Progress #367 - ‘Bask in his Glory’

STRONG STYLE /strôNG/ /stīl/ 1. ‘... A style of wrestling evolved from Japanese Puroresu (プロレス) and traditional British Catch wrestling that incorporates full contact martial arts kicks and strikes with a strong emphasis placed on submission wrestling ...’ In Progress, the emphasis is more on the competition and the combatants fighting spirit rather than characters, and we settle things in the ring ....

Atlas Champion: Finn Balor Hometown: Bray, County Wicklow Ireland Finisher: Coup De Grace Bloody Sunday Reign: 12/17/19

Women’s Champion: Charlotte Flair Hometown: The Queen Cities, North Carolina Finisher: Figure 8 Natural Selection Reign: 03/24/20

LOCATION: Birmingham, West Midlands, England ARENA: O2 Academy Birmingham ANNOUNCERS: Mauro Renallo, Wade Barrett & Renee Young TV: Fox in United States; Sky Sports in United Kingdom

The show begins with comments from Atlas champion Finn Balor and Keith Lee about their big title match tonight .... it is promoted as a big fight feel as Lee seems poised to ascend to the next level after winning Champs vs. All Stars ....

Also tonight Roderick Strong will face Kyle O’Reilley after O’Reilley turned on him, the Grizzled Young Vets defend them Progress tag team titles against Imperium and Shawn Michaels is here too ....




The show starts off with the unexpected arrival of Ethan Carter III, EC3!  EC3 says he’s a Cash/Carter and he lands on his feet no matter what .... He says he is a new man and now he runs Progress as the youngest CEO in wrestling .... He was born for this, and the world needs him .... He pumps up the crowd for the main event, but he has something important to discuss right off the bat .... He opens his briefcase and pulls out the Universal women’s title .... He says Charlotte Flair WILL NOT be stripped of the title, but she cannot defend it right now due to the injury suffered at the hands of Ronda Rousey .... so this year the 2020 Queen of the Ring will crown a new ‘interim’ champion .... that champion will defend the title until Charlotte is able to come back ....


’Hangman’ Adam Page (UNITED STATES)
- vs -
Kona Reeves (UNITED STATES)

Page has a lot of buzz after his signing with Progress leaked on the Internet a few weeks back .... he gets a good reaction .... Reeves gets a tiny bit of offense, but Page pretty much squashed him and puts him away with the Rite of Passage ....






Angel Garza (MEXICO)
- vs -
‘Gentlemen’ Jack Gallagher (GREAT BRITAIN)

Garza wins with the Wing Clipper .... Afterwards Garza declares himself for the upcoming Cruiserweight classic and complains about losing to Gargano on Youtube .... he says it was a glorified handicap match .... After what we just saw on the screen, it’s obvious he is still more of a man than Johnny and that’s why Candice wants him .... he will be the first Cruiserweight champion ....






Progress tag team titles:
(Champions) Grizzled Young Veterans ~ Zack Gibson & James Drake (GREAT BRITAIN)
- vs -
Imperium ~ Marcel Barthel (GERMANY) & Fabian Aichner (ITALY)

This is a hard-hitting affair between two teams the fans usually don’t like .... They HATE Gibson though, so Imperium gets cheered .... After 10 minutes of action, Imperium looks to have the titles won after hitting the Enigma Code on Drake, but Gibson pulls the ref out of the ring .... Gibson argues with the ref, but Johnny Gargano comes out and attacks Gibson for the DQ finish ....

Gargano locks on the Gargano Escape on Gibson on the floor!  Drake goes after Gargano but he escapes into the crowd ....




Up next, Shawn Michaels comes out to the ring and cuts a promo about the upcoming Progress World Cup .... We are just a few weeks away from Progress’ biggest show of the year .... HBK says people have a problem with him being here, rest assured, a whole lot of people on the Progress roster are gonna have a problem with ole HBK by the time it’s all said and done because he’s here to tear down the house ....

This brings out ‘The Villain’ Marty Scurll who is one of the guys that isn’t happy HBK is here .... Scurll says he’s been here since day 1 and there have always been obstacles in his path .... He claims he’s going to win the World Cup and then challenge Justin Liger for the Junior title at the Great American Bash because he wants his title back .... HBK may have done some big things in other places, but he has done NOTHING here .... Now the Villain is just going to take what he wants .... BAM!  HBK lays Scurll out with Sweet Chin Music!!!!  HBK’s music hits and he dances around the ring as Scurll tries to shake off the cobwebs ....






