#1MansOpinion
Evolve 13/Pro Wrestling Evo Preshow
Cabarrus Arena & Events Center
Concord, NC
5-12-12
EVOLVE brought it’s fast paced, strong style to the Carolinas for 2 great Ippv’s on May 11 & 12. This was my first live EVOLVE experience and I was blown away by the great talent and dedication of the EVOLVE talent. Kicked off by a great preshow from Pro Wrestling EVO the following is………..
Pro Wrestling Evolution Pre Show
Fun Athletic Guys(Trevor Lee & Ben Tyler) beat Joe Black & Arik Royal when Lee pinned Black after a double team codebreaker finisher.
#1MansOpinion: This was a fun way to kick off the show, Royal & Black didn’t get as much offense as I would’ve imagined and the Fun Athetic Guys seemed like the favorite to win all match. Time was limited here but all four men did a good job in kicking off the night. ** 3/4
Chiva Kid beat “Relentless” Robyn Golphin with a somersault 450 off the top.
#1MansOpinion: This was a very good match for the most part, some spots got blown but both men continued right along and it didn’t effect the flow of the match too much. Both men left it all in the ring as the EVO talents do at every full show and put on very enjoyable match. *** 1/4
Kirby Mack beat Derek Ryze with a rollup after a brutal knee to the face.
#1MansOpinion: Ryze & Mack worked very well together, Ryze is very quick and explosive , a welcomed new addition to EVO and Mack stayed with him every step of the way. Mack is not only a traveled ring veteran who consistently has very good matches but also a showman that ranked right up there with any of the guys on either card. *** 1/2
The Cirkus(Cedric Alexander & Marcellus “The Mid Atlantic” King) beat “Do Or Die” Chip Day & Corey Hollis with a “Murder Go Round” by King on Day.
#1MansOpinion: Originally intended to be a 3 way match between Day, Hollis, & a mystery opponent. Alexander came out as the third man with his Cirkus teammate King and they demanded a tag match. All four of these men are very talented and came off as big time tag teams so the match worked well and I was pleased with this booking. Day & Hollis hung in with PWEvo’s most dominant faction. In the end the Cirkus picked up a very nice win. *** 1/2
Evolve 13 Live on Ippv
4 Way- Winner gets a shot later in the night at Open The Freedom Gate Champ Johnny Gargano
AR Fox(3-0) beat Samuray Del Sol(0-1) & Ricochet(4-2) & Jigsaw(0-1) when Fox pinned Del Sol with “Lo Mein Pain”.
#1MansOpinion: This was one of the best openers I’ve ever seen at a live event! All four men were impressive and made the title shot later in the night look important by just killing themselves right out of the gate. AR Fox became the man I was most impressed with all night as he is just a fantastic talent and seems to have a huge passion for wrestling. This would be a match I’d say BUY THE DVD or order the Ippv for it was just AWESOME! **** 1/4
Silas Young (3-1) beat Adam Page (0-2) by referee stoppage in a short match.
#1MansOpinion: I enjoy Page on the indy scene and hoped to see what he could do here and Young has been a good old school worker when I’ve seen him in the past. I didn’t care for this match, it just seemed it was there to build towards Young’s “Last Real Man” gimmick. Young cut a promo after saying he was the “Last Real Man” in Professional Wrestling and we’d better get used to seeing more brutality. **
Caleb Konley(2-1)w/ Johnny Fairply beat Kyle Matthews (0-1) with the “Oh! Face” Submission
#1MansOpinion: Konley was entertaining here as it was my first time seeing him in the EVOLVE stable “The Scene” More personality added to his in ring ability really helped the overall performance of Konley. I didn’t care for Matthews who looked like he was being lead around the ring in this one, perhaps just learning the business as I’m not familiar with him. ** 1/2
Alex Reynolds (2-0) beat “The ManScout” Jake Manning (1-0) with a version of the Fisherman Buster.
