WWE LFG Review 08.24.25

Happy Monday morning, folks. There’s no way I could have handled more wrestling after Heatwave last night, so here we are, early in the morning, tuning in to the LFG. As far as LFG-relevant talent on the show goes, let’s give Tyra Mae Steele her flowers for turning in probably her best in-ring performance in the WWE last night. It wasn’t an easy feat, considering the Lowell, MA crowd completely turned on her and Tavion Heights. Kudos there, and I hope they stay the course with her. The woman’s got charisma. I also hope that, for those who watched, Forbidden Door was as forbidden and as door as you expected. Now, onto what I hear is going to be Shawn Michaels yelling at people.

SEASON 2, EPISODE 9: FIGHT BACK!

TONIGHT ON LFG, Tatyanna Dumas returns to take on Summer Sorrell, Drake Morreaux takes on Chris Island, BJ Ray takes on Trill London and, in our main event, Dani Sekelsky will take on Haze Jameson. Do these matches inspire confidence in me? Not really, but I have a feeling this is the point tonight.

Back at the PC, Elijah Holyfield informs us he tore his bicep during training. Bubba lets Elijah know how heartbroken he is, as he was enjoying watching him grow as a talent this season. This is really terrible, as Elijah was far and away the best of the males this season. Send this man to NXT upon his return.

Harlem is working out and pondering the conversation with Booker T, which, in real time, we don’t really know when such occurred. When it comes to this show, though, this exchange occurred LAST NIGHT. Harlem agrees to let Jesus Booker take the wheel, and he’s gunning for Shiloh Hill. He also drives away in an old-school station wagon, which is the most un-Harlem Lewis choice of wheels ever.

Shawn comes in and doesn’t at all yell at anyone. He does confirm my theory that tonight’s matches were chosen to give talent potentially on the chopping block a chance to prove they’re worthy. A giant spotlight emerges from the sky and lands on Tatyanna, who then chooses to shit-talk Summer as far as remembering the details of their match. Well, that takes some nerve. Let’s go to the ring, where I hope Tatyanna steps on a rake for that.

TATYANNA DUMAS VS. SUMMER SORRELL

Tats has a decent heel entrance tonight, I’ll give her that. Summer gives Tatyanna a couple of shoves and a slap to start, then escapes to the ropes? Who the heck is the heel here? Tatyanna remembers to take Summer down and works the arm. Crucifix by Tatyanna for two, as the face/heel alignment here is completely wrong. Tatyanna basically gives Summer her hair to pull and gets taken down. Summer, who’s been doing this for about a week, takes Tatyanna down with a Russian leg sweep for two, then hits the chinlock. Tatyanna escapes, and here’s the comeback. Two shoulderblocks and a roll-up get two and then….wait for it….Tatyanna forgets what to do. This leads to a huge mess, which ultimately ends with Summer rolling Tats up, with her feet on the ropes, for three.

WINNER: SUMMER SORRELL

Match Rating: C- It wasn’t business-exposing or anything, but this wasn’t good, and there’s mostly one reason why.

Tatyanna: D+ Yes, there was progress, as the moves she actually hit looked good. She still has no presence in there, can’t remember her moves, and basically walked in there as a heel and wrestled as the faciest face to ever face.

Summer: C+ Summer Sorrell, who has under a year’s experience, had to lead this match. To be honest, she didn’t do the worst job. She continues to have a good head for this, and her stuff looks good. There’s a wrestler there.

Backstage, Summer tells us she’s not here to be relatable, she’s here to be remembered. The message she sent tonight is that she’s better than all of them. Heeldom could work well here, as we’ve got way too many blonde cheerleader types in developmental.

Michelle loves Trill London’s smile and can tell he’s got star written all over him. He’s not the reason this match was booked, though. It’s BJ, who is backstage with Bubba. BJ tells Bubba he’s a heel, not a babyface. Bubba, obviously a bit incredulous, disagrees, but will give BJ exactly what he wants. What this is couldn’t be more obvious if Admiral Ackbar popped up on the screen itself and told us.

