This show, on the other hand, just COULDN'T disappoint... from everything I'd seen (thanks to Ref Paz lending me previous show DVDs) and everything I'd heard (Ref Paz giving them great praise), along with the great looking card, there was just not going to be any disappointment at all.
The show started and we were welcomed by MC/Co-owner/Comedian Jim Smallman. I'd already seen Smallman on the PROGRESS DVDs that I'd been leant and understood his popularity and connection with the PROGRESS faithful. This guy is SO over with the crowd like nothing that I've ever seen before. As well as the audience being completely into the show before it even started, Smallman had the easy job of getting them even more ravenous before the first match!
That first match would see two guys that I'm not that familiar with but are clearly VERY popular with the PROGRESS crowd; Tommy End and Paul Robinson. This was a hard-hitting affair and a really great opener. It's unusual for me to see a face-vs-face opener and the fans be SO into it but already I could tell that I was part of a very different, and special, kind of audience than I'm used to.
Match three saw a Natural Progression series bout between Will Ospreay and Liverpool's Zack Gibson. Again, I wasn't too familiar with either guy beforehand but Ospreay, in particular, really impressed me. AGAIN, he was hugely popular with the PROGRESS crowd.
In the fourth match a rivalry would come to a violent end (?) as The Bhangra Knights would take on long-time nemeses The London Riots in a Street Fight. Things got out of hand in the early going as RJ Singh took a hard kendo stick shot to the back. The Riots dominated for a large chunk of the match before the tide turned briefly. But, after laptops, road signs, keyboards and crutches, The Riots would get the win and leave the Bhangras laying helpless in the middle of the ring.
During the interval, Jim Smallman would continue to work tirelessly to entertain and please the show-goers by suggesting that he and fellow PROGRESS owner, Glen Joseph go around ALL of the fans and do Ellen-inspired-Oscar-selfies. Huge credit should go to both of them, as well as third owner, Jon Briley, for giving the fans every bit of them throughout the day.
After this pick-me-up, and also contributing to a DVD extra, the Camden crowd were ready for the second half of the show which started with the crowning of first-ever PROGRESS Tag Team Champions as F.S.U (Mark Andrews & Eddie Dennis) took on Screw Indy Wrestling's Mark Haskins and Nathan Cruz and Project Ego (Kris Travis & Martin Kirby). For me this was the match of the night. There was so many great sequences between the three in the ring (various combinations) as well as double and triple team moves. Two standout moments (amongst MANY) saw Eddie Dennis deliver a Samoan Drop AND a Fallaway Slam simultaneously to Travis and Haskins, and a moment of madness when all six guys would take each other out with stiff punches and kicks.
The sixth, and penultimate match of the evening would be a match that I had looked forward to since seeing the card - Doug Williams vs 'The Bastard' Dave Mastiff. It's with regret that I say that this didn't live up to my expectations. It was a hard-hitting, SLOW affair. Maybe a little too slow at times. Something that also took away from the match was Nathan Cruz' valet getting involved (ultimately leading to her getting Powerbombed by Mastiff). I realise that this sets something up in the future between Cruz and Mastiff, but it would have been nice to see both guys really go at it without interference. There were definitely positives to this match, though; Williams schooling, and getting the better of Mastiff early on was funny to see, and the everything-shattering Cannonball delivered by Mastiff to get the win was a sight to see, too.
The main event of the evening would see a Fatal Four Way for the PROGRESS Championship; hated champion Jimmy Havoc would have to overcome the odds of three men trying to take the title away from him. Marty Scurll, El Ligero and Rampage Brown would all get their chance to inflict pain and violence on him throughout this match.
After seeing previous DVDs, I knew that Havoc was despised by the PROGRESS fans as well as having a very personal feud with Jim Smallman. Everything about this feud and the fans investment in it is just another positive for this company; to have the fans foaming at the mouth in this way is genius and so different to a lot of other shows in the country.
This match saw absolutely NO punches pulled. Credit to Havoc as he took a tremendous amount of pain throughout, being thrown into chairs multiple times, being hit with chairs and taking some really stiff-looking moves, most notably the powerbombs (and later Piledrivers) from Rampage Brown. All guys gave everything before Havoc would steal the win over Scurll at the expense of Brown.
 |
| Andrews confronted Havoc ahead of their rematch at Chapter 13 |
- 'The Anti-Hero' Tommy End defeated 'Mr Wrestling' Paul Robinson
- Bumbag Championship/Balls Unification Match: Grado (c) defeated Mad Man Manson
- Natural Progression Series Match: 'Liverpool's No. 1' Zack Gibson defeated 'The Aerial Assassin' Will Ospreay w/ Paul Robinson
- Street Fight: The London Riots (James Davis & Rob Lynch) defeated The Bhangra Knights (RJ Singh & Darrell Allen)
- Inaugural Tag Team Championship: F.S.U (Mark Andrews & 'The Pride of Wales' Eddie Dennis) defeated Screw Indy Wrestling ('The Star Attraction' Mark Haskins & 'The Showstealer' Nathan Cruz) and Project Ego (Kris Travis & Martin Kirby) to become FIRST EVER Tag Team Champions MOTN
- 'The Bastard' Dave Mastiff defeated Doug Williams
- PROGRESS Championship: Jimmy Havoc (c) defeated 'Party' Marty Scurll, Rampage Brown and 'The Mexican Sensation' El Ligero
- Jim Smallman: I briefly met Jim before the show and he seemed a really nice guy who CARES about his wrestling and his wrestling show. I've said this recently about another promoter, and it kind of seems an obvious statement, but not only it came across to me that Jim cared then, but throughout the show he conveyed his passion and commitment to the PROGRESS cause by performing and being a part of a hugely entertaining day/evening of British wrestling. He also MC'd the show... now, I'm used to the traditional MC (a la [my pal] Hank McCoy) but Jim brings something completely different. He doesn't dress like your typical MC and he doesn't have the usual mannerisms of your typical wrestling show MC. What he does have is one hell of a connection with his audience. They LOVE him and he loves them. I don't know if this is the main reason the fans are so passionate at these shows (apart from the 100% effort from the wrestlers) but it MUST be part of the reason.
Jim Smallman
- The fans: The biggest credit of all goes to the fans. Yes, the wrestlers put on one hell of a show and Jim, Glen and John have done an absolutely fantastic job of getting PROGRESS to where it is today, but the fans are something else... before the show even started, they were READY. They were ready for their heroes, and they were ready to give Jimmy Havoc, The London Riots and whoever else they didn't like the abuse that they deserved; and why not? they paid for their tickets so why not make the afternoon as memorable as possible. The chants were epic and hilarious throughout, latching onto anything that could be chanted. Even the refs (Paz and Chris Roberts) seem to have a great connection with the audience as they mock them in the nicest possible way!
If you would like to know more information about PROGRESS wrestling (and TRY to get tickets for future shows) then please regularly visit:
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