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Progress Chapter 141: Handshakes and Cheeseburgers
We kick things off with a belated Progress recap. For some reason, the chapter title “Handshakes and Cheeseburgers” has me thinking of the “Lashing Out with Lash Legend” segment on an episode of NXT where Grayson Waller poked fun of the NXT veterans (such as Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa) for being rewarded a hotdog and a handshake during their indie wrestling tenures.
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Stepping aside from memory lane, this chapter of Progress took place on September 18, 2022 at the Electric Ballroom in London, England in the United Kingdom. Not only did it feature Progress veterans and up-and-comers in action, but also a tag team that wreaked havoc in ICW’s tag team division—even back when they were ICW Tag Team Champions—as well as wrestlers from GCW.
On the card were two tag team matches, three regular one-on-one matches, a match with a championship belt sanctioned by the internet (hence the name “Internet Championship”), a six-man scramble turned into a seven-man scramble—because Nick Wayne vs. Callum Newman was cancelled—for a Progress or GCW title shot, and a championship match under deathmatch rules.
Out of all matches that saw gold on the line, the deathmatch that saw the Progress World Championship on the line between friends-turned-bitter enemies Spike Trivet and Drew Parker was my favorite. No, it has nothing to do with me getting an adrenaline rush when it comes to watching hardcore matches or deathmatches such as those from the original ECW, Combat Zone Wrestling, ICW and such. Even though it wasn’t as insane as any deathmatch would be (unless you’re not really into deathmatches whatsoever), this was indeed a very good championship match as you could see—storyline wise—that there was no love loss between Trivet and his then-friend Parker, and that there was unfinished business between the challenger Parker and the champion Trivet. Trivet was able to retain the belt after something that Parker didn’t expect while eyeing on his opponent.
My favorite match of the chapter would go to the six-man scramble turned into a seven-man scramble where the winner of the match would get a Progress or GCW title shot. The reason why this match was changed is because Callum Newman was scheduled to take on Nick Wayne who was sidelined due to injury; as a result, Newman was the addition to that bout. Technically, scrambles like this make anybody—including those in attendance—lose track of who is going after whom, what’s happening at ringside, and so forth. This match had a great amount of “blink and you’ll miss it" moments from wrestlers from both companies, even with close finishes from all seven competitors that were in action. In the end, it was Man Like Dereiss who won for a Progress title shot of his choosing.
Here are the match results from London…
Match #1: The Sunshine Machine defeated the Kings of the North to retain the Progress Tag Team Championship.
Damian Corvin and Bonesaw ambushed Chuck Mambo and TK Cooper before the match began. After Mambo hit Corvin with the Reef Break (Meteora) for a near fall, he hit him and Bonesaw with an assisted 450 to the floor; the action then returned to the ring where Mambo and Cooper hit Corvin with the Designated Driver until Bonesaw broke up the pin. Corvin then cleaned house until Mambo rolled him up for the win. My score: 3/5
Match #2: Tate Mayfairs defeated Effy.
Effy’s theme song was edited, replacing “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” by Elton John with a generic synth/piano/guitar tune. The referee found brass knuckles in Mayfairs’ tights before the match. During the match, Effy climbed to the top rope until Mayfairs gave him the Ric Flair treatment by throwing him off the top rope and onto the apron. After Effy dodged a coast-to-coast elbow drop, he hit Mayfairs with a top rope blockbuster and then running heel kick into Under the Rainbow (headscissors takedown) for a near fall before putting him in the Drag Queen Sleeper (dragon sleeper); Mayfairs got out of the hold until Effy hit him with the Sack Ryder (jumping leg lariat) for another near fall. Effy then hit Mayfairs with a top rope Sack Ryder for a near fall until Mayfairs rolled him up, grabbed the tights, and pinned him for the win. My score: 3/5
Match #3: Kid Lykos (w/ Kid Lykos II) defeated Joey Janela.
