'It's the most wonderful time of the year!' is something you'd likely be heard singing at Christmas time, but for Progress fans it's far more likely to be a song about the annual Super Strong Style 16 tournament! Contested over 3 days, this 16 man tournament finds a new Number 1 Contender for the Progress World Championship! It's an event that has grown year after year, and mixes Progress' finest with some stellar imports! The 2017 even was an absolute doozy, so join me as we look at the weekend as a whole, focusing in on the best bits (and there were many!).
Day 1 After some fun chat from Jim Smallman, where he found out where fans had come from for the show (which included America, Canada, Australia, Italy, Germany, Singapore and the Phillipines!), we kicked off with our first import, Jeff Cobb (better known as Lucha Underground's Matanza) taking down the leader of the Origin, Nathan Cruz. Cobb looked very impressive here, tossing Cruz round like a ragdoll at times, showing why his nickname is Mr Athletic, even nailing an amazing standing moonsault. He really made an impression on the ones unfamiliar with him in Camden, and took out Nathan with his patented spinning slam, the Tour Of The Islands. The quality of wrestling on Day 1 was so consistent. Mark Haskins and Flash Morgan Webster told a great story in their hard-hitting affair, with the former Progress Champion making Webster tap after spending time working his leg. And that was followed up by another cracker, as Travis Banks took on Jimmy Havoc. A wild encounter that featured plenty of chair throwing at ringside and dives into the crowd. Banks came into the weekend as one of the favourites and he took down the longest reigning Progress Champion with a brutal Kiwi Crusher. Some brutal sequences in this one from two of the best in the world! The final match of the first half of Day 1 saw Zack Sabre Jr take on another man making his Progress debut, David Starr! This really was wrestling of the highest quality and undoubtedly the best match of Day 1 (pipping Banks/Havoc to the accolade). As you'd expect this was so technically sound, with both guys exchanging holds, throws and strikes as the crowd lapped it up. This was my first exposure to Starr and he immediately turned into someone I want to see a lot more of! Zack worked Starr's arm viciously at times, the submission specialist looking for a tap-out victory. The match just grew in intensity as it went on, the strikes getting harder and Sabre taking a nasty flatliner through the ropes. The Technical Wizard was able to fight back though, making Davey Wrestling tap out to a Rings Of Saturn. A fantastic match. The consistency continued with Jack Sexsmith vs Zack Gibson. These two met not long ago, with the Scouser Gibson taking the win there via countout, and this match was even better! A fantastic story was told, with Sexsmith never giving up, taking everything Gibson could throw at him and still coming back for more. Zack even tried what got him the win last time, a Helter Skelter on the floor but even that wasn't enough! After trying it again in the ring, a battered Sexsmith was somehow able to counter into a roll-up to send the crowd wild! Jack's popularity continues to rise in Progress, he really is one of the most over stars in the company! Tyler Bate came into the tournament without his WWE UK Championship, having lost it to Pete Dunne in Chicago the week before, but that didn't stop him putting a beating on Pastor William Eaver, managing to get by the former Progress Champion with a brutal Tyler Driver! So, we moved on to a match which had me drooling when the draw was made, as Mark Andrews took on the high flying luchador from DragonGate, Flamita! After the ring introductions (Flamita's in Spanish, naturally!), the two exchanged quick counters to the delight of the crowd. The pace continued to build and soon there were backflips and rope armdrags flying everywhere! When Flamita was announced for the weekend, barely anyone had heard of him but he quickly won the crowd over! Just as the pace went up, it went back down as the two men entered a hard strike battle, working the crowd like complete pros, showing there's more to their game than speed and flips. After Flamita picked it up again after a huge swan dive to the outside I knew that we were seeing maybe the most well-constructed match of the first round. The crowd lapped up the final stages of this contest, which saw some incredible offence from both men, with Flamita finally taking the win with his patented Flam Fly in what some may call an upset. The final contest of Day 1 was a real surprise. I was all ready for a great battle between Matt Riddle and Trent Seven, but the Progress Tag Team Champion seemed determined to delay proceedings with a promo that touched on his success in WWE's UK division, even giving a shout out to his 'colleague' Brock Lesnar! This only served to fire up the Progress Atlas Champion, nailing Seven with a huge flying knee right off the bell, knocking him out for the pinfall victory in SIX SECONDS! The crowd erupted at such an amazing moment, as Day 1 of Super Strong Style 16 ended on a high! Day 2 We moved into Day 2 with some mouth-watering quarter final matches on the card and it was another show filled with great matches! After a non-tournament match saw Mark Andrews and Morgan Webster overcome the London Riots, the quarter finals kicked off with Mark Haskins taking on Tyler Bate. What a start! These two have always had such great chemistry, and this was no exception. The bout didn't take to heat up, with Haskins connecting with some brutal strikes and it wasn't long before both men were wailing on each other in the middle of the ring before Bate took control with some submissions. The match continued and built to a great pace, with both men hitting nearly everything in the arsenal to try and advance to the semis! But after a run in from his stablemates Pete Dunne and Trent Seven, it was Bate who was victorious. A screwy finish to a very good match. Unfortunately Zack Sabre Jr vs Jack Sexsmith did not last very long at all. The Pansexual Phenomenon coming to the ring with his arm in a sling, saying that he was injured the previous day. However this did not stop him from competing, against the wishes of Progress management. Sadly, despite his best efforts to wrestle with one arm, Sabre made quick work of him before the crowd gave Sexsmith a standing ovation for his brave effort. And so we come to a match that will live long in my memory. The final quarter final of the half saw Jeff Cobb take on Matt Riddle. The Atlas Champion tried to end things just like he did the previous day, but the big Cobb was having none of it, exchanging holds with Riddle before