Tonight’s attendance was approximately 300 people.
– Montez Ford w/ Angelo Dawkins defeated Patrick Clark
Good match. The crowd was into it and all over Clark. Ford hit a standing shooting star press for the win.
– Daria Berenato & Mandy Rose defeated Liv Morgan & Aliyah
Berenato hit a spinebuster on Morgan to get the victory.
– Tye Dillinger tried to cut an in-ring promo but was interrupted by Wesley Blake. Blake proceeded to call everyone “garbage,” even individuals in the crowd. He called everyone garbage over and over. Dillinger then put Blake down with a superkick and left the mic on him gently before leaving to a big pop.
– Tian Bing defeated Akira Tozawa
This was stiff, with hard kicks by Bing and hard chops by Tozawa. It was starting to get rolling but Tozawa took a rough bump and Bing proceeded to thrust kick him instantly to pin him and get out of there.
– Steve Cutler defeated Cezar Bononi
Physical match. Cutler got the win with a big stomp off the ropes.
– Oney Lorcan & Jack Gallagher defeated Tony Nese & Noam Dar
I believe this was the NXT Florida debut of Tony Nese, and this match was a lot of fun. All the Gallagher comedy spots and the physical Lorcan spots worked well. Gallagher hit the running dropkick in the corner to get the win for his team. The crowd loved this one.
– Billie Kay defeated Macey Estrella with a big boot.
– Kassius Ohno defeated Andrade “Cien” Almas
Huge pop for the former Chris Hero. This was a great match that was TV worthy in every way. There was athletic stuff, hard hitting stuff, counters, near falls, and finally Ohno bashed Almas with the neckbreaker to set up the elbow smash to the back of the head to win it.
– NXT Champion Shinsuke Nakamura & NXT Tag Team Champions DIY defeated SANITY
Fun main event match. Everyone worked well and we had some strong interactions between Big Damo and Nakamura. Nakamura hit the Kinshasa on Alexander Wolfe to send everyone home happy.
It didn’t take very long for Chris Hero to make his WWE in-ring return after returning to the company at yesterday’s NXT TV tapings.
Hero wrestled in a WWE ring for the first time in over three years at tonight’s NXT house show in Largo, Florida. Hero was again referred to as Kassius Ohno despite wearing his basketball-inspired Chris Hero ring gear, and defeated Andrade “Cien” Almas in his first match back.
Our NXT reporter JJ Williams notes that Hero won what was a great match with one of his patented elbow smashes to the back of the head.
Dave Meltzer reported last month that Hero was set to return to WWE at the start of 2017 if everything went right with his medicals and pre-signing process. Hero confronted NXT Champion Shinsuke Nakamura at the conclusion of yesterday’s tapings before stepping out of the ring without incident. Triple H then posted a picture with Hero on Twitter after the show was over.
What’s next for Hero in NXT remains to be seen, but he will be in San Antonio over Royal Rumble weekend as he wrestles his final matches for EVOLVE Wrestling. Hero will face Zack Sabre Jr. in his final EVOLVE match on January 28th.
For the first Wrestling Weekly of 2017, Les Thatcher and Vic Sosa look at Kazuchika Okada vs. Kenny Omega from the Tokyo Dome and look ahead to Styles vs. Cena at the Royal Rumble!
Everyone’s been talking about it, so we had to start with a few thoughts on the outstanding Tokyo Dome main event.
After that, Les joins the “SmackDown is better than Raw” bandwagon (11:36) and Vic talks about why he wants to see AJ Styles remain WWE Champion (18:41) throughout the road to WrestleMania. We’ll discuss what Jeff Jarrett and Dutch Mantell becoming consultants (24:14) could mean for the direction of Impact Wrestling, the return of Chris Hero to NXT (35:22), and find out if Les had to choose between Corbin and Strowman in terms of who has more upside, who would he pick (42:43)?
– Montez Ford & Angelo Dawkins defeated Adrian Jaoude & Cezar Bononi
Standing shooting star press by Ford for the pin.
NXT TV tapings —
– They showed Peyton Royce and Billie Kay attacking Asuka in the parking lot before the show started.
– Billie Kay & Peyton Royce defeated Sarah Bridges & Macey Estrella
The Aussies had a lot of heat with the live crowd. They won with a double team finish on Bridges with Royce dropping her on Kay’s knee.
– Asuka ran down after the match while being held back by security to attack Kay and Royce but was roughed up until Nikki Cross made the save. After clearing the ring, Cross attacked Asuka herself.
– Elias Samson defeated Jonathan Cruz
Fans booed Drifter all match until he won with his finish.
– Andrade “Cien” Almas defeated Oney Lorcan
Almas got a decisive win with his leg sweep DDT.
– NXT Tag Team Champions DIY defeated The Revival to retain their titles
Great match with some excellent near falls and a hot finish. DIY won with the double running knee/kick to both men. The Authors of Pain jumped DIY from behind after the match and left them laying.
– Nikki Cross (w/ SAnitY) defeated Kennadi Brink
– Roderick Strong defeated Steve Cutler
Sick Kick by Strong for the win. Post-match, he said he doesn’t care what Almas says (they’re seemingly building to a match between the two) as his goal is the NXT title.
