WWE Evolve April 1st 2026

Welcome back to Evolve, but before I start I realize I should include some links into the other WWE-verse reviews we have.

Impact – Smackdown – Sacrifice – Rey de Reyes Part 3 – Raw – NXT

We were promised some new and exciting news with new talent being showcased and a 4 5-way to determine placement in the gauntlet-rumble-thing for the vacant Evolve Women’s Championship.

We start with Evolve Men’s Champion Aaron Rourke talking about how it’s a new chapter and he puts over the 5-way women’s match and the debuting talent and I already did that Aaron! Jeez! He’ll keep his eyes peeled cause he knows they’ll want a piece of his gold. And because WWE ID did so much for him, he’s going to raise the stakes, whomever wins the triple threat between these three new prospects will challenge for his title.

Science! Scowling! Wrestling! Purple! Rapping! It’s Evolve!

It’s GAL is out here to trash the “duh-duh-dummies” making their debut, but GAL accepts that one of them could be a stud, but not to the level of It’s GAL, who invites them out here, but he’s cut off by the music of Dorian Van Dux (the former Mike D Vecchio), and in the VIP section we see Tristan Angels (the former Nathan Angel) and Romeo Moreno (the former Zozaya) and GAL offers a handshake but Dorian throws a forearm to send It’s GAL tumbling and uh…this is a match?

It’s GAL vs. Dorian Van Dux

Background: It’s GAL is our loveable loudmouth muscle head, a goofy heel who is vain and silly and loses quite a bit. Dorian Van Dux as I said is the former Mike D Vecchio, a jacked up but not overly tall Belgian dude with a lot of ink who does…a LOT of stuff (well did, we’ll see how he works in the WWE system).

The Match: It’s GAL starts with his own strikes and throws Dorian in the corner and poses. International and Dorian just breaks it up with a big boot, chop, and a slam for 2. Dorian slugs away and then goes for a flying headscissors…but GAL holds on, drops Dorian throat-first on the ropes, and takes him out with a lariat for 1. GAL with some slaps and chops and then he trash talks Dorian while stomping him down in the corner and then gets some elevated punches with a pose between each punch but Dorian shoves him off…but GAL catches him for a fireman’s carry gutbuster for 2. Vertical suplex by GAL but he does pushups instead of a cover. Uppercuts from the Israeli wrestler and then a boot and a pose get more as Dorian is kinda getting beaten down. The Belgian finally fires up with chops and goes for a springboard…but GAL snatches him off the ropes for a blue thunder bomb for 2.5 and then GAL cranks in a camel clutch. Dux fights out but gets dropped with a knee but Dorian finally gets some space by slipping outside and coming in with a springboard clothesline. Back elbow, clothesline, corner charge, and a running back suplex out of the corner gets 2.7. Dorian goes for a powerbomb but GAL slips out and tries a throat-thrust, but Van Dux blocks it before GAL drops him on the ropes anyway, boots him, and sets up another lariat that Dorian ducks and responds with his own, and it’s a Karelin lift into a Doctor Bomb for 3.

*¾

As an actual match, this was fine. Two guys trading moves, nobody really messing anything up, no real sense of pace or escalation, GAL cheated a bit, posed a bit, Dorian came back and won. As a debut showcase for a new prospect…this is a D-, Dorian looked painfully generic, showed no personality, and while I don’t mind that he didn’t engage in his horrendous excesses I’ve seen from him in the past, it’s looking like there isn’t much to the guy without the excess. I didn’t love the guy in All Japan, but he at least stood out doing stuff nobody else did, here? He did not, but it’s still his first match.

We cut backstage to a candid camera as Zena Sterling is asking THE FOREMAN Timothy Thatcher for a favor, she’s working hard, she’s trying every day, and she’s done it with a smile, so she wants to be put into the championship gauntlet. Thatcher says that she needs more wins and it’s a competitive division and walks away. Zena looks irate and seems ready to swing on THE FOREMAN but instead grabs a chair and bludgeons a nearby wall.

Well, a heel turn is at least SOMETHING for Zena, but man Evolve is looking heel heavy, women wise.

Now we got THE SHERIFF OF JUSTICE Tate Wilder stalking into the men’s locker room looking for Kam Hendrix and Harley Riggins, maybe they talk a big game, but whenever the chips are down they fold, so Wilder is going to track both of them down, TONIGHT!

