MANCHESTER, ENGLAND – PROGRESS Chapter 28: Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want took place at the O2 Ritz.
On Sunday April 10th, PROGRESS (yes, putting it in all caps is necessary) returned to the Ritz in Manchester for PROGRESS Chapter 28: Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want. With Will Ospreay making his New Japan debut and other PROGRESS favourites such Zack Sabre, Jr and Rampage Brown not being booked, the show was a chance for other stars of the UK Independent scene to shine on a big stage in front of a packed arena and a raucous crowd. With PROGRESS Champion Marty Scurll refusing to defend his championship after defending it at WrestleCon in Dallas over WrestleMania weekend, the tag team titles took centre stage. Instead of defending his title, Scurll held an open challenge to any member of the PROGRESS roster to see if they could finally be the one to end his unbeaten run. With that being said, let’s get into the show.
The Dunne Bros vs Moustache Mountain
I just about made it into the arena as both teams were entering, and whilst I didn’t hear the initial reaction for Pete and Damian Dunne (I’m imagining it wasn’t pleasant), there was a great pop for Tyler Bate and Trent Seven. I’d never seen any of these four live before, so I was very excited to see what they could do in the time given, and I wasn’t disappointed. Bate and Seven impressed early on with their great tag team chemistry and impressive power moves, including the partners repeatedly slamming each other onto their opponents and trading off Damian Dunne in a vertical suplex position.
The Dunne Bros gained control of the match and slowed the pace, and Pete Dunne was subject to some rather unfriendly chants due to his top knot. He should have learned from Scurll’s mistake: Never have a top knot in PROGRESS. The two teams traded some great looking tag team moves, such as Bate hitting a spinning backhand causing Pete to hit a reverse-rana on Damian. In the end however, the Dunne Bros picked up an impressive win in a fun and fast-paced tag team contest, and Bate and Seven more than earned their ‘Please Come Back’ chant after the match.
Ashton Smith vs Damon Moser
Manchester’s own Ashton Smith took on Projo graduate and former tag team champion Damon Moser in the second semi-final of the 3rd Natural Progression Series. The crowd were rather split between the two competitors, which surprised me since Ashton was in his hometown and Moser was formerly a member of The Origin, possibly the most hated faction in PROGRESS history. The action started off slowly, with both men trying to out grapple one another, before Smith teased ending it early with the GTS. Moser managed to escape and took some inspiration from his seemingly long lost twin brother Tommy End by hitting some devastating strikes and knees.
Ashton’s high-flying offense managed to get him back in the match, and he continued to try for the GTS. It was in vain however, as Moser hit a destructive knee strike and pick up the victory to advance to the final. After the match, Moser’s opponent at Chapter 29, the second coming of Jesus himself, Pastor William Eavor came out onto the stage and stared down his future opponent. A good match and in the end, the right man won, which is hard to write because our boss Dean is a big fan of Ashton’s. Hopefully he’ll let that slide. Please don’t fire me. (Editors note: See me in my office at 9am prompt)
Jinny (w/Elizabeth) vs Toni Storm
The women of PROGRESS have been killing it recently, and Jinny has become one of the best heels in the promotion in the process. Her mistreatment of her personal assistant Elizabeth has been increasing over the last few months, and it reached boiling point in this aftermath of the match. Storm has become one of the most beloved women on the roster because of her in ring charisma, her terrific ability and her magnificent thighs. Maybe the last one isn’t as big of a reason, but they’re magnificent nonetheless. Jinny was on fire in this match, and she was drawing every bit of heat possible from the crowd. After a few minutes of solid back and forth action, Jinny proceeded to put a bin bag over Storm’s body and then attacked her with some lipstick. As you do.
Storm responded by ripping the bin bag off in a fantastic Hogan-esque manner and mounted a comeback. A slight distraction from Elizabeth was her downfall however, and Jinny once again used her personal assistant to pick up a big win. After the match, Jinny demanded that Elizabeth helped her continue to beat down Storm, but she refused. Liz then pushed Jinny after she got in her face and the crowd exploded. Jinny then also received a piledriver from Storm for her troubles. She then decided to go on a rampage, pushing fans and throwing many, many chairs. A thoroughly enjoyable match with some great action after the bell rang. The women of PROGRESS continue to raise their stock.
Mark Haskins vs ‘Flash’ Morgan Webster
The final match before intermission saw two of the top stars in PROGRESS collide, as the submission specialist Mark Haskins took on the high-flying Morgan Webster. Both men have put in terrific performances in recent chapters, especially in the last two chapters in Manchester where both men have had world championship opportunities. Haskins dominated the ground game before Webster started to mount a comeback with his aerial prowess shining here. The two traded suicide dives, before Haskins continuously tried to lock in various submissions but Flash was having none of it.
Webster repeatedly attempted to hit his signature 630 Splash, but each time Haskins managed to escape, and the final time, Webster came crashing down off the top and into the canvas, allowing Haskins to lock in the armbar for the submission victory. Both men showed great respect for each other at the end by raising each other’s hands. Whilst it wasn’t as much of a standout match as it could have been, both men looked good and got their signature moves in, and I fully expect them to continue to impress in upcoming chapters, and either man would be a good choice to win the upcoming Super Strong Style 16 Tournament.
