Kevin’s PROGRESS Chapter 63: Take Me Underground Review

PROGRESS Chapter 63: Take Me Underground
February 11th, 2018 | O2 Ritz Manchester in Manchester, England

PROGRESS returns with Chapter 63, their first show in Manchester of 2018. Jim Smallman opened with one of his typical spiels, though it was hard to hear due to an echo in the arena.

Natural Progress Series V First Round: Drew Parker vs. Spike Trivet
I’ve never seen Trivet before. He started this by spitting champagne at Parker before the bell. That led to a fast-paced style for the match, with both guys throwing everything they had at one another. Spike showed off some good offense, impressing me in my first viewing. Parker brought a wilder style of offense, but something about Spike’s spoke to me more. Spike got to hit a Samoan driver and slingblade, before Parker nailed a Small Package Driver from out of nowhere to advance in 5:43. Short opener, but it was fun. Both men did well and I’m interested in seeing more from Trivet. [**¾]

Post-match, an angry Trivet broke a bottle over Parker’s head.

Charlie Morgan and PROGRESS Women’s Champion Toni Storm vs. The House of Couture w/ Jinny
Jinny’s stable has been dubbed The House of Couture. For those who forgot, Chakara and Nina Samuels are the team competing while she’s hurt on the sidelines. It’s good to see Morgan getting more opportunities. A pissed Storm charged the ring and a brawl kicked this off. Once it calmed down to a regular tag, The House of Couture used smart heel tag work. Jinny also made sure to get in some cheap shots on Toni. Due to that, Toni wasn’t effective and got worked over. When Toni and Charlie got to work together, the match was at its best. Toni bested Chakara with Strong Zero to win in 9:15. I was surprised the House of Couture didn’t win their first match. The action was fine, but Chakara continues to struggle and bring things down a bit. [**½]

After the match, Toni Storm cut a promo on Jinny that was kind of hard to hear. Then, Charlie Morgan attacked her from behind and joined the House of Couture. I don’t know how I feel about that. Morgan might not fit them, though she’s an upgrade over Chakara. It’s Toni against the world, though Charli Evans, Candyfloss, and Millie McKenzie sound like a good way to combat the group. Also, I don’t really like when people turn after a match. It makes what happened in the match feel odd.

Flash Morgan Webster vs. Mark Andrews
Two good wrestlers, two good babyfaces, and two guys who I’ve never really felt a connection to. As expected, this was a battle of two evenly matched people, who some very crisp exchanges. As things progressed (pun intended), it felt like Webster was willing to go a little further to win. He’s been struggling lately, so he was the first to throw a headbutt and to bust out something like a super reverse rana. His desperation to right the ship was clear. As Andrews seemed to get going, Vicky Haskins made her way out, which distracted him. Flash made her leave, but she took his helmet with her. Andrews connected with the SSP to win in 10:13. This was good, with some quality exchanges and a few things to advance Webster’s story. I’m interested in where they go with him. [***¼]

Webster shook off a handshake attempt. BACKSTOP DRIVER! That signaled the arrival of Eddie Dennis, to continue torturing Mark Andrews. He pointed out that Andrews was again ready to stab a friend like Flash in the back just for a cheap win. Eddie promised to follow Andrews everywhere, but since he can’t show up at 205 Live (where Andrews was scheduled to compete the following week), he attacked him. Eddie went to PILLMANIZE him, but the ring crew prevented it to a big pop.

Tyler Bate vs. Zack Sabre Jr.
The match I wanted to see more than any other on this show. Lots of high quality grappling to start. Each piece they did made sense, looked great, and saw the other find an interesting way to counter it. The aggression picked up with strikes and extra torque on submission attempts. The camerawork throughout this added a lot. They zoomed in on the right moments and helped sell everything that was being done. I won’t go into detail about a lot of the offense, because it needs to be seen to be believed. There were so many great counters and transitions, it was unbelievable. I will point out that Sabre turning the Tyler Driver ’97 into a triangle was a highlight. There’s also the way Sabre bumps on piledrivers, which is the best in the business. A great series of pin attempts led to Sabre’s Hyper Normalization submission, which forced Bate to tap out in 15:27. That move has never been countered and I can’t fathom a way to do it. If it ever does happen, I’ll lose my mind. An incredible match. A clinic in the art of wrestling. As great as storylines are, sometimes you don’t need one. Just let two wrestlers have a great wrestling match and you’ll get rewarded. [****½]

After intermission, jack Sexsmith came out to cut a promo. He basically said there would be no more shenanigans and that he was going to be cashing in the title shot he recently earned. He’ll do it at PROGRESS’ next big show in Manchester, which is Chapter 69 on May 20th.

