The Bearded One Presents: Evolve 3: Rise or Fall Review

[The Bearded One]

I am a fan of independent wrestling, as are many other people on this board. So for that reason I am going to start reviewing independent shows. I’m not sure if I am actually going to give star ratings (like X) or grade ratings (like KB), but I’m definitely going to say how good of a match it is. My first independent show review is:

Evolve 3: Rise or Fall

I chose this because it just came in the mail today, along with both Evolve 4 and 5. I might eventually go back and review the first two Evolve shows, but since I just got done watching them, although they were really good, I don’t want to watch them again right now.

For those of you who do not know, Evolve wrestling is one of Gabe Sapolsky’s promotions, the other being Dragon Gate USA. It places high emphasis on records and sportsmanship and offers a unique product in the process. They have only had six shows so far, and only five have been released on DVD, but I would like them to have more shows in the future, even though Sapolsky looks more focused on booking Dragon Gate USA at the moment.

Well without further ado, let’s get to the review (rhyme was unintentional)!

EVOLVE 3: Rise or Fall

Rahway, New Jersey

5-1-2010

Sami Callihan (0-0) vs Adam Cole (0-0)

This should be a pretty good match. Callihan improves every time he gets in the ring and Cole is now in a tag team with Kyle O’Reilly in Ring of Honor. This is both wrestlers’ debut. Callihan charges Cole the moment the bell rings and gets a quick two count. Cole gets the advantage with a Northern Lights Suplex and then throws Callihan out of the ring. Cole tries to German Suplex off the apron but gets knocked off. Callihan tries a baseball slide, but gets caught and German Suplexed into the apron! Holy crap. Callihan regains the upper hand by slamming Cole as he tried a high risk maneuver. A springboard lariat by Callihan takes Cole down on the apron. Cole regains the advantage with a springboard DDT, but he is unable to make the pin. He tries for a cross body, but Callihan avoids him. Callihan hits six consecutive short clotheslines, but Cole will not go down. Callihan hits the ropes and is met by a big boot from Cole for a two count. Callihan gets the submission with the Stretch Muffler! He wins his first Evolve match.

Rating: ** ¾. This is what Evolve is all about: Short, but action packed matches. This might have went 10 minutes, but they were moving the entire time. A very good opener to get the crowd going.

Johnny Gargano vs Ricochet

This should be another very good match. I’m a big fan of Gargano and Ricochet had a great 2010. Gargano’s scrunchie is yellow for the record. A nice little wrestling sequence as both men appear to not want to be the first to make a mistake. Ricochet hits a nice series of arm drags that sends Gargano reeling to the outside. He tries to dive to the outside, but Gargano dives through the ropes and hits a spear. Gargano is being much more serious, which is nice because it plays into the importance of this match. He has had the upper hand ever since he hit the spear and Ricochet cannot get any offense in. Ricochet gets a quick advantage, but Gargano blocks a standing moonsault attempt for a two count. Muay Thai knees get another two count for “The Whole Shebang.” Gargano tries another spear, but misses and gets hit with a Lionsault. Ricochet hits him with a flurry of kicks for a two count. He runs up the chest of Gargano but gets his head kicked off with two superkicks, which gets another near-fall. Fans are behind Ricochet here as he misses a cannonball in the corner. Gargano seems a step ahead at all times here. He lawn darts Ricochet head first into the second turnbuckle and then missed a splash. Ricochet tries another Lionsault but is met with a dropkick. Gargano hits Hurts Donut, but Ricochet gets his foot on the ropes. He tried to shoulder block Ricochet in the corner, but goes shoulder first into the post. He hits the Shooting Star Press, but Gargano gets his foot on the rope. Gargano escapes to the outside, and he hits some kind of flipping-twisting dive off the top, and appears to have jacked-up his knee. We get a double count out, but there must be a winner. The first wrestler to get back to the ring is the winner. And that man is Gargano. Really lame ending to a decent match, but Gargano improves his record to 2-1.

Rating: ** 1/4. The ending hurt this match a lot. It wasn’t as good as the first match, but it was still decent enough. I had a hard time rating this match.

Gargano says it doesn’t matter how he won, it was a win. He says the only thing questionable is Jimmy Jacobs’s sexuality. He then starts making outrageous claims about his abilities, which are hilarious.

Jon Moxley complains about Evolve’s rules. He says they need to set him loose. Moxley proves in this promo how great he is at doing these. You believe every word he says.

WSU Title Match
Mercedes Martinez vs Brittney Savage


Savage is absolutely gorgeous, holy hell. How is she not a diva? Martinez is basically the dominant female wrestler, that’s about all I know about either of these ladies. Savage gains the early advantage with a lung blower, but Martinez quickly makes her comeback. Martinez hits a big running boot in the corner and follows that up with a Fisherman Buster for the three.

Rating: *. It was a squash. I'm not really sure how to rate it.

After the match, Martinez challenges Amazing Kong to a match! That should be pretty awesome!

