WWE Evolve February 25th 2026

Welcome to the season finale of Evolve! No, I don’t know what that means either. We start with Peter Rosenberg (yes that Peter Rosenberg) running down Team PC vs. Team ID’s 10-man tag match later on in the show. And we jump to previous footage with Team PC’s Kam Hendrix, Harley Riggins, and Cole Braxton talking about the plan, Keanu Carver texted to say he’s good for tonight, and Harley cracks about Jax Presley (his partner) blew out a pec benching 495, which he adds “is my warmup weight.” Kam brings up that Team ID can’t win in a fair fight, and it’s next man up so he introduces…Cyrus, who is apparently some college football guy and a “blue chip athlete.” Hendrix vows to “make a few open roster spots” after he destroys Sean Legacy and Swipe Right.

Pretty generic stuff which is what we can expect from these guys, Harley Riggins at least has the ability to add a bit of extra-jerkishness to his act and is the only one to me that stands out at all.

Opening credits! Purple! Belts! Science! Flips! Posing!

Tyra Mae Steele vs. Zena Sterling

Background: So Tyra Mae Steele of course is a former Olympian who won gold in amateur wrestling and is a sort of high-energy, bubbly babyface who is always sorta dancing/posing/smiling but turns up the aggression in the ring. Zena Sterling is a LFG graduate who is a Ukrainian powerlifter or something, she’s very jacked, very blonde, and has a red dressy ensemble for ring gear, which is unique at least. She’s slapping hands and smiling and posing so I assume she’s a babyface.

The Match: Tyra gets a double-leg, a gutwrench, and a fireman’s carry for a 2 count. Tyra asks Zena to “show me what you’re made of” and Sterling slips out of a slam, gets some forearms…and is immediately cutoff with a pop-up flapjack. TMS fires up, spears Zena, and a bridging German gets 3.

**

Kabocha, also known as a Japanese pumpkin, is a delicious squash that can be used in soups and curries. This was also a delicious squash and TMS looks like a killer. And Zena took those bumps very cleanly! Good stuff!

Chuey Martinez, dressed in a windbreaker that looks like a tent, is out here to interview TMS and he puts over the impressive display. Tyra expresses graciousness for the compliment and says that if you blinked you missed it, Chuey asks what Tyra is looking for in Evolve and TMS brushes that off and says that she wants people to enjoy the ride she’s on. But she does maybe imply what’s next when she talks about how next week she’s gonna get some snacks and watch the women’s championship match…HRM! Chuey asks who she likes between PJ and Kendal and how a streetfight might favor the challenger. Steele sorta hems and haws and puts over Kendal as a great amateur while throwing a shot at Grey bringing it up all the time…but Tyra is the only gold medalist here. HRM!

Oh yeah, if Tyra ain’t turning heel then uh…I’d go back to the drawing board with this promo style.

Interrupting the end of the interview is Kali Armstong and Tyra doesn’t seem offended, but rather dances with Kali’s theme as she heads to the back. Intriguing.

Kali Armstong vs. Wendy Choo

Background: So Kali was the first Evolve woman’s champ, she lost it to Kendal, had a respectful relationship with other characters, aaaaand she started losing, like a LOT. Wendy debuted as a psycho mute heel. Kendal made her say I Quit, and Choo turned babyface with the assistance of therapy. Choo offered sympathies to Kali and recommended a therapist to the struggling wrestler…and Armstrong beat Wendy up, seemingly returning to her heelish aggression. Wendy’s like “lets fight are fighting words!” and off we go.

The Match: Early lockup goes Kali’s way who gets a sorta aggressive choke in the corner, but Wendy ducks a few right hands before Kali powers Wendy around before Choo quickly goes for her Dirt Nap choke but Kali reverses into a rollup to break and we do a leapfrog sequence, ending with Choo getting a few armdrags and a dropkick sends Kali outside before Wendy gets a flip senton from the apron and we go to a break. Back in and Kali misses a charge, gets vaulted to the apron and a high kicks knocks her outside again, but when Wendy tires a running punt she gets tripped up, Armstrong covers Choo with the ring skirt and then pounds away before delivering a knee. Back in and Kali double-legs Wendy into the corner and gives some corner shoulder thrusts and a big running one. A running facewash gets 2 and then Kali gets a chinlock with a knee in the back. Choo slips out, Kali misses a corner charge, and Wendy unleashes some strikes before ending with a hammerlock burning lariat and a handspring corner clothesline and a running boot to a kneeling Kali gets 2.5. Armstrong gets a standing switch out of a gutwrench and goes for a full-nelson but Wendy gets a victory roll for 2 but falls victim to a pop-up punch from Kali sets up her powerslam for 2.8. Armstrong settles for some ground and pound and then…goes up (?!) but she’s a bit slow and Wendy cuts her off and goes for a superplex and then a brainbuster for 2.9. Kali is discombobulated as she makes her feet and Wendy goes for the Dirt Nap again but when they hit the mat Kali rolls outside and Wendy rolls with her, they’re in a standing position and Kali taps…but it’s out of sight of the referee and Armstrong then drives backwards into the apron, breaking the hold. Okay, clever! Kali whiffs a charge though and Wendy sends her into the ringpost before rolling both of them back inside with Wendy going up, a desperate Armstrong hits the ropes to send Choo falling to the mat and a beautiful Kali Connection gets 3.

