Next show is CHAPTER SEVEN on May 19th – TICKETS HERE – our roster can be seen below.
EL LIGERO – Los Sanchos, Mexico – 5 ft 10 in – 167lb – PROGRESS WRESTLING CHAMPION
“The Mexican Sensation” has happily made the UK his home in recent years and now has a stellar record both on these shores and all over Europe. The masked (and horned) luchadore has taken on the likes of Ultimo Dragon, El Generico, Doug Williams and Delirious in his stellar career so far, not to mention a lengthy and brutal feud with RJ Singh. Ligero reached the final match at CHAPTER ONE and showed a rare angry streak after being eliminated. Subsequent chapters led to El Ligero showing a new mean streak – until at CHAPTER FOUR he defeated Nathan Cruz to become PROGRESS Champion.
NATHAN CRUZ – Resides in Beverly Hills, California, USA – 6 ft 1 in – 193lb
Originally from Hull, don’t let the pretty-boy looks of Nathan Cruz fool you. While he may often be preoccupied with acting and modelling, he is a formidable wrestler with experience that goes beyond his tender years. We know he’ll be globally massive – and with his defeat of Marty Scurll at CHAPTER ONE, he was the first holder of the PROGRESS Wrestling Title staff.
DAVE MASTIFF – The Black Country, West Midlands – 5 ft 9 in – 315lbs
Uh-oh. When Marty Scurll had to pull out of CHAPTER THREE he told us that he’d found the right kind of replacement for our String-Style philosophy. He wasn’t kidding. Mastiff is a ten year veteran with a reputation of being one of the most brutal, hard hitting grapplers on the planet. With a career that means he can drop straight into our main event situation, “The Human Hate Machine” is three hundred plus pounds of trouble.
RAMPAGE BROWN – Leeds – 6 ft – 233lbs
Having spent time in the WWE developmental system, Rampage has clearly got what it takes to wrestle for the big leagues. A twelve year veteran of the British and European scene, he makes his debut at CHAPTER FIVE after being hand-picked as an opponent for Nathan Cruz by El Ligero.
JON RYAN – Medway. Kent – 5ft 10in – 218lbs
The self-styled “Bad Boy of British Wrestling” had a brutal match with his protege Jimmy Havoc at CHAPTER THREE – a match that ended up being his last. We’re proud that he chose PROGRESS as the place to bring his glittering career to a close.
ZACK SABRE JR – Canterbury, Kent – 5 ft 10 in – 180lb
ARMBAR! Zack Sabre Jr is a part of the PROGRESS roster when he is home from his travels in Japan, and at CHAPTER ONE he put on one of the best matches ever seen on these shores with his friend and tag team partner Marty Scurll. Despite coming off second best in that match, he will be back once his duties wrestling for NOAH in the Orient are completed. And we can’t wait to have him back.
“THE COCKNEY CRUSADER” GREG BURRIDGE – Bethnal Green – 6 ft 1 in – 220lb
Burridge was signed up top CHAPTER TWO pretty much as soon as we had chance to start putting the show together – and his blend of hard hitting offence with his own brand of humour and intensity has already made him a firm favourite.
MARTY SCURLL – Cambridge – 5 ft 9 in – 180lb
The other half of the Leaders of the New School, Scurll has achieved some mainstream fame recently with an appearance on ITV1′s “Take Me Out” – but that’s not why we were so keen to have him as part of PROGRESS. We wanted him because we’re aware of his reputation as one of the best young wrestlers in Europe, and when our random draw for the first round of title matches threw up a bout against Zack Sabre Jr we knew we were in for a treat. Scurll then was incredibly unlucky to not capture the title at CHAPTER TWO.
RICOCHET – Paducah, Kentucky, USA – 5 ft 10 in – 163lb
We were incredibly lucky to have Ricochet grace our first anniversary show (Chapter Six: We (Heart) Violence) where he took on El Ligero for the PROGRESS championship in what may be the match of 2013. Ricochet has lit up the ring across the globe, with his amazing double rotation moonsault gaining him wins in PWG, Dragon Gate, Chikara and many more.
