EVOLVEing Teams

EVOLVE 38 featured one tag team match. Team Tremendous, consisting of Dan Barry and Bill Carr, took on Earl Cooter and Jody Kristofferson, managed by Larry Dallas. Both teams were new to EVOLVE. During the match the commentators made a point of referencing the current slenderness of the promotion's doubles scene, albeit with the euphemistic "transitional phase" line to imply that fresh teams are coming.

The low number of teams in EVOLVE has been an issue for a while. At the start of 2014 the Young Bucks made their final appearance for the company, bringing their rivalry with the Bravado brothers to an abrupt close. Lancelot and Harlem inherited the spot of top team by default. There were simply no other tandems available. They spent the majority of the rest of the year working with The Colony and fellow heels the Premier Athlete Brand.

I thought (still think, in fact) the Bravados were underrated in EVOLVE. They weren't the best tag team ever but they were reliable and had a good range of double team moves. Their losing effort against Uhaa Nation and AR Fox at EVOLVE 36 was a good example of the level they could perform at (and how far they've come since their days as perennial losers in Ring of Honor). They were also clearly dedicated to being a unit. With so many guys thrown together to work as teams these days that was particularly nice to see.

Sadly it seems that the Bravados are gone from EVOLVE. They and Moose lost a Losing Faction Must Split match to the reformed Ronin at EVOLVE 37 and were neither booked for or mentioned at EVOLVE 38. They haven't been announced for any of the WWN shows over WrestleMania weekend either. Which leaves EVOLVE without their most consistent team.

Finding relevant pictures of EVOLVE performers is tough.

In fact if we discount the two teams that debuted at the most recent show EVOLVE has exactly one tag team: the Premier Athlete Brand combo of Anthony Nese and Caleb Konley. They're a good pairing who work well together, complement one another's styles, and who seem to be keener on becoming a proper team than I would have guessed when they first won the Open the United Gate straps back in September of last year. But they can't make a division by themselves. They need opponents. Even if Team Tremendous join Kristofferson and Cooter in getting regular EVOLVE gigs three teams are not enough to make a compelling, layered division. Last year taught us that.  

The good news is that there are teams available to EVOLVE. Davey Richards' short notice appearance and Austin Aries' upcoming WWN Supershow match tell us TNA talent are able to appear on the company's iPPVs. Roderick Strong's work with the group tells us that select ROH guys are able to negotiate more flexible contracts should they have the desire (although this is presumably something only open to those who are considered important enough to be kept happy). Plus there are notable teams that work elsewhere who don't work for EVOLVE at all.

The Colony would be ideal, for example. They proved reliable and popular during their appearances last year. The Super Smash Brothers were semi-regulars in the early years of the promotion. They wouldn't make the worst additions in the world. For that matter Ethan Page and Josh Alexander's Monster Mafia were enjoyable in their appearances for the promotion last year. And all three teams have the added bonus of being babyfaces. That makes them ever so slightly easier to utilise than heel pairings.

There's potential on the current roster too. Rich Swann and Chuck Taylor could be used as a regular pairing as part of Ronin's comeback. Alternatively Swann could be teamed with Ricochet as the Inner City Machine Guns. Their styles mesh better but there's the problem of 'ochet being pulled from shows at short notice by Lucha Underground (they get priority on Ricochet's booking and can pull him in at short notice for television tapings). It's a pity that Uhaa Nation's NXT bound, he and Fox have worked well together in their sporadic appearances as a team.

Biff Busick and Drew Gulak have potential as a tag team (as noted in my EVOLVE 38 review). Having them form a team would be another way to raise their profiles and their style would make for a different sort of tag team match. It would be interesting to see how they work together and what they could do in a tag environment. There are even two obvious portmanteau names for them: Team Bulak and Team Gusick. That in itself is reason enough to pair them up!

The financial boat could really be pushed out and The Wolves could be pencilled in for a stretch of shows. Richards went down well as a singles performer on March 8, there's nothing to indicate he'd be any less popular alongside Eddie Edwards. Having them win the Open the United Gate championship, even for a couple of weeks or months, could really elevate the titles. The same goes for bringing in Austin Aries to work more frequently as Generation Next with Roderick Strong.

The potential is there for EVOLVE to have a good tag team division. If they're going to bother having tag team titles they might as well aspire to having a good division too. Some of the fixes are cheaper and easier than others but whichever approach was chosen the result would almost certainly be worthwhile. Creating a decent tag division would make the seemingly inevitable renaming of the Open the United Gate championship to the EVOLVE tag team championship have a greater chance of meaning something.

EVOLVE 37 review

Despite being accidentally kicked in the head by Drew Galloway at the end of the previous evening’s show Heather Lynn was in the ring when the EVOLVE 37 stream started up. She introduced the show before coming over all woozy and in need of a sit down. Joanna Rose replaced her to handle the intros of the first match. If she wasn’t able to speak why did Lynn bother to turn up? I mean, yes, obviously it was to get over the kick she’d taken from Galloway, which in turn reminded everyone that Roderick Strong is a bit of a cad, but in real life terms why did she attend the show?  

Shane Strickland was in the opening match for the second night in a row. Also for the second night in a row he was wrestling a champion. This time it was a non-title contest with Open the United Gate champion Anthony Nese. Before the match Nese introduced the new Director of PR for the Premier Athlete Brand, So Cal Val. Then he demoted Su Yung to Val's assistant. Because that’s how business works in wrestling. Val would immediately start issuing order to Su and they would bicker throughout the match. I wonder if this development will lead to a match or feuding factions or anything...

Strickland and Nese had a good opening match. As was the case the night before Strickland was given plenty to do to make him look competitive. Nese won after flattening Strickland with a pump handle bomb and applying the single leg crab. At Val’s request Su Yung took a picture of the rest of the gang after the match. 

Timothy Thatcher v Roderick Strong was preceded by Strong being disingenuous with a microphone. He apologised to Heather Lynn for what Drew Galloway did to her the night before, failing to acknowledge it was his fault. But he’s a heel, that’s what they do. He said he wasn't going to kick Galloway around the building again but that he'd give Thatcher a kicking. Lenny Leonard explained that Strong and Galloway had been told they’d face heavy fines if they interacted in any way during the show.

Thatcher took Strong down to the mat and worked over his arm at the start of the match. Strong took Thatcher down and targeted his leg. They worked through pinning situations and submission holds, ending with a Strong dragon suplex which thatcher bridged out of and turned into an armbar. Roddy escaped that and took a breather at ringside.

Thatcher swatted aside a drop kick and connected with uppercuts before they went back down to the mat. Strong elbowed and kneed Thatcher, trying again and again to get a pin in place for the three count but not managing it. Thatcher tried a cross armbreaker but Strong quickly slipped out and ran Thatcher into a corner. Thatcher fought out and worked Strong down to the mat with armbar applied. Strong used the ropes to get a break then left the ring again. Thatcher followed and got run into a ring post.

A drop kick welcomed Thatcher back to the ring. He fired back with chops and uppercuts but another drop kick floored him for a two count. Strong went for the Stronghold but couldn't turn Thatcher over so he cornered him and hit him with a running knee and a forearm instead. Thatcher got up and went back to his forearms before dropping Roddy with a suplex. Strong slipped out of a Tower of London attempt and got a German suplex. Thatcher got back to his feet and hit more uppercuts before Strong floored him with a roundhouse.

Thatcher absorbed chops in the corner, hit an enziguri, then hit a superplex. Back on their feet Roddy battered Thatcher with punches before being spun down to the mat with an arm bar, which he floated through to apply the Stronghold. When Roddy turned Thatcher onto his back to drag him away from the ropes Thatcher kicked him off, rolling him up in a small package as he bounced off the ropes for a two count. That was a great false finish.

Roddy hit a high knee and reversed out of a suplex attempt to hit a rolling elbow. Thatcher hit a head butt, yet more uppercuts, and knees then blasted Strong with a butterfly suplex. Strong kicked out but he was immediately trapped in a Fujiwara armbar. Unable to make it to the ropes and trapped in a painful hold Strong could do nothing but tap out. It was a big win for Thatcher and was talked up as such by Leonard and Niemi on commentary.

After the match Thatcher reminded everyone that he won the style battle tournament last time he was in Florida for WWN. He asked for a match with Chris Hero, who’d kicked him in the head the same night he won the tournament. Hero wasn’t there to respond but I imagine we’ll be seeing that match.

Match three pitted Trevor Lee against AR Fox. They had a lightning quick two minute exchange before the match was called to a halt when Fox took a nasty fall outside the ring and started bleeding from the eye. It's a shame it didn't get to go longer based on the first few minutes but it was a legitimate injury so they did the right thing calling the match off (it was announced prior to the main event that Fox was fine). A rematch on one of the 'Mania weekend cards would be nice to see.

