EVOLVE 27 review

EVOLVE 27 was the closing show of a three day weekend for the EVOLVE promotion (read about the first to here and here). As I noted when writing about EVOLVE 26 Gabe Sapolsky (the man in charge of putting these events together) prefers to build up to his bigger matches in these sorts of situations. In theory that should have meant EVOLVE 27 was the best of the three Florida events. Was it? Let’s find out.

Caleb Konley kicked the evening off with a promo. Instead of being a good employee and participating in his scheduled match (which he said was a six-way freestyle match) he demanded a one-on-one rematch from the previous evening with Lince Dorado.

This is a good point at which to acknowledge Lince's gimmick. He acts like a cat and wears gear with a distinctly feline feel to it. It's not as unique as it may sound: British wrestler Lion Kid does essentially the same thing. Dorado's better at it though, and the US fans give him more to work with. Balls of wool being thrown in place of streamers for example.

As an opener it was great. It was fun, fast, and split the offence between both men. Konley win with a roll up. If was pushed as a big moment for him. I don’t think it was but the thought was there at least.

Match two saw Maxwell Chicago team with Johnny Vandal to take on Dos Ben Dejos, Cruz and Rios. It was a mix of comedy stemming from Chicago's basic wrestling skills and ropey teamwork with Vandal and actual, impressive wrestling from Dos Ben Dejoes. It was enjoyable. The regular combo of Rios and Cruz won after a springboard 450 splash to Vandal.

Gabe Sapolsky favourite Jon Davis versus Rich Swann followed that. They started with a bit of power versus speed shtick. Davis got the better of that. The story of the match was that Davis could easily overpower his smaller foe but that Swann’s resilience kept him in the fight. This included the unsportsmanlike acts of rope-choking and wall-smashign. His more traditional offence included an impressive leaping pump kick to a mid-air Swann, a stiff lariat on the apron, a backpack neck breaker, and an elevated power bomb into a German suplex. Swann made numerous comebacks during the match, all but the last being cut off. That saw him leap off the top rope and immediately hit a Canadian Destroyer.

Swann should be praised for his selling. Too few wrestlers are capable of selling convincingly for an extended. That Swann did so made his various comeback attempts all the more compelling. His vulnerability was the story of the match, his win coming from increasing desperation and luck as opposed to a belief shattering super-comeback.

Match four saw Lance Bravado take on Nick Jackson as part of the brothers versus brothers feud. It didn't really last very long: within minutes Harlem Bravado was at ringside interfering. The referee called for the bell before Matt Jackson showed up at ringside and the two teams had a lengthy brawl all around the arena. This involved plenty of rail dives, not-at-all devastating use of stages and steel walls and, of course, chairs. Around the ten minute mark there was a brief and half-hearted "This is awesome!" chant. It wasn't, but it was an effective way to highlight the intense dislike the two teams have for each other.

The shenanigans ended when the Bucks performed a springboard spike Tombstone piledriver to Lance. That was a step too far: the move would have killed or paralysed Lance had it been real. It was complete excess. Showing no compassion for a man he may have just helped paralyse Matt grabbed a microphone and shouted that the Bucks would be taking back the belts in April. The segment started out as a logical bit of feud progression but ended up as overkill.

After intermission ("Fans we're going to take intermission, feel free to check out the merchandise stand," plugged Lenny Leonard as Lance was being attended to by medical staff at ringside) we were treated to one of the highlights of the weekend: Chris Hero v Chuck Taylor. This match showed why both men are so highly regarded. It was one of the best matches of the night and the three show weekend as a whole. 'The Knockout Artist' won with a cravat camel clutch.

AR Fox joined Hero in the ring afterwards, telling him he wanted to defend the EVOLVE championship against him. He suggest the February 23^rd Dragon Gate USA show in Brooklyn. Before Hero could accept Trent Baretta rocked up to continue his campaign against his fellow former NXT regular. He said he'd pinned Fox and so deserved a title shot ahead of Hero.

Anthony Nese and Su Yung strolled out as Hero left (he didn’t provide an answer but Lenny Leonard helpfully confirmed that Hero v Baretta would happen). 'The Premier PA' announced that 'Trentylocks' had officially joined The Premier Athlete Brand. Ricochet was the final man to enter for the scheduled tag bout. After some early dives to the outside the Brand boys got the advantage and isolated Fox in the ring. Nese and Baretta showed promise as a pair rule breakers during this stretch of the bout. They could be a nice addition to the Dragon Gate and EVOLVE tag division.

The pace picked up once Ricochet was tagged in as he and Fox took the initiative. The PAB regained the advantage minutes before things broke down and all four men were wrestling at the same time. The bad guys eventually got the win after Nese blocked a Lo Mein Pain and Baretta wiped out Fox with a running knee before Nese performed a 450 splash for the victory.

