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WWE Evolution II (2025) -- Results & Afterthoughts

Evolution II (2025) was a women's professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event produced by WWE. It was the second Evolution event and took place on Sunday, July 13, 2025, at the State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Georgia, held for wrestlers from the promotion's Raw, SmackDown, and NXT brand divisions. This was the first Evolution and the first all-women's professional wrestling event to broadcast on both Netflix and Peacock, and the first Evolution since the inaugural 2018 event seven years prior.

Seven matches were contested at the event. In the main event, Naomi defeated Rhea Ripley and defending champion Iyo Sky to win Raw's Women's World Championship; this originally started as a singles match between Sky and Ripley, however, Naomi cashed in her Money in the Bank contract during the match, making it a triple threat match. Earlier on the card, Naomi had lost a No Holds Barred match to Jade Cargill, which featured Bianca Belair as special guest referee. In other prominent matches, Tiffany Stratton defeated WWE Hall of Famer Trish Stratus to retain SmackDown's WWE Women's Championship, Becky Lynch successfully defended Raw's WWE Women's Intercontinental Championship against Lyra Valkyria and Bayley in a triple threat match, and Raw's Stephanie Vaquer won the Evolution Battle Royal to earn a women's championship match at Clash in Paris.

Match Results:

Triple Threat Match for the WWE Women's Intercontinental Championship

Becky Lynch (c) defeated Bayley and Lyra Valkyria by pinfall

This was a solid opener. I can't take anything away from these three women in terms of work rate. If that's all that you care about in terms of the quality of the matches that you enjoy, then you will be pleased with this match. After the last few PLEs, I personally can't force myself to continue caring about Lyra Valkyria in this feud over this Women's Intercontinental title. She comes off as completely bland and devoid of a persona and lacks any charisma. I think that she is one of many recent call-ups that would have benefited with a longer tenure down in NXT. Look at the wonders that it did for Roxanne Perez to develop her own character and personality. Becky can't carry Lyra forever. I think this feud would have been leaps and bounds better if it was just between Becky and Bayley one-on-one. Last but not least, Becky gets style points for that slick pin to steal the win to retain.

As of this posting, it was announced on Monday Night RAW that Lyra will be challenging Becky AGAIN for this title at SummerSlam and I know I will be mentally checking out for that match. I'm over it at this point and don't care who wins there.

Singles Match for the NXT Women's Championship

Jacy Jayne (c) (with Fallon Henley and Jazmyn Nyx) defeated Jordynne Grace (with Blake Monroe) by pinfall

Much like the match from the night prior at NXT Great America Bash, I can't take anything away from Jacy Jane as a worker. Her (and Fallon Henley) are solid workers and I'm surprised that they haven't been called up over some of the other names that have left NXT in the past few years while they have continued to remain on that brand. I applaud the Fatal Attraction girls for making the effort to look like a coherent group on this night when I commenting on social media that it looked like they were going/coming from the nearest nightclub when they showed up for the main event at NXT Great American Bash the night prior. This was a pretty average match, but I was fine with the finish despite NXT's booking continuing to hand Jordynne Grace yet another loss in her race for the title. I thought it was pretty telling when she asked the former Mariah May, now Blake Monroe, to join her at ringside. You just knew something was going to happen and play up into the finish and the heel turn makes perfect sense for her character. This match was a win solely because NXT got Blake's heel turn out of it. You can easily explain this as Blake wanting the title for herself and keeping the title on Jacy means that obtaining it would be far more easier to do in a match against Jacy instead of having to dethrone Grace for it.

Fatal Four-Way Tag Team Match for the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship

The Judgment Day (Raquel Rodriguez and Roxanne Perez) (c) defeated Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss, Sol Ruca and Zaria, and The Kabuki Warriors (Asuka and Kairi Sane) by pinfall

If I'm perfectly honest, this was my favorite match up to this point in the show. The finish came up after Zaria speared Sol Ruca on accident (again) after Charlotte Flair pulled Alexa Bliss out of harm's way. So that was pretty cool that they booked this in a manner to continue both of those storylines - one with the ongoing love-hate relationship between Charlotte and Alexa and another with Zaria and Sol's ongoing blunders. Going into this match I selfishly wanted Sol and Zaria or the reunited Kabuki Warriors to pick up the gold here, but WWE booking demanded that Roxanne and Raquel retained to keep that storyline going in honor of the fallen/injured Liv Morgan. Ugh, that means that those women's tag titles will be in purgatory until she gets back from nursing that shoulder separation injury. I loved that gnarly looking Sol Snatcher that Sol hit on Charlotte at one point of that match that looked amazing despite Charlotte having absolutely no idea how to sell that move.

