EPW Evolution Night 1 2026 Review (10/07/2026)

By Mick Robson

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Finally, The Arena Media has made its way to Perth!  

This actually isn’t my first EPW show. Last year, I went over to Perth for WWE Crown Jewel, and as part of the festivities, I spent my time hanging out at the EPW Phat Brew Club shows, and post-Crown Jewel, I attended EPW This Is Our House, which served as something of an Australian wrestling super-show. But The Arena Media was in hiatus at the time, so here we are with our first proper review! 

EPW have thankfully made their product far more accessible to interstate fans by finally making the proper jump to YouTube. They previously would generally throw up the occasional free match- it was enough to allow me to write an article on EPW in my 12 Days of Christmas special I wrote on PWDownunder. Unfortunately, I wrote those articles in the in-site editor, never saved them anywhere else, the website shut down, and I can’t seem to locate those articles anywhere. Sad times. But I digress. 

We’re here with Evolution! A big two night event with ladders, battle royals and championships aplenty. I shouldn’t be completely raw to the talent on this show- some travel interstate, some I would have encountered during my last Perth trip. But in the desire to cover more Australian wrestling outside my main region and previous exposure to Aussie wrestling, I won’t be as familiar with them as I would for a PWA or MCW. Should be a fun learning experience. 

Let’s do this! 

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An extremely well produced opening video acquaints us with some of the top stars in EPW- Jesse Lambert, Solomun Blackwell, James Hartness, Stella Nyx, among others. We’re also celebrating 25 years of EPW here. 

The ring announcer, Jones Goode, begins by introducing the commentary team, Drake Wallace and “Mean” Dean Olsen. He also includes the lovely Evelyn Faye, for her work in the EPW Go Time pre-show. A very classy touch. 

Match 1: Davis Storm Invitational- Julio Garcia vs. Bruno Nitro 

The Phillipine Dream Julio Garcia is all about the party vibes, and I’m here for it! Bruno Nitro comes to us from Brazil, so an international flavour to start off proceedings. 

Julio powers Bruno back to the corner to start. Julio seems to have a size and power advantage with a solid build. Bruno tries to negate it with a sneaky foot stomp and goes to work. Julio goes for the 10 punches in the corner but Bruno snakes his way out. Julio’s got some technical skills too, hitting some deep arm drags, followed by a dropkick that sends Bruno reeling. 

Julio gives chase but Bruno takes advantage with a hangman on the ropes. Beautiful springboard clothesline by Bruno! Okay, he’s definitely got the skills too. Near fall. The beatdown commences with Bruno taking shortcuts at any opportunity he can. He looks for the Eye of the Storm, which feels like sacrilege, but Julio rolls him up for a 2 count. Bruno cuts him off again with a shot to the knees. Elevated DDT gets another long 2 count. 

Julio makes a moment for himself with a discus clothesline. Massive cannonball follows or a near fall. Bruno comes back with a Sliced Bread and penalty kick for a near fall of his own. Bruno then seizes the Invitational trophy from the commentary desk and brings it into the ring. The referee disarms him, and as she gets rid of the trophy, Bruno blatantly kicks Julio in the nuts! It ends this one. 

Winner: Bruno Nitro (at 10:50) 

Thoughts: The story of this one was the seemingly recently turned Bruno seeing how far he could stretch the limits of the rules to get the win, and he pushed it to the absolute limit and then some. A fine opener. 

We go backstage with Bruno Nitro. He’s looking for some food, and takes a yoghurt from a baby’s pram. Despicable. 

Match 2: Dustin Connors (w/ Damian Slater) vs. Papa Jerm 

Papa Jerm is completely new to me. Seems like a wild man! 

Commentary tell us that Connors is a former EPW Coastal Champion, and he displays his skills early with chain wrestling- you'd want to have that down with Slater right there at ringside- but Papa keeps pace with him! A drop down by Papa actually works to trip up Connors! It’s rare to see that. Unique offence with an armbar in the corner through the ropes by Papa. Okay, I’m immediately a fan, this guy pisses charisma and is doing some cool stuff. 

