Undeniably, over the past few years, British Wrestling has experienced a renaissance thanks largely to promotions such as Progress, ICW, Rev Pro, PCW and Southside putting on consistently great shows up and down the country. The British renaissance translated into international recognition in August when Zack Sabre Jr, Drew Galloway, Will Ospreay, Marty Scurll, Mandrews and Tommy End (although Dutch) represented the UK scene at PWG BOLA 2015 and, from all accounts, stole the show.

With the ever growing demand for British promotions and performers alike, in this column I take a look at a different match each week that has helped British Wrestling re-establish itself as a global force.

This week, we take a look back at one of the best matches in Progress history from Chapter 13 featuring two of the very best in the world in their finest match together.

Zack Sabre Jr. vs Price Devitt

Progress Chapter 13

Available to Watch here

Match Starts at 01:33:33

The term dream match gets thrown around a lot in professional wrestling. This match, though, was the very definition of a dream match and helped gain Progress further international recognition. Both Zack Sabre Jr. and Prince Devitt, although born in England and Ireland respectively, learnt their trade in Japan: Zack Sabre Jr earnt his stripes in Pro Wrestling NOAH whereas Prince Devitt featured prominently in the NJPW, winning three IWGP Heavyweight Championships along the way.

Zack Sabre Jr, Progress fan favourite and, at the time, GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champion, was the first to arrive to a raucous ovation for a man who wrestled in the very first Chapter show.

Paying homage to Heath Ledger’s Joker, Prince Devitt, now known as Finn Balor, somehow arrived to an even more raucous ovation than Zack Sabre Jr. Wearing a purple trench coat, shirt, tie, face paint and green hair, the audience chanted this is awesome before Devitt even reached the ring.

A dropkick sent Zack Sabre Jr reeling into the corner immediately before Devitt delivered a double foot stomp from the top rope before shedding several layers of clothing. After sticking the joker card to Sabre Jr’s head, Devitt attempted an enziguiri but Sabre caught his foot before proceeding to begin work on Devitt’s arm in preparation for the arm bar.

Using the ropes for assistance, Sabre wrenched Devitt’s arm before playing a game of this little piggy with Devitt’s fingers. Devitt escaped briefly before Sabre continued to tie up his arm in various excruciatingly unimaginable ways. Following a desperate scramble to the ropes, Devitt managed to deliver a series of devastating chops but the damage had already been done to the arm.

An enziguiri by Sabre sent both men to the outside before Sabre delivered a thunderous penalty kick to the chest of Devitt that sounded more like a shotgun. After pausing for a brief refreshment courtesy of a fan, Sabre positioned Devitt on a chair in the crowd before Devitt fired back with a series of chops with the arm Sabre Jr had not been working on. Devitt, after locating a steel chair, drove a chair shot into Sabre’s ribs followed by a dropkick that sent Sabre five rows back in the crowd.

Back in the ring, Devitt followed a double foot stomp to the back with the bloody Sunday brainbuster for a near fall. Devitt and Sabre traded kicks and elbows before Sabre emerged victorious from the striking battle to deliver a half nelson suplex followed by a penalty kick for another near fall. Following the kick out, Sabre Jr wasted no time in attempting to apply the arm bar but Devitt succeeded in hooking his fingers together before reaching the ropes. Devitt landed a second bloody Sunday before Sabre bounced straight back to his feet before catching a forearm strike and reversing into the arm bar!

Somehow, Devitt reversed into a roll up- but Sabre still had the arm bar locked in before Devitt clawed his way to the ropes. A devastating clothesline turned Sabre in half before Devitt delivered a second double foot stomp to the chest- Sabre lulled him in and locked in the arm bar once again before Devitt broke free one last time to deliver the third bloody Sunday to pick up the victory in his penultimate match in Progress.

Every person in the Electric Ballroom stood to their feet to applaud the outstanding effort displayed by both Zack Sabre Jr and Prince Devitt. Chants of that was awesome echoed around the Ballroom as both men shook hands to conclude one of the finest matches in Progress history.

This wasn’t just a match between two of the best in Britain: it was a match between two of the best in the world and it delivered in every way imaginable. Arguably, these two men have got even better over the past year with Devitt defeating Kevin Owens for the NXT Championship in Japan and Zack Sabre Jr emerging victorious from the 2015 Battle of Los Angeles.

Prince Devitt, in his final Progress match, would go on to face Jimmy Havoc, Progress Champion of the time, at the Progress World Cup for the Championship before heading stateside to wrestle for the WWE.

Zack Sabre Jr’s success in this year’s BOLA signifies big things on the horizon for the man from The Isle of Sheppey. Incredible matches against the likes of Roderick Strong, Ricochet, Will Ospreay and Timothy Thatcher have allowed Zack Sabre Jr to build a serious case for the best technical wrestler in the world epithet that was only solidified by his BOLA performances.

That’s it for this week’s British wrestling match from the archives. Next week, we take a look at a classic match from PCW in 2012 featuring El Ligero and Akira Tozawa.