Editor’s note: This article references results from WWE’s Mae Young Classic and NXT UK TV tapings that have yet to air.
Toni Storm will be returning in time for PROGRESS Wrestling’s Wembley Arena show later this month.
PROGRESS announced today that the Women’s Championship match for the September 30 event will be Jinny defending her title against Storm and Millie McKenzie in a triple threat match: “BREAKING: with confirmation from our medical team that @tonistorm_ will be fit to compete by 30th Sept, both she and @MillieMcKenzie0 take their title shots and look to dethrone the #Queen @JinnyCouture when we head to @ssearena!”
On August 26, Storm suffered an apparent injury when losing to Rhea Ripley in the finals of WWE’s tournament to crown the first NXT United Kingdom Women’s Champion. She missed PROGRESS’ show the next day and was pulled from events for PROGRESS and wXw last weekend.
Riddle was shown sitting in the front row at TakeOver: Brooklyn and was announced as the latest wrestler to sign with WWE. He’s yet to make his NXT debut.
The Wembley Arena show is the biggest event in PROGRESS history. The main event for it was confirmed last week, with Tyler Bate defeating Haskins and becoming the next challenger for WALTER’s PROGRESS Championship. Jimmy Havoc also could have challenged for the title but lost a two-out-of-three falls, no DQ match to Will Ospreay. Paul Robinson costing Havoc the match set up Havoc vs. Robinson in a no DQ match for Wembley Arena.
Editor’s note: This article references results from WWE’s Mae Young Classic and NXT UK TV tapings which have yet to air.
Toni Storm has been pulled from the wXw and PROGRESS shows this weekend following an injury suffered last weekend.
Both PROGRESS and wXw announced today that Storm, who is the wXw Women’s Champion, would have to pull out of her appearances for their shows in Germany. In wXw’s announcement, it was noted that she is awaiting further examination to determine the extent of the injury. The announcement also noted that since the women’s title hasn’t been defended in four months, wXw has officially vacated the title.
This past weekend, Storm was a part of the NXT UK tapings in Birmingham. She competed in a two night tournament for the NXT UK Women’s title, and made it to the finals against Rhea Ripley. According to reports, the X sign was held by the referee after the match, which Ripley won. No further details are known regarding what kind of injury Storm suffered during the match, but she was able to walk to the back unassisted following the bout.
Storm is set to face Io Shirai in the finals of the Mae Young Classic tournament that will take place at WWE Evolution on October 28.
WWE’s working relationship with PROGRESS Wrestling will continue with an NXT wrestler challenging for the PROGRESS Women’s Championship next month.
PROGRESS announced today that Jinny will be defending her Women’s title against Steffanie Newell (formerly known as Nixon Newell) on June 10th at the O2 Academy in Sheffield, England. Before Newell joined WWE, Jinny was also the opponent in her last match for PROGRESS.
Newell, who is from Wales, made her NXT in-ring debut at a house show this April after recovering from a torn ACL. She was supposed to be part of the Mae Young Classic in 2017, but the injury kept her from wrestling in the tournament. She has yet to debut on NXT television.
Jinny won the championship from Toni Storm earlier this month and will be making her first title defense against Newell.
Though this has yet to be officially announced, Storm vs. Jinny vs. Isla Dawn vs. Killer Kelly is being advertised for WWE’s United Kingdom-brand show at Royal Albert Hall on June 18th. The winner will challenge for the NXT Women’s Championship at the venue the next night.
While he’ll be using a different name this time, the former Chris Hero is headed back to PROGRESS Wrestling for one of their biggest weekend’s of the year.
PROGRESS announced NXT’s Kassius Ohno as the latest entrant for this year’s Super Strong Style 16 tournament today. It will take place at Alexandra Palace in London on May 5-7, with the winner receiving a future title shot.
As Hero, Ohno also appeared in the 2016 edition of Super Strong Style 16. He lost to Tommy End (now Aleister Black) in the semifinals.
This won’t be the first time that Ohno has wrestled for a WWE-friendly promotion since returning to NXT. He made an appearance for ICW last September and was defeated by Joe Coffey.
With one more entrant still to be announced, Pete Dunne, Keith Lee, Zack Sabre Jr., Doug Williams, Angelico, Mark Andrews, Flash Morgan Webster, Chuck Mambo, Chris Brookes, Jordan Devlin, Joey Janela, TK Cooper, David Starr, Tyler Bate, and Ohno make up the field for this year’s Super Strong Style 16. Travis Banks won the tournament in 2017 and went on to win the PROGRESS Championship from Dunne.
