Progress Wrestling Hello Wembley – Moving forward

Progress Wrestling Chapter 76: Hello Wembley was a huge success – packing nearly 5000 grapple fans in to a single room. Wrestling shows usually have hills and troughs – high and low points to keep the fans engaged and on the edge of their seats at all times. Chapter 76 however, was really just packed with high points (and a fair few high spots too, but we’re getting ahead of ourselves here).

It’s easy enough to get away with this style of booking at a major show. If you had the faces win every match, on every show, wrestling wouldn’t be very exciting – but when you’re in a huge arena after a year’s worth of build up, everyone is so pleased to be there that lots of major heel victories may end up being a little deflating.

Like WrestleMania, Hello Wembley was the sort of show that saw the culmination of feuds and vicious rivalries. It didn’t set up any specific storylines going forward, but laid foundation for plenty. We’re going to be discussing a few of the things that happened, and where they might lead in the future. Major spoilers ahead, obviously.

Farewell to a legend

The Atlas Championship match was pretty much everything that fans had hoped it would be, with Doug Williams giving 110% until the very end. The finish was admittedly a little confusing, with a clean three count after Trent hit a crossbody (apparently there had been some sort of running joke with Trent never being able to hit it), and I’ll admit I would have preferred a slightly more familiar piledriver or Seven Star Lariat to end the match, but it was highly enjoyable nonetheless. A particular shout out to the Chaos Theory spot – everyone in the room was convinced Doug was going to win at that point.

Not only did a legend get a fitting farewell, but we’ve now got an excellent new Atlas Champion. Not that the four men preceding him weren’t anything but fantastic, but Trent’s sheer star power and association with WWE help bring even further legitimacy to the title.

WALTER giving up the belt earlier this year as to pursue a greater prize made sense in storyline but arguably hurt the credibility of the title a little. It’s once again a hot commodity and it’s hugely exciting to imagine the championship bouts we may see in the near future. Seven vs Thatcher, Ricky Shane Page, or even Federales all have ridiculous potential.

Aussie Open reach the summit

The Atlas Championship wasn’t the only belt to change hands, as we have new Tag Team Champions too. And they are legitimately brand new, not just another reign for the Grizzled Young Veterans or some form of CCK (not that those are necessarily bad things, of course). Aussie Open (Mark Davis and Kyle Flethcer) finally reached the top of the mountain and hold tag team gold with Progress, after what can only be described a spectacular match.

The Thunderbastard saw eight teams go at it, leading to some fairly unique interactions we may not have seen otherwise. Flamita and Bandido were a particular treat to watch, with Bandido at one point performing some sort of moonsault to the floor with Deputy Dunne in hand.

Whilst Progress already has a fantastic tag division, we’ve just had several months of the same teams going at it with each other over and over. Realistically, what we need is an injection of fresh talent. Thankfully, as of the 1^st of October, Progress have announced that LAX will be making their UK debut for the company, so it’s safe to say that we’re on the fast track to getting that sorted. I’m not sure how easy it would be, but if Progress are able to book Flamita and Bandido more regularly, then they should make every effort to do so too.

Stacked World title picture

The Progress World Championship did not end up changing hands at the show, and many were actually speculating two changes (once to Tyler Bate, and then again to Eddie Dennis via use of his contract). It’s hard to say whether or not Progress made the right decision at this point, but what we can say for certain is that the main event scene is a very exciting place to be.

Zack Sabre Jr is taking his slightly delayed SSS16 title shot at Chapter 77 later this month, and both Eddie Dennis and the aforementioned Mark Davis have title shots to cash in at some point too. There’s a real wealth of fantastic indie talent around at the moment, and a boat load of possible dream match main events regardless of who holds the title.

The rise of Chuck Mambo

With that said, it’s certainly worth discussing some of the talent Progress have already signed, yet haven’t quite found solid spots on the card for. The first name that comes to mind is Chuck Mambo. He’s hardly got the body of god, and he’s almost a little gangly, but by Jove he can wrestle. He’s seen massive improvement over the last year and has started to pick up some genuine momentum, but has yet to really capitalise on it. A win in the Progress World Cup set him up for a title shot against Travis Banks (resulting in a loss), and he’s just gone and won the battle royal at Wembley.

