The Age of Obsession

I'll start this off by flatly stating my point: Caleb Konley is an underrated wrestler. Over the last year he's become one of the most reliable performers on the EVOLVE roster. He's had a string of enjoyable matches against everyone from Rich Swann to AR Fox to Johnny Gargano to Ricochet. He wasn't a passenger in any of them, he carried his weight and kept the crowd invested. But his talent never gets the praise it deserves.

It's possible that part of the problem stems from the reason he's been pushed. He's very obviously had his profile raised because Gabe Sapolsky knows he can rely on being able to book him. He's not as celebrated as many of the other men on the roster and as such he's in less demand. Neither TNA or ROH seem to have any interest in using him and WWE definitely doesn't. Having someone that can go in the ring that isn't likely to go elsewhere is an attractive thing for a booker. Sapolsky saw that in Konley and started building him up.

But this doesn't mean 'The Obsession' doesn't deserve the position he's in. Since disbanding The Scene and doing the tried and tested "I'm getting serious" routine Konley has displayed a marked improvement. And not just in the matches listed above either, he had better than expected lower profile bouts against The Colony, Timothy Thatcher and the Bravados. He's gotten into better shape too, possibly a side effect of being teamed with gym freak Anthony Nese. Basically, he's proven he can wrestle well and he's started to look like someone who wrestles for a living (even though he's not).

Konley and Cage would have made a good long-term team.
Nese could have gone singles. Disappointing it didn't happen. Pity.

The WrestleMania Weekend shows were not the best advertisement for Konley. He was the designated jobber in the EVOLVE 39 six man tag (review here) because neither of his teammates were in a position to lose: both Brian Cage and TJ Perkins were making their returns to the promotion. Having them lose would have dulled their impact. after years away. Things weren't much better at EVOLVE 40 (review here). Although Konley and Cage got the win in their match against Swann and Gargano the match was cut short.

He was back to losing at Mercury Rising (another review here), falling to Ethan Page in the opener. That seemed like a massive step backwards at the start of the show but Page's turn on Gargano helped put the move in context: Page needed a win in a solid match so that his turn meant more later in the evening. Konley was chosen because it was known he'd give Page the match he needed.

Konley has earned his spot towards the top of EVOLVE. It would be nice if the tag team division was deeper so that he and Nese could have a reign memorable for its good matches instead of a lack of defences. Sadly that doesn't look to be on the cards, which is a disservice to a talented, dedicated wrestler. A disservice to a talented, dedicated roster for that matter. The Open the United Gate titles could mean more with just a couple more teams added to the roster, as I've written before.    

Long term I think it will be interesting to see how far Sapolsky is willing to go with Konley. As a guy who's likely to remain a fixture of EVOLVE for at least the next few years he's probably going to wind up as a headline guy. The ex- and future-WWE guys on the roster are going to need meaningful names to be pitted against and Konley will likely end up joining names like Fox, Swann and Gargano on that list. A reign as the EVOLVE champion may seem unattainable now but I think things could look different a year from now.

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

Galloway for the Gold

Back in June Drew Galloway was released by WWE. This weekend he was involved in the EVOLVE reboot shows. His most notable performance of the weekend came on Friday at the EVOLVE 31 event. There he defeated reigning EVOLVE champion Chris Hero to win the gold.

Drew Galloway with the EVOLVE championship and a leering English face.

The championship win really wasn't much of a surprise. It had originally been advertised as a non-title affair but the out of the blue defence is one of booker Gabe Sapolsky's favourite tricks. On top of that it seemed completely natural for a new champ to be crowned during what had so openly and frequently been talked about as a reboot weekend. A new figurehead for a new direction. Makes sense.

There was also the Chris Hero problem. After getting himself into the best shape of his life prior to being released from WWE in 2013 Hero has had what's probably best described as a relapse in 2014. He has very clearly put on a large amount of weight, all of it in his gut. A promotion like EVOLVE, built around the concept of wrestling being a sport featuring world class athletes, could not have Hero, in that shape, as their champion. It would have jarred with the league's image. Not everyone can have a six pack, but there's a difference between having a larger body type and letting yourself go. So him losing the strap was to be expected.

Galloway is a fresh name for a fresh era of EVOLVE. Thanks to his time in WWE he stands a chance of attracting fresh eyes but because he's a newcomer every match he can be placed in is something new for the company's established fans. But his title reign is still far from an ideal situation. His post-match, show-closing promo (available in full on YouTube (just click here)) demonstrated why he never rose above the mid-card ranks in WWE. In fairness EVOLVE is less about a wrestler’s ability to talk and more about their ability to, y’know, wrestle. But it’s still not a great idea to have a middling promo guy close the show by attempting a rousing speech. It came across as rambling and directionless more than once.

The addition of Galloway and Matt Sydal (formerly WWE’s Evan Bourne, as you probs know) is not a bad thing. It gives Sapolsky some known quantities to play with and the chance to attract new viewers. Matches pitting the newcomers against company big hitters Ricochet, Johnny Gargano , Trent Barreta and Uhaa Nation should all be worth a watch.

