Jump to content

Progress Wrestling

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Cleslie92 (talk | contribs) at 16:41, 27 January 2018 (Reverting vandalism). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

PROGRESS
AcronymPROGRESS
Founded2011
StyleProfessional wrestling
Sports entertainment
HeadquartersLondon, United Kingdom
Founder(s)Jim Smallman
Jon Briley
WebsiteProgressWrestling.com

PROGRESS is a global professional wrestling promotion that was established in 2011 by comedian Jim Smallman and events and comedy promoter Jon Briley, later to be joined in management of the company by actor Glen Robinson (professionally known as Glen Joseph.

History

The company was conceived by Jim Smallman and Jon Briley in 2011, who were both massive wrestling fans. Smallman is a big fan of "strong-style" wrestling, Japanese in particular, and Briley was Smallman's agent.[1] The pair decided to put on a wrestling show in London, as not many shows were being put on in the capital itself, featuring the type of wrestling that they would both like to watch. The pair then spent seven months putting their first show together. Smallman is also a huge fan of punk music, and the pair decided to emphasize the fact that it would be a London-based promotion with a punk rock vibe. They also were keen not to be import-heavy, like other promotions, but to promote British talent. The pair eventually settled on The Garage in Islington for the venue, because of the size and also having a great reputation as a music venue. The Garage were also very supportive of what Smallman and Briley wanted to do, and the pair ran their first show on 25 March 2012.

After eleven consecutive sell out shows at the Garage, with the later shows drawing 350 fans, the promotion moved to the 700-capacity Electric Ballroom in Camden from Chapter 12 in March 2014 for their second anniversary show where the sell outs have continued. To date, Progress has sold out all London Chapter shows at The Garage and Electric Ballroom. For Chapter 36 in September 2016, Progress staged their largest ticketed show at the Brixton Academy, to an audience of 2,400 and announced that they would return the following September. Though they have run most of their shows in London, in 2014 Progress held three shows at The Satellite Stage at the Sonisphere Festival, and in 2015 they appeared for five nights at Download Festival.[2] In December 2015, they began running regular shows at The Ritz in Manchester.[3] In 2017, Progress will begin to promote shows in Birmingham.

The promotion have been reluctant to use imports (wrestlers for which the UK is not their home or one of their homes). Colt Cabana was the first wrestler to be included on a show as part of the debut show, Chapter 1, in a losing effort to Loco Mike Mason. Ricochet has appeared twice for the promotion, losing to El Ligero at Chapter 6 and in a triple threat with Mark Haskins and Zack Sabre Jr. at Chapter 11. Adam Cole was the first non-European wrestler to register a win in Progress, defeating Mark Haskins at Chapter 10. Prince Devitt also appeared twice for the promotion, defeating Zack Sabre Jr. at Chapter 13 and losing to Jimmy Havoc at the Progress World Cup, his final match in the UK before signing with the WWE. Other talents that have appeared include Samoa Joe, Roderick Strong and Tommaso Ciampa; though Ciampa has established himself as a Progress regular with seven Chapter show appearances.

In 2016 the company began working with other promotions. At Chapter 29 on 24 April in London, Progress hosted two qualifying matches for the WWE Cruiserweight Classic.[4]

International expansion

In June 2016, the Canada-based SMASH Wrestling had its title defended at a Progress show, ahead of three co-promoted shows between the two in Ontario in September.

January 2017 saw Progress promoting a show for Germany-based wXw in London, with wXw helping with Progress' début German show in Cologne in July.

2017's Wrestlemania Weekend saw Progress travel to the United States for a number of shows; including their own Orlando show, a joint show with WWNLive, and contributing talent - including ring announcer Jim Smallman - to WWE's Wrestlemania Axxess events. Progress returned to the States in August for two shows - one in New York City and one just outside of Boston - as well as announcing they would be running two shows as part of Wrestlemania Weekend 2018 in New Orleans.

Demand Progress

In March 2015[5] Progress launched Demand Progress, their own video-on-demand service. Demand Progress was launched with several Chapter shows - as well as two ENDVR shows - available to watch. In time the service would grow to include every Chapter held by the promotion as well as nearly every ENDVR show, the Progress World Cup and other events; such as the previously-unreleased Download and Sonisphere Festival match cards.

January 2017 saw the first episode of Freedom's Road[6], a new series from Progress which would feature matches taped specifically for the show and have a heavy focus on characters and plots.