So, we need to ask, where does this lead Chuck Mambo? As of right now there are three people with guaranteed World Championship shots. Three is already pushing it, so we certainly don’t need a fourth. He’s not much of a challenger for the Atlas or Women’s titles, and he’s likely go wasted in the tag division. Really, what he needs is a solid feud and a regular spot on the card. He is hugely over as a babyface, and has a tonne of momentum behind him, so why not pair him up against somebody that fans legitimately hate?

TK Cooper isn’t perhaps as despised as he’d need to be, and whilst Spike Trivet could work, I’d rather see him off doing his own thing, perhaps with victories over the likes of Chris Ridgeway, Danny Jones and Drew Parker. Having Mambo face off against both of the Grizzled Young Veterans either simultaneously or interchangeably could certainly work, but if he were to step in to the ring with Paul Robinson, I’d argue that magic could be made.

Robinson represents everything about wrestling that Mambo does not – and vice versa. He’s already an established heel, coming off the back of an amazing, disgustingly violent match at Wembley, and even in losing is still better off for it. Perhaps Robinson feels he needs to prove himself again and targets Mambo – but gets far more than he bargained for in the process? We could see some real character development here with Mambo too, having to push himself to places he may not be comfortable with as a person.

 

Musical issues

The wrestling is still fantastic in Progress, but that isn’t to say that their current run of shows are without issue. As we’re all aware, theme music is an integral part of any wrestling show. Promo time can be a limited commodity, but in wrestling actions can speak just as loud as words.

Everything you do on the way down to the ring sends a message to the crowd. Body language, the way you carry yourself and any fancy poses you do are all integral, but the music you come out to is perhaps the most important part of it all. Many wrestlers become synonymous with their theme music, and taking it away or changing it can have a huge impact on the show. Try to imagine Bobby Roode without Glorious Domination, and you’ll likely start to feel a little uncomfortable.

Of course, not all members of the Progress roster are affected. Talent with pre-established WWE themes are welcome to carry on using them, and Walter’s Dvorak Symphony No.9 is public domain at this point and poses no issue. Mark Andrews is a special case, as although he’s currently coming out to his WWE theme Fall To Pieces, he used to enter to A House That’s Not Quite Home. This is presumably because the song was licensed to Impact, and despite it being his own music, prevents him from using it in the WWE.

Speaking of which, although nothing has been confirmed at the time of writing, it’s heavily suspected that Progress will begin to air on the WWE Network, and the switch to what seems to be royalty-free stock music is to prevent any legal issues going forward.

Hopefully, if this is true, Progress and WWE can work out some sort of a deal that allows wrestlers to use slightly less generic entrance themes, even if they can’t acquire the rights to their old music. It’s massively jarring when Jimmy Havoc is coming out to I Hope You Suffer and Psychotic Euphoric in other promotions, but comes out to the rather unremarkable Predator’s Reign in Progress.

Ilja Dragunov is known for entering to the Soviet March, a fantastic piece that he’s managed to choreograph his entrance to more or less perfectly, but at Hello Wembley instead entered to what appeared to be the first twenty seconds of an instrumental drum solo on repeat. It was absolutely dire. The Calamari Thatch Kings (Chris Brookes and Timothy Thatcher) had a song that at least suited them, but was still wasn’t a patch on Hot Tag Media’s The Squid and the Wolf.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-dk5P1iFkg

What’s next for Progress?

So, as a company, where do Progress go from here? They’ve not yet announced another major show for 2019, but when asked on Twitter, have not shot down a possible return to Wembley. The immediate focus is on the next few chapters, and the slow build to Super Strong Style 16. Jim, Jon and Glen are apparently keeping busy assisting with NXT UK, but still have time for Progress.

Perhaps given a slightly larger budget they should look to sign some more big name indie talent. Pac is back on the market, re-debuting in Dragon Gate this week, and some other assorted Japanese and Mexican talent would hardly go amiss.

As mentioned, Progress have some fantastic young talent from around the UK already signed, and as exciting as imports are, they need to be utilised correctly. It would be great to see some big names taking on some of the lesser known local talent. Not only would we get some really unique matches, but it would also give some fantastic opportunities to wrestlers who may not otherwise get them, and help build the indie stars of the future.

WWE, especially NXT, is great (most of the time), but it’s not always hugely healthy for the indie scene when they come knocking and hoover up all the talent. It’s fantastic seeing our homegrown talent do well for themselves, but it would be ideal if we could avoid losing the spirit of Progress in the process. Big money contracts are great, but they’re not exactly punk rock.

• pete dunne
• PROGRESS
• Hello Wembley
• wwe

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