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Progress Chapter 61: Don’t Touch Me... Don’t... Don’t Touch Me went up on Demand Progress this morning so let’s have at it, folks!
After Jim Smallman’s always-enjoyable introduction, Mark Andrews comes out to address a change to the card. He talks about his first match of 2018 a few days before the show and how he realized that he had hyperextended his arm. He intended to stretch it off but unfortunately he couldn’t be cleared tonight and--
Eddie Dennis comes down to interrupt. He says he figured Andrews didn’t show up in December because he didn’t want to hear what he had to say, but maybe he just doesn’t want to wrestle at all. Maybe he wants to just sit at home and collect his WWE downpayment check. But Eddie doesn’t care about title matches, he doesn’t care about going to America, he just wants “this skinny little prick” in a wrestling match!
Mark says they don’t need to air their dirty laundry out here and he still views them as best friends and he doesn’t want to fight. Dennis mocks him for clinging to the idea of being the good guy here, but if they were ever friends, why wasn’t he Mark’s first choice for a tag team partner at Chapter 6? How come at Chapter 10 he reinstated Will Ospreay instead of him?
If they were best friends, how come he didn’t ever consider the professional implications of signing with TNA and WWE? Eddie reiterates his desire to fight and says if any of it was ever real, he wants the only thing that he wants, an opportunity to prove to everyone here that he’s the better of them. Mark says he had no idea that Eddie felt that way and he had never said anything about it, and if he had just told him he would have avoided it.
Andrews apologizes for upsetting him and making him feel as though he’s in his shadow, and says at Chapter 17 they had one of his favorite matches, a match that he cherishes. But under these circumstances, he refuses to fight. Eddie asks what he has to do, if he has to start pushing him around, or maybe spit in his face, maybe then he’ll fight.
Forehead-to-forehead they go but Mark will not fight a man he still considers his best friend! Dennis calls him out as a coward and Andrews hesitates but keeps walking. Eddie says this will happen at every show until either Mark changes his mind or one of Jim, Jon, or Glen forces him.
Grizzled Young Veterans (James Drake & Zack Gibson) (c) vs. Moustache Mountain (Trent Seven & Tyler Bate) (Progress Tag Team Championship)
During intros, before Gibson can do his usual schtick, Trent Seven takes the mic and... receives a call from Triple H? He asks if he’s being put in at number seven, presumably in the Royal Rumble, saying it’d make “perfect sense”, and they have a laugh over James Drake and something at a party before taking a few shots at Zack and parting by telling Hunter to stay cerebral.
Gibson says there’s a time and a place for jokes, and he could throw all the insults in the world at Trent but it’s a pointless venture and so he’ll just keep on winning matches instead.
Drake and Bate to start, a bit of light grappling with some flashy escapes from Tyler. Referee Chris Roberts ends up entangled with Seven and Gibson takes full advantage, blindsiding Bate and isolating him. The tag champs work him over, or at least try to as Tyler ends up getting some comedic reversals, at one point putting James’ face into Zack’s gentleman’s area.
Airplane spin, tags made and Gibson goes low on a crossbody, leaving Trent to wipe out! Bate in, stereo airplane spins! The effort is a bit too much for Seven, however, and he collapses, leaving the tag champs to try and turn the tide. They fail, do-si-dos into stereo Bop and Bang and stereo half crabs whereupon Roberts decides it’s time to restore order and insist one man return to the apron.
Tyler dives to the floor, caught with sandwich forearms, Trent goes to dive and Gibson stops him cold by asking who’s legal! Inside, Seven throwing chops, Drake lands Deftones and assists a superkick-assisted neckbreaker for a nearfall! Trent now truly isolated, the Grizzled Young Vets begin dismantling him, quick tags into hard strikes.
Passing Drake to the floor, he comes up lame but is able to make the tag. Seven kicks Gibson away, tag made, Bate in with Koppo kicks, trading charging strikes with Zack he catches him in the corner and lays him low with an exploder suplex! Running shooting star press... NOPE! Enzuigiri, malfunction at the junction and the superkick for the neckbreaker hits Gibson square, giving Moustache Mountain a chance, Cyclone Kill, spinning backfist, assisted powerbomb... NOT ENOUGH!
Liverpool’s Number One with shoulder blocks, jockeying for position in the corner, Ticket to Ride, James up top and Trent cuts him off with a right hand! Superplex denied with the electric chair, victory roll counter to Doomsday Device, Bate takes Drake out with a Koppo kick... NO GOOD! Duck a lariat, Bop and Bang... BURNING HAMMER! DRAKE BREAKS IT UP BY THROWING SEVEN INTO THE COVER!