Chris Hero returned and congratulated The Premier Athlete Brand, specifically Trent, on the win then challenged him (or them, it wasn't clear) to deal with their issues in New Orleans. Baretta's response was to pose with his new tag partner. He didn't officially accept the challenge either. There will be matches involving Hero and Baretta either on February’s New York shows or April’s New Orleans shows but it’s not clear which.

The main event was originally meant to be Roderick Strong against Johnny Gargano. That had to be changed when Strong was injured at the January 4^th ROH TV taping. The solution was to award the winner of the EVOLVE 25 Fray! match the title opportunity. It was a good decision, giving Uhaa Nation something meaningful to do and creating a story to be followed across the three shows.

Uhaa was out first to his wonderfully seventies theme music. Gargano's music couldn't compete with that. Mostly because Uhaa's is awesome, but also because Gargano’s is a little bit nineties. Ain't nobody got time for that. The audience was split during the introductions. Both guys received more boos than cheers, which didn't bode well. Thankfully the crowd backed Nation once the bell rung.

The story of the first few minutes was that Uhaa was more powerful than Gargano. 'The Whole Shebang' spent his time bouncing around, taking time outs at ringside and making fruitless attempts to hurt his foe. He managed to turn the tide at the six minute mark when he apron bombed Uhaa off the stage (but not before the pair had botched a subset flip). Uhaa mounted a comeback of his own with a stream of clothesline and a trio of German suplexes. The top rope splash he followed up with gave him the first two count of the match.

Gargano hit his slingshot DDT. Uhaa came back with a lung blower, a DVD and a moonsault. Gargano got a top rope hurricanrana. Uhaa countered a spear into a series of power bombs. None of it was enough for either man to get a victory. Gargano avoided an Uhaa Combination, lawn darting the challenger into a ring post and slapping on the Gargano Escape. 'The One Man Nation' again nabbed the advantage when he gave Gargano a Death Valley Driver on the apron.

An errant boot from Uhaa sent the ref sprawling, freeing Gargano up to bring the ring bell into the match. Uhaa avoided the weapon and scored a Tomstone piledriver (maybe the most overused move of the weekend) for a two count. Moments later the Gargano Escape was applied again after the champ had slipped out of a military press. Uhaa survived for a few moments but ultimately had to tap out. Gargano remained the Open the Freedom Gate championship.

Post-match Gargano told the fans he loved them... except for a section that had been booing him. He said he'd bash their brains in. He also said by defeating the unstoppable Uhaa Nation he'd become the unstoppable Johnny Gargano. Ricochet interrupted him, natch. He asked the champ to sign a contract that would give him a title match with the winner of Gargano v Strong. Johnny refused and tried to leave but got stopped by Rich Swann (who is a human as opposed to a wealthy swan). He called Johnny a champion without heart (what a diss!) before Jon Davis waddled down to the ring.

Davis revealed that because he was making less money than the likes of 'chet and Swann he'd been taking extra money from Gargano to try and injure people (which he did to feed his family, natch). Gargano said he was lying. Davis said Gargano was on his own. With the odds against him Gargano was forced to sign. Swann laid him out with a super kick after he tried to stab Ricochet with the pen. Ricochet then promised to win the title in New Orleans to send everyone home happy.

One thing that leapt out at me about the three shows was how heavy on promos they were. I appreciate that this was because they existed in part to set up the far more important WrestleMania weekend shows but it did feel like too much at points. And they did at least achieve the goal of setting up matches for later. Hero versus Baretta, the Bucks versus the Bravados, and Ricochet versus Gargano all got attention here, which will make the relevant matches mean more when they roll around.

But that’s a minor complaint. EVOLVE and Dragon Gate USA shows succeed or fail on the strength of the matches they offer, and the matches offered by EVOLVES 25, 26 and 27 was of a very high quality. Fittingly the best was saved until last. Uhaa Nation versus Johnny Gargano was the best match across all three shows. Hero v Taylor and The Premier Athlete Brand v AR Fox and Ricochet were both enjoyable too.

The three shows were a success. Everyone at EVOLVE should be proud.

EVOLVE 26 review

Back in his Ring of Honor days Gabe Sapolsky booked a lot of two or three date weekends. They tended to feature the smaller matches on the earlier shows with the bigger ones saved for the second or third night. It was an approach that worked then and it’s one that still works now. EVOLVE 25 on Friday January 10^th was a good show (read about it here), but it clearly adhered to the smaller match approach. The only major meeting to occur was Davey Richards v AR Fox for the EVOLVE championship, and that only happened on that show because Richards was only making one appearance across the weekend.

