Progress: United Kingdom #317

LOCATION: London, England
ARENA: York Hall @ Bethnal Green
ANNOUNCERS: Matt Striker & Rockstar Spud





LAST TIME ON PROGRESS ....

- The teams of Sanity (Eric Young & Alexander Wolfe) and War Machine (Hanson & Rowe) advanced to the semi-finals of the Progress tag title tournament ....

- Finn Balor made his return to Progress after a shoulder injury, only to be attacked by Nigel McGuiness and locked in the London Dungeon ....

- after losing out on a bid to become U.K. Champion previously, Marty Scurll viciously attacked and injured the neck of Aleister Black ....

- Drew McIntyre def. Matt Riddle, Low Ki and Nigel McGuiness in a 4 corner survival to earn a U.K. title shot against Pete Dunne at Progress: UNIFIED!



Show opens with Corey Graves bringing out Drew McIntyre .... McIntyre cuts a promo about how he was supposed to be in the U.K. tournament but never got a chance because he got hurt .... he deserved there but Dunne doesn’t deserve to be the champion because he weaseled his way into the match .... he’s going to end Dunnes reign before it begins ....

This brings out British Strong Style (Pete Dunne, Tyler Bate & Trent Seven) .... Dunne cuts a promo and tells McIntyre that he’s the only one that deserves to wear the U.K. title .... they get nose to nose but are interrupted by SANITY ....

Eric Young comes out and says they are the only sane people in the room right now .... Young basically says they are going to win the Progress tag team titles at Progress: UNIFIED! and he challenges British Strong Style to face them TONIGHT!  Dunne accepts and we have a match, and he tells McIntyre to sit back and watch this closely ....



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This all started on Shimmer Vol. 8 where Ripley got the win over Evans, but Evans turned her afterwards and punched Ripley in the face .... The next week, Evans cut a promo about how she is the only real woman in Shimmer and everyone else was classless .... of course this brought out Ripley for a confrontation, but Evans escaped ....


Women’s Match:
Lacey Evans (USA)
- vs -
Rhea Ripley (AUSTRALIA)

Evans wins the match via questionable means .... Ripley goes for a full Nelson slam, but Evans grabs the ropes to block it .... while the ref is trying to get Ripley to break the hold, Evans nails her with a straight right hand and then drills her with the Lady Lace Up for the 3 count ....


PROMO -

We get a promo from BOTH Low Ki and Matt Riddle regarding the next match .... Low Ki calls Riddle a fake and says he doesn’t respect him because he’s not a ‘real’ fighter .... Riddle is his usual, laid-back ‘bro’ persona and promises to knock Low Ki out or tap him out and then he will see how ‘real’ he is ....


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Singles Match:
Low Ki (USA)
- vs -
Matt Riddle (USA)

This match looks like an MMA fight early on as both guys battle with strikes .... Low Ki takes it to the mat and tries to out-wrestle Riddle but Riddle shows how good he is and matches Low Ki move for move .... after both guys hit some big moves, it breaks down into a battle of potato shots that has the crowd gasping .... it breaks down in a series of hard and heavy strikes, and Low Ki rocks Riddle with a roundhouse kick .... Low Ki goes for the Ki Krusher, but Riddle reverses into a small package to get the surprise 3 count!

Riddle offers a handshake after the match, but Low Ki slaps it away and storms off ....


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The next segment sees the arrival of Santana Garrett, 1/2 of the Shimmer tag team champions .... Santana wants to talk about Alexa Bliss and their strange bedfellows tag team ....

This brings out Alexa Bliss for a confrontation, but before Alexa can say anything we get the arrival of Bianca BelAir and Naomi to interrupt!  BelAir cuts a promo and calls them ‘Team EST’ because whatever adjective you want to use you can put EST on the end and that’s them .... They are coming for the belts .... Santana steps to them, and EST attacks!  They attack BOTH Bliss & Santana, but Bliss is able to slide out of the ring to safety and she leaves Santana to be beat up ....

Naomi and BelAir talk trash to Bliss, who is safely at the top of the ramp holding the tag titles ....


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Singles Match:
Bram (UK)
- vs -
Jack Gallagher (UK)

Match is competitive, but Bram wins it with the Brighter Side of Suffering ....


PROMO -

Santana storms into the locker room and confronts Alexa Bliss .... Bliss blows her off and says she is the most important member of the team so she couldn’t take a chance on getting hurt by helping Santana .... Santana with the tackle and fists start flying .... referees and officials have to run in and pull them apart ....


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William Regal comes out to the ring and talks about Progress: UNIFIED .... Out comes ‘The Villain’ Marty Scurll and wants to know why he’s not on the card .... he was robbed of the U.K. title and wants to be added to the match now that he took care of Aleister Black .... Regal says he isn’t going to be added to the U.K. title match but he does have a match for Scurll ....

Out comes ALEISTER BLACK!  Black is wearing a neck brace and he slowly walks to the ring, but Scurll quickly leaves .... Black rips off the neck brace and throws it at Scurll, then sits cross-legged in the middle of the ring daring Scurll to enter .... Regal takes the mic and says it’s going to be Black vs Scurll in an extreme street fight at UNIFIED!!!!


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Singles Match:
Gran Metalik (MEXICO)
- vs -
Nigel McGuiness (UK)

McGuiness destroys the arm of Metalik in this match .... Metalik gets some offense in, but he’s stopped short with a jawbreaker lariat .... McGuiness locks on the London Dungeon and gets the tapout win ....

After the match, Nigel continues the attack and tries to rip the mask of Grab Metalik off!  OUT COMES FINN BALOR!!!!  Balor has a chair and chases Nigel from the ring, and MY GOD the fans are chanting for Balor .... Balor drops the chair and dares Nigel to get in the ring, and Nigel does!  Fists of Fury from both guys!!!!  Balor gets the better of the exchange and hits a sling blade, followed by the shotgun dropkick!  Balor goes up top, but Nigel rolls to the floor to escape .... Balor stands tall ....  


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Singles Match:
Drew McIntyre (SCOTLAND)
- vs -
Wolfgang (SCOTLAND)

Mcintyre keeps his momentum going, winning this battle of Scotsmen after hitting the Future Shock DDT for the 3 count ....


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6 man Tag Team Match:
Sanity (Eric Young, Alexander Wolfe, Odinson) —— UNKNOWN
- vs -
British Strong Style (Pete Dunne, Tyler Bate & Trent Seven) —— UK

This match serves to showcase what a beast Odinson is, as this is his first official in-ring action ....Meanwhile, Drew McIntyre sits at the announce desk for this match, and it doesn’t take long for Dunne to notice he’s there .... as the match goes on, the inevitable confrontation takes place resulting in a brawl breaking out between them .... Dunne and McIntyre brawl to the back, and Bate and Seven are left to go 3 on 2 .... the numbers game is too much, and Odinson ends up pinning Seven after hitting the Ragnarok (POUNCE!) to get the win for Sanity ....


A Final 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

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

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


AND JUST ADDED TO THE CARD:


~ Roman Reigns vs ‘Machine’ Brian Cage in a stretcher match

~ Finn Balor vs Nigel McGuiness

~ Aleister Black vs Marty Scurll in an extreme street fight