Janela, whom I first remember seeing in the now defunct family-friendly National Wrestling Superstars a decade or so before we ever heard of AEW, came into the ring with the DDT Extreme Wrestling Championship belt. As soon as the match began, KL2 grabbed Janela’s leg until Janela shook him away before focusing on his opponent. While going after KL at ringside, KL2 blocked Janela’s path and read him the riot act until Janela knocked him down; Janela then had KL in a delayed vertical suplex position and held him while walking into the crowd, around the bar, and back to the ringside area where he suplexed him into KL2.
Also, during the match, Janela dragged both members of Lykos Gym into the crowd before hitting them with a cannonball from the stage; Janela and KL came back into the ring where Janela hit his opponent with a top rope double stomp for two. Near the end, KL attempted to use a tray as a weapon until the referee took it away from him; behind the referee’s back, KL hit Janela with a low blow and a brainbuster for a near fall. KL then hit Janela with a top rope cutter for the win; unbeknownst to the referee, KL2 knocked Janela’s foot off the bottom rope. My score: 2.5/5
Match #4: Matt Cardona defeated Gene Munny to retain the Internet Championship.
Munny came into the ring with his previous theme song (the one I said—not too long ago—that has “80’s vibes”) instead of his current theme song. Before the match started, Cardona came out and shouted out “All hail the deathmatch king!” before bragging about being #13 on this year’s PWI 500 (and noting that he ranks higher than Pete Dunne/Butch, Gunther, Drew McIntyre and—ranked #476—Munny) and fighting on the WWE Network (or Peacock if you live in the United States like I do); he then said that he wanted to compete on NXT UK until WWE “shut that shit down”, and then vowed to squash Munny’s ass.
As soon as the match began, Cardona went for Radio Silence (f.k.a. the Rough Ryder) until Munny countered with the James Blunt Force Trauma for a near fall before Cardona got out of the ring to avoid an Ainsley Lariat attempt; Munny would then get under Cardona’s skin by posing with both the Gene Munny Championship and Internet Championship belts as if he won a winner take all match.
Towards the end, Munny hit Cardona with the Meat Javelin for a near fall, then Cardona kneed him away and went for Radio Silence until Munny caught him with a spinebuster for two; Munny then climbed to the top rope until Cardona used the referee to knock him off the top rope before hitting his opponent with the Reboot (f.k.a. the Broski Boot) for a near fall. Cardona then almost knocked out the referee until Munny accidentally did so, then Cardona hit his opponent with a low blow and was unable to hit him with the Internet Championship belt until Munny hit him with his own belt before an Ainsley Lariat scored him a near fall; Cardona then used the referee as a shield before hitting Munny with a low blow and Radio Silence for the win. After the match, Cardona stomped Munny and posed with both belts until Munny had a low blow and Radio Silence of his own. (Munny’s current theme song would be played afterwards.) My score: 2/5
Match #5 (unavailable on Peacock): Blake Christian defeated Leon Slater.
Christian had the same theme song A-Kid had before becoming Axiom on NXT. (The theme song was heard after the match and not before for some reason.) Both wrestlers shook hands as soon as the match began. Christian went for a 450, but missed before Slater hit him with a leg lariat and a standing shooting star press for two; Slater’s comeback continued after Christian hit him with a 450 for two until he tweaked his knee on a Swanton attempt, leading to Christian winning with a step up stomp. Post-match, Christian offered a handshake, but Slater slapped it away and gave him a hug instead. My score: 3.75/5
Match #6: The Lana Austin Experience defeated Allie Katch & Kanji.
