Evolve 1 Review
Some blonde is nagging Davey Richards as Kozina is working with Kyle Oreilly on his kicks.
Turning Japanese I think I'm turning Japanese I really think so. Two Japanese wrestlers cut a promo in Japanese with no subtitles. Weak.
Why do they wrestle? For their mamas, for the fans, whatever.
Apparently this is taking place in a basketball arena. And there are no pads on the outside. Bear that in mind for later.
First Match is Kyle Oreilly vs. Bobby Fish. Oreilly in green, Fish in blue. Chain wrestling and stiff exchange to start. Oreilly spears the post. Diving headbutt by Fish. Flurry of kicks and sweep by Oreilly. Oreilly with rolling butterfly suplexes finished with a double arm ddt for barely a two count. I mean barely a two count. No rolling the shoulder at the last possibly moment. Stiff kick exchange. Stiff elbow exchange. Falcon Arrow by Fish gets two. Tornado DDT and Brainbuster combo by Kyle Oreilly for the win. As far as matches goes I've definitely seen worse. Crowd was into it which is a good thing considering they didn't really play to the crowd and there was no heel established or heat in the match at all.
Rating: 2 and 1/2 Grenades
Chuck Taylor vs. Cheech is second. Cheech is a crocodile. Fast exchange to start. Innovative looking cloverleaf/heartbreaker leglock submission by Cheech. Straightjacket headscissors by Taylor. Belly to belly kip up by Taylor. Backslide by cheech gets two. Outside in 619 gets two for Cheech. Sole food by Taylor. Awful waffle by Chuck Taylor for the win. Again same as before ok match, nothing superb. No heel established so no heat involved in the match.
Rating: 2 and 1/2 Grenades
Post match Chuck Taylor cuts a promo. The microphone sucks as it keeping cutting in and out. Good promo by Taylor and sets up future stuff with him.
Third match is Arik Cannon vs. Ricochet. Arik Cannon looks like Jesse Neal. Battle of high flying and speed versus power match expected. Small package by Richochet gets two. Cannon hits a really nice swinging neckbreaker. Cannon punches Ricochet dead in the face and hits a brainbuster for two. Cannon hits a move which basically starts out like an edgecution and ends with a swinging neckbreaker for a two count. Richochet hits the 630 for the win. Ricochet starts selling after the match. This match just proves what all the old timers bitch about when it comes to the new generation. Everything Cannon does looks brutal and he looks like a punk when Ricochet no sells it.
Rating: 2 Grenades
Post match Chuck Taylor comes out and says where he comes from they don't believe in evolution. Chuck challenges Ricochet to a match. Ricochet accepts and we have a match set up for the next show.
Backstage Jimmy Jacobs is with two jabrones. Who cares.
Dark City Fight Club vs. Aeroform (Lewis Lyndon and Flip Kendrick) is the fourth match of the night. Apparently this is a Texas Tornado match with no tags. Backbreaker/Leg Drop by DCFC gets two. Hard double team hip toss by Dark City Fight Club gets two. Kendrick hits an inverted 450. Moves, moves, and more moves. Spiraltap 540 by Kendrick gets two. Kendrick gets pounced out of the ring. Project Mayhem (One of my favorite tag finishers in all of wrestling right now) by Dark city Fight Club for the win. Not a total squash as Aeroform get in a lot of moves. No tag psychology here and no heat involved at all.
Rating: 2 and 1/4 Grenades (1/4 Grenade bump up for project mayhem)
Fifth match is Niya vs. Mercedes Martinez. Martinez is very similar to Sara Del Ray. Fisherman buster by Martinez for the win. Skawash Match.
Rating: 1 Grenade
Martinez cuts a boring and bland promo after the match.
Sixth match is Brad Allen vs. Silas Young. Silas Young looks like Barry Horowitz. Some moves to start. Chop exchange. You know that rope hung DDT Randy Orton does? Well Silas Young does it on the outside (which is an unprotected basketball court for those paying attention). Side effect by Allen. Allen flips Silas Young into the ropes causing Young to land very awkwardly. Ok remember earlier I said the floor wasn't padded and to keep that in mind for later? Ok it's later. Brad Allen does a moonsault to the outside but Young isn't in the right position to catch him properly and Allen lands on his face. I mean right on his face. No putting the hands out to block it. Oooh wheee that was nasty. Brad Allen said earlier he wrestles for his mommy. Well this broken face is for you mama. Backbreaker/Lariat combo by Young gets two. Corkscrew cross body gets two for Allen. Whatever the hell Allen's finisher is for the win. Again, moves followed by more moves with no psychology. Match really should have been called after the facesault.
