EVOLVE 80 3/30/17 Review

The show began with Drew Galloway in the ring and he cut what was probably his most face-like promo since his heel turn last year at Mania weekend. Then he started talking about Riddle and Bro emerged.

Drew Galloway vs Matt Riddle

This was not how I thought this match would go. Riddle got a decent amount of offense but Galloway completely destroyed him. Riddle took some crazy apron bumps and then got hit with with an insane move that I won’t spoil. Good way to open up the show. **3/4

Galloway tried to attack Riddle after the match but his Catch Point friends Dickinson and Jaka made the save. 

Chris Dickinson vs Timothy Thatcher

Going in I said this could either be really good or really bad. I enjoy both of these guys a lot (yes, Thatcher is still one of my favorites after his heavily criticized 2016 and I think Jordan and I are some of the only people on earth who were sad when he lost the title), I just wasn’t sure how well their styles would work together. This ended up being a very good match with Thatcher beginning the road to his rematch. This was the most technical wrestling I’ve seen Dickinson do but it was more intense than a lot of Thatcher matches. I really enjoyed this. ***1/4

Jaka vs Jason Kincaid vs Lio Rush

I was somewhat excited for this as I enjoy Jaka usually and I really like Kincaid even though his EVOLVE run hasn’t been great so far. Then Lio Rush came out which made me much more excited. This was a fun and chaotic match with Kincaid probably having my favorite performance of his in EVOLVE up to this point. All three guys looked great and there were some nice spots including an awesome spot where Jaka hit a German on Kincaid while he hit a vertical suplex on Rush. Good to have Lio back in EVOLVE and another enjoyable match. ***

Blonde and Neon (Facade and ?) vs The Gatekeepers

This was a squash as expected with the Gatekeepers continuing to be built up and adding to Ethan Page’s heat. Cool for Facade and his friend to get this opportunity and deliver as much as they could in this position. N/A

Ethan Page cut a good heel promo as he tends to do and then his opponent, Austin Theory, came out.

Ethan Page vs Austin Theory

These two both had very impressive matches recently (Ethan against Darby at the last EVOLVE weekend and Theory was apart of the amazing FIP main event at their most recent show). Not a great match but it served its’ purpose with Theory looking strong in defeat and Page gaining momentum and there was nothing wrong with it other than just being uninteresting. *1/2

Page cut a great promo verbally attacking Theory after the match and then began demanding a title shot. Priscilla Kelly came out mysteriously as she has been doing and entered the ring. She circled around Page and then exited the ring, when a group of men in bloody scrubs emerged from the crowd carrying a bodybag (probably carrying Darby Allin). They stared down Page and the Gatekeepers and picked up the bag, beginning to open it. Before they could open it the Gatekeepers and Page attacked them. They don’t even open the bag but attack it and throw it to the outside of the ring. It looked like Darby hit the rail which could be bad. Thankfully he seemed fine as he emerged from the bag flying around the ring. They set up Darby vs Ethan in an Anything Goes for EVOLVE 81. This was a unique but long and potentially dangerous segment that was hurt by the fact that it was very obvious Darby was in the bag and would eventually come out.

Keith Lee vs Ricochet

I’m pretty sure everyone knew this would be great going in. There was some great banter early on between the two and I just loved the dynamic they had. One of my favorite parts of the match happened early on when Lee caught Ricochet in mid air on the outside but Ricochet ended up on the apron. That was the first of many crazy and awesome moments in this match. Another amazing moment was when Lee got hit with a move off the top rope and grabbed Ricochet’s neck before coming to his feet. These guys are both so ridiculously good and it was so cool to see them wrestle. I also have to point out Keith Lee’s facial expressions and persona in general are fantastic. ***1/2

EVOLVE Tag Team Championships

Tracy Williams and Fred Yehi (c) vs Donovan Dijak and Michael Elgin

I was so so so excited for this match as I love every one of these guys. So nice to finally see Dijak and Elgin in an EVOLVE ring. It took a while to get going but the second half was pretty great. I was actually sad when it ended because the last few minutes were so much better than the early portion of it. Very flawed match but there was some really cool stuff done and the second half was really enjoyable. Could have been better though definitely. ***

Next there was a segment with Larry Dallas that I guess was supposed to increase the tension between Catch Point. Not a very good segment.

EVOLVE Championship

Zack Sabre Jr vs ACH

I wasn’t sure about this match early on as it didn’t seem very interesting and the crowd wasn’t too into it but they worked so hard and it paid off. This was a FANTASTIC match and an amazing way to end this amazing show. Wow. Watch this. Such a great main event, I was so emotionally invested towards the end. ***1/2

After the match Sabre got on the mic and cut a really good promo. Elgin came out and asked if Sabre will put his title on the line in their match at EVOLVE 81. Sabre said yes and Elgin hit him with a brutal strike. Was definitely not expecting that. 

Overall Review: This might be one of my favorite EVOLVE shows I have ever seen (I’ve seen a lot). None of the matches aside from the squash with the Gatekeepers and Page vs Theory (which mostly just set up the Darby segment) are skippable except maybe the opener but even that was fun and crazy. Wow. Watch this show. An amazing start to what I’m sure will be an amazing weekend. I love professional wrestling. 

Overall Rating: 9/10.