wrestling / TV Reports
Csonka’s Evolve 43 Review 5.30.15
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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 43 Review 5.30.15
OFFICIAL RESULTS
~ Rey Horus defeated Anthony Nese via pin [***]
~ Davey Richards defeated Caleb Konley via pin [***½]
~ TJ Perkins defeated Speedball Mike Bailey via pin [****]
~ Chris Hero defeated Trevor Lee via pin [***½]
~ Open the United Gate Tag Team Title Match: Johnny Gargano and Rich Swann defeated Drew Gulak and Tracey Williams via submission [***½]
~ Open The Freedom Gate: Champion Drew Galloway defeated Biff Busick via pin [***]
* The show started 45-minutes late due to the early show running long.
* The lighting is not good; it is dark and has a purple hue to it. The close up is ok, but from far away…
* The Premiere Athlete Brand is out to kick off the show. Val complains about losing the titles, but they plan to redeem themselves. She also left a key to her hotel room for Roderick Strong… so that they can talk business.
Anthony Nese w/So Cal Val & Caleb Konley vs. Rey Horus: I tend to really like Nese matches, and Horus impressed over mania weekend and basically has replaced AR Fox due to Fox leaving the promotion. I am completely fine with that as I felt Fox was getting stale. Nese attacked before the bell, and controlled the early portion of the match due to that. The pace picked up and that allowed Horus to get back into the match as they brawled to the floor. Nese was able to take control back with the power game, and controlled until Horus made him miss and then was able to mount his comeback. They went back and forth down the stretch, and had a few hiccups that kept the match from being as smooth as it should have been. They had a lot of good ideas, but not all of them came off like they should have. The good news was that we’re not talking botches, just some flow issues. The good more than outweighed the bad and they ended up having a good and fun match. Horus won with a top rope RANA. Konley attacked Horus post match and we had more dissention in the PAB and Nese bailed.
Caleb Konley w/So Cal Val vs. Davey Richards: Konley was pissed and called out Richards for their match right away. Konley is a guy I couldn’t stand early on in Evolve (come on, anyone remember THE SCENE?) and as a performer; I felt he was just another guy. But he continued to work hard, and the PAB run has been really good as he’s become a well-rounded performer. Richards also seems to really thrive in the Evolve environment, as he gets more time to work and has finally learned to slow himself down and really build a match. This was another good match, as they worked a nice back and forth, picked up the pace down the stretch and Richards scored the win with the creeping death kick. They are telling the story that Richards is working for a title shot, and he actually asked for one post match. He’s been booked well on his road to a title shot. As for Konley, we look to be telling the downfall of the PAB as they have been losing and certainly aren’t getting along. Good stuff.
TJ Perkins vs. Mike Bailey: Oh I really liked this match. Perkins, as mentioned before, was a guy that they originally wanted to build the company and style around (same for Richards) and then contracts and arguments happened, and both left. Mike Bailey has been getting a ton of attention as of late, so I was happy to see him get the shot here. The match was about the striking and speed of Bailey vs. the ground game and experience of Perkins. This was a great match and was a great example of the style that Evolve has been working hard to highlight. This was very good work by both guys, and Perkins scored the win when he countered the ankle lock try by Bailey. I am glad TNA lets Perkins work Evolve shows, because otherwise I’d never get to see how damn talented he is. Bailey is a great addition to freshen up the roster.
Chris Hero vs. Trevor Lee: Chris Hero has been having a really good 2015, between what he has done in the WWNlive shows and some of his PWG work, and he’s on. Is he big again? Yes. Do I give a shit? No because he has great matches. Trevor Lee is a lot of fun, and used his faster paced style to try and counter the methodical beat down by Hero; he failed. Hero hit him with two piledrivers and put away the young man to score the win. Lee comes off as such a likeable and resilient babyface, and I hope that they have plans for him moving forward. Hero feels like the elder statesman of the company, the guy that you have to go through to fight the big boss (champion) in the company and that’s a perfect role for him right now because he remains an important figure and continues to have really good matches.
DGUSA Tag Title Match: Champions Johnny Gargano & Rich Swann vs. Drew Gulak & Hot Sauce Tracy Williams: Drew Gulak introduced his new protégé Hot Sauce Tracy Williams. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say that these guys know each other very well **wink** maybe from another life. They worked a good back and forth match, as Gulak and Williams worked their ground based offense, which grounded Swann and put the champions in a position that they aren’t all that used too. Williams will fit in just fine with Evolve, as he looked good and looked on the level of two of Evolve’s bigger stars. This was another good outing for this card. Post match, Gargano and Swann gave up the titles, stating that we needed to have Evolve tag team titles. It makes sense as the “Open the United Gate” were the DGUSA titles, and that relationship appears to be over. There has been no official announcement of that, but from the outside looking in, that’s how it has looked for a while and that seems to be the case by the moves made on this show. One would hope that they have a solid gameplan set moving forward, as it appears we’ll be getting a tournament of some sort. I think I would have preferred that they maybe just drop the “Open the United Gate” and have Gargano proclaim the titles Evolve titles; but I am all for a well booked tournament with good matches so I will remain open minded here.
DGUSA Title Match: Champion Drew Galloway vs. Biff Busick: This was not the typical Busick match that you have become accustomed to seeing, as the match was a big ass brawl. They opted to stay away from what had established Busick, and worked what felt like an attitude era main event match (minus the 87 run ins). This led to them trading big moves and strikes, selling, big moves and strikes, selling; it was good as they brought a great intensity, but it never felt as if it got great. I enjoyed it, but I wish that they would have worked more of a regular match to begin (for a longer stretch) and then had it break down into the brawl. The brawling felt long, and if we could have shortened it up and made it feel a bit more wild, I think that it would have worked better. Busick worked hard down the stretch for his sleeper finish, but Galloway reversed it and scored the win with the future shock DDT. This was a good match, but a bit of a disappointment considering that it was the main event. The post match angle continued the theme from the tag match as Gargano came to the ring and wanted Galloway to retire the Open the Freedom Gate title. Galloway basically told him to fuck off (because two belts are better than one!) but did offer Gargano a rematch for the title. The angle to close out was good and set up for the next show as Gargano hyped his big match with Ethan Page.
* End scene.
* Thanks for reading.
“Byyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyye Felicia!”
