We’re going to keep things chronological here on #BACKFILL, and after Chapter 8’s “Big Boys Guide to Strong Style”, PROGRESS started a new strand of shows entitled: ENDVR, where some of the company’s trainees cut their teeth.
#TLDR: The first of PROGRESS’ ENDVR shows – think of it like the early days of NXT, featuring a mixture of trainees and main roster stars – featured some decent action from the PROGRESS trainees, a glimpse of some potential stars who never made it, and a pretty decent main event between Darrell Allen and Eddie Dennis.
The Full Review: We’re in a different venue for ENDVR – with the Bedford in Balham, South London being the location. It looks to be a little smaller than the Garage in Islington. Not Jim Smallman is your ring announcer (and it’s not Glen Joseph either, so I have no idea who this guy is), and we’re sticking to the the “cut out the entrances” format for these shows.
Lord Jonathan Windsor vs. Joey Lakeside
Both of these men were involved in the Natural PROGRESSion Series, with Windsor having lost in the semi-final stage to Mark Andrews, whilst Lakeside was the first one out in a four-way match that was also his PROGRESS debut.
Jimmy Barnett is on commentary though, and we start with Windsor taking down Lakeside with a waistlock takedown. Someone’s forgotten to turn off the disco lighting, so there’s plenty of flashes of coloured lights here, as a leg sweep takes Lakeside down again, before Lakeside gets a two-count from a roll-up.
A low dropkick sends Windsor down for a roll-up, before an enziguiri knocked Windsor to the outside. A plancha attempt is aborted, but Lakeside ends up diving anyway, connecting with a tope that took Windsor into a pillar in the Bedford.
Windsor hit back with a headbutt to the midsection, before dropping Lakeside with an uppercut. A diving uppercut gets Windsor a two-count, as he follows with a couple of knee drops and elbow drops, before a suplex gets Windsor another near-fall. Lakeside gets a knee to the face after a roll-up of his own, and Windsor stays on top with a chop and a back senton for a two-count.
Lakeside makes a comeback with some kicks, but Windsor sweeps a leg back to bring Lakeside crashing face-first onto the knee (the same move Jinny calls the “Botox Injection” nowadays), before a Fisherman’s suplex scores another two-count. Another comeback from Lakeside gets going with some clotheslines and a back elbow, then a Dragon screw takedown before Windsor powers out of a toehold.
Lakeside dumps Windsor with a kneebreaker, and segues into a single-leg Boston crab, only for Windsor to roll free. A backdrop suplex sent Lakeside flying, but he still kicks out at two, before a Northern Lights suplex gets Windsor another two-count, and this is getting pretty one sided now.
Windsor lifts up Lakeside for a DDT, but he eats a superkick instead, before another leg trip sees Lakeside jump into another single leg crab for the tapout win. For a trainee match, this was as good as you’d expect, not great, but certainly not as bad as other stuff I’ve seen (cough Mexican Eagle cough). **½
We got to a video package with annoyingly catchy Hawaii-inspired music, and it quickly introduces us to Chuck Mambo. He’s making his debut too… and for a show that took place in September 2013, I’m kinda floored that the same photo is still being used almost three years later!
Chuck Mambo vs. Dark Panther
Or… El Negra Pantera, or El Pantera Negra, since all three names have been used for this guy verbally or visually in the space of ten seconds! I’ll stick with Dark Panther, for the sake of ease!
Mambo is shoeless here, and is replacing an unnamed man in this match. Panther works an armbar and a headlock, before grabbing a waistlock that takes Panther into the ropes for a break. Panther grabs a wristlock, but Mambo breaks out and grabs a chinlock, only for that to be reversed into another wristlock.
Mambo breaks out of the wristlock and uses a couple of takedowns for some near-falls, before Panther scurries out of the ring to avoid a surfboard. Back inside, Pather and Mambo engage in a test of strength, which is quickly undone by Panther who takes Mambo into the corner with a chop. More chops follow, and Panther runs in with a forearm strike for another near-fall.
Panther slams Mambo for a two-count, then goes back to the rear chinlock, before missing a leap off the top rope, which allows Mambo to lock in a surfboard. Mambo releases it, but runs into a kick to the midsection from Panther, who then chokes him across the bottom rope. Another snapmare sets up Mambo for a strait-jacket choke, but he escapes and connects with a couple of clotheslines, then a dropkick that sends Panther into the ropes.