Events

Main article: List of Progress Wrestling events

Championships

PROGRESS Championship

PROGRESS Championship
Details
Date established25 March 2012
Current champion(s)Travis Banks
Date won10 September 2017
Other name(s)
Progress Championship
Statistics
First champion(s)Nathan Cruz
Most reignsMarty Scurll (2 reigns)
Longest reignJimmy Havoc (609 days)
Shortest reignMark Andrews (<1 days)
Heaviest championRampage Brown (233 lb (106 kg))
Lightest championMark Andrews (159 lb (72 kg))

Unlike conventional wrestling championships which are generally represented by a championship belt, the Progress championship was initially represented by a large staff with an eagle head piece. At Chapter 16, the staff was replaced by a more traditional title belt. The title has been defended in the United States at the WrestleCon Supershow in Dallas, Texas, and subsequently defended in Italy on 30 April 2016[7] and Ireland on 16 July 2016.[8]

As of 12 October 2024.

Reign The reign number for the specific champion listed
Location The city in which the title was won
Event The event promoted by the respective promotion in which the title was won
+ Indicates the current reign is changing daily
No. Champion Reign Date Days held Location Event Notes Ref.
1 Nathan Cruz 1 25 March 2012 245 Highbury, London Chapter 1: In the Beginning Defeated Marty Scurll, El Ligero and Mike Mason in a tournament final to crown the inaugural champion.
2 El Ligero 1 25 November 2012 245 Highbury, London Chapter 4: The Ballad of El Ligero
3 Rampage Brown 1 28 July 2013 119 Highbury, London Chapter 8: The Big Boy's Guide to Strong Style
4 Mark Andrews 1 24 November 2013 <1 Highbury, London Chapter 10: Glory Follows Virtue As If It Were Its Shadow Successfully cashed in his Natural Progression Series title shot.
5 Jimmy Havoc 1 609 Used the open contract given to him by Jim Smallman to make an immediate title match.
6 Will Ospreay 1 26 July 2015 182 Camden, London Chapter 20: ThunderBastard: Beyond ThunderBastard Successfully cashed in his Super Strong Style 16 title shot.
7 Marty Scurll 1 24 January 2016 154 Camden, London Chapter 25: Chat Shit, Get Banged
8 Pastor William Eaver 1 26 June 2016 35 Camden, London Chapter 32: 5000 to 1 Successfully cashed in his Natural Progression Series title shot.
9 Marty Scurll 2 31 July 2016 56 Camden, London Chapter 33: Malice in Wonderland
10 Mark Haskins 1 25 September 2016 35 Brixton, London Chapter 36: We're Gonna Need a Bigger Room Again This was a triple threat match also involving Tommy End.
— Vacated — 30 October 2016 — Camden, London Chapter 38: When Men Throw Men At Men Haskins vacated the title due to injury.
11 Pete Dunne 1 27 November 2016 287 Camden, London Chapter 39: The Graps of Wrath Defeated Jimmy Havoc, Matt Riddle, Sebastian, TK Cooper, Travis Banks, and Trent Seven in a seven-way elimination match to crown a new champion.
12 Travis Banks 1 10 September 2017 2,589+ Haringey, London Chapter 55: Chase The Sun Successfully cashed in his Super Strong Style 16 title shot.

Combined reigns

As of 12 October 2024.

† Indicates the current champion
Rank Wrestler No. of
reigns 		Combined days
1 Jimmy Havoc 1 609
2 Pete Dunne 1 287
3 Nathan Cruz 1 245
El Ligero 1 245
5 Marty Scurll 2 210
6 Will Ospreay 1 182
7 Travis Banks † 1 2,589+
8 Rampage Brown 1 119
9 Pastor William Eaver 1 35
Mark Haskins 1 35
11 Mark Andrews 1 <1

PROGRESS Tag Team Championship

PROGRESS Tag Team Championship
File:Progresstag.jpg
The PROGRESS Tag Team Title
(April 2017 — Present)
Details
Date established24 November 2013
Current champion(s)Grizzled Young Veterans (James Drake and Zack Gibson)
Date won26 November 2017
Statistics
First champion(s)FSU (Mark Andrews and Eddie Dennis)
Most reigns(as a team)
The Origin (Nathan Cruz and El Ligero), British Strong Style (Trent Seven and Tyler Bate), and CCK (Chris Brookes and Kid Lykos) (2 reigns)
(as an individual)
Trent Seven (3 reigns)
Longest reignFSU (Mark Andrews and Eddie Dennis) (301 days)
Shortest reignCCK (Chris Brookes and Kid Lykos) (14 days)