– Tye Dillinger came out to talk about his future. The crowd chanted “Royal Rumble” and “Number 10.” He was then interrupted by SAnitY who had a jacket for him and wanted him to join.
Dillinger dropped it and put the “10” hands in Eric Young’s face, which started a brawl. Big Damo, who was not with SAnitY thus far in the taping, came through the crowd and destroyed Dillinger.
– Ember Moon defeated Liv Morgan
Stunner off the top by Moon. They shook hands after but Morgan appeared to be disappointed.
– Shinsuke Nakamura and Bobby Roode had a contract signing for their match at TakeOver: San Antonio. Good stuff here. The crowd was into both men and reacted to all their statements.
– Aliyah defeated Mandy Rose by submission.
– No Way Jose defeated Kona Reeves
Jose used his half nelson slam for the victory. The Drifter then showed up to massive heat. Jose sang “Just Drift Away” to the tune of his own song and Drifter left angrily.
– Eric Young (w/ Alexander Wolfe and Nikki Cross) defeated Chris Atkins
Young would say “10” when landing strikes as he wants to face Dillinger. Young won with a wheelbarrow neckbreaker.
– TM61 defeated The Revival
Nick Miller won with a roll-up, then The Revival destroyed him. They left Shane Thorne laying with a Shatter Machine and he was tended to by doctors.
– William Regal announced a fatal four-way NXT Women’s Championship match at TakeOver: San Antonio with Asuka defending against Kay, Royce, and Cross. He said that, despite his better judgment, he wants to hear from all four women in the match.
This turned into a wild brawl with Kay and Royce fighting Asuka and Cross before the Aussies backed off, allowing Asuka and Cross to fight. Cross jumped off the top to the outside, taking out Asuka and a swarm of security as Kay and Royce looked on in shock.
Possibly dark match main event —
– NXT Champion Shinsuke Nakamura & Tajiri defeated Samoa Joe & Bobby Roode
Nakamura pinned Joe with the Kinshasa.
– Chris Hero returned to NXT after the match. The titantron referred to him by his old NXT name of Kassius Ohno. He entered the ring and looked at Nakamura before leaving.
After three years outside of NXT where he further established himself as one of the best in-ring talents in the world, Chris Hero returned to WWE at tonight’s NXT TV tapings.
Going by his old NXT name of Kassius Ohno, Hero came out in a suit and went face-to-face with NXT Champion Shinsuke Nakamura. The segment came at the end of the taping, and Hero entered the ring and looked at Nakamura before leaving.
Our NXT reporter JJ Williams notes that it could have possibly been a dark segment rather than something that will air on television.
Triple H posted a picture with Hero on Twitter and welcomed him back to WWE. Gabe Sapolsky also announced that EVOLVE would be saying goodbye to Hero at their two shows in San Antonio, Texas over Royal Rumble weekend on January 27th and 28th.
Dave Meltzer reported in December that Hero would be returning to WWE at the start of 2017 if everything went according to plan. Hero has wrestled all around the world for the past three years for a variety of promotions.
Hero originally signed with WWE in 2012 before being released by the company in 2013.
2016 was a banner year for the business of pro wrestling from top stars moving to new in-ring zip codes, new technology affecting everything from how wrestling is presented to how talent gets signed, and several surprising in-ring results and happenings that had our faithful readers buzzing.
Unless something else substantial happens in the next few days (on Wednesday of course), the following is #6-10 of our most viewed news stories for the year that was 2016 — a mix of legal happenings, signings, and injuries.
Well, even those working for pro wrestling websites can get swerved from time to time. And by “those”, I mean “me”.
We got a note from a reader that Bayley had hurt her knee in a match with Nia Jax at a set of late-April tapings, and thanks to our roving reporter JJ Williams, we even had a few pictures. Seeing as she was one of NXT’s biggest stars, this was a no-brainer to do a story on.
However, it was soon pointed out that one of the medical personnel attending to her was actually a developmental talent, so “(maybe)” got inserted into the headline soon thereafter. The injury was part of a storyline and now both Bayley and Jax find themselves on Raw every Monday sans recurring knee injuries.
One of the stranger news stories of the second half of the year was the Billy Corgan and TNA/Dixie Carter business marriage quickly turning into divorce. It culminated with a lawsuit by Corgan in an attempt to gain control of the company based on money owed to him and some terms in the contract he signed.
The documents becoming unsealed moved things forward to what ultimately was a court loss for Corgan. However, he was soon made whole by eventual TNA financial angel Anthem Sports & Entertainment and settled everything with the company. Individuals? Not as much yet, but you can hear more about that in his interview with Dave Meltzer & Bryan Alvarez.
Following in the footsteps of Daniel Bryan, Finn Balor became the latest anti-establishment wrestling star to get injured just when it looked like he had broken through the McMahon double-tempered glass ceiling.
In his eventual successful win over Seth Rollins to win the first WWE Universal title at SummerSlam, Balor suffered a labrum tear on a power bomb spot into the barricade outside the ring, putting him out of action for what was expected to be 8-12 weeks and soon turned into 4-6 months.
After surgery, the injury was worse than they expected and as we turn the corner into 2017, there’s no timetable for his return although plenty of fans are hoping it will be at this year’s Royal Rumble even though that would be at the short end of the recovery spectrum.
