Progress: United States #29

                   

Progress Tag Team Champions: YOUNG MONEY (MVP & KENNY KING)


LOCATION: Atlanta, Georgia
ARENA: Phillips Arena
TV: Fox Sports
ANNOUNCERS: Mauro Renallo & Renee Young








PREVIOUSLY IN PROGRESS -

Recaps of the last Progress USA show including the beginning of Survival of the Fittest tag team tournament .... Young Money continued to hold on to the tag titles via heelish means as they got themselves counted out against the Briscoes .... AJ Styles vs. Bobby Lashley never happened as Marty Scurll attacked AJ, with Lashley joining in and spearing AJ into the ring post ....

In Progress UK, MVP tried to exert his power as USA General Manager only to be reminded by Johnny Saint that they weren’t in the US .... AJ and Marty Scurll signed their contract to make their match at the Bash official, ending with AJ putting Scurll through a table with the Styles Clash setting up the Progress UK Bash show in London on July 3rd ....


We go to Mauro Renallo & Renee Young at ringside as they talk about tonight’s show as we head toward the Great American Bash .... Tonight we will see Johnny Gargano defend the United States title against Kyle O’Reilley, plus the finals of the Survival of the Fittest tag team tournament that will kick off the show .... and it was announced on social media this week that Hanson & Rowe, the tag team known as War Machine, will make their return tonight ....


**** 1. SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST FINALS: The Street Profits (Montez Ford & Angelo Dawkins) vs. Gallus (Joe & Mark Coffey) ends in a no contest when Zack Gibson & James Drake do a run-in and lay out both teams .... ****

POST MATCH: Before security can hit the ring, Gibson takes a mic and cuts a quick promo about how they should have been included in the tournament and they are better than both of these teams .... security comes in and grabs them and takes them out of the arena ....


Queen of the Ring promo .... it will take place in Cambridge, England ahead of the U.K. Bash show on July 3rd ....

We segue from the promo to a locker room segment with Naomi and Bianca BelAir where Naomi congratulates Belair on her big win over Charlotte .... Belair basically blows her off and says she’s better off without her .... now that Naomi isn’t holding her back she’s going to win the Queen of the Ring and facing the Universal women’s champion at the Bash show in London .... Naomi says we will see who was holding who back later tonight and we have a match ....


*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *


**** 2. ‘Limitless’ Keith Lee def. Kona Reeves in a squash .... Lee toys with Reeves, hitting the double overhand chips and then showing his agility with a standing drop kick .... Lee hits the POUNCE, sending Reeves flying into the ropes, then finishes him off with the Ground Zero .... ****


BACKSTAGE: The Briscoes bust in to MVP’s office and day what happened last week was bullshit .... Jay is dropping F-Bombs like every other word .... Jay says they want another match or they are gonna raise hell tonight .... MVP reluctantly agrees .... Jay says they are gonna beat their ass tonight, but MVP stops him and says he agreed to give the Briscoes a match, but he didn’t say it would be a tag title shot .... MVP says Young Money has to get ready to defend their titles at the Bash in London against Mustache Mountain, but he will give them a match tonight .... AGAINST THE RETURNING WAR MACHINE!!!!


*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *


Austin Aries cuts a promo about Candice being the reason Gargano retained .... Miz comes out and cuts a promo about everyone not wanting to see Aries vs. Gargano AGAIN and seeing Aries get another shot and not get the job done .... He says Aries has no charisma and isn’t entertaining and Aries says he is the best pro wrestler in this company and is the greatest man that ever lived, while Miz lost to a guy that isn’t even in the company anymore.... Miz says he deserves the title shot more than Aries and that leads us to a match ....


**** 3. The Miz w/ Maryse def. Austin Aries when Johnny Gargano interferes .... Aries hits the brainbuster, but Maryse puts Miz’s foot on the ropes to break up the pin .... Gargano’s music hits and he comes out at the top of the ramp with the US title .... this distracts Aries and allows Miz to come from behind and hits the Skull Krushing Finale for the pin .... ****

POST MATCH: Gargano chuckles at Aries and holds up the US title while Miz celebrates the win ....


