WWE Evolution 2025 Review

I did not have a chance to review either AEW All-In or WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event last night because I was busy watching movies.

In what must be nearly a record for me, if not an actual record, I watched four movies in the span of fourteen hours this past Saturday. It was not my intention! It just kind of happened. Want a quick rundown?

Detective Ujjwalan: A new Indian movie I found on Netflix because I sometimes get the bug to find good Bollywood-adjacent flicks on there. Pretty good! Definitely some room to improve, but I slotted it in as number fifteen out of the fifty-four new release movies I’ve seen this year. There will likely be more to say about it at year’s end.

Superman (2025): Amazing. Number one movie of the year. No notes. Thank you, DC and James Gunn.

28 Years Later: We saw this on a whim when we were already at the theater to see Superman. I know I’m in the minority here, but as I walked out of the theater on this one, I turned to my wife and said “Is it just me, or did that kind of suck?”. I was not a fan. If you were, that’s great! I’m not here to yuck your whatever; it wasn’t for me. Number forty-six out of the aforementioned fifty-four. I’ll be talking about this at year’s end, too, but for different reasons.

Daredevil (2023): I finished the night by watching this for a future episode of the Stew World Order podcast that I recorded this morning.

And I have since taken today off and watched no movies. You have to reboot the system every now and then, especially when I had watched eighteen movies in the first twelve days of July. I’ll get back to the game tomorrow when I have to watch Wonder Woman 84 for another future episode of the podcast.

But enough killing time before Evolution starts, let’s get to WWE’s next premium live event of the weekend!


6:58pm: At the tail end of the pre-show, Cathy Kelly alerts us to the fact that the Intercontinental Title triple threat match will start the show. I know a lot of people I follow on Twitter wanted this match to main event, but it was never going to with Rhea and Iyo on the card. So getting to kick off the show is the best we can get! I’ll take it.

7:03pm: We start off the show proper with a Katy Perry music video vignette showing some little girls about Roxanne Perez’ height watching WWE and playing with wrestler action figures. Using a Katy “The Astronut” Perry song makes this feel a little archaic, but WWE always gives good video; this is no different.

7:07pm: Well known progenitor of all things women’s wrestling, Stephanie McMahon, appears after the vignette ends. She joins Joe Tessitore, and we aren’t getting any women’s wrestling on this women’s wrestling show yet.

7:11pm: Okay, 11 minutes in isn’t abhorrent, I suppose, as Bayley makes her ring entrance to get us a step closer to a match. Bayley has the same color hair as my wife does. This isn’t new, but she does.

7:13pm: Lyra Valkyria enters the ring, and am I alone in thinking this angle and feud with Becky and Bayley has done wonders for her development? She doesn’t feel like a third wheel here, and I buy that WWE is all-in on her regardless of whether she regains her title here or not. She is starting to feel like a big deal player. Good for her! I am pulling for her this match.

7:17pm: Big reaction from the crowd for these three women and the Evolution show itself. Bayley plays into it and further pumps them up!

7:24pm: As Lyra makes her way back into the match after being debilitated outside the ring for a few moments, I am noticing she has some ARMS on her, that girl.

Also, this has been a superb match so far (, he typed as the crowd started chanting “This is awesome”).

7:32pm: The crowd shifts over to a “This is wrestling” chant, as these three women continue just tearing the roof down in this one. And as I type that, Becky sneaks in a snazzy little rolling backslide and gets the pin on Bayley. That’s our first match in the book, and it was top shelf. Let’s see if the show can keep up that momentum!

7:37pm: The next match up is the NXT Women’s Title match between Jacey Jayne and Jordynne Grace. I’d really like to see the pre-match video for this one, but I have el cheapo Peacock and have to watch more BetMGM gambling apps commercials instead.

7:39pm: To be fair, I also get Liberty Mutual commercials with Limu Emu & Doug, and those are currently my favorite advertisements on TV. Not that I use or have Liberty Mutual, but I still love their ads.

7:41pm: Blake Monroe accompanies Jordynne Grace to the ring as their little friendship continues to grow. She is here to help Grace counter the numbers game of Fatal Attraction. Wait, that’s a movie. Fatal Influence, my bad.

7:45pm: The SECOND move of the match is a suicide dive. Pacing!

