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EVOLVE 86
Melrose, Massachusetts
June 24, 2017
EVOLVE returns to New England with a Champion v. Champion match in the main event between Matt Riddle and Zack Sabre, Jr.
MATCH ONE: Austin Theory v. Timothy Thatcher (w/ Stokely Hathaway, Tracey Williams, Jaka & Chris Dickinson)
This was a Timothy Thatcher match. He spent a lot time grinding and slamming Theory down, with Theory occasionally getting in an athletic hope spot. Meanwhile, at ringside, Priscilla Kelly showed up. She has had a habit of stalking Theory as of late.
Theory went for a standing shooting star then found himself in an unending web of submission attempts from Thatcher. Theory did an excellent job in selling. He made a brief comeback, but then found himself on the mat again the victim of a rear naked choke. That was all she wrote for the match as Theory gave up.
Stokley Hathaway got on the mic and welcomed Thatcher back, calling him the greatest EVOLVE Champion of all-time. He then told Zack Sabre, Jr. that sooner or later, the title is coming to either the Dream Team or Catch Point. Dickinson then took the mic and called out ACH.
MATCH TWO: ACH v. Chris Dickinson
A little bit of comedy in the early going, only in the sense that ACH was having fun with the crowd.
Dickinson spent most of the match from there working him over with really stiff kicks and other various strikes. This built up until ACH made his comeback and hit two straight suicide dives. He went for a third but stopped himself as Dickinson moved. He went to the apron and hit a huge running kick to Dickinson.
Back in the ring, Dickinson went back on the offensive until ACH caught him in the air and hit a German, followed by a running lariat for a nearfall. Dickinson with his own nearfall. ACH with a lariat, brainbuster and up top to hit a huge 450 for the win. Great match.
WINNER: ACH
One of The Gatekeepers, One, came out and talked about how his partner had his arm broken and he has sacrificed too much over the last year, so he is done with Ethan Page. He even has a name: Thomas Sharp. This brings out Page. He ran Sharp down and said he doesn’t care about him, and that he wants to ruin everything that people love (including Keith Lee later on). He said he will always have a dummy who will follow his plan. This brought out a new Gatekeeper (Nick Comarata) who jumped Sharp and we have a match.
MATCH THREE: Thomas Sharp v. The Gatekeeper
They brawled on the floor for a while. Back in the ring, Sharp hit him with a huge boot, followed by a massive Black Hole Slam for the win. Good fresh start for Sharp.
WINNER: Thomas Sharp
MATCH FOUR: Jaka v. Fred Yehi
The former Catch Point member in Yehi faces off against one half of the tag team champions.
They started out with Jaka yelling “YEOW!” while Yehi yelled back “TROUBLE!” about ten times, much to the delight of the crowd.
The two took their time, hitting each other with strikes and the occasional slam/suplex (or in Jaka’s case a headbutt). No real heat building on either side, just two guys going back and forth not being able to get the upper hand.
Scary moment when Jaka whipped Yehi into the corner. Yehi went for an up and over. Jaka went to duck under but Yehi came down right on top of his head and Jaka crumpled to the mat. He took a minute but he looked okay.
This turned into a strong style back and forth, shades of Shibata-Ishii if they threw chops, foot stomps and low dropkicks instead of kicks and shoot headbutts. Yehi eventually got Jaka to the mat and finished it with a Koji Clutch. Interesting match. Both guys have a similar style and maybe that detracted instead of helped. It seemed like it had a hard time catching any rhythm. Great effort by both guys.
WINNER: Fred Yehi
MATCH FIVE: Jason Kincaid v. “Hot Sauce” Tracy Williams (w/ Stokley Hathaway)
This was billed as “Catch Point versus High Flyers match,” and that was the story of the match. Williams was doing his best ground work while Kincaid took to the sky to try and counter. Kincaid did some very creative stuff, including a 619 from the floor and up the stairs instead of from in the ring.
Williams also took to the sky, hitting a big senton splash from the top. The majority of his work, however, was on the mat trying to wear Kincaid out.
Kincaid did a great job in his selling and comeback attempts, but Williams ended it with a Crossface. Good, enjoyable match.
Kincaid was having a meltdown of self-loathing after the match. Williams approached him and Kincaid simply grabbed Williams’ hand and shook it and then stomped off.
WINNER: “Hot Sauce” Tracy Williams
MATCH SIX: Keith Lee v. “All Ego” Ethan Page
Page got the advantage early with what started as a draping double arm DDT before he twisted it into a backbreaker. From there, he was heavy with the slams and strikes to keep Lee down.
Lee made his comeback and the crowd erupted for it. Lee was going wild for a bit before, out of nowhere, Ego hit a hurricanrana from the top and a running boot for a nearfall. Lee went to the top, but Page caught him and hit a huge powerbomb for another nearfall.
It all built to Lee winning with a giant Jackhammer. The crowd went absolutely crazy when he scored the win. Great match and a nice building block for Lee.
After the match, he got on the mic and made a request to ring announcer Joanna Rose. He asked her if he could be the guest ring announcer for the main event, since he has a vested interest in both competitors (especially Riddle, who he faces for the WWN Title tomorrow). She accepted.
WINNER: Keith Lee
MAIN EVENT: Non-Title Match – WWN Champion Matt Riddle v. EVOLVE Champion Zack Sabre, Jr.
What a shocker. They did awesome chain and mat work in the early going. Riddle with a few deadlifts gutwrench suplexes and he was in control. They traded places after a PK by Sabre and a charge into the corner.
It went back and forth from there, with both guys hitting really big strikes and suplex variations. The crowd was really into both guys because they are, obviously, so damn good at what they are doing.
If I tried to describe the rest of the match by the moves, I wouldn’t do it justice. They kept battling an trying to finish each other until Sabre had Riddle in a Dragon Sleeper variation with a body lock, as well as slapping at the gut of Riddle, for the submission win and a giant ovation from the crowd.
After the match, Stokley hit the ring and congratulated Sabre. He then told him his reign will come to an end very soon, whether it’s Jaka’s tomorrow or Thatcher in the near future. Darby Alliin hit the ring and cut a promo, saying whoever is the champion, he needs the title more than anyone.
Riddle took the mic and said he would fight anyone at any time. Tracey Williams jumped him from behind. They fought to the floor. While there, Darby went to the top and hit his backwards straightjacket dive and took out Williams and Stokley. Riddle and Darby had a staredown, but Riddle ended up raising his hand. Riddle then went into the ring and thanked everyone for coming.
Really good night of in-ring action from EVOLVE. Check them out online @WWNEVOLVE
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