Here are results from the last two days of PROGRESS events in New Orleans. First up, here are quick results from the show held on 4/6:
James Drake and Zack Gibson defeated Tyler Bate and Trent Seven to retain the PROGRESS tag team titles.
Will Ospreay defeated Mark Haskins.
Ringkampf (WALTER and Timothy Thatcher) defeated Keith Lee and David Starr.
Jeff Cobb won the Thunderbastard match which included Chris Brookes, MJF, Rickey Shane Page, Austin Theory, Parrow, Darby Allin and Joey Janela.
Jinny and Mercedez Martinez defeated Toni Storm and Shazza Mackenzie.
Matt Riddle defeated Jimmy Havoc.
Pete Dunne defeated Mark Andrews and Flash Morgan Webster in a triple threat match.
Travis Banks defeated Shane Strickland to retain the PROGRESS title.
And here is what went down earlier today:
– Chris Brooks defeated Rey Horus
Solid opener. Brooks got the advantage after a sucker punch. Horus made a comeback with a head scissors to the floor and a flip dive over the turnbuckle to take out Brooks. Brooks won with an octopus stretch.
– Toni Storm defeated Mercedes Martinez to retain the PROGRESS Women’s championship
Really good match. Extremely hard hitting early with Mercedes getting the better of Toni with hard forearms and chops. Toni hit a tremendous snap German suplex. Mercedes got a near fall with a fisherman’s buster. Toni got the win with an armbar.
Will Ospreay came out for a promo. He came out to a huge ovation. Will stated that he re injured his neck in the match with Matt Riddle but still wanted to compete. He first suggested a reverse battle royal which got a huge reaction. Then he wanted to have a mixed tag team match for some fun. Out came Kay Lee Ray to be his tag partner.
– Austin Theory and Jinny defeated Will Ospreay and Kay Lee Ray
A lot of comedy early with Jinny using a voodoo doll on Kay Lee Ray to attack Ospreay. Turned into a pretty good match Ospreay clearly not doing as much due to his neck injury but still took a couple of hard shots to his neck. Jinny picked up the win after a second rope facebuster on Kay Lee Ray.
– Mark Haskins, Jimmy Havok, and Flash Morgan Webster defeatd Keith Lee, Matt Riddle, and David Starr
This match was a lot of fun. Lot of comedy early with Jimmy Havok biting Riddle’s feet and Lee’s knee. Ton of big moves by Lee and Starr. The finish was the kiss of death combination Acid Rainmaker and STO on David Starr by Havok and Haskins.
– WALTER defeated Zach Sabre Jr. to become the number one contender for the PROGRESS championship
This match was insane. WALTER chopped Zach about 15 times during the match causing Zach’s chest to turn bright red. Zach would try and get submissions over and over but WALTER would keep powering out and continue to chop him all over the ring and outside. Zach tried a rollup bridge and was caught in the rear naked choke and submitted to a huge reaction.
– GYV (Zach Gibson and James Drake) defeated Rickey Shane Page and Ethan Page to retain the PROGRESS tag team titles
Rickey Shane Page cut a promo saying that due to the blood test required by the Louisiana State Athletic Commission that he was able to find his brother to tag with him. Out came “All Ego” Ethan Page to a good reaction. Ethan then cut a promo saying that also found out they were related and Page and Diamond Dallas Page for a good laugh. Zach Gibson and James Drake came out to a ton of boos. This was an ok match. Lot of teasing the hot tag to Rickey Shane Page included a funny spot where RSP ran into the ring to attack Gibson and Drake but untied the tag rope so he was holding it and was therefore legal. The finish came when Eddie Dennis came out and distracted RSP casuing the GYV to hit a double facebuster for the win.
Eddie Dennis then cut a promo calling Mark Andrews a sell out for wanting to work for WWE and stated he had a plan to get Andrews.
– Travis Banks defeated Jeff Cobb to retain the PROGRESS title
This was another really good match. Cobb was suplexing Banks all over the place. Cobb teased a people’s moonsault when Banks got the knees up. Banks hit Cobb with a Kiwi Krusher for the pin. After the match WALTER came out and chased Banks out of the arena and motioned he was coming for the title.
Really good show. The PROGRESS shows have been a ton of fun over the past two days and they stated they wanted to come back to the United States soon.
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.
On the second stop of their weekend in the United States, British promotion PROGRESS Wrestling presented an intimate show in the Boston area on Sunday night.
