Three months after their debut, PROGRESS returned to The Garage in Islington, London for their second event, entitled “The March of PROGRESS”. Featuring an increased roster of 18 wrestlers (only four of which appeared on the first show), show two headlined with a best-of-three falls title match between Nathan Cruz and Marty Scurll, and also had the PROGRESS debut of a 19-year-old Will Ospreay.
A pre-show video package kicked us off with interviews from Marty Scurll, Nathan Cruz and his Nazi (sorry, regal) staff as they built up to their best-of-three-falls match tonight. Jim Smallman in a hoodie was our host, egging on a kid to swerve the age limit in the building and (hopefully not!) lie about his age.
We still have the fixed camera behind the sound booth, but the mobile cameras don’t look weird (thankfully). Suddenly, we get an inset promo of a guy with a massive chain around his neck ranting about “the guy talking in the ring”, getting upset over waiting for his match.
Stixx vs. The Lion Kid
Stixx turns out to be the guy with the chain, and he gets a brief intro before cutting a promo on Smallman, so he’s the defacto heel, I guess. The Lion Kid in a past life allegedly was Wade Fitzgerald of mid-2000s BritWres tag teams enTOURage and BritRAGE.
They’ve gotten win/loss records in the wrestlers’ entrance captions, which seems a little odd given that most of the guys on the card today will be 0-0. This concept was dropped, but it’d be curious to see how long they stuck with it.
The Lion Kid cut a forgettable inset promo after someone in the crowd sang the Lion King theme, but he started off brightly against Stixx, unloading with a few shots before he was dropped with a shoulder tackle. Lion Kid used his speed to take Stixx down, with flying headscissors off the top rope, but he ran into Stixx, who picked him up in a military press slam, before Lion Kid dragged him to the outside.
Lion Kid ran off the apron to try a hurricanrana, but was caught and rammed into the ring post instead. Back inside, Stixx rammed some knees to the Lion Kid’s midsection, then dumped him with a release front suplex. Stixx cut off another comeback, but got taken down with more headscissors, before turning a flying headscissors into a tiltawhirl backbreaker on the Lion Kid.
Stixx pulled out an unorthodox crossbody to the midsection of a cornered Lion Kid, before dropping a knee to the ribs as the larger Stixx was looking for a submission win. A backbreaker then a gutbuster followed from Stixx for a near-fall following a lackadaisical cover.
Lion Kid rolled out of a powerbomb attempt, countering with an armdrag, before sending Stixx to the outside with a kick, and that led to a dive spot as Lion Kid overshot with a plancha. Stixx picked up Lion Kid and took him to the apron, missing with a clothesline, as the smaller man hit a springboard dropkick before slipping on a springboard out of the ring. Third time was the charm as Lion Kid sprung across the corner to drop Stixx with a plancha, but Stixx quickly rolled back in, and dropped Lion Kid with a Bossman Slam for a near-fall.
Lion Kid tried to go airborne again, but got crotched on the top rope by Stixx, who then went for a super crucifix powerbomb, but Lion Kid freed himself and took down Stixx with headscissors off the top rope, before missing with a moonsault into a reverse DDT, but he was able to hit a roll-up to snatch the win over Stixx. A decent match, but there were a few too many blown spots as Lion Kid was too eager to go flying. **½
BWC Scarlo Scholarship: Mark Andrews (c) vs. Mike Hitchman
Mark Andrews was just 20 here, and he looked every inch the rookie… Mike Hitchman (announced from Wales, but marked on his graphic as being from “Blaina, England”… Blaina’s actually in South Wales), on the other hand, looks pretty much like he does today.
Hitchman snapped Andrews to the mat with a waistlock takedown, as he started working on the wrist of his Welsh compatriot. Andrews got the first pinfall attempt of the match with a Gedo Clutch-style roll-up, before the pair traded counters from headlocks, with Andrews bridging out of some headscissors, only to see his kick easily caught by the “Wild Boar”.
