Unless you’ve been leaving underneath some sort of rock, let me fill you in. The British Wrestling scene is thriving. It is arguably the best it has ever been. To name a few; Preston City Wrestling, TARGET, Insane Championship Wrestling and our focus for this article, PROGRESS, the British scene is on fire from Scotland all the way down to London.
You’ve heard us gush about the scene in the previous podcasts, articles and discussions. I’ll save the Sermon on the Mount, and wiggle onto the subject at hand here…
PROGRESS Wrestling; Chapter 19.
The Super Strong Style 16 Tournament.
The tournament, presented by SPLX – is a two day show over the May Bank Holiday weekend featuring 16 of the finest Wrestlers to grace our shores. In this piece, I’ll be running down the 16 participants and get you abit more familiar to the men who will be doing battle at the end of May 2015. Who are these 16 brave warriors? Thanks for asking… On May 11th, the draw for the brackets was drawn on the Official Progress YouTube Channel, as is as follows;
The talent is mouth-watering… Let’s get to know each man a little bit better.
El Ligero
Who better to start off this article than one of the best wrestlers in the Europe and one of the most unique to grace our shores. A tidy cruiserweight, who has had probably the most hectic schedule in recent memory. If CageMatch is anything to go off, he worked more than 160 times in 2014.
If you have been to a wrestling event in the past 2 years, you’ve probably seen him. It would literally take too long to list them… easily over 100 promotions. Ligero is a former Progress Champion, and held the staff/belt for close to a year. His Progress debut was at the very first Chapter, and has since only missed 4 of the 18.
If you know anything about the British Wrestling scene, El Ligero is a legend. From Scotland, to Japan, quick flight back to London, train back up to Leeds, a quick stop in Manchester then across to Preston. You get the point, there is no one more experienced on the British Wrestling Scene, and whenever he is in the ring, people are watching and enjoying themselves.
ARIBA!~
Will Ospreay
Arguably the best Highflyer in Europe, in 2015 alone he has worked most of the companies in the United Kingdom from London up to Preston. His highlight of the year for me, is the near 25 minute match with current IWGP Champion AJ Styles in London for Rev Pro. Winning efforts in his matches against Chris Sabin in March for IPW:UK (Battle Royale 2015) and starring on RPW TV #8 against Matt Sydal (The former Evan Bourne) at the start of May makes 2015 one of his best years to date as he goes up against a higher calibre of workers from America.
Will is 22 years old, with his future ahead of him. A regular for IPW, RevPro, and Southside Wrestling, he has worked nearly 40 times in just the first 5 months on this year… Will is more than just your average Weekend-Warrior.
Mark Haskins
Debuting in 2006, the DragonGate alumni worked over 70 times in the space of 6 months for the company. Mark also had a run in TNA in 2011 during the European Winter Tour having matches with the likes of The Hardy Boys, Chris Sabin and Kazarian, making him one of the more experienced Stars in this tournament.
A former NGW World Champion before losing to El Ligero, he is now one Half of the RPW British Tag Champions w/ Joel Redman. Mark recently defeated Tommy End at SWE Risky Business. Mark has history with many of the participants here, and will be eyeing up a Quarter-Final match with El Ligero if results go his way.
Jack Gallagher
This 24 year old Mancunian turned Zero 1 Wrestling Superstar is a great in-ring performer and one of the best Technical Wrestlers from England in recent times. A former 2 time FutureShock Champion, Jack performs whether he is in Prestwich, Manchester or Tochigi, Japan. His style is that of the old World of Sport, British Wrestling. Very Technical, and doesn’t often leave his feet for a flip. Think William Regal meets Daniel Bryan, only more Northern. This lad has it all and could become a major player in the next few years.
In terms of “Big Stage” experience like others in the tournament, Jack doesn’t have the multiple American promotions in his back-catalogue, but Jack is perhaps one of the better wrestlers in the whole bracket. A mouth-watering match with ZSJ could await him in the final, but he will have to get past a contrast in styles on this side of the bracket with the High Flyers & Big lads.
Makes his début for Progress this weekend and is a real dark horse in this tournament if he can play his cards right.
Rampage Brown
Heckled for being “Dirty Leeds Scum”, Rampage Brown is perhaps the best heavyweight on the European Scene. Big Rampage is a former WWE Developmental Talent, with a TV Shot against Mark Henry in October 2008. He would work in the FCW developmental with talents such as Adam Rose, Bray Wyatt and Titus O’Neill.
He has worked with legendary British Wrestling Company, All Star Wrestling through 2004 to 2014, and made his debut at Progress Wrestling in 2013. He would go on to beat El Ligero for the Championship in July of that year, before dropping it to Mark Andrews (Who would be beaten by Current Champion Jimmy Havoc). He was defeated last year in the Progress World Finals against Noam Dar and was also defeated in a great match with Samoa Joe at Progress 14.
More recently, on “The Show We Can’t Call PROGRESSlemania For Legal Reasons”, he beat Mark Haskins in a NoDQ match. Famously, Rampage competed in TNA’s British Bootcamp Season 2 and made it all the way to the finals before losing to, that man again, Mark Andrews.
