Progress: United States #11 - ‘Women's Great American Bash’

LOCATION: Boston, Massachusetts
VENUE: TD Gardens  





MUSICAL GUEST: Mumford & Sons




Announce Team - Renee Young & Corey Graves


---- ALL SHOWS AVAILABLE ONDEMAND ON THE SHIMMER YOUTUBE CHANNEL OR ON SHIMMERWOMEN.COM




Progress USA General Manager MONTEL VONTAVIOUS PORTER (MVP) comes out to kick off the show .... He puts over the women’s roster and says tonight is their night to shine as for one night the women of the US and UK are one brand .... he looks forward to them stealing the show tonight ....



.... Priestley, Con Eerie and Catanzaro are the newest members of the Progress women’s roster .... Priestley is a hard-hitting, ruthless striker and veteran of the UK scene .... Her look is unique, as she comes out with a mask and attire that looks like Mileena from Mortal Kombat .... Von Eerie calls herself the ‘Patron Saint of Filth’, but she has also been dubbed the ‘Definition of a sexy punk chick’ .... Her punk rock vibe comes from being a former guitar player and vocalist in 2 punk rock bands, and her style is violent batwing .... Catanzaro, meanwhile, is a national champion Gymnast and star of American Ninja Warrior and she has translated her abilities to the wrestling ring now ....

This is a balls to the wall sprint that allows each woman moments to shine, but the one that shines brightest is Priestley .... Catanzaro dazzles the crowd with some breath-taking, gymnast inspired moves and it’s clear she’s the best athlete in the match .... Von Eerie and Priestley bring the violence and engage in a brutal striking exchange that has the ‘Ooooo’s and Aaaaah’s’ ringing from the crowd .... The finish sees Catanzaro hit a springboard blockbuster on Von Eerie that takes her out .... Priestley immediately steps on Catanzaro’s back, launching herself into the air and coming down with a double stomp that she calls the ‘Flawless Victory’!  That’s enough to get the 3 count and win the match ....


POST MATCH - Shayna Baszler’s music hits!  We are still dealing with the aftermath of the previous match in the ring as Baszler stomps to the ring and proceeds to attack Kacy Catanzaro!  The ref tries to intervene but Baszler chases him off and then locks on the Kirafuda Clutch!  Baszler refuses to let go until she’s good and ready, and it’s clear she’s all about sending a message to Charlotte ....

Baszler cuts a promo about how this is HER women’s division now .... She’s their dose of reality and the little fairy tale world of fair play and handshakes is over .... the only reason Charlotte has been on top for so long is by paying people like her to do her dirty work .... She’s not just some wrestler or a sports entertainer, she’s a legit fighter .... the only reason Moon is the Champion is because she hasn’t put that title on the line against HER ....

CHARLOTTE’S MUSIC HITS!  This match isn’t supposed to go on until later, but Charlotte and Baszler are ready for a fight RIGHT NOW!



Charlotte hits the ring and the fight is on!  Charlotte is a house of fire, laying in with chops and kicks .... She catches Baszler with a Spear off the ropes, causing Baszler to roll outside to create space .... Charlotte follows, but Baszler hits a drop toehold sending Charlotte into the ring steps .... Back in the ring, Baszler with knee strikes and then hits her vicious stomp on the elbow! .... from here on out Baszler targets the arm .... she wraps her arm viciously around the ring post multiple times, and Charlotte almost gets counted out .... Back in the ring, Charlotte fights off Baszler’s attempt at an arm lock but Baszler goes back to the strikes and kicks .... Baszler hits a HUGE penalty kick to the chest for a 2 count .... Charlotte tries to fire up using her good arm to chop Baszler down .... Charlotte with the big boot takes Baszler down .... Charlotte takes Baszlers leg and slams it into the ring post, then locks on the figure four around the post!  Charlotte has to finally let go, but Baszler is limping .... Charlotte goes for the Figure 8 in the ring, but can’t bridge up .... Baszler lays in with open hand strikes, and Charlotte returns the favor with slaps while still holding on to the figure 4!  Charlotte finally breaks the hold, and hits Natural Selection!  Charlotte is holding the arm and can’t cover .... instead she goes up top, MOONSAULT MISSES!!!!  Baszler goes right into the cross-arm breaker!!!!  Charlotte tries to roll out but Baszler holds on, so instead Charlotte stacks Baszler up in a pin and Baszler won’t release the hold fast enough and Charlotte gets the surprise 3 count!!!! ....

POST MATCH - The trainers check on Charlotte and help her to the back .... Baszler sits in the ring dejected, knowing she dominated the match but didn’t win .... she goes after Charlotte and nails her from behind!  She tosses Charlotte shoulder-first into the ring steps, then locks on the Kirafuda Clutch!!!!  The trainers try to break it up but Baszler refuses to let go and chokes Charlotte out .... she finally releases the hold, and angrily stomps to the back as the trainers check on Charlotte ....



