WWNLive's Mercury Rising Supershow!
Rich Swann comes out to start the show serenading the fans to that All Night Long song from the 80s. The crowd sings along and chants "we are awesome" when the song ends, then Swann informs the crowd that he's not cleared to wrestle tonight. Swann says the match last night was ended because he was injured, but at the April shows, if the Premier Athlete Brand is as good as they say, they should put their Open The United Gate Title on the line against RONIN BABY! So Cal Val comes out with the Premier Athlete Brand and says it must be so nice to be him with the big entrance, but then he quits the match last night when he gets a boo boo, and now he wants a title shot. Val tells Cage and Konley to give him a title shot, so Cage jumps Swann and holds him so Konley can whack him in the ribs with one of the title belts. Johnny Gargano and Ethan Page run in to chase them off, and Page calls out Caleb Konley to start their match right now, so I guess we're already into our first match…
Ethan Page vs Caleb Konley
Konley uses a distraction from Brian Cage to get an early advantage, but Page quickly pops him over with a suplex and clotheslines Konley out to the floor. Page goes for a dive, but Konley pulls Andrea in front to stop him in his tracks, so Page goes to the floor instead and kicks Konley into the barricade. Page continues beating Konley up all around ringside, but he tries to powerbomb Konley on the apron and Konley counters to a vertical drop to turn the tide. They head inside and Konley continues to maintain control, locking Page down with a chinlock, but Page escapes a slam attempt and plants Konley in the mat with a DDT. Page mounts a fiery babyface comeback: clothesline, elbow, backdrop, and then he turns Konley inside out with a tilt-a-whirl slam and a high angle powerbomb that makes my neck hurt. He only gets 2 off of that, so he lawn darts Konley into the corner, comes through the ropes with an Ace Crusher, but still only gets 2. Page with right hands in the corner on Konley, but Konley reverses an Irish whip and walks off the ropes to deliver a tornado DDT. Konley with a diving clothesline and a Lionsault for 2. Konley goes for the O Face, but Page is fighting it and manages to slip free with the help of some boots to the face. Page with a bicycle kick to the face of Konley, Konley catches him with a jawbreaker, Page with a big kick to the skull, Konley with a leaping enziguiri, and Konley hits a cradle shock for 2. So Cal Val is livid at ringside telling Konley to go for the kill, but Konley is slow to pick Page up and Page is able to start firing off right hands. Page backdrops Konley onto Cage, and Cage catches Konley, but then Page takes the both of them out with a dive. They go back inside where Page hits the Claudio facebuster, but so Cal Val is up on the apron distracting the referee so Cage can come in. Cage goes for a roaring clothesline, but Page ducks and Cage hits Konley. Page knocks Cage back out to the floor, rolls Konley up with a handful of tights, and gets the win.
Winner: Ethan Page
Good match and a solid weekend for Page, who looked great in the two matches I saw him in. Val isn't happy with Cage for screwing up and tells him this wasn't part of the plan, prompting Andrea to low blow him so Konley can knock him out with the belt. The PAB leaves without Cage, who gets a good ovation on his way out.
