PROGRESS has announced that WWE United Kingdom Champion Pete Dunne will be part of their upcoming Super Strong Style 16 tournament. The event takes place May 5th, 6th and 7th and will emanate from Alexandra Palace in London, England.
Super Strong Style 16 is widely regarded as the premiere tournament in British wrestling, it is also the time of year that PROGRESS opt to use ‘import’ talent from PWG, EVOLVE and several other promotions from across the world. Former winners of the prestigious tournament include Travis Banks, NXT’s Aleister Black and NJPW’s Will Ospreay.
Tickets for the three day event can be purchased via SeeTickets.com now. SEScoops will be there live at the event and we will be bringing you exclusive coverage so stay tuned.
Revolution Pro Wrestling has announced that IWGP Intercontinental Champion and one half of their British Tag Team Champions Minoru Suzuki will be heading to Wrestlecon on April 6th as part of their Wrestlemania weekend event.
Suzuki has made several appearances for the British company over the past year due to Rev Pro’s ongoing business relationship with New Japan Pro Wrestling. Minoru is a legend on the Japanese scene and now he is starting to make more appearances in the UK and United States, the most notable his in ring debut for Ring of Honor last year.
Brand new IWGP Intercontinental Champion & one half of the Undisputed British Tag Team Champions MINORU SUZUKI is coming to New Orleans! Friday April 6th, 4pm https://t.co/E5FLimjU90 for tickets pic.twitter.com/fWSbsNZA1L
UK promotion 5 Star Wrestling has announced the full card for their first taping on the FreeSports channel. The company has issued the following press release for the event emanating from Liverpool’s Echo Arena on February 1st:
When we created the 5 Star Wrestling brand, we set ourselves some extremely ambitious targets. We wanted to work with the biggest and best stars from around the world, to put on huge events in front of the largest possible audiences and above all else, we wanted to finally bring LIVE wrestling to prime-time UK television.
It is with great pride that we announce a MULTI-YEAR DEAL to broadcast all future 5 Star Wrestling events LIVE on British TV, 7pm-10pm every Thursday night, starting February 1st LIVE from the Liverpool Echo Arena.
This is set to be a truly historic night featuring the 5 Star debut of the iconic Rob Van Dam!
FreeSports is a brand new channel here in the UK that can be found for FREE on FreeView, Sky, FreeSat, BT, TalkTalk TV and very soon on Virgin Media, making 5 Star Wrestling programming available in over 22 million homes across the country.
For those who aren’t in on Thursday nights, every episode of 5 Star Wrestling will repeat multiple times per week on FreeSports and we’ll be making them available via various catchup services as well as right here on our Facebook page and over on our YouTube channel.
The full announced card is as follows:
5 Star Championship Match – Rob Van Dam vs John Morrison (c)
Tap or Snap Championship Match: Submission Elimination Match – Mark Haskins vs BT Gunn vs Nathan Cruz vs Joey Axl vs Flash Morgan Webster
The Legendary Rey Mysterio vs Liverpool’s No.1 Zack Gibson
Eddie Ryan vs Jake Hager (WWE’s Jack Swagger)
5 STAR TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP TOURNAMENT – SEMI FINAL
Carlito & Chris Masters vs Adam Maxted & Charlie Sterling
5 STAR TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP TOURNAMENT – SEMI FINAL
El Ligero & Jody Fleisch vs Big Grizzly & Dave Mastiff
Moose vs Rampage Brown
Jack Jester vs ‘The Primate’ Jason Prime
Brian Cage vs The Darewolf PJ Black
***FULL MATCH CARD ANNOUNCED***
CO-MAIN EVENT For The 5 Star Championship Rob Van Dam vs John Morrison… https://t.co/U23gweHkxH
DEFIANT Wrestling has released their seventh weekly programme for free on their YouTube channel. The ongoing series features some of the very best talent from the UK scene and beyond and this week’s show is no different.
This episode features an outstanding main event between Zack Sabre Jr and Mike Bailey for the DEFIANT Internet Title as well as Millie Mckenzie and Xia Brookside facing off to decide the new #1 contender to Kay Lee Ray’s Defiant Women’s Title.
