Progress: United States #13

LOCATION: Boston, Massachusetts
ARENA: Agganis Arena
ANNOUNCERS: Mauro Renallo & Renee Young





PREVIOUSLY ON PROGRESS USA ....

- Highlights from last week center around the announcement that Finn Balor will make his first defense of the Progress Atlas title against AJ Styles at the upcoming Progress: Vendetta show
- Austin Aries & Roderick Strong stirred the pot, insisting that they belonged in the main event scene .... this led to a tag match with Balor & Styles taking on Aries & Strong in a tag match that saw a brawl errupt between Styles & Balor ....



The show opens with the ring set up for MizTv .... Out comes the United States Champion The Miz along with his wife Maryse .... ‘When my hand goes up your mouth goes shut!’  Miz cuts a promo saying he is tired of having to say the name Johnny Gargano and this is the last time he will have to mention it .... No more Johnny Gargano the Internet darling .... after he beats Gargano tonight then he will send Johnny back to the mid card and the bingo halls .... Miz wants Gargano to thank him because he’s allowed him to bask in the radiance of his star power but after tonight it will be back to reality for Johnny Wrestling ....


**** MizTV with Progress Atlas Champion Finn Balor & No. 1 contender AJ Styles **** ....

Miz welcomes the fans to the must-see talk show in history .... He brings out Finn Balor and AJ Styles, who will face each other for the title at Progress: Vendetta .... First Miz talks shit to them because he’s pissed that they are getting so much attention .... then he starts to stir the pot between them and get them all heated at each other ....

They are interrupted as Austin Aries & Roderick Strong come out .... Aries challenges them to a rematch from last week because they aren’t happy with the countout win .... Balor accepts as long as AJ can get his shit together and get on the same page .... AJ and Balor argue, which leads to another brawl between them .... Aries, Strong & Miz are laughing at them from the top of the stage, but Johnny Gargano comes out behind Miz .... Miz turns around RIGHT INTO A SUPERKICK!  Miz is knocked off the stage to the concrete floor below .... Balor and Styles are separated by referees and security, and MVP comes out and says the tag match will start RIGHT NOW!


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**** Austin Aries & Roderick Strong def. Progress Atlas Champion Finn Balor & AJ Styles **** ....

Match is joined in Progress as we come back from break .... Balor and Styles have obvious issues in this one, and Balor doesn’t want to tag out but Styles tags himself in with a hard slap to Balor .... Strong and Aries take over on AJ, who battles back but when Balor asks for the tag AJ won’t tag him in .... Balor comes in the ring and cleans house, then demands that AJ tag him in .... AJ refuses again, and this time Balor just drops off the apron and walks out on the match!  In the ring, Aries and Strong overwhelm AJ .... Aries hits the IED dropkick and Strong hits the End of Heartache and gets the pin ....


IN THE BACK -

Balor talks to Alicia Atout about what just happened .... AJ comes in shouting at Balor, resulting in another pull apart between the 2 in the hallway .... MVP tries to break it up and he issues a no contact order between the two until their match at Vendetta .... Instead, he’s going to allow them to pick each other’s opponents until then .... if AJ loses, then he will lose his title shot, but if Balor loses then the man he loses to will be added to the match making it a 3 way dance ....


**** Lacey Evans def. Ava Storie **** ....

.... Evans comes out wearing her crown and sash from the Queen of the Ring and she prances around like a beauty pageant winner .... She continues to build momentum coming off her Queen of the Ring win, and pins Storie here following the ‘Woman’s Right’ in a squash ....

After the match, Ember Moons music hits and out comes the Universal Champion .... Moon gets in Evans’ face and holds up the title, almost daring her to cash in .... Evans smiles and just backs away, saying she can cash in whenever she wants ....


IN THE BACK - MVP is talking to someone on the phone assuring them he is getting things under control .... he says something about a major signing that has been teased on social media and thisisprogress.com all week .... he will make the announcement later tonight ....

Miz comes in and cuts MVP off and he’s pissed .... This is how you allow your stars to be treated?  He is the US champion and he is the flagship of this brand!  Johnny Gargano could have cost him his livelihood with that cheap shot earlier .... what if he would have sprained an ankle or something when he fell off the stage?  He demands that MVP cancel the match because Gargano doesn’t deserve it .... MVP refuses .... Miz says MVP loves Gargano because he’s everyones favorite little underdog .... but the underdog doesn’t win in this story and he’s going to send Gargano back to the gutter he found him in ....