On paper Biff Busick v Uhaa Nation looked like an unappealing clash of styles. It practice it was a lively, enjoyable encounter. They began with Uhaa getting the best of some lockups and then beating Busick in a test of strength (which Busick had foolishly instigated). They traded the advantage throughout the match, building towards a marvellous final few minutes.

Uhaa hit a Death Valley driver and started the Uhaa Combination. He made it all the way through the sequence but was met with Busick’s knees as he performed the standing shooting star press. Busick rolled him up for a very convincing two count. Uhaa was immediately locked in the rear naked choke as he kicked out. Uhaa staggered to his feet with Busickstill clutching at him and threw up over his body to break the hold.

A pop-up power bomb and a second, regular, power bomb got Uhaa a two count. Busick rolled onto the apron and got caught with a deadlift second rope suplex, hooking Uhaa for another pin as they landed. Uhaa again kicked out and levelled Busick with a bicycle kick. Busick slipped out of a gorilla press and pulled Uhaa down to the mat in a rear naked choke for a submission victory. The result, like many across the weekend, did Busick a lot of good. That’s what happens when wrestling shows don’t casually dismiss the importance of winning and losing. Take note WWE and TNA.

They shook hands after the match. The crowd changed "We will miss you!" at Busick, acknowledging the rumours that he’s heading to WWE. Busick downplayed the chant and announced that he had a problem with Timothy Thatcher calling out Chris Hero. His beef seemed to be that he’s proven he can beat Thatcher so Thatcher should be concerned with him, not Hero. He challenged Hero to a match at WWN Live in San Jose. Something tells me that will be accepted.

A non-title victory over EVOLVE champion Drew Galloway at EVOLVE 33 had earned Ricochet a title shot. He got it here, kicking the match off with a bang as he super kicked Galloway during the ring introductions. Galloway floored him with a big boot seconds later, just as he had done to Strong the night before.

They went out into the crowd, fighting beyond the guard rail and over to the wall of the arena. There they did a fun little spot with Galloway back dropping Ricochet only for Ricochet to hold onto to a basketball hoop, spin around, and hurricanrana the champ. Continuing the flashiness Ricochet ran up the wall for a body block on Galloway. But Galloway caught him and smacked him into the wall. Sooner or later the EVOLVE roster will pick up on the fact that Galloway is larger than all of them and they’ll stop trying to brawl with him.

Back in the ring Ricochet kicked Galloway’s hand, which had been injured the night before, and then started targeting it with stomps, heelish twisting and a shooting star press. Taunting earned Ricochet a series of forearms and lariats. Galloway blocked a Regalplex and German suplexed ricochet into a turnbuckle. Ricochet came back with a roundhouse kick, the Regalplex and a running SSP for a two count.

Galloway was pulled into position for a top rope shooting star press but he got to his feet and crotched ricochet on the top rope before he could hit it. He belly-to-belly suplexed Ricochet down into the ring before hitting him with an inverted Alabama Slam. Ricochet countered the double arm DDT into the floatover northern lights suplex, followed by a brainbuster, but it wasn't enough to earn him a three count.

Galloway avoided another attempt at the top tope SSP, blocked a Benadryller and then backhanded Ricochet with his splinted finger. He screamed at the referee that it wasn't intentional before very much intentionally booting the challenger in the head and giving him a double arm DDT for the win. The champion tried to check on Ricochet after the match but Ricochet shrugged him off. Galloway clearly wasn't that cut up because he immediately started posing with his belt and started yelling into the camera.

The Bravado brothers and Moose v Ronin was the main event. The stipulation was that the losing team would never ever get to team again (like, for total realsies). It was a peculiar ruling to have. The Ronin trio hadn't teamed (on a WWN show at least) in years and the Bravados and Moose aren't really known for being a trio. It lessened the impact the stipulation could have had, unless of course it was meant that no combination of the losing team could team could compete as a double or triple act. But that wasn’t made clear, which was probably a deliberate booking choice.

The match started with all six men brawling around ringside. The highlight of this portion was Moose power bombing Swann at Gargano and Taylor. The match was disappointingly light on moments that got over Moose’s power.

Swann was the first man to get isolated. A good decision considering his ability to draw people into his performances and make them believe he’s hurt. Once he tagged out the pace quickened and the tag aspect of the bout was quietly dropped for a bit so that everyone could work in their “cool” spots. Again the highlight of this part of the match involved Moose: he gave Gargano a Samoan drop at the same time as giving Swann a fall away slam.

The beginning of the end came when Harlem tagged himself in as Moose ran the ropes for a dive onto Ronin. ‘The Offensive Line’ stared at his charge, they had a few words, and then Harlem lashed out with a slap. Moose Death Valley bombed him onto Ronin, who were still chilling at ringside, then took out both Bravados with a dive from the ring. It wasn't made clear whether Ronin had moved or if Moose had been aiming for the Bravados. This set up Harlem to take a double stomp onto an assisted DDT, followed by a Hurts Donut from Gargano and a match-winning frog splash from Swann.

After the Bravados had limped backstage Gargano announced they'd never be allowed to team again. Again, this wasn’t made clear before the match so I’m fully expecting a Grandma Bravado mention that results in Harlem and Lancelot being allowed to continue teaming. Then he retracted his statement from the night before that he was the face of WWN. Apparently in the time since that statement he’d realised that every member of the roster and every fan is the face of the company. The Open the Freedom Gate champ finished up by saying he'd do everything he could to make his prize the most meaningful in wrestling. 

That caught the attention of Drew Galloway, who sauntered out to the ring to join Ronin. He announced that he shared Gargano's sentiment about the faces of WWN but disagreed about the title situation. He said DGUSA was dead and his belt was more important. The two champions held their belts up and glared at one another. Then they stopped. Then they took turns holding their belts up and got in one another's faces. Champion versus champion seems like a safe bet at this point.

Despite only having two shows to work with a lot was packed into the weekend and several threads were left dangling, ready to be picked up again in San Jose during WrestleMania weekend. The talk of there being a face of WWN felt like it could go somewhere, with Galloway, Gargano and Ricochet all having been established across the weekend as men who could stake a claim to the title. As part of that I’d expect the san Jose shows to feature Galloway and gargano in a champion versus champion match.

The behaviour of Drew Galloway across the two shows and the situations he found himself in felt like the start of a textbook Gabe Sapolsky storyline. I hope it gets to play out and isn't hindered by Galloway's debut for TNA. Whether it’s going in the direction of Galloway turning bad or being thought of as a fluke champion or somewhere else entirely I’d like to see it play out in full.

Stuff with Busick, Thatcher and Hero was also set up for the San Jose shows. Plus there’s the question of what the Bravados will do after their split-enforcing loss and where the Premier Athlete Brand will go with So Cal Val and Su Yung at one another’s throats. With only two shows to play with to set up a big block of shows I think Gabe Sapolsky outdid himself. And I think the roster did well with everything they were given. As they almost always do.

***

Results summary:

Anthony Nese defeated Shane Strickland
Timothy Thatcher defeated Roderick Strong
Trevor Lee defeated AR Fox via referee stoppage
Biff Busick defeated Uhaa Nation
Drew Galloway defeated Ricochet to retain the EVOLVE championship
Ronin defeated Moose and the Bravado brothers

WWN Live in Beijing review

The reported attendance for the final night of the WWN’s tour of China was 10,500.Even if that was inflated (and this is wrestling so there’s a very good chance it was) that’s a far cry from the average turn out for an EVOLVE, Shine or FIP card. Even on WrestleMania weekends the company comes nowhere close to attracting even half of that number. So in terms of opening up a fresh market and getting a good attendance number the WWN tour’s final offering was a success.

Pleasingly it was also a success in the ring. The show kicked off with new FIP champion Rich Swann defending against his buddy AR Fox. Well, it kicked off with that after the ridiculously long entrances were done and dusted. Even Fox seemed to get a lengthier entrance than usual. The show had fifteen minutes on the clock before the two even locked up.

Swann got in the first major move when he turned Fox upside down with a drop kick. The challenger came back with a springboard drop kick to Swann and followed up with a nice tope and a split-legged senton. Swann fought out of a sleeper (hey, it was a pacey exchange and they needed a breather) only to be floored with a cross between a Flatliner and a DDT that Fox should think about introducing as a regular move. It was far more impressive than Low Mein Pain.