chopping the hell out of each other. The Ballroom faithful really came alive when they then exchanged gut wrench suplexes as the intensity increased. Cobb really has made his name on these shores through his Lucha Underground work as Matanza, but his performances this weekend really will open the eyes of so many more fans. Some amazing sequences here, including a Riddle knee lift countered into a brutal spinning back suplex. It was at this point fans realised they were seeing something rather special, and it just continued to build! A simply incredible final few minutes had the crowd unglued, as Riddle was finally able to connect with the running knee strike to put Cobb away. I urge everyone to watch this match. Simply amazing, and I'd even go as far to say in the Top 5 Progress matches of all time! The second half kicked off with an all international affair with New Zealand's Travis Banks taking on the Mexican Flamita. Again, Flamita was quick out of the blocks here, taking control using his quickness and attacks over the top rope. The Ballroom crowd really took to Flamita over the weekend, a talent that very few of them would have heard of beforehand, a real testament to his ability. After Banks had come back into the game with a cannonball and stiff kicks the two competitors were evenly matched, before Banks hit a big fishermans buster. The finish to this strong contest came when Flamita tapped to a crossface after missing a huge move off the top rope. Travis Banks advances to the final day alongside Bate, Riddle, and Sabre Jr! After a non-tournament tag team match saw Trent Seven (mercilessly taunted by the crowd following his six second loss to Matt Riddle the previous day) and the Progress Champion Pete Dunne take down the team of Pastor William Eaver and David Starr, we moved onto our historic main event. The first ever Progress Women's Champion was crowned as Jinny took on Laura Di Matteo and Toni Storm in a Triple Threat match! The final of the Natural Progression Series was certainly high stakes! All three women started off exchanging roll-ups, looking to get the early shock win, before Di Matteo took it to her former boss, Jinny. It's really telling that 2 of these ladies were trained at the Progress training school, the ProJo. The facility in London really has produced some brilliant talents over the last 3 years! Toni managed to get back into the match with some suplexes, before Di Matteo showed what she is willing to risk with a big somersault flip to the outside. After Toni and Jinny were sent through the ringside chairs, the action hotted up even more in ring with Storm coming close to the win, before Jinny nailed both ladies with a Rainmaker, an homage to her trainer, Jimmy Havoc. As the action got even hotter, the ladies battled up to the entrance stage to inflict more damage! The crowd willing on 'Anyone But Jinny' as they fought back to the ring, with Jinny trying to employ dirty tactics to get the win. However, it was not to be, as Storm was able to hit her fourth piledriver of the match to make history and become the first ever Progress Women's Champion! A brilliant main event to close out Day 2, with plenty still to come on Day 3! Day 3 So we come to the final day! Who would become Number 1 Contender? Before the tournament continued, we had a 'Wasteman Challenge' where a lot of wrestlers wanted to answer the open challenge of Bodyguy Roy Johnson. David Starr, Pastor William Eaver, Flamita, Flash Morgan Webster and Mark Andrews all came down to the ring and took time to cut some rhymes on Johnson (with Andrews being particularly savage!). This eventually broke down into a fun six-way match which saw Flamita come away with the win. So, to the semi finals! Who would stamp their ticket into the final? Travis Banks took on Zack Sabre Jr in a match where the technical skill on show was off the charts, however surprisingly it started off as a hard hitting brawl, with some hard strikes from both men. But before too long, it turned into a technical battle between two of the best in the world, the intensity already increasing. With Sabre trying for the tap-out victory, Banks was forced to concentrate more on his hard-hitting offence, powerbombing his way out of a triangle hold. With Sabre hitting an uncharacteristic powerbomb of his own, you could really tell that these guys would do anything to advance to the final, with Banks finally able to take down the Englishman with his second Slice Of Heaven! A match high on quality, but what else were you expecting with these two?! Who would The Kiwi Buzzsaw face though? The second semi final saw Atlas Champion Matt Riddle going up against Tag Team Champion, Tyler Bate! Could Riddle knock off both Tag Champions in one tournament? After taking his shoes off to match Riddles style, the two exchanged throws and holds, before Riddle took control with rolling gut wrench suplexes. Even early on, you could tell these two had great chemistry, as demonstrated at the Progress show in Manchester the month before. Looking back at this match, you would never guess it was between a man who has been wrestling for around 2 years, and a 20 year old. It just shows just how great each of these guys are. Both have such a great future! As this match went on, the strikes just got harder and harder, with some big suplexes thrown in for good measure. But when Riddle was unable to keep Bate down with his biggest moves, he had to wonder what he had to do to punch his ticket into the final! It was for nothing however, as Bate shortly after hit 2 straight Tyler Drivers to advance to the Super Strong Style Final. And what a statement, beating the Atlas Champion without the aid of his British Strong Style partners! Before the final, we had some other business to take care of. First of all, we found a Number 1 Contender for Toni Storm's newly-won Progress Women's Championship, with Kay Lee Ray taking down Katey Harvey. She'll take on Storm at the next Chapter, 'I Give It Six Months'. Next up, we saw a Submission Match with Mark Haskins with a score to settle with Trent Seven after he cost Haskins his match against Tyler Bate on Day 2. Unfortunately it was Seven who took this in controversial fashion, putting a Sharpshooter on an unconscious Haskins, after he had ducked a Jimmy Havoc chair shot! I'd say this is definitely not over! Finally, before the tournament final, we had a Progress Championship match as Pete Dunne defended against a man who had what will surely be one of the best matches of the year the previous day, 'Mr Athletic' Jeff Cobb! As you'd expect, Cobb threw the champ around like ragdoll at times, with Dunne using cheap tactics to get back into the contest. It was not a day for a new champion however, with