WWN Live in Beijing review

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

***

Results summary:

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

WWN Live in Chengdu review

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Results summary

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

WWN Live in Grand Epoch City review

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

***

Results summary

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

EVOLVE 34 review

Back in September EVOLVE returned to New York City for its thirty-fourth and thirty-fifth shows. This was necessitated by the lack of available Dragon Gate stars (due to Visa issues, apparently), something which had plagued the company since WrestleMania weekend in April. That’s something that’s still effecting them at time of writing, and judging by the line-up of announced WWN shows over next year’s WrestleMania it’s an issue that doesn’t seem likely to be sorted out any time soon.

Booker Gabe Sapolsky has worked well within these limitations. Across the August weekend of shows (including EVOLVEs 31, 32 and 33) he fleshed out his roster of “home” stars and started to work at building up some new names to replace the imports he can’t access. A logical thing to do and something he continued across these shows.

EVOLVE 34 kicked off with a Johnny Gargano promo in which he officially became a face again. He claimed he’d had a moment of clarity at EVOLVE 32 when Konley said he wasn't the man he once was. He acknowledged he’d gone mental while Open the Freedom Gate champion and said he understood that and regretted it. He’d asked to open every card over the weekend as a penance for his behaviour, because wrestling logic. In fact Gargano being in both openers was a good idea. It ensured a significant name kicking off each card.

Surprisingly Anthony Nese, Su Yung, Mr A and Trent Baretta (on crutches because of his broken leg) didn’t offer an opinion on Gargano’s revived good guy persona. They simply walked out and posed a bit before Nese got ready to wrestle. I was a bit disappointed. I’d hoped one of them would diss Gargano a bit so he could make some generic sexist comments to Su Yung.

The match was the ideal opener. It featured two guys the fans wanted to react to, was worked fast. and included lots of signature spots to keep the crowd rowdy. ‘The Whole Shebang’ won after a blistering series of kicks, rolling through a one arm power bomb to get a schoolboy.

The Brand hit the ring after that. Gargano smacked Konley but then got smacked himself by Mr A. Rich Swann dashed out to return the favour from EVOLVE33 and took out Mr A and Trent Baretta then grabbed Su Yung. Naturally she was saved by Nese. Gargano brawled backstage while Swann lay limp on the floor. He was helped backstage by a referee, selling that he’d been knocked loopy by the Brand’s attack.

Zack Sabre Jr versus Timothy Thatcher was match number two. The crowd gave the pair a "British wrestling!" chant to begin with, even though Thatcher has himself announced from Sacramento before matches. Another British note: Canterbury was referred to as a suburb of London. This is in no way true.

The match was heavy on holds and counter holds. Arm locks were the order if the day. It was a satisfying match that did a good job of showcasing both men. That said it would have been nice to see Sabre Jr perform some of the flying moves he’s capable of, to add some variety and alter the story a little. Sabre Jr won with a particularly vicious armbar and some kicks to the head and shoulders.

The first ever meeting of Roderick Strong and Uhaa Nation was next. The early going was characterised by Roddy bring a prick, taking cheap shots and mocking Uhaa's posing. He was the first to get the advantage for an extended period, shoving Uhaa from the turnbuckle to the floor after using the referee as a distraction. He targeted Uhaa’s arm and neck, peculiar considering his signature submission hold is a high angle Boston crab.

Uhaa caught Strong as he attempted a cross body and gave him a fall away slam to start his comeback. He followed up with a belly-to-belly, rolling Germans, and an Asai moonsault off the apron. Uhaa missed a top rope splash and took a series of forearms in the corner and a jumping knee in the middle of the ring. Strong got a gut buster and tried a hurricanrana but Uhaa turned it into a sitdown power bomb.

Uhaa got the better of a punch exchange so Roddy hit a Sick kick, a Gibson driver and then applied the Stronghold. Uhaa forced a break with the ropes. Roddy might have won there had he softened up Uhaa when he’d had the chance. What a mug! Uhaa performed his ever impressive Uhaa Combination for the three count to win a very good match.

