Newy Pro comes to Gosford and Charli and Concrete make the most of it

its been a looooong time since the Central Coast Leagues Club had a wrestling ring within its confines, the club itself has some history with wrestling, it used to be a regular thing when i was a little tacker , tv guys like Bill Dundee, Ken Medlin, Jan Jansen and Ron Fury regularly came to Gosford and got it on around for the pleasure of the masses 

So when I saw that Newy Pro were bunging on a show at the club, I was there, and not because i'm a wrestling fan, more like, i'm a fan of Australian wrestling, I've always said that our top blokes can go with anyone...the boys from TMDK currently working in Japan have proved that...and let me state here and now that Jack Bonza, Mick Moretti, The Eagle boys among others are in the same rarified air, talent wise, as Haste and Nichols....

.before I go further, let me say that I'm a firm believer in talent working in whatever mode they do (heel/face) and they should carry that over to wherever they are working...

.I've been watching the Four Nations creating havoc for the past couple of years ( at PWA shows in particular)so when they showed up in Gosford straddling the fence, except for Moretti , the evil prick and the sheila that drives 'em into a frenzy, Shazza McKenzie.... i was a bit confused...maybe i'm over thinking it......yeah probably, .....anyway to the show

The curtain jerker for the proceedings involved "The Green Dragon" Mick Moretti vs Sean Kustom, Moretti was his usual scumbag self, but that takes nothing away from his ring work, the bloke can go and he can get the reacton he wants when he wants, a sign of talent, and as for Kustom, blimey he can go as well, first time I'd seen him get stuck ( in I think) might of seen him at Casula Powerhouse, not sure, anyway, him and Mick had a cracker of a match that got the crowd going...ended up with Moretti pinning Sean....****

Chris Hermes & Mat Rogers vs Alpha Brenner & Alpha Taters - 
then came a tag match with four blokes I had never seen anywhere before, now as much as i hate to bag anyone game enought to get in the ring, I got to say as relates to this match, 3 of em dressed like wrestlers and 3 of em looked like wrestlers ...then there was the stick insect called Alpha Taters..probably a very nice fella who knows his stuff BUT if you have ever watched a PWG dvd and saw "Pretty "Peter Avalon work, well, Avalon is a giant compared to Alpha Taters..and Avalon aint close to being average wrestler size, so you can work out how scrawny this bloke was....cudos to Matt Rogers for selling for him, suspend that belief boys, ended up a squashing and NPW Middle weight Champ Chris Hermes is a talent for the future of that i'm certain......**

- 
And then came the moment that I personally was waiting for , the return  of an aussie original from a busted ankle ..

The Legend that is Concrete Davidson took on "The Heat", started out with Davo showing up on his golden bicycle and him and Brian having a pose down, which Concrete won in short order he then proceeded to thrash Seeker to within an inch of his existence, yep Concrete was back .....then came time to mark out and get a photo with the great  man....cue my fanboydom....

 Diego Retamales v Bee Boy
After the mark out session, a rather talented and well known,  chap called Bee Boy showed up to buzz around the Central Coast Leagues Club, he was taking on a bloke I, once again, cant say I've seen before, Diego had the L.A gang banger thing going on, I almost did a Konnan and shouted "Arriba, where my dogs at?"

 I must say, that white contact he had in was creepy, very creepy...anyway, they had a pretty good little match which Diego won, shame I was positive we were gonna see a Bee Sting, a young fella near me with a Bee Boy mask on wasn't best pleased.

Charlie Evans vs Shazza McKenzie - 

Then came the pop of the night, I thought Concrete would get it, but nup he just got shaded by a local girl making her Gosford Debut, Charli Evans I knew she had worked some Blue Mountins shows, but this was the first time I had seen her, her opponent, the sheila that drives them into a frenzy, the bombshell called Shazza Mackenzie... the evil cow, Charli had to do about 3 laps of the ring before the crowd calmed down (think she brought some family members in), Shazza and her had a great match, there was majistra cradles and hunacanranas and some real stiff shazza kicks...BUT...Charli got the 3 count, cue the second big pop of the evening.

 4 Nations Jack Bonza & Adam Hoffman vs The Eagle Boys Ryan & Robbie Eagles.
then came the main event and what a main event, Gosford got to see four of the most talented blokes currently working aussie shows at the moment, I must admit to being a huge fan of the ring work of Jack Bonza and Robbie Eagles , mind you Ryan Eagles and Adam Hoffman aint that far behind 'em...this match had the lot, mat work, flying stuff, crowd participation, subtle heeldom , yep, a deadest cracker and as I mentioned before , Bonza and Hoff are usually dastardly heels but not this time, even the Eagles stuck one or two toes into heelsville...

and I was gobsmacked that Bonza had both his PWA and Newy Pro heavyweight belts with him...very unusual in this day and age for a guy who holds two companies belts to wear them at the same time , or I'm being old school and dont know it..

