VIOLENCE LIKE WE'VE NEVER SEEN BEFORE

After two years of war that has seen a retirement, a title change and countless injuries, Lancelot and Garrett Gibson square off in the first ever Three Strikes Match. Three falls to decide, once and for all, the most dominant of the two GAW legends.

The match begins with Gibson’s fall of choice: pinfalls, submissions and knockouts count anywhere. This was the longest fall of the night and featured the two men battling across the entire arena and into the backstage area. Gibson soaked up an incredible level of punishment, including two EMPs and a toss off a second-story structure. But Gibson never gave up and the ref never stopped the fight… until Gibson landed the most vicious All American Clothesline in his illustrious career. Gibson took a long runup to land the shot and the ref stopped the match for fighter safety before Lancelot hit the concrete.

We saw a video submitted by the Las Vegas Connection that featured Ulysses Sky assaulting Derrick Cole at LVC’s private gym. According to Cole, no one besides the LVC themselves knows where that gym is so the question remains: how did Sky find it? Later in the show, it was confirmed Cole would be defending his title against TJ Frost next week on Evolution.

The second strike was Lancelot’s rules: last man standing, no ring exits allowed. This match was an entirely different kind of brutal than the first strike as the two men just laid into each other for nearly 20 minutes. The story here was Gibson’s inability to hit the All American Clothesline for a second time while Lancelot was able to hit two Grand Chariots and three EMPs. But all of that wasn’t even enough. So Lancelot broke the rules of his own match. He threw Gibson outside the ring and hit a Burning Hammer on the outside. He was able to bring Gibson back in the ring, avoiding disqualification, but it certainly violated the spirit of his own rule. Either way, it was enough for Lancelot to win the second strike.

Afterword, we announced our return to New York for Battle at Broadway beginning October 3!

The third and final strike is the first steel cell match in Evolution history. The two warriors had barely anything left after 45 minutes of combat but they continued to beat each other up nonetheless, shattering kendo sticks and baseball bats over each others’ broken bodies. But, even after everything we’d seen in that whole match, they still found a new way to top it all. The two men scaled the 20-foot cell, agreeing to finish their fight on top of the evil structure. Lancelot hit an EMP on the top of the cell but it couldn’t help him. He tried to throw Gibson off the cell multiple times but the Texan had just enough in the tank to avoid disaster.

But it was what Gibson would do next that will change Evolution forever.

The former Lone Star picked Lancelot up and powerbombed him through the top of the cell and through a table in the ring. It was one of the most spectacular visuals we’ve ever seen. Gibson finished Lancelot off with one final All American Clothesline to win the first ever Three Strikes Match.

After the incredible bout, Lancelot shook Gibson’s hand and professed his respect for the former champ. One thing’s for sure: Evolution will never be the same.