A non-title came next, Open the Freedom Gate champion Ricochet facing Caleb Konley. It was actually one of the match I as most looking forward to seeing. Konley was one of the guys selected to have his standing in the company beefed in the absence of Dragon Gate stars and I think he’s done a great job with everything he’d been given.

The early going got over the fact that Konley had Ricochet scouted, countering his regular moves and getting in more of his own than would have been expected. It didn’t last: Ricochet turned the tide with an axe kick and a springboard clothesline. He tried a Regalplex but Konley fought out and floored him with an enziguri, then countered the running Ace crusher and nailed the champ with a bridging German suplex. Ricochet scored an alarm clock and a running SSP for two. He followed up with a floatover Northern suplex then a release suplex. ‘The Obsession’ countered the kick of the Benadryller and gave Ricochet the Regalplex, one of Ricochet’s own preferred moves. That got him a two count and momentarily riled the audience. Ricochet avoided the double jump moonsault. Konley escaped the Benadryller and got a Death Valley bomb for a convincing near fall.

‘Mr High Fly’ hit a springboard 450 but Konley kicked out again, surprising the audience. Ricochet went for a top rope springboard but Konley sprang to his feet and caught him, giving him a Death Valley bomb from the top rope to earn the clean pinfall victory. Another contributing factor to the elevation of Konley.

After that Heather Lynn introduced AR Fox to the ring. She reminded the audience he had the right to book himself in any match he wanted once he's recovered from injury. He ran down his DG USA and EVOLVE credentials (first ever EVOLVE champ, former Style Battle winner, and a former Open the United Gate champ) and said he wanted the Freedom Gate belt. Fox versus Ricochet would have been great but it wasn’t to be.

What we got instead was the Bravados brothers wandering out. They took exception to Fox saying he was one of the best United Gate champs ever. Subpar mic work followed, ending with the Bravados introducing Moose for an impromptu match with Fox.

Moose hit some power moves. Fox sold the arm and did some flying. It didn't go very long so they were able to string some spots together for a decent match. Unsurprisingly, with it being his comeback match, Fox won. But only by DQ: Lance Bravado interfered just as ‘The Whole Foxin’ Show’ was about to hit Lo Mein Pain. They gave Fox a Gentlemen's agreement before The Colony made the save, taking us into the Open the United Gate match.

It was a standard Bravados match. Lots of cheap heat, particularly in the form of mask-tugging. That actually led to the Bravados win. As Harlem was trapped in the CHIKARA Special Lancelot grabbed Silver Ant's mask, forcing him to break the hold and allowing legal man Harlem to roll Silver Ant up with a schoolboy. The match was decent enough but unspectacular.

That just left the EVOLVE champion Drew Galloway to defend his prize against Rich Swann. The story going in was that Swann was injured from earlier in the night and Galloway didn't want to defend against him at less than one hundred per cent. Swann insisted on the match because it was his first time getting a chance at a singles championship in either EVOLVE or DG USA.

Swann tried to get the match finished early, jumping Drew at the bell and going for a series of flash pins. Drew put a stop to that with a stiff strike and spent several minutes muscling the challenger around. But he did the "I don't want to do this" routine to remind everyone that, hey, he's a babyface!

After several minutes Swann managed to get a hurricanrana, a DDT, and a tope. Galloway turned a cross body into a back breaker but Swann kicked out at two. Galloway attempted his double arm DDT but Swann countered into a pin for a close two then cracked out a super kick for another.

By this point the crowd were going crazy, perhaps believing a title change was on the cards. Galloway avoided a 450 and booted Swann in the face, sending him rolling out of the ring. At which point the PAB wandered out to stand over Swann and gloat. Galloway wiped them out with a tope and then gave Swann a cradle Tombstone piledriver back in the ring. Swann still wouldn't stay down, giving the crowd a surprise by kicking out just before the three count. He went for the Lethal Injection but Galloway countered it into a sleeper, which quickly became a rear naked choke. That proved the final straw for the referee who, tired of seeing Swann suffer, ended the match in Galloway’s favour.

Galloway closed the show with a promo. He said Swann deserved a rematch and then put over the fans and EVOLVE. The standard stuff really. As by-the-numbers as the ending was the show itself was top notch. The opener, Konley Ricochet, and the EVOLVE title match were all terrific and while nothing else stood out as being particularly great nothing was actively bad. It was well put together and well-paced, and everyone gave it their all. You can’t ask for more than that.

