Six months on from their debut, PROGRESS moved onto their third show back at the Garage in Islington, as the story involving the babyface but conflicted El Ligero PROGRESSed (sorry!)
The card for the third show, “Fifty Shades of Pain”, didn’t feature any PROGRESS title matches, which could raise fears of this show being a throwaway event… instead, it’s probably going to end up advancing a lot of storylines.
We open with a video package for today’s card: first, the match between the London Riots and the pairing of Danny Garnell and Darrell Allen. The Riots were much more assured in their promo than their opponents. The music video continues with a pre-show clip of Marty Scurll getting confirmed as the special guest referee for the main event, which comes across as weird.
Noam Dar vs. Paul Robinson
Robinson – who was a late fill-in for MK McKinnan – can be added along with Jim Smallman and myself in the folder marked “looks better bald”. Dar remains the defacto heel because he’s Scottish. The inset promo from Dar had him shrug off the racist chants, and continue his hunt for the “big stick”.
The former kickboxer Robinson was a few months away from his team with Will Ospreay, but was already a nine-year veteran of the British scene here. He found himself taken down by Dar early on with a wristlock, before using one of his future partners’ repeat kip-ups to escape the hold.
Dar headbutts Robinson in the midsection then gets a one-count from a backslide, before a dizzying swinging backslide gets him one better, a two-count. Robinson punches out of a headlock, but takes a kick to the knee before he’s taken down, although he is successful in sending Dar to the outside moments later, before taking him down with a dropkick of sorts.
A low dropkick knocks Robinson to the ground as he tried to charge Dar in the corner, and the leg targeting started here, as Dar stomped the legs to the mat, before dropping an elbow onto the left knee joint. Dar followed up by forcing Robinson to taste his used chewing gum, as the onslaught continued with some kicks, then a poke to the eye as Dar went for a big headbutt.
Dar dropkicked Robinson to the outside, before being met by a Robinson tope after the Scotsman had gone out to toss his opponent back in. The semi-comeback came on from there as Robinson’s springboard in finished with a punch to Dar, before landing a superkick to end a back-and-forth sequence.
After beating a standing ten count, Robinson’s slingshot ended in him being caught in an airplane spin, then a Northern Lights suplex for a near-fall. Dar missed a double stomp off the top, before taking a Blue Thunder Bomb from Robinson for a near-fall, who then got nothing but great hang time and the mat with a legdrop off the top rope. An enziguiri followed from Dar, as did a Fisherman’s suplex for a two-count, with a Fisherman’s brainbuster getting another near-fall before Dar immediately switched it to the Champagne Super-Knee-Bar for the inevitable tap out. A fine match which just about escaped the realms of glorified squash match territory, with Robinson getting in just the right amount of offence for his spot on the roster. **¾
BWC Scarlo Scholarship Championship: Mark Andrews (c) vs. Xander Cooper
This would be the last time the BWC title would appear on a PROGRESS card, and it wrapped up the storyline between Andrews and Cooper that started when Cooper lost the belt to the Welshman on a non-PROGRESS event.
After a lengthy period of stalling, we got underway when Cooper took down Andrews with a wristlock, as they started off with basic holds, before the tempo increased, with Andrews taking a knee to the face as he tried a sunset flip from the outside in. Cooper kicked away at Andrews in the corner, before dropping him with a neckbreaker over the knee, then a standard neckbreaker for a two-count.
Andrews takes down Cooper with an enziguiri, then a full nelson bomb before landing a springboard cross-body for a near-fall as the champion looked to retain. We then saw the Northern Light’s suplex, with Andrews rolling out and following up with a reverse 450 splash, landing in a back senton on Cooper for a near-fall. Cooper fought back with a single-armed DDT for a two-count, before he too went up top, but he missed with a moonsault, but was able to land a strait-jacket into a backcracker that sent Andrews out of the ring.
Cooper rolled Andrews back in to repeat the move from the top rope, but Andrews fought free to knock him down with a kick, then went up again for a shooting star press that was enough to get the win. This felt a little short, but a good performance nevertheless and good action from both men. Although Cooper would appear again in PROGRESS, this would be the end of any kind of spotlight on him in this group. ***
The London Riots (James Davis & Rob Lynch) vs. The Bastard Squad (Danny Garnell & Darrell Allen)
Garnell and Allen got their name thanks to a poll of PROGRESS fans apparently, and they start by jumping the London Riots, who take them outside the ring, so we’re getting a lot of hand-held camera footage as Allen and Davis stay in the ring and wrestle. Outside, Garnell and Lynch are brawling in the crowd, completely oblivious to a hurricanrana from Allen in the ring.
