Hello again this is Adam, one half of The Wrestling Brains, bringing you my predictions for Progress Wrestling’s Natural Progression Series which takes place this Saturday 13th September from Camden’s Electric Ballroom.
The brackets for the tournament are yet to be announced so I have broken it down in terms of what I think the opening round will look like and how I see the finals playing out. There’s also a bonus prediction for the non tournament match that has been announced.
LuCCKy Vs. (The Artists Formerly Known As) LAX & Eddie Kingston – Street Fight
What a perfect match to have as the obligatory ‘lets give everyone a break from the tournament’ bout. The Brookes/Gresham Vs. Santana/Ortiz matches from last year were fantastic and the competitive rivalry has developed even further to include Eddie Kingston, who lost to Jonathan Gresham in Manchester earlier this year but managed to defeat Chris Brookes at the Ballroom to name the stipulation for this match, & Lucky Kid after his incessant badgering of Brookes et al saw him being included here as CCK’s ‘Third Man’
There’s no doubt this one will be a great match and with the added possibility that this is likely to be Santana & Ortiz’s last time with Progress following their debut in AEW, its not going to be one to sleep on. Winners: Santana, Ortiz & Eddie Kingston
Natural Progression Tournament
Winner receives a guaranteed title shot at any time and the opportunity to select a losing wrestler from the tournament to re-enter next year.
Tournament Entrants:
Cara Noir
Dan Moloney
Danny Duggan
Gene Munny
Malik
The O.J.M.O
Scotty Davis
Veit Müller
Quarter Finals
Dan Moloney Vs. Cara Noir
Scotty Davis Vs. Gene Munny
The O.J.M.O Vs. Veit Müller
Danny Duggan Vs. Malik
A strong field as always and this one has a number of standouts including Progress regular The O.J.M.O, Dan Moloney (who answered one of Trent Seven’s Atlas Championship Open Challenges) and Natural Progression veteran Danny Duggan who competed in the tournament last year but was defeated (and ultimately reselected for this year) by eventual winner Mark Davis.
My predictions for the four to advance from the opening round are the aforementioned three standouts and Scotty Davis who seems to have some buzz surrounding him on social media.
As for the other competitors, Gene Munny is another with a fairly strong social media following but I feel Davis may just edge him in the opening round. There’s an interesting case to be made for Veit Müller who was nominated for the tournament by current World Champion Walter. It’s difficult to imagine the World Champion’s pick going out any sooner than the semi finals but a defeat at the hands of The O.J.M.O (nominated by No.1 Contender David Starr) will just add fuel to the fire of Chapter 95’s main event.
While I don’t know much about Cara Noir and Malik, I do expect this to be their opportunity to make a solid first impression in Progress and will create an opening for them to return sometime in the future.
Semi Finals
Dan Moloney Vs. Scotty Davis
The O.J.M.O Vs. Danny Duggan
I’m going to focus on the two who I think will come up short in the semi finals here and those two being Scotty Davis and Danny Duggan. Similar to the sentiments I shared for Cara Noir and Malik earlier, I feel Davis & Duggan will continue in the company for some time off the back of some impressive performances here. It may be a tough one to see Duggan miss out two years on the run but it could make for an interesting underdog arc in the future.
I anticipate that Davis will receive the same treatment that Duggan did last year but more on that later.
Finals
Dan Moloney Vs. The O.J.M.O
When the Natural Progression entrants were announced earlier this year, I pictured it there and then that this would be the final match of the tournament.
It seems to me to be the final that makes the most sense – The O.J.M.O has been featured regularly and recently on Progress shows having run ins with Do Not Resuscitate while Dan Moloney’s star is on the rise and now would be the perfect time for him (and Progress) to solidify his place on the roster.
I fully anticipate for Dan Maloney to win the whole thing. Nothing against The O.J.M.O at all but I feel much more stock and effort has been put into the audience becoming familiar with him (rather than Moloney) and his appearances on Chapter shows will naturally continue on past this tournament regardless.
Winner Of The 2019 Natural Progression Series
Dan Moloney
Championship Shot Vs. Progress World Champion at Super Strong Style 16 2020
Losing Wrestler Entering Next Year’s Tournament
Scotty Davis – In the same vein as Mark Davis selecting Danny Duggan last year, I think Dan Maloney will choose someone to takes him to the limit in the semi finals which, according to my predictions, would be Scotty Davis.
Join me again very soon for my take on what I think will happen at Progress’ next show: Chapter 95 – Still Chasing which takes place the day after the Natural Progression Series.
Agree? Disagree? I’d love to know! Find me on Twitter @xterblack
SLTD Wrestling brings you all the greatest wrestling content. from blogs, to podcasts to exclusive Predictions and Fantasy Leagues.
Recent Comments