wrestling / Video Reviews
Natural PROGRESSION: I Hope You Suffer – The Best of Jimmy Havoc in PROGRESS Wrestling
Loading...After recently delving into PROGRESS Wrestling with Chapter 20 (a great show that you should definitely watch), my curiosity was struck by one wrestler in particular; Jimmy Havoc. I’d heard the name beforehand as one of the more controversial names in British wrestling. He was unashamedly hardcore, one of the more well-known deathmatch wrestlers from the UK in fact. That is until he landed in PROGRESS during Chapter 2, and from there became part of what a lot of people say is one of the best story arcs in British wrestling history. From everything I’d see in his match against Will Ospreay, he struck me as an absolute STAR in how he presented himself, and I was giddy to see everything that brought him to this point. So before I keep going with my PROGRESS reviews, I decided to watch PROGRESS’s Jimmy Havoc compilation to at least fully familiarize myself with the man before I reviewed a part of PROGRESS’s history that didn’t have him in it. So without further ado…
We cut to Jimmy Havoc sitting in the corner of a ring, talking directly to the camera. He gives us the backstory of his debut at Chapter 2, wrestling Danny Garnell. The storyline was basically that Havoc was purely a deathmatch wrestler, and couldn’t cut it in a normal environment so he came to PROGRESS to show that wasn’t the case. He lost, but PROGRESS gave him a second chance against Jon Ryan in a match that was strictly labeled as a “No Blood, No Hardcore” match. Jimmy Havoc says that, as a wrestling fan, most should know that if something is promoted as not happening, it’s definitely going to happen…
No Blood; No Hardcore: Jimmy Havoc vs. Jon Ryan
From PROGRESS Chapter 3. Jon Ryan is Jimmy Havoc’s trainer, and the story here is that Jon Ryan is pissed at Jimmy because he didn’t come to him to adapt himself to regular wrestling again.
Jimmy offers a handshake, but Jon slaps him, which causes Jimmy to double leg him and go hard with elbows. And just like initially advertised, it’s a technical wrestling match early. Havoc hurricanrana’s Ryan to the outside as the crowd gets on Ryan’s case with GILLBERG chants. Havoc looks for a plancha, but JON RYAN STARCHES HAVOC WITH A FRYING PAN! Havoc wins by DQ at the 3 minute mark… Jimmy Havoc isn’t down though, as he takes the mic with blood running down his face and demands a hardcore match with Ryan to Jim Smallman. Smallman says he sells PROGRESS as Strong Style wrestling, but as far as he’s concerned “fuckin’ kill ‘im!”
Hardcore Match: Jimmy Havoc vs. Jon Ryan
Here we go!
Ryan starts beating Havoc senseless with a kendo stick, but Havoc grabs it and waffles him with it relentlessly before grabbing a cheese grater and putting it to his trainer’s head. Ryan tries for a piledriver on the outside, but Havoc backdrops him on the floor. Havoc brings an ironing board into the ring, which backfires as Ryan powerbombs Havoc through it for 2. Ryan grabs a staple gun and staples the referee’s gloves to Havoc’s torso! He ties Havoc up in the corner and STAPLES HIS CROTCH! Ryan throws a chairshot, but Havoc dodges and superkicks the chair into Ryan’s face for 2. Havoc goes and gets a pair of chairs of his own, and sets Ryan in one so he can staple a glove into the head of Ryan! Havoc superkicks him and runs for something, but Ryan hiptosses him through the chair! Havoc is able to kick out at 2. Jon Ryan goes under the ring and grabs a bat with thumbtacks glued to it, and he SMACKS Havoc with it! Ryan does himself one better and grabs a bag of thumbtacks, looking to powerbomb Havoc into them, but Havoc battles out and gives him a Death Valley Driver into the tacks! Jimmy Havoc goes under the ring himself, and pulls out a barbed wire board! Jimmy sets the barbed wire board up on a pair of chairs and looks to powerbomb his trainer into them, but Ryan lowblows him. Ryan looks for a superplex, but Havoc pushes him onto the tacks and comes down with a flying elbow for a two count. The referee is hilariously using a cookie sheet to count his pins so he doesn’t stick his hand. Havoc goes up top and DOUBLE STOMPS THE BARBED WIRE BOARD ONTO RYAN! Ryan catches a running Havoc and gives him a PACKAGE TOMBSTONE INTO THE TACKS! RIGHT INTO A WHEELBARROW SUPLEX THROUGH THE BARBED WIRE BOARD! Jon Ryan puts Havoc away at the 15 minute mark. *** This wasn’t anything stomach-churning or overly stupid, which was good, but the match didn’t really feel like it had much structure. They kinda just went from move-to-move until they finally find a groove near the end. But once they found that groove, this match turned into quite the good little hardcore match. Havoc and Ryan did a good job slowly building the action until they hit the finish, which was delightfully barbaric but still realistic enough to happen. So hey, for a hardcore match, this was pretty good.