Cherry Bomb, Kimber Lee & Mia Yim vs Nikki Storm & The Canadian Ninjas
Plenty of women's gold represented here: Mia is the SHINE Champion, Kimber and Cherry are the SHINE Tag Team Champions, and Nicole Matthews is the SHIMMER Champion. Nikki Storm cuts a promo I couldn't quite make out before the match, but obviously Andrea doesn't like it because she runs in, destroys Nikki Storm, and kicks her out to the floor. So Cal Val gets a microphone and says never to let a girl do a woman's job, and tells the Canadian Ninjas that Andrea is their new partner, you're WELCOME! All heck breaks loose right away as all six girls go at it right from the bell, and the SHINE team stacking the SHIMMER team (I'll just call them that to save me some typing) up in the corner and hits a series of charges, knocking them out to the floor. Mia takes the Ninjas out with a dive, then kicks the crap out of Andrea and rams her into the post. things finally settle down as Nicole and Cherry do some mat wrestling while everyone goes back to their corners, and Cherry gets the advantage and traps the SHIMMER Champion in their half of the ring. Nicole goes to the eyes and tags Portia in to go at it with Kimber. Portia gets the advantage briefly, but Kimber starts pummeling her with forearms. Val gets on the apron to distract the referee while Nicole comes in and cheap shots Kimber, then holds her so Andrea can come in and nail Kimber with a sick kick. Nicole with a hard DDT to Kimber for 2, then Portia comes in and gets a neck vice on Kimber. Andrea comes in and Kimber hammers her with some forearms, but Andrea just yanks her to the mat, picks up her legs, and stomps on her hooha. That's not nice. Portia is back in and both girls wipe one another out with a double clothesline. Kimber makes the hot tag to Mia as Portia tags Nicole, and the two singles champions are finally in the ring one-on-one. Mia destroys Nicole and hits a rolling front kick in the corner to get a 2 count. Mia then takes out both Ninjas with a double running dropkick, and then she starts beating Andrea up, too. Kimber and Cherry are in and double teaming Andrea, then they double whip her into a missile dropkick from Yim. Kimber German suplexes Andrea, then the Ninjas are in and dump Cherry and Kimber, and Mia is left to fight both Ninjas. Ninjas with a double suplex to Mia, but Mia fights Portia off. Kimber and Cherry drag Nicole out to the floor and Mia rolls Portia up with a schoolgirl for the win.
Winner: Mia Yim, Kimber Lee & Cherry Bomb
So Cal Val gets in the ring and starts chewing the Ninjas out for blowing the match, and Andrea is ready to do something about it, but Nikki Storm runs back out and missile dropkicks Andrea out of the ring. Nikki says she isn't afraid of Andrea, and challenges her to a match next Friday night at SHINE.
Drew Galloway comes out and says the titles are getting unified, and he wants to defend both titles the same way he's defended the EVOLVE Title, and he wants to do this right now. So I guess we're getting the main event already!
Unification Match: EVOLVE Champion Drew Galloway vs Open The Freedom Gate Champion Johnny Gargano
Drew is like a foot taller than Galloway, but Gargano is using his speed to stick and move.Galloway hits the ropes and bowls Gargano over with a shoulderblock, then unloads with right hands in the corner. Gargano gets free, snapmares Galloway, and kicks him in the head. The stream drops out ofr a few second, and it comes back to Galloway giving Gargano a tilt-a-whirl slam onto the ring apron. That was nasty. Galloway picks Gargano up and tries to press slam him into the crowd, but Gargano slips free and clotheslines Galloway over the barricade. Gargano gets a running start and takes Galloway out with a dive over the barricade, and then they start brawling through the crowd. Gargano is standing there trading chops with Galloway, so Galloway picks him up and just flings him into the wall. Galloway looks for a piledriver on the floor, but Gargano blocks and hits atornado DDT off some lighting equipment, and both guys are down. No countouts because there must be a winner here, and indeed Gargano drags Galloway back toward the ring, dumps him over the rail, and rolls him inside. Gargano hits a slingshot spear through the ropes for 2, then unloads with left hands and chops in the corner. Gargano tries to boot Galloway, but Galloway catches the legs, turns around, and hits an inverted wheelbarrow bomb. Now Galloway