two titles and a goliath upset

Our show begins as Mr. Sinister finds Igris once again to ask for the champ’s opinion on Abbadon. Igris agreed the similarities between the rookie and former RAW Champion Santanico exist and run even deeper than what Ulysses Sky noticed last episode. Igris agreed to help Mr. Sinister bring Abbadon into the fold but only if both men agreed to join RD7. Sinister agreed.

In the first match, Devon Andrews once again has to step into the lions’ den to face Abbadon. Andrews has battled some of the toughest fighters in Evolution this season and today was no exception. The rookie showed his incredibly physicality by avoiding the worst of Devon’s devastating strikes and choking him out with an inverted Muta Lock. 

Backstage, Franky Omega Jr. becomes the first man to declare for the Goldberg Beat the Clock Challenge at Nitro 12. But then his world changed. The Little Dragon, the man Omega attacked and injured during the Rookie of the Year Tournament, returned for his retribution. He beat Omega down and no one would come out to help Jr. Elsewhere, Island Nation say they will relinquish their claim to being the Tag Team Champions if the Gotti Crime Family agrees to a fight at Nitro.

Ramon Gutierrez, like Max Ultimate, is ready to ascend to a new level in his career. Today, he gets the chance to do it against the former tag champ Andrew Wesley. It was one of the friendliest matches of the night but that doesn’t mean it was slow. Both men had a lot to prove but tonight, as it has been the case for the last two months, the young man found a way to win. Gutierrez used his speed to get ahead and hit the Derota for the upset win. 

Takahashi has been nothing short of sensational since he made his Evolution debut but he gets another true test tonight against Braddock. However, if you remember Takahashi’s performance against Franky Omega a few weeks ago, you’ll remember how easy it is to forget Takahashi is, in fact, a rookie. He did the very same thing today against Braddock. He opened the veteran up with strikes, changing levels and avoiding Braddock’s most dangerous offense. He finished the Underground legend with a classic spinning heel kick which remains the most dangerous strike in Evolution.

Backstage, Jon Gotti agrees to “do business” with Island Nation at Nitro 12.

In the main event, it’s a battle of giants as Lars Nightfall battles Dagonite. For as dangerous as Nightfall is, Dagonite as we know is trained to deal with bigger men like him. Once again, the Nightmare failed Nightfall as Dagonite recovered from it and mashed Lars with a powerbomb to win. He’ll need this experience, too, as he was informed by Jason Parker that he will have to fight Eddie Hernandez at Nitro.