.... The iConics give the champs a tough challenge, but there is some squabbling between the teammates for really the first time that we’ve seen .... This allows the champs to score the win after Ashley pins Kay following the ‘Starmaker’ elbow drop off the top ....



.... Santana & Alexa have been a dysfunction ‘odd couple’ tag team from the beginning, going back to their feud in Battle Queens a few years back .... However, this feud with the EST seems to have galvanized their friendship and gotten them on the same page even though they lost the Shimmer tag titles to them at the Atlas title tournament show .... We get lots of brawling in the early part of this match with the challengers in control, but the Champions use their underhanded tactics to regain the advantage and work over Santana .... Santana tries to make the tag to Bliss, but BelAir pulls her off the apron and slams her into the railing!  Santana with an enziguri to BelAir, but when she goes to tag Bliss she is still down on the floor!  Santana hits the Shining Star Press but Naomi is there to break it up .... Bliss finally pulls herself up to the apron and asks for the tag, and Santana tags her in!  Bliss comes in .... AND GETS TAKEN OUT WITH A SUPERKICK FROM SANTANA!  Santana picks her up and drills her with the Sole Food (Eat Defeat!) .... BelAir and Naomi are both stunned by this, but Santana just glares down at Bliss before walking off .... BelAir and Naomi look confused, but BelAir quickly swoops in for the cover and the champs retain! ....


**** BACKSTAGE SEGMENT: Alicia Atout w/ Shayna Baszler ****

Shayna Baszler is interviewed by Alicia Atout in the locker room .... Alicia says things didn’t go the way Baszler hoped in the match, and Baszler laughs .... are you sure things didn’t go her way?  Charlotte didn’t beat her, she survived .... and just barely .... she tells Alicia to walk down to the trainers room and interview Charlotte and then ask her which one of them looks like a winner .... Baszler says that she took Charlotte’s arm as a trophy just like she said she would .... and the next trophy she will take is the Queen of the Ring, and then the women’s Universal title! ....



.... Savoy is out alone, without any members of the Submission Sorority .... Moon has had her issues lately with the SS, but this appears to be one on one .... Lots of hard striking early on, and Moon takes the advantage after hitting a suicide dive on Savoy to the outside .... Savoy comes back and reverses a huricanrana into a sitout powerbomb and now she is in control .... Savoys style is very MMA-inspired and she uses a lot of suplexes and submissions .... she takes over working the shoulder of Moon, who battles back using her kicks .... Moon scores with a stiff Superkick, then a flying press off the top .... Savoy counters with several suplexes, but Moon reverses a powerbomb into a huricanrana .... Moon goes for the Eclipse, but Savoy catches her arm and goes into the Savolock!!!!  Moon desperately has to go to the ropes to break the hold, but catches Savoy coming in with a Superkick!  Savoy comes back with the TKO for a close near fall!  Savoy sits Moon up top, but Moon fires off a series of headbutts to knock her to the mat .... Moon rises, then hits the Eclipse to finally put Savoy away ....

POST MATCH - Moon and Savoy come face to face in the middle of the ring .... Surprisingly, Moon offers her hand to Savoy after the match and Nicole takes it, reciprocating the sportsmanship from Moon ....


**** BACKSTAGE SEGMENT: Alicia Atout W/Charlotte ****


Alicia Atout is in the trainers room and tries to get a word with Charlotte .... the trainers are heavily bandaging her shoulder up from the attack by Baszler earlier in the show .... Charlotte says the trainers have told her not to compete later, but there is one reason she will be in the Queen of the Ring and that’s Shayna Baszler .... Baszler didn’t finish the job, and that will be her downfall .... because there is only one Queen in wrestling and she’s going to go out there and show everyone why it’s her ....[/b]



.... STORM has been riding high on a wave of momentum lately .... she is one of the most improved and most OVER women in Shimmer and her journey to this point recently culminated in winning the Shimmer title from Paige ....

Toni shows here that she belongs among the top women in the UWF with her performance .... This is a hotly contested match from the onset, with each woman matching holds with the other in the beginning before breaking down .... Both women seem to target the neck of the other one, both looking for their finishers that involve that area of the body .... Molly abandons that strategy and hits the Molly Go Round, but Storm kicks out at 2!  Storm battles back now, hitting Storm Zero (Air Raid Crash neckbreaker) for a 2 of her own .... Storm with the Last Chancery, and Molly is in real trouble but she makes the ropes at the last second to break it .... Storm with hip attacks now, then goes for the running hip attack in the corner but Molly catches her charging in and hits a German Suplex into the turnbuckles!!!!  Holy shit!  Molly scoops her up for the psycho driver, but Storm elbows out of it and then hits a half nelson Suplex!  Storm up top for the leg drop, but Molly meets her and instead we get a super-plex and BOTH ladies are down .... Crowd is solidly behind Storm now as both women slowly get up and trade strikes .... Toni avoids a clothesline and hits a backstabber then goes back up top .... LEG DROP CONNECTS!  Storm drags Molly to her feet .... STRONG ZERO!!!!  1 ... 2 ... Foot on the ropes .... 3!!!!  

