Progress announced the final match for their New York City debut on August 12, and boy does it fill out a card chock full of 2017 pro wrestling goodness. Let’s take a look, shall we?
- Mark Andrews vs. Mark Haskins vs. Zack Gibson
- Dahlia Black & Dakota Kai vs. Deonna Purrazzo & Jinny
- Jimmy Havoc vs. Joey Janela
- Donovan Dijak vs. Timothy Thatcher (Progress Atlas Division Championship #1 Contender’s Match)
- Matt Riddle vs. WALTER (c) (Progress Atlas Division Championship)
- British Strong Style (Trent Seven & Tyler Bate) (c) vs. South Pacific Power Trip (TK Cooper & Travis Banks) (Progress Tag Team Championship)
- Jack Gallagher vs. Pete Dunne (c) (WWE United Kingdom Championship)
All pretty standard, really— Riddle gets his rematch against WALTER for the Atlas title after their barnburner at Chapter 51, the South Pacific Power Trip return after visa issues to get their promised “any time, anywhere” tag title shot, Joey Janela makes his debut against veritable Progress legend Jimmy Havoc, Thatcher and Dijak in the world’s largest grappler vs. flyer match, two full-time WWE superstars wrestling matches on an indie show...
/record scratch
/double take
Yep! Hot on the heels of Noam Dar returning to ICW at Shug’s Hoose Party 4 last month, Jack Gallagher gets to return to his old stomping ground for a crack at Pete Dunne’s WWE UK title, since Peter isn’t defending his Progress World Championship until the Alexandra Palace show in September.
But it’s not just a return, as the erstwhile Evie, Dakota Kai, will be making her Progress debut in tag action alongside fellow New Zealander (and one-third of the South Pacific Power Trio) Dahlia Black against Jinny and the also-debuting Deonna Purrazzo.
All this serves to raise interest even further on the show the next night in Boston, for which none of the matches will be announced until after New York is done and dusted.
Speaking of Boston, Progress aren’t coming over here alone! Their weekend is happening in conjunction with Beyond Wrestling and Evolve. Beyond will be hosting an afternoon show entitled Bye Bye Beautiful before Progress: Boston for which only Dijak vs. WALTER has been announced. Evolve, for their part, are hosting a pair of shows, Evolve 90 the day before in Maryland, as well as Evolve 91 in the afternoon before Progress: New York City. Those shows have a plethora of matches announced, so let’s take a quick look at them as well.
Evolve 90 (August 11 in Joppa, Maryland)
- Workhorsemen (Anthony Henry & James Drake) will defend the Evolve Tag Team Championship
- Austin Theory vs. Jason Kincaid
- Doom Patrol (Chris Dickinson & Jaka) vs. Troll Boyz (ACH & "All Ego" Ethan Page)
- Keith Lee vs. Timothy Thatcher
- Lio Rush vs. Matt Riddle
- Fred Yehi vs. WALTER (c) (Progress Atlas Division Championship)
Evolve 91 (August 12 in Queens, New York)
- ACH vs. "All Ego" Ethan Page
- Darby Allin vs. Timothy Thatcher
- Austin Theory vs. Mark Haskins
- Doom Patrol (Chris Dickinson & Jaka) vs. South Pacific Power Trip (TK Cooper & Travis Banks)
- Keith Lee vs. Matt Riddle (c) vs. "Hot Sauce" Tracy Williams vs. WALTER (WWN Championship)
Evolve World Champion Zack Sabre, Jr. is off busy finishing up the G1 Climax that weekend, but they’re doing pretty good without him, aren’t they? Keep your eyes out especially for Doom Patrol vs. SPPT, a rematch of one of the best matches at Mercury Rising this year, and Yehi vs. WALTER, where you shouldn’t let the size discrepancy fool you— Austria’s greatest export is about to be in BIG trouble.
There you have it, folks
Wrestling continues to be wild, and this is a big ol’ cherry on the top of what’s shaping up to be an excellent weekend on the indies between Evolve, Progress, and Beyond. Who else is excited?