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EVOLVE 75
December 11, 2016
Melrose, MA
MATCH ONE: “Mr. Athletic” Jeff Cobb v. Fred Yehi (with “Hot Sauce” Tracey Williams)
There was a lot of mat work to start out the match, with Yehi getting the better of it. That changed when Cobb used his power to start throwing Yehi around. Then he threw in a standing moonsault just because he could. That continued to be the story of the match until Cobb scored the win with a reverse swinging powerslam. Interesting choice for an opening match, but the crowd got up for the finish. Since Yehi is the FIP Champion, Cobb gestured for the belt after the match.
WINNER: “Mr. Athletic” Jeff Cobb
Drew Gulak came out. He said that loss is why Catch Point is a failure. Yehi said he had no shame about losing to a guy like Cobb. He said he is going to work hard and get better. It’s why he is the FIP Champ and EVOLVE Tag Champ and he sees no belts around Gulak’s waist. Gulak said his only concern is the WWN Title and beating Tracey Williams. Williams said let’s put some stakes in their match later and if Gulak loses he doesn’t enter the tournament for the title. Gulak said okay, but if he wins, all of the Catch Point members are out of the tournament. Gulak slapped Williams in the face then bailed. Interesting set-up for later.
MATCH TWO: Jaka & Chris Dickinson v. Darby Allin & Peter Kaasa
If Jaka and Dickinson win, they earn full-time contracts.
Darby Allin, who is the perennial underdog for EVOLVE, continued to play that role here as he did a lot of selling for Jaka and Dickinson, taking a lot of punishment and selling. He got the hot tag to Kaasa and he did a very good job running wild with some excellent athletic high-flying spots. It didn’t last long as he ate a top rope double superplex from Jaka and Dickinson.
Allin got tagged back in and went for a top rope straightjacket leap but ran into a German Suplex. Jaka went up top and they hit a Doomsday Samoan Spike to score the win and the contracts.
WINNERS: Jaka & Chris Dickinson
Trevin Adams went into the ring and awarded them with their contracts. Larry Dallas came to the ring and said he would take things from there. He said congratulations, but wondered if they deserved it. Dallas pointed out Dickinson tried to get a regular contract since the first show and Jaka was an unknown until tonight. Dickinson pushed Dallas into the ropes and told him to shut up. He said impressing Dallas means nothing. He said this is just the beginning and you haven’t seen anything yet and they have bigger things to deal with than him.
MATCH THREE: “All Ego” Ethan Page (with The Gatekeeper) v. Dick Togo
This match very much had the big versus small dynamic as Page was using his size advantage to keep Togo on the mat as much as possible. For a man his age, Togo still flies around the ring really well and didn’t look in over his head at any point during the match. He hit a sliding spinning DDT from the ring to the floor that almost flopped because he didn’t slide on the ring mat. He pulled it off, though.
A few good nearfall sequences to finish the match. It ended when Page hit a spinning urunage to get the win. An excellent showing for Togo and another win for Page to keep his momentum going.
WINNER: “All Ego” Ethan Page
After the match, he got on the mic and said he’s going to let The Gatekeeper take care of the old man. The Gatekeeper went in and went to crush Togo, only to have the Japanese legend get the better of the exchange and take him out with a top rope senton splash!
MATCH FOUR: DUSTIN v. Chris Hero
DUSTIN jumped Hero before the match and it started as a fight on the floor. Hero was able to get the upper hand and had the advantage in the ring, but things turned and DUSTIN was able to start to get the heat on Hero. DUSTIN did an adequate job, but his offense wasn’t resonating with the audience to get them properly into Hero’s comeback.
They went back and forth from that point. DUSTIN had a nearfall with a roll-up holding the ropes. He then used a ref distraction to hit a lowblow for another nearfall. Hero came back, hit the Death By Elbow, a Gotch-style piledriver and a Cradle Piledriver for the win.
WINNER: Chris Hero
MATCH FIVE: Matt Riddle v. Ricochet
Tremendous. One might think there could be a clash of styles heading into this, but these two blended together really well. One excellent spot saw Ricochet go for The People’s Moonsault, but on the way down, Riddle caught him in a triangle choke.
These two ended up putting on a clinic. Ricochet hit a huge Shooting Star Press for a nearfall. Riddle hit a Go To Sleep and a Brostone Piledriver for a nearfall. The crowd was really up for it. That’s when Riddle locked in the Bromission for the victory. Fantastic from both men.
WINNER: Matt Riddle
MAIN EVENT: Drew Gulak v. “Hot Sauce” Tracey Williams
There is a lot of history to this match given their background in Catch Point together, so while it wasn’t a brawl, it was very heated as they were on the mat looking to tap each other out.
From there, this was a technical clinic. Both guys were working incredibly hard and you can tell that Williams has improved leaps and bounds over the last year. Hopefully for him, 2017 will be a breakout year.
Things got aggressive on the floor as Williams put Gulak into the guardrails and took advantage from there. Dickinson and Jaka came out on the stage and watched the match. Then Yehi and Riddle came ringside to watch.
It turned into more of a slugfest at the end with Williams hitting a huge lariat for a double down. Gulak went for a variation of Edge’s Edgecator submission but couldn’t finish. Then he kept trying leg submissions to finish it off. They traded big suplexes for some nearfalls.
Gulak got dumped to the floor. Williams went to the top rope and hit a flying crossbody block to the floor and Gulak got draped along the railing in a REALLY scary spot. I was worried Gulak got JT Smith’d.
Gulak had a deep rear naked choke in, but Williams was able to maneuver out of it and lock in the Sauceface for the submission and the huge victory. An outstanding, technical classic.
After the match, Gulak got on the mic and put Williams over. He said wrestlers like Tracey Williams are Catch Point, and extended his hand. They shook and then hugged in a sign of respect. Dickinson and Jaka hit the ring. Dickinson said they want in Catch Point. Gulak told Williams it’s his call to make. Williams, Yehi and Riddle huddled up briefly. Williams then extended his hand to them and they shook, Looks like we have new Catch Point members. Gulak then said the winner of the WWN tournament WILL be a member of this group.
WINNER: “Hot Sauce” Tracey Williams
EVOLVE was able to have another excellent show from beginning to end and did a very good job progressing their storylines. Check it out, especially for the semi and main events. Both really outstanding in their own way.
Thanks for reading!
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