WWE EVOLUTION

Atlanta

BECKY LYNCH vs. BAYLEY vs. LYRA VALKYRIA (16:25): The WWE wanted to counter AEW's All In Texas show by running three shows in three days. They had an NXT PPV that went directly against All In Texas on Saturday afternoon. They had Goldberg's retirement to Walter on Saturday Night's Main Event. And then this all women's PPV on Sunday night. I think the problem with this strategy was that most wrestling fans were only talking and thinking about that Moxley/'Hangman' match after the weekend was over. All of these WWE shows were pretty much forgotten. That Goldberg match was terrible and NBC even cut away from his retirement speech to show whatever dumb thing they had scheduled at 10 PM. This show had a decent opener and a good main event. I doubt very many people even watched this show, though. It was originally scheduled last weekend at the Mohegan Sun casino in Connecticut. That show would have probably been sold out and actually watched. They got a decent crowd for this, considering it was only the 2nd all women's PPV they've ever done. If you remember, the first one was spawned out of the controversy of them doing a show in Saudi Arabia and the women not being allowed on it. I'm not sure why it took them so long to do another one or even why they decided now to do it. This first match was fairly good. Becky and Lyra have had a feud going but they decided for whatever reason to insert Bayley into it. It would've been better if she wasn't in this match, honestly. Becky retained. The crowd was pretty hot for most of this show which helped. **1/2 (out of ****)

JACY JAYNE vs. JORDYNNE GRACE (10:28): This was for the NXT women's title. I don't watch NXT, although Bryan and Dave on Wrestling Observer radio seem to always say good things about it. I watched this show two days ago and don't even remember anything about this match, though. *

THE JUDGMENT DAY (RAQUEL RODRIGUEZ & ROXANNE PEREZ) vs. ALEXA BLISS & CHARLOTTE FLAIR vs. SOL RUCA & ZARIA vs. THE KUBIKI WARRIORS (ASUKA & KAIRI SANE) (10:52): Sol Ruca was pretty exciting to watch in this match. She wore super short, super tight tights which probably helped. Charlotte Flair got cheered here, but wasn't she booed at Wrestlemania? I feel like she's booed all the time except on this show. At least there was a lot going on in this match with so many wrestlers. **

TIFFANY STRATTON vs. TRISH STRATUS (8:37): I always look up how old Trish Stratus is when I see her wrestling. She's not even that old (49). She must've been a child when she was stripping and barking like a dog for Vince. She just came back to wrestle every now and then a year or two ago. What was she doing for the last 20 years? Did she work in, like, real estate or something? Maybe she just raised kids. I doubt she had a ton of cash from the Attitude Era because I don't think they paid women a lot back then. Tiffany was once a big, bright shining star. She seemed to have cooled off. What happened? Match was okay. *1/2

JADE CARGILL vs. NAOMI (11:15): The only thing I remember from the last Evolution PPV in 2018 was that great main event that had Becky Lynch and Charlotte wrestle in a Last Woman Standing match. I figured they'd have a bunch of gimmick matches to make this all women's show palatable to some people who'd probably never watch an all women's show. You know...like throw a cage or ladder match on the show. This was it: a hardcore match. This just felt silly, especially after seeing Moxley falling on a bed of nails and 'Hangman' being dragged through broken glass yesterday. I mean...that was hardcore. They used a Singapore cane and a table. Naomi lost but then became the champion later. Makes sense. *

STEPHANIE VAQUER "BATTLE ROYALE " (15:32): The WWE signed two big international stars in Stephanie Vaquer from CMLL and Giulia from Stardom. They even pushed them on NXT...so why didn't they have singles matches on this show? Odd. They did give Stephanie Vaquer the win here and gave her a post-match interview with Stephanie McMahon even though she can barely speak English. Vaquer gets a title shot at the PPV in France in August. Why not Summerslam? Who the fuck knows? Giulia was in this match, along with Nikki Bella, Nia Jax, Natalya, and a bunch of women I barely know. I do know Piper Niven...but why is she dressed like Travolta and Samuel L. Jackson from Pulp Fiction? Did one of the writers watch Pulp Fiction one night and then say, "Hey, let's dress up someone from Pulp Fiction!" Probably. This was an over-the-top Battle Royal, so Kelani Jordan ended up on the announce desk at one point and had to do a handstand and walk to the ring so her feet didn't touch the floor. That was cool. **

NAOMI vs. IYO SKY vs. RHEA RIPLEY (26:19): This was by far the best match of the night. Iyo Sky is very entertaining, and Rhea is one of the better women's wrestlers in the WWE. Naomi cashed in her Money in the Bank contract towards the end of the match to make this a three way. She ended up winning the title. The crowd still always goes crazy for these cash ins. Who ever came up with that gimmick is a genius. Seth Rollins has the men's briefcase, but he got injured on Saturday Night's Main Event and might be out for a while. This match had a lot of action and drama and the crowd was into it. Not much more you can ask for. ***

AEW ALL IN TEXAS

 

