EVOLVE 26 on January 11th, 2014 in Orlando, Florida
Opening Match: Su Yung vs. Mia Yim
This is a SHINE showcase match. Yung attacks from behind but Yim fights her off. She irish whips Yung into the guardrail. A distraction by Anthony Nese allows Yung to land a rolling senton off the apron. It’s odd that Nese would tell Yung not to get involved in his matches but then get involved in her matches. Yung takes control until Yim fights back with a sit-out powerbomb. They exchange forearms and Yim hits a german suplex. Yung escapes a package piledriver but falls victim to a regular piledriver. She finds life with a death valley driver for a nearfall. Yim answers with a crucifix bomb for the win at 6:04. I’m not exactly sure how successful these showcase matches are at generating actual interest in SHINE, but this was a fine exhibition for the time given. Yim always manages to make her matches enjoyable in some way. **
Match #2: Lince Dorado vs. Caleb Konley
They trade armdrags as Trina Michaels watches Konley from ringside. Dorado snaps off a nice headscissors and connects with a dropkick. He teases a dive to the floor. Konley reenters the ring with a springboard dropkick. Dorado blocks a dive attempt from Konley and lands a dive of his own. Dorado lands a flying crossbody. Konley interrupts a springboard attempt and starts working over the left leg. Dorado attempts a wheelbarrow bulldog but Konley just hurls him across the ring. Dorado blocks a lionsault with a dropkick and both men are down. They exchange strikes and Dorado hits a reverse hurricanrana. Konley connects with a stiff back elbow and lands a dive to the floor. In the ring, Konley rolls through a hurricanrana and hits a sit-out death valley driver for a nearfall. Dorado knees out of a brainbuster, hits a tornado DDT, and rolls up Konley for the victory at 11:16. Konley needs to keep having matches of this quality to finally stand out and recover from his time in the Scene. He had excellent chemistry with Dorado, who has been having solid matches in FIP as well. I’m not surprised that these two had a very good contest together, but some of their exchanges caught me off-guard. You couldn’t ask for much more here. ***
Match #3: Chuck Taylor vs. Maxwell Chicago
Chicago informs the crowd that he knows five moves now and asks Taylor to let him hit his finisher. It turns out that Chicago’s finisher is a side headlock. He’s able to wear down Taylor by making him run the ropes. Both men try hip tosses so many times that they start dancing. Chicago low-bridges Taylor to the floor but thinks better of diving. Back in the ring, Chicago connects with a basement dropkick but can’t figure out how to apply a figure four. When he finally synchs in the hold, Taylor immediately reverses the pressure. Taylor hits Sole Food but gets caught by a neckbreaker. Taylor crotches Chicago on the top rope and hits the Awful Waffle for the win at 7:53. The success of this match was completely dependent upon the crowd reaction and they seemed to love the comedy. Taylor played along with Chicago’s antics but it never felt like Taylor was even close to losing this match. No complaints here.
Rich Swann comes out after the match. He asks Taylor to reunite Ronin for one night to wrestle the Young Bucks later tonight. Taylor accepts the offer and Swann could not be more excited.
