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RADICAN'S EVOLVE 36 IPPV REPORT: Drew Galloway vs. Roderick Strong grudge match, DGUSA champ Johnny Gargano, Flash match, So Cal Val, more; plus Overall Score

Jan 12, 2015 - 6:20:19 PM
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Radican's EVOLVE 36 Blog
January 9, 2015
Ybor City, Fla.
Aired live on WWNLive.com


DGUSA champion Johnny Gargano cut a promo in the ring putting over EVOLVE and the talent in the promotion. Gargano said more new talent is coming to EVOLVE, but he thinks the talent should endorse a new member of the roster. FIP Champion Rich Swann made his way to the ring. Swann said they had come a long way since Ronin launched in 2010. Swann said Gargano had his back after their war in Jacksonville in August when the PAB attacked him. Swann then endorsed Shane Strickland as his pick. Leonard said Strickland had been here before, but hasn't gotten a signature win. Gargano said Ronin was born out of frustration and he said he would give him a shot at the DGUSA Title.

(1) DGUSA champion Johnny Gargano vs. Shane Strickland. This was a really good showing for Strickland, who got the crowd behind him by getting in a lot of offense against Gargano during the match. Gargano won in the end with the Gargano Escape.

Moose attacked Gargano after the match, but Swann stood in front of him and Moose backed off. The Bravados then came out and told Gargano that he had stuck his nose in their business when he called them jerks. The Bravados said they would make things bad for Gargano in 2015.

WINNER: Johnny Gargano to retain the Open the Freedom Gate Title.

Star rating: ***1/4

(2) Trevor Lee vs. Biff Busick. This was a really good match with some intense exchanges and good submission wrestling. Busick hit some sick slaps and at one point hit one of the stiffest clotheslines I can recall in recent memory. Busick eventually forced Lee to tap with a bridging rear-naked choke. I thought they were building for more, but this was damn good.

WINNER: Biff Busick.

Star rating: (***3/4)

(3) The Bravados (Harlem & Lancelot Bravado w/Moose) vs. A.R Fox & Uhaa Nation. This was a really good match that built slowly early and turned up the pace down the stretch. At one point Fox hit a running flip dive over the ringpost to the outside to take out Harlem. Uhaa hit the first half of the Uhaa combination, Fox hit a 450, and Uhaa finished the Uhaa combination on Lancelot for the win.

After the match, Moose wiped out Fox. The Bravados and Moose then took out Nation as the fans booed.

WINNERS: A.R. Fox & Uhaa Nation.

Star rating: (***1/2)

(4) Ricochet vs. Timothy Thatcher. The announcers mentioned Ricochet is ranked #2 and Thatcher is ranked #5. Thatcher was able to wrestle the match at his pace dominating most of the action with his striking and ground game. Thatcher went after Ricochet's arm in the ring and grabbed a nasty ankle lock while Ricochet was on the apron at one point. Thatcher really began to go after Ricochet's arm with some nasty submissions. Ricochet mounted a comeback. He escaped a Fujiwara arm bar and nailed Thatcher with several kicks and hit a standing SSP for a 2 count. Ricochet went for a SSP, but Thatcher moved and grabbed the Fujiwara arm bar again. Ricochet struggled, but got his foot on the ropes. Ricochet caught Thatcher with a big kick to the head and finished him off with a SSP press off the top. This was good while it lasted. I would have liked to have seen them get more time as Thatcher really dominated a lot of the action while working over Ricochet's arm before losing in the end. I really enjoy Thatcher's work in the ring. He's a welcome addition to the EVOLVE roster and his European style is a great changeup that freshens up the cards.

WINNER: Ricochet.

Star rating: (***1/2)

Ricochet got on the mic and put over Thatcher after the match. He said he heard Gargano talking about being the face of WWN, but he's the face of WWN. He said he would prove it when he won the EVOLVE Championship and become the first person to win the EVOLVE and DGUSA Titles.

SoCal Val came out to address the PAB brand. She asked Nese who was back in the states building his name while he was in China. She insinuated that Su Yung was sleeping with other people. She said the brand needed proper management. Val called herself an upgrade and said to call her when they're ready.

(5) Anthony Nese (w/The PAB) vs. Rich Swann in a 10 Minute Flash match. The rules are whoever gets the most falls in 10 minutes wins. Konley is currently #1 in the EVOLVE rankings, but Leonard said he could be out for a long period of time with his arm injury. Swann went up 1-0 with a quick rollup. Nese countered the Swann knot into a big piledriver for a near fall after Swann had dominated the second fall for several minutes. They announced 5 minutes remaining in the match. Nese got a chair with three minutes left. He hit Swann with a chair to the knee to put him up 2-0 with 3 minutes to go. The announcers said Nese was willing to sacrifice a fm to get an advantage on Swann. Swann quickly tapped to a half crab and Nese was now down 2-1. Swann mounted a comeback and didn't favor his leg much. Nese blocked a top rope hurricanrana and got another half crab. Swann rolled him up for a near fall. Nese eventually got the half crab again, but the time limit expired. I'm not a big fan of gimmick matches like this, but it told a decent self-contained story. I think EVOLVE should stick to the basics rather than go with matches of this ilk.

