More than a month ago, a photo of an alleged leaked WWE Evolution card began circulating online. Leaks of internal WWE documents are not unprecedented. Whether it be announcer scripts, full run sheets for Raw, or a promo checklist, this kind of information has made its way into the public eye before.
The accuracy of the “leaked” WWE Evolution card was highly questionable from the beginning. Certainly, someone could make some educated guesses, produce a fake run sheet, and pass it off as the real thing. Given the legendary “plans change” phrase that fans hear time and again, however, is it possible that the photo was legitimate? Let’s examine this further.
What Was Wrong
The photo claimed a 20-woman battle royal would take place on the show. There have been 21 participants officially announced, with several additional competitors likely to be added to make that number 25 or 30.
Asuka and Ember Moon will not take place, as they will both compete in the battle royal. Kairi Sane will not defend against the battle royal winner, at least on this show. Alicia Fox and Kelly Kelly vs. IIconics vs. Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville vs. Beth Phoenix and Natalya is not a match.
Naomi vs. Melina also will not happen, although it is possible that Melina could appear in the battle royal as well.
The NXT UK Women’s Title match was purportedly going to be a four-way, while in reality, it will be a singles match (spoiler).
While the Riott Squad vs. Bayley, Sasha Banks, and Ivory report was almost right, it turned out to be off by one wrestler.
Mickie James vs. Lita and Trish Stratus vs. Alexa Bliss were both announced on television. As it turns out, those matches were combined into a tag match. So, close, but still technically wrong.
What Was “Right”
Toni Storm vs. Io Shirai to crown the 2018 Mae Young Classic winner turned out to be an accurate report. Similarly, the WWE SmackDown Women’s Championship match featuring Charlotte Flair vs. Becky Lynch will take place at Evolution. At first glance these might seem like accurate assertions, but WWE’s announcement that all women’s titles being defended on the PPV predates this run sheet being circulating online.
The main event between RAW Women’s Championship match with Ronda Rousey vs. Nikki Bella was also accurate. However, that expected match-up was first reported by Dave Meltzer back in August, so there was nothing original here either.
What We Don’t Know
A special announcement segment to introduce the Women’s Tag Team Titles seems likely, but has not been confirmed.
A Carmella talk show segment featuring members of the GLOW cast also seems to make sense, but there is also no official word on that.
The Verdict
While WWE’s booking of Evolution might have been a work in progress since the “leaked” document circulated online, we’re calling BS on this run sheet being authentic.
