EVOLVE returned to Joppa for what would be their final show before WrestleMania weekend as they’d crown a new contender for Zack Sabre Jr.
Lenny Leonard and Ron Niemi are on hand, with the latter sounding like early 2000s Josh Mathews (“off the hook”) before they threw in to the pre-show matches.
KTB vs. Dominic Garrini
The sound’s massively off here as KTB’s theme drowned out Tim Barr and Trevin Adams on commentary. We’ve a clash of styles, it seemed, as KTB looked to force away Garrini’s grappling, and instead overpowered the newest Catch Point member with a running, diving Blockbuster. Garrini quickly replies with a German suplex, then a mounted Kimura, before an elbow shot knocks KTB down for a near-fall. Palm strikes follow, but KTB avoids some of them before missing a Quebrada as Garrini pulls him down into a Kirifuda driver-style armbar for a quick submission. Decent enough as an opener, but this didn’t last for long enough to really get into any kind of gear. **¼
The second match was announced before KTB even made it to the back… we’re going through these fast!
Ace Perry vs. Rayo vs. Dante Cabanero
Perry is an Indiana native who’s done a fair bit of work for IWA:MS. We’ve got the 5* treatment here as everyone’s got the same music too… which they cover as being part of the “original spirit of EVOLVE”. Uh huh. Cabanero’s changed the spelling of his last name, formerly known as Dante Caballero in some of his prior outings. Cabanero tries to pie-face everyone, but he’s quickly sent outside by Rayo who I think has already lasted longer than some of his past outings in EVOLVE. A PK on the apron knocks Dante down, but Perry dropkicked him off for a tope con giro to the pair on the floor.
In the ring, Cabanero kicks away Perry before he falls to an enziguiri from Rayo for another near-fall… but Perry’s back in with an Ace crusher after Matrix’ing away from Rayo… but Cabanero quickly drops Ace with a back suplex as the pace stays too high… only for the match to end pretty soon after with a standing corkscrew kick from Rayo to Dante. This was fine, but the lack of time hurt as very little settled – one move barely landed before the next came. **¼
Jarek 1:20 vs. Jason Kincaid
Also known as “the guys who didn’t win the prelim yesterday…”. The referee has to help clear Jarek’s entrance gear away as I guess it’s hard to collect a deck of playing cards while wearing gloves.
Jarek and Kincaid keep things grounded, but at a high pace as they exchange headlock takedowns, before Kincaid flips around the magician and takes him into the corner with an armdrag. An attempt at Kincaid’s Compassionate Release submission quickly ends in the ropes as Jarek knocks him outside… and into place for the flagpole elbow drop that he’d not busted out for a while. Back inside, Kincaid tries to fight back, but Jarek snuffs it out with some knees in the corner before a double clothesline left both men down, handily in a double-cover that gave us a pair of two counts. Kincaid trips Jarek with a baseball slide as he tried to work up to a double stomp… but instead Jarek nails the “Sleeping Beauty” controlled fall punch for a near-fall.
Kincaid rolled to the outside, where he nails Jarek with an Ace crusher in the ropes before nailing the double stomp off of the ring post. After kicking out at two, Jarek’s quickly caught in the Compassionate Release as the match entered the final minute, but Jarek couldn’t hold on for the draw as he tapped out with seconds left. Enjoyable fare, but given both men’s stuttering form this felt like baby steps rather than anything career altering. **¾
The main show starts with an interruption as Anthony Henry and James Drake want a fight. They call out The End, and it’s on…
Anthony Henry & James Drake vs. The End (Odinson & Parrow)
James Drake topes into the End as they tried to double-team Henry on the floor… Henry’s tope con giro keeps it up as the wild start continues.
They keep playing The End’s music like it’s New Jack all over again, which just makes Henry’s offence ominous as he single-handedly took down Odinson… before a PK off the apron was caught as Parrow powerbombed him into the ringpost instead. Back inside, Odinson keeps up the beating, nailing a spin-out torture rack on Henry for a near-fall, before Drake tags in to nail Parrow with a big boot, but The End quickly get back in it.
Henry’s back in, but he too gets swatted away before he drops Parrow with some head kicks… but Odinson returns to Pounce on Drake as Parrow was getting double-teamed in the corner. Henry tries to go Coast to Coast, but Drennen gets involved, whacking Henry in the knee with his baton, before a Parrow powerbomb sealed the win. Basic enough, but I am so annoyed at how Henry and Drake went from break-out performances one night to fodder for The End. So much for upward mobility! **¼
Shane Mercer vs. Fred Yehi
After flirting on the EVOLVE pre-shows at the back end of 2017, Shane Mercer is back as Fred Yehi looks to establish himself as a “savageweight”. Yeah…
Apparently Yehi broke a tooth during his win at EVOLVE 100, and he’s all over Mercer in the early going, trading chops and what have you, until Mercher nails an overhead belly-to-belly to put the brakes on Yehi. A gorilla press slam is slipped out of by Yehi, who comes back in with a German suplex, only for Mercer to reply with a slam as the “MVP of the WWN” seemed to be struggling.
