PROGRESS Chapter 45: Galvanize 3/19/2017 Review

PROGRESS Chapter 45: Galvanize 3/19/2017 Review

Hello there readers of The Wrestling Classic website, my name is Joe Bradberry. Some of you may (or may not) know me as I am the man behind the account Wrestling.Island. On this website I will write reviews on PROGRESS wrestling shows. For those that are not aware, PROGRESS wrestling is an independent wrestling promotion based out of England. Every two, three weeks they put on shows with their mass amount of talent they bring in. The names vary from Jimmy Havoc, Pete Dunne, Matthew Riddle, Chris Hero, Mark Andrews, Sami Callihan, Tyler Bate, Sebastian and much more.

PROGRESS Tag Team Championship- Moustache Mountain (c) vs South Pacific Power Trip:

Kicking off the show was a tag team match. These four men are considered my favorites. Recently the duo of Travis Banks and TK Cooper have turned face due to both gaining respect from their recent respective matches in the company (Banks against Devlin at 44 & TK against Riddle at Freedoms Road). Bate & Seven were getting nuclear heat. The match was very back and forth, TK taking a TON of abuse and chops, his chest welting by the end of it all. Many near falls and no one was out shined or looked bad, even Dahlia looked great tons the end when she interfered. Was expecting Banks & Cooper to get a W however that wasn’t the case as Bate & Seven retained. Post match Jimmy Havoc came out with a chair and beat down Trent & Tyler, two men he’s had issues with to make sure they wouldn’t interfere in his main event match against their British Strong Style stable mate and PROGRESS champion, Pete Dunne.

Rating: *** 1/2

Zack Gibson vs El Ligero:

The match took a solid ten minutes to start. El Ligero came out with a Saint Patrick’s Emoji on his head, pretending to be drunk during his entrance. Gibson cut a promo to which the crowd went launching for his throat where he reprimanded his former Origin stable mate. The bell rang and it took some time for the antics to end. Ligero had his emoji mask ripped off and was wearing an El Generico mask! (Rest in Power). After a helluva kick and an “Ole” chant, Ligero went under the ring and came back out in his usual mask. Now with the match picking up there was a cool spot where Ligero got on a disabled fans lap (whom was in an electronic wheelchair) and had him slowly drive him down the side of the ring to Gibson who was seated on a chair to hit the slowest big boot I have ever witnessed only for the crowd to explode! Ligero looked to have had this match won HOWEVER Nathan Cruz came out in an El Ligero mask (which he stole last show) to distract Ligero only for Gibson to hit his “All Impact” finisher to get a win.

Rating: ***

James Drake vs Jack Sexsmith:

Before we get into this, I was worried this entire match up. James Drake broke a mans jaw last show and is a legit badass. However I do believe in Sexsmith. The entire match was a really one sided crush by Drake. Sexsmith took a lot of abuse this match but the crowd continued to rally behind their favorite. Jack got some offensive moves in but not much. He went for his signature “Mr Cocko” (Mr Socko with a condom instead).  Drake hit a vicious forearm to Sexsmith (the same way he broke Mosers jaw last show) before hitting a lifting DDT for the count. Sexsmith however got a standing ovation after the match by the fans.

Rating: ** 1/2

Will Ospreay vs Mark Andrews

I’m not a big Ospreay fan, however I am a MAndrews fan. The match was the typical Will Ospreay flash and owe (despite being a heel) and really did nothing for me. Ospreay brushed off whatever Mark threw to him and it PISSED me off. The match was not worth the watch nor worth the amount of time given by the booker. Thankfully Mark did get the win over Ospreay and to add to it all, Ospreay was attacked by Havoc after the match was said and done.

Rating: **

 

RingKampf vs Hunter Brothers:

From bell to bell this was a fun match. Another great tag team match as three styles mashed together (Hard hitting, technical and high flying). No one had a clear advantage as it was a back and forth contest the entire match. The four men put together an excellent match and nothing more can be said. Ringkampf got the win in this one, maybe putting themselves in line for a shot at the PROGRESS tag team titles in the future. Its a match I highly suggest you should watch and is surely a match of the night contender.

Rating: ***

“Flash” Morgan Webster vs Nathan Cruz:

A little story to this is Webster and Cruz have wanted to wrestle one another for a while now. But due to Webster being shelved for many months due to an injury, it never became a reality until now. I expected more from the match but since Webster returned two shows ago, I shouldn’t have. For what it was worth, it was a good match just not my cup of tea which is odd as these two are in my top five for PROGRESS. Maybe down the road they’ll wrestle once more and it will be a better bout but as I said, it was good for its worth.

Rating: *** 1/4

Natural Progression Series IV Semi Final Match- Jinny vs Nixon Newell:

The Natural Series IV has been to crown the first women’s champion here in PROGRESS. Twelve women competing to become the inaugural champion of the soon to be introduced belt. Another one of those matches that didn’t do much for me but was alright in it’s own way. Nixon was OVER as all hell with the crowd as seemingly everyone was singing her theme song, including her, which is typical. One of the best women’s wrestlers in the world right now surprisingly took the loss here in what I would say was an upset. Jinny got a win after a Canadian Destroyer, Nixon being helped to the back as the crowd chanted “Thank you Nixon”. Whats next for her? Who knows, lets see what happens next for Nixon.

Rating: ** 3/4

PROGRESS World Championship- Pete Dunne (c) vs Jimmy Havoc, NO DQ:

From the moment Havoc made his entrance, the match was balls to the wall. Going a hundred miles per hour, Dunne hit Havoc with a chair and tossed him on the top stage into some chairs. Dunne caught himself as Jimmy went to throw him but Jimmy hit a torpedo DDT off the stage to the ballroom hardwood floor.There was a neat little spot where Dunne reversed a suicide dive into his signature X-Plex onto the apron. Too really sum this match up: staple guns, chairs, barbed wire, tables and alcohol poured on paper cuts. Havoc took a lot of abuse but it was matched by Dunne. Havoc took a staple to the ear, elbow and thigh as well as his forehead. Dunne got paper cuts between his fingers with an 8×10 by Havoc and had alcohol poured on the open cut. There was a little spot simply labeled as “Going Necro” where both men traded blows while seated on folding chairs (Popular by Death Matcher Necro Butcher) with their forearms wrapped in barbed wire.  Thumbtacks were busted out during the madness, Will Ospreay came out and got into the mix but the numbers game was a bit too much for Havoc. Havoc hit a Canadian Destroyer to Dunne into the tacks before putting a mouthful to Dunne only for Pete to bite Jimmy’s hand. The table didn’t break on initial bump however they did fix that quickly when Havoc was power bombed through it. Jimmy was able to kick out and hit an Acid Rain Maker but Ospreay pulled out the ref. Dunne was able to get ahold of the Barbed Wire Bat and hit a Bitter End to retain his belt. Ospreay did a post match attack saying this has to end between Havoc and Ospreay, setting up a Fans Bring Weapons match for the next show.

Rating: **** 1/2

Final Thoughts:

This was a fun show from top to bottom. PROGRESS always put on good shows when they have a majority of their usual talent, only one meh show I’ve seen and that was Chapter 42 due to the shortage of men as the WWE UK Championship Tournament was happening. Good show, another hit for PROGRESS

Overall Show Rating: ****