Another Hitchman headlock took Andrews to the mat, before the flyer powered back up, only to get grounded once again. Andrews freed himself, and got Hitchman to trip up over his dropdown before rolling-up Hitchman for another two-count. After missing a corner spear, Hitchman went flying to the outside, as Andrews followed up with a moonsault to the floor, but Andrews was caught on the apron as Hitchman tried to deliver a German suplex into the crowd, but the Wild Boar had to settle with a DDT onto the apron instead.
Hitchman fish-hooked away at Andrews’ face as the Boar kept Andrews grounded in the corner, before dumping Andrews on his head with a Dragon suplex for a near-fall. After blocking a couple of kicks, Hitchman went for a powerbomb, but Andrews turned it into a facebuster, a la Kidman, then nailed a double stomp and a standing sky twister press for a two-count.
Andrews followed that up by being dumped on the top rope and placed into a tree of woe by Hitchman, who speared the upside-down Andrews in the corner. An exploder suplex from Hitchman sent Andrews into the corner, but again Andrews kicked out before the pair started to exchange forearms and headbutts. Out of nowhere, Hitchman drilled Andrews with his Trapper Keeper package piledriver, with Andrews kicking out at two.
Hitchman looked to end it all with a Trapper Keeper off the top rope, but was shoved down by Andrews, who then missed with a shooting star press, and walked into the path of another Trapper Keeper, only for Andrews to reverse into a small package and retain the title. A good match between the two youngsters, although it felt like it ran a little long. ***¼
Post-match, Xander Cooper jumped Mark Andrews, with Cooper angry at losing his belt (on another company’s show, which wasn’t named). A dropkick from Andrews sent Cooper scurrying to the back, with Andrews hot in pursuit, leaving the belt behind in the ring.
Darrell Allen vs. Noam Dar
Dar is the defacto heel again here, since he’s from Scotland and all. Both of these guys lost on the first PROGRESS show, but an inset promo from Dar shows him arrogantly predicting a win as he wants to win “that big stick”. Meanwhile, Darrell Allen pulls a Booker T and recites *that* Booker T promo. You know the one I mean.
Dar takes Allen to the mat early on, as the pair exchange basic holds, with headlock takedowns and headscissor escapes as Dar bites at Allen’s wrist to get an extra advantage. Trust the PROGRESS crowd to reply with a “that’s not kosher” chant to the Israeli-born grappler…
A log roll from Dar trips Allen, but the pair struggle to get an advantage, until a dropkick from Dar sends Allen staggering into the corner. Allen replies with a tiltawhirl headscissors that sends Dar to the floor, as the Scottish Israeli tries to keep his distance from the Londoner. Back inside, Dar goes to the top, but misses a double stomp, then gets whipped into the corner and takes a European Uppercut, as Allen got caught with a dropkick on the top rope as he wasted his time waiting for Dar to go in range.
Dar took Allen to the corner for a headbutt to the midsection, then a couple of strikes, before Allen countered with a back elbow and a rolling snapmare into a knee strike for a near-fall. The Scotsman pulls out an airplane spin on Allen, then turns it into a Northern Lights suplex for another near-fall, before putting his own used chewing gum into Allen’s mouth. Psychological warfare!
An incensed Allen fires away on Dar, dropping him with a superkick, only for Dar to hit back with a bicycle kick, before Allen lands an enziguiri for a near-fall. A roaring elbow from Dar gets him a two-count, but Allen counters with a superkick to the back of the head and a roll-up for another two-count. Allen again gets caught on the top rope, and is knocked down and dragged into place for a double stomp on the knee, as Dar locks in the leg grapevine that’d be known as the Champagne Super-Knee-Bar, adding in headbutts and kicks to the chest to force the tap-out. A decent little match, but the knee-bar came out of nowhere with little build-up prior to the double stomp. ***¼
Jimmy Havoc vs. Danny Garnell
Add Jimmy Havoc to the “my God, they look so young” folder. After PROGRESS put out a tweet asking for suggestions for wrestlers, Jimmy Havoc hijacked it and ended up on the show, with a plea from Jim Smallman to “behave yourself”. Foreshadowing, much?
The referee pulls a spoon out of Havoc’s gear, and we’re underway as Garnell goes tumbling with an armdrag. Garnell drops Havoc with a waistlock, but Havoc works with a hammerlock, before Garnell works himself up and snapmares his student to the mat. A brief distraction follows as the referee scarpers as the crowd chants “spoon the ref” to the two wrestlers, and we’re back to action as Havoc takes a shoulderblock… but doesn’t bump.