But ultimately Sapolsky’s focus should be on creating his own names because they’re the ones who are going to help his company grow. As good as they are the Galloways, Heros, and Sydals of the world are always going to be former WWE guys. It’s guys like Biff Busick and Drew Gulak, in addition to those mentioned in the last paragraph, who set EVOLVE apart as they’re the ones who’ve never worked for mainstream US wrestling. New names help to make a promotion seem vibrant and interesting. And that’s what wrestling at the EVOLVE level needs.

EVOLVE 28 review

EVOLVE 28 probably had the best placing of all the non-WWE events taking place in New Orleans across WrestleMania weekend. While WWE’s supershow would be going on last and providing a climax to a weekend of wrestling EVOLVE 28 was the first broadcast event of the weekend. Going on first meant that fans were still fresh and eager to watch and react to pro wrestling. An active, responsive and enthusiastic crowd never hurts a wrestling show.

It was also in a healthier position than its stablemate Dragon Gate USA’s cards. As I’m sure I’ll mention when I write about them they are suffering from a distinct lack of legitimate Dragon Gate Japan wrestlers. And as Japanese stars flown in from the parent company are part of the appeal of the entire DG USA package that’s a significant problem. EVOLVE is unconcerned with this. Its mandate is to showcase the best talent available, no matter their nationality. That creates less expectancy and grants more freedom.

Avoiding any annoying preamble EVOLVE 28 got underway as soon as the stream went live. The opener saw Biff Busick take on Drew Gulak. I'm not wild about either man and this match did nothing to convince me to change my mind. It was at least a spirited offering that kept us guessing as to the outcome. Busick won after applying a body scissored sleeper, giving him what we were informed was his first singles victory over ‘The Legal Eagle’.

Match two saw Maxwell Chicago, wearing his tuxedo onesie, take on Green Ant. Maxwell's usual comedic antics were curtailed when Green Ant drop kicked him out of the ring as soon as the bell rang. Chicago weathered the storm for several minutes and did eventually manage to begin his regular shenanigans. Here that took the form of asking to apply headlocks and performing overly safe “high risk” moves. Green Ant got the win, a result which most had to expect, with a Michinoku driver and a Texas cloverleaf.

The comedy was followed by the newest member of The Premier Athlete Brand, Caleb Konley, taking on former EVOLVE champion AR Fox. This was the match which brought the show to life, a combination of Fox's popularity, his array of aerial moves, and the genuine heat that the Brand bring with them.

In storyline terms both men needed the win. ‘The Whole Foxin’ Show’ needed to regain the momentum he’d lost along with his title in February. Meanwhile Konley needed to win to start his time in The Premier Athlete Brand off with significance. In practical terms this meant both needed to make the match the best on the show. There were a handful of awkward moments, most notably an overly long pause for Konley and henchman Mr A as they waited for Fox to hit them with a flying move, but for the most part the bout was a rousing effort.

The surprise ending saw Fox roll up Konley with a small package as the clambered back into the ring. Considering both competitors needed to win for storyline purposes the ever reliable small package finish was a smart move. It allowed the more prominent member of the roster to go over without making Konley look weak or easy to defeat.

The result triggered an assault from Konley, A and Su Yung. Nobody made the save for Fox. That surprised me as Chris Hero has also been engaged with the faction and Fox had come to his rescue at the DG USA shows in February. A tag match pitting Hero and Fox against two Brand boys seems likely and linking Fox and Hero here would have been a simple way of leading to it.

The Bravado brothers were next. It was tough to make out what they were saying due to poor audio quality. It was something about The Young Bucks and holding tag ropes. While I don't think EVOLVE and DG USA shows need top of the range production values it would be a nice idea to make it possible for viewers to understand things wrestlers were saying in their promos.

As was the case at Way of the Ronin they had a jobber accompany them to the ring. Moose destroyed him in a squash before the Bravados competed in their scheduled match. That was followed by the first WWN Live tag match of the weekend, Lance and Harlem defending the Open the United Gate tag titles against Orange Cassidy and Chuck Taylor of The Gentlemen's Club. After some ringside brawling (which the brothers have supposedly banned) Cassidy found himself isolated for several minutes. 'The Kentucky Gentleman' eventually came in off a tag and singlehandedly turned the tide in favour of his team.

The Gentleman's Club hit some double team moves, including what we were led to believe should have been a match winning DDT-wheelbarrow combo. The reason it wasn't a match winner was that the referee got yanked from the ring before he could count the three. This caused some brawling at ringside involving Gulak and Moose while back in the ring Taylor rolled up Harlem only to be shoved off and into Cassidy. That Gentlemen's miscue was enough of a distraction for the Bravados to performer their elevated neck breaker finish on Taylor. With his teammates incapacitated he went down for the three.

The loss meant that The Gentlemen's Club would never get another tag title match. Taylor and Gulak looked dejected while Orange Cassidy walked out of the building. Taylor and Gulak stared after him before heading backstage. A big deal was made of this by the commentary team. Cassidy didn't even go to the back and get his gear you know!