Dunne retaining in a solid match with via a big Bitter End. So, it comes down to this. The final is upon us as Travis Banks goes up against Tyler Bate to become Number 1 Contender! Banks defeating Jimmy Havoc, Flamita, and Zack Sabre Jr to reach the climax of the weekend, where Bate bested Pastor William Eaver, Mark Haskins, and Matt Riddle. The stage was set, and it was an absolute barnstormer! The Progress Ultras were in fine voice as the two started out cautiously, not wanting to make a mistake as they exchanged early holds. The match countinued to move at a methodical pace, with strikes being exchanged and Bate bringing out Bop and Bang. After taking one of Bate's airplane spins (one of the fastest I've seen too!), Banks should have had it won three times, but a combination of refs being taken out and run ins saw the match descend into chaos, as CCK ran in to a huge pop to take out Dunne and Seven! So the playing field was level again, and the match intensified even more, becoming one of the best of the weekend. After trading dives to the outside, Bate looked to seriously injure Banks with a Tombstone on the floor, even trying to bring a chair into the mix. The Kiwi had the crowd on their feet soon after though, nailing a Coast To Coast dropkick! Bate however still fought back, hitting a picture perfect Spiral Tap, a move I've never ever seen him even attempt before. No matter what Bate hit, Banks just would not die. Such drama. Bate's downfall came though, when he was unable to hit a top rope Tyler Driver, with Travis coming back with a huge top-rope Kiwi Crusher before locking in the Crossface to have Bate finally tap out in a fitting final! The Progress Ultras throwing streamers into the ring as confetti rained down! A real celebration! Post-match Travis took to the mic, and declared when he'll be taking his title match. In September at Alexandra Palace, Progress Wrestling's biggest show of the year! Will he become Progress World Champion? Will Pete Dunne make it there still with his title belt? I for one cannot wait for the journey over the summer. Join me next month as we'll take a look at the next stop to Ally Pally, 'I Give It Six Months'! If you like my ramblings, give me a follow on Twitter at @TopRopeElbow
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Hello everyone! BritWresReview's resident Progress fanboy Steve here again, with a look at the most recent show at the Electric Ballroom, Chapter 47: Complicated Simplicity!
What better way to get the crowd hyped for the first match than The Pride Of Wales, Eddie Dennis! He brought himself to the ring to take on a man undefeated in Progress, James Drake. It's been a very long time since Eddie has had a singles match in Progress, and he was slow out of the blocks as Drake jumped him before the bell and brutalised him outside the ring. With the crowd rallying behind the Welshman, he was able to connect with a dive to the outside. The match became more physical as time wore on, Drake connecting with hard offence before Dennis was able to hit a huge superplex. The crowd warmed up for Eddie's comeback, but the end came soon after when Drake was able to capitalise on Eddie being distracted by the referee stopping him laying in some vicious chops, hitting the Mr Mayhem DDT to chalk up yet another win. I'm still yet to see the fascination with Drake. The guy just doesn't get any reaction from me, and I don't think I'm alone in that opinion. I hate being negative about any wrestler, but let's see how he develops in the months to come. Natural Progression Series action next, as the last finalist of the tournament was decided. Who would advance to the final to take on Jinny and Toni Storm? Laura Di Matteo took on Alex Windsor in a match that I enjoyed more upon watching back on Demand Progress. Laura again showed off her new technical MMA-style character, throwing some arm drags in the opening exchanges and throwing in a suicide dive to the outside as well. Windsor is someone who's really grown on me in the last 6 months or so. Carries herself so well, and quite intimidating. She showed off some impressive moves as she came back into the match, nailing a curb stomp, top rope dropkick and an impressive blue-thunderbomb. It even looked like she may take a submission win with a twisting sharpshooter, but Di Matteo was able to break out and lock in a submission of her own, with Windsor tapping out to a Rings Of Saturn-esque hold. So at Super Strong Style 16 it will be Jinny v Toni Storm v Laura Di Matteo to become the first Progress Women's Champion, and I've got a feeling it'll be one of the matches of the 3 day weekend event! The third match of the afternoon saw a Chapter debut and also an all-Welsh battle as crowd favourite Flash Morgan Webster took on one half of the ICW Tag Team Champions, Mike Bird! Bird showed his intentions early, spitting in Webster's face and taking him to the outside to beat him down. Flash was able to rally with an attempt at his Strangler submission hold before nailing an impressive hurricanrana after swinging round the ringpost 619-style! This was also a battle of teacher and student, Bird training Webster when he first started out, and the teacher took control with a big blue thunderbomb, following it up with a crucifix powerbomb for a great near fall. The match really hotted when Flash was able to counter a Death Valley Driver into a reverse hurricanrana. I admit that I lost my shit at that! This was probably the best Progress match Flash has had since his return from injury, and was able to pick up the win when catching Bird with a big kick as Ginger Jesus came off the top rope, before locking in the Strangler. But the defiant Bird was determined not to tap out to his student, giving the crowd the middle finger before passing out. Following the match, Flash took to the mic to thank the crowd for their support through his injury lay-off, but someone in the back took exception to that, with James Drake attacking the Welshman on the stage. A Super Strong Style 16 qualifying match now awaits both of them in Manchester. An intriguing match, seeing as I had both of them down as locks for the tournament. The main event of the first half of the show was an emotionally charged tag team affair, with The South Pacific Power Trip took on the gatekeepers of the Progress tag team division, The London Riots! The match was tinged with more than a little sadness, as it marked TK Cooper and Dahlia Black's final Progress appearance before they headed back to their native New Zealand. Their visas are running out and they have to go home. They received a huge ovation as they made their way to the ring, along with the Kiwi Buzzsaw, Travis Banks, and even a standing ovation for their