Progress Wrestling #27

       




The cameras pan around the sold out venue and within seconds we hear......







And out comes Swerve Strickland!




 Swerve Strickland: "How ironic it is to walk out towards this ring on Martin Luther King day! Because much like Mr. King, I too had a dream! I had a dream of being in main event matches. Winning championship gold! And getting that top dollar contract. But you know what they say...... dreams do come true! And after defeating Shelton Benjamin,  I have earned my contract to Progress Wrestling! Only thing left to do is sign that contract. So Pat McAfee..... where you at? Let's do this!"      


The Progress General Manager makes his way to the ring!




Pat McAfee: "Congratulations Swerve! You defeated Shelton and as promised, here is your Progress contract!"            

Swerve Strickland: "Hold up a minute! You thought you was gonna come out here and talk to me? Nawww man, you had your chance to talk to me a long time ago, remember? When it comes to talking about this contract, you can discuss it with my new manager!"              






Prince Nana makes his way into the ring and takes the contract from McAfee, looking it over.  



 Prince Nana: "NO, no, no..... this is all wrong! This should have included that Mr. Swerve and I have our on private dressing room every show we attend."              

Pat McAfee: "You want your own private dressing room? OK that should be arrangeable!"                  

Prince Nana: "Ohhhh and right here..... these numbers..... especially this one, should have some extra zeros at the end of that figure!"      

Pat McAfee: "Pat McAfee: "And now your holding me up for more money. Is there anything else?"              

 Prince Nana: "This part looks in order. We can agree to that. We can live with that. It all looks pretty good. Except for that one thing! You want to tell him Mr. Swerve?"            

 Swerve Strickland: "Once you agree to the terms of the dressing room, and the extra zeros you left off my agreed to price...... you can go ahead and include my guaranteed title shot!"              

  Pat McAfee: "What?? Guaranteed titke shot! Your crazy! You have only had one match here! You don't deserve a title shot!"            

Prince Nana: "Ohhhh..... this isn't good!"              

 Swerve Strickland: "Did you just say I don't deserve it? Did you forget who you are talking to? Think about it McAfee! I'm the reason Progress Wrestling is in business! I saved your ass! So when it comes to deserving it, not only do I deserve it..... but you can say this is MY HOUSE!"          

Prince Nana: "WHOSE HOUSE???"                  


 Audience: "SWERVES HOUSE!!!"                  

 Swerve Strickland: "Now you better sign that damned contract and then go tell Shinsuke Nakamura that I will be looking for him soon enough or me and Nana are on the next plane out of here and you will always be remembered as the guy who let the hottest free agent in all of pro wrestling walk away!"              


McAfee looks out into the audience then down at the contract, weighing his options over...... then signs the contract!



  Joey Styles: "Well there you have it fans..... Swerve Strickland is officially a member of Progress Wrestling! And he has a guaranteed title shot against Shinsuke Nakamura and the Atlas title to go with it! Wild times here in Progress Wrestling! And if you haven't heard by now, the NWA will be having a 32 man tournament called The America's Cup beginning in February.  And right here tonight, we are going to have five qualifying matches to determine who will represent Progress Wrestling in that tournament. And if that's not big enough, don't forget our Main event! It's Chris Adams facing Big Van Vader!!!!"    




***COMMERCIAL BREAK ***





America's Cup Qualifier: Shawn Michaels vs Randy Orton                

There was some chain wrestling with Michaels in control. Michaels with a shoulderblock and Orton came back with a dropkick followed by a clothesline for two. Orton went up top and Michaels hit an atomic drop to counter it. Michaels clotheslines Orton out of the ring and HBK skins the cat back in to a nice pop. Baseball slide dropkick by HBK. To the top, HBK hit a cross body block on Orton on the floor. Back in the ring, Michaels hit a German suplex bridge for two. Into the corner, HBK eats a boot to the face. Orton gets some chops, HBK gets some punches. They exchange blows in the corner. Ref pulls HBK off as Orton punches him. Shawn goes left shoulder first into the ring post sending him down. Orton sent HBK shoulder first into the post. Orton picked up Michaels on his shoulder, then drove him shoulder first into the post. Shoulder tackles by Orton into the left shoulder. Knee drop into the shoulder by Orton. Reverse armbar by Orton on the mat. Orton kept working on the arm for about two minutes.  Michaels got a cradle for two. Michaels with a Thesz Press, flying forearam and a kip up to fire up the crowd.  They went to the floor with Michaels sending Orton into the barricade.