On the outside, Garnell gets dumped head-first with a Fire Thunder Driver (tombstone piledriver meets Michinoku driver), as Lynch grabs a fan’s chair to add to the abuse. Darrell Allen nips outside to superkick Lynch, before Allen hiptossed Davis into Lynch, breaking the chair.
For some reason, when they got inside, Lynch had the upper hand, albeit briefly, with Allen quickly tagging out to Garnell, who starts a chopping battle with Rob Lynch, and neither man budged an inch. Lynch did move when Garnell took him down with a German suplex, then a DDT for a near-fall, as James Davis broke up the pin then landed a Finlay roll. Garnell pretty much no-sold that and tagged in Allen, who sailed in with a missile dropkick to the Riots, before beating the numbers game by monkey flipping the Riots into each other. A spinning front brainbuster got Allen a near-fall, before Allen was drilled with a facebuster by Davis, as he fought out of a submission hold.
A butterfly brainbuster from Lynch got a two-count over Allen, as Davis slammed Allen on the outside, and it was all one-way for a while. A double stomp from Lynch kept Allen on the mat, who needed Danny Garnell to break up the pin to keep the match alive. James Davis came in and was quickly taken down with the Razzle Dazzle kick, but Allen couldn’t make the tag as Rob Lynch knocked Garnell off the apron.
An Exploder suplex got Davis a two-count, but again Garnell broke up the pin, and finally Allen made the tag to Garnell, who took down Davis with a DDT before bringing Allen back in, with Allen getting caught on the top rope with a superplex by Lynch after spearing Garnell out of the ring.
Lynch then set up Allen for a suplex off the top rope, but Allen fought back and kicked Lynch back into the ring. Allen looked to hit another missile dropkick to the Riots, but was caught in mid-air, and it was turned into a sit-out powerbomb by James Davis – for the move that would later be known as the District Line Powerbomb – and that was it. Pretty much one-way throughout, but pretty entertaining stuff. ***
The Riots continued the beat-down afterwards, targeting Garnell with a clothesline and a chair to the knee, then with a cricket bat as the Bastard Squad were laid to waste. Garnell found himself Pillmanized as the Riots used a cricket bat through the chair around his ankle, and after the Riots make an open challenge, that’s us done with this segment.
Jimmy Havoc vs. Jon Ryan
This was Havoc’s second chance in PROGRESS after his loss to Danny Garnell last time out, and the headline for this was “strictly no blood, no hardcore”, playing up the emo Havoc’s prior life as a deathmatch wrestler. Havoc’s opponent was his teacher and the much larger Jon Ryan, and he wasn’t thrilled with the squeaky-clean match either.
A fan in the crowd had come with a massive homemade spoon, a perfect foil (sorry) for the “Jimmy’s gonna spoon you” chants. Ryan refuses the handshake, slapping him instead, and we start with a takedown and some flying fists, before the pair work over a hammerlock and end up with a standoff.
Ryan rakes his boot across Havoc’s face, but Havoc replies with a hurricanrana as the crowd taunt Ryan with “Gillberg” chants. Havoc misses a plancha to the outside, and Ryan just whacks him with a frying pan for the disqualification. Nothing match, but I sense an angle… **
Ryan throws more cookware into the ring as the crowd chant for a hardcore match. Havoc rolls back into the ring, bleeding from the frying pan shot, then begs for a no-disqualification match. And it’s on:
No-Disqualification: Jimmy Havoc vs. Jon Ryan
Havoc immediately starts with a cane shot, but Ryan fires back with more shots, breaking the Singapore cane into pieces. A second one gets smashed against Havoc’s face, but he works free, crotches Ryan with the cane, then returns the favour. Ryan no-sells a couple of baking trays to the face, but a frying pan does the trick, before Havoc goes under the ring for a cheese grater, and this gets gruesome quickly.
The commentary track gets extremely distorted for some reason as the fans chant “Health and Safety”. Ryan low-bridges Havoc to the outside, where the fight continues, as a baking tray shot to the head staggers Havoc. The Singapore cane comes back in as Havoc fires back, but he wanders into Ryan, whose piledriver attempt ends with a back body drop on the floor.
Havoc waves the fans away so he can toss Ryan into the seats, and then it’s time for… an ironing board?! That gets set up in the ring, and Havoc goes to drop him through it, but in the end, Havoc takes a powerbomb through the ironing board and kicks out at two. Ryan goes outside again and brings in a staple gun from under the ring, then pulls the rubber gloves off of the referee, opting to staple the gloves to the front and back of Havoc.
Ryan sets Havoc up in the corner, and uses the staple gun to the gonads, before grabbing a relatively sedate weapon in the form of a chair. Havoc ducks a chairshot to the head, then hits a superkick for a two-count. Havoc goes under the ring for two more chairs, which he used to give Ryan a seat in, and return the favour from earlier by stapling a rubber glove to Ryan’s head.