ring introductions! After the early exchanges which saw Rob Lynch attempt a kip-up and plenty of hugs for everyone, things got a little crazy as all 4 guys too turns in diving to the outside, before JD back body dropped Cooper off the top rope to the outside, with the Kiwi narrowly avoiding a nasty landing! After following this up with a crazy top rope moonsault to the outside, Dahlia Black took exception to the beating her boys were taking, slapping Davis and throwing her moon boot at him (Dahlia still injured after her match with Toni Storm in March). The crowd really hotted up as the Power Trip hit an assited RKO for a big 2 count. It wasn't long before came back into it with a crazy Destroyer flip-piledriver from the big man Lynch, which then led into a crazy finishing stretch with some great near falls, before Cooper and Banks were finally able to finish the former tag team champions off with their finisher, the Sky Tower! The fans immediately rose to their feet in appreciation of a fantastic match, as TK and Dahlia took turns in saying their goodbyes, thanking Jim, Jon, and Glen for taking such a big risk with them when they came over from New Zealand so inexperienced. After Glen offered them a future tag team title shot whenever they were able to come back, British Strong Style entered the fray to show what they thought of this ruling. Viciously attacking TK, and taking out his leg with a conchairto, it took a run in from RingKampf to stop the beatdown. TK still managed to leave under his own power though, as him and Black went up the aisle with the fans singing their praises. I'm sure gonna miss those two, hopefully they manage to find a way back over here before too long. Before the second half kicked off proper, we found out the first entrant into this years Super Strong Style 16 tournament being held over the Bank Holiday weekend at the end of May. That morning, former Progress Champion Pastor William Eaver had successfully completed the London Marathon, running over 26 miles to raise nearly £3000 for RAPT, a charity which helps offenders when they are released from prison. Still decked out in his Marathon gear, Jim said that he was so proud of how far Eaver had come both in wrestling and in his personal life (listen to his interview on the Tuesday Night Jaw podcast to hear the Pastor's story), and said he was the first competitor in the hat for May's tournament! Kicking off Part 2 of the show, we had Number 1 Contenders action in the Battle Of The Marks as Haskins took on Andrews! As you'd expect, this was a very technically sound opening with chain wrestling and Haskins attempting his patented armbar early. These two guys always put in top quality performances and the pace quickened as the match progressed, with Haskins trying a stretch muffler submission before both men took turns in diving to the outside. After Andrews had taken Haskins into the crowd with a hurricanrana, Haskins fought back with a Death Valley Driver on the apron. The crowd were lapping this up as Andrews took Haskins off the top rope with a brilliant jumping hurricanrana before missing his finishing Shooting Star Press. It wasn't long before this match was over however, when Haskins locked in a triangle choke, only for Andrews to move his weight and pin Haskins' shoulders to the mat just as he tapped out! With the finish coming a little out of nowhere, the crowd did not really know what to think, as Jim announced the contest as a draw, and that both men would now challenge for the Progress Championship in Manchester. Our penultimate contest saw a match with a lot on the line as Jack Sexsmith took on Paul Robinson in a Super Strong Style 16 qualifying match. In addition to this, Robinson had stated that if he can't beat The Pansexual Phenomenon he would leave Progress for good! High stakes indeed! And we were off to a quick start as Sexsmith attacked Robinson from behind during his entrance, an advantage which did not last long as he got back into it quickly and began pounding viciously on the crowd favourite. He would not be down for long though, coming back into it with a huge jumping DDT, before Mr Cocko made an appearance and the Crossface was locked in! Robinson however knew how to get out of it, and showed Jack what he thought of Mr Cocko by chewing it up and spitting it in his face to great heat from the crowd. After exchanging Destroyers, Sexsmith just would not stay down, withstanding every big move that was thrown at him, including a Curb Stomp and an OsCutter (a shoutout to Robinson's former tag partner, Will Ospreay). Robinson's crucial mistake came when he went for a second Curb Stomp, with Jack able to lock in the Crossface again, this time for the tap out victory! We have our second entrant into Super Strong Style 16! However post-match the mood changed from one of joy from waving goodbye to Robinson, to one of sadness as he got a mic and revealed that he has to step away from Progress for medical reasons. Due to a blood clotting condition that has been passed down through his family, he can no longer perform at the high standards he is so proud of. The Progress family immediately gave him a standing ovation as he made his way to the back. Thanks for everything Paul, you truly were the world's best dickhead. And so onto the main event where so much could possibly happen. British Strong Style took on Ringkampf, with every Progress title on the line! If any of Ringkampf beat Pete Dunne, there would be a new Progress Champion! If any of Ringkampf beat Tyler Bate or Trent Seven, there would be new Progress Tag Team Champions! The crowd was rabid for the start of this and we started off steady with Axel Dieter Jr showing off his offence which many have likened to Cesaro in WWE. In fact Ringkampf started so strongly, the champs were sent scurrying to the outside! It really broke down after British Strong Style were kicked off of the apron by the challengers though, the action spilling all over the Electric Ballroom. Back in the ring, things threatened to break down between the champions themselves after Tyler was pushed into the path of a huge Walter chop by Dunne. The action was unrelenting and picked up another notch when Timothy Thatcher made a hot tag to Dieter Jr, before Walter cleaned house with a huge double German suplex. After surviving a triple submission, the champions came back into it with Bate nailing one of the most insane deadlift German suplexes I've ever seen! The young man from Dudley has strength that rivals anyone in wrestling in my opinion. The finishing stretch saw a crazy triple Tombstone piledriver to Dieter Jr, before the champions picked up the cheap win when Dunne nailed Walter with the title belt when a sleeper was locked in on Seven. The champions retain again! Post-match the Ballroom again rose to its feet for a standing ovation to Axel Dieter Jr who will soon be off to the WWE Performance Centre in Orlando. An immensely talented guy, and one who will be missed not just at Progress but wherever he wrestles. So we finished with an absolutely crazy main event to end a show that while I feel lacked a little in quality, more than made up for in emotion. So, we move onto an exciting few weeks as Super Strong Style 16 draws ever closer! The draw is nearly complete, and it's looking spectacular! I'll be back soon with a special preview of the show, looking at all 16 entrants! This Is Progress! Tropic Thunderbastard