He has been making appearances in the UK and was on stage at the announcement of WWE’s UK championship tournament, so he’s not completely out of sight. However, we’ll be more excited to see him back in the ring competing in 2017.
Even if LU isn’t the most watched pro wrestling show out there, a freak injury to one of their top stars was enough to get this story in our top 10.
In a deathmatch against Dragon Azteca, Mutanza (aka Jeff Cobb) punched through a window and sliced a vein in his arm badly enough to the point the match had to be stopped and he had to be sent to the hospital.
Cobb was fine and re-taped the match with Azteca at a later date.
Hero had another fantastic in-ring year on the indies, drawing praise for his matches in PWG, EVOLVE, and in various UK promotions. Regardless of who he worked for and where, reports sent into us always featured glowing remarks about his matches.
That’s what made his soon-to-be inked deal with WWE of such interest. He had already had one run in the company’s developmental group and was a member of NXT before it was truly NXT. That he would be returning to the promotion in any form or fashion was a surprise, but in the Content Era, all bets are off.
As of now, we’re still waiting to hear if all of Hero’s medicals and other pre-contract tests are a go, clearing the way for his signing. Where he goes from there and his course of action will then be another story of interest for our readers.
Later this week, we’ll run down our top five stories of 2016 and will follow up with the top 10 wrestling shows of the year after that.
– Trent Baretta defeated Candice LeRae using the Dudebuster.
Baretta did a great job in the role of the guy reluctant to fight a woman while LeRae was mad and would attack him in any way possible. LeRae makes a great babyface in peril and it was as good as it could be for the style they were doing.
– Trevor Lee defeated ACH with a fisherman buster.
Some strong athletic spots from both men. It was hurt by Lee kicking out late twice from near falls.
– Matt Sydal defeated Pete Dunne with a shooting star press.
This was Sydal’s first match in months. I don’t know if the two have ever wrestled before. Sydal still does some really impressive stuff regarding speed and agility. Good but not a blow away match.
– Bobby Fish & Kyle O’Reilly defeated Death By Elbow (Chris Hero & JT Dunn)
Match went nearly a half hour. Some stuff, like Hero’s strikes and some of the other interplay was great, but the crowd was in and out of it. Good match. O’Reilly pinned Hero after Chasing the Dragon.
– Hero did an interview after putting over the other three and also talking about how Baretta and LeRae tore it up earlier and then went on to address the elephant in the room, his own situation. He noted that he really doesn’t know (and right now that is the status of everything). It may be his last time here and it may not be.
He noted the situation with Willie Mack that a lot of guys talk about where he was in, told he was in, but then WWE decided against him being in and he never could get a reason why for months.
– Chuck Taylor defeated Adam Cole in a number one contender for the PWG title match.
A lot of comedy. Taylor is on a long winning streak here, not sure how far back but some thought it could be as long as two years.
– Jeff Cobb & Matt Riddle defeated PWG Tag Team Champions Young Bucks in a non-title match.
It seemed like this was to set up a title match program. Excellent match, very different from any Young Bucks match I’ve seen. The beginning was them selling that one-on-one they can’t compete with the wrestling and grappling and power of Cobb & Riddle. Eventually they used a lot of double-team moves and superkicks of course.
Cobb & Riddle have both improved greatly in the past few months when it comes to confidence and knowing what they need to do to get over. This was an excellent match. Riddle used the Bro 2 Sleep and Cobb used the Tour of the Islands to pin Matt.
It should be noted that Riddle came out first, and then Cobb, and everyone was excited to see them in a singles when the Bucks music came out and it was announced as a tag team match. The two do need to eventually do a singles program here since the match everyone on the indies has booked came from their interplay at BOLA.
– PWG World Champion Zack Sabre Jr. defeated Marty Scurll with a unique armbar type submission in a match that went more than 37 minutes to keep the title.
This was a technical masterpiece. Their styles are perfect for each other and it brought out the best in both men. It was like two technical masters of the old British style with the holds and escapes and counters, combined with modern moves, the strikes, the broken finger spot by Scurll.
Sabre’s selling was tremendous in the sense he’d do little sells of every injury from Scurll’s different body part damage throughout in subtle ways. Felt in many ways like watching a Billy Robinson match against someone of his style where you’d see things you’ve never seen before. They ended the show teasing Sabre vs. Taylor.
Sunday night brought a new era for Catch Point, but it seems that a new era for all of EVOLVE may soon be on the horizon.
“Hot Sauce” Tracy Williams defeated Drew Gulak in the main event of EVOLVE 75 to cement himself as the leader of the promotion’s top stable. The two worked hard and battled in a long match that culminated with Gulak tapping out to the crossface.
The storyline going into the night was that Gulak had said Catch Point was dead and a failure, while Williams was adamant that the group was bigger than Gulak. Gulak claimed that Williams would always be his protege, but he closed the show by passing the baton to him as Catch Point’s new leader.
Gulak won’t be able to participate in the upcoming WWN title tournament as a stipulation of the match, but that won’t matter as he said goodbye to EVOLVE and will be heading to WWE. After Chris Dickinson and Jaka hit the ring to ask to join the group, Williams made the decision to let them into the stable.