We cut back to Jimmy Havoc in front of the camera, talking about the finish. His head was the only thing he hit on the barbed wire, giving him a gnarly scar to add to his bevvy of them. He goes through some matches, including a submission bout with Noam Dar and a match with Nathan Cruz, where Cruz tried to get Jimmy to use a chair against him unsuccessfully. He then introduces this next match which was against Zack Sabre Jr. at Chapter 7 with Nigel McGuinness as the special referee…
Jimmy Havoc vs. Zack Sabre Jr.
From PROGRESS Chapter 7. Havoc describes Sabre as his best friend in the previous interview, so this has a bit of a story attached to it as well as Havoc continuing to prove himself as a wrestler. Jim Smallman introduces Nigel McGuinness to a huge pop…
You can probably guess how this one starts out given Zack Sabre’s tendencies. Havoc manages to get Sabre off of him with a La Magistral, but Sabre gets right back on him. They trade strait-jacket holds until Havoc has enough and just muscles Zack off of him. Havoc uses Nigel to backflip out of an armbar, and builds some momentum before running into a kick from Sabre Jr. Sabre throws Havoc out of the ring and comes out on top of him with a pair of Tope Suicidas, but Havoc stops a third with a hurricanrana! Havoc gives Sabre a Tope Suicida of his own, and double stomps him from the apron for a two count in the ring. Sabre catches Havoc’s step-up knee and turns it into a beautiful Ligerbomb for two, right into a whacky submission, which he then turns into a Cross Armbreaker that Havoc breaks by grabbing the ropes. Sabre looks for a slingshot knee drop, but Havoc dodges and hits a Death Valley Driver on Zack for a two count. Sabre waffles Jimmy with some kicks to the chest, and STARCHES him with a slap, but Havoc counters into a Dudebuster for two! Havoc in a nice touch anticipates Sabre running after him by hitting a Pele Kick, followed by a Lionsault for two… but Sabre LOCKS IN A CROSS ARMBREAKER! Havoc counters into a Crossface, but Zack counters it with a cradle. Zack gives Havoc a TIGER SUPLEX OUT OF A CASADORA! DRAGON SUPLEX! HAVOC KICKS OUT! CROSS ARMBREAKER! EUROPEAN STRETCH! Jimmy Havoc calls it quits at the 15 minute mark. ***1/2 I think this honestly could have stood to go another 10 minutes or so, to really give Havoc a defining performance so far in this storyline. That being said, this was a tremendous technical exhibition that executed exactly what it intended to; to make Jimmy Havoc look like he could hang with the best technical wrestler in the world. It wasn’t drop-dead insane or anything of the sort, but it didn’t need to be. We saw Jimmy Havoc keep up every step of the way with Zack Sabre Jr, which is the story both men needed to get over. So this was a rousing success, albeit one that I selfishly wish went longer.
Nigel takes the mic and talks about how apprehensive he was about refereeing a Jimmy Havoc match due to Nigel’s issues with blood. But Nigel says he was surprised, and tells Jimmy he doesn’t need to do hardcore wrestling, saying if Jimmy could hang with Zack Sabre Jr, he could hang with anybody. Nigel says he watched Marty and Zack tear it up with The Young Bucks on a show he wrestled on for his retirement tour, and says that at a point, there’s a time to let the young guys have the spotlight. Nigel puts over how proud he is of British wrestling, and basically does your “veteran puts over company” deal you see a lot, only with the added benefit of contributing to the ongoing story of Jimmy Havoc’s quest to be a technical wrestler.
