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COMPLETE EVOLVE 40 COVERAGE: A TERRIFIC TOP TO BOTTOM CARD OF EXCELLENT, COMPETITIVE WRESTLING MATCHES

By Stuart Carapola on 2015-03-27 20:49:41
Welcome to PWInsider.com's live, ongoing coverage of EVOLVE 40!

Drew Galloway comes out to do a promo to start the show, but I'm not getting any audio and can't hear what he said. Uhaa Nation comes out to face him, so I guess he was challenging him to start their match right now.

EVOLVE Champion Drew Galloway vs Uhaa Nation

Drew and Uhaa do a back and forth to start with neither man able to gain an advantage, but they go to the mat and Uhaa is able to gain control of Drew. Drew tries a monkey flip to escape, but Uhaa keeps hold of Drew's arm and Drew is forced to go with a closed fist to break that up. They start brawling out to the floor, exchanging hard shots until Drew drops Uhaa chest-first on the guardrail. Uhaa shows his agility by leaping onto the apron and moonsaulting toward Drew, but Drew avoids that and pops Uhaa up into a tilt-a-whirl slam onto the ring apron. That looks like it smarted! Drew is now firmly in control as they head back inside, and begins unloading with the heavy artillery in the corner. The stream goes out on me, and it comes back with Uhaa getting 2 off of some top rope move I didn't quite catch. Drew plants Uhaa with a sky high for 2, Uhaa nails him back with a sweet leaping enziguiri, but then Drew KILLS Uhaa with a German suplex into the corner and a sick kick for 2. Now it's Uhaa with a high angle sitout powerbomb of his own for 2, and then Drew hits the butterfly DDT for the win.

Winner: Drew Galloway

Terrific opener, this was a HELL of a hard hitting war and Drew looks really strong going into tomorrow's unification match after coming out on top in this one. Drew gets a mic and puts Uhaa over, leading the fans in chanting his name and shakes his hand. He then puts over the EVOLVE product and tells the fans what a great show they're in for.

Timothy Thatcher vs Tommy End

End, from Amsterdam, is accompanied to the ring by Chris Hero. End feints a few kicks and then they go to the mat where Thatcher manages to control the action. End gets away and feints another kick to create some space, then goes for a quick powwow with Hero. They go back to the mat where Thatcher again maintains control, twisting End over into a half crab, but End manages to get away and fires off a flurry of strikes that forces Thatcher to back off to the far corner. Hero is loudly encouraging End on from ringside as Thatcher takes End back to the mat and tries to work something on End's leg. End gets away and gets behind Thatcher for about half a second before Thatcher reverses back and gets a Kimura lock that End quickly escapes by going to the ropes. End desperately tries to keep his distance by firing off kicks, but Thatcher again takes End down and counters an armbar attempt with a roll into a cradle. End sits away and finally finds an opening to score with a hard kick to the chest. That really seems to have rattled Thatcher, but End waits for Thatcher to regain his feet before coming back out to the center. Thatcher takes End back down to the mat and keeps hold of the arm, trying to go back to that Kimura, but End gets out and, failing to get any substantial strikes. goes to a front facelock instead. Thatcher gets out and headbutts End, but End drills Thatcher with a hard superkick and Thatcher crumples to the mat. End tells the referee to count him down, but Thatcher makes it back up at 9, and End is on him immediately. Thatcher drives End to the floor with an instinctive European uppercut, then he tries a charge off the apron and gets his legs kicked out from under him. After getting dominated for the entire match, End turns the momentum around on a dime and is now very firmly in command as the referee counts Thatcher on the floor. End gets tired of waiting for Thatcher to get back in the ring and rolls him in himself, going for a lax cover that only gets 2. Now End is just hammering Thatcher with kicks, sending Thatcher crumpling back to the mat with another hard boot to the head. End still can't put Thatcher away for 3, so he starts firing kneestrikes into Thatcher's skull. Thatcher catches End's leg on one of those kneestrike attempts and uses it to transition to a tight front facelock. End gets out and peppers Thatcher with more strikes, avoids another Kimura attempt, and drills Thatcher with another kick for 2. End is just killing Thatcher with strikes every time he goes for a hold, but Thatcher finally catches End with a triangle choke. End tries to get away, but Thatcher transitions into a Fujiwara armbar and finally forces End to tap out.

Winner: Timothy Thatcher

This may have been the best match I've seen all year so far. They told a great story, built the match beautifully, and hit a great finishing sequence. Absolutely top notch stuff. Chris Hero doesn't seem to agree, as he gets in the ring and gets right in Thatcher's face, but Thatcher just walks off on him. End gets a nice ovation from the crowd as well as he leaves.

TJ Perkins vs Drew Gulak

They waste no time going right to the mat, with Gulak actually gaining a fast advantage by tying TJ up in a hold I can't even identify. TJ is able to get out, but Gulak continues to control Perkins on the mat, then goes to the apron and snaps TJ's leg around the rope. TJ goes to the arm and uses it to crank Gulak into the corner, but Gulak headbutts on the break and tries coming off the second rope. Perkins catches him with a kick to the ribs as he comes down, adjusts his pants, and rolls Gulak into a cross armbreaker. Perkins continues to transition from one arm submission to another, foiling Gulak's attempts to get away. Gulak finally turns the momentum back in his favor by tying one of Perkins' legs in the corner and then whipping the other one, dmamaging both legs and slowing down Perkins' ability to maneuver in the process. Gulak follows that up with a bodyslam into the ropes, causing Perkins to catch his legs on the ring ropes as he comes down. Nasty stuff! Gulak with a half crab, but Perkins gets out and counters a bodyslam attempt to a cross armbreaker. Gulak reverses to one of his own, then Perkins counters out of that into a Fujiwara armbar. Gulak rolls out of that into a cradle, but forgoes the pinfall to further roll Perkins into an anklelock. Perkins makes it to the ropes, peppers Gulak with a flurry of strikes, and goes for his underhook suplex, but Gulak counters that to the anklelock. Gulak with an open hand to the side of the head that drops Perkins, but Perkins catches Gulak in a cross armbreaker. Gulak gets away, Perkins goes for it again, but Gulak counters back to the anklelock again. Perkins tries and tries to get away, but Gulak isn't letting go of that anklelock. Finally PErkins counters to one of his own, but Gulak counters back to his own anklelock and Perkins taps.

Winner: Drew Gulak

Another solid wrestling match, I'm really digging all the technical wrestling I'm seeing on tonight's show.

The show continues on Page 2!


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