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Hamilton’s Best of British Strong Style in PROGRESS Report (01.23.21)

April 5, 2021 | Posted by Ian Hamilton
Moustache Mountain Trent Seven Tyler Bate
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Hamilton’s Best of British Strong Style in PROGRESS Report (01.23.21)  

A reminder: these are old reviews, and while I’ve not updated any names from what they were announced as on the night, I’ve done my best to remove mentions of people here who are on that suspected persona non-grata list…

Pete Dunne, Trent Seven & Tyler Bate vs. WALTER, Timothy Thatcher & Axel Dieter Jr – from PROGRESS Chapter 47: Complicated Simplicity (April 23, 2017)
The stipulation going in was that whomever got pinned or submitted from British Strong Style would lose their PROGRESS title… so if Peter got pinned, he lost his PROGRESS title. If Trent or Tyler lost, they’d both lose their PROGRESS tag titles, with whomever getting the pin getting the belts (and the right to pick a partner).

We quickly went to the shenanigans as Axel Dieter Jr. chased the champions out of the ring, before returning to try and twist off Tyler’s head with a cravat. Timothy Thatcher gets a massive roar when he’s tagged in, and he only has eyes for Pete Dunne, grappling with the PROGRESS champion so much that Trent Seven comes in to pull him to safety… and get an uppercut from the former EVOLVE champ. Yet more cheers for Timmy follow when Pete Dunne throws a chair in the ring… so he just sits on it and flicks the V’s at Dunne. Why was Thatcher not this charismatic when he was boring a section of the crowd during his EVOLVE reign?!

Thatcher kept shoving Dunne towards defeat, prompting his partners to make the save and scurry for cover… even more so when WALTER came in. Yeah, they messed up, as WALTER dove in with a dropkick to knock down all three men after they’d tried and failed with shoulder tackles. A trio of Triple H knees follow though, and now we get the aping of Hunter… only for the WWE UK guys to get booted off the apron by the resurging RINGKAMPF.

Poor Tyler Bate was 20 when WALTER killed him with chops. Trent took some too, before WALTER ambled over to Pete Dunne to complete the set. Dunne still got back to kick Axel in the hamstring, taking him out of action for a spell. Meanwhile, WALTER does his sleeper/German suplex tandem, then a butterfly suplex to Trent for a near-fall, before the big Austrian decided to chop down Trent with some chops.

Tyler lost another life to a WALTER chop, and a third when Pete Dunne threw him in front of another chop – prompting an argument between the champions.

When things calmed down, Timothy Thatcher found himself isolated, but he eventually freed himself with a backdrop driver – only to be left without anyone to tag as WALTER and Dieter were pulled off the apron seconds earlier. Axel gets the tag in and clears house, diving into Tyler with a European uppercut, then dishing another European uppercut to Dunne as Trent eats a Hamburgerkreuz onto Tyler.

The madness continues with a rope hung DDT onto Dunne for a near-fall, before Dunne bites out of a WALTER sleeperhold. That wasn’t smart, as the Austrian clotheslines him halfway to death, before RINGKAMPF locked in a sleeperhold, armbar and the Axel Dieter Special to tease a complete title change. Yet more insanity leads to Tyler Bate giving a deadlift German to WALTER – a sight that I’ve seen twice and still can’t believe happened – before a double spike tombstone to Axel almost won things as Dieter barely kicked out.

In the end though, it was some underhandedness that sealed the win, as Pete Dunne snuck in with the PROGRESS title belt to break up WALTER’s rear naked choke to Trent… and with one arm on top of the Austrian, Trent was able to get the pin to ensure everyone kept their belts. A fantastic main event – yes, Dunne’s belt shot was cheap as all hell, but everything before it was damn near flawless… exactly what you’d expect from such an “everything-on-the-line” match. ****½

Pete Dunne, Trent Seven & Tyler Bate vs. Josh Alexander, Davey Vega & Mat Fitchett – from PROGRESS Chapter 72: Got Got Need (June 24, 2018)
This was one giant pat on the back for the British Strong Style trio after their efforts at Royal Albert Hall earlier in the week… and by “pat on the back” I of course mean “one long, drawn out entrance which saw them mock Undisputed Era’s hand signal and air guitaring” – so much so that all but the most ardent of fans were perhaps getting a little sick of the sight of those NXT tag title belts.

It was a weird, wacky universe. One that saw Trent Seven go greyer and Tyler Bate morph into a wrestling equivalent of Conor McGregor while holding belts that they’d not won on TV yet… When the match finally got going, it almost threatened to be a case of “after the Lord Mayor’s Show”, with Dunne starting by just wearing Mat Fitchett into the mat… but we go through the usual cycling of tags, with Josh Alexander coming in to a rather muted reaction as he got dumped with an Exploder, then a flip senton off of Trent Seven’s back by Tyler Bate. Dunne’s in to help Tyler with a standing moonsault, before he opts for something similar… he just flips off.

