UK promotion UnPro Wrestling has released their first show ‘The Man Who Would be King’ for FREE online over the weekend.
The event took place back in August and featured some of the top up and coming names from the British Independent scene, including former PROGRESS World Champion ‘Pastor’ William Eaver, recent WWE Tryout attendee Jack Sexsmith, World of Sport and former PROGRESS Tag Team champion El Ligero and ‘Liverpool’s Number 1’ Zack Gibson.
You can check out the full card via the tweet below, let us know your thoughts on the show via the comments section.
WCPW has announced that UK star El Ligero will be facing Rey Mysterio at the ‘No Regrets’ iPPV taking place on April 29th. The show will be available to watch via the What Culture Extra Service.
El Ligero is one of the hardest working performers on the UK scene today. He is a mainstay in companies such as PROGRESS, IPW:UK, Southside and PCW. His showing as part of the New Years Eve World of Sport programme earned him a spot on the WOS roster and he looks set to have a big year with his ‘kid-friendly’ persona hitting the mark on mainstream UK television.
Other matches announced for the show are as follows:
Travis Banks vs Penta El Zero M
Alberto El Patron vs Joe Coffey
Internet Title Match – Cody Rhodes (c) vs Gabriel Kidd vs Joe Hendry
WCPW will be one of the many UK independent promotions making their way to Orlando this weekend as part of the non-WWE Wrestlemania weekend festivities. Their ‘State of Emergency’ card will be held at the Orlando Sports Center on Saturday April 1st and tickets are still available to purchase through Eventbrite. The current announced card for the event is as follows:
WCPW Title Match – Drew Galloway vs Rampage
BT Gunn vs Martin Kirby
Bobby Fish vs David Starr
El Ligero vs Ricochet
Primate vs Michael Elgin
The event will be available to view on the WhatCulture Extra service at a later date.
Here are the results from PROGRESS Wrestling’s latest Chapter event – Galvanize. The show took place at the O2 Ritz in Manchester in front of a sold out crowd:
PROGRESS Tag Team Championship Match – British Strong Style (Tyler Bate & Trent Seven) b. Travis Banks & TK Cooper – The WWE UK Division competitors Seven & Bate successfully retained their Tag Team Title Shields against the South Pacific Power Trip.
Zack Gibson b. El Ligero – Gibson took the win against his former Origin stablemate using his ‘Helter Skelter’ signature move. Nathan Cruz appeared during the match to distract Ligero leading to the finish.
James Drake b. Jack Sexsmith – Sexsmith continues to prove himself as a viable competitor in PROGRESS even with this loss against Drake. This is Drake’s second win in as many Chapter appearances and he looks set to make a big impact in PROGRESS this year.
Mark Andrews b. Will Ospreay – The Number 1 Contender to the PROGRESS Championship Mark Andrews continues his hot streak with a win over NJPW star Ospreay. After the match Jimmy Havoc appeared to beat down the Aerial Assassin Will Ospreay in an attempt to stop him interfering in the main event.
Ringkampf (Walter & Axel Dieter Jr) b. The Hunter Brothers – wXw heroes Ringkampf continue to prove their worth to the PROGRESS faithful with a win over the Hunter Brothers
Flash Morgan Webster b. Nathan Cruz – Morgan Webster picks up the win in his first singles appearance for the company since his long layoff with injury. Cruz has now lost two in a row at Chapter events and he took his anger out on ‘Flash’ after the bout.
Jinny b. Nixon Newell – Jinny defeated NXT bound Nixon Newell to advance to the final of the Natural Progression series, she looks set to win the tournament and become the first ever PROGRESS Women’s Champion.
PROGRESS Championship Match – Pete Dunne b. Jimmy Havoc – Dunne retained his championship in an incredible deathmatch that involved thumbtacks, tables, barbed wire and an interfering Will Ospreay. After the bout Ospreay laid out Havoc and screamed ‘THIS HAS TO END.’
WCPW will be hosting their latest live event on Monday 20th from the Bowlers Exhibition Centre in Manchester, England.