UK Promotion Fight Club: Pro has announced that Night 3 of their Dream Tag Team Invitational Tournament will be held at the iconic Birmingham NEC Arena. This is the biggest event that the company has held and another major indication that the UK wrestling boom is not going away anytime soon.
Nights 1 and 2 of the Tournament are scheduled to be held in Wolverhampton and Manchester respectively and the currently announced teams for the tag team extravaganza are as follows:
The Chosen Bros (Matt Riddle & Jeff Cobb)
Best Friends (Chuck Taylor & Trent Beretta)
The Lucha Brothers (Penta El Zero M & Rey Fenix)
Aussie Open (MArk Davis & Kyle Fletcher)
Moustache Mountain (Trent Seven & Tyler Bate)
Tickets for the events are available to purchase via the tweet below:
PROGRESS Wrestling has announced that they will be heading to Australia on a three date tour this April.
The highly rated UK promotion has been building their portfolio of events outside of British shores with shows taking place in the United States, Main Europe and beyond over the past year and now they are set to invade one of the hottest wrestling territories in the world.
The company will be co-hosting the events with local Australian independent promotions EPW, PWA and Melbourne City Wrestling, the dates scheduled can be seen below:
Stephanie McMahon has just announced that she will be joining the commentary booth for the Women’s Royal Rumble match this Sunday.
The WWE’s Chief Brand Officer officially revealed the 30 Women over the top match on RAW weeks ago and now she will be on hand to call the action in this historic match.
Several legends from WWE’s past have been linked with appearances in the match, including Trish Stratus, Lita and Michelle McCool. Former UFC fighter Ronda Rousey has also been rumored for a Rumble appearance.
Pro Wrestling: EVE and XWA UK will be presenting their co-branded ‘Equal Fights’ show on February 17th from the Resistance Gallery in Bethnal Green, London. The card for the event has now been announced and it includes some absolutely ludicrous matches that have never been seen anywhere else on the planet.
Highlights include:
Former TNA X Division Champion and British Icon Doug Williams taking on the Ace of EVE/SHE-1 Winner Charlie Morgan
Millie McKenzie and Jimmy Havoc colliding to see who could be considered the most dangerous wrestler in the UK
Former EVE Champion Rhia O’Reilly facing XWA Champion Cara Noir for the Title
The full card stacks up as follows:
Kosta K v Rocky Mac – Word of Sport Rules
Kaitlin Diemond v Nina Samuels
Jawsolyn v The Mysterious Pirate!
Rhia O’Reilly v Cara Noir – XWA Championship Match
Charlie Morgan v Doug Williams
Millie McKenzie v Jimmy Havoc
This looks set to be one of the most intriguing events on UK shores this year and it should be available to view shortly after February 17th via EVE on Demand.
Lucha Underground star Jeff Cobb has been pulled from wXw’s upcoming 16 Carat Gold tournament in Oberhausen, Germany. The event takes place on March 9th-11th and this will clash with Lucha Underground’s television tapings, where of course Cobb will reprising his role as Matanza Cueto.
Replacing Cobb will be EVOLVE and PROGRESS star Keith Lee. The man that asks you to “Bask In His Glory” blazed through the independent scene last year and now he is part of arguably the biggest tournament in Europe outside of PROGRESS’ Super Strong Style 16.
With WWE’s Royal Rumble event taking place this Sunday it is safe to assume that there will be appearances from superstars outside of the Smackdown Live and RAW rosters in both the men’s and women’s Rumble matches.
Aside from NXT, the WWE UK division had three of the most likely candidates to make a surprise appearance this Sunday; WWE UK Champion Pete Dunne, Tyler Bate and Trent Seven. The three men are collectively known as British Strong Style on the independent scene and are the three most recognised stars on the United Kingdom brand.
It looks as though Trent Seven will definitely NOT be making his way to the 30 man match this Sunday, he has been booked by PROGRESS at their Chapter 62 event ‘Fear No More, Come To Dust’ in a three way match against Chris Brookes and Zack Sabre Jr.