Yehi does manage to throw in some up-kicks to a restrained Mercer, before a half-nelson suplex dumped Shane for a near-fall, as a grounded surfboard stretch kept Mercer at bay. We’re quickly going to the stomps and chops of Yehi, who snapped in with a brainbuster for another near-fall, but this whole match just feels cold. Perhaps it’s because I’m watching this weeks afterwards, after Yehi’s contractual talks fizzled out?
More stomps, chops and Dragon suplexes get Yehi a near-fall, before Mercer countered a guillotine into a nice butterfly suplex. Yehi nearly gets the win with a wheelbarrow roll-up, but Mercer’s right back with lariats and a release suplex, before a battle of forearms allowed Mercer to edge ahead further with a gorilla press into a tombstone.
Yehi’s back up… and straight back down after a lariat, before he catches Mercer out of nowhere with a Koji Clutch for the submission. Technically this was fine, but this was an almighty struggle to get into… barely a week after this, EVOLVE announced that Yehi was leaving the promotion after he failed to agree a new contract. Which meant that all of those Style Battles he fought to win meant nothing, as he was also taken off of the finals over WrestleMania weekend. Still, it’s not like we’d not seen Yehi stuttering in the undercards for a while, in spite of all of the hype he’d been given on commentary. D’oh! **½
Chris Dickinson vs. Zack Sabre Jr.
It’s a non-title clash of champions – which effectively means “Sabre’s not defending his title in the midcard”. Zack’s got his Mother song here, as America gets a dose of pro-Labour love. I’ve sometimes wondered what’d happen if the best way to get rich was to scare a Tory…
Dickinson started by trying to take down Sabre, but the grappling game was never going to be a good choice, at least in those early stages. The plan B of strikes didn’t work too well either, as Sabre’s able to find a way into submissions, but it’s still too early as Dickinson kicks his way free of a leglock and into a near-fall. Following that near-miss, Sabre went straight after Dickinson’s wrist, but somehow Dickinson’s able to counter back with a leglock of his own as the two seemed to be inadvertently going for each others lower body parts. Dickinson starts to use his strength advantage, throwing Sabre down with a series of suplexes, but he struggled to even get a one count out of all that.
Sabre quickly dragged Dickinson down to the mat with a Dragon sleeper as he went through his mental list of submissions, switching into an armbar… only for Dickinson to roll through into a pinning predicament. Zack shrugged it off and looked to keep Dickinson down, peppering him with kicks to the chest, only to get met with some receipts after he was taken into the corner. Dickinson tries for a giant swing, but instead has to struggle to try and get Sabre into a Boston crab… which Sabre somehow countered into an arm triangle, then a trapped armbar as we went through another Rolodex of holds. Another comeback from Dickinson sees him try for a Pazuzu Bomb, but Sabre blocked it early before he’s taken down with a thrust kick for a near-fall… that the crowd barely reacted to.
Yeah, for this audience this was “just a match”, with many perhaps not seeing Dickinson capable of even a Jaka-like upset. As such, the reactions barely rose much above “polite applause” for things like submission attempts and rope breaks. Sabre keeps up with a series of kicks to Dickinson, before he tried to counter a counter by rolling into a heel hook, only for Dickinson to hit back with German suplexes, deadlifting the EVOLVE champion for a near-fall. And more polite applause.
Sabre snaps back in with an up kick and a mounted guillotine, but somehow Dickinson switches into a Falcon arrow for a near-fall. More traded strikes end when Sabre catches Dickinson in an Octopus hold, but that too gets countered up into a death valley driver for a two-count, before we go back to strikes as Dickinson again goes for a Pazuzu Bomb… it’s again countered into a triangle armbar before Dickinson eventually lands the powerbomb.
