Like last week, I don’t have much witty to say except: this is the Big One after last week’s Big One. The Season Finale to Progress’s “first season.” Spoilers are everywhere.
The Card:
Mikey Whiplash vs Tommy End
Project Ego vs Mad Man Manson and Grado
Nathan Cruz vs Doug Williams
Mark Haskins vs Adam Cole
Bhrangra Knights vs London Riots
Rampage Brown vs Stixx
Mark Andrews vs Paul Robinson (Natural Progression Series Final)
1. Tag Team Tournament
While Chapter Ten is one of the most important shows in Progress’ canon, it’s for more than just the big thing that happens at the end. This Chapter also saw the beginning of the tournament to determine the inaugural Tag Team Champions and two of the matches would serve as semi-final matches: Project Ego vs Mad Man Manson & Grado and the Bhrangra Knights vs London Riots.
The most interesting thing here is the dichotomy in tone between these two matches. Whereas the Ego/Manson & Grado is more comedic focus (although to be fair, saying a match with Grado in it is “comedic focus” is like saying water is wet) whereas the Knights/Riots match is much more serious. Neither are bad matches, it just comes down to a preference, and in this case I preferred the latter. In spite of the double-count out finish to it, I enjoyed that it continued to feed into the narrative of the Riots being unwelcome in Progress (including them not getting entrance music and Jim Smallman even getting some of the crowd to turn their backs on the Riots).
2. Doug Williams
So, I haven’t talked about him, despite this show not being his debut for Progress, but I feel it’s a perfect time to talk about Doug Williams. Being that I’m… well… not British and only gotten back into wrestling in the last few years, Williams is before my time, but look around the internet, you see the dude is a legend, who helped pave the way for a lot of the wrestling scene boom the UK has had in the last several years. Talking about him is also topical, as he is the current Progress Atlas Champion and has stated he will retire when someone can beat him for the championship.
His match here with Cruz, the young upstart who sneers at Indy Wrestling, and subsequently everything Williams helped push through his career, is quite the brawl. Cruz gets some hard offense in, including the ref having to pull him away from choking Williams on the bottom turnbuckle and a combo of a Finlay roll, Vader Bomb and knee trembler, only for Williams to keep kicking out before finally putting the upstart away with Chaos Theory. Now, there are times, especially in WWE, where it’s side-eying when a vet doesn’t put over the younger, but considering the character of Cruz, not to mention the pattern throughout this Chapter (we’ll talk about in a bit), it works very well.
3. Bay Bay!
Adam Cole is one of the best things in WWE right now so I couldn’t not talk about him being Mark Haskins’ open challenge. The only three-time ROH Champion and current NXT North American Champion is one of the charismatic, smarmy and generally cool heels in the business and it’s matched by his skill. And it’s skill well met by Haskins’ playing up the “Screw Indy Wrestling” part of his persona here, messing with Cole’s fingers and dragging him into an armbar outside of the ring and trying to beat Cole by count out, only for Cole to barely make it back.
However, try as Haskins might, Cole brings the end with a superkick into a brainbuster, earning a great applause from the crowd. With Cruz’s early defeat to Williams, a pattern is being formed: this is Chapter is the phasing out of Screw Indy Wrestling as the top heels in Progress. There time is reaching its end and they had a decent time, but this Chapter will see the rise of the new evil in Progress. Only one member left now…
4. Crowning
The final match of the Natural Progression Series: Mark Andrews vs Paul Robinson. The winner receives a shot at the Progress Championship whenever they want. We’ve been building to this match since near the beginning of the promotion. Both wrestlers have stolen shows as they’ve knocked off competitor after competitor. The crowd are hot for it and after a handshake, the match starts.
Continued belowAnd what a match it was. It was like two alley cats fighting one another, speed and transitioning being the key as the two fought around one another. Robinson in particular not afraid to get a little dirty, such as going for Andrews’ eyes while he has him in an armbar. In the second half of the match, it got more aerial, such Andrews’ tope con hilo to Robinson on the outside, but it’s the ending of the match that was completely nuts: with Andrews delivering a super belly-to-belly moonsault from the top rope to score the 1… 2…. 3 and because the winner of the first Natural Progression Series Tournament, to a massive cheer.
