Progress Chapter 76 - Hello Wembley

Wembley Arena 
30th September 2018 

Pre-show Battle Royal 

Cards on the table early here, this was only my second ever Progress live event and I have only been watching since around April this year, combine this with my seating position (I was also late buying my ticket before biting the bullet and travelling solo) meant that a lot of the early parts of this match were hard to follow with a full ring. After a relatively quick match with some fun spots it came down to a last four of TK Cooper, Spike Trivet, Chuck Mambo and Chris Ridgeway. Ridgeway was the first of the four to exit which I was surprised by, Cooper and Mambo brawled on the apron but Trivet failed to eliminate them before TK was finally knocked to the floor. Spike thought he had the match won but Chuck skinned the cat and threw Trivet out for the win. I would have personally preferred Trivet to win this but as an opener to heat the crowd up Mambo was the right choice.

Matt Riddle def Mark Haskins 

This is Matt Riddle's final independent match before going to WWE/NXT and the crowd gave him a hero's welcome. After some good back and forth wrestling Ridlde hit a jumping Gotch style tombstone but only got a 2 count, there was a spot when Riddle was stood on the top turnbuckle and ring-post where he lost balance but Haskins managed to hold him up and execute a superplex. The crowd seemed to turn slightly in Haskins favour towards the end of the match and he was able to hit a package driver for the win. Riddle soaked up the applause after the match and left, I was glad to see him doing the honours on his way out and Haskins getting a clean win with no help from Vicky on the outside. ★★★★1/4

Jinny def Toni Storm and Millie Mckenzie

Millie was definitely the fans choice to win this match and she got a great reaction. Each woman took turns out of the ring early but there was plenty of action with all three and each got a chance to shine. Laura Di Matteo and Candyfloss came to ringside to counter the interference from the House of Couture, Millie hit some nice deadlift German suplexes on Jinny before another to both Jinny and Toni. Toni took Millie out of the match with an apron piledriver before hitting Jinny with another in the middle of the ring. The House of Couture entered and it looked as if Di Matteo an Candyfloss were in to even the numbers until Di Matteo hit Candyfloss and put Toni down with a rainmaker for Jinny to score the win.  There was a bit too much interference for me even in a no DQ match and a dropkick to the corner from Jinny looked like it missed by a mile from my seat. ★★★1/4
After the match Jordynne Grace came to the ring and cleared out the House of Couture while Jinny and Laura Di Matteo escaped.

Atlas Championship Match 
Trent Seven def Doug Williams 

The added stipulation that Williams would retire if he lost gave this match a huge feeling of importance. After some early grappling Trent did his usual missed crossbody dive for a laugh from the crowd but worked the majority of the match more seriously than he sometimes does. Doug went to the top and connected with a flying forearm before Trent caught him with a piledriver for a two. Doug hit a rolling German suplex and a piledriver of his own for another two before Trent hit a sloppy looking Burning Hammer. Doug recovered with another rolling German but when he tried a third Trent blocked it and caught Doug with a crossbody for a surprising pin. The crowd were stunned after this and i have to say I wasn't keen on the finish of the match to end Williams' career, although most people expected the result the manner of the finish was disappointing. ★★★

Jimmy Havoc def Paul Robinson in a No Disqualification Match

Havoc came to the ring in white jeans and white bodypaint for a great visual, he hit an acid rainmaker at the bell but didn't try to pin Robinson. Jimmy had trouble throwing some chairs into the ring which drew ironic cheers from the fans but there was no shortage of weapons as an ironing board, a door, a barbed wire baseball bat, drawing pins, light tubes and a staple gun were all used at one point or another. I have to say I have had enough of Havoc bringing an axe to the ring when it is clearly never ever going to be used, there was the perfect opportunity with the door in this match but instead Robinson was driven through it in the corner so maybe just leave the axe in the back in the future.
Both men were bleeding heavily by the time the light tubes were brought out but it was flowing even more after Jimmy took a bump from the top rope onto a couple of them, the sound as the glass exploded under his back echoing around the arena. Two chairs were set up with a bridge of light tubes between them which Robinson attempted to curb stomp Jimmy's head through but Havoc escaped, countered and put Robinsons head there instead. The first curb stomp didn't connect properly as it looked like Paul's head missed them but the second worked and Havoc was able to hit the Acid Rainmaker for the win with both men leaving as bloody messes. ★★★ 3/4

Tag Team World Title Thunderbastard Match 
Aussie Open def Grizzled Young Veterans, Sexy Starr, Flamita and Bandito, Thatcher and Brookes, Anti-Fun Police, Mills and Mayhew and the 198. 