Panther raked the eyes before Mambo came back to land an atomic drop, then a back suplex for a two-count. A monkey flip from Mambo led to a slingshot back into the corner, before dropping him with a neckbreaker on the way back. Mambo goes to the top, but gets caught with an enziguiri, and then a quick roll-up on the mat secures the win for Panther. A fairly by-the-numbers match, but a solid debut here. **¼
“A few moments later…” we’re back with the ring announcer, and he’s shilling the training school. He plugs the merchandise, but gets cut off by some heavily distorted music and a guy coming out. We’re told that this is Tyson James, in his green somewhat-generic ring gear, and he asks for a match against anyone… an opportunity that Glen Joseph agrees to give. Another distorted song plays, and I think it’s Disturbed’s “Down With The Sickness”, and this is a guy called Krisys. He’s got a shaved mohawk, and I’m wondering if this show was really from 2013 or 2003.
Tyson James vs. Krisys
Krisys is a monster of a man, towering over James, and this looks like a WWE-level enhancement match already. Of course, he doesn’t take the handshake, instead opting to lay out James with a clothesline from the corner.
Krisys picks up James with ease and deadlifts him into a fallaway slam, but James lands on his feet… then gets squashed with a shoulder tackle. A big boot in the corner saves James from an avalanche, but a cross body off the top is easily caught and Krisys ragdolls him with another fallway slam.
James again blocks a charge with his feet, but he doesn’t learn and another cross body is caught, as Krisys lifts him up and dumps him with a military press slam. One running powerbomb later, and Krisys seals the win. For a squash, this guy looked mighty impressive, and seemed to have the tools to be something. Sadly, he was one and done in PROGRESS, and hasn’t been seen since. *½
Another backstage video hypes up someone who wants to release his aggression in a “normal” way. Only thing is, he has to team with someone and it’s the “Burden of freedom”. No name is given, but this could have done with another take. Nothing wrong with the cinematics, but the delivery seemed really wooden.
We’re then taken to somebody’s kitchen (seriously!), as another unnamed man tells us he’s gotten an email from PROGRESS management. He reveals his name is Ali Armstrong, and he’s thrilled to get his chance… and we end up with a training montage! Oh my word, this is awesome! Footage of Ali in an outside gym, and working in the ProJo, learning how to make a tag (seriously!), and also climbing a rock for some reason. The ProJo footage shows Ali missing a legdrop… and this leads us to our next match.
This was pretty cool – and made me really sad knowing that Armstrong’s career was cut short by injury. With the push that they were preparing for him, Armstrong had a good shot at being the first star of the ProJo training school.
Jimmy Havoc & Ali Armstrong vs. The Burden of Justice (Phil Ward & Steve Burden)
Havoc and Armstrong are already in the ring, with Havoc once again reprising the role of “coach helping his student” as we saw when he cornered Joey Lakeside on an earlier chapter show. Their opponents are “Warden” Phil Ward and Steve Burden… Ward is playing the gimmick of a prison warden, whilst Steve Burden is the reforming criminal character we saw speaking moments ago.
After some hugs, Havoc starts with Phil Ward, and immediately grabs a wristlock, as they take that hold back and forth. Ward snapmares out, but quickly loses a chinlock as Havoc regains the wristlock, holding onto it after a monkey flip in a sound technical opening spell. Armstrong took the tag in, but held onto the armbar before tagging Havoc back in, who still kept hold of the armbar despite being slammed to the mat.
Armstrong comes back in and gets a wristlock applied to himself, and then asks for advice from Havoc in the corner, before flipping across the ring to free himself… and he just keeps rolling. And then gets slapped in the face by Ward. In comes Havoc again, and he takes a forearm from Ward, before Havoc leaps over and hits an armdrag, then a bodyslam.
Armstrong wants in again, and misses a legdrop. Not because Ward moved, but because Armstrong has bad aim… so he tags straight back out to Havoc, whose legdrop connects, then tags in Armstrong again, who then overshoots his legdrop. Good comedy, especially in conjunction with that training montage.
An annoyed Havoc is tagged back in, and drops Ward with a back suplex, before lifting up Armstrong for an assisted legdrop that finally connects. Ward then tags in Steve Burden, who looks like an 80s hair metal drummer, and Burden barely budges from from a shoulder tackle. A hiptoss does work for Havoc though, as Burden goes to the outside, before a knee from Ward gives Burden an easy two-count.
Back inside, Burden grabs a rear chinlock and clubs away at Havoc before Ward and Burden cycle through quick tags. They miss a double clothesline, and Armstrong gets the hot tag… only to screw up his slingshot into the ring. He doesn’t miss those clotheslines though, and takes down Ward with a spinning elbow before screwing up a kip-up. Aww, he’s like PROGRESS’ own JT Smith!
Armstrong eats an uppercut from Ward, and faces off with Steve Burden once more, taking some shoulder blocks in the corner. Ward choked away at Armstrong in the corner, before Burden came in with a Kevin Nash-like big boot choke. Another tag brings in Ward for a near-fall, whilst Burden came in again to hit a clothesline for a near-fall.
