Evolve
68
Deer
Park, New York 9/10/16
1.)
Jigsaw vs. Fred Yehi: ***1/2
The
opening contest on the show actually has a little backstory to it, as Yehi is
looking for a bit of redemption after Jigsaw pinned him in a tag team match
back at Evolve 68. I might be the
high person on this match, but I really enjoyed it. Seeing Jigsaw again is so
cool, and I thought he worked well with Yehi here. This was just a very solid
opening match, which featured a good amount of action without overstaying its
welcome. Yehi ultimately got the victory over Jigsaw via submission. Again,
this was a very good match, and a strong outing for both men.
2.) “All
Ego” Ethan Page vs. Dan Barry: **1/2
While
Dan Barry made a number of appearances for Evolve earlier in the year as part
of Team Tremendous, he’s taking on Ethan Page here in a rare solo outing. This
was mostly a comedy match for the first few minutes, highlighting by Barry
teaching Page how to wrestle, but it did get a little more serious towards the
end. I’m not sure if Barry has a future as a singles competitor (since Team
Tremendous is such a good tag team), but he did have a good showing here. As
far as Ethan Page goes, it might seem out of place (given the storyline he’s
been involved in over the past few months), but it was nice to see him bust out
some comedy here, because he’s pretty good at it. This wasn’t the best match on
the show, but I found it to be entertaining for what it was. Page managed to
get the victory here following a package piledriver.
3.) TJP
(with Stokely Hathaway) vs. Darby Allin: ***1/4
Even
though this was the final weekend in Evolve for Johnny Gargano, it was also the
final weekend in Evolve for TJP, who was also going the WWE. These shows took
place right before the WWE Cruiserweight Classic Finals, and at this point in
the tournament, TJP had actually made it to the Final Four. His penultimate
match in Evolve was against Darby Allin, who didn’t waste any time, as he dived
onto TJP as he made his entrance. I thought this was a very solid match. The
result (TJP winning) was never in doubt, but nonetheless, Darby Allin looked
really good here against TJP, as he showed a lot of fire. He even went as far
as to try another crazy move, but it resulted in him crashing into the ring
post. Allin hasn’t been around that long, but he’s quickly become one of the
craziest guys in all of wrestling. Of course, TJP eventually took advantage,
and using his diverse offense, managed to get the victory of Allin.
4.)
Evolve Tag Team Champion DUSTIN vs. Tracy Williams: N/R
Back at Evolve 64, it was DUSTIN (who made his
shocking return to Evolve), along with Drew Galloway, who goaded Tracy Williams
into an Evolve Tag Team Title defense, and Catch Point would go on to lose
those titles in that match. Now, they’re facing off in singles action.
Unfortunately, this match didn’t last very long, as Galloway came out and
attacked Williams with a chair, causing the match to end on a DQ. Catch Point
(minus Matt Riddle) came out to make the save, and this brought out Joey
Styles. He announced that he’s restarting the match as an Extreme Rules Match,
and adds that if anyone interferes, they’ll be sent home without pay.
5.)
Extreme Rules Match – Evolve Tag Team Champion DUSTIN vs. Tracy Williams:
***1/4
I
honestly wasn’t sure how this one was going to turn out, but when the dust
settled, I thought this was an incredibly entertaining match. This match only
went about nine minutes or so, but they packed a lot of fun hardcore action in
that timeframe. Chairs, ladders, and thumbtacks were all used in this match in
a number of different ways. There was actually a very cool spot involving
thumbtacks towards the end of the match, as DUSTIN tried to break a sleeper
hold from Williams by rolling into a pile of thumbtacks, but Williams just
powered through the pain, and got DUSTIN to tap out for the win. This wasn’t
the best match of the night, but it was a ton of fun to watch.
6.)
Triple Threat Match – Matt Riddle vs. Ricochet vs. Tony Nese: ****
This is
such an odd makeup of guys for a Triple Threat Match, but it might’ve been the
most anticipated match on the entire show. Before the match actually got
started, Johnny Gargano came out. He basically put everyone over (particularly
Riddle) and said that he hoped all three guys would fight for the spot that was
being left open due to his departure. As for the match itself, I thought it was
great! It was easily the best match on the entire show, in my opinion. It only
went about nine or ten minutes, but they packed so much exciting action into
that timeframe. There was a ton of incredible athleticism from all three guys,
and they managed to work the match in a way that was a nice diversion from the
normal formula of a Triple Threat Match. The finish came when Tony Nese hit a
450 Splash on Matt Riddle (who had Ricochet locked in a submission hold) and
got the pin on Riddle to score the win. Nese getting the win was a bit of a
surprise, and it was even more surprising that he pinned Matt Riddle.
Regardless, the match itself was great.
After
the match, Drew Galloway came out, and (once again) tried to get Matt Riddle to
join his cause. He even called Riddle the “uncrowned” Evolve Champion. Galloway
was then jumped by Drew Gulak, who he was scheduled to have a match with on
this show. Gulak had a stare down with Matt Riddle, who then went to the back
as Gulak continued his assault.
7.)
Evolve Tag Team Champion Drew Galloway vs. Drew Gulak: ***1/2
Here we
have another match (A Battle of the Drew’s) that came about as a result of the
events of Evolve 64. For the most
part, I thought this was a pretty good match. Both men showed a lot of
aggression, and the action was solid throughout. The biggest issue I had with
the match length. Given the intensity level they were at, I feel like this
match would’ve worked better if it went ten minutes, instead of sixteen
minutes. It definitely was a little longer than it needed to be, but still, the
action was good, and it had a good finish that saw Drew Galloway get the win
with a tombstone piledriver followed by a Future Shock DDT.
8.)
Johnny Gargano vs. Zack Sabre Jr.: ***3/4
These
two had an incredible match earlier in the year at Evolve 56 during Zack Sabre Jr.’s Best In The World Challenge
Series, which Zack Sabre Jr. won. Now they’re facing off in Gargano’s
penultimate match in Evolve. I think a lot of people (myself included) were
really looking forward to this match going into it. While it was a very good
match, I don’t think it was anywhere close to their first encounter at Evolve 56. It’s hard to explain my
feelings on this one. Technically, everything in this match was fine, and both
guys did a very good job, but this match was just lacking something. It sort of
felt like they were trying for an epic match, but it never got to that level. I
think the length of the match, which was around twenty-four minutes or so,
might have played a factor in this not being as good as it could’ve been (but
maybe that’s just me). As a whole, I enjoyed the match, but it just wasn’t as
great as I was expecting. In the end, Zack Sabre Jr. got the win via
submission, going 2-0 against Johnny Wrestling in 2016.
After
the match, Zack Sabre Jr. cut a promo saying that he would take the torch from
Gargano, and promised to beat Timothy Thatcher for the Evolve Title. Ricochet
came out, and said that although Gargano was leaving, there were plenty of
talents waiting to fill those spots. He then said that he would prove that he
is the best by beating Zack Sabre Jr. the next night at Evolve 69. They then left Gargano alone in the ring as he
celebrated with the fans to close the show.
Overall: 7.75/10
This was
far from an amazing show, but as a whole, I thought it was enjoyable from start
to finish. There was only one great match on the show (the Matt
Riddle/Ricochet/Tony Nese Triple Threat Match), and despite various issues, the
rest of the undercard was really solid. Even what was (technically) the worst
match on the show was still an entertaining comedy match. I think the fact that
the majority of the matches on this show were just under ten minutes (aside
from the top two matches) helped a lot, as it made the show go by pretty
quickly. Evolve has put on better shows than this in 2016, but from top to
bottom, this was an enjoyable show that was relatively easy to watch.
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