After a handshake, Jim Smallman presents Andrews with his trophy and tells him that not only does he get his title shot but he can choose someone that was eliminated from the tournament to participate in the next tournament. One would think Andrews would pick his teammate Eddie Dennis (who was a ringside for Andrews) but instead: Andrews picks the banished Will Ospreay (which Progress’ camera crew made us aware during the match that Ospreay was in the crowd). I find it slightly funny: this would be the first time that Ospreay would return to Progress after being banished, but not the last. Ospreay accepts and has a handshake with Andrews.
So, when is Mark taking his title shot? How about right now.
Rampage, still tired from successfully defending his title against Stixx earlier, comes out with Cruz for the match, all arrogance. However, after a series of near-falls on Andrews, Rampage gets more angry and begins berating the referee and leaves him vulnerable for Andrews to deliver a schoolboy and a quick win! In one night, not only did Andrews become the first Natural Progression Series winner, but he also became Progress Champion, to a massive roar from the crowd in celebration!
…Why is there still fifteen minutes in this show?
5. I Hope You Suffer
As Andrews celebrates in the ring with Eddie Dennis, who should show back up but the London Riots. And they’re not alone. As the Riots go after Dennis, dragging him out of the ring, Jimmy Havoc shows up, steel chair in hand and begins to pummel Mark Andrews with it. As the Riots begin taping Dennis to the ring post, and as the boos and chants of “Fuck You Jimmy!” and “What a Cunt!” rain down, Havoc (after delivering more shots to Andrews to get the crowd to shut up) turns to Jim Smallman. He reminds Smallman of the contract that Smallman signed that allowed Jimmy to have any match, any opponent, any stipulation. It’s real easy to see what Jimmy wants: the Progress Championship. Smallman, in no small amount of words, tells Jimmy to go fuck himself, to an applauding crowd.
So, Havoc rains more chairshots onto Andrews. Still, Smallman refuses.
Then Jimmy Havoc pulls out the lighter fluid…
Jimmy asks Smallman if he wants to reconsider as he douses Andrews’ back in the lighter fluid. Smallman immediately shouts that Jimmy can have the match. However, that’s not all Jimmy wants. After laying Andrews in with more chairshots, he gets back on the mic and says that there’s only one person that is going to count the pinfall, only one person that’ll make Jimmy Havoc Progress Champion and that’s Jim Smallman.
Smallman says that Havoc already has a ref (and won’t go anywhere near that psychopath). One Death Valley Driver later: “Unfortunately, we’ve just lost our referee!” Slowly, Smallman gets into the ring as Havoc pins Andrews’
One… two… Andrews kicks out, and the pop Andrews received earlier for winning the Championship is immediately dwarfed by this kick out at like 2.95! Havoc stands up, holding the steel chair in a death grip as he glares at Smallman around security trying to protect him. Finally, Havoc turns back to Andrews who is trying to get up and throws the chair in Andrews’ face before finally delivering the Go Home Driver.
One… Two… Three. Jimmy Havoc is the new Progress Champion.
And this, my friends, is why I chose to review Progress for this year’s Summer TV Binge.
Up until now, Progress was missing one piece. It had the good wrestling, a hip, intimate feel, wrestlers that people could get behind. But the piece that was missing was a villain. Cruz and Rampage were decent, but their anti-indie schtick could only go so far. What Progress needed was someone that even the most smarky of fans would want to see get destroyed. And as Jimmy Havoc left Chapter Ten, staff in hand and threatening to kill any wrestler in the back that touched him, Progress had that villain. That demon whose reign of terror was going to leave bodies and souls crushed. And would subsequently put this indie promotion on the world map. One of the best heel runs in the professional wrestling’s last decade.
The Reign of Havoc…