is in control, and he starts hammering Gargano with chops, but he tries to go to the top and Gargano takes his legs out and crotches him. Gargano impresses the heck out of my by hauling Galloway all the way across the ring to hit the lawn dart for 2, and he tries the slingshot spear again, Galloway catches him and goes for the butterfly DDT, but Gargano plants his feet and backdrops Galloway to the floor. Gargano goes for a running dive, but Galloway drills him with a right hand as he comes out of the ring, then blasts him in the face with a pair of big boots. Galloway goes for a third, but Gargano catches him coming in with a superkick, then he goes back in the ring and tries the dive again, but Galloway moves and Gargano takes the referee out instead. Galloway rolls inside and Gargano tries the slingshot DDT, but Galloway catches him and hits an exploder into the corner. He makes a cover, but there's no referee. Gargano hits a leaping enziguiri and goes for Hertz Donut, but Page gets up on the apron and tries to hand Gargano a rope to choke Galloway out with. Gargano takes it, but throws it back out at Page and goe back to Galloway. Galloway had enough time to recover and kick Gargano's legs out and hit the butterfly DDT, and a second ref runs out to make the count but still only gets 2. Galloway charges in with the sick kick and this time Gargano moves and Galloway takes the second ref out. Gargano takes Galloway down and puts him in the Gargano Escape just as the first referee recovers, and Galloway rolls Gargano through into a cradle for 2. Gargano hits Galloway with another superkick, Galloway hoists Gargano up for a Tombstone, but Gargano drops out and rolls Galloway into the Gargano Escape again. Galloway again powers his way to his feet, pulls Gargano back up, and hits the Tombstone, but Gargano is out at 2. The crowd is going nuts as both men struggle to get back to their feet, Galloway is up first and carries Gargano to the top in a fireman's carry, turns Gargano over for a top rope tombstone, but Gargano counters in midair to a DDT. Somehow, Galloway kicks out at 2, and Page is outside the ring yelling at Gargano to finish Galloway. Gargano nails a superkick, but Galloway yells at him to give him more. Gargano with another superkick, but Galloway is still coming and makes it back to his feet. Gargano with two more superkicks and Galloway finally goes down, but he sturggles back up and gives Gargano a double bird. He avoids another superkick, hits a butterfly DDT, rolls through and hits another and makes a cover, and Gargano is still kicking out at 2. Gargano is firing forearms at Galloway that have nothing behind them, and Galloway pulls him up and hits another Tombstone to finally put Gargano away and unify the titles.
Winner and New Unified Champion: Drew Galloway
The unification of these titles was a big deal, and this is exactly the kind of match you would expect for the occasion. Both guys fought their hearts out and Galloway had to practically kill Gargano to beat him. Galloway gets a mic and says he's wearing the same gear he wore at Wrestlemania 26, but to him, this is his Wrestlemania moment. He wants to senda message to his people back there that there is life after WWE, and tonight, Drew Galloway has risen to the top. He thanks everyone for giving Drew Galloway a shot to show what he can do in this business, and he also puts over Gargano for carrying this place for six years and calls EVOLVE the house that Gargano built. He says Gargano gave him the best match of his life, and they said a lot of heated things coming into this, but this is both of their ring and he deserves this moment as much as he does and he wants Gargano to shake his hand. Gargano shakes Galloway's hand and Page is on one knee applauding, then Galloway hands the mic to Gargano and leaves with the belts so Gargano can have his say (plus Drew has a plane to catch). The crowd gives him a big reaction, but Page suddenly blindsides Gargano, drilling him with a right hand and putting the boots to him. Now Page has the mic and says that he doesn't know if Johnny has been paying attention, but he's been saying all weekend that he's been watching and has learned from Gargano and Ronin, and it's all about taking the top spot, and he promises Johnny that this is just the beginning because he isn't done with the Whole Shebang because he is ending his career in WWN. The crowd thanks Johnny as he staggers to the back.