TRILL LONDON VS. BJ RAY

BJ walks around like his deodorant needs to dry, as I think the underachievers are mostly being sent out here to die tonight. Someone will eventually prove us wrong, but it’s not going to be BJ. He does, however, low blow Trill as he poses on the second rope, definitely getting the crowd behind Trill from the start. The world’s greatest heel move, the atomic drop, starts the match. Trill fights back, but gets caught in a beautiful spinebuster which may be the best move BJ Ray has ever hit in his career. He doesn’t cover, though, going for the chinlock instead. Trill reverses into a nice neckbreaker, but gets taken down again with a clothesline by BJ. Bj meets an elbow twice in the corner. Trill makes the mistake of going to the second rope again and pays for it. Trill eventually goes for the blockbuster, but BJ barely flinches and it looks like complete crap. Dropkick by Trill takes BJ down, and the swanton gets three.

WINNER: Trill London

Match Rating: C- I didn’t realize this was a “hold my beer” contest between Tatyanna and BJ, but here we are.

BJ: D+ Enough is enough, already. If this dude could actually bump and sell, his ceiling would be Iron Mike Sharpe. Do you waste TV time on that? No, you don’t.

Trill: B- Again, a worker with almost no experience basically leads a waste of roster space during their match. Everything looked good here, with the botches being mostly BJ thinking he’s too good to get into proper position. I’m also liking the Jeff Hardy homage with Trill. It separates him from otherwise similar wrestlers already doing big things.

BJ argues with the ref in the background, which I do like. If there’s any future for him, it’s as a solid enhancement talent who complains. He then confronts Trill backstage as to some punches thrown during the match, which Trill informs him Michelle asked for him to do. BJ threatens to kick his butt if he tries this again, to which Trill basically says “let’s go.” Is this a shoot brawl? Is anything a shoot here? Who knows, but they throw down as we go to break. When we return, they are quickly separated, but not before Trill calls BJ a ho. BJ thinks he got the better of Trill in the three seconds they fought, because of course. Can I give BJ some coaching advice? Develop a phantom forearm injury.

We switch gears to Chris Island and Drake Morreaux, and both guys are probably the underachievers in this one.

DRAKE MORREAUX VS. CHRIS ISLAND

No entrances here, as both guys are already in the ring. Island’s in his martial arts gear, and Drake’s playing the happy bayou guy. Both guys are working snug, and I raise my head from typing in time for Drake to hit a big clothesline and splash for two. Drake with punches in the corner, but misses a charge into the opposite corner. Codebreaker into the arm for Island, but he takes a bit too much time following up. Island works the arm against the ropes, and is obviously working heel here. Things spill to the outside, and Drake slowly jogs into the post as we go to break. Chris throws Drake into the ring and covers for two. Drake goes back to working the arm. Drake eventually escapes with an armdrag, going for the chokeslam, but Chris sticks with the armlock. The comeback eventually happens for Drake, and I appreciate the lack of foolishness and dancing during it. Chris gets the upper hand, goes to the top again, but meets chokeslam for three.

WINNER: Drake Morreaux

Match Rating: C This was probably the most replacement level of matches you’ll ever watch as, while neither guy really did anything bad, neither guy did anything you’d want to watch either.

Island: C Proficient. Knew what he had to do. Hit his stuff. Worked a decent heel game. I’ve already forgotten what he did.

Drake: C He’s the Josh Briggs of Josh Briggses. He’s big. He kind of works big. Nothing ever looks imposing or intimidating. There was less of the funny bayou dancing stuff. We will give him that this week.

Drake dances after the bell. He’s lucky I don’t dock him a half point for that.