Alexander takes over, with the crowd chanting “he can’t hear us” because of his Rick Steiner-esque headgear, things turn back around as Davey Vega’s taken outside and thrown into the crowd by the ever-ruthless Dunne. Trent Seven chops the ringpost, while in the meantime, Pete Dunne calls for, and gets a barrage of shoes from the crowd… almost like a homage to THAT ECW spot with the chairs. Yes, there’s plenty of shoeing, but Dunne gets it too as someone’s sandal ended up in his mouth.

We go into some of the British Strong Style greatest hits, including Trent kissing his own ball sweat en route to a cricket chop, before Alexander’s in to try and hit some rolling Northern Lights suplexes, before making do with a double suplex to the (sort-of) NXT tag team champions. While Pete Dunne was piggybacking on him. Josh be a strong Canadian hoss. Who the crowd happens to think is wearing his mum’s bra on his head… and is also capable of wiping out Trent with a crossbody off the apron.

That opened things up for the Besties to wipe out Tyler Bate with a pop-up double-team cutter for a near-fall, before an assisted Tyler Driver’s countered with a ‘rana, sending Tyler into Dunne for an accidental DDT. The Besties keep up with a double stomp out of the corner as Dunne ends up taking a dropkick-assisted Blackheart Buster for a near-fall… a tag out brings in Trent to make a brief comeback with chops, building up to an “accidental” DDT between the Besties, before a ripcord lariat to Alexander’s stopped with a pair of superkicks from the Besties. There’s a hellish powerbomb onto the knee by Alexander as we seemed to enter the finishing straight, with an overhead kick from Fitchett getting kicked away in mid-air, before he returned with a double reverse ‘rana amid a long Parade of Moves.

Alexander’s Blue Thunder Bomb made Trent look weightless, but it’s still not enough, as British Strong Style unloaded on Alexander with a relentless series of lariats, only for the Canadian to catch the pair of them in a stacked-up Samoan drop… which turned an accidental piledriver from Dunne to Bate. That was new! The stacking up continues as Vega hits a slam/powerbomb combo, before a top rope moonsault from Alexander nearly put away Trent.

In the end though, Josh Alexander tried to deadlift Trent off the mat into a tombstone, but it’s blocked as the pair went at each other with lariats, until the Seven Star lariat and a Burning Hammer finally gets Trent the win. This was fun, but felt really disjointed in parts. It’s a real “your mileage will vary” thing, but having been turned off of Fight Club Pro and OTT last year by the parade of British Strong Style trios matches, I don’t particularly want to see them revived… ***½

Pete Dunne, Trent Seven & Tyler Bate vs. Bandido, Flamita & Rey Horus – from PROGRESS Coast to Coast: Seattle (August 09, 2017)
This is either going to be special, or descend into the kind of trios nonsense that is very much “not my graps”. So… once all of the streamers are cleared, the question is: are we getting indy BSS, or WWE BSS?

We start with Pete Dunne wanting to face Bandido, but when we start with the “wanker” hand signal, my fears remain heightened. Bandido headstands out of a clothesline attempt though, as he evades Dunne en route to a square-off, before Flamita and Bate tagged into the match. Cue flips, before things calm down with Trent and Horus… and Trent gets a huge cheer for a cartwheel. Trent goes all Iron Mike Sharpe with his gear, and it works as he scores a shoulder tackle, before he runs into a leg lariat from Horus… which leads to the sandbag spot and Trent’s usual fireback, before everyone built up to the indy’riffic dropkick square-off.

“…and yes, they’re flossing.”

That one line of commentary’s enough to tell you where this goes from here. It’s the sort of match is eaten up by the live crowd, but if you’ve seen the indy BSS act do this once, you’ve seen it a thousand times. I check out here, returning as the lucha boys wow with their dives that somehow segue into one huge Parade of Moves, featuring an inverted torture rack from Bandido that turned into a Go To Sleep on Dunne. Horus nearly squashes Bate with a wheelbarrow driver off the middle rope as the pace remained breathless, with Bandido’s backflip German getting stuffed, before Bate’s springboard lariat was countered into a Spanish fly by Flamita for a near-fall!