There is some controversy here as Molly gets her foot on the ropes just as the refs hand hits the mat for the 3 count .... Toni starts celebrating like she’s won, and she even grabs the world title .... the ref stops her and informs her that the match isn’t over .... Toni is devastated and the fans are BOOING loudly .... at this point, a crowd which was split for most of the match has become totally pro-Toni Storm .... They start booing every thing Molly does, even the little things .... meanwhile, precious moments are going by allowing Molly to recover .... Toni tries to pick her up .... MOLLY WITH A ROLLUP!  1 ... 2 ... Nooooo!  Toni kicks out!  Toni pops up and goes for Strong Zero but Molly reverses it into a double leg spinebuster out of nowhere!  Molly holds onto the legs and rolls through, then hits another double leg spinebuster!  1 .... STORM KICKS OUT AT 1!  Molly looks shocked, and Storm fires up with a hard slap right across Molly’s face!  Molly gets PISSED and KILLS Storm with a lariat!  The fans are booing LOUDLY, and they have totally turned on Molly at this point .... Molly to the top, pausing for a second and seeming as if she’s thrown off a bit by the way the fans are acting toward her .... She shakes it off and hits the Molly Go Round and this is enough to put Storm away for the 3 count ....

POST MATCH - Molly pulls Storm up and hugs her .... the fans shower Molly with boos .... they turned on her the moment of the controversial non-finish .... Toni and Molly shake hands and Toni leaves .... Molly holds up the title and celebrates, but the crowd basically shits all over her because of the way the match ended ....


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Before the main event, we get another appearance by Progress USA General Manager MVP .... MVP tells the crowd to give the ladies a round of applause for their performances tonight .... He makes another announcement, this one concerning Progress USA moving their shoes to the Norteast and New England area going forward .... this gets a huge pop and ‘THIS IS PROGRESS!’ chant from the crowd ....


**** BACKSTAGE SEGMENT w/ Taya Valkyrie ****


Taya cuts a promo on how she never got her rematch for the Shimmer title .... but now she has a bigger target in mind because she has her sights on being the Queen of the Ring .... She reveals that she will enter #2 and says she’s going to make history when she wins .... after all, she’s Lucha Royalty and tonight she will be a Queen  ....

Suddenly she is attacked from behind by Alexa Bliss?  Bliss steals her Number 2 spot in the Queen of the Ring! .... Bliss tosses her number on Taya’s body and walks off ....


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It is time for the main event, and we go over the rules of the match ....

RULES: The rules are similar to the Royal Rumble .... First period is 5 minutes, then participants enter every 2 minutes after that .... Eliminations only occur via pinfall or submission rather than over the top rope *



Participants:

Lacey Evans
Paris Island, South Carolina

Naomi
Orlando, Florida

Bianca BelAir
Knoxville, Tennessee

Santana
Ocala, Florida

Alexa Bliss
Columbus, Ohio

Taya Valkyrie
Victoria, British Columbia Canada

Nicole Savoy
Sacramento, California

Shayna Baszler
Souix Falls, South Dakota

Charlotte
Queen City, North Carolina

Sonya Deville
Shamong, New Jersey

Cherry Bomb
Toronto, Ontario Canada

Rhea Ripley
Adelaide, Australia

Bea Priestley
Wellington, New Zealand

Billie Kay
Sydney, Australia

Peyton Royce
Sydney, Australia


Order of Entry:

1. Santana
2. Alexa Bliss
3. Bea Priestley
4. Rhea Ripley
5. Bianca BelAir
6. Nicole Savoy
7. Cherry Bomb
8. Sonya Deville
9. Naomi
10. Taya Valkyrie
11. Shayna Baszler
12. Lacey Evans
13. Peyton Royce
14. Billie Kay
15. Charlotte


STORYLINES:

- Santana enters the match #1, and we quickly find out why Alexa Bliss attacked Taya Valkyrie backstage and stole her number .... Bliss enters where Valkyrie was supposed to be, at #2 .... Bliss attacks Santana, and we get a huge brawl between these 2 for the first 5 minute period .... they spill outside of the ring and into the crowd, and both women take a tumble off the stage through some tables below!!!!

- Bea Priestley, coming off her impressive performance earlier, is #3 .... Rhea Ripley, the youngest woman in the match, is #4 .... these two tear into each other for a good long while, and both are given time to shine ....

- Lacey Evans plays the cowardly heel role the whole match, hiding outside to keep from being eliminated ....

