Evolve 9 Preview!

Thought I’d take a look at the Evolve 9 card, which airs this Tuesday on iPPV.  If you haven’t already signed up for an account, please do so by clicking here!  You’ll be supporting Two Spot Monkeys in the process!

Here’s the card, with my thoughts and predictions, from the bottom to the top, as listed by EvolveWrestling.com! 

Opportunity Knocks
Eric Ryan (0-0) vs. Bobby Beverly (0-0)

I know absolutely nothing about either Ryan or Beverly, so I went and found a MV that Ryan put together of a match they had with each other back in January.  Good stuff, and since they know each other, this should be good.  I was more impressed with Beverly, so I’m going to go with him, though obviously, this could go either way.  A good showing by one or both of these men would probably lead to more bookings in Evolve…and you never know when DGUSA might come calling as well. 

Special Challenge Match #3
Silas Young (2-1) vs. Sugar Dunkerton (0-0)

Young is a guy who I think should be a featured player in Evolve, he’s got all the skills.  He’s 2-1, winning matches against Drake Younger and Tony Nese, and losing to Brad Allen back on the first show.  Dunkerton is a good comedy guy, who also isn’t all that bad on the mat either, he is making his Evolve debut.  That being said, I don’t see a comedy guy going too far in Evolve, and again, Young should be in the mix at the top if you ask me.  So, Young has to get the win here, unless there is some sort of angle with Larry Dallas and his crew that causes the loss. 

Special Challenge Match #2
Tony Nese (0-2) vs. John Silver (0-0)
Nese looked good in his matchup with Young back at Evolve 7.  He came up on the short end, and also lost in a Four Way at the Evolve 6 show, losing to AR Fox.  Rich Swann & Scott Reed were also in that one.  Nese also lost in the first round of the Style Battle Tournament to Jon Davis, but records were not counted at that show.  Silver is a newcomer to Evolve who again, I don’t know a thing about, so I went and did some YouTube research and was somewhat impressed with what I saw.  Both guys need a win, as you’d think 0-3 for Nese would possibly mean no more room for him in Evolve, and Silver needs to impress.  I actually think Silver could get the win here.  Hope both guys look good though. 

Special Challenge Match #1
Shiima Xion (1-0) vs. Pinkie Sanchez (0-0)
Shiima Xion broke on the scene in Evolve with an upset win over Jimmy Jacobs at Evolve 7.  Sanchez doesn’t have a win on his record, but did win the Fray match at Evolve 8, to earn this booking.  Xion was recently featured on TNA in the 4 way match with Low Ki, Austin Aries and Jack Evans, at the Destination X PPV, in easily the biggest match of his career.  Sanchez is part of D.U.F. in DGUSA, so perhaps we’ll see Sami Callihan here?  I see more in Xion as a singles competitor than Sanchez, so I’d expect another Xion win here in Evolve, moving to 2-0. 

Tag Team Challenge Match #2
Player Uno & Player Dos (0-1) vs. Facade & Jason Gory (0-1)
The Super Smash Bros. (Uno & Dos) lost to Cheech & Cloudy back at Evolve 6.  I’ve always been a big fan of SSB, and wish they’d get a more prominent role in ROH, Evolve, DGUSA, somewhere!  Façade & Gory lost to the Chikara Seigun team of Jigsaw & Frightmare at Evolve 7.  So, both teams need a win to stay in contention.  I’m a self admitted fan of the Super Smash Brothers, so if it’s me booking, I give them the win and start building them into a feud with whoever emerges from the eventual battle of Up in Smoke and Chikara Seigun for the right to be called the Tag Wins Leaders!

Tag Team Challenge Match #1
Cheech & Cloudy (4-0) vs. Larry Dallas' Mystery Tag Team (0-0)
Hard to handicap this one without knowing who Dallas’ mystery team is, but I think whoever they are, Cheech & Cloudy get the win here to take a 2 win lead on Chikara Seigun, showing how important it is to stay healthy and not miss shows.  Then Seigun gets a win next show, and at Evolve 11, they meet for the Tag Wins Lead. 