**** Moose def. Jack Swagger **** ....

Moose showed up in defense of Matt Capotelli last week when Swagger attempted to injure him .... Moose looks strong here coming out of his impressive performance at the Bash against Adam Cole .... This is a good hoss battle of big men .... Moose survives the ankle lock from Swagger and comes back to deliver the Hit Stick (spear) to get the 3 count ....


Up next, we get the Submission Sorority out to the ring .... Baszler cuts a promo and blames Sonya Deville for their loss against the EST last week .... Baszler orders Deville to lay down and let her stomp her arm .... Deville refuses and Baszler slaps her!  Baszler intimidates Deville into finally laying down but before she can stomp the arm Nicole Savoy’s music hits!  Savoy hits the ring and we’ve got a match!

**** Shayna Baszler def. Nicole Savoy **** ....

Savoy and Baszler best the shit out of each other early on .... Savoy manages to get the Savo-Lock but Baszler makes it to the ropes to break the hold .... Baszler manages to catch Savoy coming off the top in mid-air and lock in a triangle choke!  Savoy doesn’t tap right away so Baszler starts raining down elbow strikes to the top of her head, causing Savoy to finally tap out ....

Deville enters the ring and risks checking on Savoy afterwards .... Baszler grabs Deville and locks her in the Kirafuda clutch! .... Baszler chokes out Deville, then gets ready to do the arm stomp spot on Savoy but Charlotte’s music hits!  Charlotte sprints to the ring and attacks Baszler!!!!  Charlotte gets the better of the exchange, sending Baszler running for the hills .... Charlotte grabs a mic and calls Baszler out for a match next week!


Rottweilers cut a promo .... they claim to be the most dangerous team in Progress and they call out War Machine .... Eddie Kingston interrupts for the 2nd week in a row .... This time Homicide says something to him, which causes Kingston to get heated .... Kingston says ‘you know where I’m from and you know what me being here means’ .... Homicide doesn’t care who the fuck he is .... Salina backs him off .... Kingston tells Salina not to forget her debt to him ....


MVP comes out to the ring .... tonight has been out of control but he has a major announcement .... He addresses the rumors of a BIG signing that have been making the rounds on social media and he is out here to announce that it’s true .... He begins to announce the newest member of the Progress roster ....

‘I’M HERE TO SHOW THE WORLD, HERE TO SHOW THE WOOOOOOORLD .... BRING IT ON!!!!’




Out comes Dolph Ziggler!  Ziggler says it’s him, he’s the big signing and from now on he is the whole show because he’s that damn good .... He’s going to take this show over ....

MVP cuts him off and says that he is glad to have Ziggler as a part of Progress, but he’s not the signing that he was going to announce .... MVP directs everyone’s attention to the big screen when a promo airs for ....



.... RICOCHET!!!! ....  


NEXT WEEK -

We get a promo for Keith Lee, who will make his debut next week ....


**** Progress United States Champion The Miz w/ Maryse def. Johnny Gargano to retain the United States title **** ....

This feud has become VERY personal over the last 7 months since Miz beat Gargano to become the first US champion .... these 2 tear the house down in an absolutely spectacular match .... Gargano has become the most lovable and awesome babyface in Progress and the crowd tries to will him on to victory .... there are tons of near falls and teases on the road to the finish, with the underdog fight from Gargano and Miz just being a cocky asshole and cutting all of that off constantly .... Gargano kicks out of the Skull Krushing Finale once, then comes back to trap Miz in the GargaNO Escape!  The bell rings!!!!]

The crowd erupts because they believe Gargano has won the title back, but then we see that it is Maryse that has rung the bell!!!!  The match is not over!!!!    

There is a moment of confusion as the ref tries to explain to Gargano what has happened .... This allows Miz to grab Gargano from behind!  SKULL KRUSHING FINALE!  Miz gets the 3 count to retain the United States title!!!!


Miz and Maryse celebrate with the title, but Gargano is not going to let this go .... He comes in with left hands to the Miz!  Maryse low blows Gargano!!!!  Miz holds Gargano as Maryse slaps him across the face when out of the back ....





IT’S CANDICE LeRAE!!!!  LeRae jumps the railing and attacks Maryse!!!!  Miz grabs LeRae by the hair and pulls her off, but Candice drills Miz with a hard forearm!  Superkick by Gargano!!!!  Candice grabs Maryse and locks her in the GargaNO Escape!!!!  Maryse is tapping like crazy and the crowd is going ABSOLUTELY NUTS!!!!  Miz reaches in and pulls Maryse to the floor, and Johnny and Candice stand tall as the show