EPW Evolution Night 2 2026 Review (11/07/2026)

By Mick Robson

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Coming off the heels of an excellent Night 1 of Evolution, I’m excited to get back into Night 2! EPW really impressed me in their first full journey into the YouTube world- highly suggest going back to watch it, and if you haven’t got the time for that at the moment, at least check out my review of Night 1 on The Arena Media so you know what’s going on! 

More championships on the line tonight. More chaos to come. We’re getting straight to it. 

Let’s do this! 

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We kick off the YouTube broadcast with the gorgeous Skylar Deveraux serving as our ring announcer for a big time opening match. 

Match 1: EPW Coastal Championship- Jesse Lambert (c) vs. Axxton 

I haven’t seen Axxton outside of the battle royal carnage he caused on Night 1, so I’m interested to see what he does here in a proper singles match here. Jesse certainly seems to be the underdog- must be a day ending in Y. 

Jesse goes for a waistlock- maybe a German- but it has no effect on the human brick wall that is Axxton. He tries the headlock and Axxton just launches him off with force into the turnbuckle. Time for Plan C! A Stunner- wait, did I hear commentary call it the Zoinks? That’s tremendous. Anyway, it’s attempted, but easily blocked, and Axxton drops the champ with a powerslam.  

Axxton settles into a beatdown on Lambert. They go outside the ring and Axxton hurls him across the stage. He drags Jesse back in the ring and hits a chokeslam backbreaker. Jesse somehow kicks out! Axxton is unrelenting, with big splashes on Jesse in the corner. The champion is near lifeless. Another big charge and Lambert finally avoids it! He goes on the attack with clotheslines. Jesse hits the Zoinks twice in a row- and Axxton just absorbs it! A 3rd one finally drops him- for a near fall. 

Jesse starts firing away with punches, followed by the Bionic Elbow. Straps down and it looks like Lambert has something big in mind- but gets planted with a powerbomb. And another. And another. The triple powerbomb ends this one. 

Winner: Axxton (at 8:11) 

Thoughts: You can’t always have happy endings. The underdog story doesn’t always come true. Axxton was an absolute MONSTER here, decimating Jesse Lambert. Heartbreaking. 

We go to a video package on Solomun Blackwell. “It’s a strange feeling, waking up one morning realising you’re not the same person you were a few months ago.” He ponders growth and mentality, saying that he’s the last of a dying breed.  

Okay, Skylar’s back. I can move on from the sadness of Jesse losing by seeing and hearing her as we go to our next match! 

Match 2: Davis Storm Invitational- Lucas Fantasia vs. Solomun Blackwell 

Fantasia is trying to win the Invitational in back-to-back years, no one’s done that since Logan Grey in 2015/2016. As for Blackwell, this marks his return to EPW. 

Solomun slaps Fantasia to start. So this won’t be a friendly contest. He briefly grounds Fantasia with a side headlock takeover, but Fantasia uses slick technique and agility to escape. Solomun ducks a slap and regroups. Fantasia gets an early near fall with a crucifix pin. Quite a technical start. 

The pace picks up and Solomun sends Fantasia face first to the mat with a wicked leg sweep. The fight spills to the outside and Solomun starts laying the strikes in. They return to the ring and Fantasia lands a boot, followed by a spinning headscissors, then a suicide dive! Incredible speed by Fantasia. Back in the ring, a shotgun dropkick lands for a near fall.  

They trade strikes and Fantasia works his way into a flatliner from a cazadora for another close 2 count. He looks for another suicide dive but Solomun cracks him with a forearm.  Solomun takes control back in the ring with more brutal strikes. Top rope diving forearm gets a near fall for Blackwell. Fantasia ducks some more attacks and hits a pair of overhead suplexes for a razor close near fall! German suplex gets Fantasia another 2 count! Damn. Solomun ducks a big slap and nails a back fist for a sudden near fall of his own! He then nails Eye of the Storm for another close call, as commentary ponder whether it’s respect or disrespect shown towards Davis Storm by using his move. 

They fight to the apron. Lucas goes for the slap- but hits the ring post! Solomun seizes the opportunity to hit another Eye of the Storm... from the apron to the stage! Fantasia pulls himself back into the ring at the count of 9.9... and immediately eats a Busaiku Knee! It’s all over! 