.anyway 4 Nations got the win and then brought out Charli for a farewell to the near 300 strong crowd......I was most stoked, a pretty damn good show , here's hoping that they make Gosford a regular stop on the Newy Pro circuit.

My Wrestling Blogaroo View- A - Rama

Last blogaroo had a fair bit of PROGRESS content, visually speaking, however I did hint at other wrestling organisations I had found on You Tube, SO...I thought I best share them about...here they are.....enjoy

ICW - Insane in the Membrane

SCOTLAND

ICW  - Santa Gravy

SCOTLAND

GREAT BRITISH WRESTLING

U.K

PRO WRESTLING ELITE

U.K

CELTIC CHAMPIONSHIP WRESTLING

IRELAND

INSPIRE PRO WRESTLING

U.S.A

THE KING OF EUROPE CUP 2007

U.K

ZERO-ONE

JAPAN

AND FINALLY....JCW

BLOODMANIA 6

THE GATHERING OF THE JUGGALOS

There is PROGRESS in Wrestling

I been watching wrestling a loooong time,  and I must admit to sometimes becoming blase about wrestling ....Sometimes I have been to shows where the blokes in the ring didnt belong in the audience and on the opposite, I been to shows where I m thinking "how come these blokes aint on tv".

The internet sure has helped me in getting my  wrestling fix, hell I even got the WWE Network...I have found many full shows by indy organisations on You Tube and for the most part, there pretty damn good, I found Chikara clips, ICW shows , New Japan events...BUT then, just when I think my wrestling fix is sated, when I think ive found all the best wrestling on the planet earth..... I find a organisation that re, re-energises my wrestling bug, and to that point, one day while looking around you tube I had the great good fortune to stumble across a UK company that, I have to say, has leaped up to near the top of my favourite ( PWG is still top of the heap) indie wrestling companies.
Progress Wrestling (stylized as PROGRESS) is a British professional wrestling promotion that was established in 2011 by comedian Jim Smallman and events and comedy promoter Jon Briley, later to be joined by actor Glen Joseph.

The company was conceived by Jim Smallman and Jon Briley in 2011, who were both massive wrestling fans. Smallman is a big fan of "strong-style" wrestling, Japanese in particular, and Briley was Smallman's agent.  I always thought London would have multiple shows on any given weekend but Smallman and Briley decided to put on a wrestling show in London, as not many shows were being put on in the capital itself, featuring the type of wrestling that they would both like to watch. The pair then spent seven months putting their first show together. 

The pair decided to emphasize the fact that it would be a London-based promotion with a punk rock vibe. They also were keen not be import-heavy, like other promotions, but to promote British talent. The pair eventually settled on The Garage in Islington for the venue, because of the size and also having a great reputation as a music venue. The Garage were also very supportive of what Smallman and Briley wanted to do, and the pair ran their first show on March 25, 2012.

Got myself the shirt and the dvd of  CHAPTER 14: THUNDERBASTARD

After eleven consecutive sell out shows at the Garage, with the later shows drawing 350 fans, the promotion moved to the 700-capacity Electric Ballroom in Camden from Chapter Twelve in March 2014 for their second anniversary show where the sell outs have continued. To date PROGRESS has sold out all seventeen main shows up to and including January 2015 and two ENDVR shows. 
The promotion have been reluctant to use "imports" (talent for which the UK is not their home or one of their homes). Colt Cabana was the first such talent to be included on a show as part of the debut show, Chapter One, in a losing effort to Loco Mike Mason. Ricochet has appeared twice for the promotion, losing to El Ligero at Chapter Six and in a triple threat with Mark Haskins and Zack Sabre Jr at Chapter Eleven. Adam Cole was the first non-European wrestler to register a win in PROGRESS, defeating Mark Haskins at Chapter Ten.

