Jim Smallman Intro - Day 3: Legally Dead. Nothing new. Don't Be A Dick



"Bodyguy" Roy Johnson's Wasteman Challenge - He talks, but most importantly calls out whoever wants to answer the challenge. Out comes...



Wasteman Challenge Rap Battle

'Bodyguy' Roy Johnson vs David Starr vs Pastor William Eaver vs Flamita vs 'Flash' Morgan Webster vs Mark Andrews - Funny, but time consuming.

David Starr sings Fresh Prince from Bell Air's intro song. Johnson made him feel bad. Pastor failed. Webster had game. Mark Andrews with some low blow rhymes. Johnson tries to make face by calling out Flamita and his english speaking abilities. Flamita sings macarena, as a Mexican, god dammit Flamita, at least do some Control Machete. Suddenly, out came a chair-wielding Jimmy Fucking Havoc. Havoc pretty much says that he ain't having this shit in a PROGRESS ring, attacks everyone with a chair. Turns heel? not sure.



Wasteman Challenge 6-Man Scramble

'Bodyguy' Roy Johnson vs David Starr vs Pastor William Eaver vs Flamita vs 'Flash' Morgan Webster vs Mark Andrews - 6.5/10

Now, onto the match. Right before they started to wrestle, Sexsmith ran out, tried to pin everyone, failed at every attempt, and ran to the back at the idea of wrestling Johnson. Lot of comedy and action. Flamita won with the Spanish Fly on Starr.



SSS16 Semi Final Match

Zack Sabre Jr vs "Kiwi-Buzzsaw" Travis Banks - 8.5/10

I'm loving Sabre's new song. Worth noting that Sabre didn't technically wrestle yesterday while Banks had to go through Flamita. These guys called upon the spirits of the NOAH and Zero-1 dojos for this match. From the get go they started in act 2, going all Frye/Takayama on each other. Sabre worked the arm, Banks worked the head, but overall it was just a bunch of chops and slaps, the Shibata kind. Finish saw Banks reverse a triangle choke into a bunch of stomps and following with a Slice of Heave for the pin.



SSS16 Semi Final Match

Tyler Bate vs "The King of Bros" Matt Riddle - 9/10

Well, little Tyler Bate just defeated the Atlas Champion clean in the ring with no interference. Bate started the match by removing his boots and fighting barefoot. This match was a lot more grounded than the previous with Sabre. Riddle kept changing his focus from the arm to the leg to the neck, while Bate kept up with the leg. Match was back and forward, there were points when Riddle was playing around with Bate, mainly during the grapple parts. They kicked out of all their moves, but Bate surely looked better than Riddle since bro just has more signature moves. The finish saw Bate hit two Tyler Drivers on Riddle before the pin. Bate seriously needs to start selling his matches after the finish, he sells like Cena, like nothing just happened.



PROGRESS Women's Championship No 1 Contender's Match

Kay Lee Ray vs "The Feminist Icon" Katey Harvey - 7/10

New champ Toni Storm on commentary. Harvey with a new attire since the last one wasn't that popular with the fans, kinda feels like she should have kept it for the heat. Kay Lee Ray feels like a superstar tonight. Katey Harvey wrestled a good match, but i'm not sure if she got hurt or gassed out, but she did slow down a bit towards the end. Match was back and forward, tons of forearms and kicks, some submissions. At one point Katey Harvey brought our a sleeve for the heat after all, I take it her new finisher will be some kind of Bullhammer, but since since she hasn't wrestled in the main show since her Winter Soldier fiasco, we don't know and we couldn't see tonight either. Harvey is definitely my favorite PROGRESS 'rookie'.



Submission Match

Trent Seven vs Mark Haskins - 6.5/10

In all his seriousness, Trent Seven is hilarious, he even made Haskins crack a smile. Havoc is on the commentary table. Haskins dominated most of the match, at one point they brawled to the top of the ramp where Seven hit Havoc with a chair. Haskins and Seven made it back to the ring, but Havoc went and tried to attack Seven, but accidentally knocked out Haskins. Seven locked a sharpshooter, but since Haskins was already out, ref called it submission by pass out.



Post-match - Havoc takes out Seven, helps Haskins to the back.



PROGRESS Championship Match

"Mr. Athletic" Jeff Cobb vs "Bruiserweight" Pete Dunne (C) - 7/10

Shortish match between a powerhouse and a man that knows how to hurt people. Both guys just kinda got their shit in and went for the finish. Great wrestling nonetheless.



SSS16 Finals Match

"Kiwi-Buzzsaw" Travis Banks vs Tyler Bate - 9.5/10

Just a fucking awesome match. They both played to their strengths and they are surprisingly more alike than I had thought. This match had it all, striking, submission, power moves, dives, fighting spirit, everything. The crowd was 98% behind Travis, that even if Bates is planned to win, surely there was no better time to have an audible.



Midway through the match there was two ref bumps, both cases with Banks getting clean pins. In the second, Seven and Dunn came out and attacked Banks, so naturally, out came CCK to fight them. Lance Storm mentioned this not long ago with the Veterans of War over at Impact, when someone comes out for 'the save', don't stand in the ramp and pose, just run! CCK came out and did their unmasking pose before running to the ring, it looks cool and all, but sometimes, you really just need to run. What I did like about this was that since it happened mid-match, it didn't directly affect the finish, since both guys still went and did another 10-15 minutes after that.



Finish saw Bate preparing to hit him with a Tyler Driver from the top rope, Banks drops him down with a Small Package Driver instead, Bate kicks out, but Banks transitions into the crossface for the submission win! AND THE SUPER STRONG STYLE 16 WINNER! TRAVIS FUCKING BANKS!!



Post-match - Banks says that he wants the main event at the Alexandria Palace (biggest venue to date). He's got it!



Show goes off the air with chants of "Thank You PROGRESS" and "What a Fucking Weekend NA NA NANA".



OVERALL THOUGHTS

I fucking love PROGRESS!