In response, Flamita takes an airplane spin, before Trent lays him out with a piledriver for a near-fall, as Bandido and Horus were tied up in submissions. Those gets reversed as Trent’s caught in a single leg crab, which ends with a rope break, before we resume the dives as Horus and Dunne remain in the ring… allowing Dunne to snap the fingers before a Bitter End Tombstone’s countered with headscissors for a near-fall! A clothesline-assisted Dragon Sleeper is next for Horus, as the Bitter End… gets a near-fall?! Dunne’s right back at him, before the Better End tombstone gets the victory. This was an exceptional outing, also extremely frustrating to watch, but you know what soured it for me. Nothing against BSS, but their current act is so not my cup of tea. It was Seattle’s cup of tea though, as they threw money into the ring, presumably for the lucha boys… ****

Pete Dunne, Trent Seven & Tyler Bate vs. Avalanche, Wild Boar & Flash Morgan Webster – from PROGRESS Frankfurt (September 02, 2018)
In the final match of PROGRESS’ German tour, it was another reshuffling as the 198 were added to the card… with a rather unlikely tag team partner – in PROGRESS debutant Avalanche. Meanwhile, Jim Smallman ring announced under duress (and the threat of being towel whipped). Who’d have thought it was Pete Dunne who saved him?

So yeah, the pre-match towel whipping kinda tips off we’re in for some comedy BSS, but first we start with Dunne and Webster nullifying each other, before Dunne wrenched away on Flash’s arm. Then his nipple. And nose. Anything, really. Trent and Tyler come in to keep the nurple purple, before Tyler and Pete roll through Webster in a leg lock, taking him into the corner as Wild Boar came into play. Boar tries to take control, but Bate backs away as commentary exhumed talk of the old BWC Scarlo Scholarship championship. Remember when that was a thing?? Bate and Boar stand-off, so Avalanche brings himself in… as does Trent for a hoss fight. Those two were meant to be in a singles match, and after some shoving they roll in the ropes from a tie-up, then look to trade off shoulder tackles.

Yeah, we get the Iron Mike Sharpe high trunks as Trent covers his own nipples to show the value of lycra, before he just bounces off Avalanche with a crossbody. Trent fires back with chops before a forearm sends him down… and there’s sandbag Trent. You’d think someone would just cover him, but no…

Especially because every time Trent fires back with chops, before feeding Boar and Avalanche in for some accidental DDTs. The ring fills as the match broke down into a brawl, with Dunne throwing Boar into Flash’s helmet (Arabella, get your minds out of the gutter) as it became hard for the camera crew to keep up around the Batschkapp. Webster and Dunne headed up onto the stage, which ends with Webster hitting a Pinball Wizard stage dive into the British Strong Style trio underneath.

There’s more silliness around ringside as commentary’s gone for a lie down, returning just as Trent chops the ring post like an idiot. Twice. They rush back to the ring as Boar squashes Trent with a back senton for a near-fall, but the 198 were taken down with a dual clothesline from Trent, who tags in a fresh Pete Dunne to clear house. An enziguiri in the corner rocks Boar, as does an X-Plex as the match nearly ended right there and then. A corkscrew Rude Boy moonsault out of the corner nearly gets Webster the win, but Dunne is right back on Flash as the momentum shifts… culminating in Dunne swatting Webster out of the sky with a forearm. Tyler Bate tags in and continues that momentum, scoring with a diving uppercut before catching Webster’s leap and turning it into an overhead belly-to-belly. Bate nearly wins with a standing shooting star press, before he dishes out airplane spins to Webster… then Boar… then Avalanche?! Bloody hell.

Webster’s back with a hand’s up headbutt to a dizzy Bate, but a Koppo kick is the retort as Webster ends up taking a PK-assisted piledriver from Trent for a near-fall, before Boar countered a rebound clothesline into a pop-up powerbomb. There’s another Pinball Wizard from Webster as BSS again were wiped out… Trent’s thrown back in as he’s triple-teamed, ending with Avalanche splashing onto him for a near-fall as Pete and Tyler break it up. The ring’s full again as all six men teed off on each other, but a trio of bop/bang punches clear the ring as Avalanche is left there to take a backfist and a Seven Stars lariat for the win. British Strong Style pick up another win as their format of trios match proved popular yet again. ***½

Pete Dunne, Trent Seven & Tyler Bate vs. Chris Brookes, Jonathan Gresham & Timothy Thatcher – from PROGRESS Chapter 81: Pour Some PROGRESS On Me (December 09, 2018)
It was a mash-up between CCK and the Calamari Thatch Kings (sorry, Lykos wasn’t back… yet) as we got our first BSS trios match since the Germany tour. Yes, that doesn’t spell out CCK, but let’s go with it…

Apparently Trent requested this was under lucha tag rules, which means we don’t need to arse about with tags. Yeah, there’s tonnes of shenanigans, as these matches are want to have, and we start with Gresham and Dunne for what I’d expect would be the straightest wrestling we’ll get in this match. Dunne uses a neat monkey flip to try and get the upper hand, but Gresham slips out into a leg grapevine as some disco lights suddenly flashed above the ring.

