On a recent episode of Cody Rhodes’ “What Do You Wanna Talk About?” show on WWE’s YouTube channel, the Undisputed WWE Champion was joined by none other than the WWE Women’s Champion, Bayley.
The entire episode was a nice listen, but one section stuck out to me in particular.
A little over halfway through the episode, Cody brings up the all-women’s pay-per-view, Evolution, that WWE put on back in 2018. He asks Bayley if she would want a second Evolution event to take place, and she doesn’t hesitate at all in saying that she does.
She mentioned how the first show featured a bunch of women that were brought in from the past, partially because there may not have been enough full-time women on the roster at the time to fill up a card, but that times have changed now.
Let’s look at that point. Here are the results of the original Evolution show…
– Rhea Ripley successfully defended the NXT UK Women’s Title against Dakota Kai, who was splitting her time between NXT and NXT UK at the time
– Trish Stratus (first non-Royal Rumble match in seven-and-a-half years) and Lita (first non-Royal Rumble and cameo appearance match in over 11 years) defeated Mickie James and Alicia Fox
– Nia Jax won a 20-woman Battle Royal that also featured Peyton Royce, Billie Kay, Molly Holly (her first non-Royal Rumble match with WWE in nine-and-a-half years), Kelly Kelly (her first non-Royal Rumble match in almost six-and-a-half years), Torrie Wilson (11 years removed from her last non-Battle Royal appearance), Sonya Deville, Alundra Blayze (her first match of any kind in 18 years), Maria Kanellis (her first match of any kind in two years), Lana, Mandy Rose, Dana Brooke, Michelle McCool (her first non-Royal Rumble match in seven-and-a-half years), Naomi, Carmella, Ivory (her first match of any kind in 14-and-a-half years), Asuka, Tamina, Zelina Vega, and Ember Moon
– Toni Storm (splitting all of her time between NXT UK and other promotions based in the United Kingdom) defeated Io Shirai (yet to wrestle a televised match in NXT outside of the Mae Young Classic) in the finals of the aforementioned Mae Young Classic
– Sasha Banks, Bayley, and Natalya teamed up to defeat Ruby Riott, Liv Morgan, and Sarah Logan
– Shayna Baszler defeated the NXT Women’s Champion, Kairi Sane, to win the title
– Becky Lynch successfully defended the Smackdown Women’s Title against Charlotte Flair in a Last Woman Standing Match
– Ronda Rousey successfully defended the Raw Women’s Title against Nikki Bella
40 women wrestled on the card, and of those 40, 25 of them were regular main roster performers. Even then, you could make the case for a few of them being more of a manager (like Lana) or a part-time wrestler (like Nikki Bella).
Those aren’t terrible numbers, but they aren’t exactly great, either. It’s a lot of wrestlers that the average WWE fan wouldn’t know, for better or worse.
Here we are, coming up on six years since Evolution aired, and a lot has changed in the WWE landscape.
The company doesn’t need to lean on part-timers and names from the past as often as they once did. Earlier in 2018, WWE had the very first women’s Royal Rumble match. That year, 17 of the 30 women were members of the Raw or Smackdown rosters, two were from NXT, and 11 were names from the past, many of whom hadn’t been seen in years.
The 2024 women’s Royal Rumble match, on the other hand, saw 25 of the 30 women come from the Raw or Smackdown rosters, two come from NXT, two “unaffiliated” women that were still under WWE contract (Naomi making her return and Jade Cargill making her debut), and one woman from TNA.
As of the moment I type this sentence, WWE has 43 women under contract that are main roster members, and 26 more women on the NXT roster. Throw in Stephanie Vaquer and Giulia, who are heavily expected to be in NXT, but aren’t “official” yet, and that makes 71 women. Now, throw in the eight women that are training at the Performance Center, and that makes 79 women.
Let’s have some fun now.
Take those 79 women and add the 17 members of the TNA Knockouts roster, and that takes us up to 96.