7:52pm: Surprisingly decent back-and-forth match so far, with neither woman really dominating for very long stretches. That probably bodes poorly for Grace, though.

7:56pm: Poorly, indeed, as Blake smashes Grace in the back with the NXT title, allowing Jayne to hit a rolling forearm for the three count. That feels early in the Blake/Jordynne friendship to pull the trigger on, but hey… they don’t pay me to book things.

8:01pm: Aaaand we are back to Stephanie McMahon! She and Joe Tessitore talk about what we just saw from Blake Monroe and what we can expect from the upcoming WWE Women’s Tag Team Title match.

8:03pm: Asuka is wearing a full bodysuit tonight, which is a new look for her. Other than the hole cut out in the chest, I’d think maybe she thinks she is still in Saudi Arabia. It certainly looks hot to wrestle in, that’s for sure.

8:11pm: We get a little Make Right Moment to start off the match, as Kairi Sane and Roxanne Perez open this one up, hopefully to show their absolute lack of coordination on Raw was just a fluke. Unfortunately, they IMMEDIATELY have a small miscommunication, but they get back on the same page fairly quickly and get a few moves strung together before Asuka and Raquel tag in.

8:16pm: The fans are RED FUCKING HOT for Charlotte Flair, and wow! See what happens when you don’t book her near the world titles for two damn minutes.

8:19pm: “Mauling everyone over is Charlotte Flair!”, Michael Cole says, thereby describing the last ten years of WWE programming when she has been healthy.

8:21pm: Raquel Tejana Bombs the soul out of Ruca, allowing the champions to retain. Raquel looked pretty dominant in that match, which should hopefully make Kevin Nash a little happier to see. Roxanne, even mid-match, still looked a bit uncomfortable, and I’m not sure what’s going on with her. I was always impressed by her NXT work. I wonder if it’s just main roster nerves. She’ll grow out of it. I have faith in you, Roxie!

8:27pm: It’s nigh Tiffy Time, as the next match is Stratton vs Trish Stratus. Which feels weird that they couldn’t find someone else to fill Tiffy’s dance card than to bring back Trish, but… here we are.

8:40pm: So far this match has been… okay. Nothing special about it other than that Tiffy is working the heel role so the fans can support Trish. Tiffy also just hit the absolute hell out of the swanton bomb! Things are looking up.

8:42pm: Tiffy has kicked out of the Chick Kick and Stratusfaction! I actually thought they might have been about to put the belt on Stratus. I bit!

8:44pm: Tiffy hit the PME right across poor Trish’s face and wins the match. They gave Trish some good spots and solid hope, but the champ retains the title. After Stratton leaves with her belt, Trish gets an ovation from the crowd as Cole speculates whether this will be her last match ever or not.

8:53pm: This takes us up to the No Holds Barred match between Jade Cargill and Naomi. With Bianca Belair as the special guest referee! This should be fun, actually. This show has been stuck in third gear since the super hot opener, and I anticipate these last two matches to put the pedal to the metal.

8:59pm: Naomi has fake razor blades adorning her gear, and Wade Barrett just sold them on commentary as though they were real. Could you imagine?

9:06pm: They are really trying to get over calling Jade Cargill “The Storm”.

9:07pm: Jade kicks out of going through a table and then an X-Factor onto a chair!

9:09pm: Jade with a clean win after hitting a form of Jaded off the top rope and through a table and OH MY GOD, Michael Cole is still calling her “The Storm”. Anyway, I’m kind of shocked by that climax; between the stipulation and Bianca being out there, the table really seemed set for Naomi to win. Bianca ended up not serving any function at all. I’m not sure why the call was made to have her referee this match. Did I miss something?

9:11pm: OH THE BATTLE ROYAL! I actually completely forgot about that match. Damn. Okay. Let’s do this!

9:15pm: Hahaha, they show Nikki Bella and Chelsea Green’s ring entrances, then just go “Eh, nuts to this” and swap over to commercials so I miss the entrances for other women. Booooo, Peacock. I boo you. I want to see everyone make their way to the ring! I don’t need to see old-ass Billy Bob Thornton talk about T-Mobile again. That isn’t celebrating women!

