BRM Reviews Evolve 5: Danielson vs. Sawa (HOLY F*CK DANIELSON VS. SAWA!)

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Big Red Machine
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BRM Reviews Evolve 5: Danielson vs. Sawa (HOLY F*CK DANIELSON VS. SAWA!)

Post by Big Red Machine » Jul 11th, '20, 23:16

Evolve 5: Danielson vs. Sawa (9/11/2010)- Rahway, NJ


CHUCK TAYLOR COMPLAINS TO CHEECH & CLOUDY ABOUT HIS POSITION ON THE CARD- good
The documentary crew footage is back. Yay!
Chuck… makes a lot of solid points about why it’s ridiculous that he, the Wins Leader and Winning Streak Leader, is in the opener rather than the main event.

SEVERAL WRESTLERS ARE ASKED WHO THEY THINK WILL WIN THE MAIN EVENT- meh
Rich Swann and Ricochet vote for Sawa. Drake Younger votes for Dragon. Adam Cole wimps out by putting both men over as “where I want to be in wrestling” and saying “I don’t think it’s my place” to pick a winner. Grow a spine you little twerp! I get that Cole is supposed to be the obliging young babyface, but this made him come off like a sycophant chickening out of giving his opinion because he’s afraid he might offend one of these professional combat athletes by saying he thinks they might lose a professional fight.
Ricochet was also smart enough to add in a promo about his own match, the semi-main event, and how winning this match will be key to him making his name.

QUICK CLIPS OF DANIELSON AND SAWA PREPARING FOR THE MAIN EVENT- fine little filler

CHUCK TAYLOR(3-0) vs. MIKE QUACKENBUSH(0-0)- 7/10
The announcers explain to us the full story behind Chuck Taylor’s position on the card. He was originally booked in the semi-main event but complained about it constantly, so they moved him to the opener instead as punishment.
I am SOOOO happy that this was explained to us. One of my big pet peeves over the last few years has been when a heel cuts a promo claiming the office is biased against them and seems to have some pretty solid evidence, and the promotion doesn’t ever explain to us why the heel is wrong. It makes the promotion look so bad. The promotion’s job is to ensure fair play, so a promotion should not be made to look biased against anyone.
The announcers also noted that in addition to being undefeated, being the wins leader, and the winning streak leader, Taylor also has a little streak going where each of his wins have handed his opponent his first loss.
This was a great opening WRESTLING match with a beautifully-done finish. The execution was wonderfully smooth on what appears to my untrained eye to be a very difficult thing to pull off, and the booking was… well… I guess I really can’t do this without spoiling it, so go watch this match before you read on.


Quack countered a springboard move by Chuck into one of those cool Lucha roll-ups. This was shocking, but once the pin happens it starts to come off as exactly the perfect time for Chuck to have his bubble burst. Also, doing it in the opener helps the card out by showing us that there are no guarantees, even when you’ve got the top guy in the company who is complaining about not getting booked on top facing a guy who has been a tag team wrestler in every other appearance he has had in this company. I LOVED this.

AEROFORM(1-3) vs. UP IN SMOKE(2-0)- 6.75/10
EVOLVE is apparently officially using Lucha tag rules now. Sure. Why not?
This was a solid tag team match. Cheech & Cloudy remain undefeated.

LENNY LEONARD INTERVIEWS CHEECH & CLOUDY- didn’t like it
Lenny Leonard says that crotching your opponent on the top rope isn’t really the most fair way to win, but I don’t think this has ever really been portrayed as being particularly heelish before. You’re trying to knock the guy off the top. You’re not purposely trying to making him land on his balls, even if that is the most likely consequence. Aeroform are also upset about this, but it’s not like they’re winning their other matches, either, and the one dude’s name is “Flip,” so I really can’t take him seriously. Up In Smoke are dismissive of both Aeroform and Lenny’s concerns.

LARRY DALLAS & A FEMALE FRIEND ARRIVE AT THE BUILDING EARLIER TODAY- The woman is apparently named “Chris” (or maybe “Kris”), but she looks a lot like a young Allysin Kay. Security won’t let them in, even when they claim to be pals with Johnny Gargano. The woman was very angry that they drove all the way here and aren’t being let in yet again. Larry promises that “it’s not going to happen again.”

JIMMY JACOBS(3-1) vs. ADAM COLE(1-1)- 7.5/10
A GREAT match in which both guys worked the head, but the real story was Cole standing up to Jacobs. Even in defeat, Cole gained a lot here.

LENNY LEONARD INTERVIEWS JIMMY JACOBS- very good
Jimmy notes that he is the new wins leader. He also notes that this victory was him once again doing what Johnny Gargano has failed to do.

