PROGRESS returned to the newly-refurbished Tufnell Park Dome for what looks to be the first of several regular shows there – this one to crown a new number one contender for the company’s Women’s championship.
It’s the first time PROGRESS had based an entire show around their women’s division, and with a shot at Toni Storm going to the winner of this one-night tournament, it’s more than just a generic midweek show. Having used the Dome for the first two seasons of Freedom’s Road, PROGRESS have since announced several more dates for Tufnell Park between November and February, so this isn’t going to be a one-off either…
So, it’s a near sold-out Dome then, with Glen Joseph ring announcing. It’s just like what ENDVR used to be… except with rotating commentary as Matt Richards is joined on commentary by Dahlia Black and Vicki Haskins throughout the night. In a nice touch they splice in the tournament brackets, which featured Jinny who was a late addition after Alex Windsor pulled out injured. It’s not as affected as wXw’s women’s tournament was later in the week…
Quarter-Final: Jinny vs. Candyfloss
It’s an old point, but in the space of 7 days I saw Jinny on four separate shows for three promotions. All with different music. It’s hard to “brand” yourself if you’re always changing something. Ask Leva Bates.
The sound feels a little off to start with, with a loud hum in the background overpowering Matt Richards and Dahlia Black to get us going. In the ring, Candyfloss holds her own during a bunch of dropdowns which eventually led to Jinny getting tripped as Candy playfully pulled Jinny into a cross armbar. She feigns injury and suckers in Candyfloss, as both women started to work over the arm.
Candyfloss keeps rolling Jinny into a cross armbreaker, but Jinny’s legs keep getting to the ropes – and that’s a tactic that kept costing Candy throughout the match, as the rope breaks would give the more experienced Jinny an easy way back. Ultimately it led to the end as Jinny worked up into the Makeover (X-Factor out of the middle rope), as the much-fancied Candyfloss found herself going out to the new tournament favourite. This was fine; Candy’s inexperience cost her big, but much like any one-night tournament, you’ll be looking for a lot of short matches here. **½
Quarter-Final: Sierra Loxton vs. Millie McKenzie
Literally just before Sierra’s music hit, someone yelled “who’s the heel?” That’s a bit of a problem throughout this tournament, as only two of the field define themselves that way. If Jinny was the “new” tournament favourite, then before her addition Millie McKenzie was the quiet favourite, having exploded onto the scene this year.
A lot of Millie’s matches this year have been in multi-person/mixed-gender matches, so there’s a few quietly wondering if that’ll be able to translate into singles matches. The answer: was a resounding yes. Whereas the first match may have been all about “Candyfloss tries armbars, eventually costs herself”, these two threw themselves at each other full-force, with just about all of it connecting with the crowd. A fallaway slam and a back senton gets Loxton a near-fall, before Millie channelled her trainer by zombie-ing up into a series of forearms from Sierra.
McKenzie gets off a sunset flip for a near-fall before teeing off with some forearms as this becomes strike-heavy, culminating with Loxton throwing in a shattering hip attack to Millie in the corner. Somehow that’s only good for a near-fall, so Sierra hits a sit-down splash to the back of Millie for another near-fall.
Millie returns fire with some buzzsaw-like kicks, but a Destroyer’s backdropped out of… so McKenzie goes all Suplex-y on Loxton, before a swinging neckbreaker gets the win. Well, these two became instant stars with this one match – all action, with the vast majority of it hitting. You’d be forgiven for thinking that Millie and Sierra were much more experienced, but the fact they’re not only bodes well for their future! ***½
Quarter-Final: Chakara vs. Zoe Lucas
Chakara, the only other marked “bad guy” in the field, faces another debutant in Zoe Lucas… a Rev Pro trainee who somehow has made many more appearances outside of the promotion. I guess that’s what happens when their women’s division is “Jinny vs. non-returning X”?
Regardless, she’s a far cry from the overt cheerleader act that she started out with. Instead, her gimmick these days is that she’s all about the cupcakes… hiding them under the ring to give to her opponents. Unsurprisingly, Chakara wasn’t too keen on the floor cupcake…
After Yano’ing her way out of a sneak attack, Lucas starts by throwing in some kicks to Chakara, scoring a near-fall from an early PK. Chakara seems to have taken Dahlia’s mantle of “always wearing ripped tights”, which is a step up from her prior PROGRESS appearances where she was always adjusting her gear…
An overhead Exploder sees Chakara take over on Lucas, pulling on her hair, before Vicki Haskins drops the bomb that Chakara’s only 17. How on earth have we suddenly gotten a crop of women’s wrestlers who are decent at a young age? A missed spin kick in the corner traps Lucas, and after a missed double stomp there’s a brief bit of hesitation as Lucas fired back. Then ate a huge forearm.
