The Super Strong Style 16 begins with all eight first round matches!
PROGRESS Wrestling: Super Strong Style 16 Day One
Filmed May 5, 2018 from Alexandra Palace in London, England
Commentary by Glen Joseph and Callum Leslie
Available to watch on Demand Progress
Super Strong Style 16 First Round: WWE United Kingdom Champion Pete Dunne def. Doug Williams
This is Dunne’s second SSS16. This was Williams’s debut in the tournament.
This was a fun opener that helped to tie up Williams’s story in Progress the last few months. He hung with the younger Dunne for a good amount of time, controlling his arm for most of it. Williams was even able to land the Bomb Scare knee drop and the Chaos Theory, both moves he hadn’t hit since returning to Progress. But Dunne was able to kick out of the knee drop, and got to the ropes on the Chaos Theory pin cover. Dunne had no issue playing the heel here, doing his usual finger-biting and gesturing to the crowd. Williams went for the Chaos Theory again, but Dunne was able to roll him up for the win. After the match, Dunne gives a rare show of respect and shakes Williams’s hand. A fun opener, and the show of respect seems to have given Williams motivation to continue on in Progress. ***1/4
**Spoilers** – @DougWilliamsUK believes he is no longer able to perform at the highest level. @glen_joseph hopes otherwise. #SSS16 pic.twitter.com/KF3nIsUwBY
— PROGRESS Wrestling (@ThisIs_Progress) May 5, 2018
Super Strong Style 16 First Round: Zack Sabre Jr. def. Chuck Mambo
This is Sabre’s third SSS16, reaching the final in 2015, and the semis in 2017. This was Mambo’s debut in the tournament.
I said on Twitter that if Sabre didn’t win this match in 20 seconds, wrestling was fake. Needless to say, my hopes for Mambo weren’t very high. This match blew away my expectations. This was a very spirited contest, as Mambo was out to score the upset win. Sabre gave him a ton of offense, and while the outcome was never in doubt for me, I came away very impressed with Mambo. Sabre got the win with an arm-trap Dragon Sleeper. ***1/2
Super Strong Style 16 First Round: David Starr def. TK Cooper
This is both men’s second appearance in the SSS16.
Starr came out to his usual theme song, “Do You Wanna Touch Me” by Joan Jett. Hmm, I believe that’s a licensed song. This was a solid match. While I do miss the South Pacific Power Couple/Trip, TK is continuing to improve as a singles wrestler. Starr got the win with the Blackout Buster, which sets up a rematch from last year’s SSS16 against Zack Sabre Jr. ***
Super Strong Style 16 First Round: Angelico (PROGRESS debut) def. Mark Andrews
This is Andrews’s third SSS16, reaching the final in 2016.
Unsurprisingly, Eddie Dennis showed up and took a front row seat. That ended up relegating this match as background for the Andrews/Dennis storyline because I knew Eddie would involve himself. People booed Andrews, and I’m not sure I blame them anymore. Forgetting Eddie’s original points, he’s constantly attacking Mark, costing him matches, and now costing his friends (Danny Jones, Rickey Shane Page) matches as well. And Mark hasn’t given a real reason as to why he won’t fight Eddie, nor has he done anything to try and fix the friendship. He just looks like a coward.
Despite the boos, Andrews got the upper hand and was set up for the Shooting Star Press, but Eddie got up and pretended to take a picture of Mark. The distraction gave Angelico enough time to move out of the way of the SSP and hit a Razor’s Edge bucklebomb for the win. **3/4
Super Strong Style 16 First Round: Tyler Bate def. Jordan Devlin
This is Bate’s second SSS16. He reached the finals of the tournament last year, losing to Travis Banks. This is Devlin’s first appearance in the tournament.
This was Devlin’s first appearance in Progress since Chapter 44, and he was impressive here. He had his fans but he wasn’t afraid to fight dirty, using the ref to knock Bate off the ropes at one point. Devlin focused on Bate’s shoulder for most of the match, but Bate fought through and won with the Tyler Driver. The big strong boy moves on. Hopefully that shoulder doesn’t end up being a problem. ***1/2
Super Strong Style 16 First Round: Zack Gibson (w/ James Drake) def. Joey Janela
The Progress Tag Team Champions both demanded spots in the tournament after 15 names were announced, so Progress allowed them to choose who would take the final spot. This is Janela’s Super Strong Style 16 debut.
This will take some explaining. Gibson cut his promo. He was about to announce who was going to enter the tournament while Drake snuck up behind Janela, but Janela cut him off. Janela started fighting both Gibson and Drake on the floor, and was holding his own for a while. Eventually, Janela and Drake got in the ring and started fighting. You would think that meant that Drake was in the tournament, seeing as he is fighting Joey Janela.
But no! Because the Vets didn’t officially announce who was in the tournament, the bell couldn’t ring, thus allowing Gibson to sneak attack Janela from behind. Drake then announced that Gibson was in the tournament, and Gibson rolled up Janela to win. I will say this was a good idea on paper, and this was a fun segment. But the explanation was wafer-thin, and that took some of the fun out of it for me. N/R
Super Strong Style 16 First Round: Keith Lee vs. Flash Morgan Webster (w/ Vicky Haskins)
This is Lee’s SSS16 debut. This is Webster’s second SSS16.
This was the best match so far. Flash jumped Lee before the bell, and took advantage before Lee could get his feet under him. It wouldn’t take long for Lee to overpower Flash. After that, the match took a similar dynamic to the two’s previous match at Chapter 57, with Lee tossing Flash around until Flash got a spot of hope. Flash wasn’t helpless here, though. There were multiple times where he used his momentum to get Lee over for a reverse rana or a Code Red, but none of it kept Lee down.
After Lee kicked out of two Shadows over Malice, Vicky Haskins involved herself and wanted Flash to use his helmet. Flash went for it, but backed out at the last second, allowing Lee to hit the Ground Zero and move on to the second round. I like the story of Flash being conflicted here, and it wasn’t intrusive on the match itself. Lee was his usual awesome self as well, so no qualms about this. ****
Super Strong Style 16 First Round: Kassius Ohno def. Chris Brookes
This is Brookes’s debut in SSS16. This is Ohno’s second time, reaching the semis in 2016. It took me 5 minutes to realize that Matt Richards had joined commentary for this match.
You could tell that these two were going for the big “main event match” feel here. It started with the slow, methodical pace, and I knew they were going to ramp it up to a big crescendo. The problem with most Chris Brookes matches for me is that his crescendo is rarely that high. I can’t put my finger on it, but something keeps his matches from getting to that top guy-level for me. I’m saying all this seemingly negative stuff like I hated this, but I actually thought this was a good match. Brookes tried matching strikes with Ohno, but Ohno showed that that was a poor plan, beating Brookes with the Death Blow. ***1/4
Final Thoughts
A fine night of wrestling. I’d recommend Lee/Webster, but there was nothing particularly bad on this show.