SAMI CALLIHAN(2-0) vs. DRAKE YOUNGER (2-0)- 7.25/10
On the previous show, Sami had boasted that no one in EVOLVE could withstand his Stretch Muffler. Well… Drake did. This got under Sami’s skin, so when he hit a Rubix Cube into the turnbuckles- which looked SICK- he decided to pull Drake up and lock in the Stretch Muffler to get the win… but Drake was able to get out of it again, and rolled Sami up and almost pinned him. One more mistake by Sami allowed Drake to hit Drake’s Landing and get the win, costing Sami his perfect record and a chance to move to within striking distance of the Wins Leader.

LENNY LEONARD INTERVIEWS DRAKE YOUNGER- great
Drake cut a great babyface promo about his win, and challenged Jimmy Jacobs to a match in the hopes of tying him as the wins leader on the next show.

BRYAN DANIELSON GIVES CHUCK TAYLOR A LECTURE BACKSTAGE- fine
Dragon says that Chuck has the talent to be the face of EVOLVE, but that he’ll never get to that point if he keeps “clowning around” and “pulling stunts with the office.”

SIX-WAY MATCH: Jon Moxley(0-1) vs. Rich Swann(0-1) vs. Frightmare(0-0) vs. Gran Akuma(1-1) vs. Johnny Gargano(2-2) vs. Brad Allen(2-1)- 5/10
We started off with Moxley vs. Allen and Allen went for this moonsault press that starts like a Whisper in the Wind but he slipped and landed right on his head and it was terrifying… except that the fans were all cheering like this was a known spot and none of the other wrestlers or the referee reacted like this was something to be concerned about, and after Moxley picked Allen up he appeared to be fine and they started doing spots again, so this almost had to be planned… but it REALLY looked like this guy just slipped and broke his neck.
Later on, there was a spot where Allen was going to be the last guy on a dive train and the crowd started to boo and tell him not to do it. His fall earlier was at least the second time on five shows so far that he’s landed on his head trying a high-risk move, so it’s hard to blame them. He did his big dive anyway and it landed fine, so the crowd popped.
This match was one of those “only two guys in at a time” matches, but it also used Lucha rules. It was pretty much just a series of spots, but it was fine because it didn’t go too long. The finish saw the usual sequence in these types of matches where everyone hits their big move… and then Gargano ran in and rolled Frightmare up with a nifty-looking and rather tight roll-up for the win.

POST-MATCH SEGMENT- meh
Gargano’s interview with Lenny Leonard is interrupted by f*cking HOMICIDE, less than a month off of his release from TNA. I was certainly not expecting to see Homicide in EVOLVE. Homicide intimidated Gargano into leaving, at which point Moxley got into the ring. Homicide put Moxley over, but said he was going to keep an eye on him. Moxley said something in response that I couldn’t really understand, then left.

A VIDEO ACKNOWLEDGES THAT BRODIE LEE WAS SUSPENDED FOR HIS ACTIONS AT THE PREVIOUS SHOW- It was good to have this, but this is the sort of thing that I think should be placed early on in the show.

JON MOXLEY PROMO- good
He DEMANDS that a rematch with Brodie Lee be booked.

WSU WORLD TITLE MATCH: Mercedes Martinez (4-0)(c) (w/Sammy Geodollno) vs. Amazing Kong- 4.75/10
This was going well until Kong pushed the referee. This should have been an immediate DQ in EVOLVE, but wasn’t. She eventually kicked the referee after he tried to stop her from undoing a turnbuckle pad. She went to Amazing Bomb him but he escaped through her legs, then called for the DQ. This was an exceedingly frustrating way to end a match that they’ve been building up for a while, and Mercedes’ first match where people weren’t expecting a squash going in. Also not helping this is the fact that the announcers are insisting that Kong kicked the ref in balls when it didn’t look like she did and the ref wasn’t selling it like she did, either.
Kong went to give Mercedes an Amazing Bomb but Mercedes countered it with a facebuster and they brawled to the back. Unfortunately, neither of these women would ever appear in EVOLVE again, so this went nowhere.

JIMMY JACOBS & JOHNNY GARGANO BACKSTAGE- good
Jimmy taunts Gargano about having more wins than him. Gargano tells Jimmy that he should be professional. Gargano then goes to a side door and lets Larry Dallas and his lady-friend into the building

KYLE O’REILLY(2-1) vs. RICOCHET(1-2)- 7.75/10
This was an excellent “clash of styles” story, with both men trying to bend the match to their style. Whoever’s style was being wrestled at that point in time was in control.

HOMICIDE GIVES MERCEDES MARTINEZ A PEP TALK BACKSTAGE- good
Mercedes is sad because she only won by DQ. Homicide gives her a pep talk that makes her feel better.

BRYAN DANIELSON(1-0) vs. MUNENORI SAWA (1-0)- a PERFECT 10/10!
This is one of those matches that won’t be a 10/10 for everyone, but for me it’s just such a raw example of what I want pro wrestling to be: A combination of mat wrestling, hard strikes, and big throws; full of emotion and struggle and without even one little thing that allows me an opening to think “this isn’t real.”