Early in the match, Lana pretended to put on lipstick while giving Kanji the middle finger until Kanji gave her joint manipulation. Towards the end, Kanji had Skye Smitson in a triangle choke until Lana pulled her to the ropes before Allie—who tagged in—hit Skye with a Michinoku driver leading to Lana breaking up the pin. Then, Kanji tagged in and went after Skye until—behind the referee’s back—L.A. Taylor appeared and punched the champion from ringside; Skye hit Kanji with a sleeper slam, and Lana tagged in and picked up the scraps by pinning the champion for the win. My score: 3.25/5
Match #7: Man Like Dereiss defeated Robbie X, Jordan Oliver, Cole Radrick, Danny Black, Callum Newman and Tony Deppen in a seven-man scramble for a future title shot.
Oliver (whom I remember first seeing in Combat Zone Wrestling), Radrick and Deppen represented GCW. Also, Joe Lando accompanied Black and then Newman to the ring. During the match, Radrick hit Robbie X with the One Inch Punch (“Finger Poke of Doom” as the WCW universe would call it), then he and Dereiss traded attempts of that maneuver until the two shook hands before Dereiss “punched” him. Also, Newman threw Dereiss out of the ring and then hit Robbie X, Oliver, Radrick and Black with a springboard corkscrew splash at ringside; Black recovered and hit Deppen with Out of the Black at ringside. The end of the match saw Robbie X hit Newman with the Triple 8 Epxress until Dereiss broke up the pin with the Four Fiddy before pinning Robbie X for the win. My score: 4.25/5
Main event: Spike Trivet defeated Drew Parker in a deathmatch to retain the Progress World Championship.
Parker came to the ring with the King of Freedom World Championship belt. Before the match started, Trivet berated the fans for enjoying deathmatches and said that he wasn’t informed that this stipulation was going to be used; he then said that he would put the title on the line if Parker agreed to compete in an actual match until Parker hit him with a low blow and said “You signed the contract, you daft [c-word that rhymes with runt].” A kendo stick, a baseball bat with plastic forks attached to it, two mirrors (one small and one large that Parker found backstage), Trivet’s belt, a barbed wire board, a velvet bag full of thumbtacks and a ladder came into play.
During the match, Trivet fought Parker at the railing until Parker knocked him off and into a crewman, then—from the exit door—hit him with a tope con giro that also took down the ring crew. Also, Trivet busted Parker open with a mirror he grabbed from under the ring, and attempted to slam him into the shards until Parker countered with a brainbuster before leaving and returning with the larger mirror; Trivet was whipped into the mirror until he slid away from it before he took the mirror and destroyed it with a hammer until he was able to grab a large shard and use it as a weapon. Towards the end, Trivet fought Parker on the top rope and poured the thumbtacks from his bag until Parker headbutted him off the top rope and into the tacks before hitting him with a Swanton for two. Then, Parker grabbed a ladder and climbed up while eyeing on Trivet until a large man—disguised as a crew member—tipped the ladder and knocked him off before hitting him with a chokeslam; Trivet was helped to Parker who was then put in the Ascot, and Parker was incapacitated before the hold was even locked in, leading to Trivet winning. My score: 3.25/5
ICW Fight Club
Belated recaps aside, it’s time to go to the Asylum in Glasgow, Scotland for ICW Fight Club.
On last week’s episode, Molly Spartan—after arguing with Kasey who lost to Rhio on that episode—said that she was looking for someone to fight her for the ICW Women’s Championship.
This week, there was a contract signing for a championship match at Fear & Loathing XIV, and it was made to look like the She Wolves were waiting for whomever was going to face Molly for the belt. Molly said that she has defended the title all over the world and made the championship “world class”; she then said that she found an opponent that was “world class” like the belt, and that person turned out to be Kasey.
Kasey was surprised to hear the news, and both she and Molly signed the contract, with Kasey saying that they are the pinnacle of the women’s division and Molly saying that they “will show them their place.” We have seen tag team partners and best friends fight in matches including championship bouts, and this one at F&L will definitely be something to watch; I’m not sure if their friendship is going awry after seeing what happened last week which is why this match was made, but on the other hand, I’m curious to see how this match will go whether or not we’ll see the two tough-as-nails competitors on ICW’s women’s roster end their friendship or shrug it off as soon as the smoke clears at F&L.