Burden lifts up Armstrong in a waistlock, but Ali elbows free, only to be dropped in the wrong corner again. Ward connects with a clothesline that looked to be a late thought, before Armstrong grabbed him in an airplane spin, as Jimmy Havoc screamed at Armstrong to make the tag. That didn’t happen, and Armstrong almost got pinned himself as the heels again dragged him into the wrong corner.
A sidewalk slam sees Ward prevent Armstrong from tagging out again, and Burden came in again to put the boots to Armstrong. Burden gets a two-count from a spinning uppercut, then nails a spinebuster for another two-count, before Armstrong fought out of a powerbomb and hit a reverse DDT on Burden. That gave Armstrong the chance to make a hot tag to Havoc, who connected with a leaping shining wizard to Ward in the corner, then a springboard moonsault for a two count as Burden broke it up.
Burden dropped Havoc with a powerbomb into a spin-out neckbreaker for a near-fall, and the tags seemed to be forgotten as Armstrong got a near-fall from his run-in. Ward and Burden worked over Armstrong in the corner, and as the referee dealt with Armstrong in the corner, Ward punched Havoc with a pair of handcuffs. That didn’t lead to any immediate pinfall, as Burden instead taped Armstrong’s hands to the middle turnbuckle, as he was forced to watch Havoc kick out at two from the delayed pinfall.
Ward and Burden double-teamed Havoc, but he countered with a double DDT, before scoring a lungblower on Burden for a two-count, then a lungblower out of the corner for another near-fall on Ward. Havoc went to untie Armstrong, but got caught by Burden’s release German suplex, and an Ace crusher from Ward and that was enough for the heels to get the win. This match kinda bored me in parts, as the Burden of Justice felt like a throwback to 80s wrestling rather than anything we’d come to associate with PROGRESS. I did enjoy the Armstrong/Havoc pairing, and of course, the continued story of Havoc not getting a win. Ever. **
Another character introduction video comes next for Damon Moser, who labels “the good guys of the world” as sheep. Pretty decent promo actually.
Damon Moser vs. Danny Garnell
This is another student/trainer match, with the debuting Moser in an all-in-black get-up. Garnell works a wristlock, which gets reversed and turned into a hammerlock, before dropping Moser with another wristlock, which Moser turns into a takedown and another hammerlock.
For two bigger guys this crowd was not expecting a technical start, that’s for sure! Garnell drops Moser with an STO, then works another wristlock before kicking Moser in the arm, and taking him down with another armbar. Moser fires back with some knees to the midsection, and then takes him to the corner and tries to tie up his arm, before a break is enforced.
Moser drops Garnell in an armbar, and throws some elbows for extra effect, but Garnell flips out into a front facelock, only to be taken back into a double armbar from Moser, who then leans back into a pinning predicament for a near-fall. Garnell’s arm again gets tied in the ropes, but he blocked an Irish whip by shoving Moser out of the corner, only to fall to a version of Nigel McGuinness’ Divorce Court for a near-fall.
Garnell hits a neckbreaker, then some kneedrops to the back of Moser’s head for a two-count, before a Fisherman’s suplex forced the rookie to kick out at two. A Northern Lights suplex gets a similar result, as does a backdrop suplex, and Moser ended up ducking a clothesline and hit a lungblower-like double knees to the arm. Moser goes back to the double armbar, but Garnell reached for the ropes.
The end quickly came when Moser missed an avalanche in the corner, and was quickly dropped with a DDT as Garnell picked up the win. Technically fine, but this crowd struggled to get into it – which is always the risk of trainer vs. trainee matches, I guess. **¼
Back to the ProJo for another introductory interview, and this time we’ve got a guy who looks like Will from the Inbetweeners. Apparently he’s been wrestling for 9 years and hasn’t had a chance to prove himself, and he wants to take on the biggest bully they can find. We’ve already had Krisys… Cut to another video package and we have a guy working a heavy bag, and he’s got a paw-print tattoo. This man actually identifies himself as Thomas Cartelle, and he mocks the last guy’s sob story, and we cut to our match. Pro-tip guys, unless you’re already a star, identify yourselves in your promos!
Mark Hendry vs. Thomas Cartelle
So Mark Hendry (there’s a name I’ll have to be careful typing) is the Will-from-the-Inbetweeners lookalike. Before the match can get going, Cartelle grabs the microphone and announces that he’s found “an even bigger bully” for Hendry, in the form of Vancouver’s Paul Ryker.
Paul Ryker vs. Mark Hendry
Ryker, who’s built like one of the prototypical WWE guys from the mid 2000s, seems to be playing a commando gimmick, in that he has a strip of bullets as a belt. Glen Joseph confirms the match, and we’re underway!
Ryker stiffs Hendry with a slap, and Jimmy Barnett’s comparisons between Ryker and Guile have now made me expect him to win this match with a Sonic Boom. Hendry escapes Ryker’s attempts to lock up in the corner, but once he’s caught, Hendry gets laid out with forearm strikes and knees to the midsection.