Back in the ring, double axe by Michaels gets two. Michaels goes for Sweet Chin Music, Orton avoided it and hit the RKO for just two. Orton went for a cross body block off the top, Michaels ducked out of the way, and hit a top rope elbow for two. Michaels did a kip up to fire up the crowd again. Michaels connected with Sweet Chin Music, he covered, the ref counted 1........2......... but  Orton’s foot on the bottom rope just as the ref was counting. The match continued. Orton went for a punch, Michaels moved, Michaels picked him up and Orton hits an RKO OUTTA NOWHERE!!! 1......2.......3! Randy Orton is in the America's Cup tournament!







***COMMERCIAL BREAK ***




America's Cup Qualifier: Kenosuke Takeshita  vs Lex Luger              

Luger hits Takeshita quickly and puts him in a headlock. Shoulder block by Luger followed by a Gorilla Press Slam that takes Takeshita down. Takeshita comes back with some forearms off the ropes and a Yakuza Kick that knocks Luger to the outside. Takeshita stalks him on the outside as Luger tells him to get back in the ring. Both men lock hands for a test of strength but Luger changes course and hits a knee to the midsection. Luger drives him into the corner and hits some shots to the head. He attempts a suplex, but Takeshita reverses into one of his own. He works Luger into the corner and stomps away while getting his knee into the throat. He snaps Luger over and starts ripping at his face. Luger comes back with some punches but Takeshita snuffs it out and puts him in a Sleeper Hold and slams him down to the mat. Takeshita puts Luger in a submission hold but Luger gets to the ropes. Takeshita stays on the offensive but Luger comes back with some kicks of his own. Takeshita hits an atomic drop and comes off the ropes with the Yakuza Kick again. Takeshita climbs up to the top but Luger hits him with an elbow blow to the crotch area of Takeshita on the way down. Luger puts him up in the Torture Rack and it doesn’t take like for Takeshita to give up.






Joey Styles: "I'm just going to say what you people at home are thinking...... I'm not sure that elbow was accidental! It looked awful convenient that Lugef quickly capitalized on it afterwards."                




***COMMERCIAL BREAK ***





 America's Cup Qualifier: Cody Rhodes vs Kurt Angle            

We get going with shoulderblocks, before Rhodes’ ankle buckles on a leapfrog, causing him to roll to the floor for a breather. The referee checks on Rhodes, followed by doctors from the back. Angle demands to be declared the winnef.

Cody drags Angle to the floor where Angle backdrops him into the crowd. After some brawling in amongst the fans, Angle goes to work on the ankle, stomping away at the knee and ankle. Angle applies a toehold, but Rhodes breaks out of it. Rhodes goes to rebound out of the corner, but they accidentally butt heads. They trade right hands as the crowd chant “YAY!” for both men, until Cody takes control with forearms. Angle comes back with a German suplex, only for Cody to hit him with a nasty knee to the face for a nearfall.

Angle quickly goes to the rolling German suplexes, only for Cody to retaliate with the springboard Disaster Kick for a two count. Angle hits some more rolling Germans for two. Angle smells blood and goes for the ankle lock, but Cody pushes out, before walking into an Angle Slam, 1....... 2....... Cody kicks out!!! Angle gets the ankle lock again, only for Cody to roll through and send Angle into the corner. Rhodes hits the Cross Rhodes for 2 before crashing and burning on a failed moonsault attempt. Both men attempt and fail to execute their finishers again before Angle catches Rhodes by the injured ankle, grapevines, and forces Rhodes to submit in the ankle lock.  








***COMMERCIAL BREAK ***




 America's Cup Qualifier: Hangman Page vs "Dr. D" David Schultz          

These two pick up right where they left off at Road to Wrestle Kingdom....... just fighting it out! They were battling on the turnbuckle with Schultz hitting a superplex off the middle rope. Shultz was in control on the mat with an armbar on the left arm, but Page rolled out of it to break free. Shultz hit a German Suplex leading to Hangman landed on his head/neck. Shultz hit another release German Suplex. Page to the apron, Shultz knocked him down to the floor and into the barricade. Page hit Shultz with a lariat on the floor. Hangman ran right into the running lariat. Shultz  got a two count.

