PROGRESS has announced the latest entrant into this year’s Super Strong 16 tournament. The entrant is a good one. Sonico joins the battlefield which includes Travis Banks, Jon Gresham, and Chris Ridgeway. As the field begins to fill out we see the slots being filled in a way that sits within the tradition of the tournament. Sonico represents the lucha-style wrestler who is typically featured in a string role each year. They inevitably end up in the Wasteman Challenge. Previous entrants in this slot include; Flamita and Aerostar. Sonico’s addition clearly has a high benchmark to try to equal or exceed.
If you want to split hairs this technically isn’t Sonico’s debut for PROGRESS. At last year’s Wrestle Summit, presented by DEFY, PCW ULTRA, and PROGRESS, he fought Jimmy Havoc. The match earned rave reviews from those in attendance. The likelihood of him facing a wrestler in the style of Havoc during SSS16 doesn’t seem overly high though. There isn’t anyone in the company that necessarily fits into the style that Jimmy had. Perhaps The Lucha Ghoul’s skill set would complement a Mandrews or even a Paul Robinson in the tourney?
His profile on Cagematch states: [Sonico is] very talented, very young, very cool looking, very much a luchador to look out for, very good resume of matches. “Lucha Ghoul” Sonico is probably one of the talents I would first recommend people to watch for those unfamiliar with the Pacific North West, the man has matches worth watching in every major PNW promotion.
I’m a sucker for a wrestler having a cool gimmick rather than using their own name in the ring. The prospect of a lucha ghoul is certainly an enticing one, and I can’t wait to see what Sonico can bring to Super Strong Style 16. The show runs at Alexandra Palace from 23rd until the 25th of May. Bring it on and be sure to check out Sonico as part of Super Strong Style 16.
#GENE4SSS16
