Over the weekend, I had the privilege of attending PROGRESS’ Super Strong Style 16 tournament. The weekend featured 24 matches, each with their own unique quirks. The tournament aspect of the weekend made for exciting match-ups and nail-biting contests.
MORNING! What a weekend. #SSS16 #ThisIsPROGRESS 📷 Alex Munro pic.twitter.com/MmXToim0Ym
— PROGRESS Wrestling (@ThisIs_Progress) May 7, 2019
In this piece, I will run through the results of each night’s bouts, and any interesting comments I had about the matches or the performers.
Day One Results:
Ilja Dragunov def. Chris Brookes- This was a fantastic opening match for not only day one, but the whole weekend. Within the first few minutes Ilja’s chest had turned a bright shade of red thanks to some stiff strikes from Brookes. NXT UK’s Dragunov was able to hit Brookes with a Torpedo Headbutt and advance to the second round.
Kyle Fletcher def. Daga- This was Daga’s first PROGRESS match, and by the end of this bout the crowd chanted for the Mexican to “come back soon”. Very early on in his debut, he busted Kyle Fletcher open with a flurry of chops. However, the Aussie Arrow walked out with the win and progressed into the second round.
Travis Banks def. DJZ- NXT UK’s Travis Banks proved to be too much for one of NXT’s newest signees DJZ in the third first round match of the day. He put the former Impact star away with a Duplex Driver. After the bout, Banks took to the mic and promised to be the first two-time Super Strong Style 16 winner.
Jordan Devlin def. Lucky Kid- Lucky Kid may have won the 16 Carat tournament in wXw, defeating WALTER in the process, but he was not as “lucky” at Alexandra Place on Saturday. Devlin was able to escape some brutal submissions from Kid as he advanced to the second round. Here we had the first second round match set, Jordan Devlin vs. Kyle Fletcher.
Trevor Lee def. Aerostar- After the intermission, Trevor Lee came out wearing his NXT jacket. He was really heeling it up, constantly pointing to the WWE logo on his top. He even told Aerostar he was only booked as PROGRESS couldn’t get Pentagon or Fenix. Lee used dirty tricks to overcome the luchadore, and advanced to the second round for a match with NXT UK’s Ilja Dragunov.
David Starr def. Artemis Spencer- Whilst Starr might have picked up the win here, Spencer had a great PROGRESS debut. This was his first match outside of America and Canada, and fans grew to like his act throughout the match after some great highflying offence. Starr and Banks were now set for Sunday’s second round.
Paul Robinson def Darby Allin- Paul attacked Darby before the match, and the two smaller guys fought around the ring. The action was gripping, with some scary looking bumps from two daredevils. Robinson won with a double stomp to the back of Allin’s head that made Seth Rollins’ curb stomp look like a gentle brush.
Kyle O’Reilly def. Chris Ridgeway- The pop of the night was easily in the main event, when Unidpsuted Era’s Kyle O’Reilly came to the ring for the final first round match against Chris Ridgeway. The match was interesting in terms of its style, taking a more MMA-like approach. Both men brutalised eachother with stiff kicks and brutal looking submissions. Ridgeway could not handle an O’Reilly knee bar, and the NXT star was then booked into a second round match with Paul Robinson.
DAY 2!
Quarter-final matches:
Dragunov vs Lee
Devlin vs Fletcher
O'Reilly vs Robinson
Banks vs Starr
Walk-up tickets and upgrades are available!
Box office opens at 11.30 #ThisIsPROGRESS #SSS16 pic.twitter.com/Zl4VCH1JeW— PROGRESS Wrestling (@ThisIs_Progress) May 5, 2019
Overall, day one featured some great first round matches that got the crowd hot for the exciting quarter-finals that were to come the following day. Match of the night would have to go to either Kyle O’Reilly vs. Chris Ridgeway or Chris Brookes vs. Ilja Dragunov. Both matches were fantastic in their own unique ways.
On day one, WrestleTalk also got the chance to speak to David Starr, and the opinionated performer did not shy away from voicing his opinions about WWE, and revealed he had been approached by them on a few separate occasions.
Day Two:
Anticipation for day two was high, as we were about to see some exceptional wrestling in four quarterfinal matches, as well as a title unification match between WALTER and Trent Seven. Prior to the show, WALTER spoke to WrestleTalk and did not rule out the possibility of him moving to WWE’s main roster.
Up Next: As we continue to sim #SSS16, @WalterAUT takes on @trentseven in the Atlas and PROGRESS World Championship unification match. Watch now on Twitch. https://t.co/FtU3A5Y6Q4 pic.twitter.com/zVY7czfvCW
— PROGRESS Wrestling (@ThisIs_Progress) May 2, 2019
Day Two Results:
Aerostar def. Daga- This match between two competitors who lost in the first round was solid, but was certainly not needed. The show ran over by 40 minutes, and this could easily have been cut to make up for the longer quarter-final matches that were to take place. Aerostar was able to best Daga, with the latter clearly playing more of a heel.