Things didn’t go quite as planned up to that point. It started when PROGRESS and WWE United Kingdom Champion Pete Dunne couldn’t wrestle on either show after being busted open in an indie match on Friday. Then, TK Cooper suffered an ankle injury in New York and the excessive heat in the crowded venue marred what otherwise appeared to be a fun show.
To top it off, they had trouble getting to Boston from New York and got in later than expected on Sunday.
But, if you didn’t already know about those problems going in, they weren’t apparent in Boston. Everyone worked incredibly hard to deliver an experience that was as authentic as possible in their debut in a new city.
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.
Submitted by reader Sidney Pullar III from the Elmcor Center in Queens, NY
EVOLVE 91
– ACH vs. Ethan Page
Since these two are affectionately being known as The Troll Boyz, they came out together even though they were wrestling each other to their Troll Boyz theme in the tune of Bad Boyz. This was a pure and simple comedy match trolling on different types of wrestling from catch to highflying to strong style. The finish came on a Drizzle-maker where Page went for the Rainmaker and ACH fell before he even landed it for the win. Not for everyone but funny overall.
– Timothy Thatcher (w/Stokely Hathaway) vs. Darby Allin
Nice match with strength and submissions vs highflying daredevil style. Allin pulled out the win with a leg lock into a pin combination. After the match, Thatcher and Hathaway had a discussion and staredown which ended with them hugging and Stokely begging Thatcher not to go.
– EVOLVE Tag Team Champions Anthony Henry & James Drake vs. Fred Yehi & Jason Kincaid
Good back and forth match. A little sloppy at times, but a lot of high risk offense and double team maneuvers throughout. The Troll Boyz joined commentary, possibly teasing them going after the tag titles. The story was about Yehi & Kincaid being less experienced as a team than Henry & Drake which winded up costing them. The highlight spot featured a struggle on the top between Drake & Kincaid which ended with Kincaid hitting a sunset flip powerbomb on Drake to the floor onto both Henry & Yehi. Henry got the win with a huge moonsault on Kincaid. After the match, Kincaid and Yehi had a heated staredown which ended with them shaking hands.
– Austin Theory (w/Priscilla Kelly) vs. Mark Haskins
Huge pop for the UK’s own Haskins. Kelly got involved a lot, but in the end Haskins got the win by submission tapping Theory out.
– Catch Point (Jaka and Chris Dinkinson) vs South Pacific Power Trip (Travis Banks and T.K. Cooper) w/Dahlia Black
This is a rematch from Mercury Rising 2017 which started a lot of the buzz around these two teams. Great back and forth tag team contest with many cool spots, reversals and counters from both teams throughout. Jaka and Dinkinson won the match after hitting their finisher, The Death Trap.
– Fatal 4 Way Match for the WWN Championship: Matt Riddle (c) vs Tracy Williams w/Stokely Hathaway vs PROGRESS Atlas Champion WALTER vs Keith Lee
This started with a staredown with the Big Lads, WALTER and Keith Lee which was broken up by Williams and Riddle. Williams played the a-hole who tried to pick the scraps and sneak out a win. WALTER played the role of destroyer, brutalizing the other 3 with chops and throws around the ring. Lee was his usual amazing self, showing off his charisma, strength and athleticism including the spot of the match in which WALTER attempted a German suplex on Riddle where Lee came behind WALTER and gave both men a German that almost flipped Riddle out of the ring.
Riddle was the never say die face in this match, taking punishment from all and never backing down until it came down to him and Williams in which he reversed a crossface into the Bromission for the win. Overall a great display from all four men and match of the night. Post match, Lee teased a heel turn as he once again hesitated to give Riddle a fist bump. Riddle also offered WALTER a fist bump which he walked away from previewing their match later at PROGRESS.
There was about 150-200 people for the EVOLVE portion of the show, but an hour later, it was standing room only (1500 or so) with no a/c which made for tough conditions.
PROGRESS
Jim Smallman came out to kick off the show to a huge pop and loud “This Is PROGRESS” chants. After welcoming us, the crowd started a “Please Come Back” chant which Jim responded that it was first time he heard that two minutes into the show. He then introduced the WWE UK and PROGRESS Champion Pete Dunne who came out for a promo informing us of his injury and being off tonight’s show. He cut a fantastic heel promo claiming to own PROGRESS, the WWE and NYC.