Back to Jimmy’s interview, where he talks about his losing streak before putting Nigel McGuinness over. He talks about the London Riots and how much of a nuisance they’ve been to PROGRESS, and Jimmy got the presumed last match on James Davis’ contract in an “Anything fuckin’ Goes” match…
Anything Goes: Jimmy Havoc vs. James Davis
From PROGRESS Chapter 8. James Davis is one half of the London Riots, who were the enforcers outside for the Ospreay vs. Havoc match at Chapter 20. I know what eventually happens with Havoc and The Riots, but I’m interested in seeing exactly how… so let’s go!
Havoc is a house of fire early, wearing shorts instead of his usual tights. Things spill to the outside, where Havoc hiptosses Davis onto the stage steps. Havoc tries to suplex Davis off the stage, but ends up headbutting him off instead. Havoc comes off the stage with a double stomp before suplexing him on the floor beside the ring, following that up by smacking Davis in the head with a cookie sheet. They brawl into the crowd, where Davis gets his first modicum of control… that is until Havoc takes over again by coming off the bar with a hurricanrana! Havoc sets up a wooden board in the ring and gives Davis a Death Valley Driver into it. Havoc takes the mic and takes an audience poll, asking should he pin JD now or keep kicking his ass. The crowd decides the latter, and so it goes. Jimmy takes a swig of beer, and pours some thumbtacks onto the mat, but runs into Davis who ends up giving him a Backdrop Driver. Havoc fights back with a German Suplex of his own, but Davis again hits a Backdrop Driver. Havoc hits a Pumphandle Driver into the thumbtacks! Havoc takes the mic again and polls the crowd to see if Davis has had enough, which the fans predictable say no to. Havoc pulls out LIGHT TUBES, and here we go. He HEADBUTTS one into Davis’ head, because Jimmy Havoc is a cunt! See, I’m a part of it now! Havoc hilariously breaks another one over Davis’ head with a beer in his hands, but Davis fights back and runs Havoc gut-first into two light-tubes taped together before gouging him with the sharp end of a broken tube. He breaks that piece of Jimmy’s head as blood runs down his abdomen. Jimmy hits the step-up knee into the corner, but DAVIS BACKDROPS HIM OVER THE TOP ROPE THROUGH A TABLE!~! Havoc is able to kick out though. Davis goes outside and tapes a pair of light tubes to the ringpost, and he whips Havoc into them! Davis puts a few light tubes on Jimmy’s back and BREAKS THEM WITH A BAT! James Davis HAS A LEMON AND SQUEEZES IT INTO HAVOC’S CUTS!~! Jeeeesus Christ. Davis goes up top with Havoc on his shoulders, but HAVOC COUNTERS IT INTO A TORNADO DDT OFF THE TOP! Havoc grabs a board and props it up with chairs, and grabs the mic again. Havoc proposes a Burning Hammer from the top rope, but Davis interrupts him with a cane shot! HUGE POWERBOMB THROUGH THE WOODEN BOARD! Three unprotected chairshots give James Davis the win in 20 minutes. ***3/4 I’m not a tremendous fan of deathmatch wrestling and probably never will be, but I’ve gotta hand it to Havoc and Davis here; this was a tremendous instance where deathmatch wrestling not only worked, but served as a vehicle to further a storyline. The unprotected chairshots to the head did not need to happen however and is probably my only real annoyance with this match on that front, but otherwise I thought this was an awesome brawl. The crowd just adores Jimmy Havoc, and his interaction with the fans in this match was tremendous. But at the end of the day, he got too cocky and let his complacency get the best of him. The shock of Jimmy Havoc losing a deathmatch to a guy he was dominating – mainly because of his over-confidence – is a really intriguing wrinkle in this story, and the match that accompanied it was a very fun piece of deathmatch wrestling. Color me surprised!
