WWE Evolution (October 2018)

Original Airdate: October 28, 2018

From Uniondale, New York; Your Hosts are Michael Cole, Renee Young, and Beth Phoenix

Opening Match: Mickie James and Alicia Fox v Trish Stratus and Lita: The whole 'old gen versus new gen' thing kind of went out the window when Alexa Bliss got injured, right along with most of my interest in this one. I guess Alicia kinda works, but even she's been around forever. Not as bad as Mickie though, who started in the sport the same year as Lita (and one ahead of Trish) - not to mention wrestled Stratus at a WrestleMania during Trish's original run. Mickie starts with Lita, and it's nice to see that Lita has a little reference to the classic whale tail built into her gear. Lita with a headscissor takedown early, and she unloads mounted punches, so James passes to Fox. Fox stalls on the apron, so Lita forces her in, and hits a corner clothesline. She adds a corner whip, so Mickie comes in, but ends up in trouble, and Lita springboards off of Stratus' back to hit both with a stinger splash. Dust settles on Trish and Alicia, and Stratus throws her around, but wants Mickie. James obliges, and it's a slugfest right away, dominated by Stratus. Trish uses a Thesz-press to set up mounted punches, and into the corner for the handstand rana, but Mickie blocks. That ends with them slugging it out on the top rope, and Trish controls with a rana off for two. Over to Lita, but Mickie bails before she can do anything, and the heels huddle up on the floor. The legends tease a stereo dive, but think better of it, and chase them out to the floor instead. Um, okay then. Alexa immediately running away is a great touch, though. Back in, Fox accidentally hits James with a big boot to set up a moonsault from Lita, but Alexa slides in and rips Lita off the top rope to prevent it! That allows the heels to go to work on Lita while Alexa cheerleads, but Fox ends up eating an inverted DDT, and there's the tag to Trish! Stratus comes in hot, and a sitout spinebuster gets her two. Chops rattle Mickie, but James manages a cheap shot in the corner, and a schoolboy gets two. DDT, but Trish counters with the Stratusfaction for two - broken when Fox saves. That earns Alicia a Twist of Fate from Lita, and Lita hits both with a flying moonsault. Chick Kick on James, and that's it at 11:01. Trish and Lita looked rusty as hell here, but it was fun for the most part, and they certainly didn't embarrass themselves. *

#1 Contender's 20-Woman Battle Royal: It's a mix of legends and current stars alike, and we've got: Naomi, Michelle McCool, Sonya Deville, Alundra Blayze, Carmella, Zelina Vega, Kelly Kelly, Tamina, Ember Moon, Lana, Maria Kanellis, Mandy Rose, Molly Holly, Dana Brooke, Nia Jax, Ivory, Asuka, Torrie Wilson, Peyton Royce, and Billie Kay. It's amazing, Torrie still looks like she's in her twenties, despite being the third oldest woman in the match. The IIconics cut a promo on all the legends on their way out, which gets them immediately ganged up on, and dumped. The legends celebrate, but fail to notice that they're being surrounded by all of the current era workers as they do, and it's swarm time like George at Brentano's. Sonya and Mandy team up to dump Kelly and Torrie, before Rose turns on her buddy, and dumps her. Alundra goes out via Nia, and looks like she's about six drinks into her night anyway, and just kinda stumbles back up the aisle. I'm not claiming that she was actually drunk, just that she looked like she is. Nia dumps Maria as well, before getting into a big gurls showdown with Tamina. That instead turns into them teaming up to attack everyone else, which goes really well, except that they don't bother to actually toss anyone. Lana comes over to point that out to them, and she's gone. Jax then turns on Tamina with a bodyslam, allowing Asuka to sneak over with a series of kicks, and we get a cliché spot where everyone suplexes each other at the same time - except for Carmella and Ivory, who wisely distance themselves. They celebrate their brilliance with a dance, and dump Mandy for good measure, before everyone else gangs up on them. Carmella tries a rana on McCool, but ends up getting placed on the top turnbuckle, which goes nowhere. Hey Michelle, I know it's been a while, but maybe try to, I dunno, PUSH HER OUT?! She goes after Ember instead, and that's it for her. Naomi charges Tamina and gets backdropped out, as Ivory drops Asuka with a sitout facebuster, and Moon and Carmella badly screw up a sidewalk slam spot before Ember ultimately eliminates her. Ivory is the last legend standing, and hits Tamina with a flying bodypress, but takes too long going up again, and Asuka gets rid of her. Asuka and Ember trade off, but that ends badly for Asuka, and she's done - leaving Moon, Tamina, Vega, and Jax as the final four. Of course, Vega is nowhere to be seen, and everyone seems to have forgotten about her. Moon fights off both of the big gurls, and hits Tamina with an Eclipse on her way to tossing her. She charges Nia next, but gets clobbered with a shoulderblock, and tossed around the ring. They fight over an elimination, allowing Vega to run in to try and dump both, but the sneak attack fails, and Zelina is done. What a pointless bit, although Zelina getting press-dropped out by Nia was a great elimination. Down to two, and Moon charges with several clotheslines to stagger Jax, but runs into a spinebuster before she can finish, and Nia tosses her at 16:25. Pretty standard battle royal, but there was some cute shit mixed in there, and it was fun. *

