PROGRESS returned to the Electric Ballroom in Camden, London on Sunday for Chapter 103: “Beer Snake City.” The show saw Cara Noir defend the Unified World Championship in the main event.
– Pre-show: Rocky Mac defeated Josef Kafka
The main show started with new ring announcer Matt Richards announcing that Charli Evans and Tag Team Champion Jordan Devlin’s injuries meant that some changes had to be done to the card. Instead of the advertised tag match of Toni Storm & Jinny vs. Evans & Millie McKenzie, Storm would instead take on McKenzie one-on-one. Scotty Davis would still face the WorkHorsemen in a non-title match with a replacement partner.
– Scotty Davis & Eddie Kingston defeated The WorkHorsemen (JD Drake & Anthony Henry)
Davis pinned Henry for the win. Drake and Kingston had some very hard chop exchanges, while Davis and Henry had a mat-based technical contest with some boxing in between.
– Gisele Shaw defeated Chakara
Shaw got the win by submission. The fans were cheering for her initially, but she gradually dialed up the aggression and started showing off, turning the crowd in favor of Chakara.
– The Anti Fun Police (Chief Deputy Dunne & Los Federales Santos Jr.) & WALTER defeated More Than Hype (LJ Cleary, Nathan Martin & Darren Kearney)
WALTER remained completely serious and refused to partake in Dunne and Santos’ comedy spots in this match. More Than Hype applied a lot of teamwork offense that the crowd ate up.
– Proteus Championship match: Paul Robinson defeated Kyle Fletcher via TKO to retain
Fletcher made use of his size advantage and took control over the champion. The action quickly went outside where chairs were used. Robinson was awarded the victory via TKO after backing Fletcher into the corner and rapidly hitting a flurry of punches to which Fletcher had no answer for.
After the match, Robinson cut an off-the-cuff promo where he explained the rules to the crowd.
– Millie McKenzie defeated Toni Storm
McKenzie hit a spear after Storm was distracted by Charli Evans who was stood on the stage. The Medusa Complex beat down Storm after the match before PROGRESS Women’s Champion Jinny came out to even the odds.
After much deliberation, Storm shook Jinny’s hand before they walked to the back.
– Ilja Dragunov defeated Malik
Dragunov got the win with a Torpedo Moscow running uppercut.
After a post-match moment of respect between both men, Eddie Kingston ran out to attack Dragunov. He cut a promo where he claimed he made people like Adam Cole and Matt Riddle, and said that he is tired of putting people over. He finished the promo by telling Dragunov that after he is done with him, he is coming for his “boyfriend,” referring to Cara Noir.
– PROGRESS Unified World Championship: Cara Noir defeated Mark Andrews to retain
Just as Noir’s entrance was about to climax, Eddie Dennis nudged him with his foot, causing an angry Cara Noir to go straight after Mark Andrews. The crowd was electric throughout this match, firmly in favor of Noir. The finish came as Andrews hit Fall to Pieces, but Noir kicked out and quickly applied a rear naked choke to which Andrews tapped out.
PROGRESS’ next show takes place on Sunday, March 29 with Chapter 104: “Jeff Goldblum’s Fly Machine.”
PROGRESS Wrestling presented its fourth annual “Unboxing Live” mystery show at the Electric Ballroom in London on Monday.
The event also happened to be the historic 100th chapter show for the promotion and was co-founder Jim Smallman’s final PROGRESS show before leaving the company. Here are the results:
– Roy Johnson issued a Wasteman Challenge (a comedy rap battle). The challenge was answered by Ligero, Scotty Davis, Chris Ridgeway, The Anti-Fun Police, Gene Munny, and Kid Lykos.
After winning the rap battle, Lykos was allowed to pick the stipulation for a multi-man match. The crowd erupted when Smallman revealed that Lykos had chosen a reverse battle royal. This prompted an appearance from Travis Banks’ alter-ego, “Stupid Sexy Trav.”
– Chief Deputy Dunne won the reverse battle royal
This was a lot of fun. PROGRESS have often joked about doing a reverse battle royal where competitors are eliminated after being thrown into the ring. Dunne eliminated PROGRESS Tag Team Champion Scotty Davis to win the match.
– Ilja Dragunov defeated Kyle Fletcher
Dragunov got the win with a Torpedo Moscow running uppercut. This was exceptional. Dragunov and Fletcher were very evenly matched throughout and there were a lot of kickouts as a result.