Winner: Solomun Blackwell (at 13:34) 

Thoughts: That was brilliant! Had a little bit of everything. Lived up to the high standards of the EPW Invitational tournament, which commentary went to great lengths to put over the prestige of. Prior to this, I had only seen Fantasia in short appearances- he got injured early at EPW This Is Our House, and the MCW appearances I’ve seen him in weren’t lengthy showcases of his skill- he was a revelation here. I did NOT expect the Mayor of Twink Town to take Blackwell to Suplex City! Loved it.  

A video package airs for ATO vs. The Untouchables, up next. 

Match 3: EPW Tag Team Championship- The Untouchables (Damian Slater & Marcius Pitt) (w/ Dustin Connors) vs. ATO (Julian Ward & Kaz Jordan) (c) 

The crowd energy is molten hot here! Big fight feel. 

Ward and Pitt start for each team. However, the partners enter the ring immediately and fists fly! The ref needs to get some control here, but the aggression seemingly cannot be contained! TMDK make a smart call, as Slater pulls Pitt to ringside to take a moment. 

It ends up being Slater and Jordan for a more measured wrestling sequence. International that gives way to rapid pin attempts on both sides. Kaz grounds Slater with an arm drag. Quick tags and ATO start landing some significant strikes on the challengers. Not to be outdone, the Untouchables hit some tandem work culminating in a knee drop to the back of Jordan’s head. Jordan springs back with a leg lariat for a 2 count. Rapid pace here with constant movement and action. 

Ward lives up to his “Stomper” nickname by laying the boots into Slater. Maybe they could start calling him “Chopper” too as he lays in those shots. Might need a criminal record for that one though. Kaz tags in and nails the slingshot senton for 2. Pitt tags himself in and is an immediate difference maker with a high angle German suplex! Time for TMDK supremacy as they beat down Kaz Jordan. Jordan tries his hardest to break free and tag Ward, but eats a snap powerslam from Pitt for a near fall. Jordan gets another opportunity after avoiding a corner dropkick- but Slater drags Ward off the apron! A moment later though, Jordan lands on his feet off a back suplex... and finally Ward’s back in! 

Big strikes by Ward, followed by a back body drop that sends Pitt skyward. Massive Side Effect puts Slater through the mat. Kaz goes for a flip dive onto both Untouchables... but they catch him and powerbomb him into the crowd! What the hell? Ward battles Slater on the apron, and after a Dustin Connors sized distraction, Slater brings Ward down on The Hardest Part of the Ring (TM). From there, Pitt & Slater both zero in on the arm. No partner and a compromised limb, the title reign of ATO may be in trouble here! 

Ward tries to fight back with his good arm, but Slater hits a triangle armbar over the ropes for additional leverage, and tags Pitt back in to keep the attack fresh. Massive clothesline by Pitt- but Ward kicks out! He avoids a TMDK double team and gets to his corner, where Kaz has somehow gotten back to and tagged himself in! Massive cross body wipes out the Untouchables. Kaz plants Pitt with a satellite DDT. Twisting fisherman on Slater gets a near fall. Slater then blocks a superkick and locks in the STF! Ward then hits the AA on Pitt onto Slater. Beautiful John Cena tribute there.  

Jokes aside, these men are hurting and weary. They grit their teeth and keep throwing strikes. Huge lariat by Ward connects, but Slater breaks up the pin... well, his near limp body happened to fall the right way. Still counts! They battle on the ropes and a wild exchange of moves ends with Slater hitting a top rope belly to belly on Pitt, followed by the Untouchables hitting a tandem move- couldn't make out the name commentary gave it, but basically New Day’s Midnight Hour- but we get a kick out! Tank Buster? Maybe? ATO come back with a top rope rana into a cutter... but Slater kicks out! We get a tag from Slater to Pitt. Pitt with a massive German to Jordan- from the apron back into the ring... and yet another kick out! These teams are exhausting every reserve they have.  

