wrestling / Video Reviews
Kevin’s PROGRESS Chapter 61: Don’t Touch Me…Don’t…Don’t Touch Me Review
Image Credit: NJPW
Loading...PROGRESS Chapter 61: Don’t Touch Me…Don’t…Don’t Touch Me
January 14th, 2018 | O2 Academy Birmingham in West Midlands, England
My favorite wrestling promotion is back in 2018. PROGRESS was all kinds of fun last year, so I’m excited for more. They ended with a high quality show in Chapter 60, though some of those names won’t be sticking around. This year, I’ll also do my best to check out the “Live at the Dome” and other non-chapter shows this year. I was about to start Live at the Dome #3, but this got uploaded and takes precedence.
Jim Smallman opened with some shout outs to a handful of fans. He then introduced Mark Andrews, who wouldn’t be able to compete due to injury. While telling the crowd about it, Eddie Dennis interrupted him to a chorus of boos. Dennis chastised Andrews for saying he supports independent wrestling, but misses shows to collect his WWE paycheck. Andrews declined a match because he still believed they were friends. Dennis ran him down for not picking him as a partner back at Chapter 6 or thinking about the implications on him when he signed with TNA and WWE. Andrews still declined the match, even after Dennis spat in his face. He walked off, leaving Dennis to threaten to keep doing this until he gets his match.
PROGRESS Tag Team Championship: Grizzled Young Vets [c] vs. Mustache Mountain
Before the match, Trent Seven took a “phone call” from Triple H and it was hilarious. There was a lot of comedy in the early goings. From Bate toying with Drake, to Seven missing a ill-fated cross body, to Gibson intermittently shouting while in an airplane spin, I found myself laughing often. I know some don’t like funny in their matches, but it works as a nice change of pace for two guys who were often diabolical in 2017. Seven eventually took the heat segment, allowing for one of Bate’s great hot tag runs. The closing stretch saw some good action. As Bate was near winning, Drake whacked him with one of the Tag Titles. Bate still rolled Gibson into a small package, but it was countered for the 1-2-3 in 14:02. The early comedy stuff made that portion fly by and the post-hot tag stuff was strong, though the finish was kind of flat. [***¼]
Chris Ridgeway vs. Drew Parker
Drew Parker was the replacement for Mark Andrews. He’s known for his death defying style, which he showcased early and often. Meanwhile, Ridgeway was all about grinding him down to the mat. He also threw in an assortment of stiff kicks and a few solid suplexes. He had an unfortunate sliding forearm that looked weak, but made up for it with a vicious double-armed submission. In the closing minutes, they had some great exchanges and close calls. Ridgeway looked to have the win sealed up, but Parker refused to die. He nailed a 450 splash to score the upset in 11:16. This was a good clash of styles. Ridgeway stuck to his wise game plan and it mostly worked, but Parker was too resilient. It had really good sequences. [***¼]
Bea Priestley and Nina Samuels vs. Charli Evans and Millie McKenzie
Bea is someone I’ve heard about often, but only seen compete once or twice. I’ve never seen Samuels. Evans has been solid in her appearances, while McKenzie is probably the best of that newer batch of women in PROGRESS. Evans came out with a kick at the opening bell, which set the tone for a quick pace. She did end up taking the heat segment, which was well done by the heels. Bea and Nina worked very well together. They were aggressive and used heel tactics throughout. They cut off the hot tag well, so when it finally came, the fans popped hard for Millie. She went suplex happy once she got tagged. Things broke down and eventually led to Millie winning with the Coventry Destroyer on Nina at 10:59. Millie remains hot. This was a lot of fun. Good tag formula and Millie killed it once she got involved. The heels worked well together and Charli was a good face in peril. [***]
WWE United Kingdom Championship: Pete Dunne [c] vs. Joseph Conners
