Mark Haskins vs Matt Riddle
Riddle is on loan from NXT, who allowed him to wrestle to mitigate the loss of Will Ospreay and Zack Sabre Jr from this show. Riddle's not-Regulate theme tune is not the worst on offer but at the end of the day, it's not Regulate. This was a great way to kick off the show. Both men are great and they worked a well-paced match that featured a good mix of strikes and submission work. This was a nice way for Riddle to say goodbye. ****
PROGRESS Women's Title - Jinny vs Toni Storm vs Millie McKenzie
McKenzie has added some much needed muscle mass to her frame and she now looks every bit the star that she is going to be. There are few, if any, better at 18 years old. The match was fun but there was a screwy finish when Laura Di Matteo screwed Storm over and joined the House of Couture. Jinny is more storyline focused than in ring product focused so it's fine. **1/2
Following the match, 'Thick Mama Pump' Jordynne Grace made her presence felt by murdering all the House of Couture members that were daft enough to hang around. She is fucking wonderful.
PROGRESS Atlas Title vs Doug Williams' Career - Doug Williams vs Trent Seven
This was never going to be a classic match as Doug is in that stage of his career where he is noticeably broken down, but that doesn't mean we didn't get something memorable nonetheless. Doug threw everything he had into this last match and it was nice to see him get to go out in as grand a stage as Wembley. Thanks for the memories, Doug. ***1/2
No DQ - Paul Robinson vs Jimmy Havoc
Havoc is painted white which means violence is on the horizon. There is a powerbomb through an ironing board within 2 minutes of the match starting, so that sets a tone. What follows is without question the most violent match that has ever, and likely will ever, take place at Wembley. Barbed wire, light tubes, thumb tacks, a door, these are things that are major factors in this match. Havoc wins after curb stomping Robinson through a roll of tubes. Robinson's back looked like it had been sliced off by the end. This was bonkers, and I loved it. ****
After the intermission, Jim Smallman returns to tell us that the attendance is 4750, which is not too shabby at all.
Travis Banks appears to be hilariously delusional and announces himself as the first entrant in next year's SSS16.
PROGRESS Tag Titles, Thunderbastard Match - The 198 vs Chris Brookes & Timothy Thatcher vs Sexy Starr vs Grizzled Young Veterans vs Flamita & Bandido vs Anti Fun Police vs Aussie Open vs Mills & Mayhew
This is going to be a spectacular clusterfuck. They have an action packed start to the match with the first five teams coming out and having a blast. Then come the GYV. The entire match comes to a stop while Gibson does his thing. Most hated heel in the biz. GYV then eliminate M&M. More craziness happens at 100mph before The 198 eliminate Sexy Starr. There is a fucking spectacular diving section that features, among many other things, a suicide dive by the absurdly massive Santos. The Anti Fun Police aren't long for this match though, and are eliminated by The 198. Brookes & Thatcher are then eliminated by Aussie Open, via Close Your Eyes And Count To Fuck. Bandido & Flamita are the next team to go, eliminated by nefarious means by The 198. They get caught napping though and are eliminated by Aussie Open, leaving us with just two teams. GYV isolate Kyle Fletcher but they can't put him away and in the end Aussie Open manage to take the titles for the feel good moment. This match was wild. It was also massively entertaining. ****1/4
Pete Dunne vs Ilja Dragunov
This is easily my most anticipated match on this card, and possibly anywhere in wrestling this year. These two are wonderful at what they do. This was an incredibly intense match. The focus was on both men trying to completely incapacitate the other by any means necessary. Dunne lays in some evil looking stomps and Dragunov retaliates by trying to elbow his head in. They then try to headbutt each other to death. Dragunov kicked out of the Better End but in the end, he had to tap out as Dunne tried to snap his fingers off. I loved this match. It may not have quite hit the standards of being a true classic but it is definitely something you should check out and it was the best thing on this card so far. Fantastic stuff. ****1/4
TLC Match - Eddie Dennis vs Mark Andrews
This match had the unfortunate position of having to follow the previous match. It also had tables that straight up refused to break, no matter what was thrown at them. Seriously, they may as well have used solid out tables for what it's worth. They kept putting together a really good match though and I applaud them for that. In the end they do manage to successfully break one of the tables, with a Next Stop Driver from the top of the ladder, which is a bonkers move. Dennis managed to grab the contract to win the match. Fun stuff, even if the tables fucked it up somewhat. ***
PROGRESS World Title - WALTER vs Tyler Bate
Zack Sabre Jr was originally meant to be in this match but due to NJPW commitments, it had to be changed. In the end, it all worked out for the best as this match was fantastic. They told the story that WALTER considered Bate to be a boy while he was a man, and it played out that way in the match, with Bate showing that he could push WALTER to the very limit. WALTER was forced to try things that he wouldn't otherwise do to get the job done. It was another example of why these two are among the very best in the world right now and they put some great sections here. You should definitely go out of your way to watch this, and it was the best match on an excellent show. ****3/4
Overall Grade - A+
There was a definite worry here that PROGRESS could have stalled on their biggest ever night, especially as the quality of the product has been down in the last 12 months, but they knocked it out of the park with ease. Five of the matches on the show were excellent and nothing at all is bad. This ranks among the best cards put on by any company this year.
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