WWE Evolve: Succession Review 10.15.25

I thought this was going to be two hours, but apparently, it’s only one hour. Thanks, Obama.

I experimented with dictating my review onto MS Word while watching last night. This was a very bad idea, as editing the nonsense it spat out took forever, and there were stretches in which I had no idea what I was even trying to say. You win some., you lose some.

THEN. NOW. ANDRADE IS A MORON. FOREVER.

We begin with a trip on the wayback machine to the original Evolve, featuring shots of Cody Rhodes, Drew Galloway, Porky WALTER, Johnny Gargano, and the Street Profits, and that’s a connection I never knew of until this very moment. We then transition to the WWE version of the show, with Shawn Michaels and the current stars featured. We get a funny shot of Brooks Jensen being described as a “dweller on the threshold.” Yeah, the threshold of jobbing on ROH in a few months. Tonight, Jackson Drake will be facing Bryce Donovan for the Evolve Men’s title in a match somehow, and don’t ask me how, made necessary by Seth Rollins’ injury. That Seth, screwing up everything for the daily threaders. Tate Wilder somehow gets a match on the biggest Evolve event ever versus Jensen tonight. I really thought for a second Kendal would win last night, then go on to beat Kali and eventually challenge Jacy Jayne, title versus title, but they’re just not as good bookers as I am. We are in front of a full NXT crowd, which should be cool. Luckily for me, I don’t remember the results of the spoilers that were posted when this thing was initially taped.

BRYCE DONOVAN VS. JACKSON DRAKE (EVOLVE MEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH)

We get a briefing on the origins of the Vanity Project, complete with the now-defunct Evolve VIP section (RIP.) We get a further look at the history between Drake and Donovan, leading up to their breakup last week. Yes, last week, just enough time to set up this hot title match.

Donovan definitely has a bit of a young Drew McIntyre energy to him as a babyface. The Vanity Project comes out, and Zayda Steel is still here, meaning this was definitely taped earlier. It’s really nice to see these folks in front of a full NXT crowd, I have to say. Of note as well is Referee Hottie officiating the match, plus MIKE F’ING ROME is doing the intros. They spare no expense around here. There are some veins actually coming out of Jackson Drake’s physique. He must have walked by a Gold’s Gym along the way. Drake slaps the hell out of Donovan to start, and he immediately gets taken down with the black hole slam for a quick two. Yeah, that wasn’t going to happen this quickly. Also, nice leather cargo pants on Steele. Are you sure you don’t want that WWE ID stipend? Bryce with a clothesline into the corner, and a big takedown across the ring. Drake is selling the hell out of this, and it works. Bryce comes in with another clothesline into the post, sending Drake into the ropes and hitting a big flapjack. Donovan goes for the Ten Beats of the Developmental School in the middle of the ring, then takes Drake down by the head. Bryce is definitely in control here. Brad Baylor gets on the apron and gets clotheslined for his troubles. Ricky Smokes gets taken down as well. That offers enough of a distraction for Drake to take Donovan down again. Suddenly, here’s Keanu Carver being held back by security. I hate to tell you, but Keanu could probably take down all three of those guys in a shoot. We cut to break and, once we return, Carver has magically disappeared, and Drake is back in charge. Drake takes down Donovan with a leg whip, holding onto the foot and getting him into a half Boston crab in a nice little sequence. Jackson tries to reach the ropes, and Swipe Right is standing right there, doing nothing. Donovan reaches for Ricky Smokes and, again, this leads to Drake taking control and going to work further on the leg, Drake misses a charge to the turnbucle and here comes Donovan with a big boot, followed by a big back bodydrop. Donovan measures Drake up and hits a series of pretty decent punches, hitting a big pop-up power bomb and fist bump for two. Donovan’s face stuff looks pretty tight. Drake escapes a choke slam and hits him back in the leg, sending Donovan to the outside. Jackson goes for another tope off the top, and winds up getting chokeslammed onto the apron which, as you know, is the hardest part of the ring. Donovan misses a charge to the post on the outside, hitting the steps. Drake dropkicks Donovan’s knee into the steps, head to the top and hits a nice senton. That only gets two, though. The chyron tells us to follow the path of WWE ID prospects on X, but, really, they’ve all been released. Both guys end up on the mat, and here comes the big comeback to get the yay/no punch segments with of course, “Yay” getting the better of things. Donovan can’t hit the chokeslam again and meets a big kick by Drake. Drake goes to the second rope and there’s, finally, a huge chokeslam off the second rope. takes his time going for two, but Drake gets his leg on the rope. Good spot there. Donovan tries to lift Drake over his shoulders, but Drake escapes and chopblocks the back of the knee. Drake hits the big double knee to the back of the head, followed by hitting the second knee to the face for the easy three.