So here we are again, grapple fans! After a great first show in Birmingham (featuring surprise appearances from Tommy End, and a certain Mr Finn Balor who ended up having a game of musical chairs with the fans!), Progress is back in London at the Electric Ballroom! We didn't even have to wait til the start of the show before things started happening. Whilst the crowd was still filing in/getting merch/getting the beers in, Pastor William Eaver appears from the back with his 'master' Sebastian, who then proceeds to force the former Progress Champion to don a Staff shirt and work the event as ring crew! Obviously, Eaver has to comply otherwise Sebastian could end his career. What a dick! 4pm comes, and the show is on! After the customary introductions and a few gags from Jim Smallman, we get going with our first match of the day. The London Riots taking on the debuting Northern Irish team of Bonesaw and Damian Corvin, The Kings Of The North. The crowd didn't take too kindly to the new boys, kindly reminding them that they're 'from the shit part of Ireland' and also poking fun at Bonesaw's single red glove throughout the match. Rob Lynch brings out his own glove at the start, beginning the bout with a 'glove duel' before the teams go at it, with each man hitting their opponents with stereo flipping Samoan drops and senton splashes. After brawling to the outside, the four men take in turns in diving to the outside, with James Davis topping it off with a flip off the top rope! After the Riots hit a hangman senton on the inside, the Kings are able to get back into it with some impressive double teaming. Bonesaw impressed me here, the guy has a great look and is very hard hitting. Not sure about the glove though? The closing stages saw Davis go Attitude Era and nail a Stunner and Rock Bottom. Now in control, it wasn't long before they were able to hit the District Line, followed by a GBH for the win. The Kings come up short in their debut, and while I didn't think they were bad, I wasn't blown away either. Maybe I need to see them again to make my mind up. Before the second match, we got the news of a change in the Thunderbastard match later. Jim informed us that Paul Robinson was injured and they were working on a replacement. So on we went with a Natural Progression Series match, to find another semi-finalist in the Womens Title tournament. Another competitor making her Progress Chapter debut, Chakara, taking on Jinny's former personal assistant, Laura Di Matteo. Laura came out looking focused and sporting a new look, with her hair in corn-rows and a new rose tattoo on her neck. A new MMA image that I kinda liked. Chakara got into this match by qualifying at ENDVR against the now retired Pollyanna (who had been knocked out by Jinny in Round 1 but wanted another shot to get back in). Laura started off aggressively with some arm drags and it wasn't long before she hit a beautiful suicide dive to the outside (when Will Ospreay compliments your suicide dive, you know you're doing it right!). When Chakara did get back into it with some knee strikes and a hangman neckbreaker the crowd seemed very flat. While her look has improved since she wrestled Polly, she still struggles to engage a crowd I feel. Something she needs to work on, but has time on her side as she's still young. The end of this match came when Laura kicked out of a big DDT, and out of nowhere was able to lock in a submission for the tap-out. I'm liking the new direction of Di Matteo, and hopefully she can mix up her arsenal a bit to make it more legit. When Jim Smallman was about to kick off match three, he realised that there was a ready-made replacement for the Thunderbastard match right at ringside! He tells Pastor William Eaver to go get ready for the match to a big pop from the crowd. And we're onto the third bout of today, as BodyGuy Roy Johnson takes on the debuting 'Massive' Jurn Simmons from WXW. The debuting Dutchman boasts probably the longest entrance in wrestling today (I'm talking longer than Undertaker at Wrestlemania!), which consists of well over 5 minutes of him gyrating and air-guitaring on the stage! Coming off featuring in the WWE UK Title Tournament on the WWE Network, this was Johnson's first Progress appearance since then, so I was surprised to see such a split crowd. Massive Jurn took early control, dominating with shoulder charges, and slamming Roy into each corner. Even when Roy tried to get into the match, Jurn countered, including an impressive kip-up! Eventually the man from South London got back into it, nailing a couple of impressive Samoan drops. However, the big Dutchman was not to be denied, coming back with an impressive gut-wrench sitout powerbomb, and soon following it up with a huge piledriver to pick up a debut win. I struggled with this match a bit, feeling that Simmons is all about the entrance. While he isn't bad per se, I didn't really see much that made me think 'Yeah, I wanna see this guy again!' The first half main event saw tag team action as the South Pacific Power Trip take on the team of Axel Dieter Jr and Walter, Ring Kampf. And boy, this one was an absolute doozy! Still sitting on their No.1 Contendership, the Power Trip have grown into one of my favourite acts in Progress in the last few months, and I was equally as impressed with the WXW team too. Dieter Jr reminds me a lot of Cesaro, and Walter is just one of the hardest hitters out there today. After Banks and Dieter exchanged some great holds, Walter was able to take control with some huuuuge chops and boots. After more uppercuts from Axel, the Kiwis were able to come back with a nice knee smash neckbreaker combo. For all the work Cooper and Banks do in the ring, you can't discount Dahlia Black on the outside as part of their package, she really s so good at playing her part. After more double teams from RIng Kampf, Walter took a big double slam off the top rope before the 3 smaller men took turns in diving to the outside, culminating in an impressive twisting corkscrew moonsault from TK Cooper. Dahlia had