Biff Busick vs Drew Gulak vs TJ Perkins vs Tommy End
Okay, this one is going to be tough to recap because everyone is just going nuts throwing one big shot after another at each other. Gulak dumps End to the apron and Busick slingshots him backward into the barricade, then Gulak picks Perkins up in a torture rack and just launches him at Busick, who drills him with a shot as he comes in. Now Gulak and Busick are double teaming Perkins while End recovers on the outside, and they pop Perkins up with a double delayed vertical suplex. End comes in and starts hammering both Busick and Gulak with hard kicks, but Busick lays him out with one big shot. End gets dumped out to the apron and tries a slingshot back in, but End catches him feet on the top rope coming in and Busick charges in on him with a shot before turning around and quickly laying Perkins out with a running Blockbuster. Busick with a half nelson suplex on End, but Gulak breaks the cover at 2 and gets into a staredown with Busick. Perkins comes in and takes them both out with a double dropkick, then End drills Gulak with a running kneestrike and then takes Busick and Perkins out with a moonsault and coming back in to come off the top rope onto Gulak for 2. Perkins gets End in a royal octopus, then turns it into an indian deathlock on End. Gulak kicks Perkins down, injuring End's legs in the process, but Perkins pops up and catches Gulak in a northern lights suplex for 2 while holding onto the indian deathlock. Perkins with a series of suplexes on Gulak and the double chickenwing onto the knees, tries a slide under End and gets double stomped, Busick comes in and lariats End, and Gulak missile dropkicks Busick, and all four men are down. Everyone is back up and going at it, and Perkins gets Gulak in a cross armbreaker for the tapout win.
Winner: TJ Perkins
Good match, though I was surprised to see TJ go over Gulak.
PJ Black vs AR Fox
They go at is fast right from the start, and a sequence of events that happens too fast for me to type ends with Black moonsaulting off the apron to avoid a shot from Fox, but getting taken out with a dive anyway. Fox tries to springboard off the guardrail, but Black superkicks him in the face, rolls him inside, and springboards in, but now Fox sees him coming and dropkicks him out of the air and covers for 2. Black is slumped over the middle rope, so Fox hits a flying ass slide, then tries to springboard back in and again Black counters, this time to a double knee for 2. I think they ought to stop trying springboard moves. Black is wearing Karate Kid skeleton tights, and that's appropriate as he and Fox stand in the middle of the ring trading forearms, chops and kicks. Fox comes out on top of that, nails Black with a leaping enziguiri, and tries a rolling type move that Black counters to a sitout powerbomb for 2. Black tries a springboard clothesline, but Fox catches him coming down and counters to a Koji clutch. NO MORE SPRINGBOARD MOVES! Fox headscissors Black out to the floor, then Black gets up to the apron and they fight over a suplex until Black just drops Fox on the top rope and then charges in with a lepaing kick. Black smartly avoids another springboard attempt, going to the top rope instead, but Fox dodges the 450 attempt and hits a shotgun dropkick that sends Black stumbling backward into the corner. Fox charges in with a cannonball, but Black moves and Fox hits hard. Black with a Lionsault for 2, hits an air raid crash over the knee for 2, then the lights go out as Black springs to the top for a moonsault. Fox knocks Black's legs out and leaps up to hit a lungblower, then pops back to the top and connects with a Swanton for 2. Fox hits Lo Mein Pain and then springs back to the top for a 450, but Black gets the knees up and small packages Fox for 2. Black goes to the top and Fox follows him up, Black blocks another Lo Mein Pain, and he hits a death valley driver onto the ring apron. Black picks Fox's shattered form up off the floor, rolls him inside, and hits the springboard 450 for the win.
Winner: PJ Black
There was a lot going on in this one, and I liked how the big spot (the death valley driver onto the apron) led directly to the finish and Fox wasn't up and hitting more spots ten seconds later. They shake hands after the match in a nice show of sportsmanship.
The WWNLive Ambassador (whose name I didn't catch) comes out and thanks the fans for making this show possible, then plugs the SHINE event this Friday, which will feature two champion vs champion matches and the next EVOLVE event.