#1MansOpinion: Manning, a NC independent veteran is doing very well for himself in Evolve thus far and looked good here as well. I’ve heard many things about “The Young Talent” Alex Reynolds but I wasn’t overly impressed on this night, he has a great look and physique but could work on his in ring ability. ** 3/4
Low Ki (3-0) beat Jon Davis (1-2) with the “Warriors Way” double foot stomp from the top after a brutal back and forth matchup.
#1MansOpinion: This was the first really great match of the show since the opener and another I’d suggest you buy this dvd for or check out an Ippv replay. Davis looked like a beast here taking all of Ki’s offense, dishing his own brutal power style out on Low Ki and staying in the match. It seems Low Ki is getting a major push here as they focused on him being the first man to get to 4-0 in the win/loss standings and Low Ki said Everyone in EVOLVE are warriors and need an EVOLVE championship to fight for. ****
“The Kentucky Gentleman” Chuck Taylor (7-3) beat Mike Cruz (0-1) with the “Awful Waffle”
#1MansOpinion: Taylor is one of the guys I’m most familiar with from DVds as it was my first time seeing him live and he is great. Not only in the ring but a great entertainer as well. One spot where tells the crowd he’s going to do a “flippy thing” and proceeds to do the most awkward and slow flip over the top onto his opponent is hilarious! The “Awful Waffle” is an awesome finisher. I have to say Cruz was good in the ring but didn’t seem a real threat to beat Taylor at any point. *** 1/4
El Generico (0-2) beat Sami Calihan (3-5) with a dragon suplex and brainbuster in an OUTSTANDING match and my MOTN.
#1MansOpinion: MATCH OF THE NIGHT! Calihan works one of the best strong styles I’ve seen live ever and is very intense. Generico(another guy I’ve seen a lot of on DVD and once live before this night) is always phenomenal and you’ll never get a bad show out of El Generico. This Is a MUST SEE match with lots of nearfalls and just pure brutality and sacrifice by both men. **** 3/4
Open The Freedom Gate Championship
Johnny Gargano(c) beat AR Fox with a crossface submission in another MOTN contender to end the show. Great moment after the match with a local girl in the crowd who wrote an essay for school about Gargano being her hero. Gargano brought her in the ring, gave her the title and had the crowd pop for her.
#1MansOpinion: AR Fox again was impressive in this one and seemed like a viable contender to take the title from Gargano the entire match. Gargano is a great person to hold one of the DGUSA titles for this company. Again he’s a guy I’ve seen on dvd previously but seeing him live was awesome and another guy who is worth the price of admission to a DGUSA/EVOLVE show. **** 1/2
#1MansFINALOpinion: EVOLVE blew me away in my first live show experience with them and I hope they return soon. As you see from the comments above some of the guys(perhaps just on this night) didnt impress me but guys like Generico, Calihan, Gargano, Taylor, and all four of the men in the opener made this a GREAT show! AR Fox is a guy I continue to go back to as I remember the show and I think the future is very bright for this young man. Pro Wrestling EVO put 12 of their best out there for the pre show and really delivered on a quality pre show to display why they are the premiere Independent promotion in the Southeast. I hope EVOLVE did well enough on this brief tour of the Carolinas to bring their product back sooner than later and I encourage everyone to go check them out as they have a really dedicated talent roster. Check out www.DGUSA.TV for details on when Dragon Gate/EVOLVE is coming to your area and go check out these great talents and support GREAT wrestling!
Overall: 8.5/10
Don’t MISS Pro Wrestling Evolution’s first Ippv on June 30 live from Cabarrus Arena & Events Cener on June 30, 2012! Check out www.prowrestlingevo.com and follow @ProWrestlingEVO on twitter for match announcements and details on tickets and how to order this great event!
Remember the following is #1MansOpinion if you have comments, thoughts or YOUR own opinion please leave a comment or contact me at JustJer17@aol.com or on twitter @The1andonlyJer–Thanks!
* Thanks to @UnchosenFragmnt for the #1MansOpinion & 1&OnlyJer graphics