All four men kneeling and trading forearms in a freeform slugfest, slowly to their feet, continuing to trade, Seven gets a German suplex off and Gibson a Saito suplex! Tyler fires up and hits one of his own only to run into Ticket to Ride and bounce off the ropes for another Koppo kick! But when he goes for his rebound lariat... JAMES CRACKS HIM WITH ONE OF THE TITLE BELTS!
Helter Skelter countered into a small package, Drake just barely gets a hand in to shove Gibson over...
Grizzled Young Veterans win by pinfall with a small package from Zack Gibson on Tyler Bate, retaining the Progress Tag Team Championship.
Really good opener. I loved the ebb and flow here, with Moustache Mountain starting off a bit goofy, fooling around (the call from Triple H was a great touch), but when GYV finally pulled ahead of their shenanigans they turned the heat up and the match really got going. It’s a formula that sees a good amount of play here in Progress but with good reason, because it generally works and works well. Good times.
Chris Ridgeway comes out, he has a match against a mystery opponent since Mark Andrews got hurt... it’s Drew Parker!
Chris Ridgeway vs. Drew Parker
Jockeying for position early with mat grappling, Parker a bit more roughly hewn but not missing a beat keeping up with Ridgeway. Turning to striking, trading forearms, Drew dumps him to the floor and catches him with a triangle dropkick! Off the ropes, tope con giro! Parker remaining in control on the floor, chops in the front row, staying on him when the action heads back in, pummeling him in the corner until referee Joel Allen warns him off.
Forearms in the center of the ring just get Chris fired up and he clobbers Parker to the mat with one of his own before laying him out with the roundhouse kick when he tries to pop up! Fakeout roundhouse into a torture half-crab with a foot to the back of the head! Shifting from there into a deathlock, and turning that into a deathlock STS! Drew crawls for and gets the ropes for the break.
Parker playing Inoki to Ridgeway’s Ali, Chris draws him up with a wristlock for kicks and knees, trying to cave his chest in! Ripcord reverse roundhouse ducked, Drew reverses and grabs a northern lights suplex, follows it right up with a Penalty Kick, only two! Charging strikes exchanged, Ridgeway with a Saito suplex into a crescent kick, only good for a nearfall!
Off the ropes a few times, building up a head of steam, forearm to the back of the head! Right into the Fujiwara armbar when he kicks out! Trapping the far arm as well, wrenching back, adding some wrist manipulation into the mix but Parker is able to get to the ropes for a respite all the same. More knee lifts, into chest kicks but Parker’s able to kick him low on the leg and trip him up!
Basement superkick, Shining Wizard ducked but Drew catches him with a guillotine leg drop on the rebound, Black Magic style... NOPE! Struggle in the turnbuckles, hanging reverse chinlock but Ridgeway has to let go at four and Parker rebounds with a superplex! Going for a second suplex but Chris reverses to a sleeper! That gets reversed to a pin, Ridgeway lands a pump kick but Drew hits a pop-up double stomp and both men are laid out!
Trading strikes, Ridgeway gets a slap rush off, big roundhouse, ripcord crescent kick and a German suplex, Penalty Kick... NOT ENOUGH! Another ripcord kick countered into a powerbomb, Parker follows it up with God’s Last Gift... NO GOOD! Headed up top...
Drew Parker wins by pinfall with a 450 splash.
So this ruled. Very good match, Parker more than making the most of his opportunity here, he and Ridgeway worked really well together. And the spots! The whole half-crab > STS sequence, the Black Magic-style guillotine leg drop, the superplex > sleeper sequence, dug it a lot.
Bea Priestley & Nina Samuels vs. Charli Evans & Millie McKenzie
Evans in hot with a boot that clears Samuels off the apron! Strikes on Priestley, T-Bone suplex, charging forearm, tag to McKenzie as they work Bea over. She gets a desperation tag to Nina but Millie continues in the same vein with her, big Frankensteiner only gets two. Charli in, more of a beating until Priestley goes to trip her up and Samuels uses the confusion to get a backbreaker in!
Wristlock stomps, choking Evans in the ropes, tag to Bea, a whirlwind of strikes culminating with a wicked facewash that only gets two! Nina tags in, grinding her down with a cravate and knocking her loopy with a roundhouse for a nearfall. Stomping away, Charli’s arm revealing itself a weak point and Priestley comes back in to target it further. Double teams go south, Evans is able to fight them off and... Bea yanks McKenzie off the apron to stop the tag.
