WWE Evolve April 22nd 2026

After the biggest week of the year for WWE, it’s back to our regular Evolve action, but if you want to keep up with what’s happening in the greater WWE-space.

Impact – SmackDown – WrestleMania Night 1 – WrestleMania Night 2 – Raw – NXT: Revenge

We start with a walk and talk with Cappuccino Jones as he’s got his cup of joe and says that normally he wakes up in a good mood, but today he ain’t happy cause Brooks Jensen hit him with that cowbell it woke Jones up and gave him a flavor nobody has ever seen. It’s the first bullrope match in Cap’s career, and he’s going to savor that flavor.

COFFEE PUNS! GET IT! COFFEE! Decent babyface fire at least.

And we have Brooks response, and he tells us that tonight there are not coffee puns (preach) and no escape, both of them tied to an unforgiving bullrope with a chunk of steel in the middle, there is no fun tonight, but there is one thing, and that is pain for Cappuccino Jones, courtesy of the Bad Man from Ala-bam-bam-bam-bam-bama.

Okay, this Brooks can talk a little bit.

And we cut to roaring wrestlers! Microscopes! Chemicals! Smoke! It’s Evolve!

And as Blake Howard and Peter Rosenberg introduce us to the show, we have Wendy Choo coming out with her new belt as she is the Evolve Women’s Champion! She’s elated, and talks about a few months ago she was in therapy, trying to find out who she was, and she didn’t find it there…but she found out last week when she survived the eliminator gauntlet match and became champ. But she knows that this is where the work begins and puts over the lockerroom and their hunger. Still Wendy will keep her promise and be a fighting champion, and she spoke to THE FOREMAN Thatcher (oh no oh no oh no) and she is picking her first opponent (whew). And she wants to pick somebody with a similar path as her, somebody who has been grinding it out on indies for a decade…she’s picking Laynie Luck. And Laynie comes down to the ring and she looks elated. Laynie says thanks and talks about how she’s shocked and also honored and that maybe her luck is turning around (ugh!) and brings up Sloane Jacobs stabbing her in the back and now Nikkita Lyons interrupts. Nikkita Multimedia says that she’s had enough of this lovey-dovey stuff and that Choo only beat her with a rollup, while Lyons took out Tyra, Kali, and PJ in one night (she has a point!) and the first challenger should be Big Kat Kita, and Lyons has been doing some meditation in the grass, and received some spiritual guidance cause she’s a Divine Feline (see when the heel does stupid puns, it works, cause she’s supposed to be annoying!) and Sloane Jacobs runs in ambush Choo and Laynie, but the two faces manage to turn the tables on the two (and also maybe Jacobs shouldn’t have tried a run-in with 6-inch heeled boots) and clear the ring before Choo poses with the title and we might have a tag-team match on the horizon player!

Well this was all very paint by numbers but it worked fine. We have the confident vet champ, the less confident underdog babyface challenger, and now a heel and her goon sniffing around. I assume we get a tag and then some more shenanigans, yet again, nothing complex, but pro wrestling doesn’t have to be.

Now we cut to a vignette for Romeo Moreno, who talks about how wrestling is an art, and in the ring he’s going to seek inspiration and then create his legacy. We have him doing some spraypainting while he talks about how his nickname is Freestyle. He’s pure, he’s his own, and you haven’t seen anything like him before, Si Se Puede!

Continuing on the pre-tape he did earlier. I will say that it’s wild that a ton of high-flying babyfaces seem to at least draw a little bit from Jeff Hardy, but here we are. This seems fine but I do think that for the Freestyle/artist thing to work, he really is going to need to bring it in the ring.

Kam Hendrix and Harley Riggins vs. Tate Wilder and Luca Crusifino

Background: So Kam and Harley have been beating down Tate for weeks, injuring him in an attack in the parking lot cause Kam blames Tate for costing him the title. Wilder has recruited (well rather Luca offered to join Wilder in his quest for revenge) but they were both beaten down again. So now we’ve finally gotten to the match. Kam is an arrogant guy, Harley is a nasty bully football guy, Tate is a highflying cowboy, and Luca is…I have no idea as this is a new gimmick.

