WE THOUGHT THEY WERE CHAMPIONS

This episode begins with Commissioner Jason Parker addressing the continually toxic situation between the Las Vegas Connection and Hostile Takeover. Parker announced there will be a match between the two groups at Nitro. While the rules are still being finalized, every member of both teams is banned from the arena and if they show up again everyone will be fired. 

The first match sees Dagonite go into action against the rookie Dash Foley. Foley has been impressive (if inconsistent) all season and he impressed again when he faced down the big man. He even managed to hit two Six Shooters but neither of them were able to put Dagonite down. Foley got overconfident and he let Dagonite back into the contest; the big man hit a powerbomb to win. Backstage, Tiffany Jordan interviews Lazzara who confirms she has no current plans for Nitro just one year after anchoring the burgeoning Evolution women’s division on the biggest show of the year. 

The extremely dangerous rookie Abbadon makes his Evolution debut against Ulysses Sky. The unknown entity was in just his third match of his GAW career but you certainly couldn’t tell in this contest. He overpowered Sky, hit the Street Cutter and won. 

It’s another herculean task for the Rookie of the Year Takahashi as he has to take on Franky Omega. This isn’t Takahashi’s first challenge but it is one of his most unique. But the rookie showed absolutely no signs of inexperience against the former tag champion. He laid into Franky outside and then dared him to step back into the ring. It was a long staredown, but Takahashi’s patience prevailed. When they got back in the ring, the rookie nailed Omega with a brainbuster to win. 

Backstage, Mr. Sinister tracked down Ulysses Sky and asked him about Abbadon. Sky made the comparison to the former RAW Champion Santanico. Sky reported that Abbadon hits as hard as the former champ.

Yamamoto defends the Rise Title in an open contract against Martina Del Sol. With Kenny Omega’s help, Moto ran through her friend Del Sol, winning with the classic Rainmaker.

It’s time to reveal the first Wrestling World Cup roster! Team USA, captained by Brian Danielson, will have a heavy GAW presence. Evolution icons Lancelot and Garrett Gibson got the call as well as former four-time GAW Tag Team Champions the Young Bucks.

In the main event, the Demon Wolves defend the Tag Team Titles against Island Nation. The reigning champs were warned by Jon Gotti that they would be let go if they lost the titles here. The match was very back and forth; the Demon Wolves fought for their jobs, Island Nation fought for their honor. Eddie Tonga did his job as he has done for weeks, taking Peter Frost out of the match and allowing Kobayashi to finish off Isaac Peirce with a cross-face and a cover. It was an incredible moment for the fan favorite team but it was not to last. Jon Gotti strode down to the ring and announced that the Demon Wolves’ contracts had run out the week earlier and so the Tag Team Titles belonged to the Gotti Crime Family while the Demon Wolves were technically free agents. While Kobayashi and Tonga (and the crowd) sat stunned, Nathan Rotunda stormed the ring and, as he had almost a year ago, beat down Island Nation to end the show.