Kevin’s PROGRESS Chapter 43: Tropic Thunderbastard Review

PROGRESS Chapter 43: Tropic Thunderbastard
January 29th, 2017 | Electric Ballroom in Camden, Greater London, England

It was only last year that I started following PROGRESS and even then, it wasn’t consistent. I plan on fixing that in 2017. I checked out Chapter 41 at the end of last year and 42 earlier this year, but didn’t do reviews for them. I apologize in advance if I get some things wrong due to not consistently following the product.

As usual with PROGRESS events, Jim Smallman opened with an in-ring promo featuring witty banter with the fans. A fan from the States was pointed out in the crowd and Jim said “I can’t a imagine a reason why you’d relocate from America,” leading to a “Fuck you Trump” chant. Bless you PROGRESS fans. These bits are fun but can sometimes go too long for my taste.

The London Riots (James Davis and Rob Lynch) def. The Kings of the North (Bonesaw and Damien Corbin) in 14:46
Being a Game of Thrones fan, I appreciate the Kings of the North name. This is one of those cases where you have to bear with me since I’m not sure who is who in these matches. I mean, I know the teams but not which member is which. There were some fun moments early, including Davis and Bonesaw hitting stereo sentons before trading blows with one another. Lynch had the highlight with a sweet tope con hilo, followed by a lesser but still impressive spots from Corbin and Davis. Davis took the heat for a while. The Kings work well together and their trash talk made it better. Lynch ran wild when he got the hot tag. Things broke down near the end and saw the Riots win with a slingshot into a spear. Just what I want from an opening tag. There were a few moments where things were a bit mistimed but they worked hard and had a hot crowd. ***

Natural Progression Series IV First Round: Laura Di Matteo def. Chakara in 8:36
The women of PROGRESS have been hit or miss for me in the past. I’ve never seen either of these girls before. Di Matteo was the fan favorite and Chakara added to that with an attack before the bell. Di Matteo turned it around and hit one of the wildest and best looking suicide dives I’ve ever seen. She seemed unsure of herself before the bell but once it rang, she delivered. Chakara’s offense looked weak though. Laura came back with fiery strikes and kicks. Chakara got a close near fall on a hammerlock DDT that was easily her best moment of the match. From the kick out, Di Matteo applied a wonderful submission for the win. Chakara was dull here, while Di Matteo showed promise and impressed me. Her ring work is fine though she could improve on facial expressions and things like that. **¼

Jurn Simmons def. Roy Johnson in 9:01
You might remember Roy Johnson from the WWE’s UK Tournament. Jurn is certainly a character, with a long entrance filled with gyrating and posing. He’s a big guy but Johnson managed to hold his own in terms of strength. Johnson was the more athletic guy, but Jurn also showcased his, making it an even match. Both guys brought solid offense. Johnson hit a flapjack but then ate a huge kick. Simmons got the win with a stiff piledriver. Fine match, though the finish felt abrupt. **¾

South Pacific Power Trip (TK Cooper and Travis Banks) w/ Dahlia Black def. Ringkampf (Alex Dieter Jr. and WALTER) in 17:42
Ringkampf impressed me at PROGRESS 42. Dieter and Banks began with some great mat wrestling. Dieter is one of those technicians who is smooth as hell. WALTER is just a big boy who ran over Cooper. Cooper fired up after a kiss from Dahlia but it changed nothing. Ringkampf picked apart Cooper with their offense. Banks didn’t fare much better though. WALTER’s bullying was way over. They did a great job in in playing into the dynamic of Ringkampf being better. They teased a WALTER dive outside but Banks cut it off, only to get press slammed onto Cooper. Just when it looked like the Power Trip would lose, Dahlia got on the apron. WALTER destroyed her with a big boot though. In the end, Ringkampf got screwed by the old “hold the legs of the babyface in a pin” trick. I enjoyed all of this until that finish. It made sense for Power Trip to go over in that fashion, I’ve just always hated that specific finish. Ringkampf got a standing ovation and deservedly so. They’re awesome. ***¾

