EVOLVE 47

August 15, 2015

I had no intention of even watching this show, let alone reviewing it. But, people, whose opinions I generally respect, started touting this Timothy Thatcher fellow as being one of the best in the world.

Drew Gulak . . . gives Rich Swann a hearty helping of boot soles as a block to the 450 splash.

Chris Hero . . . uses the mighty elbow to turn young Mike Bailey’s face into oatmeal.

Timothy Thatcher . . . is your new pro wrestling lord and savior.

BIFF BUSICK vs. TRACY WILLIAMS

At first it seemed like they were trying to work a UWFI style of match, but, then they started with the rope-running spots, pro-style strikes, and pro-style suplexes, and it looked more like a match out of the early days of the first incarnation of the Japanese UWF, with the pro spots as transitions and being used to set up the submissions. When Busick can’t get Williams up for the half-nelson suplex, he switches gears and goes to a standing armbar. Williams can’t tap out Busick with the crossface, but, after he spikes him with a DDT, another crossface gets the submission. It seems odd to see Busick losing in the opener, when he’s in the main event the next night against the champion, but, it works in the context how the match played out.

DREW GULAK vs. RICH SWANN

While it’s fun to watch, this comes off more like an exhibition than the opener. It’s a joy to watch Gulak stretch out Swann, especially when he starts focusing on the arm. But, it really doesn’t hamper Swann. Sure, it keeps him on the ground, and not in the air, but, it’s not like anything that Gulak does is going to prevent Swann from taking to the air when he’s free. It’d have been nice to see something from Swann to get over the idea that Gulak did some sort of long-term damage, like a handspring that he can’t pull off. But, no, Swann makes his fired up babyface comeback and goes for the standing 450, but winds up with two feet in his face and getting pinned. It’s certainly a fresh finish, and a unique counter to the 450 (although not one I’d like to see done when the 450 is off the top rope), but, it comes off a bit too flukey and tacked on, whereas a Swann kick out and Gulak segueing into a submission would have played into the body of the match much better.

CHRIS HERO vs. MIKE BAILEY

This seems like a nice change of pace, focusing more on striking than working holds. But, like so many of Hero’s matches, it goes overboard with repetition of his supposed main strike and makes it look almost worthless. There’s simply no need for Hero to use three rolling elbows, two of which are without the pad, to put away Bailey, especially after the boatload of elbows and kicks he’d already used. Bailey doesn’t look nearly as annoying, but, that could easily be because his work looks fresh to me. Nonetheless, it’s nice to see him doing his part to make the elbows seem lethal, between his selling and the creative counters and blocks he uses to avoid them. His agility and body control is astounding, but he’s not content to rest his laurels on that and be a flippy spot machine, and Hero and he work some good exchanges and sequences before Hero goes nuts at the end.

CALEB KONLEY/ANTHONY NESE vs. TRENT BARETTA/REY HORUS

Konley and Nese have the look of that Tully and Arn sort of tag team, who are good enough on their own, but still take a shortcut, just because it’s there. This is a fun, for the most part. Trent isn’t bad or anything, but he’s the odd man out, in the sense that he doesn’t do anything especially mind-blowing, whereas Horus has his lucha stylings and the PAB have their attitude and some nifty double teams to make them stand out. The match goes on a little too long after Baretta gets the hot tag, which tears down some of what they’d built up. The finish is right out of anything you’d see on TV, with the valet distraction and the heels taking advantage and Nese pinning Horus with the 450, complete with Horus selling the impact well after the match had already ended.

JOHNNY GARGANO vs. ETHAN PAGE

And, here we have the only match on the card that feels like a throwaway match. Although, I haven’t seen the last forty-five EVOLVE shows, so it’s possible something happened that could have added to this. Instead of ramping up the intensity and hatred and treating this like a street fight (they were certainly dressed for one), Gargano and Page are content to fall back on prop shots, contrived spots, and psuedo-comedy spots. Gargano’s Hulk-Up from Ethan choking him out with the rope is probably the most stupid it gets, and ironically, the best moment comes right afterwards, when Gargano attempts the lawn dart, but, the adrenaline rush from escaping the choke wears off and he collapses. Rich Swann comes out to protect Gargano, and then turns on him, just like we’ve all seen a thousand times since 1999.

Like the first two matches on this show, the work here is a mishmash of shootstyle and pro-style. Overall, this ends up closer to the pro-style end of the spectrum. While it’s nice to see them use strikes as a means to get a hold applied, the strikes themselves are more typically found in pro settings, especially Sabre’s running kick. They also have a few moments of obvious cooperation, like the sequence of counters and reversals with the straightjacket choke, and the sequence with Thatcher grabbing one of Sabre’s legs, and Sabre countering into a juji-gatame.

If you like well-executed matwork and submission holds, then you came to the right place. Thatcher and Sabre both go into the match with the goal of winning by submission. They never stray from this idea, and there isn’t any wasted motions, they either try to move forward in their quest, or try to escape their current predicament in order to regain control. It’s as good an example of substance over style as you’ll find anywhere. They don’t concern themselves with being flashy or getting the quick reaction from the crowd. They know that if they put on an engaging enough match the crowd will respond in kind, and, that’s exactly what happens. Their selling is pretty much perfect, it’s not too overdone, and, it doesn’t make anything that they pull off seem implausible. Their reactions to getting trapped in holds is exactly what it needs to be, especially when Sabre secures the juji-gatame and Thatcher flops like a fish out of water to get the ropes, and, when Thatcher finally clinches the kneebar and Sabre can’t escape, Sabre urgently taps like he knows that his knee is about to split in two if Thatcher doesn’t let him go. It’d be interesting to see how either of these two would fare in a full-blown shootstyle setting, with limitation on rope breaks, knockdowns, and a point system in place. Hell, maybe someone can coax Victor Zangiev out of retirement to challenge Thatcher.

Conclusion: Even without the main event, this would be considered a fun show. But, Thatcher/Sabre is something that everyone should make a point of seeking out.