REVIEW: PROGRESS Wrestling - Chapter 159, Wonderbrawl

Progress Wrestling: Chapter 159, Wonderbrawl
The 02 Ritz, Manchester
Sunday, November 10, 2023
Reviewer: David South (@DavidSouth1980)

Progress’s last away day of the year was a return to a typically rainswept Manchester, where scaffolding on the building next door provided some valuable cover to a queue moving even more slowly than usual, due to a bizarre new ticketing policy that I’d assume was at the request of the venue.

We’re all inside and settled though before Simon Miller comes to the ring, to thank us for coming and introducing our opening encounter.

Luke Jacobs vs Yoshiki Inamura - number one contendership for the Atlas Championship

Despite getting in each other’s faces before the bell it’s actually a tentative start to this one, as the two big bulls lockup and charge into each other. Jacobs though is punctuating these exchanges with an open hand slaps across Inamura’s face.

Eventually though, there’s one slap too many, with Inamura snapping and slamming Jacobs, then applying a Boston Crab which he transitions into more of a lion tamer, before Jacobs makes it to the ropes.

Jacobs reverses the subsequent suplex and hits a sit out powerbomb for the first two count. He calls for the Lariat, but Inamura is ready and scoops Jacobs into a spinning slam, then hits a splash for a near fall for him.

He climbs the corner, but Jacobs cuts him off with a chop and then hits a superplex which has them both down. They climb to their feet exchanging forearms. Jacobs hits his lariat and must assume he’s clinched it, but Inamura kicks out at two. Jacobs hits a Tigerdriver but again, Inamura finds the strength to kick out.

A second lariat though is enough to finish the match, and a title shot at regaining the Atlas Championship in the future. I don’t think I’ll get across, in what I’ve just written, quite how hard this pair hit, but the shots echoed around the O2.

Lizzy Evo vs Kanji - number one contendership for the Women’s Championship

This is bad tempered from the start, with Kanji attempting a rollup after the initial pushing and then sliding into a gogoplata style submission. Lizzy fights free but Kanji hits a running forearm and then seems to pull a couple of handfuls of her hair out.

Furious Evo starts to fightback, forearms stun Kanji and then a running dropkick fires her into the turnbuckles. Evo stands on her and then hits a butterfly suplex for the first pinfall attempt.

Kanji starts to focus on Evo’s neck, trapping her neck in her ankles and twisting violently, then a second time off the ropes. After some fighting on the floor, they return to the ring and Evo hits three Belly to back suplexes and then stomps on her head, which causes the referee to threaten disqualification.

Evo hits a knee but Kanji transitions back into the gogoplata. Evo stacks her into a pinfall and Referee Laura-Kate starts to count but just as she’s hitting the three, Evo starts to tap out.

The Referee declares the match a draw. Personally, detestable as though she is, I think Evo is hard done to here, as I’m not sure she really started tapping until after the three was called. Kanji offers her hand, but Evo spits in her face and the pair continue to brawl, which has to be split up by all the officials.

Simon Miller says that there are now two number one contenders for Progress Women’s title, and teases a triple threat match to settle it. He also announces that ECW Legend Masato Tanaka will be coming to Progress, for a show in March of next year.

Robbie X vs Jack Bandicoot

If I struggled before to get across how hard Jacobs and Inamura were hitting, I’m really going to struggle to tell you just how rapid Robbie X and Bandicoot were here. Opening highlights included Bandicoot’s over the ropes stunner and ‘skinning the cat’ style splash and his double bounce axe handle.

Robbie X used a handspring to knock Bandicoot from the apron to the floor and then as he slides back in, X hits a rope assisted stomp, for a two count.

They traded moves backwards and forwards. Robbie hits the forward flip off the top rope and a standing Pele kick and must have thought he had it won when he hits a huge spinning dive off the top rope but Bandicoot kicks out at two and three quarters.

