Progress: United Kingdom #318

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






LAST TIME ON PROGRESS ....

- we get highlights from Progress: UNIFIED! including:
- Sanity becoming the first Progress tag team champions ....
- Pete Dunne’s win over Drew McIntyre
- Taya Valkyrie debuting and defeating Paige to become the Shimmer champion
- Finn Balor getting payback on Nigel McGuiness



Progress UK director William Regal is already in the ring with Corey Graves as we begin the show .... Regal says UNIFIED is over and now Progress looks to the future, and that means the Atlas title!  Regal announces the Atlas title will begin next week and will include every single member of the Progress roster, both US and UK!  

This brings out United Kingdom Champion Pete Dunne .... Dunne says as the man that holds the biggest prize in the UK, he wants to be the first man to enter the tournament .... Dunne is interrupted by the arrival of Drew McIntyre, the man he defeated at UNIFIED .... McIntyre lets Dunne know that things aren’t over between them .... McIntyre attacks Dunne, but Wade Barrett makes his debut and lays out McIntyre!!!!  Barrett takes the mic and tells McIntyre that he’s got some ‘Bad News’!  Barrett challenges McIntyre to a match tonight, and Regal is there to make it official ....


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Cedric Alexander (USA) - def - ‘Gentleman’ Jack Gallagher (UK)

Alexander is touted as possibly the best pure athlete on the Progress roster, both in the UK and United States .... his style and athleticism make him a natural favorite with the crowd .... He wins his debut match with the Lumbar Check ....





We get a video package for Tyler Breeze .... Breeze doesn’t even look at the camera while he is talking about himself, he looks at his image in his cell phone the entire time .... Breeze cuts a narcissistic promo about how he is bringing ‘gorgeousness’ to Progress ....


Next up we get the arrival of the brand new Shimmer Champion Taya Valkyrie .... Valkyrie talks about how she made the biggest impact at UNIFIED when she won the Shimmer title on her first night with the company .... She is Lucha royalty and now she’s the Queen of Progress ....

This brings out Toni Storm to interrupt, and Storm reveals that Valkyrie attacked her backstage and then stole her spot in the match .... Toni wants her title shot against Valkyrie in the ring tonight!  Paige comes out and interrupts, and says Storm isn’t leap-frogging her because she gets her rematch .... this leads to Paige and Storm getting in each other’s faces as Taya takes her leave laughing .... Paige vs Toni Storm is announced for tonight!!!!


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Matt Riddle (USA) - def - Drew Gulak (USA)

This match serves as a refresher to Riddle, a free-spirited bro with an ultra-aggressive Strong Style moveset .... Riddle came from the UFC and was a participant in the Ultimate Fighter reality show, and he gets put in the same sentence as Kurt Angle as far as being a guy from outside of wrestling that is a complete natural .... he is SUPER over with the crowd too .... Riddle, also known as the ‘King of Bros’, wins here with the ‘Bro-mission’ (Twister Lock) ....


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British Strong Style (Tyler Bate & Trent Seven) - (UK) - def - Wolfgang (SCOTLAND) & Josh Bodom (UK)

Bate & Seven rebound from their loss to Sanity at Wrestlemania, and they get the win here after Bate puns Bodom following the Tyler Driver 97 (Tiger Driver)


Highlights of the brutal No DQ match between Aleister Black and Marty Scurll from Progress: UNIFIED are shown .... Aleister Black will return on the next show ....


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Wade Barrett (UK) - def - Drew McIntyre (SCOTLAND)

Pete Dunne comes out to distract McIntyre as he is setting for the Claymore kick, allowing Barrett to strike with the Bull Hammer elbow and get the 3 count ....

After the match, Barrett and Dunne team up to attack McIntyre, but Dunne turns and hits Barrett with a low blow!  Dunne lays out Barrett with the Bitter End!  Dunne shrugs, then walks off with both men laid out ....


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Paige (UK) - vs - Toni Storm (AUSTRALIA) goes to a no contest ....

This is a good back and forth match between 2 crowd favorites, but it breaks down into a brawl as both women want a shot at Taya Valkyrie .... the action spills outside the ring, and Paige tosses Toni into the railing .... Toni stops Paige from beating the count back in, but then Paige returns the favor stopping Toni from getting back in as well and both women are counted out!

Paige and Toni continue to fight after the bell, but they are both attacked by Taya Valkyrie, who lays them out with belt shots from the Shimmer title and stands tall ....


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Finn Balor comes out to a HUGE pop and says he’s back and he proved that at Progress: UNIFIED .... it’s time he got back down to business and that means the United Kingdom championship ....

He is interrupted by Nigel McGuiness .... Nigel says he isn’t out there to fight, he’s out there to congratulate Balor .... He says he was wrong and he offers Balor a handshake .... Balor and Nigel shake hands, and Nigel asks Balor for a rematch on the next episode of Progress UK .... Balor accepts ....

While this is happening the broadcast appears to be hacked .... a vignette of a man shrouded in shadow appears in a room full of newspaper and magazine clippings all over the walls ....

We cut back to the ring, and Nigel uses the distraction to kick Balor right between the legs!!!!  Nigel grabs a chair from ringside and sets it up in the ring, then hits the Tower of London onto the chair and leaves Balor laid out ....


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Sanity (Eric Young & Alexander Wolfe) - (UNKNOWN) - def - Kings of the North (Sheamus & Killian Dain) - (UK) to retain the Progress tag team titles

This is a brawl from the beginning .... Sanity introduces tables to the mix, and there is a spot where Dain hits ‘The Divide’ (flying crossbody to the midsection) on Odinson driving them BOTH through a table propped up against the ring barrier!!!!

With Dain and Odinson taken out, this leaves Sheamus alone against Young and Wolfe .... Sheamus turns the tide and takes out Wolfe, then sets Young up for the Brogue kick .... Wolfe pushes him out of the way and takes the bullet for Young instead!!!!  Young low blows Sheamus, then drills him with the jumping piledriver to get the 3 count to retain the tag team titles ....

After the match, Killian Dain returns to the ring and checks on his partner .... BUT THEN TURNS AND ATTACKS HIM!!!!  Dain drills Sheamus with the ‘Divide’ (flying cross-body to the midsection, then he sets up another table on the floor .... ULSTER PLANTATION TO SHEAMUS OFF THE RING APRON THROUGH THE TABLE!!!!  Dain stands tall over his former partner as the show ends .... Sanity looks on from the ramp, with Eric Young smiling maniacally at the chaos in the ring ....