Nese held onto the submission after the bell, but eventually let go. Nese yelled at Yung after the match. The Bravados and Moose came down to the ring. Nese and the PAB backed off. The Bravados held up Swann, but Gargano ran into the reign with a chair. He hit Moose several times, but he didn't go down. Swann then hit an ace crushed on Moose onto the chair. Gargano got on the mic and he told The Bravados and Moose they would settle this tomorrow. He asked Swann to team with him. Swann said he had some flyer miles and he would fly Chuck Taylor to bring back Ronin. The fans fired up big time for Swann's announcement. Harlem got on the mic and said because they ran the Young Bucks out of WWN and tomorrow they would run Ronin out of WWN. He said he proposed the losing team tomorrow would never team again. Harlem said Gargano knows he can't trust his partners. Gargano agreed and said tomorrow Ronin is back.

WINNER: Rich Swann 2-1.

Star rating: (**)

Roderick Strong got on the mic before the match and said they got off on the wrong foot when they wrestled in September. Strong said he's a mad and Drew is a bigger man. He said he would come into the ring and tell him he's sorry. Strong said he doesn't have a grudge against Galloway and after they shook hands they would have a great wrestling match. Strong offered a handshake. They shook hands and Strong apologized. He tried to jump Galloway, but ate a huge clothesline.

(6) EVOLVE champion Drew Galloway vs. Roderick Strong in a non-title Grudge match. Leonard said Strong didn't have a title shot because he wasn't in the rankings. They went to the outside and brawled throughout the bar. Leonard said the ref would give them as much latitude as he could within reason. Both men hit some huge chops on the outside. The cameras had a hard time following the chaotic action at times, but I liked how it made the brawl seem more frenetic. They brawled into the street and Galloway tossed Strong into the side of the venue. The fans fired up after Strong dropped Galloway back-first into a metal bench. They eventually brawled back into the venue. Galloway got Strong up in the suplex position and dropped Strong chest-first over the bar before doing a shot. They began trading huge chops while standing not the bar. Strong got the upper hand and went for a drink, but Galloway kicked him right in the face. Galloway got a chair and nailed Strong over the back with it. He flipped off Brandon Tolle, who is the official, and the announcers said they've all been there. Strong hit a belly-to-back suplex from the apron to the floor and both men were down.

They went to a chair battle in the middle of the ring and the ref called for the DQ. The announcers said they had latitude outside of the ring, but the chairs inside the ring forced the official to call the match a no contest. The fans chanted f--k this ref. Galloway went for a running kick, but Strong pulled the ring announced in the way. She spilled to the mat as Strong smiled from the outside. Galloway was distraught inside the ring. He grabbed the ring announced and carried her to the back. Strong got on the mic, but Galloway ran into the ring and they continued to brawl. Several officials ran out to break up the brawl and Strong took off.

Galloway got on the mic and called Strong back to the ring. He said they just kicked the s--t out of each other and they should finish it now. He called Strong a pussy and Strong came running back down to ringside. Galloway told Strong he'd fight him like a man. The fans went nuts and Strong teased entering the ring, but ended up leaving. Galloway got on the mic and said he knows who the biggest pussy from Tampa is. Galloway said they would end things on a positive note. He asked who was there on Aug. 8 when he won the EVOLVE Title. He said he sees some new faces and they have told people what they saw that night and they believe in professional wrestling. Galloway said that night he would make the title mean more than it ever had. He said he had defended the EVOLVE title all across the world. He said it was now a world title and called himself the EVOLVE World Champion. The fans chanted for Galloway. He said they would move to bigger places in Tampa. He said Strong can't run forever. He then said he was proud to be the face of WWN and EVOLVE and they would come back and blow the roof off. The fans applauded to end the show.

Match/segment thoughts: I loved Strong's mic work before the match. It was one of the best jobs I've seen him do on the mic. They had a fantastic chaotic brawl that spilled into the streets of Florida. I really liked the post-match angle as well as the brawl continued before being broken up and Strong's hellish facial expressions were very good. Galloway is great on the mic and he sent the fans home happy with a very good show-closing promo.

WINNER: No contest.

Star rating: (***1/2)

Quick overall thoughts: (7.5) - Once again, EVOLVE delivered a fast-paced showed that featured a variety of good to very good matches. There wasn't a standout blow away match on the card, but overall the storylines are coming together very nicely and this show did a lot to make me want to see what's going to happen in the future in EVOLVE.

It was nice to see attendance up in Ybor and the fans really got into a lot of the actions and segments during the show. EVOLVE still has some issues to iron out, but if you stopped watching before, this is a great time to come back given the pacing of the show, the storylines, the variety of matches on the card, and Galloway doing a tremendous job resurrecting his career.

You can purchase this show on VOD at WWNLive.com. I highly recommend picking up a Roku box if you plan on ordering the WWN shows in the future. The WWN App on Roku is fantastic.

Follow Sean Radican on Twitter Twitter.com/SeanRadican or email him at PWTorchSean@Gmail.com


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