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Re: DGUSA/EVOLVE Thread

Posted: Mon Jan 23, 2017 8:46 am
by DXvsNWO1994
I honestly don't get some of this dislike towards Evolve. For my money, they've been the most consistent promotion in the U.S. since the end of 2014. Every Evolve show since that point has been, at the very least, good (in my opinion). They do have bad shows (like Evolve 67 & Evolve 70), but they're few and far between. Yes, they have Timothy Thatcher as champion, and he did have a relatively poor 2016 in Evolve, but everyone and everything else has been so good (Hero & Riddle, plus the Drew Galloway "Anti-WWE" storyline).

Re: DGUSA/EVOLVE Thread

Posted: Mon Jan 23, 2017 11:05 am
by King of Indy Style
I never could get into EVOLVE personally. They have some good talent, yeah but I can see them in other places anyway. And I only have so much time, and I'd rather devote it to promotions I'm a fan of, like ROH, PWG, New Japan, and Lucha Underground. I was gonna try to get into it a while back, but once they partnered up with WWE I decided not to.

Re: DGUSA/EVOLVE Thread

Posted: Mon Jan 23, 2017 11:49 am
by project161
DXvsNWO1994 wrote:I honestly don't get some of this dislike towards Evolve. For my money, they've been the most consistent promotion in the U.S. since the end of 2014. Every Evolve show since that point has been, at the very least, good (in my opinion). They do have bad shows (like Evolve 67 & Evolve 70), but they're few and far between. Yes, they have Timothy Thatcher as champion, and he did have a relatively poor 2016 in Evolve, but everyone and everything else has been so good (Hero & Riddle, plus the Drew Galloway "Anti-WWE" storyline).
This storyline was bad to me because the heels were made out to be the talents that were "self-made" and made a name for themselves away from WWE and on the independent scene/TNA while the faces were meant to be the ones essentially defending WWE (and some of which have now joined WWE anyway.) It's the opposite of the anti-establishment story that independent wrestling should be driving in my opinion, but that is the way it is now that EVOLVE has shifted into being a dependent promotion to WWE.

I'm not saying Thatcher can't have good matches (I felt his Street Fight with Gulak was easily the best and most enjoyable match I have seen from them, ironically the only match they have had that I could name where they stepped away from "their match") but he is not someone I am invested in as champion and he has felt forcefed to me since debuting in EVOLVE essentially. It does not help that ZSJ is probably the guy who will take the belt off of him when it should be Riddle at this point if anyone among upper/main event portion of EVOLVE.

Re: DGUSA/EVOLVE Thread

Posted: Wed Jan 25, 2017 11:39 am
by DXvsNWO1994
Evolve is running the Midwest in May:
We have heard the demand from all of you in the Midwest for EVOLVE. We are very excited to announce that EVOLVE is coming to the Chicago and Detroit areas for the first time! Let's get to it:

WWN will be partnering with Freelance Wrestling to bring EVOLVE to Chicago on May 20th. EVOLVE will be at:

EVOLVE - May 20th - 8pm
Summit Park District
5700 S. Archer Road
Summit, IL. 60501

There will be a Freelance/Resistance Pro event in the afternoon and EVOLVE will be at 8pm that night. Tickets will go on sale next week for this unprecedented day of independent wrestling in the Chicago area!

EVOLVE is finally coming to the Detroit area! We are very happy to announce that Chris T. Bonjour has officially joined WWN as a Midwest promoter. Bonjour was first introduced to The WWN Family by taking part in the Creative Seminar last year. He is now responsible for bringing EVOLVE to Michigan. Tickets go sale next week. The show info is:

EVOLVE - May 21st - 8pm
Monaghan Knights Of Columbus Hall
19801 Farmington Rd.
Livonia, MI 48152

We can already confirm that EVOLVE Tag Team Champions Tracy Williams & Fred Yehi, Zack Sabre Jr., Matt Riddle, Jeff Cobb and Keith Lee will be competing at EVOLVE in the Midwest. We will be pulling out all the stops to bring the best possible shows to the Chicago and Detroit areas! Thank you for your support. Thank you for making your voice heard. These events are only happening because you demanded it!

