EVOLVE 42
Evolve 42 (4/18/2015)- Orlando, FL
SHINE TITLE MATCH: Santana Garrett(c) vs. Andrea (w/SoCal Val & Su Yung)- 2.25/10
Apparently this title shot was supposed to go to Su Yung but Val did something to make Andrea get the shot instead. Val is also abusing Su by making her wear the same shirt that Andrea ripped off of her to humiliate her last night.
The match was short. Andrea jumped Santana before the bell to start the heat, Santana made a short comeback (neither of which looked particularly smooth), and they went straight into the finish. The finish in question saw botched interference by Su result in Andrea getting rolled up. After the match, Val berated Su. Su looked like she was going to stand up to Val, so Val sicced Andrea on her and Andrea laid Su out with her finish. Then Val dumped water on Su. I assume this means Su has been kicked out of both the Premier Athlete Brand and Valifornia.
ETHAN PAGE vs. MARTIN STONE- 5.75/10
A solid match that actually did more to sell me on Martin Stone as a no-nonsense babyface than it did to sell me on Page as a top heel, but then again, Page’s trash talk does a fine job of doing that.
ANDREW EVERETT vs. REY HORUS- 6/10
They billed it as a â€"high flyers†match, and that was what it was. Lots of flips and Lucha stuff, but there was other stuff in here as well, and it was all fine for what it was.
TIMOTHY THATCHER vs. TJ PERKINS- 7.5/10
Lenny Leonard said it best when he described this match as a â€"mat wrestling clinic.†Great story with bot guys just battling for the submission while working on the arm.
TIMOTHY THATCHER PROMO- he wants a shot at the EVOLVE Title.
#1 CONTENDERSHIP MATCH: Roderick Strong vs. Biff Busick- 7/10
These two definitely don’t like each other so this was pretty much a slugfest to the point where the light finally went off in my head and I said â€"oh! I get it: The last match was almost all technical wrestling, so this match is all strikes.†And as I finished that thought, Roddy did something that I don’t want to spoil that made me unsure if Biff would ever walk again.
The match was great, but the finish was pretty because of this whole â€"Brandon Toley controversial ref stoppages†angle that they were pushing that never really went anywhere.
POST-MATCH SEGMENT- Biff cuts an angry promo on the fans and the company, saying he has been screwed (like last night by Toley against TJ Perkins) and that the fans like Thatcher better than him and it’s not fair etc., etc. Thatcher then came out and got in his face and they had a fight which took a strange turn when one of Biff’s shots injured something in Thatcher’s ear and damaged his equilibrium. Refs and security came out to pull them apart, but Biff was the clear winner of this brawl.
DAVEY RICHARDS vs. TREVOR LEE- 6.75/10
I was expecting quite a bit more out of this one.
STREET FIGHT FOR THE DGUSA OPEN THE UNTIED GATE TITLES: The Premier Athlete Brand(c) (w/SoCal Val & Andrea) vs. Rich Swann & Johnny Gargano- 7.75/10
Ethan Page replaced Ron Niemi on commentary before this match. One of the first things he did was make a racist comment towards Rich Swann. He would later accuse Tony Nese of steroid use. I don’t think Mr. Page will be doing any more commentary for Evolve after this.
Swann and Gargano entered first, and our heroes decided to hide so that they could attack the heels from behind like cowards. Swann wound up hurting his ribs doing a Frog Splash onto a ladder about ten minutes in, which left Gargano alone to face both Konley and Nese. It was even three-on-one for a bit when Andrea decided to get involved.
Gargano got beaten up and whipped with belts, and tied to a ladder. The PAB was about to destroy his back with another ladder, but Rich Swann came back out with a garbage can full of weapons to make the save. They left his music while it. You know, like New Jack… except that this is All Night Long and not Natural Born Killaz, so instead of being cool, it was lame.
The babyfaces hit the heels in the testicles with various weapons. They also did my most-hated spot where they put something like a trashcan lid on top of the guy’s crotch and hit that with something else, which those of us who understand physics know would actually hurt less than just hitting the guy in the nuts without the trashcan lid there.
This match went about a half-hour, and while it was pretty awesome at times, it also had times where it really dragged. In the end, Su Yung came out to spit red mist in Val’s eyes and take out Andrea, paving the way for the babyfaces to hit their moves without Val pulling the ref out of the ring (as she had done earlier) to win the titles. Immediately after the bell, a good chunk of the already small crowd immediately got up to leave, not caring about the babyfaces’ big title win.
POST-MATCH SEGMENT- Strange
Our babyface, Johnny Gargano, sat down right on Tony Nese’s chest to cut a promo. What a douchebag. Babyface Johnny then said that Ethan Page just wants his attention, and as a result he will not give Page the match that Page wants â€"because you don’t deserve to get in the with a talent like me.†That sounds REALLY heelish. He also said that he was the man and that Page was a nobody and would always be a nobody. Johnny said that if Page got into the ring right now, he would beat him up with weapons. Page teased going to fight, but instead backed down. Finally! The heel is acting like a heel and the babyface is acting like a babyface.
A decent show from EVOLVE. There was some great wrestling in the middle of the card, but nothing came close to standing out. The show was also only a mere two hours. It does have some pretty important storyline moments, though, so if you want to follow the storylines in EVOLVE, this is a pretty important show to see.
STUPID ANNOUNCER QUOTES:
1. Ron Niemi talked about how Drew Galloway had been â€"travelling the world†and â€"doing everything he can to spread the good word of EVOLVE,†and my first thought was: â€"no he hasn’t. He’s been on TNA TV for at least a month and a half now and he hasn’t mentioned EVOLVE once. Obviously there are political reasons for this, but it just seems silly me to claim something that fans know isn’t true, even if we understand the reason why it couldn’t happen even if someone wanted it to.