seen enough after RIng Kampf had nailed a nice powerbomb uppercut combo double team, but to the shock of the crowd was nailed by a huge kick from Walter which sent her flying off the apron! A real Holy Shit moment! A frantic finishing stretch saw Cooper attacking Walter at ringside with a chair, while Banks hit a dirty kick on Dieter in the turnbuckles. Axel attempted a comeback with a White Noise but the Kiwis were able to pick up the win when Cooper grabbed the legs of Axel during a suplex attempt and Banks was able to steal the pin. The Power Trip continue to build momentum after a stellar match and I would not be surprised to see them win the Tag Shields when they eventually get their shot. The second half of the show kicked off with the 8 man Thunderbastard match. For the uninitiated, this is an 8 man match where another man enters every 2 mins (Royal Rumble style, complete with countdown clock) and eliminations can occur via pinfall, submission, or DQ. The winner is guaranteed a future Progress title shot. The first 2 men out are Mark Andrews and Marty Scurll. After a slow start, thanks to some stalling by the Villain, we get our next entrant, Trent Seven, one half of the tag team champions. After some dives to the outside from Andrews and Seven, we quickly get entrant number 3, Jack Sexsmith, one of the most popular guys to come out of the ProJo training school. He quickly takes control, hitting a neckbreaker-DDT combo. The timer hits zero and Pastor William Eaver enters as entrant number 4. Or does he?! Soon after his music hits, Sebastian interrupts and demands that he take Eaver's place, who of course has to comply. The amazing heat for Sebastian quickly turns into a huge pop for Sexsmith as he rolls him up for a quick elimination. Unfortunately Jack gets an impressive looking spinning Unprettier as revenge, before the Pastor can't take it any more and runs to the ring to attack Sebastian! What ramifications will this have?! Next in is Liverpool's Number 1, Zack Gibson who does his usual pre-match promo on the outside of the ring before falling to a Mark Andrews dive! It's not long before Nathan Cruz enters the match and the Origin start their double teams. The last entrant is Dave Mastiff, who gets a big pop and plenty of thumbs-up. Gibson and Cruz have not taken well to Mastiff's recent clowning around and 'banter' with El Ligero, and it's not long before The Origin explodes! Mastiff giving the thumbs down to Cruz and Gibson's thumbs up, before laying them out with suplexes. Scurll tried to lock in a chickenwing but fell to a quick roll up from Seven The big man Mastiff then took control of the match, including a huge suicide dive to the outside before falling to a double codebreaker from Cruz and Gibson. Trent Seven was the next to fall from a combo of moves from Andrews, including a big brainbuster and standing moonsault. Following the attack by Sebastian, Jack Sexsmith came back down to the ring and took out the Origin with a double Mr Cocko, and it wasn't long before Nathan Cruz was tapping to a Crossface to send the crowd wild. Could the underdog really do the unthinkable?! Maybe he could, after surviving a Ticket To Ride and almost making Zack tap out, but alas, one Helter Skelter later and Jack was heading to the back. So it came down to Andrews and Gibson! The Scouser quickly went to work on the Welshman's arm, and even took time out to finish his promo from earlier! After hitting a Ticket To Ride for a 2, Andrews refused to tap to the Shankly Gates. This fantastic match ended with Andrews countering a Helter Skelter into a stunner, before he hits a beautiful Shooting Star Press for the win! Mark Andrews now is guaranteed a future title match! Our main event saw Jimmy Havoc challenge WWE UK Title Tournament finalist Pete Dunne for the Progress World Title. The disrespectful champion was accompanied by Trent Seven, who showed exactly what they think of the company by dropping and treading on the belt. During Jim Smallman's introductions, Seven tried to cheap shot Havoc from behind, only for the King Of The Goths to grab the title belt and level him with it! Once the bell rang, the match started at a crazy pace, immediately spilling to the outside where it was mere seconds before they took in turns throwing each other through numerous rows of chairs. It was technically a handicap match, with Trent trying his best to take out Jimmy whenever the ref's back was turned. Havoc took control of the match with a fantastic looking suicide dive to the outside, turning it into a tornado DDT in mid-air! Pete showed his dirty side back in the ring, biting Havoc's fingers so he was unable to hit his Rainmaker. After a low blow, he hit a Pedigree for a big 2 count. Great moment! Moments later, Jimmy was able to hit the Rainmaker, but the bell was rung for the DQ when Seven broke it up. The two thirds of British Strong Style then decided to punish the longest reigning Progress Champion of all time, by bringing chairs into the ring. Havoc looked like he was in for a brutal beatdown before some familiar music played to a big pop, and out strolled Flash Morgan Webster! A man not seen in Progress in nearly a year, since being injured in his WWE Cruiserweight Classic qualifier! But we weren't finished yet! Then the opening riff of Nowhere To Hide by Crobot blared, and out came Mark Haskins to one of the biggest pops I've ever heard in Progress! Thought to be out for a long stretch with a neck injury, Haskins and Webster ran to the ring and took down Dunne and Seven while the crowd exploded. After a Sharpshooter and guillotine choke sent British Strong Style packing, Haskins got a mic and proclaimed that they were ready for war, and they are cleared to wrestle! I'm so happy to have these guys back in the fold and can't wait to see where all this is heading. So, another show in the books, and while the first few matches did pass me by a little at times (maybe hindered by so many wrestlers making their Progress or Ballroom debuts), the first half main event was excellent, as was the Thunderbastard and main event. While the aftermath was such a feel good moment, which got an incredible live reaction. Progress returns to Camden on the 26th February, for the brilliantly named Old Man Yells At Cloud. I'll be there as usual, so I'll have another review for you to peruse very soon. TopRopeElbow signing out! On December 30th, Progress Wrestling presented their final show of 2016. But this was a show with a difference, something they'd never done before. Unboxing Live was a mystery show! No matches or even wrestlers announced beforehand! I was a little wary as to how this show would come across, but of course Progress pulled another stellar show out of the bag!