After a lengthy intermission (they had technical problems to sort out) Lenny Leonard introduced Larry Dallas. The microphone problems once again meant nothing the pair said could be understood. It seemed to be about the downfall Larry Dallas has experienced over the previous year (but he's got a nice new haircut so that's something). Leonard talked about nobody liking Dallas and then left. Dallas stayed in the ring, ranted, then left. I assume this will lead to something as Dallas’s unpopularity has been a theme on a few recent shows. Unfortunately, not being able to understand what was said made it a frustrating experience.

In the ring the second half began with Anthony Nese versus Ricochet. The story behind the bout was that Nese had been selected as Ricochet's opponent by Johnny Gargano as part of the build for the Ricochet v Gargano bout the following evening. The same backstory would apply to the later Gargano v Swann match and would also be used as an excuse to add Gargano to commentary here.

The match was smooth throughout, as all Ricochet matches are. He dazzled with crisp kicks, textbook flying moves, and rag doll-like selling. Particularly impressive was a dive over the turnbuckle on to Mr A and Nese. This is not to gloss over how good Nese is. He does a very good job mixing flying moves with power moves, and routinely sells more than others on the roster (including Ricochet). Nor is it an attempt to gloss over Ricochet’s shaky relationship with the concept of selling. The idea of a comeback being gradual, as opposed to instantaneous, seems impossible for him to grasp. He’s not the only person on the EVOLVE and Dragon Gate USA rosters to do this but he is among the most prominent.

With 'The King of Flight' going into a title match with Gargano the next night it made sense for him to get the win over Nese, and he did. After failing a springboard attempt Nese fell to Chocolate Rain and a Benadryller. Ricochet talked on the mic after the match. Johnny Gargano turned up provided some words of his own. Once again nothing could be understood but it's safe to assume they were talking up their title match. The talking ended when Gargano clotheslined Ricochet from behind. Rich Swann dashed out to make the save, segueing us into the penultimate match of the evening.

The story of the match was that Gargano was not fully focused on Swann, having to resort to extreme measures, dropping Swann neck first on to the apron for example, and rule breaking to gain the initiative. The match was lively, energetic and enjoyable, a perfect example of why Gargano's been one of the most heavily pushed acts of Dragon Gate USA for years. It was also a great match for fans of super kicks. From around the halfway point the pair were throwing them around like they were The Young Bucks.

The finishing sequence was a highlight of the evening. After Swann missed a frog splash Gargano applied the Gargano Escape. A submission was teased but Swann made it to the ropes. Taking the action to the apron the pair exchanged super kicks before 'The Whole Shebang' sent Swann head first into the mat and lawn darted him into a turnbuckle. Back in the ring Swann kicked out of a second lawn dart before going down to a title belt shot.

After the match the champ blasted the man he claims is his best friend with the title again before being drilled with a Benadryller by a returning Ricochet. Gargano sold unconsciousness in the ring for well over a minute. That was a great decision. It built the move up as something Gargano would need to avoid during his match with Ricochet. A credible threat to Gargano's title was made even more credible.

The main event saw Trent Barreta challenge Chris Hero for the EVOLVE championship. Lenny Leonard was on hand to provide in-ring intros for challenger and champion that could only be understood because we already knew what to expect from him (hashtag mic problems, right?).

After Barreta agreed to send Su Yung and Mr A to the back the pair started their match with some mat wrestling. Hero got the better of that, Baretta eventually turning the tables when he brought his knees up as Hero tried a senton. Minutes later Hero hit a release suplex. Barreta came back with a double stomp before being sent scurrying to the outside by a flurry offence from Hero. At this point Hero went for a fake plancha and wound up choking himself between the second and top ropes, something which could have proven incredibly serious. Thankfully no serious damage appeared to be done and the bout continued as planned. Time for that spot to be dropped from the repertoire though.

Barreta hit an enziguri and a German suplex for two. A tornado DDT also failed to get him the victory he desired. Hero hit a drop kick to the face and a cravat suplex. Barreta got a two count from a backslide. Hero got a two count of his own with a la magistral. Barreta attempted a float over pinning predicament but found it countered into a hangman's clutch by Hero. Barreta made it to the ropes and the two headed outside for a WWN favourite: an exchange of blows on the apron. Barreta got the last word on that with a double stomp.

'Trentylocks' trash talked the champ about being fat and his former tag partner Claudio Castsgnoli (heeeeeey!!) being at WrestleMania, which earned him a punch in the mouth. The pair swapped strikes, 'The Knockout Artist' ultimately getting the upper hand with a big boot. A power bomb attempt was countered into a Dudebuster for a two count. Barreta scored with a hurricanrana but seconds later found himself on the receiving end of a rolling elbow. He kicked out of that at two so Hero went for his Death Blow elbow. Barreta ducked and the referee took it instead.

Barreta snuck in a low blow before The Premier Athlete Brand strolled to the ring to lend a hand to their stablemate. Hero took some flying moves before avoiding a splash from Mr A and sending Nese and Konley packing. A rolling boot to Mr A got a solid reaction from the crowd but allowed Barreta to sneak in a running knee for a convincing false finish. Not done with the cheating Barreta stuck some brass knuckles in his knee pad and tried for another knee but was met with a big boot and a leg drop, providing another convincing false finish.

