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EVOLVE 98

January 13, 2018

Dominic Garrini . . . looks more than capable of filling the void in Catch Point that Drew Gulak’s departure created.

AR Fox . . . makes relatively short work of the former WWN Champion.

Zack Sabre Jr. . . . ties up and stretches out Darby Allin as though he’s trying to turn him into a human pretzel.

BRODY KING vs. SNOOP STRIKES vs. JAREK 1:20 vs. JASON KINCAID

This isn’t much more than just a four-way spotfest, but it works for what it is. All four of them get a chance to show off what they can do. Aside from the spot where Jarek puts Brody to sleep at the end, there isn’t anything goofy or offensive. It has the usual prerequisite spots, like the tower of doom in the corner, and the dive sequence, which allows for Brody to show how well he can move for his size. Kincaid’s diving stomp onto Snoop to both break up his pin attempt and to steal the win is a decent enough finish.

WALTER/TIMOTHY THATCHER vs. TRACY WILLIAMS/DOMINIC GARRINI

The powerbomb finish is a bit weak, but, it’s the second night in a row that Thatcher and WALTER have put in an excellent performance, and this time Thatcher doesn’t muck things up with inconsistent selling. The mat sequence between Thatcher and Garrini that starts the match is even better, and goes longer, than the one between Thatcher and Riddle. Catch Point’s control segment on Thatcher, with Garrini working the midsection and Williams working the arm is tons of fun to watch. Thatcher’s attempted suplex counter that winds up with Williams getting him in a keylock is one of the best moments of the match. Thatcher’s selling is great when he’s getting worked over, and when he tries to start a comeback by throwing European Uppercuts with his good arm, he still remembers to sell the bad arm. Thatcher’s escape of Williams’ crossface is another breath of fresh air, with him finding a way to outwrestle Williams to get free rather than crawling for the rope break. Thatcher’s belly to belly to Garrini before he makes the tag pushes the envelope a bit, but he got some help from the ropes, so it’s not as egregious as the suplex to Cobb.

With the punishment that Thatcher has to endure, WALTER’s hot tag ensures that Catch Point gets their just deserts, and they do in the form of WALTER beating them to death with his chops and running kicks. Some people won’t care for WALTER’s powerbomb escape of Garrini’s hanging triangle, but it wasn’t that big a deal. Thatcher was the one who’d taken the punishment, so between him being relatively fresh and his size, it’s feasible for WALTER to pull that off. It’s also a great way for him to save Thatcher from another crossface. Williams getting pinned after a powerbomb, even with WALTER’s height, isn’t a very exciting finish, especially with how much the match had focused on wrestling. WALTER getting a near fall from the powerbomb and then transitioning to the Gojira clutch seems like a more appropriate finish. ***3/4

CHRIS DICKINSON vs. PARROW

Maybe this would have done something for me if I were a more regular EVOLVE consumer. But, this isn’t much more than a couple of big guys trading prop shots and showing that they know how to bump. Despite the impromptu nature of the match, and the no dq setting, it doesn’t show a fraction of the anger and intensity as the previous tag match. The finish is supposed show that Dickinson is capable of giving a big guy his powerbomb, but, it’s negated by the fact that Parrow did most of the work for him by climbing the ropes so that Dickinson could stop him.

MATTHEW RIDDLE vs. AR FOX

Fox’s heel character that shows off for his entourage is fun to watch, and so is this match. The way it plays out isn’t too surprising, Riddle uses his superior ground game and striking, while Fox tries to stay ahead using his agility. Fox’s spots look smooth and graceful, but they’re not overdone to the point of being exposing. They have a few odd moments, like Fox countering the hanging guillotine into a suplex and Riddle’s backdrop to escape the headlock doesn’t really have any effect on Fox. But, they’re counterbalanced with smart things like Riddle avoiding the senton and catching Fox in a sleeper, and fun moments like Fox faking out Riddle (and the crowd) with a feint dive, only to celebrate with his posse. They probably could have kicked off the finishing stretch with something other than a Canadian Destroyer, especially given that Riddle rolled through it and ended up on his feet, but, at least Fox’s variation with them both on the ropes looks more credible that the Petey Williams and Adam Cole variations. It’s not like Riddle blows it off or anything, he’s clearly stunned and it allows Fox to swoop in and finish him off. It would have been nice if this were a little less lopsided, with Riddle catching Fox on the mat once or twice more to give him a scare, but, going over the inaugural WWN Champion in this manner certainly makes Fox look like a title threat. ***1/4

The one nice storytelling element to this was Yehi’s vision being impaired when Austin’s valet broke up the Koji clutch by going after his eyes. Yehi throws wild swings and even grabs one of the guys at ringside, because he can’t see anything. But aside from that, this may as well be a WWE TV match. They both have plenty of stuff to do, but, the wrestling is just something to do in between the run ins. It’s fun to watch Yehi finally catch her and stomp her hand, but, then he goes spot crazy including breaking out a Canadian Destroyer for a throwaway near fall. And, to the shock of probably nobody, Yehi gets his win stolen when the valet interferes again and Theory hits his finisher.

KEITH LEE vs. JAKA

This is probably best remembered for Keith’s rana. And, while it’s certainly impressive that a guy that size can pull it off, the match isn’t remarkable in any other sense. Keith hits his stuff and Jaka hits his stuff, but, you never get the sense that they’re building toward anything or telling a story. Jaka ‘fights out’ of the spirit bomb, which means that Keith gets him up and then doesn’t follow through. The finish is similar to the FIP Title match, with Lee getting distracted by Fox and his posse, but, this comes off better because the distraction only gives Jaka the chance to win. Jaka himself earns the win by blocking the rolling elbow and hitting his own strike flurry, culminating with his rolling kick to KO Keith for the pin.

This isn’t a squash, although it might as well have been. Darby is in way over his head, and it shows with the ease that Zack is able to tie him up in knots. Darby’s attempts to go on the mat with Zack go about as well as expected, the flurry of cradles that start the match are more surprising to Zack than anything else, and Zack makes escaping the hammerlock guillotine look easy. The only time one could argue that Darby actually bests him on the mat is Darby countering the European Clutch into the Last Supper, and Zack had already tried the clutch once before so it makes sense for Darby to scout it. Zack is about as giving as he can be for this sort of match. When Darby hits something of his own, like the crucifix bomb and the DDT, Zack is great at putting over the effect on his neck. After the near falls from the Last Supper and the Code Red, Zack takes the first opening he gets to finish Darby off, which comes when he counters the Coffin Drop into a juji-gatame, and then transitions several times until he’s got Darby completely tied up and kicking him in the head and forcing the ref to call it.

Conclusion: This is an overall fun show, with the WALTER/Thatcher tag match being the big reason to hunt this down.