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Csonka’s Evolve 88 Review 7.08.17
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Csonka’s Evolve 88 Review 7.08.17
OFFICIAL RESULTS
– Jason Kincaid defeated Caleb Konley @ 14:30 via submission [***]
– ACH vs. Austin Theory never started
– Austin Theory defeated Ethan Case @ 6:40 via pin [**½]
– Keith Lee defeated Ethan Page @ 9:45 via pin [**¾]
– Tracy Williams defeated Darby Allin @ 13:22 via submission [**]
– Fred Yehi defeated ACH @ 16:45 via submission [***]
– EVOLVE Tag Team Championship Match: Anthony Henry & James Drake defeated Champions Chris Dickinson & Jaka @ 19:50 via pin to become the new champions [****]
– EVOLVE Championship No Holds Barred Match: Champion Zack Sabre Jr. defeated Timothy Thatcher @ 18:00 via submission [****]
– Lenny Leonard welcomes us to the show.
– Tonight is EVOLVE’s first show in Charlotte since EVOLVE 12.
Jason Kincaid vs. Caleb Konley: Kincaid has been putting in impressive performances, but hasn’t found success in terms of winning. Konley is a former WWN regular who signed with GFW/Impact Wrestling and is making his return here tonight. He’s been putting on consistently good performances on Impact. Nice back and forth action to begin, but no one can find can advantage. Kincaid cuts off Konley, and hits a springboard arm drag and hits the double stomp to the apron and puts together the first offense of the match. But it doesn’t last as Konley hits the apron bomb and takes the heat on Kincaid. Konley slows the action down, but that allows Kincaid to start a comeback, which is quickly cut off. Konley is all business, with commentary teasing that a win could get him back in EVOLVE as a regular while Kincaid is fighting to keep a spot. Kincaid finally puts some sustained offense together, hitting a powerslam, double stomp and blockbuster. Kincaid goes coat to coast for the near fall, but Konley cuts him off with a lung blower for the near fall. Konley again fights him off, scoring a near fall. Konley gets a bit cocky, Kincaid avoids a moonsault and hits a superkick and hits a springboard sling blade. Kincaid hits the tornado DDT into a sling shot falcon arrow (HE DID THE DEAL) for a near fall. Konley counters the super RANA into a powerbomb and buckle bomb for the near fall. Kincaid is fighting for all he’s worth, trying to pick up a win, which has escaped him throughout his EVOLVE run. Konley stays a step ahead, but Kincaid jumps to the rafters, hangs on and hits the double stomp for a great near fall; he locks in the compassionate release and finally picks up a win. Good match with a good story of the former star looking to get back in, and Kincaid finally overcoming and picking up a desperately needed win. Jason Kincaid defeated Caleb Konley @ 14:30 via submission [***]
ACH vs. Austin Theory w/Priscilla Kelly: Theory finally gave into Kelly on the last set of shows, suffering another loss and turning heel, attacking TRENT after their match. ACH is unhappy with being in lower card matches, and has been showing a lot of frustration and he has failed to gain momentum after coming in hot and failing to win the EVOLVE title. ACH arrives and says he is only here for main events, and says he won’t be wrestling right now.
– PWX’s Ethan Case arrives and will now face Theory.
Ethan Case vs. Austin Theory w/Priscilla Kelly: Case lost in the main event of the PWX show earlier today. Theory outwrestled Case early; Case tried to fire up but Theory cut him off by grabbing the hair and took control. Theory is showing a more aggressing streak than in previous matches to reflect the heel turn. Case fired up with some flash pin attempts, but Theory quickly shut him down and then pummeled him with mounted strikes. Theory is doing a nice ob of keeping the aggression high, mixing in some cockiness as he continues to control things. Case hits a desperation cutter and started to put offense together. They worked some nice counters, with Case hitting a springboard cutter. Theory quickly shuts that down with the TKO and picks up the win. This was a solid outing overall, with Theory showing good swagger as a heel, and picking up a much needed win, just like Kincaid. Austin Theory defeated Ethan Case @ 6:40 via pin [**½]
Keith Lee vs. Ethan Page: Lee defeated Page at EVOLVE 86, but Page attacked Lee at EVOLVE 87 to keep the feud going. Page is also on his own now, as one gatekeeper retired and the other set out on his own and is looking to prove himself as a singles competitor. Page talks shit to Lee, causing Lee to attack with strikes to begin. Lee then tosses Page around, Page fires up with strikes but Lee no sells and takes control back right away. Lee cuts off the RANA, but Page escapes the powerbomb, hitting tanned Sheamus for a near fall. Page takes control with mounted strikes, as the action slows and Page takes the heat, choking out Lee. Page is working a smart heat, finding a believable way to keep Lee grounded to work the advantage. Lee fires back with a corner splash, but Page hits RKEGO for a near fall. Page decides to monologue, which is the downfall of all villains, Lee then destroyed him with a pounce for a near fall. Page fights off a superplex, and hits a RANA off the ropes. Lee fires up and they trade strikes center ring. Page hits a series of kicks, but Lee cuts him off with a head butt and lariat for the win. Pretty good match overall, with Page giving Lee more fight than he expected, but Lee overcame and won. The booking of Lee still feels off to me; as it feels as if he needs to steam roll some more guys instead of going 50/50 with them. Keith Lee defeated Ethan Page @ 9:45 via pin [**¾]
– Post match, Thatcher and Williams arrive as Stokely Hathaway instructs them to beat him down, Darby Allin makes the save, continuing his issues with Williams and Catch Point. Thatcher and Williams clear the ring as Hathaway gets in some cheap shots on Lee before running away to run away another day.