 Prince Devitt also appeared twice for the promotion, defeating Zack Sabre Jr at Chapter Thirteen and losing to Jimmy Havoc at the PROGRESS World Cup, his final match in the UK before signing with the WWE.
One of the best things about PROGRESS is the interaction with the crowd, you can tell they been to a football game or two in their time, some of the chants are absolutely brilliant...the best one would be about the current champ Jimmy Havoc, its goes something like "Jimmy your a c**t, Jimmy, Jimmy your a c**t"...very tasteful and highly accurate

Jimmy Havoc & Regression
Probably my favourite guy in the company would be Jimmy Havoc, yeah, I like a competent heel, so sue me, I saw him cut a promo after taping a bloke to a chair and threatened him with a switchblade, he had me convinced .......Havoc debuted for PROGRESS on Chapter Two in May 2012 and went on to lose six matches without registering a victory, Jimmy became very popular with the PROGRESS fans as an underdog babyface. At Chapter Nine in November 2013 Havoc attacked promoter Jim Smallman and aligned himself with the London Riots, turning heel in the process. Havoc would then use an open contract given to him by Smallman to defeat PROGRESS champion Mark Andrews (who had just wrestled both Paul Robinson and Rampage Brown in consecutive matches) to become champion and pick up his first victory in PROGRESS. 
In his first title defence at Chapter Eleven, Havoc defeated Zack Sabre Jr with the help of his newest associate, PROGRESS trainee 'The Omega' Isaac Zercher. Havoc was joined at Chapter Thirteen by Paul Robinson, and the group later christened themselves 'Regression' as a play on the name of the company and to symbolise their hatred of PROGRESS Wrestling, they got a big match upcoming at Chapter 15, were we might see the beginning of the end of Regression

Unlike conventional wrestling championships which are generally represented by a belt, the PROGRESS championship was initially represented by a large staff with an eagle head piece. The eagle represented the promotion's logo, but was affectionately referred to as the "Nazi staff" by fans. Promoter Jim Smallman was never afraid to defend the accidental likeness of the championship during shows, by occasionally declaring "It's not Nazi, it's regal" whenever a "Nazi staff" chant was started by the fans in attendance. 

It was announced at Chapter Nine that beginning in November 2013 there would begin a series of matches to determine the first PROGRESS Tag Team champions. The champions were crowned at Chapter Twelve, the second anniversary show, in March 2014. As with the PROGRESS championship not being a conventional belt, the Tag Team championship is represented by a shield with the PROGRESS eagle on the front. The shield splits into two, one for each championship holder. the current holders are Mark Andrews & Eddie Dennis
PROGRESS World Cup

The PROGRESS World Cup was a one-night tournament held on June 29, 2014 at The Garage in Islington to crown a new number one contender for the PROGRESS Championship. Each competitor represented a different nation, and the tournament was won by Noam Dar. Dar subsequently challenged for the PROGRESS Championship at Chapter Fourteen at The Electric Ballroom in Camden, but was defeated by Jimmy Havoc. The tournament show also served as a farewell show to The Garage as PROGRESS' original venue.
A LIST LIST OF MY FAVOURITE WORKERS IVE SEEN ON A PROGRESS SHOW.

"Paster" William Eavers -  his got a religious schtick going on, and he dont mind diving out of balconys

Zack Sabre Jnr - seen him on PWG and various clips, brilliant worker, could very well be the next Devitt ( or first Sabre)

Eddie Dennis - or Eddie Misterio Jnr, the master of the 6 1 knee..Wales tallest luchador

Rampage Brown - seen him a few times on various clips, then I saw him go around with Samoa Joe at Thunderbastard, tough as nails

Mark Andrews - Eddies tag champ partner, a gravity defying fella in the PAC mold

Will Osperay - first saw him in The Swords of Essex tag team, no idea what that name means, then 10 minutes later his partner turned on him and hooked up with Havoc & co...been after his former off sider ever since

Noam Dar - Glasgows favourite wrestler, his match with havoc at Thunderbastard was the grouse

El Ligero - some have suggested his the UK version of El generico, high praise indeed, none the less an outstanding worker

GRADO - the master of the "Wee Boot",  been a big Grado fan since I saw his doco and seen him on a ICW show

Tommy End - the greatest wrestler in Holland, and by that I mean his damn good, sort of a cross between Bryan Danielson and Nigel McGuiness, seen him on a WxW show, won me over

Michael Gilbert  - The artist formerly know as Mikey Whiplash,saw him the first time at the ICW show "Insane in the Membrane" vs Jack Jester for the ICW title...since then he dropped the Raven/Adrian Street look and adpted a no gimmicks ..gimmick..excellent worker.

Chuck Mambo - quite possibly the rookie of the year...the crowd dig him "lets Go MAMBO"
and finallY

 THE LONDON DIETS...er umm, I mean Riots...Havoc backup muscle, picture two potential Kevin Steens and your half way to figuring them out

THE WEBSITE

Progress Wrestling

This Is Progress