This past weekend saw the return of PROGRESS’ biggest annual tournament. The Super Strong Style 16 is a 3 day event that sees some of the top independent talent in the world face off to determine the number one contender to the PROGRESS World Championship.
The likes of Tyler Bate, Jeff Cobb, Matt Riddle, Zack Sabre Jr., Mark Andrews, Trent Seven and Jimmy Havoc were all part of this year’s iteration, however it was PROGRESS fan favourite Travis Banks who eventually won the 16 man extravaganza.
Banks defeated former WWE UK Champion Tyler Bate in the final to earn a shot at the PROGRESS World Champion Pete Dunne. The venue for their bout has not yet been announced however it is likely to be at the Alexandra Palace in September.
Travis Banks recently took part in a WWE tryout at the O2 arena in London. He is one of the top performers on the UK independent circuit and has been touted by many to have a breakout year. He is already the Fight Club: Pro champion and he looks set to dethrone Pete Dunne later on this year for the PROGRESS World Championship.
You don't understand the journey people like us have taken to get opportunities like this. Love you @Travis_BanksPW! Congratulations! ???? pic.twitter.com/3GB7dcy96k
PROGRESS has announced the final names for this year’s Super Strong Style 16 tournament. The tournament is held annually and is one of the few times that PROGRESS heavily features ‘imported’ performers from the United States, Japan and beyond. One of the biggest announcements is that PROGRESS Atlas Champion Matt Riddle will be entering the tournament.
— PROGRESS Wrestling (@ThisIs_Progress) May 15, 2017
The winner of the tournament becomes the number 1 contender to the PROGRESS Championship, likely getting their title shot at the September Super Show against Pete Dunne. The SSS16 takes place this year on May 27th, 28th and 29th.
The full field for the tournament is now as follows:
Matt Riddle
Jeff Cobb
Mark Andrews
Mark Haskins
WWE UK Champion Tyler Bate
EVOLVE Champion and NJPW star Zack Sabre Jr
Zack Gibson
Dragon Gate’s Flamita
Jimmy Havoc
Lucha Underground’s Jeff Cobb
Jack Sexsmith
Pastor William Eaver
Travis Banks
WWE UK Star Trent Seven
Nathan Cruz
‘Flash’ Morgan Webster
Never seen a PROGRESS show before? Check out their on demand service for only $7.49 per month and get access to every Chapter show, Freedom’s Road taping and select PPV events from Canada’s SMASH Promotion.
PROGRESS’s latest Chapter show ‘Bang the Drum’ took place today at Manchester’s O2 Ritz venue. The show featured a debut appearance from one of the UK’s most in demand teams and confirmed more contestants in the Super Strong Style 16 tournament. Here are the results:
‘Flash’ Morgan Webster b. James Drake – Webster hit a variation of the Destino to confirm his place in the Super Strong Style 16 tournament. This is James Drake’s first loss in a PROGRESS ring.
Jinny b. ‘Session Moth’ Martina – Jinny hit Martina with an X-Factor in the corner, Martina had a supermarket bag over her head.
Chuck Mambo & Pastor William Eaver b. The London Riots – In somewhat of an upset the ‘Sweet Jesus’ team took the win following a Crucifix Bomb from the Pastor.
Trent Seven b. Travis Banks – WWE UK Star Seven took the win following a rollup with a handful of tights. Travis Banks is becoming a big star in PROGRESS and is one of the favourites to win the Super Strong Style 16 tournament.
Nathan Cruz b. Rockstar Spud – This was the free live stream match for the afternoon and Cruz took the win following a Facebuster. Cruz has now been entered into the Super Strong Style 16 tournament.
Matt Riddle b. Tyler Bate – The PROGRESS Atlas Champion Riddle took the win via DQ after Trent Seven interfered on Tyler Bate’s behalf.
PROGRESS Title Match:Pete Dunne (c) b. Mark Andrews & Mark Haskins – Dunne hit a Pedigree on Mark Andrews to retain his PROGRESS title. After the match he took the microphone and claimed that there was no one left for British Strong Style to defeat. This lead to #CCK (Chris Brookes & Kid Lykos) making their PROGRESS debuts to thunderous applause.
