PROGRESS Wrestling: Super Strong Style 16 Day Two
Location: The Electric Ballroom, London
Date: May 28, 2017
Announcers: Matt Richards (who is afraid of bread), Callum Leslie, Glen Joseph and RJ Singh
I want to start with a re-rating of Day One. I don’t know what I was thinking, but Day One of SSS16 gets TWO THUMBS UP (in retrospect). You can find that review here.
The Super Strong Style 16 continues on Day Two with all four quarterfinal matches. We will also see the highly anticipated final of the Natural Progression Series. Laura Di Matteo, Jinny, and Toni Storm will battle it out in the main event to crown the first ever Progress Women’s Champion! The 2017 Super Strong Style 16 rolls on!
Mark Andrews and Flash Morgan Webster vs. The London Riots (Rob Lynch and James Davis)
This was a light-hearted tag team affair to get the day started. The Riots have been on a losing streak, so they never took control like they normally would. The action went back and forth before the Riots got Webster up for the slingshot spear. Webster however, caught Lynch with a Strangler, and Davis had to break it up. Lynch was still out of it, so he went to spear Webster but caught the ringpost instead. That allowed Andrews and Webster to double team Davis and win with an Andrews Shooting Star Press. Post match, Davis almost left a still-injured Lynch, but he came back and helped him to the back. A fine match to start the day. One thumb up.
Winners: Mark Andrews and Flash Morgan Webster
Super Strong Style 16 Quarterfinals: Mark Haskins vs. Tyler Bate
Jimmy Havoc joins commentary, because he wants to see Haskins kick Bate’s ass. Havoc came across like a guy about to turn heel, complaining about getting screwed out of title matches and being put in the tournament at all. The commentary distracted me from the match a little bit, but the match was still very good. I will never get tired of Mark Haskins doing transitions. The roll-through into a DVD will always get me. Haskins had the match won with a Sharpshooter, but Pete Dunne pulled the referee out of the ring. This brought Havoc down from commentary to chase Dunne away, but while the ref was tied up with them, Trent Seven came from the crowd and laid Haskins out with a piledriver to get Bate the win. Surprisingly, the interference didn’t ruin this for me. One thumb up.
Winner: Tyler Bate
Super Strong Style 16 Quarterfinals: Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Jack Sexsmith
The Progress crowd have realized that Jack Sexsmith’s new music sounds similar to Adam Rose’s old music. Jack comes out with his arm in a sling, and announces that he has a tear in his bicep. He says that he worked too hard to get into the tournament, and refuses to forfeit.
This match only goes like 5 minutes, but it is really good. Everyone knows Jack isn’t gonna beat Zack Sabre Jr, and they damn sure knows he’s not gonna do it with one arm. Zack doesn’t even want to fight him, he actively avoids Jack’s hurt arm. But Jack keeps fighting. He refuses to accept the inevitable. He somehow lands an LGBDT with a sling on and gets 2. Unfortunately, Sabre quickly takes down Sexsmith and taps him out with a single-leg crab. Sabre helps Sexsmith to the back while the crowd gives Sexsmith a standing ovation. A lovely segment here. Two thumbs up.
Winner: Zack Sabre Jr.
Super Strong Style 16 Quarterfinals: Jeff Cobb vs. Matt Riddle
Matt Riddle is the current Progress Atlas Champion.
This was Big Lads Wrestling at its absolute finest. You can separate this match into three different segments. The first part was mat work. Both men have grappling experience, so they tried to find an upper hand. That ended in a stalemate, so then it went to the second segment, throwing big shots. Forearms and suplexes galore. Cobb threw Riddle around like a rag doll, Riddle responded by tenderizing Cobb’s chest with chops. Then, Cobb shifted Riddle’s rear naked choke into a Tombstone piledriver. That brought about the final segment, where they went hell for leather for five minutes in an awesome sprint.
