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Yessir, ladies and gentlemen, it's time for the World Wrestling Network to come back in to your home with Evolve 94 (live from Queens, New York) and Evolve 95 (live from East Haven, Connecticut), and as always, I'm here to give you the low down on what's going down.
Video Roundup
Evolve 92 Recap: New Tag Champs & More!
Evolve 93 Recap: Matt Riddle Addresses Internet Headlines to Locker Room
Evolve Mini-Doc: Matt Riddle vs. Keith Lee Last Man Standing!
...the end?
It’s no secret that the last month or so has been a time of tumult and change for the WWN family of promotions. You can see the Video Roundup is a bit light this month, with only one mini-doc (and a short one, at that), the two recaps... and those two cryptic videos promising an... end to Evolve.
What this entails, I have no idea. Stepping away from the usual atmosphere of light kayfabe analysis I cultivate in these previews, we could be looking at a pure angle, it could be a rebranding, it could be a new faction, it could be any number of things. All I know is what I see in the video descriptions, where it suggests that whatever they’re planning, it goes down at Evolve 94, and the fallout will be felt at Evolve 95.
To borrow a term of art from a colleague, I’m excited and afraid, folks.
Evolve 94 (Saturday, October 14, at 6PM Eastern)
Matt Riddle defends the WWN Championship against Keith Lee in a Last Man Standing match. Their previous match (which you can watch for free right here) ended in defeat for the Limitless One solely by happenstance, as both men, utterly exhausted, collapsed to the mat, and our Bro just happened to be atop of Lee. And so, the Last Man Standing rules guarantee that there will be a definitive winner. But have these recently-united-and-exploded Mega Powers opened up a different avenue for controversy?
Both men, on their way to the top, have racked up enemies in Evolve, none of whom loom larger than Catch Point. Tracy Williams’ failure to capture the WWN Championship was the only black mark on a banner weekend for Catch Point and the Dream Team last month, and you have to think Stokely Hathaway and his men may be looking for a chance to even the score.
And, by design, a Last Man Standing match is a no disqualification match, so they can have their way and then play kingmaker, if they so choose. Something to think about...
Jaka wrestles Evolve World Champion Zack Sabre, Jr. in non-title action. Their first match, at Evolve 87, served as something of a coming-out party for Catch Point’s Smooth Savage as he more than held his own against the champion even if he did, in the end, fall short of the title. Now the title isn’t on the line, but Jaka is a lean, mean, confident grappling machine, having just regained the tag titles. Sabre’s going to have to dig down and deep and find the wherewithal to stop Jaka in his tracks, lest he find himself with a new challenger on his tail in the rubber match.
Former Evolve Tag Team Champions collide as Fred Yehi takes on “Hot Sauce” Tracy Williams. These two men know each other well, but they’ve only met in one-on-one action once before, way back at Evolve 53. There, Hot Sauce prevailed, but Yehi was new to WWN and not yet the year-plus FIP World Heavyweight Champion and MVP as he is now. Add in Williams’ recently snapped winning streak and you have to think this is a match that could define the next few months of both men’s careers.
Magic man Jarek 1:20 makes his in-ring Evolve debut against Darby Allin. When last we saw Jarek, he was antagonizing Darby, using his tricks to change some hundred dollar bills into ones and tell him that essentially he thinks he’s worthless. Allin has never lost sight of the Evolve World Championship as his goal, but a loss here could kill his momentum and send him tumbling back down the hill.
And more, featuring Chris Dickinson, Austin Theory, Jason Kincaid, and others. This weekend is something of a new talent initiative weekend to boot, so expect to see some new and unfamiliar names on the night.
Evolve 95 (Sunday, October 15, at 7PM Eastern)
Zack Sabre, Jr. goes one-on-one with “Hot Sauce” Tracy Williams for only the second time. Tracy’s match against Fred Yehi tonight will determine whether the Evolve World Championship is on the line here. But whether the gold is on the line or not, this is likely to be a hell of a match. Sabre, forged and honed in the crucible of the G1 Climax and riding high as reigning and defending Evolve Champion; Williams, fueled by an anger and disappointment as he comes off a failure to claim the WWN Championship— together, it’s a recipe for some real violence in grappling, and I can’t wait.
Matt Riddle and Fred Yehi finally come to the rubber match in a series that started nearly two years ago. The former Catch Point allies have split wins one each, but if you look at those matches, an interesting trend appears. Their first encounter, won by Riddle, was a mere six minutes long, while their second was seven minutes and ended with Yehi having his hand raised. It’s no secret that Deep Waters excels in sprint matches, and Fred draws on a gas tank with few equals in pro wrestling, so it makes sense, but is it a coincidence of statistics or an actual trend? We’ll have one more point of data on the board after Sunday.
Darby Allin faces his biggest threat yet in a very literal sense when he wrestles Keith Lee. This is going to be a spectacle in the finest sense of the word, folks. Like, no offense, Darby, but I’m pretty sure Keith could fold you up and dribble you like a basketball if he wanted. Good luck!
And more, featuring Doom Patrol, Austin Theory, Jason Kincaid, Jarek 1:20, the Ugly Ducklings, and others. Plus the iPPV will have a kickoff card from Paul Roma’s Paradise Alley Pro Wrestling before Evolve at 6PM Eastern.
Like what you read?
Well mosey on over to WWNLive to buy the shows, and be sure to come right back here to Cageside Seats tonight and tomorrow to hang out in the live thread while you watch them!