Dickinson made the call to jack-knife Sabre for the pin, but from the kick-out Sabre grabs boths arms and grabs the trapped armbar/stretch muffler as I think we’re Orienteering with Napalm Death, eventually forcing the referee to wave off the match. Really solid as a match, but absolutely devoid of any crowd interaction – which seems to be an EVOLVE special. How can the same guy who lit it up barely a month later in New Japan get minimal responses in a different promotion? ***¼
Fast-forwarding through interval now…
Joe Keys vs. Ken Dixon
This was a showcase match from MCW, as a trade-off for EVOLVE running in their venue. Keys’ gimmick is very much “80s Miami Vice-lite”, right down to the music and the moustache. It’s… a look, I guess. As was Ken Dixon’s vaguely anarchist look.
We start with Dixon going for a wristlock as Keys was kept at bay briefly. We’re still suffering with the severe lack of crowd reaction, which surprises me since these are local guys… but eh. Dixon takes Keys into the turnbuckles, before he blocked a sunset flip and hit a mini curb stomp to zero response. Not even polite applause. Keys hits straight back with a version of a La Magistral for a near-fall, before catching Dixon on the top rope, pulling him back into the ring. Punches from above got Keys a little more offence, as did a knee to the midsection and a gutwrench suplex, before Dixon fought out of some grounded bodyscissors ahead of a roll-up for a near-fall.
The pair crash into each other with duelling crossbodies as they both had the same idea, but from the restart Keys took plenty of strikes before running into a spinebuster from Dixon for a two-count. Keys comes right back with a backcracker for a near-fall, before an ankle lock submission was rolled out of as Dixon tried his luck with a crossface. It didn’t work, as Dixon followed up with a pair of Flatliners, before Keys caught him out of nowhere with a rope-hung neckbreaker for the win. A short, TV-style match, held in front of a dead crowd. You could blame the guys for not connecting, but EVOLVE do seem to attract tough crowds, so… eh? *¾
No Holds Barred: Tracy Williams vs. Keith Lee
Keith Lee’s WWN title isn’t on the line – which is just as well as Williams had Dominic Garrini and Stokely Hathaway out with him… albeit in their smart-casual gear.
Lee charges into Williams at the bell, as the WWN champion was all over that “Hot Sauce”, blasting him with forearms and clotheslines in those early stages. Attempts at a fightback ended pretty quickly, as Lee bulled Williams back into the corner for some body blows and that monstrous double-hand chop. There’s a distraction from the outside that helps Williams back into it, as he manages to kick away at Lee’s knee to take him down to the mat, where more shots follow. Williams uses a rear chinlock, but Lee powers out, only for Williams to stomp onto his hand as he tried to keep the big man down.
It doesn’t work as Lee gets back to his feet for some forearms, but Williams goes back to the leg and orders Hathaway to get a chair – which is legal in this match, of course. After some chairshots, Williams wedges it between the turnbuckles, with more success than, ooh, Johnny Gargano several years ago… but he doesn’t manage to throw Lee into it, as instead Williams turns around into a pop-up chokeslam.
Williams rolls to the outside, where Lee stalked after him… undeterred when Williams grabbed the ring bell. Things judder to a halt as Catch Point try and surround Lee on the ramp, but instead Williams just throws the ring bell to Lee as a distraction for a low dropkick. They stay on the stage, where Williams attempts to give Lee a German suplex to the floor, which gets blocked… as does Lee’s attempt at a powerbomb, before he just tosses Williams into Garrini down below.
They head back to the ring, where that chair remains as Lee avoids getting thrown into it… instead picking up Williams for a superplex, but instead he’s shoved down as Tracy flew with a missile dropkick. Lee charges his way and ends up running into that chair for a near-fall, as the WWN champion was firmly put on the defensive, courtesy of elbows to the neck. Garrini and Hathaway go under the ring for plunder, but Dominic comes out with a ladder… did EVOLVE get a budget increase or something?!
The crowd barely murmur for the appearance of a ladder, but they do at least go “ooh” when Williams throws it onto Lee for a two-count. Williams throws the ladder onto Lee’s knee as the sometimes-targeting of the body part resumed, but Lee finally gets a break and shoves away the ladder as he hobbled around the ring, taking Williams with him.
Williams gets Beele’d across the ring next, but he’s back with that ladder, dropkicking it into the champ for a two-count. Lee responds with a rolling elbow, but it knocks Williams outside as Garrini ran in… and kicked away at Lee’s leg before eating a Spirit Bomb for his troubles. Hathaway tries next, mounting Lee in a choke, but it’s as ineffective as you’d guess as Lee just tosses him away, before going back to work on Williams with headbutts. Lee takes way too long to go up for a moonsault, and he’s predictably caught in the ropes as Williams goes back to the knee as he German suplexed him out of the corner… eventually rolling him over for a near-fall. More ladder work from Williams follows, choking Lee with it in a crossface until the champion made it to the ropes… which counted for nought.
