WWNLive in China: Night 2 Review

Night 2 of the WWNLive Tour of China sees a big Six-Man Tag Team Main Event!

WWNLive in China: Night 2

Chengdu City, Sichuan Province, China 11/12/14

1.) Johnny Gargano vs. Jody Kristofferson (with Larry Dallas): ***

The show starts off with Johnny Gargano taking on a former WWE Developmental Talent. A pretty solid opener here. I think I can safely say this is the best singles match I’ve ever seen from Jody Kristofferson, and it’s no surprise that it came against Johnny Gargano. Good action from both guys in this one. Gargano would end up getting the win over Kristofferson.

2.) Tracy Williams vs. Earl Cooter (with Larry Dallas): **1/4

Now this is an….interesting match, to say the least. It was pretty short, from my recollection. Tracy Williams would get the win, but Earl Cooter would lay him out after the match. I didn’t like what they did after the match, as Earl Cooter is basically a jobber in the context of Evolve. Also, I know that this show is in China, but with hindsight, it probably wasn’t a good idea for Tracy Williams to get taken out by Earl Cooter (Williams would become an active member of Evolve in 2015).

3.) Mia Yim vs. Su Yung: ***1/4

Su Yung is coming off losing a SHINE Title Match to Ivelisse on Night 1 (in a disappointing match), while Mia Yim is looking to build momentum towards her SHINE Title Match on Night 4. This was a pretty good match. The best women’s match on the tour up to this point. There was good back & forth action throughout, and both women played their roles well. Mia Yim would get the win in this match.

4.) Biff Busick vs. Timothy Thatcher: ***1/2

These two have two scheduled matches against each other on this tour, and this is the first of those. A very good match. The crowd seemed to be into the style of match Busick & Thatcher tend to work, which involves trading holds, submissions and hard strikes (especially in the latter stages). I’d say that their match from Evolve 32 a few months prior was better, but this was still pretty good. Busick would get the submission victory over Thatcher, and the two shook hands after the match.

5.) Open The United Gate Titles - The Premiere Athlete Brand (Caleb Konley & Trent Baretta) vs. The Bravado Brothers: ***1/4

The Bravado Brothers attacked Caleb Konley & Trent Baretta after the latter’s match on Night 1. I thought this was a fine match. It wasn’t as good as The P.A.B. vs. The Colony from the night before, but it was by no means bad. It was a weird match in the sense that both teams are heel in Evolve (and Evolve’s Tag Team Division has been bad for around a year, as of this show), and The P.A.B. worked as the default babyfaces in this one. Eventually, Baretta & Konley would get the win for the 2^nd successful title defense of the tour.

6.) SHINE Title – Ivelisse vs. Allysin Kay: ***1/4

Also defending a title for the 2^nd time on this tour is Ivelisse, who’s defending the SHINE Title against Allysin Kay. This was another solid women’s match on this show. A much better showing from Ivelisse compared to Night 1. Good back & forth action throughout this one. In the end, Ivelisse would get the win, and successfully retained the SHINE Title.

7.) Six-Man Tag – AR Fox & The Inner City Machine Guns (Open The Freedom Gate Champion Ricochet & Rich Swann) vs. Chuck Taylor & The Colony (Fire Ant & Silver Ant): ****

The Main Event features the only Six-Man Tag Team Match on this tour of China. As would expect, given the participants involved, this was a great match. I would say it’s the best match on the tour up to this point. It was really entertaining and action-packed from start to finish, and all six guys got the chance to showcase themselves. Eventually, AR Fox would end up scoring the win for his team, which makes sense, since he is challenging his partner Ricochet from the Open The Freedom Gate Title on Night 3.

Overall: 7.5/10

The second show of the WWNLive Tour of China is in the books, and we have another solid show. While I think Night 1 was a little more consistent as a whole, this show had the best match on the tour thus far with the Six-Man Tag Team Main Event. There was really only one thing on this show that I didn’t like, but other than that, everything was pretty good. A very enjoyable show from start to finish.