WWN Supershow Review
Drew Galloway comes out to start the show. He says he didn’t ask for much and that to succeed all it takes is all that you got. He says when he got to Evolve no one know who Ricochet or Timothy Thatcher were, they were great but needed eyes on the company which he did. He says he has been on a mission to save Evolve from itself. He says it’s bigger now and he needs to save WWN from itself and needs to become champion to build this place where it needs to get to. He says if anyone in the match tonight tries to screw him around he will do to them what he did to Matt Riddle and break their neck. Riddle then hits the ring and starts punching Galloway on the mat. Riddle chases him around ringside but takes a piledriver in the ring and Riddle sells his neck. Fred Yehi, Tracy Williams and Chris Dickinson hit the ring and tend to Riddle. Keith Lee then comes to the ring and faces off with Galloway who says no one invited him. Galloway says he can build a future for Lee who just needs to see things through his eyes and stand by his side. Galloway asks if he will and Lee gives him a thumbs down. Galloway headbutts him but Lee gives him a spirit bomb, a ground zero and a moonsault. Officials from the back come and check on him and help him to the back. Lee takes the mic and says that WWN is now his company and that the entire wrestling world belongs to him. He says Evolve is now his home and he had to dethrone the supposed king and claim the kingdom as his own. He says he will now continue on his crusade of being limitless so everyone can bask in his glory.
1) Keith Lee vs Jason Kincaid vs Gatekeeper Blaster vs Austin Theory-
Stokely Hathaway comes out and says that Timothy Thatcher will not be wrestling in the opening match. He says that Thatcher is the greatest Evolve champion of all time but the Night Of Appreciation for Thatcher has been cancelled. Hathaway says he has negotiated with officials and Thatcher is now in the elimination match for the WWN Championship. Darby Allin comes out and says he has not been medically cleared to compete after last night but that that won’t stop him. He says he is taking Thatcher’s spot in this match. Ethan Page then attacks him and Gatekeeper Blaster is added to the match. Blaster and Theory start and Blaster kicks him to the floor. Blaster follows him outside while Kincaid meditates in front of Lee. Theory whips Blaster into the guardrail and then goes after Lee inside while Kincaid sits on the top rope. Theory and Kincaid try to whip Lee but he gives them a double overhead belly-to-belly suplex. Theory backdrops Lee to the apron but Lee knocks him down and does a slingshot elbowdrop. Blaster charges Lee and gives him a hurracanrana. Theory dropkicks Lee and then he and Blaster hit him with stereo superkicks. They team up for an assisted powerbomb on Lee and then Blaster turns on Theory and charges him in the corner. Blaster tries to press him but Theory floats over and kicks him in the face. Blaster rolls outside and Theory hits him with a tope suicida. He then does one on Lee and another on Blaster. Theory does another tope on Lee who catches him and drives him into the ringpost. Blaster gives Theory a black hole slam in the ring. Lee charges Theory and forearms him in the face. Lee chops Theory but Theory fights back and hits a clothesline and an enzuiguri. Lee gives Theory a spirt bomb and then faces off with Blaster and they trade strikes. Lee gives Blaster a big spirit bomb followed by ground zero and gets the pinfall. I actually like that this was turned into a four-way as Theory and Blaster both got a chance to shine and Lee continued to look awesome. Lee says that WWN is now his company and is now his kingdom and he wants to be the first to welcome Kyle O’Reilly. Lee says he will make sure when they meet that O’Reilly gets the best opportunity to “bask in my glory”.
2) Shine Championship: Lufisto (champion) vs Toni Storm-
Lufisto’s opponent was supposed to be Su Young but Lufisto announces that Young didn’t bother to show up and is a disgrace to wrestling. Lufisto says she is the greatest SHINE champion of all time and noone from here or anywhere in the world can beat her. Toni Storm then comes to the ring. Lufisto goes outside and Storm hits a tope suicida. They brawl around ringside trading strikes. They both miss chops on each other and hit the ringpost. Lufisto whips Storm into the ringpost and takes her inside and beats her down. Lufisto chops Storm around the ring and starts headbutting her. Storm fights back with her own headbutts and chops. Lufisto hits a chinbreaker and then bodyslams Storm. Lufisto gives her a curb stomp. The fans start chanting for Toni and Lufisto yells at them. Storm fights back with chops and a hip attack in the corner. Storm charges and Lufisto slams her in the corner and hits a hip attack, a cannonball and a running knee. Lufisto tries to get Storm in a torture rack but Storm gives her a German suplex and a running kick. Lufisto grabs her in a reverse death valley driver (I think that’s what you’d call it). Storm hits a back-cracker and then goes up top allowing Lufisto to grab her in a torture rack and hit a burning hammer. This was my first time seeing Storm and I was impressed as she shows great fire. Lufisto is always great.