Fox leapt to the top rope to try something but ended up taking a hurricanrana from the champ. After a brief exchange of right hands Swann scored with an scissor kick and a rolling senton. Fox came back with the twirling brainbuster. Swann got a Lethal Injection and went for a frog splash. Fox rolled out of the way and clambered to the top rope to go for a Swanton bomb. That was also avoided and Swann took another stab at hitting his frog splash. It worked out better for him on the second attempt: he connected and got the three count for his first successful FIP title defence.

As Swann and Fox posed together they were attacked by the Bravado brothers. They gave Fox a Gentlemen's Agreement and did some posing of their own before Johnny Gargano turned up to chase them off. He shook hands with Fox and shared a little nod of respect with Swann before being thanked for his help by Lacey and the Chinese host. Gargano told them the Bravados were jerks (strong words, right?) and said that he’d “had” to help. More importantly he said he was focused on winning the Open the Freedom Gate title in the main event (as well as the infinitely less important Beijing Cup).

Match number two pitted Valkyrie teammates Su Yung and Allysin Kay against each other. Being the smaller, and therefore more sympathetic, of the pair Su Yung played the valiant underdog babyface while Kay played the bullying heel.

Yung ducked in and out of the ring at the start of the match but was caught soon enough. Kay then spent the majority of the match very convincingly pulverising her. In the closing moments Su began getting her act together but was haulted when Kay suffered an eye injury. That turned out to be a swerve when Kay got her in a schoolboy rollup to win.

Jody Kristofferson v Chuck Taylor came next. It was another loss for Kristofferson, again by count out. Despite the losses he suffered on every one of the supershows I enjoyed Kristofferson's work. And he was portrayed as someone who could handle some of EVOLVE's bigger names but who wasn't experienced enough get the win over them. I’d like to see more of him on EVOLVE cards. For the record Earl Cooter took another pasting after the match.

In an odd move Biff Busick and Timothy Thatcher faced off again. They'd last done so four nights earlier on the Chengdu show. In theory there's nothing wrong with the two facing off twice on the same tour but it did feel a little off. I think it’s because there were no other repeat matches.

As was the case in Chengdu they didn't get the length of time I'd expected. They did put on another very good match though. And it was notably different to their previous encounters, with the top rope being used and the two men swapping around the body parts they were concentrating on. Busick ended up tapping to Thatcher's armbar. They shook hands after the match.

Ivelisse Velez's Shine championship defence against Mia Yim followed that. After a feeling out process in which the two swapped the advantage and showed how evenly matched they were the challenger got the first big move with a top rope arm drag. Velez responded with a super kick, a top rope hurricanrana, a kick to the face from the apron and a tornado DDT.

Yim got in some kicks and applied a leg lock. Velez reversed into an Indian death lock and then a Haas of Pain (which was nice to see). She released that quickly, creating a moment that would have benefited from a commentator acknowledging how tough the hold is to keep applied.

After taking an Exploder suplex Yim German suplexed Velez into a turnbuckle and then applied a bow and arrow. That too was released fairly quickly, with Velez taking the opportunity to catch Yim in The Undertaker’s version of the gogoplata. Yim gradually worked her way up to her feet before ramming the champion into a buckle.

They exchanged chops and then got roundhouses at the same time. Back on their feet Velez bulldogged Yim before Yim recovered and knocked her down with kicks to the face and a drop kick. Velez managed to throw her out of the ring and hit a hurricanrana from the apron. When made it back into the ring she was immediately hit with a spinning instep kick for two.

When Velez went to the top Yim cut her off, back dropping her to the mat and scoring an iffy-looking 450 (which hit Velez’s knees and was sold as though it had been a lot more impactful) for a two count. Velez escaped the package piledriver and got in some slaps. An attempted top rope move from Velez backfired when Yim grabbed her and successfully hit the package piledriver to win the Shine championship.

Fittingly this was the best women's match of the tour. The audience seemed to enjoy it well enough but Velez and Yim still deserved more from them. After the match the two shook hands and hugged. A bit of bad grace surfaced in the former champ when she tried grabbing the title belt and leaving with it. Yim told Lacey and the Serious Chinese Host that it was special to be champion. She said she'd be back (presumably in China) to defend the gold.

The penultimate match of the night saw the Bravado brothers and The Colony challenging the Premier Athlete Brand for the Open the United Gate championships in a three-way elimination match. It was a natural tag match to end on as both challenging teams had had title shots on previous shows, but it did slightly devalue the belts to be defended against the same assortment of guys across four shows.

The first fall was fought between The Colony and the Bravado boys. Fire Ant hit a crisp tilt-a-whirl headscissors and a a tornado DDT on Harlem and both Ants got suicide dives but it wasn’t enough to get them the first pinfall. Harlem caught Fire Ant on the top rope and gave him a sit out power bomb. That was followed by Gentlemen's Agreement to send The Colony backstage.

As they had two nights earlier The Brand played the faces opposite the challengers. After an initial flurry Barreta was isolated and worked over with such villainous moves as back rakes, rope chokes, and the dreaded Bandwagon double elbow. He once again impressed with his ability to sell convincingly.

After a blown spot where the referee forgot he was meant to be distracted by Konley to allow the Bravados to drag Barreta back to their corner Konley tagged in. He got a solid reaction from the crowd as he fired through the heels. The four repeated their spot from a few nights earlier with the Bravados double suplexing Konley and Barreta slipping in at the last second to power bomb them. It got a bigger reaction here, but it was still a little cheeky of them to recycle a spot on back-to-back pay-per-views.

Once everyone was back on their feet Barreta went for the Murray knee but got clotheslined. Konley ate an enziguri and a German suplex and the Bravados signalled for the Gentlemen's Agreement. ‘The Obsession’ fought them off, back dropped Lancelot out of the ring, shoved Harlem into Barreta's Gobstopper, and then pinned him with the double jump moonsault. The closing moments really elevated the quality of the match. I’d like Konley and Barreta to get more chances to team.

The tour culminated with Ricochet defending the Open the Freedom Gate championship against Johnny Gargano in a rematch from April’s Open the Ultimate Gate. For the record Ricochet won there, capturing the gold and ending Gargano's twenty-eight-plus month title reign. Oh, this match was for the Beijing cup too. That's a real prize right there.

They took a while to get going, milking the crowd and going through some basic exchanges before Ricochet got a headscissors and a drop kick. They avoided one another’s moves outside the ring and on the apron before Gargano got his spear through the ropes. He followed up with a snapmare, something Ricochet would do back to him a few minutes later.

As Ricochet turned the tables it became clear he was playing the antagonist in the match, choking Gargano on the ropes and shouting at people in the audience. After performing a standing moonsault (and the snapmare receipt mentioned above) Ricochet started punching Gargano with closed fists and then dropped him with a springboard clothesline.

They did Gargano’s duelling suplex attempt spot (which I personally find boring, although the crowds in China seemed to adore them) before ‘The Whole Shebang’ ran through Ricochet with clotheslines and gave him a pop-up power bomb for two. Ricochet rolled to the apron to recover but got kicked off by Gargano, then hit with a suicide dive. A lad in the audience loved that, giving Gargano a cheery thumbs up as he celebrated.

Back in the ring Gargano got a DDT on Ricochet then went for the lawn dart. Ricochet slipped out that and performed a fantastic Pele kick followed by his float over northern lights suplex. When Gargano kicked out Ricochet gave him a loud slap to the face before heading out to the ring apron. The challenger tried to hit a super kick but Ricochet blocked it and gave Gargano a Death Valley driver instead, sending him slumping down to the ringside mats.

Gargano made his way back into the ring at nine. Presumably he forgot he had a twenty count. ‘The Future of Flight’ leathered him with kicks and spat in his face (which seemed a bit much after Swann and Barreta had done the same thing in the main event of the previous show). Gargano psyched himself up and smashed the champion with elbows and an enziguri. Ricochet managed to grab him for a Benadryller but Gargano escaped, only to be dropped with a Superman punch.

Ricochet went to the top and hit a Shooting Star press. Gargano kicked out. Ricochet hoisted Gargano onto his shoulders and went to the second rope. Gargano elbowed out and tried for a hurricanrana. Ricochet blocked it. When Gargano tried the move again he got it but nimble ol’ Ricochet landed on his feet.

Gargano scored with a super kick. Ricochet scored with his own. Ricochet went for a kick to the mid-section (that’s real wrestling lingo there, “mid-section”) but Gargano caught his foot and flipped him over on to his knees. There he gave him another super kick before pulling him back to his feet to finally hit the lawn dart, which surprisingly earned him the victory and the championship.

It was a very good match, topping off a very good event and a very good tour. The fact that WWN were able to put on four such enjoyable and worthwhile shows with a relatively small roster at their disposal is a testament to the hard-working nature of the talent and Gabe Sapolsky’s ability as a booker. The news that China tours will become an annual event for the league is very welcome.