WWE Mae Young Classic Tournament Final Match: Toni Storm (Australia) v Io Shirai (Japan): I've had spoilers in front of me for the entire tournament, but I'm going into this one blind. Betting on - and pulling for - Toni. Feeling out process to start, with both evenly matched. Nice criss cross see's Storm outsmart her by changing directions ahead of a dropkick for two, but Shirai tags her back by using gymnastics to get the better of another criss cross. Shirai ties her up in the rings of saturn, but Toni makes the ropes, so Io tries a charge, but Toni lifts a boot to block. That allows her to snap off a German suplex to set up a hip attack in the corner, and Toni goes up for a dive, but Shirai knocks her to the outside with a springboard dropkick. Shirai does a dive of her own in the form of a flying moonsault press, but both suffer the effects of that one, and fight to beat the count in. They end up on the apron, where Toni tries the tiger driver, but Shirai keeps blocking. Storm responds by cracking her with a headbutt, and she drops her on the apron with a wild German suplex! That leaves Io down on the outside for the count, but she manages to make it back in just in time, so Toni hooks the leg for two. Storm is fired up, and starts unloading on her with rights, but Shirai returns fire, and beats poor Toni into a pile of blonde. She goes for the kill, but Storm is ready with a clothesline to shake her off, and quickly follows up with the tiger driver for two! Enough with the shock and tears whenever someone kicks out of a signature move already! It's not 1995 anymore, it happens in almost every match of every show! Shirai capitalizes on the shock with a tiger feint kick to set up a springboard flying sunset flip for two, and she charges Toni with a running kneesmash in the corner. That adequately sets up the flying moonsault, but Storm lifts her knees to block, and the tiger driver finishes at 10:01. Wait, that's it?! They have a three and a half hour show and they can't give them more than ten minutes for this? It felt like they were just getting started! Good match, with both women busting out stuff they hadn't yet tried in the earlier rounds, but definitely a disappointment overall. I honestly feel really underwhelmed after investing so much into the tournament. *** ¼

Six-Woman Tag Team Match: Sasha Banks, Bayley, and Natalya v Ruby Riott, Liv Morgan, and Sarah Logan: I'm still not sure how I feel about Liv's pink hair, but I know exactly how I feel about that booty. She starts with Natalya, and tries to use some cheating, but ends up taking a bearhug/hangman's clothesline combo from Natalya and Sasha. Dust settles on Banks and Logan, and Sasha throws a dropkick for two. Over to Bayley for a high knee in the corner, followed by a running kneesmash from Banks, and Sarah ends up on the outside. Bayley chases after her with a dropkick, so Ruby tries to take a cheap shot out there, but it backfires. Unfortunately for Bayley, she tries one attack too many, and ends up getting sandwiched against the post with a baseball slide from Logan for two. That was a nice spot. The Squad go to work on Bayley, but she manages to fight off the various triple teams long enough to tag Sasha! Banks comes in hot on Ruby, and hits a flying kneesmash for two. Bodyslam, but Ruby slips free, and throws a sidekick, so Sasha uses a cradle for two. Ruby tries a rollup, but Banks counters to a lungblower, right into the Bayley-to-Belly for two when Liv saves. Morgan pulls Ruby out of harms way and tags herself in to go with Sasha, but Banks rides her down with a senton, and Sarah bails. Banks is on her with a dive, but is out to lunch on it, and ends up getting caught, then absolutely LAUNCHED into the guardrail! Ouch, ouch, OUCH! Back in, that gets two, and an electric chair/flying matslam combo follows. Logan then slams Ruby onto her to finish, but Natalya comes in to prevent a cover, and buys Sasha some recovery time. The Squad continue to decimate poor Sasha, until Bayley finally comes in and tries to shield her with her body. Ruby responds by hitting them both with a flying senton splash, but Banks still gets a shoulder up at two. Man, she's getting killed here, but not giving up. She manages to dodge another double team for the tag to Natalya, and Nattie comes in hot - Roseanne Barr the door! Wheelbarrow facebuster on Sarah leads to Natalya slamming Ruby onto her, and she slaps on a cool looking double Sharpshooter! I've never seen anything like that before, and it was really cool. Liv saves with a kneeling facebuster for two, but runs into a powerbomb as she charges, and Bayley punctuates it with a flying elbowdrop - immediately followed with a flying frogsplash from Sasha at 13:40. I wasn't expecting much going in, but this actually turned into a hell of a tag match by the end. It kind of made the Squad look like losers though, because they were throwing EVERYTHING at Sasha (sometimes two of everything), and even had an extended three-on-one advantage, but just couldn't get it done. ** ¾