EVOLVE 26 would be the middle ground card of EVOLVE’s January triple pack, bigger than EVOLVE 25 but still not featuring the weekend’s biggest matches. The show opened with a SHINE showcase match. I will go on record as saying that SHINE has a lovely logo. It’s very nicely designed. The match was Su Yung, accompanied by Antony Nese, facing Mia Yim. She was alone. Imagine the reaction she'd have had if Prince Nama had been with her. But those days are, sadly, gone.

The match was good, a more traditional opener than the twenty-plus minute encounter that had kicked off the previous evening. The match, which included a piledriver (something only rarely seen in wrestling these days and thus noteworthy), and was won by Yim when she rolled Yung up with a crucifix. Yung was able to attack Yim afterwards thanks to a distraction from Mr Nese. Some tasty cheap heat was obtained when he posed over the fallen Yim.

Up next were Caleb Konley and Lince Dorado. It was a fast match that saw both men chuck themselves about to elicit crowd noise. The focus was almost as much on Trina Michaels taking a phone call at ringside as it was the action. That's fine. This was a low card featuring low card guys. It was mostly happening to create a platform for the Konley-Michaels story. Lince won after rolling through a back body drop and getting a roll up. Trina shouted that she was disappointed in him after his loss.

Maxwell Chicago was out next. I was unfamiliar with him. It was obvious within about three seconds that he's a comedy performer. The vogueing and tux gave it away. His opponent was Chuck Taylor. The match started with a strong sense of fun as Chicago announced he knew a whole five moves and then nearly won by KO with a side headlock. It got sillier from there as the two danced, Taylor wore himself running the ropes and Chicago was talked through applying the figure four by Taylor. Good stuff.

Taylor won after performing the Awful Waffle. Rich Swann then sauntered to the ring. He talked about his shared past with Chucky T and Johnny Gargano as Ronin and then asked if Chuck, like him, wanted to prove that they and not Gargano were what made the group work. He suggested they team up in the main event against The Young Bucks. 'The Kentucky Gentleman' agreed.

Match four was an Open the United Gate match, Dos Ben Dejos challenging Lance and Harlem Bravado. This was, we were told, one of the top tag feuds in Full Impact Pro, brought to EVOLVE cards because they were being held in FIP's neck of the woods. It was a good match but there was nothing that made me think I'd like to see lots more from the four. The Bravados retained their titles after a double team elevated neck breaker.

After a twenty minute intermission (described as brief by the ring announcer before it took place) it was time for Ricochet v Trent Baretta. The FIP champ displayed a slight mean streak during the match, playing off his snarky comments to Chris Hero the previous evening and furthering one of the weekend’s leading plots.

It was a slow starter but it was very good once it got going. There were flurries of excitement throughout the middle portion of the match before a typically pacey finishing sequence. Those flurries mostly involved Ricochet doing multiple back flips or Baretta hitting a leaping kick of some sort. There was also a dead lift Regalplex from Ricochet. It was impressive but didn't gel with his 'Future of Flight' nickname. Or physique.

Just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should. By showing that he can deadlift a foe Ricochet wasn’t necessarily showing how powerful he was, it could just as easily be taken as showing that it’s not that tough to heave another human being off their feet. That then makes the feats of strength from guys like Uhaa Nation and Jon Davis seem less impressive.

For the second night in a row Ricochet took a hard tumble to the outside. Shoved off the top rope and landing on his head his lolled around at ringside until the nineteen count, at which point he leapt up and scooted back into the ring. Which brings me to my second complaint about Ricochet. Would it really have been too much to ask for him to pace his recover a little better so that he beat the twenty count in a more convincing fashion?

Back in the ring he was met with a top rope double stomp, something he just kicked out of. Trent slapped him about a bit which led to an exchange of punches. Ricochet got the better of that and attempted a shooting star press. Baretta avoided it and got a two count from a running knee. 'Chet blocked the Dude Buster and performed a float over Northern lights suplex for two. Moments later Ricochet hit a top rope hurricanrana followed by a running shooting star press for another near fall. The 630 splash he hit after that proved too much for Baretta and Ricochet finally got the win.

After the match Ricochet said it won't matter whether it’s Roderick Strong, Uhaa Nation or Johnny Gargano who holds the Open the Freedom Gate championship in New Orleans because he's going to leave the town as champion. For the record I think Johnny Gargano will survive the challenges of Nation and Strong and be the man to defend against Ricochet in NO. Whether he'll make it past ‘The Future of Flight’ or not is another matter entirely. I could see him losing but I could also see him cheating to win, setting up a rematch.

