In 2012, two friends – comedian Jim Smallman and promoter Jon Briley – united together over a love for professional wrestling in England and launched a new promotion that would help lead the rise of indie wrestling in the United Kingdom and Ireland. And thus, PROGRESS Wrestling was born. Soon after, a third man, actor Glen Joseph, joined the management team, and soon, PROGRESS was off and running. For seven years, PROGRESS has gone from aspiring new promotion to one of the leaders of the BritWres movement that has lead to the unparalleled global boom of the UK Indie Scene.
Over the years, alongside companies like Revolution Pro (RevPro), Insane Championship Wrestling (ICW), Over The Top (OTT) Wrestling, International Pro Wrestling (IPW), and more, PROGRESS helped bring back the lustre of professional wrestling to the United Kingdom and Ireland, in a way not seen since the last days of World of Sport in the 1980s. And now, many of those talents nurtured in PROGRESS have gone to become big stars in the likes of WWE, NXT UK, All Elite Wrestling, Ring of Honor, and beyond, in the form of stars like Will Ospreay, Zack Sabre Jr., Pete Dunne, Moustache Mountain, WALTER, Mark Haskins, Toni Storm, and many more.
On Friday, one third of PROGRESS’ management team, Jim Smallman, released a video stating that after seven years, he would be stepping away from PROGRESS Wrestling after Chapter 100 at the end of the year, leaving full control in the hands of Briley and Joseph.
A video.
Watch it please.
I’ll answer some questions about it at 2pm GMT.
Thank you everyone. pic.twitter.com/APgpMs4vTL
— Jim Smallman – ジム・スモールマン (@jimsmallman) August 2, 2019
While Jim Smallman is stepping away from PROGRESS Wrestling, he is not stepping away from professional wrestling. Following the launch of NXT UK as a brand on the WWE Network, Smallman found himself part of the WWE’s United Kingdom team. He clarified during a Q&A on his Twitter that he was remaining an active part of NXT UK’s administration.
NXT U.K. is my day job, I’m not leaving that.
— Jim Smallman – ジム・スモールマン (@jimsmallman) August 2, 2019
The announcement from Jim Smallman on Friday is the second major news to affect the UK Indie Scene in 24 hours, following the news on Thursday that Defiant Wrestling – formerly WhatCulture Pro Wrestling (WCPW) – was closing its doors.
Stay tuned to the Last Word on Pro Wrestling for more on this and other stories from around the world of wrestling, as they develop. You can always count on LWOPW to be on top of the major news in the wrestling world, as well as to provide you with analysis, previews, videos, interviews, and editorials on the wrestling world.
