Progress Wrestling Chapter 69:Be Here Now Conclusions

Progress Wrestling Chapter 69:Be Here Now Conclusions

 

 

Photo Credit @ThisIs_Progress

 

 

 

Progress Wrestling staged it's largest UK show outside of London this past Sunday and delivered a fantastic show that produced some great matches, surprise appearances and a couple of new Champions. Below are my key conclusions from Chapter 69:Be Here Now.

 

Aussie Open up and running in Tag Team "Thunderbastard" Tournament

 

Aussie Open were victorious in the first tag team match as part of the tournament to decide the Champions and entrant order for the inaugural Tag Team "Thunderbastard" match at Wembley in September. Their match against Connor Mills and Maverick Mayhew kicked off the show but not before current Champions Grizzled Young Veterans (Zack Gibson and James Drake) had made their displeasure at not being booked for the show known to the sold out Manchester crowd. They proceeded to join the commentary team for this match and will have noted the impressive performance of Mark Davis and Kyle Fletcher as they became the first team to put a win on the board in what will no doubt be a hotly contested tournament in the build to Wembley.

 

Pete Dunne vs Ilja Dragunov set for Wembley showdown

 

Photo credit @RobBrazierPhoto

 

After Christian Michael Jakobi appeared at Super Strong Style 16 to deliver a challenge to Pete Dunne from reigning WXW Unified World Champion Ilja Dragunov many had been speculating if/when/where this huge match could happen. On Sunday as Dunne recovered in the ring following his match CMJs music hit and he made his way to the ring to declare that he had received no answer to the challenge therefore he was done waiting. At this point Dragunovs' music hit and the crowd inside Victoria Warehouse exploded. As the two men went face to face in the ring CMJ declared that the match between two of the biggest talents in European Independent Wrestling would happen at Progress' Wembley Arena show this September. 

 

Doug Williams wins Vacant Atlas Division Championship

 

Photo credit @RobBrazierPhoto

 

 

One of Sundays biggest crowd reactions was no doubt for the moment that UK Wrestling legend Doug Williams won the Fatal 4 Way match for the vacant Progress Atlas Division Championship. The British veteran had been hinting in recent months that his career may be drawing to a close however after his match against Pete Dunne at Super Strong Style 16 he felt that he maybe had "one more match" in him and it proved to be the right call as he overcame Rampage Brown, Rob Lynch and Joseph Conners to win his first title in Progress. Anyone that has seen the recent "Tightrope" mini-doc from Progress in which Glen Joseph talked candidly to Williams about his career and toll that it has taken on his health will undoubtedly be delighted to see him pick up this huge win and hope that his title reign and wrestling story will continue for some time yet.

 

Travis Banks retains Progress World Championship

 

The "Kiwi Buzzsaw" Travis Banks retained the Progress Wrestling World Championship as he overcame a very impressive challenge from Jack Sexsmith.  The defending Champion was accompanied to the ring by his "South Pacific Power Trip" partner TK Cooper, however any advantage that this may have brought was soon gone as a massively fired up Sexsmith removed TKC from the equation by hitting him with a double stomp from the top rope all the way to the outside. With the vast majority of the Manchester crowd backing the challenger Banks had to dig deep to stay on top and at one stage attempted to walk away from the match as he did in his last title bout with Walter at SSS16. However as the Champion tried to leave his path was blocked by the "Ring General" forcing him back down the aisle and making sure the match would finish in the ring. Despite Sexsmith pushing him hard it was ultimately Banks that locked in the "Lions Clutch" to seal victory and retain the title. It does however remain to be seen how long Banks can continue to avoid the looming presence of Walter as he looks to remain at the top of Progress.

 

Jinny wins Progress Womens Championship

 



 Photo Credit @RobBrazierPhoto

 

There is a new Queen on the throne as Jinny defeated Toni Storm to become Progress Womens Champion. After Storm had held the title for just shy of 365 days it was going to take something special for any woman to prize it from the Australian and it seems that Jinny's master plan to build the "House of Couture" in her corner was just that. Accompanied to the ring by Nina Samuels and Chakara it was clear that the numbers game was truly against the defending Champion and it would prove to be decisive. Much of the match took place outside of the ring as Storm tried to equalise the numbers by taking out Samuels and Chakara but the key turning point would come when the match referee was inadvertently taken out of action. Storm successfully pinned Jinny twice with no official to make the count, when a new official eventually made it in to the ring Jinny kicked out and thanks to a further distraction from her accomplices she pinned Storm to become only the second Progress Womens Champion. Now that she finally has her hands on the gold and 3 other women in her corner the stranglehold that Jinny has over the Progress women's division may have only just begun.