\nThe Wasteman Challenge started with the Bodyguy coming out, only to be greeted by chants of \u201cOh Jeremy Corbyn\u201d. That would have been THE coup of the year. Instead, we were greeted with a conveyor belt of familiar faces: David Starr, Pastor William Eaver, Flash Morgan Webster, Mark Andrews and\u2026 Flamita?! Hey, we had six people out there, which the fans quickly spotted, and then cycled through their chants for everyone.<\/p>\n
The highlights here were David Starr somehow fluffing the lines to the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Mark Andrews giving Roy a first degree burn by declaring that \u201cTriple H never called you back\u201d, and Flamita stunning everyone by singing \u201cLa Macarena\u201d. Yeah, I\u2019m cheating by putting Jimmy in the line-up, since his sole involvement was to say \u201cI\u2019m better than this\u201d and whacking everyone with chairs\u2026<\/p>\n
That was the cue for another seventh man to come out, as Jack Sexsmith – still in a sling – tried to steal some pins before doing a runner to the commentary table to save him from any further damage\u2026 but not before an accidental reunion of the so-called \u201cShirtlifters\u201d team. Once the match actually got going, it was typical multi-man scramble fare, with guys hitting \u201ctheir moves\u201d – this was pretty much an elongated \u201cparade of moves\u201d, at least until \u201cJesus Christ, David Starr\u201d faced off.<\/p>\n
Starr\u2019s attempt at a sucker punch was stopped by the Holy Ghost, as was the Bodyguy\u2019s, before the Pastor fell for a hand\u2019s up headbutt. Andrews and Flamita few, with Flamita\u2019s top rope tornillo sending everyone to the floor, before everyone returned to the ring and got caught in a Human Caterpillar of Dragon Sleepers\u2026 which Starr shoved down into a chain of reverse DDTs. That left Starr with five people to \u201clook at it\u201d, with a surprise sixth running down from the announce table.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/backbodydrop.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/sss16-3-lookatit.png?resize=771%2C398\")
<\/p>\n
Yes, Jack Sexsmith wanted a closer look\u2026 and even took a nibble of the Jewish Cannon! Ah, what is life?!<\/p>\n
After normal service resumed, Webster was helped to give Andrews the Jerusalem Destroyer, before Johnson hit the \u201cWavy-Tonic\u201d. What the hell?! In the end, Flamita hit back on Johnson with a 619 and a dropkick, before taking a reverse \u2018rana from Webster, who then followed up with a Pinball Wizard flip dive into crowd.<\/p>\n
That left Flash and Flamita, the latter avoided an Eton Rifle before landing the Angel\u2019s Wings backbreaker. Andrews comes back for a muscle buster lungblower, before David Starr ate a Flam Fly! A hell of an opening match – a great way to blow away any proverbial hangovers with an easy-to-watch blend of comedy and graps. ***<\/p>\n
Super Strong Style 16 – Semi-Final: Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Travis Banks<\/strong> Of course, they lay into each other from the off, swinging with forearms and bicycle kicks as if they were looking to close this out early. When strikes didn\u2019t work, Sabre just looked to contort Banks with submission attempts, before Banks hit back with a leaping lariat out of the corner. That didn\u2019t deter Zack, who kept climbing around the Kiwi, who countered a guillotine into a brainbuster as they went back to blistering each other with chops.<\/p>\n Sabre avoids a lariat and turned it into an armbar only for Banks to get free and start delivering a litany of PKs. Zack catches one and pulls Banks down for another stiff PK, then a Liger bomb for a near-fall, before we went back to the paintbrushing slaps. The Slice of Heaven kick connects, but a second one\u2019s caught and turned into a triangle armbar that Banks slipped out of before doing the Bryan Danielson stomps\u2026 with another Slice of Heaven getting the job done! I couldn\u2019t put my finger on it, but this match felt like it was lacking something compared to the Fight Club: Pro outings. Perhaps it was the curse of tournament matches, particularly on a day like today where double duty was involved\u2026 this was as good a match as you\u2019d expect here; feeling like a hard hitting fight (like it should), but I\u2019d take either of the Fight Club: Pro outings over this. ****<\/p>\n Super Strong Style 16 – Semi-Final: Tyler Bate vs. Matt Riddle<\/strong> Unlike his stablemate, Tyler didn\u2019t get KO\u2019d in six seconds, with Tyler circling Riddle to prevent any such repeat as we had a much more measured contest, with Bate trying to out-wrestle Riddle in the opening stages. He actually had some success, at least until Riddle grabbed an arm and forced Bate to stretch for that bottom rope. What came next wasn\u2019t exactly respite as Bate got rocked with a forearm to the head, before Riddle chased him with palm strikes and yet more forearms.