WWE EVOLVE RESULTS (10/8): Nikkita Lyons vs. Wendy Choo, It’s Gal vs. Dante Chen, Mathers & Rourke vs. High Ryze

WWE EVOLVE TV REPORT
OCTOBER 8, 2025
ORLANDO, FLA. AT WWE PERFORMANCE CENTER
AIRED ON TUBI
REPORT BY DAVID MILLER, PWTORCH CONTRIBUTOR

Commentator: Peter Rosenberg, Robert Stone

Ring announcer: Kelly Kincaid

Interviewer: Chuey Martinez, Kelly Kincaid

-Evolve Prime Minister Stevie Turner opened the show with the announcement that, following his victory over Brooks Jensen last week to become the number one contender for the Evolve championship, Keanu Carver suffered broken bones in his hand during the post-match attack by Bryce Donovan and is medically unable to compete at Succession. She promised to find a suitable replacement tonight and declared that Jackson Drake would defend his title at Succession next week.

-Chuey Martinez, who seems to have permanently lost his baseball cap, stood mid-ring and spoke of both titles being defended on the same show at Succession next week. He then introduced Kendal Grey and Evolve Women’s Champion Kali Armstrong for a face-to-face.

-Grey told her she must think she’s a badass after what she did to her friend, Carlee Bright last week. She said she would break her next week. Armstrong said she beat on Bright because she could. She said no matter how good Grey is, she’s not as good as Kali Armstrong. Grey said she’s been beating the odds all her life and ran down a list of her accolades. Armstrong came back at her with her athletic accomplishments outside of wrestling. She said was born with drugs in her system and shouldn’t have even made it, but she did. Martinez made them shake hands, and Armstrong pulled her in close as the two exchanged threats. [c]

-Back from the break, Kelly Kincaid congratulated Tate Wilder on his victory over Edris Enofe last week. He said he was feeling confident and wanted a spot on Succession. He was attacked from behind by Brooks Jensen, who also knocked over the cameraman as he thumped on him.

(1) IT’S GAL vs. DANTE CHEN

Gal posed, said “It’s Gal” over and over, and generally showed off in the opening minute. He put Chen on his shoulders and began doing squats. Chen proposed a posedown, which infuriated the arrogant Gal. Chen took advantage of Gal’s tantrum to take control briefly, but Gal managed to turn it around with some power moves. He flexed on the turnbuckle, which opened up the door for Chen to turn the tide.

Chen hit a superkick that sent Gal to the outside, then executed a suicide dive through the ropes to the outside. Back in the ring, Gal got in a few offensive moves before falling victim to the Chen-tile Touch for the three count.

WINNER: Dante Chen at 5:39.

(Miller’s Take: Good, solid match. It’s Gal is such a great narcissistic heel. He’s got a great build that he loves to show off, he constantly poses and exclaims, “It’s Gal”, which is the most annoying ring name in wrestling history, and he’s damn good in the ring. Chen is no slouch, either, but that finisher has got to go. Basically, it’s a two-handed chop to the chest which looks impressive, but it would be better served as a setup move for a finisher with a little more impact.)

-Chuey Martinez interviewed High Ryze. It’s been quite a while since we’ve seen Tyson Dupont and Tyriek Igwe. They said they were going to take everything they were taught by Wes Lee and take the fight to Aaron Rourke and Marcus Mathers later tonight. [c]

-The Vanity Project were lounging in their favorite purple-lit, uh, lounge. Jackson Drake said things were going so swimmingly that he wanted to gift them all with a statue of his likeness. Brad Baylor asked what they were keeping their boy waiting for. They all pondered who Stevie was going to pick to face Drake. The champ gave credit to Bryce Donovan, who was sitting there stone-faced, for taking out Carver last week and said the problem solver finally solved a problem. He said there was nobody in the locker room who could beat him. As they all stood up and left, Donovan paused before following them, took off his sunglasses, and grinned slightly. This could get VERY interesting.

(2) MARCUS MATHERS & AARON ROURKE vs. HIGH RYZE (Tyson Dupont & Tyriek Igwe w/Wes Lee)

Igwe started the match against the flamboyant Rourke, who antagonized his opponent by slapping him in the caboose. He took advantage of Igwe’s frustration and took him down with a hurricanrana . A tag to Mathers led to a short-lived offense before High Ryze overpowered their smaller opponents. Mathers reached for the tag, but got slammed hard to the ring with the muscular Igwe. Rourke finally took the hot tag and hit a high double knee off the top rope. After clearing the ring, Rourke and Mathers performed a stereo suicide dive to the outside.

Mathers hit a beautiful springboard cutter, followed by a cannonball from Rourke for a near fall on Igwe. Mathers kicked Dupont out of the ring and then dove onto him, but was caught and deposited face-first on the canvas. Rourke attempted a twisting dive, but missed and ate a huge boot from Igwe. They hit their Heart Stopper on Rourke for the pin.