Rating: 2 and 1/4 Grenades
Whoever set up the audio for this show needs to be fired. Allen blabs about evolving and being the best and challenges Chris Hero for Evolve 2.
Jimmy Jacobs vs. Ken Doane is match number 7. For those keeping score we've had 6 full matches in less than an hour. Jimmy Jacobs cuts a very good promo before the match. Jacobs name drops the spirit squad. Doane is playing the heel and actually trying to get the crowd involved. Doane is still working the WWE style. Does a move, pauses for several seconds, does a move, pauses for several seconds. Somehow Jacobs gets trapped in the ring apron. Vintage Orton Headlock. Jawbreaker by Jacobs. At least this match is trying to have heat and psychology. Another headlock by Doane as somebody in the crowd shouts "oh my God cut that shit out". Jacobs fights back but gets caught in another Goddamn headlock. Fuck whoever in the crowd is chanting "this is awesome". Satelite headscissor by Jacobs. Spinebuster by Doane gets two. Crowd is going absolutely mild for this match. Top rope leg drop by Doane for three but Jimmy's foot is on the ropes. Tommy Dreamer comes out and has the match restarted. Jacobs with the End Time for the win. Holy shit was this bad. Fucking boring as sin. Ken Doane needs to get over his working WWE style hindrance if he's gonna be sucessful on the indy scene.
Rating: 1 and 1/4 Grenade
Dreamer cuts a promo after the match. Thanks the crowd and the wrestlers. Jacobs starts going heel after the match. Give them credit for actually trying to do an angle here. This promo segment is longer than a lot of the matches on this show. They brawl. Dreamer hits the DDT.
Richards is practicing his kicks. More Japanese talk. The annoying blonde interviewer bitch is back. Doane is pissed about something. blah.
Match number 8 is Chris Dickinson vs. Johnny Gargano. Exchange of strikes and moves to start. Rings of saturn by Gargano. Gutbuster by Dickinson. Gargano spits in Dickinson's face and eats shoelace for it. Lariat gets two for Dickinson. Falcon arrow gets two for Dickinson. Dickinson hits a long distance springboard elbow for two. Full nelson spun into a facebuster for the win for Gargano. Crowd was dead for this one and they didn't do anything to make them want to get involved.
Rating: 2 and 1/4 Grenades
9th match is TJP vs. Munenori Sawa. Chain wrestling to start. German suplex by Sawa. Strike attempts and nearfalls by both men. Holy crap their actually mat wrestling. More strikes exchanged. Octopus stretch by Sawa. Holy shit! Psychology is actually be shown as Sawa works over the leg of TJP. TJP working over the arm. Hammerlocked belly to back suplex gets two for TJP. Crowd is actually alive for this one. Elbow exchange. Ankle lock by Sawa but TJP gets the ropes. cross armbreaker by TJP but Sawa gets the ropes. More strikes exchanged. Shining wizard gets two for Sawa. TJP taps to the Octopus by Sawa. Really good match. Crowd was actually into it.
Rating: 3 and 1/2 Grenades
10th match is a six man chikara showcase as Gran Akuma, Icarus and Brodie Lee take on Mike Quackenbush, Hallowicked and Frightmare. Quack and Icarus start out. Actually using tag rules for this match. Quack can lead a mop through a believable chain wrestling sequence. Icarus with a butterfly lock. Spear by Icarus. Victory roll by Frightmare gets two. Brodie Lee is huge. Frightmare isolated here as they are actually using tag match psychology. TKO by Lee gets two. Hurricanrana by Frightmare leads to Hallowicked getting the tag. Akuma hits a tombstone gutbuster. Quackton bomb by Quackenbush. Moonsault knees by Frightmare gets two. Whirlybird DDT by Frightmare on Brodie Lee. Sky High bomb by Hallowicked on Icarus for the win. Typical match like you'd expect from Chikara guys. Crowd was alive for this one.
