“This Is Progress!” Clap-Clap Clap-Clap-Clap! “This Is Progress!” Clap-Clap Clap-Clap-Clap!
Wrestling is more than just the WWE. So many promotions around the globe are and have been doing great things and elevating talent and the medium itself. One such promotion is the UK-based Progress Wrestling. Established in 2012, it has gone from strength to strength, providing excellent storytelling, fantastic wrestling, and served as the basis foundation for some of the most loved independent wrestlers in current times. For this years Summer Binge, I would like to take a look back at the first twenty Chapters (their main shows that serve as the “canon” Progress story) in the promotion’s life that really establishes its identity, creates great moments and forges one of the most bitter rivalries in the last ten years.
So, as ring announcer Jim Smallman would say: drink what you want, shout what you want, but be considerate of those around you. There’s only one rule here at Progress and that rule is: Don’t Be A Dick!
Chapter One, “In The Beginning,” was filmed at The Garage, Islington. The card:
Noam Dar vs El Ligero
Nathan Cruz vs Colossus Kennedy
Colt Cabana vs Loco Mike Mason
Marty Scurll vs Zack Sabre Jr
Darrell Allen vs Xander Cooper vs Zack Gibson
4-Way Main Event for the PROGRESS Title
1. Sticking to Your Basics
The best word to describe Chapter One is “basic” and that is in no way an insult. It’s a nice simple card of six matches, running at just shy of two hours with a simple story running through it: The winners of the first four matches would advance to the Main Event: a four-way match to crown Progress’ inaugural champion. For the most part, dynamics between wrestlers are kept simple to, faces (good guys) and heels (bad guys) and even commentary is a solo venture and strikes a balance between play-by-play and color commentary (And considering having to deal with three person commentary team on Raw/Smackdown, having just one person is very refreshing). It’s just a seed of what the promotion would become, but sometimes it’s nice to be just a seed.
2. Acoustics
You know, something that one doesn’t think of automatically is sounds in wrestling and how important that can be. Selling is a big part of professional wrestling (spoilers: this is a fake sport. I know that should be obvious, but some forget) and the sounds of moves and how that sound travels in a venue does matter. The Garage made me notice, especially in the Colossus Kennedy vs Nathan Cruz match. With the moniker “Clossous,” it’s safe to say Mr. Kennedy is a large gentlemen, and he employs a lot of slams and the sounds they make travel like gunshots. It helps create the illusion of just how bad Cruz is getting manhandled that he has to get more and more desperate to pick up his win.
3. Nostalgia For Me
Watching the Zack Sabre Jr. vs Marty Scurll match in 2018 is weird. For context, I really didn’t get fully back into wrestling (albeit kept up with it via friends’ twitter feeds) until early 2017 and the first PPV I watched was Ring of Honor’s Supercard of Honor XI. On that show I saw “The Villain” Marty Scurll defend his ROH TV Championship against Adam Cole (Bay Bay). I loved the character of The Villain, his deliciously wicked aesthetic just made him fun to watch. It led me into looking for more of his work, including in Progress and his opponent here, Zack Sabre Jr. who, in my opinion, has been the wrestler with the best 2018 so far (winning both 2018’s New Japan Cup and Progress’ Super Strong Style 16 Tournament). So seeing them here, Marty in his pre-Villain “Party Marty” persona, face each other was a treat.
These two, without a doubt, had the Match of the Night. It was long, technical (both being more ground and submission-based wrestlers), they have great chemistry and it told a good story: two tag team partners out to get that championship, but with no animosity between them. While I won’t say this match sews the seeds of Marty becoming The Villain, it is a display that the sky’s the limit for these two.
Continued below4. Four-Way Chaos
Ligero. Cruz. Mason. Scurll. Those are the four that make it to the main event to crown the first Progress Wrestling Champion. Who will carry the Nazi regal staff and be the at the top of the mountain? That will be answered at the end of a four-way elimination match. The thing about multi-man matches is that they get quite chaotic. We start off with a scuffle that sees the high-flying El Ligero performing a super senton over the ring corner onto his three opponents. From there, we take a nice tour around the Garage, including the bar (which has the first “It’s Your Round!” chant which becomes an iconic chant at people who come to their first Progress show) and the stage area.
There is a bit of a downside in this match. While it was fun, the camerawork with the four on the move could get a bit dodgy. On top of the shakiness, one moment was a fight between Ligero and Cruz, but the camera was so zoomed in that it became difficult to tell what was going on. This would be something they would improve on, but it was enough here to be noticable.
5. The Right Man Won
With the last two being Scurll and Cruz, Nathan Cruz takes advantage of referee Chris Roberts being down to low blow Marty… only for Marty to kick out at two and nine-tenths! It creates a hope spot that Party Marty can come back and score the feel good go-home moment. But it’s to no avail as Nathan delivers a wicked kick to the head to score the pinfall and become Progress’ inaugural Champion. And it’s a real good move for your start. Why have the fan favorite win when in the long term, you want the fans to see get their ass kicked. It also does set a precedent for the kinds of champions Progress would have: If you take a look at it, most of them are heels. Remember this as we continue over the next twenty weeks and watch a story unfold…
