Opinion: WWE was seemingly never fully committed to Evolution
This Sunday, WWE will hold its first all women pay-per-view, Evolution. The company has made sure to hammer it home that the event is “historic”, and would be the crowning moment of its female wrestlers.
However, the promotion or lack thereof, by WWE has made the event feel anything but that, and is an indictment to the entire “women’s evolution” concept it has created.
The official announcement of Evolution was made on the July 23 edition of Monday Night Raw, giving WWE three full months to build up a card.
It was also announced that all the women's championships would be contested (UK being in question) along with the Mae Young Classic finals. Not bad, because for most pay-per-views, 4 or 5 title matches are standard. All that was left was how the company would round out the card.
At NXT Takeover: Brooklyn IV, Alexa Bliss vs Trish Stratus was announced for Evolution, and Mickie James vs Lita was announced as well two weeks later. By this point, there was no substance to these matches when there was material waiting to be used.
Mickie could have cut a heel promo about sending Lita to retirement at Survivor Series 2006. Even when Alexa and Trish shared a segment in the latter’s hometown of Toronto on the August 28 edition of Raw, their match was not really played up.
Now, with the two respective matches being merged into a tag match, there hasn’t been a lot to go by except for the two legends doing a less entertaining imitation of basketball legend Allen Iverson's famous “practice” interview.
Fortunately, not a lot had to be done for matches like Becky vs Charlotte, and Kairi vs Shayna, as they were established programs beforehand, let alone rematches. Ronda vs Nikki had already been set in place since SummerSlam, when The Bellas celebrated with her after winning the Raw Women’s Championship.
For the rest of Evolution’s card, it has been little to no effort. Bayley, Sasha, and Natalya vs The Riott Squad has had many variations this year on Raw.
The last minute announced battle royal just feels like the obligatory “we don’t have anything for you” match, which is a shame because someone like Asuka should have something to sink her teeth in.
There’s no excuse for why WWE did not tend to this pay per view like it should’ve, other than looking past it for Super Show-Down and Crown Jewel. Especially when you put in consideration that the company had three months, and just had to focus on one division of their roster.
However, does this mean Evolution is guaranteed to be a bad show? No. But, with the lack of build, it cannot afford to be one. If so, due to the criticism WWE has faced for Greatest Royal Rumble, and is facing now for Crown Jewel, it would be hard to not see this all women event as nothing more than one big PR stunt.