Ward back in, injured arm and all, but eats a diving DDT from Slater. Moment of hope as Kaz Jordan counters an F5 with an inside cradle, but Pitt kicks out. Pitt tries again and hits the F5, and this time Kaz kicks out! TMDK hit The Cut Above- a Pitt F5 into a Slater cutter- and finally, this war is over. 

Winners: The Untouchables (at 26:05) 

Thoughts: FTR. The Briscoes. New Day. ATO. Untouchables. That was world-class excellence in tag team wrestling. Tremendous back and forth, forcing the former champs to show unparalleled levels of heart and resilience, and forcing the new champs to work for every scrap and use everything they had to walk out with those EPW Tag Team Championships. Absolutely will be on the shortlist for Aussie wrestling Match of the Year when 2026 wraps up. 

I paused the review here to catch my breath and take to Arena socials to talk glowingly about this match. Damian Slater messaged me, thanking me and saying he thought the It Ends At Dusk match was better. I haven’t seen it, but I intend to track it down if the World Beater is saying that! 

Post-match, The Pulse come out and have a stare down with the Untouchables. We know where we’re headed next. 

We go to a promo with Jesse Lambert. He tries to show bravado by saying next time things will be different with Axxton, but can’t quite get the words out. He eventually steels himself enough to say that whatever he does next, he’s going to make the fans proud. He’s done losing. Buckle up. 

Match 4: Davis Storm Invitational Tournament- Rogan Karguis vs. Dex Van Diemen 

Commentary reminds us that Rogan was handpicked by Davis Storm to be in this spot, but the pressure is on. Don’t know much about Dex, but he’s a big boy at 6’8”!  

The size of Van Diemen vs. The experience of Karguis seems to be the story early on. Karguis doesn’t appreciate Dex disrespecting him, so fires off a slap and starts going to work. He low bridges a charging Van Diemen and Dex spills to the outside, frustrated. 

Dex takes control with some clubbing blows and sends Karguis to the canvas with a shoulder block. He acts as a brick wall blocking Rogan’s attempts an offense and drops him with a massive right hand! Karguis tries to come back as he catches Dex mid charge again with a couple of cracking shots, but eats a Deep Six for a near fall. 

Karguis tries to come back with a tornado DDT but Dex shrugs it off and hits another massive clothesline for another near fall. Rogan starts hitting forearm shots. Dex says, “Come on!”, but despite the bravado, these are having an effect, and Rogan chains together a couple of DDTs to spike the human skyscraper. Rogan nails a springboard kick, but Dex responds with a Tornado of Souls/Soles for another close count. Rogan evades Dex’s follow up moves with some nice agility, followed by two more springboard kicks- and gets the win! 

Winner: Rogan Karguis (at 9:43) 

Thoughts: Really fun stuff. Karguis slays the monster, who looked to have it in the bag from a physical standpoint, but almost every bit of offense from Karguis came from Dex being overzealous. In the end, it was Karguis’ own physical gifts- the speed, the agility, the athleticism- along with the experience, that sees him move on in the Invitational. 

Match 5: The Great George vs. Ryan Allan 

We’ve got the Master of the Macedonian Chickenwing against the Enemy of the Wrestling Business. Intriguing nicknames. Ryan Allan first came on my radar a few months ago when he got a gruesome nose injury at STW and continued to wrestle his ass off pouring blood, so keen to see him again here! 

We get a pose off on the ropes to kick us off, then George shakes the ropes, causing Allan to tumble to the outside. George follows up with a dive and there’s no warming up here! An early Chickenwing is blocked, and Allan stops the momentum of George with a low dropkick. Soon after, Allan runs George into the middle turnbuckle and ups the aggression. Double arm DDT gets a 2.  

George ducks a couple of spin kicks and looks for the Chickenwing again, but Allan runs him into the ropes. Drive by dropkick gives Allan another 2 count. George tries to come back with a jawbreaker, but eats a kick to the head right after. George needs to do something big to come back- and finds it with a poke to the eye! The crowd seems to love it anyway, and he locks in the Macedonian Chickenwing to end it! 

Winner: The Great George (at 5:39) 

Thoughts: Short and sweet, the hot start really made you pay attention, Allan got across what he was all about, and George showed a skill for silly shenanigans. Nice buffer before the big main event. 

