Style Battle Preview

2nd annual tourney set for this weekend

What style of wrestling is the most effective? We'll find out in Florida with the Style Battle tournament. The second edition of this annual tourney has a whole new format and look.

Last year at EVOLVE 8, eight competitors fought in a single elimination, one night tournament. AR Fox, representing high-flying wrestling, stood tall as the winner. This year, EVOLVE is taking advantage of the tripleshot to make the tournament more intensive.

There will be four competitors, each representing a distinct style of wrestling. They will all wrestle each other in a round robin tournament over the course of the tripleshot.

The winner of each match will get 2 points, the loser will be deducted a point and a double countout or DQ will result in 0 points. There will be no time limits in any matches so draws will not be possible. In the event of a tie on the final day at EVOLVE 16, there will be a sudden death playoff. All Style Battle matches will count towards each individual's Record in EVOLVE.

Each participant this year has high stakes in their personal careers. Here is your Style Battle preview with a look at each competitor:

AR Fox (High-Flying): The returning Style Battle Champion has had an up-and-down 2012. He became sidetracked in a vicious and violent feud against Sami Callihan, which saw him win the Evolution's End blowoff match at EVOLVE 12. This momentum shot Fox to an Open The Freedom Gate Title Match against Johnny Gargano at EVOLVE 13. After falling short, this exciting, young competitor is now back to square one. What's next for Fox? His next climb to the top could start with another Style Battle victory.

Bobby Fish (Puroresu Junior Heavyweight): Fish's story is one of the most unique in EVOLVE history. He has given the promotion some of its most memorable matches, but was left with a terrible Record. However, Fish has turned things around and is now just one win below .500. A clean sweep in Style Battle will finally give Fish a winning Record. Fish, a veteran of the Japanese JR. heavyweight style, will use these skills to try to win Stye Battle. After more than two years, can Fish finally break the .500 plateau? It should be noted that at last year's Style Battle Fish defeated Austin Aries in an absolute classic and only lost in the 2nd round because he had to wrestle again almost immediately. This won't be the case this year with the round robin format.

Jon Davis (Heavyweight): Davis put it on all the line on his Twitter a few weeks ago. Davis must win or he will walk away. The stakes don't get any bigger than that. We urge you to go to Davis' Twitter @JonDavis817 and read Davis' words for yourself. Davis has the size and strength advantage in this tournament. However, he lost to AR Fox at last year's Style Battle and he lost to Fish earlier this year. Davis has some hard work ahead of him.

Tommy Taylor (European): Taylor is a very interesting story. He was just gaining a reputation when he had to retire almost two years ago with a torn rotator cuff, ACL replacement, PCL and Meniscus repair. Now this technical expert is on the comeback trail. Nothing would put him back on the map like winning Style Battle. If you are unfamiliar with Taylor here is a video of one of his first training sessions back from injury.

As you can see, all four participants need to win this tournament. This will create an intense competition, which will carry over on all three EVOLVE cards. You can watch the entire tournament at www.WWNLive.com on iPPV as it happens.

Here's the lineups (click each link for building and ticket info):

June 28th - Ybor City, FL

-AR Fox vs. Bobby Fish

-Jon Davis vs. Tommy Taylor

June 29th - St. Petersburg, FL

-AR Fox vs. Jon Davis

-Bobby Fish vs. Tommy Taylor

June 30th - Jacksonville, FL

-AR Fox vs. Tommy Taylor

-Bobby Fish vs. Jon Davis

Jon Davis, Bobby Fish, AR Fox, Tommy Taylor - Click To Order Finals Of Style Battle

It's Colt Cabana!!!

he needs no introduction

Colt Cabana has done something we haven't seen since the days of Bruiser Brody. He has proven that you can independently make yourself a brand and an international star.

The popular Cabana will make his EVOLVE debut this Thursday in Ybor City, FL and this Friday in St. Petersburg, FL.

"There was a point in my career where I wrestled every week in Florida," Cabana said. "It's been over three years since I've been back. I can't wait to see all those who supported me then, come back and support me as I enter a different era of my career. I'm excited to return to Florida and debut for EVOLVE."

Cabana, adept at the European style of wrestling, will immediately test his skills against one of EVOLVE's best. He is set to face the man on top of the Leaderboard, Chuck Taylor, in his EVOLVE debut this Thursday.

"Chuck Taylor's witty," Cabana said. "Chuck Taylor's funny. Chuck Taylor's got a very playful side to him. I don't think he's used to being challenged in all three of these scenarios. We can see what tricks we pull out of our respective bags, but I think he needs to remember my bag of tricks is a little deeper than his." 

Cabana will bring his skills to the broadcast booth as color commentary at both EVOLVE cards and then at Dragon Gate USA on July 29th in Chicago. In fact, Cabana has lined up a very special day for his hometown of Chicago on July 29th.

Last week saw the 100th episode of Cabana's Art Of Wrestling podcast (available on iTunes and www.WeLoveColt.com). Cabana has built this podcast into a media empire. He will have a special live taping of the Art Of Wrestling on July 29th.

Fans will be welcome to attend the live taping of the Art Of Wrestling on July 29th at Challenger's Comics at 3pm, which is just four blocks from The Congress Theater where the DGUSA show will take place at 7pm. This special one hour taping will include guests El Generico, Akira Tozawa and comedian Marty Derosa. As an added bonus, the first 100 people who come with DGUSA tickets for that night will get an exclusive, free DGUSA button.

Cabana is an athlete with many skills. He has done what few others have by paving his path independently. This is what EVOLVE is all about. 

Legendary Eyes On Title Match

Taylor to make a mockery of it?

The animosity between Johnny Gargano and Chuck Taylor has been growing for quite some time. It will reach a boiling point when they collide for the Open The Freedom Gate Title at EVOLVE 15 this Friday in St. Petersburg, FL.

It is only fitting that this epic title match will take place in St. Petersburg. Many of the greatest Champions in Florida wrestling history will be in attendance that night for Florida Underground Wrestling's Legends Of The Bayfront ceremony.

Gargano vs. Taylor Click To Order

Former WCW Champion Ron Simmons heads a list that includes title holders like Gerald Brisco, Mike Graham, Kevin Sullivan, Hector Guerrero, Ron Bass, Barry Darsow and others. All the legends in attendance this Friday account for over 100 title reigns ranging from the NWA territories to international championships.