<\/p>\n It becomes childplay for Riddle who gutwrenches Bate with ease, rolling those suplexes together as if he\u2019d learned a trick from Jeff Cobb, but Bate was able to withstand those and try and get a Fujiwara armbar on Riddle. Instead, Bate just stomps on the arm as he just shrugged off the endless barrage of taunts about his feet.<\/p>\n Riddle egged on Bate as he launched in with kicks, before Tyler just stomped on the foot as Riddle was preparing for a kick to the chest. He was quickly shown how it was done, before countering a diving uppercut into a rear naked choke in a bid to force Bate to quit. Somehow, Tyler countered out into a Tombstone which is reversed, and back into a Gotch-style tombstone from Bate\u2026 but somehow Riddle kicked out!<\/p>\n They go back to the strikes, with Riddle snapping in before Tyler learns\u2026 you can\u2019t ever German Riddle! He lands two, but both times Matt just snaps straight back up, before flipping out of a third\u2026 Riddle then nails a Bro To Sleep and a bridging German for a near-fall of his own. Yet more strikes end with an overhead kick from Riddle, who then hits a Fisherman\u2019s buster for a two-count, then rolls it into another tombstone slam for yet another two-count!<\/p>\n In the end though, Tyler bests the next strike exchange, only for Riddle to escape the Tyler Driver and smash Bate with a knee for another near-fall, before Tyler rebounded with a pair of Tyler Drivers to book his spot in the final alongside Travis Banks. Well\u2026 that was something! It\u2019s genuinely scary to see how good Tyler Bate is at the age of 20, and Matt Riddle for his limited time in wrestling. These two put on a clinic, and on any other weekend, would have stolen the show. By the end though, this wasn\u2019t even Tyler\u2019s best match of the night! ****\u00bc<\/p>\n Toni Storm came out to provide guest commentary for the next match – which\u2019d sort out the first challenger for her newly-won title.<\/p>\n Katey Harvey vs. Kay Lee Ray<\/strong> Despite going out in the first round of the Natural PROGRESSion Series, she\u2019s somehow found her way into this match\u2026 and thank God, Kay Lee\u2019s able to keep her banger of a theme. Unfortunately, this match slotted right in with day two\u2019s tag match as one where the crowd\u2019s insistence on shoe-horning chants in to take shots at Harvey\u2019s gear. It\u2019s also bizarre that the defined heel in this match is introduced as \u201cthe Feminist Icon\u201d. That\u2019s something to boo?<\/p>\n They both start by trying to cheapshot each other at a handshake, before teasing each other\u2019s finishers and settling to just leather each other instead. A clothesline from Harvey sent Ray over the top to the outside, but the Scotswoman hit back with a forearm then a Drive-By dropkick as Kay Lee went all Roman Reigns! Harvey enjoyed a spell of pressure with a fallaway slam for a near-fall, before stomping on Kay Lee\u2019s arm, only for the Scotswoman to hit back with a rolling forearm.<\/p>\n A Koji clutch looks to force a submission out of Harvey, but she rolled forward into a pin to force Kay Lee to kick out. Somewhere in here, we got ironic \u201cLet\u2019s go Xena\/Xena sucks\u201d chants as the match entered a lull with the crowd, before Harvey unveiled her \u201cone sleeve\u201d, which gave Kay Lee enough time to get up and drill her with a superkick for a near-fall.<\/p>\n The Kay Lee comeback kicked in from there, with a top rope senton bomb getting a two count, only for it to segue into a Koji clutch from the kick-out as Harvey again edged for the ropes. A Billy Goat\u2019s Curse followed as Harvey instead went for a curb stomp, but Ray again kicked out, before catching Katey with a trapped-leg Gory bomb for the win! A decent enough match, feeling like a \u201ccome down\u201d rather than anything to send you buzzing into the interval – you could argue that, for better or worse, Harvey wasn\u2019t taken seriously by the crowd as a threat, but she\u2019s definitely someone I\u2019d like to see built up\u2026 without the costume silliness! ***<\/p>\n After the match, of course we had the face-off between Storm and Ray\u2026 Storm held her belt aloft, only for Ray to heel herself by slapping the champion, and those two will be fighting at Chapter 50 at the end of the month.