Globe Life Field, Arlington, Texas

THE SONS OF TEXAS (DUSTIN RHODES, MARSHALL VON ERICH, ROSS VON ERICH & SAMMY GUEVERA) vs. SHANE TAYLOR PROMOTIONS (CARLIE BRAVO, SHANE TAYLOR & SHAWN DEAN) (7:11): This was AEW's first stadium show in the U.S., so it was a big deal. The show was at the Texas Rangers' baseball stadium. They got a little over 25,000 people. It looked impressive, though, which was a plus. The show was good, though AEW has had better PPV's this year. The only negative was that the show was really long. It went 6 hours plus about 1 hour of pre-show matches. There weren't any bad matches on the show, though they probably could have cut a few matches off the show to make it shorter. While the Omega/Okada match was a disappointment, it was still a pretty good match, just nothing near as good as their previous 4 matches years ago in New Japan. What mattered is that the main event and the ending to the show were great. The pre-show opened with this match, with Kevin Von Erich giving The Claw to one of the bad guys, which got a big pop, and something they kind of had to do in Texas. **

BIG BOOM AJ & THE CONGLOMERATION (HOLOGRAM, KYLE O'REILLY & TOMOHIRO ISHII) vs. THE DON CALLIS FAMILY (HECHICERO, LANCE ARCHER, ROCKY ROMERO & TRENT BERETTA) (12:52): Big Boom AJ, his son, and The Rizzler are still a thing? The crowd seemed into their shenanigans, so I guess they are (they're internet stars, apparently). The funniest part was when Trent Beretta pushed Big Boom AJ's son to the ground outside the ring. That was amusing because he's, like, 13 or something. **

FTR vs. THE OUTRUNNERS (16:12): These two teams had a hell of a match two weeks ago on Collision. I guess they figured that FTR has nothing else to do on this show so why not do a re-match? It was fine, though nothing as good as their first match. It looks like they're setting up FTR vs. The Hurt Business, which is kind of weird because both teams are supposed to be heels. The Hurt Business is cheered everywhere, though. **

THE OPPS (KATSUYORI SHIBATA, POWERHOUSE HOBBS & SAMOA JOE) vs. DEATH RIDERS (CLAUDIO CASTAGNOLI & WHEELER YUTA) & GABE KIDD (14:29): The main card opened with this trios championship match. Really, they could have cut this. The crowds popped big for Samoa Joe and they cheered for all of Hobbs' big, power moves. Match was fine. **

MJF vs. ANTHONY BOWENS vs. BANDIDO vs. BRODY KING vs. JOSH ALEXANDER vs. JUICE ROBINSON vs. KONOSUKE TAKESHITA vs. KOTA IBUSHI vs. MARK BRISCOE vs. MAX CASTER vs. MISTICO vs. RICOCHET vs. RODERICK STRONG vs. THE BEAST MORTOS "CASINO GAUNTLET MATCH" (34:52): One reason this show was so long is that they did a men's and women's Casino Gauntlet match. The only surprise entrant was Juice Robinson making his return after injury. The Gunns returned, albeit they weren't in the match, they just came out to beat up The Gates of Agony, who were helping Ricochet. The crowd was into this because of the countdowns for each star and it was a fun match. They did a good job on TV the last few weeks setting up MJF vs. Briscoe, who were the first two entrants, plus setting up MJF vs. Mistico. MJF won a title contract. **1/2

DUSTIN RHODES vs. DANIEL GARCIA vs. KYLE FLETCHER vs. SAMMY GUEVARA (14:23): Adam Cole was supposed to defend his TNT title against Fletcher. Cole was injured, apparently with a concussion, so he came out to say he may have to retire and he's relinquishing the title. I think the retirement thing is because he's had a bad run of various injuries the last few years, including a history of bad concussions. Dustin Rhodes shockingly won the TNT title here. He wept like a baby when he won. Is the TNT title that important? I don't think he cried when him and Sammy won the ROH tag titles. Still, it was a nice scene when he won and made the title seem important. **

SWERVE STRICKLAND & WILL OSPREAY vs. THE YOUNG BUCKS (26:16): This match was fantastic, perhaps the best of the night. I was a little upset that AEW didn't have their best wrestler, Ospreay, in a singles match on their biggest show of the year. I can't really complain, though, as this was one of the year's best match. It was super entertaining, dramatic, and exciting. The Bucks came out in a ship a la Washington crossing the Delaware. They were dressed up in colonial garb while the ring announcer read some ridiculous, hilarious screed about them being the founding fathers of AEW. By the end of this match, The Bucks had Ospreay sitting against the ropes while they pummeled him with non stop kicks to the face. Swerve moved in front of Ospreay to save him and take the kicks himself. This was just an awesome match filled with a ton of action and high spots. Swerve and Ospreay won so they're now the EVP's of AEW, whatever that entails. ***1/2

ATHENA vs. ALEX WINDSOR vs. JULIA HART vs. KRIS STATLANDER vs. MEGAN BAYNE vs. MINA SHIRAKAWA vs. QUEEN AMINATA vs. SYURI vs. TAY MELO vs. THEKLA vs. THUNDER ROSA vs. WILLOW NIGHTINGALE "CASINO GAUNTLET MATCH" (27:01): Syuri, from Stardom, was really the only surprise entrant. This worked because the crowd was into it, which helped (they were fairly quiet for most of the TNT match and some parts of the trios match). Athena wins a title contract. She's already the ROH women's champ. **1/2

