Hiya!

It’s been almost a decade since the WWE did the very first Evolution pay-per-view event. Let that sink in. 8 whole years have passed since the last time the WWE had the guts to put out an all-female pay-per-view event and we’re only getting a 2nd entry now! Then again, the reason why there was one in the first place was because the WWE Saudi Arabia shows didn’t allow women to participate. That’s all changed now. So, in that aspect, things did evolve somewhat, making Evolution seem like a somewhat moot point.

Still, I generally loved the idea of the WWE putting out a pay-per-view event only featuring the female WWE Superstars. So, does this latest Evolution pay-per-view make it so we deserve another one after this? Let’s find out!

The first match of the night had Becky Lynch defending the WWE Women’s Intercontinental Championship in a Triple Threat match against Lyra Valkyria and Bayley. Let me say this first: I like Lyra Valkyria but she has to ditch the entire “bird” gimmick. It makes her look like a chicken instead of a… Valkyrie or whatever she’s trying to do. Anyway, there were moments when this felt more like rapid-fire mini 1-vs-1 matches as one of the competitors would conveniently be taken out for a moment but these were very quick moments, thankfully. Some fun spots were Becky Lynch trying to pin both Valkyria and Bayley at the same time, Bayley hitting a top rope elbow to break up Lyra’s fisherman suplex pin on Lynch, Bayley hitting a sunset bomb on Lynch to send her flying into Valkyria who was tied up in a tree of woe and Lyra hitting a top rope leg drop on Bayley and Lynch as The Role Model was setting up for her Rose Plant finisher on The Man. Some really good stuff here.

The finish came after Bayley broke up a pinning attempt by Valkyria on Lynch after the former hit her Nightwing finisher to the latter. A slapfest ensues between Lyra and The Role Model and Valkyria counters Bayley’s Rose Plant attempt with a jackknife cover. Valkyria then tries to hit Nightwing to Bayley but Bayley reverses it into a pinning attempt but Lyra reverses that into a rollup attempt. Lyra attempts an enziguri but Bayley ducks the kick and hits her Rose Plant finisher. Bayley then goes for a pin but, in a surprising twist, Becky cartwheels in and hooks a backslide pin on Bayley to get the pinfall victory and retain her WWE Women’s Intercontinental Championship!

This was a very fast paced match. While there were a lot of near falls, something I usually don’t like, the quickness of the sequences and how everyone just flowed into each of them didn’t give me time to really think about how much I don’t like them! While the highlights were good, I can’t say I’ll really remember them in a couple of weeks. With that being said, this was still a fun match to experience.

The next match had Jacy Jayne defending the NXT Women’s Championship against Jordynne Grace. I haven’t been watching NXT so this will be a refreshing way to see if the show is worth watching. Anyway, this was a really good match between power vs. cunning. While Grace would try to overpower her opponent, Jacy would use more underhanded tactics by either having Fallon Henley and Jazmyn Nyx interfere while she would distract the official or have them distract the official while she would do something else. Some impressive spots were Jordynne slamming Jacy into the corner repeatedly while in a backslide position, Grace connecting with a package sitout powerbomb for a 2-count, Jacy hitting a 2nd rope draping neckbreaker after hitting a brutal looking knee to Grace and Jordynne hitting a weird stretch muffler suplex and Jayne connecting with a top rope hurricarana on Grace.

The finish was, well, predictable, even if I don’t watch NXT regularly. Jazmin Nyx went on the ring apron to distract the referee while Fallon Henley went to grab the NXT Women’s Championship belt to hand it over to Jacy Jayne as a weapon. Blake Monroe (formerly AEW‘s Mariah May), who accompanied Jordynne Grace to the ring hits Fallon with a headbutt but Jacy already got the belt. The official did catch Jacy Jayne try to use the weapon and this distraction allowed Grace to try to get the surprise victory with a rollup. Grace hits a back elbow but both competitors fall to the mat. Jazmin Nyx grabs the championship belt but gets decks by Blake Monroe who then grabs the belt herself. Grace sets up for her Beast Mode finisher but Jacy breaks out of the hold. Grace then tries to toss Jacy into the ropes but Jayce reverses it. Blake then takes the belt and strikes Grace in the back with it. Jacy hits the Rolling Encore strike to knock Jordynne down and get the pinfall victory to retain her NXT Women’s Championship. Blake Monroe then saunters into the ring to friendly hand the belt to Jacy Jayne, leaving Jordynne Grace to stew in her supposed friend’s betrayal.

I say the finish is predictable because this is exactly what Blake Monroe/Mariah May did to “Timeless” Toni Storm back in AEW! Simply put, Blake Monroe works better as a heel so it makes sense to pull the trigger now. The match itself was good but I wouldn’t say it was great. The action was good but that was mostly due to Jordynne Grace’s physicality and Jacy Jayne’s selling ability.

