WWE Evolution (July 2025)

 

Original Airdate: July 13, 2025

From Atlanta, Georgia; Your Hosts are Joe Tessitore and Stephanie McMahon, with Michael Cole and Wade Barrett on commentary

Opening WWE Women's Intercontinental Title Triple Threat Match: Becky Lynch v Bayley v Lyra Valkyria: First fall wins it. Lyra gets dumped right away, allowing Becky and Bayley to slug it out. Bayley with a side suplex, but she gets nailed by a returning Lyra from behind. Lyra with mounted punches, but Bayley turns the tables, and hooks a magistral cradle for two. Lyra with a backslide for two, so Becky sneaks over to cradle both simultaneously for two. They continue trading off, and Lyra gets Becky in a rocking chair, but Bayley saves. Lyra responds by cleaning house, but an attempt to dive at both with a baseball slide ends badly, when she gets caught, and thrown into the announce table. Becky and Bayley slug it out on the floor from there, with Bayley getting the better of it, but Becky managing to fight her off with a baseball slide. Becky throws her into the barricade, then suplexes her into it to make sure she gets the message. Inside, that gets Becky a two count, but a charge in the corner hits an elbow, and Becky throws a series of rights. Becky with a jawbreaker, but Lynch throws a roundhouse kick in the corner. That allows Lynch a dive for two, and another slugfest goes Bayley’s way. Bayley hooks a schoolboy for two, but here comes Lyra with a flying bodypress onto both. Lyra covers Becky for two, and a northern lights suplex is rolled into a bridging fisherman suplex for two - broken when Bayley dives with a flying elbowdrop. That entire sequence was great. Everyone trades off, and Bayley uses a sunset bomb on Becky into Lyra for two, and then Bayley hits Lyra with an elbow for another two. More trading off for nearfalls, and Becky hooks Bayley in a backslide to win it at 16:26. This was fun, and a good way to open. **

NXT Women's Title Match: Jacy Jayne v Jordynne Grace: Interesting set up in the building tonight, with an incredibly narrow aisle. I haven’t seen anything like that in modern WWE, and it’s nice to see them change things up. And, speaking of changing things up, apparently the winner of this will be defending the belt at a TNA show. Grace blitzes her with a suplex to start, and dumps her to the outside for a tope, which gets two on the way back in. Jacy fires back with a catapult under the bottom rope, and a kick sends Grace to the outside. Jayne with a neckbreaker for two on the way back in, and a somersault senton in the corner gets another two. Jayne works a chinlock, as Cole again talks about TNA. What world are we in?! Grace with a sitout powerbomb for two, but Jayne blocks a pumphandle, so Grace slams her instead. Pump-splash, but Jayne dodges. Fireman carry, but Jayne blocks, and Jayne lands a bicycle kick. Jayne tries another catapult, but Grace blocks, so Jayne uses an elevated swinging neckbreaker for two. Jayne with a curbstomp, but another somersault senton misses, and Grace uses a sunset flip for two. That triggers a pinfall reversal sequence, ending in Grace delivering a suplex for two. Grace goes to the top, but Jayne brings her down with a rana, and uses a running kneesmash for two. Jayne grabs the title belt, but the referee cuts her off, and Grace schoolboys for two. Grace tags her with an elbow that leaves both women down, so Fatal Influence tries to get involved, but Blake Monroe cuts them off - only to turn on Grace with a title belt shot that allows Jayne the pin at 10:28. Well, you knew that was coming. * ½ 

WWE Women's Tag Team Title Fatal Four-Way Match: Raquel Rodriguez and Roxanne Perez v Sol Ruca and Zaria v Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss v Asuka and Kairi Sane: First fall wins here. Asuka and Sane blitz to start, and dominate. Rodriguez gets a tag in, and uses her size to put a stop to that, and everyone kind of trades off. Flair gets a huge pop when she tags in for the first time, and she runs wild. Chops for everyone, until Perez sneaks up with a schoolboy for two. Flair spears her for two, and everyone starts coming in, trading off. Rodriguez ends up choking Ruca for the pin at 10:46. This was just kind of a lot of stuff, without any real storytelling. That’s not necessarily on the workers involved, though, the match style doesn’t really lend itself to storytelling. ¾*

WWE Women's Title Match: Tiffany Stratton v Trish Stratus: Posturing to start, and they feel each other out. Trish goes for the bulldog early, but Stratton blocks, so Trish uses a headscissor takedown instead. That leads to them slugging it out, with Trish getting the better of it, so Stratton dropkicking her. Stratton with a straddling ropechoke for two, and a snap suplex follows. Stratton with another snap suplex, and they spill onto the apron, where Trish manages a rana to the floor. Trish feeds her the rail, and a spinebuster gets her two on the way back in. Trish with a tornado DDT for two, and she throws a few chops, but Stratton responds in kind. It turns into a slugfest, won by Stratton with a sidekick. Stratton with a handspring backelbow, and a vertical lungblower gets the champion two. It’s kind of wild that Trish is taking moves like that at this stage. She’s definitely not looking for a senior circuit match, that’s for sure. Stratton with a dropkick, and she goes to the top for a flying somersault senton splash for two. Stratton tries going up again, but Trish follows her this time. She tries a bulldog off the top, but Stratton blocks, so Trish uses a handstand rana instead. Trish lands a roundhouse kick for two, but Stratton blocks the slingshot bulldog, and lands a rolling fireman carry slam. Stratton with a flying moonsault, but Trish blocks the landing, and delivers the bulldog for two. Trish tries a flying moonsault, but also gets blocked, and Stratton whiplashes her. That allows Stratton to hit the flying moonsault, and that’s it at 8:37. Trish hasn’t lost a step, and in some respects looked even better than she did in her prime. She never had anyone to really work with in her main run, which is kind of a shame, since if she’s this good at forty nine, imagine what she could have done if she competed in a different era. And she didn’t shy away from anything here, taking (and giving) everything. ** ½ 