This brought out 205 Live’s own “Gentleman” Jack Gallagher who was supposed to fight Dunne tonight. He wanted to shake Dunne’s hand and do their match at a future date but Dunne left after smacking Jack’s hand away. Zach Gibson came out to interrupt Gallagher to huge heat and very loud “Zach is Crap” chants. His promo led into the first match:
– “Gentleman” Jack Gallagher vs Zach Gibson
Good match with excellent psychology throughout. Jack got the win with his corner dropkick followed by a top rope elbow drop.
– Deonna Purazzo & Jinny vs Dahlia Black & Dakota Kai
This was a auality ladies tag match with some good heat for Jinny and a helluva pop for the duo of Black & Kai. Very good match with Purazzo getting the win with a hanging neckbreaker.
Good technical affair with Dijak as the standout, showing off his amazing athleticism. Thatcher focused on the arm for the match and after a Hathaway distraction got the win with Fujiuwa Armbar.
– No DQ Match: Joey Janela vs Jimmy Havoc
This was probably the match that had the crowd most invested in it. It was hardcore wrestling at its best with chairs, tables, thumbtacks and even cinder blocks. A great spot saw Jimmy set up Joey in the corner sitting in a metal folding chair, Havoc then ran and tried a monkey flip which Janela flipped with the chair and landed sitting down with his legs crossed. The finish saw Havoc take off Janela’s boots, bite his toes, then drop him feet first onto the thumbtacks which then led into a German suplex into the cinder blocks followed by the Acid Rainmaker for the win. Insane spectacle.
Intermission to get some air. The building has to be in the 90 degree territory. Even with the heat, the place packed right back up for the second half of the show
– Fatal 4 Way Match: Mark Andrews vs Mark Haskins vs Austin Theory vs Keith Lee
Theory makes his PROGRESS debut in this match replacing Gibson who was supposed to be in this match as a 3 way with Haskins and Andrews until the Dunne injury changed the card. This was a really good match here with each man getting the spotlight, but based on skill and reaction Keith Lee was the star. Haskins got the win on his Evolve opponent Theory, once again tapping him out.
– PROGRESS Tag Team Titles Match: British Strong Style (Tyler Bate & Trent Seven) w vs South Pacific Power Trip (Travis Banks & T.K Cooper) w/Dahlia Black
Five minutes into the match, Banks did a suicide dive onto Seven & Bate at ringside and then Cooper got on top while Banks held BSS and did a crazy twisting shooting star. He landed directly down on the floor feet first between all 3 men as no one really broke the fall for him. When Cooper landed, his right foot was twisted to the left in an image eerily reminiscent of Sid at WCW Souled Out 2001. Once Dahlia saw his ankle, she was visibly distraught. The crowd got silent as staff and medical attendants looked after T.K. Jim asked that we all show support for Cooper which led to a loud “T.K.” chant. One of the best displays of support from a wrestling crowd that I have ever seen for an injury especially here in New York City. Cooper was carried out by EMTs and some wrestlers. Afterward, Banks took the mic from Jim and requested a handicap match against British Strong Style.
Travis Banks vs British Strong Style in a handicap match
High energy and frenetic pace from Banks in this. You can tell that he was reeling and using the emotion of seeing his friend get hurt. Banks got the win on Seven to set up his big PROGRESS Title Match against Pete Dunne in September.
– PROGRESS Atlas Champion WALTER vs Matt Riddle
This was the match of the day from either company and a very worthy main event for such a high energy, engaging show. This was a hard hitting fight with some of the hardest chops of the entire year. WALTER impressed the New York crowd with some hard hitting chops that landed with vicious thuds. But, it was Riddle with some amazing fighting spirit, selling and his innovative offense who put WALTER away with the Bromission to win his second PROGRESS Atlas Championship.
After suffering an injury last night, Pete Dunne won’t be able to wrestle at PROGRESS Wrestling’s events in the United States this weekend.
PROGRESS co-owner Jim Smallman announced the news in a video that the company tweeted this morning, saying that Dunne received 11 stitches to his head following a match last night and isn’t medically cleared to compete this weekend.
Dunne faced Darius Carter in the main event for Battle Club Pro in Brooklyn on Friday night. The match ended abruptly after Dunne got busted open, with him putting on a submission to win before quickly leaving and not being able to make it back out for an advertised in-ring meet and greet.
Smallman said that this weekend’s shows will remain mostly as advertised and promised that they will still deliver. Dunne had been scheduled to defend his WWE United Kingdom Championship against Jack Gallagher in Corona, New York today before the injury.
Dunne will still be appearing at the shows despite not being able to wrestle.