PROGRESS has announced another huge match for their next Chapter event show (Chapter 48). The PROGRESS Atlas Champion Matt Riddle will be taking on the current reigning WWE UK Champion Tyler Bate.
It has been noted that PROGRESS are still allowed use of WWE contracted stars on their streaming service, Tyler Bate himself has been unable to appear on iPPV events for other big UK companies such as Rev Pro, Fight Club: Pro and Attack!
It has also been long rumoured that Matt Riddle is one of the performers on the independent scene that WWE has been keeping tabs on. The former UFC star has been running rampant on the PROGRESS Atlas division (affectionally known as the BIG LADS division in PROGRESS) and the challenge of the smaller/faster Bate is certainly an exciting prospect.
Ireland based promotion Over The Top (OTT) Wrestling have announced that their biggest show of the year Scrappermania III will be shown live via the FloSlam streaming service.
FloSlam announced the following in a press release:
“The event takes place from National Stadium in Dublin and has been sold out since soon after it was announced. The main event is a massive clash between the Bullet Club team of The Young Bucks and Kenny Omega taking on Will Ospreay, Ricochet and Ryan Smile.
In addition to the massive main event featuring arguably the best wrestler in the world (Omega), best tag team in the world (Young Bucks) and two best high-flyers in the world (Ospreay & Ricochet), other major stars including NJPW’s Jay White and Grado have already been announced for the event.”
If you have never had the opportunity to check out an OTT event then check out the free match below between Matt Riddle & Marty Scrull for a taster of what is on offer from Ireland’s biggest independent promotion:
Over The Top (OTT) Wrestling has released Matt Riddle vs Marty Scurll for free on their YouTube channel. The match took place at ‘Martina’s Gaff Party’ in the Tivoli Theatre in Dublin, Ireland.
Both Riddle and Scurll are two of the best performers on the Independent circuit both in Europe and the United States.
Since making the transition from Mixed Martial Arts Matt Riddle has been blazing a trail through companies such as EVOLVE, PROGRESS and Rev Pro which has made him one of the hottest draws on the indie scene today. ‘The Villain’ Marty Scurll had a breakout year in 2016 where he joined Ring of Honor and has recently won their coveted Television Title.
If you’ve never checked out an OTT event or have never experienced a British/Irish crowd, then this is a good place to start.
Irish promotion Over The Top (OTT) have announced the first match for their Sonic The Hedgehog inspired ‘Marble Zone Act 1’ event that takes place on May 6.
PROGRESS/EVOLVE & Former UFC star Matt Riddle will be taking on the former ROH World Champion Kyle O’Reilly in a match that is sure to have a healthy amount of MMA influence.
If you’re in Ireland then tickets for this event are selling out quickly but can be purchased through Eventbrite.
Here are the results from PWG’s latest event Nice Boys (Don’t Play Rock N’ Roll) from the world famous American Legion Post 335 in Reseda, California:
Brian Cage b. Keith Lee & Sami Callihan – Cage won the bout after hitting a Falcon Arrow on Keith Lee
Chosen Bros (Jeff Cobb and Matt Riddle) b. Jake and Dave Crist – Riddle took the win for his team after making Crist tap out to the Bromission
Lio Rush b. Trevor Lee – Rush won the match with a small package counter
Shane Strickland b. Dezmond Xavier – Strickland won the match after hitting a Cuerno Killer
Best Friends (Chuck Taylor & Trent?) b. PWG World Champion Zack Sabre Jr. and Marty Scurll – Trent? Won the match for his team after hitting Sabre Jr with a Cradle Piledriver. After the match Sabre and Scurll powerbombed Chuck into chairs
PWG Tag Team Title Match – Rey Fenix and Penta El Zero M b. The Young Bucks and Ricochet & Matt Sydal – Fenix and Penta are the new PWG Tag Team Champions after hitting a Cradle Piledriver in to a Destroyer on Ricochet.
