EVOLVE 13: Gargano vs. Fox on May 12th, 2012
Opening Match: AR Fox (3-1) vs. Jigsaw (1-1) vs. Samuray Del Sol (0-1) vs. Ricochet (4-2)
The winner will face Johnny Gargano in the main event for the Open the Freedom Gate Title. Jigsaw and Ricochet have a mat-based exchange that ends in a stalemate. Del Sol snaps off a headscissors on Fox and teases a dive. Jigsaw connects with a dropkick on Ricochet and Del Sol follows with one of his own. Fox lands a split-legged moonsault on Ricochet. Del Sol and Ricochet land slingshot sentons onto Fox. Jigsaw slingshots into the ring and then humorously covers Fox for a two count. Fox fights back with a springboard ace crusher on Ricochet. Del Sol headscissors Jigsaw, who responds with a hurricanrana. Jigsaw connects with a running knee strike but gets caught by a spin kick. Fox catches Ricochet with a springboard dropkick and adds a slingshot dropkick. Ricochet lays him out with a leaping russian leg sweep. Ricochet levels Fox with a springboard lariat but gets spiked by a DDT. Everyone connects with kicks and all four men are down. Del Sol hits a reverse hurricanrana on Fox and follows with a dive to the floor. Ricochet connects with a tiger feint kick on Jigsaw. They battle on the middle rope. Jigsaw hits a german suplex on Del Sol. Ricochet lands a shooting star press onto Jigsaw. Fox hits a twisting brainbuster on Ricochet for a nearfall. He follows with a sliced bread on Jigsaw and comes off the middle rope with an ace crusher on Ricochet. Del Sol lands a 450 splash onto Fox for a two count. He goes up top but Fox catches him with an enzuigiri. Fox hits Lo Mein Pain on Del Sol for the win at 16:51. Fox and Ricochet were solid as usual while Jigsaw and Del Sol have really stepped up their game as of late. They were given enough time to flesh out the action and the match didn’t feel rushed, which was key. I honestly would have bought any of these four as a legitimate challenger to the Open the Freedom Gate Title (not necessarily to win it) and I think that says a lot about the depth of talent in EVOLVE right now. This match met expectations and was an almost ideal opener. ***½
Match #2: Silas Young (3-1) vs. Adam Page (0-2)
Young refuses a handshake and hits a pumphandle backbreaker. He lands a springboard moonsault but Page responds with a standing shooting star press. Young hits another backbreaker and transitions into a full nelson bomb. Young reigns down forearms and the referee calls for the bell, giving Young the victory via knockout at 2:41. Young is about to breakout and I’m extremely happy that it looks as though EVOLVE is ready to use him regularly again. This match got its point across just fine. *¾
Lenny Leonard interviews Young after the match. He calls himself the “last real man in professional wrestling” and says that everyone will see a lot more aggression from him in the future.
Match #3: Caleb Konley (2-1) vs. Kyle Matthews (0-1)
Matthews monkey flips Konley across the ring. Konley snaps his neck across the top rope and rams him into the apron. Back in, Matthews applies an octopus stretch but gets caught by a basement lariat. Konley hits a senton and takes control. Matthews comes back with a hurricanrana and an enzuigiri. He hits a tornado DDT out of the corner. Konley connects with a roaring elbow and hits a shoulder capture suplex. Matthews avoids a charge and connects with a running dropkick. He follows with a missile dropkick but runs into a spinebuster. Konley synchs in a boston crab for the win at 6:53. This match would have worked out much better if anyone had a reason to care about either wrestler. The Scene has been given a great opportunity in DGUSA and EVOLVE but they just feel very generic right now. This was a fine exhibition for the time given. **¼
Match #4: Jake Manning (1-0) vs. Alex Reynolds (2-0)
Lenny Leonard unsuccessfully tries to put over the “it’s all about the wins” attitude of EVOLVE on commentary. He talks about how Reynolds moved up the card for winning, but Mike Cruz is higher on the card than him and he beat Cruz last night. After losing an exchange, Manning consults his manual in the corner. Reynolds lands a crossbody after some miscommunication and connects with a dropkick. Manning back drops him to the outside. In the ring, Manning hits a delayed vertical suplex and takes over. Reynolds comes back with a series of strikes but botches a dive to the floor. Back in, Manning hits a chinbreaker. Reynolds quickly answers with a codebreaker for a nearfall. They battle up top and Manning hits a butterfly suplex. The straps are down for Manning! They trade pin attempts and Reynolds hits a stunner for the victory at 12:03. I am not sold on Reynolds at all. He was sloppy and Manning looked like he was having a hard time working with him at times. I’m looking forward to seeing Chuck Taylor, Jake Manning, Drew Gulak, and Orange Cassidy all on the same show, as I think the Gentlemen’s Club could be a fun stable. A decent finishing stretch saved this match from disaster, but the wrong person won in my opinion. **
Match #5: Low Ki (3-0) vs. Jon Davis (1-2)