NXT Women's Title Match: Kairi Sane v Shayna Baszler: They measure each other some to start, until a reversal sequence nearly sees Sane get stuck in a choke. She manages to avoid it and hit a stunner to send Baszler to the apron, where the champ follows with a springboard double stomp to send Baszler to the floor. Sane follows to pound her down against the steps, but a charge there hits boot, and the challenger tosses her against the steel. Back in, Baszler dumps her into the corner for some abuse, and a dominator gets her two. Baszler starts taking apart the arm, but Sane keeps fighting back, and manages to pop her with a spinning backfist to buy time. Sane is able to capitalize with an elevated toehold, but Baszler rips at the arm to escape, so Kairi goes wild on her in the corner, and bashes into her with a spear. Another spear in the corner leads to a somersault neckbreaker for two, and a whiplash sets up something off the top, but Baszler is up too quickly, and decides to punish Sane by hanging her by the arm from up there. So mean! Baszler with a suplex, but Kairi counters with a swift DDT, and she rushes to the top to try the dive again, but this time the challenger manages to bail to the outside. Sane reroutes with a flying bodypress on the floor instead, but Baszler throws her into the rail out there before she can capitalize. Baszler charges, but Sane backdrops her over the rail, right into her MMA gal pals. That prompts Jessamyn Duke to go after her, but Kairi fights her off with a spinning backfist, and turns her attention back to Baszler. Unfortunately for Sane, now Marina Shafir goes after her, and that's enough to allow Baszler to recover with Kirifuda Clutch! Sane cradles for two to escape, and a rollup gets two, but she runs into a shot from Duke, and ends up right back in the Clutch at 12:31. Wow, this referee's facial expressions are all over the place here. She looked like she was a couple seconds away from full on convulsions. This was okay, but nothing special. Normally, I'd be against the overbooking, but the situations felt organic. ** ½  

WWE Smackdown Women's Title Last Woman Standing Match: Becky Lynch v Charlotte Flair: They measure each other to start, and Becky throws a series of legdrops, but Charlotte beats the count. She manages a neckbreaker, and goes up, but Becky slams her off the top. Flair beats the count again, so Becky hits the exploder suplex, but Charlotte beats the count. These counts three minutes into the match are so pointless. Just keep attacking! You don't seriously think a few legdrops or a suplex are going to do it, do you? From a kayfabe perspective, you're losing so much momentum by backing off at this stage. Becky goes after her in the corner, so Flair throws a big boot to shake her off, but Lynch beats the count. She dumps Charlotte to the outside, and goes after her with a kendo stick out there, hammering her challenger out on the floor. Flair tries to get the stick away from her, so Becky grabs a chair instead, but Charlotte gets the same idea. That leads to both of them tossing multiple chairs into the ring, but Charlotte tries to grab a table, allowing Becky to jump her as she struggles with getting it out from underneath the ring. Why was she even going for it? You just filled the ring with weapons, go use them! Flair fights her off with a suplex on the floor, but wastes time with the table again, and Becky attacks her with one of the chairs. See, this Becky kid gets it. Back in, Lynch tosses her into the pile of chairs, as Charlotte continues to do a bang up job of selling the back. Exploder suplex onto the pile, but Flair manages to block, and drop the champ with a side suplex! See, now that's a believable break for a count. Becky beats it, but Charlotte is wasting time fiddling with a table again, instead of just standing there with a chair and smashing her as soon as she gets up. The logic of this match is driving me mad. Becky fights her off as Charlotte slides the table into the ring, and drops Flair onto the pile with a uranage, but the challenger beats the count. Becky is right there to pound her as she does, and she places Flair on that table, but Charlotte knocks her off the top rope as the champ goes up for a dive. At least her attempt made sense, though. Flair pounds Becky onto the table, and she goes up with a flying moonsault, but the fucking thing doesn't break on impact! That leaves both women down, and Flair is up first. She puts Becky on the table to try again - this time with a flying somersault senton splash - and that successfully breaks it. It hurts them both though, and both struggle to beat the count, with Charlotte deciding to bring a ladder into play next. I love how any no DQ style match since the early 2000s always inevitably turns into a TLC match. It backfires for Flair, as Lynch fights her off, and bodyslams Charlotte onto the ladder, but the challenger beats the count. Becky responds with an exploder, but Charlotte slips free, and clips the leg to block. She loops Becky's legs through the rungs of the ladder for some abuse, and slaps on a weird ladder-assisted Figure Eight, which has Becky openly tapping out. Of course, that doesn't mean shit in this type of match. Lynch uses a chair to engineer her escape, and she bails to the outside to regroup, but Charlotte is hot on her tail. Lynch manages to send her into the steps to buy time, and capitalizes by tossing her into the post next, then inexplicably decides to walk out on the match. Um, what? You're in complete control! It's all just set up to get them into the crowd for a brawl, where Becky does a great job selling some chops. I have no problem with brawling through the crowd, but at least figure out logical ways to transition. Back to ringside, Charlotte nearly takes out half the front row while clearing off an announce table, since she apparently hasn't yet had enough bad luck with tables for one evening. She spends all that time clearing the table, then stops to get a ladder, and not surprisingly all that has given Lynch enough time to recover, and she bashes Flair with the title belt. Becky puts her on an announce table and climbs the ladder for a flying legdrop through it, and both are down. Charlotte is defiant as she crawls out of the rubble, as a fiery Lynch kicks her in the head, and starts burying her under a pile of whatever plunder she can find. I love how gently she's placing each object, like she's helping a friend load boxes into a car. Flair gets out of the pile ahead of the count, causing Becky to freak out, and Flair takes advantage by going to town with a kendo stick. Charlotte again nearly took out half the front row with her wild swings there. Flair punctuates the assault with a spear, but doesn't bother letting the referee count, instead opting to drag Becky over to another table out on the floor. Oh, by all means. Flair places her on it, and heads to the top to dive with a flying moonsault, but Becky pops up, and powerbombs her off the middle rope, and through the table! That leaves Charlotte fighting tooth and nail to beat the count, but she ultimately fails at 28:38. I love both of them, but I'm really glad Becky got to keep the belt here. She's been a really interesting champion, and it would be a waste to run Charlotte/Rousey at Survivor Series. Not that that's ever stopped them before. As for the match, it was pretty good, and certainly groundbreaking for a women's WWE match, but the crazy logic and weird transitions killed it for me. ***