Havoc pulls off a leapfrog, a dropkick then a plancha to Garnell as the action goes outside, but upon returning to the ring he gets decked with a clothesline from the much-larger Garnell. Some spinning headscissors from Havoc sends Garnell to the mat, but he’s unable to follow-up as the referee intervened when Havoc went for a spoon. The utensil, not the innuendo.
Out of nowhere, Havoc took down Garnell with a crossface, to the somewhat unpopular “We Miss Benoit” chant. Let’s not go there, eh?
A back body drop got Garnell a couple of two-counts, but Havoc came back by whipping Garnell into the corner and drilling him with a leaping knee, before sailing to the outside as Garnell got out of the way on a second attempt. Garnell drilled Havoc with a suspended DDT off the middle rope for a near-fall, before Havoc no-sold a German suplex, then a half-nelson suplex, before finally being dumped on his head with a Cravat into a snapmare/DDT for almost a three-count.
In the corner, Havoc took some boots, before moving away from a running knee, then landed a lungblower out of the corner on Garnell for a two-count, as he went back to the crossface for more “Benoit” chants. If anything, Havoc looked more like an WWE/ECW-era CM Punk here….
Havoc went to the outside for a steel chair, to the delight of the crowd, but the referee stopped him from using the chair… which led to Garnell rolling up Havoc for a two-count. A tiltawhirl from Garnell was switched into another crossface, but Garnell rolled through and scored the win over the debuting Havoc. A pretty good match, with the story being Jimmy Havoc surprising everyone by not reverting to his deathmatch roots… ***¼ I’d have thought that five years would have been long enough for people to get the Benoit chants out of their system (particularly since this was virtually on the anniversary of that tragedy).
Post-match, Jim Smallman recounts Jimmy Havoc’s loss, and offers him one more chance at Chapter Three…
London Riots (James Davis & Rob Lynch) vs. Velocity Vipers (Will Ospreay & Alex Esmail)
We have a genuine movie star on our hands here, as Will Ospreay (he went nowhere… trust me!) tagged with Alex Esmail – whose film credits include “Strippers vs. Werewolves” and the more successful “Attack the Block”. We also find out why the London Riots are known in 2016 as “the first team of PROGRESS”… because they genuinely were the first tag team to be introduced in the company. They were strongly booed by a crowd whom were mostly likely caught up in the real London riots from the previous year.
The Velocity Vipers looked a little like Paul London and Brian Kendrick, and even did their WWE backflip off the ropes entrance. The same couldn’t be said of their gear, which were off-the-rack MMA shorts, and they took a heck of a beating from the Riots in the early going, at least until Ospreay knocked the Riots off the apron.
With the Riots on the outside, Esmail went for a dive, but the Riots moved around ringside, before delivering a tope con hilo to one of the Riots. Ospreay went to follow up with a tope, but took an uppercut from Rob Lynch, who then went to work on Ospreay.
Ospreay tried a cross body on Davis, but was easily caught and taken down with a Finlay roll, as Alex Esmail’s attempt to help his partner ended with his springboard dive being caught, and turned into a piggy back before being used for extra weight as a back senton on Ospreay. Davis kept toying with Ospreay, chopping him hard in the ropes, before Rob Lynch returned to add more pain to the future New Japan star.
A camel clutch kept Ospreay grounded as the crowd chanted for the film star, but Ospreay found himself tasting Rob Lynch’s saliva as his gumshield was taken out, spat on, and shoved back in. Ospreay tried to hook himself in the ropes to avoid James Davis, but only ended up taking a big boot to the outside as the violent Riots continued to massacre the youngster.
Davis slammed Ospreay out on the floor, before bringing him back in for more punishment, as Esmail looked on helplessly, as Lynch knocked him off the apron. Ospreay held onto the rope to avoid an Irish whip, and finally took down Davis with a pair of kicks, then a headscissor takedown before making the hot tag to “Bieber” Esmail. Some kicks from Esmail send Davis staggering into the corner, but Rob Lynch floors him with a leaping spear for a near-fall.
