Kevin’s Evolve 66 Review

Evolve 66
August 19th 2016 | The MCW Arena in Joppa, Maryland

This was the first Evolve show that I ever watched live. Like the last time they were in Joppa, the setup looks great.

WWE Cruiserweight Classic Spotlight Match: TJ Perkins w/ Stokely Hathaway def. Cedric Alexander in 15:23
Outside of the Cody Rhodes match tonight, this was easily my most anticipated match. Perkins is a favorite of mine and Alexander is great and coming off of the classic with Kota Ibushi. This worked great an opener. They didn’t go out of their way to do too much, which kept it from being truly great but it got the crowd going and was really good. I liked the little things they did early, like having Alexander dab to mock Perkins. There were some strong spots, like Perkins applying a Muta lock and hitting a great springboard DDT, while Alexander nailed a springboard lariat and Michinoku driver. A few spots did come off a bit rough at times but they recovered well. Perkins focused on the leg at various times and it paid off with a knee bar that got him the win. ***½

After the match, Stokely Hathaway cut a promo to hype Perkins. He called out Stephanie McMahon to give him a call and get Perkins, the “greatest cruiserweight of all time” on Raw. Perkins and Alexander shook hands.

Jigsaw and Peter Kaasa def. Fred Yehi and Tracy Williams in 13:54
Fred Yehi has continued to grow on me and, despite seeing him for the first time back in January, is quickly becoming a favorite of mine. The same goes for Hot Sauce. I’ve never getting into Kaasa much and Jigsaw is pretty cool. These four went out and had a better match than I expected. Kaasa looks like a midget early 90’s Scott Steiner. Jigsaw took the heat for a good chunk of the match, which made sense given his size and selling ability. Kaasa impressed me here with a combination of power and speed spots throughout. Yehi made sure to stomp on various body parts throughout and he’s made stomping on someone highly entertaining. Kaasa showed shades of Ricochet with a Northern lights suplex into a dead lift suplex for two. I loved Yehi shouting “HE’S IN BIG TROUBLE” before reeling off German suplexes. In an upset, Jigsaw hit a double stomp and Brainbuster to pin Yehi. A really fun tag team match where all four men looked good. It picked up as time went on. ***¼

Tracy Williams slapped Fred Yehi after the loss. Yehi took it out on Jigsaw and Kaasa before slapping Williams back. They then shook hands and did the Catch Point pose.

Ethan Page def. DUSTIN in 11:28
For those unaware, DUSTIN is Chuck Taylor. This was supposed to be a grudge match but I never got that feeling. I like Page and enjoy DUSTIN but this just didn’t click for me. It started rather hot and both men just brawled in and around the ring. It lost some steam as the match progressed though. The strikes and such came off as disappointing too. They didn’t seem to be connecting with any sort of viciousness. Lots of brawling even though things were inside the ring now. DUSTIN kicked out of the RKEGO and even countered the first package piledriver attempt. Page fought through and won with the package piledriver. I saw some effort from both guys, but somethings matches don’t come off the way the competitors hoped. This seemed to lose energy and never regained it. **¼

WWE Cruiserweight Classic Spotlight Match: Drew Gulak def. Tony Nese in 18:12
Drew Gulak still had the Evolve Championship with him. I liked Nese looking to go into Gulak’s style and try to grapple with the Catch Point star. They had some nice back and forth, as well as a standoff. Nese began to go into his mix of speed and power (like Kaasa earlier, but better), including a really nice one armed buckle bomb. Gulak took to the air a bit with a suicide dive and Nese returned the favor with a really nice fosbury flop. While they were working hard and doing good things, the crowd seemed kind of dead. It felt like they were just waiting and wanting to see Cody Rhodes and this was killing time. I’ll admit, I was anxious for Cody too here and I think it took something away from this match for me. Gulak actually grabbed Nese’s beard at one point to slap him. Great spot. In the end, Gulak countered a leapfrog into a sunset flip style pin to sneak out with the win. I’ve never seen that finish, so that was cool. Good stuff that could have been laid out better. Shave off a few minutes and give Nese a bit more, since the crowd liked his offense, and it could have been improved. ***¼

Evolve Championship No Holds Barred: Timothy Thatcher [c] def. Matt Riddle in 16:41
Drew Gulak talked shit about Thatcher, bringing the champion out. Matt Riddle attacked from behind and this started early, since it was originally supposed to be the main event. Like Thatcher’s No Holds Barred match with Biff Busick last year at Evolve 48, this didn’t feature any weapons or huge spots. It was two guys beating each other up and focusing on the other factors of a match like this. For example, the lack of rope break came into play several times. Riddle not wearing boots actually improved this since watching Thatcher twist and wrench on his bare ankle looks brutal. Riddle sold like a champ throughout and they just viciously slapped the hell out of each other at points. Riddle nailing a jumping tombstone and Thatcher falling off the apron while snapping on Riddle’s leg were two highlights of this one. Eventually, Thatcher applied an armbar and Riddle tried to escape to the outside since a rope break meant nothing. That backfired as the torque on hanging off the apron added to the hold and he had to tap out. Really good match that made use of the stipulation while not going overboard. Props to Riddle, who despite being a rookie, has just quickly picked up on the little things in wrestling. ***¾

Thatcher refused to break the hold until Gulak ran out for the save. Gulak dropped him in the middle of the ring, helping to set up their title match a night later. The crowd badly wanted Riddle to win and chanted “paper champion” at Thatcher. Ouch.

Cody Rhodes def. Zack Sabre Jr. in 18:10
I have always been a huge Cody Rhodes fan, so seeing him get a shot to be him on the independent scene is something I’m excited for. He has new music, long tights and an air about him that seems to say he’s pumped. They shook hands early but once they got to grappling, Cody was in Sabre’s world. Cody did well to keep up, but Sabre had a clear advantage. He looked annoyed that Cody would even try to compete with him there. A lot of this match saw Sabre in control as he talked smack while kicking away at Cody and twisted his left wrist and arm in strange ways. Cody got in hope spots here and there, hitting some of his trademark stuff like the Disaster Kick, but Sabre would always find a way back in the driver’s seat. He countered a spinning Alabama Slam into a hanging Kimura at one point. Cody worked the leg and, after a powerbomb, applied an inverted figure four called “American Nightmare” and made Sabre tap. The finish came from out of nowhere and I don’t think Cody did enough leg work to really earn a submission finish. However, it did establish the move as legit. This didn’t blow me away but I have to give a TON of props to Cody. He could have gone out and worked his type of match because it’s easy. Instead, he adapted and worked a Sabre style match, which isn’t always easy. It reminded me of AJ Styles in the G1 Climax, where he worked everyone else’s match type and didn’t just have the “AJ Styles Show” each time out. Cody seems motivated, which could lead to some greatness soon. ***½

Cody put over Sabre and Evolve on the mic after the match. He also told Drew Galloway that he isn’t his guy and isn’t joining his crusade.

7.0

The final score: review Good

The 411

One of the lesser Evolve shows this year, but Evolve is so good that their worst efforts are still good. The crowd was pretty weak at times and the show had no MOTY candidates. However, most of the matches are really good. The Evolve Title was damn good, the CWC spotlight matches were fun, I enjoyed the tag match and the main event was really solid. Plus, seeing Cody Rhodes again was a treat. I’m glad I chose spending $15 on this than $45 on ROH.