Connors cuts off the momentum with a backbreaker, followed by a mat slam. Papa blasts him back with a European uppercut, and he goes outside to regroup. No time to rest though, as Papa hits a plancha! He lets himself get distracted by Slater on the way back in though, allowing Connors to hit a boot, followed by a dragon suplex. Jerm comes right back with a tornado DDT though, and transitions cleanly into a kimura! Connors powers his way out and slices through Papa with a Spear! He locks in a choke... and Papa passes out! 

Winner: Dustin Connors (at 5:48) 

Thoughts: Short and sweet, but they packed a LOT of good into that one. Super impressed with Papa Jerm and his off-the-wall charisma and innovation, but at the same time, Dustin Connor’s is a wrestler’s wrestler. High impact, crisp, striking at the right times... it’s easy to see why he’s a former Coastal Champion, and it wouldn’t surprise me to see him in that position again. 

Match 3: Buckle Up Battle Royal- Rakari Refani vs. Stella Nyx vs. Johnny Dux vs. Tommy Dux vs. Chadwick Jackson vs. Manu Kaitoa vs. Xander Ridgeway vs. Jay Kendrick vs. Sage vs. Dan Moore 

The winner gets a shot at Jesse Lambert’s EPW Coastal Championship on Night 2. Jesse accompanies Dan Moore to the ring.

Dan tries to shake hands with everyone in the match. Stella Nyx isn’t having that, brother, and fists start flying between everyone. Rakari gets some shine with a flying headscissors on Dan, followed by a Meteora to the back of the head. Stella drops him, then Sage drops her... wait, we have a late entrant? Axxton? 

He’s a beefy boy! He immediately tosses Kendrick and Ridgeway. Chadwick tries but gets dumped as well. A group gathers to beat down Axxton as Sage and Stella eliminate each other. Axxton shrugs off the attack and starts clearing more bodies. Down to Axxton, Manu and Dan. Dan takes a massive Samoan drop. Such a nice guy (his nickname is actually The Nice Guy), and he’s getting his ass kicked for it. Battle of the big boys left with Manu and Axxton. Axxton dumps Manu out... but Dan was never eliminated! As Manu is angrily protesting, the referees are trying to contain him. Dan dropkicks Axxton out of the ring- but the refs never saw it! Axxton gets back in, powerbombs him and chucks him out. 

Winner: Axxton (at 5:33) 

Thoughts: Well, Nice Guys didn’t finish last here, but they came second and were robbed of a win, which is just as bad really. Fun battle royal. Good way to get a bunch of people on the show and build up an attraction for Night 2 of Evolution. 

Rogan Karguis is on the phone with someone in a backstage bit. He seems calmed down by whatever the person said on the phone, then tells Harry and CJL to pay attention to the socials. He’ll see you soon. 

Match 4: Rogan Karguis vs. Dirty Harry (w/ CJL) 

Harry achieved notoriety in Australian Survivor, and has a Survivor-themed entrance with torches, and an elaborate ring introduction that includes, “EPW’s TV Superstar.” 

Rogan dives onto all the torch bearers at ringside before setting his sights on Harry in the ring. Rogan blasts Harry with chops. Harry comes back with an eye rake. Dirty by name, dirty by nature. Rogan returns fire with a dropkick and Michinoku Driver, prompting CJL to jump up from the commentary desk and distract the ref. Harry hits Rogan with a Tiki torch... but Rogan kicks out! 

Rogan dropkicks Harry into CJL and goes on the attack. Springboard kick- but Rogan pulls Harry’s shoulder up at 2! Ooh. Another springboard kick, a bit cleaner... but he still pulls Harry up! A third springboard kick... and that does it! 

Winner: Rogan Karguis (at 5:07) 

Thoughts: Harry got nothing in the way of credible wrestling offence, which is probably fitting coming in as a TV star against a wrestler the caliber of Karguis. Although Harry does have an actual pro wrestling background, that wasn’t really the story they were telling here. The big TV star was too big for his boots and paid for it. Good stuff.  

