Leighty’s WWE Evolve Succession III Review

-Written: 6.24.26
-Source: Tubi
-Run Time: 52:06
-Episode 66

-Plugs: Succession I and Succession II

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

-Then! Now! Forever! Together!

-Earlier today, Aaron Rourke arrived with backup.

-Earlier today, Max Abrams arrived with The Mog Squad. It seems it’s time for a Hot Boy Summer.

-Earlier today Nikkita Lyons sang and says Succession was made for the divine feline.

-Earlier today Wendy Choo said she won’t let someone obsessed with social media take her title.

-Show opening! Nice touch as it’s different than the normal opening and has a more epic score.

WWE Evolve Women’s Championship: Wendy Choo (c) vs. Nikkita Lyons (w/ Sloane Jacobs)

-I was on record saying I think it’s time to give Lyons the Championship, but we will see what they do. Mike Rome does the super special in ring introductions. Wendy is the third woman to hold the Women’s Title and has been Champion since April 15 (when the show aired). Kali Armstrong, Kendal Gray, and Zena Sterling are sitting in VIP. Always nice to see Kendal and Kali back in Evolve and also gives a bigger feel to the match. Wendy controls early with a side headlock on the mat. Kita gets to her feet and powers out. She misses a head kick, but gets a trip. Wendy goes for The Dirt Nap, but Kita rolls over and forces a break. Thesz Press from Wendy and she starts throwing hands. They roll around the ring and trade bombs. Cool! Kita lands a kick to the abdomen and goes for a sunset flip, but Wendy rolls through it and lands a kick. Choo with a head scissors out of the corner that sends Kita to the floor. She trips Wendy though and goes for the Yam Slam on the apron but Wendy avoids and hits a baseball slide to knock Kita to the floor. Wendy with a cannonball off the apron. Sloane distracts for a brief second and that lets Kita hit a spinning head kick. We take a break at 3:24.

-SNME: MSG! July 18!

-Back at 3:58 with Wendy countering a suplex into a small package for two. Kita back with a snap suplex and she stands on Wendy’s chest and now hits The Yam Slam. That gets two. Kita misses a charge in the corner, but catches Wendy with a boot to the face. Wendy knocks her off balance on the ropes and hits a sweet DDT to leave both women down. They fight to their feet and Wendy starts to win the exchange. She starts rolling with a series of clotheslines and gets a hammerlock clothesline. Nice! Handspring Splash in the corner followed by a running boot. Running reverse neckbreaker gets two. Dirt Nap is blocked, but Wendy gets a roll-up for two. Lyons misses a roundhouse kick and Wendy goes back to a Dirt Nap attempt. Kita counters with a modified Samoan Drop. She hits overdrive for a two count. Wendy escapes a slam and hits The Snooze Button for a two count. Back to The Dirt Nap and Kita is able to roll to the floor though Wendy maintains the hold. Kita rolls towards the steps and Wendy hits her head. That’s a sweet little counter that you don’t see. Kita heads up, but is too slow and Wendy meets her up there. Kita hits a top rope Michinoku Driver for two. Fantastic! Crowd bought that one. I think the crowd is ready for a Title Change here. Yep, as we get a Nikkita chant. Choo counters a powerbomb into a rana for two. Kita lands another heavy blow, but gets caught in the corner and Wendy gets a powerbomb. Dirt Nap is locked in so Sloane puts the belt in the ring and distracts the ref. The ref misses the tap and Wendy releases. Kita swings wildly with the title and misses. Wendy gets a roll-up for two. The ref puts the title out of the ring but that lets Kita grab the crystal left behind by Sloane (who got into a fight on the floor with Laynie Luck). Dirt Nap is blocked and Kita uses the crystal to hit Wendy in the face. Roundhouse kick and we have a new champion with the pin at 11:17.

Winner and New WWE Evolve Women’s Champion: Nikkita Lyons via pin at 11:17
-Fun match that had me on the edge of my seat by the end. I appreciate Wendy’s run and how she changed her character, but it was time. They need to let Lyons run for a bit and see what they have. Match was strong and I am sure some may not like the interference, but sometimes heels have to be heels and cheat to win. I enjoyed this! ***1/2

-KevOnStage is guest GM next week.

-Chuey Martinez interviews KevOnStage in VIP. It’s Gal is out and tells Kev he needs to show him the ropes around here. Kev books Gal vs. Cutler James for next week. It’s Gal is great and I need him interacting with Danhausen and Truth.

-SummerSlam! Minnesota! Tickets on sale!

Kai Kavari vs. Kale Dixon

-Kale Dixon is one of our Evolve debuts. Dixon was on Level Up a bunch, so I am familiar with him. I actually forgot he was still on the roster. Dixon talks trash to start, but gets caught with a hammerlock. Dixon runs Kai into the ropes to break and gets a reverse DDT. Kale and Kai sounds like the name of someone’s two Siberian huskies. Dixon lands a series of strikes including a superkick for two. Heavy slap/chop to the back. Sleeper and we get a pop up fact letting us know Dixon played college baseball at Arkansas State. Kai starts a comeback and springs off the ropes with a back elbow. He hits a clothesline and then another as he shows some good fire. Kai slides out of a suplex and sends Dixon into the corner with a dropkick. Kai gets distracted by a blonde woman in red leather on the floor. That lets Dixon hit The 96 (roaring elbow) for the pin at 3:39.