Three-Way Match
Up In Smoke vs Aeroform vs Team Beyond

I’m going to go ahead and say this now. I will not be able to keep up with this match. So I will just write about any good spots in the match. I’m a big fan of both Up In Smoke (1-0) and Aeroform (0-2), but I have never heard of Team Beyond. This is their Evolve debut. Flip Kendrick of Aeroform and one member of Team Beyond start us off. The only records that will be affected are the teams involved in the decision. Kendrick dominates early, but the other member of Team Beyond. It’s Lucha tag rules in Evolve. Yeah, I was right. I can’t keep up. Both members of Aeroform are on the outside and the members of Team Beyond try for a dive, but they are met by Up In Smoke. Cheech has both members of Team Beyond locked up in a submission that is impossible to describe. Silver (I think) of Team Beyond hits a springboard hurricarana from the ring to the outside. All the men are fighting on the outside and Flip Kendrick hits a huge dive and wipes everyone out. Nice teamwork by Up In Smoke gives them the advantage. Team Beyond almost had a three count on Up In Smoke, but Aeroform broke it up. Holy shit! Burnett of Team Beyond just thudded back first from the ring to the floor. Ouch! Flip Kendrick hits a Spiral Tap 540 for the three count on Silva. Aeroform improves to 1-2 while Team Beyond falls to 0-1. Up In Smoke argues with Aeroform after the match.

Rating: **1/2. Fun little match here. Team Beyond definitely has potential, but they are clearly not in either of the other team’s league. But they all went all-out and put on an entertaining match.

Jon Moxley vs Drake Younger

I doubt I’m going to like this match. Moxley is good on the mic, but he always disappoints me in the ring for some reason. I don’t know much about Younger, but he is met with a bunch of boos. This is both wrestlers debut. They start slugging it out the moment the bell rings. They go back and forth for a bit and Moxley gains the upper hand and is working over the left arm of Younger. They exchange some loud chops and forearms. Younger charges Moxley in the corner and drills him with a lariat and gets a two count. Mox counters a clothesline attempt with a side slam and now has the advantage. Moxley hits a piledriver, which is a move I don’t see very much anymore. Moxley has a modified STF, but Younger is able to fight out of it. A Death Valley Driver gets two for Younger. Moxley charges Younger in the corner, but gets sent to the outside. Younger hits him with a front flip off the top rope! These guys are taking chances tonight. A Frog Splash connects for two for Younger. Moxley hit an STO with the left arm hammerlocked. He now has Younger in a Fujiwara armbar, but Younger makes it to the ropes. Moxley is seated on the top turnbuckle and is getting repeatedly headbutted by Younger before getting superplexed. Moxley is busted open. Moxley hits a release suplex on the floor, which has to hurt since it’s an exposed basketball court. He rolls Younger back in the ring for a two count. Moxley locks the Cross face Chicken wing, but Younger rolls out of it. Younger gets a quick series of near falls, but can’t put Moxley away. Younger hits Drake’s Landing for the three count to finally end it and improve his record to 1-0.

Rating: **. An ok match, but nothing special. It kind of dragged for a good bit without any direction, but overall it wasn’t bad. Since I’m new to actually rating matches, I guess not bad is two stars.

Chris Hero vs Bobby Fish

Neither man has won a match yet. Fish is 0-2 and Hero is 0-1. Hero is of course accompanied by Castagnoli. Fish hits knees but is driven into the corner and Hero gains the advantage for the moment, but it doesn’t last long. Neither man is able to keep the advantage for long as they are able to fight out of any hold they’re put in. Muay Thai knees and leg scissors gives Fish the advantage, but Hero is right back on him. Fish sends Hero to the outside with a dropkick, but is met with boot. He sends Hero to the outside once again, and this time connects with a springboard. Castagnoli distracts Fish long enough to give Hero time to recover, but he gets hit by a hurricarana by Fish. Fish appeared to hit a diving head butt, but Hero made the cover. That was odd. The two men are trading chops and forearms, and Hero hits one of his famous elbows for a two count. A senton by Hero gets another two count. Hero is just beating the hell out of Fish, but he refuses to go down. A snap suplex by Fish brings both men down. Hero may have tried for the elbow one too many times as Fish hits him with the Falcon Arrow for a two count. Fish appears to have found his second wind is kicking away at Hero. Fish goes for a moonsault, but Hero rolls out of the way. Hero hit another rolling elbow and Fish kicked out once again. Hero is just destroying him with elbows and chops. Fish hits a leaping knee strike as a last gasp defense and both men are down. Both men reach their feet and Fish hits a neck breaker into a small package for a two count. A head kick gets another two count for Fish. Elbow to the back of the head gets a two count for Hero. These two guys are beating the hell out of each other. Fish is landing knee after knee on Hero and it only gets a two count. A huge rolling elbow by Hero, but Fish kicks out at one! Hero just gets pissed and straight up murders Bobby Fish! Holy shit! Chris Hero improves to 2-0 and Bobby Fish falls to 0-3.

After the match, Brad Allen comes to check on Fish and Hero talks trash to him.

Rating: ***3/4. Wow! What a match. Fish took everything Hero had and still kept going, but in the end it was just too much. Both men were spot on the entire time. Check this match out! I might be overrating this a tad, but it's a very, very good match.

Bryan Danielson will be at Evolve 4 and 5!