Speaking of... we’re right there as we go to Skylar for the last time tonight! 

Main Event: EPW Heavyweight Championship- Mikey Broderick vs. James Hartness (c) 

The dogs are barking for our champion! Keen to see Hartness here, the times I’ve seen him wrestle live have been fairly brief, excited for this main event showcase. Mikey, I’m quite familiar with from SLAM- he lives up to the “Top Shelf” moniker. 

Mikey immediately goes low with a dropkick to the knees and hits a Death Valley Driver. Whoa! Near fall. They go outside the ring and Mikey utilises the barricade like a tag team partner, smashing Hartness’ leg into it. They battle to the apron and Hartness looks for a piledriver, but his leg gives out and Mikey dropkicks him back to the floor. 

Mikey mocks the crowd, but Hartness rallies, hitting a clothesline followed by a suicide dive! Back in the ring, a back fist scores for the champ, followed by a basement clothesline for 2. Hartness is struggling on that leg though. Mikey zeros back in on it. Both men look for a vertical suplex, and Hartness gets the better of it! The leg gives out yet again though. Hartness can’t build momentum on one leg. 

Mikey lands a high knee but misses on a follow-up senton, and Hartness has a moment of hope with a quick piledriver! Hartness takes a while to cover though, and it only gets 2. He then powers him up for a GTS, but hurts his own leg more in the process! He looks to follow up with a roaring elbow, but Mikey pulls the ref in the way! Mikey goes to the lower shelf with a low blow. He then grabs the title belt and cracks Hartness in the head with it. Classic Canberra tactics. The ref comes to and starts making the count... but Hartness kicks out! 

Mikey hilariously drops the belt on the ref’s head. I guess he’ll be out for a little longer. Mikey looks to Death Valley Driver Hartness onto the title... but Hartness wiggles out and hits a chop block! Curb stomp on the title, new ref... but this time Mikey kicks out! The second ref goes to check on the first, and now Mikey’s TMDK teammates the Untouchables come out! Slater nails Hartness with a superkick, Pitt hits the F5, Mikey covers... but Hartness kicks out again!  

The Pulse chase the Untouchables out of the building. The referee follows them out because...? Dustin Connors comes out but takes a pump kick from Hartness. Mikey nails the Death Valley Driver on the title. He revives the original ref, hits the Anabolic Elbow from the top, and gets the 3! 

Winner: Mikey Broderick (at 16:19) 

Thoughts: Aww man. That was so good until those bits with the second ref. Why did he come out to do the referee job for half a second, then decide to abandon that to check on the original ref and then again abandon the match to chase after the Pulse and the Untouchables? I’m pretty sure he’s not a medic or arena security. I get they needed to have the ref occupied for the TMDK shenanigans, but that was a really illogical way to go about it. 

On the plus side, Hartness was masterful in his selling. The compromised leg factored into every movement he made, right down to the desperation of pawing at Mikey when he couldn’t actually stand. And Mikey was an excellent antagonist, taking any shortcut he could while mocking everyone around him. Intelligent too, to take advantage of the incompetent referee. The match aside from that was great. 

The Pulse come back to check on Hartness as Mikey celebrates. He gloats on the mic and says he’s going back to Can-berra. 

Overall Thoughts 

We’re two for two for excellent EPW shows! Evolution Night 1 ended with probably the best match of that night with the ladder war, and Night 2’s highlight was also in the tag division, as ATO vs. Untouchables reigns supreme. Despite my slight issues with how the main event interference was done, Hartness vs. Broderick was still a high quality end to the two night extravaganza, with a clear look at why James Hartness is so well regarded. Can’t wait to see what he does next. 

And I guess the story going forward for EPW- TMDK has the gold and the power. That’s a hell of a hook going forward. How do you deal with a formidable force like that? The Pulse will get that opportunity... and how will Hartness claw his way back? What other members of the EPW roster will stake their claim to a title shot? Also we’ve got the remainder of the Davis Storm Invitational... plenty of things to anticipate in the near future with Perth’s top wrestling promotion! 

Overall Score: 8.5/10 

Until next time, take care.