Martin Stone vs. Biff Busick
This is Martin Stone’s debut in EVOLVE to my knowledge. The match is a late addition to the card with things being rearranged with the addition of PJ Black. People don’t seem to know who he is. Think they will remember him a bit more after this one. Ended up being a short and rugged match where Biff Busick was working for underneath for most of the duration. That’s totally fine since Busick is more than capable of taking a wallop. Hope to see more of Stone in EVOLVE after this match. At one point he just drops Busick with a rough German suplex. Love the ending with Busick being almost assassin like with a chokehold he had tried to snag earlier in the bout.
Rating:***
Result:Biff Busick by submission
-After the match, Busick lays in a little smack talk on Chris Hero. In San Jose, it’s on.
Team Tremendous(Dan Barry & Bill Carr) vs. Jody Kristofferson & Earl Cooter
This was billed as Team Tremendous against a Larry Dallas managed team. No clue what to expect. Definitely was not thinking Jody Kristofferson and Earl Cooter. Team Tremendous doesn’t seem to be a glove like fit for EVOLVE and I was interested to see if they would wrestle any differently here but that was before the Larry Dallas team was revealed. While the Larry Dallas boys were fine, it was Team Tremendous that shined. Honestly, not sure if you have lived if you haven’t seen Bill Carr bust out a headscissors. Nothing real bad about this match but not much to make this one stand out. Jody Kristofferson did it nice spear? Yeah, fun undercard tag match here.
Rating:**1/2
Result: Team Tremendous by Doomsday Sliced Bread #2
Matt Cage vs. AR Fox
This is Matt Cage’s debut for EVOLVE and is a part of the talent initiative that they have been doing where a main roster person picks a prospect to come in, in this case Uhaa Nation picked Cage. Both Cage and AR Fox share training roots through WWA4, trained by Mr.Hughes. Cage clearly wrestles the match like someone who wants a spot on this EVOLVE roster when less than a couple minutes in and he is doing a cannonball dive into the second or third row. AR Fox wants to make him earn it though by throwing strikes through Cage’s head. Fox will clap his hands over his head every time he throws something that you sometimes forget that he’ll lay it in real nice. Selling definitely felt like it was at a premium here which probably is probably the most clear thing to hold it back from the upper tier. Definitely a fun spot bananza though. Cage did a great job showing he can hang in these types of matches. Real nice use of debuts so far with the two wrestlers with big matches coming up, Busick and Fox, having a good time with the debutants.
Rating:***1/4
Result: AR Fox by pinfall
-Drew Gulak comes out before his match and says pro wrestling has lost its integrity. Going on to say that wrestlers are more interested in style over substance. Which…which is probably true.
Drew Gulak vs. Chris Hero
Student vs. Teacher. Two absolute pros. It feels like Drew Gulak has fallen behind in priority in EVOLVE which is a bit of a shame but on the flip side he tends to knock it out of the park despite that. This is the match I was looking forward to most entering tonight. Want to note before even going into the match that Rob Naylor does an awesome job on commentary for this one. He is able to deliver the play-by-play on the matwork so the little strategies both wrestlers are going for with each hold can come through.
Now, moving on into the match, there is an awesome escalation in the match as they transition from sweet grappling to equally sweet fighting without ever deviating from the feel of the match. Once Gulak starts getting the upper hand on the mat, Hero starts going in hard with his strikes after getting so frustrated. Gulak tries to get a Gotch Piledriver but Hero picks Gulak up and they both tumble to the outside. It is one of those things that easily could have looked silly but just added to this gritty match. Both men decimate each other on the outside with Hero walking through Gulak’s violent attempts to gain the upper hand. Once they are back in the ring, Gulak concentrates his offense on Hero’s left leg. Gulak just mangles the leg with dragon screws and slamming it over his shoulder. This is the same leg that Hero was selling earlier in the bout. Maybe wish it came in a little more later in the match but I really can’t complain much with what they delivered. Both competitors went all out by the end. Gulak was talking about the ability of Hero KO’ing people before the match and that plays into plenty of the ending stretch with Gulak barely getting out of the way of STRONG looking stuff from Hero. Chris Hero puts the whole thing away with a tombstone that looks like it could have gone real bad, real quick. This one is heading close to the top of my current MOTYC list.
Rating:****1/4
Result: Chris Hero by Tombstone Piledriver
-Post-match, Hero calls out Busick. Chris Hero is playing the role of “King of Wrestling” and it is real swell. In the end, Hero runs off through the crowd once things start getting a wee bit too real. Wonderful way to build to that Hero vs. Busick match during WrestleMania weekend.
