5 Ways WWE’s First Evolution PPV Has Aged Badly

It has been eight long years since WWE’s historic first Evolution PPV took place, which featured the first ever all-women’s WWE PPV card. With WWE bringing back the event for a second time in 2025, it provides us with an opportunity to go and take a look back at the 2018 show.

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In some ways, Evolution 2018 aged very well, with several stars on the rise, wrestlers with promise succeeding, and more, but there are also ways in which Evolution 2018 aged badly. Whether it be some of the names heavily featured, failed pushes, or other aspects, we’ll assess some of the ways in which things didn’t turn out quite as expected in the many years since.

Shayna Baszler & Kairi Sane Are Major “What If” WWE Stars

Neither Woman Reached Their Potential On The Main Roster

• Baszler & Sane had a great NXT feud.
• They got a chance to wrestle at Evolution.
• On the main roster, neither woman succeeded as a singles star.

At Evolution 2018, Shayna Baszler and Kairi Sane continued their enjoyable feud, battling over the NXT Women’s Title in another strong contest that displayed their chemistry. Baszler was on a roll as an unstoppable, vicious heel, with Sane on a wave of momentum as one of NXT’s best underdog babyfaces. They both seemed set for big things in WWE.

However, their respective careers on the WWE main roster didn’t shape up all too well. Baszler was unable to connect with the crowd, her push was abandoned, and she fell into the tag team division. For Sane, she has mostly competed alongside Asuka in the tag team division and has not been able to ever break out as a solo star. It is a shame to go back and look at how promising things looked once upon a time for both women.

Things Didn’t Go To Plan For Babyface Bayley

Bayley Was Still A Lovable Babyface

• At Evolution 2018, Bayley teamed with Sasha Banks and Natalya.
• She still had her original hugger babyface gimmick.
• Things turned sour for Bayley in WWE, and she had to turn heel.

Bayley was still competing as the lovable hugger in WWE when she competed at Evolution 2018, teaming with Sasha Banks and Natalya to defeat The Riott Squad. Unfortunately, fans soon turned on the idea of Bayley as this ultra-good, smiling babyface, leading to a heel turn.

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Looking back and seeing the potential Bayley had as the potential top babyface of the women’s division is certainly a shame due to it not working out. It is also a shame to see the tag team of Bayley and Banks working so well together here given their underwhelming run as Women’s Tag Team Champions the following year.

Ronda Rousey In WWE Didn’t Work Out

Rousey Was One Of WWE’s Biggest Stars At Evolution 2018

• Rousey headlined the show as RAW Women’s Champion.
• She took on Nikki Bella in a solid main event.
• Fans eventually turned on Rousey and her run in WWE became hard to watch.

Ronda Rousey main evented Evolution 2018 due to being one of the driving forces behind the continued boom of the women’s division during this period. The former UFC star felt like an unstoppable force as RAW Women’s Champion, so it made sense at the time for her to be in the show-closer.

Seeing Rousey perform well under the spotlight and hold this level of star power in WWE feels like a different world, and this is due to how poorly things turned out. Rousey’s return to WWE in 2022 saw her struggle to get back to the same level of form between the ropes, fail to nail down a character that got over, and ultimately get lambasted by the WWE audience time and time again to the point where she ended up leaving the company on not the best of terms.

Most Of The Evolution Roster Is No Longer In WWE

The Majority Of Names Have Left WWE

• A select few names from the first Evolution are still in WWE.
• Many wrestlers were released from the company.
• This is a clear showcase of how insecure spots can be.

When looking across the Evolution 2018 card, only Becky Lynch, Charlotte Flair, Bayley, Natalya, Liv Morgan, Iyo Sky, Nia Jax, Asuka, Kairi Sane, Zelina Vega, and Naomi are still part of WWE today. Among the names released or those who have parted ways over the years include Toni Storm, Ember Moon, Ronda Rousey, Mickie James, Mandy Rose, Sonya Deville, Ruby Riott, Shayna Baszler, Carmella, Sarah Logan, Billie Kay, Peyton Royce, and more.

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To see so many talented names not remaining in WWE for the long term makes Evolution 2018 harder to watch in hindsight, especially since plenty of these wrestlers had the potential to make it as major stars in WWE. The likes of Toni Storm and Ember Moon have thrived as champions outside of WWE, proving the missteps made by WWE previously.

WWE Wasted Toni Storm’s Potential

Storm Looked Like A Future Star At Evolution 2018

• Storm won the second Mae Young Classic.
• She defeated Iyo Sky in the finals.
• WWE wasted her, whereas AEW pushed her to the moon.

Toni Storm was in a featured match at Evolution 2018, winning the Mae Young Classic as she defeated Iyo Sky (then known as Io Shirai). From there, she had a decent run in NXT UK, an underwhelming time in NXT over in the US, and a failed main roster run that led to her requesting her release.

To see such a young prospect in Storm look like a natural at Evolution, to then get booked very poorly in WWE is a major shame. Due to her world-beating run in AEW as the face of the women’s division and displaying one of the best gimmicks in wrestling, it has been proven that WWE dropped the ball.