Gargano wanted to be the guy to kick things off for WWN
in 2015 and had asked to be the first man to the ring. He said that as the
champion he’s the face of WWN and as such he wanted to be the one to thank
everyone in the world that had supported the group in 2014. It was basically a
spot of crowd-pleasing platitudes. A nice message but dull to get through.
Gargano’s second topic was more interesting and
significant for future EVOLVE shows. EVOLVE, Gragano felt, she be a company
young guys go to to prove themselves and earn their way to the top in the ring.
He outlined a very Sapolsky-esque sponsorship idea. Basically existing roster
members will recommend outside talent to be brought into the company.
Rich Swann came out. After joking about how Gargano's
previous title reign sent him loopy (because mental illness is so lol, right?)
he referred back to 2010 when he, Gargano and Chuck Taylor formed Ronin because
they felt they were being held down. It was a nice touch, highlighting that the
sponsorship initiative is not at all out of character for Gargano. Swann said
Gargano was meant to defend the Open the Freedom Gate championship against
Caleb Konley but he wouldn't because of an injury to Konley’s arm. Then he brought
out Shane Strickland as a guy he was endorsing and suggested Gargano wrestle
him instead.
Gargano said Ronin was born out of frustration because
they didn't get what they felt they were entitled to. He offered Strickland a title
shot because of this. Naturally Strickland accepted.
They started out with some mat wrestling, the champion
getting the better of the challenger. Strickland’s first notable move was a
drop kick, which in the grand scheme of things isn’t that notable at all. Still,
it was enough to send Gargano rolling to the outside where he avoided a
Strickland dive. Strickland, because he’s a super cool high-flyin’ babyface,
landed on his feet and returned to the ring with a frog cross body on ‘The
Whole Shebang’.
Strickland tried a springboard but got super kicked by
Gargano as he was on the second rope. Then he was hit with a backstabber. The
champion applied a modified Haas of Pain. After a few seconds he released the
hold and started twisting Strickland’s fingers about instead. After that he
hauled him back to his feet and gave him some chops.
Then it was time for that staple of Johnny Gargano
matches: the duelling suplexes spot. After that they traded some elbows and
Strickland scored an Ace Crusher. Gargano came back with a double stomp to back
of head. Strickland scored with a pop-up into a pair of knees. He used his
knees again Gargano attempted a belly-to-back suplex, countering out of the
move and sending the champ to the outside. Strickland attempted a moonsault off
the apron. He landed on his feet when Gargano moved, but he wasn’t quick enough
to avoid a super kick or a suicide dive.
Back in the ring Strickland did manage to catch Gargano's DDT, hoisting him up and hitting a twisting
brainbuster for a near fall. They traded forearms before Strickland wiped out Gargano
with a bicycle kick. Enziguri to Strickland. Roundhouse to Gargano. Strickland
charged Gargano in corner and got hit with a knee. He responded with a super
kick, a DDT and a phoenix splash for two.
The challenger returned back to the top rope but got
knocked down to the apron by Gargano. He springboarded back into ring but was met
by a super kick, a lawn dart and the Gargano Escape. He submitted within seconds
to end a very strong opener. It was a loss but one that did Strickland a lot of
good.
Champion and challenger shook hands after the match.
Strickland and Swann(who had remained at ringside) left together before Moose
showed up and speared Gargano. Swann returned to make the save. The Bravados
appeared and called Moose off. They told Gargano they had a problem with him
calling them jerks in China (which happened but was a very minor thing, as you’d
expect). They said they were fighting words and they intended to make Gargano
pay for them.
Trevor Lee versus a very over Biff Busick was match
number two. They had a very competitive, surely designed as something to get Lee
over in defeat as he withstood a battering from ‘The Manliest Man’. Lee got
plenty of offence in, being given the chance to show what he could do. Busick
won via submission with a rough takeover into the rear naked choke. They shook
hands afteards.
The Bravado brothers, with Moose, were out next. Both
Harlem and Lancelot did lots of slightly uncomfortable close talking into the
camera as they wandered around the ring. Harlem reminds me a bit of Miz in his
mannerisms. It's hard to argue that that's a good thing.
Their opponents were AR Fox and Uhaa Nation. There was a
comedy spot early on with Lancelot trying to barge Uhaa to his feet. He was
unable to do it so he did some press-ups instead. Uhaa did some too, moving to
the side without missing a bit when Lancelot tried to elbow drop then clapping
his hands to avoid arm swipes.
