By Chris Vetter, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@chrisvetter73)
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Defy X Progress Wrestling “Onslaught Chicago”
Streamed on TrillerTV+
December 1, 2024 from Chicago, Illinois at Thalia Hall
This is part of a day-night doubleheader with GCW Wrestling. Rich Bocchini and Val Capone provided commentary. The crowd was maybe 150; it was not a sellout for the afternoon show.
* Progress Proteus Champion Simon Miller came to the ring with his belt over his shoulder. He has another open challenge! Broski Jimmy Lloyd answered the call, and he said Miller is a “bald, British bitch!”
1. Simon Miller vs. Broski Jimmy Lloyd for the Progress Proteus Title. Jimmy jumped him from behind to open. He hit a hard clothesline at 1:30 and remained in charge. Simon hit a sideslam at 4:30 and a Falcon Arrow for a nearfall. Jimmy hit the Radio Silence flying legdrop. He grabbed the title belt, but Simon ducked it, hit a spear, and scored the pin. Passable.
Simon Miller defeated Broski Jimmy Lloyd to retain the Progress Proteus Title at 6:00.
2. Schaff and Russ Jones vs. “Sunshine Machine” Chuck Mambo and TK Cooper for the AAW Tag Team Titles. The Brit team competed at Wrestling Open in Massachusetts last week, so they are on a short U.S. tour. Schaff is comparable to Jake Something and Braun Strowman in size, and Jones is just a bit smaller than Schaff, so they are much stronger, thicker, etc., than SM, and they attacked as they got in the ring. They all brawled on the floor. TK hit a flip dive to the floor. SM hit some team moves on Jones in the ring. The champs worked over Mambo in their corner. Mambo hit a double Blockbuster at 9:00 and tagged in TK.
Cooper hit a wheelbarrow German Suplex. Mambo flew off of Cooper’s shoulders and splashed onto both opponents on the floor. In the ring, the champs hit a team neckbreaker move for a nearfall at 11:30. Mambo hit a top-rope Shooting Star Press for a nearfall on Jones, but Schaff made the save, and suddenly all four were down. Jones tossed Mambo onto Cooper in the corner. Jones nailed a Doomsday Device on Mambo and scored the pin. Decent match.
Schaff and Russ Jones defeated TK Cooper and Chuck Mambo to retain the AAW Tag Team Titles at 13:55.
* Simon Miller joined Val Capone and Rich Bocchini on commentary.
3. Timothy Thatcher vs. Cara Noir. Friday’s Progress show in New York was Noir’s U.S. debut. Noir immediately tied up the left leg and they traded reversals on the mat. Cara switched to the left arm; Simon praised their ‘joint manipulation” offense. They got up and Thatcher hit some European Uppercuts at 5:30, then he stomped on the left arm and stayed focused on it. Noir hit a flying kick at 11:00 and they were both down. Thatcher hit a suplex for a nearfall. Noir applied a rear-naked choke on the mat, and Thatcher tapped out. Not much to describe, but an entertaining mat-based match.
Cara Noir defeated Timothy Thatcher at 13:40.
4. Rhio vs. Vert Vixen for the Progress Women’s Title. I personally rank Vert as the second-best female indy wrestler in the U.S. behind Megan Bayne. Rhio has now been champion for 406 days. Standing switches to open and a feeling-out process. They avoided each other’s kicks and had a standoff at 3:00. They started trading forearm strikes. Rhio hit an Exploder Suplex and a shotgun dropkick at 5:00. Vert hit a diving European Uppercut, then a snap suplex for a nearfall, and she tied Rhio’s leg in the ropes. Vert hit a basement dropkick to Rhio’s face at 8:00 as Rhio was upside-down in the ropes, and Rhio fell to the floor. They brawled at ringside. Back in the ring, Vert hit some guillotine legdrops for a nearfall.
Rhio hit an Air Raid Crash at 9:30, then a spinning heel kick, then a dive through the ropes onto Vert. Vert immediately dove onto Rhio, and they were both down on the floor. They dove back into the ring at 11:30 to avoid ten-counts, and they went back to trading forearm strikes. They hit stereo kicks to the head and were both down again. This has been great. Rhio hit an enzuigiri. Vert nailed a Blue Thunder Bomb for a nearfall at 13:00. Rhio hit a top-rope superplex and they were both down. Vert hit some roundhouse kicks to the chest, then a Pedigree out of the ropes for a nearfall, then a brainbuster at 15:30, but Rhio rolled to the floor to avoid being pinned. They again fought on the floor and onto the apron, where Rhio hit a package piledriver! Vert fell to the floor and was counted out!
Rhio defeated Vert Vixen via count-out to retain the Progress Women’s Title at 16:54.
5. “C4” Cody Chhun and Guillermo Rosas vs. “Los Desperados” Gringo Loco and Arez for the Defy Tag Team Titles. Cody and Arez opened with some quick reversals on the mat and they traded rollups. Loco and Rosas entered at 2:30 and they traded shoulder tackles. Loco hit a spinning leg kick for a nearfall. LD began working over Rosas and kept him in their corner. They hit a Magic Killer team slam at 6:00, and Loco hit a flipping axe kick. Arez ran up Rosas’ back. Loco hit a split-legged moonsault for a nearfall at 8:00. Cody entered and hit a Buckle Bomb on Arez, then C4 hit a dropkick-and-suplex combo for a nearfall. C4 ‘wishboned’ Arez’s legs and got a nearfall at 9:30, and they now began working Arez over.