Speaking of Gargano he was involved in the next match. He teamed with Jon Davis to face Uhaa Nation and AR Fox. As you'd expect a lot of the commentary focused on the respective title reigns of Fox and Gargano. This stretched to Uhaa having a shot at the Open the Freedom Gate title the following night. In the ring the match was solid but not spectacular. An early high point was probably a choke slam from Davis to Fox, something which led to the EVOLVE champ being isolated form his corner for a good few minutes. Once he’d made the tag to Uhaa tags were quietly abandoned for the second half and all four men took it in turns to hit stunts and high impact moves. It was a welcome approach.

The faces won after Fox wiped out Gargano with a Lo Mein Pain and a 450 on Davis before Nation gave him an Uhaa Combination. Afterwards Gargano gave Davis a tongue-lashing for not managing to take out Nation. Then he left. Before the bigger man could get to his feet, obvs.

Before Anthony Nese v Chris Hero started Trent Baretta sauntered out to the ring, prompting chants of "You got beat!" He stayed at ringside to watch the show. Perk of the job, innit. The match was about what you'd expect. A blend of standard indy thrills and spills and vaguely sports entertainmentesque sequences. For the record the sports entertainment stuff came from both men. Nese seems cut out for that style anyway and Hero's clearly picked it up in NXT over the last couple of years. It's not bad, it just stands out on a non-WWE show.

In the closing moments Nese survived two rolling elbows and a rolling boot but was forced to tap out to a cravat STF. Yes, Hero has gone back to using the cravat a lot. Deal with it.

Trent Baretta told Hero that he's "not that guy" any more. What he meant was that Hero is no longer a big deal to non-WWE wrestling. He added that while Hero's been learning from Bill DeMott he's been "killing it" (as with the previous show's review I hope he's speaking metaphorically) all over the world. Hero told Baretta not to be crybaby and reminded him that he'd won while Baretta had lost. That's what 'Trentylocks' had gone out of his way to say to Hero at EVOLVE 25. Tit foir tat. I there any greater approach to modern wrestling booking?

The Young Bucks defeated Rich Swann and Chuck Taylor in the main event, putting down Swann with a springboard Tombstone piledriver. It started quick and stayed that way all the way through. That's always going to get me on side. I love a quick match. The pace also lent itself to the Jackson brothers' approach to selling (or lack of it). It was the match of the night.

The show ended on a promo. Johnny Gargano returned to the ring to put down his former Ronin teammates. He referred to them as lackeys and singled Swann out as a "mascot". That provoked a brawl between Swann and Gargano which created a distraction that allowed the Bravados to sneak attack the Bucks. Taylor tried to talk them out of continuing their nefarious actions but he got dropped too. The broadcast ended with Lance and Harlem posing their way backstage and Nick, Matt and Chucky T getting a round of applause for standing up. Yep, genuinely for standing up.

As noted at the start the show was very good and a step up on the enjoyable EVOLVE 25. The function of show 26 was to provide good matches and continue the promotion’s various storylines. It achieved the former with the main event, Ricochet v Baretta, and Gargano and Davis v Fox and Nation. It achieved the latter with the various post-match promos. Nobody could have expected more from this card.

EVOLVE 25 review

The last time I wrote about EVOLVE was during WrestleMania weekend last year. That was EVOLVE 19, which featured a tournament to crown the inaugural champion for the promotion. I remember enjoying the show as a whole and being puzzled afterwards by booker Gabe Sapolsky’s comments that it had been a disappointment to him. If that was bad what must good be like?

That was what I had in mind when I sat down to watch EVOLVE 25.

An FIP “world” championship match kicked off the evening. Champion and former WWE low carder Trent Baretta was defending against 'The Premier Athlete' Anthony Nese. The latter is basically an indies version of Chris Masters’ ‘Masterpiece’ gimmick, but done better. It was a match that had been, according to Lenny Leonard, talked about for weeks. I’m sure that is technically true. I’m less sure of the reverential tone that was implied to have accompanied these discussions.

Gabe Sapolsky’s love was ‘Trentylocks’ was as clear as ever during the match’s opening moments when the commentary team lauded him as “perhaps the greatest FIP champ ever.” This is exactly what WWE does with John Cena on a regular basis, but because more people watch WWE, Cena’s been on top longer, and Baretta wrestles a more indy-friendly style few people seem to notice the comparison.

Memorable spots included Baretta getting ripped off the middle turnbuckle and landing hard on the mat, a Death Valley Driver from Nese to Baretta on the apron, and a suplex from Baretta to Nese over the top rope, which saw Baretta go over the rope too. It was impressive and slickly performer but contradicted wrestling logic. There was no reason for Baretta to take the tumble too.

They pumped in a load of very enjoyable false finishes at the finish. Baretta got the win after around twenty-five minutes when he reversed an Okana roll. Being the length it was it was not a traditional opener, which added to the enjoyment of the match. The crowd reacted well to it too. The two shook hands after the match as Leonard put it over as the greatest FIP title match ever. I’ve not seen more than a few FIP title matches but I’d be dubious of that claim.

