[5.0] "I like A Henry's center-of-gravity and kicks; there should be a coiterie w/in the locker-room of those who, on their gear, have mimoegraphed the anarchists's 'A. ' perky opener - Henry got in a lot, maybe did too much. 'Big Trouble in Little Yehi, ' well I do Dig the '86 Carpenter film - the hypnotized green-eyed girls. A Theory has a casting-room's face. P Kelly looks like a Daffney/Paige blend. "Spider-monkey" (keen LL timing) Allin is fun, leaping on/off the post, and the fates were kind in that a (too-typical) DA slip led to his undoing. Though, I can't say that was a good build to his attempt for vengenace tomorrow. Poor mini-me War Machine, the innovating JK, should alter his dirty tent-living Sedona, AZ image in order to better instigate my interest. Who used the post first in Evolve/elsewhere, DA or JK? Like juicy jams, I really enjoy segments that segue into each other... especially as it adds energy to otherwise eh prelims on the card. Unfortunately, that short burst evolved into another medicore match that is representative of both teams runs in Evolve. ACH/TW may be a 1st-ever encounter; ACH in Evolve is a much different performer than his work in NOAH/AAW; mostly grounded, more muted, and he's invested himself in the hard-hitting style and workrate that better fits an upper-carder of this brand. The match wasn't bad, but ACH's mind seemed fractured - 2 1/2. The joy in Cobb/Galloway was in watching the former Olympian toss around a man as imposingly oversized as DG. "He caught him like he was a child, " ***. K Lee/ZSJ is a winning dynamic - D Hodge vs. a more talented Rufus R. Jones - The match was ZSJ's show, as it should be w/ KL going over but w/ the mind that ZSJ is getting his title shot tmrw. I think KL should have hit an additional big-time maneuver to really cement himself in ZSJ's mind. Yehi is clean and honorable to watch, but outside his Koji, his moves aren't yet executed w/ anything special. *** Main event. 5. 25-5. 5"

[8.0] "A very solid show without anything bad. Riddle vs Henry was a very good exhibition that made Henry look really good (***1/2). Darby vs Theory was a similarly neat exhibition that made Theory look good, but shorter and the best part was the opening section and Theory's crazy Asai Moonsault (***). Page vs Kincaid was a low point; it was average at best, went long and was only interesting for Kincaid's very unique offense (**1/2 or so). Jaka & Dickinson vs Gatekeepers was good stuff, although it was hotter at the start than the finish; Jaka and Blaster are just awesome (***1/4). ACH vs Tracy also went quite long, but it had a reason, as it showed ACH's need to get a win to get in the title scene; things escalated well without forgoing selling, and the strikes were just incredible (***1/2). Galloway vs Cobb was a solid match, but not as great as it seemed on paper; it was less of the hossfight it needed to be and more of a normal EVOLVE match in pacing outside of Cobb's strength spots (***1/4). Keith Lee vs ZSJ was one of the better ZSJ matches I've seen recently, with Zack climbing in and around Keith's massive frame and having more fire than he's had in a lot of matches; the finishing stretch with Zack kind of rolling out of the Spirit Bomb and the finish kind of being flat brought it down just a tad, but it was still a pretty great match (***3/4-****). Thatcher vs Yehi was a technical marvel, full of quality mat wrestling and some awesome strikes; it didn't really have much of a direct story besides their struggle to maintain control, but it didn't need much more than that. Yehi looked like one of the best wrestlers in the world here, and Thatcher looked better than much of his reign, but it never shifted up that final gear to really get good (***3/4). Again, very solid show, as EVOLVE often puts on."

[5.0] "A pretty solid show w/ some highs & some lows. The opener between Matt Riddle & Anthony Henry was awesome - Henry looked very impressive in his EVOLVE debut, he got most of the match so it was a great showcase for him (***1/2), the next 2 matches in Theory/Allin + Page/Kincaid were both very meh, just total nothing matches (*), Catch Point vs. The Gatekeepers was OK, as it went on, the intensity actually seemed to disappear - it started off good, but got worse as it went on (**), ACH/Williams was pretty good, good performance by Hot Sauce (**1/2), Galloway/Cobb was pretty good as well, Galloway did some solid work on top while Cobb was just really good all around (**1/2), Lee/ZSJ was the best match of the night, just a tremendous David vs. Goliath match (****), Thatcher/Yehi was a really good main event, very mat-based & those 2 sure know how to make it work there (***1/2)."

[8.0] "Although this is largely a setup show for EVOLVE 79, there's lots of fun here in its own right. The opener with Matt Riddle and Anthony Henry was a good test of Henry's MMA experience against a former UFC fighter. Austin Theory matched Darby Allin with his craziness. ACH and Tracy Williams had a great stiff closing stretch. Jeff Cobb was a beast against Drew Galloway as Keith Lee was against Zack Sabre Jr. And Fred Yehi got to shine before Timothy Thatcher swiftly finished him. For the "other show" of a two show set, this one stands well on its own."

[7.0] "This was very good show that I would recommend to people. Stiff strikes, high spots, chain wrestling, matwork, good finishing sequences, this show had it all. Keith Lee and ZSJ was quite the spectacle. Austin Theory and Darby Allin was a really creative, fun match. Riddle and Henry beat the crap out of each other. Jeff Cobb is really strong..."