Evolution (AJPW)

For the stable in WWE, see Evolution (professional wrestling).
Evolution
Stable
Members Atsushi Aoki
Hikaru Sato
Joe Doering
Suwama
Name(s) Evolution
Last Revolution
Former
member(s)		 Kaz Hayashi
Shuji Kondo
Yasufumi Nakanoue
Debut October 21, 2012
Promotions AJPW

Evolution (エボリューション Eboryūshon) is a professional wrestling stable in the All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) promotion. Originally started as a tag team named Last Revolution (ラスト・レボリューション Rasuto Reboryūshon) by Joe Doering and Suwama in October 2012, it was later turned into a stable when Kaz Hayashi, Shuji Kondo and Yasufumi Nakanoue joined the two. The stable was disbanded in June 2013, when Hayashi, Kondo and Nakanoue left AJPW, but Doering and Suwama came back together under the new name Evolution the following September and recruited Hikaru Sato as the stable's third member in February 2014. Suwama has held the Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion twice and Doering once as representatives of the stable. The two are also former one-time World Tag Team Champions and won the 2013 World's Strongest Tag Determination League. In July 2014, Atsushi Aoki joined Evolution, bringing the World Junior Heavyweight Championship to the stable with him.

History

Last Revolution (2012–2013)

Joe Doering

On October 21, 2012, two longtime "generational rivals",[1] Joe Doering and Suwama, faced each other in a match, which ended in a draw, after both men were counted out of the ring. After Suwama successfully pleaded for the match to be restarted, it ended in another draw less than three minutes later, when neither man was able to continue. Following the match, the two men shook hands, before Suwama announced that he was going to be taking part in the upcoming World's Strongest Tag Determination League and nominated Doering as his partner.[2] On November 13, Suwama held a press conference to announce that he and Doering had come up with a name for their new tag team, "Last Revolution" (L/R), combining the names of the finishing moves of the two men; Suwama's Last Ride and Doering's Revolution Bomb.[3] In the tournament, which ran from November 17 to 30 and was contested for the vacant World Tag Team Championship, Last Revolution made it all the way to the finals, before losing to Get Wild (Manabu Soya and Takao Ōmori).[4][5][6] On March 4, 2013, Suwama announced that in order to counter the momentum of the new Burning stable, Last Revolution had recruited a new member, Shuji Kondo.[7] Before the end of the month, Kondo's longtime tag team partner Kaz Hayashi also joined Last Revolution, while veteran wrestler Masahiro Chono acted as an unofficial advisor for members of the stable.[8] On March 17, Suwama defeated Masakatsu Funaki for AJPW's top title, the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship, bringing Last Revolution its first title.[9][10] On April 29, Hayashi and Kondo faced Sushi and Yasufumi Nakanoue in a tag team match. Despite Hayashi pinning Nakanoue for the win, he and Kondo afterwards offered the rookie wrestler a spot in Last Revolution. Nakanoue immediately accepted the offer, thus becoming the stable's fifth member.[11] However, the following June, after Nobuo Shiraishi took over as the new president of AJPW, Keiji Mutoh quit the promotion and was joined by wrestlers loyal to him, which included Hayashi, Kondo and Nakanoue, leading to Suwama announcing that Last Revolution would be disbanding following the June 30 AJPW event.[12]

Evolution (2013–present)

Suwama

On September 23, 2013, it was announced that Doering and Suwama were coming back together full time under the new team name "Evolution", challenging the reigning World Tag Team Champions, Burning's Go Shiozaki and Jun Akiyama, to a title match.[13] The match took place on October 22 and saw Evolution defeat Burning to become the new World Tag Team Champions.[14] With the win, Suwama, now holding the three Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship belts and two World Tag Team Championship belts, became AJPW's first "Quintuple Crown Champion" in 12 years.[15] However, just five days later, Suwama lost the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship to Akebono.[9][16] On December 8, Doering and Suwama solidified their spot as AJPW's top tag team by defeating Xceed's Go Shiozaki and Kento Miyahara in the finals to win the 2013 World's Strongest Tag Determination League.[4][17] On February 16, 2014, Evolution was once again turned into a stable, when Suwama accepted Hikaru Sato's direct appeal and made him Evolution's third member, tasking him with bringing the World Junior Heavyweight Championship over to the stable.[18][19] Suwama and Doering's reign as the World Tag Team Champions came to an end on June 28, when they lost the title to Wild Burning (Jun Akiyama and Takao Ōmori).[14][20] However, the very next day, Suwama defeated Ōmori to recapture the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship.[9][20][21] On July 27, after successfully defending the World Junior Heavyweight Championship against Hikaru Sato, Atsushi Aoki announced he was joining Evolution.[22][23] Later that same event, Evolution's two original members faced off in a match, where Doering defeated Suwama to win the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship for the first time.[22][24] On October 22, Aoki and Sato won the 2014 Jr. Tag Battle of Glory, defeating Último Dragón and Yoshinobu Kanemaru in the finals.[25][26] On January 3, 2015, Doering lost the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship to Go Shiozaki in his fourth defense.[27][28] On March 27, Aoki lost the World Junior Heavyweight Championship to Kotaro Suzuki.[29][30]