A bit more punishment ensues but Charli is able to come off the top with a crossbody and get the tag! Millie takes everyone to Suplex City! Ace Crusher for Priestley but she rolls to the floor! Stereo dives! Back in the ring, Bea capitalizes with an arm wringer, into a double stomp, only a nearfall! Cheeky Nando’s into a powerbomb... EVANS WITH THE SAVE!
Hammerlock reverse STO takes Samuels out, a superkick takes Charli out, and a spear takes Priestley out in turn! Nina in, Tiger Driver... NOPE! Samuels perches up top, McKenzie drops her with a belly-to-belly superplex and stays right on her...
Charli Evans & Millie McKenzie win by pinfall with a flip piledriver from McKenzie on Nina Samuels.
Good match, solid non-title women’s storytelling for some of our new faces here is always welcome. Not gonna heap a huge amount of praise on it but I enjoyed it for sure.
Joseph Conners vs. Pete Dunne (c) (WWE United Kingdom Championship)
Before he’s even introduced, Dunne throws his ring jacket at Conners, who throws it right back! And after he’s introduced, Joseph cracks him across the back with a chair and holds the title belt in his mouth in mockery of the Bruiserweight!
Forearms at the bell, just dumping Pete into the corners neck-first hip toss style. Stomps to the back of the neck, Dunne catches one and lays him out with a headbutt! To the floor, Peter throws him into the fourth row! Again on the other side! Wrenching his arm against the apron, the bicep stomp follows and Conners starts fighting back with hammer blows only to get laid right back out and smashed into the apron!
Slingshot double stomp on the apron after breaking the count and an X Plex on the next side! Trading back suplexes on the apron now, Conners throws the champion into the crowd himself now before an attempt to throw him into the post is reversed to a back body drop on the floor. The Bruiserweight grabs himself a chair this time but referee Joel Allen comes outside to remind him that this is, in fact, not a no-disqualification match.
Joseph comes around behind with a chair, Joel gets sent into the front row, they struggle over the chair and it’s Dunne that cracks it across his back this time! Charging in, Conners with a tilt-a-whirl slam on the floor! Slugging it out, Joseph with the advantage, back in, he hits the overrotated back suplex but refuses to capitalize! He wants Jim Smallman to come to ringside!
He hits it again and takes the microphone, asking what the first rule of Progress is. The crowd obliges and tells him that it’s “Don’t be a dick” and he says he’s been waiting to take the title from Dunne for months and these people love it because everyone’s welcome-- PETE CUTS HIM OFF WITH AN ENZUIGIRI! Charging forearm, whip reversed, backflip up and over, another enzuigiri, X Plex into a cross armbar!
Transition to Ode to Jim Breaks and he falls back, snapping Conners’ arm! Off the ropes, going for the overrotated back suplex, Dunne lands on his feet, basement roundhouse kick, sitout powerbomb, only a nearfall! Biting the fingers, going for Bitter End... reversed to a DDT! Sunset flip buckle bomb connects, Peter heads outside but gets caught by a suicide dive!
Slingshot reverse STO takes the action back in the ring but Dunne kicks out at one! Fireman’s carry, taking the champ up top but he counters into a sunset flip powerbomb! Charging in, boots put him down and Joseph flips up into the corner, perching, diving... right into a forearm! Pete heads up top in turn and the double stomp finds home... NO GOOD!
Stereo lariats as they clobber each other over and over and Dunne eventually gets the better of it! Hooking the nose and dragging him up, Conners counters with a backbreaker! Forearms connect, backing the Bruiserweight in the corner but eventually they just fire him up and he levels Joseph with a single strike of his own! Pumphandle applied, Conners grabs Allen and hits him low, Pedigree... NOPE!
Hoisting him up for something, Dunne counters by biting the ear with the chunk missing and locking a Kimura in! Joe hosses him up and turns it into a reverse STO... NOT ENOUGH! Pete heads outside, Conners hits a suicide dive... AND DUNNE CLOBBERS HIM WITH FOREARM THAT SENDS HIM INTO THE CROWD! TOMBSTONE PILEDRIVER ON THE FLOOR! Back inside, pumphandle...
Pete Dunne wins by pinfall with the Bitter End, retaining the WWE United Kingdom Championship.
This started and ended really strong but meandered a little in the middle. Still a strong match, just kind of aimless at points. Fortunately they recovered and ended really strong. That forearm that countered the suicide dive? Not only did it send Conners into the crowd, but he wiped someone out of their chair like a magician yanking a tablecloth out from under dishes, it was incredible.
