Author: Gareth Slade

A man quietly making/surfing waves across the BritWres scene, Chuck Mambo is a surprisingly versatile dude. I say surprisingly because, by all appearances, he comes across as your typical surfer dude. But that exterior belies a depth that all the best performers have. But, yes, he is a bit of a surfer dude. Debuting in 2013, Mambo first made a name for himself in PROGRESS having been trained in the company’s wrestling school. Although you wouldn’t necessarily know it from his in-ring style, his trainers were Jimmy Havoc, Darrell Allen, and Eddie Dennis. Mambo would make his Chapter debut at…

Michael Oku, the OJMO’s rise to be considered to be amongst the cream of the BritWres crop has been somewhat of a slow burn. Hanging around the periphery. Starring in PROGRESS’s dramatic presentation Freedom’s Road. He was a name on fan’s lips for some time before he actually shot to prominence. Joining the independent circuit’s ranks of grizzled young veterans on account of a sterling 2019, The OJMO has made himself one of the scene’s hot commodities. Starring for the likes of PROGRESS, RIPTIDE, Revolution Pro Wrestling, and more, his profile has never been higher. Michael Oku – The OJMO…

Paul Robinson is a wrestler who has been on an absolute tear through BritWres. He has become a regular featured player in PROGRESS, RIPTIDE, ICW, and many more. His run of success/infamy is a well-deserved reward for a career that started way back in 2003. His time in the more visible wrestling companies was cut short in 2017 as he entered partial retirement. A medical condition that he has since been cleared of, it looked as though Robbo (as fans affectionately call him) was finished. Trained by Dropkixx training school, Robbo began his career working for LDN Wrestling. He also…

Cara Noir represents something all too rare on the UK wrestling scene. He has a character bolstered by an outlandish ring name, costume and gimmick. Wrestling under your real name is fine, but it doesn’t help you stand out from the crowd. Cara Noir, as the Black Swan of pro wrestling, very much does stand out. Information on the man behind the face paint and plumage is surprisingly difficult to find. However, this all adds to the enigma of the character – remaining somewhat unknowable. Noir tends to maintain kayfabe on social media also; a tough ask these days, but…

PROGRESS Wrestling Chapter 45: Galvanize. 19th March, 2017. The O2 Ritz, Manchester, UK. Well hello there and welcome back to the PROGRESS Prerogative, the weekly that looks back at each PROGRESS Chapter in turn. This time around it’s an absolutely stacked card in Manchester, featuring every title bar the Atlas division strap being defended, the first NPS4 semi-final, the continued implosion of The Origin and much more besides. No need to stand on ceremony; let’s dive straight in. This is Galvanize. Galvanize South Pacific Power Trip vs British Strong Style (c) – Tag Team Title Match TK Cooper and Travis…

PROGRESS Wrestling Chapter 44: Old Man Yells At Cloud. 26th February 2017. The Electric Ballroom. Camden, UK. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JKpEY_21Wc0 We’re back with another edition of the PROGRESS Prerogative. This is the weekly column that looks back at each PROGRESS chapter in turn and gives you the lowdown on what went down. This week we present Old Man Yells At Cloud. The big story coming out the last Chapter saw both Flash Morgan Webster and former PROGRESS champion Mark Haskins return from injury. Rescuing Jimmy Havoc from a post-match beatdown by British Strong Style, the three men formed an alliance to take…

.PROGRESS Wrestling Chapter 43: Tropic Thunderbastard. 29th January 2017. The Electric Ballroom, Camden, UK. PROGRESS resume normal service at Chapter 43 following a clash with WWE’s United Kingdom Championship tournament at their previous show. This is Tropic Thunderbastard. Welcome to the PROGRESS Prerogative, this is the weekly column that looks back at each show, in turn, to see whether it still holds up. This edition sees the return of the Thunderbastard match for the first time since Chapter 27. If you’re unaware, the Thunderbastard match sees its eight participants enter at two-minute intervals a la the Royal Rumble. The unique…

PROGRESS Wrestling Chapter 42: Life, The Universe & Wrestling. January 15th, 2017. The O2 Academy, Birmingham, UK.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ttJ3QVD7AHg Welcome back once again to the PROGRESS Prerogative! We’ve arrived at Chapter 42! Life The Universe & Wrestling is a bit of an odd show in that it took place on the same day as the WWE United Kingdom Championship Tournament final. You’re sure to remember that both Pete Dunne and Tyler Bate were rather large parts of that show (along with Mark Andrews), and so the PROGRESS roster is somewhat depleted here. Can they pull a good show out of the…

PROGRESS Wrestling Chapter 41: Unboxing Live! December 30th, 2016. The Electric Ballroom, Camden, UK. Hello, hello, hello once more, and welcome back to the PROGRESS Prerogative. This is the weekly column that examines each PROGRESS chapter. In turn, to give you the skinny on what went down. We’ve got recaps, we’ve got gifs, and this week we’ve got comics and photos of presents. That’s because we’ve arrived at Chapter 41: Unboxing Live! The show with no matches, or competitors, announced beforehand that it has since become a Christmas tradition. Leading into this show, PROGRESS has a few threads dangling in…

In light of the ongoing global pandemic, PROGRESS has made the sensible step of announcing the cancellation of all events for the foreseeable future. PROGRESS cancel all events until at least October 2020. With a heavy heart, we announce today that our summer schedule is completely canceled due to COVID-19. We’re looking at October as the earliest possible return date. It goes without saying, we are absolutely gutted. Over the last 2 months, we’ve been in constant contact with our roster and backstage crew, scrubbing off dates and adding new ones. There are both physical and mental wellbeing issues at…