Jordan Devlin def. Kyle Fletcher- This was not only by far the match of the night and the match of the weekend, but my favourite match of the whole of 2019 so far. There were some of the best near-falls, I’ve seen, some awesome high-flying offense mixed with some brutal strikes. The finish of the match was superb, with Devlin literally falling into Fletcher after a heabutt. Both men gave it all in this match and will be at the top of the card for a long time to come.
Ilja Dragunov def. Trevor Lee- The placement of this match was perfect. After the fantastic clash we had just seen, the crowd was somewhat tired. Trevor Lee came out and cut the same WWE-like promo as he did the night before. He delivered a low blow to Ilja, but the NXT UK newcomer kicked out, and quickly finished Lee off with a Torpedo Headbutt. These two men could have put on a great 20 minute match, but it was the perfect match based on what had happened before.
Session Moth Martina def. Jinny- Session Moth was really over with the crowd here who clearly loved her act. She overcame interference fron Jinny’s manager Laura Di Matteo and picked up the win to advance to the four-way match the follwoing day for Jordynne Grace’s PROGRESS Women’s Championship. After the match, Jinny bowed to the crowd and it appears she is done with PROGRESS as she focuses on her NXT UK career.
Jimmy Havoc, El Ligero, Mark Andrews & Mark Haskins def. Do Not Resuscitate- This match was so hard to keep up with. It was frantic, with each of the eight men in the ring clearly taking advantage of the fact that this tag match was fought under No DQ rules. The match also saw NXT UK’s Eddie Dennis, who has been ruled out for six months take to the ring to help Mark Andrews and co. Jimmy Havoc scored the win in what was his penultimate match in PROGRESS. The post-match shot of all the PROGRESS Originals in the ring was a nice sight to see.
Kyle O’Reilly def. Paul Robinson- This match allowed Paul Robinson to show he is far more than a hardcore death match wrestler. He hit a reverse hurricanrana from the top rope to Kyle O’Reilly which was one of the best spots of the weekend, and his “Robinson Special” saw him rotate at least three times in the air before planting O’Reilly with a kick to the head. Kyle proved to be too much for Robinson, however, and he advanced to the semi-finals where he would face Jordan Devlin. After the match, Jimmy Havoc came out to challenge Paul Robinson to a death match on Monday’s show. This would be Havoc’s final match, and he wanted to prove he was the King of the Death Match.
David Starr vs. Travis Banks went to a no contest- Banks and Starr fought all over the ring like they had been in a six-month blood feud. This was really great. Before too long, there was a double-pin spot which was one of the best I have seen in a long time. In these sort of spots, it is always clear that one of the wrestlers has their shoulders up, but both men legitimately were pinned and this didn’t look contrived. Jim Smallman came out and said the match needed a winner, so ordered for it to be restarted. This led to a double count-out, with both men attacking eachother on the ramp. Smallman said that they would both be added to the match with Ilja Dragunov in the semi-final, making it a triple threat. This was a nice way to spice up the matches in the tournament.
Chris Ridegway, Lucky Kid & Darby Allin def. Chris Brookes, DJZ & Artemis Spencer- This match was fun and provided the high-spots that fans would not be seeing in the hard-hitting main event between Trent Seven and WALTER that proceeded this. DJZ stole the show with an amazing jumping DDT from the second rope, before too long, I expect to see him on 205 Live.
WALTER def. Trent Seven in title unification bout to become the PROGRESS World Unified Champion- Some people see Seven as a tag team wrestler and nothing more, they say he will forever be in the shadows of his British Strong Style stablemates Tyler Bate and Pete Dunne. If you know one of those people, show them this match. The crowd were fully behind Seven, and he was able to produce a fantastic match with WALTER. The match featured some of the most brutal chops I have ever heard, with WALTER’s chops sounding more like hollow-thuds. Trent played the babyface, and his comeback was amongst one of the best I have seen in a long time. He was ultimately unable to withstand a WALTER sleeper hold, and passed out.
#AndNew #SSS16 #ThisIsPROGRESS
📸Head Drop pic.twitter.com/Lh6c5BIqOL— PROGRESS Wrestling (@ThisIs_Progress) May 5, 2019
This was one of the best days of wrestling I have ever been to. The crowd were fantastic, the matches were exceptional, and the storytelling was brilliant. Match of the night had to go to Jordan Devlin vs. Kyle Fletcher, but any other day, WALTER vs. Trent Seven would have taken the crown. Sunday was fantastic, and PROGRESS would have to do a lot to top it on Monday.
