Evolve 15 DVD Review

I guess I should get a few basic things out of the way before this review, as it is my first on this site. First I don’t really have a special name for my series of reviews (because IndySkiffic didn’t roll off the tongue). I plan to just review one dvd a week (hopefully) and I will probably pick whatever is next in my to view pile (if there’s a dvd you want reviewed, just let me know). These dvds will probably be a lot of indy shows, but I also have been watching some NWA:TNA weekly ppvs too, so who knows. I don’t plan on giving detailed descriptions of matches, because I don’t think there are people out there who want to read the match. I don’t plan on announcing the winner, unless it is something I feel is needed to talk about. Lastly, I don’t plan on using a star rating system. I could watch the same *** match 3 times and give it varying degrees of **1/2-***1/2. If I watch a perfect match I may tell you it’s *****, but I also feel like there aren’t that many of those out there.

So now that that is out of the way we can start the review of Evolve 15, which took place on 6/25/12.

It should be noted that this show takes place in the middle of a triple shot in FL. This show was in St. Petersburg. Also this is a review of the DVD version of the show. The first thing I noticed was the venue looked very low-rate especially compared to the venue from the night before. It may have helped if they could have turned off the house lights, but that appeared to not be an option. Also the crowd seemed like a typical small FL indy with children running around thinking they could do whatever they wanted. Not your typical Evolve crowd. Also your commentator was Lenny Leonard, who is not joined by any special guests at any point (disappointing).

1. Tony Nese vs. Mike Cruz- If this was any other company than Evolve, this wouldn’t have been a good opener, but for Evolve this is a perfect opener. This is almost exactly what you think of when you think of Evolve matches, back and forth tight fought contest. If you don’t know who Mike Cruz is, you should/will. He’s probably the top up and coming Jr. out of FL, since Chris Jones cooled down. These guys do what you would expect out of both of them, but Nese did do some stuff I haven’t seen him do before (which all looked good). Afterwards Nese cut a generic promo calling out Gargano. I’m so glad he’ll be getting someone to talk for him soon (spoiler, sorry)

2. Style Battle Match: Bobby Fish vs. Tommy Taylor- This is a part of the Style Battle Round Robin Tournament that went throughout this weekend of shows. Basically 4 guys representing different styles were brought in. Fish beat AR Fox the night before, and Tommy Taylor lost to Jon Davis. These two were actually the 1 match of the tournament I thought I would enjoy quickly because they have very similar styles. Fish wrestles a Puro Jr style and Taylor (while British) wrestles a typical American Technical style. On a side note, the entrance music for them is very enjoyable (at least more so than the other generic music Evolve uses for the undercard matches). The first half of the match is what you would expect with lots of very good chain wrestling. I enjoy chain wrestling, but it was hard for the crowd to really get into it. After the chain wrestling stops they weren’t on the same page a few times which brings the match down some. Fish definitely looked like the more professional of the two and shined in the match. With this win, he’ll be in contention to win the Styles Battle at Evolve 16.

John Silver and Alex Reynolds are backstage. They cut a promo to build up the 6 way fray later in the show. Silver has a lot of unique charisma, which makes the promo enjoyable.

3. Styles Battle Match: Jon Davis vs. AR Fox – This was probably the big marquee match up of the Styles Battle. I’m going to assume you know who these guys are. Pretty much what you would expect from these two with power vs. high flying. Davis does hit some really impressive counters, including the finish (sorry) which allowed the match to go to another level. Surprisingly this match told a really good story. I say surprisingly because I’m not a huge AR Fox fan, and he can get stuck in a rut of trying to do the craziest spots ever. But they told a simple story of the 3:1 ratio. Meaning Fox had to do 3 moves to every 1 move Davis did. This benefits both guys (and their move sets). This match would be one of the reasons to buy the DVD (or I guess iPPV replay). Afterward Bobby Fish and Jon Davis have a head to head promo that really puts over their match the next night for the winner of Styles Battle.

4. Six Way Freestyle: Caleb Konley vs. Scott Reed vs. Lince Dorado vs. Jake Manning vs. John Silver vs. Alex Reynolds- The story here is that Konley and Reed want to work as their regular tag team. It should be restated that Silver is just entertaining in everything he does. I was disappointed the Swamp Monster wasn’t ringside for this match, I assume he’s busy helping Chucky T get ready for the main event. Lots of dives, Yay! MOVEZ! This wasn’t needed and nothing was worth going out of your way to see, but I guess it’s cool Lince picked up his first win (you know if wins would matter in a few shows).

5. Colt Cabana vs. Cheech Hernandez- I’m a big fan of Cheech, and assumed he’d be able to showcase his charisma in this match. I was wrong, as only Colt is allowed to shine. Typical Cabana match that makes him look smart and funny. It was still entertaining, and I haven’t been watching too much Colt recently so it still felt fresh. I’m sure Cheech was happy to work this match, but I wanted to see more of his character in the match.

6. Samuray Del Sol vs. El Generico- If you didn’t watch their match from the previous night, let me recommend that for you. This was actually a much cleaner version of that match with some tweaks, which added to the story telling. They definitely stole the show. This is the match that probably sold you the DVD. Go out of your way to see this match.

7. Open the Freedom Gate: Johnny Gargano (c) vs. Chuck Taylor- There was a great video package to hype their match. SWAMP MONSTER IS IN THE HOUSE! Great start to the match playing off Chucky T not caring about the match and Gargano ready for war. This match even has some classic Chucky T terrorizing children segments. There’s a pretty cool spot that involves the time keeper getting superkicked. These guys had a lot of work to keep the crowd into the  match after the classic they saw with Del Sol/Gargano, but if any match on this show could have done it, this was it. With that said this was not the crowd to have this match in front of. While they were very pro Gargano, they didn’t demand a brutal battle, and would have been fine with a simple Heel/Face dynamic match (which I also enjoy a lot). This was probably the 2nd best match on the show, but Davis/Fox was right up there with it. Afterward Gargano cuts the awkward thanks for coming promo.

The DVD closes with another generic promo from Tony Nese.

Overall: This is definitely a dvd to buy. Maybe not as a first Evolve purchase, and maybe not as a single show, but it was better than the previous night. This match has three matches that are really good with Davis/Fox, Del Sol/Generico, and the main event. Everything else is solid to good. The DVD also includes some bonus matches from the 2010 Jeff Peterson Memorial Cup, and I can’t recommend supporting anything honoring Jeff more. Jeff was a fantastic person and a great wrestler that we lost WAY to soon. Not to mention the Jigsaw/Swann match is really good too. If you already like Evolve, this is a show to pick up.