Interestingly, WWE UK Champion Pete Dunne and former champion Tyler Bate, two of PROGRESS’ biggest stars, are not booked for Chapter 62 …
Revolution Pro Wrestling held their annual ‘High Stakes’ event last night from the historic York Hall in Bethnal Green, London. The show saw some of the top stars from WWE’s United Kingdom division as well as New Japan Pro Wrestling’s star studded roster collide, check out the full results below:
RPW British Cruiserweight Championship Match – Kurtis Chapman (c) b. Rob Lias
#CCK (Chris Brookes & Travis Banks) b. Josh Bodom & Zack Gibson by submission
Adam Brooks b. Ryan Smile
IWGP Tag Team Champions Los Ingobernnables de Japon (EVIL & SANADA) b. Aussie Open (Mark Davis & Kyle Fletcher)
RPW Women’s Championship Match – Jinny (c) b. Bea Priestley & Millie McKenzie
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Will Ospreay b. Mark Andrews
RPW British Tag Team Championship Match – RPW British Heavyweight Champion, Zack Sabre Jr & Minoru Suzuki (Suzuki-Gun) b. Champions, Moustache Mountain (Trent Seven & Tyler Bate) – Japanese wresting legend Suzuki and ZSJ are now the British Tag Team champions.
New Japan Pro Wrestling has released the schedule for NJPWWorld.com in February and the following shows will be available to view with English Language commentary:
Road To New Beginning 2/5
Road To New Beginning 2/6
New Beginning in Osaka 2/10
Honor Rising 2/23
Honor Rising 2/24
The New Beginning show on February 10th will be headlined by IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada taking on SANADA and the Honor Rising events are NJPW and Ring of Honor’s annual joint branded shows.
Although now confirmed, it is highly likely that both Kevin Kelly and Don Callis will be on hand for these events.
#njpwworld live stream schedule for February. Both big Korakuen road to New Beginning shows, plus Osaka and the two Honor arising cards get English commentary #njnbg#njrohpic.twitter.com/hVIb0C3v23
Having finally confirmed the arrival of Lucha Underground, PWG and New Japan star Ricochet to the NXT brand WWE has released a photo gallery showcasing some of the bouts that the high flying veteran had from his time in Pro Wrestling Guerrilla.
WWE mentions that Eddie Guerrero, The Rock and Rey Mysterio are the stars in-ring inspirations and highlights that he is only ever two-time winner of the Battle of Los Angeles trophy.
As we mentioned in an earlier article the company are using Ricochet’s real name Trevor Mann in all of their promotional material so it remains to be seen if he will be going under that name in NXT or if they will assign a new character for the independent legend.
Mae Young Classic competitor and PROGRESS Women’s Champion Toni Storm has been crowned the wXw Women’s Champion. Storm has been heavily rumored with a move to WWE over the past few months yet she appears to be capturing independent titles across the globe, whether she will be making her way over to the United States in the near future remains to be seen.
wXw has also confirmed that international standout WALTER will be facing EVOLVE star Matt Riddle at their upcoming AMBITION tournament on March 10th, AMBITION is a unique tournament with a fight based rule set, WWE superstar and Smackdown Live General Manager Daniel Bryan actually won the first ever iteration of the event.
DEFIANT Wrestling has released the sixth instalment of their ongoing web series and it is available to watch below.
The show was headlined by IPW:UK’s Mark Haskins and DEFIANT’s Martin Kirby, this bout continued the ongoing invasion angle between the two rival companies. If Haskins won then IPW would take control of the show until the upcoming Chain Reaction PPV, if Kirby won then he would get a title shot against DEFIANT Champion Austin Aries.
Other matches on this stacked show include:
Primate and Jimmy Havoc vs Aussie Open
Joe Coffey vs The Prestige in a 2-on-1 Handicap Match
Gracie’s Open Challenge
Next week will see two more massive bouts when NJPW and Suzuki-Gun stable member Zack Sabre Jr takes on Mike Bailey and Millie McKenzie takes on Mia Brookside.