Havoc chugs a beer before dejectedly leaving to the adoration of the fans…
Back to Havoc’s interview, as he notes the irony behind Nigel McGuinness praising him for his technical wrestling to going back to hardcore the next show. He addresses the “not having to do a hardcore match”. He talks about his character’s anger at being forced into another deathmatch, which leads us to Chapter 9…
We cut to the London Riots destroying Kris Travis I think, and they corner Jim Smallman… and here comes Jimmy Havoc for the same. Smallman talks about how The Riots insulted PROGRESS and guys like Jimmy Havoc, WHO BLINDSIDES HIM WITH A CHAIR! The London Riots stop babyfaces from saving as Havoc brutalizes Jim with a cricket bat. The crowd asks him “What The Fuck?” as he takes the mic, sitting in the corner. Jimmy Havoc tells Smallman that he’s not his mascot, and he lambasts Smallman and the fans for only worrying about his replacement when he got injured. He kinda looks like a British Jimmy Jacobs now that I think about it. He continues to destroy Smallman with a cricket bat as Glen Joseph confronts the London Riots outside. A fan throws a beer at him, so Havoc threatens to slit his throat. Havoc tells Smallman about how Nigel McGuinness told him he was a great technical wrestler, and what did PROGRESS do? Put him in another deathmatch. PROGRESS was his chance to show that he didn’t have to kill himself in deathmatches. But he did it anyway, for “all these cunts”. He picks Smallman up and crumbles him with a slap before he leaves… Whew. What an incredible segment that was, and now PROGRESS has a top heel for 2 years…
DISC 2
We’re back to Jimmy Havoc in the ring, where he talks about a talk with Jim Smallman, who gave him a match against anyone, anywhere, any time, any place. He talks about Mark Andrews winning the PROGRESS Title from Rampage Brown, and himself being the grinch that “fucks everyone over”… Off we are to Chapter 10!
Cut to Mark Andrews schoolboying Rampage Brown to win the aforementioned Progress Title to an enormous ovation. Mark Andrews celebrates with the Progress Championship (a pretty cool staff instead of a belt) as the crowd cheers him on. It must be said that Andrews had already wrestled three times at this point as he’d won the Natural Progression Series before pinning Brown for the title. But here come the London Riots and Jimmy Havoc! Havoc destroys Andrews with the pink chair he hit Smallman with at Chapter 9, as the London Riots tape Eddie Dennis’ hands to the ringpost. Havoc takes the mic, but the crowd won’t let him speak. So instead, he smacks Andrews with the chair some more as the Riots make Eddie Dennis watch. Jimmy Havoc says he has a contract for any match, with any opponent, with any stipulation with Jim Smallman’s signature on it. Smallman tells Havoc to go fuck himself, so Havoc destroys Andrews with the chair some more. Smallman again tells Havoc “fuck you”, so Havoc pulls out lighter fluid and pours it all over Andrews! Smallman finally gives in and gives Havoc the match, but Jimmy still decides to beat Andrews down. Havoc wants Smallman to count the pinfall, but Smallman again tells him no, “you fucking psychopath.” Havoc gives the referee a Death Valley Driver, which forces Smallman’s hand.
PROGRESS Championship: Mark Andrews © vs. Jimmy Havoc
From PROGRESS Chapter 10. Here we go!
Smallman counts, but ANDREWS GETS A SHOULDER UP! Havoc calmly picks up the chair and threatens Smallman with it, before throwing beating the piss out of Andrews some more with it. The Go-Home Driver scores, and Smallman counts the pin. We have a new PROGRESS Champion. N/A
Jim Smallman throws the staff in the ring in a fury. Havoc takes the mic and says that if anybody touches him, he’ll “fucking end you.” He then wishes the PROGRESS fans at the Garage a Merry Christmas and dips out. Man, that was just phenomenal in every way possible. The crowd’s utter contempt for Jimmy Havoc as he spoiled the moment for Andrews was so good that I can’t begin to do it justice with words. Smallman’s performance here though, was absolutely incredible and may be the one reason why this segment came off so well. He was trying to do the right thing by making it fair for Andrews, but Havoc’s contract put him in a corner. And Havoc’s insistence on making an enraged Smallman make the count by destroying the referee was such a tremendous heel move on top of it. It’s really hard to do this segment justice, but it’s really something indie wrestling hasn’t given us in years. Everything about this was so, so good and I can’t give enough praise to the people involved. Shit just got real.