Giving us one falsie too many Hero managed to survive a blow from the loaded kneepad (a better name for the move would be Murray's Kiss as Barreta has a picture of Bill Murray on his kneepad). Barreta attempted a springboard manoeuvre but was met with kicks and a rolling elbow to finally end the match at just under half an hour. Fittingly, it was the best offering of the night, although it must be said that the show as a whole was far from a must-see affair. The second half of the show was very good but there was nothing that had to be seen on the first half. Still, as the opening card to a weekend filled with wrestling I think EVOLVE 28 was as good as it needed to be.

DG USA Way of the Ronin 2014 review

When writing about REVOLT! 2014 (read that here) I said that some of the matches could have had some time trimmed and that the show as a whole would have benefited from being a little shorter. Clocking in at over three hours, without the intermission, Way of the Ronin was actually longer than REVOLT! was. But it didn't feel it. A better selection of matches, a more aesthetically pleasing (though only slightly) venue, the presence of Chris Hero and Roderick Strong, and a livelier crowd (though the gang the night before had been perfectly fine) combined to make a superior show.

Tim Donst found himself in the opener for the second evening in a row. He was opposite perennial DG USA undercarder Caleb Konley. Konley won a spirited affair with the Au Face submission hold. Although he lost Donst was the more popular of the two. The fans booed the decision and chanted for Donst as he left.

Jay Freddie v Blake Edward Belakus was match two. It was another battle of the newcomers, part of the overhyped New Talent Initiative. Why overhyped? Because while it's a nice idea it didn't produce any stunning performances either on this show or at REVOLT! and none of the competitors seemed to have any buzz behind them. This was typified during the commentary for this bout when Lenny Leonard stated he didn't know much about Belakus and went on to mention that he was wearing "black tights and all black gear." Would it really have been that hard for him to speak to each newcomer to get some basics about each of them to use on commentary? You know, how long they've been wrestling, their influences, and their preferred in-ring styles? Apparently it was.

I thought the match was better than the opener. Belakus, who reminded me of comedian Joe Wilkinson, struck me as someone worth bringing back. He won after a Burning Hammer.

After the match Larry Dallas appeared. He told the two wrestlers that they belonged in Dragon Gate USA and told them the only way they'd get to the top would be joining up with him, as he had with Tim Donst and Chris Dickinson the previous evening. Jay Freddie walked off immediately. Belakus gave it a moment's thought but then followed suit. The crowd chanted "No one likes you!" as LD left.

There was more New Talent Initiative fun in match three as Yosuke Santa Maria took on Ethan Page (no relation to Adam). YSM was given flowers as he walked around the ring and an "Equal rights!" chant broke out before the bell sounded. The match they had was a comedy affair, as you'd expect. Yosuke does a better job than most of mixing humour with actual wrestling. He won with a crucifix bomb.

After that things got serious: a grudge match between Jigsaw and Fire Ant. They started out brawling into the crowd before returning to the ring to exchange dives, kicks and double stomps. Jigsaw took control with a bicycle kick and a Gory special. A double stomp on Fire Ant across the second rope got him two. ‘The Energetic Insectoid Grappler’ came back with a running knee, a bicycle kick of his own and a Burning Down the House.

Jigsaw regained control with a suplex, another double stomp and a dive to the outside. Back in the ring Jigsaw used a super kick and a brainbuster to get a two count. Fire Ant came off the second rope with a swinging DDT and a roundhouse kick, then recklessly dropped 'saw on his head with a Beach Break to gain a two count. Jigsaw performed a torture rack into a power bomb off the top rope. When that only got a two the crowd broke out in a "This is awesome!" chant.

Fire Ant dropped Jigsaw with a Beach Break on the apron, sending the wrestling puzzle piece sprawling to the concrete. Fire Ant scooped his foe up and rolled him back into the ring but got caught with a small package, giving Jigsaw the win in a fast-paced, spirited, and enjoyable effort. Afterwards he proclaimed himself the greatest wrestler in the world. That prompted a very brief CM Punk chant. I think it stopped after a couple of repeats because the fans got self-conscious. Bless 'em.

The first half's main event saw The Premier Athlete Brand take on Shane Strickland and Rich Swann. The Brand had Su Yung and Mr A with them. Swann and Strickland had Ivelisse. Presumably she was there to counter Su Yung more than Mr A. There was a lot of dancing before the match. The audience loved it. Who can blame them though? They're slick dancers are Swann and Strickland. The four men put on one of the best bouts of the weekend, a very nicely constructed tag encounter that drew the crowd in and made everyone involved look good and built to a red hot finishing sequence packed with signature moves, double teams and near falls.

It was The Premier Athlete Brand that got the win. They wiped out Swann with a top rope German suplex, then Barreta dropped Strickland with a running knee and Nese pinned him with a 450 splash.

After the match Nese talked up his plan to turn Mr A into the best big man in Dragon Gate history and Su Yung said they would be extending their brand. Swann was told he wasn't good enough for membership. His response was to sing about spending a night with Su Yung. That made her scream and Barreta and Nese flip out. Classic heel response.

The second half opened with the Bravado Brothers and two random wrestlers walking to the ring. For the second night in a row Harlem talked about his grandmother getting The Young Bucks suspended and Lance nearly getting paralysed at EVOLVE 27. Oh, and their zero tolerance policy on rule breaking.

