The 2018 Super Strong Style 16 continues as the second round goes on. In the main event, Progress World Champion Travis Banks defends against ATLAS Champion WALTER!

PROGRESS Wrestling: 2018 Super Strong Style 16 Day Two

Filmed May 6th, 2018 at Alexandra Palace in London, England

Commentary by Matt Richards and Callum Leslie

Available to watch on Demand Progress

Super Strong Style 16 Quarterfinal: PROGRESS Tag Team Champion Zack Gibson (w/ James Drake) def. WWE United Kingdom Champion Pete Dunne

This was a fine start to the day. Gibson once again reaches the semi-finals of the Super Strong Style, although he did it a lot cleaner back in 2016. Gibson is fantastic as that ace in the hole heel that you can use in any situation. He’s almost bulletproof in Progress. He can lose to anyone, and still come back at the next show getting booed like crazy. He can have a good match with pretty much anyone, and guys get over when they do beat him. I always enjoy a solid bad guy on a roster, and that’s what Zack Gibson is for Progress.

The story of this one was that James Drake was willfully interfering, but Dunne was still able to fight him off and stay mostly in control. It didn’t really hurt that both Vets were being beaten up by one guy because Dunne is on another level to almost anyone else in the company. It also didn’t hurt because the Vets are a lot like movie villains, in that their plans almost always backfire. But in this case, they had some help. Team Never Explain (Mark and Vicky Haskins, Jimmy Havoc, and Flash Morgan Webster) come out and Dunne beats them with a chair. Dunne then hits Gibson with the chair in the frenzy and gets DQ’ed.

This finish was met with a chorus of “BULLSHIT” chants, and I don’t disagree. This was a weak way to get Dunne out of the tournament. I know I just called them dumb movie villains, but what would have been wrong with the Drake and Gibson outnumbering Dunne and Gibson getting the win? And I know Dunne is teaming with British Strong Style against Team Never Explain in Manchester after the tournament, but this was unnecessary. ***1/4

Jordan Devlin def. Chuck Mambo, TK Cooper

This was an incredibly enjoyable three-way match. Cooper and Mambo paid off a social media bet against each other, wearing the other one’s shirt on the way to the ring. Devlin got over huge when he did a bicycle kick to a beach ball and landed on his feet. This was fast-paced, didn’t drag, and didn’t outstay its welcome. This also broke the triple threat trope of two in, one out, as all three men were involved in spots throughout the match. Mambo put in another good performance, building off of his match with Sabre the night before.

Devlin pinned Mambo with the Package Piledriver. I’m glad to see Devlin get a win this weekend, as he is someone I think Progress should use to their fullest possibilities. I’ve heard nothing but good things about his work as the Import Killer in OTT, and he’s a relatively fresh face to the Progress landscape. I want more of him here. ****

Jimmy Havoc, Mark Haskins, & Flash Morgan Webster (w/ Vicky Haskins) def. Mark Andrews, Chris Brookes, and Joey Janela

This was a fine six-man tag that really ramped up once all six guys got involved. Flash was very hesitant to do much of anything involving his partners, and it looks like he’s regretting his decision to get into bed with Vicky Haskins. Figuratively speaking, of course. Meanwhile, Janela was looking to get his hands on Jimmy Havoc, but Havoc would only get in once his team was firmly in control. All four of the baddies were doing very good character stuff here, I’m enjoying this act right now.

Havoc kicked Janela low and pinned him after the Kiss of Death. After yelling at Flash, Haskins and Havoc went to leave when Janela got the mic. He said that he wasn’t going to leave this weekend without making Havoc bleed, and made a deathmatch between the two for Day Three. The New York match was absolute insanity, and I have no doubt those two madmen are going to try and top themselves. ***3/4

Super Strong Style 16 Quarterfinal: Keith Lee def. Angelico

This is a first-time ever matchup. I always figure that guys with name recognition have wrestled before, especially on the indy scene, so seeing guys lock up for the first time is always intriguing to me. In a fun callback to Day One, Lee backed up a little bit on the entrance path so Angelico couldn’t dive on him. I’m sure this has been said a million times, but Keith Lee just carries himself like an attraction. His movements in the ring are very exaggerated, but not in a way that makes him look goofy. It makes what he does look all the more impressive.

Poor Angelico here got his chest tenderized by a couple of monsterous overhand chops, but he wasn’t helpless here. He fought off a lot of Lee’s offense and had him rocked with a knee strike, but Lee proved to be too much. The Ground Zero sends Lee to the semi-finals of his first SSS16. ***1/4

Super Strong Style 16 Quarterfinal: Zack Sabre Jr. def. David Starr

Jack Sexsmith came out before hand to remind everyone that he was going to face the winner of tonight’s main event at the next show in Manchester before introducing his tag partner Starr. This was a rematch from last year’s SSS16, where Sabre beat Starr in the opening round. The ending was the same this time around, but this match may have been even better than last year’s edition.