Re: DGUSA/EVOLVE Thread

Posted: Wed Jan 25, 2017 11:43 am
by JTCole
project161 wrote:
DXvsNWO1994 wrote:I honestly don't get some of this dislike towards Evolve. For my money, they've been the most consistent promotion in the U.S. since the end of 2014. Every Evolve show since that point has been, at the very least, good (in my opinion). They do have bad shows (like Evolve 67 & Evolve 70), but they're few and far between. Yes, they have Timothy Thatcher as champion, and he did have a relatively poor 2016 in Evolve, but everyone and everything else has been so good (Hero & Riddle, plus the Drew Galloway "Anti-WWE" storyline).
This storyline was bad to me because the heels were made out to be the talents that were "self-made" and made a name for themselves away from WWE and on the independent scene/TNA while the faces were meant to be the ones essentially defending WWE (and some of which have now joined WWE anyway.) It's the opposite of the anti-establishment story that independent wrestling should be driving in my opinion, but that is the way it is now that EVOLVE has shifted into being a dependent promotion to WWE.

I'm not saying Thatcher can't have good matches (I felt his Street Fight with Gulak was easily the best and most enjoyable match I have seen from them, ironically the only match they have had that I could name where they stepped away from "their match") but he is not someone I am invested in as champion and he has felt forcefed to me since debuting in EVOLVE essentially. It does not help that ZSJ is probably the guy who will take the belt off of him when it should be Riddle at this point if anyone among upper/main event portion of EVOLVE.
I don't see how you could think Evolve is now " dependent" on WWE. Really what have they done for them besides a few special appearances.

Re: DGUSA/EVOLVE Thread

Posted: Thu Jan 26, 2017 5:03 pm
by ROHfan2002
DXvsNWO1994 wrote:I honestly don't get some of this dislike towards Evolve. For my money, they've been the most consistent promotion in the U.S. since the end of 2014. Every Evolve show since that point has been, at the very least, good (in my opinion). They do have bad shows (like Evolve 67 & Evolve 70), but they're few and far between. Yes, they have Timothy Thatcher as champion, and he did have a relatively poor 2016 in Evolve, but everyone and everything else has been so good (Hero & Riddle, plus the Drew Galloway "Anti-WWE" storyline).

I got into Evolve with 50 & 51. Then I went back to the start of "chapter two" at 31. Up to Evolve 48. I also watched all of the 2016 events. I really, really like the chapter two stuff in 2014 & 2015. But all of 2016 underwhelmed. Yes, there were some great matches. Yes, I love to watch Hero, Sabre Jr, Williams, Gulak, and Thatcher. But the overall shows were all just blah to me. I truly enjoyed every single ROH VOD from 2016 more than any Evolve event last year.

I love Thatcher, and his early title reign. But whether it was injury, scheduled elsewhere, or Gabe's booking, he fell flat in 2016. He wasn't on the opening triple shot with injury. He was made to look less than Riddle and Catch Point in February and April. It's one thing to create a new challenger. But Thatcher was made to look like a total Catch Point bitch and it hurt him. Plus, after February, I think Thatcher was only in one more main event all year. The Evolve champion was opening shows, or in the middle, over and over and over. If you don't push your champion as the main event, people don't view him as the top guy. Look at what WCW did with Goldberg. Gabe booked an angle where Thatcher wanted to prove he was a worthy champion by beating all of Catch Point. But by the time it was done, Thatcher was hated by the crowds. That should not be the final result of that kind of angle.

I hated the whole anti-WWE storyline. First, EC3 just didn't fit in Evolve. Second, a Chuck Taylor who was excellent in the beginning of Evolve is a totally bland character who has changed his name to Dustin. Just Dustin. Which has never once been explained why he chose that name. Third, the storyline was essentially the "bad guys" are fighting against corporate WWE and fighting for independent wrestling, and to keep Evolve independent. The "good guys" are fighting for what? To be WWE's second tier developmental? To make Evolve less independent? Why should I, an Evolve fan, be against the guys who want to keep it independent? It was a bad, bad storyline and I was so glad it ended.

2016 began with a tag team title tournament. Those belts have meant very little. The first champions were a team of two singles guys together for the first time. I have always hated when promotions toss two singles together and have them win tag gold. They lose the belts to Catch Point, which is good. Except Catch Point barely held them before losing to another makeshift team of Galloway & Dustin. I'm sure they did defend them on Evolve events, but I'm struggling to remember more than one defense. I like Williams & Yehi, but it would be nice if they defended them at every show. Evolve has created a tag title, but hasn't really taken the time to develop actual tag teams. IN less than one year, those belts mean about as much as WWE tag titles did in 2006.