The next match of the night was a Fatal Four-Way match for the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships. This had the current champs, Liv Morgan Roxanne Perez and Raquel Rodriguez from The Judgement Day, defending against the Kabuki Warriors (Asuka and Kairi Sane), the current NXT Women’s North America Champion and Women’s Speed Champion Sol Ruca and Zaria from NXT as well as against the team of Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss. The action was paced pretty well and, while I feel there were times when the double team moves were more than a 5-count which would result in a DQ, they were warranted as they led to some really good spots. Highlights include the blistering quick tag attacks by the Kabuki Warriors, Zaria blocking Alexa Bliss’ DDT and turning it into a delayed flapjack, Charlotte (despite me disliking how she’s supposed to be a face) getting the hot tag and beating everyone up, Zaria helping Sol Ruca into a handstand twist moonsault and Sol Ruca hitting a surprise Sol Snatcher on Charlotte.

The finish was, sadly, rather anticlimactic. Zaria tried to hit Alexa Bliss with a spear but Charlotte yanked her partner out of the way and Zaria hit Sol Ruca by mistake. Raquel Rodriguez tags herself in as Bliss hits Zaria with a tornado DDT. Rodriguez hits Charlotte with a massive lariat and Perez takes The Queen out with her Pop Rocks finisher. Rodriguez tosses Bliss into The Kabuki Warriors and Zaria who were outside. This left Rodriguez alone with Sol Ruca and Big Mami Pump takes her opponent out with her Tejana Bomb to get the pinfall victory and to retain their WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships.

This was a very exciting match to watch. While I did notice some moments where some of the participants had to crawl into their positions for a spot to work, that’s only because I was really paying close attention. The NXT gals, especially Zaria, had time to show fans like me who don’t regularly watch their show what they can do. While there was a lot going on in the finish, having Raquel Rodriguez hit her singles competitor finisher to get the victory for a Fatal Four Tag Team match seems rather lame. Still, the lead up to it was great.

The next match had Tiffany Straton defending the Smackdown Women’s Championship against WWE Hall of Famer Trish Stratus. Right from the outset, I will say Trish Status has not lost a step as she was able to pull off a more than competitive match against the active Tiffany Staton. Some neat little spots here, such as Status blocking Staton’s trademark cartwheel Alabama Slam into a headscissors takedown, Trish sending Tiffany to the outside with a Statusphere from the ring apron, Tiffany lifting Trish into a falcon arrow only to send her falling into her knees in a backbreaker and Trish blocking Tiffany’s Prettiest Moonsault Ever finisher by bringing up her knees and then hitting Statusfaction for a 2-count.

The finish came after Tiffany Staton kicked out of that aforementioned Statusfaction from Trish Status. The Hall of Famer then tried a moonsault of her own but, this time, Tiffany got her revenge by bringing her knees up to block the move, leading to Statton performing Trish’s Chick Kick to take the challenger down. Tiffany then hit an Alabama Slam and her Prettiest Moonsault Ever to get the pinfall victory and retain her Smackdown Women’s Championship.

This was a pretty okay match. While nothing spectacular really happened, the action here was solid. It’s amazing to me how competitive the match was overall as Trish, despite how young she still looks, is [checks notes] 49 years old! The only gripe I have is this was mostly a Trish Status showcase and I would’ve loved to see Tiffany Statton get to show more of her stuff as well.

The next match was a No Holds Barred/No DQ match between Jade Cargill and Naomi with Bianca Belair as the special guest referee. I have been critical of Jade Cargill’s overall performance after she switch to the WWE so I was looking to see if she’s improved here. Both participants fully utilized the No Holds Barred/No DQ rules as there were weapons galore here. Naomi made liberal use of kendo sticks and chairs throughout the match, including hitting a tornado bulldog to Cargill by sending her face first into a chair and trying to jam Cargill’s face and/or eye into one of the legs of one of the tables. Cargill had some fun by taking one of the cameras and smashing Naomi with it. I also love the special effects use when Naomi dropkicked Cargill into the lighting setup of the announcer’s table. It’s obvious it was staged but I do like it when the WWE use gimmicks like this.

The finish came after Naomi gently nudged Jade Cargill with a chair to send her through a table where it looked like Cargill took a peaceful nap after breaking the table. Naomi then hit her X-Factor trademark to Cargill into a chair but Jade kicked out. Naomi then set up Cargill on top of a table and laid a chair on top of her. She set up for her split legged moonsault finisher but Cargill got up and whacked her in the back with the steel chair that was on top of her. Cargill then hit a tamer version of her Jaded finisher while on the second rope, sending Naomi through the table and getting the 3-count to win the match.