David Starr and Matt Riddle vs. WWE United Kingdom Champion Pete Dunne and Trent Seven
My god, David Starr got a “JEWSERWEIGHT” chant. He and Riddle look like they’re having a blast together. Seven and Riddle started, and Seven immediately ducked outside to avoid another six second loss. Getting to see Riddle against Dunne for a bit was a great treat. Their exchanges were great. Seven and Starr were a nice added comedy bonus, without going overboard. Seven and Dunne actually compliment each other very well, with one being funny and the other being violent. As this moved into the more serious tail end, it picked up greatly. The final minutes of this match were absolutely wild and need to be seen. Starr was great at the last second escapes and kickouts when the pressure was on him. A Burning Hammer from Trent and Bitter End from Peter was too much, as he stayed down at 18:17. Good old fashioned fun. It started with the comedy stuff, but remained serious enough for the final stretch to be as great as it was. This was great and I really want to see Dunne vs. Riddle. [****]

Mark Davis vs. PROGRESS Atlas Champion WALTER
A non-title affair tonight. Either way, it’s BIG LADS WRESTLING. Just four chops from WALTER into this match and Davis’ chest was bleeding. It was unlike anything I’ve ever seen before. That made each subsequent chop all the more brutal. Davis looked to be on the verge of death on several occasions. The sound of each chop, combined with the crowd reaction, made for something special. Davis’ rally attempts were great, but he’d just get once in the chest and you believed he was ready for death again. Davis survived a lot, but the rear naked choke was too much for him, losing in 11:54. A great edition of big lads wrestling that worked as a star making performance for Davis and another in a long line of awesome WALTER matches. [****]

PROGRESS Tag Team Championship: Grizzled Young Vets [c] vs. Jimmy Havoc and Mark Haskins w/ Vicky Haskins
Of course, when you book heel/heel, the fans are unsure who to root for. I’d have done this with a face team in a three way. The champs got their major heat with a pre-match promo, making the challengers kind of the de facto faces, even if they didn’t act like it. Gibson and Drake attacked before the bell, setting off a brawl. I feel like everyone’s taking a page from the NJPW multi-man tag handbook with that lately. Both teams got booed and both attempted a lot of cheating. Vicky saved her guys by distracting the referee while they got rolled up. Flash Morgan Webster’s helmet came into play, so he showed up to retrieve it. It ended up distracting Drake and setting up the superkick/Acid Rainmaker combo for new champions at 10:36. There was a weird atmosphere for this due to the heel/heel matchup. A lot of it fell flat, though I’m glad the titles are on Jimmy and Mark. [**½]

PROGRESS World Championship: Travis Banks [c] vs. Chris Brookes w/ Kid Lykos vs. TK Cooper
The story of Travis Banks having all kinds of challengers was fine, but the stuff involving his former partners has probably been cool. However, it does feel like the title means less than TK and Brookes fighting over being Travis’ best bud. Anyway, the match was ripe with character moments. TK was his hard-headed self, Brookes was a jerk, and Travis got to be his Kiwi Terminator self. As the match went on, it seemed like the crowd got less interested, which was the opposite effect they were probably hoping for. Brookes went after TK’s leg, while Travis didn’t. I get it, but Travis went after it in their last title match, so that seemed weird. Brookes also accidentally clocked Travis with the title, and TK was more than willing to try for a cheap rollup to win the title. In the end, Banks made Brookes tap to the Lion’s Clutch at 15:57. A good main event, but one that never touched the level of the best stuff from Banks. In fact, I preferred his singles matches with each man. [***¼]

7.0

The final score: review Good

The 411

There was a lot of potential on this show. The three match stretch in the middle of Bate/Sabre, the BSS tag, and WALTER/Davis ranks among the best set of matches you’ll find anywhere. However, the rest of show is average. The first two matches were fine, while the Tag Team Title match was held back by the heel/heel matchup. Andrews/Webster and the main event were both good, though they never sniffed great. PROGRESS feels like they’re in a holding pattern and hopefully, things pick up soon.