Back to Havoc talking and it’s kind of hard to see him as a smiling, inviting presence after the insanity of what we just saw. Out of character, Havoc says he wanted to win the belt the way he did. He asks “what better way for a heel to win the belt than when he doesn’t deserve it?” He talks about his match at Chapter 11 with Zack Sabre Jr, where they beat the “fucking shit” out of each other including a maniacal bump off of a super Dragon Suplex. He says his four-way match with El Ligero, Marty Scurll and Rampage Brown is one of his favorite matches, but is not on the compilation. He talks about forming Regression at Chapter 13, as well as beating Noam Dar in dubious circumstances at Chapter 14. Havoc talks about trying to Reservoir Dog Ospreay’s ear, and he finally introduces the next match…
Regression (Jimmy Havoc, The London Riots, & Paul Robinson) vs. Will Ospreay, Mark Andrews, Eddie Dennis, & Noam Dar
From PROGRESS Chapter 15. We have some complicated rules in this match, so let’s start with those. If Jimmy Havoc is pinned, he loses the PROGRESS Title to whoever pins him. If FSU (Mark Andrews and Eddie Dennis) is pinned, they lose their PROGRESS Tag Titles to whoever pins them and a partner of their choosing. If Will Ospreay is pinned, he loses his Thunderbastard title shot to whoever pins him. And if anyone who does not hold a championship is pinned, their PROGRESS career is over. A bit contrived, but hey. 19
It is a Pier Six Brawl from the bell, as things immediately spill outside. Mark Andrews gives James Davis a corkscrew moonsault inside before they spill outside too. Ospreay runs his former partner Paul Robinson into the video board of the Electric Ballroom before throwing him inside for a springboard elbow. Ospreay hits Robinson with a nifty Superman Punch, followed by a standing moonsault for a one count. Ospreay looks for a pop-up something, but Robinson counters with a double stomp as he comes down. Regression all get in the ring and finally gain control of a rolling Ospreay. Robinson tries an Up and Over, but Ospreay does the B-Boy counter and gives him an Ace Crusher in mid-air, and here comes Eddie Dennis! Dennis puts Davis on his shoulders and Jimmy Havoc in a fallaway slam, and throws them both. He catches Paul Robinson in a suplex mid-air and hits a Jackhammer as Noam Dar kicks Jimmy Havoc down to the floor. FSU hit stereo Tope Con Hilo’s on the London Riots outside! Jimmy Havoc and Will Ospreay fight up to the balcony where OSPREAY SUPERKICKS HAVOC OFF THE BALCONY!~! OSPREAY MOONSAULTS OFF THE BALCONY ONTO EVERYONE!~! All of a sudden, referee Chris Roberts calls for the bell at 15 minutes as it’s a countout. Hmmm. I smell shenanigans. Jimmy Havoc takes a chair and just waylays Noam Dar with it, and Jim Smallman tells Havoc that this match isn’t ending by a countout, and he doesn’t give a fuck about the rules! So here we go!