***

Results summary:

Rich Swann def AR Fox
Allysin Kay def Su Yung
Chuck Taylor def Jody Kristofferson by count out
Timothy Thatcher def Biff Busick
Mia Yim def Ivelisse Velez to win the Shine championship
The Premier Athlete Brand def The Bravado Brothers and The Colony
Johnny Gargano def Ricochet to win the Open the Freedom Gate championship

WWN Live in Emeishan

WWN’s third Chinese supershow once again kicked off with Johnny Gargano. Opposite him was Chuck Taylor, who had headlined the previous two shows. Yep, a battle of former Ronin teammates was considered a good way to kick off this show. In fairness it was. Both men are experienced enough to work an exciting opening match and big enough names (in regular wrestling circles, at least) to draw the crowd into the show early on.  

While that logic was sound it didn’t lead to action-packed opener it could have. They had their moments but for the most part Gargano and Taylor put on an average match with nothing especially memorable about it. Gargano won with the Gargano Escape.

After the match Gargano said he was 3-0 on the China tour and stated that he'd win his match with Ricochet on the final show of the tour. That match, for the record, would not only be for Ricochet’s Open the Freedom Gate title but also a cup. Fancy, no?

Jody Kristofferson was accompanied by Earl Cooter and Larry 'I'm Sporting a Topknot and No One's Gonna Stop Me' Dallas for his match against Biff Busick. It wasn't a fancy match. They punched, chopped and kicked a lot and left the ring several times. It didn't go for long. One of their ringside excursions resulted in Kristofferson getting counted out. He and Dallas chased the ref backstage. Cooter stayed to get thrown out of the ring by Busick. He clearly hadn’t learned from his mistakes in Grand Epoch City, where he stayed behind to give Timothy Thatcher a kicking.

Valkyrie members Allysin Kay and Su Yung teamed up to face Mia Yim and Shine champion Ivellise Velez in match number three. The heels isolated Yim after Yung kicked her from the apron, working her over before she made the inevitable tag out. Because all doubles matches have to follow this formula now. The same thing happened when Ivellise tagged in.

Allysin Kay stood out in this match. Firstly because she’s a very physical wrestler, which is a good thing. Secondly because of her comically bad verbal taunts. Surely she could do better than “Time to go night-night” over and over again? Yim and Velez were as good as they usually are. It was Su Yung who was the odd one out, being the least impressive in ring and barely trying to draw the crowd into the match.

The finish came when Kay accidentally kicked Yung, reversed out of package piledriver and hit a roaring lariat on Yim for the pin. After the match Kay and Yung had words, which led to Kay shoving Yung to the floor and Yung storming backstage. There was friction between Velez a Yim too, each blaming the other for the loss. After the match Kay said she'd dominate Shine. That could end up coming true but it probably won’t. Yim and Velez ended up going nose to nose with Velez telling Yim to try her best in their championship match.

Match four pitted Timothy Thatcher against Caleb Konley, a man being turned into an EVOLVE headliner. Konley had Baretta and quick change artist Su Yung with him. Thatcher had no one. But he did have his nice scarf with the skull motif.

There were an assortment of holds and counter holds to begin with Konley managing to best Thatcher several times. The first big move came from Thatcher, who gave Konley an uppercut as he came through the ropes with a suicide dive. The PAB member came back with a roundhouse kick and a sloppily applied camel clutch. Thatcher muscled out and slammed Konley into a corner, but Konley again managed to stay in the fight with kicks and elbows.

Thatcher hit a double underhook suplex. Konley applied an armbar. Thatcher stood up with it applied and connected with a modified power bomb. Konley got a standing senton for two before attempting his double jump moonsault. Thatcher rolled out of the way, hit a gut wrench and applied an armbar. Konley struggled across the ring and, with a assistance from Barreta grabbed the ropes to force a break. Thatcher went to grab Barreta, who shouted that he'd done nothing, before turning around into a small package from Konley, which was apparently such a surprise and so expertly applied that he was unable to kick out.

After the match Konley was asked if he'd have won the match without Barreta's help. He ignored the question and declared that the Premier Athlete Brand were the best athletes in all of China. Barreta followed that by saying he'd beat Rich Swann in the main event. Konley told us, off mic, that we love it. He didn't say what it is though. I suspect we don’t love it.

The Bravado brothers versus The Colony was a fun diversion but not essential viewing. It wasn’t as good as their match at EVOLVE 34. I think part of the reason I feel this way is that it stuck to the standard formula of the heels isolating a face and cheating for a bit before the face managed to tag back out. Seeing that in every tag match you watch gets tiresome. The Colony won after a superplex from Fire Ant to Harlem was followed up with a frog splash from Silver Ant.

AR Fox and his lack of crowd reaction came out next. Open the Freedom Gate champion Ricochet got a similar response when he entered. That made it odd when he claimed "they" loved him in China. Wrestlers really need to learn to judge the crowd noise people at home can here. If there’s silence it makes claims this depressing.

Highlights of the match included: Ricochet moonsaulting off the apron to avoid a Fox attack then following up with a tope; a Fox tope that was turned into a forward roll when Ricochet dodgedout of the way; an impressive twirling brainbuster from Fox; and Ricochet catching Fox as he came off the ropes and hitting him with a Regalplex.The finish saw Fox avoid a shooting star press and set up for Low Mein Pain (which, for the record, I think is one of the worst finishers in wrestling). Ricochet countered with elbows and got a second rope Regalplex before hitting a shooting star press of his own for the victory.

The match would have been improved had Lenny Leonard been available to help brush over the lax attitude to selling and match psychology. It was still very good though.

The Full Impact Pro "world" championship match went on last. Super popular rich Swann challenged The Premier Athlete Brand's Trent Barreta. The first five minutes consisted entirely of various stalling tactics, mostly from uber-heel Barreta. When he finally got his hands on the champ Swann started firing off chops on him. Barreta did some world class selling and made Swann look amazing.

A walk out routine by the Brand led to a shoving match between Swann and Konley, which saw the Brand being banished backstage by the referee. Swann threw Barreta back into the ring but found himself super kicked off the apron as he made his own way back in. When he did finally get back in ‘The King of Swerve’ took a running knee and a clothesline.

Swann took a Death Valley Driver on the apron and slumped down to the ringside mats. Naturally he made it back into the ring just before the referee’s count reached twenty. Barreta booted him and fish-hooked his mouth before putting him up on the top rope. Swann escaped a superplex and got a cross body on the champ before firing up with punches and a swinging neck breaker. That earned him a two count, as did a Lethal Injection seconds later.

Barreta rolled out of the way of a frog splash. Swann immediately went to the top rope again, presumedly to give the move another go, but he was cut off and hit with a belly-to-belly by the champion. Barreta gave Swann his Bill Murray knee finisher, which Swann kicked out of just before the three. Barreta trash talked Swann, telling him he was in the ring with a champ, then spat in his face. This isn’t something I usually appreciate in wrestling but in a match that had the result this one did it can work on occasion. Swann psyched himself up and floored FIP’s top boy with haymakers.

At this point Konley returned to distract the referee, allowing Barreta to hit a low blow and get a schoolboy. Swann kicked out. Back on his feet he blasted Barreta with a tornado spin kick and a frog splash to end the best match of the night (and one of the best of the tour) and capture the FIP strap.

The showed closed with a ceremony that was little more than the WWN champs being presented with their title belts and posing for pictures. It was... something. Sadly it deprived Swann of the moment in the spotlight he’d have received on a more traditional show. Overall though this was probably better. How many other FIP champions can say they won the belt in China? And in such a great match too.

***

Results summary:

Johnny Gargano def Chuck Taylor
Biff Busick def Jody Kristofferson by count out
Valkyrie def Ivelisse Velez and Mia Yim
Caleb Konley def Timothy Thatcher
The Colony def The Bravado Brothers
Ricochet def AR Fox
Rich Swann def Trent Barreta to win the FIP championship

WWN Live in Chengdu review

WWN’s second Chinese supershow kicked off with the ring announcer introducing Johnny Gargano to the ring with a series of yips. More wrestling shows should start in this way. For that matter more EVOLVE shows should feature the talents of Jody Kristofferson, Gargano’s opening match opponent on this show. His Stan Hansen tribute act is just the right level of bad to be entertaining.

The match was relatively short. Gargano was a gent and gave Kristofferson plenty of offence before he got the inevitable victory with a small package. Kristofferson was left looking strong in defeat thanks to Gargano’s generosity and a finish that made it clear that he was getting desperate against the modern day Stan Hansen.