Dubbed ‘Bulletproof,’ the show is a Bullet Club themed event and several bouts have already been announced including:
WCPW Title Match: DREW GALLOWAY vs JOE COFFEY
ADAM COLE vs ZACK SABRE JR
Magnificent Seven Match: RICOCHET vs DOUG WILLIAMS vs MARTY SCURLL vs BT GUNN vs MARTIN KIRBY vs TRAVIS BANKS vs EL LIGERO
VIPER vs LANA AUSTIN
RAMPAGE vs DRAKE
GRADO vs PRINCE AMEEN
What Culture have now announced that the WCPW Tag Team Titles will be on the line in a very special 4-way bout. The Young Bucks, Swords of Essex, Prospect and the team of Matt Riddle & Liam Slater will be looking to prove they are the best team in What Culture Pro Wrestling.
The event will be available to view live via the What Culture Extra service at 7pm GMT (that’s 3pm Eastern and 12pm Pacific): whatculture.com/extra.
UK independent promotion What Culture Pro Wrestling (WCPW) announced back in January that they would be hosting the first ever ‘Pro Wrestling World Cup,’ an event that would take place over several qualifying stages over the coming months that would build up to the finals in August.
The first of the qualifying nights takes place on March 21st at the Harvey Hadden Sports Village in Nottingham, England and tickets are still available to purchase at Eventbrite.uk.
The brackets for the English Qualifying Round can be found below. The two eventual winners will then go on to compete at the finals in Newcastle, England this August.
Confirmed bracket for England qualifier in Pro Wrestling World Cup. Which two competitors will progress to the finals in August? pic.twitter.com/NxzTRV1dan
WCPW General Manager Adam Blampied has announced a new match for the ‘Bulletproof’ event taking place on March 20th in Manchester. The ‘Magnificent Seven’ match will see seven competitors battle it out in an elimination style bout where the eventual winner will receive a Championship bout at a time of his choosing.
The lineup for the first ever M7 match is as follows:
PROGRESS have announced the final matches for their Chapter 45 event: ‘Galvanize.’ The show takes place this Sunday at the O2 Ritz in Manchester and will be available on demand within the week.
Zack Gibson vs El Ligero
The ‘Origin’ stable continues to implode as ‘Liverpool’s Number 1’ Zack Gibson challenges El Ligero. After his impressive win against Nathan Cruz the ‘Lucha Otter’ El Ligero looks to re-establish himself in the PROGRESS singles scene and a win against one of the company’s most impressive talents (in Gibson) would certainly go a long way towards gaining an eventual PROGRESS title shot.
Two of the world’s premier high-flyers collide when NJPW star Will Ospreay takes on WWE UK Division competitor Mark Andrews. Ospreay has not stepped foot in a PROGRESS ring since his beatdown of Jimmy Havoc and reformation of the Swords of Essex with Paul Robinson so expect his reception in Manchester to be extremely hostile. Andrews has a PROGRESS championship match in his future after winning the Thunderb*stard match so this one could go either way.
Welsh independent promotion Attack! Pro Wrestling held an event this past weekend in honour of Kris Travis who passed away after losing his battle with stomach cancer last year.
The ‘Kris Travis Tag Team Invitational’ tournament featured some of the best tag competitors in the UK such as #CCK (Chris Brookes & Mondai Lykos), F.S.U (Mark Andrews & Eddie Dennis) & eventual winners Project Lucha (El Ligero & Martin Kirby).
Before the 2 day event Attack! announced that proceeds would be donated to the Cavendish Cancer Care charity. It was announced after the sold out shows that over £5000 was raised.
Attack! Pro Wrestling has one of the most rabid fan bases in the UK scene and it is certainly worth checking out their Vimeo On Demand service if you want to see some of the best technical (and fun!) wrestling that the UK has to offer: vimeo.com/attackprowrestling
PROGRESS have announced two more bouts for their upcoming Chapter 45 event: ‘Galvanise.’