At the second crack, Lucas gets that spin kick in, before going all Melina on us with a splits legdrop for a near-fall. Zoe fought out of a powerbomb but quickly got caught in a Widow’s Peak… and that’s Chakara in the semis! Really good stuff here considering the experience levels on show – and whilst I get there may be reasons why, Zoe really needs to get more regular dates. Like a lot of talent on the UK scene, limited dates or working the same people regularly doesn’t do too much to help – and you can’t pin hopes on tours of STARDOM all the time! **¾
Quarter-Final: Charlie Morgan vs. Charli Evans
Yes, it’s old hat… but PROGRESS did it here. Live, Charlie Morgan used Jessie J’s “Do It Like A Dude”, which was dubbed over here with some different music. Live, the crowd reacted to Morgan like a star and had the crowd more pumped for the match ahead. I’d guess the music they dubbed over perhaps wouldn’t have had the same effect.
Overdubs. It’s the future of avoiding copyright claims, IF done right!
Anyway, there’s two more debutants here, with Morgan returning from two and a half months off with a broken collarbone here, and we start with wristlock reversals as Dahlia makes a good save on commentary. Morgan busts out some armdrags, before Evans replies with a lucha armdrag of her own, and we’re going all lucha for a spell!
Of the two, the crowd seem to back Morgan more, as she laid into Evans with a kick to the back, before throwing in a bunch of chops in the corner. Evans blocks a superkick and nearly wins with a roll-up, then throws in some forearms into the corner as she tried to wear down Morgan even further.
Morgan manages to pull through and hit a deadlift German suplex, only to take so long to get back up from it that she’s caught in a Cattle Mutilation. Is that vegan? Regardless, the crowd run through some comedy chants, before Evans plants Morgan with the Stroke for the win. Pretty good stuff, but out of the two, I got the impression that Morgan won the crowd over more… it’s just a shame that by the end of the week, she’d seemingly reinjured herself? ***¼
Production throws up the semi-final brackets as we cover for an interval, and reminders of PROGRESS’ Wembley show next year. I like the idea of them throwing up upcoming dates, but this quickly dates these shows…
Semi-Final: Chakara vs. Charli Evans
It’s a short break for Charli, whilst Chakara’s found time to change her gear. She’ll not be the only one… she gets peppered with kicks early as she told Evans to “go home”. If Chakara the wrestler voted last year, we can probably guess which way…
Chakara comes back with some hair pulls, and the story they’re definitely going for is Evans fighting from behind as she threw in a few shots every time Chakara got a little too mouthy for her own good. A leapover from Evans turned into her pulling Chakara into the middle turnbuckle by way of some headscissors, before a running boot knocked Chakara loopy. Evans followed up with a top rope crossbody for a near-fall, before Chakara hits a DDT in the middle of the ring. A double stomp to Charli’s lower back left the Aussie flat on the mat, but the match ground to a halt from there, waiting for Charli to dump Chakara with a Saito suplex for a near-fall.
Chakara tries to make a comeback with the Widow’s Peak, but Evans escaped the Gory stretch and nearly won with a roll-up, before getting the win by spiking Chakara on her head with the Stroke facebuster. That looked brutal, but this was a better outing – stylistically – as Evans had a clear heel to play off of. **½
Chakara did get up after that brutal landing, and despite having some sympathy, she flipped everyone off to reset everything nicely.
Semi-Final: Jinny vs. Millie McKenzie
Jinny has also packed extra gear, but given the other semi, the result of this might be pretty clear-cut. There’s harsh glances exchanged between Jinny and Dahlia, so expect some shenanigans there… or in the final if Jinny makes it.
Ever the fiend, Jinny attacks Milly from behind as she played to the crowd, hitting a neckbreaker out of the middle rope as we had a vicious start. Millie came straight back with a German suplex, before Jinny decided to go airborne, flinging herself into McKenzie with a suicide dive.
Jinny’s not taking McKenzie lightly, which helped to build her up as more of a star after her earlier performance. Millie’s trapped into a seated surfboard briefly, but once she made the ropes, she blasted into Jinny with a spear to almost book her place in the final. For all of her buzz, you get the idea that Millie knew there was an experience difference that she’d have to overcome here…
A German suplex from Jinny’s shrugged off as Millie dumped her on her head with a receipt… and they kept coming. All. The. Head. Drops. Another German into the corner should have done it, but somehow Jinny gets a shoulder up, and responds with another head drop, this time in the form of a spiking DDT. Out of nowhere, an Ace Crusher gives us another head drop from Millie, before Jinny rebounded one more time with an Acid Rainmaker and a Style Clash to book her place in the final.
Scary head drops aside, this was wonderful stuff. The Jinny win was unpopular, but my God these two fought tooth and nail. A star has been made in London here, but will Millie be back, or is this one and done? ***½
We’re flipping things over here – a token men’s match, with a new female ref: Gemma Johnson. This may or may not have been done to troll a certain section of fans…
David Francisco vs. The OJMO vs. Mauro Chaves vs. Charlie Carter
With ENDVR no longer a thing, David Francisco is finding his bookings fairly sporadic it seems. It’s mostly been Freedom’s Road and West Drayton, along with the new crop of former-ProJo inspired groups around London. The crowd still remember he used to have a title belt, but at least he’s gained a small entourage, who I swear had a costume change before this…
OJMO technically hasn’t had his debut air yet, as he appeared on the last set of Freedom’s Road shows. He’s got a following, which always helps… the other spots are filled by Charlie Carter and Mauro Chaves, “the Vegan Activist”, who’s got a bag of kale with him. That deadly foodstuff…
Francisco tries to pull rank and order that someone lay down for him… it doesn’t work. Charlie Carter damn near kills the OJMO with a forearm, then Chaves as he doesn’t quite like catchphrases. The crowd pulls a funny by telling us “you don’t win friends with salad”, which shows us when the Simpsons was actually good.