Match two saw newcomer Tracy Williams face Earl Cooter, Larry Dallas’s other client. Williams took it to Cooter straight away, drop kicking him into a corner before striking him with elbows and slapping on a cravat. Luckily for Cooter he had Dallas at ringside to cause a distraction that allowed him to take control. Because that’s what heel managers do.

Colter made the villainous decision to lower his knee pad, exposing his bare knee for extra damage on knee drops. Then he went one further and pulled a chain from his trunks and used it to choke Williams as Dallas did more distracting. Williams made a comeback from nowhere with an elevated DDT and then applied a crossface for the victory.

After the match Cooter attacked Williams from behind and gave him a pair of piledrivers. It was an odd development. Williams seems like the sort of wrestler Gabe Sapolsky wants to feature prominently in EVOLVE and Cooter’s look and ability scream lower card jobber heel. The post-match assault protected the wrong guy.

Match three was Su Yung v Mia Yim. They shook hands at the start but Su, being a massive heel, turned it into a sneaky attack. That put her in control and she stayed there for most of the match. The early going saw her using such tried and tested tactics as pulling hair, taking cheap shots, standing on Yim’s hands, and doing the one foot on the chest pin attempt. More substantially she hit a drop kick to Yim as she was hung in a tree of woe, used the Billy Goat’s Curse, and struck Yim with a solid-looking palm strike.

Towards the end of the match Yim made her winning comeback. After some drop kicks she floored Yung with a stalling suplexi and got a match-winning 450 splash. After the match Yim declared that she was one step closer to the SHINE championship. Her title shot against Velez was rumbling closer.

The Biff Busick v Timothy Thatcher match was surprisingly short, considering the standing of both men within EVOLVE and the fact that it was a grudge match from the Style Battle tournament. Busick won a gritty, mat-based match via tapout with a side headlock. After the match the ring announcer chanted “Strong!” at Busick. It was a bit odd. Busick was asked for a comment. He said his rivalry had come to China and he'd win. It was an entirely accurate statement.

Beverly Hills Cop hit the speakers, signalling the arrival of the Bravado brothers. They were getting a tag title shot at Caleb Konley and Trent Barreta, who did an Impact Players pose in the entranceway because that's totes their deal now. That and wearing a knee pad with Bill Murray on it. Just deal with it, you square.

Being an all heels affair one of the teams had to switch things up and play face for the night. Barreta and Konley did the honours. That was a smart considering Barreta had the experience edge, was the most over, and was the most confident working as a face and playing to the crowd. After a slow start things picked up when the Bravados did the classic "we're taking the belts that aren't even ours and leaving" routine, igniting a brief ringside skirmish and a lengthy stretch where the brothers worked over Barreta in the ring.

When Konley eventually tagged in he steamed through both Bravados. Harlem took a Death Valley bomb. An attempted top rope move went wrong when the brothers grabbed hold of him and gave him a double suplex (although it wasn’t all bad for Team PAB, Barreta snuck in and power bombed the Bravados as they hit the suplex). Harlem connected with a lariat on Barreta and then got a near fall off a German suplex on Konley. The finish came from nowhere, Konley hitting the double jump moonsault on Harlem to retain.

The match was good but it wasn't the spectacle it would have been with a little more work. After the match the Bravados again jumped champs and Konley again took a Gentlemen's Agreement. Because heels, am I right?

Allysin Kay v Ivellise Velez for the Shine championship took the semi-main event spot. Kay attacked Velez before the bell. It didn't help her though. Velez ducked a big boot and hit a drop kick then reversed a double handed choke bomb into a hurricanrana. A super kick from the corner staggered Kay but she fired back with a choke bomb, some mounted punches and a lariat. She was then trapped in a strait jacket sleeper, impressively escaping by working her way to a crouching position and hitting a Pele kick.

The pair exchanged chops before Kay put the champ down with a lariat. Kay continued her onslaught with a running Samoan drop and a Gory Special into a Dominator type move. Velez got a tornado DDT and an enziguri on the challenger. Her attempt at a wheel kick was less successful, Kay side-stepping it and flooring her with a bicycle kick.

Kay tried her Gory Special again but Velez rolled through and got a three count to win. It was a good match, no more and no less.

In the evening's main event utility player Chuck Taylor teamed with Silver Ant and Fire Ant to face Rich Swann, AR Fox and Open the Freedom Gate champion Ricochet. Swann again received his extra-long entrance. This crowd seemed more into it than the crowd in Grand Epoch had two nights prior.

Taylor again went heel. The Colony joined in. It was weird to see them playing the antagonists as they’re such natural, and perennial, faces. There was plenty of comedy at the start, mostly from Taylor and the supremely over Swann. Things got more serious once Fire Ant and Ricochet tagged in and had a good fast exchange based around counters and counters to counters.

This was a far more satisfying main event than Ricochet versus Taylor had been for the first show. It went a lot longer and was structured and treated more like a main event by everyone involved. That said it still wasn’t the best thing on the card. That honour went to Busick v Thatcher. Fox and The Inner City Machine Guns won after the Guns both got enziguris on Fire Ant and Fox polished him off with a Lo Mein Pain. After the match Fox and Ricochet made belt motions at one another to remind everyone that they had a title match coming two days later.

This show wasn’t as good as the first had been. The main event and both title matches felt like they could have been better than they were had just a little more effort gone into their planning. Busick v Thatcher and Gargano v Kristofferson were well both very good bits of wrestling, but that wasn’t quite enough. Thankfully things would get back on track with the tour’s third show…

Results summary

Johnny Gargano def Jody Kristofferson
Tracy Williams def Earl Cooter
Mia Yim def Su Yung
Biff Busick def Timothy Thatcher
The Premier Athlete Brand def The Bravado Brothers
Ivelisse Velez def Allysin Kay
The Inner City Machine Guns and AR Fox def The Colony and Chuck Taylor

WWN Live in Grand Epoch City review

I don’t think it would be unfair to say that the WWN venture struggled to remain relevant in 2014. Visa issues brought an end to Dragon Gate USA, which had initially been the streaming service’s jewel in the crown, and while EVOLVE never failed to produce a show that was good it was also a promotion that spent much of the year looking noticeably smaller than other companies operating on a similar level (most obviously ROH and CZW). Meanwhile FIP and Shine, the other major new content providers, remained regional promotions running shows once every few months. Things just didn’t come together for them.

Until, that is, November came around. In partnership with Great Wall International Sports Media a tour of China was organised, smartly marketed under the WWN name as opposed to EVOLVE, DG USA or something else entirely. Doing so gave the shows a natural reason to feature a variety of different titles and talents without overly worrying about rosters or promotion specifics. It was a good way for WWN to fill the void left by the Dragon Gate shows, pooling their resources for a string of supershows in front of larger than average crowds. Most importantly it put the World Wrestling Network name at the forefront of things. That will be a smart move in the long term as the service is continuing to expand.

The first show was held in the Golden Sport Hall in Yichang, Hebei. A cheerleader routine kicked off the show. Because cheerleaders and wrestling are such a natural pairing, obvs. They were followed by a Chinese event host hitting the ring and talking for several minutes. This would be a running theme across the shows. I assume it’s because Chinese audiences are more patient than western audiences, who generally just want a wrestler in the ring doing something as soon as a show begins. Either that or a poor editing choice.

The waiting continued when it was revealed that Rich Swann and AR Fox would be the first men out to the ring. Swann spent several minutes singing Lionel Richie’s All Night Long in its entirety and feverishly trying to work the audience up. They got into the song eventually but it took some doing, and it clearly wasn’t what Swann had wanted. It was a textbook example of Swann being far too happy to try tiring out an audience for his own gratification. The Bravado brothers had a shorter and more traditional ring entrance. It was appreciated.

They had a match probably best described as fun. Fox and Swann encouraged the crowd to be more vocal and peppered the match with aerial moves, designed to elicit oohs and ahhs. They also concentrated on playing to the audience, presumably to get them into the habit of making noise. Meanwhile the Bravados concentrated on running through their finest cheap heat spots and isolating Swann. It all worked nicely.

The finish saw Swann accidentally wipe out Fox with a spinning instep kick, allowing the Bravados to hit the Gentlemen's Agreement on Fox for the victory. After the match the host (with Lacey drafted in to act as an interpreter) asked the Bravados something. Lancelot said something about the Open the United Gate championship. Presumably the former champs wanted the gold back.

That was followed by Jody Kristofferson  versus Timothy Thatcher. Kristofferson is the artist formerly known as Garrett Dylan in NXT. These shows were easily the biggest gig he’d had since leaving WWE in May of 2013, even though he’s been paired with Larry Dallas and Earl Cooter. For anyone familiar with Kristofferson’s work as Dylan it’s worth noting that he’s altered his look since then. He’s now very clearly channelling Stan Hansen in both look and wrestling style.