The Champions, Bandito and Flamita, start the match with Sexy Starr to be joined by another team every two minutes. This is the first time there has been a Thunderbastard Tag Team match and I can see why as it was impossible to fit this many men in a coherent match. Even when there were 5 teams alive in the match there was rarely more than 4 men in the ring at once which meant a lot of people laying around at ringside.
The first two teams worked a short comedy section and things didn't really pick up until Aussie Open came in and the crowd fired up behind them. The Anti-Fun Police were in next followed by the Grizzled Young Veterans who came in through the crowd with Gibson cutting a promo along the way to a massive reaction from the fans before eliminating Mills and Mayhew immediately. The heat Gibson gets is almost too good as the majority of the crowd in my section seemed to miss the second elimination as they were chanting 'Shoes off if you hate Gibson" and didn't notice Sexsmith being pinned by the 198. Santos found himself alone in the ring and delivered a huge dive to a group of men on the outside which was followed by Bandito executing a top rope Spanish Fly slam to the group on Deputy Dunne.
The last three teams left in were the Vets, the 198 and Aussie Open, I was hoping for a 198 win but they were next out due to Webster being pinned by Aussie Open at which point I thought the Vets were favourites to regain the titles despite the crowd being firmly behind the men from down under. Drake hit a 450 from the top rope for a near fall but Fletcher kicked out and the Australians were able to hit their finisher on Drake for the win to a great reaction. The last 10 minutes of the match were great but it felt like there were a few too many quick eliminations after having too many bodies in the match at once early on. ★★★

Pete Dunne def Ilja Dragunov 

I had been looking forward to this match immensely but after hearing rumours of Dunne carrying a leg injury and the fact we were only an hour away from the advertised finishing time with three matches still to go I was slightly concerned. Christian Michael Jakobi came out to work heel on the crowd before introducing Dragunov. The match started with Dunne working on Dragunov's hands and wrist early on and the Russian flying around like a madman. Dunne countered a second rope senton attempt into an armlock but it didn't look the smoothest transition. Dragunov hit a flurry of chops and strikes but Dunne was able to hit a Bitter End which was only good for a two count but lead to Dunne losing control slightly and stomping on Dragunov's head. The two men exchanged headbutts in the middle of the ring until Dragunov attempted a chop only for Dunne to bite his hand. Jakobi hit Dunne with his UK Championship belt at one point but the Bruiserweight kicked out of a coast to coast dropkick at two, Dragunov attempted a second but Dunne caught him with a tombstone for a two count of his own. The crowd were getting slightly behind Dragunov as he hit his Torpedo Moskow but as he attempted a second one Dunne caught him in a triangle which he turned into an armlock for the submission win. This was a better match than I thought it would be at the start and I would love to see Dragunov in Progress more often going forward ★★★★

TLC Match for a Progress Title Shot
Eddie Dennis def Mark Andrews 

This was the match I was looking forward to the most after Eddie's phenomenal promo at Chapter 75 ("you used professional wrestling to get that shitty band over" and "after September 30th you better hope that fucking band makes it") I was surprised a title shot was at stake but I suppose there has to be something at the top of the ladder. After brawling in the entrance ramp a table was set up at ringside and both men entered the ring with ladders. Andrews tried to put Eddie through the table but it didn't break, Eddie tried to powerbomb Andrews through the same table but it still wouldn't crack, after a third unsuccessful attempt the crowd were more focused on the table than the match so Dennis abandoned it and moved onto a huge ladder from under the ring. In the ring Andrews attempted a Canadian Destroyer from the top onto a table but yet again it would not break and both men bounced off. Eddie put Andrews down and climbed to the top of the ladder but chose not to grab the contract so he could inflict more punishment on his former best friend. People around me were chanting for the tables at this point and when Andrews hit a spectacular somersault dive from the top of a huge ladder onto Eddie, who was on yet another table that refused to yield, the focus was no longer on the two men nearly killing themselves for our entertainment.  Back in the ring and both men were atop a 12 or 15 foot high ladder when Eddie launched himself and Andrews off driving his opponent through one final table before claiming the title shot contract.  I felt so bad for these two men after the match as it could have been spectacular but all anyone was reacting to was the tables not breaking.
Effort from the wrestlers ★★★★★ Match rating ★★★1/2

Progress World Championship Match 
Walter def Tyler Bate 

This was now way after the advertised finishing time and people were starting to leave but the atmosphere was still electric for this main event. Walter got duelling live Violinists for his entrance which really added to the big match feel and Tyler had huge support from the fans as the match got underway and there was a huge cheer when Tyler slammed Walter early in the match to establish his freakish strength. Walter used his size advantage to wear the smaller man down and when Bate tried a flying attack from the second turnbuckle Walter caught him with a chop to the back. It never fails to shock me how loud Walter's chops sound in person and every one he caught Tyler with was sold well. The match was worked at a slow but not boring pace with Walter controlling the pace well and Tyler occasionally landing a power move like an aeroplane spin or an amazing deadweight German suplex but the Austrian was always able to land a big strike and kill any momentum the challenger could build. Towards the end of the match Walter hit a splash from the top turnbuckle but only got a two count and Bate managed to get the champion up for a Tyler Driver 97 and a near fall which the full crowd seemed to bite on as the finish, after a brief sleeper hold by Walter he picked Bate up for a piledriver and the three count. ★★★★1/2