Welcome to another edition of Wrestling Inc.'s retro reviews, where we take notable wrestling shows from the past and apply our universally celebrated loved/hated format! We haven't been doing this format very long, but somehow it feels like we've been waiting a long time for this one in celebration of the upcoming Evolution 2025, we're turning back the clock seven full years to the first-ever and most recent Evolution, which went down in Uniondale,New York, in October 2018.
For so many reasons, this event is fascinating to revisit. While we don't have much to say about the first couple matches, once we get beyond those, Evolution is an absolute treasure trove. The last-ever (so far) Mae Young Classic Finals, contested between the current Women's World Champions of WWE and AEW. A trios tag featuring six women with wildly different career arcs and two who might still feel disrespected by their placement on the card. The second match in an epic NXT Women's Championship trilogy. The main event, contested between Nikki Bella and Ronda Rousey two women with undeniable star power, but whose WWE runs were destined to flame out. And perhaps most importantly, the Last Woman Standing match that saw Becky Lynch defeat Charlotte Flair, officially becoming "The Man" by beating "the man." There's so much here to talk about, let's just get right into it here are three things we hated and three things we loved about WWE Evolution 2018!
As someone who had minimal exposure to independent wrestling at the time, the 2017 and 2018 Mae Young Classics felt like a treasure trove of exciting, new faces, with Io Shirai (now known as IYO SKY) and Toni Storm being two of them. I remembered being especially captivated by the high-flying, face-paced energy of Shirai (which her OG, dance-party theme song totally matched, by the way), who came into WWE as the former Ace of STARDOM. Yes, I had seen aerial moves from the likes of Charlotte Flair and Lita in the years before, but Shirai stood out with the speed that accompanied it.
Shirai brought out both elements in the Mae Young Classic finals against a 22-year-old, punk-rocker Toni Storm at WWE Evolution. Despite being on the smaller side, both women also delivered big moves throughout the 10-minute contest. Shirai connected with a powerful dropkick early in the match. With damage done to Storm's midsection, Shirai then followed it up with a pair of knees to the same area and a Full Nelson variation. Though a tiny moment in the grand scheme, I appreciated the storytelling that unfolded during it Storm selling the struggle to break the hold, while Shirai taunted her with a maniacal smile.
Another dropkick came shortly after, with Storm being knocked off the turnbuckle and onto the floor. From there, Shirai nailed Storm with her signature moonsault, causing damage to each competitor. Eventually, Storm got her own gratifying moment when Shirai took a thudding German suplex on the apron, which left me checking on the status of my own neck.
Thrilling near falls followed with Storm driving "The Genius of the Sky" into the mat with a Storm Zero. Shirai then had us on edge with a springboard sunset flip that Storm appeared to barely kick out of. In contrast, Storm definitively pinned Shirai for the win and MYC crown after blocking a moonsault and laying her out with a second Storm Zero.
Not going to lie, Toni Storm's celebration tears were a heartwarming complement to an awesome match that could have easily spanned another 10 minutes. Nevertheless, I thoroughly enjoyed the performance she and Shirai produced.It also served as a teaser of things to come for both women. Shirai, of course, evolved into IYO SKY, a two-time world champion and multi-time tag champ in WWE. Meanwhile, fans now know Storm as a "Timeless" talent and the current All Elite Wrestling Women's Champion (though that could soon change at AEW All In).
Unfortunately, Shirai vs. Storm marked the last-ever match in a WWE Mae Young Classic, period. The tournament series has not returned since the inaugural WWE Evolution event, which is a shame for existing women's wrestling fans, such as myself, and potential new ones that could have witnessed the greatness of future ones. Personal shout out to Killer Kelly vs. Meiko Satomura, Mercedes Martinez vs. Meiko Satomura, Piper Niven vs. Toni Storm, and Shirai vs. Storm.