Rating: 3 and 1/4 Grenades.
You know how annoying LayCool are? This blonde interviewer bitch is ten times worse.
Main event time as Kota Ibushi faces Davey Richards. Fast start by both men. Ibushi dives on Richards outside. Strikes exchanged. Richards arm twists Ibushi into the apron. crowd split and loud for this one. Richards working over the arm. Richards dominating. Divorce court off the top rope into the armbar but Ibushi gets the ropes. Elbow exchange in the corner. Ibushi hits the moonsault to the outside but unlike Allen he actually lands on Richards. Ibushi in control now. More elbows exchanged. Handspring enziguiri gets two for Richards. Cross armbreaker by Richards but Ibushi in the ropes. Ibushi no sells a superplex. Both men no sells yakuza kicks. German suplex by Ibushi gets two. Double moonsault gets two for Ibushi. Knockout kick by Richards gets two. Richards gets the Kimura but Ibushi counters into the rollup for two. Ibushi hits the poisoned rana but Richards absorbs it and levels Ibushi with a lariat. Strikes. DR Driver gets two for Richards. STIFF headbutt exchange on the top rope. Shooting Star Press gets a near fall. Richards locks on the Kimura for the win. Best match of the entire show.
Rating: 4 and 1/4 Grenades
Some fat fuck trying to imitate Dusty Rhodes is trying to convince Silas Young to join Jimmy Jacobs in a party. Silas Young gets a phone call and the show ends.
Final Thoughts: Dear me what can we say about this show. As far as wrestlers go most of the guys aren't half bad. As far as actual workers all of them need serious work. They need to learn how to work a crowd, how to use psychology and how to sell properly. This show was like watching a movie with all explosions and car wrecks. Crowd just didn't give a shit about half of this show and the wrestlers didn't try to get them involved. Promotion needs serious work if it's gonna survive and make money past the first year. There's nothing to make people say I wanna watch the next show. Nobody really has any star power that can actually draw fans into the shows. The closest thing to a top star is Richards and we all know what happened there.
Overall Rating: 3 and 1/4 Grenades
Some blonde is nagging Davey Richards as Kozina is working with Kyle Oreilly on his kicks.
Turning Japanese I think I'm turning Japanese I really think so. Two Japanese wrestlers cut a promo in Japanese with no subtitles. Weak.
Why do they wrestle? For their mamas, for the fans, whatever.
Apparently this is taking place in a basketball arena. And there are no pads on the outside. Bear that in mind for later.
First Match is Kyle Oreilly vs. Bobby Fish. Oreilly in green, Fish in blue. Chain wrestling and stiff exchange to start. Oreilly spears the post. Diving headbutt by Fish. Flurry of kicks and sweep by Oreilly. Oreilly with rolling butterfly suplexes finished with a double arm ddt for barely a two count. I mean barely a two count. No rolling the shoulder at the last possibly moment. Stiff kick exchange. Stiff elbow exchange. Falcon Arrow by Fish gets two. Tornado DDT and Brainbuster combo by Kyle Oreilly for the win. As far as matches goes I've definitely seen worse. Crowd was into it which is a good thing considering they didn't really play to the crowd and there was no heel established or heat in the match at all.
Rating: 2 and 1/2 Grenades
Chuck Taylor vs. Cheech is second. Cheech is a crocodile. Fast exchange to start. Innovative looking cloverleaf/heartbreaker leglock submission by Cheech. Straightjacket headscissors by Taylor. Belly to belly kip up by Taylor. Backslide by cheech gets two. Outside in 619 gets two for Cheech. Sole food by Taylor. Awful waffle by Chuck Taylor for the win. Again same as before ok match, nothing superb. No heel established so no heat involved in the match.
Rating: 2 and 1/2 Grenades
Post match Chuck Taylor cuts a promo. The microphone sucks as it keeping cutting in and out. Good promo by Taylor and sets up future stuff with him.