They’re not interested in giving each other clean breaks. Low Ki connects with a dropkick out of the corner and lays in a few chops. Davis hits two scoop slams and hot shots Low Ki to block a charge. Davis follows with a bucklebomb. Low Ki creates an opening after a flying double stomp. He connects with a series of kicks and takes control. Davis anticipates Low Ki on a handspring splash and hits a spinebuster. Low Ki escapes Three Seconds Around the World and locks in a dragon sleeper. Davis powers out of the hold but gets caught by a double stomp. He recovers with a jackhammer and pounces Low Ki, sending him to the floor. In the ring, Low Ki catches Davis with kawada kicks and follows with a flying double stomp for the win at 14:03. Out of every match that Low Ki has had this year in DGUSA and EVOLVE, this one was the easiest to watch. I’m not saying that his previous matches were unwatchable, but the slow, arbitrary pace that is usually present in the opening minutes of his matches was absent here. Instead, they took the fight to each other from the opening bell and it looked like Davis truly had Low Ki’s number. While I wasn’t crazy about his match against Finlay, Davis looked great here and this weekend did wonders for him. This was a smart battle of size difference that put over the EVOLVE style with both men doing whatever it took to earn the victory. ***½
Lenny Leonard interviews Low Ki after the match. He is the first man ever to make it to 4-0 in EVOLVE. Low Ki says that he respects Davis and really puts him over. He demands that EVOLVE gives him something to fight for and recommends an EVOLVE title. This is where everyone cringes because the Open the Freedom Gate Title exists.
Match #6: Chuck Taylor (7-3) vs. Mike Cruz (0-1)
Taylor sneaks in a cheap shot but gets caught by a few chops. Cruz connects with a dropkick. Taylor hits an overhead suplex and takes control. He actually debuts a new move, which is an incredibly slow slingshot senton. Cruz avoids a moonsault and connects with an enzuigiri. He follows with a facewash dropkick and a springboard blockbuster. Taylor answers with Sole Food but falls victim to a german suplex. Cruz escapes a half crab and hits an ace crusher. He finds knees on a swantan attempt. Taylor hits the Awful Waffle for the victory at 7:09. This was a decent back and forth match, with Cruz looking better than he did last night against Alex Reynolds. How much you’re going to enjoy Taylor’s matches really depends on if you like his new direction. He’s goofy and quirky, which can either come off as entertaining or annoying. I’m putting off judgment until his title match against Johnny Gargano. **½
Lenny Leonard interviews Taylor after the match. He says that the rumored EVOLVE title would look good on his mantle. He doesn’t mention his Open the Freedom Gate title shot and everyone sighs once again.
Match #7: Sami Callihan (3-5) vs. El Generico (0-2)
They stare each other down from across the ring. Callihan charges but Generico rolls him up for a close two count. Low Ki joins commentary once again for Generico’s match. They trade chops. Callihan traps Generico on the mat and reigns down forearms. Generico hits a backbreaker. Callihan lariats him off the apron and follows out with a dive. Callihan slams Generico onto the concrete floor and tries to get the countout victory to no avail. Back on the floor, Callihan hits an exploder, sending Generico into the timekeeper. Generico once again barely beats the count. Low Ki says that Generico should have taken the loss and fight again another day, which contradicts everything that he’s ever said. Callihan connects with two facewash kicks. He tries for a third but falls victim to an exploder into the turnbuckles. They exchange forearms. Generico yakuza kicks Callihan off the top rope and to the floor. He follows out with a dive. In the ring, Generico lands a flying crossbody. Callihan connects with a bicycle kick but Generico responds with a tornado DDT. Callihan hits a butterfly shoulderbreaker and superkicks Generico’s left leg. He follows with a lariat and another bicycle kick. Generico recovers with a blue thunder bomb and goes up top. Callihan superkicks his left leg again and lands a top rope splash onto it. He applies the stretch muffler but Generico reaches the bottom rope. Callihan connects with a bicycle kick but Generico responds with a corner yakuza kick. He goes for the brainbuster but finds himself in another stretch muffler. The hold gets reversed into a small package for a nearfall. Generico hits a michinoku driver and a half nelson suplex. Generico follows with a brainbuster for the win at 22:17. Callihan’s situation is one of the more interesting aspects of EVOLVE right now. The story is that he should move away from hatred-filled feuds with people (such as Finlay or AR Fox), because that only results in losses. Instead, as Finlay told him, he should focus on his wrestling. At multiple points throughout this match, Callihan had more success just wrestling Generico rather than trying to brawl and prove a point. There were a lot of excellent exchanges as they kept this contest predominantly back and forth. The main thing holding this match back was the lack of crowd response. EVOLVE did not have big crowds this weekend and I think a more vocal crowd would have helped the action down the stretch. Still, these two delivered great performances in what was probably my favorite match on either EVOLVE show up to this point. ***¾
During his post-match interview, Generico starts calling out Low Ki. Callihan attacks Generico from behind and says that he doesn’t care about the rules. He also starts choking a referee. Low Ki enters the ring and stares down Callihan. Callihan, realizing what he’s done, angrily walks to the back.