But the biggest news of the night was another impending farewell. We broke the news that Chris Hero would be heading back to WWE shortly before tonight’s show began. Losing Gulak and Hero is an obvious blow to EVOLVE. They are two performers that you can match pretty much anyone up against and expect a good match. And the departures come after the promotion had already lost Johnny Gargano, TJ Perkins, Tony Nese, and others to WWE recently.
Losing Hero hurts EVOLVE and independent wrestling as a whole, but no one is more deserving of a spot in the biggest wrestling company in the world than him. There is no stage too big for him. There is nowhere that he doesn’t belong. There is no card that he doesn’t improve. He’s worked seemingly every opponent, every style, and every place in the world this year while producing consistently mind-blowing results. I have no doubt that he will succeed in what comes next.
Hero was victorious tonight against DUSTIN after connecting with two piledrivers. It certainly wasn’t his best match in 2016, but it was another reminder that Hero can work well with almost any opponent.
In what was likely the best match on the show, Matt Riddle tapped out Ricochet with the Bromission after hitting the Bro to Sleep and jumping tombstone in the semi-main event. I’d love to see a longer contest between the two of them, but this was very good for the time it got. Their styles worked well together and the highlight of the match was Riddle catching Ricochet in a triangle after a People’s Moonsault attempt.
Dickinson and Jaka earned EVOLVE contracts earlier in the night after defeating Darby Allin and Peter Kaasa in a tag team match. They should be solid additions to a roster that needs bodies with so many people leaving. It would also be nice to see Kaasa in EVOLVE more, as he really seems to shine in tag team bouts.
Dick Togo completed his weekend in EVOLVE in losing fashion in a solid match against Ethan Page. Togo lost after Page pinned him with the Spinning Dwayne, but he stood tall after the match and fought off Page’s Gatekeeper (Blaster McMassive) to the delight of the crowd.
The show’s opener saw Jeff Cobb get his second win in as many nights. He defeated Fred Yehi after hitting the Tour of the Islands in a good match, then motioned that he wants the EVOLVE Championship after it was over.
Final thoughts:
EVOLVE 75 was a great live experience. This was far from their best card of the year, but everything was at least solid and worth checking out. It will be interesting to see where EVOLVE goes in 2017 with so much roster turnover.
I was also at Beyond Wrestling’s show earlier in the day. It streamed live on FloSlam and was a really fun time. Ricochet vs. Jonathan Gresham was probably the best match of the entire day, Brian Fury had his Beyond farewell in an emotional match against Donovan Dijak, and the Spirit Squad were in action.
EVOLVE 75 results:
“Hot Sauce” Tracy Williams defeated Drew Gulak
Matt Riddle defeated Ricochet
Chris Hero defeated DUSTIN
“All Ego” Ethan Page defeated Dick Togo
Chris Dickinson & Jaka defeated Darby Allin & Peter Kaasa to earn EVOLVE contracts
Barring a last minute change, Chris Hero is heading back to WWE, confirmed by a company source according to our Dave Meltzer.
Meltzer didn’t add whether he was heading to NXT or the main roster, nor did he give a timeframe. It’s still not a 100% done deal as pre-contract offer medical testing results need to be reviewed.
On the Saturday night edition of Wrestling Observer Radio, Meltzer answered a reader question about Hero’s lack of bookings for 2017 to which Meltzer said he had some suspicions, adding that he heard about Evolve Wrestling perhaps having some plans for him in the future.
The soon-to-be 37-year-old (born Chris Spradlin) has been in WWE developmental before as Kassius Ohno, spending 2012-13 in Florida Championship Wrestling which became NXT. He was released in November 2013.
Hero has been active on the indies every since, putting on great matches worldwide against a multitude of opponents, including working three shows this weekend for Evolve and Beyond Wrestling.
This would be the latest big indy name WWE has signed recently, a group that included Roderick Strong, Tommy End, Big Damo and others.
We’ll have more on this story on the next Wrestling Observer Radio.
It was likely inevitable that EVOLVE would eventually encounter streaming troubles on FloSlam, but the timing couldn’t have been much worse than during Saturday night’s main event between Chris Hero and Dick Togo.
The stream went out completely for a decent portion of the match but returned with some minor issues for its conclusion. In what seemed to be the caliber of bout that everyone hoped it would be, the Japanese veteran pinned Hero with his second Pedigree of the night and a senton from the top rope.
FloSlam tweeted that they’re trying to get the full replay of the main event up as soon as possible and blamed the problems on a cable getting accidentally unplugged.
Hero put over Togo after the match and praised the crowd at La Boom in Queens, New York, by calling it a special place. That brought out DUSTIN with a chair. DUSTIN offered to face him right there instead of tomorrow at EVOLVE 75, but Hero struck him and walked off while flipping him off.
Prior to the stream issues, EVOLVE 74 was one of the most fun cards that the promotion has put on all year. The highlight of the show came prior to the main event when EVOLVE Tag Team Champions “Hot Sauce” Tracy Williams and Fred Yehi successfully defended their titles against the team of Ricochet and Peter Kaasa in an excellent match.
The finish came when Kaasa attempted a shooting star press on Williams but missed and got caught in a crossface. Yehi prevented Ricochet from breaking up the submission and the Catch Point team held onto their titles as Kaasa tapped out. The match was at its best when Ricochet and Yehi were in the ring, but Williams and Kaasa managed to shine as well.