‘Flash’ Morgan Webster made his in-ring return at Chapter 44 when he teamed with Mark Haskins and Jimmy Havoc against British Strong Style. Although his team took the win it was Havoc that secured the winning pinfall, therefore Webster missed out on a PROGRESS title shot. His opponent for Chapter 44 will be Nathan Cruz, who himself lost at Chapter 44 against his former Origin stable mate El Ligero.
There is a lot at stake in this bout, the uncertain future of WWE contracted talents such as PROGRESS Champion Pete Dunne, Mark Andrews, Trent Seven and WWE UK Champion Tyler Bate opens the door for the next batch of possible main eventers to shine and there is certainly an opportunity for both of these performers to move up to that next level if necessary.
— PROGRESS Wrestling (@ThisIs_Progress) March 1, 2017
The next announced match is a Semi-Final bout in the Natural Progression Series tournament. This is the first Women’s tournament in company history and the winner will be crowned the first ever PROGRESS Women’s Champion.
Crowd favourite Nixon Newell will be taking on ‘heat magnet’ Jinny. This is Jinny’s first Chapter match in quite some time and she is likely to be win the entire tournament, a win for Nixon would be considered a huge upset but as PROGRESS are looking to establish their official Women’s division surprises could be in store.
Here are the results from PROGRESS’ Chapter 44 event ‘Old Man Yells At Cloud.’ The show took place at a sold out Electric Ballroom in Camden, UK.
James Drake b. Damon Moser – This was a relatively shot match that saw WWE UK Tournament competitor James Drake won with the Mr Mayhem DDT. There are reports that Moser was injured during the bout thus the quick conclusion.
Dahlia Black (w/TK Cooper) b. Martina the Session Moth – This was a 1st round match in the Natural Progression Series to crown the first ever PROGRESS Women’s Champion as well as being Martina’s debut match for the company. Black took the win when TK Cooper interfered and cost Martina the bout
Travis Banks b. Jordan Devlin – Another PROGRESS debut here as WWE Tournament Competitor Jordan Devlin looked to beat tag team specialist Banks. Travis took the win after hitting a Buzzsaw Kick.
Pastor William Eaver b. Sebastian – Eaver took the win here after hitting the ‘Clothesline From Heaven’ in what was an extremely violent bout, definitely one worth watching on PROGRESS’ On Demand service.
Mark Andrews b. Shane Strickland – An absolutely fantastic match that saw Andrews win with the Shooting Star Press, after the match PROGRESS Co-Owner Jim Smallman asked Strickland to appear at the Orlando shows over Wrestlemania Weekend.
El Ligero b. Nathan Cruz – A hotly contested bout between two former Origin members saw Ligero take the win after reversing a Figure Four into an Inside Cradle. After the match Cruz removed Ligero’s mask.
Zack Gibson b. Jack Sexsmith – This match was all about Sexsmith proving himself as a viable championship contender for the company and it certainly felt like his ‘coming out party.’ Gibson hit the Helter Skelter for the pinfall win.
Jimmy Havoc, Mark Haskins & Morgan Webster b. British Strong Style (Pete Dunne, Trent Seven & Tyler Bate) – The stakes for this match were extremely high. If Havoc, Haskins or Webster got a pinfall or submission victory then they would receive a title shot, however if one of them took a pinfall, countout or submission loss then they would ineligible to ANY title shot for 6 months. Havoc ended up taking the victory and title shot following an Acid Rainmaker on PROGRESS Champion Pete Dunne.
PROGRESS have also announced more bouts for their Chapter 44 show: ‘Old Man Yells at Cloud.’ OTT star and WWE UK Championship tournament competitor Jordan Devlin will be making his company debut against UK Indie standout Travis Banks.
The other featured bouts currently announced are:
Mark Haskins, ‘Flash’ Morgan Webster & Jimmy Havoc vs British Strong Style
The WCPW Pro Wrestling World Cup looks set to be one of the biggest events of the year and the entire event will be available to watch for free via the WCPW Youtube channel.