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve seen those dates twice, but it\u2019s bloody insane that PROGRESS are running six shows in as many weeks across three countries\u2026<\/p>\n Submissions Match: Trent Seven vs. Mark Haskins<\/strong> The crowd continued to rail on Trent with the six-based chants, including \u201cdon\u2019t be a six\u201d (your milage may vary\u2026) which he addressed by claiming that the trauma from night one had left him \u201cwith borderline depression\u201d. Deadpan comic Trent is quite entertaining, it has to be said.<\/p>\n Haskins levelled Trent with a roundhouse kick at the bell, then pulled Trent into a triangle choke as the crowd counted down\u2026 only for Seven to flip them off once they reached the number six. Smooth! Jimmy Havoc returns to the commentary table, but he doesn\u2019t speak as he opts to watch on from the stage as Seven catches Haskins in a cloverleaf.<\/p>\n After exhausting perhaps his only submission hold, Seven gets levelled with kicks, before Haskins went straight for the Star Armbar on Trent\u2019s taped wing. He escaped to the floor, only to take some chops\u2026 then give some of his own. Yeah, Trent hit the ring post again, with a satisfying clang and a heavy wince as he tried to sneak into the crowd for a breather. That didn\u2019t work, but his pump kick to an on-rushing Haskins did.<\/p>\n Trent trolled us with a running chinlock, before Haskins went for the taped-up arm once more. They headed up to the stage, where Haskins asked for – and got – a chair from Jimmy Havoc, but he swung and missed as Trent waffled Jimmy instead. Haskins gets the chair as well, before he\u2019s dragged back to the ring as the crowd warned Trent that \u201cJimmy\u2019s gonna kill you\u201d. And that he did, coming down to the ring with a chair in hand, but Havoc accidentally blasted Haskins before taking a Rainmaker.<\/p>\n Point, proven!<\/p>\n With Haskins out cold, Trent applied a Sharpshooter, forcing the ref to wave off the match in lieu of a submission. Before Trent could celebrate too much, Havoc wiped him out with a chair, furthering the storyline that had made this match pretty much a background piece. It was still fun though, but perhaps klaxons should have been sounded when we saw Trent in a submissions match! ***<\/p>\n PROGRESS World Championship: Jeff Cobb vs. Pete Dunne (c)<\/strong> Despite that, Dunne tried to out-Cobb Cobb, throwing him with a back suplex for a near-fall before going through his array of short-cuts\u2026 eye hooking, joint manipulation, the works. Cobb showed he could easily snap back into things though, catching a kick and turning it into an Exploder suplex, whilst also showing how handy he was with his hands, clocking Dunne ahead of a deadlift, delayed one-handed superplex.<\/p>\n Newsflash: Jeff Cobb is freaky strong.<\/p>\n Cobb\u2019s standing flips see him sort-of land in a triangle choke, but he can easily powerbomb free and throw the shooting star headbutt for a near-fall. Somehow Dunne hits his X-plex for a near-fall, but his attempt at a German suplex sees Cobb go all Riddle, flipping out of it before they trade clotheslines until death!<\/p>\n Dunne tries to cheapshot Cobb after pulling Chris Roberts in the way, but that backfires massively as Cobb hit the Slamfest (moonsault fallaway slam), forcing Dunne to grab the ropes to save his title. An attempted Tour of the Islands is turned into a DDT as Dunne managed to land a Pedigree, before countering another Tour of the Islands into a small package.<\/p>\n In the end, Dunne German suplexes Cobb into the corner before landing a Bitter End – and that\u2019s enough to end a frantic sprint of a match that was entertaining as hell to watch. I always love watching big men throw other men around like they were nothing – and Pete Dunne was able to match the Hawaiian and then some here! ****<\/p>\n Super Strong Style 16 – Final: Travis Banks vs. Tyler Bate<\/strong> By the time the bell rang, we had half an hour left on the VOD\u2026 and Banks tried to end it quickly when he grabbed Bate\u2019s bop\/bang punch and looked for an armbar, forcing Tyler to scramble to the ropes. Banks looked to be a step ahead of Bate, taking him down by the leg before grounding the former WWE UK champ with a headlock as the two flowed between attack and defence almost seamlessly.