WWE Evolve Review 10.01.25

Happy Wrensday, everyone! First of all, I apologize for missing last Sunday’s LFG. I honestly haven’t watched the show yet. When I do, I’ll post a review, and I’ll be back on track this Sunday.

In developmental news, pretty much everyone not named Mike Mears knows about Jazmyn Nyx leaving the WWE, and you can add Edris Enofe to that list. My take on this is this: WWE doesn’t want you signing two developmental deals. You’re either close enough to the main roster after 2-3 years that it’s worth staying, or they’re going to lowball you into leaving. What you think of that, business-wise, is up to you. If what Nyx was offered was really $60K, and she had no chance of getting called up and turning that into a main roster deal, then I don’t blame her for walking away. That’s not a real salary for what these folks are expected to do.

Anyway, on to those who are still here and/or survive on ramen and mayonnaise sandwiches.

THEN. NOW. LOL ANDRADE. TOGETHER.

LAST WEEK, Stevie Turner announced the first-ever Evolve special, Succession, and our goddess, Kendal Grey, earned her spot to face Kali Armstrong for the Evolve Women’s title on that show. Tonight, however, Brooks Jensen and Keanu Carver will wrestle for the right to challenge Jackson Drake for the Men’s title at that event.

We kick off the show with the worst-dressed man in wrestling and his coffee buddy.

ADRENALINE DRIP (CAPPUCCINO JONES AND JACK CARTWHEEL) VS. JAX PRESSLEY AND HARLEY RIGGINS

Actually, Cartwheel isn’t wearing anything terrible, but his hair is just frightening. Like, doesn’t anyone tell him? Jax and Harley cut a promo where they put down indie wrestlers, which wasn’t bad, with the heels trying to double-team Cap, who temporarily gets the better of them and tags in the other Oompa-Loompa here. Cartwheel and Cap send the heels outside in frustration. Back in the ring, Cartwheel takes down Riggins a couple of times, which is odd considering he’s half his size. Riggins clearly fakes a leg injury and proceeds to beat the Cartwheel out of Jack. The heels continue to hit Cartwheel with their pretty standard offense, although the backstabber from a guy as big as Pressley was pretty cool. Jesus, these guys are twice as big. Cartwheel tries to escape a couple of times, finally backflipping into a tag to Cap. Cap takes down Riggins with a springboard elbow, then hits a crossbody off the top. Cartwheel gets tagged in, and the Drip Drop (superkick into a German) leads to a pin attempt, which is broken up. Cartwheel hits what looks like a springboard 630 on Pressley before being taken down by Riggins. Cap takes down Riggins on the inside, then Jack hits the Space Flying Tiger Drop on Pressley. Flip N Drip on Riggins gets what I figured would be the win here.

WINNERS: ADRENALINE DRIP

MATCH RATING: B- The size difference continues to make things a bit ridiculous, but the heels hid their greenness well, and Cap and Cartwheel can be trusted upon to be solid high flyers, if not a bit too indyriffic. The ending wasn’t in doubt here, as they weren’t jobbing the ID guys twice to the newbs.

Riggins/Pressley: B Green for sure, but a lot of presence, as well as working within their limits, counts for a lot. They impressed again.

Adrenaline Drip: B What you see is what you get. I think Cartwheel’s dorkiness isn’t really getting over, and Cap’s considerably cooled off after being one of the initial ID standouts. I hope that changes.

Chuey Martinez is backstage with Tate Wilder, who now doesn’t have a healthy Ridge Holland to face, and will be in the ring tonight with dead man walking, Edris Enofe. This, of course, was taped before Ridge’s injury. Sean Legacy enters the scene and advises Wilder to give Edris his undivided attention tonight. Why he was needed here eludes me.

Jackson Drake, Bryce Donovan, and Zayda Steel are backstage watching the monitor, and the sledgehammer of plot dictates that bickering ensue. Also, they taped a Drake/Donovan match before NXT last night, so we aren’t exactly climbing back in bed together here. This being “behind the curtain” so that you only see them with about half your screen is kind of annoying. Drake wonders how Bryce is going to solve a problem like Brooks and Keanu.

THE GHOST OF EDRIS ENOFE VS. TATE WILDER

Robert Stone brings up that Wilder has basically lost to everyone before the match starts. Forget Edris. Put him up against the New York Jets. Edris goes on the attack, beating on Wilder in the corner. Wilder escapes, and they proceed to fight on the apron. Edris hits Wilder’s head against the metal and sends him outside. Wilder escapes a move off the apron, hits a kick on Edris, and hits a swinging dropkick off the post, which I’ve never seen before. Back in the ring, Edris takes over again and drops right hands on Wilder. Edris hits two short-armed clotheslines, Wilder attempts to fight out of a third one, but can’t, which leads to a two-count by Edris. They couldn’t be booking Wilder more like a dweeb if they actually had him lost to the Jets. Wilder tries to escape out a choke, can’t the first time, but finally hits a back suplex out of one. Wilder hits some awful punches and finally lands a clothesline. Of course, this doesn’t work again, as Edris hits a dropkick and backstabber for two. Edris removes the turnbuckle, and attempts to grab a chair, but here’s Legacy to grab it from him. Wilder is finally able to take over, showing decent energy. Edris reverses out of a suplex and gets a roll-up for two. Edris attempts a suplex, but Wilder reverses into a swinging suplex. Wild Ride (basically a moonsault) finishes for Wilder.

WINNER: TATE WILDER

MATCH RATING: C+ Well-wrestled enough, but I thought the layout made the actual pushed winner seem like a dweeb who only won through someone else’s help.

Edris: B- He’ll be missed, I was honestly always a fan of his look.

Wilder: C- I don’t see it yet. The booking does him no favors, but he looks and wrestles like some dude who got handed a cowboy hat on the way out to the ring.