Baretta cut a promo about having known Nese for ten years and them being the original Dude Busters. He said the 'Premier Athlete' stuff was good but might be missing something. Whether this was hinting at something larger was left ambiguous, a state of affairs that wouldn't last long.

Match two was the five way Fray! match (Gabe loves weird match names) for an Open the Freedom Gate championship match at EVOLVE 27. The rules seemed to be partially inspired by the Royal Rumble. Two men started and the other entrants entered every two minutes, eliminations being made by pinfall, submission or DQ. Last man left in the match would win.

Lince Dorado and Chuck Taylor were the first guys in. They did some fast wrestling with a comedic twinge until Jon Davis entered at three and started using some power moves to slow things down. Entrant four was Caleb Konley. Within a minute of his entrance the spot of the match was performed as Dorado turned a power bomb to the putside from Davis into a moonsault and landing on Konley and Taylor. Davis continued to keep the match slow until Uhaa Nation came out. After a brief pause he clambered into the ring for a face-off with Davis. Before they could have what I assume was a highly anticipated exchange Chucky T slipped in and broke things up. After a flurry of high flying Davis was eliminated by both Dorado and ‘The Kentucky Gentleman’.

Dorado was the second man out after being dropped on his head by Taylor. Konley went out seconds later to an Uhaa Combination, leaving Taylor and Nation as the final two. 'The Kentucky Gentleman' didn't last long. He fell to multiple power bombs within a minute of Dorado dropping. The match was good but surprisingly short. Ultimately that helped it as it allowed for a mostly speedy pace to be maintained. It only dipped when Davis was controlling things. He seemed an odd man to have involved. Nothing else for him to do I suppose.

The Ricochet v Chris Hero dream match followed that. Breaking with the wrestling norm the commentators acknowledged that Hero and 'chet had wrestled once before but that it was long before they'd reached the level they're at now. Honesty on a wrestling show? That's a novelty.

The match started with a handshake and some rasslin' exchanges. There were a lot of takedowns. The point was to show that Ricochet could wrestle as well as fly but that Hero still had an advantage. Things picked up as Ricochet started showboating, provoking Hero to first punch him in the face and then deck him with a big boot. Hero slowed the pace, winding ricochet with jabs and wearing him down with blows and rest holds. The inevitable Ricochet comeback, provoked by some loud trash-talking from Hero, saw the pace pick up.

We got a jawbreaker followed by a spinning heel kick and springboard clothesline but his standing shooting star press was countered with a cravat and then a cravatplex by Hero. Moments later Ricochet found himself shoved off the top rope and into a steel girder holding up the building. Naturally he just made it back into the ring before the twenty count expired, and just as naturally he kicked out of the kick to the head Hero immediately hit him with. What sort of a babyface would go down to that?

Outside the ring Hero tried whipping Rico’ into some chairs but 'The Future of Flight' managed to leap up to the stage then back over to the ring apron where he blasted Hero with a kick. Back in the ring he still couldn't the advantage for long as ‘The Knockout Artist’ smacked him with an elbow for two. Seconds later he survived another. Hero survived a springboard 450 splash and a shooting star press but finally went down to a 630 splash. Hitting all three in succession was a good call. It gave Hero no time to recover, which is how high-fliers should get victories with high-flying moves. A series of heavy impacts that wind their foe.

After the match Ricochet said Johnny Gargano's been ducking him for a long time and challenged him to a title match in New Orleans. That's WrestleMania weekend, obvs.

Hero grabbed a microphone and talked about how he'd been in the ring or on shows with a lot of big names. The point? To remind everyone how much it meant when he said Ricochet is the best athlete he's ever wrestled. He then said that when Ricochet gets his match with Gargano there'll be a new champion crowned. Then he put over the entire locker room as a new generation of big names destined for big things (WWE, basically). That got cheers.

Just as I thought the talking had wrapped up Trent Baretta returned to the ring. He said he "kills it" (presumably speaking metaphorically) on every show he's on and that he won his match while Hero lost his. He also emphatically said he was not mad Hero hadn't mentioned his name when putting over the roster. But, y'know, he was.

Rich Swann and (sigh) The Young Bucks were out next for their six man tag outing against Johnny Gargano and Open the United Gate champions the Bravado Brothers. The first few minutes were slow but it became pretty frantic soon enough. An early stretch of ringside brawling helped there, getting all six guys in on the action and surprising viewers because it’s not something associated with any of them. Or EVOLVE in general for that matter.