It was announced at Chapter 9 that beginning in November 2013 there would begin a series of matches to determine the first Progress Tag Team champions. The champions were crowned at Chapter 12, the second anniversary show, in March 2014. As with the Progress Championship not being a conventional championship belt, the Progress Tag Team Championship was originally represented by a shield with the Progress eagle on the front. The shield splits into two, one for each championship holder. At Chapter 46 the Tag Team shields were replaced with traditional strap title belts, with the design on the front plate of each belt representing the defunct Tag shields.

As of 12 October 2024.

Reign The reign number for the specific champion listed
Location The city in which the title was won
Event The event promoted by the respective promotion in which the title was won
+ Indicates the current reign is changing daily
No. Champion Reign Date Days held Location Event Notes Ref.
1 FSU
(Mark Andrews and Eddie Dennis)		 1 30 March 2014 301 Camden Town, London Chapter 12: We're Gonna Need a Bigger Room Defeated Screw Indy Wrestling and Project Ego in a tournament final to crown the inaugural champions.
2 The Faceless/The Origin
(Nathan Cruz, El Ligero, Danny Garnell and Damon Moser)		 1 25 January 2015 120 Camden Town, London Chapter 17: Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger Danny Garnell and Damon Moser originally captured the title as The Faceless, before all four unmasked, renaming themselves The Origin on 24 May 2015.
3 The Sumerian Death Squad
(Tommy End and Michael Dante)		 1 25 May 2015 −3240 Camden Town, London 19: Super Strong Style 16: Tournament Edition 2015 (Day 2) Defeated Nathan Cruz and El Ligero.
4 The Origin
(Nathan Cruz and El Ligero)		 2 29 November 2015 182 Camden Town, London Chapter 23: What a Time to Be Alive Won in a three-way match also involving The London Riots.
5 London Riots
(Rob Lynch and James Davis)		 1 29 May 2016 119 Camden Town, London Chapter 30: Super Strong Style 16 Tournament Edition 2016 (Day 1)
6 British Strong Style
(Trent Seven and Pete Dunne)		 1 25 September 2016 82 Brixton, London Chapter 36: We're Gonna Need a Bigger Room... Again
— Vacated — 16 December 2016 — — — Progress management vacated the title after Pete Dunne attempted to give his half of it to Tyler Bate.
7 British Strong Style
(Trent Seven (2) and Tyler Bate)		 1 30 December 2016 177 Camden Town, London Chapter 41: Unboxing Live Won in a three-way match with The Riots and the LDRS of the New School.
8 CCK
(Chris Brookes and Kid Lykos)		 1 25 June 2017 14 Camden Town, London Chapter 50: I Give It Six Months
9 British Strong Style
(Trent Seven (3) and Tyler Bate (2))		 2 9 July 2017 63 Birmingham Chapter 51: Screaming for Progress Won in a six-man match featuring Pete Dunne, Trent Seven and Tyler Bate vs. Travis Banks, Chris Brookes and Kid Lykos.
10 CCK
(Chris Brookes and Kid Lykos)		 2 10 September 2017 77 Haringey, London Chapter 55: Chase the Sun This was a tag team ladder match.
11 Grizzled Young Veterans
(James Drake and Zack Gibson)		 1 26 November 2017 2512+ Camden Town, London Chapter 58: Live Your Best Life

Combined team reigns

As of 12 October 2024.

† Indicates the current champion
Rank Team No. of
reigns 		Combined days
1 The Faceless/The Origin
(Nathan Cruz, El Ligero, Danny Garnell and Damon Moser)		 2 302
2 FSU
(Mark Andrews and Eddie Dennis)		 1 301
3 British Strong Style
(Trent Seven and Tyler Bate)		 2 240
4 The Sumerian Death Squad
(Tommy End and Michael Dante)		 1 188
5 London Riots
(Rob Lynch and James Davis)		 1 119
6 CCK
(Chris Brookes and Kid Lykos)		 2 91
7 British Strong Style
(Trent Seven and Pete Dunne)		 1 82
8 Grizzled Young Veterans †
(James Drake and Zack Gibson)		 1 2512+

Combined reigns

As of 12 October 2024.

