We've got another week full of British and Irish wrestling ahead of us and this week we focus on PROGRESS Wrestling in London on Sunday with Chapter 58: Live Your Best Life, a double header of Southside Wrestling Entertainment shows in Sheffield on Saturday with Queen of the Ring 2017 and Ill Manors 2017 and Grandslam from Big League Wrestling in Yeovil, Somerset on Sunday. So let's look at this week's BritWres to Impress!
Also this week
Thursday // TNT Extreme Wrestling A Cold Day in Hell // Liverpool // facebook.com/tntextremewres/
Saturday // Premier British Wrestling Live // Dumbarton, West Dumbartonshire // pbwwrestling.com
Sunday // Over The Top Wrestling Contenders 4: Road to the Elite // Dublin // ottwrestling.com/
Sunday // PROGRESS Wrestling Chapter 58: Live Your Best Life // London // progresswrestling.myshopify.com
Chapter 58: Live Your Best Life is PROGRESS Wrestling's penultimate show at The Electric Ballroom of 2017 and they've assembled the sort of varied card we've come to expect from the Strong-Style specialists.
The event will be headlined by Travis Banks' third PROGRESS World title defence against two time PROGRESS Atlas Champion, Matt Riddle. Banks has been on fine form since winning the World Championship from Pete Dunne in September, holding back challenges from Keith Lee in October and Mark Andrews earlier this month, but now steps in the ring with arguably his most dangerous challenger to date. In fact, The Super King of Bros picked up a victory over the Kiwi Buzzsaw back in July, as well as picking up impressive singles victories over the likes of Will Ospreay, Jeff Cobb, WALTER and more in the last twelve months. Riddle may be one of the few in PROGRESS who can match Banks for popularity and the lively Electric Ballroom crowd will almost certainly be treated to brutal strikes, off the scale physicality and a submission showcase when Banks and Riddle go head to head on Sunday afternoon.
On Sunday, Jinny and Dahlia Black go to war. This rivalry has been rumbling for months, told in a wonderful promo from Black here. Things reached a head at Chapter 57, with Jinny and Black unable to control their dislike for each other in a four way number one contenders match also including Alex Windsor and Candyfloss. Before the night was over the former friends were scrapping backstage with more than a few curses thrown in each others direction. That brings us to Chapter 58, where the two will collide in a No Disqualification match, with the added caveat that the winner will receive a match for the Women's Championship. As if the pair needed any more reason to beat the shit into each other! Things could get ugly at the Electric Ballroom.
The rest of the card is full of intriguing singles matches, such as Eddie Dennis bringing his new found bad attitude to face Jack Sexsmith. Dennis has shown that his attention is completely on former partner Mark Andrews, shouting "Fuck you Mark" moments before nailing Chuck Mambo with a forearm smash at Live at the Dome last week. Even if Sexsmith hasn't had a one on one match since July and no singles victories since May, if Dennis is looking elsewhere there's always the chance that "The Pansexual Phenomenon" could cause the upset...or Dennis could just beat the shit into him... There's also a Women's Championship match with Alex Windsor getting the title shot that she won at Chapter 57. Toni Storm has proven to be pretty unstoppable as the inaugural champion, putting away the likes of Candice LeRae, Kay Lee Ray and Laura Di Matteo, so Windsor will have to bring her A-game and the intensity that we saw from a backstage confrontation earlier in the month.
Also on the card is a rematch from Chapter 56 as Strangler Davis puts his Atlas Championship match opportunity on the line against wXw World Tag Team Champion Timothy Thatcher, Joseph Conner's PROGRESS singles debut against "Flash" Morgan Webster and a qualifying match for Tetsujin's Beauty in Combat II tournament as Chris Ridgeway faces Damon Moser.
Saturday // Southside Wrestling Entertainment Queen of the Ring 2017 // Sheffield // southsidewrestling.co.uk/
Saturday // Southside Wrestling Entertainement Ill Manors 2017 // Sheffield // southsidewrestling.co.uk
On Saturday, Southside return to Sheffied for the final time in 2017, presenting a double header at Corporation. Queen of the Ring 2017 takes place in the afternoon, before Ill Manors 2017 closes out the day in the evening.
The Queen of the Ring tournament debuted last year, with 3 time WWE Women's Champion Melina walking out the winner, after a victory over Kay Lee Ray in the final. This year's tournament features an array of internationally renowned female talent and perhaps none more so than Toni Storm. The current World of Stardom Champion has shown tournament acumen in 2017, winning PROGRESS' Natural Progression Series IV, the Cinderella Tournament and 5Star Grand Prix in STARDOM and wXw's Femmes Fatales, as well as reaching the semi-finals of WWE's Mae Young Classic. It's hard not to say that Storm is the favourite to take this tournament as well. Last year's finalist Kay Lee Ray is a 2 time Queen of Southside Champion and has won titles in ICW and WCPW in 2017, as well as reaching the finals of the Pro Wrestling: EVE title tournament. The always dangerous KLR faces Storm in the first round, a match that may very well decide the winner of the whole tournament!
