411’s EVOLVE 12 Report 5.11.12

May 11, 2012
Charlotte, North Carolina

Commentators: Lenny Leonard, Low Ki, and Johnny Gargano

Adam Page vs. Jake Manning vs. Caleb Konley (with Johnny Fairplay & Amanda)
Larry Dallas is in Japan for Dragon Gate, and Scott Reed couldn’t make the show, so Konley is working singles matches this weekend. Fairplay was brought in for the weekend’s shows as a replacement for Dallas. To his credit, Lenny Leonard informed us of the Scene’s female valet’s name, as opposed to calling her a ‘broad.’ Jake Manning was recently introduced as a member of Chuck Taylor’s new stable, The Gentleman’s Club (ie: Chuck Taylor’s excuse to get more hits on his great Youtube show. Synergy at its best). Adam Page was one of the many newcomers at Evolve 11, and he looked the best of unknowns, so I am glad to see him getting another shot. Konley defeated Page at Evolve 11. This is Manning’s first singles match in Evolve.

They all traded some rollups early, and the person not involved in the rollup did not break up to my annoyance. Soon after that, Page wiped them both out with a standing moonsault off the apron. Back in the ring, Konley went for a diving cross-body, but Page hit a spinning heel kick. That looked sick. Konley hit Manning with a back senton for a nearfall. Manning hit Page with a butterfly suplex for a nearfall. Page then hit Konley with a kneeling superkick and a standing shooting star press on Manning. Page hit a missile dropkick on Konley, but then walked into a backbreaker/faceplant combo from Manning: 1…2…3

Not a blow-away opener, but it was enjoyable. Konley is really talented, but (as I’ve written before) I don’t think the Scene is something that is going to spotlight him effectively. Plus, in Evolve he should be put higher up on the card in situations where he can really excel and fulfill his potential. Hopefully the next Evolve show(s) will do that. Adam Page is young, but he also has potential, and I hope he gets another shot as well. Manning seems to be in better than shape and now may be the time to move on from the Manscout gimmick. I’m glad that someone besides Chuck Taylor in the Gentleman’s Club won a match. That group will probably be really entertaining, and I hope they are pushed strong.
Match Rating: **1/4

Mike Cruz vs. Alex Reynolds
Reynolds is hot indy prospect from the Northeast, and Cruz is a hot indy prospect from the Southeast. Reynolds is making his third Evolve appearance, and Cruz is making his Evolve debut. Cruz has appeared in DGUSA though back at the 2012 Wrestlemania weekend, where he lost to Ricochet.

They went back and forth to start the match. Cruz hit a dropkick that sent Reynolds to the floor, and Cruz then wiped him out with a suicide dive. Shortly thereafter, Cruz ended up on the apron, and Reynolds sent him into a ringpost to cut him off. Reynolds hit a nice slingshot back suplex for a nearfall. Cruz hit a nice series of chops and slaps, which started his comeback. Cruz then hit a springboard blockbuster: 1…2…NO! Reynolds came back with a pop-up gutbuster: 1…2…NO! That was cool. They then traded some pinning combinations, which eventually saw Reynolds get the three count.

This was my first real look at Cruz, and I can see why people think he is so talented. I really want him to get many more high profile indy opportunities. Alex Reynolds is a very solid all-around performer, but he is missing a little bit of a spark at the moment. These two would actually make for a hell of a tag team right now; that would allow each of them to highlight their strengths, work on their weaknesses, and probably have better matches in the meantime. Feel free to steal that one Evolve.
Match Rating: **1/2

Jigsaw vs. Low Ki
Jigsaw defeated AR Fox at Evolve 10. Low Ki defeated El Generico at Evolve 11. Neither man has lost a singles match in Evolve.