PROGRESS has yet to announce a new opponent for Gallagher or any other changes to the New York show’s lineup. Matches for tomorrow’s event in Somerville, Massachusetts won’t be revealed until after the stop in NYC.
With the status of WWE’s plans in the United Kingdom still undefined, Pete Dunne hasn’t had a ton of opportunities to defend his UK Championship since winning it at TakeOver: Chicago.
His first defenses came at NXT’s house shows at Download Festival in June, then he defeated Trent Seven, Wolfgang, and BT Gunn to retain the title in ICW last Saturday. Next, he’ll be putting it on the line when PROGRESS Wrestling comes to New York later this month.
PROGRESS announced yesterday that Jack Gallagher would return to the promotion to challenge Dunne for the WWE UK title at their show in New York on August 12th. It will be the second time that the championship has been defended in PROGRESS, with Tyler Bate having previously retained against Mark Andrews over WrestleMania 33 weekend in Orlando.
WWE also posted a story about the Dunne vs. Gallagher UK title match on their website.
Like with the UK plans, WWE has yet to officially reveal any updates about PROGRESS and ICW events being shown on the Network, but Dunne’s title defenses are proof that the relationship between the companies remains strong.
PROGRESS NYC will take place at Elmcor Youth and Adult Activities in Corona, New York, which will also host an EVOLVE show earlier in the day. PROGRESS will then be in the Boston area for a doubleheader with Beyond Wrestling on August 13th.
A WWE title will be defended on another promotion’s show during WrestleMania weekend.
PROGRESS Wrestling co-owner Glen Joseph announced on Facebook Live today that Tyler Bate would put his WWE United Kingdom Championship up for grabs against Mark Andrews on March 31st at PROGRESS: Orlando.
The match is based on an angle where Bate and Trent Seven previously interfered to help Pete Dunne retain the PROGRESS title over Andrews. Joseph read a letter that was supposedly from William Regal referencing the interference and announcing that Bate vs. Andrews would now be for the title.
The UK title match won’t be the only collaboration between WWE and PROGRESS in Orlando, with PROGRESS wrestlers also featuring in matches at WrestleMania Axxess.
PROGRESS: Orlando will be part of WWN Live’s week of events in Florida and will take place on Friday at 12 p.m. ET. It will be available as a live iPPV on WWNLive.com and the matches involving wrestlers under contract with WWE will air on the stream.
The card for the show is:
PROGRESS Champion Pete Dunne defending against Mark Haskins
WWE United Kingdom Champion Tyler Bate defending against Mark Andrews
Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Jimmy Havoc
Atlas Champion Matt Riddle defending against Trent Seven
Sami Callihan & Shane Strickland vs. The South Pacific Power Trip (TK Cooper & Travis Banks)
With access to traditional television shows thin on the ground for UK promotions, they’ve had to think outside the box for solutions. In last week’s column, I gave a rundown of the different options available if you want to watch British wrestling (apart from the always-preferable live option), and this week Revolution-Pro held another of their popular “TV” tapings at the Cockpit Theatre in Marylebone, London. The Cockpit is more used to hosting fringe theatre but is a perfect venue for a television taping, harking back to the studio shows of old with its tight seating arrangement perfectly fitting around the squared circle in the centre. RevPro held three tapings at the Cockpit last year, for their YouTube TV show, and on Sunday they came back with a stacked card for a new run of shows for 2016.
Despite ENDVR taking place at the same time just 3 miles across London (more of which later), the show still attracted a good crowd, and they were treated to a mini-tournament for the Undisputed British Cruiserweight title, with Pete Dunne overcoming “Flash” Morgan Webster in the final – el Ligero & Josh Bodom being eliminated in the semi-finals. Jimmy Havoc continued his feud with the Revolutionists, bringing a mystery partner to face the Undisputed British Tag-Team champions, Sha Samuels & James Castle, and it turned out to be T-Bone.
Thanks to shenanigans, the champions kept their titles but Havoc has promised to bring back T-Bone and a third man to take on the tag champs and Bodom at High Stakes on January 16th. Main-eventing a card that also featured Big Damo, Mark Haskins, Marty Scurll, and Martin Kirby, was a bout between Will Ospreay and ACH, who made his return to RevPro after October’s Uprising. The two tore the house down and the match will be available to watch – for free – on RevPro’s YouTube channel very soon.
2) PROGRESS take their big guns to Brixton.