† Indicates the current champion
Rank Wrestler No. of
reigns 		Combined days
1 Trent Seven 3 322
2 El Ligero 2 302
Nathan Cruz 2 302
4 Mark Andrews 1 301
Eddie Dennis 1 301
6 Tyler Bate 2 240
7 Tommy End 1 188
Michael Dante 1 188
9 Danny Garnell 1 120
Damon Moser 1 120
11 Rob Lynch 1 119
James Davis 1 119
13 Chris Brookes 2 91
Kid Lykos 2 91
15 Pete Dunne 1 82
16 James Drake † 1 2512+
Zack Gibson † 1 2512+

PROGRESS Atlas Division Championship

PROGRESS Atlas Division Championship
Details
Date established25 September 2016
Current champion(s)Walter
Date won10 September 2017
Statistics
First champion(s)Rampage Brown
Most reignsMatt Riddle and Walter (2 reigns)
Longest reignMatt Riddle (175 days)
Shortest reignMatt Riddle (29 days)
Heaviest championWalter (310 lb (140 kg))
Lightest championMatt Riddle (216 lb (98 kg))

The Progress Atlas Championship is exclusively for wrestlers over 205 pounds in weight—the cruiserweight weight limit. Rampage Brown was the first champion after winning a tournament. As of 12 October 2024.

Reign The reign number for the specific champion listed
Location The city in which the title was won
Event The event promoted by the respective promotion in which the title was won
+ Indicates the current reign is changing daily
No. Champion Reign Date Days held Location Event Notes Ref.
1 Rampage Brown 1 25 September 2016 112 Brixton, London Chapter 36: We're Gonna Need a Bigger Room Again Tournament final to crown inaugural champion.
2 Matt Riddle 1 15 January 2017 175 Birmingham Chapter 42: Life, the Universe and Wrestling
3 Walter 1 9 July 2017 34 Birmingham Chapter 51: Screaming for Progress
4 Matt Riddle 2 12 August 2017 29 New York City
United States 		Progress New York City
5 Walter 2 10 September 2017 2589+ Haringey, London Chapter 55: Chase the Sun This was a three-way match, also involving Timothy Thatcher.

Combined reigns

As of 12 October 2024.

† Indicates the current champion
Rank Wrestler No. of
reigns 		Combined days
1 Matt Riddle 2 204
2 Walter † 2 2623+
3 Rampage Brown 1 112

PROGRESS Women's Championship

PROGRESS Women's Championship
File:Progresswchamp.jpg
The PROGRESS Women's Title
(May 2017 — Present)
Details
Date established28 May 2017
Current champion(s)Toni Storm
Date won28 May 2017
Statistics
First champion(s)Toni Storm
Most reignsToni Storm (1 reign)

It was announced on 24 April 2016, that Natural Progression Series IV would crown the first Progress Women's Champion. The tournament got underway in October 2016, with the champion to be crowned during the Super Strong Style 16 2017 weekend from 27 May 2017, to 29 May 2017. At the conclusion of the tournament at Day Two of the Super Strong Style 16 event, Toni Storm was crowned the first Progress Women's Champion.

No. Champion Reign Date Days held Location Event Notes Ref.
1 Toni Storm 1 28 May 2017 2694+ Camden, London Chapter 49: Super Strong Style 16 2017 (Day Two) Defeated Jinny and Laura Di Matteo in a tournament final to crown the inaugural champion.

Reception

Patrick Lennon, wrestling journalist for the Daily Star, has attended and reviewed Progress shows such as the acclaimed Chapter 7: Every Saint Has a Past, Every Sinner Has a Future.[9]

Carrie Dunn, founder and main contributor of wrestling blog "The Only Way is Suplex",[10] published the book Spandex, Screw Jobs & Cheap Pops: Inside the Business of British Pro Wrestling.[11] Progress Wrestling features frequently in the book including opening a chapter regarding London based wrestling promotions.[12]

Roster

Progress wrestlers are freelance competitors, meaning they appear for multiple promotions worldwide, as well as performing for Progress. The following are wrestlers who have appeared on the most recent three Chapter shows, barring any who have announced they have left the promotion.

