WWE Evolution 2018 REVIEW – The Best PPV Of The Year

An evolution is upon us, and boy am I glad of it. Despite the build towards WWE’s first ever all-women’s pay-per-view being lacklustre to say the least, the show itself delivered the goods in stunning fashion. I simply was not ready for how good this show would be. It was beautifully paced, coming in at a crisp three-and-a-half-hours (roughly). None of this four to five-hour nonsense that so many WWE shows like to spring on us these days. It felt more akin to an NXT TakeOver show, and knowing how much I adore NXT, that’s the highest praise I can give.

There was drama, spectacle, technical brilliance and fun shenanigans. It was a glorious melting pot of everything that we love about professional wrestling and as strong an inaugural PPV you can hope for. Let’s break it down, match-by-match.

Trish Stratus & Lita def. Mickie James & Alicia Fox (with Alexa Bliss)

Our suspicions were confirmed as Alexa Bliss was pulled from this match on short notice and swapped out with Alicia Fox. “The Goddess” still made an appearance to introduce her friends, but her presence in the match was minimal. This was a solid opener and absolutely the right choice to kick off the night. The crowd were on fire for Trish and Lita, with an explosion of excitement when Mickie James tagged in to face off against Stratus, her storied rival.

The babyfaces went over to put the audience in a good mood. The in-ring work wasn’t polished, but it was crowd pleasing and satisfying, which was all it needed to be. Seeing a Twist of Fate/moonsault/Chick Kick trifecta to bring it home from the Attitude Era legends was a great sequence that set the tone for the rest of the night in a positive way.

 

Nia Jax Wins the Women’s Battle Royal

This was one of the best WWE battle royals I can remember in some time. It wasn’t about nuance or technical prowess, but rather unmitigated fun to amp everyone up. There was a healthy mix of old and new faces coming to blows, symbolically communicating the evolutionary process of women’s wrestling. We had a Carmella dance break, Tamina and Nia Jax paying tribute to cousin Roman Reigns, and a 56-year-old Ivory proving that age is but a number and kicking all sorts of ass.

The story that developed towards the end was that of Ember Moon, the defiant babyface who was fighting from underneath to secure victory. There was a false finish after Moon managed to eliminate Tamina, as Zelina Vega hopped into the ring after being absent for the bulk of the match to attempt to throw out both Ember and Nia. It wasn’t to be, and Jax eventually threw out both women to earn a future title opportunity. The crowd were 100% behind Ember, which made for a bit of a deflating end when she didn’t get the win. However, they still popped for Nia and her post-match victory speech, so it all worked out in the end.

 

Toni Storm def. Io Shirai to win the Mae Young Classic

I found myself a little frustrated with this match. Not because of the in-ring content, more so because of the length. This was the shortest match of the night at just ten minutes and twenty seconds, most people would agree it should have at least gone for 15. Not to say it was bad, far from it. There was a spellbinding moonsault from Shirai to the outside onto Toni, which Storm would respond to with a wicked German suplex on the ring apron. It’s spots like that that remind us why these two women are so highly acclaimed.

The performers had chemistry and it was shaping up to be a classic. Then it just ended. Toni hit her finisher and won the second Mae Young Classic tournament, but it didn’t feel like a true war of attrition. When you build to a match for so long with an entire tournament behind it, forgive me for expecting something that goes longer than just ten minutes. It may have been match of the night with a little more time. I enjoyed what we got, but it was a minor wasted opportunity.

 

Sasha Banks, Bayley & Natalya def. The Riott Squad (Ruby Riott, Liv Morgan & Sarah Logan)

Safe to say that this was the weakest match from Evolution. I liked it well enough, there was strong storytelling and the heels had fantastic synergy. But this should have been the buffer match of the night. It’s important to have an easy-to-digest contest in the middle of a card so that the audience don’t get burned out. Ideally, five minutes would have been subtracted from this and added to the Mae Young Classic final, which would have led to a perfectly paced show.

It was nice to see all six of these women wrestling on the night, as they’ve all more than earned it. Sadly, it just felt like a Raw match and was upstaged by absolutely everything else on the show.

 

Shayna Baszler def. Kairi Sane (C) for the NXT Women’s Championship

Now this was awesome. Am I a little smug because I predicted Shayna taking back the title? Possibly. I’m just happy that the decision was made though. Kairi Sane is an infinitely lovable babyface, making it all the more interesting when she’s chasing the title. Shayna snatching away her dream was the right call and we got to witness another slice of history. Shayna Baszler is the first ever two-time NXT Women’s Champion.

The back-and-forth action made it feel like a contest of two equals, but it was the finish that wrapped everything up so wonderfully. Jessamyn Duke and Marina Shafir officially debuted as on-screen characters and aided their fellow MMA sister in getting her belt back. Shayna as the de facto leader of a heel MMA stable in NXT feels like the logical next step for her character. Kairi is now in dire straits, having to combat an even bigger threat than before to reclaim her crown. NXT’s women’s division just got a massive shot in the arm and I can’t wait to see how it plays out.

 

Becky Lynch (C) def. Charlotte in a Last Woman Standing match for the SmackDown Women’s Championship

Match of the Night? Try Match of the freaking Year! I am not exaggerating, this was a masterpiece. Coming in at just under 29 minutes, this was the longest women’s singles match in WWE without a mandatory time limit and these two didn’t waste a single second. This was a war. A battle between two best friends turned bitter enemies that felt as real as it gets. There were weapons, creative spots (Figure Eight through the damn ladder!), table bumps, people getting buried under production equipment, pure chaos and beauty at the same time.

Becky and Charlotte looked like utter badasses who can take anything and keep going. The thrilling finale was the cherry on top. Becky powerbombed Charlotte through a table on the outside to score the win. This was poetic, as Becky actually lost the title in the exact same way to Alexa Bliss at TLC 2016, the last time she would ever hold a belt. Becky exercising those demons from the past to vanquish her foe in the present was an ingenious call-back that had me squealing with excitement. I’d even go as far as saying that this might have topped Sasha Banks vs. Bayley in Brooklyn as the best women’s match in WWE history. I’m dead serious.

 

Ronda Rousey (C) def. Nikki Bella (with Brie Bella) for the Raw Women’s Championship

I felt sorry for these guys. Nobody was going to follow Becky vs. Charlotte, it just wasn’t happening. But you know what? This was a decent match when you consider it involved someone who’s not even been wrestling for a year and someone who just returned after being gone for that long. Nikki played the arrogant heel to a tee, something I think a lot of people forget she excels at. Brie played the foil well, too, sabotaging Ronda Rousey at key points in the match in search of a Bella victory.

It was not to be. Ronda managed to kick out of both an Alabama slam and a Rack Attack 2.0, before sending Nikki’s limbs to hell with her patented armbar. As a showcase for Ronda as a dominant but still human babyface, this worked. As a showcase for the Bella Twins as crafty heels, it also worked. Had this gone on second-to-last, I doubt there would have been any complaints. However, the night still ended on a high note, and the visual of Ronda hugging the entire women’s locker room to cap off the night was heart-warming.

All in all, Evolution blew all expectations out of the water. I might be overpraising it, but I believe this is the best main roster pay-per-view that WWE have produced all year. Aside from maybe the battle royal, every winner made sense and each match (bar some minor issues) delivered on what was promised. I implore that WWE follow this up with a sequel next year. Bravo!