By Brian Leahy, PWTorch Specialist

INDEPENDENT WRESTLING DVD REVIEW SERIES
EVOLVE's “EVOLVE 4: Danielson vs. Fish”
Union City, NJ.
July 23, 2010

It’s taken a few shows, but with their fourth DVD, Evolve definitely feels like they’ve found their rhythm. The promotion is also bedding down in terms of knowing its strengths and finding the personalities and dynamics that will give Evolve its identity. By now, the format is clear: a series of short-ish matches on the undercard with focus placed on wins and losses, linked with wrestler reactions.

Regardless of Evolve finding its identity, I’ll cut to the chase about Evolve 4: this is not a staller show. If not for the headline Danielson vs. Fish match, this show would be lacking a major selling point.

-- In the opener, the no-contest between Jon Moxley and Brodie Lee served its purpose. As soon as matters got out of control (both wrestlers brought chairs into the ring), the referee called for the bell. Evolve has done well thus far making itself seem as sports-like as possible in its formatting, but this match drew a line that should never be blurred under normal circumstances. It also portrayed Mox as more than a bloodthirsty garbage wrestler; a wrestler who wants to do things the right way in Evolve as he lay down his chair only to find himself on the business end of a big boot from Brodie Lee. All things considered, a fine outcome for a match lasting less than six minutes.

-- Logically, the following four-way match should have lasted longer than the opener, and while it did (by about 30 seconds), the no-tags format led to plenty more action than a six-minute match would imply. It’s during these matches that a viewer will realize that Evolve's undercarders are still very one-dimensional, but there’s a lot to be said for using broad brushstrokes on the undercard and leaving the good wrestlers to fill in the gaps when the opportunity arises. For example, all I know about Chris Dickenson is that he’s an angry, angry man, while Drake Younger has taken his simple Technical/Ultraviolent “Hybrid Wrestler” character and successfully made himself come across as a decent wrestler, a decent guy, and above all someone interested in the competitive area of Evolve.

-- For the fourth show running, there was a Mercedes Martinez WSU Title defense against no one of significance lasting for just enough time for me to make a cup of coffee. I’m a fan of women's wrestling (plug: expect upcoming SHIMMER DVD reviews), but these matches have done little for Evolve, WSU, or women’s wrestling at large. Hopefully the first “real” women’s match in Evolve, Awesome Kong vs. Martinez on the Evolve 5 show, will be worth the wait.

-- Around the mid-card, the matches finally begin to fill some time on the disc. To be fair, I’m not really complaining. Near the end of Sapolsky's ROH booking career, the 10-15 minute undercard matches were soul destroying to sit through and served little purpose other than to fill time. Evolve matches generally fall within a 6-15-minute window, with main events getting more time. The undercard matches are as long as a typical TV match, and, tied together with Evolve's backstage interviews and vignettes, it makes Evolve an easy product to watch.

-- There are a couple of tag matches thrown into the mix featuring talent Chikara fans will be familiar with: Jigsaw & Hallowicked take on Louis Lyndon & Flip Kendrick while the Osirian Portal faces off against Up in Smoke. There’s plenty of what you would expect from these tag encounters, but little that sticks in the mind. In their post-show interview, Up In Smoke’s lambasting of the quality in the division hits a little too close to home for my liking: tag team numbers are a little thin on the ground in Evolve, and they could do better than highlighting this unless there are new teams on the horizon. However, with only one tag match over the course of the next two shows, it’s not looking too promising for Evolve's doubles division.

-- Elsewhere on the undercard are a few random singles pairings: Johnny Gargano and Adam Cole get a seemingly mammoth nine minutes or so, and they do what they can with it. It’s interesting to watch Adam Cole win over the crowd in this one. He's one to watch for in 2011 wherever he wrestles.

-- Sami Callihan vs. Arik Cannon is the real gem of the undercard. Never the two most predictable wrestlers on a card, these brutalized one another with strikes and suplexes from the off. It’s an enthralling if unconventional undercard match that finally provides something that stands out from the rest of the card.

-- The semi-main event of Jimmy Jacobs vs. Chuck Taylor is a clash of the two more memorable personalities in Evolve. Promoted as “Chasing the Leader” (i.e. whoever won becomes the Evolve “Win Leader” and “Winning Streak Leader,”) there was instantly more to draw the crowd in than most on the card. It’s matches like this that make the Evolve records interesting, but it’s too early in the company’s history to be able to feature more than one of these matches on a card, such are the win/loss records after only three cards. The two put on a fine back-and-forth match yet still left more on the table should they clash again.

-- In the last match on the card, Bryan Danielson (Daniel Bryan) takes on Bobby Fish while on summer vacation from WWE. Make no mistakes about Bobby Fish’s winless record in Evolve: he is a featured act for the company and contrary to his handful of ROH appearances over the years, he is someone who can be pushed. Danielson being Danielson, can turn his hand to suit any style, and what we get here is his methodical dissection of Fish's left knee while Fish fights the unwinnable fight with admirable gusto and resolve. It’s difficult enough to engage the crowd in a babyface vs. babyface match, and even more difficult when the result is a foregone conclusion as soon as the match was named, but the bout is well-crafted, if not exactly electrifying.

Overall: “Danielson vs. Fish” is not Evolve's greatest show. This isn’t to dismiss it as skipable; it just doesn’t break new ground for the brand. It’s not a strong starting point, but if you’ve picked up Evolve 1, 2, and 3, you should still continue your collection to 4. (6/10)

Notable Match Star Ratings:

Johnny Gargano vs. Adam Cole (**1/2)
Sami Callaghan vs. Arik Cannon (***1/4)
Jimmy Jacobs vs. Chuck Taylor (***1/4)
Bryan Danielson vs. Bobby Fish (***3/4)

FYI: Evolve 4 “Danielson vs. Fish” is available at www.evolvewrestling.com.

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