POST-MATCH SEGMENT- fine
Sawa shows Dragon respect, which should go far with the office. Dragon then gives a big speech supporting and endorsing EVOLVE, even as he is now back with WWE. He gives a big thank you speech to the crowd for supporting him throughout his career.

LARRY DALLAS, JOHNNY GARGANO, & THEIR FEMALE FRIEND INVITE CHUCK TAYLOR TO COME OUT PARTYING WITH THEM- very good
Chuck doesn’t seem to be interested, as he is still sitting in the same corner he was sitting in when Dragon was lecturing him. Eventually he decides that he will, in fact, go out partying. He turns to the camera and tells Dragon that he does have the guts to be the top guy, but he’s going to do it his way. This almost came off like a babyface promo, which was weird. Also weird was that when they went to leave, a fifth person followed them out like he was part of their group, even though we haven’t seen him with them before at any other point in the night.
On the bright side, Larry’s declaration that “the fat man is gone” seems to indicate that we won’t be seeing any more of Sean Davis in EVOLVE. HOORAY!


Another GREAT show from EVOLVE, capped off by a dream match main event that truly managed to live up to my dreams. I’m enjoying pretty much every aspect of the booking tremendously, from the style of shooting the shows to way the finishes are handled to the exceedingly human take on the characters. Not being into early EVOLVE when it first came out is turning out to be a HUGE regret for me.
Hold #712: ARM BAR!

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Re: BRM Reviews Evolve 5: Danielson vs. Sawa (HOLY F*CK DANIELSON VS. SAWA!)

Post by cero2k » Jul 15th, '20, 16:11

LENNY LOENARD INTERVIEWS DRAKE MAVERCIK- great

A VIDEO ACKNOWLEDGES THAT BRODIE LEE WAS SUSPNEDED FOR HIS ACTIONS AT THE PREVIOUS SHOW

POST-MATCH SEGMENT- fine
Sawa shows Dragon respect, which should go far with the office. Dagon
caught a couple of type-os. may be more
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Re: BRM Reviews Evolve 5: Danielson vs. Sawa (HOLY F*CK DANIELSON VS. SAWA!)

Post by Big Red Machine » Jul 15th, '20, 16:20

cero2k wrote: Jul 15th, '20, 16:11
LENNY LOENARD INTERVIEWS DRAKE MAVERCIK- great

A VIDEO ACKNOWLEDGES THAT BRODIE LEE WAS SUSPNEDED FOR HIS ACTIONS AT THE PREVIOUS SHOW

POST-MATCH SEGMENT- fine
Sawa shows Dragon respect, which should go far with the office. Dagon
caught a couple of type-os. may be more
Thanks. I'll go fix them.
Hold #712: ARM BAR!

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Re: BRM Reviews Evolve 5: Danielson vs. Sawa (HOLY F*CK DANIELSON VS. SAWA!)

Post by NWK2000 » Jul 17th, '20, 10:18

Big Red Machine wrote: Jul 11th, '20, 23:16 BRYAN DANIELSON(1-0) vs. MUNENORI SAWA (1-0)- a PERFECT 10/10!
This is one of those matches that won’t be a 10/10 for everyone, but for me it’s just such a raw example of what I want pro wrestling to be: A combination of mat wrestling, hard strikes, and big throws, full of emotion and struggle and without even one little thing that allows me an opening to think “this isn’t real.”
Luckily this match was up for free on WWN's Youtube channel. Completely deserved 10/10. Really a reminder that Bryan is one of the best to ever lace up boots.
NWK Reviews is closed for business for now.

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Big Red Machine
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Re: BRM Reviews Evolve 5: Danielson vs. Sawa (HOLY F*CK DANIELSON VS. SAWA!)

Post by Big Red Machine » Jul 17th, '20, 10:23

NWK2000 wrote: Jul 17th, '20, 10:18
Big Red Machine wrote: Jul 11th, '20, 23:16 BRYAN DANIELSON(1-0) vs. MUNENORI SAWA (1-0)- a PERFECT 10/10!
This is one of those matches that won’t be a 10/10 for everyone, but for me it’s just such a raw example of what I want pro wrestling to be: A combination of mat wrestling, hard strikes, and big throws, full of emotion and struggle and without even one little thing that allows me an opening to think “this isn’t real.”
Luckily this match was up for free on WWN's Youtube channel. Completely deserved 10/10. Really a reminder that Bryan is one of the best to ever lace up boots.
Yeah, pretty much this. As soon as the EVOLVE footage sale was announced, I did my best to snap up all of the DGUSA and EVOLVE shows he worked on DVD. Didn't get this one, but was able to watch it because Club WWN hasn't been purged yet. Looking forward to him against Moxley from DGUSA, though.
Hold #712: ARM BAR!

Upcoming Reviews:
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DGUSA Open the Ultimate Gate 2013
ROH/CMLL Global Wars Espectacular: Day 3

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