The Match: And we have a hot start as Tate and Luca jump Kam and Harley while they’re making their entrance. The babyfaces get the advantage and we get a Crusifino tope and then a Wilder Quebrada and officials come down to the ring to get things in order…and the match doesn’t get thrown out. Harley is tossed inside to start with Tate and we start with a whip and then a clothesline for a quick cover and we go to break. And as we come back Hendrix distracts Tate, gets a cheap shot, and Riggins tackles him down and they stomp away in the corner and get quick covers as they just pound away. Pretty basic stuff, but Harley adds a rabbit punch as they are heeling it up. Punch kicky with some posing and Kam giving an INTENSE STARE. Tate shoves Kam down but Hendrix bounces back with a flying clothesline and then some super obvious spotcalling has Hendrix hit a northern lariat, but a second one is dodged and countered for a double-down. Slight digression here, as Blake Howard has explained Luca’s gimmick change as having occurred after “being left in the desert a year ago” 10/10, zero notes. Anyway we have a double-down and it’s almost a double-tag as Kam brings in Harley first and that lets the big-guy cut Tate off again and gets a chinlock and some stomps and after a looooong time we get Tate elbowing free! But Harley just takes him down again with an armbar, Wilder breaks free again but Kam Hendrix takes Luca off the apron before the tag can happen and Riggins gets a back elbow and some ground and pound to get back in control and it’s back to Kam. Both guys slug it out and Wilder settles for a desperate schoolboy pin but Hendrix is too fresh and blocks and gets a slam and brings Harley back in. Riggins with a slam and a yowl and it’s back to Kam and they try a high-low crossbody but we have HEEL MISCOMMUNICATION and both guys wipe each other out. Hot tag Luca and he’s a house a fire! The raver is just a spam of strikes! Uppercuts! Chops! He mocks Kam’s taunt and then gives a codebreaker to Harley but finally the heels numbers plays off and Kam hits a showtime kick (rider kick to the head) and Luca stumbles back and we get a blind tag to Wilder, and when Kam charges he eats a superkick from Luca and Tate immediately gets the Wild Ride (top-rope moonsault) for 2.9 as Harley breaks it up. Crowd bought that as the finish. Crusifino goes at Rriggins but the big-man vaults him to the floor off a charge and then gets a tag from Kam. Tate does some three bump comeback stuff on Riggins but Harley is too big and gets a chop to the head and brings in Kam for a double back suplex…but Tate slips out and it’s time for Luca who gets a slingshot shoulder on Hendrix while Tate sends Harley to the floor…but Riggins grabs Wilders boot while Luca goes up, and when the ref pulls Tate out of the ring Riggins knocks Crusifino off the top and his neck snaps on the ropes and Hendrix takes advantage with Lights Kam Action (back suplex slam) for 3.

**½

Okay, this was…structurally pretty solid. Looooong heat segment and then it got fancy with some of the ending sequences. Tate needs to be a more dynamic seller and Harley and Kam need more juice as heels. Kick punchy stuff can be fine, but if you’re going to do that, you need more charisma, sorry. Luca was a pretty good hot-tag at least, though I’m not totally sure what his in-ring style is other than “just flies around everywhere.” Still, good, solid tag-match and at least they’re trying for real shine/heat/comeback sequences.

Post-match these guys stare each other down and I have a feeling…this ain’t ova.

And now we focus on the title match next week with one of the challengers, Harlem Lewis. All Lewis is after is the gold, doesn’t matter who holds it, could have been Jackson Drake, but now it’s Rourke. Harlem doesn’t have anything against Rourke, he’s tough, he’s overcome a lot, but because Harlem’s path has never been a straight line, now there’s Braxton Cole in the mix and next week it’s a triple threat. As for Cole, Harlem has no patience for guys like that, born into privilege, and it just drives Harlem into a rage. He grew up with a single-mom working 14 hours a day to keep the lights on, he raised his two younger brothers, made sure they were fed and clothed, and from an early age he was mopping floors and mowing lawns to contribute and Braxton knows nothing about that. Maybe Lewis comes across as too aggressive, but that’s because he needs that as fuel because he needs to be champ. And next week, in a triple threat, he’s got two targets and that’s while we’ll hear AND NEW.

Okay so…Harlem is a babyface now? This guy has turned more than Big Show in 1999. I will say that the scrappy babyface stuff comes across as more interesting than snarly mean guy so maybe that’s what they’ll stick with.

