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Progress Chapter 142: The Deadly Viper Tour – Codename: California Mountain Snake

As promised, I’m kicking things off with a belated Progress recap.

The 142nd chapter of Progress took place on September 25 at the O2 Academy in Birmingham, England in the United Kingdom; it was the third event that was part of the Deadly Viper Tour.

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Nine matches were on the card that day with the last four being championship matches; not only did we see the champions in action, but we also saw competitors either visiting (such as those from other companies such as wXw and AEW) or returning to Progress—along with a long-awaited rivalry in the form of a tag team bout—as you’ll see shortly in the results.

For the matches that didn’t see any belts on the line, my favorite would have to go to the one-on-one bout between Shigehiro Irie and Gene Munny. We have seen Irie compete in Europe (including wXw in events such as the Ambition and 16 Carat Gold tournaments) besides his home country of Japan and were introduced to what he’s capable of, and he even showed it in his match with Munny. Munny also had a good showing, introducing his opponent to his serious side besides having fun moments with Irie.

As for the championship matches, one of the four title matches became my favorite match of this chapter; it was the Progress Atlas Championship match between Luke Jacobs and Big Damo. Believe it or not, each Atlas Championship match has been scorching hot as of late ever since the belt was brought back early this year. Not only did it show Jacobs looking to continue his run while going through each competitor that gave him a run for his money chapter after chapter, but it also involved another storyline where Damo wanted to win more gold after losing the Progress World Championship to Spike Trivet three chapters prior. It was indeed a very good battle between the two, and in the end, it was the “Beast of Belfast” that walked away with the gold.

Here are the match results from Birmingham…

Match #1: Millie McKenzie defeated Laura di Matteo.

This was Millie’s first Progress match in over a year. Laura put Millie in the Veni Vidi Vici until Millie rolled her up for two, then Millie hit her with a spear for the win. My score: 3/5

Match #2: Peter Tihanyi defeated Alexander Roth, Tom Thelwell and Hari Singh in a fatal four-way Natural Progression Series qualifier.

Singh had a drummer performing at the entryway before he came into the ring. Before the match started, Thelwell called his opponents “Muppets” that don’t want to dance with the “Manchurian Stallion”, and then said that the city of Birmingham isn’t nice to look at; then, as soon as the bell rang, Tihanyi, Roth and Singh went after him. After Tihanyi took down Roth and Singh and then hit Thelwell with a tope con giro, the wXw wrestler hit Singh with a Meteora and then hit him and Roth with a 450 for the win in this quick four-way dance. My score: 1.5/5

Match #3: Aussie Open defeated Danny Black & Maverick Mayhew.

Mark Davis and Kyle Fletcher ambushed ½ of CPF seconds before the match began. Earlier, Black and Mayhew dove at Aussie Open until Davis and Fletcher caught them and ram them into each other before running around both sides of the ring and rammed them again. The team of Black and Mayhew made comebacks afterwards, including Black hitting Fletcher with an assisted cutter (after Mayhew threw Black in a crucifix powerbomb position) for two, until Aussie Open hit Black with the Cariolis (a.k.a. the Fidget Spinner) for the win. My score: 3/5

Match #4: Shigehiro Irie defeated Gene Munny.

Irie kicked away an Ainsley Lariat earlier, and then—while Munny was seated on the apron—hit him with a spear followed by a top rope splash. Munny came back and missed on another Ainsley Lariat attempt, then the two clotheslined each other until Irie took back the upper hand; then, Munny hit Irie with the Ainsley Lariat until Irie won with the Bowman Lariat. Both wrestlers bowed to each other afterwards. My score: 3.5/5

Match #5: CDK defeated Lykos Gym. Kid Lykos II bullied a cameraman while entering the ring before the match.

Also, Chris Brookes and Masa Takanashi came into the ring with the Asia Dream Tag Team Championship belts. Early in the match, both Brookes and Kid Lykos shook hands until Brookes blocked his opponent’s eye poke attempt. Later, CDK fought Kid Lykos at ringside, whipping him hard into the chairs before Brookes hit him with a back suplex onto the chairs. Near the end, KL2 hit Brookes with a moonsault at ringside, and then he and KL double teamed on Takanashi before KL hit Brookes with a tope suicida while KL2 hit the other “Calamari Drunken King” with a standing shooting star press for two; CDK made a comeback, then won after hitting KL2 with the Mantis Bomb (savate kick/piledriver combo). After the match, Brookes thanked the fans for giving him and Takanashi a warm welcome. My score: 3.25/5

Match #6: Big Damo defeated Luke Jacobs to become the new Progress Atlas Champion.