– PROGRESS Unified World Champion Eddie Dennis defeated The OJMO to retain his title
Dennis pushed The OJMO into the referee on multiple occasions. The first time, it favored The OJMO as he got the visual pinfall victory with a frog splash. The second time, Dennis capitalized and pinned The OJMO after hitting the Next Stop Driver.
– PROGRESS Women’s Champion Jinny came down to the ring and said that she was supposed to face Toni Storm, but Storm was unfortunately unable to wrestle due to illness.
Jinny then cut a fiery promo in which she highlighted the importance of the women’s division in PROGRESS’ history and promised to become the focal point of the promotion in 2020.
– Cara Noir defeated Paul Robinson, Connor Mills, and Mark Haskins in a four-way match
This match was not for Robinson’s Proteus Championship. Noir got the pinfall victory after hitting Mills with a package piledriver. The PROGRESS fans gave Haskins a hero’s welcome as he returned to the Electric Ballroom.
– Moustache Mountain (Trent Seven & Tyler Bate) defeated Dan Moloney & Rampage Brown
The crowd went wild for Rampage Brown’s return, especially so as he entered to his original copyrighted theme song. He had a hard-hitting chop battle with Seven and displayed tremendous power at the expense of Bate.
Moustache Mountain hit a knee-assisted Birminghammer on Moloney and Seven picked up the win by pinfall.
– Jimmy Havoc defeated David Starr in a death match
Havoc entered to his copyrighted theme song, which generated an incredible atmosphere at the Electric Ballroom. The match was gruesome — thumbtacks, chopsticks, and barbed wire boards were all used and both Starr and Havoc were busted open early on.
Havoc hit a brutal piledriver off the apron through a table on the outside and eventually got the win with an Acid Rainmaker.
The show ended with Smallman thanking the crowd one last time and hugging PROGRESS co-owners and NXT UK colleagues Glen Joseph and Jon Briley on the stage. Smallman will be greatly missed by the PROGRESS fans, but an exciting new era of PROGRESS awaits.
PROGRESS returns to the Electric Ballroom on Sunday, January 19. Cara Noir will challenge Eddie Dennis for the Unified World Championship on the show.
PROGRESS Wrestling held its final non-London show of the year on Sunday. Chapter 99: “With A Flake, Please” saw three huge title matches. Here are the results:
– Mark Andrews defeated Primate
Andrews hit a Shooting Star Press to the back for the win. This was a very short match, lasting just over six minutes.
– The Anti-Fun Police (Los Federales Santos Jr. & Chief Deputy Dunne) defeated The Grizzled Young Veterans (Zack Gibson & James Drake)
Drake attempted to hit Santos with a tombstone piledriver, but Santos used his weight to topple Drake and subsequently pinned him.
– PROGRESS Proteus Champion Paul Robinson defeated Chris Ridgeway to retain his title
Per Robinson’s chosen stipulation for the Proteus title, the match could only be won via submission or knockout. Robinson retained via TKO.
– Cara Noir defeated Ilja Dragunov in a two-out-of-three falls match
Dragunov voluntarily tapped out to nothing early on, giving Noir the first fall. Dragunov then hit Noir with a Torpedo Moscow running uppercut to tie the score.
Noir won the match with a vicious package piledriver. Both men received a standing ovation after the match.
– Jinny defeated Meiko Satomura to win the PROGRESS Women’s Championship
Jinny pinned Satomura with an inside cradle after kicking out of a Death Valley Driver. The match was very mat-based and played to Jinny’s strengths. She enters her second PROGRESS Women’s title reign just under 12 months after losing the title to Jordynne Grace.
– Timothy Thatcher defeated Kassius Ohno
Thatcher headbutted Ohno’s forearm and submitted him with a Fujiwara armbar. This is his first win in PROGRESS after returning from injury.
PROGRESS Unified World Champion Eddie Dennis defeated David Starr to retain his title
Dennis hit Starr with a low blow during Starr’s long intro listing his many nicknames. Outside the ring, Dennis was overly confident and received a low blow in return from Starr.
Dennis’ FSU stablemate Mark Andrews came out to ringside halfway through the match to distract the referee, which gave Starr a visual submission win. With the referee in a bad state after being squashed in the corner, Andrews hit a Shooting Star Press onto Starr and placed Dennis’ arm over him to pick up the win.