The music of Davis Storm hits, and the Godfather of Australian Wrestling walks out. I was there for his final match in October against The Don, was a really special night. 

Davis grabs a mic and talks about the Davis Storm Tournament, and how it’s looking to elevate wrestling in this state. And with that, he invites Rogan Karguis to take the last spot in the tournament. Rogan accepts to the crowd’s approval! 

We’ve got a pre-taped promo with CJL. He mocks Edith Night’s “Suplex Mummy” nickname. She’s got his guy, Elijah, up next in her Davis Storm Invitational match. 

Match 5: Davis Storm Invitational- Edith Night vs. Elijah Henry 

Elijah comes out giving everyone in the crowd the middle finger as he walks around the ring. Creative way to get heat. 

There’s a brief feeling out process before Elijah takes Edith’s head off with a Hidden Blade! Well, shit. Edith slowly rolls out of the ring. Eljiah follows her out and hits her with a running boot for more head trauma. He then puts her back in the ring- with a back suplex on the apron. What a gentleman. 

Back in the ring, Elijah makes the cover and Edith weakly gets the shoulder up. The methodical beatdown continues as the crowd chants “Suplex Mummy”. He launches her Bret Hart-style into the middle turnbuckle. Shortly after, Edith gets an opening by hanging Elijah across the top rope in countering a suplex attempt. Elijah snuffs out that attempt at a comeback by raking the eyes and hitting a dropkick to the back of the head. He puts Edith in the tree of woe and rains down kicks and stomps.  

Elijah sets up for a back superplex, but Edith gives him a taste of his own medicine by raking the eyes! She comes back with a furious flurry of forearms. A pair of German suplexes follow, one with a bridge, for a 2 count. The game has changed! Edith sets up for a pumphandle, but Elijah fights out with elbows to the head, followed by a brainbuster for a near fall. Elijah sets up for another Hidden Blade, but Edith slumps to the mat. Elijah hits another clothesline, followed by the Hidden Blade! Elijah sets up for the Jay Driller, but Edith turns it into a victory roll- and gets the 3! 

Winner: Edith Night (at 12:26) 

Thoughts: Brilliant work. Borderline uncomfortably physical with the punishment Edith went through there. But she showed great heart and fire to keep persevering, and advances in the tournament through sheer grit and resourcefulness. Elijah was on point, an excellent foil for Edith to overcome in her long-awaited in-ring return to EPW. 

EPW General Manager Devlin Reeves comes out. He gives a speech celebrating 25 years of EPW. He hypes Night 2 of Evolution and mentions the “Top Shelf Serial Complainer”, Mikey Broderick. On cue, Broderick’s music hits and he walks out.  

He takes issue with Devlin’s assertion that he only got the title shot by complaining. He demands an apology, but Devlin says, “I got nothing to apologise for.” Mikey threatens to punch his face off, “because no one is going to help you!” Cue the music of EPW Champion James Hartness. 

The crowd chants “House of Hartness” as the champ faces off with the challenger. Hartness says that when he sends Mikey back to Canberra- “tell Slammoo I said hello, big fan.” Aren’t we all! But when Hartness sends Mikey back with a bruised ego, he can tell them all that EPW and WA professional wrestling belongs to the King of the Emos. Mikey calls him a weak gutted dog and they go nose to nose. 

Hartness says that he’ll “save his actions for tomorrow” and goes to leave, but Mikey jumps him. He smacks him with the title belt and grabs a steel chair. He says to Devlin, “give me a damn apology or I’ll break this man’s ankle!” Devlin eventually does, but Mikey crushes Hartness’ ankle anyway. Strong angle to build Night 2. 

Main Event: No 1 Contendership Ladder Match- DNT (Michael Morleone & Chris Target) (w/ Stella Nyx) vs. Simply The Best (Jay Taylor & Adonis Matthews) vs. The Pulse (Jarrad Slate & Felix Young) 

DNT were a huge part of the This Is Our House show, especially The Don, who main evented against Davis Storm. And The Pulse recently impressed me at ACW. Simply The Best are new to me, so this should be a quality, fresh experience for me. And a ladder match is always good value. 