WINNERS: High Ryze at 6:41.

(Miller’s Take: It’s good to see High Ryze back in action, as they are a couple of super-talented big men. I don’t, however, understand why Wes Lee isn’t in the thick of things in NXT, because he is SO good. Mathers and Rourke continue to show promise as an odd couple tag team.) [c]

-Jax Presley and Harley Riggins burst into Stevie Turner’s office and demanded a rematch with Adrenaline Drip. Turner mocked them for making light of a duo they said they would send back to the indies. They claimed it was a fluke and said if Stone was GM, he’d grant the match. Turner took offense at that remark, but gave them the rematch so Adrenaline Drip could prove it was no fluke.

ARTICLE CONTINUED BELOW…

Check out the latest episode of “Wrestling Coast to Coast” with Chris Maitland and Justin McClelland, part of the PWTorch Dailycast line-up: CLICK HERE to stream (or search “pwtorch” on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or any other iOS or Android app to subscribe free)

(3) WENDY CHOO vs. NIKKITA LYONS

The announcers noted the slight changes in Choo since she submitted to Kendal Grey. Her makeup was a bit more subdued, her hair looks a little different, and she flashed a quick grin during her ring entrance. She still looks and acts the same, but just a little different.

Choo made up for the size difference with her unorthodox offense, like running across the ring on all fours and biting Lyons in the leg. She stood up out of a Lyons headscissors and meowed at her before grabbing a headlock and laughing. That was actually super-cute and funny. Lyons quickly utilized her size to take back control. With Choo seated in the corner, Lyons did the splits across the bottom rope and bounced her backside off Choo’s sternum.

The Sleepy Psycho fired back up, drawing energy from a supportive crowd to rock Lyons. The tide turned back and forth several times until Choo went for the Dirt Nap, but Big Kat Kita broke free. She caught Choo as she flew off the ropes and gave her a big toss into the corner. Lyons missed a Vader bomb, which allowed Choo the opening to apply the Dirt Nap again. This time, Lyons tapped.

WINNER: Wendy Choo by submission at 6:56.

(Miller’s Take: A lot of mention was made of the slow transformation of Wendy Choo. She showed a brief flash of playful personality by meowing at Big Kat Kita, which got a great reaction from the crowd, and she tweaked her look just enough to be noticeable. I look forward to seeing her evolution progress. I’m also always entertained by Lyons and her big personality.)

-Brooks Jensen mocked Tate Wilder for wanting a spot on Succession, then told him he had good news for him. He said next week on Succession it would be Brooks Jensen vs. Tate Wilder in a bullrope match.

-The Vanity Project was shown walking toward the ring to find out who would challenge Jackson Drake next week. I think I have a pretty good idea who it’s going to be. [c]

-A long table covered in a black cloth that was just begging to have somebody put through it was set up in the middle of the ring as The Vanity Project stood behind it. Drake took the mic and asked who was going to challenge him for the Evolve championship. “Super” Sean Legacy came out to address Drake. He talked about their history going all the way back to the debut of Evolve. He said he’d take the title from Drake, then began to address Keanu Carver when he was blindsided by Edris Enofe. He dropped him throat-first across the barricade, then threw him into the “digital board”, which scrambled the picture.

-The Vanity Project looked highly entertained by all of this, with the exception of Bryce Donovan, who continued to look stone-faced. Officials ran out and carted Enofe off to the back and tended to a fallen Legacy. Drake waved bye-bye to Legacy and said there is no next challenger, then added that next week would be Vanity Project Appreciation Night. He bragged up Zayda Steel and Swipe Right, then glanced in Donovan’s direction and went straight to talking about himself.

-Donovan took his sunglasses off, walked around to the other side of the table, and grabbed the contract. Drake told him he was blocking his camera shot. Donovan grabbed the mic and told Drake to shut the hell up for once in his life. He said he’s been waiting a long time to say that they are all the worst human beings he has ever met in his life. That got a great crowd response. He said he’s done standing in the background and in the shadow of his ego. He told Drake he can solve his own problems because he’s done with The Vanity Project, and at Succession, he would become the new WWE Evolve champion. With that, he decked Baylor, tossed Smokes out of the ring, and chokeslammed Drake through the table. As the champ writhed in pain, Donovan picked up the contract and signed it to a huge pop from the crowd.

FINAL THOUGHTS: Great show leading into next week’s premiere Evolve special, Succession. Much of what happened earlier in the show was overshadowed by the explosive final segment. I’ve been critical of Bryce Donovan’s in-ring skills, but he really shined here tonight as the downtrodden and unappreciated enforcer who finally, to quote Popeye, had all he can stands, and he can’t stands no more. I’m actually looking forward to this match and can see Donovan taking it. Grey vs. Armstrong has the potential to be the show-stealer, though, as both women are supreme athletes and are NXT-ready, if you ask me. This was a can’t-miss show and a hit all the way around. See you next week for NXT!