A new year's wrestle
Day two of our London adventures this past weekend - the first London wrestling show of the year. Delightful again to be in the company of Progress Wrestling. Travel was a bit of a bear thanks to rail-replacement bus services on one leg but we got into London with plenty of time to wander round. Anthony bought a coffee and we witnessed an ambulance helicopter land in Trafalgar Square which was quite something.
The show itself was full of amazing matches, several incredible ones, and some vivid moments that we’re all still talking about. Firstly though I was sad to notice that unlike usual, none of the wrestlers were selling merchandise before the show or during the interval. Very unusual as merchandise sales are a way for them to really make money. I was sad as it also meant I didn’t have a chance to chat to any of them or even be brave enough to ask for a hug. I hope it’s not a permanent situation! Anthony and I got to use our season tickets for the first time, presenting them to the ticket girl so she could tick our names off her list. We’re storing them in a safe place too so that we don’t lose them! That would be a massive disaster.
Other non-match notables - a collection was taken for Kris Travis, the wrestler facing stomach cancer for the second time, to raise money for the hospice that’s been looking after him and to raise money for the cancer charity he’s been heavily involved with too. Also people had a chance to buy raffle tickets to win a handmade customised teddy bear, themed around Trav. Maxi makes amazing bears, for sick kids, and this one was awesome. The crowd raised over £600, it’s so great that things continue to be done in Trav’s name as he’s now too sick to attend shows. I see another company is doing another wrestling show all in aid of Trav too. There were cards to sign as well; I do hope they make him smile. Also the new ring canvas was in place, the one that fans raised money for by donating money that would get their names printed on the canvas. Our names are present and correct, though Anthony wants to know why his name didn’t come first as it does alphabetically - my response, I paid for it, so I come first ;)
As for the matches, we were treated to some beauties of course. A Natural Progression series Quarter Final was replayed as Sebastian, who originally went through to the Semi Final, now can’t make the relevant shows. So we had Damian Dunne vs Tyler Bate, both brilliant wrestlers. Tyler got a huge reaction as he was so loved in his first appearance with Progress late last year. The reaction to Damian was much more muted, a shame as he is a cracking worker though isn’t well known to a lot of Progress fans as he works mainly in Fight Club: Pro and Attack. He’s a friend of a couple of my friends, one of whom was sat front row and prepared for him to mouth off at her as he made his entrance, he’d been teasing her about this earlier online. Anyway, the match was really good; the two of them have faced each other a lot elsewhere so already have a rhythm and flow together. Tyler is so lovable, 18 years old with thighs like treetrunks and a build and look like a circus grappler, it all just works. He’s so genuinely pleased when we all sing along to his theme song - ‘Sledgehammer’ by Peter Gabriel, so perfect. Damian is great at the arrogant villain, not interested in the crowd’s reactions. It’s not a vivid character, which may account for the muted reaction. It was a shock that Damian won considering how popular Tyler is with fans but then Tyler may already be booked up this year and it’ll definitely be good to have Damian back again. Also Tyler got another huge reaction after the match and co-owner Jim Smallman let us know that he was sure it wasn’t the last we’d seen of Tyler.
I was so delighted to get to see FSU wrestle again - the team of Mark Andrews and Eddie Dennis, who haven’t teamed together in Progress since January last year. They seemed so pleased to be teaming together again, FSU are the reason I became a Progress fan in the first place so I have a lot to thank them for. They faced the awful Origin for the tag titles. El Ligero continues to be hilarious in his villainous role, really finding his niche with not being serious and angry but obnoxious and mocking instead, it’s really wonderful to watch his reactions, and Nathan Cruz is a brilliant heel character, so good at getting under the skin of fans. They insist that Jim announce how many titles they’ve won between them, El Ligero sat on the top turnbuckle and rested his feet on Jim’s shoulder, things like that, amazing. They won by using one of the tag title and I can only hope they lose eventually this year to the London Riots. And I really want more FSU in Progress, they make me so happy. Please?
The Women of Progress match was outstanding - only the second women’s match to feature on one of the main shows. I only heard one awful lecherous shouted comment so that’s something. The women in question - Dahlia Black, Toni Storm, Jinny and Pollyanna - all did a wonderful job in getting their characters across and the crowd invested in their work. Dahlia had her boyfriend at ringside TK Cooper and Jinny had her PA Elizabeth there so there were plenty of shenanigans. The simmering tension between Jinny and Elizabeth got stoked again as Jinny pushed her around and ordered her to cut Pollyanna’s hair which Elizabeth refused to do so Jinny did it herself. But Elizabeth still helped Jinny win, after TK Cooper punched Pollyanna in the face and Jinny took advantage as Elizabeth took care of the others. Dahlia and TK as the very PDA couple were hilarious and Toni Storm is adorable and bouncy - she’s Tyler Bate’s girlfriend so the chants for her were chanted to the same tune as the ones for Tyler which was a nice reaction by the crowd. Jinny is brilliant as the disdainful vicious fashionista and Pollyanna so loved by the crowd for her fierce badassness. There was an amazing moment when all four of them did submission moves on each other at the same time that got a huge reaction. More great storytelling, great wrestling, I really hope it’s not the last we see of the girls on the main shows. The crowd respected and loved their abilities, on the ENDVR shows they are of course awesome but they deserve the Ballroom too.