They then brought out Moose, 'The Offensive Lineman of the Bravado Bandwagon' and had him job out the two randoms, who were identified as Earl Cooter and Xavier Fate. The fans chanted "Goldberg!" and "Feed me more!" as Moose obliterated both men in under two minutes. Strangely no mention was made of the New Talent Initiative even though none of the three were regulars.

The Gentlemen's Club, minus Orange Cassidy, hit the ring after the match and went face to face with the champions. They got jumped by the champions but made a comeback and had an even, back and forth match. The Bravados won via shenanigans. Lance distracted the referee, allowing Moose to spear Gulak. The brothers then followed up with a Gentlemen's Agreement. The match and the finish got the champions plenty of boos. The excessive outside interference team Sapolsky always seems to like to have on the books is something the Bravados would be well suited to. Stick another couple of guys with them and see what happens.

Chris Hero entered through the crowd wearing a balaclava for his EVOLVE championship match. There was no clear reason for this. Perhaps he just thought it would look and-or be cool. There were loud cheers for him. The same couldn't be said for AR Fox. His entrance was met with indifference. His in-ring announcement got a split reaction that eventually gave way to a chant for him. He had to work for his cheers in Brooklyn.

They started out with some slow technical wrestling, slipping in and out of the ring with holds applied. The holds gave when to moves when Hero booted Fox as he jumped up for a leapfrog. Not to be outdone ‘The Whole Foxin’ Show’ hit a springboard drop kick and a moonsault. Outside the ring he tried a ring post assisted shooting star press but Hero avoided it and smacked him with a boot to the face.

Back in the ring Hero slowed the pace, dropping knees on Fox and winding him with kicks. Unwindable, Fox clotheslined and drop kicked 'The Knockout Artist' in a corner and attempted a running shooting star press, but Hero lamped him with a rolling elbow for a two count. A yakuza kick moments later only scored a one count. Hero pummelled the champion with chops and kicks but couldn't keep him down.

Fox managed to mount a comeback with an enziguri, a drop kick on the apron, a pair of suicide dives and a top rope dive. That only got him a two count and a split chant back in the ring. Hero tried a rolling elbow but Fox ducked and dropped him with a springboard Ace Crusher. A Lo Mein Pain attempt was countered with a crisp big boot, and followed up with a dragon sleeper. When his power bomb attempt was blocked Hero cracked Fox in the mouth with an elbow. That stunned the champ and allowed Hero to perform a Ricola bomb (a nice nod to Hero's former tag partner Claudio 'Cesaro' Castsgnoli).

Champ and challenger traded blows, culminating in a Hero Death Blow for a convincing false finish. Fox made a comeback and dropped Hero with Lo Mein Pain. The crowd cheered loudly when the challenger kicked out. A 450 splash was avoided and turned into a cravat suplex, followed up by a yet another big boot and a second Death Blow rolling elbow. Finally Hero slapped on a modified dragon sleeper for the tap out win and the championship. That was a surprise, and one that went down very well with the New York fans. Lenny Leonard's claim that the match would be talked about for years to come was ridiculous but it was a very strong effort.

Fox handed the new champion his title after the match and the two hugged to "Yes!" chants. Trent Barreta turned up (on a gantry) and told Hero that Claudio was main eventing for WWE while he was back on the indies. Which seemed a weird putdown because Trent got released too (and it didn’t do much for the prestige of the Hero’s newly won EVOLVE championship). Trent laid into Hero's diet and conditioning and called him a failure (again, the title’s standing wasn’t helped here).

Anthony Nese and Mr A snuck into the ring and clobbered Hero. Fox came back to make the save but Caleb Konley was seconds behind him to put a stop to that. He was, it turned out, the newest member of The Premier Athlete Brand. Mr A tried hitting a top rope splash on AR Fox but, somehow, managed to botch it and ended up falling on his face instead. Nese got things back on track with a 450 on Hero. The heel squad then posed and talked smack to end a very good segment. Hero and Fox versus The Premier Athlete Brand has a number of singles matches that could be interesting.

The evening ended with ROH regular Roderick Strong challenging Johnny Gargano for the Open the Freedom Gate championship. This was Strong's debut for DG USA after his EVOLVE debut in January had to be postponed due to injury. For the record he wore a Camp Strong T-short to the ring. Decade merch isn't going to be appearing in DG USA anytime soon.

As with the EVOLVE title match Strong and Gargano started off exchanging holds and doing some mat wrestling. And performing chops. They would recur throughout the match. Because Roddy loves a chop. Gargano gained control with a well-timed boot and a slingshot spear. Several minutes later Rich Swann went to ringside and encouraged the fans to surround the ring and pound on the mat in support of Roddy.

That was the signal for Strong and Gargano to kick things up a gear. Strong took control with a suplex onto the top rope with a suplex and a back breaker. Running knees and an Angle slam didn't get the win for him. A slingshot DDT by Gargano didn't end things either. Strong hit a back breaker on the apron and applied the Stronghold. Gargano came back with the Gargano Escape. 'The Whole Shebang' hit a super kick and a lawn dart, then reapplied the submission hold. Strong escaped to the ropes. A Hurts Donut got a two for Gargano. A slingshot spear from 'The Bees' Knees' was turned into a butterfly back breaker by Strong, and was immediately followed by a half Nelson back breaker. Gargano survived the rolling elbow, a gut buster and the sick kick and then applied the Gargano escape for the third time to earn a victory by submission.