Esmail tried to chop Lynch a few times, with little effect, as a single chop decked the youngster, as Lynch stood on the head to get a two-count. A release German suplex got another two-count, before Davis came back in to drill Esmail with an Exploder suplex – a move which ended up breaking Esmail’s leg as he over-rotated and landed badly.
The match stood still as everyone figured out what to do next, but Esmail dragged himself out of the ring, and tagged in Ospreay who landed a handspring enziguiri on David, before scoring a tornado DDT on Lynch, then a Code Red as Esmail was taken away for treatment. Lynch kicked out at two after that Code Red, as Ospreay was left all alone against the two Riots, but that didn’t faze him, with a rolling snapmare taking down Davis. Ospreay then went up top and missed a double-rotation moonsault, before being tossed into a clothesline by Rob Lynch as James Davis scored the win. A nice and brutal “big bullies wipe out the young fliers” match, with the London Riots looking impressive in action here. ***¼
Number One Contender’s Match: El Ligero vs. Greg Burridge vs. RJ Singh
Now there’s a blast from the past – Greg Burridge, the former “Pukka One” Darren Burridge from 1PW fame. RJ Singh takes kicks from both Ligero and Burridge in the early going, before rolling out of the ring to relative safety.
Ligero and Burridge mock the strong style formula by tapping each other with kicks and punches, saving the full-force stuff for Singh, and we finally get underway after the comedy. Ligero sends Burridge into the corner, before whipping him into Singh in the other corner, and out come the old furry dice. There’s a throwback to the mid-2000s right there. Singh and Ligero grab the furry dice, and it’s actually sold, as Burridge is tossed out, leaving us with Singh and Ligero, as the masked one goes through his lucha-inspired routine.
Singh drops Ligero with a flatliner, then follows up with a diving knee for a near-fall, before Burridge rushes back to the ring to flatten Ligero with a clothesline. Singh tries to drag Burridge back outside, but gets caught with some headscissors as Ligero looks to throw himself to the pile, only for one of Singh’s entourage to stop him and produce more furry dice comedy with Burridge.
Burridge himself then gets tripped on the ropes by Singh, who in turn takes a kick as he tried to springboard in, with Ligero finally landing a somersault plancha – albeit to Singh’s entourage on the outside. Back in the ring, Ligero misses a double stomp to Singh, and gets rolled up for a near-fall, but Ligero kicks out into the Rings of Saturn, which Burridge promptly breaks up. A “Lasso from El Paso” gets broken up by Singh, who then catches Burridge in the camel clutch (called the Ethnic Submission here), with a superkick from Ligero putting paid to that.
Ligero’s springboard gets cut off as Burridge goes for a piledriver, but that too is cut off with Ligero landing a springboard DDT, only to get rolled into a grounded octopus hold. That move doesn’t last long, and out of nowhere, Ligero shoves Burridge into the ropes and rolls him up with a handful of tights for the win. This seemed to be way too short for a number one contender’s three-way, as the story of El Ligero cheating to win continues. **½
Greg Burridge understandably isn’t happy with the finish, and busts out just about every word you can’t say on TV in a promo.
Two-of-Three Falls for the PROGRESS Championship: Nathan Cruz (c) vs. Marty Scurll
The Nazi/Regal Staff is on the line here, and we’ve got over half an hour left in the show, so this is going to go long! Cruz is listed as having a 1-0 win record (could have sworn he won a qualifer then the title match at chapter 1…), and gets a “Shit Zack Ryder” chant from the crowd, remembering his one-legged tights from the first show.
We start with Cruz taking Scurll to the corner, before they work over the other with headlock takedowns, as Scurll edges an early advantage. Scurll rushes into the corner to kick out Cruz’s hand, then quickly goes for a finger snap and a series of arm breakers. A slap to the chest sends Cruz into the corner, where he takes some more chops as Scurll tries his best Ric Flair impersonation, only for Cruz to duck out of the way and respond in kind.