Low Ki once again got his own music. I hope this “Low Ki thinks he is better than everyone else” story is going somewhere. They tied up and ended up in the ropes. Jigsaw expected a clean break, but Ki instead chopped his chest hard. Jigsaw tried to get a guillotine choke, but Low Ki easily escaped. Things were moving very slowly for a while. Jigsaw got a nearfall with a sunset flip, which caused Ki to return to his corner for safety. Ki tried to lure Jigsaw to the mat, but Jigsaw manage to grab his leg and get a submission hold. Ki elbowed his way out of the hold and connected with a big kick to Jigsaw’s ribs and then his back. Ki then locked in a bearhug. Jigsaw escaped and got a nearfall with a rollup, but Ki came right back with a body scissors. Jigsaw managed to make the ropes, but Ki went right back to work on the midsection of Jigsaw with strikes. Jigsaw then seemed to have inadvertently nailed Ki in the face, but Ki came right back with some strikes. Ki seemed to be really laying into Jigsaw here. Jigsaw hit a diving cross-body, but Ki rolled through and both men ended up in the ropes. Jigsaw tired for a brainbuster, but Ki blocked it. Ki was seated on the top rope, and Jigsaw hit a leaping hurricanrana: 1…2…NO! Jigsaw went for a superkick, but Low Ki kicked out his other leg. Ki tried for the Ki Krusher, but Jigsaw reversed it into a small package. Ki came back with a double stomp and a Ki Krusher: 1…2…3. Low is now 3-0 in Evolve, and 7-0 in DGUSA and Evolve.

After the match, Low Ki says, “Give it up for this kid. Valiant effort to say the least, but what I would like to know is when are you going to stop pretending to be a luchador, and start becoming a real professional wrestler? I’m sick and tired of these kids thinking that this profession is easy, trying to project something they’re not. If you really want to get noticed, be a man in this ring.”

This match did not do much for me. There was very little drama as I never really got emotionally behind Jigsaw as a possible winner. I wouldn’t go as far to say it was a[n extended] squash, but it was definitely one-sided enough that I (and the crowd seemingly too) lost interest in most of the match. As for Ki’s post-match promo, I’m willing to wait and see where it goes. Ideally, someone like Callihan, Gargano, or Fox will just beat him clean to shut him up. If Ki just leaves before the angle plays out and there is no payoff, him burying people like Generico and Jigsaw is going to look foolish. Then again, Low Ki is still over at every DGUSA/Evolve show that I have seen him on, so what the fuck do I know?
Match Rating: **1/2

Jon Davis vs. Fit Finlay
Davis has been struggling to break out of the DGUSA/Evolve undercard for about a year now, and his matches at this weekend of shows gave him the biggest opportunities of his career. Finlay is 2-0 in Evolve. He has defeated Sami Callihan in his only Evolve matches.

This started out on the mat, with each men looking to get a hold to control the match (and with neither man able to do so). Davis went after the left arm of Finlay. Finlay came back went after the left leg of Davis. Davis ended up on the floor, and Finlay slammed his injured leg on the ring apron. Finlay allowed him to get back in the ring after that. Davis tried to go after Finlay’s injured arm, and he seemed to partially lock in a kimura. Finlay escaped the kimura, but Davis got another arm lock, before Davis just attacked Finlay’s arm with strikes. Finlay kicked Davis’s injured leg to get back the advantage, and he then locked in a submission on the very same injured leg. Finlay slammed Davis’s injured leg into the ring post again and then locked in a STF. By the way, this match is definitely methodical, but it’s been very engaging and the crowd is still with them. Davis managed to roll through and locked in an armbar. Davis then slammed the injured arm into the ring post. Awesome storytelling. Davis went right back to work on the injured arm. Finlay repeatedly kneed Davis in the head to escape the damage, but Davis came right back with back suplex and a middle rope moonsault: 1…2…NO! That spot came out of nowhere in a great way. Finlay caught him with a sleeper, but Davis escaped and hit a huge SPINEBUSTER: 1…2…NO! Big boot from Davis. Davis set up for a superplex, but Finlay escaped and tripped him up. Finlay slammed him hard from the middle rope to the mat. Finlay then hit a tombstone piledriver: 1…2…3.

This started out great, but man was that finish deflating. They spent the entire match setting up the injured arm of Finlay and the injured leg of Davis, but neither was really important in regards to the finish. Devil’s Advocate: Yes, in a real fight, the “finish” doesn’t necessarily need to play off what happened in the match, but this is professional wrestling. If you are going to spend a long time trying to tell a story, give the audience a finish to that story. This finish felt like the end of a great strike-fest.

