Black Country wrestlers wow crowds at Wembley Arena - review
It was a mixed night for West Midlands’ pro-wrestlers at SSE’s Wembley Arena, in what was the biggest independent pro-wrestling show held in England since Big Daddy faced Giant Haystacks in 1981.
In the main event, Dudley’s Tyler Bate fell just short in his quest to win the PROGRESS World Title from Austria’s Walter.
Despite the champion being significantly larger than the self-proclaimed Big Strong Boy, Bate showed tremendous strength to pick him up repeatedly.
The end would come when after once again escaping Walter’s feared choke hold, Bate fell to a piledriver. For Bate, it was a disappointing end to what fans are already calling one of the best championship matches in British pro-wrestling history.
Two men who were cheering Bate on had better luck. His trainer and tag-team partner, Wolverhampton’s Trent Seven would win PROGRESS’s heavyweight, also known as ATLAS, title.
In doing so he ended the 25 year career of Doug Williams. A recent star of ITV’s World of Sport Wrestling, Williams had promised to retire if he lost his championship.
In a clash of two larger than life personalities there was plenty of humour amid the action. Seven would secure the victory with a crossbody, thereby winning his first singles championship since he lost his ICW Heavyweight title in April 2017.
The two men would embrace in the ring before other pro-wrestlers formed a guard of honour for the retiring legend of British pro-wrestling.
There were only bragging rights on the line when Birmingham’s Pete Dunne faced Ila Dragunov. This match between the current WWE UK Champion and the former champion of Germany’s WXW promotion, would see Dunne emerge victorious.
While it was largely a technical match that hardly left the ring it was a brutal contest with Dunne laying in some heavy kicks to the face of Dragunov, who would return fire with some vicious elbows.
Ultimately they would trade headbutts and palm strikes. The end would come when Dunne had not only trapped Dragunov’s arm, but began bending his fingers back.
Seven and Dunne’s victories were not the only good news for the West Midlands. Two Australians who have made Wolverhampton their home whilst training with Fight Club: PRO secured PROGRESS’s World Tag Team Titles.
Kyle Fletcher and Mark Davis would win an eight-team contest that also involved Tipton’s Chris Brookes to win their first titles since coming to Britain. Their trainer and fellow Australasian resident of the West Midlands, New Zealand’s Travis Banks, made a surprise return to update fans on the status of his recent shoulder injury and vow to return to winning ways in 2019.
By Will Cooling
PROGRESS Wrestling’s Hello Wembley will shortly be available to watch on Video on Demand through Demand PROGRESS. For more information visit https://demandprogress.pivotshare.com/home.
