wrestling / TV Reports
Leighty’s WWE Evolve Review 6.25.25
Image Credit: WWE
Loading...-Some plugs for a few of my latest columns/retro rants. I ranked every WCW/WWF PPV match from 1991. I also recapped the first episode of LFG: Season Two, and here is my latest Nitro review from Jan 29, 1996. With that out of the way, WE EVOLVE! Let’s get to it!
-Announcer Team: Peter Rosenberg and Robert Stone
-Taped: WWE PC, Orlando, FL
-Tonight it’s Kylie Rae vs. Wendy Choo in Last Woman Standing! Good video package on the feud and I assume it will close the show tonight.
-Show opening!
Keanu Carver vs. Ice Williams
-Carver gets a prematch promo where he vows to end the entire WWE ID program. We get footage from GCW of Ice Williams in action. Cool! Yep, I made that pun! Ice is here to stand up for the ID Program and I don’t like his chances. Carver smashes Williams off the apron and fires him into the ring and now, we get a bell. Williams punches away and gets a roll-up. He lands a dropkick that sends Carver to the floor. Williams with a baseball slide, but Carver blocks that and hits a Samoan Drop on the floor. Ouch! Back in the ring Carver throws body blows and then lands a left hook. He tosses Ice across the ring and hits a running forearm for two. Hard whip into the corner and Williams bumps like a rag doll. Williams fights back, but gets destroyed with a clothesline. Ground and pound from Carver. Torture Rack into face first AA gets two. Williams blocks a charge in the corner and hits a jumping clothesline. He comes off the middle ropes with an elbow to the back of the head and hits The Ice Breaker (Superkick) for two. Williams up top and misses the able this time and POUNCE from Carver. Running twisting powerslam gets the pin at 5:15.
Winner: Keanu Carver via pin at 5:15
-This was solid, but I think Carver should have dominated more to really sell this angle. He needs to SQUASH some people before things get a bit more competitive and then someone is able to stand up to him. Williams looked okay out there and showed some nice first before taking the expected loss. **
-Carver attacks after the match and that brings out Timothy Thatcher. He pulls Ice to safety and we could be getting Thatcher/Carver down the line.
-Jack Cartwheel and Cappuccino Jones video package where they talk about how they signed a WWE ID contract. Jones worked a show with 30 people in the crowd, but one of the 30 was a WWE scout. Cartwheel worked in GCW and AAA among other places before getting signed.
-Night of Champions commercial!
-We get video from Beyond Wrestling where Project Vanity showed up. I am digging these videos from other promotions. That is a tiny ring! I can’t imagine giants from the 80s working in that thing.
-Next week it’s 6 Man Tag action with Vanity Project vs. Lince Dorado and LWO.
Zara Zakher vs. Kendal Grey
-Rosenberg mentions TNA and it still is weird to hear on WWE programming for some reason. Zakher gets a roll-up for two. Hip-toss is blocked and Grey gets an armbar and takes it to the mat. She transitions into a pin for two. Back to the armbar from Grey and she works that for a bit while getting a pin attempt every now and then. Grey misses a charge in the corner and Zara gets a knock down. Clothesline follows for two. She looks for a German Suplex, but they trade standing switches and Zara ends up landing an elbow. Grey with an arm scissors and back to the armbar as she looks for the submission. Zara gets to the ropes to break. Zara escapes a suplex and hits an enziguir. Roll-up from Grey. Control Z is tried by Zara, but Kendal avoids and hits an Angle Slam for the pin at 3:35.
Winner: Kendal Grey via pin at 3:38
-Short and mat based. The ending kind of came out of nowhere as I thought they would get a little more time. *
-Stevie Turner is walking backstage and is interrupted by Edris Enofe. She blows him off as she wants to announce the newest signing to Evolve. We hear metal clanging and Stevie rushes off to find Aria Bennett holding her arm on the ground as the Evolve Mystery Attacker has hit another target. Grey shows up back through the curtain with Zakher, and notes that she can’t be the attacker now. I don’t man, Zakher, Attacker! It’s right there!
-Tubi commercials!
-Video package putting over the WWE ID program!
-Stevie Turner is in the ring to announce Evolve’s newest signing: DANTE CHEN! The GATEKEEPER OF LEVEL UP IS BACK! The world is healing! I like to think I have reviewed more Dante Chen matches than anyone, and I am excited to have him back and the crowd likes seeing him as well. Dante gets promo time and says he is excited to join a young, talented roster. He brings u beingt attacked by Ethan Page earlier in the year on NXT. He doubted if he could return, but he is back and says is the measuring stick of Evolve. Edris Enofe is here and I would be shocked if I haven’t reviewed a match between the two of them at some point. Here’s my review from a Level Up where they were in a tag match together. Edris is annoyed he can’t get 10 seconds of Stevie’s time and wants to know what is special about Dante. He says Dante won’t be the face of Evolve and to enjoy being this week’s shiny new toy. SHOTS AT TONY KHAN, or something! Edris is tired of being tired and decks Dante. I enjoyed this as it tugged at my Level Up loving heart!
