EVOLVE 23 on September 21st, 2013 in Ridgewood, New York
Matt Jackson comes to the ring to start the show. He welcomes everyone to the first Young Bucks Tag Team Invitational and joins commentary for the opening match.
Opening Match: Eddie Cruz and Jay Rios vs. Chuck Taylor and Orange Cassidy
Los Ben Dejos take advantage of Cassidy’s indifference and hit some double team offense. The Gentleman’s Club answer with a double team neckbreaker on Rios. Taylor blocks a tornado DDT attempt from Cruz and Cassidy double stomps him. They isolate Cruz until he creates an opening with a dive to the floor. Rios follows with a springboard moonsault to the outside. In the ring, Taylor hits a uranagi on Cruz and Cassidy adds a top-rope splash. Rios connects with a missile dropkick on Cassidy followed by a double stomp. He lands a frog splash for a nearfall. Cassidy answers by hitting a tornado DDT on Cruz onto the floor. In the ring, Taylor hits the Awful Waffle on Cruz for the win at 6:40. Matt Jackson berates them after the match for never trying a superkick. He gives the match two-and-a-half stars and effectively buries all four men. This felt like a proving ground match for both teams, even though Taylor has been in EVOLVE from the start. They packed a lot of action into seven minutes but I never felt that this match mattered. **¼
Match #2: Matt Jackson vs. Caleb Konley
Konley blocks a superkick and applies a side headlock. He blocks another one and hits a senton. Konley connects with a superkick of his own and kind of hits a springboard back elbow. Matt sends him to the floor and throws him into the guardrail. Matt takes control back in the ring until Konley avoids a series of elbows and lands a dive to the floor. He reenters the ring with a missile dropkick and hits a tornado DDT. Konley follows with a rolling neckbreaker. Matt finally connects with a superkick and hits a springboard ace crusher. He teases a dive and instead connects with another superkick. A flying elbow drop gets him a two count. They exchange strikes and Konley gets the last word with a lariat. He hits a michinoku driver for a nearfall. They battle up top and Konley hits a michinoku driver from the middle rope. Matt connects with a superkick. Konley blocks another one and hits a gory slam. Konley applies a boston crab while holding Matt’s arms for the victory at 12:38. Larry Dallas comes out AFTER the match to cheer on Konley. Now that’s more like it. Matt not taking the match seriously was slightly annoying and it would have been devastating for Konley had he lost. They found their rhythm down the stretch but I think this would have worked better in front of a livelier crowd. **½
Match #3: Harlem and Lance Bravado vs. Jigsaw and The Shard
This match is being held under lucha rules because Jigsaw said so. Harlem connects with a dropkick on the Shard. The crowd starts chanting for Bryce Remsburg so there’s that. Lance hits a russian leg sweep on Jigsaw. Harlem takes out both of his opponents with a moonsault to the floor. Jigsaw trips Harlem on the apron and slams his left leg against the guardrail. Jigsaw and the Shard isolate him in the ring until he avoids a charge from Jigsaw and makes the tag. Lance hits a torture rack neckbreaker on Jigsaw. The Shard catches Lance with double knees. Harlem hits an exploder on the Shard, sending him into Jigsaw. He sends the Shard from the apron into the guardrail. Back in, Harlem starts attacking the Shard’s left shoulder. The Shard applies an ankle lock without any trouble. Everyone connects with strikes and all four men are down. The crowd is pretty much silent. Jigsaw and Lance trade chops. Lance connects with a northern lariat and hits a powerbomb. The Bravados hit the Gentleman’s Approach on the Shard. Jigsaw and the Shard respond with a superkick-brainbuster combination on Harlem for a nearfall. The Bravados hit the Gentleman’s Agreement on the Shard for the win at 16:36. Matt Jackson declares Jigsaw and the Shard as the winners because they did more superkicks. Then, Jigsaw and the Shard raise their hands like some goofs. Listen, I understand that the Young Bucks Tag Team Invitational is supposed to be a fun way of establishing new contenders, but it’s made every team look silly tonight. This match suffered from a lack of crowd response as well. Most of the sixteen minutes of action was met with a dull roar despite all of the tricks being used to get some kind of response. The contest was still fine, but it could have been so much more given sixteen minutes. **½
Match #4: Brian XL vs. Earl Cooter
Brian XL was advertised while Cooter was not, so take a wild guess. Cooter attacks before the opening bell. Brian XL fires back with a dropkick and hits a slingshot senton. He lands a dive to the floor and connects with multiple chops around ringside. Back in, Cooter comes off the middle rope with a clothesline. He hits a nice backbreaker and takes control. Brian XL comes back with a springboard DDT for the victory at 5:53. This felt like they were just killing time until Brian XL could hit his impressive finisher. The placement of this match was odd, as I’d expect something like this to come after intermission. *
After the match, Larry Dallas comes out and introduces his latest acquisition, Mike Rollins. Rollins hits a fisherman buster on Brian XL and lays him out. WHY DID WE HAVE TO WATCH BRIAN XL WRESTLE FOR SIX MINUTES FOR THIS TO HAPPEN??