Written byElla Jay
In the summer of 2015, Sasha Banks was brought up to the WWE main roster alongside Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair by Stephanie McMahon as a way of kicking off the "women's revolution"within the company. At that point, Banks was the NXT Women's Champion, and would go on to have a series of matches with Bayley that would be heralded as some of the greatest women's matches on US soil at that time. Bayley would subsequently be placed alongside Banks, Lynch, and Flair to create the group collectively known as the Four Horsewomen, a group of women that were instrumental in the success of women's wresting in WWE throughout the 2010s and beyond.
With all that in mind, you would think, because of how much they had done for women's wrestling as a while, that Banks and Bayley would get top billing (or near enough to it) on WWE's first-ever all-female pay-per-view wouldn't you? After all, without Banks and Bayley, Evolution as an event would likely not have happened.
However, the team who would be better known as The Boss 'N' Hug Connection were placed right in the middle of the card, and had to follow a stellar match between Toni Storm and Io Shirai in the finals of the 2018 Mae Young Classic tournament. Banks and Bayley teamed up with Natalya to take on The Riott Squad at Evolution 2018 in a match that, for what it's worth, wasn't a bad match by any stretch. It tied into the feud that had been running in the months leading up to Evolution where Ruby Riott, Liv Morgan, and Sarah Logan had essentially forced Bayley and Banks to put their differences aside and form a tag team, who also drafted in help from the likes of Ember Moon and the aforementioned Natalya, in order to put a stop to The Riott Squad.
That's all fine in principle, and it gets another six women on the first-ever all-female pay-per-view, but this is Sasha Banks and Bayley we are talking about here. These are two women who at this point in WWE were already on their way to becoming certified WWE Hall of Famers, why are they in a fairly heatless six-woman tag team match in the middle of the show? They should be near, or at the top of the card fighting for championships because they are two of the best wrestlers to pass through WWE's doors this side of the millennium. Essentially placing them in what can be described as a fun match that would likely rule on the house show loop just seems counter-productive.
It kind of became the story of both Bayley and Sasha's careers in WWE in the end, a couple of trailblazers who, for whatever reason, never got the credit that they rightfully deserved. They have had big moments in WWE, but their placement on the Evolution 2018 card is one that was disrespectful to two women who made the event possible in the first place.
Written bySamPalmer
Re-watching the original Evolution was a reminder of the exceptional saga between Kairi Sane and Shayna Baszler, with the second of their three epic battles in the fall of 2018 taking place at the all-women's pay-per-view for the NXT Women's Championship. This was a time when Baszler was still relatively green, but at this point had the credible danger that eventually seemed to fade after years of stuttered booking with the company. Baszler was notably larger than Sane, allowing for the meshing of explosive speed and methodical targeted offense, and although moments looked a bit clunky it still sold the feeling of a sporting contest.
Sane was slowly being worked down in spots and her momentum was being used against her, and it played into the story that she was going to be her own downfall; the longer she tried to swim with Baszler, the more it felt she was going to drown. That ultimately turned out to be the case as Baszler ripped the title from Sane via referee's decision, beginning what would become a 416-day reign until she was eventually stopped by Rhea Ripley. If Evolution is supposed to be a turning point in the transformation of women's wrestling over the past couple of decades, then this bout and the performers deserve credit for demonstrating what was to come. At the very least, it was a very enjoyable match on a reasonably solid card of wrestling, and more than worth the rewatch.
Written by MaxEverett
Cast your minds back to the fall of 2018 and think of the landscape of WWE's women's division at that time. The biggest star was undoubtedly Ronda Rousey, who had only made her debut for the company at the Royal Rumble in January, and despite still being green as grass in the ring, she had the name value and star power to attract even the most casual fans to the product out of morbid curiosity. WWE then announced that they would be hosting the first-ever all-female pay-per-view for October of that year titled Evolution, and it was clear as day that Rousey was going to be headlining the show. However, there was just one problem, Rousey's match wasn't the real main event.