Match #4: Open the United Gate Titles: Harlem and Lance Bravado © vs. Eddie Cruz and Jay Rios
I’m glad that this match is happening, as Los Ben Dejos defeated the Bravados at the last set of FIP shows. The Bravados begin cheating at the opening bell but Los Ben Dejos are able to fight back with some tandem offense. Cruz snaps off a satellite headscissors on Harlem but Lance blocks a dive attempt. The Bravados isolate Cruz until he manages to avoid enough offense to make the tag. Rios hits a seated senton on Lance and headscissors Harlem. Lance drop toe holds Rios into the middle turnbuckle and connects with a running knee strike. He follows with a big lariat for a nearfall. Cruz connects with a gamengiri on Lance followed by a missile dropkick. Harlem absolutely plasters Cruz with a bicycle kick and hits a slingshot stunner. He sends Rios into Cruz in the corner with an exploder. Cruz creates an opening with a dive. Rios follows out with a springboard moonsault. In the ring, Rios connects with double knees on Lance followed by a frog splash by Cruz. Cruz lands a springboard 450 splash onto Lance for a two count. Lance gorilla presses Cruz to the floor onto Rios. In the ring, the Bravados start copying the Young Bucks’ offense. The Bravados hit the Gentlemen’s Agreement on Cruz to retain their titles at 15:08. This was an accurate representation of what these two teams can do together. The crowd had some difficulty getting invested into the match due to some miscommunication in the ring, but everything was clicking down the stretch. More importantly, the Bravados got a much-needed victory and the mimicry of the Young Bucks’ offense was a nice touch. ***
Match #5: Ricochet vs. Trent Baretta
Baretta doesn’t give a clean break and things escalate quickly. Ricochet snaps off a hurricanrana. They back each other into the ropes and Baretta yanks Ricochet’s head into the top rope. Ricochet headscissors Baretta to the floor and teases a dive. Baretta blocks a springboard crossbody with a lungblower and takes control. Ricochet fights back with a springboard forearm. Baretta catches him with a powerbomb. Ricochet knocks Baretta off the apron and lands a space flying tiger drop to the floor. In the ring, Ricochet lands a springboard crossbody and hits a dead-lift regalplex for a nearfall. They battle on the apron and Baretta hits a dragon suplex. That looked nasty. Ricochet barely beats the twenty count. Baretta meets him with a flying double stomp for a nearfall. Dueling chants from the crowd. They exchange forearms and Baretta connects with a flying knee strike for a two count. Ricochet escapes the Dudebuster and hits rolling suplexes. He hurricanranas Baretta off the top rope and lands a standing shooting star press. Ricochet lands a 630 splash for the victory at 18:24. In my review of the last EVOLVE show, I mentioned how Ricochet’s match with Chris Hero was missing some factors and that resulted in an atmosphere that was less electric than they would have wanted. Well, this contest had that atmosphere. The crowd was vocal, there was a genuine feeling that either man could win, and the action was tremendous. The match didn’t overstay its welcome either at eighteen minutes. Both Ricochet and Baretta should be challenging for the Open the Freedom Gate Title this year and this is my first four-star match of 2014. ****
Match #6: Johnny Gargano and Jon Davis vs. AR Fox and Uhaa Nation
Gargano calls out Fox and calls him a fake champion. They have a solid opening exchange where both men attempt their finishing maneuvers. Gargano offers a handshake but sneaks in a cheap shot. Fox takes him out with his kick-flip moonsault to the floor. In the ring, Gargano’s strikes have no effect on Nation so Davis intervenes with a back suplex. Gargano and Davis isolate Nation, with Davis doing most of the work. He hits a samoan drop on Davis and makes the tag. Fox hits rolling thunder on Davis and connects with a springboard dropkick on Gargano. He follows with a springboard dive to the floor onto Davis. The action goes to the apron where Davis hits a spinebuster on Fox. The heels now work over Fox until he hits a springboard ace crusher on Gargano and tags out. Davis and Nation trade strikes in the center of the ring. Nation hits a death valley driver and connects with a shotgun dropkick. He adds a german suplex. Fox comes out of nowhere with his guillotine leg drop on Davis but Gargano takes him out with a dive. Nation follows out with a moonsault from the apron. In the ring, Davis pounces Nation across the ring. Fox hits a wheelbarrow stunner on Davis. Gargano catches Fox with a slingshot DDT for a nearfall. Everyone connects with a strike and all four men are down. Nation hits a samoan drop-fallaway slam on both of his opponents. Davis blocks Lo Mein Pain with a huge lariat. Fox counters Three Seconds Around the World with a headscissors. Davis responds with a dead-lift german suplex. Nation splashes Davis for a two count. Gargano lawn darts Fox into the turnbuckles and Davis follows with Three Seconds Around the World for a nearfall. Nation elevates Davis into a powerbomb and bicycle kicks Gargano. Fox hits Lo Mein Pain on Gargano and lands a 450 splash onto Davis. Nation hits the Uhaa Combination on Davis for the win at 23:48. This was an excellent way to build up Nation for his title match tomorrow night. Despite some underwhelming booking last year (the Gargano/Davis relationship has been barely developed), the crowd was vocal for the action. My only complaint here is that the match felt a bit long. Still, this was a great showcase for four prominent singles wrestlers and generated some excitement for the next show. ***½