The Freedom Gate champ took a microphone and called himself a one man elimination chamber. I don't know what that's supposed to mean either, beyond being a terribly forced reference to the WWE show that occurred the same evening. As he blustered about being a hero to children (even going so far as to say his title belt is a cure for cancer) Rich Swann got into the ring and snatched the mic from him. He was there to hype the New Orleans shows and the defence Gargano will make against Ricochet. He did that and ensured that the card ended with cheers and the fans went home happy.

Way of the Ronin ended up being better than REVOLT! by a significant margin. But that was the plan of course. It was always intended to be the bigger event, with Roderick Strong and Chris Hero competing on it. Had CIMA been there for his scheduled match with Trent Barreta it would have been even better, but that was beyond Dragon Gate’s control and, as I said in the REVOLT! write up, they did a good job making last minute changes that resulted in worthwhile cards.

As well as they coped here let’s hope they don’t have to pull the same trick during WrestleMania weekend. Those shows are ones that have had a significant amount of work put into them as well as shows that are being relied on to entice new viewers into the fold. DG USA needs them to be big. Hopefully the Japanese parent company will recognise this and send over some big names. If they do I think New Orleans will see some hot DG action.

EVOLVE 19 review

Before this I'd watched only one EVOLVE event. I can't remember many details although I do recall Chuck Taylor wrestling barefoot and Johnny Gargano being a heel. He possibly wrestled Ricochet but I could be wrong. Arik Cannon was on the card too. I'm not overly familiar with the promotion's current storylines but I know the main players. Be aware of this as you read this review.

Taking place during the biggest wrestling weekend of the year and hosting a tournament to crown an inaugural champion EVOLVE 19 struck me as a pretty good jumping on point. I wasn't wrong. There were various references to past shows and events but they were easy enough to follow. For the most part the wrestlers all did a good job of getting over their characters, which always helps make a show more enjoyable.

The tournament was set up using a seeding system. The top eight competitors in the company were determined by looking at win-loss records. The top two guys were given byes to the semi-finals on opposite sides of the bracket. Seeds three and four tangled in a singles match with the winner progressing to face the favourite. Seeds five to eight wrestled in a four-way match, the winner of which met seed two in the semi-finals. Sound complicated? It wasn't. It was a refreshing approach for a pro wrestling championship tournament.

I didn't watch the show live. If I had I'd have been one of a large number of people unable to view the beginning of the opening contest. Purchasing it as a VOD from the WWN website sadly means you miss this too, although I was aware of that before purchasing. The same can't be said for anyone who watched (or, more accurately, tried to) on Friday.

I'm not going to criticise the people in charge of EVOLVE for this. They've apologised and offered free access to any past event for anyone affected by the streaming failure. I was irritated by the similar problem ROH had during their Friday show but they're a bigger outfit which should make such occurrences less likely. Plus they've got a history of flogging iffy iPPV streams. As this is the first time EVOLVE have failed in this area (that I'm aware of at any rate) they deserve a bit of leeway.

Neither of these two would leave with the new belt

The match already in progress as the show started was a one fall four-way affair. The competitors were Sami Callihan (seed seven), Rich Swann (seed five), Samuray Del Sol (seed six) and Jigsaw (seed eight). The action got a little sloppy in places and for the most part the psychology was awful. Guys would sell during sequences they weren't required for and make a superhuman comeback the moment they were up for a spot. The sequences were pretty good but these flaws detracted from the match.

Sami Callihan was the star. For the most part he avoided those psychology failings and paced himself well. He advanced in the tournament when he got Del Sol to submit to his Stretch Muffler hold.

One man announce team Lenny Leonard entered the ring next. He was there to introduce new signing 'The Premiere Athlete' Anthony Nese. Yep, that guy who used to work for TNA. He cut a heel promo saying that wrestling is no longer about wrestling. It's become about trying to out-brand others. He told us he's going to introduce a support team that will take him to the top... whether we like it or not. I don't know about anyone else but I'm okay with this. His support team have my blessing.

Lenny Leonard was joined by Colt Cabana when he got backstage. This was a blessing: Leonard is awful doing commentary alone. Sadly, Colt didn't stick around for the rest of the show. He did a couple of stints, neither of which took in the main event. That really would have benefited from his input.

Match two was the battle between seeds three and four, AR Fox and Jon Davis respectively. Davis got some boos before the match, though not many. Disappointing for someone who’s meant to be one of EVOLVE's lead antagonists.

'The Whole Foxin' Show' controlled the earliest portion of the match but Davis eventually gained control after turning an attempted springboard attack into a spinebuster. They went outside the ring and AR took a hip toss onto the apron. After some further ringside scuffling they headed back into the ring and AR took further punishment from a Davis Buckle Bomb.