***

Okay, there were a few awkward sequences as the height difference made some of Choo’s strikes look a bit off-kilter, and I think a few of the more intricate rollup sequences Choo left Kali a bit flustered, but man, that finishing sequence was pretty great pro wrestling, and real respect to Kali for being getting herself over as a dominant buttkicker and also the sorta floppy buffoon selling a good heel should have. She looked legitimately out of sorts at times, and considering the size difference that’s a good skill to have. That said, these two are in some order the second and third best workers in the division so this isn’t some massive shock.

We cut to the Team ID locker room with “Super” Sean Legacy, Aaron Rourke, and Mike Cunningham, and my goodness, Legacy’s gear is such an absurd and garish mess of various colors, shapes, and patterns he looks like a medieval crest. Anyway they talk about how excited they are for the match and they greet Swipe Right’s Brad Baylor and Ricky Smokes with Jackson Drake in tow. Legacy talks about how these 5 were the first 5 signed to the WWE ID program and how guys like Mike Cunningham are the future, so this is probably the last time they’ll all be teaming together and how they have to show the worth of the program. They all dap out and head out…but Jackson Drake calls back Swipe Right and brings up that as champ, he runs the show, they’ll handle business, and next week at Succession 2: Indies Strike Back, they’ll take care of Cappuccino Jones, and the last time they have to worry about being part of WWE ID.

None of these guys are very much on the mic, but I will say that the faces and heels together setup for this at least gives the ID guys a bit more friction/narrative weight as a team.

We got Harlem Lewis finally addressing getting his clock cleaned by Brooks Jensen. Lewis says he gets going after the biggest dog in the yard, but it proved that Jensen is afraid. Harlem says Brooks should be afraid because Lewis is coming for everybody and being born in wrestling doesn’t mean much against an angry Lewis. Harlem still wants that Evolve title, but he has no problem going through Brooks next week at Succession 2: A Good Day To Succeed Hard.

Team PC (Kam Hendrix, Harley Riggins, Braxton Cole, Cyrus, and Keanu Carver) vs. Team ID (Sean Legacy, Aaron Rourke, Mike Cunningham, Brad Baylor, and Ricky Smokes) – Tate Wilder is special guest referee

Background: So this has been building for a while with gauntlet matches, individual matches, tag matches, title matches. So it’s the indie guys in WWE ID, versus the trained in the PC guys, dudes from the NIL or recruited from college athletics. This is sorta implied to be the final, final, FINAL blowoff after months of squabbling but I have my doubts. Kam Hendrix is the leader of the Team PC guys and sort of a Rock ripoff dude who talks about how handsome and athletic and charismatic he is, Harley Riggins is a big sorta meathead lookin’ dude with ugly tattoos and a singlet who has real “sleazy goon in a cheap action movie” energy, Braxton Cole is basically a super mega-frat jock dude and pretty generic outside of that, while Cyrus is…I know nothing about him, but he’s the only guy in a shirt which isn’t promising, and their final member, Keanu Carver, who obviously is on NXT now but hey, he’s back to demolish some nerds one last time. Legacy isn’t super tall but he’s in good shape and has the aforementioned horrendous gear, Aaron Rourke is a sorta flamboyant face with eyeshadow and sparkles, Mike Cunningham is really young and he talks about having Main Man Energy, that’s sorta the gimmick, I dunno what else to say. Of course Swipe Right’s Brad Baylor and Ricky Smokes are also on NXT (current NXT tag champions!) and are preppy looking undersized jerks. Oh, and Tate Wilder, who is part of Team PC but has disagreed with their cheating ways and had some friendly relations with ID guys, he is now the SHERIFF OF JUSTICE (what a name) and after ‘screwing’ Team PC in a title match by sending in a vet for the pin on Kam Hendrix, he is a man without a country and trying to keep everything together. We have a LOT of time for this one.