Roderick Strong (UNITED STATES)
- vs -
Kyle O’Reilley (CANADA)

Strong is the aggressor and attacks early .... He chops the shit out of O’Reilley and beats him around ringside .... O’Reilley takes control by attacking the neck of Strong, which is obviously still not 100% .... O’Reilley works a guillotine but Strong powers him up into a Falcon Arrow for a double down .... Strong with a jumping knee but O’Reilley comes back with a Roaring Lariat for a close 2 count .... O’Reilley goes for the Tornado DDT but Strong blocks it and hits End of Heartache!!!!  Strong is favoring the neck and is slow to cover, and O’Reilley kicks out!  They trade some strikes and chops, but it breaks down to crazy fists in the middle of the ring!  Strong fires up with the Sick Kick, but O’Reilley kicks out again!  Strong Hold!  O’Reilley gets to the ropes, and Strong releases the hold and goes up top .... O’Reilley pushes the ref into the ropes, causing Strong to crotch himself on the top rope!  Brainbuster on the injured neck of Strong!  1 ... 2 ... 3!






Progress Atlas Title:
(Champion) Finn Balor (IRELAND)
- vs -
‘Limitless’ Keith Lee (UNITED STATES)

This is the big one and they treat us like one of the biggest matches in Progress history .... the lights go out and each guy gets the spotlight treatment in the introductions .... ‘WHOA ... BASK IN HIS GLORY!’ chants are deafening to start as the crowd is totally behind Lee .... the bell rings AND BALOR CHARGES AND HITS LEE WITH THE SHOTGUN DROPKICK RIGHT OUT OF THE GATE!  Balor up top .... COUP DE GRACE!!!!  Cover ... 1 ... 2 ... Lee kicks out!!!!  This one was almost over in under a minute!  Balor is in control, tossing Lee to the floor and hitting a basement dropkick to try to keep him off balance .... Balor measures Lee and hits another shotgun dropkick into the ring barrier .... Balor continues the attack and tries to do it again, BUT LEE COUNTERS WITH A POUNCE THAT SENDS BALOR FLYING INTO THE FRONT ROW!!!!  Lee tosses Balor back in and hits a running cross body for a 2 .... Balor comes back with a dropkick to the knee and then goes to work on the leg to take Lee off his feet .... we get a good 5-6 minute straight of Balor just working on the leg of Lee .... Lee hits the Grizzly Magnum that caves in the chest of Balor to buy him some time to recover .... Balor keeps up the attack, but Lee fires back and hits a flapjack .... Lee catches Balor in a powerslam for 2, but Lee is hobbled .... Balor goes for the slingblade but Lee reverses it into a massive spinebuster!  Lee goes to the top but misses a moonsault!  Balor with the shotgun dropkick, but this sends Lee into the ref and we get a ref bump!  Balor up top, but Lee is up and cuts him off .... Lee climbs up and fights with Balor but gets knocked to the mat .... Balor goes for the Coup De Grace but Lee is out of the way .... Balor rolls to his feet AND LEE KILLS HIM WITH THE POUNCE!!!!  Lee picks him up ... SPIRIT BOMB!  Lee has the pin but there is no ref!    The fans are counting 1 ... 2 ... 3 ... 4 ... 5 ... Lee tries to pull the ref up, but Balor clips the knee from behind!  Balor goes for Bloody Sunday, but Lee blocks it .... GROUND ZERO!!!!  Lee has the cover again, but still no ref!  The fans are counting again, but the ref stirs and counts 1 ... 2 ... Nooooo!  Balor kicks out!!!!  Lee goes to the top again, but this time Balor is up and fights with him .... HUGE super-plex to Lee and both men are down .... Balor makes the cover, but Lee kicks out at 1!!!!  Lee powers up and follows with chops, then hits a huge lariat that turns Balor upside down!  Lee is down to a knee, but fires back up .... SPIRIT BOMB!  1 ... 2 ... the bell rings!!!!


The fans erupt thinking Lee has won, but quickly we find out that the 30 minute time limit has expired!  This is met with boos and chants of ‘5 MORE MINUTES!’  Lee is getting his knee checked on and Balor is slumped in the corner .... Balor pulls himself up and pushes past the trainers, and it’s clear he isn’t done with Lee .... Lee to his feet but he is hobbled and he and Balor are yelling at each other in each other’s face as the show ends ....