The show ended with Jim Smallman thanking the Sheffield crowd one more time before he leaves PROGRESS at the end of the year.
PROGRESS returns to its home of the Electric Ballroom in Camden, London on December 30 for the promotion’s annual mystery card show Unboxing Live.
PROGRESS Wrestling returned to the O2 Ritz in Manchester on Sunday with the fallout from the company’s biggest show of the year, which took place at London’s Alexandra Palace last month.
– Today’s show opened with new PROGRESS Unified World Champion Eddie Dennis cutting off ring announcer Jim Smallman’s opening routine. He purposely demonstrated his ability to control a crowd before ridiculing David Starr’s INDEPENDENT movement.
– Pretty Deadly (Sam Stoker & Lewis Howley) defeated The Young Guns (Luke Jacobs & Ethan Allen)
This was a PROGRESS Chapter debut for both teams. The crowd was very receptive for the Manchester-based Young Guns.
– PROGRESS Proteus Champion Paul Robinson defeated Travis Banks to retain his title
The stipulation chosen by the champion meant that the match could only be won by submission or knockout. Following plenty of brawling on the outside, Robinson defeated Banks by technical knockout after stomping his head into an exposed ring.
After the match, TK Cooper came out and teased that he would help his former South Pacific Power Trip stablemate Banks to his feet, but Cooper then attacked him.
– Dani Luna defeated Toni Storm
Luna got the win with a roll-up.
Following the match, Storm put Luna over by telling her that she has to beat PROGRESS Women’s World Champion Meiko Satomura. Then, Jinny made a surprise appearance and was dressed in gear reminiscent of her trainer Jimmy Havoc. She stared down Storm and seemingly reignited the two’s storied rivalry within PROGRESS.
– TK Cooper defeated Roy Johnson
This match might have ended early as Cooper took a nasty bump on the outside that cut him open. Following Cooper’s win, he was chased away by Travis Banks.
– Ilja Dragunov defeated Cara Noir
Dragunov got the win with his Torpedo Moscow running uppercut. The crowd was electric throughout for both Dragunov and new fan-favorite Cara Noir.
– PROGRESS Tag Team Champions Jordan Devlin & Scotty Davis defeated The Grizzled Young Veterans (Zack Gibson & James Drake) to retain their titles
This was Devlin and Davis’ first defense of their newly-won Tag Team titles after Davis successfully cashed in his Natural Progression Series championship opportunity at Chapter 95.
– In light of his departure from PROGRESS at the end of 2019, co-owner Jim Smallman thanked the crowd as he finished his last ever show in Manchester. It was later announced at a live recording of the Tuesday Night Jaw podcast that Smallman’s close friend and colleague Matt Richards would take over Smallman’s role as both ring announcer and in creative writing.
PROGRESS Wrestling presented its biggest-ever show as the promotion came to the SSE Wembley Arena on Sunday, September 30.
Chuck Mambo won a pre-show battle royal
Mambo won by last eliminating Spike Trivett. Both of the finalists are two of the hottest prospects in British pro wrestling, especially as their characters are more colorful than the average indie wrestler. Mambo is a surfer whose entrance sees fans throw beach balls into the ring. Meanwhile, Trivett plays a blueblood advocate for Britain’s Conservative Party, down to talking about wrestling a “Strong and Stable Style” in a riff on an old political slogan.
Big T. Justice, Chris Ridgeway, Damon Moser, Danny Duggan, Danny Jones, Darrell Allen, David Francisco, Drew Parker, Mad Man Manson, Rickey Shane Page, RJ Singh, Roy Johnson, Sid Scala, Stixx, The OJMO, TK Cooper, and William Eaver were the other participants.
Haskins won a very good opener between babyfaces whose styles meshed well. They are apparently good friends outside the ring, and there were plenty of spots where they would anticipate and evade each other’s strikes.
It’s worth noting that Riddle has new entrance music and already looks a fair bit bigger but is still wrestling without boots on.
PROGRESS Women’s Champion Jinny defeated Toni Storm and Millie McKenzie in a triple threat match to retain her title
This was originally going to be Jinny vs. Storm before Storm’s recent injury led to them crowning a new number one contender as a contingency plan. So late was the switch to the triple threat that the advertisement in the latest Fighting Spirit Magazine still had the match listed without McKenzie’s participation.