The Bravados took control when Moose distracted the referee.
Lancelot threw Fox off the top rope onto the apron then punched him out on the
floor. From there it was Fox's turn to be worked over. He took a double suplex
and a Bandwagon elbow, a double team move that’s so underwhelming it’s good.
Fox managed to connect with a desperation Ace crusher and then tag out.
Uhaa clotheslined Lancelot and hit a few German suplexes
on Harlem. He avoided the brother’s assisted enziguri, resulting in the
Bravados hitting one another. Uhaa hit an amazing release German suplex on Harlem
before following up with a moonsault off the apron onto both brothers. ‘The
Whole Foxin’ Show’ got in on the action with Low Mein Rain. Just because.
In the ring Fox hit a Swanton and Uhaa hit a frog splash
on Lancelot. He kicked out and gave Uhaa a jumping knee and a release German
suplex. Another impressive kick out came seconds later when Harlem survived a double
team from the faces: a Gory special by Uhaa with Fox coming off the ropes,
rolling across his partner and dropping down to the mat with a DDT.
A lariat and a yakuza kick floored Harlem. Uhaa whipped Fox
towards Harlem as he was slumped in the corner. But instead of the predictable
collision Fox leapt over the turnbuckle and took out Lancelot (and some
lighting equipment) at ringside instead. Fox returned to the ring to join Uhaa
in hitting a double team lung blower on Harlem. He kicked out as Lancelot made
the save.
Harlem grabbed Uhaa and gave him an exploder into the
corner, where he landed on an already dazed Fox. The buckle bomb-enziguri connected
on Fox, then Lancelot power bombed Fox onto Uhaa in the corner. The crowd,
already excitement, went crazy when Uhaa kicked out of Harlem’s pin attempt.
On his feet Uhaa gorilla pressed Lancelot to begin the
Uhaa Combination but got a boot in his face from Harlem. Uhaa gave him a Death Valley
driver and a moonsault. Fox followed up with a 450 splash and Uhaa finished
things off with a standing shooting star press for the win. It was a cracking match.
The Bravados lost but they did plenty to show that they’ve come a long way
since their early days in ROH. They’ve become a reliable heel act.
After the match Fox was KOed by moose. A faceoff between ‘The
Offensive Line’ and Uhaa allowed the Bravados to sneak in an attack from behind.
Moose looked on vacantly as the Bravados gave moose the Gentlemen's Agreement.
Ricochet v Timothy Thatcher was up next. Thatcher was
sporting his usual scarf and no kneepads. Ricochet was sporting some rather
fetching pink tights. They had a good match pitting Ricochet's speed against Thatcher’s
strikes. Thatcher controlled the first several minutes with mat-based offence.
He worked over Ricochet’s arm, an odd choice considering Ricochet’s usual ring
style. Thatcher’s tactics here can be some up with three words: stomping and
stretching. That'd make a good T-shirt for him. Just saying.
Ricochet turned the tables after a Regalplex, a leaping
roundhouse and his floatover northern lights suplex. Although he was trapped in
the Fujiwara armbar and blasted with various other moves (there was a lovely
spot where Thatcher rolled out from under a shooting star press and applied the
Fujiwara) Ricochet was pretty much constantly building steam from then on,
getting the win with a roundhouse kick and a successful SSP.
Afterwards Ricochet said it was a hell of a fight and the
pair shook hands. Thatcher left as Ricochet cut a promo taking issue with
Gargano saying he's the face of WWN. His feeling was that he is the face of
WWN. He said he’d prove it the following night by winning the EVOLVE
championship and becoming the first man to hold that title and the Open the
Freedom Gate title (though not at the same time, obvs).
The penultimate offering was a ten minute flash match,
which is exactly the same as an iron man match that lasts ten minutes but it
has a name that reflects its shorter than average length. The contestants were
Anthony Nese and Rich Swann, who had hazily defined issues with one another
that may or may not have had something to do with Swann fancying Su Yung, Nese’
secretary (it was never made entirely clear if his feeligns for Su were genuine
or a work to rile Nese).
Speaking of Su Yung she accompanied Nese to ringside
along with a besuited, sling-sporting Caleb Konley. They were followed out by
So Cal Val. She told Nese that his Premier Athlete Brand needed a better quality
of assistance and offered her managerial services. Nese took her card. Su Yung
was displeased.