Williams appeared earlier in the show in an in-ring interview segment with former stablemate Drew Gulak. The returning Larry Dallas interviewed Gulak after his win over Jaka. Dallas asked him if Catch Point was dead, to which Gulak replied that Catch Point is a failure and it’s time to focus on the next chapter of his career — maybe the WWN title.
That brought Williams out to the ring, where he said that Catch Point is bigger than Gulak and always has been. The two will face off in Melrose, Massachusetts, tomorrow.
Gulak was able to get back on the winning track against Jaka in the show’s opener. The match was really good and it was by far the best Jaka has looked in an EVOLVE ring. He held his own with Gulak, who was also excellent in the bout. Gulak won with the dragon sleeper after a great slapping sequence.
Jaka’s tag team partner was also unable to get a victory on the show as Chris Dickson fell to DUSTIN after he hit the Awful Waffle. Dickson and Jaka will take on Darby Allin and Kaasa tomorrow, with Dickinson and Jaka getting EVOLVE contracts if they win.
Allin was in action against Brian Cage tonight. The two put on the exact type of match that you would want to see them have. Allin dove onto Cage as he was making his entrance and then hit a trust fall inside of the ring. Cage took control on offense after that and was victorious after launching Allin onto the stage. Allin lost by countout despite his best efforts to dive back into the ring, but he was able to keep his promise that he wouldn’t be pinned by Cage.
Ethan Page and one of the Gatekeepers (Blaster McMassive) then came down to the ring. Page handed Cage a check and thanked him for taking care of business after his problems with Allin. Page cut a promo on Cody Rhodes before the Bullet Club’s newest member came out for their match.
The overbooked contest saw shenanigans at the end with ref bumps and interference. The Gatekeeper and Cage interfered, causing Allin to come back out and attack Cage. Rhodes gave him a too sweet, but then threw him onto the pile on the outside. Rhodes won with a low blow and the Cross Rhodes.
In his EVOLVE debut, Jeff Cobb defeated Matt Riddle with the Tour of the Islands. The two put on a good match that culminated with Riddle almost getting the win after the Bro to Sleep and jumping tombstone. Riddle tried to apply the Bromission, but Cobb was too big to put the hold on. The two were previously booked against each other in a tag match in PWG and a singles match in AAW before bringing their rivalry to EVOLVE.
Stokely Hathaway hit the ring after Cobb’s win. He said that for the first time in his life he was almost speechless. He attempted to recruit Cobb to the Dream Team by saying that he’d never have to work for anything in his life again. Hathaway said that if there was a dictionary that defined what a professional wrestler should be — the three examples would be TJ Perkins, Timothy Thatcher, and Cobb.
Hathaway offered him a contract to join the Dream Team, but Cobb said the only contract he wants is one for a shot at the EVOLVE Championship against Thatcher.
Final thoughts:
Despite the stream problems at the end, this was a fun show that is worth going out of your way to see. The tag title match was the obvious highlight for me, but Cobb vs. Riddle and the opener with Gulak and Jaka were also very good.
The highlights of tomorrow’s show look to be Williams vs. Gulak, Ricochet vs. Riddle, and Cobb vs. Yehi. I’ll be in the building for it and Beyond Wrestling earlier in the day.
EVOLVE 74 results:
Dick Togo defeated Chris Hero
EVOLVE Tag Team Champions “Hot Sauce” Tracy Williams & Fred Yehi defeated Ricochet & Peter Kaasa
Though he’s been consistently incredible for the entirety of 2016, this week might prove to be the defining stretch in Chris Hero’s mind-blowing year.
Hero capped off a stretch that previously saw him wrestle Tomohiro Ishii and Katsuyori Shibata to rave reviews in England and included a genuine EVOLVE Match of the Year candidate against Tracy Williams last night by wrestling twice at EVOLVE 73 on Sunday.
In what was another excellent match, Hero concluded his trilogy with Matt Riddle in victorious fashion. Hero ended the match with a short piledriver, jumping piledriver, and Gotch piledriver combination to come out of the series ahead. They traded strikes all match long with Riddle selling Hero’s blows like they were death. At one point, Riddle hit the Bro to Sleep but Hero connected on a rolling elbow to send both men to the mat.
But that wasn’t the end of the night for Hero. Drew Galloway came out after the match and attempted to declare victory in his war against Catch Point and EVOLVE. That brought out “Hot Sauce” Tracy Williams and Fred Yehi, who wanted a shot at the tag team titles. Williams said that Catch Point wasn’t a failure despite what Drew Gulak had said, and he proved that by tapping out Hero last night.
Galloway said that he trusted Hero with his life, and the title match seemed to be set with Hero defending on Galloway’s behalf after noting that he was no one’s solider. But two more teams were added to a four-way elimination match as Gulak wanted to team with his WWE tag team partner Tony Nese and Ethan Page wanted his Gatekeepers to show their dominance.
Interference from Darby Allin saw The Gatekeepers get eliminated first. And the champions were the second team out after DUSTIN tapped out to a crossface from Williams. With Catch Point facing off against Gulak, it was Williams and Yehi who won the titles after Yehi submitted Nese with the Koji clutch. Nese showed good sportsmanship after the match by shaking hands with the new champions, but Gulak denied the Catch Point handshake and walked out on the stable.
