PROGRESS 45: Galvanise

This was a show with an amazingly stacked card and as such I had been looking forward to it massively. It says a lot about the roster that a show without Zack Sabre Jr, Marty Scurll, Dave Mastiff, The London Riots or Mark Haskins could be considered massively stacked, but such is PROGRESS in 2017.

My podcast college,  @chimerarouge, was with me at the event and we recorded a special chapter of the podcast in the car on the way home. You can check it out on soundcloud here or castbox here.

British Strong Style vs South Pacific Power Trip

This was an incredible match that set the bar massively high. I could let believe that it was on first. It started with a heel heEl dynamic, but told a great story of SPPT slowly turning face and getting the crowd on side.  I hope they continue with this. There was good interplay with the crowd, some funny segments, big high spots and just grear wrestling throughout.

Zack Gibson vs El Ligero

Two of my personal favourites. The most over heel vs arguably the most over face. This match had a 3ally funny.intro and some amazing comedy moments as well qs being full of incredible mat wrestling and high flying antics from ligs. Nathan Cruz arrived towards the end and looks to be furthering the Origin Prime vs Origin Banter feud that I hope includes ore Ligero vs Cruz matches. (Fingers crossed for the next Manchester chapter).

James Drake vs Jack Sexsmith

I expected this to be the weakest match in the card, not because I expected it to be bad, but rather because I expected the others to be better. I think it probably was the weakest? But I still very much enjoyed it. Drake works really well as a brutal heel and Sexsmith is an underdog who plays his part well. I feel he may be building to big things down the road.

Will Ospreay vs MAndrews

This as incredible. Will is known to be one of the best high flyers in the world but is showing a vastly different side in his current heel run. This worked well against Mark, who is probably the most naturally loveable baby face in history. The match had some awesome high spots and worked a great story.  They managed to break the ring but continue to use it and not break the flow of the match. 

Hunter Brothers vs Ringkampf 

These two teams are great. The Hunters are a great high flying team a d Ringkampf are just phenomenal. Masses of technical ability complemented with superb strength and great psychology. This was a superb match. Axel Dieter Jr sells better with a single facial expressions than the vast majority of wrestlers in the business. They hooked me in, told a story and left me thirsty for more.

Nathan Cruz vs Flash Morgan Webster

Another great match,  between two awesome wrestlers..Cruz heeling really well and Morgan looking to shed the last little bit of ring rust. They told a great story between them and I look forward to seeing them both again in the future.

Jinny vs Niton NEwell

Probablythe match I was looking forward to most. Two of the best wrestlers in the country going hammer and tongs,  telling a great story and just beating the he’ll out of each other. I enjoyed it from start to finish and my only slight criticism is that it could have been longer.

Jimmy Havoc vs Pete Dunne

I’m not massively keen on hardcore matches,  but I think they can have a place used sparingly which is how they are used in progress. Havoc is a king of the death match and it wasn’t a surprise that he got mental. Dunne showed that he can do them really well, as he can any wrestling style. I was hooked from the video package and didn’t look away throughout.  Awesome match.

In gebed all. I really enjoyed it..possible the best event I’ve bee to, certainly the top few. I’d say the first half may have been slightly better but overall.I loved it all. Can’t wait for next time. 

WRW Chapter 3: A new beginning

Chapter 3 of White Rose Wrestling is in the books and @chimerarouge and @atlaswrestling have lots of great conversation about all that’s happened in the world of pro wrestling over the last 4 weeks or so.

As always you can catch the latest episode on soundcloud here or cast box here. You can also check out all past episodes on cast box. 

This time we discussed (start times in brackets):

WWE – including Fastlane, the road to Wrestlemania and the Hall of Fame class of 2017 (0:00)

PROGRESS Chapter 44 – Old Man Yells at Cloud (17:30)

New Japan Pro Wrestling – including Honor Rising and the 45^th Anniversary show (27:00)

RevPro – Live at Portsmouth 7 and Live at the Cockpit 14 (39:00)

Tidal Championship Wrestling – Wipeout – A local promotion doing well! (44:00)

ICW Fight Club Tour – Leeds (50:00)

CZW 18^th Anniversary show (57:00)

Ring of Honor – including Manhattan Mayhem and 15^th Anniversary (1:00:00)

Promotion Focus –  in which Atlas talks Melbourne City Wrestling (1:05:00) and Chimera talks Pro Wrestling Guerilla (1:08:00)

Wrestling Podcasts (1:11:00)

Controversies – Including PCW and the Hardy Boys (1:16:00)

Listener questions, top 3 moments and matches (1:20:00)

ICW Fight Club Tour – Leeds

ICW have been at the forefront of the resurgence in the British wrestling scene over the past decade or so and the work they have put in has ensured the whole scene thrived. Their Fear and Loathing show last year topped 6000 attendance wise, which would have been unheard of for a non WWE event a fee years ago. It’s run well, they have some great Scottish talent and are using the nest English guys too. They do bring in some imports, especially for the bigger shows, but they do it in a way that supplements their full time roster rather than detracts from it.

