat the audience dutifully applauding. After getting back to their feet Swann and Konley traded blows before the Guns hit a series of double team moves on Nese for two.

After more back and forth Konley wiped out Ricochet by throwing him into some ringside chairs. The Brand then hit a buckle bomb and enziguri combo on Swann, followed by a Konley Death Valley bomb and a Nese 450 splash for the victory in the match of the night.

After the match Nese and Konley gave Su Yung a stern talking to. Swann took a mic and told her not to hang around a “pair of dicks.” She was then invited to party all night long with her. "Hey, babe! Ditch those two needlessly aggressive heels for a babyface chauvinist!" Great message. In fairness Su Yung didn’t look as appalled as she has by this sort of thing in the past, so maybe it worked. Or perhaps it was the beginning of a setup…

The main event saw Drew Galloway face the approximately 350 pound EVOLVE champion Chris Hero. It was originally announced as non-title but Hero changed that before the match. Because Hero’s all about defending titles, yo. They put on a great show, producing an engaging match that kept moving along at a steady pace. They did a bit of everything: starting with chain wrestling and exchanging mat holds before progressing to bigger moves and mixing in some striking and outside of the ring antics.

The finish came after Galloway slipped out of a Death Blow attempt and dropped Hero with a double arm DDT. After the match Galloway told Hero he respected him and requested a handshake. Hero responded by wandering into the crowd and walking out of the front door. Drew then cut a promo that didn't floor me when I first saw it in August and didn't manage it a second time. The fans responded though, and it was the right (pro-EVOLVE and pro-pro wrestling) message to close the show with. So it wasn't completely bad. But I still think Joanna Rose should have been kept from making a contribution.

As the opening night of a three show weekend EVOLVE 31 was very good. Gargano v Sydal and The Premier Athlete Brand v The Inner City Machine Guns were both excellent and the main event was solid. While neither of the first to matches were bad I do think they were hurt by going on so early, which stopped the card from being as satisfying as it could have been.

Results summary:

Drew Gulak def Timothy Thatcher
Biff Busick def James Raideen
Dos Ben Dejos and Lince Dorado def The Juicy Product and Jesus de Leon
Matt Sydal def Johnny Gargano
The Premier Athlete Brand def The Inner City Machine Guns
Drew Galloway def Chris Hero to win the EVOLVE championship