Chris Hero vs Timothy Thatcher
Thatcher is OVER with this crowd, and Hero plays into the cheers as he tries to mock his opponent before making contact. Hero offers the hand, and Thatcher warily shakes it before they start circling. The crowd chants "Thatcher's gonna kill you" as they tie up, and Thatcher tries to take Hero down, Hero sprawls and tries a takedown, but Thatcher steps through and comes out on top. Thatcher rolls Hero into a crucific, but Hero is out at 1 and back to his feet, taking Thatcher down with a single leg and going behind. Thatcher slips out and goes for an Olympic roll, Hero goes to his belly, and Thatcher again gains Hero's back. Hero backs Thatcher to the ropes and breaks clean, then gets Thatcher in a three quarter nelson that Thatcher escapes pretty easily and we go back to neutral. Thatcher blocks a rolling elbow from Hero, and they go back to circling, Thatcher tries shooting at the leg, Hero sprawls again and circles behind and rolls Thatcher forward into an O'Connor roll for 2. Thatcher catches Hero in a modified surfboard on the escape, but Hero is too close to the ropes and forces a break. Thatcher comes in and circles behind Hero, taking him down to the mat and going to the arm before hooking Hero's heel. Hero is again too close to the ropes and forces another break, and he fires off a couple of forearms at Thatcher, but Thatcher hammers back with a few forearms of his own and takes Hero back to the mat into a pin attempt for 2. Hero gets behind Thatcher and uses a waistlock to gutwrench Thatcher to his back for 2, Thatcher escapes and sits out to get behind Hero, and Hero reverses back and tries to crank Thatcher's arm back to try and turn him again. Thatcher won't go, so he tries to circle around across Thatcher's back and Thatcher uses a gramby to put Hero to his back. Hero counters out to a headscissors, Thatcher bridges up out of the move and gets Hero in a bow & arrow. Hero escapes and goes to the floor to catch a break for a few seconds before coming back in tie up again. He takes Thatcher to the corner, slaps Thatcher on the break, and comes in with shoulderblocks to the ribs and goes for a rolling elbow, but Thatcher hammers Hero with some European uppercuts. Thatcher whips Hero across the ring, but Hero comes out of the corner with a roaring Yakuza kick and covers Thatcher for 2. Hero finally has the advantage, and presses it with a diving boot for 2. Hero rides Thatcher and cranks on a NASTY looking wristlock that would dislocate every bone in his arm if this was a shoot. Thatcher takes Hero down out of nowhere with a double leg takedown and goes for a Kimura lock, but Hero makes it to the ropes and slides out to the floor again, then rolls inside when Thatcher comes out after him, and slides through the ropes with a dropkick that takes Thatcher out. Hero rocks Thatcher with a roaring elbow, and Thatcher grabs Hero's arm when he goes for another shot, and HERO literally runs back into the ring to get away. Hero blasts Thatcher with a diving boot as they come back inside, and Hero continues to unload as Thatcher tries to defend himself. Thatcher goes for another double leg, but Hero holds his ground, hooks around his waist and drops Thatcher with a Jerry Lynn cradle piledriver for 2. Hero goes for another one, but Thatcher goes behind and German suplexes Hero. Hero is right back up, hits a Yakuza kick, Thatcher with another German suplex and then headbutts Hero as he comes in with another roaring elbow, and both men are down. Hero repeatedly boots Thatcher in the face, but each shot gets Thatcher more fired up and he keeps coming until finally blocking a kick and pummeling Hero with shots. Thatcher hits the ropes and Hero follows him in with a big boot, more roaring elbows, and he takes the pad off for a fourth. Thatcher slumps to the mat, and Hero rolls his dead weight over and covers for 2, and Thatcher rolls into a Fujiwara armbar on the kickout and forces Hero to tap out!
Winner: Timothy Thatcher
What a terrific match! Awesome match, great finish, and I feel safe saying that Timothy Thatcher is THE breakout star of the weekend to me between what I'm seeing at EVOLVE and King of Indies. Hero gets in Thatcher's face after the match, they slap each other in the face, and they shake hands.
It's main event time!