This was the first ICW event I’d been able to attend in person, but it certainly won’t be the last as I really enjoyed it. I’m not massively sure how it work’s,  buy I guess the first half was the taping for 1 show and the aecond half the taping for another 

Kenny Williams v Martin Kirby

The first match pitted the ever entertaining Kenny Williams against Yorkshire man Martin Kirby. The crowd were massively behind the their countyman but also showed Kenny some love. The match was massively entertaining from start to finish and was a perfect way to kick off proceedings. 

Polo Promotions vs The Purge

This was an excellent tag match featuring 4 great wrestlers. The Purge put some great heel tag team wrestling together cutting off the ring and the such. Jackie and Mark fought back and this match just told a great story. Another great match.

Aaron Echo v Davey Blaze

This was a decent match from 2 solid workers. Some great heel.work from Blaze who gained some great heat from the crowd.

Lana Austin vs Viper

This was a classic David vs Goliath story told really well, Lana worked her own great story throughout with Viper playing her part to perfection. I very much enjoyed this one and hope to see them feud on.

Wolfgang vs Jack Jester 

The first half main event, so presumably the main event of the first taping. This was a solid match from 2 very accomplished workers. They told a great story and included some real high spots. Great match and as a good end to the first show.

Joe Hendry vs Liam Slater

This was a match I had been massively looking forward to. Two phenomenal talents who can tell great stories and put of great matches. This match exceeded my already high expectations and was quite possibly the matchbox the night for me. I’d love to see these guys go at it again.

Dave Mastiff vs Joe Coffey

This was an encounter that pitted two behemoths against each other. It started well but Mastiff picked up a leg injury.  He continued the match through obvious pain and they still managed to put on an entertaining match. 

Rampage Brown and Ashton Smith vs Layton Buzzard and Michael Parks

Here we had a squash match to show how destructive the team of Smith and Brown are. They looked incredible in the time they were in the ring and are massively focused. I hope to see more of this team and think their upcoming match with Bird and Boar will be awesome.
Trent Seven vs Pete Dunne vs Chris Renfrew vs BT Gunner

This was a great match. There are two alliances at play here that were played on rally well throughout, there was some great story telling and some awesome spots. This was the other match of the night contender.

The event overall was massively enjoyable and I think will translate to two brilliant editions if  Fight Club. It was structured in a way that neither show will get samey and both will build in intensity. I can’t wait for ICW to tour again!

Live in Portsmouth

Marty Scurll vs Ryan Smile 

Great opener. Two excellent wrestlers both looked good and strong. Nice spots, good story.

Trent Seven vs Dave Mastiff

Great power on display from Trent. Told a good story throughout. I enjoyed this one.

Legion of Lords vs Colt Cabana and Swoggle 

Great comedy match. Colt is the king of comedy and all three others played their part well. Gideon Gray was hilarious throughout, and at love at cockpit 13 had put in an incredible wrestling performance against Timothy Thatcher – so can clearly do more than one style very well.

Rob Lias vs Dan Magee 

Two solid young workers who have a bright future ahead of them. Great match, told a good story and built on storyline from last couple of cockpit shows.

Sterling and Redman vs The Spirit Squad

This was a great tag match. The Spirit Squad are solid workers and a lot of fun, Sterling and Redman are more impressive everyone I see them. Very enjoyable.

Pete Dunne vs Penta 0M

Good solid match from two great wrestlers. Very much enjoyed it. Good spots and we’ll worked.

NJPW – 45th Anniversary

Manabu Nakanishi vs. Tomoyuki Oka

This pretty show match was an excellent was to warm up the crowd. These “young lions” showed some stuff striking and some great matt work. I look forward to seeing them develop.

Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI, Jado & Gedo vs. Minoru Suzuki, Davey Boy Smith Jr., El Desperado & TAKA Michinoku

Some exciting names in this match so I was looking forward to it. It was very enjoyable for a big multimedia match with some good segments and I was pleased to see Yoshi-Hashi pick up the win.

Togi Makabe, Yuji Nagata, Jushin Thunder Liger, Tiger Mask IV & David Finlay vs. Kenny Omega, Bad Luck Fale, Yujiro Takahashi, Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa

Another big multiman match with some exciting names in it that was a lot of fun. Some great spots and a good chance for.all involved to get themselves over.

IWGP Junior Tag Championship Match: Rocky Romero & Barreta vs Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Taichi

This normal tag match pitted two good teams against each other. This was a good quick paced match that was enjoyable to watch. Gpod spots and a good story. The aftermath set up possible interesting future angles.

British Heavyweight Championship Match:  Katsuyori Shibata vs. Zack Sabre Jr.

This was an amazing match, and it’s an interesting finish. The match had the brutality of a Shibata match and all the technical wizardry of a ZSJ match. I’m pleased to see ZSJ with all the titles and I think he will be a good fit to Suzuki gun. Over the last year he has migrated towards a heel persona and recent turns in US promotions mean this fits Suzuki gun. The interference ending was a great way to further Shibata Suzuki feud and take the title from Shibata without weakening him.

IWGP Tag Championship Match: Toru Yano & Tomohiro Ishii vs Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima

This was a good match that told a good story.  All 4 guys looked good and the match was enjoyable. Some good spots.

Hiroshi Tanahashi, Michael Elgin, Juice Robinson & KUSHIDA vs. Tetsuya Naito, SANADA, EVIL & BUSHI

Tanahashi, Naito and Juice are three of my favourite New Japan wrestlers so.this match was very exciting. This match was my favourite of the multiman matches on the card and Naito and Tanahashi both looked amazing, as did all the guys. 

IWGP Junior Championship Match: Hiromu Takahashi vs Ryusuke Taguchi

I very much enjoyed this match. It told an excellent story and both guys laid it all out and left everything in the ring. I was transfixed throughout.

NJPW 45th Anniversary Commemorative Match: Kazuchika Okada vs. Tiger Mask W

I love Okada, and I love Ibushi – who is this incarnation of Tiger Mask. This match had potential to be epic, and epic it was. It  was a good length. Tiger mask w looked massively strong throughout and Okada ended up looking invincible. A great match that certainly elevated the champion to a higher lever.

February 2017

After January’s brilliance February had a lot to live up to. There may not have been any matches that got the world talking in the way Okada and Omega or Cena Styles did, but there was certainly some incredible matches during the month.

Here I’m going to run down my top 5 and 8ve also included a list of matches I loved at the end. This isn’t a comprehensive list, I’ve not seen all the events,  so if you like any I’ve not mentioned please let me know so I can check them out. There are a couple of events I plan to watch, so I may add to this. I have limited myself to 1 match per show to help narrow it down!

5. Elimination Chamber Match

This match was superb. It was booked really well, set up and furthered feuds well and included dome great spots and great wrestling segment. Plus it had the brutality of an elimination chamber. 

4. Shibata and Jay Lethal vs Cody Rhodes and Hangman Page – Honor Rising Day 1

4 supremely talented wrestlers going at it hammer and tongs. I think Shibata is incapable of having a bad match! I enjoyed this from the start and am excited to see where Shibata and Cody’s feud heads next.

3. Adam Cole vs Yoshi-Hashi – Honor Rising Day 2

This match was amazing. They worked the crowd into frenzy after frenzy, had some awesome comedy sections, some great heel work, some beautiful moves and some technical brilliance. Well worth a watch.

2. Matt Riddle vs David Starr – CZW 18

These are two of my favourite wrestlers in the world at this moment in time and this match was incredible. It had brutal strikes, brilliant technical wrestling, awesome spots and hilarious comedy – including a ref piledriver! On top of that it told a great story and had me marking out throughout. 

1. Nathan Cruz vs El Ligero – PROGRESS 44

Oh. My. Word. After January’s ZSJ vs Villain match I thought it would be a long time before I saw a British match that good, but this one was certainly up there with it! I’ve herd Cruz call Ligero his mentor and I know they have a big history together. I believe they once spent a whole summer wrestling each other 10 times a week in All Star so that shows how well they know each other. 

Their story in PROGRESS has been running since the very start. They feuds for the title than formed a tag team and stable that has rin ever since. This is the first match in a feud that has come about from the gradual break up of that stable.