Winner: Kale Dixon via pin at 3:39
-It was a debut, but it may have been overshadowed by the woman in red. Short, but Dixon is on our screen again and it seems they have plans for him. *

-Spooky video for a woman who keeps telling us we fear The Unknown. So reading 411 earlier, this is Vanta The Unknown (Jessica Bogdanov). I am intrigued.

-The Mog Squad is out and KevOnStage makes the Six Man Tag next week an Elimination Match.

-SaudiMania commercial! Go watch the Heyman interview with KVV where he talks about already thinking about SaudiMania and Mania 44.

WWE Evolve Championship: Max Abrams (w/ The Mog Squad) vs. Aaron Rourke

-This is Rourke’s 4th Title defense since beating Jackson Drake for the Champion on March 18 (when the match was aired). Mike Rome again with the super special in ring introductions. Max charges at the bell and Rourke stomps him down in the corner. Blake notes they have faced of previously in Beyond Wrestling. Max bails to the floor and regroups with the Mog Squad. Rourke takes them out with a sling shot dive, but Abrams avoided. He attacks from behind, but gets caught with a running knee back in the ring. Pop up fact tells us Rourke was inspired to be a wrestler when he saw Taker throw Rikishi off Hell in a Cell. That was the Armageddon in a Cell Match. Chaotically, brutal match. Santi distracts Rourke and he seems ready, but too many out there to distract and that lets Max hit the flipping neckbreaker. Chuey does an interview with Harlem Lewis in the VIP Lounge. Harlem says once he is done with Cole his is focused on Rourke. We take a break at 3:10.

-Club WWE commercial!

-Back at 3:42 with Rourke back in control. Abrams escapes a slam and comes off the top with a missile dropkick for two. Howard notes Succession has never seen both titles change hands on the same show. Peter tells us that Max shares a birthday with Lebron James. Main Objective is countered by Rourke. We get a Dime Piece chant. So far this one is taking longer to get going than the women’s match. Rourke with a shotgun dropkick in the corner. Abrams rushes out of the corner with a flying Euro uppercut. He heads up top, but Rourke meets him up there and brings him down with a powerslam for two. Rourke stomps away and goes for a split legged moonsault. Abrams rolls out, but Rourke lands on his feet. He tweaks the knee though and Max has a target. Rourke with a kick in the corner and goes back up. He gets knocked off balance and falls into a reverse neckbreaker for two. Good near fall! Max talks trash between heavy punches that connect. Rourke starts to respond so they trade jabs. Rourke with a series of forearms, but runs into a pump kick. Abrams then runs into a kick. Roundhouse kick from Rourke and a kick from Abrams. Both men down, but Abrams falls on top for a two count. Abrams runs Rourke into the corner and the ref accidentally gets kicked by Rourke. No ref to make the count as Rourke gets a pin attempt. Let the fireworks begin. The Mog Squad is in, but Harlem Lewis cuts them off. Here’s Braxton Cole and he pulls Lewis to the floor and they brawl away from the ring. They meet next week in no DQ. The Mog Squad pounces and Valor hits a belt shot. Abrams crawls over and we get a slow count since the ref was out and Rourke kicks out at two. Mog Squad back in the ring, but here’s ID1.0 (Mathers, Holloway, and Cap) to even the odds. We are back to Rourke and Abrams alone in the ring. They fight on top and Rourke hits a Gourdbuster. Molly Go Round connects for the pin at 13:43.

Winner and Still WWE Evolve Champion: Aaron Rourke via pin at 13:43
-Good match, but I didn’t get into it as much as I did the women’s match. Not sure why, but I never bought Abrams as having a chance and in the earlier match I was rooting for Lyons. This took a bit to get going but it hit a nice groove after the commercial break. They worked hard and got the crowd into it and it was a worthy Main Event for Succession. ***

-Mog Squad and ID1.0 are ready to throw down again. We see Sam is injured on the floor from being thrown into the steps. Thatcher’s personal security goons run down to break things up and then lay out The Mog Squad. They offer a handshake to ID1.0 and then take them out as well. Guess we have a new team. They stand tall to end the show.

7.5

The final score: review Good

The 411

A good show that peaked, for me, with the opener. A step down from Succession I and II, but not every show is going to be on that level. I like the running thread now that we have three shows done and none have had both titles changing hands. They will be able to play with that fact going forward. I think it was time to put the trigger on Lyons and I am cool with Rourke keeping the title because I still only see the Mog Squad as a lesser version of The Vanity Project. Abrams isn't ready to be Jackson Drake yet. I still think Lewis needs to be the one to take the Title from Rourke at some point. Two good matches this week and the middle match was the "worst" in Succession history, but that was more about getting Dixon reintroduced. We also have intrigue with the woman in red. As always, they set up next week well and we also have Thatcher's security doing more than security work while Thatcher is away. I'm sure Thatcher will have something to say about that when he returns in a few weeks. Overall, a good show and well worth watching. Congrats again to Big Cat Kita!