3) Ethan Page vs Jimmy Havoc
This is the first of the night’s Evolve vs Progress matches unless you include the women’s match (which was Shine vs Progress). Page and Havoc trash-talk each other and Page tries to jump him but gets sent outside. They brawl around ringside and Page sends Havoc flying into the seats. Page hits Havoc in the head with a purse but Havoc fires back with elbows and chops. Havoc throws Page into some seats and then works away at him while a fan takes a selfie with him. Page fights back and drops an elbow on Havoc on a table. Page slingshots Havoc face-first into the bottom of a table. Havoc throws Page into the merch table but Page throws water in his face. Page throws Havoc into another table near the entrance. Havoc crotches Page on the guardrail and then slaps and elbows him. Havoc goes for a running kick at ringside but Page cuts him off with a superkick. Havoc hits a superkick from the apron. Havoc takes Page inside where Page hits him with an RK-Ego. Havoc fires back with elbows. Page tries an iconoclasm but Havoc takes him down with a headscissors. Havoc hits a lung-blower. Havoc goes for the acid rainmaker but Page escapes. Havoc hits an elbow and a running boot in the corner. Page avoids a charge in the corner and hits a big boot. They trade strikes in the middle of the ring. Havoc knocks Gatekeeper Flex off the apron and Page punches Havoc who comes back with a Pele kick. Havoc tries an acid rainmaker countered by a spinning Dwayne attempt countered into a roll-up by Havoc. Havoc hits a bicycle kick and then a double stomp. Gatekeeper Blaster comes to ringside and Havoc gets distracted allowing Page to catch him in a Spinning Dwayne for the pinfall. Page notes that he said if he didn’t get what he wanted he would unleash more and more chaos. He says that since he is not in the Evolve Title match the beginning of the Evolve/Progress friendship will be the end. He and The Gatekeepers start beating down Havoc. Darby Allin makes the save and Havoc hits the acid rainmaker.
4) Chris Dickinson and Jaka vs Travis Banks and TJ Cooper
Jaka and Cooper start and trade strikes. Jaka goes for a suplex but Cooper floats over and they go back and forth until Cooper hits an enzuiguri. Dickinson and Banks tag in and trade holds and roll-ups. Dickinson calls out Cooper saying “I want the pretty boy”. Cooper paintbrushes Dickinson’s face and Dickinson stomps him down in the corner. Dickinson throws chops and tags in Jaka who snapmares Cooper and drops an elbow. Jaka gives Cooper an exploder suplex and tags in Dickinson who slaps Cooper down. Dickinson applies a Boston Crab and taunts Banks on the apron. Jaka tags in and stomps Cooper in the corner. Cooper fires back with forearms but gets knocked down. Jaka gives him a vertical suplex. Dickinson tags in and chops and kicks Cooper and then does a full nelson using his legs. Jaka tags in and headbutts and chops Cooper. Jaka charges in the corner but Cooper kicks him. Cooper comes off the ropes but Jaka headbutts him. Dickinson tags in and he and Jaka double-team Cooper who fights them both off and tags Bank who unloads with kicks and strikes on Catchpoint. Banks hits them both with elbows in the corners and gives them both a cannonball. Banks gives Dickinson a brainbuster. Banks and Dickinson battle on the apron while Jaka does a tope suicida on Cooper. Dickinson gives Banks an inverted DDT on the apron. Banks gets thrown inside but hits a tope suicida on Dickinson and Jaka. Cooper goes to the top rope and hits a moonsault variation on all three men. All four men go back inside and trade kicks. Banks hits a diving lariat on Jaka. Dickinson and Jaka do stereo German suplexes followed by big clotheslines. Banks chops away at Dickinson and Jaka but they take control and hit a superkick wheelbarrow combination. Dickinson gives Banks a powerbomb followed by a splash from Jaka. Dickinson picks up Banks in a torture rack and Jaka gives him a double stomp. Dickinson releases him and Cooper and Banks hit a double team assisted stunner. Dickinson escape a double team and Jaka hits a rolling kick on Banks. Cooper hits a kick from the second rope. Banks and Cooper unload on Jaka with kicks but Dickinson gets a double German suplex on them. Cooper hits a superkick Dickinson and Banks gives him a fisherman buster. Cooper gives him a slingshot 450 splash but Dickinson kicks out at one. Banks then gives Dickinson an assisted brainbuster for the pinfall. This was a good tag match that probably exceeded expectations for most people. I am hoping that Dickinson and Jaka win the tag titles as I really enjoy them and this would make for a good title match.
It is announced that Drew Galloway has been injured (apparently from the weight of lifting his new WWE contract) and will not be able to compete in the main event.