The match was incredible. It drew on their previous story really well, bit itvalso told a story well enough for people to be hooked even if they had never seen either guy before.Cruz was at his magnificent heel best and Ligero was his usual awesome self. It was funny, emotional and genuinely jaw dropping. I can’t wait to see them go at it again.

• Elimination Chamber Match – EC
• Mickie James vs Becky Lynch – EC
• Gideon Gray vs Timothy Thatcher – LAC 13
• ZSJ vs Speedball Mike Bailey – LAC13
• Marty Scurll vs Luke Phoenix – LAC13
• Travis Banks vs Ryan Smile – LAC13
• Okada vs Minoru Suzuki – New Beginnings in Sapporo
• Juice Robinson vs Goto – New Beginnings in Sapporo
• Michael Elgin vs Naito – New Beginnings in Osaka
• Dragon Lee vs Takahashi – New Beginnings in Osaka
• Rampage vs Eddie Dennis – Tidal Wipe out
• Riots vs New Nation – Tidal Wipe out
• Big Show vs Braun Strowman – Raw 20.02.17
• Matt Riddle vs David Starr – CZW 18
• Scarlett and Graves vs EYFBO – CZW 18
• Joey Janela vs Stockade – CZW 18
• Pete Dunne vs MAndrews – NXT 22.02.17
• Travis Banks vs Jordan Devlin – PROGRESS 44
• Pastor Bill Eaver vs Sebastian – PROGRESS 44
• MAndrews vs Strickland – PROGRESS 44
• Nathan Cruz vs El Ligero – PROGRESS 44
• Haskins, Havoc and Webster vs BSS  – PROGRESS 44
• The Young Bucks vs War Machine – Honor Rising Day 1
• Shibata and Jay Lethal vs Cody Rhodes and Hangman Page – Honor Rising Day 1
• The Briscoes vs Omega and Cole – Honor Rising Day 1
• Adam Cole vs Yoshi-Hashi – Honor Rising Day 2
• Okada, Ospreay and the Briscoes vs Omega, Rhodes and the Young Bucks – Honor Rising Day 2

Fastlane

Noam Dar and Brian Kendrick vs Rich Swann and Akira Tozawa

Good kick off show match. Warmed the crowd up and set the tone.  Good spots and told a decent story.

Sami Zayn vs Samoa Joe

This was the match I thought would steal the show, I was a little disappointed to see it first but also excited to see how high they could set the bar. I enjoyed this match, it told a good story and included some great wrestling. I was a tad disappointed that it wasn’t longer though.

Enzo and Cass vs Gallows and Anderson 

I’ve written before about how I feel WWE dropped the ball with tag teams a bit in 2016, there’s some great talent in the division but they don’t seem to be given much time to shine. This match was no different really. Two great teams but not given very long at all and a finish that didn’t really make either team look good. Some good stuff during the short match though.

Nia Jax vs Sasha Banks

I enjoyed this match, they built a good story around the David vs Goliath story line. Some brutal stuff from Nia and Sasha looking reminiscent of a young Shawn Michaels at times. I’m interested to see where it goes next.

Jinder Mahal vs Cesaro

This was a good match from two good wrestlers. It seemed a little odd that it was put on the card with no build. I guess it’s a novel way to build a Rusev Jinder feud.

Rusev vs Big Show 

Another enjoyable match, but again, it felt like it would have been better had it had some build up. It’s good to see show in such good shape and having matches that are as good as any I remember him having ever. 

Neville vs Jack Gallagher

The battle of the brits. Two English cruiserweights who I first saw on rhe indies and love to watch. Contrasting styles that should mesh well. I was very much looking forward to this one. It was an excellent match. Some great high flying moves, some great mat wrestling and some super stiff shots. Both guys cane out looking strong and the crowd were into it more than other recent CW matches.

Roman Reigns vs Braun Strowman 

Given how many great matches Roman has had very the past 18 months, and how good the Braun Big show match on raw was recently, I had high hopes for this match. In the end I found it quite enjoyable. Some brutal moves, some good spots and a believable story. 

Charlotte vs Bayley

These two also had the potential to steal the show. It was a great match, although I’ve definitely seen both women have better ones. I think it was probably match of the night, and the outcome  genuinely surprised me. I’m interested to see what happens next.

