WWE Evolve – June 17, 2026: This Did Not Work
Evolve
Date: June 17, 2026
Location: WWE Performance Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Blake Howard, Peter Rosenberg
It’s the week before Succession III and at least the biggest matches on the card are put together. That should make for an interesting week here as we have the final push towards the event. If nothing else we should be getting some of the hard sell for the title matches, which often works well. Let’s get to it.
Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.
Timothy Thatcher is excited for Succession and runs down tonight’s card. Wendy Choo (Thatcher: “Come on in champ two!”) comes in and signs the card to face Nikkita Lyons at Succession but she’ll be watching tonight to see who might be her next contender.
Opening sequence.
Elijah Holyfield vs. Brooks Jensen
Jensen backs him up against the ropes and gets punched in the ribs for his efforts. Back up and Jensen fires off some forearms before sending him throat first into the middle rope. Things slow down, with Jensen kicking him to the mat and grabbing the chinlock. That’s broken up and Holyfield hits a heck of a shoulder, followed by the clothesline comeback. A whip out of the corner is blocked but Jensen pulls the turnbuckle pad off. The spinebuster drops Jensen and Holyfield hammers away in the corner, only to get dropped onto the turnbuckle. Jensen’s rollup gets the pin at 4:25.
Rating: C. This was very basic and you could see Jensen walking Holyfield through the match. That’s how you need to treat someone like Holyfield at this point, as he’s still so brand new and has no idea what he’s doing. The only thing that is going to make that better is experience and this kind of match, plus house shows, is the way he gets better.
Chazz Hall vs. Tristan Angels
Hall takes him down to start and Angels is frustrated, causing him to walk into an armdrag. Hall sticks the landing on a monkey flip but gets caught up top with a step up enziguri. Back in and Hall is sent into the buckle, setting up the chinlock. That’s broken up and Hall hits a middle rope clothesline, setting up a standing Sliced Bread.
The standing corkscrew moonsault gives Hall two and he hurricanranas Angels outside. A Lionsault connects on Angels, who catches Hall back inside with an apron superplex for two of his own. Angels’ powerbomb is countered into a DDT but the shooting star press misses as well. The Shire’s Kiss finishes for Angels at 7:13.
Rating: C+. Angels is someone that WWE clearly wants to have around in whatever way they can and that’s an interesting way to go for him. He’s getting time both in Evolve and on NXT, which isn’t surprising given how easy it is to dis like him in general. Hall losing is a bit of a surprise but Angels feels like the bigger priority, as he should be.
Post match Angels brags about his success and calls himself the definition of elegance, excellence and class.
Zena Sterling is glad to be back after everything that she has been through.
Zena Sterling vs. Anya Rune
Rune gets an insert interview, saying she wants people to get to notice her. Rune’s wristlock doesn’t work early on as Sterling takes her down into an armbar. That’s broken up and Rune flips her over by the wrist for a nasty crash. Rune goes up top and has to break up a superplex, only to fall off with no one touching her. She was shouting about flying so I’m assuming she was supposed to slip?
Either way, with that weird deal covered, Rune gets two off a small package and kicks her into the corner. Rune goes up top and slips again, then slips a third time (with the turnbuckle pad falling off) before going to the mat and hitting a running crossbody. Back up and Sterling sends her into the exposed buckle and a spinning side slam (ala Victoria, but nowhere near as smooth) finishes Rune at 3:56.
Rating: D. I’m not sure what in the world they were going for here but it didn’t work. The slipping off the top thing didn’t make me want to see Rune more. It just made me think that she wasn’t very good, which is hardly how you want to present anyone. Sterling being back is a good thing, but this really didn’t make me want to see her again, as she almost lucked into a win over someone in over her head. This was a big miss, and that’s a rarity in WWE these days.
Post match Gianna Capri comes out to yell at Rune, saying she doesn’t belong here. Masyn Holiday and Layla Diggs comes in to scare Capri off.
Earlier today, Harlem Lewis was training in the gym and is asked about his injured arm. Apparently Lewis is medically cleared but he was scared that he was going to be done with wrestling after his injury. He can’t stand Cole being all smug and rich when Lewis is trying so hard to make it to the next level to make his family financially secure. Therefore, he wants Cole in a No DQ match. Lewis and Howard talk about boxing as we wrap this up.
Nikkita Lyons, with Sloane Jacobs, signs for the Succession title match as well. It’s written in the stars for her to be the best champion ever. KevOnStage, an actor from a Tubi series, comes in to praise Timothy Thatcher, while Lyons says the it’s Kev’s honor to meet them. Kev tries to give Lyons some advice on going viral and the women leave in a huff. Thatcher says that he’ll be on a scouting trip in two weeks and invites Kev to run the show in two weeks. That works for Kev, who makes Harlem Lewis vs. Braxton Cole in the No DQ match.
Succession rundown.
Noam Dar/Romeo Moreno vs. Harley Riggins/Kam Hendrix
For some reason commentary seems surprised that Dar and Moreno are teaming, even though the match was mentioned earlier in the night. Riggins requests and receives Moreno to start, with a big boot putting Moreno down rather quickly. Moreno flips up with a headscissors before it’s off to Hendrix, who can’t keep up with Dar’s speed. Dar gets two off a left hand but gets taken into the wrong corner.
That’s broken up and it’s back to Moreno as the good guys clear the ring. Moreno hits a big dive but gets taken down by the ankle to slow him down. We take a break and come back with Moreno still in trouble as Hendrix grabs an ankle lock. With that broken up, Riggins comes in but gets knocked away, allowing Dar to get the tag.
Dar quickly takes over and locks Hendrix’s ankle, with Hendrix making a quick save. Everything breaks down and Riggins knocks Moreno down for two, followed by a spear for the same. We settle down to Moreno in trouble with his leg messed up so Riggins grabs a trashcan. Cue Tate Wilder to cut him off and Moreno gets two off a small package. Back in and Dar’s spinning backfist finishes Riggins at 8:56.
Rating: C+. Moreno continues to do nothing for me but I can see what they’re going for with Dar as a bit of an NXT/indy legend. The match was good enough and Dar gets a win to help establish the new team. At least Hendrix didn’t lose here, as that has been happening too much as of late.
We get the official faceoff between Evolve Champion Aaron Rourke and Max Abrams. Rourke talks about how great the ID Program has been and how much they have helped him get better. Then you have Abrams knocking the title out of Rourke’s hands, with Abrams going all the way back to Sean Legacy’s farewell. Legacy ignored him and that didn’t work for Abrams, because everyone around here is useless. Outside of the Vanity Project, who are now in NXT, no one here means anything.
Abrams says that Rourke’s family knows he’s a joke, which gets Rourke out of his chair. Security comes in to hold him back and Abrams gets in a slap to the top of the head to end the show. Abrams getting underneath Rourke’s skin there was a bit of a surprise as Rourke tends to keep his cool. That’s a good way to go for the title match and this did make it feel better.
Overall Rating: C-. This was the big preview for Succession and outside of the main event promo off, which lasted about three minutes, I wasn’t overly interested in a bunch of this show. The Sterling vs. Rune match was weird and the Holyfield match wasn’t going to be good due to his inexperience. This was a miss for the most part, but Succession is what matters the most and we’ll get to that soon enough.
Results
Brooks Jensen b. Elijah Holyfield – Rollup
Tristan Angels b. Chazz Hall – Shire’s Kiss
Zena Sterling b. Anya Rune – Spinning side slam
Noam Dar/Romeo Moreno b. Harley Riggins/Kam Hendrix – Spinning backfist to Riggins
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