EVOLVE 48
Evolve 48 (8/16/2015)- Deer Park
ANTHONY NESE (w/SoCal Val) vs. ETHAN PAGE (w/Rich Swann)- 5.25/10
Nese not selling his knee really bugged me, to the point where I was almost rooting for Page.
RICH SWANN vs. JOHNNY GARGANO- 6.25/10
Gargano tells Swann he doesn’t want to fight him so Swann jumps Gargano from behind. They told a good story with Gargano needing to realize that the man standing across the ring from him is not his best friend anymore, to the point where everything they did after Gargano fired up felt a bit disconnected, overbooked, and unnecessary. I would have ended this match with Gargano’s big fire-up spot where he finally hits Swann and then goes nuts on him in the core and actually had Gargano get DQed for not breaking in the corner before the five. You can still get the heels some heat by and set up for Page’s big promo by having Page jump Gargano after the match and lay him out with the title.
ETHAN PAGE PROMO- good
TRENT BARRETA vs. CALEB KONLEY (w/SoCal Val)- 6/10
Trent just getting up and hitting his finisher after taking about five straight powerbombs was pretty stupid. Other than that, they had a decently good match. Great antics from SoCal Val after the match.
MIKE BAILEY & REY HORUS vs. TRACY WILLIAMS & DREW GULAK (w/Gulak’s students)- 7.25/10
Both tonight and last night, Lenny Leonard made a point of noting all of the guys in WWE who have passed through Evolve’s doors and of positioning themselves as a fan’s chance to watch the stars of WWE’s tomorrow today.
ZACK SABRE JR. vs. CHRIS HERO- 8.25/10
Hero works the head, Sabre Jr. works the arm. They have an awesome match.
NO HOLDS BARRED MATCH: Biff Busick vs. Timothy Thatcher- 6.75/10
Lenny Leonard did a fantastic job painting the picture for us here, going into the backstory to explain the significance of various moves. Despite this, I really just didn’t feel the hate that was supposed to be coming from these guys. This match should have been something like Danielson vs. Strong from ROH Vendetta or the recent Strong vs. Sabre Jr. match from Evolve 45. Instead it just felt like a normal match.
POST-MATCH SEGMENT- well… a champion needs some challengers
First Timothy Thatcher offered the undefeated-since-his-return Davey Richards a shot at the Evolve Title. Then Tracy Williams and Drew Gulak came out and Gulak pointed out that he is 2-0 against Thatcher. Thatcher conceded that Gulak had a point. Then Chris Hero came out and leveled first Williams and then Gulak with roaring elbows. Then he gave Thatcher one but Thatcher (who was already bleeding from the ear from the match) no-sold it… so Hero took him out with a second one. The next set of Evolve shows should be very interesting.
A pretty good show from Evolve, but certainly a step down from what they have been doing lately.
ANTHONY NESE (w/SoCal Val) vs. ETHAN PAGE (w/Rich Swann)- 5.25/10
Nese not selling his knee really bugged me, to the point where I was almost rooting for Page.
RICH SWANN vs. JOHNNY GARGANO- 6.25/10
Gargano tells Swann he doesn’t want to fight him so Swann jumps Gargano from behind. They told a good story with Gargano needing to realize that the man standing across the ring from him is not his best friend anymore, to the point where everything they did after Gargano fired up felt a bit disconnected, overbooked, and unnecessary. I would have ended this match with Gargano’s big fire-up spot where he finally hits Swann and then goes nuts on him in the core and actually had Gargano get DQed for not breaking in the corner before the five. You can still get the heels some heat by and set up for Page’s big promo by having Page jump Gargano after the match and lay him out with the title.
ETHAN PAGE PROMO- good
TRENT BARRETA vs. CALEB KONLEY (w/SoCal Val)- 6/10
Trent just getting up and hitting his finisher after taking about five straight powerbombs was pretty stupid. Other than that, they had a decently good match. Great antics from SoCal Val after the match.
MIKE BAILEY & REY HORUS vs. TRACY WILLIAMS & DREW GULAK (w/Gulak’s students)- 7.25/10
Both tonight and last night, Lenny Leonard made a point of noting all of the guys in WWE who have passed through Evolve’s doors and of positioning themselves as a fan’s chance to watch the stars of WWE’s tomorrow today.
ZACK SABRE JR. vs. CHRIS HERO- 8.25/10
Hero works the head, Sabre Jr. works the arm. They have an awesome match.
NO HOLDS BARRED MATCH: Biff Busick vs. Timothy Thatcher- 6.75/10
Lenny Leonard did a fantastic job painting the picture for us here, going into the backstory to explain the significance of various moves. Despite this, I really just didn’t feel the hate that was supposed to be coming from these guys. This match should have been something like Danielson vs. Strong from ROH Vendetta or the recent Strong vs. Sabre Jr. match from Evolve 45. Instead it just felt like a normal match.
POST-MATCH SEGMENT- well… a champion needs some challengers
First Timothy Thatcher offered the undefeated-since-his-return Davey Richards a shot at the Evolve Title. Then Tracy Williams and Drew Gulak came out and Gulak pointed out that he is 2-0 against Thatcher. Thatcher conceded that Gulak had a point. Then Chris Hero came out and leveled first Williams and then Gulak with roaring elbows. Then he gave Thatcher one but Thatcher (who was already bleeding from the ear from the match) no-sold it… so Hero took him out with a second one. The next set of Evolve shows should be very interesting.
A pretty good show from Evolve, but certainly a step down from what they have been doing lately.