Layla Diggs w/ Masyn Holiday vs. Kali Armstrong

Background: So Layla is a happy dancing babyface type. She does dances with Masyn and sorta being generic Tik Tok babyfaces that are athletic and smiling. Kali is uh…not smiling or dancing, and last week when Kali got eliminated they laughed (cause Armstrong absolutely destroyed Masyn in a squash before that). So we got a scary heel seeking revenge on a babyface and her buddy.

The Match: Kali just explodes and double-legs Layla, who manages to turn that into a sunset flip but Kali sits on it and just unleashes ground and pound. Kali picks up Layla and gets a series of shoulder thrusts into the corner while talking a lot of trash to Layla. Running facewash gets 2 and Armstrong throws jabs but whiffs a cross and Layla gets a pair of rollups and then a desperate heel kick gets a cover before Layla drops a few elbows and Diggs slowly goes to the top, but her moonsault eats knees and Armstrong hits the Kali Connection that Layla does a full backflip for and Kali gets 3.

**

Spaghetti Squash is used as an alternative for people concerned about the amount of processed carbs in pasta. Look I’ll be honest, seeing Kali absolutely brutalize people in 3 minute increments every week would be absolutely fine with me. Layla even got a BIT of desperate shine but Armstrong did what she does and runs people over.

Post-match Kali calls out Tyra Mae Steele and the Olympian obliges her but the ref stays between them and THE FOREMAN Timothy Thatcher quickly comes out and shouts them down. We’ve had enough chaos and he’s not trying to make a referee’s job harder than it already is. Thatcher says both are better than this and as they’re both premier athletes we need to do this properly, next week!

Braxton Cole responds to accusations of privilege, sure he ate lobster, went to private schools, had a personal driver, but when you live like he does, you have expectations. But when you’re from where Harlem Lewis is from, nobody is going to be special. Harlem’s career peak is signing to WWE, Braxton signed with the expectation that he’d be the biggest superstar of this generation. It’s a pressure Harlem, and Rourke just don’t understand. Cole has it all and that’s why next week he’ll be the new champion.

Well I’m really excited about that Harlem vs. Cole blood feud! Shame that we have Aaron Rourke and his title getting in the way. I will say Cole is filling out the personality a little bit, but the big pressure of both feuds being about each other and not the actual champion is WILD to me.

Tate Wilder says that it’s far from over and that the victory of Kam and Harley means nothing. Wilder should have known that they’d cheat and take people out before matches. Tate mocks their status as blue-chip athletes and says that their actions are motivated by cowardice. They know that if Tate gets them in a fair fight, Wilder will whoop ‘em.

And now we have Aaron Rourke’s response to Harlem and Braxton. He dismisses their backgrounds and their bluster. They think they have what it takes to be champion, but Rourke knows he has what it takes cause he’s done it. Lewis and Cole are bigger and stronger, they’re college athletes, but all that does is motivate Rourke even more and he’s walking in and walking out as champion next week.

Very solid promo from the champ! Hit all the notes, didn’t do any sob story stuff, he’s the champ, and he is for a reason.

Brooks Jensen vs. Cappuccino Jones – Bull Rope Match

Background: Their personal series is split 1-1 (though Brooks victory was somewhat…tainted) and they’ve been snarling at each other for a while now. They were supposed to resolve this recently but Brooks broke out a bull rope to save Cap and here we go. Jensen is mean, hairy, nasty, a southern rasslin’ throwback heel. Jones is young, athletic, feisty, he likes to flip and spin. This is Brooks 15th career bull rope match, but only his second in WWE (he lost the first to Tate Wilder). Both guys are in jeans here, with Brooks rocking the cowboy boots and Cap with sneakers and a white shirt.