Havoc tries to follow up but took a hiptoss for a two-count, and was left to lick his wounds whilst Ryan went out for a baseball bat covered in drawing pins. That was used on Havoc for only a two-count as the referee tried to remove the drawing pins, but Ryan also had a plastic bag full of them… Havoc tried to block a powerbomb into them, and was successful as he dropped Ryan with a death valley driver into the pins.
More plunder followed in the form of a barbed wire board, which was set up as a bridge across two chairs, and wouldn’t you know it, Havoc took a low blow but blocked a superplex, instead shoving Ryan into the thumbtacks. A senton off the top got Havoc another near-fall, before Havoc dropped the barbed wire board onto Ryan and hit a double-stomp through the board… but Ryan kicked out once more.
The board got placed between the two chairs once more, but Havoc went for a headscissors… only for Ryan to block him and drop him with a package tombstone into the thumbtacks, then lift him up for a wheelbarrow suplex through the barbed wire board, and that was it. Hey, it worked to get Havoc over as a babyface, but for me this was an unwelcome departure from what PROGRESS would become known for. Thankfully the ultra-violent stuff would get saved for when it mattered down the line. **¼
RJ Singh vs. Rob Cage
Singh is back after losing in the three-way last time out, whilst this would be Cage’s one-and-only appearance (to date) in PROGRESS. This time out, Singh is decked out like Elvis in a Honky Tonk Man-esque flared bodysuit, with what looks like a prototype of Triple H’s old ring gear underneath.
Singh starts off by choking Cage in the corner with a boot, but Cage neuters him with a headlock, then a shoulderblock, before keeping Singh down with a slam and a wheelbarrow facebuster. Cage teased a dive, but they moved Singh out of the way as the two played a game of chase.
Back in the ring, Cage blocked the Ethnic Submission with an Electric Chair Drop for a two-count, but Singh was back to his feet first, where he started to wear down Cage, with some helping hands from his entourage at ringside. Cage gets himself caught in the ropes as he tried to roll out of a sunset flip, but was able to drop a headbutt to Singh anyway, before getting caught by the entourage, and caught with a neckbreaker by Singh for a two-count.
Singh connects with some jabs that rock Cage, who fires back briefly, and lands a Fireman’s carry lungblower. Singh again gets to his feet first and drills Cage with a knee trembler, but Cage responds with a clothesline out of the corner, then an overheard belly to belly suplex that looked a little wonky.
Cage dropkicks Singh in the knee and hits a Shining Wizard, before the entourage runs in to protect Singh and prevent the cover – which somehow isn’t a DQ. Cage goes to the top and gets shoved off by another of the entourage, which leaves him prone for the Ethnic Submission, giving Cage no choice but to tap. Technically fine, but this whole match just screamed “unremarkable” to me, unfortunately. **¾
Stixx vs. The Lion Kid
So, the opening match from the last show is the semi-final here, but Stixx starts by knocking the Lion Kid off the apron during his entrance, then sits back in the corner as he tries to get the referee to start the count-out.
Lion Kid comes in with a dropkick, then launches a headscissor takedown from the apron and into the ring, as Stixx plants the smaller Lion Kid with a Bossman Slam for almost-a-three. Stixx followed up on the Lion Kid’s leg, and was pretty much toying with his much smaller opponent.
Lion Kid kicked away at a kneeling Stixx, and was able to pull off a Victory roll for a two-count as he continued to sell a knee injury. The hurricanrana follow-up was ill-advised though, as Stixx caught him and turned the move into a single-leg Boston crab, forcing the Lion Kid into the ropes. Stixx kept working on Lion Kid’s legs, but the kid kept fighting back, staggering Stixx with a headkick, before taking a powerslam off the ropes. Stixx followed up with a giant swing, having grabbed the Lion Kid by one leg, before going for another single-leg Boston crab. The Lion Kid fought back, and got into the apron, before collapsing to the mat as his injured knee meant that an attempted springboard went awry.
Stixx saw a tiltawhirl slam blocked and turned into an elbow-drop reverse DDT by the Lion Kid, but Stix fought back with a superplex off the middle rope for a near-fall. A cross-legged kneebuster followed up as Stixx kept picking apart the bones of the Lion Kid, with Stixx then setting-up for a super spinebuster, but the Lion Kid worked free and leapt up for a springboard… and was caught in an Achilles lock instead.
