Independent Wrestling Spotlight: Savannah ‘The Cannibal’ Evans is ready to feast
Savannah Evans is an independent wrestler who is already having historic matches in the Southeast.
Savannah “The Cannibal” Evans has only been wrestling for almost six years, but has already made history several times in Pro Wrestling Xperience (PWX). This shouldn’t be a surprise, since she has been trained by the legendary George South. He has trained current stars Cedric Alexander (WWE), Tessa Blanchard (IMPACT) and Caleb Konley (NWA). The latter has also trained Evans.
What makes South’s methods successful in 2020? His solid foundation, for one. Evans explains, “The basics that he drills are the building blocks that everything else you do is based off of.”
While his methods give wrestlers the tools that they need, Evans believes that “it’s up to the individual to take everything he teaches, apply it and take it even further.”
She wants people to know “George South is one of a kind, truly a national treasure.”
Evans is billed as “The Cannibal”. Several years ago, she was part of an all-Black female group called “The Sexy Young Caramels”. This group was made up of Big Swole and Devyn Nicole and they competed in Queens of Combat. Evans pronounced the group’s initials SYC as “sick”. Once the group ended, she wanted to keep those initials and went by “Sexy Young Cannibal”.
Now it’s been shortened to “The Cannibal”. Evans describes “The Cannibal” as “the beast inside. Ferocity in the face of all adversity, a bad ass, a fighter. It doesn’t matter the opposition, The Cannibal will eat them alive.”
She has wrestled in a number of companies including FEST Wrestling, RISE Wrestling and Title Match Wrestling. Last November, Evans debuted for EVOLVE Wrestling against Shotzi Blackheart. Evans is a regular wrestler for PWX and it’s brand for up-and-coming talent, PWX PURE. She began as member of The Syndicate where she was somewhat of an enforcer.
As the most consistently booked woman in PWX, Evans takes pride in the fact that they have so much faith in her. “Being that there are few women on the roster it definitely opens doors for me to be in there mixing it up with the guys as well and that’s something that I always enjoy. Having said that I would really like to see more women featured in the company as well.”
Women are occasionally brought in, but the roster is overwhelmingly men. Intergender matches have happened in PWX, but they’re few and far between. “I would like to be featured in the best way that benefits the company and myself whether its men or women. I do like wrestling the guys when the opportunity arises.”
With PWX’s faith, Evans made history was the first woman in an all-male WarGames match. She shared a memorable moment with Tommy Dreamer. Evans says “the match itself is its own type of animal with the huge cage and two rings and there’s that ongoing element of surprise of whose going to enter next and how that tips the advantage in favor of one team over the other. It’s chaos, it’s vicious, but it has some moments too and I really enjoyed it. I like the uniqueness that a match of that nature has and yeah I’d definitely be up for doing more.”
In December 2019, she made history again when she competed in PWX PURE’s first intergender match. To make it even more historic, she was the first woman to compete for the PURE Heavyweight Championship against Yahya.
Reflecting on that match, Evans says “going into that match I knew it had all the elements of being real special. Yah and I are both George South trained, it was the first singles match we had, the first intergender match in Pure history and it was for Yahya’s Pure Heavyweight championship.”
Such momentous firsts could bring pressure to even the most seasoned wrestlers. Evans points out that “some could look at it as pressure but for me it’s more motivation than anything. Opportunities like the ones I’ve been given is what pushes me to do better the next time and to always be improving.”
Women’s wrestling has been having a boom period where talent is getting recognized everywhere and taken seriously. Women of Color in wrestling are also more visible. For example, Naomi’s triumphant return at this year’s Royal Rumble led to her getting a lot of attention outside of wrestling, particularly from Women of Color have no interest in pro wrestling whatsoever. This led to a title shot against Bayley at Superstar Showdown, a first for women’s wrestling in Saudi Arabia.
“With the popularity of Women’s wrestling comes an influx of more women in the sport than we’ve seen before in the past. Whereas usually on a show there would be one women’s match you now see indies and everywhere else where they’ll have more than one or more intergender matches. So that just allows more opportunities for us, we don’t have to necessarily feel like we’re fighting for the same spot on a show. In the end though I think it motivates us all to step up our game and stand out from the rest.”
“A lot of the same elements apply when also discussing Black women and other Women of Color in wrestling. Looking at the women’s landscape now on the independents you do see more minorities, but I definitely feel like there’s room for more on some of the rosters of the bigger companies. More time given to showcase them just as much as their counterparts is something that I’d hope to see.”
Evans is looking to make a name for herself both in and out of PWX. “I just wrestled my first overseas show in Barbados a few weeks ago with Face 2 Face Wrestling and that was just one of the things that was on my list. I’d also really like to wrestle in Mexico, Japan, the UK, anywhere I can. Also working towards working with some of the bigger companies as well.”
Evans has a plethora of talent that she’d like to face. “La Rosa Negra and Thunder Rosa have always been on the list but a few others would have to be Darius Lockhart, Effy, Melina, Eddie Kingston, Darius Carter and another rematch with JD Drake. It’s been almost 6 years and I’ve also never had a singles matches with my trainers George South and Caleb Konley so I’d like to be able to cross that off too.”
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In a relatively short time, Savannah Evans has already made history and is breaking boundaries. With her athleticism, training and skill, Evans has the tools to be a star in this business. If promotions want to send Evans their best, she’s ready to eat.