Three matches (four if you count the ICW Rewind of Kay Lee Ray defending the ICW Women’s Championship against Roxxy on a February 3, 2019 episode of Fight Club) were shown this week; it started off with a one-on-one match, then had a tag team match, and ended with a triple threat match.
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Out of those three matches, my favorite would go to the triple threat main event. In this match were Kez Evans’ F&L opponents Stevie James, Leyton Buzzard and Craig Anthony. What those three wrestlers did is probably what Evans is expected to see in a few weeks (even if it’s in the form of a fatal four-way per se). All three—James, Buzzard and Anthony—gave their all in this match both in and outside the ring, including showing what they’re capable of. Even though Evans liked seeing three of his F&L opponents tear each other apart as if they were fighting for the ICW World Heavyweight Championship without him, this was indeed a great way to wrap up the episode.
Here are the match results from Glasgow…
Match #1: Aaron Echo defeated Andy Wild by disqualification.
Wild’s midsection was worked on. Echo went for a discus forearm, but Wild countered with a belly-to-belly suplex; he then went for the Dad Bomb until Jason Reed and Coach Trip came from the crowd, pulled Echo out of the ring, and hit him, causing Wild to lose by DQ on purpose. After the match, Reed and Echo beat down Wild until Chris Bungard ran in and evened the odds, fighting their F&L opponents out of the ring; referees were separating Bungard and Echo—from the ring and walkway respectively—while Wild was kicking Reed away. My score: 3.5/5
Match #2: K.O.E (w/ Denise and “Jackie Polo”) defeated Casino Brutale. Adam King’s left shoulder was taped.
Mikey Devine and Rabu Romero ambushed Adam and Marcus King seconds before the bell rang. Casino Brutale hit Adam with a missile dropkick/flatliner combo until Marcus broke up the pin; a minute or so later, K.O.E defeated Romero with the Watch the Throne 2.0. After the match, Adam and Marcus claimed that they were the “best tag team on this [f-bombing] continent”, and they refuse to be compared to other tag teams. My score: 1.5/5
Main event: “The Outlaw” Stevie James defeated Leyton Buzzard and Craig Anthony in a triple threat match.
Kez Evans joined Billy Kirkwood and James R. Kennedy on commentary. During the match, James hit Anthony with an Impaler DDT until Buzzard put him in a Scorpion Death Lock; James pinned Anthony while in the hold until Buzzard pulled him away, seconds before James kicked out of the hold. Also, Buzzard attempted to hit James with a reverse DDT but instead hit Anthony with the Buzzkiller on top of the “Outlaw” before pinning him and then the “Natural” for a two count; then, James fought Buzzard on the top rope until Anthony staggered into the ropes, causing James to fall into the tree of woe until—when Anthony set up Buzzard for a superplex—James hit Anthony (superplexing Buzzard on the way down) with a spider German suplex. Later on, Buzzard hit Anthony with the Buzzkiller, knocked James off the apron with a superkick, and hit Anthony with X Marks the Spot until James broke up the pin before Buzzard stopped James from stealing the pin; Buzzard and James then got into a shoving match, and James dropkicked the two and then hit Buzzard with the Titanium Forearm (Phenomenal Forearm) until James broke up the pin. The end of the match saw Buzzard and James hit Anthony with an assisted piledriver, and then James sent Buzzard out of the ring with a superkick before countering Anthony’s butterfly suplex attempt with a reverse brainbuster for the win. Evans gave James a sarcastic golf clap afterwards. My score: 3.75/5
NXT
Now, we head to Orlando, Florida in the United States for an episode of NXT.
On October 26, 2021 (on the Halloween Havoc episode of NXT, back when it was the multicolored “2.0” brand), Mandy Rose became the NXT Women’s Champion by defeating Raquel Gonzalez (now Raquel Rodriguez) in a Trick Or Street Fight—chosen by the Spin the Wheel, Make the Deal—after Dakota Kai ran in and struck Raquel with a shovel. Fast forward to this week’s episode, Mandy—along with the rest of Toxic Attraction—celebrated her championship reign that has lasted for over a year.
