PROGRESS Wrestling announced the next competitor for the PROGRESS Super Strong Style 16 tournament this year and it’s a Canadian indie veteran who has become part of the US Pacific Northwest scene, where he’s the current reigning DEFY Champion. Today it was announced that Artemis Spencer was the next entrant in Super Strong Style 16, joining previously announced Travis Banks, Ilja Dragunov, Trevor Lee, and Aerostar.
He blew our minds when we came to #Seattle in the summer; Now @DefyNW Champion and hidden jewel of the North American indies @ArtySpence comes to London and enters #SSS16! 4th-6th May at @yourallypally, tickets: https://t.co/4Sj1N0WAAP #ThisIsPROGRESS pic.twitter.com/prfdkPyD8M
— PROGRESS Wrestling (@ThisIs_Progress) March 7, 2019
A native of Maple Ridge, British Columbia on Canada’s West Coast, Artemis Spencer debuted in 2002 with Vancouver’s Elite Canadian Championship Wrestling (ECCW), where he’s spent the bulk of his career. Originally debuting as Amazing Halo, he won ECCW Tag Team gold in The Masked Dudes of Doom with another Canadian who has had some success in the UK indies of late, El Phantasmo.
By the late 2000s, he was emerging as a singles wrestler with huge potential, winning the NWA/ECCW Canadian Junior Heavyweight Championship twice. He’s also a former 3x ECCW Canadian Heavyweight Champion and in 2015 captured the ECCW Championship.
In 2018, he made the trek south of the border, heading to Washington to work for the likes of 3-2- Battle!, but it was with DEFY Wrestling that he’s found his greatest success. He made his debut in February of 2018 and by December he had defeated Shane Strickland to become the new DEFY Champion. Last August, he performed for PROGRESS when the UK company was on their US tour, on the Seattle show in co-production with DEFY. He took part in a Fatal Four Way that also included another DEFY star, King Khash and PROGRESS stars Mark Andrews and Flash Morgan Webster. He joins a list of other Canadians who have ventured into the UK indie scene of late, including “All Ego” Ethan Page, El Phantasmo, Mike “Speedball” Bailey, Brent Banks and Allie.