After the show went off the air, William Regal appeared in front of the live crowd and offered Nese a WWE contract. Another WWE contracted talent appeared before the show went on the air as well with Tommy End defeating Williams in a dark match that WWE allowed End to participate in after Galloway wasn’t able to wrestle due to injury.
The main event was the result of a change to the card after the scheduled EVOLVE Championship match between Timothy Thatcher and Nese had to be canceled due to Thatcher suffering a concussion last night. Gabe Sapolsky tweeted that Thatcher is doing much better today, but said Thatcher would be cautious in recovering after the injury.
Gulak was in action earlier in the show in an excellent match against Zack Sabre Jr. The two worked an incredibly unique and almost entirely mat-based bout with Gulak picking up the win after submitting Sabre with a dragon sleeper. Sabre tried to use his arm to get the ropes, but Gulak wrapped that up as well as Sabre tapped out.
The match went over 20 minutes as Gulak and Sabre worked their styles masterfully. They previously had a standout match in the Cruiserweight Classic and another in EVOLVE this year, with this around the level of both of those.
Earlier in the night, Page got his second win of the weekend by defeating Chris Dickinson in a largely uninspiring match. And Jason Kincaid continued to shine in EVOLVE in a match against seminar-attendee Icarus. During the finishing sequence, Kincaid hit a diving blockbuster to the outside before jumping off of a pole near the turnbuckle and connecting on a double stomp for the win. Jaka pinned Allin for the second straight night in the show’s opener.
Final thoughts:
The FloSports era kicked off with two good in-ring outings for EVOLVE. This show had two matches worth going out of your way to see. The third match in the Hero vs. Riddle trilogy lived up to the previous two matches, and Gulak vs. Sabre was excellent as well.
It should also be noted that the show was much better off not having Joey Styles on commentary. Aside from his garbage remarks, Styles was genuinely awful last night and really hurt the show. Lenny Leonard was again fantastic solo and continues to be a bright spot on EVOLVE shows.
EVOLVE 73 results:
Fred Yehi & Tracy Williams defeated Tony Nese & Drew Gulak, EVOLVE Tag Team Champion DUSTIN & Chris Hero, and The Gatekeepers in a four-way elimination match to win the tag titles
Chris Hero defeated Matt Riddle
Drew Gulak defeated Zack Sabre Jr.
Ethan Page w/ The Gatekeepers defeated Chris Dickinson w/ Jaka
Image: Revolution Pro Wrestling. Results submitted by reader Jan Buxton from Walthamstow, London, England.
– Charlie Garrett & Joel Redman defeated EVIL & BUSHI by DQ
Decent match with Garrett as a standout. Obviously not wanting either team to do the job so LIJ were DQed when BUSHI used the mist.
– Drew Galloway came out to cut a promo. He put over the UK scene and he was clearly upset to be missing this show, he had hoped this would be his first match back. He explained that Japan had always been a goal as yet unrealized and he had asked to be on this show. He had a confrontation with Josh Bodom as he left, presumably setting something up down the line.
– Josh Bodom defeated Tomoaki Honma
This was a good match. One thing Bodom brings is some genuine heel heat to his matches. Bodom was physically sick just after getting the win.
– Yuji Nagata defeated Trent Seven
This was really good. Nagata had better chemistry with Seven than with Dunne last night. Seven is a big crowd favorite. Dave Mastiff came out after the match and attacked Seven.
– Will Ospreay defeated Jushin Liger
Ospreay dressed as “Dark Liger” in a black Liger costume. This was really fun, it had some good comedy and Ospreay dressing up gave the proceedings a new twist.
– Tomohiro Ishii defeated Pete Dunne
A lot of people liked this match but it was underwhelming for me for quite a while. It did however pick up towards the end. Dunne hit a low blow but was foiled by Will Ospreay coming out to distract both him and the referee allowing Ishii to hit a low blow of his own and get the win.
– Tetsuya Naito & SANADA defeated Zack Sabre Jr. & Marty Scurll
Like the first LIJ tag match, this had too much referee Chris Roberts being really bad at his job narrative but that gripe aside it was very good. Both Naito and Scurll come across as such stars. Naito pinned ZSJ after hitting a Destino.
Scurll cut a promo saying that he was leaving the territory and had signed for ROH and Sabre Jr. was moving to the states. He said we should say our goodbyes and that the LDRS were forever. He got a standing ovation but…swerve! Scurll gave ZSJ a low blow from behind and it looks like we will get that match at some point. Interesting dynamic as heel Scurll is pretty beloved at this point, and some of the crowd had turned on Sabre.
– British Heavyweight Champion Katsuyori Shibata defeated Chris Hero to retain his title
This was perhaps a bit shorter than ideal at 13 minutes but was still a great match. Both guys were over with the crowd and there were some incredible strikes. Shibata kicked out of a piledriver and the elbow/Gotch piledriver combination. Shibata won with the PK. I really hope Hero gets a run in NJPW in 2017.
Image: Revolution Pro Wrestling. Results submitted by reader Jan Buxton from York Hall in London, England.
– Marty Scurll defeated Jushin Liger
This was really enjoyable, both guys are so at ease in the ring and worked in their trademark stuff.