I have to admit that I used to think Zaria had some imposing size to her but after seeing her with the other women in this match, I realized that she's just as small as them too. Meanwhile, Charlotte and Raquel were towering over the other women in this match to the point that it was looking like two grown ass men fighting kids on a playground in terms of the size difference. Raquel and Roxanne were quick to capitalize on Zaria's mistake and lay out everyone and retain the titles to the surprise of no one to keep this storyline going. If I had any gripe about this match is that I wish Kairi and Asuka did more as it felt like they literally put those two back together just for this match to make them feel like an afterthought once the bell rung.

Singles Match for the WWE Women's Championship

Tiffany Stratton (c) defeated Trish Stratus by pinfall

I didn't think that this match was nothing special. This wasn't a bad match, but unlike Trish's other comeback matches over the years, I seriously doubt that people will be talking about this one after it's all said and done. Trish got her spots in while Tiffy fought from underneath. I felt like the nerves were getting to Tiffy as she really got sloppy on the dives during the last half of the match. She was dropping her full weight onto Trish's body with that Swanton Bomb like Jeff Hardy has been doing in recent years since he's been so banged up to rotate properly and redistribute his weight to not hurt his opponent as badly. That was really scary to watch when it looked like Tiffy was diving headfirst into the canvas before rotating a few inches before impact. I thought the Prettiest Moonsault Ever (PME) for the finish was worst of it when it was clearly shown that she landed right on the side of Trish's face. The crowd gave Trish a standing ovation (even though I didn't think this match deserved it) for her efforts.

To be honest, this match could have been a lot worse given the lackluster build to this match in the first place. Trish and Tiffany can consider it a miracle that this wasn't a trainwreck in the least.

No Holds Barred Match

Jade Cargill defeated Naomi by pinfall

Bianca Belair was the special guest referee.

This was a lot better than I was expecting going into this match as I'm honestly numb (read: desensitized) to these "furniture" matches. It ended up being a wise decision as this match hides a lot of Jade's shortcomings while highlighting her strengths. I personally found Bianca's emoting in the background was my favorite thing about this match, but I was ultimately disappointed when she didn't choose to take a side. I didn't see what was the point of making her the special referee of this match on Saturday Night Main Event the night prior. If you didn't see that segment, I have linked it below for you can see how much fun the cameraman had filming these two beautiful women during that brawl.

Bianca being added as the referee made me assume that they were going to progress the storyline between her, Jade, and Naomi, but it was no go and I didn't understand that decision, especially given the platform for this match on this all-women's card. Once again, Naomi found herself on the losing end of this feud, but we will see why this worked later.

20-woman Evolution Battle Royal for a world championship match at Clash in Paris

Stephanie Vaquer won by last eliminating Lash Legend

I found this match to be majority a huge nothing burger of a battle royal with tired tradition that we see in Royal Rumble matches where you see countless people waiting around in the corners, pretending to attempt to toss each other over the top rope or just flat out sitting down while waiting for everyone to get their spots in. Regardless of gender, I hate that formula for these Rumble style matches, especially when the participants are making it painfully obvious that they are waiting for their spots to come up. It kills any suspension of disbelief and takes me out of the moment.

I can see why a lot of the former Divas passed being in this match or showing up in the crowd. Why even put yourself through a match like this, especially the general opinion is that a lot of people don't care for these battle royals in general. Not to mention that only the first few entrants got full entrances on their way to the ring before the commercial break and they returned with everyone standing in the ring. It's low effort bullshit and it shows.