Main Event: WWE RAW Women's Title Match: Ronda Rousey v Nikki Bella: Ronda with a quick takedown right away, and she mocks Bella by helping her up. That was great, especially Nikki's reactions. Ronda with another takedown, and she goes for the arm, but lets off because she doesn't want to let the challenger off so easily. She keeps taunting Bella by getting her in position for the kill but backing off, so Nikki blatantly asks Brie Bella to run interference, and then shoves Ronda into the post when she does. Honestly, that's on Ronda. How could you NOT see that coming? It wasn't like they were even being the least bit subtle about it. Back in, that allows Nikki to work a chinlock, but Rousey starts to power out, so Bella wisely tosses her to the outside before she can. Bella sends Rousey into the guardrail out there, and rolls the champ back in to cover for two. Nikki works a headscissors next, and this seems like really weird strategy on her part. Like, from a kayfabe perspective, she should be cheating outrageously, not trying to get an MMA legend into a submission game. Thankfully, she figures that out as Ronda escapes the hold, and has Brie run interference so they can send Rousey into the post again for two. Nikki with an abdominal stretch, but of course Ronda powers out. Bella manages to dodge her in the corner and hit a springboard kick for two, and she takes the champ upstairs for a superplex, but Ronda fights her off up there. That leads to another assist from Brie, allowing Nikki to go up for a second try at the superplex, but Rousey knocks her off again, and this time manages a dive with a flying splash - only for Bella to sidestep! Ronda looked really unsure of herself on the dive, but that added to it, honestly. Nikki tries a baseball slide, but Ronda dodges, so Nikki tries a kick, but Rousey catches the leg, and sweeps her. She powers Bella into a fireman's carry, so Brie tries to get involved - only for Rousey to power them both onto her shoulders for the slam! That was cool! Ronda then FUCKING BLASTS poor Nikki with a kick to the stomach, and goes to town in the corner. Monkeyflip sets up mounted punches, and Rousey throws her around with armdrags as she mounts a comeback. Ronda with a suplex that sends Bella bailing, and she tries to run into the crowd, but Rousey drags her back, so Brie attacks again. Rousey responds by throwing Brie into an announce table, but the distraction allows Nikki to hit a whiplash for two as Ronda heads back in. Nikki with the Rack Attack for two, so she offers to blow the referee to get him to reconsider the count, but no dice. She didn't really offer that, to be clear. It just looked like she did. Nikki decides to go up for a dive, but Rousey superplexes her off, and it's cross-armbreaker time at 14:08. It took some time to find its groove, but it was good once it did, with some pretty hard-hitting exchanges along the way. And then the entire roster comes out for a big group hug to wrap things up, like it's a Broadway show, or something. **

BUExperience: It’s no secret that I’m a fan of women’s wrestling, even more so than of their male counterparts these days. Ever since this era started, I’ve been a steadfast supporter, and so I was quite excited about this show from the moment it was announced. Though it wasn’t a great show, it was a groundbreaking one, and certainly a good first effort.

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