Progress returns to action with biggest show of the year in London, Flash Morgan Webster documentary, Ohno to ICW, CWFAZ hosting big indie event (w/Radican’s Analysis)

-Progress Wrestling returns to action on Sept. 10 with “Chapter 55: Chase the Sun” at Alexandra Palace in London England. They have announced they are expecting around 2,000 fans for what they are calling their biggest show of the year. The complete show should be available sometime within a week on Progress’s OTT service Demand-Progress.com. The announced lineup is as follows: Progress World Champion Pete Dunne vs. Travis Banks, Atlas Champion Matt Riddle vs. Walter vs. Timothy Thatcher, Progress Tag Team Champions British Strong Style vs. #CCK, Progress Women’s Champion Toni Storm vs. Dahlia Black, Jimmy Havoc vs. Mark Haskins in a Deathmatch, Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Mystery Opponent, and Zack Gibson vs. James Drake vs. Eddie Dennis vs. Mark Andrews vs. Flash Morgan Webster vs. Jack Sexsmith vs. Strangler Davis vs. Chief Deputy Dunne in a 8 Man #1 Contender match.

-A new documentary on Flash Morgan Webster called “Back To Malice” has been released by Adam Williams. The documentary focuses on Webster’s road to recovery after he suffered multiple injuries in his WWE CWC Qualifying match at a Progress Wrestling event in 2016. The documentary captures a lot of behind the scenes footage and concludes with Webster making his return to Progress Wrestling after his injuries healed. You can watch the entire documentary on Vimeo HERE. The documentary also features Pete Dunne, Tyler Bate, Mark Andrews, Zack Sabre Jr., and Mark Haskins.

Radican’s Analysis: I really enjoyed this short documentary on Flash Morgan Webster. He had reached the height of his career appearing in a CWC qualifying match when he suffered a series of injuries to his leg and shoulder during his match against Zack Sabre Jr. It’s a miracle he was able to finish the match and walk to the back under his own power. The documentary features a lot of cool footage of Morgan wrestling with his friends in the yard as a teenager as well as Morgan’s candid comments about his injuries and recover. I highly recommend watching it. Adam Williams did a great job of producing a high-quality final product. 

-ICW announced that Kassius Ohno (Chris Hero) will face ICW World Hvt. Champion Joe Coffey on Sept. 17 in Newcastle, England at the O2 Academy. Also featured on the card is Brent & Bird vs. WWE U.K. Contracted talent Tyler Bate & Trent Seven and ICW Women’s Champion Kasey vs. Little Miss Roxxy.

Radican’s Analysis: Progress Wrestling and ICW are definitely benefiting from having an informal relationship with WWE. Both companies have had access to WWE contracted talent to feature on their live events and VOD offerings in recent months. It remains a mystery why EVOLVE hasn’t been given any access to use WWE contracted talent for a long period of time, especially given the regular basis that Progress Wrestling is able to book them. EVOLVE has had the longest running relationship with WWE that I know of out of the aforementioned companies. In the past, EVOLVE has been able to use WWE contracted talent in dark matches and they also hosted WWE CWC Qualifying matches last year, but being allowed to feature marquee matches with WWE contracted talent to market them live to fans and for iPPV and VOD would be huge for EVOLVE. It’s exciting to see Ohno back on the independent scene. He was the MVP of the indies in 2016 and hasn’t been featured strongly on NXT TV. His match against Coffey should generate some buzz for ICW over the next week leading into what is now a very big show for them.

-Championship Wrestling From Arizona is hosting 9 wrestling promotions for their one-year anniversary show called “Cavalcade of Champions on Sept. 16 at the Nile Theater in Mesa, AZ. The nine promotions make up the United Wrestling Network. The show will feature multiple title defenses from the nine promotions involved.

The promotions set to appear at the show include Championship Wrestling from Hollywood, Championship Wrestling From Arizona, Freelance Wrestling, Future Stars of Wrestling, Main Event Wrestling, PHX Wrestling, Rockstar Pro Wrestling, Rocky Mountain Wrestling, and Ultra Championship Wrestling-Zero. The show will feature multiple title defenses. Former WWE ring announcer Justin Roberts has been involved with Championship Wrestling From Arizona. He has been focusing on helping to coach and produce wrestler promos.