Four-Way Match
Gran Akuma vs Brodie Lee vs Chris Dickinson vs Hallowicked

This is another match I’m not going to be able to keep up with, so please go easy on me. Dickinson (0-2) annoys me for some odd reason. Lee (0-1) is a good big man and is now on tour in Japan with Dragon Gate. I’ve always liked Hallowicked (0-1), he’s an interesting character. And something about Akuma (1-0) just creeps me out. The three men team up on Lee and send him to the outside. Akuma has Hallowicked in a camel clutch and allows Dickinson to drop kick him. Dickinson tries to reverse the roles, but Akuma drop kicks him instead. A big boot by Lee takes Akuma out and over head belly-to-belly suplexes Dickinson out. Hallowicked hits a hurricarana on Lee and follows that up with a step up knee. We get a big Tower of Doom, and it ends in a frankensteiner by Hallowicked and Lee and Dickinson fighting on the outside. Tornado DDT gets two for Akuma on Hallowicked. Lee just suplexed both Hallowicked and Akuma in one motion. Lee buckle bombs Dickinson into the corner, but is met by a kick by Hallowicked. Go To Sleepy Hallow on Dickinson. Lee just power bombed the demons out of Hallowicked. Dickinson got his head kicked off by Brodie Lee and then gets hit by the Truck Stop for the three count. Brodie Lee improves to 1-1 and Chris Dickinson falls to 0-3.

Rating: **1/4. Fun match here that really put Lee over as the dominant big man. It was not as good as the earlier match I gave this rating to, but two stars didn’t seem like enough.

TJP (0-1) vs Kyle O'Reilly (2-0)

Now this is what I am talking about. I’m pumped for this match! These are two fast, hard strikers. Both men go for early arm bars, but neither can lock it in. Another nice wrestling sequence gives TJP the edge in a side headlock. TJP has O’Reilly’s legs trapped, but he is able to maneuver out of it. They lock hands and exchange monkey flips, but TJP locks on an STF. They stand up and O’Reilly misses a couple of drop kicks and he stays on his back trying to lure him in. He pops up and they exchange a series of strikes as no man is able keep the advantage for long. A springboard kick by O’Reilly gets a two count. He charges TJP and is met with a huge kick. TJP tries to jump off the turnbuckles and is met with a dropkick. TJP suplexed O’Reilly to the floor! That had to hurt both guys. O’Reilly was the first to enter the ring, but neither man appears to be in good shape. Under hook suplexes by O’Reilly and he went for a third, but TJP pushed him off and hits and ace crusher for two. O’Reilly catches a kick and turns it into an ankle lock. TJP rolls it into a pin attempt, but O’Reilly kicks out and holds on to the submission. TJP eventually reaches the ropes. O’Reilly goes for a brain buster, but it’s blocked. They both hit kicks at the same time and they are both down. They exchange shots. They are just pounding on each other! TJP locks on a cross arm breaker and transitions it into a figure four death lock for the submission victory! He improves to 1-1, while O’Reilly falls to 2-1.

Rating: ***1/4. Another really good match here. Both men beat the hell out of each other and it was quite enjoyable. I hope both of these men get a chance to wrestle again in the future, and that they are given more time.

Jimmy Jacobs (2-0) vs Brad Allen (2-0)

Jacob’s crew comes out for his match. I don’t know their names, but I know they’re annoying as hell. This is a big match-up record wise as one of these men will be the first to 3-0. Allen is on a quest to face Chris Hero, but Hero thinks he is beneath him. I like both of these guys, so this should be good. Jacobs goes for his guillotine early, but Allen throws him off. Jacobs asks for a handshake, but he kicks Allen in the gut instead. A big kick gives Allen the advantage. A head butt by Jacobs puts him in control of the match. A nice springboard cross body gets a near fall for Allen and he follows it up with a delayed vertical suplex. Jacobs just got launched face first to the floor! Allen follows him to the outside to continue the beat down. Jacobs’ crew distracts him long enough for Jacobs to regain the advantage. He hits repeated double stomps and an elbow drop for a two count. A nice spear into the corner by Jacobs gets another two count. He is wearing Allen down with a body scissors, but he gets lifted up and driven into the turnbuckles. Jacobs goes for a top rope back senton, but Allen gets his knees up and both men are down. Allen gains control and hits a springboard senton for a two count. Allen blocked the Contra Code, but gets caught in the End Time. He fights out of it and Allen escapes to the outside. He dives at Allen and lands in another End Time. Allen launches him off and on to the floor. Both men are down on the outside. Both men make it back in at the count of 19. They are exchanging blows and Jacobs gains the advantage for the moment, but Allen hits a chin breaker. He misses a corkscrew plancha. Jacobs follows up with a Contra Code for a two count. Another End Time by Jacobs, but he is suplexed into the turnbuckles. A neck breaker gets a two count for Allen. Jacobs once again locks in the End Time and Allen is out! Jacobs improves to 3-0 and Allen falls to 2-1.

Rationg: ***. It wasn't as good as the previous match, but it was still a good match. Jacobs is good as always and Allen continues to impress.