Dunne grabbed a toe-hold, one that Gresham escaped from before we got tags for Brookes and Bate as Timothy Thatcher looked bemused. You and me both. Tyler gets some help from Pete Dunne for some rope walking that turned into a lucha armdrag, before he escaped from a Brookes headlock as we got shoulder tackles, lucha roll throughs and almost a roll-up from Brookes. Brookes and Bate kiss, so we get a tag… and you know what this is building to. The look on Thatcher’s face was comedy, especially as he got “pucker up” chants once Trent tagged in. He clings onto a side headlock on Trent, then an armbar as they backed up into the ropes. Trent replied with a chop, but it barely fazed Thatcher… so Trent grabs a headlock and comes in with the trunk-heightening shoulder tackles. He didn’t have to go quite full Iron Mike Sharpe to get Thatcher down, but he’s quickly caught in a single leg crab as Thatcher looked for retaliation.

The comedy pay-off to the kissing came when Thatcher grabbed Trent’s throat and slapped him down a la Santos, which sparked a brief melee as we reset back to Dunne and Gresham briefly. Trent and Timothy quickly come back in for chops, but Thatcher’s in with a Hardcore Holly kick to the stomach as the pace started to quicken. A deadlift German suplex with Moustache Mountain nearly put Brookes away, before Trent’s assisted back senton flattens Brookes for a two-count.

Dunne takes over with stomps and kicks, before Trent got a two-count out of a knee drop. Some triple-teaming is next as Brookes is cornered… but he lifts Pete and Tyler onto the apron, then watches as British Strong Style ate themselves before a flying back senton gets Brookes free. In comes Gresham, who whips Bate into a corner for a running series of back elbows, then a high-speed Shibata-ish dropkick, only for Pete Dunne’s enziguiri to stop him in his tracks. A Parade of Moves breaks out next, with Thatcher going hog wild with those belly-to-belly suplexes, at least until Pete Dunne bit and finger snapped his way out of it. An ankle lock from Thatcher on Dunne just brings Trent in with a chop… but Thatcher barely shrugs as they exchange chops for fun, then lariat each other as both men rolled to the outside.

Both trios negotiate on the outside to see who’d restart… but instead Tyler Bate tope’s onto CCK. Brookes continues the dives, before Dunne leaps into a Gojira clutch from Thatcher on the outside… and yeah, we keep diving too as Jonathan Gresham completed the set. Back in the ring, Thatcher heads up as he becomes Kid Thatcher with a slap to Tyler’s face, before a German suplex and a butterfly suplex softened up Tyler some more. Trent’s back with backfists, before he tried to make Gresham tap to a Figure Four, as Pete and Tyler did their best to stop anyone from breaking the hold.

Eventually Thatcher breaks it up with a butterfly suplex onto Trent, before Gresham and Dunne pick up where they left off, trading forearms. Another enziguiri from Gresham finds its mark, but he misses a Quebrada as Dunne comes in with a triangle armbar that Brookes’ stomp quickly broke up. Chops follow from Trent to Brookes, but it’s quickly caught and turned into an Octopus stretch, with Dunne getting one too from Gresham while Thatcher just Gojiras Tyler. Tyler ends up breaking up the hold… but he does so by wandering over to Gresham, picking him up and dumping him with a German suplex. Now THAT is strong! The target remains on Gresham for a while, but he turns the table as he turned a see-saw swing into a reverse ‘rana on Dunne, before he came back through with a wheelbarrow cutter to Bate for a near-fall.

The tables turn as Tyler’s dumped with a kick-assisted Praying Mantis bomb for a near-fall, before Thatcher locks in a sleeper on Bate… but Trent grabs Tyler’s arm to stop the “arm drop gimmick” as Pete Dunne kicks the hold apart. Good to see the officiating stretches to waving off matches here, as the momentum swing wildly… as did Brookes as he ate a piledriver, a Tyler Driver and a Better End from Dunne for a near-fall. Well… good to see the Better End’s the new Bitter End. A Spiral Tap from Tyler Bate gets the win though, as he gets the win back from yesterday.

I’ve said it before, but I’ve got minimal interest in these British Strong Style trios matches. Yeah, they’re almost always good, but they do absolutely nothing for me… and until they actually become something other than a card filler on the indys, they do nothing for anyone in the long term. Your mileage will vary, but for me… this was solely a match to see some of my favourites take on a team that’s damn near bulletproof, for better or worse. ***½

7.9
The final score: review Good
The 411
British Strong Style's run in PROGRESS may have been more notable for their singles runs - but as a trios act, the team had some real hidden gems in that back catalogue. In another universe, a long trios run could have been a big draw, but alas, it wasn't to be... and hey, I got through all of this without bringing up how they used the Icelandic flag originally for the compilation's title card. Oh.
legend

article topics :

PROGRESS Wrestling, Ian Hamilton