All Women’s UK promotion Pro Wrestling: EVE has announced the main event for their upcoming event ‘Kick ‘Em In The Stereotypes’ which takes place Saturday February 10th from the Resistance Gallery in Bethnal Green, London.
Mae Young Classic competitor Kay Lee Ray will be teaming with one of the most dangerous women in UK wrestling Millie McKenzie to take on SHE-1 winner Charlie Morgan and the PROGRESS Women’s Champion and longtime rumored potential WWE signee Toni Storm.
Storm and McKenzie had a phenomenal match at EVE’s last event ‘Not Made To Be Subtle’ and now they look to continue their rivalry as the company builds to their ‘Wrestle Queendom’ event in May.
WWE United Kingdom Champion Pete Dunne and IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Will Ospreay collided as part of IPW:UK’s ‘Magnificent Zeven’ event that took place last night.
This was the first time that a WWE Champion had faced an IWGP Champion in a match since Hulk Hogan faced Antonio Inoki at New Japan’s IWGP Championship League in 1983.
Both men have taken to Twitter to comment on their historic bout that has been an absolutely massive success for IPW:UK, a company that has slowly been building their credibility as one of the best the UK has to offer since being taken over by the Fight Nation owners in 2017.
Check out the WWE UK and IWGP Junior champ’s reactions below:
IWGP Jr. champion vs WWE UK champion happened tonight in Milton Keynes in a venue with a max capacity of 170 people. What a bizarre time to be a wrestling fan pic.twitter.com/mQfuUhWuqV
— ‘The Bruiserweight’ Pete Dunne (@PeteDunneYxB) January 17, 2018
Former WCW and WWE Universal Champion Bill Goldberg has reportedly held talks with New Japan Pro Wrestling which would see him appear for the company at some of the company’s ‘bigger’ events.
The Wrestling Observer confirmed that the talks would likely not evolve into anything at this stage, Goldberg has been revealed as the top billed Hall of Fame inductee this year and that would involve a short term deal with WWE, however with NJPW looking to establish themselves on American soil there is still a chance that he could be brought in, even if it is for a non wrestling role.
In case you weren’t aware, New Japan Pro Wrestling is going down under next month for the first time ever. The New Japan Fallout Down Under tour invades the following cities next month:
Friday 16th February – ADELAIDE, Titanium Arena
Saturday 17th February – MELBOURNE, Festival Hall
Sunday 18th February – SYDNEY, Quay Centre
Monday 19th February – PERTH, HBF Stadium
The Wrestling Observer have confirmed that tickets for the tour have been selling extremely well, several stops are already close to sell outs and NJPW are said to be “pleasantly surprised” with the response to New Japan hitting Australia in February.
The company recently announced that Kenny Omega would be part of the 4 shows and this has had a massively positive effect on sales, this all of course bodes extremely well for NJPW as they look to extend their international profile.
WWE United Kingdom Champion Pete Dunne will be defending his title against a Non-WWE contracted performer in February…
‘Liverpool’s Number 1’ Zack Gibson will be getting a shot at the coveted title at FutureShock Wrestling’s FutureShock Underground 25 event on February 17th. This is not the first time that Dunne has defended against a star outside of the WWE UK umbrella, he defended against BT Gunn in a 4-way match at an ICW event last year.
For those who don’t know Zack Gibson, he is one of the UK’s top stars and is featured on PROGRESS, Rev Pro and now 5 Star Wrestling.
As per the amendment email from WWE.
On February 17th at Underground 25 The Bruiserweight Pete Dunne will face Liverpool's Number One Zack Gibson…
WWE, WCW and Lucha Underground legend Rey Mysterio is just one of the many stars announced for the upcoming 5 Star Wrestling tour in the United Kingdom. The company has now released a hype promo featuring Mysterio and you can check this out via the tweet below.
