By Chris Vetter, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@chrisvetter73)
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Defy and Progress Wrestling “Defy X Progress”
Replay available via Wremix
June 25, 2023 from Toronto, Ontario at Toronto Rec Room
This event was held ahead of AEW/NJPW’s Forbidden Door 2 in the same host city. This event was released Thursday, for free, at wremix.tv. The venue is a large factory building; a women’s show was already held in this building, but the crowd is maybe 150. Rich Bocchini provided solo commentary.
1. Brent Banks, Psycho Mike, and Vaughn Vertigo defeated “Sovereign” Travis Williams, Judas Icarus, and Evan Rivers at 17:15. Sovereign represents Defy; Vaughn’s team represents Progress. Banks is a thin Black man with a round face; I don’t think I’ve seen him before. Vertigo and Williams started. Banks entered to face the redhead Rivers at 2:00. Psycho Mike (same blank stare as Dexter Lumis but also reminds me of the late Sean O’Haire) entered at 5:00 to face Icarus (think a smaller Mike Bailey; this is not Chikara’s Icarus!)
Icarus nailed a Death Valley Driver on Mike at 9:30. Williams re-entered and hit a kneedrop to the head, and the Defy team kept working over Psycho Mike. Icarus hit a top-rope crossbody block on Mike at 13:00. Rivers hit a top-rope moonsault. Mike nailed a hard Mafia Kick on Rivers. Mike hit a bodyslam to pin Rivers.
2. Schaff defeated Bryan Keith to retain the Defy Pacific Northwest Title at 9:03. Again, the massive Schaff is a cross between Braun Strowman and Jake Something, and he attacked Keith before Bryan had removed his Mexican baja sweater. They traded hard, LOUD chops. They fell to the floor but both got back in at 5:00 and continued chopping each other. Keith hit a back suplex and a running knee for a nearfall. Shaff hit a sit-out powerbomb for the pin. Good, hard-hitting match; if anything, it was a little too short.
3. Charles Crowley defeated Gringo Loco at 10:04. Crowley is dressed like an 1800s carnival performer and he danced to the ring; he has a bit of Dalton Castle’s flamboyance to him. Bocchini noted that Loco is well-known in the Toronto area. Crowley hit a senton at 3:00 and was in control of the offense early on. Loco hit a handspring-back-elbow at 5:30, then he slammed him stomach-first for a nearfall, then a moonsault, but Crowley rolled out of the ring before he could be pinned. Loco hit a top-rope Spanish Fly for a nearfall at 8:30. Crowley pretended to have an ankle injury and collapsed in the ring; absolutely no one is buying it, of course. Of course, he hopped to his feet, hit a jumping knee to the jaw, then a swinging faceplant for the pin.
4. Spike Trivet defeated Artemis Spencer to retain the Progress Title at 12:58. I have made this comparison before, but Spencer reminds me of Curtis Axel. Trivet (pronounced ‘Trih vay‘) is bald with a short beard and was billed as “the most hated man in Europe.” Good mat reversals with Spike in control of the offense; he makes me think of NJPW’s Gabe Kidd. Trivet butterflied the arms and hit a backbreaker over his knee for the pin. Good mat-based match.
* A video from June 3, where Nicole Matthews says her next opponent is Vert Vixen. She boasted about having just beaten Allie Katch.
5. Vert Vixen defeated Nicole Matthews, Allie Katch, and Session Moth Martina in a four-way to retain the Defy Women’s Title at 11:52. SMM is the Brit party girl, with two beers in her hands, who had a nice run at the end of the ROH Sinclair era. Matthews attacked Martina to kickstart the match. Martina and Allie hit some team offense on Nicole, then on Vert. Martina ran the ropes until she got winded in some fun comedy, then she leapt off the apron onto everyone at 3:30. In the ring, Martina hit a Rough Rider in the corner on Allie for some lewd humor, as Bocchini said he thinks Allie likes it. Vert hit a Falcon Arrow on Nicole for a nearfall at 6:00.
Katch hit a second-rope superplex. Martina hit a spear on Katch, then a twisting suplex on Matthews, and suddenly everyone was down. They all got up and brawled. Vixen hit a uranage move on Katch for a nearfall at 9:30. Matthews hit a brainbuster on Vert, and she applied a crossface, but Allie hit a senton to break it up. Vert and Martina traded blows on the ring apron. Katch hit her piledriver out of the ropes for a nearfall, but Nicole hit Allie with the title belt! Vert snuck up behind Nicole, rolled her up and scored the pin!
6. “The Bollywood Boyz” Gurv and Harv Sihra defeated Matt Cross and Psycho Mike at 10:08. Cross, once known as M-Dogg 20, has been wrestling at least 20 years, most recently in NWA and in Ohio-based AIW. His partner was slated to be Juventud Guerrera, but flight issues caused him to miss the show. One of the Sihra brothers informed the crowd of this, and he offered the slot to Psycho Mike. (Since when does the opposing team pick the tag partner? Shouldn’t it be Cross’s selection?) The BB worked over Cross early on. Mike entered and bodyslammed one brother on the other at 3:00. Mike and Matt then worked over Harv; pretty standard tag action. Gurv made the hot tag at 8:30 and hit a leg lariat on Cross for a nearfall. Cross missed a Shooting Star Press, landing on his feet. However, the Bollywood Boyz hit their Demolition-style team elbowdrop for the pin on Cross. Solid match but underwhelming finish.
Final Thoughts: A passable show; nothing wrong with it, but I certainly am not going to give it a “you must go see this now!” endorsement. This wasn’t exactly a lively crowd, and that hurt a bit too. Yes, in-ring quality matters most, but I just watched and reviewed a show from France where the crowd was huge, super-hot, and just totally into everything. This crowd just was not.
A short show, coming in at just one hour, 48 minutes. There are a lot of really good, free, wrestling shows on www.wremix.tv, and I do recommend visiting the site and checking out what they have to offer. Again, the quality of the stream is great, and the commercials are minimal.
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