Evolve 69: A Farewell To An Icon
Woodside, Queens,
New York 9/11/16
Before
the opening match started, they had a moment of silence to honor the victims of
9/11, and they had someone sing the national anthem.
1.)
Darby Allin vs. Tony Nese: ***1/4
Nese is
coming off a huge victory the night before at Evolve 68 against Matt Riddle and Ricochet in a Triple Threat
Match. Here, he’s taking on Darby Allin, and as a whole, I thought this was a
pretty solid opening match. Apparently, Evolve officials had told Allin that he
needed to score a victory this weekend if he wanted to keep getting booked in
Evolve. He lost to TJP at Evolve 68,
so this match was his last chance. That story played into the match, as Allin
was really in desperation mode trying to get that victory. Nese hit a number of
his signature spots, but Allin just managed to stay alive. Eventually, Allin
caught Nese in a cradle pin, and scored the huge upset victory, which caused
the crowd to go wild! The result actually played well with Nese’s massive win
the night before, as that moment might’ve made Nese a little overconfident
heading into this match. Again, this was a fun opening match that featured a
nice moment with Allin getting a much-needed victory.
After
the match was over, Joey Styles came out and presented Darby Allin with his
WWNLive Contract. Nese interrupted this presentation, snatching the contract,
but then presented Allin with the contract, and welcomed him to Evolve. He then
gave Allin a bit of a warning, saying that this would be the last time you saw
“this version” of Tony Nese.
2.) Fred
Yehi vs. Travis Gordon: ***
A big
theme on the undercard of this show is new faces getting some opportunities in
singles competition. With guys like Johnny Gargano & TJP leaving, Evolve
needs new faces, and some of these guys could potentially become the future of
the promotion. The first new talent to step up to the plate was Travis “Flip”
Gordon, who took on Fred Yehi. This was a pretty solid match. It was a
relatively short match, going only about five or six minutes, but they managed
to fit in a fair amount of action in that short timespan. Gordon looked good
here, but ultimately, Yehi would score the victory after getting Gordon to tap
out to the Koji Clutch.
3.)
Tracy Williams vs. Chuck O’Neil: **1/2
Chuck
O’Neil has a similar background to Matt Riddle. He’s an MMA Fighter who’s
attempting to make the transition into pro-wrestling. O’Neil mainly competes
for Beyond Wrestling. This was an ok match, but it was definitely the weakest
of the “new talent initiative” matches. The action was fine for most of the
match, and while O’Neil did a solid job, but he didn’t blow me away. Granted,
Matt Riddle didn’t necessarily blow anybody away when he first appeared in
Evolve, so perhaps O’Neil just needs more time to (no pun intended) evolve as a
performer. In the end, Williams would pick up the win via submission, which was
the second submission victory in a row for a member of Catch Point.
After
the match, Drew Galloway & DUSTIN attacked Tracy Williams, and used a chair
to “Pillmanize” one of Williams’ legs. Drew Gulak & Fred Yehi made the
save, but Matt Riddle was noticeably absent. This led right into our next
match…
4.)
Evolve Tag Team Champion DUSTIN vs. Drew Gulak: ***
These
two have a very long history, as it was DUSTIN (as Chuck Taylor) who brought
Drew Gulak into Dragon Gate USA & Evolve as part of The Gentlemen’s Club.
For the most part, this was a solid match, but it wasn’t quite as good as I was
expecting it to be. There was some fine action throughout, and both guys showed
some intensity (which makes sense, given their history), but it never really
reached that next level. Again, I’m not saying the match was bad (because it
wasn’t), but it didn’t go beyond just being a good match. We did get some
shenanigans towards the end, as Drew Galloway snuck a chair into the ring, and
kept the referee distracted as DUSTIN hit a low blow followed by a DDT onto the
chair for the win. The finish probably took away from it a little bit as well.
After
the match, Galloway made some disparaging comments towards Gargano, saying that
Gargano did a lot for Evolve, but he was the one who made it mainstream. Galloway
added that while he took the traditional route on the independents, Gargano
decided to hook up with “the machine”. He then promised that he & Chris
Hero would “Delete” both Gargano & Cody by the end of the night.
5.) “All
Ego” Ethan Page vs. David Starr: ***1/2
Out of
all the new talents being featuring on this particular show, David Starr is
definitely the most noteworthy, as he’s made a name for himself wrestling in
places like Beyond Wrestling, CZW, and (most recently) wXw. I thought this was
a really good match! Of course, we had some funnier moments (which no shock,
given the personality of both guys), but once things got more serious, this
match kicked into a whole other gear. In particular, the closing stretch was
very strong, as both guys went back & forth. Ethan Page ultimately got the
win here, but David Starr looks incredibly impressive here, and I hope we see
more of him in the future. While it wasn’t the best match on the show, you
should definitely check this one out.