And it’s back to the ring with Chuey Martinez with Chazz “Starboy” Hall (the former Starboy Charlie), Santi Rivera (the former Jariel Rivera) and CJ Valor (the former Jimmy House) who are going to have a triple threat for a shot at Aaron Rourke’s Evolve Men’s Championship. Chuey compliments CJ for his impressive tryout and asks him how he feels, CJ talks about how making an impression is important, and puts over that he did powerlifting, bodybuilding, and BJJ before becoming an indie wrestler and that opportunity is never guaranteed, he puts over having trained with the Rhodes how he has to “keep stepping.” So no matter what happens tonight, CJ Valor will Keep Stepping until the Evolve title is his. Chuey drops some Espanol on Santi Rivera and asks how he’s feeling, Rivera is apparently on top of the world already and will feel even better when he wins the Evolve title next week. He’s from Massachusetts and worked in Chaotic Wrestling but more importantly he’s a man built by Divine Design, with boricua blood running through his veins, Santi Rivera rolls his r’s and tells us he’s the next champ. Starboy is next and he’s a twelve year vet (?!), he puts over his time in GCW, West Coast Pro, Marvelous, and NOAH, and he can go on and on but it doesn’t matter cause its brought him to Evolve, and on behalf of WWE ID every time he steps in the ring you’ll be left starstruck by the Starboy, the Denim Dragon, Chazz Hall.

Well, not as terrible a display of mic work as I feared, but from a presentation standpoint, it doesn’t help that Chuey Martinez is darn-near a foot taller than all these guys, there’s a reason Tom Hannifan does the splits in his interviews, Renee if barefoot, and Vic Joseph always sits down, it makes the talent look like little people when you present them this way.

Chazz “Starboy” Hall vs. Santi Rivera vs. CJ Valor – #1 Contendership for the Evolve Championship

Background: So we just heard them bluster for a bit, but Starboy is a pretty well-known indie high-flying flipadoodle, he’s got a mop of dark hair and denim overalls. Santi has long, curly hair and purple and black trunks, while CJ is on the shorter side with a good build and a pink and black singlet.

The Match: Hot start with Santi bludgeoning CJ into the corner and shoving off Chazz and slugging away on Valor. Hall with a schoolboy for a quick cover but the bigger Santi goes at him and Starboy evades to the apron…and Santi sidesteps a charging CJ to know Chazz outside. Santi with a suplex attempt but CJ stuffs it and goes for a German that Santi blocks and Starboy flies back in to get set up for a slam by CJ that gets thrown into a flying headscissors on Santi. Hall tries to whip CJ but the stronger Valor blocks it and loads up a powerbomb that Starboy flips out of and runs into a judo-style hiptoss by CJ. Santi flies in with a back suplex on Valor and then slams Chazz onto CJ and and drops an elbow that Starboy evades and gets CJ with a standing twisting SSP. Chazz and Santi do a sequence that ends with Hall dumped outside but CJ runs in to go for a Chaos THeory on Rivera but Santi blocks and gets a rope-assisted gamengiri and flies back in…only for CJ to catch him with a double-leg and Starboy comes off the top to get a blockbuster/spinebuster combo on Rivera. CJ then takes Hall’s head off with a lariat and it’s a triple down and an ad break. Back in and we have Mike Cunningham in the VIP lounge. CJ is hitting corner clotheslines on both guys but on his second attempt on Santi Rivera takes out Valor with a slingblade and then tries to suplex Starboy who counters with a Sliced Bread for 2. But Valor catches Starboy with an O’Connor roll for 2 until Chazz kicks CJ in the head. Back to Santi and Chazz with Rivera countering something into a sleeper but CJ breaks that up and NOW he gets Chaos Theory for 2-and Starboy breaks it up. Another series of kicks to a kneeling CJ but a second Sliced Bread is blocked before Valor ducks a charge (which is enough to drop CJ?) and it’s back to Santi and Starboy. Cazadora by Starboy is turned into a wheelbarrow suplex and Rivera kips up…only for CJ to take him down with a superman punch and cover…only to switch mid-cover to make sure he’s facing the hard cam…oooof, the cover gets 2.8. CJ gives the shocked face and punches himself to jazz him up and it’s Starboy and Valor slugging it out and Santi sneaks back into the ring and catches his breath, only to pop up to get kicked as CJ ducks an enzuigiri, and then Starbody does a handspring double Pele to get CJ and Santi. Okay, that’s clever. Starboy gets a 2 count on CJ and then Santi. Starboy goes up and goes for a crossbody that CJ catches and turns into a blockbuster slam and then Santi runs in and gets clobbered before sidestepping a Valor spear that wipes out Hall. CJ responds with a flying armbar on Rivera though. Santi tries to turn it into a rollup but only gets 2 before Valor gets full-extension and Santi is about to tap before Starboy flies in with a running SSP for 2.9. Santi is struggling on the ropes but Starboy charges him but the bigger Rivera snatches him for a torture rack but his arm gives out and Chazz low-bridges him and sets up a dive, but CJ cuts him off (why?) and Hall gets Valor with another Pele and Starboy lands the Space Flying Tiger Drop on Rivera. Starboy takes the straps down as Blake Howard reminds us of the departed Kendal Grey (sniffs) and Hall hits CJ with a corner dropkick, goes up, and it’s a top-rope SSP for 3.