Early in the match, Jacobs fought Damo at ringside and then hit him with a crossbody into the chairs. Then, Jacobs hit Damo with a superplex for one followed by the Burning Lariat for a near fall, and then went for a coast-to-coast maneuver until Damo booted it away and then hit him with a pop up chokebomb and an elbow drop for two. After Damo hit Jacobs with the Divide for a near fall, he hit him with a boot, Wasteland and senton before missing with the Belfast Blitz; Jacobs fought back until Damo came back and hit him with the Belfast Blitz for a near fall. Jacobs came back with a headbutt and a powerbomb for two, then hit him with the Burning Lariat for another near fall; Damo hit Jacobs with his own Burning Lariat before winning with the Belfast Blitz. After the match, Lykos Gym appeared and attacked Jacobs until the returning Ethan Allen ran in and he and Jacobs fought the two out of the ring. My score: 4.75/5

Match #7: The Sunshine Machine defeated Violence Is Forever to retain the Progress Tag Team Championship.

During the match, Chuck Mambo hit Kevin Ku with the Reef Break (Meteora) for a near fall, then he and TK Cooper hit him with a Gory bomb/cutter combo until Ku and Dominic Garrini fought back and hit Cooper with a Claymore/back suplex combo for two. The Sunshine Machine then came back and won after hitting Garrini with the Designated Driver. My score: 3.25/5

Match #8: Kanji defeated Lana Austin (w/ Skye Smitson and L.A. Taylor) to retain the Progress Women’s Championship.

Lana had ring announcer Simon Miller wear her sunglasses before the match began, then Kanji teamed up with a young fan named Penny who was busting the guts of the Lana Austin Experience (especially Lana), “LANA SUCKS” sign and all. Also, seconds before the bell rang, Kanji blindsided L.A., sending her into Lana. During the match, Lana seated Kanji at ringside and teased charging at her before shoving her down to the floor. Kanji fought back and fought away Skye and L.A. at times, then Lana hit Kanji with the Roaring Elbow (discus elbow) for a near fall until Kanji put her in a triangle choke; Skye put Lana’s foot on the bottom rope until the referee caught her and sent her to the back. Behind the referee’s back, L.A. hit Kanji from ringside, leading to Lana hitting her with a powerbomb for two; Lana then went for a Randy Orton DDT until Kanji countered with a rollup for the win. After the match, Skye and L.A. came back in the ring with steel chairs until Millie McKenzie ran in and evened the odds before the Lana Austin Experience left. My score: 2.75/5

Main event: Spike Trivet (w/ Bullit) defeated Man Like Dereiss to retain the Progress World Championship.

Bullit is of course the “crewman” that helped Trivet in the last chapter and is now his bodyguard. Bullit went after Dereiss early in the match, including when Trivet pretended to suffer a leg injury after “tripping.” Also, after Trivet hit Dereiss with the Birthright for a near fall, Dereiss shoved Trivet off the top rope and climbed up until Bullit hit the post, causing Dereiss to lose his balance, leading to Trivet hitting him with a Codebreaker for two. Trivet and Dereiss then fought out of the ring, and Trivet hit him with a Gotch piledriver on the stage at the entryway until—with help from fans—Dereiss came back in at nine. Dereiss fought back and even fought away Bullit, then hit Trivet with the Four Fiddy until Bullit pulled the referee out of the ring, allowing Trivet to hit the challenger with a low blow and the Madame Guillotine for a near fall. Trivet then elbowed the referee while fighting Dereiss in the corner, and then Bullit attempted to hit Dereiss with the championship belt until Dereiss dodged it and took down the bodyguard before Trivet hit him with a low blow and the title. Then, after Trivet realized that the referee was unconscious, Dereiss came back and attempted to hit Trivet with another Four Fiddy but missed; Bullit came back in and hit Dereiss with a chokeslam before Trivet pinned him for the win. My score: 3/5

ICW Fight Club

Staying in the United Kingdom, we now go to the Ironworks in Inverness, Scotland for an episode of ICW Fight Club.

