PROGRESS Championship: Marty Scurll [c] vs. Mark Haskins vs. Tommy End – PROGRESS Chapter 36: We’re Gonna Need a Bigger Room…Again 9/25/16; O2 Academy Brixton
It was the biggest event in PROGRESS history. They started from the bottom and sold a record 2,400 tickets for this event. At the start of the year, Marty Scurll captured the PROGRESS Champion in a phenomenal match against rival Will Ospreay. Over the next few months, he defeated some big names, including Chris Hero. However, he failed to get past Tommy End and had Mark Haskins hot on his trail. That led to this, which was billed as the biggest match in PROGRESS history. Could Scurll survive this challenge? Would Haskins finally win the big one? Could Tommy do the unthinkable and win the PROGRESS Title in his final independent wrestling match before joining WWE? Yea, that was another story coming into this one.
Their entrances told a story. End basked in his, knowing it was the end of the line for his indy run. Haskins was quick, wanting to get down to business. Scurll’s was extravagant, featuring several women cosplaying as him. The early stages of this weren’t too great. They didn’t resort to the overly done “one person out of the ring” spots in most Triple Threats, but a lot of the stuff didn’t fully click with me. There were some cool spots, particularly Haskins stopping a Marty Chicken Wing by pulling him and End into a double armbar. After Haskins took a table bump, the match really kicked up, bringing several near falls that made you question the outcome, even though most people felt it was obvious coming into this.
Unable to pick up the win, Scurll grew frustrated and attacked several referees with his umbrella. PROGRESS co-founder Jim Smallman even got in the ring to try and calm him down. It was a callback to an old PROGRESS Title match with Jimmy Havoc and Will Ospreay back at Chapter 20. And just like that, Havoc’s theme music hit to a thunderous ovation. It was the biggest in PROGRESS history to that point and remained that way until the South Pacific Power Trip edged it in 2017. It was Havoc’s first appearance in PROGRESS in over a year. He took out Scurll with an Acid Rainmaker and left. That left Haskins free to use the Sharpshooter to make Scurll submit and win the PROGRESS Championship after an emotional 29:32.
A big time main event that ran a bit too long. The early stages weren’t great and if this went closer to 20 minutes than 30, I think it would’ve worked better. The action was great and there were several creative spots that stood out. The moment of Havoc returning was huge and very memorable, though I feel that it took away from Haskins’ title win moment. The crowd popped big for it either way, though. I recommend this match, but it’s not in the upper echelon of PROGRESS main events. [***½]
Vote for my next review at strawpoll.com/5byxbaza!
Their entrances told a story. End basked in his, knowing it was the end of the line for his indy run. Haskins was quick, wanting to get down to business. Scurll’s was extravagant, featuring several women cosplaying as him. The early stages of this weren’t too great. They didn’t resort to the overly done “one person out of the ring” spots in most Triple Threats, but a lot of the stuff didn’t fully click with me. There were some cool spots, particularly Haskins stopping a Marty Chicken Wing by pulling him and End into a double armbar. After Haskins took a table bump, the match really kicked up, bringing several near falls that made you question the outcome, even though most people felt it was obvious coming into this.
Unable to pick up the win, Scurll grew frustrated and attacked several referees with his umbrella. PROGRESS co-founder Jim Smallman even got in the ring to try and calm him down. It was a callback to an old PROGRESS Title match with Jimmy Havoc and Will Ospreay back at Chapter 20. And just like that, Havoc’s theme music hit to a thunderous ovation. It was the biggest in PROGRESS history to that point and remained that way until the South Pacific Power Trip edged it in 2017. It was Havoc’s first appearance in PROGRESS in over a year. He took out Scurll with an Acid Rainmaker and left. That left Haskins free to use the Sharpshooter to make Scurll submit and win the PROGRESS Championship after an emotional 29:32.
A big time main event that ran a bit too long. The early stages weren’t great and if this went closer to 20 minutes than 30, I think it would’ve worked better. The action was great and there were several creative spots that stood out. The moment of Havoc returning was huge and very memorable, though I feel that it took away from Haskins’ title win moment. The crowd popped big for it either way, though. I recommend this match, but it’s not in the upper echelon of PROGRESS main events. [***½]
Vote for my next review at strawpoll.com/5byxbaza!
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