By Liam Byrne @tvtimelimit
When I was younger, I was a huge music snob without really setting out to be that way. I would loudly champion the bands that I had begun to discover as I dove back into the early 90s, the 80s and the 70s, whilst also decrying any music that sat outside my sphere of interest with often derisory comments. I was not the only one. At a time when you are struggling to find your real identity, being able to feel you are doing something ‘correctly’, and dare I say it, better than someone else, is a primal instinct that causes a lot of sneery teenagers, whether the topic is music or another area of pop culture.
As I’ve got older, and my time to spend trawling the internet for new music has given in to hours spent on the marital or the mundane, never had a comic spoken so clearly to my aging attitude than a throwaway line in a Dara O’Briain stand-up. Having made it clear that music was the first of his pop culture interests to go, O’Briain would then take a shot at musical snobbery – ‘you know those sounds in your ear? They’re the wrong sounds!’ I felt as if I was long past that window of time, perfectly content to just like and let like.
Yesterday, I was given a ticket to go and see the first day of the Super Strong Style 16 tournament at Alexandra Palace as a nod to some writing I had done in the build up. Never one to look a free horse in the mouth, I attended even when my interest in PROGRESS as a promotion is waning. To liberally steal a cliché: it’s not them, it’s me. The promotion has ostensibly done nothing wrong, and understandably still draws mass amounts of attention from the British (and beyond) wrestling fans – deservedly so. I’m just time poor and tend to channel my interests elsewhere.
What had initially been a review in progress started to shift as I watched the wrestling and mingled with the fans. It was an interesting experience for me, as it was the first time I had gone to a wrestling show on my own. Faces passed and names rang out that I recognised, but just as likely for interactions on Twitter as anything else. It allowed me to wander around freely, indulge in a few pints and just soak up the atmosphere.
PROGRESS, in some circles, gets a bad rap. Whilst I’m not here to question people’s desire to dislike a company, a performer, an act, wrestling tribalism and the desire of some to ‘hate upwards’ is a stance of wrestling fandom that I just don’t understand. When Jim Smallman talks about wrestling being ‘the greatest thing on the planet’, for many of us that couldn’t ring truer. There are legitimate things that can be queried about the company, but a lot of it rings hollow when layered on top of thinly veiled snark as it so often is.
Naturally, it works both ways. PROGRESS fans can be difficult in their blinkered views of how the promotion can do no wrong, and they are often one of the first things brought up to damn the promotion. However, these fans would exist supporting any other promotion if they reached the heights of PROGRESS. No community of wrestling fans who primarily follow one company are perfect in their ability to be open minded about other promotions.
We are all wrestling fans. We are not better (or worse) depending on the promotions we follow or the wrestlers we like.
Like anything that becomes popular, PROGRESS becomes an easy target due to visibility as much as anything else, a position furthered by people who are resistant to change. The PROGRESS of Chapter 1 is not the same as that of SSS16 2018. Its priorities and what it seeks to be are completely different, which has an impact on the product they produce. However, it is hard to question that they are still bringing in some of the biggest talents who hit the UK shores, whilst also providing hard hitting action that isn’t out of sync with the majority of other major independent promotions in the world. They’ve got to this position of relative power because they deserve it.
A show that is the first round of a tournament spread over three nights was always going to be one that saw an element of competitors keeping something reserved – in the tank so to speak – whilst trying to entertain the crowd. Everything on offer was at least solid, as you’d expect from the cast of characters the company had booked for the show. Beginning with a neat Pete Dunne versus Doug Williams that allowed the Bruiserweight to play off of his occasional heelish tendencies to add drama to a largely grapple orientated contest – one which saw Dunne kick out of the Bombs Away, get a rope break whilst in the Chaos Theory, and reverse a second attempt into a winning roll-up, the show had something for everyone. Hearteningly, the crowd gave Williams a standing ovation as the legend continues what feels like a farewell tour of sorts.
For many, the Chuck Mambo versus Zack Sabre Jr. match was the best on the show, with Sabre Jr.’s dickishness almost causing the place to combust when Mambo almost took the win with a roll-up after kicking out of the PK. A dragon-style camel clutch did for Mambo eventually and perhaps unsurprisingly, but the popularity of his gimmick shone through and helped engage the crowd in what was somewhat of a foregone conclusion. Indeed, if there is anything to complain about, it was the lack of any real surprises.
The crowd would be loud for the most part, though as with any show of this length, the noise level would wax and wane. The loudest receptions during the David Starr versus TK Cooper contest were the boos after Cooper interrupted Starr’s introduction, and for Starr picking up the win with a Blackheart Buster. This led to a more storyline driven contest between Angelico and Mark Andrews to close out the first half, mainly due to Eddie Dennis taking up a seat at ringside. This would cost Andrews as Dennis interrupted an attempted shooting star press, causing a miss and a loss after an Angelico buckle bomb. It is worth noting – Angelico’s entrance is a banger.
After the break, Jordan Devlin showed himself to be a real talent that has progressed significantly since a spotty performance in the United Kingdom Championship Tournament, even though he did fall to Tyler Bate’s Tyler Driver ’97 after a hard hitting encounter that included a Devlin Spanish fly. Joey Janela’s addition to the tournament seemed ripe for his early elimination and involvement in something crazy as the weekend continued, which appeared to be the way this panned out. A brawl that saw the Grizzled Young Veterans get their arse handed to them whilst never formally announcing who was entering was good old fashioned fun, whilst Drake telling the referee Gibson was the legal man moments before the Scouser secured the win with a roll-up was good shithousery. The best result for the potential knock-on effect for the next two shows.
As the show rolled towards its third hour, we saw an archetypal David and Goliath-style contest as Flash Morgan Webster used the Strangler multiple times to try and cut Keith Lee down to size, only to be Spirit Bombed twice, as well as squashed with the Ground Zero after refusing to take advantage of Vicki Haskin’s interference and use his motorcycle helmet. Finally, in the main event of Night One, Kassius Ohno made his return to the promotion to take on Chris Brookes. A match that saw strikes dished out like they were candy, Ohno would elbow Brookes really hard in the back of the head to put Brookes, the contest and the show to bed, though not before getting on the microphone to tell a story about Brookes pestering him on AOL Messenger many years ago in search of design opportunities. Clearly, this was a match that meant a lot to both of them.
Having seen the first show, I’ll grab a month of Demand PROGRESS and watch the next two. From there? I really don’t know. Depending on the booking of the tournament and the main title, perhaps the company can ensnare me in its grasp once more. What I do know, however, is that I left the show with a renewed excitement about the UK and European independent scene. Having been at RIPTIDE the night before myself, with EVE and wXw amongst other shows running on the Saturday as well as PROGRESS, things continue to look up as houses are good, shows are exciting and fans are entertained.
In 2018, I’ve not watched any wrestling that has annoyed me, upset me or let me down. I’ve derived pleasure from every show I’ve chosen to attend or stream. Maybe I’ve just chosen better, maybe I’m just lowering my own bar, or maybe I’m older and less reactionary. Whatever it is, I’m enjoying wrestling more so now than I probably have in years.
Wherever and however you choose to enjoy your graps, enjoy them. Like, and let like. Cherish a burgeoning UK scene the likes of which we’ve never seen before. It is the emptiest barrel who makes the loudest noise. Don’t be a dick.
