Leighty’s WWE Evolve Review 5.20.26

-Written: 5.20.26
-Source: Tubi
-Run Time: 47:27
-Episode 61

-Plugs: Nitro

-Announce Team: Blake Howard and Peter Rosenberg
-WWE PC, Orlando, FL

-Then, Now, Together, Forever!

-Kam Hendrix and Tate Wilder run down their issues with each other and we get video to show all the happenings.

-Opening!

Anya Rune vs. Layla Diggs (w/ Masyn Holiday)

-Xfinity is the sponsor of the mat this week. Rune ducks a clothesline and gets a roll-up. She goes to the arm, but Layla escapes and throws her across the ring. Layla lands a side kick and hooks a Full Nelson. Rune sits down to escape and gets a roll-up for two. Backslide for two. Layla boots her down and then gets a dropkick. She drops a leg and then an elbow for a two count. Running knee in the corner like CM Punk gets two. Rune avoids a knee in the corner and starts firing off forearms. She gets a knock down and hits a running Euro Uppercut in the corner. Modified neckbreaker gets two. Rune misses a punch and Layla ducks another strike and snaps off a Pele for two. Standing moonsault followed by a top rope one gets the pin at 4:19.

Winner: Layla Diggs via pin at 4:19
-Basic match as far as the layout as Layla controlled, Rune got a little shine and then Layla put her away without too much of a sweat. *

-Gianna Capri runs down Rune after the match and gets chased away by Layla and Masyn.

-Foreman Thatcher talks about the indie scene and names ROW, Freelance, Memphis, and Rocky Mt. Pro. He still works the shows and is always scouting. Now though, time to get back to work.

-Clash in Italy! It seems I may be popping up on a podcast to discuss a match on that show in the next week or so. Stay tuned!

Chazz “Starboy” Hall vs. CJ Valor

-The Mog Squad cuts a promo backstage. They are our new Vanity Project, so let’s see what they can do. CJ Valor tells them he has this tonight. Valor is referred to as the X Factor of The Mog Squad. Lockup and Valor shoves Hall away and poses. Hall gets a go behind and hooks a side headlock. Valor shoves off and runs Hall down with a shoulder. Hall slips out of a slam and then out of a Press Slam. He starts flying around the ring and grazes Valor with a spinning kick. Mounted punches in the corner and he hits a spinning heel kick. Hall flips off the apron and hits another kick to the gut. Sliced Bread but Valor counters to Snake Eyes and hits a clothesline. Cool! Valor with a throw as we get what sounds like dubbed over commentary from Howard going over the issues between ID 2.0 and 1.0. Hall shows some fire in the corner, but Valor cuts him and teases throwing Hall into the crowd with a Press Slam. I mean, with the denim he is wearing, that would have been a cool nod to Spike Dudley. Valor with a neck crank and Hall starts another comeback. He avoids a splash and starts firing off kicks. Jawbreaker from Hall. He avoids a charge in the corner and gets a head scissors. Superkick and now he hits a standing Sliced Bread. Straps are down and Hall hits a twisting standing moonsault for two. Valor sends Hall to the apron, but misses a charge as Hall pulls down the ropes. Asai Moonsault from Hall. Back in the ring he comes off the top, but gets caught. Hall counters a throw into a small package (kind of). Looked like it was going to be a Tornado DDT, but got sideways and they tried to cover. Hall off the top with a Shooting Star Press for the pin at 6:48.

Winner: Chazz “Starboy” Hall via pin at 6:48
-This was fine. Things got a little wonky at times, but they covered well. It was an easy story to tell with Valor’s power against Hall’s speed and high flying. **

-Laynie Luck and Wendy Choo are backstage and both are annoyed with how their match ended. They set up the tag match against Jacobs/Lyons for next week that we all knew was coming.

-Chuey Martinez is in the ring as it is contract signing time between Tristan Angels and Evolve Champion, Aaron Rourke. Angels commends Rourke for what’s he’s done but notes if he had debuted earlier, none of what Rourke has accomplished would have happened. He is going to burn Sparkle City to the ground and signs the contract. Rourke plays off the crowd and waits as they chant “ugly,” as Angels. Rourke talks about beauty being inner and how you treat people. He calls Angels an ugly narcissist and that has security out to keep them away from each other. Security shoves Angels on his ass and out comes Harlem Lewis. He says next week he gets Braxton Cole and is going to “bust his face in.” Hey, Elijah Holyfieldis in VIP and is here to check out the action before he shows up to knock them out. I have been waiting for him to appear on this show and the crowd seemed excited to have him here. A lot happened here and surprisingly, no brawl.

-Sloane and Big Cat Kita bond backstage. They enjoy seeing Wendy cry and Kita says she will get her Title match after she pins Wendy next week.

Kam Hendrix vs. Tate Wilder

-Kam’s theme is growing on me after each week. No Harley out with Kam, which Blake notes on commentary. This is our Main Event and gets the special in ring introductions. Elijah is watching this one from VIP. Both these guys have ties to LFG Season Three. Tate uses his speed early to fluster Kam. He tries to spring off the ropes, but Kam catches him with a strike and sends him to the floor. He drops Tate face first on his knee and that sends Tate back to the floor. Kam follows and throws a forearm. Wilder returns fire with shots to the gut. Kam shakes it off and hits a suplex on the apron. HARDEST PART OF THE RING! Tate gets tossed into the VIP section. Kam tries to embarrass him, but Tate drops him throat first on the railing. We get a VIP camera giving us a cool look. They throw punches and Tate wins the battle. Tate jumps off the VIP Couch and flies over the railing with a dive on Kam. Nice! He charges and Kam sends him flying into the ropes and on the apron with a backdrop. That was cool! We take a break at 3:38.

-John Cena pimps Club WWE!

-Back with Kam controlling in the ring with a release suplex. That gets two. Kam with a modified sleeper but breaks to slam Tate down for a two count. Another two count and then a one count. Tate off the ropes with a clothesline and another and then a shoulder tackle. Swinging neckbreaker gets two! Kam counters a move and hits a spinebuster and then a sit-out powerbomb for two. They brawl towards each other and start trading punches from their knees. Kam has Light, Kam, Action countered. Wilder hits A Wild Ride for two and gives us the surprised face to sell the kick-out. Here’s Harley and he distracts Tate, which lets Kam regain the advantage. Romeo is out to land a kick to Harley’s head to remove him from the equation. That distracts Kam and Tate takes advantaged. Wilder off the top with a twisting splash for the pin at 9:10.

Winner: Tate Wilder via pin at 9:10
-I never got into this one. What they did was solid, but I wasn’t a fan of the ending. Good win for Tate as he is stacking them up and I can see him getting a run at the top of Evolve sooner than later. **1/2

-Thatcher is talking to Elijah, but tells Chuey it can wait to next week to be explained.

6.0

The final score: review Average

The 411

Okay show, but it seemed more like a placeholder to get us to the bigger show next week. As always an easy show to watch and I love the week-to-week build. This week just a show, which is fine when you have more interesting things build to and this show put down a foundation of things coming down the line.