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.
PROGRESS will be making their way to the Orlando Live Events Center on March 31st as part of the WWNLive Experience 2017. As well as the planned PROGRESS vs EVOLVE super card the promotion will be hosting their own branded show at 12pm EST which will be available on iPPV: wwnlive.com/product/progress-wrestling-presents-progress-orlando-ippv-live-viewing-video-demand/
The full roster for PROGRESS’ first ever show in America has now been revealed:
PROGRESS Champion – Pete Dunne
Trent Seven
Zack Sabre Jr
PROGRESS Atlas Champion – Matt Riddle
Tyler Bate
Mark Andrews
Shane Strickland
Mark Haskins
South Pacific Power Trip (TK Cooper, Travis Banks and Dahlia Black
Toni Storm
Jinny
James Drake
Sami Callihan
Rockstar Spud
Jimmy Havoc
Tickets for the event are still available to purchase via morethanmania.com and if you’re in Orlando for Wrestlemania weekend then definitely try and make it to this event, you will not be disappointed.
The 16 Carat Gold weekender is arguably one of the biggest in Independent wrestling and this year’s iteration certainly delivered on the lofty expectations of the wXw fans.
The three day event featured some of the best that the European, US and Japan scenes have to offer and here are the results over the three days:
Irish based promotion Over The Top (OTT) Wrestling have announced the details of the first event after their biggest show of the year ‘Scrappermania.’
Sonic the Hedgehog inspired ‘Marble Zone Act 1’ will feature the OTT Champions Ryan Smile, ‘The Villain’ Marty Scurll, Matt Riddle, Jordan Devlin, Sha Samuels & ‘Session Moth’ Martina.
The event takes place on May 6th at the Tivoli in Dublin, Ireland and tickets are available to purchase via Eventbrite now: www.eventbrite.ie/e/over-the-top-wrestling-presents-marble-zone-act-1-tickets-32568129151
WCPW have announced that their Bullet Club themed March 20th event ‘Bulletproof’ will now be moving to a larger room in the Bowlers Exhibition Centre, Manchester. The venue change has prompted the company to release more tickets for sale in what promises to be a star-studded event. Tickets can be purchased through Eventbrite now: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/wcpw-manchester-march-20th-live-wrestling-tickets-31029100876.
The announced performers and matches for the event are as follows:
WCPW World Title Match – DREW GALLOWAY vs TBC
Ring of Honor World Title Match – ADAM COLE vs ZACK SABRE JR
WCPW Women’s Title Match – BEA PRIESTLEY vs TBC
WCPW Internet Title Match – CODY RHODES vs TBC
WCPW Tag Team Title Match – SWORDS OF ESSEX (Will Ospreay/Scott Wainwright) vs TBC
Streaming service FloSlam has been acquiring the rights to broadcast multiple independent events across the globe since the company’s inception last year. FloSlam have now announced that the prestigious wXw 16 Carat Gold tournament will be the latest high profile event to shown on the service. Here is the official announcement from FloSlam:
The biggest event of the year in wXw is the 16 Carat Gold tournament. This year, fans will be able to watch all the action on FloSlam just one week after the event goes down in Germany. The annual tournament features many of the biggest names in the independent wrestling world competing over three days.
Your FloSlam subscription gets you access to all three streams, as well as replays of the events. Signing up gets you access to the events plus every other live event on our calendar AND our ever-expanding library of past pro wrestling cards.
The first round matchups include:
Bad Bones vs. Paul London
Da Mack vs. Cody Rhodes
David Starr vs. Walter
Donovan Dijak vs. Matt Riddle
Ilja Dragunov vs. Robert Dreissker
JT Dunn vs. Marius Al-Ani
Koji Kanemoto vs. Timothy Thatcher
Mike Bailey vs. ACH
On night two, Axel Dieter Jr. will putt the wXw Unified World Wrestling Championship on the line against Jurn Simmons while night three will feature Alpha Kevin vs. Marius Van Beethoven in a No Ropes Match.