Ok, with that major criticism out of the way, this was a very good match, and it was a huge match in the career of Jon Davis. Apparently his match with Low Ki is even better than this. Finlay did do a great job of making Davis look strong. I wonder what the plan is for Finlay. He’s 3-0 in Evolve, and I would think that they would want him to put a young guy over soon. I hope Jon Davis is put into some tag team main events in DGUSA after a performance like this.
Match Rating: ***1/2

Finlay put Davis over after the match. Finlay then transitioned to Sami Callihan. Callihan came out and told him to “Mind your own business.” Finlay says he needs to forget about all of those feuds.

Johnny Gargano & Samuray Del Sol vs. Chuck Taylor & Silas Young (w/ Jake Manning & Swamp Monster)
Oh, where to start with this. Gargano and Taylor are in this mess of a feud. Taylor made Gargano pass out (and thus, win) at Evolve 11. Silas Young has been feuding with Gargano in Evolve since November 2010, but they have yet to have a match against each other in Evolve until now. Finally, the records for this match apparently are not going to count. I’m fine with this since neither team seems likely to team again, which would of course kill the whole “Evolve is all about Wins and Losses” mentality that is occasionally pushed now in Evolve. While many things about this match make me shake my head, this should be very good.

Silas Young has a fantastic mustache. He starts off against Gargano. Gargano hit a neckbreaker early. Del Sol and Taylor quickly end up in the ring, which brings up the story that Chuck Taylor hates luchadors. Young and Taylor were able to cut off Del Sol for a bit. Lenny Leonard says on commentary that the winning team picks the stipulation for the next Taylor/Gargano singles match. Del Sol eventually came back with a fantastic tornado DDT on Taylor. Gargano came in and cleared house of Young. Gargano hit the slingshot spear on Young, and he then hit Taylor with a suicide dive. Gargano then hit a slingshot DDT on Young: 1…2…NO! Gargano and Del Sol then hit stereo Diced Breads, with each man getting a nearfall. Young killed Gargano with a backbreaker and a lariat: 1…2…NO! Taylor gave Del Sol a Rock Bottom, and then got the single leg crab, but Gargano made the save. Gargano got the Gargano Escape on Taylor, but Young made the save. Gargano gave Young a Lawn Dart. Everybody was trading big moves. Del Sol hit a beautiful somersault plancha on Young. Gargano went to the top rope, but Taylor hit him with the Awful Waffle out of nowhere: 1…2…3!

Chuck Taylor says that the stipulation for their next singles match will be a Freedom Gate Title match on a DGUSA show.

This was a fantastic sprint with a perfect finish. All four men looked great, Taylor got another leg up on Gargano to build to their Freedom Gate Title match, and the crowd loved every moment. As far as I am concerned, this was pretty much a flawless sequence of events. Young is arguably the most underexposed great wrestler in American independent wrestling, and he should be brought in for every Evolve/DGUSA show.
Match Rating: ***1/2

El Generico vs. Ricochet
There is no back story (in Evolve anyway. These two are rivals in PWG though) to this match happening. They were pretty much just booked together to have a great match. I have zero problem with that.

Low Ki joined Lenny Leonard on commentary. He called Generico a young performer who is quite gifted.” Lol Ki. They bring up how Ricochet lost the Open the Brave Gate title in Dragon Gate right before coming back to America. Meanwhile, Generico and Ricochet were doing some respectful back and forth wrestling. Lenny Leonard and Low Ki criticized Generico for playing to the crowd and looking at Ki instead focusing on Ricochet. Generico started to work over Ricochet. Ricochet came back with a slingshot somersault hurricanrana. Ricochet had the advantage for a bit, using various back submissions. Ricochet hit standing moonsault knees for a nearfall. Generico came back with a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker: 1…2…NO! Ricochet came back with an enzugiri and a no-hands corkscrew plancha to the floor. Back in the ring, Ricochet hit a springboard clothesline for a nearfall. Generico came back with a swinging DDT: 1…2…NO! Generico hit a Blue Thunder Bomb for another nearfall. Generico went for a Michinoku Driver, but Ricochet reversed it into a reverse hurricanranna: 1…2…NO! AWESOME! Generico escaped a backslide driver attempt and hit a Michinoku Driver: 1…2…NO! YAKUZA! Generico set up for a Turnbuckle Brainbuster, but Ricochet escaped and hit a rolling Pele kick. Ricochet avoided another Yakuza Kick and then hit a Phoenix Splash: 1…2…NO!!! Everyone in the building thought that was the finish; not in a great dramatic way, but more in a “Wait, what happened?” way. Generico went for a turnbuckle brainbuster, but again, Ricochet blocked it. Ricochet then hit the 630: 1…2…3!

