Evolve 48
Deer Park, New York 8/16/15
1.) Anthony Nese (with SoCal Val) vs.
“All Ego” Ethan Page (with Rich Swann): **3/4
We kick off the show with a rare heel
vs. heel match, though since Nese is from Long Island, I guess he could be
considered a face for this particular match. Page comes out with the Open The
Freedom Gate Title that he stole from Johnny Gargano the previous night, and
also is accompanied by Rich Swann, who turned on Gargano to help Page beat him.
As far as this match goes, it was fine, but I wasn’t into it that match. The
heel vs. heel dynamic really didn’t interest me. Nese would get the win here
over Page, which I think was a mistake. You have Page have a huge moment over
Gargano the night before at Evolve 47,
and then he lost in the opener on this show?
Didn’t really like that.
After the match, Page cuts a promo,
pretending to be a sad Johnny Gargano, saying how he let everyone down. This
brings out Gargano, but Swann blocks him before he can get to Page. Gargano
didn’t want to fight his former best friend, but Swann punched him in the face,
leading to the next match…
2.) Johnny Gargano vs. Rich Swann (with
“All Ego” Ethan Page”): **1/2
So the story here was that Gargano was
reluctant to fight Swann. Also, Gargano had to fight against Ethan Page on the
outside. The action was fine, but the storyline stuff and the outside
interference hurt the match, in my eyes. Probably the worst match (match
quality wise) these two have had. In the end, Swann gets the win over Gargano.
Interestingly enough, this would be Swann’s last match for Evolve before
signing with NXT.
Afterwords, Page cuts a promo standing
over Gargano declaring that Dragon Gate USA was dead.
3.) Caleb Konley (with SoCal Val) vs.
Trent Barreta: ***1/4
Trent Barreta broke away from The
Premiere Athlete Brand following the events of Evolve 46. At Evolve 47
the previous night, Anthony Nese & Caleb Konley defeated Trent Barreta
& Rey Horus in tag team action, so on this show, Barreta looks to get back
at The P.A.B. as he takes on Caleb Konley in singles action. This was a pretty
solid match. The first half was fine (the crowd wasn’t into it that much), but
they picked things up in the closing stretch and it ended being a good match. A
distraction from SoCal Val allowed Konley to pick up the win over Barreta.
After the match, SoCal Val berated
Barreta on the mic, but Barreta (also a native of Long Island), got a standing
ovation on his way to the back.
4.) Drew Gulak & Tracy Williams vs.
“Speedball” Mike Bailey & Rey Horus: **1/4
I think this match had the potential to
be really good, but it ended up being the worst match of the weekend. The main
issue was that this was just WAY too long. It went close to 20 Minutes, and it
had no right to go that long (especially since one side is a duo that’s teaming
for the first time). If this had been 10 Minutes, I would’ve had no issues with
it, but the length made it incredibly boring. The last portion of the match was
ok, but it was, on the whole, uninteresting.
5.) Chris Hero vs. Zack Sabre Jr.:
****1/4
When Evolve was in Florida the month
before, and on one of those shows (I think Evolve
45), Chris Hero took offense to a fan who said that Zack Sabre Jr. was
better than him. Now, these two clash here in Deer Park, and they had a great
match! I’ve said this regarding Zack Sabre Jr., but he’s just so good and so
entertaining to watch. You can’t take your eyes away from the screen when he’s
in the right. I though he worked really well with Hero here as well. Hero
showed off his technical skills, but also bullied Zack Sabre Jr. around with
size (including a nasty looking piledriver). In the end, Hero was just too much
for the Zack Sabre Jr., and put him away with a Rolling Elbow.
6.) Non-Title No Holds Barred Match –
Evolve World Champion Timothy Thatcher vs. Biff Busick: ****
Here we have the culmination of the
Biff Busick/Timothy Thatcher. Interestingly enough, Thatcher’s Evolve World
Title is not on the line in this match. Of course, you would expect these two
to deliver in a Main Event spot, and that’s exactly what they did. This wasn’t
like your usual No Holds Barred Match, in the sense that there weren’t a lot of
weapons (or foreign objects) used here. These two just beat the crap out of
each other from start to finish, with Busick targeting Thatcher’s previously
injured ear, while Thatcher went out Busick’s injured thumb. There was blood (I
believe Thatcher was bleeding from the ear, but I don’t recall), and
eventually, Busick tapped out, and Thatcher scored the win!
Busick quickly went to the back after
the match (This would also be Busick’s last appearance before heading to NXT).
Thatcher cut a promo after the match, calling out Davey Richards, who has been
undefeated in Evolve in 2015. This brings out Drew Gulak & Tracy Williams,
and Gulak reminds the Evolve World Champion that he’s never beaten him, and
deserves a shot at the title. Then, Chris Hero comes out (with a bag of ice
tied to his elbow, after Zack Sabre Jr. worked over it in their match), and
knocks out all three of them with deadly Ice Pack Rolling Elbows (though it
took two shots to take Thatcher down) to close the show.
Overall: 7.25/10
I have to say that this was probably
one of Evolve’s weakest shows in 2015. That’s not to say that there weren’t any
good matches on this show, as Chris Hero vs. Zack Sabre Jr. & Timothy
Thatcher vs. Biff Busick are well worth checking out. Many of the issues came
with the undercard. Some of the stuff they did in the first two matches really
didn’t appeal to me, and the Gulak/Williams vs. Mike Bailey/Rey Horus Tag Team
Match went much longer that it should have. Despite those issues, the two Main
Events, like are said earlier, are definitely bright spots.
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