It’s been a few weeks, so let’s see where things have moved in some of our favoured indy promotions… featuring some spoilers for those who aren’t up-to-date!
PROGRESS
The first chapter after Alexandra Palace saw quite a few landscape changes at the Electric Ballroom… first off was the show-opening babyface turn from British Strong Style.
Yes, Pete Dunne’s apology was a little on the weird side – and could easily be seen as a troll job for those who poke fun at PROGRESS’ booking – but the “I’m sorry” meant that the trio that we’ve been hating for a year are now in everyone’s good books. How fickle are we? Anyway, Pete Dunne announced that his time in the UK was “uncertain”, although the sneak attack by Joseph Conners (which led to a muted reaction) possibly tips off the next match for Peter… or potentially a trios feud between British Strong Style and the trio of Conners, James Drake and Zack Gibson, if they opt to tie the former Southside champion into the Grizzled Young Veterans.
In a more shocking turn of events, Jimmy Havoc and Mark Haskins joined forces, brutally attacking Jack Sexsmith and David Starr after their match. I’d expect that this is going to be more of a long-term thing thing, rather than a “form a team, instantly challenge for titles” deal. So if they’re going to spend a few shows establish themselves, and that the Grizzled Young Veterans will also be pushing to get their title shot after Lykos’ injury short-changed them, it may be a while before Havoc and Haskins look to add gold to their spiky, homemade weaponry.
As for the PROGRESS title picture, Travis Banks managed to overcome Keith Lee in a brutal outing at the Ballroom… next up is Mark Andrews (in Manchester, next weekend), but I’d fully expect Eddie Dennis to have his say on that match after neither Eddie nor Mark were in Camden last weekend.
The Women’s championship picture is waiting for a new challenger, so we’re getting a four-way to presumably crown a new contender. Candyfloss makes her chapter debut, alongside Alex Windsor, Dahlia Black and Jinny… and given the storyline right now is “Jinny falls short”, I wouldn’t be too surprised if this ends up being another loss for Jinny.
Finally, we have some dangling ends… Flash Morgan Webster’s “nearly man” build to Alexandra Palace led to him… losing. So I’d expect something to bubble up there. I’m also guessing that there’s still going to be something involving Chief Deputy Dunne since his initial beef with Jack Sexsmith never really got resolved… and since we have Wolfgang vs. Doug Williams for an unspoken Atlas title shot on the Manchester card, will Strangler Davis finally cash in his Atlas championship match, or is that something that’s fading from memory?
wXw
We weren’t expecting wXw’s trip to London to produce anything in terms of storyline development, but we did see another unexpected step in David Starr’s quest to outdo WALTER.
Illness prevented Jurn Simmons from even making a trip out of his apartment, let alone make it to London, so the card was changed on the day as we instead got WALTER vs. David Starr in a furiously-fought match in front of one of the loudest crowds I’ve ever witnessed. Seriously, if you have wXw Now or the HighSpots network, you MUST check this one out! Anyway, the result was familiar, as David Starr was left dejected – making some think that the eventual pay-off is going to come in Oberhausen in March at 16 Carat. Could it be?
During the past weekend, we saw Timothy Thatcher sporting an eye-patch – and on this past week’s Shotgun we found out what caused it – Bobby Gunns stubbing out a lit cigarette. It seems to be a little too soon to be jumping to a RINGKAMPF vs. the Sleaze Team of Jaxon Stone and Bobby Gunns, but since Gunns is looking for a major win over WALTER, it could well be the next logical step in the feud, rather than a long-term partnership?
Away from London, the past few weeks’ worth of Shotguns have set up several matches for wXw’s next marquee event: Broken Rules. Chris Colen made his return, and is going to get his desired title shot against “Bad Bones” in Dresden. On this week’s episode of Shotgun, that match took an interesting turn when Colen was blindsided by his own team, as a Bad Bones-led assault injured Colen’s hand… and led to his exit. Colen’s title match is still on, but he’s had to sign a waiver in order to be allowed to claim his shot.
Speaking of RISE, Ilja Dragunov is going to settle a score with Da Mack after his involvement was responsible for Ilja losing out in his title chase over World Tag Team League weekend. I would be shocked if that match went off without anyone else getting involved – since a win for Ilja would likely have him circling yet again back towards title contention.
Elsewhere, something is brewing between Jay FK and the former Cerberus pairing of Avalanche and Julian Nero, who seem to be reuniting… despite Nero’s “five minutes” shtick annoying Avalanche a few weeks ago.
REV PRO
After the last round of touring shows in Cardiff, Leamington and Portsmouth, Rev Pro have new tag team champions after Moustache Mountain beat CCK in only their third match as a duo in Rev Pro.
They’re back at the London Cockpit on Sunday, with a four-way tag team match to presumably settle the next contenders for Trent & Tyler’s titles… we’ve got the former champions up against Aussie Open, the Contenders pairing of Josh Wall & Kurtis Chapman and the Legion of Lords duo of Lord Gideon Grey and No Fun Dunne. Also at the Cockpit, Dave Mastiff will be looking to extend his run of wins… against one of his biggest challenges to date in Keith Lee.
Josh Bodom’s next Cruiserweight title challengers were determined after he defeated Flash Morgan Webster in Cardiff – he’ll be defending against Ryan Smile and BUSHI next Thursday at York Hall in the opening night of the Global Wars double-header. Meanwhile, Flash will be facing El Phantasmo at the London Cockpit this coming Sunday… Elsewhere in Rev Pro’s title picture, whilst we have Zack Gibson and Sha Samuels chasing title shots, Will Ospreay’s actually been granted one. The new IWGP Junior Heavyweight champion gets his crack on the second night of the Global Wars double-header on November 10 in Walthamstow.