THE HURT SYNDICATE vs. JET SPEED (KEVIN KNIGHT & MIKE BAILEY) vs. THE PATRIARCHY (CHRISTIAN CAGE & NICK WAYNE) (18:59): Jet Speed did a bunch of crazy, high flying, top rope moves, which at least provided entertainment. The Hurt Syndicate retained the titles. After the match, Nick Wayne turned on Christian. FTR, who were doing commentary, came in to help Nick Wayne give a conchairto to Christian. Before that could happen, Edge returned to spear the bad guys. Then he told Christian to "go find himself" and left. **1/2

TONI STORM vs. MERCEDES MONE (25:11): The crowd was into this, which helped. I was kind of surprised Toni Storm won. She gave Mercedes a top rope Storm Zero to win. Match was okay but never heated up into anything great. The crowds at every AEW show love Toni Storm. Her ridiculous, 1920's Hollywood gimmick works for whatever reason. Storm retained the AEW women's title, though Mone still has, like, seven other belts from various promotions. **

KAZUCHIKA OKADA vs. KENNY OMEGA (31:05): I didn't expect this to as good as any of their epic 4 matches in NJPW years ago (their last one was 7 years ago). There was a glimmer of hope, though, because Omega vs. Gave Kidd from the Tokyo Dome in January was one of the best matches of the year (I still think that Ospreay/Fletcher cage match was the best of the year). Omega still has it. Okada vs. Ospreay from earlier this year was pretty great, too. Sadly, this was disappointing. It was a good match just not as good as their previous matches. The bar was too high to overcome. I think one reason is that both of these guys are older. Omega/Kidd was helped because of the brutality (chair shots to the head, broken tables, blood) plus Gabe Kidd is young. Omega and Okada are both too old to be doing what they did in New Japan 7 years ago. They did everything they used to do, but it wasn't as fast, exciting, or dramatic as what they used to do. **1/2

'HANGMAN' ADAM PAGE vs. JON MOXLEY "TEXAS DEATH MATCH" (35:53): When 'Hangman' beat Ospreay to get into this match, I was truly surprised. Ospreay is the best wrestler in the world. Why the heck haven't they put the title on him yet? AEW did a hell of a job setting up this match and paying it off, though. And 'Hangman' is a cowboy, it's in Texas, they did the Texas Death Match gimmick since it's in Texas. Plus the crowds fucking love 'Hangman' and this match ended up making more sense than Ospreay/Moxley. 'Hangman' and Moxley actually already had a Texas Death Match, two years ago at Revolution. What could they possibly do different? Well, they brought out a bed of nails (which AEW actually used before in that Blood & Guts match with Kota Ibushi). This match was, obviously, sadistic. They had a fantastic camera close up shot with 'Hangman' holding Moxley in a headlock and stabbing his forehead with a fork. He actually was jabbing him because you could see the instantaneous blood popping in rivulets across his forehead. What a grotesque camera shot that was. Jesus. Moxley gave 'Hangman' a suplex off of the apron through two tables wrapped in barbed wire. Moxley brought out a bucket of broken glass and dumped it in the ring then started stepping on the half broken bottles to make more shards. Then Moxley dragged 'Hangman' across the glass, which got a deafening roar of shock from the crowd. The ending had Bryan Danielson return, wearing a Luchador mask for some reason. They didn't even play his entrance music or anything, he just showed up in the ring to do his "Yes" chant and then give Moxley the flying knee. Darby Allin, who had recently been away because he climbed Mt. Everest, repelled from the ceiling then attacked Moxley and the Death Riders, who came out to interfere. They did play a short clip with Darby on top of Mt. Everest, saying he's going to come down from the mountain to take out Moxley. Swerve ended up coming out. This played into a years long storyline of 'Hangman' and Swerve hating each other's guts. Swerve showed up at Adam Page's house to watch his child sleeping in his crib. Then 'Hangman' burned down Swerve's childhood home (really...this one perhaps AEW's best and funniest moment). So those two have issues. But they seemingly made a truce with a locker room chat on Collision this week where 'Hangman' left a chain at Swerve's feet. Swerve came out here and gave 'Hangman' the chain. Moxley gave 'Hangman' a stomp onto the bed of nails. Marina Shafir was handcuffed by Prince Nana by the ring bell so she couldn't help Moxley. 'Hangman' gave Moxley his finisher clothesline and Moxley fell onto the bed of nails. The crowd went wild for that spot. Then 'Hangman' choked out Moxley with the chain while Moxley was dangling off the ropes to the floor. Moxley tapped out. 'Hangman' got the keys to the briefcase that held the AEW championship (it had been locked away since Moxley won it last October). 'Hangman' Adam Page pulled out the title and held it up. This was great and very cathartic. Page wins the title for the second time. This match was excellent and, really, the best way possible they could have ended this show. ***1/2