Match #7: Chris Hero vs. Anthony Nese
Trent Baretta appears at ringside to watch this match. They trade control on the mat and find themselves at a stalemate. Nese grabs hold of a side headlock. Hero kicks him to the floor and teases a dive. Nese connects with a superkick at ringside and takes over in the ring. Hero is able to create some space by blocking a charge. Nese blocks a sunset flip and lands a lionsault. He hurricanranas Hero off the middle rope. Hero fights back with a sliding kick and a rolling neckbreaker. Nese avoids a moonsault and hits a dead-lift german suplex. Hero responds with a hangman’s suplex and locks in a cravate. Nese is able to get his foot on the bottom rope. He escapes the Deathblow and connects with a spin kick. Nese follows with a running knee strike in the corner. Hero blocks a kick and just knees Nese in the face. Nese hits his one-armed bucklebomb and a pumphandle driver for a nearfall. Nese lands a 450 splash…right into a cravate. Hero hits a cravate slam for a two count. He adds a roaring elbow and the Deathblow for another nearfall. Nese hits a german suplex but gets caught by a roaring mafia kick. Hero reapplies a cravate for the win at 19:18. Much like Hero’s match on the last show with Ricochet, the crowd wasn’t into this one as much as I expected, but these two eventually forced them to react. They were able to put together some strike exchanges that I’ve never seen before and everything just felt very fluid. Nese may not have won yet this weekend but he delivered two tremendous performances. Hero also needed a win and I like the cravate being established as a believable finisher for him. Also, there was ZERO interference from Baretta and Su Yung. Hero and Nese received an opportunity to just do their thing and the results were positive. ***¾
Match #8: Rich Swann and Chuck Taylor vs. Matt and Nick Jackson
Swann connects with a dropkick on Nick and snaps off a hurricanrana on Matt. He follows with a dive to the floor onto Matt. Taylor hits an overhead suplex on Nick. Ronin follows with some double team offense. Matt spears Swann as Nick dropkicks Taylor off the apron. The Young Bucks isolate Swann until he hurricanranas Nick off the middle rope and makes the tag. Taylor connects with a springboard dropkick on Matt and lands a dive to the floor onto the Young Bucks. In the ring, Ronin hit a double stomp-flatliner combination on Nick. Taylor hits Sole Food on the apron on Nick as Swann takes out Matt with a dive. The Young Bucks respond with stereo dives. Back in, Taylor gets both Young Bucks in a half crab. Swann also gets them both in crossfaces at the same time. Nick saves his brother from the Awful Waffle with a superkick. They hit an assisted sliced bread on Taylor. Taylor elevates Nick into a handspring ace crusher from Swann. Swann finds knees on a standing 450 and Nick rolls him up for a nearfall. The Young Bucks start bringing the superkicks. Matt bucklebombs Swann into an enzuigiri from Nick. The Young Bucks hit a tandem tombstone on Swann for the victory at 12:48. The second half of this show has been awesome but after watching it all in one sitting, I was not really in the mood for an overly long main event. The fact that this contest was thirteen minutes gives me a lot of confidence in EVOLVE, as there is clearly an accurate read on the structure of these shows. Unsurprisingly, these two teams were able to pack a lot of action into the time given. Ronin reuniting for one night was a fine way to deal with the Roderick Strong absence and the Young Bucks were on fire as usual. The only thing holding this one back was the shorter duration, but this being kept short was certainly the right call. ***¼
Johnny Gargano comes out to mock Ronin. Swann takes him out with a dive and brawls with him to the back. Meanwhile, the Bravados attack the Young Bucks from behind. They attack Taylor as well. The Bravados end the show standing tall.
Overall: EVOLVE 26 was the most fun I’ve had watching a show from the WWN universe in quite some time. The second half was packed with great wrestling and all four matches managed to diversify themselves from each other as well. There was nothing on this show that annoyed me booking-wise and there just seems to be a different vibe in the air. The streams are working with minimal problems, the booking is simple, and the in-ring action is tremendous. Though I liked this show more than the last show, EVOLVE is definitely 2 for 2 this weekend in my book. High recommendation.