Progress Chapter 91: Prog on the Tyne, Newcastle, England
A request! It was for “an Eddie Kingston match.” I have never seen this one. I didn’t want to do one from AEW or ROH (AEW), and I was casually scrolling the Cagematch Matchguide for Ed when I saw this one.
Never seen this match.
(Requests open and tips always appreciated!)
WALTER is defending the Progress Unified title, which he’s held for just under a year at this point, about three weeks shy. I bet I haven’t watched a single Progress show since 2018. I saw them live as part of WrestleMania week in 2017 and bought a Progress ball cap. Different time. I was a different person. Younger. Stupider, part-blissfully.
Wally specifically requested Kingston. Eddie’s a guy with no fear, a long-running veteran tough guy and star, and WALTER wants the test. Two chop-heavy guys with bellies. Commentary does a nice job breaking down the similarities and differences of the two; their styles have some in common, but Kingston is a street fighter, and WALTER is a very calculated, precise fighter. Both heavy hitters. You don’t get much better a style clash on paper than that.
First real advantage goes to Kingston, who just out-foxes WALTER for a moment, but doesn’t rest on that, following the champ outside and bringing the heat, including some HAND BITING. WALTER’s a tough matchup for Kingston straight up, he’s technically better with his brawling and he’s bigger and stronger, hits harder. So Eddie will have to dirty it up to stay in a toe-to-toe fight, and there’s just not likely to be an option other than a toe-to-toe fight if he’s going to win.
Indeed, once WALTER grounds the match in the ring, he has a clear advantage. Kingston has to try to quickly get out of that situation, but not in a panicked, “oh, no!” fast-moving sort of way. He stays calm, waiting for a chance to stand it back up and bait WALTER into just trading shots, which is a fight Eddie’s toughness in absorbing punishment wins as much as the brutality of his strikes, maybe more.
Along with dirtying it up, taking a little risk could help, and Kingston hits a dive to the floor. This keeps WALTER guessing a little bit and keeps him reeling. But for single blow power, it’s all WALTER. Kingston buckles repeatedly, often just has to go down. Kingston can’t do that to WALTER with one shot.
We get into the suplays and the lariats as this continues to build into a war of attrition. Three backfists from Kingston lead to the “there it is, Matt” suplay for two. Crowd split as they chant out of habit, absolutely no passion or volume in anyone’s voice, just doing it because that’s what you do at this point of a match.
WALTER’s power bomb gets two. His sleephold threatens the consciousness of the challenger, as does the grotesque suplex that dumps Kingston on his head. Back to the sleephold, but it’s unnecessary, really, Eddie’s out and it’s over.
A good match. A good fight. Not special in the style they’re going for and has had, like so many matches of its ilk, no lasting impact because there were another five pretty much exactly like it within a month. I like both guys and enjoyed watching the match, I’m just saying, I will never think of it again and there’s a reason I’d never heard much of anything about it before, or if I did it was within a 72-hour time frame five years ago.
Tape Machines Are Rolling 