<\/p>\n The ebb and flow continued as they traded kicks to the back, before Bate suckered Banks in for a running kick\u2026 just so he could pop up and hit him with the bop\/bang punch. That just angers the Kiwi Buzzsaw, who kicked away Bate in the corner as he blasted him with a backcracker out of the corner, then a cannonball for a near-fall. Next up\u2026 an attempted dive as Bate gets cut-off, as does Banks, before catching a missed swandive headbutt and tying up Tyler in a Gargano Escape\u2026 albeit briefly.<\/p>\n Bate escapes and goes high-speed with an airplane spin to make Travis go red-faced, but the Kiwi\u2019s able to play his part in an endless series of rebound kicks, at least until Tyler does the shoulder rebound off the top rope into a lariat to leave both men laying. Tyler looked to be edging ahead with a series of uppercuts, before sidestepping a diving clothesline from Travis as Joel Allen was wiped out\u2026<\/p>\n In the meantime, Banks hit the Fisherman driver for a near-fall as Marc Parry raced to the ring, but he didn\u2019t last too long as an errant Slice of Heaven bloodied Paz and sent him to the outside. A second Slice of Heaven takes down Tyler, but by the time Joel recovered Pete Dunne and Trent Seven came down to wipe out Joel and start beating down Banks\u2026 until\u2026 #CCK<\/p>\n Yup, the Electric Ballroom exploded as Chris Brookes and Kid Lykos hit the ring – Brookes with a slingshot cutter to Trent, and Lykos with a moonsaulting 720 DDT from outside to the inside of the ring on Dunne. Yes. I can\u2019t believe that, and I\u2019ve seen that live and on tape now.<\/p>\n Two more dives get rid of Peter and Trent as Travis completed the set with a senton off the top rope to the pile as ringside became a mass of humanity! And then Banks rushes back into a low blow from Bate as a Bitter End looked to be the end, only for Banks to kick out at two once Chris Roberts made it into the ring!<\/p>\n From there, the pair trade an indyriffic pinning series for a bunch of trolling one-counts for Roberts to count, as a Kiwi roll just served to dizzy up Bate for an eventual near-fall. A Slice of Heaven\u2019s followed up as Bate rebounded out of habit with a Koppo kick, before Bate decided to go flying, almost overshooting Travis and landing in the front row. By now I was getting thankful I wasn\u2019t in the middle of the front row as Banks just went back into the ring for a tope, sending Tyler deeper into the crowd.<\/p>\n Things take a serious turn as Bate caught a low-pe and turned it into a Gotch tombstone on the floor\u2026 but Travis arose and turned into a zombie, batting away chairs before booting one into Tyler! A double stomp to Bate follows after he\u2019s crotched in the ring post, leaving him prone for a Coast to Coast dropkick, and now we\u2019re back to the strikes!<\/p>\n Another Gotch tombstone spikes Banks, as Tyler heads up top for a Spiral Tap! Near-fall! That just riles Robo-Banks some more though, but another Slice of Heaven\u2019s cut-off with a superkick before a Tyler Driver \u201897 gets only a two-count as Banks somehow kicked out! Tyler then tries for a Super Tyler Driver, but Banks escapes and lands a Fisherman\u2019s Driver off the top rope\u2026 but Tyler too kicked out! And into the Gargano Escape as Travis Banks finally sealed the tournament win! Such joy! Such delirium! Travis Banks, the early tournament favourite, went all the way and booked himself a PROGRESS title shot at a time of his choosing! ****\u00be<\/p>\n A magnificent way to end Super Strong Style 16 – a tournament whose winner may have been predictable, but it just goes to prove that predictable doesn\u2019t have to be a bad thing. Building Banks like they did paid off magnificently with the crowd buying into every match – and the eventual roar when Travis announced his intentions to cash in his title shot in September at PROGRESS\u2019 Alexander Palace show.<\/p>\n Tournament wrestling is becoming quite the thing in 2017, but so far the three major weekender events – 16 Carat, Dream Tag Team Invitational and now Super Strong Style 16 – have all massively delivered. Hot crowds, great in-ring action, and plenty of happy memories as well with fans from around the world uniting in a small part of Camden\u2026 this is what wrestling is at its best. Same again next year then?