The fourth chapter of the year so far, Progress were back at The Electric Ballroom so the sound problems from the last show were gone and you could hear everything Jim said with no problem atall.
As said on the tin, the show saw another Thunderbastard match, a concept that Progress have become famous for.
Commentary for the show was provided by Glenn Joseph and Matt Richards.
Webster wins Thunderbastard with a little help from Vikki
Progress held another of their infamous Thunderbastard matches to crown a new number one contender. The match is an 8 man elimination match with two men starting and another entrant being added every two matches. Basically, an elimination chamber match just without the chamber.
Starting the match was Tyler Bate and Chris Brookes, two former tag champs with Brookes having had two Progress championship matches already this year. After a feeling out period, TK Cooper entered the match, immediately getting into a brawl with Chris Brookes who he has had his problems with lately. Both men brawled around the ring for a little while until Trent Seven entered.
Teaming up with his Moustache Mountain team mate Bate, both men cleared the ring. Eddie Dennis was up next. While he is currently injured and in need of shoulder surgery, Dennis had managed to find his way into the match after signing a waiver with Progress management so he could get him hands on Mark Andrews. Flash Morgan Webster was up next, taking out all his opponents with a series of dives on the outside.
Flash was the only man standing when Pete Dunne entered the fray, quickly hitting Webster with an X-Plex to the apron. All 7 men brawled around the ring until Mark Andrews entered last. This was the main story of the match. Andrews and Dennis where finally going to get their hands on each other, that was until TK Cooper snuck in and rolled up Dennis for the pin. The "Pride of Wales" didn't take too kindly to this he had to be escorted to the back by the ring crew as Mark Andrews looked on.
Pete Dunne was next to be eliminated when he was disqualified after getting caught kicking Cooper in the balls. Cooper seemed to be playing the role of the opportunist when he got another roll up pinfall, this time on Trent Seven. Brookes next eliminated Cooper, only to then be eliminated by Andrews.
Tyler Bate looked to be the favourite at this point after hitting an aeroplane spin on both Andrew and Webster. He then eliminated Andrews, which left Tyler Bate and Flash Morgan Webster as the final two. A lot of back and forth between the two and Bate looked like he was about to pick the win when Vikki Haskins came out, much like she has during the last couple of Webster matches. Flash told her to leave ringside, and after reversing a Tyler Driver he managed to get the roll up on Bate to get the victory and win his first Thunderbastard match.
Another controversial win for Webster coming from yet another interference from Vikki Haskins. As per usual with the Thunderbastard matches this was chaotic and entertaining with an interesting finish.
Banks retains, much to the disappointment of the fans
Matt Riddle had earned a title match through a twitter poll Progress did asking fans to choose the challenger for Chapter 64. This was the third match between the two in Progress. With Riddle winning their first match at Chapter 52 before getting his win back at Chapter 58. These two are very similar in both size and style and it's no shock that there were strikes aplenty in this one.
An aggressive and intense battle from the start, this was a fine example of the fighting spirit mantra so so popular in wrestling right now. To call this a great match is an understatement and up until the end the fans loved every moment. My only gripe with Banks is that he goes a little too far at times with his whole resilient, kick out of every move under the sun routine, and this seemed to annoy the fans also as Banks somehow survived a tombstone from the middle rope, a series of kicks to the head, a senton from the top rope, another tombstone, a flurry of elbows and a bromission only to sneak the win with a roll up. This brought a chorus of boos and chants of “Bullshit” and “Riddles our Champion” from the crowd.
While the match was very entertaining, the ending was just silly and they really need to ease off the whole Travis Banks is superman gimmick before the fans turns on him completely. After the match, Flash Morgan Webster came to the stage accompanied by Vikki Haskins. Webster indicated to Banks that he's coming after his title.
Tag title change hands, again.
Grizzled Young Veterans won the titles they lost at Chapter 63 after an injury to Jimmy Havoc made the reign of Havoc and Haskins short lived.
The match was going well until Havoc injured his leg after hitting a double foot stomp on both Gibson and Drake. Havoc had to go to the back for treatment and after Gibson cut a promo telling Haskins to prove he was a man, Mark came back to the ring to take on both Gibson and Drake. While he gave it his all it ultimately proved too much and after Havoc limped back to the ring he was hit by a ticket to mayhem for Drake to pick up the victory for his team.
This is the second time that the Grizzled Young Veterans have won the titles after an injury to one of their opponents but I'm actually quite happy as I thought their original title reign was short lived. I've also given up on ever finding out the reasoning for the team of Havoc and Haskins and will just mark it down as one of life's mysteries.
Match of the Night
In the match of the night, Jonah Rock made his Progress debut against Zack Sabre Jr. These two had a great match at last years Battle of Los Angeles and it was no different here. It's always great to see Zack in a Progress ring and this was his third Chapter show in a row so expect to see him get a title match sometime soon.
Jonah Rock is a monster of a man and his style seems to match really well with Zack Sabre Jr. The big man has been branching out from his native Australia of late and it looks like his star is certainly on the rise in the world of independent wrestling.
Zack used his technical ability to break down the power of his big opponent and much like their PWG match last year this was an outstanding contest. Zack dipped into his never ending bag of submission moves to get the win by submission. After his performance here I would certainly like to see Jonah Rock bag in a Progress ring sometime soon and there were loud “Please Come Back” chants afterwards.
Elsewhere
Mark Davis went through to the semifinals of the Natural Progression Series after defeating Maverick Mayhew. The size difference was very noticeable here and while Mayhew is quick and athletic, he was never going to be a serious threat to Mark Davis. The big Australian spent most of the match destroying his 17-year-old opponent and it didn't take him long to pick up the victory to move onto the next round.
After joining The House of Couture at Chapter 63 by attacking Toni Storm, Charlie Morgan took on Millie McKenzie here with Jinny with her corner. The match was good if a little unspectacular, with Charlie Morgan coming out on top after interference from Jinny.
The team of Jack Sexsmith and David Starr defeated The Anti Fun Police in a comedy match that was okay in parts but I could have personally down without.
Quick Results
Sexy Starr (Jack Sexsmith & David Starr) def The Anti Fun Police (Chief Deputy Dunne & Los Federales Santos Jr.)
Charlie Morgan w/Jinny def Millie McKenzie
Mark Davis def Maverick Mayhew in the Natural Progression Series
Grizzled Young Veterans (Zack Gibson & James Drake) def Jimmy Havoc & Mark Haskins to win the Progress tagteam championships
Zack Sabre Jr. def Jonah Rock
Flash Morgan Webster def Tyler Bate, Mark Andrews, Chris Brookes, TK Cooper, Trent Seven, Pete Dunne and Eddie Dennis in the Thunderbastard Match
Travis Banks def Matt Riddle to retain the Progress World Championship
Progress will be back on March 25th for Chapter 65: Have Some Faith in the Sound.
What did you think of Chapter 63? Let us know in the comments below!
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