There will be 8 nations represented in the tournament and the performers in the English, Scottish, Mexican and German qualifying rounds have been revealed:
England – March 21st in Nottingham, England
Rampage
Zack Sabre Jr
Marty Scurll
Will Ospreay
Martin Kirby
Zack Gibson
Jimmy Havoc
Nick ‘Magnus’ Aldis.
Scotland – March 23rd in Motherwell, Scotland
Drew Galloway
Joe Coffey
Lewis Girvan
Kenny Williams
Joe Hendry
Mark Coffey
BT Gunn
Liam Thomson
Mexico – April 30th in Coventry, England
Rey Mysterio Jr
Alberto El Patron
Caristico
Penta El 0m
Rey Fenix
El Hijo del Dos Caras
Drago,
El Ligero
Germany – July 2nd in Berlin, Germany
Bad Bones
Axel Dieter Jr
Juvenile X
Crazy Sexy Mike
Cash Money Erkan
Lucky Kid
Tarkan Aslan
Pascal Spalter
The US, Japanese, Canadian, and Rest of the World groups will be revealed at a later date.
It has been well documented that the UK independent wrestling scene is as hot now as it ever has been. New companies with top UK talents such as Lucha Forever, VII Pro Wrestling, Riot House Promotions and big money WCPW have been blossoming from the impact that top UK indies such as PROGRESS, ICW and Revolution Pro have had over the past few years.
With that another new company has emerged with their first event announced for the Hackney Showroom in London on August 20th. Known as Unprofessional Wrestling (@UnPro_Wrestling), they will be holding an 8-Man tournament to crown their first Champion and here are some of the bigger names that have been announced for the night:
‘Flash’ Morgan Webster – One of PROGRESS Wrestling’s most popular homegrown stars, Webster recently returned from an injury sustained against Zack Sabre Jr at the WWE Crusierweight Classic qualifying rounds back at PROGRESS Chapter 29.
El Ligero – Ligero is quite possibly the hardest working man in the UK scene today having fought in nearly 2,000 matches over his 15 year career. He recently featured on the ITV World of Sport reboot that aired in the UK on New Years Eve.
Pastor William Eaver – A product of the PROGRESS Wrestling School (known as the ProJo), Pastor William Eaver has become one of the most beloved figures in PROGRESS today. He is now starting to make a name for his himself across the UK and Europe and looks set to have a big impact in 2017.
Jack Sexsmith – Sexsmith is one of the most intriguing characters in wrestling today, having started as a comedy character in PROGRESS wrestling he has grown to be a huge crowd favourite that may possibly be in line for a world championship run at some point this year. Maybe he can be the top guy in UnPro?
Tickets for the event are still available to purchase through: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/unprofessional-wrestling-the-man-who-would-be-king-tickets-31464855229
FloSlam.Tv have announced that new UK promotion Lucha Forever will be joining their on demand roster. The debut event for the promotion takes place April 17th in Birmingham at a yet to be named venue.
For the past couple of weeks Lucha Forever have been slowly revealing more information regarding their live events and roster, some of the talents that you will be able to see live at their Birmingham and Cardiff events are:
Here are the results from PROGRESS Wrestling ‘Chapter 42: Life, The Universe & Wrestling‘ which took place at the O2 Academy in Birmingham, this was PROGRESS’ first ever show in the Midlands city.
Ringkampf (Axel Dieter Jr. & WALTER) b. The London Riots (James Davis & Rob Lynch) by Pinfall – wXw regulars Axel and Walter defeated the former PROGRESS tag team champs via pinfall
Jack Sexsmith b. Sebastian – Sexsmith defeated his longtime rival via pinfall
Jimmy Havoc b. Aleister Black (Tommy End) – Just hours before his official WWE debut Tommy End appeared in front of the PROGRESS crowd, he lost via pinfall to Havoc’s Acid Rainmaker
Natural Progression Series IV First Round Match – Alex Windsor b. Livvii Grace – Windsor won the match via pinfall to advance in the Natural Progression series to crown the first ever PROGRESS Women’s Champion.