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Super Strong Style 17 came to a close with a show that summed up the weekend in one card: hot action, fun memories, and a happy ending for all!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":17669,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"PROGRESS Chapter 49: Super Strong Style 16 (2017) Day 3 (May 29, 2017) - our recap on a frenetic final day of a long, draining, but rewarding weekend!","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[690,687,6],"tags":[2067,1212,2068,193,1034,948,1613,979,975,1026,951,1287,978,326,1070,2099,610,962,1231,1107,666,521],"class_list":["post-3767","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-european-indies","category-progress","category-reviews","tag-chapter-49","tag-david-starr","tag-flamita","tag-jack-sexsmith","tag-jeff-cobb","tag-jimmy-havoc","tag-katey-harvey","tag-kay-lee-ray","tag-mark-andrews","tag-mark-haskins","tag-matt-riddle","tag-morgan-webster","tag-pete-dunne","tag-progress","tag-roy-johnson","tag-sss16-2017","tag-super-strong-style-16","tag-travis-banks","tag-trent-seven","tag-tyler-bate","tag-william-eaver","tag-zack-sabre-jr"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p73vbt-YL","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/backbodydrop.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/progress-sss16-2017n3.jpg?fit=1200%2C675","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/backbodydrop.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3767","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/backbodydrop.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/backbodydrop.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/backbodydrop.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/backbodydrop.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3767"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/backbodydrop.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3767\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4480,"href":"http:\/\/backbodydrop.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3767\/revisions\/4480"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/backbodydrop.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17669"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/backbodydrop.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3767"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/backbodydrop.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3767"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/backbodydrop.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3767"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nIt\u2019s fair to say that expectations were through the roof for this one, on the back of their two matches in Fight Club: Pro.<\/p>\n
\nWell, this was a weird one – Bate, who was still getting the \u201cwhere\u2019s your belt?\u201d jibes opted to match Riddle in as many areas as he could. Since he couldn\u2019t really turn back time to 2008 and be part of The Ultimate Fighter – when he\u2019d have been 11 – Tyler just opted to wrestle barefoot instead.<\/p>\n
\nAfter her debut in November was somewhat overshadowed by the crowd\u2019s insistence on pointing out that her gear looked like the Winter Soldier, Katey came out here in an outfit that looked like a mash-up of Wonder Woman and Xena: Warrior Princess. Oh dear. Well, you did cut a promo based around the crowd\u2019s treatment of you…<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/backbodydrop.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/sss16-3-dates.png?resize=757%2C397\")
<\/p>\n
\nThis was set-up by a challenge from Haskins that (thankfully) didn\u2019t make it to the VOD – one that was really sweary and ended with him calling Trent a \u201cpussy, bitch\u201d. That particular part was latched onto by sections of the crowd, albeit not for too long as people with sense quickly shot it down. You could question why that was ever released to the public, but eh…<\/p>\n
\nDunne leapt into Cobb during the introductions, but by the time the bell went he\u2019d recovered enough to just throw Peter around like he was nothing!<\/p>\n
\nYou know what the sign of a good final is? When the crowd are baying for both men before they even come close to locking up! It also helps that save for expected cheating, we\u2019ve not had any massive shenanigans directly affecting the finalists – it\u2019s not like Tyler had a British Strong Style-induced squash or a forfeiture on his path to the finals.<\/p>\n