I have to ask, why was Bianca Belair needed to be the special guest referee here? She really didn’t do anything besides count the pinfall. So, why not have a regular official do it? I guess it’s because they only have a limited number of female referees and, since Evolution is a female-only event, they needed someone else? Anyway, this was still a solid match. Jade Cargill didn’t exactly botch anything here but I do wish she acted a little bit more like she was in pain after getting sent through the table. This was just okay but anytime Jade Cargill doesn’t make any obvious errors, that’s a plus in my book!

The next match was an all-female Battle Royale with the winner getting a title shot in the Clash in Paris pay-per-view event in a couple of months. I won’t name all the participants as this is a Battle Royale and that would just take up too much time. I will, however, talk about the highlights and who did what to whom. Some cool moments had Keilani Jordan accidentally being saved by Tatum Paxley and Izzi Dame and she had to handstand walk to get back in the ring, the headbutt battle between Giulia and Stephanie Vaquer, Maxxine Dupri goading Natalya to do The Worm, Zelina Vega getting the upset elimination on Giulia, Alba Fyre hitting a suicide dive through the ropes to save Chelsea Green and, well, most of Chelsea Green’s antics really.

The final four of the Battle Royale were Nia Jax, Stephanie Vaquer, Nikki Bella and Lash Legend. Nikki had Jax in a headlock on the apron but Lash Legend kicks Nikki off with a big boot, eliminating the returning Bella Twin. Legend gets Jax over the top rope and she and Vaquer try to punch Nia to the floor and they eventually succeed. Vaquer hits a superkick to kick Legend down. Vaquer hits a 619 and tries a crossbody but Lash snatches Stephanie out of the air. Both competitors roll over the top rope and fall to the ring apron. Vaquer transitions from a headscissors into her Devil’s Kiss signature move, repeatedly slamming Legend’s head into the “hardest part of the ring” allegedly. This stuns Legend enough as she rolls to the floor, making Stephanie Vaquer the winner of the title shot.

This was also a lot of fun. I do think they could’ve spaced out the eliminations a bit more as most of them happened during the latter half of the Battle Royale. Still, there were a lot of good moments sprinkled throughout. I personally would’ve it liked it more if Giulia was in it a little longer and maybe even replacing Nikki Bella in the Final Four. Then again, I guess it may be too distracting from Stephanie Vaquer victory. Still, this was worth the watch.

The final match of the night saw IYO SKY defending the RAW Women’s Championship against Rhea Ripley. Right from the start, you know this was going to be a good match. Not only did you have the classic power vs. speed type of match here, you also had the caliber of Rhea Ripley and IYO SKY, who have both shown to work well together before, in the ring. Still, this was mostly IYO SKY’s show as most of the moments had The Genius of the Sky one-upping The Eradicator. Examples of this were IYO SKY hitting a springboard moonsault to Ripley to the outside, The Genius of the Sky flipping over to land on her feet to block The Eradicator’s avalanche back suplex and SKY hitting an inverted hurricarana on Ripley.

Things changed when IYO SKY inadvertently hit the official with a top rope dropkick. Rhea hit her Riptide finisher but the referee wasn’t there to count the pin! Rhea went on a rampage, even beating IYO SKY throughout the arena. SKY managed to battle out and hit a crossbody from a stack of boxes! The match spilled back into the ring and, from inside the ring, IYO hit a sunset bomb on Rhea who was on the floor! SKY hit her Over the Moonsault just as the referee came to but only got a 2-count!

The finish came soon after this. Ripley smashed SKY’s face into the ringpost as the latter was on the turnbuckles. Rhea then attempted an avalanche version of her Riptide finisher but SKY reversed it into a spanish fly, taking them both out. This is when Naomi rushed into the ring to cash in her Money in the Bank briefcase, making it a Triple Threat match! Naomi then decked SKY with the briefcase, posted Ripley and then hit her split legged moonsault on IYO to get the pinfall victory and become the NEW RAW Women’s Champion!

Simply put, this was an awesome match! Although Rhea didn’t really get to showcase her power all that much during the first half of the match, she did get to show how vicious she can get during the latter half. It also helps how well both IYO SKY and Rhea Ripley worked together as everything just clicked. I normally hate screwjob finishes like this but, in this case, I feel this was the right call as it makes Naomi even more hated and breaks her out of her dead-end feud with Jade Cargill. Easily the best match of the night.

Overall, I have to say the 2nd Evolution pay-per-view match was fantastic. There wasn’t really a bad match here and, considering there were 7 of them, that’s saying something! I truly hope we don’t have to wait several more years for another Evolution pay-per-view because, if the women can put on a show like this, then the WWE should let them.

Byee!

What did you think of WWE’s Evolution 2025 show? Let me know in the comments section below!