BACKSTAGE: Bobby Lashley and Bill Alphonso demand that MVP put Lashley in the title match at the Great American Bash in London .... MVP says he can’t because Johnny Saint is trippin and he doesn’t have jurisdiction over U.K. booking .... Lashley says he came here because he wants competition and he suggests MVP give it to him .... MVP books Lashley vs Riddle next week .... Lashley says Riddle isn’t competition, and he wants AJ .... If Riddle is the best MVP can do then he will be lucky if his champion makes it to the Bash ....


*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *


**** 4. Bianca BelAir def. Naomi with the KOD (Sit-out Burning Hammer) in another competitive match .... ****


BACKSTAGE: Keith Lee is walking around after his match and he passes Donovan Dijak .... the two make eye contact for a long moment before Lee keeps walking and humming ‘Oooooo ... bask in his glory’ to the tune of 7 Nation Army by the White Stripes ....


**** 5. The Briscoes (Jay & Mark) vs. War Machine (Hanson & Rowe) ends in a no contest when both teams are brawling out of control .... the match starts off hard-hitting with the crowd being behind both teams .... Hanson and Mark end up in the ring and Jay snaps and starts tossing chairs in the ring .... while the ref tries to get the chairs out of the ring, Jay pulls Hanson out of the ring and they brawl around the ring .... Mark dives off the top onto all of them and things get out of control with Jay throwing chairs and Rowe pulling up the protective mat around the ring .... tables become involved, and Rowe ends up putting Mark through the table with a urinage off the ring apron .... Jay comes in with a chair and holds off War Machine while checking on his brother ....  ****





*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *


Brian Cage vignette .... it shows his last appearance in Progress, when he took like 4 finishers in a row from the ONE% in a tag match to suffer his first pin .... the vignette shows Cage receiving ‘upgrades’ and then shows him with one shining red eye like a Terminator .... the vignette ends with the words ‘Rise of The Machine’ ....


**** 6. United States Champion Johnny Gargano w/ Candice LeRae def. Kyle O’Reilley by submission with the Gargano-Escape in a hard-hitting match .... O’Reilley works the neck and shoulder of Gargano, but Johnny fights back with the slingshot spear .... Austin Aries gets involved with Candice st ringside, but Gargano wipes him out with a suicide dive .... O’Reilley catches Gargano coming back in with the Ax & Smash, but Johnny hits the lawn dart into the buckles and then locks on the Gargano-Escape for the submission win .... ****

POST MATCH: Austin Aries attacks as soon as the bell rings .... Candice tries to get involved but Strong grabs her and holds her at bay while Aries locks Gargano in the Last Chancery .... Aries keeps the hold on for a long time before releasing it, and Strong lets go of Candice and she drops to the mat to check on Johnny .... Aries takes the US title and raises it, then throws it at Candice and the ONE% leave ....


*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *


Atlas Champion AJ Styles comes out and cuts a promo about his title match with ‘The Villain’ Marty Scurll .... AJ says Marty has gotten in his head, but he may regret that because he’s unlocked that bulldog inside that will do anything to win .... AJ talks about how people are coming at him from all sides, and right on queue out comes Bobby Lashley ....

Lashley says instead of talking about Marty Scurll, AJ should tell the people who the guy was that busted up his ribs .... it was him, because he’s a killer, he’s a destroyer .... AJ tells Lashley to finish the job then, but instead Matt Riddle’s music hits!  Lashley uses the distraction to hit a Spear to the injured ribs of AJ!  Lashley rips AJ’s shirt off and reveals his ribs are heavily taped .... Riddle hits the ring, but Lashley takes a powder .... Lashley walks away, but Riddle takes the mic and calls Lashley a bitch .... Lashley hits the ring and they brawl, and Lashley tosses Riddle with a belly to belly suplex .... Lashley charges for the spear, BUT THIS TIME RIDDLE EXPLODES WITH THE FINAL FLASH (bicycle knee) AND KO’S LASHLEY!!!!  Riddle stands tall to end the show as Lashley is wobbling on spaghetti legs outside the ring trying to recover ....

In the ring AJ pulls himself to his feet and is holding his ribs, and he picks up the Atlas title .... Riddle takes a long look at the title and says something to AJ about coming for the belt .... He offers AJ a fist bump, and AJ returns it .... Riddle and AJ own the ring as the show ends ....