First reaction after seeing Progress today? ‘Wow…fucking…wow!’

After seeing around 3 1/2 hours of a stacked British wrestling card we at European Uppercut are saluting you! Progress Wrestling is quickly becoming a figurehead for the industry in this country and they sure as hell know how to put on a show!

Instead of doing a run through of the card I want to discuss my highlights so hopefully you can see why attending these shows is a must!

The first is the fans, atmosphere makes or breaks a wrestling match and this crowd does its part to ensure each one is incredibly entertaining. I’ve enjoyed a couple of beers while in attendance but a few of my favourite chants were:

• ‘Lady Diana would be so upset!’ To Lord Jonathan Windsor, mocking his Regalesque posh gimmick
• ‘JeriCruz’ – After Nathan Cruz used a move similar to The Codebreaker
• ‘You got bitch slapped!’ After Rampage slapped the spit out of Nathan Cruz’s mouth
• ‘This is Bhangra!’ After The Bhangra Knights reunited
• And how can we forget a sold out crowd in unison doing a ‘JESUS!’ chant from the legendary botchamania videos!

So unique, so funny and already a staple part of any Progress show!

Apart from the fans, the storytelling was superbly done. As mentioned The Bhangra Knights reuniting was a great moment and it followed  an excellent technical match between partners RJ Singh and Dazzling Darrell. Singh was definitely King as he aided Darrell  from the assault by his own entourage. The Knights then ‘hugged it out’ before leading the crowd in some Bollywood dance moves! This was followed by a brief yet intense stare down with The London Riots teasing a feud later down the line. Progress’ forward thinking storyline planning is definitely impressive.

Another key moment was Marty Scurll and Zach Sabre Jnr teaming before leaving for America and Japan respectively. I thought they teased a potential heel turn with Zach kicking Scurll by accident, leading to defeat for The LDRS but it all ended positively. Jim’s kind words to both of them while saying goodbye, referencing their MOTY at Ch:1 and thanking them for it was a genuinely nice moment. It reminded me of a ECW or ROH goodbye and showed respect to the pair and gave magnitude to them and their impact on the company.

The final thing I wanted to mention is just the wrestling itself, whether it be the intensity of Boar or Mastiff, the speed and technical ability of Ligero, Singh, Allen or Cruz or just the sheer ‘I’m going to chop you till your fucking chest bleeds!’ by Rampage Brown!! I actually nearly felt sorry for Cruz! Whatever it was, the wrestling was just amazing from top to bottom.

We also went to a solid TNA event on Saturday but there was one clear winner this weekend and that’s probably the greatest compliment I can give them…

So Aces and Eights can go back to their clubhouse because British wrestling and Progress are here to fight and I for one salute them for it!

See you at Chapter 6!

Chris

Chapter 2 – The March of Progress

Firstly, apologies from us here at EU we made the regrettable decision to ditch Progress for the England game – a decision of which we ask forgiveness from our followers.

Also, this was supposed to be a video review of the DVD – but unfortunately due to technical difficulties (my laptop has died) I have been unable to properly edit the footage. Nevertheless here is our review;

Progress Chapter 2: The March of Progress DVD Review

If you haven’t seen Progress then Chapter 2 is a good introduction to the rising promotion (and we’ll explain why).

From an aesthetic standpoint the DVD comes well-packaged, and we particularly like the fact each DVD is numbered (a limited edition type thing). My Chapter 1 DVD was number 69 – I could not have been happier. Although the fact it isn’t in a DVD case is a bit annoying as it won’t fit nicely in to my DVD cabinet – But that’s just me being pedantic!

The card for Chapter 2 was a mixture of British stalwarts and rising stars of the British scene – this laid the foundation for what turned out to be a great event.

We’ll briefly go through the matches – but we don’t want to give any spoilers:

• First on the card was Stixx vs Lion Kid and a good match to open up on. Stixx is a POWER HOUSE and with the Lion Kid being a high flyer the match was a complete clash of styles – but it worked really well and we’re looking forward to seeing them again at Chapter 3.

• The BWC scholarship title was up for grabs in what was one of the best matches on the card. Wild Boar and Mark Andrews put on an awesome display – and it was a highlight from the DVD.

• Third on the card were EU favourites and rising stars Noam Dar vs Darrell Allan. Noam was as vulgar and arrogant as ever – however Darrell is not someone to be shown up and the match was very entertaining.

• The #bookhavoc twitter campaign was a success and Jimmy got his Progress debut against his trainer Danny Garnell. The match had everything from comedy to great bumps – and it was definitely worth a rewind.

• The Velocity Vipers vs the London Riots was another great match and Progress’s first tag team bout. A match which was shaping up to be a great competition was marred by the injury of Alex Esmail (We wish him all the best) – that said it was still a great competition.

• The three way match between RJ Singh, Greg Burridge and El Ligero was another highlight from Chapter 2. Each wrestler has their own unique character and style – and this laid the foundation of what would be a very entertaining match. We particularly enjoyed Burridge’s outbursts – although viewer discretion is advised!

• The final match saw current Progress champion Nathan Cruz take on ‘Party’ Marty Scurll in a best-out-of-three-falls-match.  Both wrestlers have HUGE egos and this was probably the main reason why it was such an enjoyable match. Not to be outdone by each other the match was an exhibition of one-upmanship!

We also enjoyed Jim’s (co-owner of Progress) ring announcing and general crowd interaction: as a comedian he knows how to get the crowd going and deal with hecklers – which is needed when stepping in to the ring at Progress. The crowd are as fantastic as always and it’s great to hear the fantastic chants and heckles – plus the DVD extra of Jim’s favourite fan chants is a welcomed addition to an already impressive DVD. The extras are good – although there it feels as though there is something missing from them…;).

The image quality is good and there has clearly been a lot of effort put in to the presentation and editing of the DVD. We were also impressed by how easy it is to navigate the DVD. However the DVD isn’t without some minor flaws.

It feels as though a second commentator would not go amiss. Whether it be a permanent commentator or guest commentators (such as the wrestlers) would definitely benefit the somewhat lonely commentator. This would not detract from the focus on the wrestling and would add another angle to the presentation.  

Additionally the static camera also captures the lighting and sound station computer screens and this can get a tad annoying at times – although it’s nothing major, it would only benefit the DVD if there was a way of not capturing the station in the shot.

Some of the entrances were also missed out on the DVD – and this is a shame as some of the wrestlers have great entrances and theme music. Aside from those minor recommendations – the DVD is definitely worth a purchase.

If you like strong style wrestling, comedy and banter than Chapter 2 is the DVD for you.

Signin’ out.