HISTORY and SHOCKS as Kid Lykos and Cheeky Little Buggers claim titles

The world was watching and what would they see?

PROGRESS Wrestling delivered their first live-streamed show, viewed in 10 countries on DEMAND PROGRESS PLUS to their biggest total audience since Wembley 2018.

And what did those fans see?

They saw a whole series of highlights culminating in the end of an era and the beginning of a new one.

But which era do we talk about?

Is it the total decimation of Dominatus Regnum – or the individual losses of the Tag Team Championship by the Smokin’ Aces to Cheeky Little Buggers (to who?), or Bullit losing his unbeaten PROGRESS winning streak to Kid Lykos 2 ( to 2?) or the culmination of the long running feud resulting in Spike Trivet succumbing to his persistent nemesis, the now, new, Men’s PROGRESS World Champion, Kid Lykos.

Then Rhio – retaining her Women’s title thanks to the intervention of a rival.

Before that breathless exposé we had a dark match start with the ever energetic Jack Bandicoot bustling his way to a win over NOAH recruit Taishi Ozawa.

Then live we went with Alexxis Falcon forging her alliance with Charles Crowley as the Cheeky Little Buggers showed their credibility as a tag team. Gene Munny’s search for a mystery partner gave Danny Black a welcome return to the Ballroom, but that was all they left with.

Yoichi, extended his stay from Pro Wrestling NOAH as he showed us further emerging skill with an entertaining match up against the ever popular 0121/Boisterous Behaviour of Man Like Dereiss, with our favourite rapper and merch guy edging it.

In a show of change, Rhio brought some stability with a hard earned win over PROGRESS debutant Emersyn Jayne to retain her Women’s Title. Jayne’s disqualification due to Nina Samuel’s bitter intervention did cloud the result and fuelled some further rivalry.

Next up came a masterclass in Tag Team wrestling as the former WWE stars of Big Damo and Axel Tischer took the Smokin’ Aces of Nick Riley and Charlie Sterling to the brink. To it – but not over it, and despite some beautifully impish moves from Big Damo, the Aces retained their titles.

There is not a Men’s Tag Team Championship in PROGRESS – there’s no mention of gender, and that is exactly what Alexxis Falcon highlighted as she and Crowley responded to the unfounded male-influenced declaration as Riley announced “We’ve beaten every tag team in PROGRESS!”

He and Sterling soon discovered the folly of that boast, as the fastest acquisition of a PROGRESS title belt resulted in history being made. All hail the audacity of the newly crowned Cheeky Little Buggers.

The twice former Women’s champion Kanji then succumbed to the scouse baiting of Lizzy Evo and agreed to a best of 3 match. Unlike her emotional title-winning match against now TNA star, Gisele Shaw, this had a different outcome and on the day her own football club sneaked a win at Wembley, Evo won 2-1 here.

But who was this delivering a further pesky intervention but Nina Samuels who clearly resents any claims on what she regards as her rightful Women’s title.

Speaking of fighters who feel they have a claim to a title, we then saw former Women’s champion Lana Austin support Rob Drake. However, her influence turned to distraction as Simon Miller strengthened his claims for legitimacy as a jolly ring host turned serious professional wrestler, as he took his first ever PROGRESS victory.

The seeds for the destruction of Dominatus Regnum had been sown, and the first flowers emerged with Bullit throwing Kid Lykos 2 around like a mannequin and Lykos showing eye-popping strength in lifting Bullit, not just off the ground but above his head. Lykos 2 truly showed how he has bloomed and a top rope swanton bomb / brain buster combo led to a very crowd pleasing pin.

They rise – they fall. That was the slogan of the faction.

And so it came to pass that two fighters entered a cage – PROGRESS’s second such contest in their history.

Spike Trivet, the Vulture, the most hated man in Europe, defending his reign of 546 days as Men’s PROGRESS Champion, who had brutalised Kid Lykos in two previous victories, put that title on the line with #foreveryone against him.

There was bad blood from the start and there was even more blood spilled within the cage, and bloodier it became as both wrestlers left nothing out of the fight. An exit from the cage would have given either the win, but opportunities were declined as each wanted the other more authentically vanquished – and the rage was bloodily visible.

The spirit of Avengers Assemble and Endgame appeared as Damo, Axel, Dereiss, Gene and Rhio came to the rescue of Kid Lykos and the Aces’ uncalled for intervention and the ghosts of Spike’s past were back and that haunting led to Spike’s future – that of the former and deposed PROGRESS Men’s World Champion.

There was no doubting the pleasure of the fans as SoCalVal welcomed “the new PROGRESS Men’s World Champion – Kid Lykos.

Finally, Session Moth Martina appeared, ready for her match as Gene Munny’s mystery tag partner.