10 Live Observations From WWN Mercury Rising 2016

3. Great Storytelling In The EVOLVE Championship Feud

The status of EVOLVE Champion Timothy Thatcher's arm was a major story throughout the weekend. Thatcher defended the title against Matt Riddle at EVOLVE 58, but the bout was ruled a no contest when a cross arm-breaker from "Deep Waters" injured the champ. At EVOLVE 59, Marty Scurll took advantage of the injury to get a surprising submission win over Thatcher. Thatcher was clearly favoring his arm heading into his Mercury Rising title match against Sami Callihan, and "The Callihan Death Machine" focused on it. Despite his best efforts, though, Thatcher was able to pull out the win in a somewhat disappointing match, retaining his title. After the bout, Catch Point came out once again to confront Thatcher. Gulak criticized the champion, calling him a cheater and a disgrace (referring to events that took place at EVOLVE 56) and telling him he didn't deserve the title. Thatcher agreed, laying down the belt and promising to only pick it back up once he had paid "his debt" to Catch Point. Though live fans were a bit confused by the execution, the angle itself is very interesting - Thatcher is still the champion, but he won't consider himself a true champion until he defeats the members of Catch Point in singles matches. That should make for some very interesting bouts and developments in the coming months.