– Tomoaki Honma defeated Sha Samuels
This was solid enough without hitting any heights. Interference from James Castle on Samuels’ behalf backfired and Honma got the win.
– Yuji Nagata defeated Pete Dunne
Another solid rather than spectacular affair.
– Chris Hero defeated Tomohiro Ishii
This was great. It always surprises me every time I see Ishii live how small he is and Hero was noticeably bigger and took the dominant role. But Ishii kept firing back. Eventually a piledriver, elbow, and Gotch piledriver in succession got the win for Hero. He put over Ishii on the mic after the match.
– Will Ospreay defeated BUSHI
This was a good match; Ospreay never seems to have a bad one.
– Los Ingobernables de Japon (Tetsuya Naito, EVIL & SANADA) defeated David Starr, Trent Seven & Tyler Bate
Fun six-man. Naito didn’t do much but he is so cool. There was some comedy which was a nice change of pace before things got more serious. EVIL got the win for his team by pinning Starr.
– Katsuyori Shibata defeated British Heavyweight Champion Zack Sabre Jr. to win the title
This was very good. It started with some mat wrestling before really kicking into gear when they started kicking the hell out of each other. ZSJ removed the tape from Shibata’s injured shoulder and targeted that. There were lots of kicks and strikes back and forth. Shibata hit the penalty kick and got the pin to win the title.
Shibata offered a handshake after the match but Scurll dragged Sabre away. Chris Hero came out to stare down Shibata. Hero vs. Shibata is on night two, presumably now for the title.
Following an at times lackluster outing at EVOLVE 70, Sunday night saw EVOLVE present what might have been the company’s best show of the year.
While everything on EVOLVE 71 was good, the most surprising bright spot was Timothy Thatcher taking on Drew Gulak in the show’s opener. The iPPV portion of the broadcast opened with Thatcher and Gulak in street clothes ready to go at it after a segment with William Regal before the show started, and Thatcher showed the fire that’s too often been lacking in his EVOLVE matches.
Thatcher and Gulak brawled throughout the arena, and outside of it, in a very good match. And it was Gulak who picked up the win in the non-title street fight after he caught Thatcher in the ropes with a dragon sleeper.
I wasn’t sure what the direction for Thatcher was after getting a decisive win over Ethan Page on Saturday night, and I’m still not sure where his title reign goes from here, but the Thatcher that faced Gulak on Sunday night was the best version of him. Thatcher had teased a more aggressive turn in his match against Gulak in August, and we saw a lot of that in this match.
And we got some idea of what’s next for Thatcher after the match, as he accepted Stokely Hathaway’s proposal to join the Dream Team. The pairing is an obviously odd one, but having Hathaway at Thatcher’s side should provide an interesting element to his character and present a more clear direction.
After losing to Thatcher on Saturday night, Page also got back on the right track at EVOLVE 71. Page got a clean win over Sami Callihan in a hard-hitting sprint after hitting a package piledriver.
Before his match against Callihan, Page promised to bring utter chaos to EVOLVE. And he managed to do so later in the show. Along with The Gatekeepers, Page came out to attack Zack Sabre Jr. after Sabre beat Fred Yehi in an excellent mat-based match. Sabre was stating his intent to challenge for Thatcher’s title when Page hit the ring to lay him out.
In what was likely the best match on the show, Matt Riddle once again delivered in the main event after being positioned as the new face of EVOLVE following Johnny Gargano’s departure. It was a battle between two of 2016’s most impressive wrestlers as Riddle faced off against Chris Hero, and Hero came out on top after hitting an elbow to the back of the head following an excellent finishing sequence.
After the match, Catch Point was more united than ever as they saved Riddle from a beat down at the hands of Hero, DUSTIN, and Drew Galloway.
What made EVOLVE 71 so impressive was the depth of the card. And that was on display in the second match of the night as Catch Point’s Tracy Williams took on Jason Kincaid. The two had a really good match, with Williams getting the win after hitting a big piledriver. Kincaid looked especially good in the match while showcasing some unique offense, and he’s someone that should definitely find a place on future EVOLVE cards.
The show also saw DUSTIN defeat Darby Allin. But if there’s anything the match will be remembered for, it’s Allin’s death-defying Coffin Drop trust fall off of one of the arena’s pillars. It’s going to take a lot to fill the void on the card left by Gargano and TJ Perkins, but having new regulars like Allin is helping to alleviate some of the burden.
The Gatekeepers also again managed to look impressive as they won in a quick squash against Joe Coleman and Eric Locker.
Final thoughts:
EVOLVE 71 was everything that Saturday night’s show wasn’t. It was one of EVOLVE’s best outings of the year, and the depth of the card even after the loss of Gargano and Perkins was impressive. Every match was worth seeing, with Riddle vs. Hero and Sabre vs. Yehi being the show’s most obvious highlights. But picking the match of the night off of this card will really depend on personal preference.
EVOLVE 71 results:
Chris Hero defeated Matt Riddle
Zack Sabre Jr. defeated Fred Yehi
DUSTIN defeated Darby Allin
“All Ego” Ethan Page defeated Sami Callihan
The Gatekeepers defeated Joe Coleman & Eric Locker
“Hot Sauce” Tracy Williams defeated Jason Kincaid
Drew Gulak defeated EVOLVE Champion Timothy Thatcher in a non-title street fight
With Joey Styles making his first post-WWE appearance on commentary, Timothy Thatcher walked out of EVOLVE 67 in Brooklyn, NY on Saturday afternoon still holding the EVOLVE Championship.
