At Chapter 172: Werewolves of London, Luke Jacobs once again successfully defended his PROGRESS Wrestling Men’s World Championship. This time his win was over Man Like Dereiss – but the match was not without controversy as he was victorious thanks to the help of his returning tag team partner, Ethan Allen. In this exclusive interview, we speak to both Young Guns, Luke Jacobs and Ethan Allen about Chapter 172 and this month’s upcoming show in Manchester.
First, let’s talk about the match itself. Can you walk us through the moment you two decided to join forces to ensure Dereiss didn’t walk away with the win? How long was this plan in the making?
Luke Jacobs: The moment we decided to join forces? That happened 8 years ago, we have each others back no matter what and you saw that on Sunday.
Ethan Allen: It’s been a long time coming. PROGRESS was ours during COVID, no one did more shows than us, we kept the company afloat so we thought it’s time to make PROGRESS what it once was and take over. Deriess puts on a show, but we’re not showmen so we thought we’ll put a stop to his ego trip and knock him down a peg.
Many are calling it a “robbery.” What’s your response to critics who say you took shortcuts to keep the belt?
Ethan Allen: Grow up.
Luke Jacobs: There are no shortcuts, only winners and losers…and all we care about is winning – making sure we stay on top.
Ethan, this was a major return for you after being sidelined with an injury. What did it mean to make such a statement in your comeback match? And are you feeling fully healed and ready to dominate alongside Luke moving forward?
You know I’m fully healed, stop being blind to the fact that I’ve been taking over the UK, Germany and Canada since being back. Now I’m back in PROGRESS, that’ll remain the exact same.
Luke, you’ve called Dereiss a “cheap pop journeyman” in the past. Was attacking him during his iconic entrance making a point?
And I’m not wrong, that’s exactly what Dereiss is, because if he was a professional he should’ve known I was going to attack him and take away the stupid entrance from him and the fans.
Luke, your upcoming return to Manchester at Chapter 173 is a homecoming, and fans are buzzing about it. After being booed in London, are you expecting a different reception from the Manchester crowd?
Of course I’m expecting a different reception, I’m the greatest Mancunian wrestler of this generation and us Mancs look after & support our own, something those southerners in the Electric Ballroom know nothing about.
With your history in PROGRESS, can we expect you to make a serious run in the PROGRESS tag division? Or is the focus more on Luke’s title for now?
Ethan Allen: The focus is us winning and showing everyone who we are. We won’t be played against each other, we are as strong as we’ve ever been. Singles or tags, we don’t care. We get the job done.
You are in the same building as Man Like Dereiss in Manchester, what are you expecting from him?
Luke Jacobs: Same thing he always does, endlessly chant 0121 and then lose.
Ethan Allen: I’m expecting him to come at us with some form of bullshit. But it’ll play out exactly like Camden, Young Guns on top.
Lastly, you reach 100 days as PROGRESS Men’s World Champion next Tuesday, Luke… how would you describe your reign so far?
It’s been a very successful and dominant 100 days and I’m incredibly proud to the be the true face of PROGRESS Wrestling. I made my intentions clear many months ago at Super Strong Style 16 and I’ve kept my word, the PROGRESS Men’s World Championship is staying with me and PROGRESS will be North West Strong for a long, long time.
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Watch wrestling online! You can see Luke Jacobs matches in PROGRESS Wrestling, including his SSS16 and Title wins by subscribing to DEMAND PROGRESS PLUS.