Austin Aries & Roderick Strong vs Uhaa Nation & Ricochet
Aries & Strong come out to the old Generation Next music and wearing Gen Next shirts from ten years ago in a nice nod to history. Roddy also has the FIP Title belt on, is this 2005 and just nobody told me? Roderick and Uhaa start us off and Strong outwrestles Uhaa, but Uhaa doesn't appreciate it and shoves him off to the ropes. Back and forth ends with Uhaa drilling Strong with a dropkick, then Aries and Ricochet tag in and go at it. Aries knocks Ricochet down with a shoulderblock, Ricochet springs back to his feet, Ricochet takes Aries down with a headscissors, and Aries springs out nad hits the dropkick. Ricochet connects with a dropkick of his own, and he seems to have rattled Aries with that one, but Aries quickly recovers and hits the kneebreaker suplex. Ricochet rolls to the floor, and Aries gives him no time to recover as he comes off the top rope with a Macho Man double axhandle. Roddy tags in, but so does Uhaa, and Uhaa quickly starts pounding on Roddy with forearms and elevates him with a delayed vertical suplex. Roddy is in peril as he winds up on the receiving end of some prolonged double teaming from Team Best Friends. Roddy suddenly nails Ricochet with a leaping enziguiri, tags Aries in, and Aries hits a slingshot senton, knocks Uhaa off the apron, and comes off the top with a missile dropkick to Ricochet for 2. Aries Olympic rolls Ricochet toward the Gen Next corner, Roddy puts the boot up, and Aries rams Ricochet into it before tagging Strong in to dish out some more punishment. Now Ricochet is caught in the wrong part of town, and Gen Next hit their trademark catapult/slingshot elbow combo for 2. Aries rolls Ricochet up for 2 and then gets the Last Chancery and Roddy comes in with a running boot to the face for 2. Strong with a BIG ASS backbreaker that bends Ricochet in half, but Ricochet makes it to the corner and tags in Uhaa, who cleans house on Gen Next and gets a spinebuster on Strong for 2. Uhaa pops Strong into the air and hits a powerslam for 2, Aries comes in and goes for a roaring elbow, but Aries blocks him with a quick missile dropkick. More double teaming from Ricochet and Uhaa, as Uhaa press slams Strong into an Ace Crusher from Ricochet. Aries breaks that cover, but Uhaa pitches him out to the floor and goes back to trading blows with Uhaa. Strong hits a cradle backbreaker, Aries comes in with an IED to Ricochet, then they hit the chop/brainbuster combo on Ricochet, a series of charging shots in the corner on Uhaa, and Strong hits a sick kick on Uhaa for 2. Aries goes to the top, but gets knocked to the floor as Uhaa suplexes Strong across the ring. Ricochet goes to the top, Strong nails him with a leaping enziguiri, and goes up to hit a big superplex, then rolls Ricochet back up for another suplex, but Ricochet counters to a Frankensteiner with a cradle for a REALLY close 2. Strong escapes a curtain call and counters another Frankensteiner attempt, holds the legs so Aries can hit Ricochet with a 450 splash and take out Uhaa with a dive to the floor, and Strong gets Ricochet in the Stronghold right in the middle of the ring. Ricochet tries to counter to a rollup, hits to Go To Sleep kick, and goes to the top. Aries holds Ricochet long enough for Strong to roll away from a shooting star press, hit a leaping kneestrike, and the vertical suplex backbreaker for the win.
Winners: Generation Next
Excellent main event to cap off a super weekend for the WWNLive crew. It was great to see Aries and Strong back together, and I hope this turns into a regular reunion for them. They seem to go in that direction when Strong thanks Uhaa and says it was an honor to work with him, then tells Aries how excited he was to wrestle with him again after all the years they spent going up and down the road. But then Strong says that things change, and he knocks Aries out with a leaping kneestrike and then lays Uhaa out as well. Strong gets the mic and says he destroyed Drew Galloway last time they faced, and he wants his title. Timothy Thatcher comes out and Strong leaves through the crowd, but Thatcher says the road to the World Title is through him. He says he may not be great at speeches, but they all thank the fans for coming out and making this weekend possible.
This show was terrific, just a great top to bottom wrestling event featuring what I consider the best roster EVOLVE has had in its entire history to this point. Big thumbs up for everything EVOLVE did this weekend.
credit: PWInsider
