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. ***