Third match is Arik Cannon vs. Ricochet. Arik Cannon looks like Jesse Neal. Battle of high flying and speed versus power match expected. Small package by Richochet gets two. Cannon hits a really nice swinging neckbreaker. Cannon punches Ricochet dead in the face and hits a brainbuster for two. Cannon hits a move which basically starts out like an edgecution and ends with a swinging neckbreaker for a two count. Richochet hits the 630 for the win. Ricochet starts selling after the match. This match just proves what all the old timers bitch about when it comes to the new generation. Everything Cannon does looks brutal and he looks like a punk when Ricochet no sells it.
Rating: 2 Grenades
Post match Chuck Taylor comes out and says where he comes from they don't believe in evolution. Chuck challenges Ricochet to a match. Ricochet accepts and we have a match set up for the next show.
Backstage Jimmy Jacobs is with two jabrones. Who cares.
Dark City Fight Club vs. Aeroform (Lewis Lyndon and Flip Kendrick) is the fourth match of the night. Apparently this is a Texas Tornado match with no tags. Backbreaker/Leg Drop by DCFC gets two. Hard double team hip toss by Dark City Fight Club gets two. Kendrick hits an inverted 450. Moves, moves, and more moves. Spiraltap 540 by Kendrick gets two. Kendrick gets pounced out of the ring. Project Mayhem (One of my favorite tag finishers in all of wrestling right now) by Dark city Fight Club for the win. Not a total squash as Aeroform get in a lot of moves. No tag psychology here and no heat involved at all.
Rating: 2 and 1/4 Grenades (1/4 Grenade bump up for project mayhem)
Fifth match is Niya vs. Mercedes Martinez. Martinez is very similar to Sara Del Ray. Fisherman buster by Martinez for the win. Skawash Match.
Rating: 1 Grenade
Martinez cuts a boring and bland promo after the match.
Sixth match is Brad Allen vs. Silas Young. Silas Young looks like Barry Horowitz. Some moves to start. Chop exchange. You know that rope hung DDT Randy Orton does? Well Silas Young does it on the outside (which is an unprotected basketball court for those paying attention). Side effect by Allen. Allen flips Silas Young into the ropes causing Young to land very awkwardly. Ok remember earlier I said the floor wasn't padded and to keep that in mind for later? Ok it's later. Brad Allen does a moonsault to the outside but Young isn't in the right position to catch him properly and Allen lands on his face. I mean right on his face. No putting the hands out to block it. Oooh wheee that was nasty. Brad Allen said earlier he wrestles for his mommy. Well this broken face is for you mama. Backbreaker/Lariat combo by Young gets two. Corkscrew cross body gets two for Allen. Whatever the hell Allen's finisher is for the win. Again, moves followed by more moves with no psychology. Match really should have been called after the facesault.
Rating: 2 and 1/4 Grenades
Whoever set up the audio for this show needs to be fired. Allen blabs about evolving and being the best and challenges Chris Hero for Evolve 2.
Jimmy Jacobs vs. Ken Doane is match number 7. For those keeping score we've had 6 full matches in less than an hour. Jimmy Jacobs cuts a very good promo before the match. Jacobs name drops the spirit squad. Doane is playing the heel and actually trying to get the crowd involved. Doane is still working the WWE style. Does a move, pauses for several seconds, does a move, pauses for several seconds. Somehow Jacobs gets trapped in the ring apron. Vintage Orton Headlock. Jawbreaker by Jacobs. At least this match is trying to have heat and psychology. Another headlock by Doane as somebody in the crowd shouts "oh my God cut that shit out". Jacobs fights back but gets caught in another Goddamn headlock. Fuck whoever in the crowd is chanting "this is awesome". Satelite headscissor by Jacobs. Spinebuster by Doane gets two. Crowd is going absolutely mild for this match. Top rope leg drop by Doane for three but Jimmy's foot is on the ropes. Tommy Dreamer comes out and has the match restarted. Jacobs with the End Time for the win. Holy shit was this bad. Fucking boring as sin. Ken Doane needs to get over his working WWE style hindrance if he's gonna be sucessful on the indy scene.
Rating: 1 and 1/4 Grenade
Dreamer cuts a promo after the match. Thanks the crowd and the wrestlers. Jacobs starts going heel after the match. Give them credit for actually trying to do an angle here. This promo segment is longer than a lot of the matches on this show. They brawl. Dreamer hits the DDT.
Richards is practicing his kicks. More Japanese talk. The annoying blonde interviewer bitch is back. Doane is pissed about something. blah.