Ricochet challenged Low Ki to a match. Low Ki accepted. That will probably happen at the July DGUSA shows. Low Ki then criticized El Generico, by saying he is going to become a disgrace to masked wrestlers. The crowd did not really know how to react to this. They seemed to see Low Ki as a star (which he probably is), but everyone likes Generico. I have no idea what the point of this Low Ki vs. Masked Men story is. Hopefully, it goes somewhere.

This match was very, very good. It couldn’t really compare to their PWG match from 2010, but topping (or even matching) that was not likely going to happen in this environment. Personally, I found Low Ki’s commentary distracting, so you may want to try to tune him out if you’re not into his story at the moment.
Match Rating: ***3/4

Sami Callihan vs. AR Fox [Evolution’s End]
Inside the ring, there are rules. Outside the ring, there are no rules. Weird stipulation, but at least they have established that the stipulation is a way to end this feud.

Fox quickly hit a running cross-body plancha to the floor. That looked unbelievable. Fox went for a suicide dive, but Callihan threw chair at him, as he cross through the ropes. That was a cool way to further establish the stipulation. Gargano was on commentary, and he said that he has been on every Evolve show since the beginning. Apparently, he too would like to forget that the Style Battle ever happened. Sami kicked a chair into Fox’s face. Callihan then suplex Fox onto a chair, and he then powerslammed him on a chair. Calliahan used barbed wire and wrapped it around Fox’s mouth. Callihan used various plunder to work over Fox. He even pulled out a ladder. Fox hit the kick flip moonsault onto Sami who was holding the ladder. Back in the ring, Fox hit a modified cannonball. Fox climbed up the ladder on the outside, but Sami suplexed him from the ropes into the ring. They got to their feet and started trading strikes. Fox hit a rolling DVD and a senton atomico: 1…2…NO! Fox went to the top rope, but Callihan superkicked his knee. Fox came back with a springboard Ace Crusher: 1…2…NO! Fox set up a table on the outside, Sami just killed him with a lariat. Fox tried to come back with Lo Mein Pain, but Callihan reversed it into a German suplex: 1…2…NO! That was awesome. Callihan locked in a Stretch Muffler, but Sami transitioned it into a single leg crab. Fox made the ropes to break the hold. Fox came back with Lo Mein Pain: 1…2…NO! Sami crawled to the outside and ended up at the table. Fox then hit a somersault plancha over the ladder, onto Sami, through the table. That was insane (if a little labored to set up). Fox rolled Sami back in the ring to pin him: 1…2…NO! Fox then hit a springboard 450 Splash: 1…2…3!

Fox says he is coming for the Freedom Gate Title at Evolve 13.

These guys have really great chemistry, and I really enjoyed this main event. While they did a lot of dangerous stuff, they didn’t do anything that made me cringe, which was my biggest worry going into the match. I don’t think this feud helped each other guy too much over the last year (Sabu being a big part of the feud was the main reason for that in my opinion), but it ended well, and hopefully both guys get bigger opportunities throughout the year in Evolve and DGUSA.
Match Rating: ***1/2

The 411: This show was a huge improvement over Evolve 11. It wasn’t flawless or anything, but the last four matches were really enjoyable. Generico vs. Ricochet was a great exhibition match between two top independent talents, which is something that Evolve should strive to put together much more often. Finlay vs. Davis was also mostly an exhibition match, but it had great character work before and after the match that definitely added to the whole experience. The other two matches had story problems going into the match, but both matches showed the benefit of just letting very talented wrestlers go out there and have a great match with a clean finish. Plus, the finish of the tag match perfectly set up a title match between Gargano and Taylor. The first three matches of the show were nothing too exciting, but the big matches going into the show all delivered.

Recommendation: This was a “Thumbs Up” show. This was probably the best Evolve show since Evolve 9, and I think you will get your money’s worth if you buy it. You can get this show at WWNLive.com.

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My Favorite Matches in 2012 So Far

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