Lee’s forced to stand back up out of the crossface, but the ladder’s thrown on him again as Williams tried for a teardrop suplex into the ladder. It’s blocked, and Lee tries for a Spirit Bomb, but that’s also blocked as Williams instead gets pounced into it before Ground Zero put away Hot Sauce for the win. That felt a little… out of nowhere? Another match plagued by the crowd not caring, and I’m starting to remember why WWN avoided Joppa for a while. Solid enough as a match, but this could have done with having a little more urgency to it. ***¼
After the match, Stokely Hathaway gets in the ring to trash-talk Lee… and that ends poorly as Lee snaps, bouncing Stokely into a Spirit Bomb to shut him up for now.
Except that ended up being the cue for The End to hit the ring, as they looked to take advantage of Williams and Hathaway being laid out in the ring. Drennen bragged about how the End beat Anthony Henry and James Drake earlier in the show, before promising to end the war with Catch Point. Silence prevails as Odinson and Parrow beat down the group, with Dickinson and Garrini taking the brunt of things, before Henry and Drake returned with chairs.
Seriously, Joppa can do one. This crowd won’t react to anything, will they?
Darby Allin vs. Austin Theory vs. Matt Riddle vs. Jaka
This elimination four-way’ll decide the number one contender for Zack Sabre Jr’s EVOLVE title – a match that Darby managed to keep his spot in after winning his pre-show outing the prior night.
We’re running with tag rules too, as Jaka and Theory start off… but Theory wants Matt Riddle instead… except those are head-games too as it’s Riddle and Allin who really get us underway. Allin nearly causes an early elimination with a roll-up as he rolled around Riddle… before flipping out of a German suplex as his Coffin Drop was caught.
A big knee from Riddle keeps Darby down, as does a German… but Darby rolled outside, allowing Austin Theory to come in as he picked his spots on the former WWN champion. Riddle stopped him in his tracks with an up kick, but Jaka takes advantage of the lucha-style rules, rushing in to lay out Riddle once Theory’d gone to the outside. Priscilla Kelly provides a distraction as Theory comes back in to lay out everyone, including a swinging side slam into a backbreaker on Allin while Kelly’s senton off the apron took down Riddle and Jaka. Theory gets tripped into the ropes as Darby uses a choke on the apron before diving out into Jaka on the other side of the ring… and we’re back to Riddle and Theory!
The exchange of forearms worked out better for Riddle in the end as a superman punch took Theory into the corner, but Theory stops another superman punch with a dropkick to the gut. Riddle’s back in with a head kick, only to get caught with a spin-out rack bomb as Theory almost gave us our first elimination. Theory rudely throws Allin into the turnbuckles as Jaka comes in to light up the youngster, following up with a spinebuster as a knee from Riddle and Code Red from Darby give us that elimination. So much for “only two in at a time”!
The remaining three trade chops for a spell, with Riddle winning out, before a head kick to Jaka was assisted by a dropkick from Allin. Darby unloads on the other two with charges into the corners before he’s sandwiched, and met with a Bro to Sleep and a bridging German as Riddle almost took the win… following up with a crushing back senton as Jaka decided to try and steal the pin.
Allin fights back on Jaka and works his way into the Last Supper, but Jaka kicks free, causing a ref bump. That allowed Jaka to hit a low blow and a sit-out powerbomb for a rather muted elimination, as we’re down to Riddle and Jaka for the title shot… and Riddle went straight for Jaka with elbows, only to be met with chops in reply. Riddle grabs a rear naked choke, only for Jaka to escape and sweep the legs as he ran into a Bro to Sleep instead. Another German suplex from Riddle added the exclamation mark after an enziguiri from Jaka, before some knees are caught as the pair looked to go back-and-forth. Jaka tried his luck with another pop-up powerbomb, but Riddle kicked out at two, and shrugs off another German suplex before scooping up Jaka into a Gotch-style tombstone slam for the win!
Riddle gets a shot at Sabre’s EVOLVE title in New Orleans… but this felt rather lacklustre. That’s the problem with any kind of elimination match: they either need to go long, or you end up with the match feeling rushed. Still, this was the best thing on the show, but that’s not saying much. ***½
EVOLVE 101 was a show that was “fine” but offered very little to stand out from the pack. Spurred on by a crowd that largely didn’t seem to want to engage with anything, the show felt extremely lacklustre and therefore the worst thing it possibly could have been: skippable. We’re up to date with EVOLVE again as they head into their packed “More Than Mania” schedule, featuring a lot of marquee matches as they look to get eyeballs in an extremely competitive weekend of wrestling.