Correct as of Chapter 61

Male roster

Pete Dunne (front) with the Progress World Championship belt; Tyler Bate and Trent Seven with the Progress Tag Team Championship shields
Ring name Real name Notes
Adam Brooks Unknown
Adam Chase Unknown
Amir Jordan Unknown
Chief Deputy Dunne Damian McKeown
Chris Brookes Christopher Brookes
Chris Ridgeway Christopher Wareing
Chuck Mambo Gareth Snelling
Clint Margera Unknown
Doug Williams Douglas Durdle
Drew Parker Andrew Parker
Eddie Dennis Edward Dennis
Gabriel Kidd Unknown
Jack Sexsmith Ryan Comerford
James Drake James Dowell Progress Tag Team Champion
Jimmy Havoc James Mcahren[13]
Joe Coffey Joseph Coffey
Joseph Conners Joseph Buckton
Kid Lykos Ethan Beach Inactive; shoulder injury
Kyle Fletcher Kyle Thompson
Mark Andrews Mark Andrews Inactive; arm injury
Mark Davis Davis Passfield
Mark Haskins Mark Haskins
Matt Cross Matthew Capiccioni
Morgan Webster Gavin Steward
Pete Dunne Peter England WWE United Kingdom Champion
Primate Jason Melrose
Rampage Brown Oliver Biney
Saxon Huxley Ross Cooke
Spike Trivet Unknown
TK Cooper Tasman Bartlett
Travis Banks Travis Bligh Progress World Champion
Trent Seven Benjamin Webb
Tyler Bate Tyler Bate
Walter Walter Hahn Progress Atlas Champion
Will Ospreay William Ospreay
William Eaver Martin Kelly
Zack Gibson Jack Rea Progress Tag Team Champion

Female roster

Ring name Real name Notes
Bea Priestley Beatrice Priestley
Candyfloss Amy Samardzija
Chakara Chakara Angus
Charli Evans Evie Carey
Charlie Morgan Yasmin Lander
Dahlia Black Olivia Shaw
Jinny Jinny Sandhú
Millie McKenzie Unknown
Nina Samuels Unknown
Sierra Loxton Natasha Loxton
Toni Storm Toni Rossall Progress Women's Champion
Vicky Haskins Victoria Haskins Manager of Mark Haskins & Jimmy Havoc

Broadcast team

Ring name Real name Notes
Callum Leslie Callum Leslie Commentator
Glen Joseph Glen Robinson Commentator
Ring announcer
Matt Richards Matthew Richards Commentator
Jim Smallman James Smallman Ring announcer

Notable guests and alumni

References

  1. ^ Rehal, Sumit (26 May 2014). "Progress Wrestling – 'If we didn't have such talented guys in Britain, then the promotion wouldn't be doing as well as it is,' says co-founder Jim Smallman". The Independent. Retrieved 14 August 2014.
  2. ^ http://downloadfestival.co.uk/news/progress-wrestling-set-wreak-havoc-download-2015
  3. ^ http://www.progresswrestling.com/chapter24news/
  4. ^ "Another Indie Promotion To Host WWE Global Cruiserweight Series Qualifying Matches". Retrieved 28 March 2016.
  5. ^ "Progress Wrestling Launch Their On Demand Service". WrestleRopes UK. Retrieved 14 August 2017.
  6. ^ Perry, Ian. "Progress Wrestling: Freedom's Road Debut Episode TV Report". PWInsider. Retrieved 14 August 2017.
  7. ^ http://www.cagematch.net/?id=5&nr=1723&page=5&reign=7
  8. ^ http://www.wrestling-news.net/ccw-project-mayhem-2016-results/81341/
  9. ^ "Every Saint Has A Past, Every Sinner Has A Future show is a winner". Daily Star. Retrieved 8 December 2013.
  10. ^ "The Only Way Is Suplex". Carrie Dunn. Retrieved 8 December 2013.
  11. ^ ""Spandex, Screw Jobs & Cheap Pops: Inside the Business of British Pro Wrestling" Amazon listing". Amazon.co.uk. Retrieved 8 December 2013.
  12. ^ Dunn, Carrie (2013). "Chapter 11: In the spotlight - London calling". Spandex, Screw Jobs & Cheap Pops: Inside the Business of British Pro Wrestling. Pitch. pp. 174–176. ISBN 978-1-909178-46-5.
  13. ^ ""Die Havoc Die" - A Look at UK'S Most Hated Wrestler - Jimmy Havoc". HighlightNation.com. Three Amigos Global Ltd. Retrieved 28 September 2016.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Progress_Wrestling&oldid=822640426"