Counting freelancers and trainees, the roster of the Marigold promotion in Japan adds 21 names, bringing the total to 117. With WWE and Marigold having a working relationship, it would make sense to have the upstart promotion represented on a show like Evolution 2.
The list goes on and on. Yes, I’m aware that some of those names are injured or out on maternity leave, but my point stands completely. WWE has reached the point where they could have a full Evolution pay-per-view, and there would still be a TON of big names and special talents that don’t even get to wrestle that night.
The WWE Women’s Champion, Women’s World Champion, and NXT Women’s Champion would all have matches on the card, one would assume. What about the WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions? How about the NXT Women’s North American Champion? With as much as the TNA Knockouts Championship has been mentioned on WWE and NXT programming, is it safe to say that title could potentially be represented on the show?
That’s six possible title matches right off the bat. The first Evolution show had four title matches, counting the NXT UK Women’s Title being defended in a pre-show dark match. There were only eight matches in total on the show, again counting that pre-show dark match. That’s a lot of expansion.
Oh, and I haven’t even mentioned the TNA Knockouts Tag Team Titles, Marigold World Title, Marigold United National Title, Marigold Super Fly Title, and any other title from any other promotion that WWE is trying to work with these days.
They could literally put on an entire show with nothing but title matches. That’s how much the landscape has changed with WWE over the last six years.
I know what some of you are thinking right now. WWE still isn’t perfect when it comes to the women’s product. There are still far too many episodes of weekly television where one women’s match or feud is featured, and it’s usually involving the championship on that particular show.
That’s something that every wrestling promotion (outside of the all-women’s companies, of course) struggles with. It’s an unfortunate truth, but a truth nonetheless. The attention that is paid to the women will definitely increase in the build for an Evolution 2 type of show, but would things return to the status quo once the show was over? That’s the key.
WWE has more than enough women, more than enough creativity, and more than enough television time to make room for a much more diverse overall product. Something like Evolution 2 could go a long way to making that happen.
I don’t know, folks. Maybe I’m just caught up in the idea of some potential matches that Evolution 2 could deliver to us.
Asuka (depending on her return from injury, of course) vs Giulia? How about Iyo Sky vs Giulia? Hell, what about Kairi Sane vs Giulia?
New Marigold World Champion Sareee (known for a relatively brief stint as Sarray in NXT) says that she wants to face Iyo Sky, so… why not?
Rhea Ripley vs Stephanie Vaquer? Perhaps Rhea vs Jordynne Grace?
Someone like Utami Hayashishita could come in to face just about anybody and it would capture my attention.
I think everyone expects that the pairing of Bianca Belair and Jade Cargill will only be a temporary one. If they split, what about having them square off at Evolution?
A ton of thought wasn’t needed to put those random matches together. I didn’t even place the likes of Bayley, Roxanne Perez, Charlotte Flair, Liv Morgan, Lyra Valkyria, Natalya, Tiffany Stratton, Kelani Jordan, Sol Ruca, Lola Vice, and Meiko Satomura on the card.
You know who else I didn’t place on the card?
A returning Becky Lynch.
If WWE is going to do this, they should make it as big as possible, and the return of the biggest female star in the wrestling business would do that.
Before I start going nuts with any sort of fantasy booking, I’m going to turn things over to you. What’s your interest level in a potential Evolution 2 pay-per-view for the women? Do you think there should be a bunch of crossover action involving the women of TNA, Marigold, and so on? As always, feel free to hit me up in the comments section below, or on Twitter (@HustleTheSavage), and let me know what’s on your mind.
Now, let’s get to my Weekly Power Rankings, before closing things up for the week with the list of songs I was listening to as I crafted this here column.