This match, the best of the evening, was a perfect example of why ROH were fools to stop using the Bravado boys in 2012. They were good characters and decent wrestlers. They’ve improved, particularly with the wrestling side of things, since then. For the record it was also a good example of why the Bucks are so highly regarded (despite their continued no selling of psychology) and why DG USA is lucky to have exclusive broadcast access to Gargano and Swann. Gargano in particular. He's very good as the braggadocios, self-absorbed bad guy.

Swann and the Bucks won after More Bang for Your Buck on Lance. After the match the Bucks mouthed off about wrestling being their job (the implication being that the Bravados have to work day jobs, more a part of dues paying than anything else I'd have thought) and said they'd regain the Dragon Gate tag belts. Gargano then attacked Swann and the Bucks and Bravados brawled to the back. Roderick Strong then ran in through the crowd to run Gargano off. Uhaa Nation met the champ in the aisle, sending Gargano back into the ring to take some stiff chops and thrown out (again). Another challenge was issued, this one to Gargano from Roddy. You may have picked up on the fact that this was a show heavy on promos.

The fifth and final match was an EVOLVE championship match, AR Fox defending against Davey Richards. The story here was Richards’ history with the company. He was selected to be the centrepiece attraction of the group after Bryan Danielson joined WWE. For one reason or another relationship fell apart and Richards only appeared on one EVOLVE show. He says he was under contract to ROH. Sapolsky says Richards lied constantly about availability and was tricky to work with. Whatever the truth of the matter this understandably led to hostility between the two sides.

Lenny Leonard started by discussing this history. He acknowledged that EVOLVE and Richards both have their own version of what happens. For their part the crowd were split. The history added something to the match that made it feel like a big deal. It would have been good anyway, because Richards is a talented guy and a major name from outside the company, but the history of EVOLVE and 'The Lone Wolf' is one of those rare situations you get in wrestling where the behind the scenes stuff adds to what plays out in front of the cameras.

The match was very good. Fox hit an imploding shooting star, a combination of Sliced Bread Number Two and a moonsault off the apron, his leg drop on to the apron, and a nice array of cutters. Richards impressed with a knee lock in the ropes, stiff-even-by-his-standards kicks and lariats, a reversal into a Tombstone, and the standard selection of double stomps and leg submissions. The finishing sequence was a blizzard of top ropes moves and counters. It was ‘The Whole Foxin’ Show’ who came out on top when he hit Lo Mein Pain.

Richards kept the promo trend alive, grabbing the title belt and a microphone. He mentioned the wrestlers who'd work hard earlier on the show and Chris Hero referencing big names like Bryan, Punk and Joe before saying that those men, Hero, and the EVOLVE roster could all kiss his ass. Just to show that he was seeking boos he threw down the belt, a major heel tactic when Sapolsky’s running things.

‘The Lone Wolf’ then stormed out to strong boos. The sequence worked mainly because it was an inversion of what we've come to expect from wrestlers in these situations. Normally the big visiting star puts the company over. To have Richards trash it fit with the story of him walking out when the promotion was just getting set up. If he were coming back it probably wouldn't have happened. That Richards has signed with TNA turned out to be a positive.

With only five matches EVOLVE 25 may have looked weak beforehand but it turned out to be very good. There were enough men booked to appear for tweaks to have been made to get a six or seven match show but that’s not always what’s best. The Fray! and six man tag bouts were worthy additions to the show. It’s interesting to compare the approach here to the one made with EVOVLE 19. That was a show that featured eight matches. The man in charge disliked it. While I enjoyed that show I’d say this one was better. I’d hazard a guess that Sapolsky preferred this too. Less can be more.

Open the Ultimate Gate 2013 review

I’ve never written about Dragon Gate before. I’m slightly more familiar with the setup than I was with EVOLVE yesterday grab a link here), but it’s still not a promotion I’m intimately familiar with. I knew the main players and the general concept of the promotion and that was about it. Pleasingly it was another card that was very new viewer friendly.

That’s strange when you think about it: the weekend is big for indy wrestling because of WrestleMania, which is probably the least accessible WWE event of the year, and the indy feds produce their most accessible shows of the years to encourage new viewers. Anyway...

 

The show opened with Rich Swann singing his way to the ring to the strains of Lionel Richie. I assume this is modern pro wrestling, specifically Dragon Gate USA's, answer to Sandman entering to Enter Sandman. I think I prefer the ECW version. It’s more manly. His opponent was Brian Kendrick. I am familiar with his work.

Swann was revealed to be pretty over with the crowd once he’d stopped singing. The two men worked a fast pace that was slowed down at various points by Kendrick, playing the veteran who knows that a slower approach suited him against Swann. Kendrick survived a Lethal injection, a frog splash and a standing shooting star press but eventually went down to a spinning jump kick after a failed Sliced Bread Number Two.