Arez finally hit his Pele Kick on Cody at 13:00. Cody hit a back suplex and they were both down. Loco got the hot tag and he began hitting punches on each opponent, then a handspring-back-elbow on Cody. C4 hit a team powerbomb move on Loco for a nearfall at 15:00. LD hit their Spears Tower-into-a-DDT (they did this Friday, too) and that popped the crowd. Arez hit his one-footed Lionsault; Arez hit an Angle Slam; Loco hit a Canadian Destroyer; Cody hit an OsCutter, and they were all down. Nice sequence. Cody and Arez fought on the ropes, and Arez hit a moonsault to the floor on Rosas. Loco nailed a Spanish Fly on Cody, and Arez immediately hit a top-rope doublestomp to Cody’s chest for the pin! New champions! The crowd and commentators were shocked!
Arez and Gringo Loco defeated Cody Chhun and Guillermo Rosas to win the Defy Tag Team Titles at 18:53.
6. Mustafa Ali vs. Kevin Knight. A big pop for Chicago native Ali. An intense lockup and standing switches to open. Knight is still technically a junior in NJPW (under 220 pounds) but he’s got a clear size advantage, and he grounded Ali early on, and they had a standoff at 4:30. Knight backed Ali into a corner and hit some chops. Ali hit a huracanrana and set up for a dive, but Knight cut him off. Kevin then hit a plancha at 6:30. Ali hit a DDT from the apron to the hardwood floor. In the ring, Kevin went for a top-rope move, but Ali caught him with a dropkick for a nearfall at 9:30.
Knight hit his own dropkick to the chin and they were both down. Kevin hit some clotheslines, then a splash to the mat for a nearfall at 11:30. Ali nailed a running powerbomb, but he missed a 450 Splash. Knight immediately hit the D’Lo-style Low Down for a nearfall. They fought on the ropes and both (intentionally) fell to the floor and the ref was counting them both out. They both got back in at 14:30 and traded forearm strikes from their knees, then headbutts. They got up and traded more blows, and Ali hit some spin kicks to the thigh. Knight hit his jump-up Frankensteiner, then a top-rope frogsplash for a nearfall. Ali applied a Sharpshooter, and Knight tapped out! Very good action.
Mustafa Ali defeated Kevin Knight at 17:00.
* Ali got on the mic and admitted he has a serious injury he is dealing with. He said when he learned his opponent was Knight, in his hometown, he had to gut it out. (No idea what is the injury but hopefully Ali doesn’t miss too much ring time.)
7. Luke Jacobs vs. Man Like DeReiss for the Progress World Title. They shoved each at the bell and immediately traded forearm strikes. Jacobs hit a superkick and a senton at 2:00. He hit a backbreaker over his knee and was in charge early on. They went to the floor, where Jacobs hit a uranage onto the ring apron. Back in the ring, Jacobs hit a forearm to the lower back and a back suplex for a nearfall at 5:00. DeReiss hit a fallaway slam at 7:00 and some punches to the midsection in the corner, then a German Suplex and a second-rope missile dropkick. Jacobs hit a German Suplex, then a suplex into the corner at 9:00 and a brainbuster. DeReiss hit a Blue Thunder Bomb and they were both down.
They fought on the ropes, and DeReiss hit a powerbomb or a nearfall at 12:30. Jacobs hit a uranage and a sliding clothesline, but he missed one to the back of the neck. DeReiss went for a stunner but Jacobs caught him and applied a rear-naked choke, but DeReiss got to the ropes. Jacobs hit some forearm strikes and he relaxed in the corner as the ref counted DeReiss, who got up at the nine-count at 16:30. They traded more forearm strikes. DeReiss hit a stunner for a nearfall, but he missed a 450 Splash.
Jacobs immediately hit a clothesline, a standing powerbomb, and the clothesline to the back of the head for a believable nearfall at 18:30. Jacobs held DeReiss’ wrists and stomped on his sternum. They went back to the floor, where DeReiss hit a piledriver on a steel ramp to the ring. They got back in before the 10-count. DeReiss hit his swinging urange for a nearfall; Jacobs hooked both arms, rolled him over, and scored the pin. I saw almost the exact same finish of a Jacobs match last week against Leon Slater. Really good match between two of the UK’s best.
Luke Jacobs defeated Man Like DeReiss to retain the Progress World Title at 20:38.
Final Thoughts: If this show had been on a Saturday, I likely would have gone. The Chicago crowd got to see some of the very best UK wrestlers on this show. I’m going to go with Rhio-Vert for best match as it featured two of the very best unsigned women going at it. I wasn’t surprised at the non-finish with no clear winner, but it didn’t take away from a great match. The main event takes second, and a really good Ali-Knight match takes third. Ali acknowledging he’s dealing with an injury was certainly disappointing news to hear, but as I noted, hopefully his time off to heal isn’t too long. The Defy Tag Title switch was certainly unexpected, and that match easily could have been best match on many other shows. Thatcher-Noir won’t be for everyone, but it will get rave reviews in many corners. There is a lot to like here.
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