Match #5: Style Battle Eliminator: Mr. Touchdown vs. Drew Gulak vs. Shane Strickland vs. Lince Dorado
Dorado goes all-in on the cat mannerisms to freak out his opponents. He snaps off a hurricanrana on Strickland and locks in a surfboard. Mr. Touchdown takes down Strickland with a shoulder tackle. Dorado snaps off a wheelbarrow armdrag on Gulak but falls victim to a suplex. Strickland reenters the match but Dorado plants him with a reverse hurricanrana. Everyone works over Strickland until he connects with an enzuigiri on Mr. Touchdown and snaps off a crazy headscissors on the floor. Dorado takes out Gulak with a dive. In the ring, Strickland hits an implant DDT on Mr. Touchdown. Gulak hits a backbreaker on Strickland and Dorado adds a shooting star press to eliminate Strickland at 14:45. Dorado connects with a bicycle kick on Gulak. Gulak responds with a spike tombstone to eliminate Dorado at 17:21. Mr. Touchdown blocks a middle-rope dive with a dropkick. Gulak synchs in a dragon sleeper but Mr. Touchdown runs up the ropes to turn the hold in a pin attempt for a nearfall. Mr. Touchdown hits a powerslam to create some space. Gulak blocks a top-rope splash with knees and applies a half crab. Mr. Touchdown is able to reach the bottom rope. They battle up top and Gulak hits a superplex. Gulak rolls through a pin attempt and reapplies a dragon sleeper for the win at 22:18. I like everyone involved but twenty-two minutes was too long for what they were going for. Fortunately, this match avoided my usual criticism of eliminations occurring too rapidly. However, with the crowd already silent, there were not enough stretches of continuous action in this contest to draw them in. What this match did for Gulak, however, is another story. His final exchange with Mr. Touchdown was impressive and I think it’s key that he won with a submission. Gulak in the finals instantly makes me interested in how things will play out. Now if we can all just forget about that time recently when Jon Davis squashed him. **½
Match #6: Style Battle Eliminator: Josh Alexander vs. Biff Busick vs. Maxwell Chicago vs. Green Ant
Green Ant and Busick wrestle to a stalemate. Green Ant starts gaining the upperhand with a nice bodyscissors takedown. Chicago stands on the side and mocks Alexander and Busick as they have an exchange. Busick scares Chicago out of the ring. He trades strikes with Green Ant and falls victim to an olympic slam. Busick tags in Chicago by slapping him across the face. Chicago hits a neckbreaker on Green Ant and lands a splash off the bottom rope. Green Ant fights back with a missile dropkick. Busick chokes out Chicago to eliminate him at 8:07. Green Ant unleashes a series of kicks on Alexander and hits a powerslam on Busick. He hits a gourdbuster on Alexander and connects with a basement dropkick. Green Ant lands a dive to the floor onto both of his opponents. In the ring, Green Ant catches Alexander with a nasty double stomp on the apron. Busick superkicks Green Ant and Alexander adds a tombstone to eliminate him at 12:05. The crowd does not like that elimination one bit. Busick and Alexander stare each other down and trade chops. Busick hits a blockbuster and both men are down. The crowd starts chanting “where is Green Ant?” Excellent. Busick escapes a tombstone and they exchange reversals. Alexander connects with a roaring elbow and hits a dragon suplex. Busick hits a huge half nelson suplex and applies a camel clutch for the victory at 17:06. I thought this match was better structured and more defined than the previous eliminator. Chicago served his purpose and didn’t overstay his welcome, Green Ant looked great before being eliminated, and while the finishing stretch wasn’t pretty, it was certainly fun to watch. Perhaps more importantly, this contest made me want to see how Busick’s style will interact with Gulak’s mat wrestling, so in that sense the “style battle” tournament has been successful. ***¼
Match #7: Johnny Gargano and Trent Baretta vs. Rich Swann and Ricochet
This match will have implications for tomorrow’s singles match between Gargano and Swann. If Gargano’s team wins this match, Swann’s career in DGUSA and EVOLVE will be on the line tomorrow. If the Inner City Machine Guns win, tomorrow’s match will be for the Open the Freedom Gate Title. Gargano dodges Swann early on. Swann dropkicks Baretta to the floor and teases a dive. Gargano attacks him from behind. Ricochet stretches Baretta on the mat and repeatedly rams his head into the turnbuckle while still in a submission. Gargano tries to intervene but gets stretched for his troubles as well. Ricochet runs into a slingshot spear and the heels isolate him. Ricochet tries to fight back with a standing moonsault, but Gargano kicks him away during the attempt. Ricochet hits a neckbreaker on Baretta (causing him to DDT Gargano) and makes the tag. Swann connects with a springboard missile dropkick