By Chris Vetter, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@chrisvetter73)
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Progress Wrestling “Chapter 180 – Super Strong Style”
Streamed live on TrillerTV+
May 4, 2025, in London, England at Electric Ballroom
This is day one of a two-day, 16-man tournament. I’m a sucker for tournaments, and they have wrestlers from NOAH in Japan, along with WWE ID prospect Marcus Mathers in this year’s field.
1. Ethan Allen vs. Man Like DeReiss in a first-round tournament match. Ethan came out first; he rolled to the floor and attacked DeReiss. They got in the ring, and we had a bell at 00:13 to officially begin. DeReiss now has blond hair and has dubbed himself the New Gold Standard, clearly copying Shelton Benjamin’s look from a few years ago. Allen stomped on DeReiss and kept him grounded. They fought back to the floor at 2:00. In the ring, Allen applied a sleeper and kept DeReiss grounded. DeReiss hit a suplex at 4:00. DeReiss hit a German Suplex, then another one.
Ethan raked the eyes and hit a back suplex for a nearfall at 6:00. Ethan suplexed him off the top rope to the mat, then hit a running knee, and he locked in a crossface. DeReiss hit a stunner, then a standing powerbomb, and he locked in a Sharpshooter, and Allen tapped out immediately! Good action; a bit shorter than I expected.
Man Like DeReiss defeated Ethan Allen at 8:35 (official time of 8:22) to advance.
2. Kid Lykos II vs. Zozaya in a first-round tournament match. Lykos II is the masked one; I don’t think I’ve ever seen him in a singles match before. (If I have, it’s not often!) Zozaya is a talented kid with a great physique; he always has his right shoulder wrapped, to the point it feels like it’s permanently part of his look. They locked up, and Zozaya has a bigger size advantage than I would have guessed. Zozaya took the strap off his shoulder! Lykos immediately targeted the right arm, and they traded rollups. Zozaya spun him to the mat at 3:00.
Lykos hit a moonsault press, then a flip dive to the floor onto Zozaya at 4:30. In the ring, Lykos hit a top-rope Spanish Fly. Zozaya jumped up and hit his own Spanish Fly for a nearfall at 6:30. Zozaya hit a leg lariat. Lykos hit a brainbuster, and both men were down. Lykos hit a jump-up Frankensteiner. Zozaya got a rollup for a flash pin out of nowhere! Fun match.
Zozaya defeated Kid Lykos II at 8:35 to advance. (Yes, I clocked two straight matches at the same length.)
3. Charlie Sterling vs. Simon Miller in a first-round tournament match. The commentators talked about Nick Riley retiring after his last tag match, leaving Sterling alone for a singles run. Sterling (think longer-haired Bear Bronson) knocked him down with a shoulder tackle. They fought to the floor — it’s a bit too dark outside the ring. In the ring, Simon hit a powerslam for a nearfall at 3:00. Miller hit a spinebuster for a nearfall. Sterling hit a modified Cradle Shock slam off his shoulders for the pin. A bit underwhelming.
Charlie Sterling defeated Simon Miller at 4:51 to advance.
4. Marcus Mathers vs. Will Kroos in a first-round tournament match. I’ve compared the big kid Kroos to a young Sami Callihan, and he’s got a big size advantage. They shook hands before locking up. Kroos hit a shoulder tackle that dropped Mathers, then a swinging powerslam at 1:30. They rolled to the floor, where Kroos hit some LOUD chops. Mathers nailed a flip dive over the ropes onto Kroos at 3:30. In the ring, they traded chops, and Kroos splashed him in the corner, then hit a senton at 5:00, then a spinebuster for a nearfall. (Hard to believe that Progress has kept this massive guy in a comedy faction role for the past year. He’s such a beast!)