Everyone starts brawling, but The Pulse take early control by wiping out the other two teams with double clotheslines. They do have a distinct size advantage here. The two teams get back together and take the fight back to The Pulse. A little strategy amongst the violence! Love to see it! 

The real fun starts when they start introducing ladders, and Pulse kick it off by hurling them at the heads of STB. Everyone takes turns trying to scale the ladder that’s in center ring- but with all the opponents around, that’s a futile exercise. Pulse seem very happy using the ladders as weapons, with Felix hitting a cutter on Adonis that makes him taste the steel. Taylor then grabs a ladder to use as a battering ram in an attempt to keep everyone else out of the ring. STB scales the ladder, but The Don pushes them off for a big crash and burn. 

Target unleashes his inner Shelton Benjamin by running up a ladder ramp to dive onto the opposition at ringside. Soon after, it feels like the commentators are suppressing swear words as DNT take a nasty fall off a ladder, courtesy of The Pulse. Adonis tries to back drop Slate onto a ladder in the corner, but can’t get the big man up, and Slate gets spiked on his head! Young comes in and back drops Adonis onto the ladder successfully. These guys are all putting their bodies on the line in high impact carnage!  

The wreckage continues as Felix powerbombs Taylor off one ladder onto another one. Oof. Don takes care of Felix with a rough looking spinebuster onto a ladder propped on its side. Points for innovation, that’s gotta be painful as hell. The hits continue as one of the commentators say, “Trying to keep my profanity in check,” so I wasn’t wrong in my earlier thought! DNT put Slate through a ladder with an elbow drop! Nasty. STB take the Joey Mercury ladder catapult spot, and thankfully their faces survive it. 

Sitting here saying, “I’ll only note the insane stuff,” but almost everything in this match is! Stella Nyx climbs on Jarrad Slate’s back to stop him climbing. Crowd chants, “you fucked up.” Yep! Slate goes to powerbomb her, but she hits a low blow. She climbs the ladder on behalf of DNT, but Pulse dump her off to ringside. More ladders get brought in because so many are mangled and broken.  

DNT seem to split, as Don goes to carry Stella backstage, Target argues with him about it, and when he returns to the match, Target hits him with a superkick! Wow! Target loses it and smashes Don with ladders and chairs on the stage. Target leaves, so I guess we’re down to two teams?  

The Pulse create a massive ladder bridge across the whole ring. Slate piledrives Taylor on the apron! Adonis pulls himself up onto the ladder bridge, but Felix throws him off and claims the contract! What a war! 

Winners: The Pulse (at 28:53) 

Thoughts: A car crash in the best possible way. The discourse around ladder matches these days is often, “we’ve already seen it all now”, and these six guys said, “hold our beers.” An incredible show of violence and spectacular offence, and packed in a very meaningful story development with the dissolution of DNT. I know I’m fairly new to EPW, but the impression I got of them was that they were one of the more dominant groups to come through EPW, and Target ended it all in brutal fashion. An incredible main event to cap off this show. 

The Pulse celebrate on the ladders with the contract to end the show. 

Overall Thoughts 

An excellent show in EPW’s debut on YouTube as their streaming home. It wasn’t a “blow it out of the water” classic, by virtue of the fact that it’s Night 1 of a two night show, they’re clearly keeping some things in the tank for Night 2. The battle royal and the Hartness/Broderick segment were clear examples of that. And the undercard was solid, but the real strength of this show was in the final 2 matches. Edith Night showed out in her EPW return, having an absolute barnburner with Elijah Henry, and the main event ladder match, as I’ve already talked about, was superb and absurd equally. 

Overall Score: 8/10 

Can’t wait for more of EPW, and we don’t have to wait long, because the next review on The Arena Media will be Night 2 of Evolution! 

Until next time, take care.