Three chops from Scurll sends Cruz down to the mat, but Cruz rolls out of a sunset flip before hitting a back elbow… Cruz gets thrown to the outside, then sidesteps a dive from Marty Scurll who gets nothing but the front row of the Garage with a tope. Back in the ring, a backdrop suplex gets Cruz a near-fall, before Scurll blocks a suplex and hoists him up in a stalling vertical suplex, with the crowd counting up to 50 seconds. Scurll couldn’t take advantage though, and found himself taking a forearm from Cruz, before retaliating with an enziguiri kick in the corner, then a tornado DDT for a two-count.
Scurll hoisted up Cruz for a back suplex, but Cruz fought out, only to be taken down with a clothesline for a two-count. In a bid to follow-up, Scurll went to the top rope, but Cruz wasn’t successful with a superplex, instead being shoved backwards and sent down with diving double knees. After drilling Cruz with the Hangover (Torture rack into a back cracker), it was academic as Marty Scurll scored the win to take the lead.
Once Cruz hauled himself to his feet, the match restarted, and a poke to the eye and a roll-up with the feet on the ropes almost got Cruz immediately level. More punches followed as Cruz kept Scurll grounded, but the two started trading punches before Scurll took the two of them to the floor with a cross-body block.
The mobile camera had a hard time finding the pair after that, eventually picking them up by the bar once more, with Scurll dropping a Dusty Rhodes-style elbow off the bar as one fan offered a drink. They moved into a stairwell, with Cruz throwing Scurll behind a door before rushing back to the ring in a bid to claim a count-out win, only for “Party Marty” to get back in at the count of eight.
Cruz took Scurll outside again almost immediately, and was whipped into the crowd before seeking another count-out win, but a couple of fans ended up throwing Scurll back in at eight, before going back to the outside once more, this time going behind the sound booth, dropping Scurll onto the dividing wall. Despite seeking the cheap count-out, Scurll beat it back to the ring yet again, but ended up slumped against the ropes as Cruz peppered him with shots.
Out of nowhere, Scurll fired back with clotheslines and rapid slaps to the chest, before grabbing Cruz as he tried to powder to the floor. From the apron, Cruz was suplexed back in, getting a two-count from the move. Cruz blocked a figure four attempt, then rolled him up at the second attempt, before Scurll reversed it for a two-count; and from there, Scurll ran off the ropes and into a scoop tombstone piledriver for the match-levelling fall.
Scurll finally drags himself to his feet, but immediately slumps to the mat, and Cruz dives in for the cover for a two-count. After “tuning up the band”, Cruz sets up for a superkick, but walks into a roaring elbow from Scurll as the pair hit the mat once more, just beating a standing ten-count, as they go back to trading forearm shots.
Cruz tries for the tombstone again, but Scurll avoids it and gets a two-count from a roll-up, then similar results from a backslide and sunset flip. Scurll tries for a German suplex, but Cruz wanders towards the referee, giving him the opportunity to mule kick Scurll low as the ref was unsighted, before dumping Scurll on his neck with a bridging German suplex for a near-fall.
A release German suplex sends Scurll sailing into the corner, but Scurll comes back with a headbutt to the midsection and then a Figure Four as the crowd sensed a submission from the champion. Cruz made the ropes though, and dragged himself into the corner before pulling the referee into the path of a leaping knee from Scurll. With the referee down, Cruz capitalised by landing the Showstolen (Fireman’s carry into a Michinoku driver), before sliding out of the ring to grab a chair from the crowd.
Out of nowhere, El Ligero ran in to grab the chair from Cruz. Cruz returned the favour by spitting at him, so Ligero fired back with a superkick… but Cruz ducked, meaning that Scurll got levelled. There was nothing more than a shrug from Ligero as he left the ring, allowing Nathan Cruz to score the winning fall.
A fine main event, save for the finish. Although the crowd brawling ran the risk of being overdone, it told a good story of the heel champion trying to get a cheap count-out win, and I was fine with that. Good work from two guys who would only improve through time in PROGRESS. ****¼
Chapter Two was an improvement on the first PROGRESS show in my mind, as the company built on the story of perennial babyface El Ligero cheating his way to a title shot, and then not caring over his slip-up that cost Scurll the title. Two shows in, and it’s easy to see how this company got where they did!