Mathers hit a Flatliner, then a top-rope crossbody block for a nearfall. Mathers came off the ropes, but Kroos clocked him with a forearm strike. Mathers got a Code Red for a believable nearfall, then a second-rope fadeaway stunner for a nearfall at 7:00. Mathers hit some superkicks. Kroos nailed a clothesline, then a standing powerbomb, then a sit-out piledriver for the pin. I figured Mathers, as an outsider, was headed to the final four, so in my eyes, this is an upset. That said, Kroos is so big, and it’s long overdue that he’s given a push here.
Will Kroos defeated Marcus Mathers at 8:13 to advance.
* The ring announcer told us that night 2 will feature a battle royal that will include the first-round losers.
5. Kid Lykos vs. Michael Oku (w/Amira Blair) in a first-round tournament match. This is somehow a first-ever-meeting between these two. Kid Lykos has the same curly blond haircut of Will Ospreay. (You know how in-demand Oku is? He wrestled an ROH match in Boston on 4/16, did SIX matches in Las Vegas between 4/17 and 4/18, and flew back to the UK to wrestle Leon Slater on 4/20.) They traded quick rollups early on and had a standoff at 1:00. Oku snapped off a huracanrana and hit a dropkick. Lykos hit a basement dropkick on the knee at 3:00 and targeted the leg, and he twisted it on the mat.
Oku hit a second-rope missile dropkick at 5:30, but he sold the pain in his knee. Oku hit a tornado DDT for a nearfall. He hit a Fosbury Flop to the floor at 7:30. In the ring, Lykos hit a doublestomp on the back and again kicked out the leg. Oku locked in the half-crab at 10:00, and he pulled Lykos to the center of the ring. Lykos hit a running knee and a brainbuster for a nearfall. Oku hit a buzzsaw kick and they were both down at 12:00. Lykos hit a superkick. Oku hit a Death Valley Driver, then a frogsplash to the back. He went for a second frogsplash, but Lykos got his knees up. They traded quick rollups and Oku got the flash pin! Easily the best match of the show so far.
Michael Oku defeated Kid Lykos at 12:48 to advance.
* Intermission. I’m watching about one hour behind live TV, so this will help me catch up a bit. Yes, I zipped over about 30 minutes of a break. Charles Crowley came to the ring; he was slated to be in the tournament. Crowley now has shorter hair, and he wore blue jeans. “This is a little different, a little unexpected,” a commentator said. He said he was told he couldn’t wrestle because of an injury, so he’s out of the tournament. Out of the back came the cartoonish Gene Munny to replace Crowley.
6. Gene Munny vs. Trent Seven in a first-round tournament match. So, I guess this is just a fight! The winner of this match faces Oku in the quarterfinals. Munny hit a shoulder tackle. Seven hit a bodyslam and a guillotine leg drop for a nearfall. They got up and traded chops. Seven ripped off the tape over Munny’s nipples at 2:30, and Munny sold it comically. Munny hit a bodyslam on the ring apron. In the ring, Seven snapped Munny’s fingers, hit some chops, and a DDT for a nearfall at 6:30. Munny hit a spinebuster for a nearfall. Seven hit a top-rope back suplex at 8:00. They traded forearm strikes, and Munny hit a flying headbutt to the groin. Trent hit the Seven-Star Lariat for a nearfall, then a Burning Hammer for the pin. Decent.
Trent Seven defeated Gene Munny at 10:36 to advance.
7. Tate Mayfairs vs. Masa Kitamiya in a first-round tournament match. I’ve compared Tate to NXT’s Noam Dar, and he just became a babyface here. Masa is a thick bull and I’ve always liked watching his matches; he wrestled literally a day ago in Japan for NOAH. (Google says flight time is between 14 and 16 hours!) They traded forearm strikes and Masa hit a senton. They got up and traded more forearm strikes. Masa cut him in half with a spear at 4:00, then he hit a clothesline. Tate missed a frogsplash, and Masa immediately hit a Saito Suplex for the pin. Short and to the point. The commentators sold it as a big upset; I fully expected Masa to win; you don’t fly half-way around the world to lose in the first round.
Masa Kitamiya defeated Tate Mayfairs at 5:12 to advance.