Cobb looked like Jason Voorhees by the end of this match, Riddle’s biggest shots barely kept him down for a 2 count. Meanwhile, Cobb was hitting huge pop-up German suplexes like Riddle weighed nothing. In the end, Riddle was able to slip out of a Tour of the Islands and hit a running knee for the win in a must-see match. Two thumbs up.
Winner: Matt Riddle
Super Strong Style 16 Quarterfinals: Flamita vs. Travis Banks
RJ Singh and Glen Joseph take over on commentary for this one. This was a fast-paced affair. It was cool to see Flamita match Banks’s striking ability, and Banks match Flamita’s speed. Flamita hits a big moonsault to the floor, but Banks follows up with his tope of doom. STRIKE EXCHANGE ends in them booting each other down. Flamita hits his awesome lungblower from the Muscle Buster position for 2. Banks moves out of the way of a 450, hits his flying lariat and a Kiwi Krusher, but Flamita kicks out at 2. Flamita comes back and hits a frog splash, but Banks moves out of the way of a 450 again and locks on a crossface for the win. Good stuff. One thumb up.
Winner: Travis Banks
The semi-finals of the 2017 Super Strong Style 16 are set!
Pastor William Eaver and David Starr vs. Trent Seven and Progress World Champion and WWE UK Champion Pete Dunne
There was no commentary on this match. I think the commentary track got screwed up there. This match was insanely fun, though. There was lots of humor surrounding Trent Seven’s six-second loss the day before and the Pastor’s . He almost lost in quick order in this match off of a Starr forearm, but Dunne broke up the pin. Another fun, light tag match. Seven pinned Starr with a piledriver. Two thumbs up.
Natural Progression Series Final for the PROGRESS Women’s Title: Jinny vs. Toni Storm vs. Laura Di Matteo
This is the final match of the fourth Natural Progression Series tournament. Whoever wins will be crowned the first Progress Women’s Champion. I’m just glad I don’t have to write the long intros for these matches anymore.
Storm seems to be the big favorite, with Di Matteo behind her. Everyone hates Jinny per usual. I’ll get my small gripes out of the way early. This match quickly fell into the triple threat formula, which is when one person goes down on the outside while the other two fight in the ring. That annoyed me, but other than that, these guys killed each other.
Both Toni and Jinny did big dives into the crowd that missed Di Matteo. Di Matteo dived onto a pile of bodies from the top to the floor. Storm goes up for her diving leg drop, but Jinny gets back in the ring and takes her down with her corner X-Factor for 2. THREE-WAY STRIKE EXCHANGE ends in Jinny hitting a double Acid Rainmaker. Jinny grabs the title belt and lays out Di Matteo, and Storm piledrives Jinny for 2. They fight up to the stage, and Jinny takes a nasty piledriver on the stage. Di Matteo hit Storm with a DDT on the stage right after.
Di Matteo got Storm back in the ring and hit a Tornado DDT for 2. Di Matteo got Storm in her Rings of Saturn variation, and Storm was able to get her up into an Air Raid Crash onto her knee. Storm gets Di Matteo in the Tree of Woe, but Jinny knocks her out with brass knuckles for 2. Di Matteo sends Jinny into the corner, but Storm gets her with a piledriver for 2. Jinny goes for an Acid Rainmaker, but Storm hits a piledriver on her for the win and the title. From an in-ring standpoint, Toni was the best choice to win this title. Both Di Matteo and Jinny came to play, and that made this match not only a worthy main event, but a damn good one as well. Two thumbs up.
Winner: NPS 4 Winner and NEW PROGRESS Women’s Champion, Toni Storm
OVERALL THOUGHTS: Another very good show. I would say Day One was better on a per-match basis, but this show was a very easy watch, not to mention the great main event and the MOTY candidate from Jeff Cobb and Matt Riddle. Super Strong Style 16 Day Two gets TWO THUMBS UP.
Match of the Night: Jeff Cobb vs. Matt Riddle
I’ll be back with the final night of Super Strong Style 16. You can watch all three nights of SSS16, as well as every show Progress has ever done, on their streaming service Demand Progress. Liked what you read? You can follow me on Twitter, @SuitWilliams.