Despite being a late addition, McKenzie was clearly the crowd favorite. The match was the weakest on the show, which to be frank, is unfortunately typical of PROGRESS’ women’s division. They had a fairly standard triple threat where they took turns to leave the ring and the other two wrestled. Only when McKenzie started hitting suplexes would all three be in the ring for a prolonged period of time. It was a bit cliched, but probably necessary to avoid the heel champion being outnumbered by her babyface challengers.
Throughout the match, Jinny’s House of Couture henchwomen would try to interfere, drawing Candyfloss and Laura Di Matteo out to even the score. However, Di Matteo attacked Storm — helping her former mentor Jinny win the match.
The strengthened House of Couture were then sent fleeing by the debuting Jordynne Grace.
Trent Seven defeated Doug Williams to win the PROGRESS Atlas Championship
For the uninitiated, the Atlas Championship is reserved for wrestlers who weigh more than 205 lbs. Since he won the vacant title in May, Williams has promised to retire from pro wrestling as soon as he lost it. That final match would come here, with Seven winning a fun match with a crossbody.
This match had a little bit of everything, with the challenger playing the subtle heel throughout. Despite Williams having telegraphed his impending retirement with numerous final appearances across the UK, the fans bought into several of his near falls, especially the second time he hit Chaos Theory.
Williams and Seven embraced after the result, and then the roster came out onto the stage to applaud Williams.
Jimmy Havoc defeated Paul Robinson in a no DQ match
This was originally scheduled to be Havoc vs. Will Ospreay, but the latter’s New Japan commitments meant he was unavailable, something that he made his unhappiness about clear on social media.
Robinson is Ospreay’s former tag team partner and had been working as a road agent for PROGRESS. After interactions with both Ospreay and Havoc, he was appointed the special guest referee of their two-out-of-three falls match in August. He attacked Havoc at the end, costing him the third fall and setting up this match.
In a sign of what was to come, Havoc deliberately came out wearing white trousers and with his face and torso covered in white body paint. This was a bloody battle that had the intensity that high-profile death matches in non-specialist promotions sometimes lack. They did relatively little walk and brawl, instead preferring to attack each other with weapons in or near the ring.
The most noteworthy of the spots involved fluorescent light tubes, which were used liberally as the match neared its end. Both wrestlers were sent back-first into them, with Robinson’s back being left a bloody mess. The end came when Havoc curbed stomped Robinson’s face through two light tubes, before hitting the Rainmaker.
A wild match, that astonishingly, may have been only Havoc’s second most violent match of the weekend.
Intermission
After the intermission, Jim Smallman revealed that the official attendance was 4,750. That’s a number which manages to be both an astonishing achievement and something of a disappointment. When the show was announced, it was billed as the biggest UK indie show in the past 30 years, which clearly set the target of beating the 6,193 that ICW’s Fear and Loathing 9 achieved. The failure to do so has necessitated an awkward late shift to talking about it being the biggest English indie show in the past 30 years.
Still, considering that with the half-exception of Riddle they brought in no imports who aren’t a regular part of the British scene (even Bandido and Flamita have wrestled extensively for other promotions this month), whereas ICW used former WWE legends to draw casual fans, it’s a very impressive number.
While there was no announcement of a return to SSE Wembley (indeed in his opening remarks Smallman said that this may be the biggest show they ever do), they did announce that Super Strong Style 16 would return to Alexandra Palace for the second year in a row. Former PROGRESS Champion Travis Banks then came out to confirm that he would be a competitor in that tournament.
Perhaps the most noteworthy aspect of the segment was that it confirmed that the promotion would not use Banks’ recent injury as a way to return him back to the babyface ranks after his botched title reign, with him turning the crowd with an arrogant promo.
Aussie Open (Kyle Fletcher & Mark Davis) defeated Bandido & Flamita, Chris Brookes & Timothy Thatcher, Connor Mills & Maverick Mayhew, David Starr & Jack Sexsmith, Grizzled Young Veterans (James Drake & Zack Gibson), The 198 (Flash Morgan Webster & Wild Boar), and The Anti-Fun Police (Chief Deputy Dunne & Los Federales Santos Jr.) in a Thunderbastard match to win the PROGRESS Tag Team titles
A Thunderbastard match has basically the same rules as Lucha Underground’s Aztec Warfare matches — it’s a Royal Rumble with pinfalls, submissions, and disqualifications replacing over the top rope eliminations. Bandido & Flamita were the champions heading into the match.