Bandicoot responds with a Canadian destroyer but misses his subsequent dive off the top. Robbie X then hits an Xecution the clinch the victory. The pair shake hands after the match.

Charles Crowley vs Matthew Rehwoldt - The ‘most dramatic match in pro wrestling history’

So. I suspect that if you’re reading this, having not been to the show, this is what you’re here for. Rehwoldt put’s Crowley in a wrist lock, and he screams in agony. They reverse the move and Rehwoldt screams even louder.

Rehwoldt punches Crowley, who pauses for a moment and then does a full flip. They reverse again and Rehwoldt has an even bigger fall. They then both spend two full minutes screaming and falling without touching again.

To be clear “Dramatic” in the case of this match, doesn’t mean extraordinary or powerful, it means theatrical or even histrionic, if that’s even a word.

They start to grapple and then Rehwoldt’s inner monologue starts to come over the speakers. He talks about Crowley having bitten off more than he can handle today, but Crowley actually starts to take over here and hits a scoop slam for the first two count.

They trade punches back and forth and then realise that the punches aren’t as dramatic as the shouts that accompany them, so they just do those. They hit simultaneous clotheslines and are both down, then the lights start to dim as the ref begins the double count.

The big screen begins to fill with text talking about the possibility of the pair teaming up before announcing “NIGHTMARE BATTLE ROYALE SEQUENCE ACTIVATED”. The lights come back on, and the redshirted crew surround the ring.

They enter the ring and Crowley and Rehwoldt fight them off, throwing them over the top rope to the floor, this concludes with a double powerbomb on poor Tony Wright and then after a moment of victory both return to the floor.

“Six” counts the referee and the pair slowly make their way back to their feet. Rather than fight on, Rehwoldt decides that it’s time for him to sing and he does sing a “Crowley Day” song, which concludes with him attempting a low blow. But Crowley is ready and blocks it, then lifts him into a spinning slam and earns the pinfall victory.

I didn’t mention in that the top rope sprang loose as the redshirts entered the ring, and the battle royal dream sequence (not a sequence of words you think you’ll type very often) was a little hurt by everyone trying to exit the ring over the middle rope without getting hurt. All of the subsequent interval was spent fixing the ring.

Before the second half begins, Simon Miller announces that making his Progress debut and the first entrant in SSS16 will be Bryan Keith.

Leon Slater vs Francesco Akira

“T.N.A” chants for Leon, as his American deal is mentioned by Miller in his introduction, but there are also plenty of crowns up for The United Empires Francesco Akira in the crowd.

A number of quick go-behinds have Slater on the floor, he whips Akira’s legs out from under him but Akira is waiting for the splash that usually follows it and had his knees up. Akira also anticipates Slater diving over the top after him a few moments later, so walks from the middle of the ring to the corner.

He doesn’t account for the most spectacular move in Slater’s set though, and he dives over the corner post on top of him. Then slides him back into the ring and hits a frogsplash, though Akira kicks out at two.

Akira responds with cutter off the ropes and then a running knee for a big two count. Then there’s a bridging belly to back suplex for another two count. He hits a roll through stomp and a springing cutter for another two count.

Slater would clinch the victory though, dropping Akira with a big leg clothesline and then the spinning drop powerbomb. Excellent match that the crowd loved.

Lykos Gym (Kid Lykos, Kid Lykos II and Warren Banks) vs. Dominatus Regnum (Spike Trivet, Charlie Sterling and Bullit)

Spike Trivet physically dominates Lykos II in the outset, until he lets him start moving and his speed gets him back into it. Charlie Sterling and Kid Lykos have the same dynamic of power against speed too.

Bullit and Banks both tag in and they’re both about forearm chops and power moves until Banks hits a dropkick to Bullits knee. All three of Lykos Gym charge Bullit whose trapped in the corner, but Lykos II then comes off worse, from some underhand tactics from Trivet and Sterling and raw power of Bullit. They isolate and work him over for a large period of the match.