***

Results summary:
Johnny Gargano def Anthony Nese
Zack Sabre Jr def Timothy Thatcher
Uhaa Nation def Roderick Strong
Caleb Konley def Ricochet
AR Fox def Moose via disqualification
The Bravado Brothers def The Colony
Drew Galloway def Rich Swann

EVOLVE 30 review

The theme of 2014 for Gabe Sapolsky’s EVOLVE and Dragon Gate USA seems to be unfortunate last minute changes. They were scheduled to have CIMA appear at Open the Ultimate Gate and Mercury Rising in New Orleans (the two shows held over WrestleMania weekend, likely the biggest cards the promotions will put on all year) but he was pulled due to an injury. A couple of months earlier Roderick Strong’s debut had to be postponed after a neck scare he suffered on an ROH show kept him from competing. The trend continued here with Johnny Gargano being forced onto the sidelines after suffering a jaw injury at EVOLVE 29.

He’d originally been announced to face Rich Swann in an I Quit match. Frankly that match didn’t hold much appeal for me as I’m not at all invested in the Swann character. I don’t care about him gaining retribution on Gargano, the man who selfishly turned his back on him. The line-up rejig was not the negative that it could have been, for me at least. While I was disappointed Gargano had been pulled (for completely understandable reasons) it’s not like I was missing out on a match I’d specifically been desperate to see. In fact I think the main event that replaced it, a six man tag, was probably better than the I Quit offering would’ve been.

But I’m not EVOLVE’s sole audience. As such they’re probably going to reschedule the Gargano-Swann meeting. When they do I hope a stronger undercard is put together than the one that would have supported the match here. Swann and Gargano both have their followings but I don’t think they’re big enough names to attract a sizeable audience without strong support from the rest of the roster.

This ties in to what I wrote in the EVOLVE 29 write-up (read that here). Sapolsky should be expanding the roster and aggressively building new top line acts. If he’s left with his current batch of guys for much longer the company’s fan base can only shrink.

EVOLVE 30 kicked off with Caleb Konley v AR Fox. You could be forgiven for thinking that Fox being in the opener means a packed show. He's one of the promotion's top talents and seeing him wrestle outside of the top two or three matches on a show is noteworthy. Sadly it just meant Sapolsky wanted to kick the show off on a strong note. You can't blame him, but it did mean an opener that was better than much of the card that followed. That’s never an ideal situation.

Fox got in his usual spots. The crowd was mostly in his corner, although one very vocal Caleb Konley fan was in attendance. There was a snug dive over the top rope from Fox and an impressive double stomp from Konley on the apron. In the ring Fox got plenty of hang time on a Swanton and later performed a textbook 450 splash. The latter was met with knees, which gave Konley an opening to perform a small package for the win.

That marked the Premier boy's second singles victory in a row over 'The Whole Foxin' Show'. The first win was at EVOLVE 28. It was not, as Lenny Leonard pointed out on commentary, a decisive win but it was clean. If this is Gabe’s way of elevating Konley I’m all for it: he’s a good wrestler with and interesting look but lacking the proportions that make a move to WWE or TNA likely in the near future. That’s exactly the sort of guy EVOLVE needs: a talented dude unlikely to move on.

Match two pitted Ryan Rush (me neither...) against Blake Edward Belakus. During the course of the match we were told that Rush was from the New York area and had come up with Curt Hawkins (which means he's a contemporary of EVOLVE regulars Trent Baretta and Anthony Nese too, although that wasn’t acknowledged). That might endear him to you or it might put you off him. The choice is yours.

The match was wrestled at a steady pace and didn't last long. Belakus won with his Bad Wolf slam but Rush got time to work in a bit of offence before he lost, including a tasty Doctor bomb. I reiterate my desire from the EVOLVE 29 review for BEB to be a guy Gabe has plans for.

Josh Alexander v Tim Donst followed that. They were a little uncertain in places but got a good stretch of time to play with and produced a fine match. Alexander won with the most devalued move in independent wrestling, the Tombstone piledriver.