Toxic Attraction celebrated in the ring that consisted of the Toxic Lounge sofa, a table with roses, portraits of Mandy’s championship reigns, and two men holding champagne for her, Gigi Dolin and Jacy Jayne. During the celebration, Mandy accused the fans for just thinking of her as “eye candy” prior to returning to NXT to rebuild herself even with help from Gigi and Jacy, and that “put respect on my name” is “the damn truth” because she—along with the rest of Toxic Attraction—has been dominant on the brand’s women’s division and that it felt good to sit on the “rightful throne” for over a year.
All of the sudden, we saw that Mandy no longer has Alba Fyre in her rearview mirror as smoke emerged from the ring, and Alba attacked Gigi and Jacy—as well as the two men holding champagne—before hitting Gigi with the Fyre Bomb through the table. Alba then said that she was going to take out Jacy next week and then Mandy one week later. I honestly thought that Mandy vs. Alba was wrapped up after Halloween Havoc, but I guess Alba is getting another push besides another shot at the belt. Plus, even though Alba is going after Toxic Attraction—like “The Bride” going after her list of assassins in “Kill Bill”—one by one, I got a feeling that this rematch will take place at NXT Deadline in December instead of in two weeks like she said.
Match wise, the first half of the episode had a shaky start, not counting the opener that was marred by injury; the second half however had two great matches. One involved NXT’s women’s roster where we saw Indi Hartwell take on Zoey Stark; the storyline heading into this match was Zoey trying to shake off the loss to Kayden Carter & Katana Chance who retained the NXT Women’s Tag Team Championship last week. (She and Nikkita Lyons have a rematch for the belts that will take place next week by the way.) Not only did Zoey did a good portrayal of a frustrated competitor that may have a possible heel turn, but she and Indi had a good fight in this match. In the end, it was Indi who won after the frustration got the best of Zoey.
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The other match that I enjoyed—and became my favorite match of the episode—was the tag team main event for the NXT Tag Team Championship between Pretty Deadly and the team of Wes Lee and Bron Breakker; this match was made after Breakker was talking about retaining the NXT Championship at Halloween Havoc before being disrupted by Pretty Deadly, and then Lee coming into the ring and telling the tag team—that wanted the spotlight—to shut up before suggesting a match for the tag team titles. Even though Breakker and Lee have never competed as a team until this week (that and I believe it was a one-time thing to see the two wrestlers team up together even with gold on the line), it was definitely a “better than I expected” moment as they showed tag team chemistry in that bout. The same goes for Pretty Deadly who had a good showing in the main event, and it was rare seeing the heel tag team do very little silly tactics—including cheating—throughout this bout regardless of how well they performed. In the end, Pretty Deadly retained the belts courtesy of someone who is not yet finished with Lee.
Here are the NXT results from Orlando…
Match #1: Grayson Waller defeated R-Truth by referee’s decision.
This match was made on last week’s episode after Raw wrestler R-Truth and Wes Lee poked fun of Waller—who mocked Lee’s emotional win at Halloween Havoc—for losing until Waller challenged him to a match. R-Truth had the upper hand until he botched a tope con giro by having his left foot getting caught on the top rope before landing on Waller at ringside; he would suffer a knee injury as a result. While EMTs checked on R-Truth, Waller taunted the fans as well as Booker T (when he performed a Spinaroonie) until it was announced that R-Truth was unable to continue. After the match, Waller bragged about defeating a 20-year veteran and then claimed that he was the “most dominant superstar in this company” and that NXT was “Grayson Waller’s house.” No score.
Match #2: Kiana James defeated Thea Hail (w/ Andre Chase and Duke Hudson) in four minutes.