Ospreay comes in and hits a back handspring kick to Havoc before DIVING OVER THE RINGPOST ONTO REGRESSION~! Andrews tries a dive of his own, but runs right into a lariat from the PROGRESS Champion. Havoc tries something with Andrews, but Ospreay hits him with a Canadian Destroyer! SHOOTING STAR FROM ANDREWS! Paul Robinson pulls the ref out at 2. STEREO TOPE SUICIDAS FROM THE LONDON RIOTS! Regression just massacres Ospreay in the ring with various moves, but Dennis breaks it up and hits the Double Stomp/Next Stop Driver on James Davis with Mark Andrews! The rest of Regression breaks it up, and Havoc hits Ospreay with an Acid Rainmaker, but Ospreay kicks out! Jimmy Havoc and Noam Dar go face-to-face, and the Israeli hits a big German Suplex, that Havoc no-sells! Acid Rainmaker… COUNTERED INTO THE CHAMPAGNE SUPER-KNEEBAR! HE PUTS IT ON ROBINSON! James Davis finally breaks it up, but runs into a crossbody from Mark Andrews. Noam Dar goes outside and brings out a chair, and Havoc throws James Davis in the way of a nasty chairshot! Ospreay superkicks Jimmy Havoc on top of Davis, and Dar tells him to go up top! A 630 puts James Davis away, and the London Riots are gone from PROGRESS in 24 total minutes. **** This was just a delightfully chaotic match that I wished would have had a more grandiose finish, but I understand why it happened the way it did. Jimmy Havoc sacrificed his stablemate so he himself wouldn’t get hurt, which is a good touch of storytelling, albeit a touch that’s hardly the most satisfying way to finish a match of this sort. The heat segment was really fun early on, as Regression totally laid waste to poor Will Ospreay with an assortment of moves that were done with more focus than your prototypical indy tag match. And since the match started out as a regular, by-the-books 8 man tag match, it’s not like the heat segment was unnecessary. And once we got those two drop-dead insane spots on the balcony followed by the countout, the last 10 minutes that spawned were so ridiculously fun that it made you forget about the somewhat complicated stips and instead get invested in them. Like I said, I kind of wish that the finish was a bit more impactful, but in terms of furthering this Jimmy Havoc/Regression story, I don’t see an issue with it in the grand scheme of things. What a wonderful cluster of a match.
Surprise, we’re back to Jimmy Havoc, who says he wanted to be the cheapest champion possible so people wanted to see him lose the title. He then talks about the PROGRESS title belt, which came about because Jimmy Havoc tossed the staff into a trashcan and burned it in a video he sent to PROGRESS offices. Havoc transitions to talking about a six-way match at Chapter 18, which was planted to make people think Paul Robinson may be turning on Havoc. He talks about curb-stomping Will Ospreay after the match, before Flash Morgan Webster saves the day. Webster introduces the return of the London Riots, who were the insurance policy for Havoc and his title reign. We transition into Will Ospreay vs. Jimmy Havoc at PROGRESS Chapter 20, a match I’ve already reviewed…
No DQ Match for the PROGRESS Wrestling Championship: Jimmy Havoc © vs. Will Ospreay
From PROGRESS Chapter 20. This is basically what everything has been building to, as Havoc has utterly massacred Ospreay at every turn possible, including the aforementioned curb-stomping into the ropes and threatening to kill him at every point possible. Ospreay had already lost a title match against Havoc, but won the SSS16 to get another shot, and that lands us at Chapter 20…
Ospreay has a grandiose Assassin’s Creed entrance, complete with hooded figures in Will Ospreay get-ups. By the time AC/DC’s “Shoot to Thrill” hits, shit just gets awesome as the crowd ERUPTS for Ospreay after that ridiculousness. Jimmy Havoc’s entrance to “Prelude 12/21” leading into “I Hope You Suffer” by AFI is infinitely more badass however, mainly because AFI is awesome and Jimmy Havoc’s facepaint puts Finn Balor to shame. Personally I’d have preferred “God Called In Sick Today” but beggars can’t be choosers. This guy just rules. Man, PROGRESS is doing its damndest to make this match something huge and they are SUCCEEDING. Havoc sends his Regression cronies to the back…