So after the customary introduction and chat from co-owner and ring announcer Jim Smallman, we were off! Six person tag action started us off with the South Pacific Power Trio (Travis Banks, TK Cooper and Dahlia Black) taking on former Progress tag champs FSU (Eddie Dennis and Mark Andrews) and Nixon Newell. Cooper and Dahlia are a great double act, having been trained from the Progress training school (The ProJo), and Travis Banks has been one of my favourite new wrestlers of the year. The New Zealander has so much potential. The heels played their parts well here, double teaming when they could. This was only stopped when Eddie grabbed Dahlia and threaten to kiss her, which in turn made Cooper do the same to Nixon, and Mark Andrews to Banks! Andrews and Banks did end up smooching after being dropkicked into each other which got a great pop from the crowd. After FSU and Nixon performed stereo dives to the outside, Newell was able to hit some brutal headbutts on Banks, nail Cooper with a Welsh Destroyer, before putting Dahlia down for 3 with the Shiniest Wizard. A really fun 6-person tag which everyone seemed to enjoy. Up next we had women's action, featuring Kay Lee Ray and Natural Progression Series semi-finalist Toni Storm. While Progress is in the middle of their tournament to crown their first Women's Champion, this was a non-tournament match. Kay Lee is not in the tournament due to scheduling issues but has promised she will be waiting to challenge the eventual winner. A strong start to the match saw both women bringing out plenty of counters, before Storm gained control by using plenty of offence using her posterior. After both women hit dives to the outside, Storm was able to hit a very impressive Bridging Muscle Buster. Kay Lee fought her way back into the match, but was still unable to put the Aussie away with a Gory Bomb and a top rope Swanton. The end for the Scot came when Storm was able to counter out of a guillotine submission hold into a big suplex. After following it up with multiple German suplexes and a huge piledriver she was able to get the pinfall in an impressive outing. If the rest of the Natural Progression Series is as good as this, we're in for a real treat in 2017. We move onto the third match now, though I use the term 'match' in it's loosest terms, because here comes Bodyguy Roy Johnson for his Wasteman Challenge. For the uneducated, a Wasteman Challenge sees Bodyguy come and issue an open challenge for anyone to come to the ring to either have a match, or if they're feeling particularly 'wavy', a battle rap. Answering the call today is a man not seen in Progress since Chapter 14, the retired Mad Man Manson! A big pop greeted the man, as he made his way down to the ring to the theme song to The Littlest Hobo. Manson has always been hilarious, and made me spit my drink out when he took the mic from Roy, saying 'Thankyou black man!'. So, the battle rap was on, Roy spitting lyrics and showing his brilliant charisma, referencing moments from Manson's Progress career, before leading everyone in a singalong to Celine Dion's My Heart Will Go On (a reference to Manson's brilliant comedy match with Grado at Chapter 12). So now it was time for Manson to retaliate, and how do you do this? By leading a crazy lip-sync to Wham's Wake Me Up Before You Go Go! I'm still not entirely sure how this segment made sense but damn, it was hilarious! The final match before the interval saw a match for the vacant Tag Team Titles. These were held by Pete Dunne and Trent Seven (British Strong Style) but Progress management vacated them when Dunne gave one of the titles to their new stablemate, Tyler Bate, with their authorisation. At first it looked like this was going to be a straight 2 on 2 tag match between the London Riots and what was formerly known as Moustache Mountain, Bate and Seven. However another team entered the fray. Marty Scurll strode onto stage and introduced his partner (quite literally 'unboxing' him from an equipment trolley!) Zack Sabre Jr. The LDRS were back in Progress! The match started off at a good pace, with Scurll and Seven partaking in some brutal chops, but the LDRS manage to take control with some double teams. The Riots come back in with a double-team hangmans senton splash. This led to pretty much every man in the match diving to the outside to send the crowd wild. Back in the ring, there was a great multi-man submission spot which Trent broke up when he just couldn't find another spare body part to lock a hold onto! After the Riots hit the District Line, the LDRS came back strong again with Scurll locking on a Chicken Wing. They came back again locking in stereo arm-bars and chicken wings, which were broken up. This proved to be the beginning of the end for them as Zack was taken out shortly after with a piledriver and a Tombstone for Trent and Tyler to become the new Tag Team Champions. A really strong match that had everything. While I do think the Progress tag division can lack depth sometimes, they really know how to do multi man matches so well. Upon their exit, they motioned that they want title belts instead of the shields that Progress have had since the start of their tag division. Is this something we'll see in the future? It'll also be interesting to see what will happen with Tyler in Progress, after winning the WWE UK Title this past week. Will he defend it in Progress? Will he become automatic babyface now, and how will Progress manage to keep his crowd reactions on the heel side? Our first match in the second half saw Trent and Tyler's stablemate in British Strong Style, Pete Dunne, come to the ring for a Progress World Title defence. His opponent was someone I was very impressed