Later, Lykos has a sleeperhold on Bullit, which develops into a triple team and then a triple pin, which Bullit still manages to kick out of. Bullit tries to pick Lykos II up but, in an impressive show of his own strength, Lykos lifts Bullit onto his shoulders for the Death Valley Driver, just a two count is the outcome though.

Trivet has been biding his time and hits a running dropkick on Lykos, then a stomp and his neckbreaker finish for the victory. With their mask vs. title match upcoming Spike rubs his title belt in his beaten rivals’ face, whilst a furious Charlie Sterling continues to beat down Lykos II.

Shigehero Irie vs Ricky Knight Jnr - PROGRESS Atlas Championship Match

Back where we started now, with big old Englishman and a big old Japanese man hitting each other very hard. Irie gets the first big combo, with his slam and top rope bounce splash.

Knight responds by knocking him to the floor and diving out after him. Irie hits a suplex, but then misses a bonzai drop type splash. Knight hoists him onto his shoulder and then hits a Death Valley Driver into the corner. He follows this up with a rope assisted DDT and a delay suplex, both of which result in two counts.

With Knight sat on the apron, Irie hits dive through the ropes that has them both crashing to the floor. Irie recovers first and hits a Cactus special piledriver on the floor. Back in the ring, Knight comes off the ropes and Irie tries a cutter and, though he hits it, Knight lands awkwardly on him and they’re both down.

They alternate punch up together from the floor. Knight hits a belly-to-back and then his 450 splash but it’s just a two count. He looks to finish him but Irie reverses the move into a Canadian Destroyer and then hits the cannonball into the corner.

He climbs to the top rope, looking for a splash but Knight sees him coming and turns it into a cutter. He then completes the defence with the Musclebuster.

Despite the violence involved in the match, the pair shake hands at the conclusion.

Rhio vs Lana Austin - PROGRESS Women’s Championship Match

Rhio comes to the ring with both the Progress and the I.C.W title belts but during her introduction pose, Austin dropkicks her. They fight on the floor, with Austin throwing her through the hastily evacuated seating. In the ring, the bell finally rings and Lana has the mic for some Lanaoke.

She murders “Baby got back” before hitting Rhio with her own … err… “back”. A Russian leg sweep gets her the first two count.

Rhio responds with a thrust kick and then dives out of the ring onto Rob Drake and again onto Skye Smitson and LA Taylor. They react to this aggression by surrounding Rhio on all four sides, but Crowley and Alexxis Falcon come to ringside and start to fight with Drake.

The three of them fight to the back. LA Taylor and Smitson are torn on what to do, they’re already pretty ambivalent towards Drake’s involvement with The Lana Austin Experience and don’t want to leave her, but Austin is insistent that they go and help, which they agree to do.

Now alone, but still on top, Lana Austin applies a single leg crab, though Rhio gets to the ropes. She hits a spinning elbow and tries to apply a package piledriver, but Rhio fights free.

She hits a back heel kick and a neckbreaker, but Austin just kicks out of the pin. She can’t kick out of the package piledriver though and with nobody to save her, Austin loses her chance to regain the belt.

Smitson and Taylor come back to ringside, and look prepared to fight, but a distraught Austin calls them off and they walk, dejected, to the back allowing Rhio to bask in hometown glory.

Whilst the internet chatter has been dominated by the “dramatic” match, it’s overshadowing what was a great card filled with all varieties of quality matches. Personally, I think that wrestling is a broad art form and a cinematic match like we saw (which went down very well with the crowd in the room) doesn’t detract from the other matches on this card, let alone wrestling in general.

If it’s too much for you though, and another step away from the PROGRESS of old, then I can understand that opinion though. The fact I’m seriously considering a Thursday night show in London just to see Tanaka is testament to what the company is offering at the moment and I look forward to seeing where we go in 2024.

REVIEW: PROGRESS Wrestling - Chapter 159, Wonderbrawl

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