**¼

Well, this match was A LOT. Too much, but a chaotic, sorta sloppy match at least provided a showcase for these guys. Triple threats are messy and this was a classic “one guy gets tossed so two people can do stuff” but at least they broke up a lot of pins? So, as this is a debut for 3 guys, I’m going to do some LETTER GRADING to judge their debuts.

Starboy: C+, guy is what he is, he’s going to flip, he’ll hit them fine, he won’t sell, he doesn’t have a great look, but he has some sense of knowing when to save his bigger flips for bigger moments. I’m sure some people will love him a lot, but for me, and this is a compliment, he’d fit in perfectly in the 1997 WCW cruiser division and nobody would ever want him to move outside of it.

Santi: B, I’ll always be a fan of a guy at least trying to play the heel a bit. He probably gobbled guys up a bit, but I think it was in the efforts of keeping the match together as he cut off moves to set up bigger stuff down the line. His bumping was good and sneaking back into the ring only to get inadvertently hit with stuff was a good character beat.

CJ: F, and that might be generous. You can tell this guy has very little experience, he put himself over as this bodybuilder/powerlifter dude and was the widest guy in the match, but he would crumble off the tiniest of things and he kept slipping up basic spots, him switching covers mid-attempt to FACE THE HARD CAM was a massive oof for me. I’m not saying he’s toast, as he said, he’s had one year of indie experience, but this guy is going to need a LOT of reps.

Blake Howard and Peter Rosenberg run over the highlights of this match and put over Chazz getting the big match…and Chuey comes out to congratulate him. Starboy says this is almost a surprise and he wasn’t expecting to get a title shot this quickly. He wants to thank the people that supported him and thank Rourke for giving him the shot, but the Denim Dragon is coming for that belt.

We cut to Tate Wilder, who is still looking for Kam and Harley, but instead he meets Luca Crusifino who is laying on a crate backstage. Tate asks what happened to Luca (me too brother) and Luca tells THE SHERIFF OF JUSTICE that he went on a journey of discovery but Wilder cuts him off and says he doesn’t have time for this and walks away…but Luca pulls him back and says that Wilder is too focused on negative energy and that “we need to focus our energy- and Wilder cuts him off again about the “we” before Luca explains that instead of backstage brawls and locker room attacks it’ll be the two of them versus Kam and Harley next week in the ring and Wilder accepts.

I still think that hippie raver dude is a total go nowhere gimmick, but if Luca keeps the “smart, tactical, aware of silly wrestling things and getting in front of them” character there’s maybe a change this works. I’ll withhold my grumbling for a week and see if the two of them have any chemistry.

Mike Cunningham vignette and I cannot get over him being sunburnt or cutting a promo after a chemical peel as his face is VERY red. He talks about his Main Man Energy, “mogging” and how it means he’s better than you, and you know it, or maybe it means he’s the Mike, and he’s awesome (he didn’t actually say that, just sorta the same vibe, y’dig).

Total heel promo, and I guess he’s just doing the Vanity Project thing now? Whatever, he is an annoying little twerp. Though a Manosphere reference in terms of his verbiage is at least somewhat topical…if personally unwanted.

Wendy Choo vs. Laynie Luck vs. PJ Vasa vs. Kali Armstrong vs. Nikkita Lyons – Winner gets final spot in Evolve Women’s Championship gauntlet

Background: So, quick rundown of each of these ladies. Wendy has dropped the spookiness and is now a sorta good times, pro-therapy veteran babyface, Laynie is a scrappy indie babyface, PJ Vasa is a monster heel (though green), Kali is a former champ and a powerhouse jock heel, Nikkita is an evil hippie brawler heel. Winner gets the final spot in the gauntlet match for the vacant women’s title, and interestingly enough in the graphic for th at match there were two blanked out women on the left and right screen, so I dunno if this is going to be a 7 person gauntlet when the match happens as things just sorta…occur sometimes in Evolve with limited explanation.

