Top 10 Matches From the First Year of EVOLVE Wrestling

Evolve has found itself in the somewhat unlikely position of being the most important indie in the world if your goal is to get to the WWE. On its journey to that odd destination, it settled itself into a product that could effectively be summed up as “We put on good matches with good wrestlers and occasionally the booking gets in the way of said good matches happening.” While that may seem like a rather unambitious creative goal for a promotion, it was not always that way for Evolve. In its first year, the company strove to tell long-term stories with characters who had some genuine depth all the while trying to give the world a unique presentation of pro wrestling.

The results were decidedly mixed to say the least.

The idea did not really capture the imagination of pro wrestling fans by any stretch of the imagination, and the company proceeded to switch gears a half-dozen times in the ensuing years. While the product unquestionably got “better” in said years, it has always missed the creative ambition that the company was working with in its first year.

With all that said, instead of analyzing those far more interesting ideas about what pro wrestling can be, here is a dumb listicle spotlighting the best matches the company produced in 2010.

 

Notable Matches Missing From The List

Kota Ibushi vs. Davey Richards

Chris Hero vs. Ikuto Hidaka

Austin Aries vs. Chuck Taylor

Dean Ambrose vs. Homicide

Ricochet vs. Kyle O’Reilly

Johnny Gargano vs. Jimmy Jacobs

 

10. Brodie Lee vs. Chris Dickinson vs. Gran Akuma vs. Hallowicked – Evolve 2

While this was far from the best four-way, it was fun to watch and executed reasonably well. A lot of matches on this show had failed due to the lack of urgency to the work; that was exactly where this match succeeded most though. It was also nice to finally see Brodie Lee pick up a win in Evolve and made to look like an imposing figure. (***)

 

9.  Brodie Lee vs. Gran Akuma – Evolve 3

This was a rock-solid midcard match. Akuma took it right to the much larger wrestler. Brodie did not take it lying down though and gave as much as he took. They kept the action crisp and urgent. They did not go too long. We got ourselves a clean finish. Yay, Evolve!

It does seem insane that Evolve did not get heavily behind Brodie Lee though. The dude had (and has) all the tools to be a big time player, and to see him be treated as such a non-entity is just bizarre. Ah well. (***)

 

8.  Kyle O’Reilly vs. TJ Perkins – Evolve 3

This was some fun competitive wrestling. You could have easily envisioned them going overboard with the faux MMA stuff given the setting, but they made sure to always keep the pace up to ensure it never got boring. If things got progressively more violent in the final minutes, it would have pushed this one to the next level. As it stands though, it was a solid midcard match that felt unique on the show. [TJP won via ankle lock.] (***)

 

7. Claudio Castagnoli vs. Bobby Fish – Evolve 2

Doing a losing streak storyline in the early days of Evolve made a lot of sense given the stated importance of wins and losses. Such a story presents lots of options for where to take characters and for how to get over the promotion’s rules and whatnot.

Casting Bobby Fish in that role though seems like an odd decision. Fish represented a style and tone that should have been emphasized as a superior mode of working within the context of Evolve. He was basically a perfect fit for the Evolve ideals, and he also basically did not come across as someone who would never find success in wrestling.

Despite the story’s odd casting, Fish’s matches did at least deliver more often than not. He and Claudio had solid chemistry, and their ability to progressively get more and more intense as the match went on was suitable. Mild recommendation to check this one out if you can. (***)

Chuck Taylor came out afterwards, congratulated Claudio on his victory over “Robert Fish,” and then to challenge Claudio to a match at Evolve 3.

 

6. Kyle O’Reilly vs. Bobby Fish – Evolve 1

This was exactly the kind of match that Evolve needed to start their first show. It established a unique tone for their company that would help make Evolve stand out in a crowded marketplace.

Kyle and Bobby both worked very physically. They both were working with a sense of urgency and as if they were always working towards of the goal of winning. These may seem like basics of pro wrestling, but they were not attributes of enough matches then or now.

The only issue dragging this one down is that they clearly held onto the match a little too long. You shave 1-2 minutes off this one and end on a flurry of strikes or something, and you have yourselves a real hidden gem.

