Watry’s WWE Evolution Review

This is my WWE Evolution review and final column of the month. Thus, any comments or questions for reader feedback next week need to be made below. No cuss words or insults allowed.

WWE Evolution

– I was watching my Green Bay Packers choke away another victory during the Kickoff Show and red carpet hoopla. Doubt I missed anything major. I will say that I had jitters and goosebumps all day long over this event. Heck, all week long. I knew the women would deliver and shut up any critics, so it was great to be on the right side of history as usual.

– Perfect way to begin the pay-per-view with Trish Stratus’ music hitting. I predicted this tag match would open. Have to start things off big. Lita always had one of my favorite theme songs, so that is a welcome addition to any wrestling show. A darn shame about Alexa Bliss not participating. A second darn shame to the Trish/Alexa bout being turned into a tag team bout. BOO!!! I disliked that change so much. Nothing against Alicia Fox, Lita, or Mickie James, but this was all about Bliss and Stratus…and then it wasn’t. On the bright side, the match did exceed my expectations and come through in the clutch. The legendary faces did their part, and the weasel heels did theirs. My pick of Lita and Trish winning was more about them adding prestige to the inevitable Womens Tag Team Titles (whenever that is announced), so this worked for me.

– I loved the battle royal. Probably more than I should have. Going in, I thought a ho hum normal over the top rope battle royal was in order. Adding a title match to the stakes was awesome but still, it was filler in my mind. I was wrong. This thing rocked. Molly Holly, Ivory, Kelly Kelly, Michelle McCool, Torrie Wilson, Alundra Blayze…I could go on and on. A part of me was wondering when the Netflix GLOW roster would enter. Down the stretch, I will make no bones about it: I wanted Asuka to win. If she was going to lose, then it was all Ember Moon. I do not mince words when I talk about my fandom over her and her future prospects in WWE. Tamina Snuka definitely was not going to win. That only left…Nia Jax. Oh no. Not Nia. Please no. We went through that BS in early 2018. No reason to go back ten steps…and she won. I could not believe it. I know there is unfinished business with Ronda Rousey over the Raw Womens Championship, but who cares? We have long since moved on.

– Toni Storm is your 2018 Mae Young Classic winner. My pick of course, over Io Shirai. You could not go wrong with either choice. A great match and a fitting conclusion to the tournament. I enjoyed this more than last year’s which was super rushed and had bad commentary. This FELT big. From the opening round to the Evolution finals. Storm is a star and somebody I had pegged for greatness last year. Kinda like how I was on the Velveteen Dream bandwagon long before everyone else jumped on…funny how that always works.

– Natalya, Sasha Banks, and Bayley defeating The Riott Squad was supposed to be more filler. A harmless six person tag that got everyone on the card, no issues. No harm, no foul. Instead, we were given a very exciting back and forth battle that really had me watching in anticipation of every move. I was stunned but probably shouldn’t have been. All six are more than capable of that kind of match. Shame on me for not expecting much here. They, more than anybody else on Sunday night, surprised me.

– Shayna Baszler winning back the NXT Womens Championship was…bold. I was shocked. I didn’t think Baszler was going to get called up to the main roster next month, but at the same time, I did assume she was likely to finish up with NXT in the near future. Kairi Sane losing was disappointing but something that was possible. The entire build to Evolution centered around the fact that the face won in a fluke fashion and was mostly dominated by the heel in their previous meeting. Sane didn’t exactly do too much as champ anyways. In a similar way to Aleister Black never really gathering momentum as NXT Champion. The REAL story out of this bout is the Four Horsemen seem to be getting some shine on screen now. That is the real story here. Doing it at Evolution was smart in the fact that lots of eyeballs were going to be on WWE Network Sunday night. Time will tell where all of this goes.

– Becky Lynch was the Last Woman Standing on Sunday. I know the popular internet thing is to assume Charlotte will win every match and politics, and the laughable “WWE hates Becky Lynch” crap…but yeah. Becky is on too much of a roll to lose her belt now, as I said on another website over the weekdn. Even the thought of her facing a mega-star like Ronda Rousey is hair raising. It was teased at the end of the event; I hope that happens sooner rather than later. Imagine the tea spilling and promos. Much less when the bell rings! Yes indeed. Back to Evolution, props to Becky AND Charlotte. We need to give them both credit for this story line, not just shower love onto one person all of a sudden. Brutal match and arguably one of the better presentations all year for WWE. Top notch performance by both. Key word being BOTH. Hats off to New York for being a cool live crowd (for once) and showing them the respect they deserve. I was worried the smarky chants might ruin this event. I was wrong; it was fine. Pleasantly surprised.

– Ronda Rousey over Nikki Bella to retain the RAW Womens Championship closed Evolution. It was the right call to have this in the main event slot. I said that beforehand and stand by it. Charlotte and Becky were the Ricky Steamboat vs. Randy Savage Rousey and Nikki’s Hulk Hogan vs. Andre The Giant. Best part is match quality was not that far off actually. No doubt Charlotte and Becky stole the show, but that didn’t take anything away from the final match. Rousey won and now gets to move onto other business. The Bella more than held their own, so no complaints there.

– I didn’t care for the big celebration at the top of the stage but whatever. WWE likes to tout their history making moments, and make no mistake – this was HUGE! I get it, even if it did nothing for me. The women 100% deserves this stage and had PPV Of The Year in many fan’s opinion. I would have to re-watch every single show from 2018 to make that call but in the moment, yeah. It was THAT good. Even the filler bouts ended up being great, so that is very telling when you consider the main events also over delivered. I can not praise this event enough.

SUMMARY: My Twitter folks tell me this was a great event. My girlfriend told me it was good, and I would agree. She WANTED to watch folks. A non-fan was interested and WANTED to watch. If you take one thing away from this column, that is it. Lots of positive feelings Sunday night that will hopefully continue in the future.

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Twitter: @JustinWatry

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