SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
RADICAN’S EVOLVE 72 REPORT
NOVEMBER 12, 2016
QUEENS, N.Y.
AIRED LIVE ON FLOSLAM.TV
I only saw the main event of this show. I have the results listed below and will update with my full review of EVOLVE 72 as soon as possible.
Dark match: Tony Nese beat NXT’s Tommy End.
(1) Matt Riddle beat EVOLVE Tag Team Chanpion DUSTIN (fka Chuck Taylor)
(2) Fred Yehi best Jason Kinkaid
(3) Chris Dickinson & Jaka beat Darby Allin & Tony Nese
(4) Ethan Page (The Gatekeepers) beat Zack Sabre Jr.
(5) Tracy Williams beat Chris Hero
(6) EVOLVE Champion Timothy Thatcher (w/Stokely Hathaway) vs. Drew Gulak in The Squared Circle of Survival match. This is a No Rope match with a fancy name. The match can be won via pin fall, submission, or KO. Gulak dominated early. Thatcher eventually caught him jumping to the floor and went to work on him. He got a cross-arm breaker, but Gulak fought him off and sent him to the floor. Gulak continued to dominate the action. He eventually began taking up the ring mat before going back after Thatcher with some punches with a chord wrapped around his fist. He put the hook from the chord in Thatcher’s mouth and got a chicken wing, but Thatcher escaped and eventually tossed him into the ring post on the floor.
Thatcher and Hathaway tied Gulak to the ringpost with one of the chords. He then took the protective coating that was under the canvas. Thatcher slammed him on the boards and he kicked out at one. Thatcher grabbed a choke sleeper. Gulak fired back and managed to drive Thatcher into the exposed boards. The crowd chanted for Thatcher to do it 10 more times. Thatcher had a choke and it looked like Gulak was going to pass out, but he ended up rolling to the floor and both men crashed hard. Gulak took up some of the boards, but Thatcher dumped him between the boards. He then trapped Gulak between the boards and grabbed choke sleeper, but Gulak turned it into a stunner! Gulak rose up from under the ring a few seconds later and Thatcher sold shock. Both men began exchanging blows. Thatcher ended up slipping between the boards. Gulak grabbed a dragon sleeper and the fans went nuts. Thatcher managed to hit a palm strike to free himself. Wow! Gulak hit a backdrop driver on the exposed boards from a near fall. Both men traded big moves on the exposed boards, but neither man would stay down for a 3 count.
Gulak hit a suplex and Thatcher fell through the hole in the ring and disappeared. Gulak dragged him back into the ring and went for a suplex, but Thatcher hit a head butt. Gulak fired back with a back fist. Thatcher then slipped around Gulak and hit a backdrop driver for the win as the fans booed.
Winner: Timothy Thatcher to retain the EVOLVE Championship
Star rating: (****1/2) – The match started slowly, but once they began taking the canvas off and using parts of the ring to their advantage, things really heated up. The back and forth action down the stretch had the fans on fire. They hit some sick moves on the exposed boards and worked some great sequences after both men took the boards up.
Gulak got a big ovation when Catch Point came out to console him. Gulak got on the mic. He said he started Catch Point and had failed. He got in Tracy Williams’s face and said as far as he’s concerned, Catch Point is a failure. Gulak made his way to the back. He ran into DUSTIN and Drew Galloway, but stepped around him.
Galloway got into the ring said he had flown 24 hours and paid $70 for a taxi to talk to Catch Point. He looked at Riddle and said bro used to be a sign of respect in wrestling, but when he hears it now he thinks of Riddle kicking him in the head and getting cheered. He called Riddle a disgraced UFC fighter. Galloway said he has to save EVOLVE. He said he wants to see it flourish. He said his new mission was to exterminate Matt Riddle. The fans chanted for Riddle. He got in the mic and said bro and the fans applauded. He told Galloway to chill. He then dropped the mic and Galloway flipped out. He eventually stormed to the back.
Lenny Leonard and Joey Styles signed off as the fans chanted EVOLVE over and over.
Quick thoughts on FloSlam.tv: My initial impressions of this streaming service were favorable. I had trouble syncing up my account with my Roku due to my own errors, but once I got in on Roku, the stream booted up very quickly and was flawless. I got the impression that the EVOLVE streams should have no technical issues going forward.
It was fairly easy to navigate my way to the live stream of EVOLVE 72, as it was featured right on the main menu of the wrestling section of the app. I would have to think there will be no more streaming issues for EVOLVE now that FloSlam is streaming them.
Email Sean at pwtorchsean@gmail.com
one of the things i liked about wwnlive was how little data it used to watch an event. what sort of data usage per event are we talking about for this flo service?