and hurricanranas Baretta off the middle rope. He lands a nice dive to the floor onto Gargano. Baretta double stomps Ricochet out of the corner. Ricochet responds with an ace crusher and Swann adds a bicycle kick. Ricochet lands a standing shooting star press onto Baretta for a nearfall. Ricochet tries to dive onto Gargano but Baretta stops him. Swann kicks Baretta into a code red from Ricochet for a two count. Gargano plants Ricochet with a slingshot DDT. Ricochet avoids a lawn dart and connects with a pele kick. Everyone else connects with strikes and all four men are down. Baretta catches Ricochet with a jig n’ tonic for a nearfall. Gargano and Swann finally come to blows. Baretta and Gargano hit a doomsday knee strike on Swann. Gargano lawn darts him into the corner for a nearfall. Ricochet and Swann lay out Baretta with superkicks. Ricochet lands a 630 onto Gargano. Swann adds a standing 450 for the win at 21:43. This was exactly the type of match that this show needed to rebound. They effectively setup Swann’s title match tomorrow night but they also established Baretta as a contender and I would call this his strongest performance in recent memory. The action was solid as expected, but perhaps the best part of the contest was how carefully the Swann/Gargano interactions were handled. Even the lackluster crowd couldn’t take away from this one, as the match was effective on multiple levels. ***¾
Match #8: EVOLVE Title: AR Fox © vs. Anthony Nese
Fox brings out Ivelisse to prevent any interference from Su Yung. If you think that this is unnecessary, you’d be correct. They trade quick pin attempts to no avail and Fox connects with a series of dropkicks. Mr. A pulls Nese out of the ring. Why does this man need help…look at him! Fox lands two dives to the floor. Su Yung prevents a third one. Ivelisse doesn’t even try to help, so Fox just dives over Yung. In the ring, Fox lands a split-legged senton. Yung distracts the referee again and Ivelisse does nothing. This is infuriating. Somewhere amidst all of this quality mayhem, Nese takes control. Fox comes back with a twisting brainbuster. He goes for a guillotine leg drop but Mr. A drags him to the floor. Nese regains control in the ring. Fox finds life with a springboard dropkick and connects with a corner dropkick. He jumps up the ropes and hits a bulldog. Fox lands Lo Mein Rain onto Nese and Mr. A. Back in, Fox lands a frog splash. Nese hits a pumphandle powerbomb. They trade strikes from their knees. Nese wins another strike exchange with a lariat. Fox comes off the top rope with a codebreaker. Nese blocks Lo Mein Pain and hits a german suplex. Fox misses a 450 splash and Nese rolls him up for a nearfall. He dead-lifts him into a bucklebomb. Fox finds an opening to land a 450 splash. Su Yung runs into the ring. Ivelisse attacks her and Lenny Leonard yells CAT FIGHT!!!! Oh my. This is so annoying. Ivelisse strips Su Yung and they brawl to the back. Mr. A gets crotched on the top rope. Fox hits an ace crusher on Nese and then Lo Mein Pains Mr. A onto Nese. Fox retains his title at 22:24. How do you screw this match up? Not only did Ivelisse being added to this match seem like some cheap way to plug SHINE, but she was completely and utterly useless and did nothing until the final minutes. The interference was mind-numbing and I kept thinking to myself how much better of a match these two could have had without it. Nese came away from this match looking like a complete loser. Su Yung tried to use her shoe, Mr. A attempted a top-rope splash, and then you have the athletic ability of Nese. Somehow, the combination of these three elements was not enough to defeat Fox. What else could they have thrown at him? Maybe that’s the point and Fox looks like an all-star for surviving this match. But I honestly do not know where Nese goes from here unless everyone is willing to forget that this match ever happened. **¾
Overall: Look at the quality and diversity of the talent on EVOLVE 23. Then ask yourself how a show with all of them on it could be totally underwhelming. Match time was certainly not the issue, as every match was at least given enough time to standout. The problem was a combination of a poor crowd and bad booking. Matt Jackson ridiculing all of the teams in his invitational may have been entertaining to some, but as soon as Jigsaw and the Shard became excited when Matt “declared” them the winners for doing more superkicks, I checked out. The first half of this show was very disappointing despite the contests having a lot of potential. The second half started off strong but I truly thought the main event was a failure of epic proportions. I’m finding that I’ve been walking away from recent EVOLVE and DGUSA shows more frustrated than anything else. I’m really hoping that changes with EVOLVE 24.
*I will have EVOLVE 24 reviewed and posted by Monday most likely, so be sure to check that out.