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DAY TWO: MONDAY 30th MAY 2016
Overnight we learn that Mark Haskins suffered a “serious illness” – later revealed to be exhaustion and dehydration – and had to withdraw from the tournament. An eight-man “Redemption” scramble match was announced – featuring the losing contestants from Day One – to find a replacement. Before the match could get under way, Nathan Cruz and El Ligero came to ringside and entered themselves into the match.
PETE DUNNE vs. DAMON MOSER vs. KENNY WILLIAMS vs. TK COOPER vs. DAVE MASTIFF vs. MARK ANDREWS vs. MATT CROSS vs. RAMPAGE BROWN vs. NATHAN CRUZ vs. EL LIGERO
This match was fast-paced and saw the wrestlers all hit their signature spots. The highlight was probably the exchange between Cross and Andrews which was full of high-impact reversals.
Mark Andrews got the single fall, reinstating him into the tournament in a quarter final against Mikey Whiplash.
WINNER: MARK ANDREWS
Mikey Whiplash rushed to ringside in an attempt to blind-side Andrews and their bout started immediately.
QUARTER FINAL: MARK ANDREWS vs. MIKEY WHIPLASH
Whiplash tried to dominate the smaller Andrews but – perhaps surprisingly – Andrews got the victory and advances in the tournament.
WINNER: MARK ANDREWS
QUARTER FINAL: ZACK GIBSON vs. JACK GALLAGHER
Gibson cut the same pre-match promo where he laid out how he was going to force Gallagher to submit. As with his earlier match, this was indeed the case after a back-and-forth match.
WINNER: JACK GALLAGHER
QUARTER FINAL: BIG DADDY WALTER vs. CHRIS HERO
Hero impressed me more here than in his earlier match; as the story was very much two giants colliding. Walter is huge, standing 6 foot 4, and weighing over 300 lbs. These two knocked the holy heck out of one another which was vastly different from Hero's earlier match against a much smaller opponent. Hero got the win to advance to the semis.
WINNER: CHRIS HERO
QUARTER FINAL: TOMMY END vs. SAMI CALLIHAN
The final quarter final saw Callihan continue to use heel-ish tactics – including attempting to use a referee distraction for a low blow – and End overcoming these to win the match.
WINNER: TOMMY END
The semi final brackets are:
Mark Andrews vs. Zack Gibson
Tommy End vs. Chris Hero
Before our semi finals started, current PROGRESS Champion Marty Scurll was announced as a guest commentator, and joined Glen Joseph at the desk for the following two bouts.
SEMI FINAL: MARK ANDREWS vs. ZACK GIBSON
Gibson, again, explained how he would make his opponent tap but – in this match – was unsuccessful as Andrews managed to overcome his larger foe to earn himself a spot in the final.
WINNER: MARK ANDREWS
SEMI FINAL: TOMMY END vs. CHRIS HERO
The part-time tag partners collided here in a stiff-as-hell match that saw the Dutchman overcome Hero. I personally wasn't as into this as I was Hero's match with Walter; but my opinion of Hero has definitely changed over the course of the weekend. Not to say I'm a massive fan, but my initial view was that he was untalented and out-of-shape, and I'll gladly concede defeat on that.
WINNER: TOMMY END
With our new Tag Team champions, we'll need some new number one contenders. These teams have been feuding on the ENDVR shows for months now, and this is to be their final fight; and it's a streetfight.
THE DAZZLER TEAM (Darrell Allen & Earl Black Jr) vs. SWEET JESUS (Chuck Mambo & Pastor William Eaver)
Allen and Black brought chairs to the ring; whilst Eaver and Mambo brought a shopping trolley full of various plunder.
Maybe it was fatigue on my part – by this point we're near the end of two solid days of wrestling – but the match didn't seem to click; especially for two teams that have fought before.
Chuck Mambo brought out a deflated beach ball (he is a surfer, after all) full of drawing pins (thumb tacks) and all four men ended up getting dropped onto them. Ultimately it was the heel team – Allen and Black – who earned themselves the title shot.
WINNERS: THE DAZZLER TEAM
Next up was a Bodyguy Roy Johnson “Wasteman Challenge”. The general premise being that Johnson comes out to the ring and challenges anyone to a rap battle. These always end up in a match but today's was different. Welsh wrestler Eddie Dennis came out – wearing street clothes and clutching a 4 pack of beer – and declared that he can't rap, but can do karaoke, and launched into a rather hilarious rendition of Welsh comedy rap act Goldie Lookin Chain's song “Your Mother's Got a Penis”. Johnson loved it, and two two toasted beers. Johnson accidentally spilled Dennis' beer though, which enraged the Welshman who hit his Next Stop Driver on Johnson.
On paper that all sounds ridiculous, but live it was a great breather for the crowd ahead of the final.
SSS16 FINAL: TOMMY END vs. MARK ANDREWS
Having seen his title shot at the last Camden show ruined by Mikey Whiplash; End was looking to earn another crack at the belt. Andrews wasn't even supposed to have made it here, having originally lost to Chris Hero, so was equally looking for a chance for a title shot and the chance to become the first two-time PROGRESS Champion.
This was a brutal and entertaining match. Andrews played the smaller-but-equally-tough wrestler and took End's punishment before dishing out his own. The lights went out and Whiplash appeared in the ring; but End had moved and Whiplash found himself staring down an empty space. End took him out from behind and Whiplash's attempt on End was nothing more than a failure and a blip.
The finish saw Andrews taking a beating, getting back up, telling End to kick him in the face, and taking one sickly stiff kick to the face for the pin.
WINNER: TOMMY END
End dedicated his win to the late Kris Travis and thanked the fans from the bottom of his “deep black heart”; and that was it. No crappy shenanigans at the end; the show ended with End standing victorious. This was also (probably) the only PROGRESS show to ever finish on time!
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