Some great individual matches, and a great year from Hero & Sabre. Otherwise, 2016 disappointed me. Hopefully that helps you understand.

I will say I'm excited about the two shows this weekend, and if they deliver, I'll keep Floslam on a monthly basis to follow it. Might even try to attend the debut show in the Chicago market. So I didn't like 2016 but will give Evolve one more shot to win me over.

Re: DGUSA/EVOLVE Thread

Posted: Thu Jan 26, 2017 6:03 pm
by ROHfan2002
Anybody here get Evolve tickets through Ticketfly? I'm seeing some very bad reviews online about being the site, and just wondered if anybody here has had a good or bad experience.

Is that the only way to get Evolve tickets?

Thank you.

Re: DGUSA/EVOLVE Thread

Posted: Sat Jan 28, 2017 11:23 am
by Memphis Mark
Chuck Taylor's shoot name is Dustin Howard . That why he calls himself Dustin . The name Chuck Taylor came from the shoes.

Re: DGUSA/EVOLVE Thread

Posted: Sat Jan 28, 2017 11:40 am
by project161
JTCole wrote:
project161 wrote:
DXvsNWO1994 wrote:I honestly don't get some of this dislike towards Evolve. For my money, they've been the most consistent promotion in the U.S. since the end of 2014. Every Evolve show since that point has been, at the very least, good (in my opinion). They do have bad shows (like Evolve 67 & Evolve 70), but they're few and far between. Yes, they have Timothy Thatcher as champion, and he did have a relatively poor 2016 in Evolve, but everyone and everything else has been so good (Hero & Riddle, plus the Drew Galloway "Anti-WWE" storyline).
This storyline was bad to me because the heels were made out to be the talents that were "self-made" and made a name for themselves away from WWE and on the independent scene/TNA while the faces were meant to be the ones essentially defending WWE (and some of which have now joined WWE anyway.) It's the opposite of the anti-establishment story that independent wrestling should be driving in my opinion, but that is the way it is now that EVOLVE has shifted into being a dependent promotion to WWE.

I'm not saying Thatcher can't have good matches (I felt his Street Fight with Gulak was easily the best and most enjoyable match I have seen from them, ironically the only match they have had that I could name where they stepped away from "their match") but he is not someone I am invested in as champion and he has felt forcefed to me since debuting in EVOLVE essentially. It does not help that ZSJ is probably the guy who will take the belt off of him when it should be Riddle at this point if anyone among upper/main event portion of EVOLVE.
I don't see how you could think Evolve is now " dependent" on WWE. Really what have they done for them besides a few special appearances.
Honestly a bit of tongue in cheek humor on my part, but I think it is impossible to ignore EVOLVE heavily relying on their WWE tie over the last year or so. Obviously there are other appeals such as Matt Riddle as a whole but the WWE tie feels at the forefront of things they attempt to hype, hence me mentioning the "dependent" joke.

Re: DGUSA/EVOLVE Thread

Posted: Sat Jan 28, 2017 10:17 pm
by Brada
Get a ring that doesn't break, retards....lol.

They need to get that title off of Thatcher. It's just not working out. It seems like he gets shit on literally every damn show now.

Re: DGUSA/EVOLVE Thread

Posted: Mon Jan 30, 2017 3:02 pm
by ROHfan2002
Memphis Mark wrote:Chuck Taylor's shoot name is Dustin Howard . That why he calls himself Dustin . The name Chuck Taylor came from the shoes.
That as may be, but it has never once been explained during an Evolve show. Based solely on the shows, he just decided to be called Dustin. No last name. No storyline explanation. It's odd. How hard would it be for Lenny Leonard to just say this?

Re: DGUSA/EVOLVE Thread

Posted: Mon Jan 30, 2017 3:06 pm
by ROHfan2002
Brada wrote:Get a ring that doesn't break, retards....lol.

They need to get that title off of Thatcher. It's just not working out. It seems like he gets shit on literally every damn show now.

I think it's time because he's held it so long, but I am probably the only one left enjoying his reign. I just love Thatcher's style. Nobody else is doing quite what he does, so it really stands out. You watch his match and can really suspend disbelief and enjoy it as if it was a real contest.

I hate Stokely as his agent though. Stokely is a good character, but Thatcher being with him makes no sense. He fought to prove he deserved being champion, but now he lets Stokely wear the belt out to the ring?

