Austin Theory vs. JD Drake

[8.0] "Killer match between Theory and Drake right here, big fight feel, big stakes, big action, it was really the big deal it had to be for a show as special as this one for EVOLVE and it would have even deserved to be the main event in my opinion even if I can obviously understand that they chose Adam Cole for this spot, that dude was money. But we shouldn't sleep on this match because it was truly excellent, JD Drake is surely the most underrated powerhouse in the history of american wrestling and that makes me a little sad but watch this match if you don't know him because you will be won over. His babyface work against the top heel of independent wrestling at the time, Austin Theory, was really perfect, the two matched so well both in terms of their characters and in the ring. Big moves, nearfalls, we really wanted to believe in a victory of the babyface JD Drake and it was so well done. A really great match that I recommend, so damn cool."

[9.0] "The best match of the show. The match, which was supposed to be the main event. I didn't follow EVOLVE before, but videos for this match made me interested and watch the show completely. It was a damn good story about just a guy who with hard work achieved success and about a daring and narcissist villain who just takes everything he wants. From a technical point of view, it was a good match, a good pace, good moves, spots, several OMG kick-outs. The story in the match was told beautifully. So far this is the match of the year in EVOLVE and it is unlikely to be able to beat it. Rating: **** 1/4 (4. 25)"

[6.0] "I won't say this was great but it was still pretty good. Both guys had some decent strike exchanges all match long, and then they stood out individually, as Theory had all his super athletic feats plus his very compelling selling and energetic bumping, while Drake had his surprising agility and high-flying moves. Theory was far more interesting to me because his look perfectly complimented his wide variety of attacks, and thus basically everything about him screamed "young gifted but massively arrogant champion who thinks he's the best", meaning his character was easily communicated, but Drake was still fine himself, and he did enough to overcome his otherwise unexciting look. Both men showed very nice exhausted selling as the match came to a finish, making it feel like a truly hard-fought battle by the time Theory finally put Drake away. ***1/4"

[10.0] "Best match of the entire show and one that should've main-evented given that this is an EVOLVE show. These two were on a mission to show everyone what EVOLVE is all about and I believe they did just that plus more with this one. I have no idea why nobody is talking about this match because it was among one of the best non-main roster WWEish shows all year. Both guys are gonna be stars in the future if they keep this work-rate up. ****1/2"

[5.0] "I hate to be the stick in the mud here and against popular opinion, but that match wasn't that good. The atmosphere was cool and the crowd responded well, but on second watch it becomes clear that most of the match is just random exchange of moves without real intent behind it. JD Drake fares quite a bit better with intensity, but Austin Theory is just such a bland cliche heel with nothing special to him, and the fact that he is now double champion to continue his gross overpush atop EVOLVE is simply dreadful and appalling. But I do credit them for the last few minutes that became quite exciting with JD Drake pulling out excellent offense and credible false finishes that the crowd bit onto, especially the Ataxia reversal that looked fantastic, but otherwise this was a long middling match that really did not feel like a main event and shows how much the starpower of EVOLVE's talent pool has shrunken."