Claudio Castagnoli (1-0) vs Chuck Taylor (1-0)

Here we go, it’s the main event! This should be another very good match. Castagnoli backs Taylor into the corner and gives him a light slap to the face. They mat wrestle for a second and Castagnoli carries him and sits him on the turnbuckle. Castagnoli locks in a bow and arrow, but Taylor counters into a pin attempt. Castagnoli counters a monkey flip into a delayed vertical suplex. Castagnoli is just scary strong. Castagnoli gets the upper hand after they roll around on the mat for a bit. He is hitting Taylor with forearms to the kidney repeatedly. Castagnoli with a suicide dive! I’ve never seen that out of him. Taylor went flying back 10 feet from that dive. He follows that up by pressing Taylor over the top rope from the floor. Castagnoli hits a diving European uppercut from the top rope. He dead lifted gut wrench suplexed Taylor. Good Lord, CC is a strong man and he is just dominating this match. Taylor is able to fight him off for a moment, but Castagnoli quickly regains the advantage. Taylor fights back with some forearms and hits a dropkick to knock him off his feet. He hits an overhead belly-to-belly, but takes too long to celebrate and gets met with a clothesline by Castagnoli. A Ricola Bomb is blocked by Taylor, who connects with Soul Food, sending CC to the floor. Taylor goes for a dive, but gets caught and slammed into the apron. A cross body by Castagnoli gets a two count. The amount of high-flying by Castagnoli is surprising. Big swing gets transitioned into a Boston Crab by Castagnoli, but Taylor is able to reach the ropes. Castagnoli’s UFO is countered into a pin attempt by Taylor, but he is kicked off. A forearm sends Taylor to the floor, and once again Castagnoli goes to the top and pulls Taylor up with him. He hits a big boot from the apron to the top rope and goes for a top rope Ricola Bomb, but he gets knocked off the turnbuckle. Taylor hit a springboard suplex followed by a big dive to the outside and both men are down. CC goes for a bicycle kick but it is blocked by Taylor and turned into a single leg Boston Crab. Castagnoli’s UFO is one of the most amazing moves in all of professional wrestling. He locked in a STF, but Taylor is able to make it to the ropes. Taylor takes out Castagnoli’s legs and takes him down with a hurricarana. A super kick only gets a two count for him and both men are down. Taylor tries for the Awful Waffle, but it is blocked and Castagnoli hits a bicycle kick for a one count! A German suplex only gets two for CC. Taylor blocks a European uppercut into a backslide for two. Awful Waffle! That looked insane! Taylor gets the three count and improves his record to 2-0. A very good match here.

After the match, Chuck Taylor talks about how he’s going to change things at Evolve.

Rating: ***1/2. A very good match to close out a very good show. Taylor took a beating but was able to pull out the win. A very nice way to end the show.

Backstage, Jimmy Jacobs talks trash to Adam Cole. His annoying crew shows up, but Jacobs tells them off.

Show Rating: On a scale of 1-10, I would rate Evolve 3: Rise or Fall an 8/10. It was a very good show from top to bottom. It didn’t have any single great match, but it made up for it with a number of very good matches, and that’s just as good. This is definitely a must-see show.

 

[Thriller Ant]

Great review. EVOLVE 5 is my favorite of the first 5 shows, but 3 is probably right behind it with 1.

Sami Callihan (0-0) vs Adam Cole (0-0)

I like Cole, but I hate Sami Callihan with a fiery passion. He just isn't entertaining to me at all. With that said, this was one of his more painless matches for me, Cole looked good and helped carry him through it so it ended up being a nice opener.

Johnny Gargano vs Ricochet

Another good match. EVOLVE introduced me to both of these guys, and I have quickly become a fan of both. From a good wrestling match standpoint, I agree that the ending sucked. But from a booking perspective, this was brilliant. You have two of the guys that are being built as major players in the company facing off, so have the heel get some heel street cred with a sketchy win. Ricochet doesn't get hurt and Gargano gets over more as a heel. Great booking.

WSU Title Match
Mercedes Martinez vs Brittney Savage

I hate these. They are on every show and they suck. They can put women's wrestling in front of me as much as they want, but I still won't enjoy it.

Three-Way Match
Up In Smoke vs Aeroform vs Team Beyond

Another match with great booking. They were setting up a big tag team feud between Up in Smoke and Aeroform, but Aeroform had already lost 2 matches, meaning they were (kayfabe) on the chopping block, and UIS was being made to look pretty dominant. This gets solved by adding a third team for Aeroform to pin and keep the rivalry alive. Not to mention the great double team spots.

Jon Moxley vs Drake Younger

Everything I said about Callihan earlier also applies to Younger. I actually fast-forwarded through their match on 5 because I watched the first few minutes and wanted to kill myself. I like Moxley, and he's done good stuff in DGUSA, but this really came off to me as two CZW guys who can't get through a match without weapons. They just both felt lost to me and the match really reflected that to me.

Chris Hero vs Bobby Fish

Great stuff here. Fish gets forgotten in EVOLVE pretty easily because he keeps losing, but he has put on good matches every time out. Add in a Chris Hero match where 75% of his offense isn't the elbow strikes, and you have the makings for a very good match. Fish made Hero look like gold and Hero mixed up his offense a bit, which was very nice. Very nice match.

Four-Way Match
Gran Akuma vs Brodie Lee vs Chris Dickinson vs Hallowicked

Fun little four-way here. Lee is such a tough guy to book because so many indy guys are small, while Lee is easily big enough to walk into a WWE ring and be considered a threat. They did a good job with him here, and made sure they had someone less important in here to take the pin, a la the 3 way tag match.

TJP (0-1) vs Kyle O'Reilly (2-0)

I love Kyle O'Reilly. I actually saw him in an ROH dark match sometime last year, but when I started watching EVOLVE is when I became a fan. TJP is also very good, so I had high expectations for this match and wasn't disappointed. Great match here, and I hope both EVOLVE and ROH see what they have in these men and push them as such.