Back on the apron (yeah, they were all over the place in this one) the former Dark City Fight Club member went for a choke slam to the concrete floor. AR countered with a spike DDT onto the apron, following up with a springboard Whisper in the Wind. That was a very impressive move that took a great deal of skill to pull off and was a great risk for Fox. Sadly the audience barely reacted. So many wrestlers perform similar but less risky feats on a regular basis that genuinely impressive moves like this don't get the reactions they deserve. It's the law of diminishing returns.

Back in the ring (again) Fox went for a Swanton but was met with knees. Davis leapt up and kneed his opponent in the face for a close two count. A lively sequence of big move attempts and counters followed that, culminating in Three Seconds Around the World from Davis. Fox kicked out.

A frustrated Davis slipped under the bottom rope and yanked a table out from under the ring. He set it up in the aisle as Lenny Leonard reminded us (or told newcomers like me) about him hitting an Awesome Bomb on someone at a recent show. AR Fox was hoisted into position for the move but the referee made the save.

Yes, the referee made the save. That annoyed the crowd and triggered a "Kill the ref!" chant. Davis was understandably irked and went to take his frustration out with a stiff clothesline on Fox who ducked, Matrix style, and also avoided the second attempt that whistled his way seconds later.

The referee was not so lucky. The ref bump got a massive cheer from the fans who were annoyed that the official had denied them the chance to witness an Awesome Bomb. The bell rung, signalling a David loss, although we were left in the dark as to who had ruled the match over. The timekeeper maybe?

A second ref arrived on the scene to tell Davis he'd be suspended if he continued his angry ways. Davis took a microphone and asked the audience if he should Awesome Bomb the ref and skip the rest of the weekend. They wanted to see that. Davis said they were stupid but he wasn't ,then left to mild heat. Someone needs some sessions with Dr Shelby.

Up next was (The) Brian Kendrick and Dragon Gate USA Open the Freedom Gate champion Johnny Gargano against Gentlemen's Club members Orange Cassidy and Drew Gulak. I liked the Gentlemen's Club. They've been gifted with the always entertaining entourage gimmick. At ringside they had The Swamp Monster (who received one of the loudest cheers of the night) and the Colonel. The former was dressed a monster from a swamp (obvs) while the Colonel was wheelchair-bound and had a US flag draped across his lap. All of this is probably standard stuff for a lot of people reading this but it was a first for me and I thought it was great. I love this sort of stuff in wrestling.

The match started out as a comedy affair but got serious after Kendrick grew tired of the Club's silliness and shouted at them to take a shot at him. They did and the match transitioned into a more serious contest (although they were still some odd moments involving Cassidy and the entourage). Kendrick and Gargano won when Kendrick pinned Gulak off a Sliced Bread Number Two.

The EVOLVE roster has less use for this guy's belt now they have their own

We were back with the tournament next. 'Kentucky Gentleman' Chuck Taylor (seed one) took on Sami Callihan. 'The New Horror' tweaked his knee leaping over the top rope into the ring. It seemed genuine but was revealed to be a work when Chuck Taylor targeted the leg as soon as the bell rung.

The story of the match was that Callihan was disadvantaged because of his tweaked knee and ankle. Taylor targeted the leg on the outside, wrapping it in the crowd barrier and wrenching and kicking on it before throwing Sami back into the ring.

 

Taylor slapped on a figure four. Sami didn’t quit. Taylor went for a moonsault only for Sami to roll out from under it and come back with four belly-to-belly suplexes. Taylor slapped on a single leg Boston crab, one of his finishing moves, but Sami didn’t tap out.

It struck me that this would have been a good finishing point had Chucky T been booked to win. Sami could’ve tried to hang on through the pain, inched his way to the ropes only to get dragged back to the centre of the ring and be forced to tap out to a reapplied hold. Sami would’ve been kept strong in defeat and Taylor’s single leg crab would’ve been given a boost.

But that wasn’t to be. Callihan got the win out of nowhere when he reversed a pin attempt into the Stretch Muffler. Taylor gave up incredibly quickly considering Callihan was injured and he was the number one seed. It made him look pretty weak when, especially when Callihan had endured so much pain with his “injury”. Another case of questionable psychology.

AR Fox v Ricochet (seed two) was up next. We were told they are the top two high fliers in wrestling today. You wouldn’t have guessed from the first half of the bout. Ricochet slapped on a few submission holds and the pace was, for the most part, pretty sedate. Perhaps this was a part of their ongoing dispute but if that was the case Leonard did a lousy job of making new viewers like myself aware of it.

Things picked up considerably in the latter half of the match as the two started diving about all over the place. Eventually Christina Von Eerie showed up at ringside, presumably to continue or start another ongoing story. In the ring Ricochet went for his 630 senton off the top rope. He missed, which allowed AR to roll him up for the match-winning pin.

Ricochet and Eerie exchanged some words in the aisle afterwards, with Eerie turning her back on Ricochet and getting a shove for doing so. Trouble’s brewing there. Mark my words.

Next was another non-tourney bout. Scott Reed entered first, accompanied by fellow members of The Scene Larry Dallas, Trina Michaels and Caleb Konley. His opponent was Arik Cannon. He was a heel on the only other EVOLVE show I've watched but now seems to be a pretty popular face. They had a no DQ match which became a handicap match after a few minutes  thanks to interference from Konley.