Another interesting first round collision pits Shanna against Sienna [Allysin Kay]. Shanna returns to Southside for the first time since March, having won titles in Japan and Germany, whilst Sienna debuts on the back of a year that has seen her hold both the Knockout's Championship in Impact Wrestling and GFW's Women's Championship. This could be a classic power vs. speed encounter. Also in first round action, Viper faces "Session Moth" Martina and current Queen of Southside Lana Austin looks to hold onto her title against debuting EVE Champion Sammii Jayne. A non-tournament scrap see's Kasey Owens go one on one with Saraya Knight.
When you look at the Ill Manors 2017 card, it's hard to look past the Triple Threat tag team bout. Scarlet & Graves (Dezmond Xavier & Zachary Wentz) have been wowing audiences all over in 2017, with a crazy amount of creative tag team offence and individual flair, including a trip to Southside in May, as well as appearance elsewhere in the UK for the likes of RevPro, Fight Club: Pro and Lucha Forever. #CCK (Chris Brookes and Kid Lykos) might have only appeared once for Southside (a loss to Magnus & Doug Williams in March) but there's no denying that they are one of the most entertaining duos on the circuit, with a knack for the underhanded tactic. They even took the CZW Tag Team Championships from Scarlet & Graves in May. To outsiders, GBH members Damian Dunne & Kip Sabian might seem like the outsiders, but anyone who has been paying attention to Southside knows that this pairing will be no pushovers. They're undefeated in three as a duo, including a win of Scarlet & Graves in May. Expect an action-packed, shenanigan fest, that will leave you trying to get your breath back.
Chris Ridgeway is yet to taste singles victory in Southside, but has impressed against some of the world's best including Sami Callihan, Cedric Alexander and Ophidian. On Saturday, he'll have the challenge of trying to record his first win against one of Germany's best the debuting Bad Bones. Ridgeway might be known as a heavy-hitter, with bag of intensity and fire, but he'll be giving up, at least, 60 lbs to his opponent on Saturday, who is also known for possessing brutal strikes and dominating opponents. Bones is the current wXw Unified World Wrestling Champion and anyone who is yet to catch him in action is sure to be impressed by the man Bitburg when turns up in Sheffield. This has all the makings of an absolute belter.
The card also features the controversial Bram facing Adam Maxted, former Southside Heavyweight Champion Robbie X up against Brady Phillips, the odd couple pairing of "Session Moth" Martina and Joseph Conners opposite Alex Gracie and Shanna, El Phantasmo vs. Gabriel Kidd and a trios match with Kasey Owens, Kay Lee Ray and Sammii Jayne battling Saraya Knight, Lana Austin and Sienna.
Sunday // Big League Wrestling Grandslam // Yeovil, Somerset // twitter.com/blwwrestling
I'm not sure if we've ever covered Big League Wrestling here on Across the Pond Wrestling, but the group has created a good deal of buzz for their show at Westlands in Yeovil, Somerset on Sunday, through the combination of an inter-promotional rivalry and an international first main event.
That international main event see's BLW Heavyweight Champion Alberto el Patron [Alberto Del Rio] go one on one with one half of the PWG World Tag Team Champions, Matt Riddle. There's very little denying that this is a big time match anywhere in the world, whether you're a fan of AEP or not, his credentials in WWE and Impact Wrestling mean that he is a top calibre name, whilst very few indy performers have the same buzz as Matt Riddle has had in 2017. The two both have history in Mixed Martial Arts and employ a variety of submissions, strikes and throws to control matches. Will AEP be able to hang with a man almost ten years his junior? Will Riddle's lack of experience count for or against him? We shall see on Sunday, but if the pair are motivated and connect, there's no reason why they can't put on a match that Yeovil will be talking about for a long time to come.
The conflict between BLW and fellow Somerset promotion Ultimate Pro Wrestling has been burning for quite some time. There's been twists and turns across a number of show's, including UPW's Final Resolution earlier this month. This leaves us with an Elimination match on Sunday as both promotion have selected five competitors to represent their brand. This includes UPW Champion Josh Bodom representing Team BLW, BLW Tag Team Champions Big Grizzly and Dave Mastiff on opposite sides and the BLW promoters brother, Adam Da Silva representing UPW! The full teams are as follows; Dave Mastiff, Dick Riley, The Brothers AWE and Adam da Silva for UPW, Josh Bodom, Sid Scala, Psycho Phillips, Big Grizzly and Chris Walker for BLW. That's two talented teams, but you just know that it's not going to go down without shenanigans and hijinks. Whichever promotion stands tall on Sunday, this match should end up being a great showcase for wrestling in the south west.
Also on Sunday, the rivalry between Eddie Ryan and Chris Andrews culminates in a Street Fight, Harlem Bravado faces off with Dean Allmark in what should be an action-packed junior heavyweight clash, former tag team partners Kieran Bruce and Jake McCluskey go head to head and Mae Young Classic competitor Ayesha Raymond faces Jamie Hayter. The whole show is available on PPV via the Fite app.
We'd like to wish everyone competiting for PROGRESS, Southside, BLW, TNT, PBW, OTT and anywhere around the country this week the very very best. To the fans enjoy the action and don't forget to send your reviews to acrossthepondwrestling@hotmail.co.uk
See ya next week for more BritWres to Impress!
Article by James Marston
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