Thunderbastard Match: Mark Andrews def. Dave Mastiff, Jack Sexsmith, Marty Scurll, Nathan Cruz, Sebastian, Trent Seven and Zack Gibson in 32:46
A Thunderbastard match is similar to a Royal Rumble, but with pins and submissions for eliminations. The winner gets a PROGRESS Title shot. It’s fitting this event took place on the same day as the Royal Rumble. Andrews and Scurll were the first two entrants. Scurll had some early fun to the fan’s delight, but not to Andrews’. Next in was Trent Seven, who took his time getting to the ring. Andrews would take both men out with a dive. Sexsmith and his rainbow attire came in fourth. He got a “furry little boots” chants during his hot string of offense. William Eaver was supposed to be a replacement for Paul Robinson I believe, but the much hated Sebastian took his spot to massive heat. The competitors walked out on facing him, except Sexsmith who rolled him up for the instant elimination. That got the pop of the night. Sebastian had been holding some assault charges over Eaver’s head but Eaver came back out to finally level him. Gibson entered next to possibly more heat than Sebastian. His pre-match promo was cut off by an Andrews dive. There was a great “If you hate Gibson, stand up” chant, with everyone standing. The first ever PROGRESS Champion, Nathan Cruz was next and Mastiff was the final entrant. He, Cruz and Gibson are members of the Origin, but the popular Mastiff clotheslined both. Scurll went fucking nuts in his chicken wing tease and it cost him as Seven rolled him up to eliminate him. Mastiff got sent packing after a double codebreaker, before Andrews used a flurry of offense to get rid of Seven. Sexsmith, who was taken out by a chair shot from Sebastian, returned with Mr. Cocko. That’s not a typo. He surprisingly made Cruz tap shortly after. The underdog Sexsmith run ended at the hands of a twisting brainbuster from Gibson, leaving him alone with Andrews. Gibson went back to his promo while beating up Andrews. Their back and forth saw several near falls before Andrews hit Stundog Millionaire and an SSP to win. Lots of fun with constant action. They included several stories in this and got the perfect crowd reactions for almost everything. ***½

PROGRESS Championship: Jimmy Havoc def. Pete Dunne (c) via disqualification in 12:59
Trent Seven ran in for an attempted lariat on Havoc but it backfired and he was taken out with the title. That led to a brawl, which is Havoc’s wheelhouse. To overcome that disadvantage, Dunne got help from time to time by Seven. Dunne launched Havoc into a bunch of chairs, with the referee giving a fair amount of leniency. Dunne continued to disrespect PROGRESS, spitting on the logo in the ring. He bit Havoc’s fingers until they bled, which was sick and great at the same time. As Havoc made his comeback, we got an awesome spot where Dunne bit Havoc’s thumb as he did the throat cut taunt before the Acid Rainmaker. Dunne also busted out a Pedigree. I love how Paul’s guys keep bringing out Pedigrees. Havoc hit the Acid Rainmaker but Seven pulled out the referee. Havoc went after him and Seven got back inside, leading to the DQ. While this was good, I came away disappointed. I sense they have some better in them and this felt like the first chapter of something potentially bigger. ***

After the match, Seven and Dunne continued the assault on Havoc. Flash Morgan Webster made his return to a huge pop and stood on the stage. He signaled behind him and Mark Haskins’ theme hit. The crowd went nuts for Webster but lost their minds for Haskins. They made the save and sent the champion and Seven packing. Haskins cut a passionate promo about being loyal to PROGRESS unlike Will Ospreay. He chastised Dunne for his disrespect, said the title is rightfully his and noted that he and Webster are cleared to compete.

6.5

The final score: review Average

The 411

This was one of those shows that didn’t blow me away, but was fun to watch. Nothing felt like it went too long and everything was interesting. I consistently look forward to Ringkampf on these shows, the Thunderbastard match was a blast and though the main event disappointed, it was a good way to move an angle forward. The returns at the end of the show were brilliantly done and got massive pops. Nothing on the show was bad and it moved along quickly.