6.) Matt
Riddle vs. TJP (with Stokely Hathaway): ****
Before
this match could get going, Drew Gulak & Fred Yehi came out. Gulak
questioned where Riddle & TJP were earlier in the night when they had to
take Tracy Williams to the hospital. Stokely Hathaway interrupted on the behalf
of TJP, and said that they weren’t worried about any war, since TJP was on his
way to RAW. Riddle then took the mic,
and simply said that he was here to wrestle, and was ready to take on TJP. As
for the match itself, I thought it was great! There was incredible action
throughout, with both men utilizing some of their biggest strengths in an
attempt to defeat the other. Both men are so awesome, that there was no way
this wasn’t going to be good. In particular, the final few minutes were especially
great. In the end, Riddle managed to pick the victory over TJP after getting
him to tap out to his “Bromission”. Again, this was a great match that featured
some incredible action throughout.
After
the match was over, TJP & Stokely Hathaway embraced in the ring. Hathaway
said that he showed the world that TJP is special. Now, it was time to
celebrate. He brings a few ladies and some champagne to the ring. The ladies
“make it rain”, throwing cash at TJP. Hathaway says that he can’t imagine
Evolve without TJP, but then again, he can’t imagine RAW without TJP either. Instead of saying goodbye, Hathaway says
“Thank You”. TJP then makes snow angels with the money in the ring before
leaving with Hathaway and their ladies.
7.)
Ricochet vs. Zack Sabre Jr.: ****1/2
These
two have a few times before (including PWG), but I’m pretty sure that this is
their first encounter in Evolve. I had a feeling that this was going to be a
great match, and it delivered on all levels. This was an awesome match!! There
was incredible back & forth action from start to finish, and it was so entertaining
to watch. Unlike Johnny Gargano/Zack Sabre Jr. from the night before, this
really had an epic feel to it, and I don’t think the length of the match hurt
it too much (it never felt overly long). Similar to the previous two matches,
the closing stretch was particularly great, and put a cap on what was, as a
whole, a fantastic match. Eventually, Ricochet managed to outlast Zack Sabre
Jr., and got the victory following his signature 630.
8.)
Evolve Tag Team Champion Drew Galloway & Chris Hero vs. Johnny Gargano
& Cody: ***3/4
Gargano
got an incredible reaction from the crowd when he came out for this match,
which was his last in Evolve. Cody, meanwhile, got a “Thanks for the pizza” chant
(he threw a surprise pizza party before the show). By the way, he’s now going
by just “Cody”, and not Cody Rhodes. I thought this was a really good main
event. It wasn’t as awesome as some of the other matches on the show, but
still, it delivered. Galloway & Hero made a very good bully team. Cody was
fine here, and I’m not surprised that his best outing in Evolve was a tag team
match (as it hides some of his weaknesses). Johnny Gargano is always great, not
matter what kind of match he’s in, but I thought he showed here just why he’s a
phenomenal tag team wrestler. That’s something we’ve gotten to see through his
tag team with Tommaso Ciampa in NXT. He plays a great sympathetic babyface when
he’s getting beaten down by the heels, but he can also be awesome in the
comeback role, and that’s pretty much how this match went. After managing to
fight back against the heels, Gargano got Hero to tap out to the GargaNO Escape
to win the match for his team. Again, this was a very solid main event, though
it wasn’t necessarily the best match on the show.
Now bear
with me, because there’s a lot that happened after the match. Cody gave
complements to Gargano before leaving. It looked like Gargano was about to say
something, but then Ethan Page showed up and attacked, proving that this whole
“asking for forgiveness” shtick was all a big ruse. Page said that he plotted
everything, and was just waiting for the perfect moment to strike, which was
(apparently) right now. He said that everyone will always remember Gargano’s final
night in Evolve, and when they do think about it, they’ll always think of Ethan
Page. He then brings out two huge men who he refers to as his “Gatekeepers”
(who are Blaster McMassive & Flex Rumblecrunch from The Devastation
Corporation in CHIKARA). The basically stood guard and prevented the likes of
Darby Allin and the referees from getting involved. Page did a mock interview
with Gargano, and then said that if anyone wants Gargano, they can come have
him….
This
brought out Drew Galloway & DUSTIN. They covered Gargano with an Evolve
banner, and it looked like they were going to finish him off for good, but Matt
Riddle came out. He teased joining Galloway’s side, but it was another ruse, as
he attacked Galloway & DUSTIN, making the save for Gargano in the process.
After the heels had been chased off, Gargano took the mic and proclaimed that
Riddle was the guy to carry Evolve into the future, and the two celebrated as
the show came to a close.
That was
the best description I could give, but fortunately, Evolve put up a video
covering this whole post-match segment, which was great.
Overall: 8.5/10
Obviously
this was a big night for Evolve, with the departure of two of their biggest
stars, and as a whole, I thought they delivered a great show. The two talents
that were on their way out (Johnny Gargano & TJP) both had strong outings
on their final night with the promotion, while a bunch of new talents got the chance
to shine on the undercard. Ricochet vs. Zack Sabre Jr. was easily the Match of
the Night, but Matt Riddle vs. TJP, Gargano & Cody vs. Hero & Galloway,
and Ethan Page vs. David Starr are all matches worth checking out. The final
segment was very well done, and it really added to the show. It firmly
established Ethan Page as Evolve’s next big heel, while also setting up Matt
Riddle to be the new face of Evolve. After running through a rough patch with
their events in August, Evolve was able to get back on track in a big way with
this show, as they said goodbye to not only one of 2016’s breakout stars, but
also the icon of the entire Evolve/WWN Family.
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