SHINE TITLE MATCH: Santana Garrett(c) vs. Andrea (w/SoCal Val & Su Yung)- 2.25/10
Apparently this title shot was supposed to go to Su Yung but Val did something to make Andrea get the shot instead. Val is also abusing Su by making her wear the same shirt that Andrea ripped off of her to humiliate her last night.
The match was short. Andrea jumped Santana before the bell to start the heat, Santana made a short comeback (neither of which looked particularly smooth), and they went straight into the finish. The finish in question saw botched interference by Su result in Andrea getting rolled up. After the match, Val berated Su. Su looked like she was going to stand up to Val, so Val sicced Andrea on her and Andrea laid Su out with her finish. Then Val dumped water on Su. I assume this means Su has been kicked out of both the Premier Athlete Brand and Valifornia.
ETHAN PAGE vs. MARTIN STONE- 5.75/10
A solid match that actually did more to sell me on Martin Stone as a no-nonsense babyface than it did to sell me on Page as a top heel, but then again, Page’s trash talk does a fine job of doing that.
ANDREW EVERETT vs. REY HORUS- 6/10
They billed it as a â€"high flyers†match, and that was what it was. Lots of flips and Lucha stuff, but there was other stuff in here as well, and it was all fine for what it was.
TIMOTHY THATCHER vs. TJ PERKINS- 7.5/10
Lenny Leonard said it best when he described this match as a â€"mat wrestling clinic.†Great story with bot guys just battling for the submission while working on the arm.
TIMOTHY THATCHER PROMO- he wants a shot at the EVOLVE Title.
#1 CONTENDERSHIP MATCH: Roderick Strong vs. Biff Busick- 7/10
These two definitely don’t like each other so this was pretty much a slugfest to the point where the light finally went off in my head and I said â€"oh! I get it: The last match was almost all technical wrestling, so this match is all strikes.†And as I finished that thought, Roddy did something that I don’t want to spoil that made me unsure if Biff would ever walk again.
The match was great, but the finish was pretty because of this whole â€"Brandon Toley controversial ref stoppages†angle that they were pushing that never really went anywhere.
POST-MATCH SEGMENT- Biff cuts an angry promo on the fans and the company, saying he has been screwed (like last night by Toley against TJ Perkins) and that the fans like Thatcher better than him and it’s not fair etc., etc. Thatcher then came out and got in his face and they had a fight which took a strange turn when one of Biff’s shots injured something in Thatcher’s ear and damaged his equilibrium. Refs and security came out to pull them apart, but Biff was the clear winner of this brawl.
DAVEY RICHARDS vs. TREVOR LEE- 6.75/10
I was expecting quite a bit more out of this one.
STREET FIGHT FOR THE DGUSA OPEN THE UNTIED GATE TITLES: The Premier Athlete Brand(c) (w/SoCal Val & Andrea) vs. Rich Swann & Johnny Gargano- 7.75/10
Ethan Page replaced Ron Niemi on commentary before this match. One of the first things he did was make a racist comment towards Rich Swann. He would later accuse Tony Nese of steroid use. I don’t think Mr. Page will be doing any more commentary for Evolve after this.
Swann and Gargano entered first, and our heroes decided to hide so that they could attack the heels from behind like cowards. Swann wound up hurting his ribs doing a Frog Splash onto a ladder about ten minutes in, which left Gargano alone to face both Konley and Nese. It was even three-on-one for a bit when Andrea decided to get involved.
Gargano got beaten up and whipped with belts, and tied to a ladder. The PAB was about to destroy his back with another ladder, but Rich Swann came back out with a garbage can full of weapons to make the save. They left his music while it. You know, like New Jack… except that this is All Night Long and not Natural Born Killaz, so instead of being cool, it was lame.
The babyfaces hit the heels in the testicles with various weapons. They also did my most-hated spot where they put something like a trashcan lid on top of the guy’s crotch and hit that with something else, which those of us who understand physics know would actually hurt less than just hitting the guy in the nuts without the trashcan lid there.
This match went about a half-hour, and while it was pretty awesome at times, it also had times where it really dragged. In the end, Su Yung came out to spit red mist in Val’s eyes and take out Andrea, paving the way for the babyfaces to hit their moves without Val pulling the ref out of the ring (as she had done earlier) to win the titles. Immediately after the bell, a good chunk of the already small crowd immediately got up to leave, not caring about the babyfaces’ big title win.
POST-MATCH SEGMENT- Strange
Our babyface, Johnny Gargano, sat down right on Tony Nese’s chest to cut a promo. What a douchebag. Babyface Johnny then said that Ethan Page just wants his attention, and as a result he will not give Page the match that Page wants â€"because you don’t deserve to get in the with a talent like me.†That sounds REALLY heelish. He also said that he was the man and that Page was a nobody and would always be a nobody. Johnny said that if Page got into the ring right now, he would beat him up with weapons. Page teased going to fight, but instead backed down. Finally! The heel is acting like a heel and the babyface is acting like a babyface.
A decent show from EVOLVE. There was some great wrestling in the middle of the card, but nothing came close to standing out. The show was also only a mere two hours. It does have some pretty important storyline moments, though, so if you want to follow the storylines in EVOLVE, this is a pretty important show to see.
STUPID ANNOUNCER QUOTES:
1. Ron Niemi talked about how Drew Galloway had been â€"travelling the world†and â€"doing everything he can to spread the good word of EVOLVE,†and my first thought was: â€"no he hasn’t. He’s been on TNA TV for at least a month and a half now and he hasn’t mentioned EVOLVE once. Obviously there are political reasons for this, but it just seems silly me to claim something that fans know isn’t true, even if we understand the reason why it couldn’t happen even if someone wanted it to.