Goldberg vs Kevin Owens

I was massively disappointed when this match was booked because I knew the only thing that made sense would be a squash match and I didn’t see how that could be done without ruining all the Owens has done over the last 6 months. That said, the feud has pleasantly surprised me. The twitter war has been gold and KO has cut some promos that had me believing he might just do it. He played his part well in this match, the build of anticipation, a cockiness that suggested he’d win. His trademarked facial expressions. The Jericho factor was good, and alleviatedy fears around ruining Owens. They have pulled off the match keeping both guys lookin strong. I’m not hugely fond of the idea of Goldberg having a title run, but I am quite excited by the prospect of leaner having one, and I’m very much looking forward to KO vs Y2J at mania.

All in all I quite enjoyed this event. I didn’t think it was as good as some of the others recently, but I’ve certainly seen as lot worse during my time as a fan. Some of the matches were too short, which made it seem even weirder that they added two matches without build up. I think my two favourite matches were the women’s matches (definitely 2 of my top 3 – the other being the cruiserweight). Certainly enough to make me want to watch raw.

PROGRESS 44 Old man yells at cloud

James Drake vs Damon Moser

Drake is always impressive, and Moser has steadily grown into.a really good wrestler. I don’t think either have been at PROGRESS for a while so it was an interesting one. This match started with a massive amur of intensity and didn’t last long. Enjoyable nonetheless.

Session Moth Martina vs Dhalia Black

I’m a fan of Dhalia, and I’ve heard a lot of good things about Martina although I haven’t seen her before, so I was looking forward to it. It was a good solid match, plenty of comedy and some great wrestling. I look forward to seeing more of them.

Jordan Devlin vs Travis Banks

Banks is awesome. And I’ve heard a lot of good about Devlin but I didn’t think he looked that good in the WWE UK tournament. It seemed odd that the crowd got behind Travis, given his recent heel work, but I guess the PROGRESS crowd appreciate an amazing talent. Interestingly when TK and Dhalia arrived the boos returned. This match was great. Devlin looked good and Banks is quickly becoming one of my favourite ever wrestlers.

Pastor Bill Eaver vs Sebastian 

A bonus match that was not on the bill. I’ve enjoyed this storyline and this match was a good next phase. It told a good story and was massively brutal in parts. It felt like the culmination of a feud,  but if it isn’t I’d gladly see them fight again. A very interesting part was a potential face turn mid match from referee Chris Roberts!

MAndrews vs Shane Strickland 

Two of the best high flyers in the business, this match was always going to be incredible. What I didn’t expect was the first 10 minutes to be dominated by some of the best British style mat wrestling around. Both guys showing they are far more than high flyers. As the match progressed we got more of the natural style from both and the match was a very enjoyable wrestling match, for the sake of wrestling. I love the story lines in pro wrestling, and I love a match that tells a story, but I also love matches like this too.

Nathan Cruz vs El Ligero

This was the next stage in a storyline that has been running pretty much since chapter 1. These two fused early, and then formed a stable and are now back feuding. Both are amazing wrestlers, Ligero is a lot of fun and Cruz is an accomplished heel who I would not be surprised to see in WWE in 2017.

This match was phenomenal, the entrances were amazing.  The intros hilarious and set the tone. The match harken back to previous events, but still told a story well enough for anyone who didn’t know about it to be hooked. There was brilliant comedy, awesome mat wrestling, superb high flying and great heel work. The ending and aftermath were perfect to further the feud, and I for one can’t wait to see where this goes next.

Zack Gibson vs Jack Sexsmith

Gibson is a phenomenal heel who is awesome in the ring and Sexsmith is a decent wrestler who is moved by a lot of the progress fans so the atmosphere was likely to be massive. And it was, the match was really good and told a great story that I feel elevated both competitors to another level.

Jimmy Havoc, Mark Haskins and Flash Morgan Webster vs British Strong Style

I’m not massively familiar with Webster, but the little I have seen I’ve liked, the other 5 involved in the match I have seen a lot of and absolutely love, so I was expecting to enjoy this contest, and enjoy it I did.

It was a little Chaotic at times, I don’t remember an announcement that it would be tornado rules but it certainly seemed that way. There was an interesting dynamic between team haskins that they all wanted to be the one to get the pin all nd hence a title shot, there was a lot of story telling based around the current BSS WWE story and the match had lots of great spots and triple moves in it. It was a joy to behold and set up a potentially amazing main event for Chapter 45 – which I have tickets for.

All in all I think this was a superb event, as all progress shows are. Although I’d say this was better than most.