PROGRESS News: Simon Miller, Shelton, Ospreay, More

- As previously reported, Simon Miller suffered a shoulder injury earlier in the week, and found out on Saturday he would be ruled out of the weekend.

- KC Navarro got banged up in his match with Tate Mayfairs, but was ok afterwards.

- Despite his nasty spill at the hands of Shelton Benjamin on night two and subsequent near removal from the tournament, Man Like DeReiss was ok after a brief check over backstage. 

- After their match on night one, Leon Slater and Shelton Benjamin shared a moment together both in front of the crowd and backstage after their match. Slater’s family were in attendance for the event.

- While speaking to Mark Haskins earlier this week, Haskins told Fightful that Super Strong Style 16 was his current final date with Progress. We’re told there’s interest on both sides in more appearances for Haskins in the near future in Progress.

- There is significant interest from Progress to bring back in Will Ospreay now that he is AEW International Champion.

- There was a number of alternates ready in case of injury for Super Strong Style 16 2024.

- The women’s title ladder match was largely classed as the show stealer for tonight’s show backstage. We were told a women’s Super Strong Style 16 tournament is in consideration for next year.

- As of Super Strong Style 16, Danhausen’s opponent for his upcoming July appearance with Progress has yet to be decided, but there are multiple Progress names who have advocated for the match since the announcement.

Notes from Mark Haskins Interview

Fightful’s Corey Brennan sat down with Mark Haskins ahead of his Progress world title challenge vs Kid Lykos this Sunday at Super Strong Style 16 this past weekend.

Mark dismissed Lykos’ as a world champion, mocking the idea that Lykos will march through him to lead the next generation of Progress talent. Haskins blamed Nigel McGuinness for his loss in last year's Super Strong Style tournament, and that the biggest difference this time will be McGuinness’ absence. Haskins also says that in the last year he has learned from his mistakes and will be better than ever.

Haskins stated that this generation of Progress wrestlers are ‘wet wipes’ and lack ambition. Haskins says it would not sit right if he sat by and did not intervene to show that generation how to carry the promotion. He noted that anyone who wants to step up to him can, and that they’d play.

When asked about his last Progress World title match with Walter in 2018, the first thing he noted was that Gunther was much bigger then and his second point was how good he is at pro wrestling. Haskins admitted that during the pandemic he was irrelevant, and that he went away and worked on himself during that time while others were filming TikToks. Haskins believes he is now a bigger beast than he has ever been.

Haskins spoke at length about the part fear plays in pro wrestling, expressing his belief that Kid Lykos is afraid of him. When asked about the Super Strong Style 16 tournament participants, Haskins dismissed those who could be his next title challengers, particularly mocking the idea of Kid Lykos II challenging him following the tournament.

Haskins also noted that the only thing more painful than watching McGuinness’ magic shows was being betrayed by him. When pushed to name someone amongst the Super Strong Style 16 field that he sees leading the next generation of British pro wrestlers, Haskins pointed to Leon Slater as someone who has taken on the spotlight at such a young age well.

Haskins admitted that at this point in his career he is closer to retiring than beginning and doesn’t see himself wrestling a further 18 years and that he is well aware of that fact.

Haskins also spoke about Mad Kurt and what he brought to the British Wrestling scene, wishing he had told Kurt some things before his passing. Haskins also urged anyone going through a hard time to keep going, to reach out for help and that he himself has been at a place where he contemplated suicide, but promised that it does get better.

Haskins noted he hopes to return to OTT, but that’s down to the promotion to bring him back. He also talked the current Ring Of Honor product and while happy to see the brand successful, he wishes another investor had come in to run the product as it currently feels second fiddle to AEW programming.