No Holds Barred Match: Jade Cargill v Naomi: Bianca Belair acts as the special guest referee for this one. Naomi attacks in the aisle to get us going, but misses her shot, and Jade throws her into the barricade. Naomi reverses her into the steps out there, and she finds a kendo stick to tee off with. Inside, Naomi uses a roundhouse kick, and a slingshot bulldog on a chair gets her two. Naomi fishhooks her with a chain, but Jade fights her off, and hits her with a TV camera. Naomi ends up on the outside, so Jade throws a toolbox at her head from inside the ring, but Naomi manages to dodge. Naomi sends her into the announce table,and she dropkicks Jade into a flatscreen TV. Why do they have TV’s against the front of the announce tables now? I guess so the workers can steal looks at what they’re doing from time to time? It’s not especially visible from the ring (as compared to, say, the giant video wall), so I honestly have no idea. Naomi puts her through a table before taking it inside with a sitout facebuster on a chair for two. They fight to the top, where Jade manages a wheelbarrow facebuster through a table for the pin at 11:16. Not my style, but I understand wanting to get different match styles onto the show. Belair was a complete nonfactor here, though. ½*

#1 Contender's 20-Woman Battle Royal: Winner gets a title shot at Clash in Paris. We've got: Stephanie Vaquer, Lash Legend, Tatum Paxley, Izzi Dame, Ivy Nile, Natalya, Maxxine Dupri, Candice LeRae, Jaida Parker, Kelani Jordan, Giulia, B-Fab, Michin, Zelina Vega, Alba Fyre, Lola Vice, Piper Niven, Chelsea Green, Nikki Bella, and Nia Jax. Jax runs wild and dumps people, but Jordan does a Kofi Kingston save. It gets down to: Vaquer, Legend, Bella, and Jax as the final four. Nia dumps Nikki, and the other two gang up to dump Jax. Vaquer and Legend trade off, but Stephanie manages to eliminate her at 15:29. It’s a battle royal, you know the deal. Like with the No Holds Barred match, I get why they booked it, though. ¼*

Main Event: Women's World Title Match: Iyo Sky v Rhea Ripley: Feeling out process to start, with Sky outmoving her. Sky dumps her to the outside for a tope, but Ripley blocks it. Ripley tries muscling her back inside, but Sky blocks, and dives with a springboard moonsault press into the aisle. Sky with a flying victory roll for two on the way back in, and she tries grounding the challenger in a LeBell lock, but Ripley is too strong. Sky manages a tiger feint into a facebuster, and they slug it out on the apron, ending in Ripley chucking her off. Ripley throws her into the rail and the steps for good measure, and a backbreaker connects on the way back inside. Ripley drops her front-first across the top rope for two, and she grounds the champion in a bodyscissors from there. Sky hangs through it, and they get into a slugfest, which Sky not only hangs through - but wins. A victory cradle into a double stomp works, and Sky plants a superkick to allow her a German suplex. Ripley wisely rolls out of the ring, but Sky is on her with a tope. Sky lands a flying dropkick on the way back in, and a running kneesmash in the corner gets her two. Sky goes up for a moonsault, so Ripley tries German superplexing her, but Sky lands on her feet! Sky tries a powerbomb, but Ripley blocks, so Sky starts punching her. Ripley responds with a kneeling facebuster, and a reversal sequence ends in Sky delivering an inverted rana for two. Sky goes up again, but Ripley crotches her, and brings her down with a crucifix powerbomb. Ripley adds a sitout powerbomb for two, but Sky counters the pumphandle with a sleeper. Ripley shakes her off in the corner, and tries a superplex, but Sky blocks. Sky dives with another flying dropkick, but the referee ends up eating it, allowing Ripley to hit the pumphandle slam. No referee to count, however. Ripley is frustrated, but stays on her with a powerbomb, and then takes Sky to the outside, clotheslining her into the crowd. Well, that seems like an odd strategy. Ripley beats her up all around the floor level, but trying to powerbomb her off of some equipment gets blocked. Sky dives off the equipment with a flying bodypress on the floor, and the champ is all fired up now. She beats Ripley back to ringside for a powerbomb on the floor, and then into the ring for a flying moonsault, but it only gets two! Sky goes up again, but Ripley is moving. Sky responds by trying to drag Ripley to the top, and she manages a Spanish fly off! That leaves both down, and Naomi runs in, cashing her Money in the Bank briefcase in. She bashes Sky with the case to knock her silly, then dumps a dazed Ripley out of the ring before pinning the champion at 26:19. A good main event - hard hitting and well worked. I didn’t dig the cash in, but it didn’t kill the overall match, since it was just the finish. *** ¼ 

BUExperience: This wasn’t great, but it was a fun concept, and everyone seemed to appreciate their spot on it. It was fun to watch, even if it wasn’t good.

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