They have a tense staredown, before they throw heavy leather to start things off. Ospreay beautifully rana’s the champ outside of the ring, followed by a Fosbury Flop! Ospreay throws Jimmy Havoc all over the Electric Ballroom, culminating in a running dropkick to Havoc seated in a chair. Ospreay himself actually is the first to introduce a table to the proceedings, but that allows Jimmy Havoc to recover and just STARCH Ospreay with a kendo stick shot to the face. They try to suplex each other through the set-up, but Ospreay escapes and hits the Sami Zayn Tornado DDT through the turnbuckles! Ospreay again goes searching for plunder, which allows for Havoc to recover once more and take out Ospreay momentarily. OSPREAY HITS AN ORANGE CRUSH INTO A PILE OF CHAIRS! STANDING MOONSAULT! That only gets 2. Ospreay tries setting up a chair in the corner, but Havoc gets up and Falcon Punches the chair into Ospreay’s face! Havoc leathers him with a chair a few times for a casual two count. Havoc sets Ospreay up for the curb stomp into the ropes, but instead he goes out to get thumbtacks! Ospreay uses this lull in action to fight back, but Havoc knees him in the face for his troubles. Havoc picks up a handful of thumbtacks, sticks the tacks in his mouth, and PUNCHES HIM IN THE FACE! Ospreay gets out of the Acid Rainmaker, but HAVOC CATCHES HIM MID-HANDSPRING INTO A BURNING HAMMER ON A CHAIR~! OSPREAY KICKS OUT! Ospreay wiggles out of a Fireman’s Carry and sends Havoc into the cornered steel chair! But here’s Paul Robinson! Regression is out to fight the London Riots! Robinson curb stomps Ospreay! Regression and The Riots fight to the back, and now it’s 1 on 1 with Ospreay and Havoc! ACID RAINMAKER! OSPREAY KICKS OUT! Havoc is incensed at referee Chris Roberts and shoves him, but ROBERTS PUSHES HAVOC INTO A SCHOOLBOY FROM OSPREAY! HAVOC KICKS OUT! HAVOC GIVES THE REF AN ACID RAINMAKER! Havoc sets up a table, but Ospreay slinks out of the top rope and superkicks a crumpled Havoc, and drives him through the table! Havoc kicks out! SHOOTING STAR PRESS TO HAVOC! RED ARROW! HAVOC KICKS OUT~! Ospreay sets Havoc up on the top rope and positions the table on the outside, but Havoc is able to resist and send the Brit to the apron. HAVOC DOUBLE STOMPS OSPREAY THROUGH THE TABLE! Ospreay kicks out! Havoc curb stomps Ospreay into the bottom turnbuckle before giving the new ref an Acid Rainmaker! That apparently leaves Jim Smallman as the official! That’s who counted the pinfall for Jimmy Havoc when he won the PROGRESS Title from Mark Andrews! ACID RAINMAKER TO OSPREAY! OSPREAY KICKS OUT!~! Havoc sets Ospreay’s face on the seat of a chair and pulls an axe out from under the ring! He threatens to use it on Ospreay, but OSPREAY LOW BLOWS HIM! RAINMAKER FROM OSPREAY! SPRINGBOARD CUTTER! ESSEX DESTROYER… COUNTERED INTO ANOTHER ACID RAINMAKER! OSPREAY KICKS OUT AGAIN~! Havoc looks for Styles Clash, but Ospreay boots out of it! SMALL PACKAGE… HAVOC KICKS OUT! ACID RAINMAKER… INTO AN ESSEX DESTROYER~! 630 FROM OSPREAY!~! ONE, TWO, THREE! WILL OSPREAY WINS! 26 minutes later, and we have a new PROGRESS Champion in Will Ospreay! ****1/4 Given that I wasn’t entirely privy to the storyline surrounding this match at this point – although PROGRESS did a tremendous job recapping it via videos and commentary – this really was a sensational 35-40 minute package of professional wrestling. From the start of the fantastically-produced video package to the massive entrances, this was built up to be THE biggest match in PROGRESS Wrestling history, and as an outsider looking in, that’s something I’d be willing to believe. The crowd was on another level throughout, heckling Havoc relentlessly in between pleas for Ospreay to win. The distortion on the crowd mics after the Acid Rainmaker nearfalls were grating in the most delightful manner possible. It also showed a different side of Will Ospreay I would imagine most fans and/or detractors didn’t think he had. Sure, he does flips. Sure, he may value excitement over “protecting the business.” But you know what he did here? He told a story, and he did a damn amazing job of doing it. He was the quintessential babyface against the most psychopathic heel in the business, the whitest of white meat. But you know what? That WORKS. It works with Sami Zayn, it works with Bayley, and it worked here with Will Ospreay. The crowd wanted Jimmy Havoc’s head on a silver platter, and when Ospreay gave it to them, they were over the moon. The hardcore stuff didn’t get too out of hand either, but still provided some wicked spots (like Havoc punching Ospreay with a mouth full of tacks) and gave Jimmy Havoc an outlet to utterly massacre the challenger before good eventually overcame evil. So in closing, this was everything the match needed to be. Havoc and Ospreay were in top form, the crowd may have been even better, and we got one of the best happy endings of 2015 in the process. Two thumbs up for an incredible main event match.