Weekly Power Rankings
Will Ospreay vs MJF: I’ve said this in the past, but one of my favorite things about pro wrestling is when we get a super lengthy match (as long as it’s good) on television when we weren’t expecting one. Coming in, I don’t think many people even expected a match to take place here. It seemed like we would get something more of an angle to help set up their actual match, probably to take place at All In(nit). Not only did we get an actual match, but we got a match that went two seconds shy of a full hour. It was a fantastic match. One of the best matches in AEW history, and one of the best televised wrestling matches of all-time. Not at the top of either list, but in the conversation nonetheless. Ospreay is reaching “all-time great” territory in the minds of many fans, and I beg of people to fully understand that MJF is much more than just a good promo guy at this point.
Oba Femi vs Duke Hudson: Much has been said about Kurt Angle entering the sport of pro wrestling and picking it up quicker than perhaps anyone in history ever had. However, can we have that same conversation about Oba Femi? Without Kurt’s legendary amateur background, Oba joined the pro wrestling world, making his in-ring debut less than two years ago, and he has already become a master at the “hoss” style of in-ring work. Whenever he’s in a match, all eyes are on him, and he keeps delivering banger after banger after banger, as the saying goes. Even if you count the NXT house show circuit, he doesn’t even have 50 matches under his belt, which is insane. If he stays healthy, he’s going to be a WrestleMania main event level player for years to come.
Erick Rowan: In the latest Wyatt Sicks video, we got an incredibly emotional promo from Rowan, who is clearly still heartbroken over the losses of Jon Huber and Windham Rotunda. It was so different than what we’ve been seeing with Uncle Howdy/Bo Dallas, but it fell in line perfectly with who the Wyatt Sicks members are and what they stand for. I don’t know if we’re going to get videos for the other members, as well, but they’ve got their work cut for them if they have to follow this.
Nic Nemeth: I’m going to find some time to sit and watch TNA Slammiversary, but congratulations to the former Dolph Ziggler on becoming the brand new TNA World Champion in the show’s main event. He has seen a lot of success since WWE released him last September, winning Squared Circle Expo’s SCX Title, New Japan’s IWGP Global Heavyweight Title, Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide’s AAA Mega Title, and now, the TNA World Title. On the doorstep of his 44th birthday, he still seems to have a ton left in the tank.
Andrade vs Carmelo Hayes: A really fun match between two of the most exciting performers on the Friday Night Smackdown roster. I’m not sure many people would buy them as legitimate contenders for the Undisputed WWE Title at this point, but they’re damn sure contenders for the United States Title sooner than later.
Tomohiro Ishii vs Roderick Strong: Stiff and physical, as expected with the two people involved. My only issue with the match is that the outcome was never in question, as it took place a week before Roddy challenges for the RoH World Title at Death Before Dishonor. A minor gripe, but still a gripe.
Chad Gable: It was really funny seeing how proud he was that he solved the great mystery of Uncle Howdy’s true identity, only to found out that everyone already knew. He has good comedic timing and does the goofy stuff pretty well.
The Rascalz vs Gallus: It’s so cool to see The Rascalz reunited. This was the trio’s first match together since September 2020, when they teamed up on a Warrior Wrestling show. I don’t know what their future holds as a group, but the working relationship between TNA and NXT has allowed them to get back together, and for now, that’s awesome.
Cody Rhodes & Kevin Owens vs A-Town Down Under: It shouldn’t be a surprise, but Grayson Waller and Austin Theory have really good in-ring chemistry together, and they’re capable of some really entertaining matches. This was an example of that. It’s a shame that the focus is almost always on their gimmicks and their promos, not their in-ring work, and it’s an even bigger shame that it looks like they’re heading for Splitsville soon.
Kazuchika Okada: I understand that some people are upset that Okada is being “wasted” in AEW because he isn’t a major main event star. While I do agree that it would be nice to see him used in a bigger role, the man himself seems to be having the time of his life right now, so I can’t really hold it against anyone. His one-liners and facial expressions always seem to pop live crowds, and now, he seems to have some sort of a crush on Mercedes Moné, getting all hot and bothered watching her do her C.E.O. dance backstage on Dynamite. He’s entertaining.