After that Lenny Leonard clambered into the ring for an interview with Ivelisse Velez. Instead of the SHINE champion he got Larry Dallas. As he had the night before Dallas said he'd been there since day one (maybe he should change his name to Larry Briscoe) and said that the fans wanted him to get his job back. They were close to evenly split in their response. These Dallas interruptions will continue for a while yet. He strikes me as a cheap hire and the payoff to it, whatever it is, can be held off pretty much indefinitely. It’s almost a case of the longer the better. Almost.

Ivelisse came out and talked about Christina Von Eerie. Specifically she called her a bitch for jumping her from behind the night before. C Von E answered a challenge to go to the ring and the two had a brawl. After several attempted they were separated by two referees.

Next up was Ethan Page (here's as good a place as any to say he puts me in mind of Bobby Roode, for no reason I can put my finger on). He was facing Jigsaw and Chuck Taylor in a three-way match. It was short and never really seemed to get going going. The three men didn't really mesh and there was no story behind the match. Triple threat matches, more than any other multi-man matches, benefit from having a reason to exist. That's my view anyway. Jigsaw won with a double stomp on Chucky T, with Page being trapped in a tree of woe and unable to make the save.

The show got back on track with an appearance from The Colony, challenging the Bravado brothers for the Open the United Gate championship. The audience was into The Colony in a big way. There were some Bravado bandwagoners in the audience too. At this point that's to be expected. The Bravados are a solid act.

Within a few minutes of the opening bell Fire Ant had been shoved into a ring post by Moose. Referee Brandon Toley sent the former footballer backstage, saying he'd strip the champs of the titles if he didn't leave. That still didn't create a completely fair environment as the Bravados spent several minutes trying to yank off Green Ant's mask (a DQ in CHIKARA, fact fans). After finding himself isolated for a few minutes Green Ant managed to make a tag.

Fire Ant took a Chaos Theory German suplex. Green Ant and Lancelot traded blows. Green Ant got the better of that and followed up with a strange version of the Michinoku driver for two. Harlem came in with a Superman punch (not that this should need saying but it was not as impressive as when performed by Roman Reigns). A double team attempt from the challengers backfired when Harlem gave Fire Ant an exploder suplex onto Green Ant.

A blockbuster to Fire Ant was followed by the buckle bomb-enziguri combo from the Bravados. A second attempt at that was reversed into a pin by Fire Ant but only got two. A double super kick sent the champions out of the ring, setting up a suicide dive and a top rope body block. Seconds later Fire Ant dove again as Green Ant hit a top rope splash. He applied the CHIKARA Special but Lance escaped by tinkering with his mask. A jackknife pin didn't put Green Ant down but a Gentlemen's Agreement did. It was a very good match but didn't exactly establish the champions as a team that can win fairly when they choose to. It could have done without Moose at ringside, and that would have been a good decision: the Bravados could be switched babyface fairly easily and would have a programme with The Premier Athlete Brand waiting for them.

Speaking of the Brand the second half opened with Anthony Nese, Mr A and Su Yung walking to the ring. Nese berated Mr A for his recent blunders. Not just happy with dishing out a telling off Nese called Moose up the ring and set up a big man match between the two bodyguards.

They punched and slapped each other. A got the better of that and shoved Moose around the ring for a while. He even busted out his spinning heel kick. I think he's proud of it, he uses it at every opportunity. Moose regained control by dodging a charge into the corner. He followed up with splashes and a shoulder tackle then got flattened with a spinebuster. Moments later they were back on their feet and Mr A fell to a spear. The match was better than I expected. It was pleasing to see the fans get behind Moose. He's yet another guy they could turn into something.

After that loss Konley and Baretta strolled to the ring. Then Su Yung ordered Mr A back to the locker room. He looked upset. Nese took a turn on the mic, telling Rich Swann to get his "stupid black ass" to the ring. The fans got on Nese for that as Lenny Leonard issued an apology. I’ve no idea why Nese said it, beyond a desire to get some cheap heat. Whatever his reasoning it wasn’t cool. And if he did desire some cheap heat it was a stupid move: there weren’t enough people in attendance to whip into a frenzy no matter what he said or did.