Zack Gibson and Mark Haskins had one of the matches of the night for the number one contendership of the Progress Heavyweight Championship. Haskins had fought a hellacious match the night before against Kenny Omega in another promotion and as a result had a shoulder strapped up and a noticeably black eye. They still managed to have an amazing physical hard-hitting match. The crowd were so involved and it was amazing to see Haskins, who spent years as a reviled villain, now so cheered and loved by the crowd, no longer the guy who cut promos on the fans, hating them. Now he does all his talking in the ring and to experience him being so loved, it was amazing. The match was structured around how much Gibson could beat Haskins and how Haskins could not be defeated. Gibson will always be an amazing heel - the Liverpool fan with the strong Scouse accent, a brilliant wrestler but so easy to hate as he tells the crowd to shut up. Ultimately, Haskins won to a huge reaction.
Rob Lynch, of the London Riots, faced Michael Dante, of the Summerian Death Squad - the winner would get to name a stipulation for the match the two teams are going to have at Progress’s Anniversary Show in March. It was a bruising big man match, awesome to watch them compete over who could hit harder. Also a moment when Dante just laughed and laughed, asking Rob if that was all he’d got, was genuinely unnerving. As his tag partner Tommy End usually does all the talking, this was something different. Lynch won eventually and named the stipulation - Tables, Ladders and Chairs. We reckon Tommy will win against JD next month - to name the second and final stipulation - and it’ll probably be that whoever loses has to split as a team. It’s going to be a war and I hate it because I love both teams - the SDS, the powerful cultish hitmen who work for the Illuminati, so dark and utterly compelling, and the Riots, violent thugs who were hated for so long before becoming so beloved by Progress fans. Ultimately, I reckon the Riots will win because they need to go after the tag team titles and SDS, maybe they’re done in Progress for now. I hate that thought because I find their characters so entirely inspiring and intriguing, seriously I could write fic for days. But they are still doing work in ICW and wXw and maybe they need a break from Progress or Progress needs a break from them.
We knew the main event would be spectacular - Will Osprey defending his Progress Heavyweight Championship against Marty Scurll in a No Disqualification match. And it was. The two of them have tremendous chemistry - they recently fought at RevPro to great reviews - and the crowd mostly adore Will but Marty is a Progress original, we’ve seen his development, he’s always been one of ours, even as he strives to be hated right now. So there was a really interesting atmosphere. Will, even as champion, is positioned as the underdog, an uncomplicated hero character, young and high-flying, generally happy and smiling and spectacular in the ring. Marty has been a loony villain for a while though only last year tried to seriously become hated, before he’d been a lovable ass, villainous but still easy to love. Now he’s really trying for the hate, vicious and scheming and quite mad with wide staring eyes and still so difficult to hate. They really brought it - Marty used a whole host of umbrellas against Will, both of them went through tables (the commentary table up on the stage was destroyed for the first time ever) and the match ended with Will having his hands cuffed behind his back and Marty whaling on him with a large umbrella. It was a genuine shock to see Will lose the title -he won the title after a 2 year story against Jimmy Havoc, in an epic story I can’t ever see being bettered. But as Anthony reminded me, not every story can be like that, in fact most title changes aren’t. And since winning last year, Will has defended the title in an incredible run of matches, all highly regarded and admired, and Will himself has been cited as one of the most exciting talents in wrestling. I’m sad he’s not champion but know he’s going places very quickly - he’s only 22 years old and he’ll only be developing further. And I am pleased for Marty for all the hard graft he’s put into evolving his character and how much he’s improved over the past year. The era of the Villain begins. Who will knock him off his perch? I hope we’ll see him face best friend Zack Sabre Jr again, it’d be amazing I know, but after that...Tommy End maybe? That would be astonishingly good.
I got to see my beloved friends who I haven’t seen since November. I miss them so when I don’t see them. Got introduced to the boyfriend of one of them - awww, they’re a cute couple - and got to present commentator RJ with a piece of fruit cake that I’d smuggled in for him. I actually smuggled pieces of homemade cake in mostly for our friend Chris whose birthday it was but had told RJ I’d get some for him too. There’s always a few rotten apples, usually drunk ones to be honest, but mostly, it’s a top community to be part of. I love seeing my friends and talking to them, catching up about everything, even making new friends too, being way more social than I usually am in a place where I feel so comfortable and at home. I feel like I can keep being brave - even though there wasn’t a chance this time as no wrestlers were selling their merch and therefore were not accessible. Next time? I do hope so.
I had a whacker of a headache by the end of the show - I don’t think I hydrated enough oddly - and the overstimulation too maybe. Of course the train was late, then the rail replacement bus wasn’t going to the close station we can walk home from so we got a coach back to another station and got a taxi from there as Anthony sweetly wanted me home and sleeping. It was another tremendous wrestling date day, which included spending time with some of the friends I love the most. I hate that I have to wait until March for the next one. It’s a bit addictive, just a tad ;) Hopefully we’ll get to go to many other shows this year, especially once the hockey season is over by the end of March.