Jimmy Jacobs (2-0) vs Brad Allen (2-0)

Not a fan of Allen either. They made it clear starting from EVOLVE 1 that they wanted to push him, but I just think he is extremely boring and not that good in the ring. Jacobs continues to get pushed in Gabe's companies, but he really needs chill on the amount of times he uses the End Time in matches. It's reaching Hero elbow strike levels, and that is not a good thing.

Claudio Castagnoli (1-0) vs Chuck Taylor (1-0)

This match reminded me how good of a wrestler Claudio is. Whether it was using his scary strength or using dives or whatnot, he looked great out there keeping up with Taylor and doing something that big guys usually struggle to do against smaller ones: sell their offense. I really think this match achieved 2 of the ideals of EVOLVE: Let two indy guys who might not otherwise cross paths face off on a big stage, and use bigger name indy stars help put over guys that casual independent wrestling fans may not know. Excellent work all around in this match.

Show Rating: On a scale of 1-10, I would rate Evolve 3: Rise or Fall an 8/10. It was a very good show from top to bottom. It didn’t have any single great match, but it made up for it with a number of very good matches, and that’s just as good. This is definitely a must-see show.

I would probably go 7 or 7 1/2 myself, but besides that we pretty much agreed on everything else. I don't know which of the other EVOLVE shows you've seen, and if you are going in order or not, but make sure you watch 1 and 5 as 5 is the undisputed best show in EVOLVE thus far for me, and 1 is right around 3 for second place.

 

[The Bearded One]

Great review. EVOLVE 5 is my favorite of the first 5 shows, but 3 is probably right behind it with 1.

EVOLVE 3 was very good, as was the first one. Just looking at the match listing for the fifth show is getting me excited. But I still have to watch the fourth show before I get to that one.

I like Cole, but I hate Sami Callihan with a fiery passion. He just isn't entertaining to me at all. With that said, this was one of his more painless matches for me, Cole looked good and helped carry him through it so it ended up being a nice opener.

I actually kind of like Callihan. It's impressive how far he's come and how much he's improved in a few short years. When he was on ROH on HDNET for their first few episodes, I thought he was absolute shit. But now, I find him somewhat enjoyable. I wouldn't buy a DVD just because it has a Sami Callihan match, but it doesn't hurt it either. Adam Cole has always impressed me. I'm excited about his tag team with O'Reilly in ROH.

Another good match. EVOLVE introduced me to both of these guys, and I have quickly become a fan of both. From a good wrestling match standpoint, I agree that the ending sucked. But from a booking perspective, this was brilliant. You have two of the guys that are being built as major players in the company facing off, so have the heel get some heel street cred with a sketchy win. Ricochet doesn't get hurt and Gargano gets over more as a heel. Great booking.

I agree about it giving Gargano the sketchy win, but wouldn't a normal count out do the exact same thing? Because essentially, under the current rules, the 20 count doesn't really matter, so why even have a 20 count? They could have easily had Gargano pull Ricochet off the apron and jump in at 19 and Ricochet could've still been counted out.

Anywho, both Gargano and Ricochet continued to impress here. I've liked Gargano since I first saw him during FRAY! I saw on the first DGUSA show. He's a fun character to watch and he's just one of those guys you just love to hate. Ricochet always brings it and his match with Chuck Taylor at EVOLVE 2 is one of my favorite matches from the promotion.

I hate these. They are on every show and they suck. They can put women's wrestling in front of me as much as they want, but I still won't enjoy it.

I agree completely, but I'm still somewhat interested in the potential of Martinez vs Kong.

Another match with great booking. They were setting up a big tag team feud between Up in Smoke and Aeroform, but Aeroform had already lost 2 matches, meaning they were (kayfabe) on the chopping block, and UIS was being made to look pretty dominant. This gets solved by adding a third team for Aeroform to pin and keep the rivalry alive. Not to mention the great double team spots.

True, it was a fun match and I understand the booking. Team Beyond just seemed to be in high school when the other two teams were graduating college, if you know what I mean. They have potential, but they're not there yet. but still a good match.

Everything I said about Callihan earlier also applies to Younger. I actually fast-forwarded through their match on 5 because I watched the first few minutes and wanted to kill myself. I like Moxley, and he's done good stuff in DGUSA, but this really came off to me as two CZW guys who can't get through a match without weapons. They just both felt lost to me and the match really reflected that to me.

Yeah, Younger just seems so bland. I was shocked when he went over here, especially the way Gabe books Mox in other promotions. Mox is decent in the ring, but he leaves something to be desired. I don't know, maybe I just expect too much out of him.

Great stuff here. Fish gets forgotten in EVOLVE pretty easily because he keeps losing, but he has put on good matches every time out. Add in a Chris Hero match where 75% of his offense isn't the elbow strikes, and you have the makings for a very good match. Fish made Hero look like gold and Hero mixed up his offense a bit, which was very nice. Very nice match.

Hero really needs to calm down with the elbows. We get it, you can throw good elbows. But throwing 25 of them a match gets really, REALLY redundant. He's good enough to have a moer mixed up offense, but he always just falls back on his elbows. Fish is really good in the ring, it's a shame he's kind of forgotten. Him and Hero put on a excellent match here that told a great story, something indy wrestling is sometimes accused of not doing. If someone was wanting to get into EVOVE, this would be the match I would show them thus far.