Luke Kyro hosted another episode of “Vibes” this week, with ICW owner and founder Mark Dallas as his guest. Dallas, while talking about bringing ICW to Inverness, announced that there would be a six-man ladder match at Fear & Loathing XIV; the winner of this match would become the #1 contender for the ICW Zero-G Championship, and the contender would go on to fight for that belt at Square Go! in 2023. Then, Levi came into the ring and asked to be in that ladder match, ditto Thatcher Wright; Dallas then decided to name two of the six participants—Kyro and Levi—before saying “See you later” to Wright and leaving, leading to Wright attacking the two ladder match participants with his Margaret Thatcher book. During my first year of watching ICW, I enjoyed the ladder match that took place at last year’s F&L; I sure hope that this year’s F&L ladder match will be as good as last year’s. By the way, unlike poor Luke Kyro, I know what a “PlayStation One” is (or PlayStation as we simply called it back in my day), as well as Ridge Racer even though my first Ridge Racer game (for the PlayStation of course) was “R4: Ridge Racer Type 4” per se.

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Three matches took place this week, and my favorite match of the episode goes to the opening bout that involved ICW’s women’s division that has been—according to Billy Kirkwood (and probably the Velvet Underground as well)—“white hot” as of late. In the opening match, Rhio fought Molly Spartan while wanting to take part of the women’s championship match at F&L. It was a great battle from start to finish that also included the action spilling out of the ring and into the audience (as well as the balcony). In the end, it was Molly who won and kept Rhio out of attempting to enter the women’s championship match. Molly has been on a roll even after winning the ICW Women’s Championship as she continues to build her momentum heading into F&L. Rhio has been showing what she’s capable of as well, and despite not entering that match at F&L, I still see her as championship material; I would definitely love to see her win championship belts in the near future even if it means near the end of 2022 or already stepping foot into 2023.

Here are the match results from Inverness…

Match #1: Molly Spartan defeated Rhio in a non-title match; if Rhio won, she would be added to the ICW Women’s Championship match at Fear & Loathing XIV.

After Rhio hit Molly with a tope suicida, Molly hit her with a back suplex onto the barricade, leading to the two fighting in the crowd; Rhio and Molly fought upstairs to the balcony and both attempted to throw each other out before heading back downstairs where Molly was whipped into the chairs and—heading back to the ringside area—Rhio was whipped into the stairs next to the stage. As soon as the two came back into the ring, Rhio worked on Molly’s left ankle. Molly fought back and hit Rhio—who was seated—with a crossbody from behind for two; Rhio came back with a rolling heel kick for two, and then—near the end—climbed to the top rope until Molly powerbombed her off before winning with a spear. My score: 3.75/5

Match #2: Craig Anthony & Leyton Buzzard defeated Ian Skinner & Charlie Vyce.

Skinner and Vyce are probably becoming a babyface tag team because they high fived a few fans while heading to the ring. Anthony and Buzzard tried not to focus on their championship match at F&L, and they argued at ringside early in the match until Skinner hit Buzzard with a tope suicida. Towards the end, after Anthony accidentally hit Buzzard with a superkick instead of Skinner, Thatcher Wright appeared until Buzzard shooed him away. Skinner and Vyce got the upper hand, and Skinner put Buzzard in an octopus until Buzzard powered out of it and put him in a Scorpion Death Lock; Anthony took down Vyce while Skinner—after shoving the Margaret Thatcher book away after Wright slid it to him—grabbed the ropes to break the hold. Then, Luke Kyro and Levi appeared and fought Wright to the back while Anthony powered out of Skinner’s octopus and hit him with a moonsault before Buzzard hit Skinner with the X Marks the Spot for the win. Both Anthony and Buzzard shook hands afterwards. My score: 2.75/5

Main event: BT Gunn defeated Jack Jester.

As soon as the match began, Jester brandished his large corkscrew and attempted to fight Gunn with it until Gunn fought back and disposed of the corkscrew. A kendo stick, a table, and a steel chair came into play as well (as did a fan’s chair which Gunn got rid of afterwards). Jester whipped Gunn hard into the barricade, causing a section of it to collapse until Gunn fought back early in the match. Then, after Jester hit Gunn with a Death Valley Driver through the table in a corner for two, the two fought out of the ring and into the crowd; Jester whipped Gunn into the exit doors until Gunn closed one of the doors on him, busting Jester open. Near the end, after Jester hit Gunn with the Last Laugh leg drop (apron leg drop) for a near fall, Gunn came back and hit Jester with a superkick which didn’t faze his opponent; Jester went after Gunn until Gunn hit him with a roundhouse kick for the win. After the match, Gunn took Jester’s corkscrew and attacked him with it until referees, Scott Reed and Mark Dallas separated the two; then, as Gunn was leaving, Jester—after saying that he’s no stranger to bleeding and getting scars everywhere—challenged him to a King of Insanity match at Fear & Loathing XIV. My score: 3.5/5

NXT

We now head to Orlando, Florida in the United States for an episode of NXT.

