After an exhilarating first day for PROGRESS Wrestling’s prestigious Super Strong Style 16 annual tournament at the Dome, the action resumed at their emotional home, the Electric Ballroom, and the voltage was guaranteed to rise – and there was indeed some high emotion.

However, there was a sombre moment before the start as deeply warm applause gave recognition to the sad passing of Brian Dixon, a legend in wrestling promotion as he had led All Star Wrestling for over 50 years as the UK’s longest running promotion.

First action of the day then turned to a four-way with Maggot, Tate Mayfairs, Danny Black and Robbie X. This was always going to be a lively opener, with energetic action both in and outside of the ring and after a PROGRESS career of 9 consecutive losses, an emotional Robbie X finally grabbed the win, pinning Maggot.

A huge and magical reception was then given for Nigel McGuinness with chants of welcome back as he took his seat next to Olie Spring, replacing DJ Mike, in the commentary seat.

The tournament quarter-finals then began in earnest with Kid Lykos facing the rising star of Nick Wayne, DEFY World champion. With a combined PROGRESS/DEFY planned for 26th August ahead of the AEW All or Nothing show, Nick Wayne was ready to confirm his credentials and stake some claims. It looked like his ambitions were on track until Lykos outmanoeuvred him with a sharp pin after attempting his famous ‘brain buster’.

Then the self-doubts of Man Like Dereiss were calmed by Leon Slater as the 0121 took on Big Damo, smarting from yesterday’s shock defeat at the hands of Kid Lykos, who teamed up with Rampage Brown. A bruising encounter ended with agility overcoming weight with Slater pinning Brown after a vastly entertaining and well-humoured bout.

Back to the tournament with Nathan Cruz, the first ever PROGRESS men’s world champion vs Will Ospreay, not only a former Champion, but also the first ever winner of the Super Strong Style 16 tournament and a match with long standing rivalry like a stick of Blackpool rock written though it.

Shouts of “welcome home” could have applied to either wrestler, but “Will’s back in the Ballroom” was sung with gusto for only one person.

Will Ospreay was clearly hugely emotional on his return to the Electric Ballroom and Nathan Cruz, after an explosive match, took mean advantage in a very disingenuous chair ploy which resulted in Will Ospreay’s cruel and unjustified disqualification.

Where was the referee, and on the last day of the Premier League season, pleas for a VAR intervention were the plaintive cry.

The rawness of this emotion was soon doubled when Will Ospreay’s tag partner, Paul Robinson arrived to offer true Swords of Essex support, and Will announced their tag team return on day 3 with protege and CPF’s Callum Newman presenting the remaining trio of the CPF with a formidable challenge. The Swords of Essex are back at PROGRESS… with fellow Essex native Callum Newman – and the fans roared their approval.

Mark Haskins, another former PROGRESS champion, continued the tournament as he took on Charles Crowley. Crowley, with his self-appointed god-like qualities needed more than a miracle as Haskins extracted Crawley’s energy in a pulsating battle which ended in a submission.

Crowley may have lost the match, but there is no doubt that Haskins took him to a new level that perhaps not even the spectacular one thought possible of himself.

Millie McKenzie, a stalwart at PROGRESS finally had another shot at the Women’s world title and she had reasons to want to remove the “embarrassing” Lana Austin.

The Lana Austin Experience were in force and once again played a part in the outcome – until their own embarrassing ejection. Millie certainly showed her raw intent for the title and numerous two counts, if not two and a half, almost brought victory until Lana dug deep with a forceful roaring forearm which retained her title with the final pin.

The fourth and last quarter-final gave former PROGRESS Atlas champion Luke Jacobs a quick chance of revenge, having lost to Shigehiro Irie the previous night for the wXw Unified World Wrestling Championship.

This was a truly hard-hitting match and truly gave new meaning to the term with both fighters at their peak and the weekend score between these two, who clearly showed immense mutual respect, ended equal as Jacobs progressed to the semi-finals, after the hardest-won pin fall.

Day two was far from over, and after 13 successful PROGRESS tag title defences, the Sunshine Machine had not only ladders to climb but a mountain in the shape of the Smokin’ Aces, who had some rather ignoble intervention on their side.

TK Cooper and Chuck Mambo have been PROGRESS’s longest reigning tag champions and held the most defences but had never beaten the Aces in a one-to-one, and sadly that still remains true, as Nick Riley and Charlie Sterling triumphed.

A ladder match of epic proportion should have led to a 14th defence as both teams fought a brutal match.

However, the ignominious intervention from Spike Trivet and Bullit as part of Dominatus Regnum cast a deep shadow over the Smokin’ Aces victory, and the crowd showed their greater appreciation of the Sunshine Machine in their final tribute to their popular, but now former champions.

So day two of Super Strong Style 16 produced the semi-finals of Luke Jacobs vs Mark Haskins and Kid Lykos vs Nathan Cruz and day three looks to be a totally absorbing occasion.

If that’s not enough, the absent host announced his very own Simon Miller’s Ups and Downs Battle Royale for 10 of the vanquished, there shall be the first ever Clock Strikes Midnight match involving Nina Samuels and Alexxis Falcon, and Connor Mills has somehow conjured a match against PROGRESS Men’s world champion, Spike Trivet.

And of course – the final of Super Strong Style 16.