The Match: And as the ref tries to put the bull rope on we get Brooks ambushing Cappuccino before quickly starting the match and hammering away with fists (ropes wrapped around them of course) while Blake Howard lets us know that these are Brooks SPECIAL COMBAT JEANS. Jensen tries to swing with the cowbell but he whiffs and Jones comes back with his own fists and then a dropkick that sends Brooks flying out of the ring. We get a tug of war that Cap counters by turning the momentum into a tope and then Jones rips his shirt off and hammers away Brooks tries to slam Cap into the steel steps but Jones blocks. Jensen tries to hit him with the bell again but whiffs, but they get a double clothesline on the floor and Brooks follows up on that by…crawling under the ring and dragging Cap out to the other side (?!) to stomp away there. More rope-assisted punches and we cut to the VIP Section with Jacari, Santi, and Max Abrams…and Brooks immediately starts yapping at Max which lets Cap come back before Brooks tries to send him into the VIP section…but Jones vaults over and springboards back for a clothesline and we go to break. Back in and it’s back inside where Cap gets a rope-assisted neckbreaker for 2. Jones goes up but Jensen yanks him off the top, which pulls the rope off too. As the ref reapplies the rope, Brooks removes his boot and delivers a boot and rope-aided shot to the head that sends Cap flying out of the ring. Brooks removes covering from the turnbuckle and tries to yank Cappuccino into it, but Jones blocks and reverses and Brooks eats steel! Cap slams Brooks arm against the ringpost, and then picks up the cowboy and slams it on Jensen’s arm while Max Abrams is ringside cheering Jones on. Back inside and Brooks begs off as Cap slugs away. Brooks slips free and goes to the second rope but Jones yanks him off and gets a corner clothesline and a diving crossbody for 2. Brooks tries to crawl away but Jones grabs him, and notices the exposed ankle (as Brooks had previously removed his boot) and smashes Jensen’s foot with the bell. Brooks tries a punch but Cap blocks with the bell and immediately gets an O’Connor roll for 2.7. Jensen gets a goozle and tries a chokeslam, but his arm has been weakened and Jones reverses to a Fujiwara armbar and uses the rope to crank on the digits, Brooks teases a tap but rakes the eyes to break and throws a kick as both guys slug away. Jensen gets the better with a double palm strike and then uses the rope to get an over the shoulder-choke where the rope is actually in Jones mouth, that’s nasty. Cap uses the corner to flip out of the choke and hit a DDT before going up for his Froggy Brew Elbow, but Brooks yanks the rope midflight to force Jones into a crack landing and then a tree-trunk slam by Jensen (which I think lands Cap’s lower back on the bell) gets 2.9. Jensen slips out of the ring and brings a table out and commentary has repeatedly asked why Max Abrams is still ringside for this match. Cap kicks away at Brooks who goes back in with the table but the Bad Man from Alabama is just bigger and nastier and stomps Cap down and loads Jones on the table while Brooks goes up, but his missing boot and hurt arm slow him down and Cap turns it into a superplex through the table. Both guys are down and as they struggle to their feet, Max Abrams goes in and stops Brooks from grabbing the bell…and teases hitting Jensen with it before smashing Cappuccino across the face and Jensen covers for 3.

**¾

A very, very fun match with a really, really stupid finish. Brooks is clearly having a blast with all these old-school rasslin’ bits. And him using a cowboy boot WITH THE ROPE had me legitimately laughing. Jones is a lot more fun here as the underdog babyface just slugging away instead of the guy who has to go off the ropes for every move. I don’t know if this match needed a table too, but hey, it’s wrestling in 2026. Fun TV gimmick match main-event with enough clever spots and bluster…but my goodness that finish was laaame. I don’t remember Mike Cunningham and Cappuccino having any form of relationship, let alone Max Abrams. Abrams was teasing a heel turn, but wasn’t the gist of it him having animosity with Lince? Unless somebody got hurt or fired that I missed, I have no idea why they did this swerve, and it both doesn’t mean anything, came out of nowhere, and also undercut a cool and fun feud with Jones and Jensen. Disappointing.

Post-match Abrams stomps out Jones but Jacari Ball and Santi Rivera come out to break it up…before doing the obvious swerve and aiding with the beatdown. And now It’s GAL comes down to clap along with his gym buddies but they seem nonplussed at his presence and here’s CJ Valor to run over GAL and now the fearsome foursome all pose as commentary talks about how ID 2.0 is set to take over Wednesday Nights on Tubi.

…so like, was Gabe Sapolsky without a heel stable for 3 episodes and he panicked and just conjured another one?

Well that was certainly a main-event angle. Was it good? Was it bad? Who knows, but it was definitely in the main-event!

Mixed show for me, but next week has Kali vs. TMS and also the Evolve title match, so hopefully that should make a bit more sense.

P.S. Did EVERY heel win tonight?