This had a wealth of talent, sometimes too much for the crowd to properly concentrate on the action inside the ring, especially after Gibson got the fans riled up with his usual promo. Perhaps the highlight of the match was when all competitors took turns to dive over the top rope, culminating in the superheavyweight Los Federales Santos Jr. launching himself through the ropes.
The finish came when Aussie Open defeated former champions Grizzled Young Veterans when they hit the Fidget Spinner on Drake to win their first titles since moving to Britain last year.
One note of caution is that it seemed Davis injured his arm, with him being sidelined for a prolonged period of time and asking the referees to bring him ice to apply to his arm immediately after the match finished.
Pete Dunne defeated Ilja Dragunov
Before the match began, we got a very good video package and a promo from wXw’s Dragunov. That decision would prove controversial later. Dunne had not performed at the weekend for Fight Club: PRO, even being pulled from an announced match against CIMA, which naturally led to rumors that he was carrying an injury. With the one exception of limping while going to the top rope, he seemed to be moving fine.
This was a very good match that built in intensity as it went on. The point it hit high gear was when Dunne held Dragunov’s arm and started repeatedly kicking him in the head, attempting to force the referee to stop the match. Dragunov responded by trying to do the same with Jon Jones-style elbows to the face. They then traded headbutts, with the welts on each of their foreheads telling you where they were connecting. It was a match that epitomized strong style.
For the finish, Dunne trapped Dragunov’s arm and then began manipulating his hand to force the submission. They warily shook hands afterwards.
Eddie Dennis defeated Mark Andrews in a Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match for a future shot at the PROGRESS World Championship
We were treated to another video package before the match. This would prove problematic as the show crashed through the 8:30 p.m. finish time that PROGRESS had advertised, meaning that some fans who were relying on public transport to get home had to leave before the main event. It was, however, a very good video package.
This was a clash between former tag team partners that was a year in the making. If Williams vs. Seven echoed Ric Flair vs. Shawn Michaels, this feud was clearly inspired by Bret Hart vs. Owen Hart, with Andrews refusing to fight his former tag team partner for several months — until the provocations became too much.
They had a fun match that never quite captured the right tone for what was meant to be a bitter grudge match. The key issue was that not only did the standard TLC spots detract from the sense of realism, but the tables supplied by PROGRESS repeatedly refused to break. There were several spots where that happened, with one table managing to withstand someone being thrown into it three times. That unfortunately made the match seem a bit silly, with fans at one point chanting “Table is our champion.”
Still, the action was great with notable spots including Andrews doing a swanton from a ladder on the outside that was a clear tribute to Jeff Hardy at WrestleMania 2000. Likewise, Dennis put Andrews through a table from a ladder with a super Death Valley Driver. Dennis would ultimately secure the contract to earn himself a future title shot.
PROGRESS World Champion WALTER defeated Tyler Bate to retain his title
This was originally scheduled to be WALTER vs. Zack Sabre Jr., but Sabre’s very important New Japan commitments in Long Beach stopped him from headlining the biggest English independent show in 30 years.
That said, there was always a suspicion that Bate had been the original plan, with an injury having forced him to withdraw from the Super Strong Style tournament that crowned the number one contender. Bate earned the title shot by being the only person to win three consecutive singles matches during August.
Two violin players played extracts of WALTER’s music before the match, inspired by NXT having done similar entrances for Shinsuke Nakamura. The Ringkampf theme doesn’t quite suit the presentation.
This was a fantastic match that by the end had turned a partisan crowd into one loudly cheering for Bate. As one would expect, the large size difference between the two men was a key story of the match, although it would instead provide the opportunity for Bate to show his freakish strength. Perhaps the most impressive moves were him successfully deadlift suplexing WALTER, completing two airplane spins, and hitting the Tyler Driver ’97.
The finish saw WALTER increasingly focus on wearing down Bate with repeated submission attempts, including multiple applications of his sleeper. Bate finally separated himself from WALTER, only for the champion to counter with a piledriver for the three count. A somewhat surprising finish to what was an instant classic that will hopefully be a springboard to Bate being pushed more strongly as a singles wrestler in PROGRESS.