8. Jack Morris vs. Leon Slater in a first-round tournament match. Again, Morris reminds me a lot of Drew McIntyre; he also wrestled for NOAH a day ago, losing his tag team title belts. Morris hit a running knee at the bell, then a dive through the ropes onto Slater. He hit a top-rope frogsplash to the back for a nearfall just 30 seconds in! Leon fired up and hit some kicks and a top-rope crossbody block for a nearfall at 2:00. Slater hit a flying leg lariat for a nearfall. Morris nailed a second-rope delayed superplex at 4:30. Jack hit a Flatliner move, then a Falcon Arrow for a nearfall. Leon hit a Blue Thunder Bomb at 6:30, then his top-rope Swanton 450 Splash for the pin. That was shockingly short, but good for the time given.
Leon Slater defeated Jack Morris at 6:59 to advance.
9. Nina Samuels vs. Rhio for the Progress Women’s Title. Nina beat Rhio to end her 400ish-day title reign. If Rhio loses, she must leave Progress Wrestling! Before the bell, Kanji was introduced as the special guest referee, and her appearance popped the crowd. Rhio hit a shotgun dropkick at the bell, then a running crossbody block. She hit a T-Bone suplex, tossing Nina across the ring, and the crowd chanted profanities at Nina. Rhio slammed Nina back-first on the ring apron at 2:00 and remained in charge. The commentators noted how Rhio recently had a WWE tryout during WWE’s European tour. Nina stomped on Rhio on the floor and took control, and they brawled at ringside.
Rhio shoved her face-first into the ring post at 4:00. They went up on the entrance stage, where Rhio slammed her onto the stage at 5:30. They got in the ring, where Nina choked Rhio and kept her grounded. Rhio fired up and hit some clotheslines at 10:00, then an enzuigiri and a headbutt, and they both went down. Rhio hit a Blue Thunder Bomb for a nearfall. Nina hit an axe kick to the back of the head for a nearfall at 12:00. Nina pushed Rhio into ref Kanji at 13:00, and Kanji was down. Nina grabbed the title belt but did the “Eddie spot” handing the belt to Rhio and collapsing to the mat.
The women fought over the belt, and it struck Kanji! Nina hit Rhio in the face with the belt, and Kanji made a two-count! Rhio was bleeding. Nina shoved ref Kanji. Kanji accidentally(?) superkicked Rhio! Nina hit a package piledriver for a believable nearfall at 15:00. Nina hit Starstruck (her version of Go To Sleep), and she called for a male ref in the crowd to come into the ring. “The allegation is Kanji isn’t calling it down the middle,” a commentator said. Kanji took off the ref shirt, rolled to the floor, but she kicked the male ref! She put the ref shirt back on and got back in the ring!! Nina hit some spin kicks to Rhio’s head. Nina missed a moonsault, and Rhio immediately hit a shotgun dropkick, then the package piledriver. She hit a second package piledriver for the pin! New champion!
Rhio defeated Nina Samuels to win the Progress Women’s Title at 17:41.
* Rhio said she doesn’t know how long she — or anyone in the back — has left in Progress, but they will all work very hard to keep British wrestling on top. Rhio then announced that next year there will be a women’s Strong Style tournament, which popped the crowd.
Final Thoughts: Oku-Kid Lykos was the clear best match on night one of this tournament. The women’s match was really good and takes second place. With Rhio’s Progress career on the line, there were some big stakes in the outcome of the match. I consider Oku, Slater, and DeReiss to be the top three challengers behind champion Luke Jacobs; those three are all in different brackets, and I correctly figured they would both advance to the second round. I don’t consider any of the outcomes to be upsets except Kroos beating Mathers, but I really thought Slater and Morris were going to have an all-out, top-tier match, so I can’t hide my disappointment in how short it was.
Round two takes place Monday morning here in the United States, featuring the four quarterfinal matches, the semis, and finals, a battle royal including the first-round losers, plus champion Luke Jacobs defending his title against Cara Noir.
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