Caleb Konley vs. PJ Black
PJ Black, the former Justin Gabriel, was a late addition to this card and this is his EVOLVE debut. On a night full of debuts, Black is clearly thee most notable of the bunch. PJ Black is your Superstars specialist and really that is all one could ask from the man. We pretty much get what as much I could hope. It is a fun match with Black going for a few more things that he might not have been busting out in one match during the days with The Fed. Like a top-rope springboard moonsault. Gotta give credit where credit is due, this may be my favorite Caleb Konley performance I have seen. Threw a wicked backhand and did a good job in there with the vet. Also, this match had a tornado DDT on the outside that managed to look real fitting in there. Match didn’t overstay its welcome one bit and sets the table for Black’s upcoming WrestleMania matches that will be against some of those high flying types.
Rating:***
Result: PJ Black by Springboard 450
Anthony Nese vs. Davey Richards
This is the match I feared most entering the event. So…lets…lets do this. Think this goes without saying outright, but these two are going to be fighting an uphill battle, fairly or unfairly. Do you want to know the most important part of the match though? When Davey Richards swivels his hips when he has Nese tied up. Good form. Everything else is pretty bland stuff. It is like ground turkey with no seasoning. I don’t mind spotfests. I don’t mind Japanese junior type matches. There needs to be a feeling of life which is where this match came up a bit short. Too many exchanges that felt very “pro wrestling-y” such Nese doing a cartwheel on the outside or the back and forth strikes exchanges or where Nese rolls halfway across the ring to be in place for a double stomp. Post-match we don’t get a Richards promo putting over Nese. Heh, sorry kid.
Rating:*1/2
Result: Davey Richards by Stretch Muffler
[60 Minutes Later]
Roderick Strong vs. Drew Galloway [CAGE MATCH]
This may very well be the finale of this brief yet super heated feud between these lads. And with that, EVOLVE has done something that feels like a complete novelty in independent wrestling. Actually, maybe all wrestling. They have managed to create intrigue between a couple of fellas not liking each other and wanting to throw down! Who knew it was as difficult as throwing a couple hot matches out there with real talented folks and sprinkling on some quality character work? Oh, this is the first cage match in EVOLVE history. These two have earned it.
Sadly, after about an hour of cage set-up, we see a visual of what looks like four sides of fencing leaned against each other and tied by bungie cords in a couple places. It almost makes you wish that EVOLVE was still running that dungeon since this would fit right in. The action is fine; though I could not help feel a bit disappointed after the intense battles these two have had against each other. It almost felt like the cage confined the work. To re-iterate, the stuff in this is still fine and dandy with both men flying into the fencing you found at your local scrap yard. Went on a bit long with not so much cohesion though. Seemed like they were throwing stuff out there but never anything escalating. Then they threw in a low-blow overkill section. It was odd match. Then they hit each other real hard and I sorta forgot about some of those things. Will say the ending felt like the peak of the whole thing and while I know it won’t be for everyone, I thought it was a nice bookend to the match but not the end of the feud. Some say it wasn’t a definitive end but when the rules state “pinfall, KO, or submission” there is some definite leeway in rocking a TKO ending.
Rating:**3/4
Result: Roderick Strong via referee stoppage
-Post-match, PJ Black comes out and asks Drew to put the strap on the line during WrestleMania weekend. Of course Drew agrees. He’s that sorta fella. Then he gets on the half-working mic and talks about his days in New York. He also wants a unification match against Gargano and wants the REAL blow off to his feud with Strong to be in New York City.
OVERALL: B
This show is a unique one. Everything up to Nese vs. Richards was an enjoyable event and one that I truly thought could be a SOTYC if the main event delivered big. By virtue of me watching this show live, that hour long intermission for the cage set-up and then the appearance of the cage took an extra notch out of the whole thing. Focusing on the good though, there was a ton of fun matches on the card. From Stone and Busick being rugged to Cage and Fox having a blast to a potential MOTYC with Drew Gulak and Chris Hero. All worked quite differently. With all the debuts tonight, where they all impressed to a degree, it will be interesting to see what those d debuts mean in a post-WrestleMania weekend EVOLVE. At the very least, they should find a way to get all of them to NYC the next time they run it. EVOLVE 38, a darn good show marred by an unfortunately planned steel cage match. A shame but hopefully a lesson learned.