Match number 8 is Chris Dickinson vs. Johnny Gargano. Exchange of strikes and moves to start. Rings of saturn by Gargano. Gutbuster by Dickinson. Gargano spits in Dickinson's face and eats shoelace for it. Lariat gets two for Dickinson. Falcon arrow gets two for Dickinson. Dickinson hits a long distance springboard elbow for two. Full nelson spun into a facebuster for the win for Gargano. Crowd was dead for this one and they didn't do anything to make them want to get involved.
Rating: 2 and 1/4 Grenades
9th match is TJP vs. Munenori Sawa. Chain wrestling to start. German suplex by Sawa. Strike attempts and nearfalls by both men. Holy crap their actually mat wrestling. More strikes exchanged. Octopus stretch by Sawa. Holy shit! Psychology is actually be shown as Sawa works over the leg of TJP. TJP working over the arm. Hammerlocked belly to back suplex gets two for TJP. Crowd is actually alive for this one. Elbow exchange. Ankle lock by Sawa but TJP gets the ropes. cross armbreaker by TJP but Sawa gets the ropes. More strikes exchanged. Shining wizard gets two for Sawa. TJP taps to the Octopus by Sawa. Really good match. Crowd was actually into it.
Rating: 3 and 1/2 Grenades
10th match is a six man chikara showcase as Gran Akuma, Icarus and Brodie Lee take on Mike Quackenbush, Hallowicked and Frightmare. Quack and Icarus start out. Actually using tag rules for this match. Quack can lead a mop through a believable chain wrestling sequence. Icarus with a butterfly lock. Spear by Icarus. Victory roll by Frightmare gets two. Brodie Lee is huge. Frightmare isolated here as they are actually using tag match psychology. TKO by Lee gets two. Hurricanrana by Frightmare leads to Hallowicked getting the tag. Akuma hits a tombstone gutbuster. Quackton bomb by Quackenbush. Moonsault knees by Frightmare gets two. Whirlybird DDT by Frightmare on Brodie Lee. Sky High bomb by Hallowicked on Icarus for the win. Typical match like you'd expect from Chikara guys. Crowd was alive for this one.
Rating: 3 and 1/4 Grenades.
You know how annoying LayCool are? This blonde interviewer bitch is ten times worse.
Main event time as Kota Ibushi faces Davey Richards. Fast start by both men. Ibushi dives on Richards outside. Strikes exchanged. Richards arm twists Ibushi into the apron. crowd split and loud for this one. Richards working over the arm. Richards dominating. Divorce court off the top rope into the armbar but Ibushi gets the ropes. Elbow exchange in the corner. Ibushi hits the moonsault to the outside but unlike Allen he actually lands on Richards. Ibushi in control now. More elbows exchanged. Handspring enziguiri gets two for Richards. Cross armbreaker by Richards but Ibushi in the ropes. Ibushi no sells a superplex. Both men no sells yakuza kicks. German suplex by Ibushi gets two. Double moonsault gets two for Ibushi. Knockout kick by Richards gets two. Richards gets the Kimura but Ibushi counters into the rollup for two. Ibushi hits the poisoned rana but Richards absorbs it and levels Ibushi with a lariat. Strikes. DR Driver gets two for Richards. STIFF headbutt exchange on the top rope. Shooting Star Press gets a near fall. Richards locks on the Kimura for the win. Best match of the entire show.
Rating: 4 and 1/4 Grenades
Some fat fuck trying to imitate Dusty Rhodes is trying to convince Silas Young to join Jimmy Jacobs in a party. Silas Young gets a phone call and the show ends.
Final Thoughts: Dear me what can we say about this show. As far as wrestlers go most of the guys aren't half bad. As far as actual workers all of them need serious work. They need to learn how to work a crowd, how to use psychology and how to sell properly. This show was like watching a movie with all explosions and car wrecks. Crowd just didn't give a shit about half of this show and the wrestlers didn't try to get them involved. Promotion needs serious work if it's gonna survive and make money past the first year. There's nothing to make people say I wanna watch the next show. Nobody really has any star power that can actually draw fans into the shows. The closest thing to a top star is Richards and we all know what happened there.
Overall Rating: 3 and 1/4 Grenades