Championships and accomplishments

See also

References

  1. ↑ Nunnally, Douglas (September 30, 2008). "Joe Doering talks about learning wrestling in All Japan". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved July 25, 2014.
  2. ↑ 諏訪魔＆ドーリングが最強タッグ／全日本. Nikkan Sports (in Japanese). October 22, 2012. Retrieved July 25, 2014.
  3. ↑ 諏訪魔、最強タッグ「ぶっちぎり優勝だ」. Nikkan Sports (in Japanese). November 13, 2012. Retrieved July 25, 2014.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 世界最強タッグ. All Japan Pro Wrestling (in Japanese). Retrieved July 25, 2014.
  5. ↑ "「Get Wild」Vの裏にKensoの暴言". Tokyo Sports (in Japanese). December 1, 2013. Retrieved July 25, 2014.
  6. ↑ Alvarez, Bryan (November 30, 2012). "Friday update: TNA axing two PPVs next year, WWE talent released, Raw two hours weirdness continues, Maria engaged, big weekend schedule and more!". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved July 25, 2014.
  7. ↑ 諏訪魔軍に近藤修司が加入. Tokyo Sports (in Japanese). March 5, 2013. Retrieved July 25, 2014.
  8. ↑ 全日・近藤が白石オーナーに“栄養費”要求. Tokyo Sports (in Japanese). March 28, 2013. Retrieved July 25, 2014.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 三冠ヘビー級王者. All Japan Pro Wrestling (in Japanese). Retrieved July 25, 2014.
  10. ↑ 諏訪魔　死闘の末船木破り３冠奪還. Tokyo Sports (in Japanese). March 18, 2013. Retrieved July 25, 2014.
  11. ↑ 全日本プロレス「2013 チャンピオン・カーニバル」優勝決定戦. Sports Navi (in Japanese). Yahoo!. April 29, 2013. Retrieved July 25, 2014.
  12. ↑ ＬＲが３０日両国で解体へ. Tokyo Sports (in Japanese). June 23, 2013. Retrieved July 25, 2014.
  13. ↑ "全日本プロレス10・22新潟でEvolutionの世界タッグ挑戦、10・27両国で曙の三冠挑戦＆ドリフのアジアタッグ挑戦が決定！". Battle News (in Japanese). September 24, 2013. Retrieved July 25, 2014.
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 世界タッグ王者. All Japan Pro Wrestling (in Japanese). Retrieved July 25, 2014.
  15. ↑ 諏訪魔５冠！２７日・両国でダブル防衛戦も. Tokyo Sports (in Japanese). October 23, 2013. Retrieved July 25, 2014.
  16. ↑ 曙が諏訪魔下し悲願の初３冠／全日本. Nikkan Sports (in Japanese). October 28, 2013. Retrieved July 25, 2014.
  17. ↑ ドーリング、諏訪魔組が優勝／全日本. Nikkan Sports (in Japanese). December 9, 2013. Retrieved July 25, 2014.
  18. ↑ 世界タッグＶ２ 諏訪魔全ベルト独占宣言. Tokyo Sports (in Japanese). February 17, 2014. Retrieved July 25, 2014.
  19. ↑ "新生Evolutionが会見を行いました". All Japan Pro Wrestling (in Japanese). February 18, 2014. Archived from the original on February 24, 2014. Retrieved July 25, 2014.
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 ３冠奪取！諏訪魔 全日取締役就任も決意. Tokyo Sports (in Japanese). June 30, 2014. Retrieved July 25, 2014.
  21. ↑ Meltzer, Dave (June 29, 2014). "Sun. update: Money in the Bank preview, Sonnen update, FS1 coverage, Sad news on death of Audrey Russell, Triple Crown title, WWE on Netflix, WWE legend in Time Magazine, Austin media promoting new show". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved July 25, 2014.
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 22.2 "【全日本プロレス】諏訪魔vsドーリングの三冠戦、青木vs光留の世界Jr戦". Battle News (in Japanese). July 28, 2014. Retrieved July 27, 2014.
  23. ↑ 世界ジュニアＶ２の青木が諏訪魔軍入り. Tokyo Sports (in Japanese). July 28, 2014. Retrieved July 28, 2014.
  24. ↑ ドーリングが諏訪魔破り３冠奪取 他団体出撃も視野. Tokyo Sports (in Japanese). July 28, 2014. Retrieved July 28, 2014.
  25. ↑ 25.0 25.1 【10.22】復活！2014 ジャイアント・シリーズ 【最終戦】 ～全日本プロレス旗揚げ記念大会～. All Japan Pro Wrestling (in Japanese). October 22, 2014. Retrieved October 22, 2014.
  26. ↑ "全日本10.22後楽園大会　42年目の旗揚げ記念日は秋山＆大森vs.曙＆吉江の世界タッグ戦、Jr.Tag Battle of Glory決勝戦". Battle News (in Japanese). October 23, 2014. Retrieved October 22, 2014.
  27. ↑ "全日本1.3後楽園大会　ドーリングvs.潮崎の三冠戦、鼓太郎＆宮原vs.DKのアジアタッグ、Kensovs.土方のGaora TV王座戦". Battle News (in Japanese). January 4, 2015. Retrieved January 3, 2015.
  28. ↑ "【1.3】 ニューイヤーウォーズ 2015 後楽園大会". All Japan Pro Wrestling (in Japanese). January 3, 2015. Retrieved January 4, 2015.
  29. ↑ 【3.27】 2015 ドリームパワーシリーズ　最終戦・後楽園大会. All Japan Pro Wrestling (in Japanese). March 27, 2015. Retrieved March 28, 2015.
  30. ↑ 潮﨑が３冠Ｖ２！電流爆破にも前向き. Tokyo Sports (in Japanese). March 28, 2015. Retrieved March 28, 2015.