5) Progress Championship: Pete Dunne (champion) vs ACH-
They lock up and Dunne ends up working the leg. ACH gets out of a leglock and they both get front chanceries. Dunne grabs a hammerlock and bends ACH’s fingers. They trade wristlocks and Dunne does a monkey flip with ACH keeping the wristlock. ACH escapes a headscissors with a kip-up and Dunne kips up as well. Dunne hits a running elbow and whips ACH into the corner but ACH hits an up-kick. Dunne goes to the apron and ACH hits a springboard kick. ACH tries a soccer kick on the apron but Dunne drops him on his face. ACH hits a dropkick in the ring and hits Dunne with chops and knees. Dunne throws a forearm but ACH gives him an enzuiguri. ACH applies an Indian deathlock and bends back into a Muta Lock. Dunne escapes and hits a pedigree. Dunne soccer kicks ACH’s arm and then works on his fingers again. Dunne works over ACH in the corner and stomps his wrist. Dunne throws elbows at ACH who fights back with chops and they trade strikes. ACH gives Dunne a low blow followed by a hurracanrana. Dunne falls outside and ACH soccer kicks him from the apron. ACH goes for a double stomp in the ring and misses but fires back with a neckbreaker. ACH punches Dunne into the corner but Dunne hits him with a big elbow and a hip attack. Dune goes for a pumphandle but ACH gets a codebreaker and a death valley neckbreaker. ACH goes to the top and Dunne hits an enzuiguri. Dunne goes for a butterfly on the top rope but ACH goes for a sunset bomb. Dunne flips out and they trade bicycle kicks and headbutts. Dunne hits a lariat and a jumping tombstone. Dunne bights ACH’s fingers and then goes for another pumphandle and ACH gets out and bights Dunne’s hand. Dunne punches him off but ACH comes back with a slingshot stunner and an air raid crash. ACH comes off the top rope but takes a punch to the face. Dunne hits the Drop Dead pumphandle slam. Dunne then applies a Regal Stretch but ACH gets out and reverses into a roll-up. Dunne does a snap German suplex and a low blow but ACH hits a clothesline. ACH does a buster-call. ACH goes up top and misses a 450 splash. Dunne applies the Regal Stretch again and ACH taps out. This was a great title match, both guys are at the top of their game.
6) Evolve Title: Zack Sabre Jr. (champion) vs Mark Haskins
They trade holds to start and Haskins grabs a body-scissors and then a leg-scissors. Sabre moves into a headscissors with Haskins escaping for a stalemate. Haskins grabs a cravate but Sabre get the wristlock. Haskins gets a leglock but Sabre escapes for a sunset flip stopped by Haskins stomping on his wrist. Haskins works the arm and Sabre gets a rope break. They tie up and Haskins gets the mount with Sabre grabbing an armbar. Haskins escapes and they criss-cross with Sabre getting a roll-up. Haskins hits a basement dropkick and applies a spinning toehold and Indian deathlock. Sabre goes after a kimura but they break. Haskins goes after Sabre’s leg but Sabre grabs a legscissors. Haskins starts to work the leg. They go after each other’s ankles and Haskins does a dragon-screw legwhip. Haskins starts dropping knees. Sabre counters a lariat with an up-kick. Haskins gives him a superkick but Sabre hits a running uppercut in the corner. Sabre goes after an armbar but Haskins counters into a cross armbreaker. Sabre grabs a full nelson but Haskins gets out and hits a lariat. They stand up and face off and trade uppercuts, elbows and leg-kicks. Haskins grabs Sabre in a powerslam and applies a crossface. Haskins gets an armbar but Sabre grabs the ropes for the break. Sabre hits an uppercut but takes a bicycle kick. Haskins goes for the painkiller but Sabre counters with a roll-up. Haskins nails a death valley driver. Haskins starts kicking Sabre in the chest. Sabre goes for a tilt-a-whirl but Haskins counters into a star armbar. Sabre gets out and applies a sleeper and moves into an octopus. Haskins goes for a stretch muffler but Sabre rolls him up. Sabre catches Haskins in a cross armbreaker. Haskins hits the cradle to the grave (pumphandle slam) for a near-fall. Haskins hits a bicycle kick in the corner and Sabre fires back with an uppercut and a penalty kick. Sabre misses another penalty kick. Haskins goes for a sharpshooter but Sabre kicks him off. Haskins tries to get Sabre on his shoulders but Sabre moves into a triangle choke. Sabre grabs an armbar and sinks it in deep. He traps the leg in the Ode to Breaks and Haskins submits. This was a great technical match as one would expect.