Back to the Havoc interview, and he thinks his PROGRESS run is probably the best thing he’s ever going to do. Havoc says it was teased that he wasn’t going to be at Chapter 21, but as he said in the first match of the DVD, if something in wrestling is said not to happen, it probably will…
We cut to Jim Smallman in the middle of the ring, but he’s interrupted by “I Hope You Suffer” and Havoc (with Regression) comes out in a sweet ass white coat. He yanks the mic from Smallman as the crowd mocks him with a “Where’s Your Title?” chant. The crowd drowns out Jimmy with an “Ospreay” chant, before demanding a Number One Contender’s match with anyone Jim Smallman wants to send. Smallman said he had a feeling that Havoc might make a few demands, and he says he’ll make the match for Jimmy… with one catch; it’s against Paul Robinson! Jimmy tells Robinson to lay down, but Smallman says if either man tries to fix it, they’re both fired. Isaac Zercher washes his hands of the whole deal, and here we go…
No DQ: Jimmy Havoc vs. Paul Robinson
From PROGRESS Chapter 21. Jim Smallman, you crafty bastard.
Robinson nearly gets the win off of a flash schoolboy, and he slaps Havoc across the face! Havoc drops Robinson with a brainbuster in the ring, and goes outside for a table. They fight on the apron before HAVOC PILEDRIVES ROBINSON THROUGH THE TABLE! Robinson kicks out! Havoc wastes no time introducing light tubes to the equation, but Robinson says “fuck that” and slides in the ring to SMACK HAVOC WITH A FRYING PAN! Robinson busts Havoc open before giving him a STAPLE GUN TO THE DICK! Havoc flails out of the ring, holding his crotch as Robinson introduces a kendo stick. Havoc tries to give Robinson an Acid Rainmaker, but Robinson moves and sends Havoc’s arm into the light tubes in the corner and throws Havoc head-first into the light tubes! Robinson is in firm control until Havoc headbutts a light tube into Robinson’s head! Jimmy Havoc brings out the bag of thumbtacks, and pours them over a few chairs. Robinson recognizes this and fights back, hammering Havoc with various strikes before setting him up top and GIVING JIMMY A FRANKENSTEINER ONTO THE CHAIRS COVERED IN TACKS! Robinson pours more thumbtacks on Havoc, and GIVES HIM A SENTON! CURB STOMP ONTO A SEATED CHAIR! ACID RAINMAKER BY ROBINSON! HAVOC KICKS OUT! Havoc is defiant, but eats a barrage of chairshots as Paul Robinson sets up a light tube bridge, and HE CURB STOMPS HIM THROUGH THE LIGHT TUBES! Paul Robinson pins his Regression leader in 16 minutes. ***1/2 For a deathmatch, this was fairly reserved and really felt like a swan song rather than a fight to the death. The crowd knew where this was going, but came along for the ride because Jimmy Havoc was the one guy at that point that Progress had used to define them in some form. And in that way, this match was a fitting (and hopefully temporary) goodbye for a guy who did so much good for Progress Wrestling. It wasn’t the best deathmatch on this compilation (that goes to the James Davis match), as it didn’t really seem to have the long-term ramifications that the Davis match did. But it’s not like they’re far apart, as this match was still tons of barbaric fun and the sort of deathmatch wrestling that doesn’t make you ashamed to be a part of wrestling. So while this wasn’t a MOTYC, this match achieved exactly what it set out to do and sent Jimmy Havoc out with his head held high.
Havoc is left alone in the ring with Jim Smallman and a pile of plunder. Jimmy, a broken man, slides a chair to Jim Smallman who offers him his hand! The crowd gives Jimmy Havoc an incredible standing ovation, and Jimmy Havoc walks up the PROGRESS aisle for the last time…
We cut to our last interview segment with Jimmy, who doesn’t shut the door on a return but says he’s satisfied if he never does come back.
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