T-Bone vs Big Daddy Walter
This was the first match of the Atlas Championship Tournament, also known as the Hoss Division or the Big Lads Division, which is exclusively for wrestlers over 205 lbs. The eventual winner of the tournament will be crowned the first ever Atlas Champion at PROGRESS’ biggest ever show, Chapter 36, at Brixton Academy in September. T-Bone was making his PROGRESS debut here, and he was the big favourite with the crowd because of his affiliation with local promotion Preston City Wrestling. Walter was making his first appearance since Chapter 23, where he threw Rampage Brown into the turnbuckles so hard that they snapped. So he’s a pretty powerful bloke.
The two big lads exchanged clotheslines and strikes, trying to get the upper hand early on. It was Walter who gained control, and he was punishing the upper body of T-Bone with strikes, sentons and backbreakers (oh my!). With the crowd behind him, T-Bone worked his way back into the match and took the big Austrian off his feet with a wicked clothesline. Both men traded power moves for a good few minutes, before T-Bone hit a huge splash off the top for the victory. This was a great match, with both men looking powerful and having their periods of dominance. I have high hopes for this tournament, and if this match was any indication, the fans of PROGRESS are in for a treat over the next few months.
Marty Scurll’s Open Challenge
So, as I mentioned earlier, Scurll wasn’t defending his title here, as he believed the Manchester crowd ‘didn’t deserve to see a title defence’. Which wasn’t very nice. I thought we were very deserving. He declared that he’d already beaten every potential challenger, including the top 8 challengers at the previous chapter in the Thunderbastard match. An unfamiliar tune began playing. The fans eagerly waited, and waited, and waited. Out through the curtain stepped none other than Tommy End. Or, as he’s more often referred to, Tommy F*****g End. The crowd went absolutely mental here, and it was hard to hear Glen Joseph introduce him. End started quickly by going for some of his devastating kicks, and Scurll was in retreat. The champion soon took control however, and he hit a massive superkick on the ring apron for a close near fall.
End soon began hitting strikes and kicks for fun, and still Scurll fought back and hit his signature finger snap, which made about 850 people cringe in unison. Scurll became cocky and took too long to tease the Crossface Chickenwing submission, and End popped up and hit him with potentially the biggest, loudest superkick ever thrown in wrestling. And that was that. End pinned the PROGRESS champion clean, to the delight of the crowd, and now the man from the Netherlands has earned himself a shot at the PROGRESS Championship at Chapter 29. You lucky, lucky Camden fans.
PROGRESS Tag Team Championship – F.S.U. vs The Origin
F.S.U. and The Origin have had a bitter rivalry that stems all the way back to Chapter 20, where F.S.U. lost the tag team shield to the group known as ‘The Faceless’, who later became The Origin. Ever since then, the two teams have clashed on a number of occasions in tag matches and singles contests, and it has all led to this. No Disqualification for the tag team shield. Eddie Dennis and Mark Andrews came ready for a fight, as both men came to the ring wielding chairs. Nathan Cruz and El Ligero of The Origin were exuding confidence, but they didn’t seem eager initially to get into a fight with Dennis and Andrews. The two teams brawled on the outside for a large portion of the match, with Ligero teasing the crowd by placing Andrews on a chair, only to run up and chop him, which was fantastic heel work.
Andrews responded to this by hitting a magnificent dive off the stage onto Cruz, Ligero and even his own partner. The chairs soon came into play, and both teams teed off on each other in the ring, and even poor ref Chris Roberts was on the receiving end of a chair to the face. Ligero started searching under the ring, and eventually pulled out some thumbtacks. Normally I’m not a fan of unnecessary weapons in matches, but with this rivalry being as bitter and as long lasting as it has been, I was alright with it. Ligero was attempting a superplex on Andrews into the tacks, but White Lightning reversed it into a wicked hurricanrana, and Ligero became a pin-cushion.
Whilst I was ok with the use of tacks, I wasn’t ok with Nathan Cruz kicking them out of the ring rather than safely sweeping them out. I get that he’s a heel, but that’s an actual health and safety hazard. From my vantage point on the balcony, I saw a fan in the front row get hit in the eye with one of the tacks. Causing harm to fans is one of the worst things you can do, intentional or not. After that debacle, Dennis and Cruz traded some Zayn/Nakamura style forearms in the ring, which was where referee Roberts felt the force of a chair, after he tried to stop them. In a No DQ match. Which is weird.
Replacement ref Joel Allen ran down, but he didn’t last long before being thrown full force into the ring post. F.S.U. then set up a table and stacked some chairs on it for a bit of overkill, which came back to bite them as The Origin put Dennis through the table with a double powerbomb. They then finally finished off Andrews in the ring with a tombstone on the chair. There’s no other way to describe this match than absolutely mental. It was a bit much in parts, but it was mostly very enjoyable and encapsulated the rivalry between the two teams.
So, that was Chapter 28! Overall, a very good show with some top matches, insane spots and good laughs. The main event was a slight downer, because fans being put in genuine danger is never fun, but all four men involved showed how tough they actually are. The potential of Tommy End being the next PROGRESS champion also has me very excited. I can’t wait for their return to Manchester on June 19.
If you want to watch the show for yourself, sign up for Demand Progress, and make sure to visit their website if you fancy getting tickets for the next Manchester chapter.