In Need Of A Win
Bobby Fish (1-4) vs. Jon Davis (0-1)
This is one of the matches I am most looking forward to.  Fish has been great on every single Evolve show he’s been on.  Fish lost his first four matches in Evolve to Kyle O’Reilly, Claudio Castagnoli, Chris Hero & Bryan Danielson.  Just the fact that he was booked with such top level competition is a testament to how good this guy is.  He finally got his first win by avenging the loss to O’Reilly, and also defeated Austin Aries in the Style Battle Tournament before falling to Sami Callihan in the semifinals.  Davis on the other hand is 0-1 in singles competition, losing to Johnny Gargano.  He did however also make the semifinals of the Style Battle tournament, defeating Tony Nese in the first round, before falling to the eventual winner, AR Fox in the semis.  This should be a great, hard hitting match between two guys that should both be moving up the card in Evolve…can’t wait for this!  Pure guess, Fish gets the win.

Bonus Main Event
Sami Callihan (3-1) vs. Dave Finlay (0-0)

Callihan has been on fire this year, and is getting pushed hard here in Evolve as well as DGUSA as part of D.U.F. with Arik Cannon and Pinkie Sanchez.  He’s 3-1 here, with wins over Adam Cole, Arik Cannon, and Zack Sabre Jr., and his only official loss coming at the hands of Drake Younger.  He also went 2-1 in the Style Battle tournament, defeating Brodie Lee and Bobby Fish, before falling to AR Fox in the finals.  Callihan hits hard, no doubt about it, and Finlay will take it, and give it right back.  I fully expect these two to beat the hell out of each other.  Finlay, even for his age, has always been good in the ring, so no worries on that in this case.  This should be a very good, hard hitting match that I fully expect Callihan to win. 

The Main Event
Johnny Gargano (6-2) vs. Chuck Taylor (5-3)

This is a battle for the wins lead here in Evolve, as Taylor can tie for the lead with a win here.  Of course the story here is that Larry Dallas is representing both, and is claiming that this match will not happen.  My guess is, they both knock him out and have a great match!  Gargano has had a breakout year so far in 2011 and is the current wins leader here.  I only count 5 wins, but they have him at six…so not sure if I’m missing something.  He has defeated Chris Dickinson, Jimmy Jacobs, Jon Davis & Chuck Taylor, and has a win in a Six Way match, so there is five.  He also has a double count out with Ricochet.  He has lost to Adam Cole and Jimmy Jacobs.  So…kinda confused there.  Taylor’s five wins have come over Cheech, Ricochet, Claudio Castagnoli, Jimmy Jacobs & Akira Tozawa, while his 3 losses have come to Gargano, Austin Aries & Mike Quackenbush.  I think Taylor gets the win here to further the storyline, as I think this has a lot of legs to it over the next few shows.  Should be a great main event to close the show!

And of course, Kevin Steen will be at the show and will be given an open mic!  Who knows what Steen will do, but I would bet 1-3 package piledrivers are in Evolve’s future on Tuesday night!

So, what are you most looking forward to on Tuesday night?

Evolve 9 on iPPV!

Evolve 9 is live on iPPV on Tuesday night!  Come back on Monday for a preview of the card!  Click the picture above to sign up for an account at WWNLive.com and purchase the show!

Looking at the Smackdown Money in the Bank Match

Let’s take a look at the Smackdown Money in the Bank Ladder Match scheduled for this Sunday at the Money in the Bank PPV! 

First and foremost, I only really see two true possibilities in this match for the winner…but, we’ll go through each just to see if there is any hope for the rest of them! 

Sheamus – To me, Sheamus is completely the  odds on favorite to win this match.  He seems a reasonable next challenger for Orton, and deserves to be in the title picture.  He is one of only two men in this match who have held either the WWE Title or World Heavyweight Title, so this could be a match where we see a newcomer get a rocket strapped to them…but, I don’t see that here, I see a return to the top for Sheamus.

Wade Barrett – WWE has been high on Barrett for a while, but they just book him like crap most of the time.  He’s absolutely a guy who could make it as a top guy, but only if you stop with the recycled story of a group that doesn’t know if they want to follow him.  Just have him out on his own, without any lackeys and let him be the star he can be.  I would give him the second best shot of winning Money in the Bank this Sunday on the Smackdown side.

Daniel Bryan – Look, I’d absolutely LOVE to see Bryan win it.  I’m a huge fan, and would love to see him get used in a higher position than he is right now, but he’s embroiled in a feud with Cody Rhodes right now (which could elevate both if done right), so I don’t see any hope of him winning this match.

Cody Rhodes – Rhodes to me is the #3 choice to win this match, but he’s a big time dark horse.  I think Rhodes could get to the top of the card, but I just don’t think he’s quite there yet, and to jump from a somewhat meaningless feud with Daniel Bryan to the Money in the Bank briefcase holder doesn’t seem to be in the cards for Rhodes this year.

