It was supposed to be Eddie Dennis defending the PROGRESS Unified Title against Cara Noir at Chapter 101 today. Unfortunately, that did not come to pass as we would be informed at the opening of the show. Dennis interrupted new compere Matt Richards’s opening address to announce he was vacating the belt. At Friday’s NXT UK tapings, he sustained a shoulder injury that will take him out of action for some time. This marks the latest of a run of absolutely rotten luck for the Pride of Wales as he has had major injuries plague him for the last 18 months. He had held the title since Chapter 95 which took place in September of last year.
Handing the title off to his FSU teammate Mark Andrews, it was announced that Cara Noir would still compete in the main event for the title. That final match would now be a fatal four-way, with the winners of three singles matches joining him to crown a new PROGRESS Unified Champion. the match will also be fought under elimination rules. First up was Mandrews as he faced off with Ilja Dragunov. Shockingly, Dragunov took the win in just 8 seconds following his Torpedo Moscow finisher. Next up, LJ Cleary and Kyle Fletcher. This went a fair bit longer than the previous qualifier, and it would be the Aussie taking the win with a lawn dart-Tombstone combo. Finally, Paul Robinson and A-Kid fought to be the fourth man. The Proteus champion advances to the main event (and retains his title) as A-Kid taps out to a half crab.
The revised main event of Chapter 101 would be Cara Noir vs Ilja Dragunov vs Kyle Fletcher vs Paul Robinson then. The first man to be eliminated is the Proteus Champion as he gets drilled by Kyle Fletcher’s tombstone and pinned. Fletcher would be the next eliminated as Dragunov saved Noir from the tombstone and the Black Swan wound up pinning the Aussie Arrow. The final fall is taken by Cara as he hits Dragunov with Torpedo Moscow to win the match! Our new PROGRESS champion is Cara Noir!!!
https://twitter.com/ThisIs_Progress/status/1218976147146510342?s=20
PROGRESS is entering a brave new era. I for one fully endorse their choice of new titleholder. Congratulations to Cara Noir; I can’t wait to see what happens next!
