Progress: United States #6

LOCATION: Tampa, Florida
ARENA: Amalie Arena
ANNOUNCERS: Mauro Renallo & Renee Young






PREVIOUSLY ON PROGRESS USA ....

- The teams of Redragon (Kyle O’Reilley & Bobby Fish) and Projeckt Wrestling (Johnny Gargano & Tomasso Ciampa) won their matches to advance to the semi-finals of the Progress tag team title tournament ....

- After an altercation with the Miz, MVP finally granted Johnny Gargano a US title shot coming up at Progress: UNIFIED! on Wrestlemania weekend .... but first the Miz puts the title on the line TONIGHT against rookie upstart Austin Theory ....

- Kenny King confronted AJ Styles, which also saw Austin Aries get involved in the mix .... Aries faces Kenny King TONIGHT!

- Brian Cage def. Roman Reigns in a brutal main event, then destroyed him after the match and Reigns did a stretcher job out of the arena ....


Renee and Mauro are here to welcome us and remind us that we are 2 WEEKS away from WRESTLEMANIA as well as Progress: UNIFIED!, which will take place Wrestlemania weekend from Harrahs Casino in New Orleans ....


Match 1: Johnny Gargano & Tomasso Ciampa - def - Street Profits (Angelo Dawkins & Montez Ford) ....

Good back and forth and the Profits hold their own ..... Gargano continues his momentum as he gets the pin on Dawkins following a slingshot Spear ....


IN THE BACK:

Brian Cage is interviewed about the colossal beat down he gave Roman Reigns last week .... Cage says he is the ‘big dog’ now and this is his yard .... but he’s not a dog, he’s a MACHINE!  He says he will fight anyone at any time ....

Enter Seth Rollins to a HUGE pop .... Rollins has no love for Reigns, but he wants to get back in the mix because he’s the best in-ring athlete in this company .... He accepts Cages challenge for tonight!


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Match 2: United States Champion The Miz - def - Austin Theory ....

Once again, Theory gets some hope spots nearly getting the upset win after a roll up .... Miz sells for Theory really well, but finally takes over and pins Theory after the Skull Krushing Finale ....

POST MATCH: Miz continues to attack Theory, trying to teach him a lesson .... out of the back runs Johnny Gargano to make the save and he chases Miz away .... however, Austin Theory attacks Gargano from behind!!!!  Theory lays out Gargano, then comes face to face with Miz .... Miz smiles and backs away, giving Theory a hand clap ....


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IN THE BACK:

Mackenzie Mitchell catches an upset Austin Theory as he storms through the halls backstage .... Theory is pissed off that Gargano game to his rescue and he doesn’t need his help .... He didn’t need AJ Styles’ help and he doesn’t need Garganos .... He challenges Gargano to fight him tonight!!!!

Match 3: Austin Aries - def - Trent Baretta ....

Both AJ Styles and Kenny King are on guest commentary .... Aries gets the pin after the brainbuster ....

All 3 men get in each other’s faces after the match, but no punches are thrown .... they will face each other in a 3 way dance at Progress: UNIFIED!


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Up next, we get an appearance by the Women’s Universal Champion CHARLOTTE!  Charlotte cuts a promo and says nothing was given to her just because she’s the daughter of Ric Flair .... but when you’re the daughter of wrestling royalty, then things just come ‘2nd Nature’ .... she has worked her ass off and did whatever she had to do to get to the top, and along they way she became the greatest women’s wrestler in the world!  And now she finally has the opportunity she deserved a long time ago, to win the women’s title on the biggest stage of them all .... a Wrestlemania ‘10 years in the making’ .... and she’s going to walk out the world champion not because she says so, but because she’s simply better than Molly Holly ....


IN THE BACK:

Johnny Gargano cuts a promo and accepts the challenge of Austin Theory for a match tonight .... Ciampa tries to talk him out of it, saying Theory is a punk kid and they have more important things to worry about .... he tells him not to get distracted and their ultimate goal is being tag champions .... Gargano tells him NO, being tag champs is HIS ultimate goal but Gargano wants to be the US champion ....


Match 4: Bianca BelAir - def - Ember Moon ....

Naomi turns heel and sides with BelAir, shoving Moon off the top when she goes for the Eclipse .... this leads to the alley oop powerbomb from BelAir for the 3 count ....

Naomi comes in and trash talks Ember Moon afterwards, nailing her with mounted punches on the ground .... BelAir and Naomi leave Moon laid out and leave together ....


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Match 5: Johnny Gargano - def - Austin Theory ....

Theory once again gets in quite a bit of offense, showing a more aggressive side .... Gargano keeps his momentum going into his US title match, forcing Theory to tap out to the Gargano-escape ....

After the match, The Miz attacks Gargano from behind .... Theory watches on and does nothing, but finally joins in and helps the Miz put the boots to Gargano!  Tomasso Ciampa hits the ring to make the save for his tag team partner ....


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Main Event: ‘The Machine’ Brian Cage - def - Seth Rollins ....

Very entertaining match with the people 100% behind Rollins .... Cages power controls the early goings but Rollins uses his quickness to get the momentum back with 3 consecutive dives to Cage on the outside .... Cage goes for a buckle bomb but Rollins counters into a huricanrana that sends Cage into the buckles .... super kick to Cage, then Rollins goes up top and hits a frog splash!  Cage catches Rollins coming off the top and hits a pump handle powerslam for a 2 count!!!!  Cage drills Rollins with the Weapon X!!!!  1 ... 2 ... KICKOUT!!!  Cage goes for a discus clothesline but Rollins cuts him off with a super kick!  ROLLINS BUCKLE BOMBS CAGE!!!!  Cage drops to a knee .... AVADA KADAVRA (kneeling super kick)!!  1 ... 2 ... 2.9999!!!!  Rollins off the ropes for the Black Out, but Cage hits a pop up powerbomb!  He holds on and picks Rollins back up .... another powerbomb!  He holds on and lifts him again and this time buckle bombs Rollins!!!!  Rollins is on dream street here, and Cage drags him to his feet .... DRILL CLAW (Steiner Screwdriver)!!!!  1 ... 2 ... 3!


Cage grabs a chair after the match and prepares to attack Rollins with it .... OUT COMES ROMAN REIGNS!!!!  Reigns ducks a chairshot from Cage and fires away with right hands .... Reigns has the chair now and hammers Cage with some chairshots that send him out of the ring, but doesn’t take him off his feet as Cage is already back up and trying to get in the ring .... Cage finally backs away from the ring, leaving Rollins and Reigns face to face .... Reigns hands the chair to Rollins and turns his back, giving Rollins an opportunity to hit him if he wants .... Rollins hesitates, then drops the chair and walks away ....



Promo airs for Progress: UNIFIED! On Wrestlemania weekend.  Matches confirmed for the show are:


~ Progress tag team title tournament semi-finals & Finals

~ Paige defends the Shimmer title against Toni Storm

~ The Miz defends the United States title against Johnny Gargano


AND JUST ADDED TO THE CARD:


~ UNITED KINGDOM TITLE MATCH - Champion ‘Bruiserweight’ Pete Dunne defends against Drew McIntyre

~ AJ Styles vs Kenny King vs Austin Aries in a 3 way dance ....