In last week’s column I trailed HUGE news from PROGRESS, and speculated what it could be. Well, speculate no more, because on January 1st they announced that September’s show – chapter 36 – will be held at the legendary Brixton Academy, in south London. It won’t be the company’s first trip south of the river – their ProJo wrestling school is situated round the corner from the Academy, and they’ve held trainee shows at the Bedford, in nearby Balham, before – but it will be the first time they’ve played a hall bigger than their usual 700 seats at the Electric Ballroom. The Academy will be set up for 2000 seats, and while that is dwarfed by ICW’s planned show at the Hydro in Glasgow, it will be the biggest crowd to see a British wrestling show in London for a good thirty years.
PROGRESS have always resisted temptation to move to a bigger building before, simply stating that the Electric Ballroom treat them very well and they would be afraid to lose that special atmosphere created at the sold-out shows, so this is a step into the unknown for the company. However, they’re doing it in conjunction with LiveNation, the company that handled NXT’s UK tour, and the logistics shouldn’t be too high a hurdle. Whether they can sell almost 3 times the amount of tickets they usually do in London is another thing, but UK wrestling is VERY hot right now, and with a 9-month lead they have every chance. Progress indeed!
3) A Sex Pest won a rap battle.
It’s impossible to sum up an entire show, especially one featuring so many different characters as an ENDVR show, in one pithy line, but – yes – a sex pest did win a rap battle at ENDVR’s first show of the year on Sunday. Anyone who follows ENDVR (and the PROGRESS shows as of the last London chapter) will know that the sex pest is Jack Sexsmith, and the rap battle was a precursor to his showdown with “Body Guy” Roy Johnson on Sunday’s show at the Garage in Islington. You’ll be reassured to know that “Mr Cocko” made his customary appearance, and those of you who don’t know anything about Jack Sexsmith will no doubt be very confused by now.
Also on the show, Pollyanna and Livvi won women’s matches, Damon Moser (a favourite for this year’s Natural Progression tournament) won a four-way over Pastor Bill Eaver, Earl Black Jr, and TK Cooper, and ProJo head trainer Darrell Allen beat Chuck Mambo in a “traditional British rules” match (which, unusually for such contests, didn’t suck). Some of the more established PROGRESS stars made an appearance (and a whole load of them were across London at the RevPro TV taping!), with Wild Boar teaming with PROGRESS-debutant Mike Bird (a mainstay of the south-west scene, and Mark Andrews’s trainer) taking a DQ win over Paul Robinson & trainee Shen Woo, and Eddie Dennis and Dave Mastiff colliding in a hard-hitting main event. The consequences of that fight will be felt long after the conclusion of Sunday’s show, with Dennis earning a tag-team title shot for himself and Mark Andrews, and Mastiff earning the ire of PROGRESS management with a sustained beating on a prone Dennis after the match.
4) Big shows aren’t just channel changers on the USA Network.
As well as PROGRESS planning their big outing to Brixton in September, several other promotions have already announced big shows of their own for 2016. New Generation Wrestling have already announced their mid-year spectacular, Ultimate Showdown, in Hull in late May, Southside have their annual Speed King tournament inked in for April, and – of course – everything that Insane Championship Wrestling does this year is leading up to their bigger-than-big-it’s-huge show at the 11,000-capacity Hydro in October.
But even bigger than that show, in relative terms, is Pro-Wrestling Chaos’s April 8th show in Bristol, with The Young Bucks flown in as a special attraction. Why is that so big? Because Chaos, a Bristol-based promotion formed in 2013 for former grappler Dave Mercy, usually run a 200-seater hall and they’ve booked a 3000-seater for this show, which they’ve promised to stack. As gambles go it’s a pretty big one, but with the Bucks only doing one other UK show (in faraway Edinburgh) it’s a risk that could pay off.
5) Friday Night’s Alright For Fight Club
In order to bring fresh and exclusive footage to their ICW OnDemand service, the promotion held another Friday Night Fight Club taping at the Garage nightclub, in Glasgow, last weekend. Like RevPro’s taping, they stacked the card with all their usual regulars, plus semi-regular import Tommy End, for a show which saw a title change, an ICW Heavyweight title defence, and a huge 8-man main event, featuring Grado, Davey Blaze, Noam Dar, and Kenny Williams against the New Age Kliq. They have another taping scheduled for this coming Sunday – the only show anywhere in the UK, as far as I can work out – with everything leading up to their big Square Go! show on January 24th.
Other than a few holiday camp shows (including one where the ATTACK! boys played to over 1000 people), the only other show over the last week was WrestleForce’s return to Rayleigh, in Essex, which featured their usual cast of characters.