Fun little four-way here. Lee is such a tough guy to book because so many indy guys are small, while Lee is easily big enough to walk into a WWE ring and be considered a threat. They did a good job with him here, and made sure they had someone less important in here to take the pin, a la the 3 way tag match.

Yeah, Brodie Lee is an interesting guy, but I like him. He is different than almost everyone on every roster and it's just nice to see a guy who is bigger than everyone just go out there and beat them down. I'm interested to see where this win will take him, as I haven't read any of the results for EVOLVE 4 or 5.

I love Kyle O'Reilly. I actually saw him in an ROH dark match sometime last year, but when I started watching EVOLVE is when I became a fan. TJP is also very good, so I had high expectations for this match and wasn't disappointed. Great match here, and I hope both EVOLVE and ROH see what they have in these men and push them as such.

You lucky bastard getting to go to ROH shows. My first taste of Kyle O'Reilly came from EVOLVE. I was wondering who the guy hanging out with Davey RIchards was, and it turned out to be O'Reilly and I was instantly a fan. He's like Davey Richards 2.0, and I mean that as a great compliment. TJP is always fun to watch, too. His strike combinations are amazing to watch. This was just a combination of two wrestlers who's styles meshed perfectly.

Not a fan of Allen either. They made it clear starting from EVOLVE 1 that they wanted to push him, but I just think he is extremely boring and not that good in the ring. Jacobs continues to get pushed in Gabe's companies, but he really needs chill on the amount of times he uses the End Time in matches. It's reaching Hero elbow strike levels, and that is not a good thing.

I liked Allen's match against Silas Young at the first EVOLVE show, and his match at EVOLVE 2 was ok, but it was hurt by the presence of Chris Dickinson. I'm a huge fan of Jimmy Jacobs, but I agree with you about the End Time. I don't think he can go two minutes without using that move. At least in this match he was getting pretty creative with how he applied it. But honestly, we need to have an intervention with him and Hero about using the same moves way too much. It's not helping anybody.

This match reminded me how good of a wrestler Claudio is. Whether it was using his scary strength or using dives or whatnot, he looked great out there keeping up with Taylor and doing something that big guys usually struggle to do against smaller ones: sell their offense. I really think this match achieved 2 of the ideals of EVOLVE: Let two indy guys who might not otherwise cross paths face off on a big stage, and use bigger name indy stars help put over guys that casual independent wrestling fans may not know. Excellent work all around in this match.

I agree completely. Claudio might be one of the most well rounded and best workers on the independent scene today. I was honestly surprised by how good this match was. I mean, they're both good, but I didn't know how good they would be together and they just clicked. Claudio showed off how awesome he is, and taylor took a beating while dishing out just enough to keep it competitive. And the Awful Waffle by Taylor seemed so impressive on a man the size of Claudio.

I would probably go 7 or 7 1/2 myself, but besides that we pretty much agreed on everything else. I don't know which of the other EVOLVE shows you've seen, and if you are going in order or not, but make sure you watch 1 and 5 as 5 is the undisputed best show in EVOLVE thus far for me, and 1 is right around 3 for second place.

I was debating between 7 1/2 and 8, but I was feeling generous since it was my first actual review. I've seen the first two EVOLVE shows, and I actually just re-watched them as I was waiting for 3,4 and 5 to come in the mail to get caught back up. But I didn't even think about reviewing them until I was halfway through EVOLVE 2. So it might be a little while before I get back to those two, but I will hopefully review EVOLVE 4 some time this week.

I also want to review DGUSA and the ROH shows I own, but I don't know if I can keep up with a lot of the DGUSA matches, and I own the most random collection of ROH shows, so I'm not sure anyone would be interested in reading them.

 

[Thriller Ant]

EVOLVE 3 was very good, as was the first one. Just looking at the match listing for the fifth show is getting me excited. But I still have to watch the fourth show before I get to that one.

I gotcha. 4 is good from what I remember, but 5 is the gold standard thus far.

I actually kind of like Callihan. It's impressive how far he's come and how much he's improved in a few short years. When he was on ROH on HDNET for their first few episodes, I thought he was absolute shit. But now, I find him somewhat enjoyable. I wouldn't buy a DVD just because it has a Sami Callihan match, but it doesn't hurt it either. Adam Cole has always impressed me. I'm excited about his tag team with O'Reilly in ROH.

I get what you mean about Callihan. He's definitely improving, I'll give you that, but he has a ways to go before he gets to a level where I enjoy watching him.

I like the potential of the O'Reilly/Cole team in ROH, but I'm also scared that it will just lead to them getting fed repeatedly to the established teams like KOW, ANX, the Briscoes, etc. I guess I'm cautiously optimistic.

I agree about it giving Gargano the sketchy win, but wouldn't a normal count out do the exact same thing? Because essentially, under the current rules, the 20 count doesn't really matter, so why even have a 20 count? They could have easily had Gargano pull Ricochet off the apron and jump in at 19 and Ricochet could've still been counted out.

I definitely see what you are saying, but I think the "sudden death" aspect really adds to the drama at the end of the match. If it is just the 20 count and that's it, and you see both guys still lying on the ground or pulling at the apron at 19, you know how it will end. The sudden death makes adds drama because you really don't know what will happen. There's no time limit, so either guy can win literally at any point; there isn't that count to give away when something is going to happen.