Kristofferson jumped Thatcher before he was in the ring and they fought around the ring. When they got into the ring Thatcher took charge and the match settled down into something more closely resembling his usual efforts as he began working over Kristofferson's arm for a submission. Kristofferson was interesting to watch. He’s going for a rough and ready style that isn’t seen all that often on the US indies these days, what with every major name (understandably) being in such good shape and all. It was a nice change of pace to see a big lad hammering away at someone.

They had a good strong style match but the ending was unsatisfying: Kristofferson was disqualified after he wouldn't stop stomping Thatcher in a corner. Sadly these sorts of finishes would become a theme in Kristofferson matches across the tour. Post-match Kristofferson took a swing at the ref who ducked and ran off with Kristofferson and Dallas in pursuit. Cooter stayed behind to kick away at Thatcher but wound up taking an uppercut and a gut wrench suplex. That'll teach 'im.

Shine action followed that with Mia Yim taking on Allysin Kay. Yim controlled the early going with arm drags and hurricanranas before Kay turned the tide with a power bomb. Yim survived a double handed choke bomb, a running Samoan drop, and a modified Dominator before firing back with a tornado DDT and a German suplex for a two count. A series of kicks wobbled Kay before she lamped Yim with a big boot. A second rope suplex failed when Yim managed to shove her off and double stomp her from the top for the win.

After the match Yim was asked about her upcoming Shine championship match with Ivelisse Velez. She said she was friends with Ivelisse but that friendship didn’t stop stop her wanting the title and wouldn’t make her hold back in the match. As promos go it did its job.

Johnny Gargano was up next, doing his best to energise the audience as he strode to the ring. He didn't do a bad job, to be fair. His opponent was 'Mr Hairy Chest' Biff Busick. It was an energetic encounter. They started off with lots of chops before Gargano channelled 90s Shawn Michaels for some jabs and an upside down bump off a whip into the corner.

Unimpressed with ‘The Whole Shebang’s’ wild bumps Busick hit an impressive leaping neck breaker for a two count. A duelling suplex spot, won by Gargano, followed that. To be honest I could have done without it: it’s a spot that’s very hard to make convincing. Busick ran into Gargano's spear through the ropes and then took a suicide dive outside the ring. Gargano celebrated his success by hugging some middle-aged men at ringside.  

Back in the ring Busick turned a Hurts Donut attempt into a reverse Exploder suplex. Gargano came back with a super kick, a lawn dart, and a successful Hurts Donut before applying the Gargano Escape to earn a submission victory and end an enjoyable match.

Gargano's post-match comments were about being honoured to compete in China for the World Wrestling Network. Good for him. Good for Johnny.

The second offering from Shine was a title match. Su Yung, in her role as a wrestler as opposed to a villainous secretary, challenged the league's singles champion Ivelisse Velez. They constructed a solid, well-paced match, never getting ahead of themselves and making the most of the time they had. Su Yung took charge of the action, grounding Velez with submission attempts and wear down holds. Ivelisse retained the title after rolling Su Yung up with sunset flip from the corner.

The show's penultimate offering was an Open the United Gate title match, The Colony challenging Trent Barreta and Caleb Konley of the Premier Athlete Brand. The Brand were without Anthony Nese, Su Yung and Mr A but they did have Barreta's FIP title belt with them. I think that was a decent enough replacement for the proven to be ineffective Mr A.

There were stereo suicide dives from the ants towards the beginning of the match, indicating that the match might turn into something special or noticeably energetic. It didn’t. For the most part it was just the PAB working over Silver Ant. He eventually hit the tag to Fire Ant, who wiped out both PAB lads and set up Barreta for a Silver Ant frog splash. That wasn't enough to get the win and the Brand turned the tables, Baretta stopping a double team top rope move, pulling Fire Ant and leaving Silver Ant to take Konley’s Double Jump moonsault. The match was good but it didn't have the most coherent story. It was the only occasion on the opening show when I missed having commentary to help the flow of a match.

As Barreta and Konley celebrated the Bravados reappeared. They attacked everyone and hit Konley with the Gentlemen's Agreement. Then they posed with the belts as the crowd half-heartedly booed them.

In the main event slot were Ricochet and Chuck Taylor, wrestling for Ricochet's Open the Freedom Gate championship. While the match wasn’t bad I don’t think it was a suitable main event offering. It was short in comparison to many of the night's other matches and as a result it felt incomplete and one-sided in favour of the champion, not something you usually get in the WWN leagues. I suspect this was due to the rest of the show running long or something along those lines as opposed to being a conscious decision. Ricochet won after a Superman punch, a roundhouse kick and a 630 splash.

Johnny Gargano showed up after the match and vowed to relieve Ricochet of the Open the Freedom Gate strap in Beijing. Ricochet didn’t respond verbally. He just held up his title then rolled out of the ring pretending he'd been exhausted by a sub ten minute match. Hey, he does his talking in the ring!

Overall the show was a good start to the tour. The right people won, generally in the right way, and there wasn’t a single match that was actually bad. As far as first impressions go, I think this must have been a good one.

***

Results summary

The Bravado Brothers def AR Fox and Rich Swann
Timothy Thatcher def Jody Kristofferson via DQ
Mia Yim def Allysin Kim
Johnny Gargano def Biff Busick
Ivalisse Velez def Su Yung
The Premier Athlete Brand def The Colony
Ricochet def Chuck Taylor

EVOLVE 29 review

At several points during this show Lenny Leonard described EVOLVEs 29 and 30 as big events. This is a problem. EVOLVE champion Chris Hero was absent. There was no sign of Low Ki or Teddy Hart, both of whom had appeared at the company’s previous shows over WrestleMania weekend. There was also no sign of the Young Bucks making a reappearance to wrap up their rivalry with the Bravado Brothers. Basically the cards were distinctly lacking in star power and presenting them as significant could hurt the promotion’s credibility.

I know EVOLVE is built around the old Ring of Honor credo of quality wrestling over name talents but you can only take that sort of thing so far without looking like a fading concern. EVOLVE should be ensuring all of its top tier talents are on every show, using them to elevate fresh names, and making deals with non-regulars. Low Ki was a good name to bring in but it looks as though that was just a short term thing and that he won’t be coming back. The same goes for Roderick Strong. And the Bucks may never be back. Even if they are it’s likely it’ll just be for one match before clearing off for good.

The venue used here didn’t really help either. It’s not that Elk’s Lodge in fashionable Queens, New York is a bad venue for wrestling. It isn’t. A number of promotions run shows there. But it looks like what it is, and that’s a recreation centre. A promotion broadcasting a show and trying to present itself as notable really should be going for something better.

Basically EVOLVE does not look like a thriving promotion. It looks like it’s struggling and on the verge of collapse (not helped by the infrequency of Dragon Gate USA shows featuring genuine big name Dragon Gate wrestlers). That’s going to affect people’s willingness to support them, no matter how good the wrestling on their shows is. And for the record the wrestling on offer here did reach very high standards.

The show was held on May 9 and kicked off with JT Dunn entering alongside Shelley Martinez. Blake Edward Belakus was his opponent. I'd enjoyed his work at DG USA’s Way of the Ronin and I enjoyed it here. Belakus is someone that could become a name of import for EVOLVE and DG USA with the right treatment. Hopefully Gabe Sapolsky realises that too.

They had a tidy, if unspectacular, match. BEB controlled the first half before 'The Juice' (perhaps Dunn's a Juvi fan) made a comeback. He didn't have enough to get the victory though. Belakus cut him off with a move called the Bad Wolf slam. Doctor Who fans may be interested to know Belakus had also had "Bad Wolf" written on his trunks. Rose Tyler strikes again!

Match two saw Ethan Page and Josh Alexander tangle with Open the United Gate champions the Bravado brothers in a non-title bout. Harlem and Lancelot got a split reaction. Some people seemed really excited to see them while others got into the spirit of things and booed them as one of the company's top heel acts.

The match took a little bit to get going, I suspect because Page and Alexander are not big names, but when it did it was good. The Bravados controlled the pace until Alexander tagged in. He quickly double suplexed both brothers then blasted Harlem with a back breaker on the apron and dropped Lance with an enziguri. He looked like he was being presented as a potential star, proving a match for the champions, being given plenty of offence, and getting a multitude of near falls for his team. Of course his team lost, Page falling to the Gentlemen's Agreement.

Worth noting is that the Bravados stole various moves and poses from the Young Bucks to keep that rivalry alive. I’ve already pessimistically noted that I wouldn't be surprised if the Jackson boys never returned to blow that programme off.