Chuck Taylor, the living shoe, joined the defeated Spanky in the ring. Fans briefly chanted for him but started booing as he told Kendrick that the Gentlemen’s Club are better than him. He noted that Kendrick had everything he could have wanted from wrestling and threw it all away, so he’s in no position to lecture anyone. I assume this referred to his spot in WWE rather than his more recent stint with TNA.

Spanky said they'd find out who was better on the next evening’s show. He threw the mic in Taylor's face as he left. Whadda bad boy! Chucky T stayed in the ring for his scheduled six way match. Shane Strickland, Fire Ant, Anthony Nese, Jigsaw, and Arik Cannon came out to join him. The entrances took an age, peculiar when you consider the intimate (read small) size of the venue.

 

This was what you'd expect. Everyone got to go on offence and do a spot of selling, and there was the obligatory series of dives to the outside (which promoted a "Dragon Gate" chant). Strickland earned the ire of the fans when he botched the momentum of his dive. I'm sure he felt foolish.

Anthony 'Don't Call Me Tony' Nese won. Cannon dropped Strickland on his head and 'The Premier Athlete' followed up with a 450 splash. The match was excellent and did a very good job of firing up the audience.

Scott Reed of The Scene and the nondescript Derek Ryze had the difficult task of following that. Sadly, only Larry Dallas was with Reed. I wasn't interested in seeing Caleb Konley but it would've been nice if Trina Michaels had been out there. Dallas screeched into a microphone before the match but I couldn't make out a word he said. I doubt I missed much, although it may have provided a reason for the post match developments.

Reed won a pretty basic match with a swinging inverted DDT. Afterwards Konley appeared in the ring, called Dallas a greaseball and told him to shut up. He informed him that he and Reed were better than The Scene and that they were quitting the stable. They went to leave but Reed swerve turned on Konley. The segment ended up with Marti Belle and Konley laying out Dallas. The point of this, beyond a random face turn for Caleb Konley, eluded me.

Jon Davis was out next to the same half-hearted heat that he'd received at the previous evening's show. Trent?, formerly Trent Barreta of WWE, was his opponent for the evening. Yep, he’s spelling it with a question mark on the end. I'm sure someone, somewhere was excited by this debut. It wasn't me. I'm not happy Barreta got released but I can understand why it happened. He was never going to be a big star in WWE. A spot in Dragon Gate probably isn't going to make him as much money but it will be more creatively rewarding.

Well, it will be if he's given something worthwhile to do. His debut saw him pick up a win via disqualification after receiving a series of headbutts from Davis while slumped in a corner. After that Davis floored the referee with a clothesline and hit Three Seconds Around the World on Trent?. Davis cut another promo saying that he'll make everyone in the promotion miserable because he's miserable.

An open challenge was issued, Davis encouraging fans to chant for their heroes. Cries for Super Dragon and Hulk Hogan (yes, Hulk Hogan) filled the arena. Nobody answered. Not even ‘The Hulkster’, brother.

A more interesting debut was next. Newcomer Tomahawk TT teamed with EITA to take on the Super Smash Brothers. I hadn't heard of either of the Japanese guys but I'm a fan of SSB so I assumed the match would be good. It was.

It was a mixture of comedy spots and solid tag team wrestling. A big deal was made of Tomahawk's stiff chops, with both Players selling them as the most devastating they'd ever felt. Tomahawk kicked out of a 450 splash in what was a convincing false finish. He also scored the win for his team with a version of the Michinoku Driver on Dos after EITA had wiped out Uno with a dive. Fans chanted "That was awesome!" and "Please come back!" afterwards. I agree with the sentiment. Handshakes and hugs ended the star-making segment.

The idea was that TT, who had been billed as CIMA's secret weapon, was being built up for the following evening's six man headliner. I think the mission was achieved handily. Tomahawk TT left looking like a star. That's what a good debut can do for a newcomer. Just ask Fandango.

Match number six was one of the reasons I bought the show. It pitted celebrated high-flyer Ricochet against the fantastic and hilarious Akira Tozawa. The latter is one of my favourite guys on the Dragon Gate roster. Check him out on YouTube or, better yet, buy this event.

Tozawa, who got the streamer treatment when he entered, was accompanied by Christina Von Eerie. That explained the altercation after Ricochet's match at EVOLVE 19. Lenny Leonard did a poor job of explaining that at the time and, indeed, here.

Highlights included: a springboard shooting star press to the outside from Ricochet; a trio of suicide dives from Tozawa; a series of chops from Tozawa that saw him speed up and slow down (which was pretty amusing); a high angle Regalplex from Ricochet, something I hadn't expected to see; a German suplex on the apron from Tozawa to Ricochet; and the match-winning backslide driver-630 senton combo. The two men had a great match and showed why they're a focal point of Dragon Gate USA.