Tate shows respect to Legacy after the match, while Edris contemplates an OnlyFans.

Kali Armstrong murders Carlee Bright next!

Masyn Holiday, Layla Diggs, and……Wendy Choo are backstage, and the ladies compliment Wendy on her new hair and wonder if she’ll try TikTok. Nikkita Lyons enters the scene and tells Wendy she liked her better when she didn’t talk. Wendy: “What a bitch!”

CARLEE BRIGHT (W/ OUR GODDESS) VS. KALI ARMSTRONG (NON-TITLE MATCH)

My apologies to Carlee, whose goofy charm I do enjoy, but this ain’t happening. What is happening are those cheetah print hot pants on Kendal. Kali takes Carlee down by the hair to start and gets her in arm bar. Carlee kicks out, gets a cartwheel, and reverses on Kali. Armdrag off the top takes down Kali, and Carlee hits a side headlock. Kali eventually just throws her over the top rope. Kali throws her back in and hits a huge shoulderblock into the corner, she does it again, then hits the big powerslam for two. Kali continues the attack and sends Carlee again to the outside. Kendal cheers Carlee on as Kali just stands there and waits. Carlee comes back in at 8, but is immediately met with a series of elbows. Third elbow misses for Kali, though, which leads to Kali missing a charge into the corner. Carlee hits two clotheslines and a headscissors, then headscissors again Kali from the corner. Bulldog gets two for Carlee, who heads to the top and…..gets caught by Kali…..but Carlee reverses a slam into a roll-up for two. Her luck ends there, as Kali hits the big powerslam and the Kali Connection. Kali doesn’t go for the pin, though, hitting a second Kali Connection (with a nice bump by Carlee) for three.

WINNER: KALI ARMSTRONG

MATCH RATING: B+ Honestly, I’m not kicking this match out of bed. Kali is awesome, and Carlee’s developing into a solid underdog character.

Kali: A There’s a reason she’s the champ.

Carlee: B+ Nothing to hate on here. She played her role well, and sold that second Kali Connection like gangbusters. I’m not sure what her place is when Kendal eventually moves up to better things, but there’s been improvement for sure.

What seemed like an exciting vignette winds up being for Brooks Jensen. Womp womp. Whatever that dorky old-school thing they were doing a few weeks ago has been tossed, it seems.

Our main event is next!

WWE ID promo focuses on Aaron Rourke and Marcus Mathers. I feel like the program needs a bit more attention.

It’s Gal is backstage with a bunch of goobers, looking for a new tag team partner. Dante Chen offers reassurance, but this somehow turns into a challenge for next week. The goobers let Gal be and walk away.

Kendal Grey and Kali Armstrong have a face-off next week, plus we get the contract signing for the Men’s title match!

BROOKS JENSEN VS. KEANU CARVER (#1 CONTENDER’S MATCH FOR A MEN’S EVOLVE TITLE SHOT AT SUCCESSION)

Kelly Kincaid is again doing ring announcer duties for the big match intros. Keanu deserves some serious credit for slimming down, as his physique has markedly improved these past few months. STRONG lock-up at first. Jensen attempts to bring Carver down but fails. He attempts a second time off an armlock, and fails. Carver takes Jensen down. Jensen attempts to get some strikes in, but meets a big slam from Keanu. A second, bigger slam is followed by a BIG back bodydrop and a Samoan drop for two. Carver’s doing the basics well as we cut to an insert promo from the Vanity Project. Drake asks Donovan if he’s “got this,” and Bryce says he does. Spoiler: He probably does not have this. Back in the ring, Carver misses a charge into the post as we go to break. We return to….Carver missing a second charge. Jensen hits the double knees to Keanu’s arm and continues to work on the arm. Armbar by Jensen slows the match down. Keanu can’t slam Jensen twice due to his arm, and gets sent into the post again. Jensen hits a very old-school knee to the arm off the top for two. Some shades of Tully Blanchard there. If only they had fully gone in that direction. Keanu continues to attempt to fight back, as a solid story is being told there. Jensen tries to send Keanu into the post again, but Keanu reverses, and here comes the comeback. BIG fallaway slam for Keanu, followed by a pop-up Samoan drop for two. Jensen reverses out of a suplex and goes back to work on the arm. Slingshot clothesline gets two for Jensen. Carver continues to not be able to pick Jensen up. Alabama Jam by Jensen gets two, as you continue to see traces of what could be at least a decent NXT midcard act. As we know, those make $60K a year after a while. Nasty belly-to-back by Jensen leads to Keanu rolling outside. Back in the ring, Keanu surprises with the big POUNCE, and the spinning slam gets the surprisingly easy three.

WINNER AND #1 CONTENDER: KEANU CARVER

MATCH RATING: B+ Again, not bad at all, as an extended story was told with Keanu having to fight back after Jensen slowly took apart his arm. Nice job, guys.

Keanu: A- The look is so, so much better and while, look, he’s never going to be Oba Femi, he’s got a chance to carve out his own path. Things are trending up.

Jensen: B You see the glimpses of what could be fun, but what’s the ceiling in that? No one is buying a modern-day Tully Blanchard on the main roster.

Carver celebrates, and here’s Bryce Donovan with some rather solid chairshots, including two to the arm. Donovan proceeds to Pilmanize the arm as the Vanity Project come out to celebrate and taunt Keanu Carver. Well well well, maybe Bryce DID get the job done. Donovan thinks for a second before shaking Drake’s hand. This was an excellent piece of business by all to close the show.

OVERALL RATING: B+ A solid final two matches, and well-executed closing angle led to a pretty fine show following a bit of a rough start. Add to that some actual character development for Wendy Choo, and I’m curious to see where a lot of this goes.