That was followed by Su Yung heading to the ring with Caleb Konley and Mr A and telling Uhaa Nation that he belonged with The Premier Athlete Brand. That's the next big feud, presumably. It could be an enjoyable one, considering how good the matches all involved had over this weekend were.

The Brand stayed at ringside for Konley's match with Rich Swann. They swapped the initiative for a while before Swann started selling. That lasted for several minutes and ended when he made a comeback with a dive and a frog body block. Channelling Booker T he performed an axe kick, which got him two. Konley halted him with a drop kick and a fireman bomb. They exchanged a close to ridiculous number of strikes with neither going down. Konley eventually toppled to a Swann spinning instep kick. The prerequisite apron foray resulted in Swann getting dropped head first and rolling to the outside. That only got a two count (natch, nobody goes down to apron offence in EVOLVE).

Swann avoided a moonsault and hit a modified Canadian Destroyer for a two. As Konley was still laying down Swann opted for a second rope phoenix splash, which earned him a three count. The match really came to life in its second half (the stuff I've noted, basically). That said I could have done without the “This is awesome!” chants. They seem to get deployed in any matches which rises above average these days, which robs the it of all meaning.

After the match Swann took a mic and told the PAB Uhaa Nation wouldn't associate with the likes of them. He also said the acronym should stand for "pussy ass bitches". The audience took that up as a chant then Swann did some singing and made some unsavoury comments about Su Yung. His mic broke as he was talking about Johnny Gargano so he shouted something at a camera (about Gargano) then bowled backstage.

Funnily enough Gargano was out next. That must have made for an awk moment when Swann walked back through the curtain. He was facing Biff Busick. The early going was built around counter wrestling and Gargano stalling. In due course they progressed to ringside brawling. There 'The Whole Shebang' gained control with a suplex on the floor. The pace was slowed back in the ring. This included Gargano's ever popular attempt to break a digit (which always fails, strangely) as well as his suicide dive and a Gargano Escape. Busick worked in various moves but never got an extended period of offence. He did no sell some super kicks though. That was something.

The finish was a surprise. After more counter wrestling Gargano was placed in a rear naked choke. He held out for a while but when it got turned into a combination of a choke and a camel clutch he tapped out. It was not only not the result I expected it wasn't the finish I would have predicted had I known Busick was going over. A submission is a big thing under Gabe Sapolsky booking. It's a good call though: it indicates that Busick has been selected for a promotion. Beating Gargano is a big thing here.

Jigsaw and Tim Donst v Fire Ant and Green Ant (of The Colony fame) was match five. It was an energetic showing with a good number of near falls, probably my second favourite thing on the show after the main event. Green Ant won with the CHIKARA Special, which was counted as a pin as Jigsaw tapped out. In case you're wondering, and you may be, it is a submission hold. My guess would be that the referee was unfamiliar with it.

After the match Green Ant shouted into a mic. I've no idea what he said but I assume it was something about facing the Bravados because they wandered out. Harlem distracted the ants, allowing Moose to sneak into the ring and job them out. They finished up by promising they'd be the Open the United Gate champions forever.

The evening's penultimate match was a meeting between Drew Gulak and Chuck Taylor. It had come about because of the actions of Gulak over WrestleMania weekend. He turned on Taylor and disbanded The Gentlemen's Club. Considering that it was a surprisingly technical match. They did go to the outside (which most other matches did too) and get rough but it was not as wild and uncontrollable as seemed reasonable to expect. This could have worked if Taylor had been reluctant to fight his friend or give the match his all but that wasn't the case. It just didn't seen as though the two wrestlers hadn’t been given much direction, as though they'd been split to fill up the summer season of cards with no follow up thought being put into how the feud will progress.

As I say, it wasn't bad. It was just confusing under the circumstances. Taken simply as a match between a heel and a face it was good. Both men did everything right with regards to selling, wrestling and interacting with the crowd. Things came to an end when Taylor tapped out to the Gu-Lock.

Before the main event we were treated to an appearance from Larry Dallas. He said EVOLVE was part of his heart and soul and no show was complete without him. Rich Swann turned up to walk him to the back. The purpose of these Dallas appearances, which have been going on for months, eludes me. The longer it goes the more memorable the payoff will need to be when it comes, and I’m concerned that nobody knows what it will even be yet.

The main event was Anthony Nese and Trent Baretta versus AR Fox and Uhaa Nation. The Brand had Yung and A at ringside. The faces were accompanied by Ivelisse and entered to Fox's music. The former was great, because Ivelisse being on a show is never a bad thing. The latter was a poor call, because Uhaa's music is great.

Before the bell rang Su Yung asked Uhaa for his answer about joining them. He said he'd join The PAB if he and Fox lost but that if they won he and Fox would get the rights to book themselves in any match they liked (a reward The Brand won at Mercury Rising by winning a six man tournament). That was agreed to. And then Christina Von Eerie rocked up and randomly attacked Ivelisse. This was the beginning of a new SHINE programme.

This was, as has already been said, the best match on the card. Nese and Baretta are a very skilled unit who carry themselves like stars. That counts for a great deal. I'm not wild about 'The Whole Foxin' Show' but he flies high and always looks crisp doing so. Uhaa Nation is tremendous. He's a big man (at least in width) who blends the power moves you'd expect with some flying moves you wouldn't. He's got personality and he knows how to put an exciting match together. On top of that the star power of the four ensured the audience were loud throughout (and it's worth noting they'd been good during the rest of the show). There was lots of double teaming, which is what's needed in a match like this, and there were plenty of near falls.

The finishing sequence was nicely put together. The PAB went for a Doomsday Device but Uhaa took out Baretta with a kick to the face. Nese then took a military press from Nation, a 450 from Fox and an Uhaa Combination for the loss. That granted the faces the booking clause and ensured Uhaa remained free of Su Yung’s clutches. Depending on your point of view that's not necessarily a good thing.

If the show had come close to the level of the headliner more often it would have made a huge difference. It wasn't bad, it's just that it felt like a filler show in places.

CHIKARA You Only Live Twice review

Last June CHIKARA embarked on an experimental wrestling storyline. The closing moments of their Anniversario: Never Compromise show saw the company shut down. In the weeks that followed all announced events were cancelled and equipment was sold off through eBay. After several months a movement was started to bring the company back that mixed the promotion’s comic book approach, its wrestlers and the growing recreational activity of alternate reality gaming.

I am not well-versed enough in everything that happened to succinctly and accurately recap it here. In fact I pretty sure there isn’t a way to succinctly recap everything that Mike Quackenbush’s pencil has thrown at us over the last year. The plotting and planning has been impressively dense. I’ve followed most of the developments and enjoyed doing so but it’s not feasible to try and cover it all here. Instead I’d direct you to these recaps: the first written by Vince Morales of Ole Wrestling and the second written by Gavin Jasper for Den of Geek. For the record I’m writing about this show because I watched it, enjoyed it, and feel it’s a good place to jump in with CHIKARA.

There was no video package to open this show. That threw me. I'm used to videos opening wrasslin' shows. They did have Gavin Loudspeaker though, which was a plus. He did some talking to get the crowd amped up and then introduced commentator Leonard F Chikarason. FYI that's not Lenny Leonard under a different name, which is what I spent about six months thinking several years ago.

The show opened with a trios match, chosen not because WWE have made them trendy but because trios matches are something of a CHIKARA speciality. The Bruderschaft des Kreuzes team of Ares, Milo Schnitzler and newcomer Nøkken were out first. Schnitzler bears an uncanny resemblance to mid-00s bald-headed psycho Kane. The audience chanted "No one missed you!" The Spectral Envoy of Hallowicked, Frightmare and Ultramantis Black were their opponents. They got a more positive reception.

Ultramantis talked in the aisle for a moment before being attacked by what I'm pretty sure Chikarason described as the ghost of Tursas. Ghost or not it was Tursas. He replaced Schnitzler in the match, relegating Schnitzler to a ringside role. It was a fun opener. The Spectral Envoy took big bumps and did a spot of flying while the BDK concentrated on power moves. The rudos won with Ragnarok on Frightmare.

After the match Schnitzler screeched unintelligibly into a microphone. The crowd weren't fans of whatever he said.

Match two saw Chuck Taylor take on 'Smooth Sailin'' CHIKARA newcomer Ashley Remmington. He's a sailor who looks a little like a less attractive version of Adam Cole. The audience broke out into duelling chants of "Let's go sailing!" and "Chucky T!" before the bell.