This weekend was teased as Thatcher’s redemption with title defenses against Catch Point’s Matthew Riddle on Friday and Drew Gulak on Saturday, but the live crowd didn’t seem to think Thatcher was redeemed at its conclusion.
Thatcher defeated Gulak with a stiff head-butt in a 20-plus minute title defense. The result is surprising given all the time spent on the Thatcher vs. Catch Point feud. And though the match wasn’t bad, it was clearly the wrong match in front of this crowd.
Thatcher showed more of a mean streak than usual, but the crowd struggled to retain much interest in the match. They were occasionally vocal in their dislike of Thatcher and actively booed him retaining at the finish. The post-match featured a possible heel turn as Thatcher locked in a sleeper on Gulak as he was trying to show Thatcher respect.
What’s next for Thatcher isn’t immediately clear. Zack Sabre Jr. mentioned challenging for the title earlier in the night and that’s a potential direction. But it felt like a huge missed opportunity to come out of the weekend without a title switch.
There were exciting possibilities for the future if either Riddle or Gulak won the title, and Thatcher retaining feels like starting over after ending a program without the conclusion it required.
In stark opposition to the Thatcher vs. Gulak match, Chris Hero and Cody Rhodes worked the exact match they should have in front of the Brooklyn audience.
The match started with some wild crowd brawling and led to Hero obliterating Rhodes with strikes for much of the match. There was a spot where Hero grabbed a sign of Dusty Rhodes’ head from a fan in the crowd and started beating Rhodes with it. Rhodes made a comeback and kissed the sign.
Hero was able to pick up the win after interference from Drew Galloway. Hero capitalized by hitting three rolling elbows in the corner and following it up with a huge elbow to the back of the head for the victory.
Hero was fantastic in this match, which isn’t surprising given the outstanding year he is having. The dynamic of the match worked well with Hero playing the bully heel and Rhodes taking a great beating.
There was still much to be desired in Rhodes’ work as his offense looked unconvincing when matched against Hero’s, but this was a good second outing for Rhodes as he looks to find his footing outside of WWE. Whether he will be able to adapt when working against opponents that don’t compliment him as well as Hero remains to be seen, and there is still a clear learning curve ahead.
The show peaked in the middle of the card with back-to-back fantastic matches. Riddle followed up his incredible performance against Thatcher on Friday night to defeat Tommy End. The crowd was behind Riddle and it felt even more like not putting the title on him was a mistake given the reception he got.
They worked a hard-hitting match that saw Riddle again show how great he is at legitimately selling offense. Riddle was able to lock in the Bromission on End to pick up the submission win.
End said farewell to EVOLVE after the match as he gets ready to head to the WWE Performance Center soon.
Following that, Cedric Alexander took on Sabre in a WWE Cruiserweight Classic Spotlight match. The crowd was split early, but Sabre became the clear heel as the match went on. He interacted with the segment of the crowd that was taunting him during the match, then finished it in violent fashion as he delivered kicks to Alexander’s head.
The show’s main event featured an out of sync brawl pitting Galloway, DUSTIN, and Ethan Carter III against TJP, Fred Yehi, and Ethan Page with Galloway and DUSTIN’s EVOLVE Tag Team Championship on the line. “Hot Sauce” Tracy Williams was supposed to team with his Catch Point partners, but was taken out by EC3 and DUSTIN before the match began.
Page came out during the match to even the odds, but Galloway and DUSTIN retained their titles when DUSTIN hit a second piledriver on TJP after a botched pin on the first one where the referee didn’t count the finish.
Galloway has been leading a crusade against EVOLVE and their relationship with WWE, and he tried to recruit a new member in Brooklyn as he asked Joey Styles to join his team. Styles made a surprise appearance earlier as he opened the show and was on commentary for the title match.
Styles seemed to consider Galloway’s offer, but rejected the group after the match and took shots at Galloway and EC3’s employers in TNA Wrestling. Rhodes made the save after the main event concluded and sent the crowd home with a promo.
Rhodes said that he was born a wrestler and would die a wrestler, and just like the crowd, he was born a wrestling fan and would die a wrestling fan. He thanked the audience as the show went off the air.
Earlier in the afternoon, Page made quick work of Kobe Durst in the show’s opener. And Tony Nese defeated Peter Kaasa in a match that showed the athletic ability of both men.
For just Riddle vs. End and Sabre vs. Alexander alone, this show is worth watching. But the puzzling booking of the title match and the flat main event made it ultimately a disappointment.
EVOLVE will return to New York with EVOLVE 68 in Long Island on September 10th and EVOLVE 69 in Queens on September 11th. The latter show will see Johnny Gargano’s farewell to the promotion, and it was announced on Saturday that Gargano would team with Rhodes to take on Galloway and Hero in his final EVOLVE match.
EVOLVE 67 results:
Drew Galloway, DUSTIN, & Ethan Carter III defeated TJP, Fred Yehi, & Ethan Page with Galloway & Dustin retaining their EVOLVE Tag Team Championship
EVOLVE Champion Timothy Thatcher defeated Drew Gulak to retain his title
