wrestling / TV Reports
Csonka’s Evolve 37 iPPV Review 1.10.15
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As a reminder, this will not be another traditional recap, but instead it will be a mash up of the Rs, Instant Analysis and my usual Twitter ramblings I would do during the shows; completely uncensored and as the ideas flow unfiltered to the old keyboard. Remember, this is a review; and I am here to review the show. As always, I encourage discussion and even disagreement, just do so in a respectful manner. I will be doing the review for Raw and most PPVs and iPPVs going forward.
EVOLVE 37
OFFICIAL RESULTS
~ Anthony Nese defeated Shane Strickland via submission [**¾]
~ Timothy Thatcher defeated Roderick Strong via submission [***¾]
~ Trevor Lee defeated AR Fox via referee’s stoppage [NR]
~ Biff Busick defeated Uhaa Nation via submission [***½]
~ Evolve Title Match: Champion Drew Galloway defeated Ricochet via pin [***¾]
~ Losing Team Must Split Up: Ronin (Johnny Gargano, Rich Swann, and Chuck Taylor) defeated The Bravado Brothers and Moose via pin [***]
* You can order Evolve on iPPV by clicking here.
Anthony Nese defeated Shane Strickland: Following last night’s reintroduction and endorsement by Rich Swann, Shane Strickland returned to face off with Anthony Nese. I am a big fan of Nese, who is a very consistent performer and is always fun to watch. I felt that Strickland gelled a bit better with Nese than with Gargano, and while not miles better, this match had a better flow and ended up a bit better than the Gargano match. Unfortunately I felt that they spent too much time and focus on So Cal Val and Su Yung. The deal is that Val has offered her managerial services to the Premiere Athlete Brand, and Su Yung already is basically in that role. I have no issues with trying to tell stories in wrestling, but I felt that the focus was never really on the match. I hate this kind of stuff in WWE and TNA; I don’t want it in Evolve. I came for the talented roster of wrestlers, not the faux drama.
Timothy Thatcher defeated Roderick Strong: Timothy Thatcher had an excellent wrestling match with Ricochet on Evolve 36, while Roderick Strong was in an all out battle with Drew Galloway in the main event, which was also a great piece of business. This was a really good match, Thatcher works the more technical “World of Sport” style while Strong is working his vicious, what I like to call “Strong Style Asshole” gimmick. He has no remorse; he is brutal in his execution and essentially gives no fucks. Every time that Thatcher seemed to start to get the upper hand as a grappler, Strong just cut him off with chops and or just brutal looking stomps. For as great as great as Strong’s offense and attitude were, it was only that good because of the selling of Thatcher. This dude gets it, and while he’s not always very flashy, I dig the style and what he brings to the table. The other thing that they are working with guys like Busick, Thatcher and Gulak when he is here is finishes. Not a drawn out series of shit with a 100 kick outs, but finishes out of nowhere that feel legit. Thatcher’s style fits into this, and he scored the win with an arm bar that felt out of nowhere, but also worked. For regular fans of WWE and TNA these finishes will feel odd, but when you start to get used to the styles of guys like Busick, Thatcher and Gulak and what they are doing to make the product feel different, it begins to feel organic. Thatcher announced that he wanted to face Chris Hero at the WrestleMania weekend shows.
Trevor Lee defeated AR Fox via referee’s stoppage: I was looking forward to this match, as I have been trying to see more Trevor Lee and felt that it could be a lot of fun. Unfortunately this ended up as a legit referee’s stoppage when Fox got hurt when sent to the floor. Word is that he had a concussion Either way it was a scary moment, but the good news was that Gabe Sapolsky reported that Fox was alert and on his feet later in the night. No rating for this, and I will also not count it against the show’s final ratings because accidents happen. I hope Fox is ok and back action soon.
Biff Busick defeated Uhaa Nation: Biff Busick and Uhaa Nation were in a shitty situation here. The crowd was a bit rough early, due to an FIP show running right before this. And then you have the Fox injury, which felt very serious when it happened and I felt that the crowd was taken out of the show due to that. Busick picked up a good win over Trevor Lee the night before, while Nation teamed with Fox to defeat the Bravados. Both were good matches. Busick is what I like to describe as a “technical brawler” while Nation has size and power, but can do some impressive cruiser style offense; so this was an interesting clash of styles that ended up working very well. The early story was that Nation was bigger, faster and stronger; but that Busick was resilient and had to pick his spots when he could to stay in the match. Eventually it felt as if Busick was simply able to outlast Nation, and locked in the Saka Otoshi submission for the clean tap and huge victory for Busick. The clean sweep for Busick is huge, and especially beating Nation via submission. Nation is reportedly on his way to WWE, to it makes sense and also gives Busick the marquee win he needed. This was highly enjoyable, hurt by the crowd being out of it for a large portion of it. The work was very good though. Busick also announced he wanted to face Chris Hero at the WrestleMania weekend shows.
Evolve Champion Drew Galloway defeated Ricochet: Galloway is coming off his wild battle with Strong, while Ricochet is coming off of a great match with Thatcher where he picked up the win. This actually felt like a big match, and I do not understand why it was not the main event. More on that later. They had a good match, with Ricochet looking more intense than usual and Galloway working hurt with his hand splinted up, which would be the real story of the match. They worked to the outside, which led to Galloway tossing Ricochet into the air, him grabbing the basketball hoop like he was dunking, and then executing a RANA, it was awesome. Ricochet focused on the injured hand of Galloway, who was wearing a splint. Late in the match this played perfectly for the ending as Galloway, who has come off as a passionate and noble champion, eye poked Ricochet with the splint. He then kicked Ricochet in the head and hit the future shock DDT for the win. This added a new layer to the Galloway character, and also protected Ricochet in loss. Also, Galloway is really coming into his own post WWE, and is showing that he can work with just about anyone on the roster with little issue.
Ronin (Johnny Gargano, Rich Swann, and Chuck Taylor) defeated The Bravado Brothers and Moose: The main event was a fine, entertaining match, but not at the level of other matches on the card and slightly disappointing in terms of what you usually want for the main event. The real issues I have are with the booking. First of all, I do not think it was the best choice for the main event. I would have gone Galloway vs. Ricochet. Secondly, the stipulation felt extremely rushed. Now, this may because Moose and the Bravados are done with WWNlive, necessitating the stipulation; but setting it up one night and jumping right to the “Losing Team Must Split Up” stipulation felt extremely rushed. I did enjoy seeing Ronin back together as I am a huge fan of all three, and I thought Moose had a really good performance as he continues to improve.
* End scene.
* Thanks for reading.
“Byyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyye Felicia!”
The only negatives on the show, in my opinion, were some of the booking choices. The over focus on the ladies in the opener, which I felt took away from the match, and then the rush booking and placement of the main event. Again, there may have been internal reasons for the rush job, which is understandable, but from the outside looking in it felt way too soon to rush to such a big time stipulation.
Overall I felt that there was a lot to enjoy and that the show was again very easy to watch. If you’re a normal follower of the product, I’d recommend the show; but if you’re pressed to make a choice, grab Evolve 36 first. You can order Evolve on iPPV by clicking here.