Hudson took Bodhi Hayward’s role as the flagbearer because Hayward—along with Sloane Jacobs, Erica Yan, Damaris Griffin and Ru Feng—was released from the WWE this week. Thea’s left arm was worked on. Kiana caught Thea who went for a top rope crossbody until Thea rolled her up for two, then Kiana hit her with a slingblade-like flatliner (known as the 401k) until Hudson—with his hand caught in the cookie jar—placed Thea’s foot on the bottom rope; Chase ejected Hudson to the back before Kiana defeated Thea with a second 401k. After the match, Charlie Dempsey came from the crowd and attacked Chase until Hudson returned and chased Dempsey out before helping up Thea. My score: 0.5/5
Match #3: Odyssey Jones defeated Javier Bernal in three minutes.
This was Jones’ first match back since suffering a torn patella early in the year. Bernal went after Jones’ left leg until Jones came back and won with a black hole slam. My score: 1/5
Match #4: Indi Hartwell defeated Zoey Stark (w/ Nikkita Lyons).
Zoey got frustrated after Indi hit her with two consecutive bodyslams and clotheslined her out of the ring until Nikkita settled her down. Towards the end, Zoey was unnerved once again as she stomped Indi in a corner before fighting her out of the ring; she then attempted to powerbomb Indi through the announce table until Nikkita stopped her. As soon as the wrestlers came back in the ring, Indi hit Zoey with a big boot followed by a blindsiding forearm for the win. My score: 3.5/5
Match #5: Cora Jade defeated Valentina Feroz in three and a half minutes.
Valentina was unable to have Sanga by her side for her match as soon as Veer Mahaan appeared. After Cora dodged a crossbody, she hit Valentina with a senton followed by a double underhook DDT for the win. Post-match, Cora taunted Valentina with her kendo stick until Wendy Choo ran in; Cora hit Wendy with the stick until Wendy fought back, took the stick, and chased Cora out of the ring with it. My score: 1/5
Main event: Pretty Deadly defeated Wes Lee & Bron Breakker to retain the NXT Tag Team Championship.
After Breakker hit Kit Wilson and Elton Prince with a double suplex, and then assisted Lee on a crossbody to Wilson, Breakker fought Prince out of the ring; then, behind the referee’s back, Carmelo Hayes appeared and shoved Lee off the top rope before Wilson pinned him for the win. After the match, Lee dove onto Hayes and fought him to the back, then Von Wagner came from the crowd and took down Breakker. My score: 4/5
NXT: LVL UP
Staying in Orlando, we wrap things up with an episode of NXT: LVL UP.
There were two matches I thought were fairly better out of the three that were shown this week; one was Ivy Nile taking on Sol Ruca, and the other was Xyon Quinn taking on Oro Mensah. Ivy and Sol had a good showing with Sol looking for another victory in her early tenure and Ivy picking up the momentum ever since she saw Julius Creed win at Halloween Havoc, and as did Quinn and Mensah with Quinn looking to make a comeback the hard way and Mensah continuing to show after Halloween Havoc what he’s capable of.
Here are the NXT: LVL UP results from Orlando…
Match #1: Ivy Nile defeated Sol Ruca after making her submit to a standing dragon sleeper (now known as the DCL, short for Diamond Chain Lock).
My score: 2/5
Match #2: Hank Walker defeated Myles Borne.
Early in the match, Walker pounced Borne out of the ring until Borne came back with a rollup for two. Walker won after hitting Borne with a charging crossbody. My score: 1.5/5
Main event: Oro Mensah defeated Xyon Quinn.
Mensah’s back was worked on until he won with a running heel kick in the corner. My score: 2/5
Next time…
I’m looking back at Crown Jewel besides the three usual shows—ICW Fight Club, NXT and NXT: LVL UP—and throw in another Pro Wrestling Noah bonus. I might throw in another belated Progress recap if I get a chance to do so.
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(Photos shown in the newsletter are from WWE, Progress and ICW.)