NXT Deadline is taking place on December 10, and there is a new type of match that Shawn Michaels announced that will take place; this type of match, the Iron Survivor Challenge, will be for both the men and women on NXT’s roster.

The rules for the Iron Survivor Challenge were then announced by Shawn Michaels. Five wrestlers compete in this match that will last for 25 minutes, with two beginning the bout; another wrestler comes in every five minutes until all five wrestlers are in the ring. The goal is to have the most falls—by pinfall, submission, or disqualification—at the end of 25 minutes; one fall equals one point, and one wrestler that is pinned, submitted, or disqualified will be in the penalty box for 90 seconds.

For the men, the winner of this match will become the #1 contender for the NXT Championship; for the women, the winner of this match will become the #1 contender for the NXT Women’s Championship. Despite looking forward to seeing if any championship matches will take place at Deadline, the idea of this match—the Iron Survivor Challenge—definitely caught my attention; I actually like the concept of this match since it looks like a cross between the Gauntlet Eliminator (or Progress’ Thunderbastard)—but with eliminations replaced with penalties—and the Iron Man match, and I’m pretty sure that the fans looking forward to Deadline come next month are chomping into bit after waiting to see it in person (and not just seeing how good it looks on paper) just like I am.

Putting aside the idea of jumping to December as if this were H.G. Wells’ “The Time Machine” or if I was Emmett “Doc” Brown and his time traveling DeLorean from the “Back To the Future” franchise, there were six matches that took place this week; three of them were indeed very good.

One match was the opening bout between Bron Breakker and Von Wagner for the NXT Championship; this championship pitted—respectively—power against strength, and regardless of how many times Wagner attempted to overpower (pun intended) the champion as well as have his insurance policy in the form of Mr. Stone, it was Breakker that came out on top. It was indeed a great hard-hitting battle between the two that kicked off this week’s episode, and I’m pretty sure that Wagner isn’t done with his road to gold—with or without anybody in tow—in the WWE after seeing a good performance like this; as for Breakker, he is doing a great job on his second championship reign as usual.

Another match was the closer, which was a Last Woman Standing match between Mandy Rose and Alba Fyre. Mandy flew solo after Alba attacked her Toxic Attraction colleagues Gigi Dolin and Jacy Jayne in the past two weeks, and it looked like that she was backed against the wall in the form of defending the NXT Women’s Championship against the former Kay Lee Ray in that bout. In the end, Mandy retained the belt courtesy of an NXT UK alum that’s now part of the white-and-gold roster. I expected Mandy to retain the title in this match in some shape and form (such as the return of Sonya Deville), and not in the form of someone who is now Alba’s rival. I also like Alba showing a more dangerous side in a match that’s not a run-in-the-mill one-on-one match but a match with a no-DQ stipulation such as the Last Woman Standing match.

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The third match was my favorite match of the episode, and it was a one-on-one match between JD McDonagh and Apollo Crews. This match was made after the two wanted Bron Breakker’s attention while learning that Breakker was looking for another competitor to go after him for the NXT Championship. Not only did we see McDonagh attempting to pick apart his opponent—sinister side and all—just like he did with his past NXT UK rivals Ilja Dragunov and Axiom in the past weeks, but Crews continuing his run in the white-and-gold brand on one high note after another. In the end, it was the NXT veteran Crews who emerged as the winner. I’m not going to lie, but I’m glad to have predicted that Crews would become the next challenger from Breakker; I have no idea if it’s taking place on either a future episode of NXT or NXT Deadline, but we’ll have to wait and see.

Now that I’m done being self-centered and tooting my own horn, let’s take a look at the NXT results from Orlando…

Match #1: Bron Breakker defeated Von Wagner (w/ Mr. Stone) to retain the NXT Championship.

As soon as the match began, Wagner threw Mr. Stone into Breakker as a distraction. He would work on Breakker’s left arm later on. After Wagner hit Breakker with a chokeslam on the bottom portion of the steel stairs for two, Breakker came back and went for a spear until Wagner caught him and hit him with a Death Valley Bomb for a near fall. Wagner then took his frustration out on Mr. Stone who tried to calm him down, and then attempted to hit Breakker—who was unable to lift him due to his left arm being worked on—with another Death Valley Bomb until Breakker blocked it and won with a spear. My score: 4.25/5

Match #2: Indus Sher defeated George Cannon & Jake Fingado in two and a half minutes.

