Evolve 39 iPPV report: Drew Galloway, Chris Hero, Johnny Gargano

  • F4W Staff
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Submitted from a fan

Show took place in San Jose, CA

Drew Gulak pinned Timothy Thatcher in 13:12 with a crucifix cradle

As expected, these two put on a technical wrestling clinic.  A great way to open up the show as the two traded reversals of moves and submissions.  Cool spot in which  Thatcher had a can opener hold in the guard and lifted Gulak up for the slam.  It was a MMA slam and it looked realistic.

Biff Busick defeated Tommy End in 9:33 with a bulldog choke

A good match that was very stiff.  Tommy End’s kicks and knees are so stiff, you have to see him do them live to appreciate them.  End also has a superstar look as well.  Towards the end they got bit lost, but they covered it up really well.  The negative about this match was End was killing Busick with strikes and then Busick basically no sells and locks in the bulldog choke. End’s offense is so brutal, I thought Busick should have sold it more. 

Chris Hero pinned Ethan Page with a KO elbow strike in 14:25

The story was Hero was the veteran and Page was getting a shot because he was recommended by Johnny Gargano.  Hero was playing the “this is my ring” bully and Page was playing the underdog.  Problem was Hero took the story too far in the fact that he no sold majority of Page’s offense, including punches to the face.  Another issue was the match went way too long.  It should have only been about eight minutes total.  Page wasn’t that impressive either and the match dragged. 

Rich Swann, Uhaa Nation and Ricochet defeated Brian Cage, Caleb Konely, and TJ Perkins in 20:20 when Nation pinned Konely with a moonsault

I am not usually into spot fest matches, but this was a lot of fun.  Rich Swann came out and sang the entire Lionel Richie “All Night Long” song as Ricochet and Nation danced.  Swan has so much charisma that it is unbelievable that the WWE passed up on him.  Then again, how could they pass up on Ricochet.  They did not pass up on Uhaa Nation and he was amazing.  Ricochet and Perkins did some fun fast reversals which was the highlight of the beginning of the match.    Cage and Nation did some lucha spots.  For big guys, it is impressive seeing them move so quickly, but in Cage’s case, it was almost comedy being that he is so huge.  These guys did so much I felt bad for the next match.  Again not my cup of tea, but on this night I was very entertained by the style.

DragonGate Open The Freedom Gate Championship Johnny Gargano made AR Fox submit to the “GargaNoEscape” in 21:47

Something about AR Fox just screams low rent.  He is an exceptional high flyer, but his heat sucks and offense is a clear expose of the business.  Fox clearly slaps his hands over his head when he does a kick that in our section alone made people laugh.  Gargano and Fox went all out, especially trying got get the crowd back into it after the six man tag.  Gargano did a tope onto Fox and they crashed through the guardrail.   The guardrail broke and they landed in the front row.  Apparently Gargano hurt his left leg here.   This was another match that went way too long.  Should have been kept to fifteen minutes.   I also think this match has the record more the most knee slaps or just hand slaps to make noise.  It became very comical.  The finish was weird because Gargano won by submission, but never worked toward a submission much the entire match.  It was mostly big move after big move. The submission win seemed out of place. ** 

Evolve Champion Drew Galloway pinned PJ Black (former Justin Gabriel) with his “Future Shock” DDT in 18:15

Galloway has such a major league presence about him. It is just a shame that the WWE gave up on him.  He is such a great all around worker and right now, clearly Top 5 on the independents today.  PJ Black looked good with everything he did. He lacks charisma, but is an exceptional flyer.  AR Fox may do some crazy daredevil flying moves, but Black makes his flying moves mean something.  Overall the best match on the card because they told a good story and built to their big spots.  Crowd was a bit tired at this point and that made me even more upset that the Gargano/Fox match went way too long and tired the crowd before the main event.  The blame for that should have really been on the booker for that.   They got the crowd back into it with the crowd wanting Black to win the title.   Galloway played the subtle heel to get the crowd behind Black and it worked.

Overall Thoughts:

Entertaining and good show.  Only negative is they need to give some of these matches shorter times.  I think the idea is to give them a lot of time to get all their stuff in, but it becomes too much and everything they did in the end meant nothing. They could have had an extra match.  I saw Jody Kristofferson walking around, they could had him beat someone in seven minutes and took some time away from the matches that went past its peak.