- Baszler is by far the most impressive person in the match .... She enters the ring and immediately attacks her own partner Nicole Savoy!!!!  Baszler chokes out Savoy and eliminates her, which leaves a lot of people in shock!  She also goes on to eliminate Rhea Ripley after Ripley’s impressive performance ....

- Alexa Bliss and Santana eventually rejoin the match, but now Alexa Bliss is also a target of Taya Valkyrie because of the earlier attack .... Bliss eventually causes Santana to be eliminated by Charlotte, who forces her to tap to the Figure Four ....

- Speaking of Charlotte, she enters last and is less than 100% after the attack from Baszler earlier .... her arm is heavily taped and she basically can’t even use it .... Charlotte is a warrior here, also eliminating Bea Priestley with the Natural Selection ....

- After Charlotte pins Priestley, Shayna Baszler smashes her over the back with a vicious chair shot!  Baszler uses the chair and targets the injured shoulder, smashing her several more times .... Baszler rips off the KT tape and protective bandaging off of the shoulder and goes right into the cross-arm breaker!!!!  Charlotte quickly taps out because she has no choice!  Baszler keeps the arm bar on for a few moments, doing all the extra damage she can .... Charlotte is the final elimination before we get to the Final Four ....[/b]


Order of Elimination:

1. Cherry Bomb; by Rhea Ripley (Slam Dance)
2. Sonya Deville; by Bea Priestley (Flawess Victory)
3. Nicole Savoy; by Shayna Baszler (Kirafuda Clutch)
4. Sonya Deville; by Bea Priestley (Flawless Victory)
5. Billie Kay; by Bianca BelAir (Burning Hammer)
6. Naomi; by Rhea Ripley (front flip backstabber)
7. Rhea Ripley; by Shayna Baszler (ref stoppage: elbows)
8. Peyton Royce; by Lacey Evans (Lady Lace Up)
9. Santana; by Charlotte (Figure Four)
10. Bea Priestley; by Charlotte (Natural Selection)
11. Charlotte; by Shayna Baszler (Cross-arm Breaker)


We are down to the Final Four and it’s Alexa Bliss, Bianca BelAir, Shayna Baszler, and Lacey Evans .... Bianca BelAir stands toe to toe with Baszler and they trade strikes, with BelAirs forearms rocking Baszler .... BelAir whips Baszler with her hair braid!!!!  Baszler comes back with a German Suplex and a penalty kick, then gets a triangle choke .... she rains down elbow strikes, but BelAir shows her power in dead-lifting her into a buckle Bomb to break the hold!  Evans hits the slingshot elbow drop on Baszler, but Baszler kicks out!  Evans sits her on the top, but Baszler fights out and gets the Kirafuda Clutch on Evans while sitting on the top rope!  BelAir comes in and scoops BOTH ladies on her shoulders at the same time .... SHE HITS A STACKED DOUBLE DEATH VALLEY DRIVER ON EVANS AND BASZLER!!!!  HOLY SHIT!!!!  Bliss is up and goes to the top .... TWISTED BLISS on Baszler!  Now Belair goes up top and follows with a 450 splash!!!!  BelAir hooks to leg to eliminate Baszler!  

SHAYNA BASZLER IS ELIMINATED

This is a shocker to most people .... The match continues but Baszler comes back in the ring and attacks BelAir!  She locks the Kirafuda Clutch on BelAir, choking her out!  Baszler leaves, and Evans crawls over and lays an arm over BelAirs chest .... 1 ... 2 ... Noooooo!  BelAir kicks out and Evans is shocked!  Bliss back in but Evans attacks .... BelAir back up and takes both of them out with dual clothesline!  BelAir goes for the alley oop powerbomb on Bliss, but Evans rolls her up from behind as she falls backwards and rolls her up for the 3 count!

BIANCA BELAIR IS ELIMINATED

It is down to Evans and Bliss, and Evans quickly covers and tries to eliminate Bliss!  Bliss kicks out at 2!!!!  Evans pours it on, hitting a slingshot elbow drop .... Bliss avoids the handstand bronco buster in the corner and hits the STO backbreaker followed by a flatliner!  2 count!  Bliss goes into the Coji Clutch!  Evans makes the ropes!  Bliss to the top, but Twisted Bliss meets the knees of Evans!!!!  Both women to their feet .... AND BLISS WALKS RIGHT INTO THE ‘WOMAN’S RIGHT’ FROM EVANS OUT OF NOWHERE!!!!  Evans falls on top and the ref counts 1 ... 2 ... 3!!!!  Lacey Evans is the 2018 Queen of the Ring!!!!

Evans acts very over-the-top and she is fake-crying like she just won the Miss USA pageant as she is given her crown and sash .... She now has a Universal title shot coming at any time of her choosing ....


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