In our new regular series, we’re taking you around a series of promotions to let you know… where we stand!
We’ll not be hitting every promotion every time, but after major shows we’ll be updating you on where storylines are – and maybe where we think they’re heading…
wXw
The World Tag Team League took place in Oberhausen last weekend, You might have heard about it… the whole weekend had more than just tag team matches, as we saw developments all over the card.
The big headline was the reunion of Cerberus, who had dissolved after the Käfigschlacht cage war at Back to the Roots in January – although Ilja Dragunov’s departure from the group at the end of last year really triggered that. Yes, wXw had spent most of this year distancing Cerberus from each other: Ilja and the Avalanche’s 2017 had been spent more often than not across the same ring from each other, whilst the rest of Cerberus had gone on to… other things. Adam Polak went off to handle English commentary after he’d been written out, Dirty Dragan developed a friendship with Young Money Chong as bumbling henchmen for Emil Sitoci, whilst Julian Nero turned to life coaching.
On night one of the World Tag Team League weekender, Julian Nero beat Da Mack in a match that Mack requested when he thought that his match in Frankfurt against Avalanche was a set-up between the two. Mack was narrowly beaten by Nero’s top rope knee, but the Oberhausen crowd perhaps were more than fed up by Mack’s losing streak…
But not as fed up as Mack was, as he interjected himself into Ilja Dragunov’s Unified World Wrestling Championship shot against Bad Bones on the second night. After RISE were ejected from ringside and told that if Bad Bones lost by DQ, he’d lose his title too, Ilja pushed the champion to the edge… until Da Mack came out, that is. RISE had thrown in a belt to help Bones win, but it was Mack who would use the belt. However, referee Tassilo Jung realised something was up… and although RISE told Tass what happened, it was only when Mack owned up when the DQ was called. Along with a big, comedic “fuck!”
Any questions as to whether Mack was joining RISE or not were quickly quelled when he did their single-finger pose, before taking part in an impromptu tag team match on night three where Bad Bones, Ivan Kiev and Pete Bouncer joined up against Ilja Dragunov, Avalanche, Julian Nero and Dirty Dragan. Yes, Cerbereus are back, although it remains to be seen whether this is a one-off, or whether RISE have a new force to contend with… and no, it’s not Da Mack and Pete Bouncer fighting between themselves to avoid being seen as the worst member in the group.
Elsewhere over tag league weekend, RINGKAMPF won the tournament to win the belts – and ensure that David Starr is still kept waiting for his win over WALTER. Starr tweeted afterwards “this loss is gonna sting for a while”, although this isn’t a farewell or anything like that, as he’ll be on wXw’s shows next weekend.
Someone who won’t be on the wXw tours, at least as a team, will be A4. Yeah, that stings us too. Absolute Andy superkicked Marius al-Ani in their last tag league block match, allowing the Spirit Squad to get their only points of the weekend. You’d expect those two to have at least a brief feud before heading their separate ways…
Up next for wXw in terms of “feature events” is their trip to London in two weeks (Tufnell Park Dome on October 28)… after that, we’re looking at Broken Rulz XVII in Dresden on November 18. So plenty for wXw to build up to on Shotgun, especially since the London show is featuring (at time of writing) Travis Banks challenging Bad Bones for the wXw Unified World Wrestling title, and #CCK challenging RINGKAMPF for the tag titles. Those two may be subject to change given that Kid Lykos is expected to be out until early November with a broken wrist, so don’t be surprised if we get a Banks and Brookes team instead.
Elsewhere on that London show: David Starr vs. Mark Haskins, Jurn Simmons vs. Ilja Dragunov, Marius al-Ani vs. Emil Sitoci, Avalanche vs. Michael Dante and Toni Storm vs. Alex Windsor. That last one could also be “subject to change” given that Windsor injured her knee last month… Tickets for wXw in London are still available via wXw-wrestling.com and PROGRESS’ own ticket store.
As for Broken Rulz… it’s all up in the air. Let’s wait for Shotgun to see where those title matches are going, although we do have a Jinny vs. Martina match scheduled as the Women’s Championship Tournament heads towards its conclusion.
PROGRESS
We’re two weeks away from PROGRESS’ first chapter show since Alexandra Palace, and it’s pretty clear that whilst the reset button hasn’t been pushed… the finger is certainly hovering over the button.
Tickets for Chapter 56: La Danse Macabre sold out in double quick time, as usual, but we’re still waiting for the card to trickle out. So far, we know that Toni Storm will be defending her PROGRESS Women’s championship against Charli Evans, after the latter beat Charlie Morgan, Chakara and Jinny in a one-night tournament at the Tufnell Park Dome earlier this month. Expect Jinny to be hovering around in the background as she continues her descent into madness over being unable to win the Women’s title…
Elsewhere, who knows what the directions are? Announced so far is a trios match as Omari makes his PROGRESS debut, teaming with Aussie Open – Mark Davis and Kyle Fletcher – to face Connor Mills, Alex Cupid and Dillon D’Angelo. We’ve also got a regular tag match as the former tag champs of Trent Seven and Tyler Bate face the newly-minted pairing of David Starr and Jack Sexsmith. Billed as Sexy Starr. Watch the armbar… or at least, Chief Deputy Dunne, since I’d expect that to keep bubbling away.
As for former PROGRESS champion Pete Dunne, we don’t know what’s going on. PROGRESS don’t “do” rematch clauses, so it’s unlikely that he’ll be the first person new champ Travis Banks will be facing… Mark Andrews is the current number one contender, but with ATTACK! holding a show in Bristol on the same evening, you’d have to wonder how many ATTACK! regulars will be missing (and vice versa). Will Mark be putting his title shot ahead of revenge on former FSU tag partner Eddie Dennis?
REV PRO
The promotion makes their debut in Cardiff tonight, headlining with Flash Morgan Webster challenging Josh Bodom for the British Cruiserweight title. Webster beat Bodom at the Cockpit two weeks earlier, so this match makes a modicum of sense.
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.
FIGHT CLUB: PRO
They’re next up in two weeks’ time, on October 27, again at the Starworks Warehouse in Wolverhampton for Day of the Dead. So far the only bouts announced are Fenix vs. Travis Banks, Aussie Open vs. Moustache Mountain, and David Starr vs Mark Haskins. Yes, those last two are straight out of London (the tag match, a rematch from Lucha Forever earlier in the month, whilst Starr/Haskins was already advertised for wXw the very next day!).
Extra matches are being drip-fed via the Fight Club: Pro Twitter account, although we’d have to assume that there’ll be something with Jimmy Havoc and Clint Margera, whilst Chris Brookes will probably put his title on the line since the Wolf’s still out hurt.