LEAHY'S INDEPENDENT WRESTLING DVD REVIEW SERIES
PROGRESS “Chapter One: In The Beginning”
March 25, 2012
Islington, London, U.K.
By Brian Leahy, PWTorch specialist

PROGRESS Strong-Style Pro Wrestling is an upstart U.K. promotion based in the London area. Looking to bring something different to the U.K. scene (mainly focus on in-ring, straight-up wrestling with predominantly U.K.-based talent), they ran their first show on March 25 to a packed house in a small London music venue “The Garage.”

The show kicked off with ring introductions for the first match in the PROGRESS Championship Tournament as fan favourite El Ligero took on the less-than-popular Noam Dar. While Ligero may have some level of international recognition, Dar is a relative unknown outside of the U.K., but both are equally capable between the ropes.

- The match was an ideal opener, with a clear face-heel divide (a theme which would be maintained in the majority of bouts throughout the night) and crisp technical and high-flying exchanges. In the early going, Dar concentrated on Ligero's leg, which came into play later in the bout, but generally the match was back-and-forth with little real psychology: Not that it mattered in the slightest to the standing-room-only crowd that lapped up the action. The finish came as El Ligero survived some repeated submission attempts and hit a springboard tornado DDT for a clean and popular win.

- In the second tournament match, Nathan Cruz took on the appropriately-named Colossus Kennedy. Cruz took the brunt of the crowd heat in this for his Zack Ryder-esque appearance. Kennedy showed surprising movement for a man of his size (billed at 6’ 6”, 350 lbs.), but still looked a small bit out of sorts here, while Cruz seems to have his act down to a tee. Having being dominated in the early going, Cruz grounded the big man with some work to the leg and having survived an hellacious lariat in the closing moments, used the earlier leg damage to good effect, taking the giant to his knees with a dropkick and landing a kick to the head for the finish.

- The third bout featured the only fly-in of the show, as well-traveled Colt “Boom Boom” Cabana took on “Loco” Mike Mason. Mason's gimmick is basically that he’s a few sandwiches short of a picnic, and has some canine tendencies, which Cabana used to good effect by distracting the Londoner with a game of fetch in the opening minutes. The match kicked off proper with Cabana displaying his usual combination of European wrestling and comedic shtick before coming off worse for wear from his own airplane spin. After “Loco” got in some sustained offense, they traded the advantage. When Colt looked to have the match won with the inverted crab, a well-timed distraction from Mason's valet allowed Mason to score the win following a loaded punch to Cabana's head.

- Tag Partners in “The Leaders of The New School,” Zach Sabre Jr. and Marty Scurll, clashed in the MOTN in the final championship qualifier. American fans may be familiar with Sabre, Jr. from his appearances with Chikara (King of Trios 2011) and CZW (Best of the Best X), or his tours with Pro Wrestling NOAH, while Marty Scurll is no lesser of an athlete, but probably more famous for his appearance on U.K. dating show “Take Me Out.” Regardless of your familiarity with either man, this was a scorcher.

The early catch-as-catch-can exchanges were a joy to behold, and once the mood changed from friendly rivalry to win-at-all-costs, it went up another notch. Highlights included some well-orchestrated strike exchanges, an awesome Dragon Suplex from Sabre, Jr. and a jaw-dropping Liger bomb that Scurll did well to kick out of. After 20 minutes of action, Scurll came out the better on a series of cradle attempts and scored the roll-up victory. This match provided the benchmark by which PROGRESS need to set themselves, and if they can produce a match even approaching the quality of this on every card, it’ll go a long way.

- Up next was, hands-down, the best “student” match I’ve ever seen, as Xander Cooper defended his BWC Scarlo Scholarship Title against Darrell Allen and Zach Gibson in a three-way bout. To say that this was a pleasant surprise would be an understatement, as the three youngsters put together a well-crafted bout complete with slick three-man spots. Unfortunately, the finish was sullied slightly as Allen overshot a 450 and seemed to legitimately injure himself. As he crawled over to take the pinfall, Cooper kicked him in the head and scored the win on Gibson to retain his title.

- Up last on the show was a Four-Way Elimination Championship match featuring the winners of the four earlier bouts. The opening ten minutes was predominantly spent on the floor, as all four men brawled around the area visiting all the landmarks and tourist attractions that The Garage had to offer (Bar, Ladies Room, etc). The action was fun, but got lost a little in translation to the DVD. Back in the ring, the match briefly followed a tag format which soon broke down, though all four never really appeared in-ring at the same time.

El Ligero was first to be eliminated by Cruz following a kick to the head. Mike Mason quickly followed him to the locker room as he was tripped by a disgruntled Ligero and rolled up by Scurll. Scurll and Cruz crafted a fine final ten minutes, bringing the already-hot crowd up another level as they put together a strong run of exchanges and nearfalls without over-doing it.

In the closing moments, Scurll scored a visual pinfall, which went uncounted due to a ref bump, and survived a low-blow/ace cutter which nearly raised the roof. A roll-up by Scurll resulted in a close-fall, but as he got to his feet, he was greeted by a boot to the head, which resulted in a three count for Nathan Cruz. Cruz closed the show celebrating with the PROGRESS Champions Staff.

Overall Thoughts

PROGRESS is a charming, boutique product. From their venue to their DVD “box” (stickered cardboard slip case, individually numbered) to the promotion's choice of Championship Trophy, it screams “underground,” and they certainly march to the beat of their own drum. While the production and lighting aren’t up to much, it’s easy to forgive them on their first attempt, and after an initial adjustment period it becomes less of an issue.

The PROGRESS crowd almost deserve a review of their own; sharp-witted, but not obnoxious, and more importantly engaged in the action, they brought the show up a notch and their likely retention will be key to the products success. Those outside the U.K. might need a guide to the various chants, though, as “Deep Fried Mars Bars” and ”2-1 Wigan” chants are probably not likely to feature on a U.S. independent show any time soon.

PROGRESS won’t be for everyone, namely those who are put off by products like ROH and EVOLVE for production reasons, but people who like their wrestling a little more gritty and would like to get in on the ground floor of a promotion trying their best to better the U.K./Euro wrestling scene have a chance to do so with PROGRESS Chapter One. (7.5)

PROGRESS Chapter One can be purchased from ProgressWrestling.com

Notable Match Star Ratings

El Ligero vs. Noam Dar ***
Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Marty Scurll ****1/4
Xander Cooper vs. Zack Gibson vs. Darrell Allen ***1/4
El Ligero vs. Nathan Cruz vs. Mike Mason vs. Marty Scurll ***3/4

***

Contact Brian via Twitter (@cobyhectic)

[Torch photo credit Wade Keller (c) PWTorch.com]

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