WWE Evolution 2025

WWE Evolution 2025

Atlanta, GA - July 2025

CHAMPIONSHIP RUNDOWN: Coming into this show, the WWE Women's Champion was Tiffany Stratton, the WWE Women's World Champion was Rhea Ripley, Raquel Rodriguez and Roxanne Perez held the Women's Tag Team Championships, the Women's Intercontinental Champion was Becky Lynch, and Giulia was the Women's United States Champion.

After a Katy Perry-soundtracked video played showcasing many women over the course of WWE history (which was maybe more noticeable for its omissions than for any specific inclusions), the second ever Evolution show began with the arrival of the show's special guest host, Stephanie McMahon. Seeing McMahon on-screen these days makes me shudder in disgust and it has nothing to do with Stephanie being credited as the driving force behind the "Women's Evolution" of the 2010s and much more to do with her politics. I didn't enjoy the first 10 minutes of this show very much at all...

But, fortunately, the opening contest - Bayley and Lyra Valkyria challenging Becky Lynch for her Women's Intercontinental Championship was terrific and set a very high bar for the rest of the show. This was about as good a triple threat match as I've seen in the past few years from the WWE. At various times, one participant was selling on the outside - as is often the case in these matches - but they often got there with believable, credible moves and the commentary team did a nice job of highlighting that each participant was actively working to make it a 1-on-1 match at various times. There were multiple nearfalls that ended with the third "man" breaking things up, including an awesome one where Valkyria had a bridging pin on Lynch and Bayley came down on her with an elbow from the top. Lynch and Bayley are not known for their technicality or execution necessarily, but this match showed that you don't need a million moves in your arsenal or the most flashy offense to effectively draw the crowd in. In-ring, Valkyria is very impressive and is getting closer and closer to "breaking out" due to performances like this one. An excellent opening contest and maybe even on the shortlist of best matches the WWE has produced in 2025. (4/5)

Next up - Jordynne Grace vs. Jacy Jayne for Jayne's NXT Women's Championship. I'm not an NXT viewer so I was unfamiliar with both women aside from knowing that Grace was a big deal in TNA and was featured at the Royal Rumble this year (and last year?). I was expecting the crowd to be dead for this, but they were into it quite a bit, which is a good indicator that the fans that attend WWE PLEs are, in fact, watching NXT. Blake Monroe (formerly Mariah May in AEW) was at ringside to support Grace but it was fairly predictable that she'd either turn on Grace or cost her the match somehow. This wasn't bad at all, though it wasn't mind-blowing. Grace's strength and smoothness in the ring is remarkable. I loved her catching Jayne at one point in a "stretch muffler" position and turning it into a high-angle suplex. A quick look on Google reveals that this is not the first time she's performed the move, but I'm not sure how often she hits it. Very cool. Good match, good finish. (3/5)

The WWE Women's Tag Team Championships were on the line next as The Judgment Day (Roxanne Perez and Raquel Rodriguez) defended the titles against Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss, The Kabuki Warriors (Asuka and Kairi Sane), and the NXT team of Sol Ruca and Zaria. Before diving into the match, its worth noting a few things. First, a week prior to this, Charlotte Flair penned a column for The Player's Tribune and, based on the crowd reaction to her, it seems that many fans have come around on some of the anti-Charlotte hate as she got a massive babyface reaction. It could also be that she's something of a "local hero" based on how over Ric Flair was in Atlanta. Similarly, Raquel Rodriguez had a bit of an online story going this week as Kevin Nash had criticized her on his podcast for "working too small." Rodriguez responded with a ton of respect, accepting the criticism and promising to "work bigger," which wasn't brought up on the commentary directly but certainly implied by Wade Barrett's commentary (as he noted that Rodriguez was  looking like the "Raquel of NXT" in this match with her power moves and heel tactics). Finally, Sol Ruca is something a long-gestating "overnight sensation" these days, a 3-year pro (which makes her essentially a rookie in pro-wrestling) whose Sol Snatcher finish is what you get when you mix the athleticism of gymnast with the neck-breaking snap of Randy Orton's RKO. All these elements, plus Alexa Bliss once again showing that she might the most underrated women's wrestlers in the history of the US (yes, I'm serious) and the always-solid Kabuki Warriors, made for a match that was an absolute pleasure to watch from beginning to end. Not everything was executed perfectly - there were some noticeable awkward set-ups involving Charlotte and Perez - but this probably had the best multi-man finish of the weekend as Rodriguez powerbombed Bliss out of the ring (which drew a deserved "Holy Shit" chant) and Perez hit a dive onto Flair to keep her from breaking the count. Another great match that furthered the Flair and Bliss storyline (Flair saving Bliss from a Zaria spear was another highlight) and kept the champions looking strong (especially Rodriguez, who needed a win after losing at Night of Champions not too long earlier). (3.5/5)

Trish Stratus challenged Tiffany Stratton for her WWE Women's Championship in the next match. This was Stratus' first championship match in close to 20 years. This was a super solid match that felt like more of a hard-fought battle than its sub-10 minute runtime would suggest. This is the type of match that had me wondering about the "scale" people - including myself - have used to rate women's wrestling matches and how it has changed over time. 20 years ago, this match probably would've been considered among the best WWE women's matches of the decade just because of how smooth the work was, the awesome suplex-into-a-backbreaker by Stratton and her always-excellent BME finisher, and how hot the crowd was for it. Nowadays, this could only be considered slightly above-average because of how high the bar has moved in the past decade. (3/5)