Re: DGUSA/EVOLVE Thread

Posted: Mon Jan 30, 2017 3:08 pm
by ROHfan2002
Since I was very critical, allow me to say that the two shows this weekend were better than anything in 2016 Evolve, and the best since summer 2015 to me.

Excellent shows up and down, and I like the current direction of Evolve. I'll keep watching if it keeps being this good.

Re: DGUSA/EVOLVE Thread

Posted: Tue Jan 31, 2017 5:17 pm
by DXvsNWO1994
Here's Chris Hero's full post-match speech from EVOLVE 77:


Re: DGUSA/EVOLVE Thread

Posted: Wed Feb 01, 2017 11:48 am
by DXvsNWO1994
Drew Galloway has been confirmed for the 2nd Style Battle show, but it wasn't exactly said whether he'll be in the tournament or not.

Here are the first matches announced for the next set of shows in February:

Evolve 78
Joppa, Maryland 2/24/17

- Evolve Title - Timothy Thatcher (with Stokely Hathaway) vs. Evolve Tag Team Champion Fred Yehi
- Keith Lee vs. Zack Sabre Jr.

Evolve 79
Queens, New York 2/25/17

- Evolve Title - Timothy Thatcher/Fred Yehi vs. Zack Sabre Jr.

Finally, the Texas Wrestling Academy has become officially endorsed by WWN.

Re: DGUSA/EVOLVE Thread

Posted: Wed Feb 01, 2017 7:09 pm
by Wilson
Please let Sabre win.
Please let Sabre win.
Please let Sabre win.Please let Sabre win.Please let Sabre win.

Re: DGUSA/EVOLVE Thread

Posted: Mon Feb 06, 2017 4:37 am
by Brada
Pretty good speech from Hero. I think its time to get the belt off of Thatcher as well. Give Sabre a run with it.

Re: DGUSA/EVOLVE Thread

Posted: Mon Feb 06, 2017 8:46 am
by Big Red Machine
ROHfan2002 wrote:
Brada wrote:Get a ring that doesn't break, retards....lol.

They need to get that title off of Thatcher. It's just not working out. It seems like he gets shit on literally every damn show now.

I think it's time because he's held it so long, but I am probably the only one left enjoying his reign. I just love Thatcher's style. Nobody else is doing quite what he does, so it really stands out. You watch his match and can really suspend disbelief and enjoy it as if it was a real contest.

I hate Stokely as his agent though. Stokely is a good character, but Thatcher being with him makes no sense. He fought to prove he deserved being champion, but now he lets Stokely wear the belt out to the ring?
We are on exact opposite wavelengths. Before this weekend I would have been squarely in the "get the belt off of Thatcher" camp, but the way he and Stokely complement each other has made me want to see more of this duo on top. I do think that he often doesn't quite deliver in the ring the way he should and that obviously needs to change, but on the whole I really warmed up to him this weekend whereas I had been cold on him for all of 2016.

Re: DGUSA/EVOLVE Thread

Posted: Mon Feb 06, 2017 8:48 am
by Big Red Machine
ROHfan2002 wrote:Since I was very critical, allow me to say that the two shows this weekend were better than anything in 2016 Evolve, and the best since summer 2015 to me.

Excellent shows up and down, and I like the current direction of Evolve. I'll keep watching if it keeps being this good.
Really? I was the exact opposite. I though most of the stuff they've done since summer 2015 was better than this weekend's shows.

Re: DGUSA/EVOLVE Thread

Posted: Mon Feb 06, 2017 8:54 am
by Big Red Machine
DXvsNWO1994 wrote:Drew Galloway has been confirmed for the 2nd Style Battle show, but it wasn't exactly said whether he'll be in the tournament or not.

Here are the first matches announced for the next set of shows in February:

Evolve 78
Joppa, Maryland 2/24/17

- Evolve Title - Timothy Thatcher (with Stokely Hathaway) vs. Evolve Tag Team Champion Fred Yehi
- Keith Lee vs. Zack Sabre Jr.

Evolve 79
Queens, New York 2/25/17

- Evolve Title - Timothy Thatcher/Fred Yehi vs. Zack Sabre Jr.

Finally, the Texas Wrestling Academy has become officially endorsed by WWN.
Huh. I figured that Sabre Jr. would be getting a title shot (and probably winning the belt) during WrestleMania weekend.