-Chuey Martinez is backstage with Layla Diggs. Layla applied for a WWE trial and she says it was the toughest thing she has ever done. She did the digging (I see what she did there) and is finding herself. She is getting better each week and it seems she was supposed to face Aria Bennett next week, but that’s off due to her attack. Jin Tala interrupts and seems she is taking Aria’s spot next week. The way this was played, you can make a case that either of these women could be the attacker as well.
-SummerSlam! Two Nights in Jersey! Someone call Kevin Smith! Dogma just came out and he is a professed, press whore, so he would show up. Also, he once liked one of my tweets which was pretty cool of him.
-Tate Wilder hype video! He’s a cowboy, and I assume he does Cowboy…Stuff!
-Lince Dorado and the LWO are backstage and next week is going to be Lucha Lit! They promise non-stop high flying action. We hear Jamar Hampton and Edris yelling at each other off camera, so the cameraman goes running to see what’s happening. Edris tells the rookie to calm down and walks off. I like the camera transitions.
-Peter and Stone run done the matches set for next week. Always a good thing to do!
Last Woman Standing Match: Wendy Choo vs. Kylie Rae
-Kylie hits the ring and it is on! They trade punches and Choo gets a chop to the throat. Rae with a superkick to a seated Choo. She rolls to the floor, so Rae follows out with a suicide dive. She breaks out a table, but Choo blasts her from behind. Peter notes he didn’t even know if they had tables under the ring in Evolve. They fight in the aisle and Kylie brings out a trashcan and hits Choo in the face. She puts the can over Wendy’s head and finds a broom under the ring. She takes some swings at the can and hits another superkick, which knows the can off Wendy’s head. Wendy is up at four so we continue! Kylie wedges the can in the corner and then hits a suplex. Wendy ends up resting against the can and Kylie goes for a cannonball, but Wendy moves. Belly-to-back suplex from Wendy! Handspring Splash in the corner from Choo followed by a running boot. Now she goes under the ring and finds a toolbox. Don’t pull a Punk/Drew here! Choo uses tape to tie Kylie’s legs to the middle rope, and that leaves her hanging upside down. Choo blasts her with the trash can lid and finds a turnbuckle bolt and hits Rae with that as we head to a break at 5:05.
-Clash in Paris commercial!
-Back at 5:29 with then fighting on the apron. Kylie runs Wendy into the trashcan in the corner, but misses a kick and Choo traps her in the apron. Kylie finds a fire extinguisher under the ring and puts that to good use. Choo gets sent into the steps and then hits a cannonball into the steps. Cool! Wendy gets the count, but is up at 8 with help from the railing. They trade blows back in the ring and Rae wins this exchange. Head scissors from Kylie into the crossface and she lands heel kicks from the position. She uses the turnbuckle bolt for added leverage. Choo gets free and uses the bolt to hit Kylie in the throat and both women are down. Wendy sits up and is to her feet at 7 and Kylie is up at 8. Wendy grabs her pillowcase and we have LEGOS. Well, this will suck! I have kids and stepping on their LEGOS sucks so much! Kylie uses a Teddy Bear to knock Wendy down and we see that a brick was inside the Bear. Kylie seems freak out by the brick and gets slammed into the LEGOS. Ouch! Both women are up by nine and we continue. Wendy with a sleeper, but Kylie uses the corner to break. She avoids a charge and they fight on the apron again. Wendy hooks The Dirt Nap and they both fall off and go flying through the table that was set up in the first 90 seconds of the match. Both women are down for the count, but Kylie uses the apron to get up at 9 and gets the win at 12:35.
Winner: Kylia Rae via Last Woman Standing at 12:35
-This was billed as the first stipulation match in Evolve and is the blow-off for this feud and I enjoyed it for what it was. They were given time and put in some work. The spots were what you would expect with cans, and tables, but I like the creativity of using LEGOS over thumbtacks. I enjoyed this though your mileage may vary. ***
Stevie is in her office with Natalya. She credits Stevie for the women’s division she has built in Evolve and wants to be here to help guide everyone. She also wants a match against Kali Armstrong for the Evolve Woman’s Title. They take a selfie and we are out.
-Thanks for reading!
