Do The Evolution - Evolve recap for March 5, 2025

In footage from earlier today, Senior Vice President of Talent Development Shawn Michaels meets with the Performance Center trainees along with NXT General Manager Ava. Shawn says that everyone is going to be making history, as they are going to show the world where wrestling evolves before welcoming everyone to WWE Evolve on Tubi. He says that for one night only, on behalf of Ava, he will be the one making the matches tonight. For tonight's main event, it is sink or swim as "Super" Sean Legacy, Jack Cartwheel and Cappuccino Jones takes on Jackson Drake and Swipe Right (Brad Baylor and "The Smoke Show" Ricky Smokes) in a WWE ID six-man showcase match tonight. He also says there can only be one "first" match, and it will go to the women with Kali Armstrong and Dani Palmer vs. Kendal Grey and Carlee Bright. Shawn says that the Performance Center is where dreams come true, and tells everyone to take the opportunity to prove that they belong, and more than anything else, it will be a blast watching everybody evolve.

Kendal Grey and Carlee Bright beat Kali Armstrong and Dani Palmer by submission after Palmer inadvertently hits Kali with a corkscrew moonsault before Kendal submits her in a cross arm breaker. After the match, Chuey Martinez interviews Kendal and Carlee. Carlee says that this moment is surreal and that all their training had led up to being the winners of the first match on Evolve. Kendal says that she is not satistfied with being the answer to a trivia question and that she is doing this so that when people come to watch Evolve, they think of her dominating the women's division every week.

We look back on the history of the show, which starts with the independent wrestling company Evolve and highlights some of the current Superstars in WWE that came out of it.

We hear from Jackson Drake and Swipe Right (Brad Baylor and "The Smoke Show" Ricky Smokes) backstage. Drake is stoked that they are all on the first main event, and Baylor says that Shawn Michaels sees a little bit of himself in each of them. Smokes looks forward to checking out all of the talent outside of the ring. Drake says not to get ahead of himself: "Business before, pleasure later." Smokes says that he and Baylor are "before and after pleasure" kinds of guys. Baylor says that Swipe Right will match with your girlfriends and match with your wives, and they also match with your moms, and that everyone is looking at their next match.

Luca Crusifino and It's Gal are seen sitting in the VIP section.

Backstage, we hear from "Super" Sean Legacy, Jack Cartwheel and Cappuccino Jones. Legacy says that this is a big moment for the three of them, as Shawn Michaels picked them to be in the very first main event of Evolve. He says that he has goosebumps, to which Cartwheel agrees before talking about how he and Cappuccino met at an independent wrestling event as they worked their way up to where they are now. Cappuccino says it is only crazy until it is happens, but now it is happening, and while it has been brewing for a minute, the pot is hot now. Legacy says this is a moment that they will never forget and that they will show Jackson Drake, Swipe Right (Brad Baylor and "The Smoke Show" Ricky Smokes) and the fans why they will always be "Super."

We see a vignette for Keanu Carver. He talks about he started fighting on the streets just to get paid after getting tired of living at the bottom, then says that he will take the ball and run with it.

We see a vignette for Trill London. He talks about how he always strives to be different in everything that he does and mentions his experience in professional football - even making it onto the main National Football League roster as a cornerback for the Miami Dolphins - then says nothing compares to WWE and that he is completing a childhood dream. He says that he has been bullied all his life and has felt misunderstood from time to time, but he has always been himself, and he promises that he will bring something different.

Keanu Carver beats Trill London. After the match, It's Gal poses behind Carver as Carver talks about how he grew up on the streets and how he will go on the hunt and put the fear of God in everyone in the building. Afterwards, Peter Rosenberg interviews Luca Crusifino, who says he is here are a representative of The D'Angelo Family (Tony D'Angelo, Channing "Stacks" Lorenzo, Crusifino, Adrianne Rizzo), and states that while D'Angelo runs things on NXT, he runs things on Evolve and makes sure everyone falls in line and knows that whatever happens here, he will know about it. Crusifino says there are some fresh new faces as well as some heavy hitters from the WWE ID program, but that none of them have faced a heavy hitter like him. He says that if he knows somebody, he does not care about them, as he only cares about the future and the future is him. Crusifino then proclaims that you are either with the consigliere of The D'Angelo Family or you are against him, and tells everyone to choose their side wisely.
We see another vignette for the show, where we get a glimpse at Harlem Lewis (who debuts next week), Brinley Reece and Layla Diggs.

"Super" Sean Legacy, Jack Cartwheel and Cappuccino Jones beat Jackson Drake and Swipe Right (Brad Baylor and "The Smoke Show" Ricky Smokes) in an WWE ID six-man showcase match. After the match, Kali Armstrong is at the commentary table, saying that she did not lose and demands a match from Robert Stone.

Backstage, Senior Vice President of Talent Development Shawn Michaels speaks with NXT General Manager Ava. Shawn states that there is some very impressive talent on Evolve and that he trusts Ava with her judgment to direct things as she sees fit. Ava thanks Shawn and says this will be a lot of fun, as there is some great talent in Evolve and she has some great ideas for next week's main event.