24th August, 2019 – Studio Jenny, Paris, France

In further pursuit of world domination, the friendly folks from PROGRESS Wrestling put on a show in collaboration with the Paris-based promotion APC Catch. APC is by far the most notable promotion in France (or at least the promotion with the most buzz anyway) and has been a regular user of UK talent for a number of years – no doubt helped by the easy transport links between the two capitals. Outside of Paris there’s a handful of promotions; namely Ouest Catch in Brittany, Association Biterroise de Catch (ABC) in Bézier, Occitanie (probably best known for their summer super shows in a 13,000 seater bull ring) and International Catch Wrestling Alliance (ICWA) based in the North East of France in and around Lille and Lens. Gone are Roland Barthes’ glory days of French wrestling in the 1950s.

Onto this show – the venue is dressed up like a school disco with a fancy chandelier and ruffled curtains on the walls. Perhaps this is a sign of where Britwres is headed back to soon? Jim comes out and does his usual stuff and says that in-ring announcing duties will be shared between himself and French announcer Pete Balek. In the announce booth, Glen Joseph is also present alongside Smallman. Glen is dreadful as always so that’ll be the last time I’ll talk about the commentary.

MATCH ONE: The OJMO vs. Senza Volto

First up is a match straight out of The Cockpit. Neither of these men need much explaining as they’re both fairly well established but Volto is the clear favourite here. APC was where Senza Volto made his home in between trips to Germany and beyond and it’s clear he’s well appreciated in his hometown. This is a pretty insane match from start to finish and the crowd is RED HOT for this. This match is just reversal after reversal after reversal and they spill out of the ring on multiple occasions. OJMO eventually gets the win after the half crab –  the match going roughly 15 minutes but it was a textbook example of how to open a show in 2019.  Great work and a recommended watch.

MATCH TWO: Eddie Kingston vs. Dick Riviere

The next match sees an American independent icon take on a lesser known name from the French scene. Riviere is a product of the APC system having spent the majority of his career there but has also interestingly worked a fair bit in Mexico with CMLL and Toryumon Mexico. He’s a very slender gentleman but he comes out with a tub of whey protein and spends most of the early stages of the match flexing to the crowd. He’s definitely on the smaller end but he’s got some impressive muscle tone to him anyway.

Riviere plays the weasel well in this match and the inevitable pop when Kingston chops him down to size is worth the wait. The Frenchman more than has the measure of the big man for most of this match and it’s a real surprise he gets that much offence onto him. Kingston begins to claw his way back into the match but Riviere gets the win after a Mr. Fuji inspired chocolate whey protein cloud to Kingston’s face is enough to distract the American for the 1-2-3. Good character work on show from Riviere.

MATCH THREE: PROGRESS Women’s Championship: Jordynne Grace (c) vs. Alexis Maria

PROGRESS break from tradition by having the women’s division match take place third on the card rather than second. Grace’s opponent, Alexis Maria, is another APC homegrown talent and has seldom worked outside of the French indies. She’s only 20 years old but has been wrestling on and off since 2015. Maria has her basics down fairly well and took a really harsh bump into the chairs on the outside but didn’t get very much offence at all – mainly being used as a showcase for the big star in Grace who wins easily.

MATCH FOUR: Aussie Open vs. Montero’Salem (Thiago Montero & Rick Salem)

Mark Davis runs the ropes prior to the match and it makes the ring violently rock – causing Fletcher to look a little bit worried. Their opponents – Montero’Salem – are a Portuguese/French pairing and are one of the more prominent tag teams in France having held the gold in both APC and ICWA. The crowd is super hot for this match. Montero in particular has a great look and would get a great reaction outside of France (He worked OTT this past weekend and impressed there by all accounts). Likewise, Salem has some great selling and is a really sympathetic babyface. Aussie Open eventually get the win but it’s a strong showing from the local team – who get a standing ovation at the end.

MATCH FIVE: Paul Robinson vs. Christianium Le Surrealiste

The penultimate match features Paul Robinson against Congolese worker Christianium Le Surrealiste. CLS has worked a fair bit in the mid-level German promotions such as WrestlingKULT, cOw and German Hurricane Wrestling so it’s possible you may have seen him before if you’re a regular follower of those. CLS dwarfs Robinson and has such a great presence. He’s a bit limited in terms of his moveset but most of what he does in this match is fairly crisp anyway. Robinson is getting mad heat in this and when CLS eventually gets the win from a back cracker it’s a really popular result. Fun little match.

 

MATCH SIX: APC Championship: Aigle Blanc (c) vs. Chris Brookes vs. Tristan Archer

Our main event sees Aigle Blanc (White Eagle) defend against former Cruiserweight Classic competitor Tristan Archer and CCK’s Chris Brookes. It’s Brookes’s birthday so the audience wish him a ‘joyeux anniversaire’ before the match. Blanc is one of the more highly rated domestic guys and much like Riviere has worked a little bit in Mexico. He’s a lot skinnier than Senza Volto and I feel that he’s not quite as polished but yet again this comes from not working as many strong opponents as he has. Tristan Archer has always been a bit of a slow, unremarkable wrestler and this match is no different. Brookes is the glue that keeps this match together as I don’t think Aigle and Archer are a great fit for each other. The last few minutes of this match are a mess revolving around a ref bump and Archer hitting everyone with a belt – eventually leading to Archer hitting Aigle with his finisher for the win.

As far as shows go – I wouldn’t go out of my way to catch this one unless you’re a PROGRESS completionist – with the Volto/OJMO match being the only match I’d say is a recommended watch.

PROGRESS x APC can be watch for FREE on PROGRESS Wrestling’s YouTube channel here.

✏️ @MikeKilby