WINNER AND STILL MEN’S EVOLVE CHAMP: JACKSON DRAKE

MATCH RATING: B Solid action here, with the clean pin somewhat surprising (well, as of this edit, Donovan’s no longer with the WWE, sooo…..), but both guys performed their roles well.

DRAKE: A
Everything I’ve said before about him applies here. He’s a blue-chipper, and one of the absolute success stories of the first class of ID talent.

DONOVAN: B
I think he acquitted himself well as a face here, with good offense and selling throughout. Wherever his career takes him from here, he’s in a better place because of his time in Evolve. Happy trails.

The still-employed as of this time Stevie Turner is backstage on the phone, and some dude named Big Jah enters the picture. I’m normally pretty good with the pop culture stuff, but I haven’t a clue who this is. I will find out so that I’m not that guy on the daily thread still asking who Bad Bunny is. What I just described was pretty much the entire segment, though.

Up next, Brooks Jensen and Tate Wilder will do their best to channel Dusty Rhodes and Terry Funk. Spoiler: they’re not going to be able to do it. They’ll be lucky to get to Dirty Rhodes and Jimmy Jack Funk.

We get an Adrenaline Drip promo, and Cartwheel is actually not wearing the worst hoodie I’ve ever seen. I could rock that. They’re up for a rubber match with Jax Pressley and Harley Riggins.

Chuey Martinez is backstage with Leyla Diggs, Masyn Holliday, and Wendy Choo, who doesn’t seem happy to be here. Wendy gets asked for her opinion on something, but apparently, she has lost the ability to talk again. Chantel Monroe enters the picture, and Choo walks away. Dear Lord, that was pointless.

TATE WILDER VS. BROOKS JENSEN (BULLROPE MATCH)

I have absolutely zero expectations for this, like absolutely zero. Anything above these guys tripping over the bullrope and dying will get five stars for me. Two people actually have Tate Wilder signs in the crowd, which scares me, although they look like the same women who bring the weirdo signs to the PC for Evolve every week. This is not a four corners match, as you can win via pin or submission. These entrances only feel like they’re taking forever. These two numbnuts are now attached by the bull rope and begin to play a tug-of-war with each other. Remember about ten people were released last week and these two stuck around. We get all sorts of moves you wouldn’t imagine seeing in a bullrope match. Can’t wait for one of them to hit a tope. Brooks nails Tate with a handful of rope, and he wears the crimson mask. Of course he doesn’t. Brooks misses the bell shot to the head, hitting the post, and getting a boo-boo on his head. I don’t know how many moves have actually been utilized this match, and I’m having trouble caring. At some point, Brooks goes to the second rope and hits an axe-handle to the back of the head. The ropes are barely attached to these guys. In the first bit of actual “violence,” Jensen wraps the rope around Tate’s mouth. He grabs the cowbell, but can’t nail him with it. Brooks hits some elbows to the back of the head. Somebody finally gets lashed with the rope, as Brooks begins to go to town, and you actually see the faintest of marks on Tate Wilder. Tate likes the pain though, and starts to make the comeback with some rope punches. Tate hits a vertical suplex, as I wonder what inappropriate moves they’ll bust out this match. Maybe a Space Flying Tiger Drop. This reaches the 95-minute mark , and both guys come up and exchange punches. The crowd barely cares, and Tate gets a shot to the throat. He then goes for a springboard move off the second rope, and winds up getting hit like a friggin dork. They play with their stupid little rope and, finally, Wilder nails a powerbomb. Do we finish with a moonsault off the top in a bullrope match? Of course we do.

WINNER: TATE WILDER

MATCH RATING: C
Merely really, really pedestrian than outright bad, this match could have probably been an email.

JENSEN: C
For a couple of weeks there, you saw the emergence of this old-school character which may have been fun, but it was just a mirage. This is the same Brooks as always, who will help get some of the young guys over before being shown the door when his deal is up.

