WWE Evolution 2018 review: What we learned, takeaways, future projections

RAW Women’s Championship Match

Ronda Rousey (c) vs. Nikki Bella

What we learned: We learned early on that Ronda Rousey is a solid puppet master, literally using her hand to move Nikki Bella’s mouth. That was actually really funny.

As for the match itself, it played out much like I thought it would. Ronda took easy control of the match early and as I predicted, Nikki didn’t get any offense in until Brie got involved on her behalf, which happened on multiple occasions throughout the match.

I will say that I was much more impressed with Nikki Bella in this match than I thought I would be. It can’t be easy being in there with Ronda Rousey, but she held her own in there and looked pretty solid. Nobody is ever going to believe that Nikki would actually win a match like this without some help, but I’ll give her some props on this night. She took some big bumps and when she was on offense, she took it to Ronda.

But this was always going to be Rousey’s night. She once again proved that WWE is where she belongs at this point in her life and continues to get better with each and every performance. Getting both Bellas up at once was fun to watch, and she got the win, as expected, with the armbar. I don’t think this match should have closed the show, and it certainly wasn’t anywhere near the level of the SmackDown Women’s Championship battle that took place just before it, but it was still enjoyable and sent the crowd home happy.

What’s next: I certainly don’t see the need for this Bellas/Ronda program to continue, and with Nia Jax waiting in the wings (she was even shown at the end of the show watching the monitor), I think that match does happen in the very near future.

I don’t care if that had been an all-men’s pay-per-view or an all-women’s pay-per-view. That was simply a fun event. There wasn’t a bad match on the card, and every single competitor came to Long Island ready to put on a show. With a mix of past, present and future superstars of this women’s division on hand, I was happy to be able to witness this historic event. The future of this industry for women is so bright, and I can’t wait to see where things go from here. Survivor Series should bring some fun matches, and TLC comes our way in December, and one of those matches seems to be in the cards moving forward, especially after what we saw on Sunday night.

My hat is off to the entire women’s division of WWE. Every single member of the roster (including Renee Young, who deserves so much praise on a night like this … that goes for Beth Phoenix as well, who did so well sitting in with the announce team) should feel so proud for what was accomplished at WWE Evolution. Well done, ladies.

What was your favorite match at WWE Evolution? Was the event a success? Feel free to join in the conversation in the comments section below.