On a weekend that also featured AEW running its 2025 edition of All In, the cynic in you could think for a moment that WWE threw everything it had at the wall to counter program All Elite Wrestling. Never mind the Great American Bash NXT show started a half hour before All In, and Saturday Night’s Main Event featuring Goldberg’s retirement match started during the final hours of the AEW show.
The cynic in you could also think for a moment that Evolution 2025 was an afterthought. Disregard that WWE could have easily run another Evolution show for the women’s division at any point in the last seven years, the fact they so happened to decide on this weekend to run the show and not even put it against AEW directly says a great deal about WWE’s perspective about not needing to run a second Evolution.
Before moving forward we do need to discuss HHH’s comments about Evolution 2 from the presser. Summing them up, he said that there were no current plans to run Evolution as an annual showcase. However he said if the demand is there, denoting it’s growing every day, it’s something they would and could revisit. While those are fine comments to make, the demand for a second show has existed since the first show that took place 7 years ago. The demand is there, and it always has been. The hesitancy has always been on management’s end in hiding behind the notion of equality on the regular shows.
While that’s fine and good, and although WWE does do a good job of showcasing female talent maybe better than any other company aside from TNA and other female-centric promotions like Stardom, Evolution as an all-female showcase gives opportunities to the fringes of the roster who get substantially less TV time than the Becky Lynchs or Charlottes, or newer talent like Stephanie Vaquer, Giulia or Roxanne Perez.
That’s the inherent value of a complete, focused showcase, and the argument of egalitarian male-female shared cards only goes so far. That’s especially true where if we weigh the evolution and impression of women in wrestling being taken fully 100% seriously it pales in comparison against male dominated cards. It just does by way of longevity where women’s wrestling was a mainstream afterthought up until the last 15-20 years. That’s where there’s value in running Evolution-type shows; it’s simply a broader showcase for talent still finding its way. Summarily, friends, at the end of this weekend, two things hold true: 1) WWE had 7 years to run a second show and cynically only chose now, and 2) the demand has always been there, shut up. If it sounds like a duck is quacking “bullshit,” then the duck is probably quacking “bullshit.” A spade is a spade here.
Moving on.
Evolution 2 Highlights
When WWE left us on Saturday, Gunther was wrapping up his godly selling for Goldberg. Picking back up on Sunday with Evolution 2, I thought the card was pretty well paced with the major title matches opening the card, serving as the mid-card main event, before closing out with Rhea Ripley and Iyo Sky in the main event.
The show started off strong with Becky Lynch retaining the women’s IC title, shifted over to the now-Blake Monroe and her shocking, totally unexpected heel turn (because she would NEVER do such a thing) before running through the women’s tag title 4-way, Tiffany Stratton’s WWE title defense against Trish Stratus, the women’s battle royale and Jade Cargill and Naomi renewing their hostilities. And then obviously the show closed with Ripley and Sky tearing the house down for 26 minutes. All in all Evolution 2 proved why these shows need to be commonplace in the WWE schedule.
Lynch, Bayley and Lyra Valkyria set the tone for the show with a great opening match, and following the unshocking Monroe turn, the rest of the show was steady and moved the individual stories along. Stratton and Stratus had a short title match I thought would have been an alternate opportunity for a Naomi cash-in, especially if Stratus had been the one with the title raised above her head. The other major note coming out of the show was Vaquer’s winning of the battle royale to claim a future world title shot at Clash in Paris later in August.
If I had to guess, I’d imagine Vaquer takes a run at Stratton given the presumption that Naomi and Cargill are going to be continuing their feud now that Jade beat her in their matchup at the show, coupled with Naomi’s contract cash-in we’ll touch on below. That lines up and makes sense looking toward the shows we have coming up in August, and I’d imagine Naomi’s title will still be drawing the attention of Sky and Ripley as we continue on into the summer. Vaquer contesting the women’s WWE title just makes the most sense.
The most noteworthy part of the show was Naomi’s cash-in of her Money in the Bank contract that guaranteed her a title match at any moment of her choosing. Sticking true to her word when she put everyone on notice, she deceptively misdirected her gaze at Sky and Ripley during their world championship main event at Evolution 2. I think there are two big positives that augment this turn in character for Naomi.
First, I think for someone who’ve I never really found interesting during her “Glow” era, this more serious version of herself has given Naomi an edge that makes her a believable staple on television. Where I felt she was more of a gimmicky novelty act before, now I take her seriously. Whether that’s a conscious choice she made when she decided to return to WWE over the long haul and wanted that evolution of her character, or if she was already tweaking it during her TNA stint, I think the end result of the shift has been a positive for her. The contract win cements that, and I think if you’re giving her the time and runway to cash-in she needs to have a legit, long, decent run with the title. Otherwise, what’s the point?
Secondly, in a scene that can stale when the typical characters are occupying the same TV time, giving Naomi a chance as someone who has been with the company, is known by fans and has also freshened their presentation is a good move on the company’s part. As noted above what matters now is what they do with her, which I don’t think should include dropping that championship to Cargill in the immediate future. If they are going to continue their rivalry, do so with the intent to cement Naomi’s reign alongside also defending against the women she just screwed over. I think if the company does that and solidifies her with those three defenses, let she and Cargill breathe post-feud, and then if/when Jade is ready to carry a belt, pull the trigger then. I just don’t think that moment is now.
Having been cold on Naomi for about the last 9 years, I’m enjoying this take on her personality and for now I think the direction they are taking her makes sense. As well, I think where the first Evolution played it safe, even if you want to be cynical about the timing of the second show, I think they took chances with the booking and I think those efforts paid off especially by the end of the PLE. Doing Naomi’s cash-in was not expected, and to do it at the most opportunistic moment reeks awesomely of Edge/Adam Copeland, and I think that’s a smart swerve for her traditionally clean character.