Discussion: Are you a FloSlam subscriber? Will you be watching wXw on the service when it airs? Let us know.
The annual wXw 16 Carat Gold Tournament has become one of the most prestigious events in today’s Independent wrestling scene and some of the biggest perfumers in the industry have won the 16 man competition. Former winners include Chris Hero, El Generico, Tommy End, Zack Sabre Jr and Sami Callihan.
This year’s iteration begins on March 10th in Oberhausen, Germany. The full event will be available to view in full on wXw’s on demand: www.wxw-wrestling.com/pages/media/wxwnow.php
wXw have now announced the first round matches for the 3 day event and they are:
IPW:UK have announced the details of their April 30th show set to take place at the Clapham Grand in South West London. Headlining this event will be UK fan favourite and renowned Deathmatch competitor Jimmy Havoc taking on the ECW original and Hardcore icon Tommy Dreamer.
IPW have also announced that Pete Dunne, Joey Ryan, The London Riots and Matt Riddle will be competing on what looks set to be a memorable show for the UK scene this year.
Tickets for the event are available to purchase through the IPW:UK site: www.ipwuk.com/events/2017/04/30/extreme-measures-2017
When it was announced that Chris Hero had re-signed with WWE and would be returning to NXT it created a chasm across the Independent wrestling scene, both in the United States and Europe.
After his original departure from WWE back in 2013, Hero toured the world performing for numerous promotions big and small and establishing himself as quite possibly the best independent wrestler on the planet. What is truly astonishing is the quality and variety of matches that Chris Hero had in 2016; from his bouts in UK based Revolution Pro against Tomohiro Ishii and Katsuyori Shibata, his show stealing PROGRESS bouts against Mark Andrews and Marty Scurll, his PWG tag bout alongside Tommy End against Fenix & Pentagon Jr through to his EVOLVE matches with Dick Togo, Timothy Thatcher, Zack Sabre Jr……and Matt Riddle.
One of Hero’s biggest draws was that he seemed just as happy performing in front of thousands of fans as he did in front of a smaller crowd, eager to help as many promotions as possible gain traction and build their fan base.
Before I started writing this I saw a tweet from a very small UK based promotion stating that Matt Riddle would be performing for them in April against Josh Bodom, himself an up and coming star on the UK scene. Counter this with Riddle’s other matches so far in 2017 in the UK for the likes of Rev Pro and PROGRESS and you can see why I drew the comparison to Hero, he appears to be working for independents big and small.
Now, Riddle has only been wrestling for around 3 years and while he is not quite at the caliber of a Chris Hero just yet, he certainly has all of the tools to get there. Ever since his departure from UFC Riddle has taken to Pro Wrestling at an astonishing rate, earning him comparisons to the likes of Kurt Angle and Brock Lesnar. His natural charisma and ability to read is what established him as a star in EVOLVE.
Riddle’s temperament seems to be the same as Hero’s, he wants to work for as many companies as possible, get as much experience as he can and build his brand globally. As I mentioned before the hole that Chris Hero left in the Independent scene was substantial. Indie companies desperately need a performer that can come in and elevate both your company and the stars on your roster Matt Riddle looks set to be the man to fill those boots with his willingness to work in diverse matches against a litany of different opponents.
PROGRESS Atlas Champion Matt Riddle has been announced for the PROGRESS ‘Freedom’s Road’ tapings on March 6th/7th. This will be the second bout of tapings for the company’s new concept that launched last month as an alternative to their previous ENDVR shows.
Although traditionally PROGRESS tend to focus heavily on UK based talents Riddle has been a revelation since debuting at Chapter 39 ‘The Graps of Wrath’ against Will Ospreay. He followed this up by answering Rampage Brown’s open challenge for the ATLAS title and won the bout to become the 2nd ATLAS Champion in PROGRESS history.