Currently, Rampage has worked mostly for Preston City Wrestling, New Generation Wrestling (where he is the Champion), Tidal Wrestling and has been on the previous 11 Progress Chapters, a streak from Chapter 7 through the present day. His tag team with T-Bone as “Team Single” is one of the best in the world, and was one of the few to work with the likes of ReDragon, The Briscoes, and The Decade during the ROH/PCW Supershows as the PCW Tag Team Champions (Currently held by them, for the page of an incredible 700 days).
This long time British Heavyweight is easily one of the favourites in this tournament, and has all of the experience to boot.
Big Daddy Walter
When we first saw Big Daddy Walter in this tournament, many of the members of our website did not know who he was. A lot of this article has been aided by the likes of http://www.profightdb.com & http://www.cagematch.net/ who feverishly update records on Pro Wrestling with results and records… Sadly Walter doesn’t have much information on either of these fronts making this harder to write about!
What I do know about Walter, is that he’s a bloody big bloke, who uses a sick lariat and won’t stand for the flips & double moonsaults in his ring. A main stay in wXw for many years, and is a former multiple time wXw World Champion and Tag Team Champion, his wXw debut was in 2007. Needless to say, Rampage vs. Walter is going to be the sort of match you need to reinforce the ring for!
Tommy End
The man from Zaanstad, Tommy End started wrestling in 2002 and has since become another mainstay in wXw that has a ton of momentum behind him, having been with the company since 2005.
His Progress debut came against Dave Mastiff in a winning effort, but more recently Mastiff defeated him earlier this year, but Tommy also became the #1 Contenders for the Tag Titles with his partner Michael Dante (Sumerian Death Squad) at his latest appearance. This kick-boxer, is about as tough as you can get and the amount of potentially matches that he could have in this tournament alone get us VERY excited.
Roderick Strong
- If you don’t know who Roderick Strong is, you need to stop reading this and go to YouTube immediately.
- … Welcome back to the article, isn’t he amazing?
Roderick was the breakout performer for the NJPW&ROH shows this past month, War of the Worlds & Global Wars. He is probably, the hottest Independent Wrestler there is today and one of the best in the world right now.
Roddy has been everywhere , and he’s only 31 years old. An 11 Year Vet of ROH, his CV is a who’s who of wrestling companies across the land. Everyone you can think of. ROH, TNA, CZW, PWG, NOAH, New Japan, FIP, DragonGate, MLW, NWA, IWA Mid South, 1PW… Do you get my point? Roderick Strong is practically Mr Wrestling.
Amazingly, this is Roderick’s FIRST appearance here in Progress, and is easily the most experienced Wrestler and probably the favourite in the Tournament. The former ROH Triple Crown winner, and reigning PWG World Champion, has his eyes set on these shores and is looking to become something he has never done before… Mr Progress Wrestling
Eddie Dennis
Six Foot Six, Two Hundred and Forty Pounds. This Welsh Dragon is Eddie Dennis and has been Wrestling since 2011. He made his Progress Wrestling debut in March 2013 as a part of Team Defend with Mark Andrews. They would win the championships a year later at Progress Chapter 12, holding them until January 2015 as they would drop the straps to The Faceless team of The Faceless… easy jokes.
While he hasn’t faced many of the other participants, he is one of the taller men in this competition and is easily the underdog between the 16 men. He hasn’t been to a ROH, a TNA, or around the world often and he’s only been working for 4 years.
This could be birth of a star.
Marty Scurll
A hidden English Gem, Marty is a fantastic wrestler who has a fur coat an umbrella, and the RPW British Heavyweight Championship.
He first came to Progress at the very beginning, Chapter One, March 25th 2012 against ZSJ. His latest appearance was a loss in the Six Way Elimination Match for the PROGRESS Title, and he is very much one of the main event players here.
He has had a handful of chances with other big companies, such as a Dragon Gate, TNA, CZW, WXW. He has mainly worked with RPW more recently, holding its main championship for the past 430+ days, defending against the likes of Davey Richards, Doug Williams, Ricochet, Colt Cabana, and current NXT Champion Kevin Owens.
Marty has everything infront of him, and at only 26 years old… he’s ready to take the Wrestling World by storm.
Dave Mastiff
Who’s Our Favourite Bastard?
Who’s Our Favourite Bastard?
NA-NA NA NA.
DAVE!
NA-NA NA NA.
DAVE!
The 13 year veteran, and SPLX athlete has only really became a big player in the past few years on the UK scene after appearing on TNA British Boot Camp 2. He would go to the Final 6 but be eliminated. This increased the stock of the Beast from the Black Country, and he has since been one of the busiest Wrestlers of 2014 going through whole of the UK travelling to places like PCW, IPW, Progress, RPW, NGW, ICW, TNA and Target Wrestling. Dave moves about like he isn’t 300lbs, and is one of the best “big” men on these shores, often compared to Bam Bam Bigelow.
Mastiff’s first appearance in Progress came at Chapter 3 where he would team with Greg Burridge to defeat El Ligero & Nathan Cruz. He would go on to be one of the baddest dudes down in the Greater London area, beating everyone from Haskins, Williams, Tommy End, and Marty. He has history with a lot of the tournament, and is considered one of the favourites on size alone.