Day Three:
The third and final day at Alexandra Palace for PROGRESS would feature two semi-final matches, a Women’s Championship defence, the final PROGRESS match of Jimmy Havoc, and the final of the Super Strong Style 16 tournament. It really promised to be another fantastic day of wrestling.
One. Last. Time. pic.twitter.com/cvhbrKrPIZ
— PROGRESS Wrestling (@ThisIs_Progress) May 6, 2019
Day Three Results:
Hangover Battle Royal- Chris Brookes def. Roy Johnson, Darby Allin, Trevor Lee, DJZ, Chris Ridgeway, OJ, Artemis Spencer, Lucky Kid and Connor Mills. Chris Brookes won the match after an appearance from his recently retired CCK tag team partner Kid Lykos. The match got the crowd hot and allowed each guy to get in their signature offence and shine.
David Starr def. Ilja Dragunov and Travis Banks- The match was contested under elimination rules, but for most of the match the three men in the ring worked well together, blending their styles to great a nice dynamic. They produced a triple threat match that didn’t just involve one of the men being thrown to the outside while the other two fought in the ring like we have become used to in WWE. Dragunov was eliminated by Banks, leaving Travis and David Starr in the ring. Starr overcame the NXT UK star, and proceeded to the final where he would face the winner of Jordan Devlin vs. Kyle O’Reilly.
Jordan Devlin def. Kyle O’Reilly- Jordan Devlin is far more than a discount Finn Balor as some members of the crowd decided to chant. He was exceptional here, with O’Reilly playing the role of the heel working over Devlin’s knee. Devlin managed to escape three submisson attempts, valiantly rolling-up O’Reilly whilst still locked in a knee bar. Devlin was then set for a clash with David Starr in the main event the show, one which I expected him to win.
Paul Robinson def. Jimmy Havoc- This was the most brutal hardcore death match I have ever seen. Aside from the usual chairs, tables and ladders, we had staplers, thumbtacks, light tubes, and a table made of lighttubes. The amount of blood in this match makes Ric Flair’s blade jobs look like a light graze. This was special and like nothing else on the card. It would have felt wrong for Jimmy Havoc last PROGRESS match before leaving for AEW to have gone down any other way. He went out by putting Robinson over, which was nice and the video package for Havoc recapping his seven years with PROGRESS was touching.
Aussie Open def. Daga and Aerostar to retain the PROGRESS Tag Team Championships- This match was a perfectly fine wrestling match. It had its fair share of cool spots, and Daga and Aerostar earned the respect of the crowd. Predictably, however, Aussie Open picked up the win. After the match, Wild Boar and Flash Morgan Webster rushed the ring, attacking Aussie Open stealing their titles.
Jordynne Grace def. Millie McKenzie, Nina Samuels and Session Moth Martina to retain the PROGRESS Women’s Championship- If you thought the crowd were hot for Session Moth yesterday, that was nothing compared to the reception that McKenzie recieved when she came out from the PROGRESS faithful. The match was perfectly fine, but nothing special, with Grace picking up the win and retaining her title.
David Starr def. Jordan Devlin to win the 2019 PROGRESS Super Strong Style 16 tournament- Jordan Devlin was somewhat of a crowd favourite this weekend, but as soon as he was in the ring with David Starr, the crowd turned against him. David Starr was easily the most over person here, and the pop when he tapped out Devlin was deafening. The match was fantastic, with both men putting over their exhaustion from competiting in four other matches this weekend. Devlin will be a star in the years to come, but Starr finally has the rocket strapped to him, and he is coming for WALTER, a feud and match I fully expect him to win.
Your winner of #SSS16 2019, @TheProductDS. pic.twitter.com/I7Tw0nPn8q
— PROGRESS Wrestling (@ThisIs_Progress) May 6, 2019
Overall, day three was great, with Jimmy Havoc’s farewell match being a particular highlight. He has given everything for the promotion in his seven years there, and it is undeniable that the company would not be as successful as it is without the work of Havoc. David Starr’s win was great, and it really feels that PROGRESS is going to be the first promotion to properly back him as their top star. His match was Devlin was great, but not as good as Devlin vs. Fletcher from day two, which would have been extremely hard to top.
The weekend was extremely enjoyable, and the matches were far and away better than any you’ll see on Raw and Smackdown each week. PROGRESS will be back to Alexandra Palace for another big show in September, be sure to get your tickets by clicking here. In the meantime, have a look at PROGRESS’ demand service, Super Strong Style 16 should be uploaded in the next five-seven days. I really recommend this show.
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