Darby Allin vs The Beast Mortos: He doesn’t get used a ton, but when Mortos shows up in AEW, you’re about to get a quality match. This was no different. Unfortunately, he hasn’t won a match on AEW television yet, so those performances aren’t leading to anything. Here’s to hoping that changes, but I don’t think I’ll hold my breath there.
Sami Zayn vs Ilja Dragunov: Like Ospreay vs MJF, I think a lot of people expected this would be more of an angle, with Bron Breakker interfering. While Sami and Ilja didn’t go an hour, they actually got a decent (for WWE television) amount of time to work with before Breakker showed up. Whatever direction we’re going in for the Intercontinental Title at SummerSlam seems like it’s going to be a blast.
Thunder Rosa vs Deonna Purrazzo: It feels like these two have been feuding for years now, but they have good matches against each other, so I’ll take it. Sometimes, it doesn’t need to be any more than that.
Penta El Zero Miedo & Rey Fenix vs Private Party: One of those “20+ minutes of spots in a 10-minute match” AEW specials, and in no way is that a complaint.
Juice Robinson & The Gunns vs Christian Cage, Killswitch & Nick Wayne: Another match that featured a ton of spots and action, but this one featured more of a story than the previous entry. There’s a lot of potential with Christian and his cronies as the AEW Trios Champions. We’ll see, I guess.
Dustin Rhodes: He tweeted that his AEW contract expires in September, and immediately, fantasy bookers all over Anna Sawai’s internet began to throw out their ideas on how to get the man back in WWE to work with his brother again. I’m sure both Dustin and Cody would love to work together again in some fashion, but I’m sure Tony Khan would also love to keep Dustin around, even in a strictly backstage capacity. We’ll see. Dustin’s week continued with him reuniting with Ross and Marshall Von Erich. Nostalgia fans are loving the pairing of the Rhodes and Von Erich dynasties, even if it’s just temporary.
Orange Cassidy, Kyle O’Reilly & Tomohiro Ishii vs Roderick Strong, Mike Bennett & Matt Taven: Oh, hey, another high quality match. No surprise there. Look at the names involved.
Hikuleo: Word is that the man who has long been rumored to be WWE bound has actually signed with the company. The man is the nephew (and adopted son) of Haku/Meng, and he is the half-brother of Tama Tonga, as well as the adopted brother of Tonga Loa. I would be willing to venture a guess that he will be involved in the Bloodline story. At 6’8″, he is a different chess piece than anyone else we’ve seen in any version of The Bloodline, and he will definitely be made to look like an absolute monster.
This Week’s Playlist: “prometo” by Fernando Daniel… “Lithonia” by Childish Gambino… “Steps Beach” by Childish Gambino… “In The Night” by Childish Gambino, Jorja Smith & Amaarae… “SET IT” by Denzel Curry & Maxo Kream… “Death By A Thousand Cuts” by Imminence & Lucas Woodland… “Stuck In My Head” by Sleep Theory… “MUD” by Dorothy… “One More Sin” by Monument Of A Memory… “Me Myself and I” by De La Soul… “Are You Still Down?” by Jon B & 2Pac… “Weak” by SWV… “Lady” by D’Angelo… “How High The Moon” by Ella Fitzgerald… “Come Fly With Me” by Frank Sinatra… “Wouldn’t It Be Nice” by The Beach Boys… “Got My Mind Set On You” by George Harrison… “Do You Believe In Magic?” by The Lovin’ Spoonful… “Crimson and Clover” by Tommy James & The Shondells… “Little Bitty Pretty One” by Frankie Lymon… “Shoot To Thrill” by AC/DC… “Back In Black” by AC/DC… “St. Elmos Fire” by John Parr… “Walk This Way” by Run-DMC & Aerosmith… “Love Is A Battlefield” by Pat Benatar
