Evolve 5: Danielson vs. Sawa Review

Bryan Danielson makes his last appearance for Evolve as he takes on Munenori Sawa!!

Evolve 5: Danielson vs. Sawa

Rahway, New Jersey 9/11/10

1.) Chuck Taylor vs. Mike Quackenbush: ***1/4

So apparently Taylor complained that he wasn't in the main event, so he got pushed down from the Semi-Main Event to the opening match. This actually turned out to be pretty great. A very technically sound match. It is odd that they would build up Taylor's undefeated record only to lose to Quack in the opening match, but again the match was still good.

2.) Up In Smoke vs. Aeroform: **3/4

These two met in tag action back at Evolve 2. This was a step up from that match. Things just seemed to come off better. Up In Smoke uses some less-than-noble tactics to win.

Afterwords they are questioned in regards to their tactics, but they say wins are wins.

3.) Jimmy Jacobs vs. Adam Cole: ***1/4

This one is build around the old "young up & comer vs. the veteran" story, and they did it pretty well. Both these guys seem to have good chemistry with one another.

After the match Jacobs says he just did something Johnny Gargano couldn't do...beat Adam Cole. Jacobs says he is now the guy to beat in Evolve.

4.) Sami Callihan vs. Drake Younger: ***

Rahway saw a bloody fight in this one. I'm not sure about Younger. One thing I will say...since 2010 he has definitely gotten better. Want proof?...see his PWG work.

Younger says after the match that he's shooting to become the Wins Leader in Evolve.

5.) Brad Allen vs. Johnny Gargano vs. Gran Akuma vs. Jon Moxley vs. Frightmare vs. Rich Swann: ***1/4

This was a very fun six man match. Very entertaining throughout.

After winning the match, Gargano says he is back on the winning track in Evolve and calls himself the baddest man on the planet. This brings out Homicide who flips off Gargano and tells him to get his ass out of his ring. He does, but Jon Moxley comes out. Homicide calls him one of the hottest guys in wrestling and tells Moxley he'll be keeping an eye on him. Moxley agrees with this. Homicide then says he plans to take over Evolve.

6.) WSU Word Title – Mercedes Martinez vs. Amazing Kong: **

I thought going into it that this would be good. It was going ok until Kong got DQ'ed for attacking the ref. Both Kong & Martinez brawl to the back.

7.) Kyle O’Reilly vs. Ricochet: ***1/2

These two put on a very solid match. Very entertaining stuff. It's nice to see the work of guys like O'Reilly, Ricochet, Cole, etc. before they broke out in there respective promotions. 

8.) The Main Event – Bryan Danielson vs. Munenori Sawa: ****1/4

This is Bryan Danielson's last match in Evolve. We got a very technical battle with lots of hard hitting strikes. Very good wrestling, as it shows why Danielson is one of the best.

They shake hands after the match. Danielson talks about how Evolve was his brainchild (he came up with the name). He thanks the fans for coming out & supporting him, and jokes about not playing the Final Countdown (in a funny way) before having it eventually play.

Overall: 8.25/10

This was another very good show from Evolve. I feel like this is a step up from Evolve 2 because on this show. every match seemed to be at least good with only one match that was a little below par (and that was a women's match). Everything is very enjoyable and easy to get invested in.