WWE Evolve Review 08.20.25

It’s a rainy, unseasonably cold Wednesday night in New England, and all through the house, not a creature was stirring, except for Chuey Martinez. Yes, folks, it’s time for Evolve. What’s going on in the world of Evolve? Well, both Tyra Mae Steele and Kendal Grey seem to slowly be working their way onto NXT. Frankly, both have looked right at home and far more comfortable, both in the ring, on the mic, on the CW. It has me thinking about the level of production for both Evolve and LFG, and how much it’s truly setting the youngins up for success. I’m not here to think, though. I’m here to review, and that’s what I will do.

THEN. NOW. BABY UCE. FOREVER. TOGETHER.

LAST WEEK, Karmen Petrovic somehow won and lost at the same time by sending the forementioned Tyra Mae straight to NXT, while staying behind and earning a shot at the Evolve Women’s Championship.

TONIGHT, though, Kylie Rae faces Chantel Monroe in a second Championship Eliminator match. Apparently, that’s all that will happen. Good, I could use a short review, as I’m feeling kinda chatty otherwise.

Referee Hottie is already in the ring for our match, and look at that, it’s….

KYLIE RAE VS. CHANTEL MONROE (WWE EVOLVE WOMEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP ELIMINATOR MATCH)

This should actually be a good test for Chantel, to be honest. Chantel is out with her compact, and I assume Kylie uses her Costco membership often. IDK. I’ve often thought the best gimmick for Kylie would be the suburban mom mirror image of Chelsea Green. See what I mean? Chatty. Ok, here we go. Chantel works the arm and brings Kylie down into an armbar pretty quickly. Chantel further works the arm before treating her hand like an invisible mirror. This gives Kylie enough time to begin working the arm herself. Peter announces Sean Legacy versus Ridge Holland in our main event tonight. During all this, Kylie continues working on the arm. Chantel attempts to take Kylie down, but Kylie goes back to WORKING THE ARM. Two arm drags by Kylie, and works the arm like this is a 1986 eight-minute NWA squash. Chantel mixes this up by working an actual headlock. Several crisscrosses against the ropes lead to a roll-up and low dropkick from Kyle for two. KYLIE WORKS THE ARM, but a not-so-clean break against the ropes allows Chantel to take control in the corner with some punches and kicks. Kylie gets the upper hand and sends Chantel into the turnbuckle, then does it again on the other side. Armdrag off the top rope and weak dropkick from Kylie sends Chantel to the apron, but Chantel gets the upper hand with a neckbreaker against the second rope while we go to break for what only seems like three hours. We return to Chantel hitting another neckbreaker inside the rink for two. Chantel with knees to the back of the head, then takes Chantel down for a neck snap, which gets two. Work that neck, Chantel. Kylie fights out of a neck vice, but Chantel continues with her strikes to the back of the head. A third neckbreaker is reversed into a roll-up for Kylie for two. Kylie begins her comeback with two clothesline. Big kick for Kylie, but she drops to the mat selling the neck. Kylie attempts a charge, but meets boot. Kylie with an inverted DDT off the second rope for a 2 ½ count. Roll-ups are exchanged for two. Kylie reverses a tilt-a-whirl something, but gets hot-shotted against the top rope. Codebreaker aka “The Perfect Ending” finishes for Monroe.

WINNER: CHANTEL MONROE

MATCH RATING: B- Mostly basic stuff, but some good psychology once Chantel began working on the neck. Both women looked well in there.

Kylie: B The fact that the experience gap wasn’t evidenced between the two can be partially credited to Kylie leading very well here. If anything, she makes for a hell of a player/coach.

Chantel: B I’d say some small steps were taken here, as Chantel knew what she was doing at all times, and held her own with the far more experienced Kylie. Good job.

Keanu Carver talks up his victory over Bryce Donovan last week, reminding us how he’s worked through the entire WWE ID Program. He’s going to bring the Evolve title back to the crib.

Vanity Project watch the segment backstage. Jackson Drake is nervous, as he thinks Keanu is not right in the head. Additional tension is teased between the unit and Bryce Donovan, who was apparently upsetting Zayda Steel too much.

Prime Minister Stevie Turner is backstage with WWE Evolve Women’s Champion Kali Armstrong, who wants to know who her next opponent is and OH CRAP here’s Nikkita Lyons. I thought we’d long last parted ways, but no. This is 2025. Nikkita wants some gold, and this somehow leads to Stevie booking a fatal four-way match, with Kali defending against Nikkita, Chantel, and Karmen. Kali reacts with actual restraint. I’d have decked Stevie right then and there for selling me down the river like that.