Anywho, both Gargano and Ricochet continued to impress here. I've liked Gargano since I first saw him during FRAY! I saw on the first DGUSA show. He's a fun character to watch and he's just one of those guys you just love to hate. Ricochet always brings it and his match with Chuck Taylor at EVOLVE 2 is one of my favorite matches from the promotion.

Gargano and Ricochet are a perfect example of a thread I might make talking about Gabe using crossover booking between EVOLVE and DGUSA. Taylor, Ricochet, and Gargano all got over huge in EVOLVE and now they are major players in DGUSA, with Ricochet even getting a tour and some wins in Japan.

I agree completely, but I'm still somewhat interested in the potential of Martinez vs Kong.

I won't spoil anything, but you will be disappointed.

True, it was a fun match and I understand the booking. Team Beyond just seemed to be in high school when the other two teams were graduating college, if you know what I mean. They have potential, but they're not there yet. but still a good match.

I totally get what you mean, and that's why they were fine there. They didn't need to look good and keep up with the other two teams. They just needed to get in a little offense and get pinned.

Side note: Was that the match where one of the guys on Beyond was leg swept between the ropes and landed back-first on the floor? That spot had me cringing for 5 minutes.

Yeah, Younger just seems so bland. I was shocked when he went over here, especially the way Gabe books Mox in other promotions. Mox is decent in the ring, but he leaves something to be desired. I don't know, maybe I just expect too much out of him.

His mic work is way ahead of his in-ring work. Mox that is. I haven't seen any CZW, so this could be blind assumption, but coming from a company with focus on weapons like that, matches don't need psychology when there are chairs and tables and thumbtacks. That would be my guess. If he has more experience outside of that environment he'll pull it all together.

Hero really needs to calm down with the elbows. We get it, you can throw good elbows. But throwing 25 of them a match gets really, REALLY redundant. He's good enough to have a moer mixed up offense, but he always just falls back on his elbows. Fish is really good in the ring, it's a shame he's kind of forgotten. Him and Hero put on a excellent match here that told a great story, something indy wrestling is sometimes accused of not doing. If someone was wanting to get into EVOVE, this would be the match I would show them thus far.

The biggest problem with him throwing so many elbows is that it takes away from the prestige of them. You know when guys hit a finishing move that it is over 98% of the time. With Hero's elbows, an unloaded strike ends a match about 10% of the time. They lose credibility so quickly with him throwing that many.

Yeah, Brodie Lee is an interesting guy, but I like him. He is different than almost everyone on every roster and it's just nice to see a guy who is bigger than everyone just go out there and beat them down. I'm interested to see where this win will take him, as I haven't read any of the results for EVOLVE 4 or 5.

I like Lee as well. He's another guy getting a nice push in DGUSA. It's good to see a bigger guy do some real wrestling on the independent scene and not just be used as a jobber to make the little guys look good.

You lucky bastard getting to go to ROH shows. My first taste of Kyle O'Reilly came from EVOLVE. I was wondering who the guy hanging out with Davey RIchards was, and it turned out to be O'Reilly and I was instantly a fan. He's like Davey Richards 2.0, and I mean that as a great compliment. TJP is always fun to watch, too. His strike combinations are amazing to watch. This was just a combination of two wrestlers who's styles meshed perfectly.

I'll be at the iPPV in 3 weeks . O'Reilly does remind me a lot of Richards and TJP is just a fun wrestler. It made for a very good match that I really enjoyed.

I liked Allen's match against Silas Young at the first EVOLVE show, and his match at EVOLVE 2 was ok, but it was hurt by the presence of Chris Dickinson. I'm a huge fan of Jimmy Jacobs, but I agree with you about the End Time. I don't think he can go two minutes without using that move. At least in this match he was getting pretty creative with how he applied it. But honestly, we need to have an intervention with him and Hero about using the same moves way too much. It's not helping anybody.

Yeah, see what I said earlier about Hero's elbows, because it applies to Jacobs and the End Time.

I agree completely. Claudio might be one of the most well rounded and best workers on the independent scene today. I was honestly surprised by how good this match was. I mean, they're both good, but I didn't know how good they would be together and they just clicked. Claudio showed off how awesome he is, and Taylor took a beating while dishing out just enough to keep it competitive. And the Awful Waffle by Taylor seemed so impressive on a man the size of Claudio.

I'm really surprised Claudio hasn't been snatched by TNA or WWE. He's good on the mic, has a great look, and is very good in the ring. Now that I think about that, all the stuff I just said about Claudio applies to Chuckie T as well. Two great wrestlers gave us a great match.

I was debating between 7 1/2 and 8, but I was feeling generous since it was my first actual review. I've seen the first two EVOLVE shows, and I actually just re-watched them as I was waiting for 3,4 and 5 to come in the mail to get caught back up. But I didn't even think about reviewing them until I was halfway through EVOLVE 2. So it might be a little while before I get back to those two, but I will hopefully review EVOLVE 4 some time this week.

I'll keep and eye out

I also want to review DGUSA and the ROH shows I own, but I don't know if I can keep up with a lot of the DGUSA matches, and I own the most random collection of ROH shows, so I'm not sure anyone would be interested in reading them.

If you post 'em, I'll read 'em. I'm always busy it seems or I'd review all the shows I have.