Hendry ducks a clothesline but his crossbody gets caught, before he works himself free and dropkicks Ryker low, then out of the ring. Hendry followed up with a tope, but is met with an European uppercut by Ryker. An attempted comeback is easily shrugged off by Ryker, who clotheslines Hendry to the outside as if he were nothing.
Thomas Cartelle gets in some cheap shots on the floor to Hendry as the referee’s distracted, and Hendry gets tossed into the ring for a massive one-handed bodyslam. This is looking like an extended squash match, despite Hendry’s attempts at fighting back. Hendry blocked an avalanche in the corner, but was dumped on his head with a clothesline from Ryker, who looked to pin him with a single finger. Yeah, that didn’t work…
Ryker tossed Hendry to the outside, and I don’t think he’s going to dive – instead, it’s another distraction for more cheapshots from Cartelle. Hendry gets worked over in the corner again, and takes a biel throw across the ring. Another Hendry leap over Ryker ends in a clothesline takedown, before Ryker chops Hendry down to his knees.
Ryker nails an avalanche splash in the corner, then dumps Hendry with a gorilla press slam to the floor, where Cartelle again takes advantage of some cheap shots. Hendry almost stole a win with a couple of schoolboys, then a La Magistral cradle, before hitting an enziguiri. Cartelli tried to trip Hendry in the ropes, but he created a distraction as Ryker pulled off a running powerslam for the win. Basic extended squash match – Ryker seemed to have the basics down, but he probably wouldn’t have been a long-term fit for PROGRESS. **
Darrell Allen vs. Eddie Dennis
This is a rematch of sorts from chapter six, where the Bhangra Knights beat Team DEFEND – now known as FSU – and we’ve got one man from each team in action for our main event.
Dennis grabs a headlock and takes down Allen with a shoulderblock with ease. Wash, rinse, repeat, as Dennis reverses a hiptoss, and scores a bodyslam, sending Allen to the outside. Allen takes his time to return to the ring, and tries again, this time going from a lock up to a hammerlock, then a headlock takedown, with Dennis trying for pinfalls by rolling back on the headlock.
Allen loses the headlock and gets taken down with a wristlock, whilst trying for some headscissors, and manages to take down Dennis. The Welshman flips out of the hold, and ties up Allen’s legs before an STF attempt is switched into a cover for a two-count. On the mat, Allen grabs a hammerlock, which Dennis countered into a wristlock, and he holds onto it despite Allen’s attempts to roll free.
Allen finally frees himself by flipping off the ropes and then follows with a dropkick, but Dennis escapes a DDT and rolls to the outside. Again, Dennis takes a breather then returns, and slips outside somehow, and takes a tope from Allen on the floor. Diving back into the ring, Allen scores a lucha-inspired roll up for a near-fall, before flipping over Dennis and landing some more kicks, before some tiltawhirl headscissors get caught by Dennis and turned into a backbreaker, then a gutwrench suplex.
Despite all of that, Dennis only mustered a one-count. So he followed up with a back elbow as Allen kicked out at two, before a sunset flip-style roll-up gets Allen a near-fall. Some more kicks follow, including a roundhouse kick that takes Dennis into the corner, before he’s met with a crossbody off the top. Dennis keeps hold though and rolls through, and hits a swinging backbreaker to the Londoner, who again heads to the outside.
Allen beat the count back in at nine, and walks straight into another slam, then a leaping kneedrop for a two-count. Dennis keeps on top of him with an axehandle smash, before a hanging vertical suplex gets a similar two-count. Another comeback comes from Allen in the form of kicks to the chest, and forearms in the corner, before he goes airborne with a missile dropkick to the head of Dennis. That’s followed with a twisting brainbuster for a near-fall, but Dennis too makes a comeback, with a crucifix bucklebomb and a clothesline for another two-count.
Dennis left Allen in the middle of the ring, then went up to the top rope, and the sight of a mohawked, 6’ 6” Welshman flying led to an elbow drop that Allen moved away from. Allen knocked Dennis down with a superkick, before Dennis hit a Yakuza kick to knock him onto the top rope. A superplex followed, but Dennis held on, and rolled into the God’s Last Gift (small package driver) for the win. This was a fine main event, with the crowd into both guys to cap off a decent night of trainee wrestling. ***
ENDVR 1 may have been unspectacular in terms of action, but it was well worth watching to see the start of some guys who are still around the fringes of PROGRESS today, and those who came and went without so much of a trace. As with most shows like this, there were some guys who probably should have been around for more, with Krisys in particular being the one guy who seemed to disappear before anything could have been done with him.
Next week – back to the main chapter shows, as we continue our look back at PROGRESS!