EVOLVE 128

May 11, 2019 – Indianapolis, Indiana

Adrian Jaoude def. Harlem Bravado
After the half hour I spent watching Bravado on the last show, I was relieved that Jaoude put him down more quickly here. Still, I don’t understand why they felt that Bravado deserved another go against Jaoude when Anthony Henry got closer to being the first guy in EVOLVE to defeating Jaoude. Jaoude’s heel transition continued here, as he wrestled with more of a cocky flare, channeling peak-asshole Anderson SIlva. Bravado fared better here than he did the first time around, and the match was more interesting than that go-around. **¼

Babatunde def. Liam Gray
This was set up by Adrian Alanis, so apparently the Skulk are just generally in charge of who Babatunde wrestles and they will be using him punitively. The match was a rather entertaining squash, focusing on Babatunde’s (sometimes) loud chops. They did manage to botch a spot, which is why it’s definitely best for the big guy to be getting his feet wet in EVOLVE rather than on NXT TV. After the match, the Unwanted attack the Skulk. Eddie Kingston rips on Babatunde but isn’t brave enough to attack him. N/A

Kassius Ohno def. Josh Briggs
This one had a good finish. Beyond that I don’t have too much positive to say. It went over twenty minutes and since we know that Ohno has a fetish for long matches, it’s clear he was given a lot of leeway in how long his matches went over this particular weekend. Scale it back, big guy; you’re a long way from when you could fill a 90-minute match against CM Punk, and this match sure as hell wasn’t raising money for charity by the minute. **½

Adam Cole def. AR Fox
This was missing some of the juice that Cole’s match from the night before had. It also suffered because the final few minutes were pretty much a carbon copy of said match, less the Nate Webb interference. It was pretty good on its own, but I’ll forget pretty much everything about it by tomorrow, while the Austin Theory match will probably have more staying power in my wrestle-brain. ***