Dallas and Michaels got involved after a bit too, prompting the return of Uhaa Nation to. Leonard informed us Uhaa had been out for a year with a neck injury and we would also learn that he doesn’t much care for Arik Cannon. Which sort of begs the question of why he came out to make the save. Strange guy.

Trina Michaels tried to work her charms on Uhaa which prompted Marti Belle (a female wrestler or valet I’ve never heard) to come to the ring for a random catfight. Leonard tried a Joey Styles impersonation. It failed.

Cannon won with a brainbuster. Officially it was a one-on-one match but it was actually the most packed segment on the show. Following the match Cannon had a beer and offered Uhaa a sip (or perhaps the whole can, it wasn’t clear). Uhaa slapped it into the crowd and dropped Cannon with a belly-to-belly suplex. This was the evidence of them not getting along that I mentioned above.

The penultimate match was the best of the night. A fast, spot-heavy exchange between The Young Bucks and The Super Smash Bros. The crowd, who had been quiet for a lot of the show, came alive during this match. Perhaps they’d been holding out for wrestlers who like to play air guitar all the time. If so they were spoiled rotten by Nick and Matt Jackson.

The SSB won with a Gory Bomb-Blockbuster combo. Afterwards Players Uno and Dos offered handshakes. The Bucks teased that they’d accept (it’s something they never do, apparently) but ended up super kicking the winners instead. They then shouted at the crowd and sneered their way backstage. What heels!

Lenny Leonard neglectfully abandoned his booth again moments before the main event. He was on aisle interview duty. Sami Callihan said he always gives everything in the ring but it’s never enough for the fans. He said he'll be the first EVOLVE champ whether people like it or not. Same sentiment as Anthony Nese earlier in the show really. Deliberate? Probably not.

AR Fox told Leonard that he may not look one hundred per cent but he feels it. He then started screaming and shouting so much that his words became indecipherable because of the shoddy audio. I think the gist was that he, not Mr Callihan, that would be the first EVOLVE champ.

The new belt was held up before the bell was rung. It’s far nicer than WWE’s new championship. Leonard was blown up when he got back to commentary. Yep, a play-by-play guy who gets blown up walking and talking. Extraordinary. That’s the level of quality available to EVOLVE and Dragon Gate.

 

A good-looking slice of belt

 

The audience was split throughout the match. ‘The New Horror’ was on offence early, targeting the damaged neck of AR Fox. Yes, it was his neck that was the worse for wear, even though Jon Davis had been focusing on his back for most of their first round contest.

Fox eventually got some offence in after hitting a cannonball and two running boots into the corner, followed up with an Ace Crusher and a Swanton for two. Callihan went back on offence, undoing his knee pad to cause greater pain to his opponent despite it supposedly being injured. Yeah, there were psychology problems in this match too.

The crowd, who had died down after the excitement of the Bucks v SSB bout, returned to life after Callihan hit a German suplex and a power bomb on ‘The Whole Foxin’ Show’ for two. That was immediately followed up with a Stretch Muffler. As that had taken him to his first two victories of the evening it made for a believable potential finishing sequence.

Ultimately the hold was ineffective. Fox got the win out of nowhere after he hit a Side Effect type move off the top rope to a seated Callihan. The crowd popped like The Swamp Monster had returned. Callihan grabbed the belt from the ref to boos, but redeemed himself by being the one to hand it over to the new champion. That got him a cheer. The two competitors shook hands and hugged. Callihan then left to let the new champ enjoy his moment, but not before he gave some hug action to Lenny Leonard.

Fox told Leonard that he dedicated his win to the “number two high flyer” Ricochet. He put over EVOLVE, saying it’s a company for wrestlers of all styles as long as they work hard. He’s looking forward to meeting guys of all styles, apparently. He also told us the EVOLVE roster shuts up and wrestles. As victory speeches go it was subdued. But that’s fair enough, considering the message it had to get across.

The Young Bucks came out to congratulate Fox and tell him he was going to lose the Open the United Gate championship he held with CIMA. There was no cheap shot, no intense rebuttal from the newly crowned EVOLVE champ, and no run-in from the other United Gate champ CIMA. It was simply an angle tacked on to remind everyone that there was a Dragon Gate USA show scheduled for the following evening. The highlight of the Bucks’ appearances was a fan shouting "Haters gon' hate!" as they left.

AR Fox then went back on the mic to shill for the Dragon Gate show. Personally I think that’s a fairly peculiar thing to have your new champion do. But what do I know? I’m just a member of the paying public.

I’m more familiar with Gabe Sapolsky’s Ring of Honor work so his approach here came as something of a surprise. It still has more in common with the average ROH show than it does with WWE or TNA with the emphasis more on the in-ring action rather than skits and angles. That said he takes a different route to get there, channelling the WWF’s Attitude Era and elements of ECW. Large entourages, random run-ins, ringside brawling and ref bumps anyone?

I thought it was a very enjoyable show and excellent value for money (ten quid for us Brits, fifteen dollars for Americans). Based on this I’ll be tuning in to EVOLVE 20.