The Match: Hendrix and Legacy start…and Kam immediately whiffs a jumping boot and Sean goes for Shambles but Riggins breaks that up and we get everybody running in and brawling as Tate Wilder slowly gains control of the chaos. And it gets resolved by Keanu Carver just beating everybody and Kam bringing him back to the corner. Hendrix tags out properly as Keanu is in to slaughter Legacy for 30 seconds before bringing in Cyrus…who gets a snapmare and a crucifix pin for 2 before landing a shoulderblock and that lets him tag in Braxton Cole who picks up Legacy who sunset flips him…but Cole stands tall before whiffing a punch to the mat and Legacy gets the tag to Rourke…but Baylor tags himself in first as he immediately gets picked up for a tilt-a-whirl by Braxton but Brad slips out the back and sends Cole into the corner. Swipe Right get some quick tags and stomp away and Ricky gets a cover after a boot but Braxton is too big and backdrops Baylor and we get a double-tag to Baylor and Harley who just pops the Swipe Right wrestler with a right but Brad and Ricky just double-team the big-man with some evasions into a jumping flatliner by Baylor (psst, that’s Kendal’s finish bud). But Swipe Right stop to hotdog and grandstand and that lets Harley bring in Keanu who wipes out the apron and then double lariats Swipe Right and we get a break. Kam Hendrix is stomping down Smokes but Ricky gets a desperate schoolboy for 2 before Kam just beats the smaller Ricky down. We cut to Laynie Luck in the VIP section cheering on Team ID I’m sure before it’s back for more generic beatings from Hendrix on Smokes. Just…really OVW 101 stuff. Kam finally whiffs a corner charge and Smokes gets a jump kick and some elevated punches but his slingshot spear is caught…but Kam can’t do anything with it as Ricky evades and brings in Baylor but now Kam makes the sneaky tag and in comes Harley to boot an unsuspecting Baylor’s head off. Brad sells that for approximately 2 seconds before he drop toeholds Harley into the ropes and gets a jumping neckbreaker and brings in Mike Cunningham who goes up, rips his pants off, and hits a diving axehandle to Harley’s arm. Mike follows with more armwringer stuff but Riggins tosses him down and brings in Cyrus who IMMEDIATELY RUNS INTO A HIPTOSS! My goodness what a scrub. Cunningham drops Cyrus with a flying back elbow and brings in Legacy as Cyrus is our jock in peril. Two kicks from Sean and a standing moonsault get a cover but Cyrus pulls up short on a dropkick and brings in Cole who manhandles Legacy and immediately tags in Harley as they get a double-shoulderblock for 2. More quick tags as Cole is back in for a double back suplex…but Sean flips out and brings in Mike for a diving crossbody on both Team PC guys. Mike brings up the pace with a double rebound flying clothesline, but when Mike hits the ropes again Kam knees him in the back which lets Cole drop The Main Man with a lariat, and Jackson Drake flies in the ring to yell at Wilder about missing the cheating…and Tate just clocks Drake in the face! Brad Baylor and Ricky Smokes drop off to support their boss and as Wilder shouts his status as referee, Vanity Project remind us that they’re on Tuesdays and “they don’t need this!” as they walk out of the match. This brings out Cappuccino Jones to confront them about leaving and they brush him off. So we got Jones ringside as Kam stomps away at Mike Cunningham and in comes Keanu to absolutely slaughter Cunningham in the corner before we get Cyrus, the human victory cigar, to get some shots before it’s back to Harley with a corner charge and I cannot get over how much he looks and works like Diesel. Riggins with a double-arm stretch as Legacy and Rourke try to fire up the crowd and Mike gets a victory roll for a quick cover before Riggins boots him down again. Back to Kam who drops some knees and talks some trash. Hendrix gets a few jumping butt drops to the back of Mike, but Cunningham eventually turns and Kam lands…shall we say Hendrix-first and gives us a pretty good cartoon “I got hit in the junk” sell. Mikes gets a few punches but his leaping tag is cut off and Kam brings him back to the corner…but Mike fires back, knocks them all back and gets Kam with an enzuigiri. Meanwhile Keanu sneaks out to ambush Jones ringside, but Legacy pops off the apron to attack Carver! Hendrix brings in Braxton, but Mike gets a back elbow to stagger Cole and a boot to Kam, a low-bridge to Cole, and kicks Kam away to get that tag on Aaron Rourke…but Harley rips Aaron away from the apron last minute and Mike is all alone. Well done lads! Team ID is all out of sorts as Harley and Keanu have destroyed them ringside and Kam and Braxton get a massive hotshot on Cunningham as we cut to another worried reaction from Laynie Luck (who seriously looks like she could be Mike Cunningham’s mom) and a downed Team ID as Team PC are standing tall and it’s another break! Back in and Mike and Cole fight over a backslide as Cole gets 2 and then a schoolboy for 2 but Braxton lariats him down. In comes Harley who goes at the nose and Tate tells him to knock it off. Riggins bludgeons Mike down as Cunningham sells with very, very weird facial expressions. Back to Kam who gets a clothesline and some kneedrops before whiffing one and doing another very, very cartoonish sell of his knee. Hendrix slugs Mike down and gets a…neck crank? We cut back to the VIP section where Laynie has been joined by Drake Morreaux. Kam gets a cover for 2 and yells at Tate for not doing it fast enough. Back to the neck crank from Kam but Mike fights free and then gets Kam with a hotshot and it’s finally a hot tag to Aaron who flies around kicking Hendrix down, Cyrus runs in and eats a terrible, terrible slingblade (seriously folks, stop doing that move). Cole runs in takes a Backstabber. Riggins goes in and takes Eat Defeat and then Carver comes in…and as Tate Wilder is distracted clearing the ring, it’s Cappuccino Jones with an assisted gamengiri, Legacy runs in with a boot, Rourke with a crescent kick, and then Legacy hits Carver with an assisted sliced bread as Wilder finally turns and looks flabbergasted, Hendrix uses this advantage to get a jumping thrust kick (called the Showtime Kick) to Legacy and then Hendrix gives a spinebuster to Rourke for 2. Kam goes for a powerslam next but Rourke turns that into a DDT and then gets a split-leg moonsault but Cyrus breaks that up! Good for Cyrus! Legacy runs in with Harley cutting that off and going for a gutwrench powerbomb, but Mike helps him escape and Cunningham and Legacy get stereo superkicks to send Cole and Riggins out of the ring and they follow with planchas…but get run over by Keanu. Back inside and it’s Hendrix going for Lights, Kamera, Action but Rourke turns that into a victory roll (popular counter tonight) before Kam reverses (and grabs the tights) Rourke begs Tate to notice the cheating, and then Kam sneak attacks Rourke…but whiffs and clocks Wilder. Kam then yells more at the ref and he gets distracted and runs into Rourke’s Over The Rainbow diving somersault seated senton and that gets 3.