WILDER: C-
You can tell they’d love to get a cowboy character over, but this dude is showing more and more every week he’s not it. Just a generic CAW to the core.

Another WWE ID promotional clip showing us the usual stars, They announce some new prospects coming soon, which isn’t surprising. The first class was certainly hit and miss, but the hits have been solid.

I realize now, for the first time, that Blake Howard is actually doing play-by-play tonight. He’s honestly not doing a bad job. We go to a recap of how we got to this point with Kali Armstrong and Kendal Gray, with shots of Kali continuing to wreck fools, including both Natalya and Kylie Rae. Meanwhile, we see our goddess defeating Chantel Moore a couple of weeks back and earning her title shot.

KALI ARMSTRONG VS. KENDAL GREY (EVOLVE WOMEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH)

This should obviously be the match of the night, and I’m feeling rather hopeful since we didn’t get a title change match and Kendal did so well on the NXT battle royal last night. It really is her time to elevate her here.

Before all this, though, we get an Aaron Rourke segment, and he’s all glammed up and looking in the mirror. Also, never scroll Instagram while reviewing this show as I just saw a picture of Kendal with the title around her waist. WE ARE GOING TO IGNORE THAT. Even before all this, though, we get Sean Legacy backstage with Stevie Turner, asking for a match with Edris Enofe, and here’s that damn Big Jah again. Masyn and Leyla try to sweet talk him. Alrighty, then.

After about 14 hours, Kendal Gray finally comes to the ring. Kendal is actually celebrating two years in WWE, which is pretty amazing, but that was a rather lengthy run doing absolutely nothing in NXT. We finally get to our ring introductions from Mike Rome. We quickly start with a whole lot of shoving, and Kali mounts Kendal and hits a whole bunch of punches. Kali gets some body shots in, and throws Kendal into the post again. The third attempt at posting Kendal doesn’t work, as she reverses, and hits some strikes and chops of her own. Kendal attempts to lock on the cross-armbreaker, which Kali reverses for a two count. Both women get up, and Kali sends Kendal into the post. We get a crisp criss-cross sequence ending in Kendal tripping Kali down, then hitting a low drop kick to the head. Kendall hits a big cross body off the top of the outside. Very nice crossbody, with even some froggy elements there. Back in the ring, Kali takes advantage again, and the fight moves to the apron. Kali goes for a piledriver on the apron , but we’re not committing murder here tonight. Kendal gets back in the ring, tries for a springboard move, and gets a chop to the mid-section for her efforts. On the outside, Kendal gets sent to the apron, which you know is the hardest part of the ring. That happens again three times as we go to break.We return to Kali hitting a series of elbows and knees to the face for two. Nice selling here by Kendal. Kendal eventually gets the comeback with a series of elbows, and a big overhead throw off the ropes. Are the straps gonna come down? I think the straps might come down. It’s a false alarm, though, as the straps don’t come down. They go outside, and Kendal hits a springboard DDT. She again climbs the ropes but gets caught by Kali. Kali tries for a German suplex from there, but it gets reversed. Back in the ring, Kali goes for a superplex once again, but gets knocked off. Kali actually finally hits the big superplex for two in a nice spot. An excellent surprise. Kali hits a solid snap powerslam for a very close two-count and begins the setup for the Kali Connection, even adding a a couple of extra reps off the ropes to really poince the hell out of her. Kali goes for the Kali Connection…..but Kendal reverses it into a powerslam of her own! ONE. TWO. THREE!!!!! KENDAL WINS! KENDAL WINS! KENDAL WINS!

WINNER AND NEW EVOLVE WOMEN’S CHAMPION: OUR GODDESS, KENDAL GRAAAAAAAAY!!!!

MATCH RATING: A
Both ladies absolutely brought their A-game, and showed themselves to be the two biggest stars of the first phase of Evolve. Seriously, kudos to both, as this was a good to great match on any level.

KENDAL: A+
Just amazing to see the development from undersized NXT fodder to fighting machine. The WWE clearly thinks a lot of her, and it’s well-deserved. Kendal is a top-notch talent who you will be seeing winning many more belts for years to come.

KALI: A+
Almost the same can be said here. Kali is going to rule at the next level, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see her holding NXT gold sooner rather than later>

OVERALL RATING: B
The women’s title match delivered as expected. The men’s match grades out as alright, and let’s never speak of the bullrope match again.

I look forward to what should be a VERY different Evolve show next week. See you then.