Naomi took on Jade Cargill in a Street Fight with Bianca Belair as the guest referee in the next match. While not as good as the Ripley/Rodriguez match from Night of Champions, this was still plenty of fun and, again, the hot Atlanta crowd was engaged in every minute of it. Like the match that preceded it, this one didn't have a long runtime but it still felt like an absolute war because they didn't waste a second of it (I particularly liked how Naomi jumped Cargill right from the start). Not much in the way of innovation, but kudos to Cargill for taking a great-looking table bump on the floor. I wasn't a fan of the finish, though, as Cargill took a ton of damage but then pretty much just sprung up to hit her finisher on Naomi on the top rope (which also looked a little clunky with some clear communication going on between the competitors before they "counted off" the move). (2.5/5)

A 20-woman Battle Royal followed with Nikki Bella and Chelsea Green (along with Piper Niven and Alba Fyre) getting big introductions. After a commercial break, we also saw the arrival of Candice LeRae, Nia Jax, and Stephanie Vaquer. The rest of the pack was a mix of main roster and NXT talent, including Natalya, Giulia, Michin, and Lash Legend. This was booked like a Royal Rumble with various women getting the "spotlight" at various times and that strategy was executed well and allowed certain talent - most notably Lash Legend (who was the second last woman eliminated), Kelani Jordan (who walked on her hands to get back into the match as her feet never touched the floor when she was first nearly eliminated), Jaida Parker (a powerhouse), and the aforementioned Vaquer (the eventual winner). Most of the other talent were just sorta "there," though it was a bit brain-shattering to see Nikki Bella trading forearms with the likes of Giulia and Vaquer considering how Bella, of all the talent in the ring, is the most associated with the "Divas Era" and how much Giulia and Vaquer have come to represent not just the present and future of women's wrestling in the WWE, but worldwide. (2.5/5)

After a promo from Stephanie Vaquer by Stephanie McMahon, it was Main Event Time - Rhea Ripley challenging IYO SKY for the WWE Women's World Championship. The story coming into this match was that Rhea had never defeated IYO. Some good back-and-forth to start with IYO flipping out of a snap mare and mocking the challenger. Loved Rhea teasing IYO with a punch in the corner and then doing some of IYO's shtick, but was less of a fan of them having a verbal exchange about respecting each other. Despite a small miscommunication on the next exchange, IYO and Ripley killed it over the next few minutes with a bunch of cool moments, including a moonsault off the apron by IYO, a 619-esque head scissors to the hardest part of the ring by the champion, a killer knee from Ripley soon after, and Ripley delivering a terrific dropkick to the head of IYO on the mat. After Ripley slowed things down with some bodylocks, IYO came back with a massive tornado DDT that led to a "This Is Awesome" chant. A strike exchange followed, ending with a huge flurry of nasty offense by IYO, including something that almost looked like a reverse Canadian Destroyer followed by a stomp and then a suicide crossbody to the floor. Unreal. IYO hit a missile dropkick from the top back in the ring and hit a meteora in the corner but only got 2. IYO went to the top and Rhea tried to german suplex her off, but IYO flipped out. From here, we got a ridiculous series of counters and stiff uppercuts and elbows ending with a Poisonrana from IYO that got another nearfall. IYO went back to the top but Ripley tripped her up and then nailed her with a ridiculous Razor's Edge off the top rope and then a sit-out powerbomb! Holy cow. Those were 90s Japan style. Ripley attempted a Riptide but SKY applied a sleeper and Ripley was forced to dump her on the top rope. Ripley went for a superplex but IYO escaped to the apron, kicked Ripley down, and then inadvertently missile dropkicked the referee! Headbutt by Ripley! Riptide! 1...2...3, but there's no referee! Ripley hit a second Razor's Edge and IYO rolled to the outside. Into the crowd they went as Ripley booted IYO over the barricade. IYO went into the crowd and sent her into the steps, hitting her with a series of right hands and a headbutt. Ripley then tried to powerbomb her off a bunch of equipment, but IYO managed to grab hold of another piece of equipment to prevent it. IYO then climbed atop the huge cases and hit a huge crossbody to the floor! A well-earned "Holy Shit" chant followed. Wow. The fight continued, with IYO now in control, stepping on Ripley as she lay across a bunch of metal steps. IYO whipped Ripley back over the barricade but couldn't capitalize, running stomach-first into the side of the announce table. Ripley rolled IYO back in the ring, but IYO came back, attempting a sunset flip powerbomb but had to settle for just an old-fashioned one on the floor! IYO rolled Rhea back into the ring and hit her signature moonsault, but when Carr came back into the ring she only got 2! Massive crowd pop! IYO returned to the top rope, but Ripley rolled out to the apron. IYO pulled her up by the wrist and slapped her in the face. Ripley fought back and looked to hit her with the Riptide off the top, but IYO brought her down with a Spanish Fly instead! At this point, Naomi's music played and out she ran with a referee at her side. Naomi cashed in her briefcase and the match became a triple threat. She blasted IYO with the briefcase, tossed Ripley out of the ring, hit the split-legged moonsault on IYO and got the victory! This was a bonkers match with such awesome escalation of violence as it went on. My only real complaint would be that it didn't end clean after all the magnificent work of IYO and Ripley. An instant Match of the Year contender. (4.5/5)

With a strong Kwang rating of 3.29-out-of-5, the second-ever Evolution event was one of the best WWE PPVs/PLEs of the year, a much needed bounce back after the underwhelming Money in the Bank and Night of Champions shows. The opener and closer were two of the best matches the WWE produced this year, the tag team fourway overdelivered, and Stratton/Stratus was good for what it was (and didn't overstay its welcome). 

FINAL RATING - Watch It...With Remote in Hand