**½

Okay, legitimately shocked at how…not bad that was given its run-time and the people involved. A credit to the agenting, certainly, but most of the talent held up okay. These big tag matches are always going to need a lot of booking when the talent is only so-so, but the guys did get better as well. I was shocked at Rourke getting this big showcase, but they didn’t tag him in the entire match until the end, and both Vanity Project walking out and the Tate stuff were nice fakeouts for the eventual finish. I will say, I’m still not sure about Kam Hendrix as the big Team PC guy, but he’s at least added cartoonish overselling into his repertoire. Mike has to figure out how to stop making weird ugly-crying faces when selling, but he kept up alright and was a fine Ricky Morton. Cyrus…well that guy is in no way ready for this spot, like at all, but they knew that and didn’t let him do anything. Harley Riggins was probably the second most impressive on Team PC as he’s the guy who most naturally embodies the “big jerk” stuff, I think he’s watching a LOT of Nash tape and it’s not a bad building block for a big guy in 2020s WWE. Good stuff all-around though I somehow doubt this feud has ended…*sigh*. Also no idea where this leads Tate Wilder, I guess a feud with Kam?

Post-match Rourke celebrates and the announcers recap the match and Cappuccino Jones grabs the microphone and talks about how “the pot is getting hotter” (ugh) cause next week he gets his shot against Jackson Drake for the Evolve title. But that’s next week, and this week is about Aaron Rourke’s win, but it’s also about Sean Legacy, cause this is his last night on Evolve and his last match, cause he’s going to NXT and Jones thanks him and asks for a speech. Legacy thanks everybody and says he’s grateful for the opportunity, it took 10 years, but the ID program gave him the shot. He didn’t think he was gonna make it, but after 10 years, with ID, he’s now in NXT. He’s leaving, but he’s leaving this place in good hands with Jones, Rourke, and others (Mike Cunningham is pretty funny here as he seems legit peeved that Legacy didn’t mention his name), and Sean just wants one thing…for Cap to beat Drake next week. But Legacy is saving the best for last (Mike points at himself) and that’s the fans in the building and watching on Tubi who supported them. Legacy talks about how he doesn’t know what the future holds but wants us to keep watching as he celebrates with the ID guys and Mike Cunningham gives the most low-energy, sarcastic claps and I’m dying here.

Hey that was…okay! The main-event didn’t disappoint and I guess I’m happy that even though I’m not a super fan of them, Legacy finally got a big main-event win on his way out of the territory and since Evolve is so heel-heavy it’s nice to get a big wholesome moment like that, plus Mike Cunningham’s tantrum was great. I’m not sure this felt like a season finale until the last moment with Legacy’s departure, but that did feel significant.

Catch us next week for Succession 2: The Two Title Matches as we get Harlem Lewis vs. Brooks Jensen, Jackson Drake defending his Evolve men’s title against Cappuccino Jones, and Kendal Grey defending her Evolve women’s title against PJ Vasa in a street fight!