As it was though, you have a more than effective and fun show opener that did a great job of letting the audience know what to expect from Evolve going forward. -Kyle won via a brainbuster. (***)

 

5. Brodie Lee vs. Jon Moxley – Evolve 4

This was a helluva sprint, as these two were just wailing on each other non-stop from start to finish. It also managed to serve a number of different masters all at once which was impressive.

Besides being just a very good match, it established some rules of regulations of Evolve in a high profile way (the match was thrown out after both men got chairs and then Brodie was suspended for hitting Mox with the chair).

Moxley’s character journey continued, as his frustration/obsession with being restricted by the rules of Evolve would only be magnified after getting walloped with a chair because he decided not to break the rules.

And the match was just a hot way to kick off a show. This was nothing but good things. (***1/2)

 

4. Chris Hero vs. Bobby Fish – Evolve 3

This was a fun, hard-hitting match that effectively continued the Evolve: Year One story of Bobby Fish losing every match. Hero was a step ahead of Fish at most moments in the match. Fish kept fighting back though and took a lot of punishment at the end before staying down. This was fun to watch, and the crowd seemed to appreciate Fish more by the end. Success! (***1/2)

 

3. Munenori Sawa vs. TJ Perkins – Evolve 1

This was just a lovely bit of violence. They worked a blistering pace, but instead of anything feeling choreographed, it instead just felt like like two unhinged dudes frantically trying to cause as much damage to the other before it was too late.

The style of a match also gave you a nice bit of insight into who these guys were coming into this match. TJP had a lot more to prove, and his facials constantly conveyed a man out to showcase his best self. Sawa was a bit more confident, and he never looked like he was worried about the result.

Theoretically, it gave each man some room to grow as characters in the matches that could theoretically follow. Where would TJP go after this first loss? How would the cocky Sawa react to eventually meeting his match? Those *would* have been cool things to watch unfold. (***3/4)

 

2. Bryan Danielson vs. Munenori Sawa – Evolve 5

While this did not have the in-ring storytelling or long-term character work of Bryan’s Evolve match with Bobby Fish, this was great in its own right. This was simply an execution of violence. Bryan was the same lethal wrestler that he was in the FIsh match only this time he got a challenge from someone more on his level. Sawa brought his A game, and both guys worked as if they were trying to kill one another. It was just a joy to watch and a beautiful way for Bryan to leave Evolve. [Bryan won cleanly via LeBell Lock.] (****)

 

1. Bryan Danielson vs. Bobby Fish – Evolve 4

This was essentially Bryan Danielson, the greatest wrestler of his generation, at his peak as a performer. This was Bryan as a ruthless and precise killer. He was wasting no movement. He did not bother with any of the broad character work that defined prominent periods of his career. Instead, it was just Bryan being the violent weapon against which there was no escape.

While watching him work like this in a bubble was fantastically satisfying enough on its own, it was made even better by how well his work contributed to the story of Bobby Fish.

Fish’s story in #EvolveYearOne was questionable in theory and was an odd use of the one regular on the roster who basically captured the ideas of Evolve perfectly. But Fish embraced his role fully and the story led to fun matches so who fucking cares.

The story was simple and brilliant. Bryan was picking FIsh apart at the seams. Sure it was competitive for a while, but Bryan was never not in control. Eventually, he got firm control and was just destroying one of Fish’s legs.

Fish was being metaphorically cornered in this match. Much like how he was being cornered in Evolve overall.

Fish was 0-3 in Evolve coming into this match but looked great in every match. Fish looked down and out in this match, but he was looked competitive on his way to that point.

Despite suffering defeat after defeat in Evolve, Fish never backed down from a new and greater challenge. Despite falling desperately behind in this fight with the best wrestler in the world, Fish refused to back down.

Fish threw everything he had at Bryan for the rest of the match. He was tossing Bryan around and throwing strikes every which way. He even did a big dive that nearly took out a guardrail.

Much like Fish in Evolve though, looking great in matches did not actually get him anything when it was all said and done. Fish lost this match to send himself to 0-4 in Evolve.

This was great pro wrestling in a bubble. This was great long-term character work. This was great long-term storytelling. Seek out this match. (****1/4)