Adam Brooks vs. Will Ospreay
Intense fast-paced jockeying for position out the gates, a big dropkick sends Brooks to the floor and Ospreay flips into a pose only to see Adam slide back in the ring to meet him! Offering a handshake, Will turns it down and kicks his leg out so Brooks wipes him out with a kick and returns the taunt, which gets Ospreay hot. Big dive, fighting on the floor, enlisting a fan to Irish whip him but the time gives Brooks a chance to set up a reversal into the reverse STO!
Will keeps his wits about him and counters a return charge with a belly-to-belly suplex into a pile of ring crew and chairs! Back inside, laying him out with chops, jockeying for position and Adam throws him hard into the corner wtih a belly-to-belly suplex of his own! Ospreay struggles to get his bearings, gets snapmared into a dropkick and then the cocky one-foot pin!
Stomping the face, Penalty Kick to the back and Will’s fighting mad, throwing forearms but Brooks tornados him over for an awesome rope-hung DDT! Lying in wait, fakeout charge into a side headlock. Ospreay turns the temperature up when he escapes, takes two tries as Adam ducks and dodges but a handspring Pele kick lands true! Block a forearm, jawbreaker, chest kick and he’s fired up!
Setting him up, hesitation dropkick comes up empty but an enzuigiri lands and the Aerial Assassin follows it up with a Tiger feint kick and this time the hesitation dropkick connects! Standing corkscrew moonsault senton(!), big diving lariat, but when he calls for the Rainmaker Brooks wakes up and backs him into the corner for elbows! Charging in, Will uses his momentum to set up Cheeky Nando’s!
Folding press comes up empty, OsCutter sidestepped, fireman’s carry but Ospreay rolls out and lands a roundhouse kick that sends Adam to the floor! Space Flying Tiger Drop, nobody home and Brooks hits a Fosbury Flop! Meteora off the top... NOT ENOUGH! Staying on him, setting him up in the corner but Will slips out, trying Cheeky Nando’s again, denied, duck a double stomp, rolling solebutt, jockeying for position fast and furious.
Will lands a Scorpion Kick, Adam returns a Tiger knee, both men staggered and stumbling, Ospreay lands an enzuigiri! Lariat connects, Will right back on his feet, superkick, snap German suplex, Brooks returns a shotgun dropkick, suplex... REVERSED INTO THE STUNNER! To their knees, slugging it out punch for slap, Adam gets to his feet first but Will just wants more!
Ospreay gets a series of forearms off, kick blocked and Brooks spits in his face! Jawing and piefacing him, Ospreay won’t back down and clocks him with an elbow! Shoving referee Chris Roberts away when he tries to break it up, Adam takes advantage with a poke of the eyes, off the second with a Codebreaker that almost turns into kind of a short piledriver on impact!
Arguing with Roberts, he turns around and runs into a Spanish Fly... NOT ENOUGH! Robinson Special connects but Brooks shoves him off the ropes when he tries to springboard for the OsCutter! To the apron, thinking about a flip piledriver perhaps but Will is able to duck it and get him back in the ring. Perching up top, Adam shoves Roberts into the ropes to crotch him!
Headed up to join him, perching, avalanche Frankensteiner and Ospreay takes it right on his face! Tornado DDT follows, sending him to the apron... FLIP PILEDRIVER ON THE APRON! Up top, senton atomico... WILL OSPREAY WILL NOT STAY DOWN! Brooks takes a turnbuckle pad off, Roberts takes it away from him, Will with a roundhouse and the Rainmaker attempt but Adam counters and kicks him low, inside cradle... NOPE!
Ospreay grabs the wristlock back while he’s taunting, hits the Rainmaker, the Decapitator follows and he heads up top, imploding 450... NO GOOD! Springboarding...
Will Ospreay wins by pinfall with the OsCutter.
Matches like this on VOD make my life as a recapper very hard. So much rewinding to make sure I didn’t miss anything cool! Anyway, this might be a smidge on the long side but it was a hoot all the same. Adam Brooks is an excellent dickhead and I hope he sticks around.
Aussie Open (Kyle Fletcher & Mark Davis) vs. Jimmy Havoc & Mark Haskins
Fletcher and Haskins to start, trading holds, Mark gets Kyle in the ropes and slugs him in the gut with a forearm. Roll-through Sharpshooter denied, a roundhouse kick misses, double dropkick stalemate! Haskins blindsiding him with a forearm to the back of the neck, Fletcher recovers relatively quickly and lands a dropkick before tagging Davis in. Davis trading chops with Haskins, hard whip into another big chop and he tags Havoc in.