The Match: We start with everybody brawling before PJ Vasa tosses down Laynie and Wendy and the three heels duke it out before Kali and Lyons toss Vasa and they start scuffling. Wendy and Laynie sneak in with stereo rollups for 2 and then a crossbody gets 2 as its just covers a plenty here. PJ breaks up a Kali pin on Wendy and then catches Laynie and throws her at Lyons. PJ gets a corner avalanche on Lyons and then Laynie and a clothesline drops Nikkita and then PJ catches Laynie’s crossbody…but Kali dropkicks that group over. Armstrong now with the corner shoulders on Lyons and Luck but Laynie dodges the second attempt and gets a schoolgirl…but Lyons breaks that up and Germans Luck and gets a lariat on Kali. Kick combo takes out Armstrong, but a whip sets up Kali…and PJ trips her up and drags her outside but whiffs a charge and hits the ringpost and Laynie rolls back in to schoolgirl Lyons. Laynie tries a suplex but Nikkita blocks…but Laynie floats over, gets a rolling kick and then a flying headscissors to take down Nikkita, but a charge sends Laynie to the apron, but the scrappy vet continues some evasions and gets a cartwheel dodge to foul up Kali’s interference and Armstrong and Luck both clobber each other at the same time. Choo is back in to clothesline Lyons over the top and Wendy goes up to the top to hit a plancha on all four women and it’s an ad break. Back in and we have Wendy and Kali going to the top, while Laynie cuts off Choo and Lyons cuts off Armstrong…and PJ comes in for a tower of doom on Kali/Big Kat and then Vasa does the same to Laynie…but Luck gets a flying headscissors and Choo gets a diving crossbody on both women and it’s a quintuple down. Choo is up to take everybody down with clotheslines and then a kick combo on PJ. Double sliced bread on Kali and Luck with an assist from Nikkita. Choo keeps it up by hitting everybody and then a double jumping DDT on Laynie and Lyons. Kali runs in but Choo stuffs her up with a hammerlock burning lariat (with Choo screaming LARIATOOOOOO to make me chuckle) for 2. Wendy goes for her full nelson slam but Kali breaks, then blocks the victory roll, and goes for a scoop powerslam but Choo turns that into an inside cradle for 2. Armstrong with a spinebuster but Lyons breaks it up and unleashes some strikes and then a tiger driver on Armstrong but Laynie turns that into a crucifix pin…and PJ breaks that up with a uranage on Luck. Lyons tries a forearm but Vasa counters into a fireman’s carry before Lyons slips out and superkicks PJ out of the ring. Choo sneaks in with a backstabber (well, given her lack of elevation, hipstabber) but Lyons rolls out and Choo cuts off PJ who tries to sneak back into the ring and follows with a somersault senton off the apron to take out Samoan. Kali is the only one left in the ring, and she pops up for a pretty crazy double-jump plancha to wipe out Wendy and PJ. Laynie teases her own dive but Lyons slides back in to drop her with a kick…but she whiffs a Vader bomb and now Kali slips back inside to hit the Kali Connection…but Lyons tumbles outside and Armstrong can’t make the cover. Kali is frustrated so Choo gets her with an attempt at the Dirt Nap…but Kali gets the Austin vs. Bret counter for 2 and now she hits her powerslam. Second Kali Connection lands and Armstrong makes the cover…but Laynie breaks the pin and tosses Armstrong outside, but before Luck can cover PJ gets a Samoan Drop on Laynie and then flattens Wendy Choo with The Issue (Fireman’s Carry Jackhammer) for 3.

**¾

Maybe not as flashy as the triple threat, but for my money, a better match as each wrestler got a bit to shine. Wendy is a jack of all trades and the most ‘skilled’ person in the match, Laynie is overmatched but constantly spams rollups to get lucky (get it?) just once, Kali is a physical marvel, PJ is a monster, and even Lyons looked good with her strikes. Good setup for two weeks time, and honestly I hope they keep it at this five as they got to setup a fair amount of chemistry between these ladies. PJ winning, to me, is the obvious call as it puts the biggest, most threatening competitor in the best position. Not shockingly the Choo/Kali exchanges looked the best, but those are the two best women in the match so that’s to be expected. To their credit, this match wasn’t as messy and confusing as my recap might have made it sound. Good work by these ladies (and the agents too of course).

So, we’re back to a pretty regular “build stuff for a few weeks down the line and not worrying about some set shows” and I find the flow of that very relaxing. Next week it’s going to be Aaron Rourke defending his Evolve title against Chazz “Starboy” Hall (what a name) and then Luca and Tate taking on Harley and Kam. I don’t know if all the showcases this week worked, but hey, first week, and the roster did need to fill out with departures/injuries/just guys no longer getting booked.

Thanks for reading and hope to see you next week, all you Evolve-maniacs!