Swann had AR Fox and Uhaa Nation in his corner, for what that’s worth. It took an age for the match to get going. The pair were more interested in working the crowd than locking up. In fairness they were good at it and the audience enjoyed it.

When they did start they set a fast pace. Nese performed a stalling suplex, cartwheeled off the apron and dropped Swann head first on the apron. Seconds later he hit a double rotation back drop. Swann came back with a tumbling frog splash. A phoenix splash missed, and a kick attempt got turned into a pump handle power bomb by Nese. Swann hit a DDT into a dragon sleeper. Nese powered out and dropped Swann with an emerald Flowsion variant. Nese went for his one arm buckle bomb but Swann slipped out, kicked him in the head and gave him a frog splash. Seconds later he got in the one arm buckle bomb after catching Swann during a handspring attempt. A knee in the corner and a 450 splash later and Nese got the one-two-three.

Up next was the third and final Premier Athlete Brand challenge. What that was hadn't actually been elaborated on, although it had been referenced during each Premier Athlete Brand match. The lack of information strikes me as a bit of an oversight from Lenny Leonard. Anyway, it was the final PAB member Trent Baretta facing Uhaa Nation.

Baretta took a drop kick from Uhaa and went for a breather outside. Back in the ring Baretta gave Uhaa a hip toss and slapped on an arm bar. Uhaa powered up and gave the PAB member an electric chair drop. He followed that with a distinctly un-face-like water bottle shot. 'Trentylocks' regained control with drop kicks. Uhaa nailed a German suplex trio then moonsaulted onto Baretta at ringside. Back in the ring he got a two count from a top rope splash. Baretta snuck in a tornado DDT for a two count of his own.

Uhaa used the deadlift suplex from the apron that Michael Elgin frequently (as in, every match frequently) uses. Baretta rocked Uhaa with a dragon suplex. Trent’s running knee was countered into a triple power bomb, with the kick out deserving a stronger reaction than it got: it was a good near fall. There was another seconds later, Baretta slipping out of a military press to perform a reverse hurricanrana. Uhaa then belly-to-bellied Baretta on the apron.

‘The One Man Nation’ tried a top rope move of some sort but got caught with a German suplex. A Dudebuster seemed like it was going to finish Nation off but Uhaa escaped. Another running knee was avoided and then Trent was flattened with the Uhaa Combination, finally ending a very good match.

Konley and Nese immediately slid into the ring to give Uhaa a kicking. They wanted an advantage before the six man tag main event, pitting the Brand against Fox, Nation and Swann. It was fought under anything goes rules and started with the faces bringing ladders out to the ring. It got wild in a hurry, everyone using the ladders to great effect. Swann hit a tumbling splash onto a ladder. Uhaa electric chair dropped Fox onto a ladder propped in the corner. Fox leapfrogged (sort of) a ladder on the outside to hit a high senton. It all looked very painful. It probably was.

Getting more furniture involved, Fox drop kicked a chair into Konley’s face from the top rope. Uhaa tried his Combination but ended up moonsaulting onto a ladder after Baretta moved. Konley baseball slid a ladder into Fox's personal area. Swann bent a ladder by hip tossing Nese onto it. Perhaps the spot of the match was Fox going for a springboard and being met with a drop kick that sent him flying onto a ladder perched between the ring and the guardrail. Neglecting to sell it, he was back seconds later to give Konley a Van Daminator.

Nese was flapjacked onto a pile of chairs by Uhaa. The faces stuck a ladder between two chairs, with Nese taking a power bomb onto it. After that a standing 450 from Rich Swann was enough to put him down for three, ending an entertaining stunt brawl.

The challenge was tied at two a piece, ultimately rendering it pointless, surely? The faces posed themselves off air and the fans seemed happy enough. But as I’ve written several times across these two EVOLVE reviews, that’s not going to be the case indefinitely. Reasons to keep coming back need to be given. That means elevating new stars and coming up with some compelling long term storylines. Good luck with that Gabe. You’re going to need it running the light schedule you do!

EVOLVE 29 review

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

CHIKARA You Only Live Twice review

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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