Here are the results from Revolution Pro Wrestling’s first York Hall show of the year. The promotion has been growing rapidly in popularity over the past year and with this absolutely stacked card that trend looks set to continue:
RPW Interim British Cruiserweight Championship Match:Josh Bodom b. Ryan Smile – Bodom took the win via pinfall to become the Interim Crusierweight Champion. The Interim title has been introduced as current champion Will Ospreay is tied up with New Japan & Ring of Honor commitments
RPW Undisputed British Tag Team Championship Match: Joel Redman & Charlie Sterling b. War Machine – Redman and Sterling took the win to retain their titles after hitting a spinning tombstone on Rowe
YOSHI-HASHI b. Pete Dunne – YOSHI-HASHI took the win after hitting the Karma
Zack Sabre Jr. b. Marty Scurll – Sabre took the win after avoiding a Crossface Chickenwing attempt and rolling Scurll up for the three count
Trent Seven b. Trevor Lee – Seven took the win after hitting his second Snap Piledriver of the match to take the pinfall
Jay White b. Martin Stone – NJPW Young Lion Jay White took the upset win after making Stone tap with a Boston Crab
RPW Undisputed British Heavyweight Championship Match: Katsuyori Shibata b. Matt Riddle – In what was easily the MOTN Shibata retained his title using a rear naked choke. Shibata will now defend his belt against Will Ospreay at the NJPW New Beginning show in February
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 is the final card for this weekend’s High Stakes event presented by Revolution Pro Wrestling. Tickets are still available for the event and if you are able to make it to York Hall in Bethnal Green, London then it is certainly worth the trip:
British Heavyweight Championship Match – Katsuyori Shibata vs Matt Riddle
If Shibata wins then he will defend the Championship at NJPW’s New Beginning event in February against Will Ospreay
– Marty Scurll vs Zack Sabre Jr
– YOSHI-HASHI vs Pete Dunne
– Trevor Lee vs Trent Seven
– Martin Stone vs Jay White
British Tag Team Championship Match – War Machine vs Redman and Sterling
Here are the results from this past weekend’s EVOLVE 75 event:
Jeff Cobb b. Fred Yehi – Cobb took the pinfall win after hitting the Tour of the Islands
Jaka & Chris Dickinson b. Darby Allin & Peter Kaasa – Jaka and Dickinson took the win via pinfall
Ethan Page b. Dick Togo – Page took the pinfall win in a hard hitting bout with the legend Togo
Chris Hero b. DUSTIN – Hero gained the pinfall victory after hitting a Gotch Piledriver
Matt Riddle b. Ricochet – Riddle locked in the Bro Mission to make Ricochet tap and secure the victory
Tracy Williams b. Drew Gulak – Williams took the submission win with a Crossface, after the bout Gulak officially declared that he will be leaving the company
Here are the results from EVOLVE 74, the show took place in New York City’s La Boom venue:
Drew Gulak defeated Jaka via the submission (Dragon Sleeper).
DUSTIN b. Chris Dickinson via pinfall.
Brian Cage defeated Darby Allen via countout when Cage threw Allen out into the crowd.
Cody Rhodes beat Ethan via pitfall after hitting his Crossrhodes finisher.
Jeff Cobb defeated Matt Riddle. After the match, Stokely Hathaway invited Cobb to be a part of the Dream Team but Cobb refused, rather opting for a shot at the Evolve Championship instead which is held by Timothy Thatcher.
EVOLVE Tag Team Champions Catch Point (Fred Yehi & Tracy Williams) defeated Peter Kaasa & Ricochet via crossface submission.
Dick Togo def. Chris Hero by pinfall with the diving senton.
The final two EVOLVE shows of 2016 will taking place this weekend. Both shows will be available to watch on the FloSlam.tv network and the cards are as follows:
EVOLVE 74
EVOLVE Tag Team Championship Match
Catch Point of Tracy Williams & Fred Yehi (c) vs. Ricochet & Peter Kaasa
Special Challenge Match
Cody vs. Ethan Page w/ The Gatekeepers
Special Attraction Match
Chris Hero vs. Dick Togo
Matt Riddle vs. Jeff Cobb
Drew Gulak vs. Jaka
Darby Allin vs. Brian Cage
DUSTIN vs. Chris Dickinson