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Kevin’s PROGRESS: Boston Review

September 10, 2017 | Posted by Kevin Pantoja
Progress Boston
6.5
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Kevin’s PROGRESS: Boston Review  

PROGRESS: Boston
August 13th, 2017 | Arts at the Armory in Boston, Massachusetts | Attendance: 300

Following their first appearance in New York, PROGRESS made their debut in Boston. There were some travel issues for some of the talent between New York and Boston, but they all made it. The show opened with Jim Smallman telling the story of some of the stressful thing that went down in NY and as always, delivered it with good comedic timing. He also put over the locker room for how they banded together during everything.

Jeff Cobb vs. Mark Andrews
It’s a PROGRESS original against a man who made his debut during Super Strong Style 16 weekend. Looking at these two, you should already know the story. Cobb utilized his power, while Andrews looked to combat it with his quickness. Andrews managed to escape Cobb’s grip and avoid suplexes, but even when he his things like a standing SSP, Cobb powered out of the pin. He responded with his own standing moonsault and SSP, but Andrews avoided the latter. Andrews also countered the Tour of the Islands, continuing to frustrate Cobb. Andrews hit Stundog Millionaire, but ran into Tour of the Islands to lose in 8:45. Solid opening contest. They told a basic story, though I feel it didn’t get going until the closing stretch. [**¾]

Dakota Kai vs. Deonna Purrazzo vs. Jinny
This was scheduled to be a Fatal Four Way, but Dahlia Black missed the show after TK Cooper’s injury the previous night. Deonna and Jinny tagged against Dahlia and Dakota in NYC. Jinny attempted to use that, but Deonna declined and ate a forearm for it. Jinny was dumped outside, allowing Deonna and Dakota to have a fun exchange. The fans came to their feet when Jinny returned and the action really got going. Kai got hit with the Acid Rainmaker but couldn’t get pinned in time. Deonna then nailed a bridging German on Jinny, only for Dakota to come off the top with a diving double stomp to score the win in 5:36. I wanted more of that. They had some good exchanges and a hot crowd to work with, but it ended just when it seemed to start going. [***¼]

Jack Gallagher vs. Travis Banks
Some friendly competition between the returning 205 Live star and the number one contender to the PROGRESS Championship. Gallagher went to work on the mat, where he had the advantage. Banks answered with some of his lethal kicks, earning his “Kiwi Buzzsaw” nickname. Like the match with Zack Gibson in NYC, Gallagher was not afraid to go hard, exchanging some vicious strikes with Banks. A great moment came when Gallagher stopped a Banks suicide dive with a headbutt. Gallagher throws some of the best headbutts around. He rolled into a great rear naked choke, but Banks refused to give up and made the ropes. He came very close with the Kiwi Krusher and went for the Slice of Heaven. Pete Dunne appeared, distracting him. That allowed Gallagher to counter with a headbutt and win via corner dropkick in 12:11. I get what they’re going for with Dunne in Banks’ head, but another distraction finish and loss for him isn’t very good. That being said, everything until that ruled. These are two great wrestlers who played to their strengths and had a great, even outing. [***½]

Post-match, Jack Gallagher thanked the WWE for allowing him to return to PROGRESS and was thankful to do so against talented stars like Travis Banks. He put Banks over and gave him a motivational speech to turn things around. Pete Dunne attacked them from behind and beat Banks with his hoe, before planting him with the Pedigree. Gallagher got up and ran Dunne off.

Non-Title Match: PROGRESS Atlas Champion Matt Riddle vs. Martin Stone
Riddle recaptured the Atlas Title in NYC a night earlier. He and Stone had a WWN Title match at a Style Battle show in June that was pretty great (***¾). Similar to that match, these two beat the hell out of each other. It’s exactly the kind of match they should have. Think what Stone has been doing with Oney Lorcan in NXT, but slightly better. Considering Riddle faced WALTER and was in a four way involving WALTER, Keith Lee and Tracy Williams in the past day or so, it’s amazing that he had another brutal chop exchange here. The skin on his chest was probably on the verge of falling off. Stone survived a lot, including kicking out of a tombstone at one. Riddle popped up from a flipping piledriver before winning with the Bromission in 8:23. A violent sprint that was a shade under their Style Battle match. I’m all for matches like this. [***½]

Post-match, Matt Riddle offered to give WALTER an Atlas Title rematch since WALTER gave him one.

Jimmy Havoc vs. Zack Gibson
The amount of heat Gibson gets when cutting a promo is almost unrivaled in wrestling. That took forever, so Jimmy finally attacked and nearly won within seconds. Gibson got a chair and the referee stopped him, but Havoc told the referee to let it go, so it evolved into a No DQ outing. That led to them battering one another with the weapon and lots of hard strikes. Havoc had an answer for most of Gibson’s best shots and it was clear this was his environment, not Gibson’s. He won with the Acid Rainmaker in 7:22. Nowhere near as fun as the Janela match in NYC. This is typically my favorite match type for Havoc, but this never really got going and ended as it was seemingly nearing that level. [**½]

PROGRESS Tag Team Championship: British Strong Style [c] vs. Ringkampf
Ringkampf was represented by WALTER and Timothy Thatcher. The Boston faithful loved WALTER, but didn’t care for Thatcher. The champions weren’t serious, playing things for comedy and spending time jawing with fans at ringside. With WALTER probably worn down from two big matches yesterday and BSS having tons of travel issues, it made sense for Thatcher to work the majority of this match and take control. When WALTER came in, the quality jumped. I will never get tired of seeing/hearing him chop people. After a relatively slow start, this picked up down the stretch, featuring an incredible spot where Bate deadlift German suplexed WALTER. I’m pretty sure he did it before, but it’s still amazing. In the end, Thatcher applied the Fujiwara armbar while WALTER locked Seven in the Gorilla Clutch. Seven rolled over into a pinning combination for the surprisingly clean win at 18:26. Good main event, but it wasn’t at a level of what I believe they’re capable of. The crowd didn’t care for Thatcher’s offense and I think this would’ve gone over better in Europe. [***¼]

After the match, WALTER got on the microphone and said he accepted Matt Riddle’s rematch offer, adding himself to the Riddle/Thatcher title match at Alexandria Palace. PROGRESS Chapter 55 is my most anticipated show from any wrestling company in quite some time.

6.5
The final score: review Average
The 411
I’d call this show the PROGRESS equivalent to a house show or a “Road to” event. Nothing was must-see, but it was a brisk (clocking in at just over two hours) event, with fun action and build for the upcoming bigger show. Nothing on the show is bad and everything has enjoyable pieces. Also, nothing overstays its welcome and it’s a fine way to spend two hours.
legend

article topics :

PROGRESS Wrestling, Kevin Pantoja