After the match Tozawa spat his mouth guard in Ricochet's face. Bizarrely, Ricochet just accepted that, putting the guard into his own mouth before leaving.

During intermission we were treated to some ads and a video about Uhaa Nation's nine months of physiotherapy. The latter did a pretty good job of emphasising the importance of Nation's return to the ring. The music tried a bit too hard to be tear jerking though. It ended up verging on the humorous.

That return to the ring opened the second half. Uhaa Nation, Goldberg-esque entrance music and all, wrestled Sami Callihan. 'The New Horror' heard plenty of boos as he entered the arena. That was surprising considering his babyface actions following the losing effort he'd entered in the previous evening's main event.

What followed was a pretty even match that was perfectly decent but that I had trouble getting into. I think part if my problem was a slight disinterest in Uhaa Nation. The returnee got the win with a Gorilla press, followed by a standing moonsault and a standing shooting star. Leonard referenced the Uhaa Combination. If that’s the name of this regular series of moves it's very impressive. Callihan limped backstage leaving Uhaa to flex himself silly in the ring.

Second to last for the evening was the Open the United Gate match. Challengers the Young Bucks faced champions CIMA and AR Fox. All four men got very strong reactions when they entered. Sadly Fox wasn't wearing his shiny new EVOLVE belt. I would have liked to see that.

The audience was split in the opening portion of the match but gradually got behind the champions. The reason? Probably something to do with the Bucks' unbridled arrogance. Constant crotch chops and air guitar are apparently very effective ways of turning fans against you.

Fox eventually got cut off from CIMA. The tag out after this sequence was less hot and more luke warm. The champs should've milked the moment far more. I suppose it doesn't matter: moments later ‘The Whole Foxin’ Show’ had forgotten all about selling and was sailing over the top rope to ringside. Indy psychology again.

From there the already fast pace quickened and we were treated to some pretty dazzling double team moves from the champs, most notably an Iconoclasm followed by a Swanton and a surfboard-450 splash combo. Not to be outdone the Bucks hit a double superkick, a buckle bomb-enziguri combo, and a springboard spike Tombstone piledriver. The resultant two count came across as a botched finished after CIMA was late making the save. Ultimately it was the Bucks who won having hit a second double superkick and More Bang for Your Buck on AR Fox.

AR Fox came out to gloat about the 'The Whole Foxin' Show' having lost his tag belt. Meanwhile Nick and Matt left playing air guitar with their new straps. CIMA and Fox he braced in the ring and got a standing ovation from fans. The tag title bout was a great display. A rematch would be good, partly to see if this display can be topped.

Lenny Leonard risked getting blown up by doing the introductions for the main event in the ring. For a guy whose job it is to talk he has a worrying tendency to lose his breath.

The headline bout saw Open the Freedom Gate champion Johnny Gargano defending his title (or is that Gate?) against Shingo. It was Shingo's first Dragon Gate USA appearance in two years and the fans were pleased to see him. Big deal, is he?

Open the Ultimate Poster

 

This was another great match in a weekend full of them. It featured a bit of everything: fast paced exchanges, submission holds, wacky crowd brawling, dives (from Gargano), a blistering closing sequence, and, of course, stiff chops. It was a fitting and enjoyable end to a very strong card.

The story was Shingo's power versus Gargano's speed and, more importantly, need to prove himself. Here Lenny Leonard did a great job (making up for the iffy performances I've mentioned elsewhere), telling of Gargano's start in DG USA and desperation to prove himself the equal of his Japanese heroes. Of course Shingo and Gargano did a solid job of telling this story in the ring too, but Leonard’s additions helped to sell the story. That's what a good wrestling commentator should do.

As the match wore on ‘The Whole Shebang’ stood up to more and more punishment, building to a fantastic exchange which saw both men pelting each other with clotheslines and kicks, bouncing up as soon as they were downed. The story reached its dramatic conclusion when Gargano kicked out of Shingo’s Made in Japan and Pumping Bomber finishers and then, realising he couldn’t beat the man from Japan clean, choked him out with some chord yanked from his trunks.

Having pinned his foe, the presumably-newly-heel Johnny Gargano pinned Shingo to retain his Open the Freedom Gate championship. Fans did not react kindly to the finish. Moments before the pinfall they’d been chanting “Match of the year!” I wouldn’t quite go that far yet, but it was shaping up to be pretty good. The finish dropped it in my estimations. It was still one of the top two matches of the weekend though, along with CM Punk versus Undertaker.

Gargano cut a promo telling the fans to thank themselves and saying that their support was appreciated by everyone in the locker room and their cheers were the greatest accomplishment of his career. I liked that. It’s the sort of promo babyfaces usually cut at the ends of these sorts of events. Ending the broadcast with Gargano expressing this sentiment nicely underlined his turn to the dark side.

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.