What I did appreciate was this match coming down to Stephanie Vaquer and Lash Legend. Lash is someone who I have given a lot of shit when she started down on NXT but I'm going to give credit/props where they are due. I think she's improved more than Jade Cargill in this time and I think WWE will learn to regret not opting to give Jade time to learn down on NXT (and break some of those awful habits she picked up while in AEW) instead of rushing her right to the main roster.

Vaquer's speech at the end of this match was the best thing in it in my eyes. This is one of your generational talents that is going to be a star for years to come. How can anyone watch that and not be inspired or moved in any capacity, especially for someone who doesn't speak English as her first language?

Triple Threat Match for the Women's World Championship

Naomi defeated Iyo Sky (c) and Rhea Ripley by pinfall

This was Naomi's Money in the Bank cash-in match.

Without a shadow of a doubt, this was the match of the night and ONLY reason to watch this show as far as I'm concerned. This was the match that saved this from being a complete waste of time. This match started off as a singles match between Rhea and Iyo, where they put everything on the line. This was a wrestling clinic where we saw them both kicking out of each other's best moves and whatever the hell else they pulled out of their pockets. They even fought out into the crowd for a while with Iyo hitting a stage dive-style Cross Body on Rhea from on top of a stack of equipment boxes. The finish came when it looked like Rhea was going to gain the upper hand and hit Iyo with an avalanche Riptide to regain the title, but Iyo countered with a Spanish Fly that laid both women out.

That's when Naomi's music hit. I have to give WWE their props on booking here. I never considered Naomi cashing in on Iyo Sky. I thought she had her sights laser-focused on taking that belt from Tiffany Stratton to screw over Jade at SummerSlam. Naomi pulled the heist of the century - for the women anyway (in the same vein as Seth Rollins) - and pretty much freed the Women's World Championship from the purgatory of bouncing back and forth between Iyo and Rhea. With Jade left to challenge Tiffany at SummerSlam after winning the Queen of the Ring Tournament, this makes things rather interesting in terms of how WWE is going to continue this storyline with Bianca and Jade left on the same brand to chase that title whenever Bianca is healed up. Naomi is easily the best thing going in the Women's Division on either brand and I'm glad to see her move over to RAW. This gives her a wealth of new opponents to work with while adding a new layer to Rhea and Iyo's rivalry.

As of this posting, it's already set for Naomi to defend the title against BOTH of them at SummerSlam, but I'm ready to see Iyo and Rhea run this back again. Either way, we have some bangers to look forward to. If you don't want watch anything on this card, I say go out of your way to watch this main event above anything else.

Closing Thoughts

I saw people on social media calling this the best PLE of the year and even I'm going, "What drugs were you smoking?" This was a one match show as far as I was concerned. Everyone else worked hard and nothing wasn't flat out god-awful, but from the way how WWE put the least amount of effort into building to this show, you could see it in the lack of enthusiasm from ticket sales leading up to the event.

WWE counter-programming against AEW's All In Texas PPV is one thing, but to bring out your all-women's show for the first time in seven years should have been something to be celebrated and championed to have all eyeballs on it, only for it to come off as charity case to silence the critics. A lot of this felt like too little, too late in terms of telling the women to go out here and work their asses off to compensate for the lackluster build. In that regard, I feel sorry for a lot of the women as there was strong work rate up and down this card, but I hate that I walked away from 90% of this show going "meh".

A part of me worries whether or not that we're entering a phase in wrestling where people are getting sick of women's wrestling (clearly an oversaturation point is coming sooner more than later at least in WWE's product) or maybe, just maybe that people who scream about giving the women a chance constantly are the ones who never show up to support them when WWE or any one of these promotions do a show like this. It's hard to tell when companies do these all-women shows, only for people not to support them then complain after the fact that it didn't get as much attention as it should have when both the fans and the people in charge are to blame for the low efforts getting shows like this off the ground. Women's wrestling definitely has a place in the mainstream wrestling landscape. I'm not arguing that. The only thing I'm saying is that don't bother doing one of these shows at all if it's going to come to a half-assed effort by the promotion, only to give the higher ups a reason/justification to not do one of these again when it doesn't perform as well as they would like.

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