PROGRESS Wrestling’s Hello Wembley will shortly be available to watch on video on demand through Demand PROGRESS.
PROGRESS Wrestling presented their biggest show of the year on Sunday night, headlined by Super Strong Style 16 tournament winner Travis Banks getting his shot at Pete Dunne’s PROGRESS title. Here’s a rundown of the event:
– #CCK (Chris Brookes & Kid Lykos) defeated British Strong Style (Tyler Bate & Trent Seven) in a ladder match to win the PROGRESS tag titles
This match was action-packed from the opening bell. There were lots of crazy spots and bumps, including a few flip dives from #CCK and Bate’s amazing Undertaker-style dive over the top rope.
The finish came after Bate and Brookes fought on top of the ladder. Bate went to hit the Tyler Driver ’97 off the top of the ladder onto another one that was bridged on the bottom rung of the ladder and the bottom rope, but Brookes fought him off and backdropped Bate over and onto the ladder set up at the bottom.
Brookes then grabbed the belts for #CCK to win the titles.
– PROGRESS Women’s Champion Toni Storm defeated Dahlia Black to retain her title
Both exchanged holds and chain wrestled to start. Black looked impressive with a cannonball and kicked out of Storm’s Strong Zero, but Storm came back with multiple piledrivers to retain in a good match.
Jinny attacked Black with a chair after and started stomping it into her previously injured leg.
– Zack Sabre Jr. defeated Marty Scurll
This was a great match. Making his first PROGRESS appearance in a while, Scurll answered what had been advertised as an open challenge by Sabre to a huge pop. Scurll used his umbrella to hit Sabre before the match started and they exchanged strikes, slaps, chops, forearms, and brutal submissions.
Sabre was going after Scurll’s arm and bending it in horrible positions as usual. Scurll got a modified chicken wing with Sabre’s legs tied up, then ZSJ snuck the pin with his bridging roll-up.
Post-match, Scurll thanked the fans and said he wouldn’t be back for a long time due to his commitments in the USA.
– It was announced between matches that PROGRESS would be holding a show at Wembley Arena in London on September 30th, 2018. This was a huge announcement for British wrestling and the fans went crazy for it. The arena is the same venue where NXT TakeOver: London took place.
– Jimmy Havoc defeated Mark Haskins in a deathmatch
They got off to a quick start and this was hard-hitting and bloody. Havoc was bleeding early on from shots with a frying pan. There were some insane spots, including a Death Valley Driver from Haskins to Havoc off the stage and through a table. Havoc also hit a powerbomb on Haskins through a cinder block set up between two chairs.
Haskins’ wife Vicky came out and gave him a barbwire bat to use, which was brutal. Thumbtacks and staple guns were involved as well. The finish came when Havoc hit Haskins with an Acid Rainmaker with the barbwire bat and a normal Rainmaker for the three count.
– WALTER defeated Matt Riddle and Timothy Thatcher to win the Atlas Division Championship
WALTER became a two-time Atlas Division Champion in what was a contender for match of the night. All three men were exchanging chops, European uppercuts, kicks, and suplexes. There was an incredible spot where WALTER double German suplexed both Riddle and Thatcher, with Riddle landing high and hard on his shoulder.
Riddle went for a tombstone on WALTER, but he countered it into a sit-out tombstone piledriver/Steiner Screwdriver-esque move to win the title from Riddle.
– Mark Andrews defeated Eddie Dennis, Flash Morgan Webster, James Drake, Zack Gibson, Chief Deputy Dunne, Jack Sexsmith, and Strangler Davis in an eight-man scramble number one contender’s match
Really fun match that was fast-paced throughout. Andrews hit his shooting star press on Webster to get the victory.
Webster teased a heel turn on Andrews after the match but shook his hand instead, then a shocker came when Dennis (Andrews’ long-time partner and friend for years) turned on him and laid him out with his finisher.
– Travis Banks defeated Pete Dunne to win the PROGRESS World Championship
The emotion was high in this one. Banks started quickly with a running clothesline, chops, and a cannonball in the corner. Dunne played his heel role expertly, interacting with the crowd and hitting Pedigrees. There were some brutal apron bumps with Dunne hitting a Pedigree and Banks hitting his Kiwi Crusher.
