Want more wrestling news, rumors, and results? Be sure to visit PWInsider.com and PWInsiderXtra.com.
PROGRESS Wrestling hosted their first show of 2017, "Chapter 42: Life, The Universe and Wrestling" (based on Douglas Adams' "The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy") on January 15th at the O2 Academy in Birmingham, PROGRESS' debut in the city.
Before the show started, WWE superstar and former PROGRESS competitor Finn Bálor made a guest appearance, and said while he couldn't wrestle, he still wanted to compete, and proposed a game of Musical Chairs against four fans. For full disclosure, I was one of the fans who got to take part. I was eliminated in the second round, Finn was eliminated in the third round. A fan by the name of Tom was the winner, and it was all good fun. PROGRESS have already posted the segment on YouTube.
1: Ringkampf (Axel Dieter Jr. & WALTER) defeated The London Riots (James Davis & Rob Lynch) - WALTER made his return to PROGRESS, this time teaming with the current Westside Xtreme Wrestling Unified World Wrestling Champion Axel Dieter Jr. This was a good physical match, with Dieter Jr. largely taking a beating, and WALTER proving a match for big Rob Lynch. In fact, it came down to those two, with WALTER hitting a Saki Otoshi on Lynch, and submitting him with a choke.
2: Jack Sexsmith defeated Sebastian (w/Pastor William Eaver) - solid match, with Sebastian generating nuclear heat from the Birmingham fans. A miscommunication with Eaver on the apron led to Sebastian being trapped in a Crossface, with Sexsmith applying Mr. C**ko (a Mandible Claw with a condom on Sexsmith's fingers) to get the submission. After the match, Sebastian slapped Eaver around, Eaver thought about fighting back with the fans encouraging him, but he chose to leave with Sebastian.
Jimmy Havoc came out to address his enemies - the absent British Strong Style (all three of Pete Dunne, Trent Seven and Tyler Bate competing in the WWE United Kingdom Championship Tournament), Paul Robinson (in a match and therefore trying to hide from him) and Will Ospreay (in Japan). Havoc then said he saw someone backstage in their gear who Havoc had never wrestled before, and issued a challenge. Out walked former PROGRESS Tag Team Champion and current WWE NXT superstar Tommy End (now known in NXT as Aleister Black) to a massive explosion of noise in Birmingham!
3: Jimmy Havoc defeated Tommy End - this was more of a "Greatest Hits of Tommy End" match, understandably playing it safe considering he then had to head to Blackpool to wrestle Neville on the UK Championship Tournament show. The atmosphere carried this through, with End landing his trademark kicks, and Havoc fighting back to put End away with the Acid Rainmaker. Afterwards, End gave Havoc his approval, and received a standing ovation from the fans who didn't expect to see him back again so soon.
4: Alex Windsor defeated Livvii Grace in the first round of the Natural Progression Series to crown the first PROGRESS Women's Champion - a decent match, although some of Grace's highspots didn't come off too well in the biggest match she's had to date. She was solid most of the way through the match, however, and Windsor tied things together well by getting lots of heat. Windsor moved on to the next round by submitting Grace with the Windsor Knot.
5: South Pacific Power Trip (TK Cooper & Travis Banks) (w/Dahlia Black) defeated The Origin: Banter Edition (Dave Mastiff & El Ligero) - plenty of preamble from Mastiff aimed at SPPT, which resulted in an entertaining match full of shenanigans involving Dahlia Black and referee Joel Allen, and also Mastiff briefly wearing an El Generico mask. Mastiff had the match won when Black got on the apron to distract Allen, allowing Banks and Cooper to double team Mastiff for the win. The match is free to watch now on PROGRESS' Facebook page.
6: Spud defeated Paul Robinson via DQ - a great home town ovation for Spud, who reverted to his "Rockstar" persona as opposed to his Impact Wrestling outfits. Robinson controlled most of the match, but the best parts were Spud's fiery comebacks which he is amongst the best in wrestling at doing. Spud whipped Robinson with his studded belt after Robinson had done similar to him earlier in the match. Robinson then low blowed Spud right in front of the referee for the disqualification, and continued to attack Spud until Jimmy Havoc came out to make the save. Spud then got a standing ovation and requests to come back to PROGRESS.
7: Matt Riddle defeated Rampage Brown to win the PROGRESS Atlas Championship - Riddle answered Brown's open challenge series, and engaged in a brutal and bruising war for the title, with Rampage willing to go toe to toe with the former UFC fighter. Brown asserted his size throughout the contest, but Riddle utilised his grappling skills to remain in the match, eventually using ground and pound, and finishing Rampage with several kicks to claim the title, becoming only the second ever Atlas Champion in PROGRESS history.
PROGRESS returns to Birmingham's O2 Academy on July 9th for "Chapter 51: Screaming For PROGRESS". The next show is "Chapter 43: Tropic Thunderb***ard" on January 29th at the Electric Ballroom in Camden.
If you enjoy PWInsider.com you can check out the AD-FREE PWInsider Elite section, which features exclusive audio updates, news, our critically acclaimed podcasts, interviews and more by clicking here!
Bang On Casino