9:19pm: Commercials behind us, we are back in time to see Candace LeRae and Nia Jax’ debuts. Then it’s time for Stephanie Vaquer! Who hopefully wins this affair.

9:24pm: Kelani Jordan hand-walks herself from the commentary table back to the ring. Good core strength sees her sit up after hooking her feet under the bottom rope! Impressive!

9:27pm: We get a Giulia/Vaquer showcase in the middle of the ring which sees the two women head-butting the heck out of each other. Nice to spotlight the two of them and make them feel like the big deal they should be.

9:29pm: Michael Cole keeps calling Candace LeRae “Candice Michelle”. Jesus. He’s done it, like, three times.

9:32pm: Lash Legend has a showdown with Zelina Vega in a FANTASTIC visual differential as Zelina makes Lash look even more imposing than she is.

9:35pm: Our final four appears to be Nia Jax, Stephanie Vaquer, Nikki Bella, and Lash Legend. Nikki is actually the first one out, at the hands of Lash Legend. Big surprise there!

9:37pm: Legend and Vaquer work together to eliminate Nia! Big shock for one of the final two here.

9:38pm: Legend gives it a good go, but Stephanie Vaquer hits a ten-count Devil’s Kiss on the ring apron and rolls her opponent out to claim victory.

9:40pm: Oh, we get a Stephanie-on-Stephanie interview, as McMahon is back. Vaquer delivers a promo mostly in English and does her best. Hey, it’s a billion percent better than I could even imagine doing in Spanish, and I took, like, 4 years of it.

9:49pm: Here comes Rhea Ripley, and Cole immediately launches into Rhea’s losing ways against Iyo Sky. The story here has to be Iyo winning yet again, right? There’s no reason to end that streak at this show. Also, I’d rather see Iyo/Vaquer at Clash At Paris than Rhea/Vaquer.

9:53pm: It warms my heart that Iyo is so popular and so over that she still gets a lot of cheers in the face of Rhea Ripley. Most people run into that buzzsaw of her popularity and get booed.

9:57pm: Great start to this bout with some fun counter wrestling and character work. They end up telling each other that they respect one another, and it’s time to shift up!

9:59pm: I JUST realized the central advertisement in the middle of the ring is for Maybelline. Haha, women!

10:04pm: I wish I could make GIFs, because Iyo reversing an Irish Whip into a spinning DDT sees her raise her arms in victory… then just flop over in selling.

10:06pm: Iyo Sky is, regardless of gender, a top what?… five?… worker in all of WWE?

10:10pm: This IS awesome. You are right, crowd.

10:11pm: A ref bump! Didn’t expect that! Rhea hits a Riptide, but there’s no one to count! A furious Rhea throws Iyo out and into the crowd. She starts destroying Iyo in the audience.

10:17pm: RHEA KICKED OUT OF THE OVER THE MOONSAULT! Oh no! I totally thought that was it.

10:19pm: Iyo reverses an avalanche Riptide into a Spanish Fly. AND HERE COMES NAOMI.

10:21pm: Naomi clobbers Iyo with the briefcase, tosses Rheas Ripley, hits the split-leggeded moonsault, and she wins the Women’s Title! Wow!


Damn. Damn damn damn. That ending to that match is SO HEELISH. I really wanted to see Iyo and Rhea finish that amazing affair, and Naomi took it away from us. Just phenomenal stuff there. Everybody looks good. Rhea and Iyo gave us a barn-burner, and Naomi is the evil bitch that stopped us from getting the proper conclusion.

So was this a two match show? I mean, the battle royal was pretty good, too, but it’s hard to judge those. And the good two matches aside from it were VERY good. They are what I’ll remember, are the opener and the closer. They were both super high quality (the main event is legitimately in the Match Of The Year conversation, right? I’m not getting too caught up in the moment by saying that, am I?).

I guess Naomi is on Raw now, which further weakens Smackdown’s women’s division and isn’t great for them. But on Raw, you’ve got Iyo, Rhea, Naomi, Becky, Bayley, Lyra, Vaquer, Raquel, Roxanne… god damn, that is STACKED top to bottom. Not that it already wasn’t, but adding Naomi as the heel champion? What a division!

But enough out of me. What did YOU think of Evolution? Let me know in the comments!

Until next time… take care!

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