The South Pacific Power Trip (TK Cooper & Travis Banks) b. The Origin (Dave Mastiff & El Ligero) – The ‘Banter Edition’ of the Origin lost to the SPPT via pinfall.
Spud b. Paul Robinson – TNA Star Rockstar Spud defeated Paul Robinson via pinfall, after the bout Robinson attacked Spud with a chair before being chased off by current rival Jimmy Havoc
PROGRESS Atlas Championship Match – Matt Riddle b. Rampage Brown – Riddle answered Rampage’s open challenge and won the bout to become only the second ATLAS champion in company history.
Here are the results from PROGRESS’ Chapter 40 show – ‘Intercepted Angel.’ The show was PROGRESS’ first event to be held in Sheffield:
The London Riots (James Davis & Rob Lynch) b. The New Nation (Alexander Henry & Jason Prime) – The Riots took the win after hitting the GBH and securing the pinfall
NATURAL PROGRESSION SERIES MATCH – Toni Storm b. Bea Priestley – Storm hit a top rope leg drop to take the pinfall victory and move on in the tournament to crown the first ever PROGRESS Women’s Champion
ATLAS CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH – Rampage Brown b. Dave Mastiff – Brown hit the Piledriver on ‘Banter Claus’ to retain his ATLAS title
Jimmy Havoc b. Marty Scurll – Havoc took the pinfall victory after hitting the Acid Rainmaker to become the Number 1 Contender to the PROGRESS Championship
F.S.U. (Eddie Dennis & Mark Andrews) b. The Origin (El Ligero & Nathan Cruz) – Eddie Dennis rolled up El Ligero for the win
Adam Cole b. Will Ospreay – In what was an incredible bout (and possibly Cole’s best of 2016) Adam Cole took the pinfall win following his third Last Shot
PROGRESS CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH – Pete Dunne b. Zack Sabre Jr – Dunne took the win following a Drop Dead Facebuster to retain his Championship
There’s a new promotion in the WrestleMania weekend indie show mix, and it’s a surprising one. WhatCulture Pro Wrestling, the new UK-based promotion, announced on Monday that it will be running a show in Orlando on the afternoon of April 1st.
That’s the day before WrestleMania 33, and if past years are any indication, WCPW will likely be running shows opposite WrestleCon, WWE Fan Axxess, Shimmer, possibly Evolve, and probably various local promotions. Announce so far are Joseph Conners, Joe Hendry, Martin Kirby, El Ligero, Grado, Primate, Drake and “Many more yet to be confirmed!” In other words, WCPW’s core wrestlers are committed but not any outside talent as of yet.
WCPW got a lot of attention for an internet pay-per-view a few weeks back that included very expensive fly-ins like Minoru Suzuki, Kurt Angle, Bret Hart as a surprise, and the commentary team of Jim Ross (during college football season, no less) and Jim Cornette (who never flies except for offers he can’t refuse). The response was mixed, in large part due to streaming issues on the WCPW side (FITE TV’s stream was unaffected).
Analysis: WrestleMania weekend is already a crowded space, to the point that this only makes sense if a lot oft he costs (staff flying in for WrestleMania weekend, the wrestlers working other shows and having promoters split the costs of flights, etc) are already taken care of in large part. Maybe this will have a unique appeal to the throng of British fans in town, but they also could decide they’d rather see different wrestling if they’re traveling abroad.