7) WWN Title Decision Match- Timothy Thatcher vs Parrow vs Jon Davis vs Matt Riddle vs Fred Yehi vs Tracy Williams
All six men brawl to start the match. If this is tornado rules my review is going to be tough. Yehi throws Davis to the outside. Riddle hits a high-kick to Parrow. Thatcher and Williams trade strikes and go to the floor. They go back inside and Yehi, Williams and Riddle ally themselves. Thatcher, Parrow and Davis come back inside but Thatcher holds back. Parrow gives Riddle a tombstone. Thatcher grabs Parrow in a rear naked choke. Everyone starts throwing knees and strikes at Parrow who goes to the mat. He starts to get up but passes out and is eliminated. Riddle runs at Davis with a head-kick but Davis avoids. Williams and Thatcher trade strikes and Davis pounces Williams. Thatcher gives Riddle a German suplex in the ring. Davis chops at Williams outside and Davis hits the ringpost. Yehi hits a dropkick on Thatcher and stomps on his foot. Yehi goes for a rolling elbow but Thatcher headbutts him. Yehi gives him a chinbreaker. Davis takes on Yehi but gets double-teamed by Yehi and Williams. Yehi stops on Davis and hits a spinning backfist. Davis slams him to the mat and gives him a buckle bomb and a spinebuster. Davis and Davis face off but Williams clotheslines Davis from behind. Thatcher gets Riddle in a rear naked choke but Williams and Yehi save him with clotheslines. Riddle gives Thatcher a piledriver followed by a brainbuster from Williams who puts him in the crossface for the submission. It is down to the three members of Catchpoint and Davis who is on the outside. Davis comes inside and punches and elbows at his opponents. He catches Yehi and Williams but Riddle saves them with kicks. Davis gets both Yehi and Riddle on his shoulders but Williams saves them. Davis gives Williams an STO and powerbombs Yehi on Williams’ back. Riddle goes for the Bro 2 Sleep on Davis but Davis catches him and does the Three Seconds Around the World. Davis punches Williams but takes an up-kick from Riddle and a dropkick from Yehi. Williams lariats him in the corner. Riddle hits the Bro 2 Sleep and Williams gives him a diving forearm. Davis gets caught in the crossface by Williams and Yehi and Riddle do armlocks and leglocks on him and he submits. Yehi and Williams attack Riddle but he fights them off with kicks. They start stomping on Riddle’s bare feet. Yehi and Williams drop knees and stomp on Riddle and work his neck. They punch and chop him but Riddle fights back with chops and kicks and knees Williams s in the head. Riddle floats over in a German by Yehi but then takes another German. Williams gives him a brainbuster. Williams does an angle slam. Yehi gives Riddle a fisherman buster. Riddle is in the corner and Yehi gets ready to charge but Williams rolls him up for the pinfall elimination. Williams dropkicks Riddle in the corner. Williams gets him in a cravate and keeps working his neck. Williams hits Riddle with forearms and they start trading elbows. Riddle throws kicks to Williams’ shoulder but gets knocked down. Williams clotheslines him in the corner. Williams blocks a lariat and an up-kick. Riddle gets Williams with the Bro 2 Sleep and goes for a straightjacket German but can’t do it and starts clutching his neck. Riddle kicks Williams and takes him to the top. Williams headbutts him and DDT’s him on the top turnbuckle. Riddle gets Williams in a fisherman buster for a pin attempt. Riddle springboards on the second rope but misses a knee-strike. Williams does a northern lariat and gets him in a crossface. Riddle tries to get to the ropes and then rolls out but Williams gives him a big piledriver for a near-fall. Williams goes for another piledriver but Riddle fights it off. Riddle goes for the Bro 2 Sleep but Williams maneuvers him into a crossface but Riddle gets to the ropes. Williams stomps on his head and places him in a seated abdominal stretch and starts throwing elbows to the head. Williams gets him back in the crossface. Riddle gets to the ropes again. Williams hits riddle with a forearms and chops but Riddle fights back with a chop and gets a triangle choke in the ropes. Riddle goes to the top rope and Williams hits him with a forearm. Williams gets to the second rope and gives Riddle a butterfly superplex. Williams goes for a crossface again but Riddle grabs him in the Bromission and Williams taps out. Riddle is your first WWN Champion which is obviously a great booking decision since he is their top star and one of the best in the world. Riddle lays out his WWN Title and Progress Atlas title and celebrates. Riddle says he is going to take this championship and defend it all around the world and in every WWN promotion. He talks about taking on Timothy Thatcher and Kyle O’Reilly.
Aside from the match changes that should have been announced ahead of time this has been a great show. I would rank it as second out of the three Evolve/WWN shows on the weekend. The booking was good, including a weekend-long storyline regarding Riddle’s neck that built up to an emotional title win.