RJ SINGH – Bollywood, India – 5 ft 10 in – 170lb
With his entourage in tow and constantly underhanded tactics, Singh has easily become one of the most hated wrestlers in the UK – but also one of the most successful. Singh has enjoyed a great career in the UK so far. Sadly he could not make CHAPTER ONE – being replaced by “Loco” Mike Mason in a match against Colt Cabana – but he returned at CHAPTER TWO after issuing challenges via YouTube.
NOAM DAR – Glasgow, Scotland – 5 ft 9 in – 169lb
Narrowly losing to El Ligero at CHAPTER ONE, Noam impressed the crowd with his technical expertise, whilst winding them up with his offensive attitude. Despite his less than nice attitude in the ring, he’s one to watch over the coming years with his star on the rise.
“DAZZLING” DARRELL ALLEN – Catford, London – 5 ft 7 in – 167lb
Allen put in a great performance at CHAPTER ONE, taking on Zack Gibson and Xander Cooper. He has already fought back from injury (he dislocated his shoulder during that match) and thanks to the amazing crowd reaction he got during that bout we’re going to keep bringing him back.
JIMMY HAVOC – Dartford, Kent
A testimony to the power of social media, Jimmy usually plies his trade as a deathmatch wrestler around Europe. We love him here at PROGRESS but remained reluctant to book him until he proved he could wrestle in a technical strong-style – and with his twitter #bookhavoc campaign he has finally made his way onto our roster. Whether he can behave in the ring or not… well, that’s the question.
DANNY GARNELL – Dartford, Kent – 6 ft – 230lb
A fantastic technical powerhouse, Danny is responsible for passing on a wealth of his knowledge to his friend Jimmy Havoc – the man who he defeated at CHAPTER TWO. Danny is exactly what we’re looking for in PROGRESS and we know he’ll be a hit with our fans.
STIXX – Nottingham – 6ft 4in – 18 stone
Known as “The Heavyweight House of Pain”, Stixx is set to take on Lion Kid again at CHAPTER THREE and is already making other roster members take note of his intentions. A brutal powerhouse, his match with Lion Kid will be a clash of styles that shouldn’t be missed – and Stixx is a dangerous man that everyone in PROGRESS needs to fear.
“LOCO” MIKE MASON (with Becky James) – South London – 5ft 8in – 190lb
The slightly deranged, dog-like Mike Mason and his “handler” Becky James joined the CHAPTER ONE card at the last minute and made quite the impression, using rather bizarre tactics and skullduggery to beat Colt Cabana. We expect to see Mike and Becky back in a PROGRESS ring very soon.
THE LONDON RIOTS – London
These two powerhouses made one hell of a debut at CHAPTER TWO, destroying the Velocity Vipers – breaking the leg of Alex Esmail in the process. They look like they’ll be causing trouble throughout PROGRESS for the near future.
COLT “BOOM BOOM” CABANA – Chicago, Illinois – 6ft 1in – 233lb
The marquee name on our first show, Colt impressed us all with both his technical skills and his sense of humour, but was shocked in the first round of the title tournament by Mike Mason. A huge fan of British wrestling, you can bet that the star of $5 Wrestling and the Art of Wrestling podcast will be back with us again at some point in the future.
MARK ANDREWS – BWC SCARLO SCHOLARSHIP CHAMPION – Cardiff, South Wales – 5ft 8in – 145lb
“White Lightning” won is one the fastest, most death-defying young wrestlers that we’ve ever seen. His two matches in PROGRESS so far have already been classics, and there’s a lot more to come.
“WILD BOAR” MIKE HITCHMAN – Blaina, South Wales – 5ft 6in – 180lb
He may look small, but trust us, we’ve seen him fire off THAT package piledriver… He took on Mark Andrews at CHAPTER TWO in an incredible match.
PAUL ROBINSON – 5ft 6in – 141lbs
Paul stepped in to replace the injured MK McKinnan at CHAPTER THREE, and put in a great showing up against Noam Dar. We were so impressed that we quickly invited him back for CHAPTER FOUR.
WILL OSPREAY
Will made his debut at CHAPTER TWO as one half of the Velocity Vipers. With partner Alex Esmail now on the shelf for a year with a leg injury, Will is going to step out himself as a part of the NATURAL PROGRESSION series.
“LORD” JONATHAN WINDSOR
This young man has been making enough waves across the British Wrestling scene to be invited to be part of our NATURAL PROGRESSION tournament. How will he fare? Time will tell…