Tracy Williams vs. Darby Allin: Allin returned from injury and announced that he wanted a shot at the EVOLVE title. This angered Hathaway and Catch Point, and at EVOLVE 86, Allin dove on Williams and Stokely Hathaway. Allin looks to prove himself here while Williams is on a collision course with former Catch Point member and WWN Champion Matt Riddle. Williams uses his grappling skills to take early control, Allin fired up and looked for a dive but Williams will have no part of his flippy shit and that led to a brief brawl on the floor. Allin went for a coffin drop, but Williams arm barred the arm that was injured by an Ethan Page shovel shot and resulted in a cracked elbow. Williams slows the pacing, work the arm and hits a DDT and brainbuster for the near fall. Williams does a nice job of giving Allin hope spots at the right time, before going back to the arm and cutting him off. Williams is working a very slow and methodical Anderson like heat with out the heavy aggression or mean streak of an Ole or Arn. It’s sound and makes sense, but feels as if it’s lacking something. Williams lays in slaps on Allin as he continues to control. Allin finally fires up and hits strikes and a destroyer for 2. Williams then decapitates Allin with a lariat for 2, going back to the arm. Allin manages to send Williams to the floor for a suicide dive that teases waking up the crowd. Back in and Allin picks up some near falls, but this crowd isn’t feeling it. Williams counters a coffin drop into a roll up and then a crossface and then transitions into an omoplata variation and Allin taps. I appreciate the Darby Allin story and felt that at one time he had incredible support as the underdog, but feel they lost that when they went one match too long with the Page feud. They had issues keeping the crowd, and it felt as if it just went too long, and in terms of crowd involvement, it was diminishing returns. Tracy Williams defeated Darby Allin @ 13:22 via submission [**]
– Fred Yehi, who will challenge for the EVOLVE title tomorrow night is introduced. He was to face Trent tonight, but Trent is off the show due to an elbow infection. Yehi says he has an open contract now, and ACH arrives. He wants the match, and wants Yehi to put his title shot on the line; ACH previously beat Yehi (EVOLVE 77) and will do it again here tonight.
Fred Yehi vs. ACH: ACH tries to take it to the mat, which was a mistake and he quickly dives for the ropes to get safety. Yehi has no time to fuck around, so he starts stomping away at ACH and follows with suplexes and chops. Yehi is so straight forward with his offense, deliberate, brutal but doesn’t allow it to get boring. Yehi rips off ACH’s shirt so that he can punish him more with chops. ACH finally starts to put some offense together, picking up the pace and hitting a Saito suplex and a series of dropkicks. ACH takes some time to celebrate his run of offense, which allows Yehi to mount the comeback. Yehi lays in the rapid-fire kicks, sweeps the legs but is slow to follow due to the previous work of ACH. Yehi hits a desperation belly-to-belly, fires up and hits the fisherman’s buster for 2. ACH is again able to change the pace of the match, sends Yehi to the floor and follows with two suicide dives to take control back. Back in the ring ACH gets a near fall off of a German, as he continues to focus on the lower back of Yehi. ACH again takes too much time to celebrate, and hits the code breaker off of the ropes, but only gets 2. ACH missed the double stomp; Yehi connects with the back stabber and half and half suplex for a good near fall. It breaks down into the center ring striking exchange to a less than enthusiastic crowd response. They trade snap Germans, lariat by ACH but Yehi kicks out. Fucks sake people, get off your hands. Brainbuster by ACH, but the 450 eats knees and Yehi locks in the Koji clutch for the win. They did a lot of good things here, but this crowd is just not responsive to very much tonight. I am not sure if they need to rethink the length or lay out of the matches, but it feels as if no matter what is happening in the ring that the crowd is just dead, is creating an overall shit atmosphere and is making it hard to get into the matches. It’s not the lack of effort, but things aren’t connecting well tonight. Fred Yehi defeated ACH @ 16:45 via submission [***]
EVOLVE Tag Team Championship Match: Champions Chris Dickinson & Jaka defend vs. Anthony Henry & James Drake: Chris Dickinson & Jaka are a good team and good champions, but EVOLVE has no real tag division, so we get “super teams” and open challenges like tonight. Anthony Henry & James Drake are PWX regulars. Jaka and Henry work a nice opening stretch, wit neither man able to get a solid control of things. Henry starts to put some offense together, hits the dropkick and makes the mistake of playing to the hometown crowd. This allows Jaka to hit the sack of shit slam, and Dickinson tags in. Dickinson quickly grounds Henry, and takes him to his corner. Henry finally tags in Drake; they isolate Dickinson and work double teams. This led to some really nice work from the challengers, cutting off the ring and not only controlling, but creating several near falls. But