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PROGRESS Unboxing 7 Backstage Notes from Corey Brennan

- Cheeky Little Buggers’ split was a long time coming, with Alexxis Falcon’s injury putting the plans on hold. Alexxis returned to the ring months ahead of schedule, something PROGRESS was made aware of a couple of months back. 

- Michael Oku’s appearance at the event was said to be a sign of most of Brit Wrestling being on the same page in 2025.

- Tate Mayfairs’ Thunderbastard win was said to be a ‘long time coming’ in PROGRESS.

UK Talent Who Have Obtained US Visas Through PROGRESS

PROGRESS have invested heavily in talent with regards to work visas for the United States.

Obtaining work visas to work in the United States is a notoriously complicated and expensive process, with several world renowned talents having well documented issues with them. 

One promotion that has taken a direct approach to talent obtaining said visas is PROGRESS wrestling based out of the United Kingdom. In a recent interview with the A2TheK, Lee McAteer discussed that PROGRESS had began obtaining work visas so their talent could work in the US, which we had previously reported as the case for PROGRESS Women’s World Champion Rhio.

Fightful Select’s Corey Brennan asked around about which talent had obtained visas through the promotion and learned that the list included several of the talent used on PROGRESS’ GCW: The Collective event during WrestleMania weekend, including the likes of Kid Lykos, the aforementioned Rhio, Man Like DeReiss, Cheeky Little Buggers, Gene Munny and more. On top of the talent featured at that event, we are also told by PROGRESS sources that Lizzy Evo, Cara Noir, Lizzy Evo, Charlie Sterling, Nick Riley, Tate Mayfairs and more have also obtained US visas through PROGRESS.

We were told that while the financial burden of obtaining the visas was ‘substantial’, it is the belief of higher ups in the promotion that the long term positives of growing the UK scene and PROGRESS’ visibility made it worth it, and they see it as a worthy investment.

Giovanni Giorgio Interview Notes (Not to be used till January 1st)

Fightful’s Corey Brennan recently sat down with Giovanni Girgio to discuss announcing his relationship with Connor Mills, PW Ceasefire and more. You can check out the early notes from the interview below.

To open the interview, Corey asked Gio about his hectic 2024 and what comes next in 2025. Gio revealed that he would be making his promotional debut for Pro Wrestling NOAH and Marigold at the start of 2025, two opportunities he is really excited for in the near future. Gio also told the story of how he almost announced all of the G1 Climax this year.

Gio also spoke about the effect of burnout, and how he hoped to address this in his 2025 schedule of shows. Speaking on working with Connor Mills, Gio highlighted eight years of friendship between the pair since they met while training for the ring, while also noting his excitement for what comes next for Mills. Gio also picked Mills and Jay Joshua to take the Undisputed British Tag Team Championships from Sunshine Machine on December 21st.

On RevPro, Gio did note that if he is done with the promotion he is more than happy with how he left things, noting that Dave Bradshaw is a fantastic talent to be in the booth for the company. Gio also highlighted the growth of Pro Wrestling Ceasefire, noting that he doesn’t view PW Ceasefire as a promotion, more of a series of shows. Gio hoped that by the end of 2025, they can raise over 10,000 pounds for the Palestinian people.

Speaking on working with OTT, Gio highlighted announcing alongside Simon Hill in the UK for Nic Nemeth’s TNA World Title defense at ScrapperMania, and talent such as Scotty Davis. Gio also stated that a goal of his in 2025 is to hit a Canadian Destroyer on someone.