Views from the Hawke’s Nest: PROGRESS Wrestling’s Chapter 8: The Big Boys Guide To Strong Style

July 28, 2013
Islington, Greater London, England

Commentator: Jimmy Barnett

Jim Smallman did his usual warm-up act to get the crowd going. It was effective as usual. He loses points for wearing jorts though! He won those points back by announcing Ricochet for Chapter Nine! Yay! It’s Ricochet! He also made a fairly self-deprecating plea for them not to take fan cams of the show.

Mark Haskins [0-0] vs. Stixx [1-3]
Haskins is a part of the Screw Indie Wrestling stable with Nathan Cruz and Rampage Brown.

Haskins stalled early on. Stixx came back with multiple airplane spins. Stixx was in control for a bit. Haskins came back and hit a tope suicida. Haskins used an armbar a lot to keep the advantage. Stixx made a comeback. Haskins came back with an armbar. Stixx reversed it into a body slam and then hit a nice spear. Haskins came back with another armbar. Stixx came back with a Bossman Slam and then locked in a cloverleaf variation. Haskins tapped out!

Well, this was a bizarre result. Just as the Screw Indie Wrestling guys were seemingly being set up as this monster heel faction, one of their members loses clean to one of the least impressive performers on the PROGRESS roster. The match was worked very smartly, but the finish did not play into any story being told. Between that and the questionable result, I did not enjoy this as much as I expected.
Match Rating: **1/4

Jonathan Windsor [1-0] vs. Mark Andrews [4-0] [Natural Progression Series Semi Final Match]
Andrews was REALLY over with the crowd. Neither man could get a decisive advantage early on. Andrews hit a standing moonsault for a nearfall. Windsor seems to be developing a Jon Moxley-like body. Windsor got control of the match and worked Draco Malfoy Andrews over. Andrews eventually came back with a tope con hello and a standing 360 senton. These two have a great dynamic. Windsor came back with a saito suplex. Andrews came back and hit a shooting star press: 1…2…3

This was absolutely delightful. Andrews has been one of the most consistent performers on the PROGRESS roster. I’m kicking myself for not finding a way to see him when he did an American tour.
Match Rating: ***1/4

Danny Garnell (3-0) vs. Rob Lynch (0-0) [Last Man Standing Match]
Lynch and Davis are supposedly in their last contracted matches for PROGRESS. Lynch hit a big lariat. They traded a lot of head-dropping suplexes. Seriously, there were a lot. It was the majority of the match. Neither man was in control definitely for any lengthy period of time. Lynch hit a top-rope exploder. The crowd was into this more than I was. On one hand, I appreciate the effort, but the substance of it does not interest me much. They’re selling the exhaustion of the match well at least. Lynch hit a spear. Lynch went for a corkscrew splash, but Garnell avoided it and hit a spiked DDT. Lynch hit another spear. Lynch went to the top again, but Garnell hit a super belly-to-belly suplex. James Davis got into the ring, but Jimmy Havoc threw a chair at him. Garnell hit two DDTs and then a tornado DDT. He followed that up with a draping spiked DDT. Lynch tried to get to his feet, but he could not answer the count. The crowd exploded for the Garnell victory!

I ended up like this a great deal towards the end. While the majority of the match was just throwing bombs, they were genuinely selling the bombs instead of trying to look like tough guys who don’t feel pain or get tired. Thumbs up for this.
Match Rating: ***1/2

James Davis (0-0) vs. Jimmy Havoc (0-5) [Hardcore Match]
Havoc quickly hit a tope suicida. They brawled on the floor. Havoc hit a double stomp. They brawled more. Havoc jumped off the bar for a hurricanrana. They finally got back into the ring only for Havoc to hit a DVD through a wooden board. Havoc opted to decide to ask the audience for a beer instead of pinning him. Havoc poured some thumbtacks onto the mat. Davis fought back, but Havoc hit a German. Havoc then used some light tubes and drank a beer. Davis came back with some light tube offense. This is a strange match for Jimmy to work given the speech Nigel McGuinness gave him at the last show. Davis then sent Havoc to the floor and through a table. Havoc got sent into another light tube. David squirted lemon juice into the slices on Jimmy’s back. Havoc came back with a middle rope DDT onto a chair. Havoc created some board/chairs contraption that he clearly planned to put Davis through. Davis came back with a Singapore can shot and multiple unprotected chair shots to the head: 1…2…3