The UKs favourite Bastard, might just become PROGRESS Wrestlings main Bastard by the end of this.
Noam Dar
(Written by John “Huxy” Huxall)
Noam Dar, or “The Israeli Icon”, is 21 years old and hails from Tel Aviv, Israel. He is a 2 time ICW Zero-G Champion, former BCW Openweight Champion and former PCW Cruiserwight Champion. Dar shot to fame working for ICW (and recently Insane Fight Club on BBC One in the UK) but debuted in 2008, fighting against his former trainer, Kid Fite (PBW) and lost. From there, the only way has been up for this young rising star who has worked his way through the British independent circuit wrestling, working for such companies as; ICW, PCW, Rev Pro UK, PROGRESS, IPW and even Ring Of Honor. He also competed on the latest season of TNA’s British Bootcamp, only to fall short and return back to the indie scene.
He has a technical style of wrestling and this has shown through throughout his career and not only as a singles fighter, but he has held gold with teammate Liam Thomson (as The Final Cut) when they captured the PBW Tag Team Championships. He is the current Number 1 Contender for the PWE World Heavyweight Title after winning a 15-Man Elite Royal Rumble in March 2015.
It’s clear to see the future is bright for Dar, and his technical-yet-strong side will be on show throughout the PROGRESS shows. He is definitely one to watch and familiar with most of the wrestlers on the card – proving that age is just a number after wrestling more than 300 matches in such a short time, and building up strong following of fans who show their dedication each week in their ‘Dar Wars’ or ‘YoDar’ merchandise! Keep your eye out for Dar’s special finishing move, the Champagne Superkneebar!
Damo O’ Connor
Big Damo is a monster of a man. You might have noticed that this tournament has two big styles, Big Blokes and Flippy Blokes. Damo is one of the biggest, and his match with Ciampa is one that could be a big test for his future. Damo has mainly worked in Scotland (Over 4/5th of his matches has been there) in the Scottish Wrestling Alliance for the past decade, and making trips to SWA Source and the nearby Target Wrestling. In his first trip to Progress, he was defeated by Zack Gibson but did defeat fellow big man Mastiff in April to be the #1 Contender for the ICW Title.
Much like Eddie Dennis, what Damo lacks in experience he could make up in being an underdog. A potential dark horse and a big upset could be on the cards.
Tommaso Ciampa
Dubbed “The Sicilian Psychopath”, Tommaso has a story like not many others. Trained by Killer Kowalski and made his debut in January 2005 he would appear in the WWE not 6 months later as one of Muhammed Hassans lawyers and came face to face with The Undertaker!
He would work the independent scene for a while, before going to ROH where he really made himself into a star in 2011, with Prince Nana, and has wrestled with the likes of Adam Cole, Homicide, Jay Lethal, Roddy Strong, and Mike Bennett. He became the TV Champion in 2013 and was one of the biggest stars in the company. He would leave ROH in March of 2015, after picking up an injury at the 13th Anniversary Show and had his last match with Jay Lethal. That same weekend he did a shot at PWG with ACH in an outstanding contest, proving that Tommaso is one of biggest stars on the independent scene and in this tournament.
Zack Gibson
He was there at Progress Chapter One, Zack Gibson/Diamond has been wrestling since 2009 and made his debut in Manchester with FutureShock (Where he has been since). Another gentlemen who doesn’t have the TV experience, is another dark horse and will have his work cut out for him against Zack Sabre Jr. In terms of the bigger UK promotions, he has been with PCW, NGW, Target and of course Progress.
At 6 foot 3 and 176lbs, he has a unique wrestling style and is a great hand to have on any roster. He will have one of the hardest paths to navigate to get anyone in this tournament, with the likes of ZSJ, Ciampa, Dar and Mastiff on this side of the bracket. It could turn out to be a huge weekend for the former FutureShock Champion and Liverpool’s Number One Diamond.
Zack Sabre Jr
(Written by Matty Deller)
Zack Sabre Jr is a student of the famous NWA-UK Hammerlock, became a stalwart of the UK wrestling scene at a young age, holding the NWA United Kingdom Junior Heavyweight Championship for three years and becoming a name in the great tag team ‘LDRS of the New School’ with fellow tournament participant, Marty Scurll.
He employs a classic British submission style, combined with ferocious strong strikes learned from his time in Pro Wrestling NOAH, and his vicious, lightning fast utilization of the armbar submission. He has been compared to a young Chris Adams lately, high praise indeed and he also just had a fantastic PWG title match with Roderick Strong. A British stand-out that does not get enough praise and a man to go far in this tournament…
There you have it, all 16 participants in the SPLX Super Strong Style 16 PROGRESS Wrestling Tournament. From Ligero, to Mastiff to ZSJ & Roderick Strong, this tournament could easily be the best of the year and is set-up to be one of the main attractions in British Wrestling Memory.
Special Thanks to PROGRESS Wrestling for the Images aswell as SPLX, Cagematch.de for the research aids, my fellow writers and of course… the readers!