Kane – Always a threat, and you never know.  He did win it last year, so much like The Miz, he could become the second guy to win it twice in a row.  Kane seems to be in a holding pattern right now, and I don’t see anything other than a good power spot or two out of him here, no chance he wins.

Sin Cara – He’ll fly off something really high, and hopefully not kill himself or anyone else in the process.  If he hits it, it’ll be a great spot for highlight videos.  If he misses it…well, it will be par for the course unfortunately.  Cara has a long way to go.

Heath Slater – Slater could be a future star, but not this year.  I do hope he has a good showing though.

Justin Gabriel – See: Slater, Heath.  Same thing here.

So, what do you think?  Is Sheamus the odds on favorite as I believe?  Or someone else?

Looking at the Raw Money in the Bank Match

Hey all, our apologies, the summer is insanely busy for both Tom and myself, so we’ve had to not post as often as we’d like here at Two Spot Monkeys.  But, we’re still popping in from time to time, and hope to get back to a more regular schedule in the very near future, and also hope to have another interview in the future, as it seems the Gabe Sapolsky interview was well received! 

Today, I want to take a moment and look at the Raw Money in the Bank Ladder Match this Sunday at the Money in the Bank PPV.  I will be back later in the week with a look a the Smackdown MiTB matchup.  Here’s the look at Raw’s Matchup, and each competitor (in no particular order)! 

First things first, before the competitors, this could be a situation where the Money in the Bank winner cashes in on Sunday night.  I could absolutely see them have CM Punk win the title from Cena, and then have the Money in the Bank winner cash in and defeat Punk for the belt.  Remember, McMahon said if Punk “left with the title” he’d fire Cena.  So, you could do the angle where by the winner getting the title, they effectively save Cena’s job, as well as winning the title.  Something to think about for sure!

Now on to the competitors!

Alberto Del Rio – Gotta be looked at as one of the three heavy favorites in this match.  Everyone expects Del Rio vs. Cena at Summerslam.  So…could Del Rio be the one who wins the title after Punk defeats Cena?  If he does, will we see Del Rio as Mr. McMahon’s new “chosen one”, since he will have saved the title from leaving WWE?  Could be an interesting way to go.  One thing is for sure, I won’t be shocked in the least if Del Rio gets the briefcase, as I expect him to be WWE Champion before the year is out.

The Miz – The Miz winning two years in a row, on CM Punk’s last night (the only other guy to win two in a row) would be fitting and would put The Miz back in the main event mix.  However, while I would list him as one of the three favorites, I still think his issue with Riley has legs for a while, so I doubt he gets it.

Alex Riley –  They obviously like what they’ve seen from Riley, and so do I.  Riley could win it next year, but at this point, no chance I see him winning it this year.  I could see him getting really close to having it in his possession though, and having The Miz ruin his chances or something.

R-Truth – Truth seems to be the other of the top three favorites to me, but I expect him to be close and have Kingston or someone stop him, leading to him talking more about the conspiracy against him.  I do hope they give Truth at least a one to two month run with the title sometime this year though.  He’s earned the right.

Kofi Kingston – Kingston is a guy that they really need to get behind, but I don’t see it happening here.  He has the skill set needed to be WWE Champion, and he is a really effective promo when he needs to be.  Kingston should be in the favorites category if you ask me, but instead, he’s in the “hey, he’s going to do something really cool in the match, but has no shot at winning” category at this point.

Evan Bourne – Another one who will do a cool spot or two off of the ladder, but no way in the world he’s got a shot at winning this match.  I just don’t see Bourne as WWE Champion…ever.

Rey Mysterio – Always a dark horse in these things, but he certainly seems to have been downplayed lately and not a completely featured guy, so I don’t expect him to win it here.  But, if I was ranking these in order, he’d come in fourth on my “most likely” list behind Del Rio, The Miz, and Truth.

Jack Swagger – Talk about a guy they just totally dropped the ball with.  Won Money in the Bank at Wrestlemania over a year ago, had a forgettable title reign (because they booked him like crap), and this year was the “trainer” for Michael Cole at ‘Mania, and lately has been embroiled in a feud with Bourne.  I would love to see a return to the top of the card for Swagger, but I just don’t see it anytime soon.

Come back later in the week and check out my thoughts on the Smackdown Money in the Bank match!