The Conners experiment has mostly been a bust thus far, so this match had a lot riding on it. During Dunne’s introduction, Conners whacked him with a chair, then posed with the title in his mouth to mock Dunne. That gave him a huge upper hand once the bell rang. The majority of the first half took place as a brawl outside. Conners stopped to cut a mid-match promo for more heat. Dunne interrupted with an enziguri that revved the pace back up. Conners stopped his momentum with a Pedigree that should’ve been a great near fall, but the fans didn’t buy into it. Dunne caught a Conners tope suicida with a forearm and added a tombstone on the floor. He retained via Bitter End at 13:43. This started hot and ended hot, but some of the middle lacked. Still, it was easily the best thing I’ve seen Conners do. Dunne was very good in the unfamiliar babyface role here. [***¼]
Adam Brooks vs. IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion Will Ospreay
That “Loser Leaves PROGRESS” stipulation didn’t stick, huh? Anyway, this was my first look at Brooks. These two apparently knew each other well. That allowed the match to move along at a nice pace and feature plenty of counters throughout. I won’t go into detail about them all, because there was certainly a lot of action. Despite that, it didn’t click for me the way I hoped it would. Brooks did fine and played the jerk role well. He was desperate to beat Ospreay and even busted out a flip piledriver on the apron. Ospreay refused to stay down and made his comeback. He hit the imploding 450 for two and then got the win with the Oscutter in 18:56. Tons of stuff going on, there was just something I can’t quite put my finger on that kept me from really enjoying it. It went a bit long and I never bought into Brooks as a threat, though he had some impressive moments. [***]
Aussie Open vs. Jimmy Havoc and Mark Haskins w/ Vicky Haskins
Both teams have impressed on recent chapters. Big Mark Davis made a difference early, chopping the hell out of Haskins. When Kyle Fletcher became the legal man, it led to him getting isolated. It works for Aussie Open due to the big man/little man dynamic. Havoc and Haskins were entertaining in their heat. Davis’ hot tag set the stage for a wild finish. Everyone got some shine in some big offensive moves. We got our third flipping piledriver of the evening, the Aussie Arrow and a tandem pumphandle driver. Haskins broke up the pin and Davis made the mistake of trying a tope suicida. He crashed and burned, leaving Fletcher alone to fall to the Acid Rainmaker/kick combo at 14:45. This was the best thing on the show. I’m a sucker for quality tag team wrestling, which we got here. It was never boring, Aussie Open looked GREAT and the Haskins/Havoc pairing continues to shine. [***¾]
PROGRESS World Championship: Travis Banks [c] vs. Chris Brookes w/ Kid Lykos
The #CCK boys go at it for the top prize in PROGRESS. The mates shook hands, but Brookes immediately followed with a dropkick and dive outside. Travis responded with dives, yet had the final one countered with a kick. Their knowledge of one another set the tone for some high quality exchanges. I was surprised to see a chair come into play, considering their friendship. There were some great moments, like Brookes stealing the Lion Clutch from his partner. Things got a bit crowded down the stretch. Brookes had it won, but the referee was down. His frustrations led to him considering using the title as a weapon and taking off his #CCK wristband. He decided against it, but still used a baking tray to whack Banks. TK Cooper showed up and pulled the referee out, saving his partner. Brookes argued with him, setting up Banks to finish him off with a flurry, capped with the Lion Clutch in 20:05. The in-ring was very good, but it was the storytelling that intrigued me here. Brookes’ desire for the title led him to do uncharacteristic things. Taking off his wristband was such a nice touch. The TK involvement made sense and hopefully leads to CCK vs. SPPT. Not on the level of Banks’ defenses against Lee, Riddle and Ospreay, but better than the Andrews one. [***½]
Post-match, Brookes almost walked off without shaking Banks’ hand. Lykos convinced him to come back and do it. He did, but he also flipped TK off. After they left, TK handed the title to Banks, but held a grip on it. They had a shore staredown, but nothing more came of it. TK held the ropes open, but Banks left through a different side.