Trent Seven and Tyler Bate got involved by hitting sledgehammer shots and finishers, but Banks still kicked out. Chris Brookes and Kid Lykos came out to make the save and fight off Seven and Bate. The second rope had broken at some point, but they still dove over the top rope onto them.
Banks made Dunne tap out to his submission finisher to become the new PROGRESS Champion. The fans erupted with cheers as he won.
PROGRESS Wrestling capped off its weekend in the United States with an intimate show (only 300 tickets were sold and they sold out right after being put on sale) in the Boston area last night. Here’s a rundown of the event:
– PROGRESS co-owner Jim Smallman opened the show discussing the stress of the promotion’s last couple of days, including injuries to Pete Dunne and TK Cooper, the building in New York being absurdly hot, and the travel issues they had getting to Boston. He mentioned the positivity of the fans in New York despite the issues and did his usual welcome.
– Jeff Cobb defeated Mark Andrews
This was about what you’d expect from them in the opener. Cobb used his power and Andrews tried to fight back. Andrews showed his own strength by hitting a powerbomb at one point, with Cobb also utilizing his athleticism with a standing moonsault. Cobb ended up hitting the Tour of the Islands to win.
– Dakota Kai defeated Deonna Purrazzo and Jinny
it wasn’t surprising given that a lot of the crowd seemed to be hardcore fans, but their familiarity with PROGRESS showed with how much heat Jinny got when she made her entrance. Purrazzo and Kai both got good babyface reactions. Purrazzo seems to always be improving in the ring.
Two people were in the ring while the other was on the floor for most of the match. There was a great spot at the finish where Purrazzo gave Jinny a German suplex and was bridging for the pin until Kai hit a double stomp off the top for the victory.
– Jack Gallagher defeated Travis Banks
The crowd was pretty split for this. They were having a really good match until Pete Dunne walked out to the stage and distracted Banks at the finish. Gallagher then connected with the running corner dropkick to win.
Gallagher cut a promo after the match thanking WWE for letting him work the show and praising Banks. He mentioned Banks’ losing streak heading into his PROGRESS title match against Dunne at Alexandra Palace in September, telling Banks that he wants him to be the fighter he was in New York when he took on British Strong Style by himself after Cooper’s injury.
Dunne came back out to attack them both. He gave Banks a pedigree after knocking both down, but Gallagher recovered and Dunne backed down after that.
– Matt Riddle defeated Martin Stone
This was great. It was the total hard-hitting sprint that everyone wanted. They started off with striking exchanges, with Stone doing a toe-breaking spot and Riddle then gaining the advantage. Stone invited him to keep striking and made a comeback.
There was a moment where Stone kicked out of a tombstone at one, but he tapped out when Riddle applied the Bromission while striking him with his free hand.
Riddle got on the mic and thanked Stone after. He mentioned beating WALTER for the Atlas Division Championship in New York, saying that he only got to win back the title because WALTER gave him a rematch. Riddle said he’ll give WALTER his rematch at the Alexandra Palace show.
– Jimmy Havoc defeated Zack Gibson
Havoc came out wielding chairs before Gibson entered. Being part of Gibson’s pre-match introduction was surreal, with (as usual) him being booed so loudly that you couldn’t hear him. That went on for several minutes before the match started.
Gibson went to use one of the chairs. The referee tried to stop him, but Havoc said that he’d kill the ref if he disqualified Gibson. They both ended up using the chairs and Havoc won with the Acid Rainmaker.
– PROGRESS Tag Team Champions British Strong Style (Tyler Bate & Trent Seven) defeated Ringkampf (Timothy Thatcher & WALTER) to retain their titles
British Strong Style entered wearing NXT jackets and played up being under contract with WWE, including Seven disparaging Boston and saying that he was going to fly on a private jet to Connecticut after the show. Seven was playing heel and got into a confrontation with a younger fan at ringside as the match started.
The match itself was really good. WALTER came off like a total star. The audience wasn’t particularly familiar with him at first, but his power spots won everyone over. Him and Bate especially worked well playing off of the size difference. Bate hitting a German suplex on him may have been the spot of the night.
WALTER had Seven in a sleeper, but Seven was able to counter it and pin him to retain. That happened while Thatcher had Bate in an armbar, which led to some teased dissension between Ringkampf. WALTER offered to make the Atlas title match at Alexandra Palace a triple threat with Thatcher added. They were then back on the same page to close the show.