Duck a lariat, lay Jimmy out with a chop and he’s had enough, immediately tagging Haskins back in and clutching his chest. Dunkzilla lands another big one, pop-up drop when he comes off the ropes, tag to Fletcher, standing moonsault, only a nearfall! Trading shots, whip reversed, Havoc with the cheap shot, Kyle returns it but Mark dumps him to the floor and Jimmy lays him out with a suplex!
Brawling on the floor, putting Davis into chairs to try and wipe him out and Haskins rips off knee drop after knee drop on Fletcher in the ring! Davis staggers into the ring but referee Joel Allen backs him off as Havoc tags in and continues the beatdown, camel clutch applied and Haskins runs the ropes to punctuate it with a dropkick! Going after the arm, wrenching and tearing, tag to Jimmy and they run the camel clutch spot back only for him to stop short and do a poke of the eyes!
Quick tags continue, but a moment too long spent baiting Dunkzilla leads to the hot tag! Two on one, reverse STO puts Haskins into the turnbuckles, a chop puts Havoc on top of him and Davis hits a sliding forearm on both men! The one-handed wristlock powerbomb follows! Spinning Alpamare Waterslide... NOPE! Haskins puts Davis into Fletcher, the match breaks down a bit but Kyle’s fighting and Aussie Open are still in it!
Davis catches Havoc into a swinging slam, sending him to the floor, and Kyle wipes them both out with a step-up flip dive! Tiger feint, Davis catches him, pop-up Ace Crusher... NOT ENOUGH! Looking for a Lawn Dart on Jimmy, Haskins makes the save, up for the assisted back piledriver... NO GOOD! Punishing Fletcher in the corner, catapult... he reverses to a flip piledriver!
Haskins with the roll-through DVD... Mark Davis makes the save! All four men slugging it out with forearms, down to Haskins and Fletcher but Kyle connects with a superkick! Acid Rainmaker denied, and the Aussie Arrow connects, double pumphandle driver... MARK HASKINS BREAKS IT UP! Davis off the ropes, big man suicide dive! Haskins with the Penalty Kick off the apron!
Havoc with a rolling elbow, wristlock applied...
Jimmy Havoc & Mark Haskins win by pinfall with the Acid Rainmaker / superkick combo on Kyle Fletcher.
Every time I see Aussie Open I like them a little more, and I liked them a lot the first time I saw them! Anyway, here they were excellent as never-say-die foils to the sadistic Haskins and Havoc, and it all added up to another good match.
I will cop, however, to being a bit disappointed that once again we got zero explanation as to Haskins and Havoc’s motivations, not even a cryptic reminder that they don’t intend to tell us anything. I get that’s kind of the point, and I’m pretty confident that when all IS revealed it’ll have been worth it, but as a wise man once said, the waiting is the hardest part.
Chris Brookes vs. Travis Banks (c) (Progress World Championship)
Banks offering a handshake that is accepted by his CCK compatriot... and immediately followed up with a shotgun dropkick and a tope con giro! Travis returns the favor with the trifecta of suicide dives, the last of which Brookes counters with a kick! Suplex to the floor denied, Banks goes for a sunset flip to the outside but Chris counters by getting his head tangled in the ring skirt and stomping him!
Brookes walking him around the ring and throwing chops and clubs, the Kiwi Buzzsaw gets a few licks of his own in only to be staggered into the front row by a pump kick! Smash into the apron, octopus hold on the floor! Tying him up in the ring skirt again, just clobbering him with forearms and stomps as referee Chris Roberts warns him off. Going for a chair, Roberts gets testy with him, they throw the chair back and forth and Banks kicks it into his challenger’s face!
Climbing to the second, Brookes knocks him down, wraps his arm around the ringpost and stomps the shoulder! Throwing him a few rows deep into the crowd, Chris returns to the ring to wait and goes right to work on the arm when Banks returns. Kneeling armbar, going after the hand, Travis gets the ropes and Brookes breaks dirty with a stomp. Throwing hands, a dropkick cuts Banks off and Chris decides to open his strategy up and give a little attention to the leg.
Wet Willy denied, the champion firing up and leveling him with an elbow strike! Running uppercuts, setting up the cannonball but Brookes gets his boots up right into the back of his neck! Slingshot, reversed to a German suplex, Travis looking for a followup suplex, floated over, German suplex in return but the Kiwi Buzzsaw pops right up!