Jaka gets the blind tag, leading to he and Dickinson taking control back, Dickinson hits the falcon arrow (HE DID THE DEAL) for a near fall. As usual, Dickinson looks supremely pissed off as he beats on a man. Jaka is just as surly, as he and Dickinson continue to keep Henry on their side of the ring. Drake makes the save off of the superplex, which only angers Dickinson, who takes out his aggression on Henry. Henry keeps firing up, but Dickinson keeps beating the hell out of him. Henry finally hits the desperation enziguri and then a snap slam. Henry finally gets the hot tag to Drake, they hoss it up as they beat the shit out of each other. Henry up top and Jaka stops that, the champions work over Drake with a series of kicks and that leads to a near fall. The champions continue their assault, Henry in and Dickinson hits him with a buckle bomb. We end up with a big tower of doom spot, and Drake covers for a near fall. The crowd is better here, but I had really hoped they’d be hotter for their hometown guys challenging. The champions hit the rack/double stomp on Drake and Dickinson almost kills Drake with a burning hammer. Henry makes the save, they run wild hitting some double teams and Jaka has to save Dickinson. Dickinson eats a double stomp and moonsault for a great near fall as the crowd is finally awake, Drake finishes off Dickinson and we have NEW champions! This was great, and just what the show needed to get this crowd into things. Also, now that this happened, any time going forward that you do an open challenge, it will believable that a new champion can be crowned; you need that aspect of unpredictability. It started a bit slow, but they did a good job of constantly building the drama and pulled off a great match with an awesome reaction from the crowd. Anthony Henry & James Drake defeated Champions Chris Dickinson & Jaka @ 19:50 via pin to become the new champions [****]
– Anthony Henry is a guy that people need to pay more attention to, he’s about to break out to a bigger audience this year; he’s raw in many ways but has so much potential.
EVOLVE Championship No Holds Barred Match: Zack Sabre Jr. defends vs. Timothy Thatcher w/Stokely Hathaway: the war started way before Sabre defeated Thatcher to become champion, but has steadily escalated a Thatcher wants his title back. But it’s no holds barred, the same stipulation Thatcher won to retire Biff Busick (Oney Lorcan) and defeated Matt Riddle in. Hathaway has the ring announcer read a especial intro that he wrote for Thatcher. Ok so we aren’t messing around here at all, they spent the opening two-minutes trading uppercuts and kicks to the face. It quickly spills to the floor and into the crowd; Sabre still keeps to his gameplan and works a half crab. Thatcher escapes, and we’re back to pummeling each other with strikes as they work deeper into the crowd. Thatcher tries to take control and stomp away at Sabre, but Sabre pulls a heel hook. Oh we’re brawling at the bar area now, Thatcher keeps trying to brawl and punish, while Sabre keeps using submissions to cut off those attacks. After their impromptu meet and greet with the fans, they return to the ring and Sabre again starts working submissions. They start trading submissions, but Sabre starts getting pissed and realizes that he needs more than holds and starts to stomp the shit out of the arm. I love when Sabre drops his polite grapple boy façade, and gets dirty and mean on an opponent. Thatcher tries to mount a comeback, but Sabre attacks the arm with kicks and then hits the PK. Thatcher works a hanging sleeper in the corner, but Sabre tries to rip off Thatcher’s fingers to escape. Sabre is able to work a hanging triangle in the corner, but Thatcher drops down and works the half crab. It breaks back down into a striking battle, but Saber now looks for an arm bar, looking to beat Thatcher with his own hold, but Thatcher escapes. Sabre tries to slip under the ropes, but Thatcher keeps the arm bar locked in; Hathaway has the EVOLVE title and shows it to Thatcher to try and motivate him. Thatcher transitions to a knee bar in the ropes, but Sabre escapes and locks in the octopus in the ropes and has Thatcher trapped. Hathaway is freaking out as his man gives up. This was a very different Sabre vs. Thatcher match and I mean that in the best way possible; the aggression, the sense of urgency, the break from typical formula while still staying true to what makes them who they are as performers really worked for me. This was a great main event. Champion Zack Sabre Jr. defeated Timothy Thatcher @ 18:00 via submission [****]
– Sabre puts over Thatcher post match, saying that he respected him for years due to his skill and grace in the ring. EVOLVE & the title are everything this sport is all about, but when he beat Thatcher, Thatcher never presented him with the belt. This feud is over, but Sabre will give him a chance to show respect and end this feud how it stared, with respect and admiration. Hathaway is crying as he hands Thatcher the title and he presents it to Sabre.
– Sabre tells the crowd that they will be coming back soon.
– End scene.
– Thanks for reading.
“Byyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyye Felicia!”