I find it a bit weird that Dani Sekelsky is grouped in with the underachievers, but here we are. This appears to be more about Taker wanting to see some aggression in Dani’s game, which I agree she could use as she moves up the ladder. Grouping her with the ham-and-eggers we’ve seen so far, though? I don’t know about that. Haze gets some time, and she wants to show she’s getting better.

HAZE JAMESON VS. DANI SEKELSKY

I love both these ladies, so I’m looking forward to this. Haze is back to her party girl self as she enters, and the coaches love it. Dani does her cheerleader entrance and, if she’s able to shift into an aggressive side, it should only be more effective. Haze continues to drunkenly yell at folks during this, which is great. Collar-and-elbow tie up to start. Haze rakes the eyes and sends Dani into the corner. Haze is a bit low-energy with her heel attack, but at least she isn’t being asked to carry the match like the other two newbs were. Dani GETS AGGRESSIVE and goes for the punches, but kind of accidentally falls out of the ring. They improvise and hit the outside, where Haze continues to ham it up. We’re all watching one woman here, and it’s not Dani. Sigh. Dani gets the fake hope spot, but Haze counters with a hair-assisted takedown for two. Haze hits the chinlock and, goddamn, I love this woman. She may have to face Kendal Grey one day for my affections. That’s not a prediction. That’s a spoiler. Dani finally hits the big clothesline, and the comeback begins. Dani does have the crowd behind her, taking Haze down in a sort-of confusing moment. DDT from Dani gets three.

WINNER: Dani Sekelsky

Match Rating: C+ Match of the night, but that’s not saying much here. Once again, the inexperienced newbie looked better than the second-season vet.

Dani: C- I’m definitely not on the “Dani is an underachiever” wagon, but she picked a hell of a week to have her worst performance. She was asked to go out there and be more aggressive, and none of it was convincing in the least.

Haze: B+ I’ve said it since her early Evolve days: this girl has it. The gimmick is great, and what’s needed is the reps and experience to put all together. She’s got a future, and then some.

Everyone gathers backstage, and my points would go to Trill and Haze this week, although I wouldn’t be too mad if we went with Summer instead. Michells, of course, gives Dani her point. Booker agrees. Bubba, somehow still the smartest person on this show, gives Haze a point, but Taker doesn’t want to sleep on the couch, so he goes with Dani, giving her the win. I don’t see it.

On the men’s side, Taker goes with Trill. Booker and Bubba agree, and Bubba refers to Trill as “Trill Hardy.” Michelle gives Trill the clean sweep, and it’s well deserved.

We then go for what ultimately matters here, which is the COACH STANDINGS. I have no idea who has what, which goes to show how much this dumb title matters to me.

Team McCool is in the lead with six points.
Team Undertaker has five points.
Team Booker has three points.
Team Bubba has two points. Team Bubba never wins anything, which is interesting since, take away the dumbassery and Bubba usually has the best advice to give.

We also have individual wrestler standings, which actually matter much more to me.

Men’s side:
Shiloh: 2
Elijah: 2
Harlem: 1
Drake: 1
Anthony: 1
Trill: 1

Women’s side:
Penina: 4
Sirena: 2
Dani: 2

Michelle puts Trill over more to end the show. Trill tells us that bleep’s about to get real, and walks away. Taker puts over Dani’s increased aggression and, while I do love Dani, I didn’t see it at all. Backstage, Dani calls herself the toughest bitch in this locker room, and the promo she cuts is far more convincing that what she showed in the ring. This was good.

NEXT WEEK, Bubba challenges Zena, and everyone plays up Shiloh and Harlem’s beef.

OVERALL RATING: B- The whole was absolutely better than the sum of its parts this week as, while the action was ho-hum, the overall theme worked very well. They’ve got some potential diamonds in Haze, Summer, and Trill. I will absolutely give them that. Dani’s end-of-show promo was money, and I hope the in-ring intensity continues to follow. The rest? Meh.

See you all on Wednesday for Evolve.