Fingado, best known as Ariel Dominguez in the indies as well as select AEW appearances, made his second NXT appearance; his first was back in late 2020 where he worked as “Joey Pistachio” in a match against Cameron Grimes that lasted for seven seconds. Keeping the long story short, the reunited team of Veer Mahaan and Sanga won after hitting Fingado with a sidewalk slam/middle rope elbow drop combo. After the match, Indus Sher said that they respect the Creed Brothers as do the fans, but don’t appreciate the disrespect they receive; they then vowed to destroy the Creed Brothers just like they destroy anyone that disrespects them. My score: 0.5/5

Match #3: Apollo Crews defeated JD McDonagh.

During the match, McDonagh attempted to boot Crews from the apron until Crews caught him and hit him with a sidewalk slam on the announce table. McDonagh came back including putting him in a sleeper, and then went for the Devil Inside until Crews kneed him away; Crews then blocked the Devil Inside attempt again and went for a powerbomb until McDonagh rolled him up for two. McDonagh continued to mount his comeback, and then went for a moonsault, but missed; this allowed Crews to win with a pop up uranage. After the match, Bron Breakker appeared at the entryway and looked at Crews. My score: 4.5/5

Match #4: The Dyad (w/ Joe Gacy and Ava Raine) defeated Josh Briggs & Brooks Jensen (w/ Fallon Henley) in four minutes.

During the match, Jensen went after Rip Fowler and Jagger Reid at ringside until Ava blocked Jensen’s path, leading to Fowler hitting him with a tope suicida. Towards the end, Kiana James appeared and went after Fallon until Fallon slapped her into Jensen; Briggs saw this awkward moment occur until the Dyad hit him with a double Codebreaker for the win. My score: 1.5/5

Match #5: Indi Hartwell defeated Tatum Paxley (w/ Ivy Nile) in almost four minutes.

After Tatum hit Indi with a standing moonsault, Indi ripped off her mask and stomped her before throwing the mask to Ivy and then hitting Tatum with a blindsiding forearm for the win. My score: 1.5/5

Main event: Mandy Rose defeated Alba Fyre in a Last Woman Standing match to retain the NXT Women’s Championship.

A steel chair, a metal rod from a toolbox, a trashcan and a ladder came into play in this match. Alba worked on Mandy’s right knee early in the match after blocking the Kiss By the Rose attempt with a steel chair and then used the rod as part of a half crab. Mandy came back and fought at ringside with a ladder until Alba got up at eight and slammed Mandy onto a trashcan; Mandy got up at nine, and the two fought close to the crowd until she shoved Alba off the top of a barricade and face first onto the steel stairs before Alba got up at eighth. Alba hit Mandy with a superkick and then hit her with the Fyre Bomb on the apron, then placed her on the announce table and climbed up the ladder. All of the sudden, Isla Dawn appeared on the ladder and spat a smoky mist in Alba’s face before shoving her off and through the table; Mandy recovered at nine while Alba was unable to get up at ten. My score: 4/5

NXT: LVL UP

Staying in Orlando, we wrap things up with an episode of NXT: LVL UP.

Again, I expected more like on the last episode, even though I saw that two matches were slightly better than the other. Not only did we see a fair showing from Thea Hail and Dante Chen, but also from up and comers Dani Palmer and Oba Femi.

No worries, I’m not giving up on watching the show; I always keep my fingers crossed when it comes to see more action as well as what the wrestlers have in store. Okay, now that I’m done being “Saturday Night Live” character Debbie Downer, let’s take a look at the NXT: LVL UP results from Orlando…

Match #1: Thea Hail (w/ Andre Chase and Duke Hudson) defeated Dani Palmer in almost five minutes.

This was Dani’s debut; she shook Chase and Hudson’s hands as soon as the match began, and then shook Thea’s hand later on. Thea won with a neckbreaker-like faceplant. My score: 1.5/5

Match #2: Dante Chen defeated Oba Femi.

This was Femi’s debut. After Chen chopped Femi down for two, he won with a running double chop. My score: 1.5/5 Main event: Stacks defeated Oro Mensah. Tony D’Angelo joined Sudu Shah and Byron Saxton—who appears to be turning heel (even though he’s a babyface backstage interviewer on Raw per se)—on commentary. Mensah’s left arm was worked on. Near the end, D’Angelo distracted Mensah, and then—behind the referee’s back—hit him with his crutch, leading to Stacks winning with a curbstomp-like knee drop. My score: 1/5

Next time…

Once again, my usual three shows and a belated Progress recap or two.

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Thanks for reading! Feel free to comment! I’ll see you next time!

Also, have a Happy Thanksgiving!

(Photos shown in the newsletter are from WWE, Progress and ICW.)