SWIPE RIGHT (W/ THE VANITY PROJECT) VS. MARCUS MATHERS AND AARON ROURKE

I remember really disliking Aaron Rourke in his first Evolve match, as his gimmick appears to be every bald gay guy in my grad school social work classes. Everyone in this match is already wearing about the same shade of pink somewhere in their gear. Rourke actually kind of looks like the most hilarious Jon Moxley alternate gimmick to start. Smokes has him in a headlock, but Rourke grabs the ear, then hits a cartwheel and dropkick. Mathers comes in and hits a tornado DDT off of Rourke’s back. Brad Baylor gets tagged in and goes to attack, but Mathers quickly takes control. Big chop by Mathers, followed by a knee to the gut. Smokes distracts Mathers as he climbs the ropes, and Baylor takes control. Some double-teaming gets a quick two for Swipe Right. Smokes cuts off the ring and tags Baylor back in. Smokes whips Baylor into Mathers for a two count. More double-teaming while Boy Moxley argues with the ref. Mathers escapes a double-team attempt with a big kick and cutter off the second rope. HOT TAG to Rourke. Double knees off the top gets a two for Rourke. Rourke tweaks his knee while attempting a split legged moonsault, but tags out to Mathers. Mathers and Baylor exchange kicks, with Smokes tagging in and hitting a spread on Mathers. Of course, Rourke isn’t there for the tag, while means Swipe Right attempt the Super Swipe, but Rourke is actually there on the apron to trip up Baylor. Mathers dispatches of them both, tags in Rourke, who hits a spear of his own on Smokes. Moonsault to the outside nails both guys. Spinning powerslam gets two for Mathers as this isn’t bad. Smokes pushes Rourke off the top rope. The rest of the VP distract the ref, and Bryce Donovan nails Mathers from the outside, finally setting up the Super Swipe for the three.

WINNERS: Swipe Right

MATCH RATING: B+ Some nice teamwork by both teams, with several fake endings I bought pretty well.

Swipe Right: A- They are who they are, at this point. You’re going to get a solid outing every time, as their work on this level seems pretty much complete.

Mathers: B+ Mathers always looks good in there, but the presentation needs to get to the next level here, and he comes off as indie high flyer #267, and nothing else.

Rourke: A- The second time around was the charm with Rourke for me, especially once I noticed the Mox resemblance. The in-ring was good with him, and he seems to know his character well. Let’s see more.

All appears right in the land of the Vanity Project, with Donovan holding both Zayda and Smokes in his arms.

Jamar Hampton and It’s Gal work out and, of course, Jamar attempts to teach It’s Gal proper form on bicep curls. Gal does some nice push-ups, which make me jealous as I haven’t done many of those since I tore my shoulder. Gal nails what looks like 180 plus the bar on bench press. This somehow turns into a successful work out, and both go for protein shakes. Alrighty, then.

Our main event is next!

More ads which go about as long as the next AEW PPV. They’re just counterprogramming everything as this point. Can JetSpeed beat a Words With Friends ad?

Kendal Grey is big mad (and big gorgeous) that Wendy Choo took out Carlee Bright and then laughed. She wants her in the ring next week. Jax Pressley and Harley Riggins are two former football players, and they’ve got their eyes on Cappuccino Jones and Jack Cartwheel.

NEXT WEEK, we’ve got Kendal/Wendy, along with Brooks Jensen vs Jordan Oasis and the Women’s Championship Fatal Four-Way.

SEAN LEGACY VS. RIDGE HOLLAND

Has anyone fallen harder than Ridge Holland without getting fired, ever? Sammy Guevara looks at him and goes “wow, that kinda sucks.” Ridge has “Steam Pig” written on his outfit, which I’m sure will…..not get over. Big match intros by Blake Howard meet about four people doing the British “one fall” thing. Ridge immediately takes Legacy down with power and peppers him with a couple of uppercuts. Legacy quickly gets an advantage, but hits several headbutts from Ridge. Ridge does look slightly better with his head and arms taped up, trying to get back to the whole rugby thing. Tate Wilder watches backstage on the monitor as Sean can’t seem to get an advantage. Legacy finally hits a low dropkick, a second dropkick, and peppers Ridge with kicks before the standing moonsault gets two. We cut to break for another six days. We return to Ridge in control. Ridge hits THAT overhead suplex and continues to have the advantage. Legacy finally comes back with some chops, but just gets powerslammed again for his efforts. This has been a very one-sided match, which seems to telegraph who pulls it off in the end. Legacy gets another comeback with two superkicks and a high DDT, finally bringing Ridge down while Tate Wilder is STILL watching backstage. Legacy with punches and kicks, followed by a German suplex on Ridge. Legacy misses the charge and gets caught off the ropes into a reverse slam from Ridge. Low dropkick into a jackhammer only gets two for Ridge. Ridge misses his own charge, with Legacy hitting an enziguri and sidewalk slam for two. Legacy tries for Shambles, but Ridge is over 100 pounds. Ridge hits a big cannonball into the corner, and gutwrench suplex ends things. Dayum.

WINNER: Ridge Holland

MATCH RATING: B Probably Ridge’s best effort in a good while, but I have to wonder what’s with the obvious de-pushing of Sean Legacy, as that was a glorified squash.

Ridge: B+ New look and more aggressive style shows me that Ridge knows his days are numbered otherwise unless he does SOMETHING. The ceiling is still NXT-level midcard bully, though.

Legacy: B: Sure, he sold the beating well, but they’ve soundly beaten him twice in the past few weeks, and I’m not sure what’s up with that.

Legacy heads backstage, where Ice Williams is ready to talk some trash. Shoving ensues while Ridge remains in the ring celebrating victory.

OVERALL RATING: B- Nothing was outright bad here. Everyone wrestled competently, and Chantel Monroe seemed to take a step forward tonight. Forgettable, but solid, show.

Enjoy your Wednesday evening, and I’ll see you Sunday for LFG.