A knee strike follows, another German suplex dumps him on the back of his head, off the ropes and Banks lands a lariat! Kiwi Krusher reversed into a brainbuster! To the apron, slugging it out forearm for chop, the champ pulls ahead with a basement superkick but the Penalty Kick is reversed to a trip and Brookes tries to follow with a brainbuster. Banks slips out, Slice of Heaven off the apron!
Fireman’s carry slam into the front row! Back inside, Air New Zealand... NOPE! Trading forearms and then boots, Banks blocks one, hits the sliding knee strike, goes for Kiwi Krusher... BROOKES REVERSES TO A KIWI KRUSHER OF HIS OWN! NOT ENOUGH SO HE SWITCHES RIGHT INTO THE LION’S CLUTCH! Travis flips him out and grabs the octopus stretch, Chris gets the ropes but he refuses to let go AND THEY TUMBLE TO THE FLOOR!
Referee Roberts counting... they barely beat the count! Forehead to forehead, forearm for chop, to their feet, the Kiwi Buzzsaw strings a bunch together, Slice of Heaven... CAUGHT INTO THE OCTOPUS STRETCH AND INTO A COVER FOR A NEARFALL! Banks locks the Lion’s Clutch on in the middle of the ring! Chris gets a foot in the ropes and taps, a ruse to set up Death By Roll-up!
Only a nearfall, a slingshot Ace Crusher follows and again only two! Brookes trying to set something up, Banks slips out and Chris dodges, leaving Roberts to take a kick! Double underhook piledriver, Brookes has it won but Roberts is out and can’t count the fall! Chris heads over to Jim Smallman and takes the title belt from him, bringing it back into the ring.
He takes his CCK wristband off, Jim tries to wave him off but he’s not listening, lying in wait. Even Kid Lykos gives him a little “don’t do it” shake of the head as Banks wakes up and Brookes realizes he can’t do it. Travis with a shotgun dropkick, big double stomp, Slice of Heaven countered with a baking tray courtesy of Lykos, it was a ruse! Underhook piledriver connects, Roberts is up to count... AND TRAVIS BARELY KICKS OUT!
Octopus stretch applied in the middle of the ring but TK Cooper comes down and yanks Chris Roberts out of the ring! Jawing at Brookes, making a gesture of the baking tray, and it’s enough that Banks can hit Slice of Heaven and the Kiwi Krusher... NOT ENOUGH! Lion’s Clutch in the middle of the ring... it’s over!
Travis Banks wins by submission with the Lion’s Clutch, retaining the Progress World Championship.
Okay, so, cards on the table, when I saw the finish of this match in reports my first thought was “well, that might be kinda dumb.” But in practice, the way it plays out, with the ref bump, through the visual pin, the faux-remorse at the idea of using the title, it all builds very naturally to TK making the save and ended up feeling, to me, pretty natural and logical and I dig it.
As far as the match as a whole goes, well, it’s a Travis Banks title defense. A little longer than the usual example, a bit bigger, and with some cool new stuff playing on their relationship as stablemates and all (those stolen finishers!), not my favorite of the bunch by any means, but a really good match all the same. The aggressive stuff in and around the apron early was especially enjoyable.
Banks helps Brookes to his feet after the match but Chris shoves him away. Travis offers a hand but Chris won’t take it and goes to leave until Lykos brings him back. Brookes flips TK the bird and shakes the Kiwi Buzzsaw’s hand, and CCK take their leave.
Cooper goes to hand Banks his title but keeps a grip on it and they have a bit of a faceoff. TK holds the ropes open for him but Travis leaves via another side of the ring.
Overall
A pretty good Progress show, this one. The in-ring wasn’t quite up to the heights they’ve been scraping over the last few months, with only the tag title match, Parker/Ridgeway, and Brooks/Ospreay really blowing me away to any degree, but it’s not like there’s a bad one in the bunch, just maybe a few that went a little longer than I’d personally have liked.
Storyline-wise, we’re still kind of a little bit in limbo but I am REALLY excited about Andrews/Dennis now that we’re started. “Former best friends where the babyface refuses to fight the heel until he goads him into snapping” is one of my favorite stories and this one is off to a great start. But also the women’s midcard is getting some much-needed development that should hopefully pop off within a couple chapters, and the main event stuff with the three-way tension between Banks and his two separate groups of friends is starting to really crystalize and should go some good places as well.
Check it out on Demand Progress, folks.