OJMO busts out a meme when he does the Nakamura boot choke in the corner, before clobbering Francisco with his shins during a running shooting star press. That could have gone so much worse. Charlie Carter still doesn’t like his shit, and pulls OJMO into a submission as Francisco and Chaves decide to add to it.
Except Chaves’ submission attempt is to shove kale into people’s mouths. When we settle down from the vegan fun, Chaves puts on an Octopus hold, then a guillotine on Carter, who escapes into a stalling suplex that turned into Chasing the Dragon as David Francisco threw in a superkick. OJMO tries to take over as he looks for a half-crab, but everyone escapes, ultimately ending with Carter sending him flying with his counter. Strong legs or light OJMO… either way, it was spectacular.
Just like an overhead suplex into the buckles as Carter tried to keep up the offence, only for Francisco to cheapshot his way in. We have a long build-up to a Tower of Doom that Carter put the finishing touches to, before he dished out some fallaway slams. Yep, Carter’s STRONG. Chaves and OJMO try to double-team Carter, but it doesn’t quite work, and in the end Francisco stole the win… spiking Chaves with a curb stomp after Mauro’d given OJMO the “Spinach-er” (an atomic drop into a facebuster). What’s with all the head drops here?!
This was a little spotty in places, but a decent four-way given the (lack of) experience involved. You might not remember too much of this, especially if you took the stomp Mauro did at the end… **¼
Final: Jinny vs. Charli Evans
Jinny packed three outfits, I see.
Having seen what happened in the semis, Charli charged at Jinny at the bell, as she tried to snuff out whatever pre-match fire Jinny may have had. It was somewhat successful, as Jinny rushed in with a knee for an early near-fall, before the action spilled into the crowd as Jinny is more than happy to test the limits of management’s “there must be a winner” ruling.
The fight’s taken to the bar as Jinny plays up to the crowd’s chants of her being a “Tory”… then responding to the crowd’s calls that they “can’t see” by bringing the action closer to them. By Brookes’ing Charli several times. The favour’s returned, which gave her the chance to get a few near-falls back inside, before Jinny just boots her in the throat.
Jinny resurges with some more knee strikes, but Charli won’t stay down! So Jinny traps her in a modified knee bar, forcing the Aussie to drag herself to the ropes for a break, then to the outside for some respite that wasn’t forthcoming. They end up on the stage for some shots, building up to an Acid Rainmaker that produced a somewhat satisfying thud as Evans landed.
Jinny’s demeanour looked to be the final straw for Dahlia Black, who left commentary and threw a chair at her. Fair enough!
The pair trade lunging forearms as they tried to get an advantage, before Evans gets a near-fall out of her boots in the corner. A lone dissenter shouted against Evans, who kicked her way out of a Style Clash before rolling up Jinny into the ropes for a near-fall as Jinny shook the ropes to get the ref’s attention that she’d grabbed them.
After getting back up, Jinny walks straight into the Stroke – and that’s enough for her to get her title shot! A pretty solid main event, but it almost played second fiddle to the Jinny/Dahlia stuff. ***
The one night tournament format was more effective than the Rev Pro route of plucking names out of thin air, and this at least gives Charli Evans some momentum going into her title shot at the end of the month.
As a show, this was a tremendous showcase of a lot of talent that doesn’t usually make it to the main PROGRESS shows. The positive reaction on the night may well have been a mixture of surprise (I’ll let EVE insert their usual line here!), as well as a “why the hell have we not seen these before??” My only concern from this… is what’s the follow-up? Yes, Charli Evans gets her title shot at the end of October, but what about the rest of the field? It’s an easy jibe to say that PROGRESS, for all their talk, are largely in the “token women’s match” bucket of promotions… but now they’ve shown that they’ve a field of females who are talented enough to the point where they drew a crowd just by being the poster says a lot.
I don’t think it’ll be quite as bad as the Rev Pro route, where the “winner stays on” format means that we’ve seen a lot of names come and go; but likewise, I don’t know if many people “trust” PROGRESS to find a regular spot for the Millie McKenzies, the Charlie Morgans or the Zoe Lucas of this world. Time will tell!
Don’t let that take away from the night’s big positive: regardless of the brand, a show that only advertised women’s wrestling drew a packed house and a hot crowd as well. Using mostly new names too, for PROGRESS. Dahlia and Vicki were really good on commentary throughout the night, which is always a benefit. The future’s bright – and wherever you look for women’s wrestling, there’s no reason to be limited to the same few faces on loop anymore.