Remmington was pretty good. He turned being slid into the ring into a hurricanrana to the floor, sold Chuck's offence like a trooper, and performed a particularly good-looking power bomb. He won with a Haas of Pain type move dubbed Anchors Away. After the match he handed 'The Kentucky Gentleman' a bushel of fruit. A sailor that hands out fruit to people he defeats is exactly the level of gimmick I enjoy. It's what makes wrestling fun.

New CHIKARA owner Robbie Ellis was up next. He was introduced to the ring to loud cheers. He said CHIKARA's a work of art and he's glad to own it. Then a new Director of Fun was introduced. It was company-founder (and presumably still real life owner) Mike Quackenbush. He thanked everyone for supporting CHIKARA and said the company loves wrestling as much as fans do. It was a nice little segment designed more to establish the new status quo and get some cheers than anything else. It accomplished both. So we should probably consider it a success.

That was followed by Sinn Bodhi, Oliver Grimsly and Qefka the Quiet, who have great music and are collectively known as The Odditorium, taking on The Batiri (Kobald, Kodama and Obaryon) in the evening's second six man tag team match. The former Kizarny got his team disqualified when he kicked one of his opponents in the groin right in front of the referee. Disappointing end aside it was very good. Qefka was particularly enjoyable as a mime.

An advert for the returning Podcast-a-Go-Go was followed by the introduction of the debuting Juan Francisco de Corona. His promo was drowned in loud, continuous boos. All I got was something about making history. This being wrestling I assumed he intended to do that by winning a match. His opponent was Jervis Cottonbelly. He's a man who wrestles in a yellow mask and who wears a bowler hat to the ring. He also dishes out roses before he wrestles. For Brits reading who haven't seen it I'd describe the character as the sort of thing Harry Hill would do if he inexplicably decided to become a wrestler.

This was another fun match. It was also another match that was not overly long. They wrestled for no more than seven minutes but packed a bunch of stuff in. De Corona won with a rollup after spinning Cottonbelly's mask around. What shady, unscrupulous tactics! What a fiend!

A four corners elimination tag bout came next. 3.0 (Scott Parker and Shane Matthews) took on deviANT and 17, Pieces of Hate (Jigsaw and The Shard) and The Throwbacks (Dasher Hatfield and Mark Angelosetti). The match was noticeable for being the best of the show until that point. Eight men being in the match ensured there was plenty going on and there was always something to interest.

It was also more of an eight man tag than a four corner affair for much of the early portion, the faces and heels working together in blocs. 3.0 were the first guys to fall to a barrage of offence from their heel opponents. From there The Throwbacks weathered the storm until Hatfield managed to pin deviANT for the second elimination. There was a brief scuffle at ringside as Kid Cyclone showed up to rough up fellow Wrestle Factory student 17. Hallowicked showed up and put a stop to it. Apparently Cyclone wanted to know what's happened to Private Eye Jr (another student) and believes 17 has the answer. Future storyline building and all that. The match finished a few minutes later. 'Mr Touchdown' scored the pin after a stalling brainbuster from the second rope.

After an intermission, during which an informative video played recapping the last year of CHIKARA storylines, Jimmy Jacobs was introduced for a match with Archibald Peck. In the parallel world that is CHIKARA Jacobs heads up a conglomeration of rudo factions from CHIKARA’s history. It was that conglomeration that was revealed as responsible for shutting the promotion down to begin with. Despite this lofty title he still wears wrestling gear that makes him look like an S&M Peter Pan. Also, Archibald Peck is emphatically not RD Evans. He just happens to really, really look like him.

'The Zombie Princess' jumped Peck before the bell and gave him a battering at ringside, gaining an unfair advantage before the match officially started. That said it didn't take 'Marchie Archie' long to make a comeback and regain control. Peck floored Jacobs with ten straight DDTs and then went to the top rope but got distracted by one of the Condor security staff who'd accompanied Jacobs to the ring. A second security worker took that as a chance to sneak in and KO Peck with his shoe, handing Jacobs the victory.

The penultimate match of the night was not only the third and final trios affair but also a grudge match. It pitted The Colony: Xtreme Force, consisting of Arctic Rescue Ant, Missile Assault Ant, and Orbit Adventure Ant, against The Colony, consisting of Fire Ant, Green Ant, and Worker Ant. The Xtreme Force managed to isolate their opponents at various points during the match but the original Ants would always make a tag before they could be beaten. It was another good match, the best trios offering of the night, with some good high-flying flip-based spots and smooth triple team moments. Xtreme Force won, which seemed odd considering this was the big comeback show and The Colony are one of CHIKARA's most popular acts. Missile Assault Ant pinned Fire Ant after a shove into an exposed turnbuckle. Yeah, it was that simple.

After the match The Colony sent Xtreme Force packing and posed with the King of Trios medals the rudos had worn to the ring (won by The Colony (the real Colony in 2011). That went some way to combating the dodgy finish that had just been seen.

The main event was for the Grand Slam championship. Eddie Kingston was defending against Icarus in a rematch of the Anniversario: Never Compromise headliner. There Icarus had been the heel facing the popular champion. Things were reversed here, with Kingston going full on bad guy and Icarus wrestling with the backing of the audience that he’d earned with his transformation into a pro-CHIKARA activist and quest to bring the company back. At ever Compromise ‘The Winged Ring Warrior’ had had the championship won before Condor entered and shut the show down. Here things were to be fair with no interference from Condor.

They started out with technical exchanges. Icarus got the better of that, frustrating 'The War King' and prompting him to leave the ring to chuck a bin and a chair about before confronting a woman in the audience. When he got back into the ring he blasted Icarus out of the ring and weakened him with slams onto the hard floor. Back in the ring Icarus managed a brief comeback with a German suplex but Kingston regained control by driving his kneecap into Icarus's head.

Icarus came back with a body block from the top rope to the outside and then fought off a northern lights suplex. He connected with a top rope elbow drop as the tecnicos left the locker room and surrounded ringside to watch the match for themselves. A frog splash attempt was met with Kingston's knees, a spike power bomb and a dragon sleeper. Icarus slipped out dropped 'The King of Diamonds' with a northern lights bomb for two.

Icarus was dropped with a standing enziguri, a fall away slam and a lariat. Moments later he kicked out at one after taking a middle rope Ura-nage suplex. Kingston immediately floored him with the Backfist to the Future for a convincing near fall, which got a "You can't beat him!" chant. How did Kingston go about trying to prove the fans wrong? He gave Icarus some chops and then instigated a strike exchange.

The match briefly fell apart when Icarus struggled to hoist the lardy frame of Kingston onto his shoulders. They got it on the second attempt, Icarus fireman's carrying the champion into a turnbuckle and then applying the CHIKARA Special. There was no tap out. Instead Kingston passed out and Icarus won after the referee ruled Kingston couldn’t continue. The crowd loved it, telling him he deserved it. The show went off the air with the new champion being paraded around the ring on the shoulders of his fellow tecnicos.

Or so we thought. The stream started back up a minute or two after that triumphant shot of Icarus disappeared to reveal the rudos emptying out of the locker room. A tall man with a gas mask on his face (or perhaps it was his face, who knows) followed them out with two men wearing hoods. He stood in the ring opposite Icarus, Ultramantis Black and Hallowicked before revealing the hooded fellas to be Delirious and Soldier Ant. They attacked Ultramantis and Hallowicked as Jimmy Jacobs clambered into the ring to assault Icarus.

A massive brawl erupted as the tall man in black (I think he was modelled on second tier Batman villain Bane) stood in the ring shaking. Kobald got into the ring and tried giving him a spear but it was no sold and Kobald crumpled into a heap at the giant’s feet. He was hauled up and smashed with a choke slam onto the knee. The tecnicos surrounded the fallen Kobald as the bad guys left. The show went off the air (for real this time) with Kobald being carried backstage as fans chanted for CHIKARA.

There are two questions to ask about this show. The first is “was it good?” The second is “was it a fitting end to the eleven months so storyline since June 2013?” As far as quality goes it was a fine show. There were no matches I’d go back and watch twice, but that’s not the point with CHIKARA. It’s more about wild inventiveness and the mingling of characters than it is excellent wrestling.

As for whether it was a successful payoff to CHIKARA being away for nearly a year, I thought it was. But then I’m not the most invested follower of the promotion. I like their approach to wrestling and what they do but I can’t quote endless backstory like scripture as I’m sure many can. People who really know their CHIKARA would have had high expectations of this show. I suspect it probably met them. I personally thought it was very good. There was a positive vibe to the entire effort and the show closing angle set up plenty of possibilities for the coming months (and, knowing CHIKARA, years) of storylines. If you want a jump-on point for Mike Quackenbush’s celebrated creation I don’t think you’ll get a better one for quite some time.