Match #8: Open the Freedom Gate Title: Johnny Gargano © vs. AR Fox
No mention was made of records during the introductions, so I’m assuming this match won’t affect their records. They slap each other and stare each other down. Fox connects with a dropkick and lands a dive to the floor. He misses a guillotine leg drop from the top rope and Gargano lands three consecutive dives to the outside. In the ring, Gargano takes control until Fox comes off the middle rope with an ace crusher. Fox connects with a slingshot dropkick in the corner and follows with his shooting star cannonball. He hits a rolling death valley driver and lands a swantan. Gargano fights back with a gamengiri and a slingshot DDT. He locks in the Gargano Escape but Fox quickly reaches the bottom rope. They have a great exchange where they avoid each other’s dives and Fox hits a sliced bread on the apron. He follows with Lo Mein Rain. Back in, Fox lands a springboard 450 splash for a nearfall. Both men are down. They exchange strikes and Gargano lawn darts Fox into the turnbuckles. Gargano connects with a superkick. Fox escapes Hurts Donut and hits a twisting brainbuster. Both men are down once again. Fox connects with a corner bicycle kick. Gargano fights off Lo Mein Pain and applies the Gargano Escape. Fox is able to work his way to the bottom rope. Gargano connects with two corner dropkicks and goes up top. Fox catches him with a death valley driver from the middle rope and hits an air raid crash for a nearfall. He attempts a 450 but Gargano catches him with a superkick. Gargano hits Hurts Donut for a two count. Gargano hits another Hurts Donut and applies the Gargano Escape to retain his title at 18:03. This was a tremendous sprint that featured constant action for eighteen minutes. Not only did that gameplan wake up the crowd, it made sense that Fox would want to go for broke after having already wrestled a match earlier in the night. I might be in the minority, but I’m going to say that this was the best match of the weekend for EVOLVE. Gargano looked completely at home trading big moves with Fox and as I’ve said, the crowd was extremely vocal for this match. An objection could be made that this match had no cohesive story, but I think when it’s done right, trading big moves and leaving it all in the ring can be a story in itself. After an excellent title defense against Masato Yoshino, Gargano definitely has momentum as champion heading into his next defense against Chuck Taylor. Again, I thought this was the best match on either EVOLVE 12 or 13. I can understand the arguments against that view, but I thought Gargano and Fox really delivered in the main event. ****
Gargano and Fox shake hands after the match. Gargano thanks the fans and brings a girl into the ring. She wrote an article about Gargano for her school newspaper. There’s a nice moment where she holds the Open the Freedom Gate Title and the crowd cheers for her. I think Lenny Leonard was tearing up at one point.
Overall: EVOLVE 13 was extremely similar to EVOLVE 12 in that the matches you expected to deliver really came through. However, I think this show was even more effective as it successfully brought together a lot of threads running throughout EVOLVE. Low Ki had a highly enjoyable match against Jon Davis that benefited both men by the sole fact that Davis was able to give Low Ki a challenge. Sami Callihan has taken an interesting turn in EVOLVE and that was highlighted in a great contest against El Generico, who has finally picked up a win to prove a point to Low Ki. Johnny Gargano showed that he’s back for good in the match of the weekend against AR Fox, who not only excelled in the main event, but in the opener as well. While the other four matches weren’t anything special, Chuck Taylor and Silas Young are two people to keep an eye on. I think that as an overall package, EVOLVE 13 was one of, if not the best show in the promotion’s history. High recommendation.