Evolve 41
Ybor City, Florida 4/17/15
Before I start this review,
I should make note of an important development that occurred in the weeks
leading up to this show. AR Fox left the promotion after there were some
disputes regarding travel (I don’t know the full details, but it had something
to do with that). It’s a very intriguing departure, as AR Fox had been a big
part of WWN (Dragon Gate USA/Evolve) for a number of years, including being the
first Evolve Champion. His departure is also interesting in that it comes at a
time when Evolve is becoming more based around grapplers, and less on
high-flyers (though there are still some present, as we will see on this card).
1.) Open The United Gate
Champion Anthony Nese (with The Premiere Athlete Brand) vs. Martin Stone: ***
Anthony Nese cut a scathing
promo on Su Yung before the match, blaming her incompetence for all of the
issues that occurred during the WWNLive Experience in San Jose (neither Nese
nor Su Yung were even at those shows). Nese then says that he & Caleb
Konley will take care of their competition tonight, before facing Ronin in a
Street Fight at Evolve 42. In this
match, Nese is taking on Martin Stone, who made an appearance at Evolve 38, and has wrestled in places
such as NXT & RPW. A solid opening match here. Some may be a bit more down
on this one, but I like it for what it was. Nothing too much to complain about.
Nese would get the submission victory here over Stone.
2.) Open The United Gate
Champion Caleb Konley (with The Premiere Athlete Brand) vs. Rey Horus: ***
After Nese’s victory in the
opening match, Caleb Konley looks to make it a 2-0 night for The Premiere
Athlete Brand, as he takes on Rey Horus, who had an impressive showing in the
King of Indies Tournament during the WWN Live Experience in San Jose. Another
really solid match here. Konley has been slowly growing on me in the last two
years. As far as Rey Horus goes, this was my first time seeing him, and I think
he had a really solid performance here as well. In the end, however, Konley
would pick up the win in this match, making The Premiere Athlete Brand
undefeated on the night.
After the match, Su Yung
announced that she would be representing The Premiere Athlete Brand in an
upcoming SHINE Title Match against the current champion, Santana Garrett.
However, SoCal Val quickly took away Su Yung’s title shot and awarded it to her
bodyguard, Andrea. They went on to humiliate Su Yung even further after this
revelation.
3.) TJ Perkins vs. Biff
Busick: ***3/4
These two were part of a
Four-Corner Survival Match at Mercury
Rising 2015, which saw TJ Perkins get the win, though not over Busick. I
thought this was a really good match. It’s hard for either of these two to have
a bad match against anyone, and it proved to be an exciting affair. It was an
interesting match stylistically, as the smooth, technical nature of TJ Perkins
went up against Busick’s smash-mouth, hard-hitting style. Lots of cool action
here from both guys. The finish was a rather interesting one, as Perkins got
the win over Busick via referee stoppage (Perkins had an armbreaker in while
stomping at Busick’s head). After the match, Busick contested the referee’s
decision, claiming he was not knocked out. He then stormed off.
4.) "All Ego"
Ethan Page vs. Rich Swann: ***1/2
One of the big stories of
the WWNLive Experience in San Diego is that Ethan Page turned on his friend and
mentor Johnny Gargano. In his first match since that attack, Page is taking on
Rich Swann, one of Gargano’s best friends and fellow member of Ronin. This was
a pretty good match. It was easily better than all of Page’s efforts in San
Jose. I think it pretty easy to see that Ethan Page works much better as a
heel. He definitely felt more determined in this match, as he held his own against
one of the stalwarts of Evolve in Swann. Eventually, Page would get the victory
over Swann in an impressive showing.
5.) Davey Richards vs.
Johnny Gargano: ****1/4
Back at Evolve 38, Richards made his return to
the promotion with a victory over Anthony Nese. Gargano, however, is coming off
of a sour ending to the WWNLive Experience in San Jose, not only losing his
Open The Freedom Gate Title to Drew Galloway, but suffering an attack at the
hands of Ethan Page. I believe these two had a match in PWG around a year or
two ago that I recall really liking. I ended up really liking this encounter as
well! Gargano & Richards are both incredible wrestlers, so it should be no
surprise that this was a great match. Some have soured on Richards since his
peak of popularity in 2010-12, but I think he can still put on incredible
matches, when given the right opponent. Very good stuff from these two in this
match. There was a lot of great action, and it was fun to watch from start to
finish. Richards would get the victory in this encounter.
After the match, Gargano
cuts a promo hyping up his Open The United Gate Title Street Fight with Rich
Swann against The Premiere Athlete Brand at Evolve
42, saying that it’ll be a war, but that they’ll take those titles. He
chose not to make any comments about his issues with Ethan Page.
6.) #1 Contender's 2/3
Falls Match - Timothy Thatcher vs. Roderick Strong: ****1/4
The winner of this match
will receive a future shot at the Evolve World Title. This isn’t the first time
these two have clashed, as Thatcher actually defeated Strong back at Evolve 37. I thought this was a great
Main Event! Strong continues to have an incredible 2015, and I think he put on
a really entertaining match here against Thatcher, who’s also having a really
good year of his own. It was a certainly a brutal affair, as Strong won the
first fall, Thatcher won the second, and eventually, Strong would the third and
final fall to score the victory. Strong has earned a future shot at the Evolve
World Title. Again, a great Main Event between two incredible competitors.
After the match, Strong
announced that he’ll be challenging Drew Galloway for the Evolve World Title on
May 31st. Thatcher congratulated Strong on the win, but then Busick
came out (for some reason) and complained about the questionable call by the
referee earlier in the night. Strong bailed, and then Busick had a stare-down
with Thatcher to close the show.
Overall: 8.5/10
I though this was a really
enjoyable show. The two top matches, Strong/Thatcher and Gargano/Richards,
really delivered, and all of the undercard matches ranged from solid to very
good. Evolve continues to put consistently solid shows throughout 2015, and
this particular show is certainly one worth checking out.
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