wrestling / TV Reports
Kevin’s WWE Evolution Review
Loading...WWE Evolution
October 28th, 2018 | Nassau Coliseum In Uniondale, New York
WWE was absolutely late to the world of giving women a proper opportunity. But, better late than never. I came in pumped for this show.
Alicia Fox and Mickie James w/ Alexa Bliss vs. Lita and Trish Stratus
While Alicia makes for a terrible replacement, it’s okay. The crowd was MOLTEN for Trish and Lita. Alicia against Lita was kind of a train wreck. Trish looked much better, though. She called for the tag to Mickie to reignite their rivalry. That was one of the best rivalries ever. Alexa got involved to set up a heat segment on Lita. It made sense to build the tag to Trish, who seemed much more comfortable out there. A big mistake came late, as Fox clearly missed a pin breakup so the ref had to stop his count. Mickie then took a moonsault and Chick Kick to fall at 11:02. A fun way to start the show. Everything involving Lita lacked and that ref spot was awkward, but Trish and Mickie were on point. [**¾]
Battle Royal
Winner gets a title shot. Entrants from the past included Michelle McCool, Ivory, Torrie Wilson, Alundra Blayze, Molly Holly, and Kelly Kelly. McCool looked the best in the ring of the bunch. This was about as good a battle royal as you’ll find. They often just feature people holding each other until the next elimination spot. This one had some fun moments sprinkled in throughout. We got the Iiconics getting jumped and eliminated quickly for being annoying, a Carmella dance break, and a reminder of the great Asuka/Ember Moon rivalry. I was surprised to see Ivory and Tamina last as long as they did. It came down to Ember and Nia. Ember was about to eliminate Nia in similar fashion to how Big Show was sent packing at the end of the 2004 Rumble. Zelina Vega reappeared, having never been eliminated. She tried throwing them both out but failed. Nia got rid of her and eliminated her buddy Ember at 16:26. As noted, a good battle royal with some fun spots throughout. [***]
WWE Mae Young Classic Finals: Io Shirai vs. Toni Storm
This is the match I was most looking forward to. Toni Storm was my pick for female wrestler of the year in 2017 and Io is great. They’ve met in Japan before and were given the chance to work a style similar to those matches. Every hit felt hard and they held nothing back. The biggest spots saw Io hit a gorgeous moonsault to the outside and Toni nail a German suplex on the apron. They teased a finish with a Storm Zero, though it never felt like it was truly going to be the end of the match. Something about the near fall was missing. Io went for the big moonsault, but Toni got her feet up to block it. A second Storm Zero followed and we had our Mae Young Classic winner after a great 10:06. The crowd wasn’t as into this as you’d probably hope, but they got worked into it late. A very good capper to a very fun tournament. Both are going to be big in WWE and Toni continues to feel like a huge star. [***¾]
Bayley, Natalya and Sasha Banks vs. The Riott Squad
The Riott Squad coming out horror movie inspired gear was dope. Liv (Pennywise), Ruby (Jigsaw/Billy the Puppet), and Sarah (Leatherface) all looked cool. Honestly, I didn’t come into this with high hopes. Everyone is good, but we’ve had iterations of this several times already on TV. However, these women clearly saved their best for here. Bayley wrestled like she was in NXT in 2015 again. She was crisp in a way that’s been missing for her main roster run. Sasha brought energy and life to the match. The Riott Squad continue to be a blast. Nattie wasn’t even that boring. This gave us several near falls that worked wonderfully. I thought Bayley laying on Sasha to protect her from a senton was great and played into their friendship. The actual finish was really good, as Nattie powerbombed Liv, Bayley followed with an elbow, and Sasha capped it with a Frog Splash at 13:39. Way better than I expected. Probably the best six woman tag I can recall, though there were a few hiccups. [***½]
NXT Women’s Championship: Kairi Sane [c] vs. Shayna Baszler
Their match at TakeOver: Brooklyn was one of, if not the best women’s match of the year to this point. This wasn’t quite on that level, but still very good. They continued the story of Kairi Sane trying to bring that killer instinct. When she tried the Sliding D into the steel steps early, it showed that she was willing to take the chance. However, that’s Shayna Baszler’s world and she quickly took control. The hanging arm submission looked vicious, as did the rest of Shayna’s arm work. She’s incredible. It’s her and Toni Storm, neck and neck for best female wrestler of 2018 (Becky Lynch would win if her great run didn’t only begin in August). NXT girls were in the front row, including Jessmyn Duke and Marina Shafir. Kairi got dumped onto them, causing them to get involved. The referee was really bad about not calling a DQ in this final few minutes. Still, the help included a cheap shot that led to Kairi getting trapped in the Kirifuda Clutch. She fought, but passed out at 12:29. I thought some of the interference came off awkward and the refereeing just didn’t work late, but that was a very well worked match with some great story elements. [***¾]
WWE Smackdown Women’s Championship Last Woman Standing Match: Becky Lynch [c] vs. Charlotte
I’ve seen some call this an overdone mess and others call it the Match of the Year. I’m not fully in either camp. I saw a match that had moments of being absolutely brutal and hated filled. I also saw a match that kind of fell into some of the tropes that hurt this stipulation in the past, like a lot of time spent counting women down in the early stages when the match clearly wouldn’t end and overkill at some late spots. Charlotte’s ability to get up from so much came across as overkill. This isn’t a knock on her, as WWE has done it in almost every match like this, including with AJ Styles earlier this year. That out of the way, this was great. The violence level was high and we got some truly stellar spots like the announce table leg drop, stuff with the ladder, and some loud kendo stick shots. I loved how Becky didn’t became a coward late. When she couldn’t keep Charlotte down, she just moved on to try a bigger spot and it eventually worked with a powerbomb off the top and through a table outside, ending this at 28:38. One other issue was the officiating. Charlotte wasn’t truly up after getting buried in chairs, but was credited with beating the count. She got up further in the end, but lost. Strange. Still, a fitting end to a great rivalry. Hopefully, both can move onto something new now. [****¼]
WWE Raw Women’s Championship: Ronda Rousey [c] vs. Nikki Bella w/ Brie Bella
I was one of the people who was happy with this as the main event. Sure, the Becky/Charlotte feud deserved the main event, but Ronda and Nikki are the money names. They had a tough task following the spectacle before them. Ronda opened this by toying with Nikki, teasing that she could put the armbar on at any point. It was cocky and showed that an eventual heel Ronda will work. Anyway, Nikki saw she was in big trouble and only took control when Brie got involved. From there, Nikki held serve for a while. To be honest, this section may have lasted a bit too long, but it was still good. Nikki worked so well as the heel and Ronda was the mega babyface when her comeback began. She took out Brie and locked Nikki in the armbar to win in 14:07. I think they could’ve kept this closer to ten minutes and it would’ve been stronger. However, it was still a good main event with two women playing their roles very effectively. [***¼]