Hangman eturned  hitting a suplex followed by a clothesline. They got in each other’s faces leading to Page hitting a fallaway slam across the ring. Page with a corner clothesline, there was a suplex counter with Page landing on his feet and hitting a lefty clothesline. Hangman kicked Shultz off the apron to the floor. Hangman hit a moonsault off the top onto a standing Shultz. Back in the ring, Shultz wasn’t selling much as he hit the DDT for a two count. Shultz elbowed Page repeatedly followed by a Bulldog Choke submission. Shultz got back up leading to a piledriver for just a one count. The fans were chanting “Cowboy Shit” so Shultz gave them the middle finger salute to boos. Shultz wanted another piledriver, Page got out of it with the Deadeye slam as both guys laid on the mat for a bit to sell. They did the spot where they exchanged strikes, Shultz did headbutts without using his hand to do it, Page with his headbutt and they did overhead strikes with the fans cheering. Page bounced off the ropes with a lariat. Page hit the Buckshot Lariat off the apron for the pinfall win!  







***COMMERCIAL BREAK ***





 America's Cup Qualifier: Sting vs AJ Styles              

It’s a long feeling out period to start as AJ works Sting’s arm. They’re doing a slow build here. Sting gets an abdominal stretch and hits Aj in the ribs while the hold is on.

He hooks a bearhug. Scorpion is blocked and Sting hits the Death Drop. Styles Clash is blocked and it’s mostly Sting here. AJ comes back at the drop of a hat and hits Spiral Tap. That sends Styles and Sting into the ref. All three men are down. Here comes Lex Luger!  Luger pounds on the mat trying to revive Sting. Luger looks around and sees Styles Progress Heavyweight title on the announce table. Luger slides it in the ring. Styles gets up and grabs his belt. He's looking out at Luger, jawjacking. Luger enters the ring......it's a tug of war between Styles and Luger over the belt. Sting begins to rise up. And so does the ref. Luger sees the ref coming to and let's go of the belt as Styles jerks it...... RIGHT INTO STINGS FACE!!! Luger bails out. Styles looks on confused then sees Sting down. Styles covers, 1.......2.......3!






Joey Styles: "What in the world is going on? It seems like every time we see Lex Luger, something questionable happens! Was he trying to get the belt away from Styles there before it went crashing into his best friend's face? Fans, we have so many unanswered questions when it comes to Sting and Luger but they aren't getting answered tonight. We will be right back with our Main event."          





***COMMERCIAL BREAK ***




 Main Event: Chris Adams vs Big Van Vader w/Gary Hart          

Vader hits some big shots early, including a short-arm clothesline. Adams blocks a big boot, trips Vader down and hits some kicks on the mat. Vader tries to toss Adams out, but Adams drops down and the momentum sends Vader outside. Baseball slide, then Adams vaults over the top rope onto Vader. Adams scares Gary Hart away and rolls Vader back into the ring. Double axehandle off the top, then a hurricanrana by Adams. He goes a victory roll, ends up sending Vader to the outside. Adams gets caught by Vader on another dive and powerbombed onto the floor. Back in the ring, Vader works Adams over and suplexes him. Adams takes two big bumps in opposite corners and ends up on the outside. Big backdrop back in the ring, as Vader has selected a part of the body to target. Adams punches out of a back suplex attempt and flips out of another one. Vader misses in the corner, but clotheslines Adams down. Vader lifts him back into the ring and tosses him down chest first. Adams eventually fights back out of a chinlock, but his moves don’t have much effect on the big man. Adams blocks a sit-down splash though, and clotheslines Vader down. He goes up top, hits a running crossbody on Vader and both men tumble to the floor. The Hart Foundation make their way to ringside. They help Vader in as Gary Hart distracts the ref. Vaderbomb to Adams! Bret grabs Adams foot and holds it down for leverage as the ref counts three. Vader is victorious and stomps around the ring as the Hart Foundation put the boots to a beaten Adams! They work Adams over for a bit then we see a man jump the barricade and enter the ring........ its GINO HERNANDEZ!!!




Hernandez has a chair and cleans house to save Adams as Gary Hart regroups hos guys and watches on as the fans cheer wildly as show fades to black.