with in the WWE Cruiserweight Classic, the Italian Fabian Aichner! Dunne has had a stellar 2017, breaking out in many UK promotions, along with making his PWG debut in the BOLA tournament. Aichner starts this out showing his agility, breaking out of Dunne's holds with multiple kip-ups. The agility of Aichner is astounding, as he hits a beautiful springboard clothesline to Pete. One thing I especially love about Dunne is his heel work, and he shows this in spades in this match, biting his opponent to get back into the match. The pace starts to quicken, especially when Fabian hit a stunning springboard frog-splash cross body to the outside which got a huge pop. The height he gets on this move is insane. Aichner continues his assault, looking like he may cause an upset after a brilliant springboard tornado DDT, following up with a sitout powerbomb for a big 2 count. Unfortunately the end was near for the Italian, as after missing a double jump moonsault, Dunne is able to hit his Drop Dead finisher to escape by the skin of his teeth still your Progress World Champion. He will face No.1 Contender Jimmy Havoc in his next defence in a couple of weeks at the Electric Ballroom. Before the main event, we had a tag team match featuring 4 talents from the Progress training school, the ProJo. Out came Sebastian with his 'servant' Pastor William Eaver. They would be facing the team of 'Sexually Frivilous, Morally Ambigious' Jack Sexsmith and cool surfer dude Chuck Mambo, the brilliantly named Sex On The Beach! If you're not up on Eaver's current angle, Sebastian has him under his control because of a real-life incident at Progress' biggest ever show in Brixton that has been turned into an angle. At the start of their No DQ match, Eaver legit knocked Seb out with a lariat. The match was called off and Sebastian stretchered out after a lengthy (and scary) few minutes being worked on by paramedics. Eaver now has to do Sebastian's bidding or he will contact his lawyers, inform them of what happened and end his career. This match started off with Eaver and Mambo starting off but instead of fighting, they taunted Seb, being team-mates in occasional tag team Sweet Jesus. After getting into the match, Sebastian soon found himself the victim of a bare-arsed stinkface from Sexsmith which sent him to the outside. When he arose, he had a curious brown substance all over his face! Yep, they really went there! Gross! After Mambo hit Sebastian with a somersault to the outside (which I had to move out of the way from myself!), Eaver came into the match and was forced by his 'master' to hit his friend Mambo with 2 hard lariats to take the win. Probably the weakest match on the card but the Eaver/Sebastian angle continues to build and I'm looking forward to seeing where it goes next. And so onto the main event. The place went crazy as the opening notes of I Hope You Suffer echoed round the Ballroom, and down came Jimmy Havoc. And who would he be facing? None other than The Aerial Assassin Will Ospreay! Yep, arguably the feud that made Progress explode in popularity around the wrestling world was about to be reignited! From the second Ospreay came through the curtain you could see the intensity in everything from his facial expressions to the way he moved. The crowd picked up on this and a lot of them seemingly turned on him, booing his every move, the roles reversed from their famous feud a few years ago. The match kicked off ferociously, with the action spilling outside early and Will driving Havoc viciously through an entire section of chairs! It was even more obvious that this was a more determined Ospreay when he focused in on Jimmy's knee that was injured in late 2015 and kept him out of action for the majority of the next year. It was so interesting to see a match we'd seen so many times in Progress before but with the opposite dynamic of Havoc being cheered. Jimmy then showed his resiliance by popping straight up from a brutal Destroyer, and after Ospreay put him down with a draping DDT, Havoc was soon able to take him down with a Burning Hammer! These 2 were not holding back and the crowd were rabid! The end came when Havoc was somehow able to survive the Os-Cutter, and hit his Acid Rainmaker to bring one of the most intense matches in Progress in a long time to a close. After a standing ovation, Havoc then took the mic and praised Will, offering him a chance to team up so they could try and take down the team running roughshod over Progress, British Strong Style. However, Will shockingly turned down this offer by nailing Havoc with a low blow! With the crowd in shock, he then proceeded to beat Havoc all the way up to the stage, where a familiar face came through the curtain, clutching a barbed wire bat. Ospreay's former tag team partner, Paul Robinson! The now seemingly reunited Swords Of Essex proceeded to drag Havoc back to the ring and deliver a brutal beatdown with the bat. What does this mean for Progress? Why has Ospreay turned his back on the fans that adored him so much? I for one cannot wait to see what happens! So a shocking end to one of the most fun shows Progress has ever put on. While there was nothing that blew my mind, there was good storyline progression, everything was enjoyable and the surprise factor of not knowing who was coming out next made this one of the best crowds of the year. So many great pops for the entrance themes! And I loved the ending, leaving Progress 2016 on a real cliffhanger. The Swords Of Essex are back, and this time they're dangerous! Here's to an amazing 2017! See you at the Electric Ballroom! |
Steve DawsonPro graps fan for almost 25 years! Archives
June 2017
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