David Starr and WALTER’s ongoing rivalry spilled into WrestleMania weekend, and became part of PROGRESS canon for the first time.
April 06, 2018 – PROGRESS Chapter 66 Mardi Graps: RINGKAMPF (WALTER & Timothy Thatcher) vs. David Starr & Keith Lee
This was originally meant to be Sexy Starr vs. RINGKAMPF, but Jack Sexsmith wasn’t able to make it to New Orleans, so David Starr had to find a replacement. (Note: in 2020, the story around the visa issue still comes across utterly weird. Check out Sexsmith’s interview on the We The Indie podcast…)
It’d be very harsh to throw in the “upgrade” meme for Keith Lee, but David Starr a chance now, except for the fact that he once again is in a ring with WALTER. We know how that usually ends… and it’s a fate worse than unfolding t-shirts at his merch tables. Starr tries his luck with WALTER from the off, ducking a chop as he’s more than smart to those now. Problem is, WALTER can just toss him around the ring with ease. Oh well! He does manage to trip the big Austrian though, but not much more as WALTER swings once more, before… CHOP!
RINGKAMPF corner Starr, with Thatcher coming in for an uppercut, with Starr turning the tables as he charged Thatcher into the opposite corner to tag in Keith Lee. Thatcher’s in no mood for glory basking, as he lays into Lee… and gets decked with a forearm. Starr’s back in, and he’s used as ballast as Lee slammed him onto Thatcher… but it seemed that the Product wasn’t exactly thrilled about that!
Starr unloads on Thatcher with a Violence Party, but he’s quickly cut off with a RINGKAMPF belly-to-belly as WALTER instantly tagged back in, slamming Starr ahead of the Earthquake sit-out splash as RINGKAMPF exchanged quick tags as they took the Product apart. CHOP! Yeah, WALTER’s back… A single-leg crab forced Starr to get to the ropes for freedom, before he teased a German suplex and just had his face booted off instead. The suplex comes from WALTER though, who follows in with a butterfly suplex for a near-fall, before Keith Lee tagged in and took the fight straight to WALTER and Thatcher with double-handed chops. WALTER’s boot looked to pup a stop to it, but somehow Keith Lee popped him up for a Spirit Bomb. What in the world?!
Thatcher’s right in though with a rear naked choke, which gets broken up with a missile dropkick from Starr, before it was business as usual for WALTER, chopping through Starr while Thatcher and Lee restrained each other on the outside. Finally, Starr takes down WALTER with the Han Stansen, before flipping out of a German suplex and actually catching WALTER with a Cherry Mint DDT! A big WALTER lariat puts an end to that, before a second almost gets the win, as WALTER decided to just flatten Starr with a powerbomb for the win. Another good match, with Starr showing his usual hope against WALTER, but in the end, when der Ringgeneral flipped the switch, there wasn’t much left to do as Starr found himself in a familiar situation once more. ****¼
We’ll skip over another rumble match, as these two played a part in Defiant’s No Regrets Rumble (with Starr eliminating WALTER here)… and we’ll stick with PROGRESS next time as the pay-off for this tag match came in Manchester as we had yet another singles outing.