After being sent crashing to the mat, Stixx went airborne with a frog splash to the knees, but wandered into a roll-up for a two-count. Another roll-up from Lion Kid got him yet another near-fall, before Lion Kid blocked a crucifix powerbomb by getting onto the ropes… and missing a moonsault. Stixx went for another swinging side slam, but Lion Kidd switched it into a DDT, before again going up top where he landed on his feet from a 450 Splash, as Stixx finally dropped him with the crucifix powerbomb for the win. In retrospect, that was a glorified squash from the start, and that was it for the Lion Kid in PROGRESS. Decent match while it lasted though **½
El Ligero & Nathan Cruz vs. Dave Mastiff & Greg Burridge (Special Guest Referee: Marty Scurll)
So Marty Scurll was wearing the zebra stripes for this “parejas incredible” match, with the champion and his next challenger teaming up against Greg Burridge and the debuting Dave Mastiff. Cruz was in his “shit Zack Ryder” gear again, so you can guess the chants that went his way, as El Ligero started to get a smattering of boos for his prior actions.
Mastiff’s beard was like stubble compared to what he sports in 2016, but it was Ligero and Burridge who started off… well, we thought it would be, as Ligero immediately tagged in Cruz at the bell. Burridge worked over Cruz’s left arm, before the pair locked up and went into the ropes. A series of hiptosses from Burridge took down Cruz, who found himself tagged in as Dave Mastiff brought himself into the match.
Ligero took up the offer of a first shot, but handsprung himself into a shot in the back from Mastiff, as Burridge grabbed a fan’s foam finger to prod Ligero during a stalling suplex. Apparently the foam finger counted as a tag, and Burridge came in to punch Ligero with his real hand, adding several more uppercuts to send the number one contender flying.
After grounding Burridge with a leglock, Ligero dragged him into the corner to tag in Cruz, who continued the offence, albeit with the interference of Marty Scurll as referee. Ligero worked over the knee a bit more after being tagged in, which caused some pain as Burridge missed a leapfrog and crumpled to the mat. Ligero then dragged Burridge to the outside, where he threw Burridge’s legs around the ringpost, as the onslaught continued.
Burridge found himself trapped in the corner as Cruz and Ligero made frequent tags – echoing their future in PROGRESS some three years later – but the dissension started to appear as they jockeyed for position over who’d suplex Burridge. That led to him crawling through both men’s legs, and finally bringing in Dave Mastiff who charged at Cruz, dropping him with a lariat for a two-count. Mastiff blocked a suplex attempt from Cruz and Ligero, instead suplexing both at the same time, before dropping Ligero with a German suplex into the turnbuckles.
Cruz cut off Mastiff with a lungblower, but a couple of clothesline from Burridge put paid to his comeback, as Ligero missed a legdrop and caught his partner as he went to break up a pin. Burridge fought back with a headbutt to the midsection, before rolling out of the ring to take down Cruz as Mastiff slid back to the ring to try and powerbomb Ligero… only to take a superkick instead before Ligero followed up with a cross body block. Which saw Ligero bounce off of Mastiff and to the mat instead.
Ligero got himself back up though, getting out of the way of what I’d guess was a Vader bomb attempt, before catching Mastiff with a double stomp. Mastiff rolled into the middle of the ring, but Scurll refused to make the three count, instead counting two then stopped the count, as he proceeded to toss Ligero out of the ring. Cruz didn’t take well to that, but he quickly found himself rolled up and trapped in a vice by Burridge briefly. The Showstealer led to Cruz getting a cover, but Scurll refused to make the count too.
A disgruntled Cruz got into Scurll’s face, giving an opportunity for Mastiff came back in to toss Cruz out… only for Ligero to drill Cruz with a superkick and depart ringside much like he did at chapter two. That left Cruz all alone to take a Mastiff cannonball, and that was it as the debuting Mastiff scored the win over the champion. A pretty good main event, but I could have done without the heel-to-the-heels referee gimmick. ***½
Add Greg Burridge to the list of “never appeared in the promotion again”, as this was his swansong in PROGRESS… As I’ve already mentioned, fair number of faces on this card would remain regulars with the company whilst others would disappear from the roster altogether. Of course, between chapter 3 and where we are today (heading into chapter 33), there have been massive strides in the product for the fan watching at home. For one, the inset promos have largely disappeared, in favour of pre-match in-ring promos when needed, which works better since PROGRESS releases are now full events rather than “clips” of the matches (and none of the live stuff).
No more are we watching a hard camera where the lower third gives us a good view of the production desks (although, having had that view myself from a live show, it is pretty good vantage point, but it’s nice not to have to stare at computer screens!). Like most indies, the curse of the handheld camera afflicted them, but short of sticking rigidly to a one-camera set-up, there’s not much that could have been done without blowing the production budget.
For me, this may have been the weakest of the cards so far, but three shows in, you can definitely see the direction where PROGRESS were heading – and they’d only get better from here.