Laaaaaaaaame. I cannot help but be disappointed by this outcome. I actually enjoyed the drawn out pacing, and Havoc’s lack of urgency played well into the story of him losing yet again. However, after multiple matches where it seemed like Jimmy Havoc should probably win, this felt like it was the last one where he had to win otherwise he would seem like a loser. He pretty much has to turn heel after this loss.
Match Rating: ***

Darrell Allen [1-3] vs. Doug Williams [0-0]vs. Eddie Dennis [1-0]
Allen and Dennis attacked Williams, and the veteran got sent to the floor. Two men in, one man out it is. Williams came back with a tope on Dennis. Allen then hit Doug with a tope. Williams and Allen squared off in the ring. Dennis must have deceased on the floor at this point. Dennis finally recovered. He squared off with Williams. Allen popped back in and hit a springboard frog splash on each of them. Both splashes got nearfalls. Williams hit Chaos Theory on Allen. Dennis hit Williams with a God’s Last Gift. Allen took out Dennis with a tope. Williams then hit Allen with the Bomb Scare: 1…2…3

This was a solid triple three match. It was not anything too special, but they kept the pace fan-friendly. With all of that in mind, there were a number of singles matches that Williams could have been booked in that I would have preferred to watch.
Match Rating: ***

Project Ego (Kris Travis & Martin Kirby) [0-1] vs. The Hunter Brothers (Jim Hunter & Lee Hunter) [0-2]
Travis cut a rudo promo before the match. He told the fans not to curse. The fans seemed more amused by the promo than annoyed. The teams went back and forth. Ego eventually got control and worked over Lee. The Hunters eventually made a nifty comeback. The teams went back and forth. Project Ego eventually hit one of the Hunters with a double Outsider’s Edge: 1…2…3

This was a really fun tag match. A lot of PROGRESS matches arguably do “too much,” but this match was the perfect amount of action for the time they had.
Match Rating: ***

El Ligero (c) [6-2] vs. Rampage Brown [0-1] [PROGRESS Title Match]
Rampage won a trios match to earn this title shot. Grrrrr. Ligero has been the champion since Chapter Four. Ligero hit a big plancha. They brawled on the floor. Brown powerbombed Ligero off the stage and onto some security personnel. Brown worked Ligero over in the ring after that. Brown got a nearfall after a couple of powerbombs. Ligero came back with a superkick and a springboard DDT: 1…2…NO!!! Another springboard DDT: 1…2…NO! Ligero hit an Ace Crusher. Ligero went for a super huricanrana, but Brown reversed it into a diving powerbomb: 1…2…NO! Ligero hit a superkick for a nearfall after Mask Haskins distracted the referee. Ligero shoved Rampage into Haskins and hit another springboard DDT: 1…2…NO! Rampage came back with a piledriver: 1…2…3!

This was a great main event. They worked the big man-little man dynamic perfectly, and the title change was fairly shocking and treated like a big deal. El Ligero had a solid run as champ, but he doesn’t need to be champ to be a big deal in PROGRESS. This makes Rampage a bigger star in this great promotion.
Match Rating: ***3/4

Thanks everybody for reading! You can send feedback to my Twitter or to my email address: [email protected]. Also, feel free to check out my own wrestling website, FreeProWrestling.com. Also, check out my Best of Chikara blog and an archive of all my 411 video reviews.

For more information on Progress Wrestling, check out their:
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Watch some PROGRESS matches for free:
Marty Scurll vs. Dave Mastiff vs. Stixx
El Ligero vs. Noam Dar
The London Riots (James Dahmer & Rob Lynch) vs. The Velocity Vipers (Alex Esmail & Will Ospreay)
Mark Andrews vs. Xander Cooper
Nathan Cruz vs. Rampage Brown

The 411: While this was another consistently entertaining PROGRESS show, the main event is definitely what solidifies it as a good event that is worth the time and energy required to view it. PROGRESS's booking (in terms of the structure of the shows and long-term storytelling) still could use some tweaking, but as I've been saying since their very first show, this is one of the most fun wrestling companies in the world. I highly recommend that you check them out in one form or another.

Final Score:  7.3   [ Good ]