PROGRESS will be returning to the O2 Ritz in Manchester on Sunday 16th October for Chapter 37 – ‘A Sudden Sense of Liberty’ and the following matches have already been announced for the show:
PROGRESS Championship Number 1 Contenders Match – Pete Dunne (British Strong Style) vs Shane Strickland (Lucha Underground’s Killshot) vs Joe Coffey vs ‘The Villain’ Marty Scurll
The Canadian based SMASH Wrestling promotion will be hosting three supershows on September 16th/17th pitting their talent against the best of UK promotion PROGRESS. The cards for the three nights have been announced and will be as follows:
PROGRESS Vs SMASH “Uncensored” 9/16 in Toronto
Mark Haskins vs Maybach Beta
Mark Andrews vs Brent Banks
Jack Gallagher vs Evil Uno
Sebastian Suave vs Jewells Malone
Hardcore Match: The London Riots vs Façade & Space Monkey
Pete Dunne & Trent Seven b. Damian Dunne & Tyler Bate – Pete Dunne and Trent Seven took the win via submission
Nixon Newell b. Alex Windsor – Nixon took the win via pinfall
Jack Gallagher b. El Ligero, Eddie Dennis & Zack Gibson – Gallagher took the win via Submission. After the bell Dave Mastiff distracted Dennis and Gallagher allowing Zack Gibson to attack both men with a car stereo
Atlas Championship Tournament Semi-Final:Joe Coffey b. Dave Mastiff – Coffey took the win via pinfall to advance to the Atlas Championship final
Shane Strickland (Lucha Underground’s Killshot) b. Will Ospreay – Strickland took the win via pinfall. After the match Ospreay stated that his schedule no longer works for PROGRESS and that he would be taking a long hiatus
Mark Haskins b. Mikey Whiplash – Haskins’ Championship opportunity at Chapter 36 was on the line in this match and he took the win via Submission
Atlas Championship Tournament Semi-Final: Rampage Brown b. T-Bone – Rampage took the win via pinfall to advance to the Atlas Tournament final
PROGRESS Championship Match: Marty Scurll b. Mark Andrews – Scurll took the win via Submission to retain his title and move on to a 3 Way Dance at Chapter 36 in Brixton against Mark Haskins and Tommy End
UK based promotion Pro Wrestling CHAOS recently held an event headlined by Project Lucha Underground (Ligero, Kirby and Killshot) against the ‘Swords of Lightning’ (Andrews, Ospreay and Robinson) which received rave reviews from all those in attendance.
PWC have now released the match in it’s entirety and it is well worth a watch if you are a fan of high flying, lucha inspired wrestling. (PSA the commentary is on the video is quite loud).
Here are the results from Sunday’s Chapter 33 show:
Pete Dunne & Damian Dunne vs Moustache Mountain – this match ended in a double count out when Pete Dunne and Trent Seven both attacked their partners and left in a double turn
Jack Gallagher b. Zack Gibson – WWE Cruiserweight Classic competitor Jack Gallagher defeated ‘Liverpool’s Number 1’ Zack Gibson by submission
TK Cooper & Travis Banks b. “Bodyguy” Roy Johnson & Jack Sexsmith – The ‘wasteman challenge (essentially a rap battle) was accepted by Jack Sexsmith, however he mentioned TK and Travis who interrupted to turn this into a tag match that they then won
Mark Andrews b. El Ligero – Andrews defeated Ligero by pinfall in what is being described as an incredible match
PROGRESS Championship Number One Contender Match – Mark Haskins b. Will Ospreay – Haskins defeated Ospreay by submission to become the number contender to the PROGRESS Championship, he declared that he will be cashing in this opportunity at Chapter 36: We’re Gonna Need a Bigger Room Again at Brixton Academy
— PROGRESS Wrestling (@ThisIs_Progress) July 31, 2016
PROGRESS Tag Team ChampionshipMatch – The London Riots b. War Machine – The Riots won the match by pinfall to retain their Tag Team Shields
PROGRESS World Championship Match – “The Villain” Marty Scurll b. Pastor William Eaver – Scurll won the match when Sebastian distracted Eaver claiming he know a ‘secret’ about him, Scurll took the referee stoppage win to become the first 2-time PROGRESS Champion in the company’s history
PROGRESS have broke the news that Zack Sabre Jr, El Ligero, Mark Andrews and the London Riots will be a part of the co-branded shows with Smash Wrestling this September.
Former Smash Wrestling Champion Jonny Gargano appeared at PROGRESS Chapter 32: ‘5000-1’ and lost his title to Mark Haskins, so expect Mark to also be on one of the 3 shows taking place in Canada.