Igris Now Has to Defend

Before the show kicks off properly, we get a mysterious video warning us that we haven’t seen the “true” Underground yet. If that’s true, we’ll be in for some major changes this season. MidNight might disagree, however, as the former RAW Champ opens the show against Chandler Marcy. This may have been Marcy’s best performance yet as the former college football standout continues his tremendous improvement. He avoided the Sleep Walker, the most dangerous move in Evolution, and even hit the Marcy Bomb for a near victory. But MidNight showed his experience is still king as he blocked a Marcy splash and blasted him with a hard lariat to win the hard-fought contest.

Backstage, Max Ultimate tracked down Jason Parker and demanded a rematch with Igris (assuming that Igris retains the title in the main event). In a rare turn, however, Jason agreed on the spot to a rematch. So the preparation begins for Ultimate.

In a Rookie of the Year tournament rematch, Dash Foley takes on Raymond Church. This is Foley’s first appearance since costing the House of Black the Storm Tag Titles at Nitro and he’s clearly been hitting the training mat hard in the offseason. Foley neutralized Church’s quickness and athleticism with ease, putting him away with a butterfly DDT we haven’t seen from him before.

Wade Barrett delivers his first Bad News 8 live from Florida as we continue to count down to the Wrestling World Cup. Check out the full episode or join our Discord to see how all eight teams stacked up but here’s a tidbit: Barrett ranked China last, Australia fifth and the United States third.

Elsewhere, Mr. Sinister tracked down Takahashi and once again offered the Rookie of the Year a spot alongside his growing group. Takahashi didn’t offer an answer but he will almost certainly be more willing to listen after losing his RAW Title in heartbreaking fashion last week.

In the main event, Igris defends the Apex Title against Lee Carr after cheating in his New Season New Challenge match last week. There was no cheating in this contest, just solid wrestling from the champ. Some would say that’s even more infuriating than what he did last week. Igris won the match and defended Evolution’s top prize with an Iron Throne.