Swann was alone for the match. That seemed a bit off
considering that he’d sponsored Shane Strickland earlier on the show and hung out at ringside for his
championship match. Not that it mattered though: Swann got a pinfall inside the
first minute after an axe kick, tumbling splash and a flash (hence the name of
the match) rollup.
Nese reeled from that, taking a pasting both in and out
of the ring. He eventually turned the tide when he reversed a dragon sleeper
into an Emerald Flowsion. He gave Swann a battering but he kept kicking out. Nese
grabbed a couple of chair from ringside and hit a Conchairto on Swann's leg.
That got him disqualified and put Swann two falls up but also gave Nese a
distinct advantage in the closing moment. Nese's plan was to rack up wins on an
injured Swann. He got one with a single leg crab but he didn’t make it much further.
Swann fired up and then withstood Nese’s offence until
the close of the match. As the clock ticked down Swann went for a Lethal
Injection but got caught and buckle bombed by Nese, then trapped in a single
leg crab. The time limit expired within seconds, Swann holding on and earning
himself a 2-1 victory. It was a good match.
The time limit gave it a different feel to most EVOLVE bouts.
I wouldn’t mind seeing it used again. It would be interesting to see what
Busick and Thatcher do with the gimmick, for example.
After the match Nese and Yung had words as the Bravados
appeared in the ring with Moose. The Brand, outnumbered, backed off. The
Bravados teased attacking Swann but were run off by Johnny Gargano. Moose took
three chair shots from Gargano and got put down with an Ace crusher on the
chair.
Gargano said they should settle their issue the next night.
Swann said he'd fly in Chuck Taylor (with frequent flyer miles he earned from his
trip to China) for a six man match. Harlem reminded everyone that he and
Lancelot had run the Young Bucks out of WWN (which is definitely true and
nothing at all to do with the Bucks being a pricey hire) and said they'd do the
same to a reformed Ronin. He proposed a losing team must split stip. Gargano's
only response was "Ronin is back!" So, for the record, he didn’t
actually agree to the splitting up stipulation.
The main event was a non-title match between Drew
Galloway and Roderick Strong. It was a rematch from EVOLVE 35, where Strong
jumped Galloway and heeled it up before losing their match. Before the bell
Roddy said he'd behaved out of character and offered an apology. He wanted Drew
to shake his hand and then have a “technical masterpiece” with him. It was
classic inflammatory Roddy. Galloway didn't go for it and he was right not to:
Strong charged him at the bell. Galloway dropped him with a lariat.
They had a wild, energetic brawl around the building,
taking in the bar, the merch stands, and the stage, before heading out onto the
street. It reminded me of the late 90s hardcore matches between guys like Road
Dogg, Al Snow and Hardcore Holly. Galloway and Roddy are probably the right age
to remember those. Maybe it was an intentional homage.
They headed back into the building after a minute or two
and worked their way over to the bar. They chopped each other on the bar itself
and glugged some drinks. Galloway spat some whiskey (I assume it was whiskey,
recognising drinks isn’t really my thing) while Roddy just drank his. Frat boy
gimmick, y'know?
It was around ten minutes before they were back in the
vicinity of the ring. They didn't get back in though. Oh no. They had to
continue their Attitude Era madness with a back drop on the apron. When they
did finally enter the ring it was to have a duel with chairs. At that point the
referee threw the match out. They carried on brawling though because why not?
Heather Lynn (stupidly) entered the ring to announce the
decision. Roddy clutched at her and then threw her into the path of the irate
Scotsman as he aimed a boot at Roddy. Lynn took it instead. And she took it
like a pro (giggity). Galloway carried her backstage and then returned to the
ring to attack Strong. Referees and what Lenny described as "young
boys" (really, Lenny?) broke them up. Strong ran out of the building.
Galloway took a microphone and demanded Strong return to
finish their fight. Roddy reappeared but only to troll him. Galloway pulled him
a pussy then cut a show-closing promo to bring a good card to a close. EVOLVE started
the year in exactly the right way.
***
Results summary:
Johnny Gargano defeated Shane Strickland to retain the
Open the Freedom Gate championshipBiff Busick defeated Trevor Lee
AR Fox and Uhaa Nation defeated The Bravado Brothers
Ricochet defeated Timothy Thatcher
Rich Swann defeated Anthony Nese 2-1 in a ten minute flash match
Drew Galloway and Roderick Strong wrestled to a no contest
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