There used to be two different versions of Zack Sabre Jr. One of those versions did submissions in a sort of exhibition style. He did cool submissions, but he did them just to do them and they didn’t really connect at all. The other version of ZSJ was an absolute prick. That version stomped on guys’ heads, didn’t break clean, and tried to rip the limbs off of men like action figures. But ever since he joined New Japan early last year, and even a little while before that, the exhibition Sabre has shown up less and less. And now that he has joined Suzuki-gun in New Japan, exhibition Sabre is dead.

Zack Sabre Jr did his best to legally cripple David Starr in this match. He was constantly peppering Starr with kicks to both legs, to the point where Starr could barely stand toward the end of the match. In a vicious spot, Starr got to the ropes to break a Sabre heel hook, but instead of breaking the hold, Sabre cranked Starr’s leg to a disgusting angle. Starr fought back valiantly as well, laying Sabre out with several lariats and almost knocking him out with an elbow to the head. But Sabre went back to his ace in the hole, his Orienteering With Napalm Death double-leg submission, and got the win in the match of the tournament so far. ****1/2

Millie McKenzie, Sierra Loxton, and Laura DiMatteo def. The House of Couture (Jinny, Nina Samuels, Chakara)

Laura Di Matteo is back to fight Jinny. The cosmic ballet goes on. I’m glad to see Sierra Loxton back on a chapter show, as she really impressed me back at the women’s tournament Progress ran last fall. There were spots where she got a little mixed up, but she was still good here. Chakara continues to improve. For being 17 years old and having all the time in the world to get better, she’s got a good base to build on.

There was a scary spot here where Jinny overshot Loxton on a dive to the floor and landed on her face. I haven’t heard anything about a serious injury, so here’s hoping she’s ok. DiMatteo tapped out Chakara for the win. **3/4

Super Strong Style 16 Quarterfinal: Tyler Bate def. Kassius Ohno

Don’t let his NXT run fool you. Kassius Ohno is still a stellar pro wrestler. He easily transitioned from beloved returning star on day one to overbearing bully on day two, and his work barely differed. All he did was give a couple looks to the crowd when they chanted for Bate, and slapped him around a couple times. That is a mark of someone who really knows how to control a crowd, and it doesn’t surprise me that Ohno did it to perfection.

This match was designed to make Bate look like the biggest star possible, and the mission was accomplished. Ohno hit Bate with a couple of concrete elbows, and even hit Bate with the Tyler Driver and a follow-up elbow for 2. Bate stood up and walked through more elbows before getting Ohno up for a Claudio Castagnoli-esque UFO before hitting the Tyler Driver proper for the win. ****1/4

PROGRESS World Championship Match: PROGRESS ATLAS Champion WALTER def. PROGRESS World Champion Travis Banks by countout; Banks retains the World Title

Last year’s Super Strong Style 16 winner, Travis Banks, won the Progress World Title at Chapter 55. This was his 15th defense of the title, the most of any champion in Progress history. WALTER had earned this title shot by beating Zack Sabre Jr. at Chapter 67. This was the first time the Atlas Champion  wrestled the World Champion one-on-one. Glen Joseph joined us on commentary for this one, but he wasn’t distracting.

There was a buzz here for WALTER that was palpable. You could hear it in the air, you could see it on the people’s faces. When Banks locked in the Lion’s Clutch and hit the Slice of Heaven, it didn’t feel like anyone really bought it. The people were ready for WALTER to win this title. Then Travis got himself counted out.

Now, I knew the result of the match before I saw it on demand, and I was dreading watching it. I was getting flashbacks to the dreadful Marty Scurll/Tommy End finish where the fans were seconds away from revolting. However, now seeing the finish before my own eyes, I didn’t hate it like I thought I would. Despite TK Cooper’s interference, the finish wasn’t convoluted or heavily over-booked. Banks just ran from the fight like an absolute coward, going back on everything the Kiwi Terminator used to be. And WALTER made it clear that this issue was far from over, calling Banks a disgrace and powerbombing Cooper after the match.

The match beforehand was very good, even with people not buying into Banks beating WALTER. I would be happy to see this again before Wembley. ***3/4

Final Thoughts

This was a damn good show. Some people will focus on the show being bookended by two screwy finishes, but the middle of the show made up for it. Bate/Ohno and Sabre/Starr are two must-see matches from this show, and the non-tournament three-way wasn’t too far behind.

By Suit Williams

Suit Williams has covered Progress for PWPonderings since 2016. He can recall every WWE Title reign since he was born, yet he can't remember where he puts his keys. You can find him on Twitter, @SuitWilliams.

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