Other names announced for the upcoming arena tour are Jack Swagger, Rob Van Dam, John Morrison, Zack Gibson and Eddie Ryan
5 Star Wrestling will be available to watch in the UK as of February 1st via the following channels:
Freeview: Channel 95
Sky: Channel 424
Freesat: 252
TalkTalk TV: Channel 95
BT TV: Channel 95
The legendary Rey Mysterio will lead the 5 Star Wrestling roster on a tour of the UK starting in 2 weeks!
PROGRESS will be heading back to the Electric Ballroom in Camden, England for Chapter 62 – ‘Fear No More, Come to Dust’ on January 28th. The company has now announced two title matches for the event and they are two of the most intriguing within the UK scene right now.
PROGRESS World Champion Travis Banks will be defending his title against the returning TK Cooper. TK and Travis are stable mates in the South Pacific Power Trip and previously teared through the PROGRESS Tag Team ranks. Banks defended his title successfully against his OTHER stablemate in CCK (Chris Brookes) at Chapter 61 and chances are he will retain here.
The PROGRESS Women’s Title will be on the line when Champion Toni Storm will be taking on Jinny. The Australian Storm has been heavily linked with a move to WWE and chances are she will be heading to the United States sooner rather than later…on top of that Jinny is one of the best heels in the industry, male or female, and deserves a run with PROGRESS’ top prize.
In case you missed it, former New Japan Pro Wrestling talents Ricochet and War Machine have joined WWE.
Ricochet (who portrayed Prince Puma in Lucha Underground) is regarded as one of the pioneers of the high flying juniors style, particularly in the United States with his performances for PWG seeing him achieve a cult hero status. One of Ricochet’s greatest opponents is IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Will Ospreay who recently tweeted a heartfelt message to the man he regards as a mentor in the industry:
Japanese wrestling legend Satoshi Kojima also took to Twitter to offer his congratulations, but instead to the now former ROH/NJPW tag team stars War Machine, you can check out the tweet below.
Revolution Pro will be hosting their annual ‘High Stakes’ event this Saturday and they have amassed what could be one of the best cards on the British independent scene in 2018…
Several Champions from New Japan, stars of WWE UK and PROGRESS will be making their way to York Hall in Bethnal Green. The final bouts have now been announced and the card stacks up as follows:
Adam Brooks vs. Ryan Smile
Aussie Open (Kyle Fletcher & Mark Davis) vs. EVIL & SANADA
RevPro British Women’s Title Three Way Match – Jinny (c) vs. Bea Priestley vs. Millie McKenzie
Mark Andrews vs. Will Ospreay
RevPro British Tag Team Title Match – Moustache Mountain (Trent Seven & Tyler Bate) (c) vs. Suzuki-gun (Minoru Suzuki & Zack Sabre Jr.)
The show will be available to view on Rev Pro’s On Demand service shortly after the event.
New Japan will heading out for their ‘New Beginning’ tour on January 27th, their last stop on the tour will be February 10th in Osaka’s Edion Arena and the event has now officially sold out 26 days in advance. This is NJPW’s fifth sellout of the Edion Arean in as many years and is the quickest sellout to date.
The card for the event is absolutely stacked and will be headlined by an IWGP World Heavyweight Championship match between Kazuchika Okada and Los Ingobernables stable member SANADA. The card will also see the absolute dream IWGP Junior Heavyweight title bout between Will Ospreay and Hiromu Takahashi.
The full card for the event is as follows and the show will be available to view on NJPWWorld.com
Katsuya Kitamura vs. Yuji Nagata
Roppongi 3K (SHO and YOH) vs. El Desperado and Yoshinobu Kanemaru
“Switchblade” Jay White, Tomohiro Ishii, and Toru Yano vs. David Finlay, Juice Robinson, and Michael Elgin
Minoru Suzuki, Taichi, TAKA Michinoku, and Takashi Iizuka vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi, KUSHIDA, Ryusuke Taguchi, and Togi Makabe
BUSHI vs. Gedo
Tetsuya Naito vs. YOSHI-HASHI
Hiromu Takahashi vs. Will Ospreay (c) (IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship)
EVIL vs. Hirooki Goto (c) (NEVER Openweight Championship)
Kazuchika Okada (c) vs. SANADA (IWGP Heavyweight Championship)