 

[X]

Sweet review man, don't know how I missed this. Good show all around, Bobby Fish has quickly become a favorite of mine over 2010 and I can't wait to see him get more bookings around the globe (he's been wrestling in NOAH quite a bit lately). Damn good match with Hero, ***1/2 for me and the main event was typically excellent like all of EVOLVE's main events, ***3/4 IIRC. Damn good show as usual, looking forward to your EVOLVE reviews and man I can't wait for their next DVD, feels like it's been FOREVER since their last one was released.

Very curious to see your thoughts on Fish-Danielson, but I'm also curious as to your thoughts on the Chris Hero-Ikuto Hidaka match at EVOLVE 2?

 

[The Bearded One]

Sweet review man, don't know how I missed this. Good show all around, Bobby Fish has quickly become a favorite of mine over 2010 and I can't wait to see him get more bookings around the globe (he's been wrestling in NOAH quite a bit lately). Damn good match with Hero, ***1/2 for me and the main event was typically excellent like all of EVOLVE's main events, ***3/4 IIRC. Damn good show as usual, looking forward to your EVOLVE reviews and man I can't wait for their next DVD, feels like it's been FOREVER since their last one was released.

Very curious to see your thoughts on Fish-Danielson, but I'm also curious as to your thoughts on the Chris Hero-Ikuto Hidaka match at EVOLVE 2?

Bobby Fish has been very good in all of his matches and I hope he gets more opportunities in the future (and maybe actually win a match). I liked the Hero-Fish slightly more than Castagnoli-Taylor, but they are both very good matches so it's not even worth debating.

As for Hero-Idaka, I'm having a hard time deciding on how much I like the match. It was a very technical and scientific match and I can appreciate that. Each wrestler had a counter for everything the other did and they picked a body part and worked on it. The leg work and arm work came into play when they picked the pace up towards the end and it made me happy to see the first 15 minutes of the match weren't a waste.

But during the mat wrestling portion of the match, Hero appeared to be going in slow motion to me. I'm not sure if he was showing he was being careful about his actions or what, but he just seemed to be moving so slowly. And it seems to me like Hero should have worked on Idaka's legs, while Idaka should have worked on Hero's arms. Instead we got the opposite, which doesn't really make sense, but I can let that slide as the psychology was still there.

All things considered, I enjoyed the match. If I had to give it a star rating I'd go with *** 1/2, but I feel like I am underrating it compared to what most others would give it. What did you rate it?

I'm looking forward to the Danielson vs Fish match. I should probably get to it no later than Tuesday night or Wednesday and hopefully have the review posted by Wednesday night.

 

[X]

As for Hero-Idaka, I'm having a hard time deciding on how much I like the match. It was a very technical and scientific match and I can appreciate that. Each wrestler had a counter for everything the other did and they picked a body part and worked on it. The leg work and arm work came into play when they picked the pace up towards the end and it made me happy to see the first 15 minutes of the match weren't a waste.

But during the mat wrestling portion of the match, Hero appeared to be going in slow motion to me. I'm not sure if he was showing he was being careful about his actions or what, but he just seemed to be moving so slowly. And it seems to me like Hero should have worked on Idaka's legs, while Idaka should have worked on Hero's arms. Instead we got the opposite, which doesn't really make sense, but I can let that slide as the psychology was still there.

All things considered, I enjoyed the match. If I had to give it a star rating I'd go with *** 1/2, but I feel like I am underrating it compared to what most others would give it. What did you rate it?

I personally loved the match had it rated at ****1/4, but I could see why it wouldn't appeal to everyone. I absolutely LOVED the story they told with Hidaka being far outmatched in size against Hero and him having to keep working and kicking away at Hero's legs to chop him down like he was a big redwood. For action alone it's probably more along ***3/4, but adding the psychology and storytelling I bumped it up past ****, really loved that match.

I'm looking forward to the Danielson vs Fish match. I should probably get to it no later than Tuesday night or Wednesday and hopefully have the review posted by Wednesday night.

Awesome, looking forward to it. Fish and Danielson put on a HELL of a match that I think you'll definitely dig. Really opened my eyes up to Fish.

 

[The Bearded One]

I personally loved the match had it rated at ****1/4, but I could see why it wouldn't appeal to everyone. I absolutely LOVED the story they told with Hidaka being far outmatched in size against Hero and him having to keep working and kicking away at Hero's legs to chop him down like he was a big redwood. For action alone it's probably more along ***3/4, but adding the psychology and storytelling I bumped it up past ****, really loved that match.

I see how people would love this kind of match, which is why I said I think I had it underrated for most people. It was a very good match, but I couldn't pull the trigger on anything higher than ***1/2.

I also agree about the story, but I was thinking they should have traded the body parts they worked on. If Hidaka would've worked over Hero's arms, it would've taken away his most lethal weapon in the elbow strikes. If Hero would've worked over Hidaka's legs, he would've taken away Hidaka's kicks, which are what eventually did him in. I like the story of Hidaka just trying to bring Hero down to his size, but I think it would've been interesting to see how both wrestlers would have adapted when their most valuable offenses weapons were taken away.

Awesome, looking forward to it. Fish and Danielson put on a HELL of a match that I think you'll definitely dig. Really opened my eyes up to Fish.

That's what I like to hear. I might actually bust it out tonight instead of watching RAW since the only thing that interests me right now is the 2-21-11 angle.