For a show that doesn't really have anything outright bad on it, the biggest flaw I can personally find with Evolution 2018 is that the main event between Ronda Rousey and Nikki Bella was the main event. Yes, it had Rousey. Yes, The Bella Twins are two of the most famous WWE Superstars of all time thanks to their reality TV shows. Their match being the main event makes sense on paper. It also had the WWE Raw Women's Championship on the line, so the idea of putting two names on last over the biggest prize in the company isn't valid either. But there was another top title in the company at that time, the WWE SmackDown Women's Championship, which was defended by Becky Lynch in the penultimate match of the night in a brutal Last Woman Standing match against Charlotte Flair. That should have gone on last.
At that time, Lynch was far and away the most over woman in the WWE, and it could be argued that she was the most over WWE superstar, full stop. Her run as "The Man" officially begins here despite being a heel, the fans were so behind Becky, and in turn, so against Charlotte, that their match had far more heat heading into it, and was far more eventful as a presentation. Becky and Charlotte literally did such a good job that by the time Ronda and Nikki came out for their match, the crowd were exhausted, making their match even less entertaining than some people had already anticipated it being.
The match itself is fine. It's not nearly as bad as it sounds, and they actually lean into the "less is more" side of things for large portions to protect Ronda from being exposed as green, and Nikki for not being as good as everyone makes her out to be. With that said, this was not the match to close out the first-ever women's pay-per-view in WWE history. The company chose names over what the fans wanted to see, and it made the show feel a bit incomplete by the end of it. Let's hope they get the match order right for when Evolution 2 rolls around.
Written bySam Palmer
This would be arguably rectified with the following WrestleMania main event but it really is criminal that Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair's Last Woman Standing match played on the undercard to the title match between Ronda Rousey and Becky Lynch. Lynch and Flair put themselves through a clinic of violence for the sake of their thermonuclear feud, with Lynch well on her way to becoming "The Man" after turning on Flair, turning heel within the storyline but garnering even more clout with the fans and effectively becoming a bigger babyface.
They went for over 28 minutes, using chairs, tables, and whatever inanimate object in the immediate vicinity all for the sake of beating one another. Both could have easily been beaten over the course of the bout, but continued to fight through the pain and stand up before the ten-count was made. Lynch was slammed into a table, refusing to break on the first go and prompting Flair to drive her once more through the table. But still, she got up. Flair wrapped her around a ladder to lock in the Figure Eight leglock, and she still refused to give up. Working the other way, Lynch buried Flair with the debris of their contest, andshestill got up.
Flair was driven back-of-the-head first onto chairs, and still despite audibly crying she rose to her feet. It would take one last table bump to put Flair out of action, giving Lynch the title retention and the moment at a landmark show. This was the true main event; action from start to finish, a cohesive and compelling story between the performers, and a prime example of the impact the Four Horsewomen of WWE have had on the modern era.
Written byMax Everett
Evolution 1 took place long before I had become a professional wrestling news writer, but I can still remember all of the talk and the hype surrounding a second Evolution Premium Live Event shortly after the first one had occurred. This rumblings persisted for at least a couple of years after 2018 and had even been commented on by high profile figures such as Stephanie McMahon. WWE has so much momentum for their women's division and women's wrestling as a whole coming off of Evolution 1, and yet, it somehow took seven entire years before they held another Evolution despite interest from a large portion of the fanbase. It shouldn't have taken as long as it did to get to Evolution 2, and made much of WWE's supposed emphasis of their women's division at the time feel like it was entirely talk with no actions being taken to actually make any sort of changes.
If you need any more evidence of this, then look no further than Rhea Ripley. At the time of this Premium Live Event back in 2018, Ripley was right in the middle of her reign as NXT UK Women's Champion. While she may have technically had a defense against Dakota Kai at Evolution, it was during a dark match despite being initially set to be part of the main show and every other women's championship available at the time being aired. Fast forward to today, and Ripley is a former Women's Tag Team Champion, a former Women's Champion, and perhaps most vitally, a former two time Women's World Champion who is about to challenge for the title once again at Evolution 2 on top of the women's division. Ripley's career arc from Evolution 1 to Evolution 2 demonstrates by itself the seven-year gap between shows and the fact that it took WWE that long to build up just one competitor in their women's division as a star.
Written by Olivia Quinlan
