Yesterday saw the return of one of the UK’s premiere independent wrestling promotions Progress, returning to action with the Natural Progression series and whilst the show was a success with plenty of positive reactions to the event, it was not unanimously met with a positive reaction with a selection of British Wrestling fans asking questions over Paul Robinson’s continued association with the company.
Prior to the event kick off Progress released a statement regarding their Covid protocol measures as well as details regarding their safeguarding policies following the speaking out movement.
Update 20th February 2021
Whilst we are very excited to share with you Chapter 104 we wanted to take this opportunity to explain how this show came into being.
The venue used was Theatre Peckham in London and these tapings occurred in late January of this year. Adam Burns from Theatre Peckham had this to say about the venue:
“Arguably London’s first Covid-secure venue, Theatre Peckham prides itself on its safety record and is delighted to host Progress Wrestling, who share our values and commitment to providing a covid safe filming location.”
All PROGRESS talent and crew were tested, monitored and bubbled by an independent COVID testing organisation on top of the COVID proofing provided by the venue and their staff.
The production was carried out in accordance with all local and national governmental laws and regulations.
In accordance with our policies we had paramedics, a sports therapist and a safeguarding officer on site and socially distanced dressing rooms with female talent in a separate dressing room and their own space to prepare for their matches.
With regards those on site, both talent and crew were subject to our screening process. They all passed our Safer Vetting Procedure, which has been approved by the Ann Craft Trust and further ratified by Equity. This procedure is broken down further through our legal documentation but involves everyone being DBS checked and agreeing to abide by all our policies going forward. This is a constantly monitored situation so please do make us aware of new information. If you had things to share that are evidential of criminal activity please also contact your local police force.
The talent were communicated to before, during and after the show and, to a person, were happy with the protocols, the safety and everyone else who was on site. Nobody presented any issues with choice of personnel they were working with in or out of the ring. Feedback was that it was the nicest environment people had ever experienced on numerous occasions. With that said this is a constantly monitored situation so please do make us aware of any new information that you may have.
We are a very small team, and by extension, won’t always be immediately able to respond to things online so actively encourage you to email any concerns you have to [email protected]. Please use considerate dialogue as all of us at PROGRESS working have a shared desire to bring about positive change and we are just human beings trying to do the right thing. For the many people who have contacted us privately positively, thank you.
We will continue to do everything we can to bring wrestling to you safely.
We hope you enjoy the show,
Team PROGRESS
Statement Released by Progress on Their myshopify Webpage
However the statement was not well received by some wrestling fans, who were quick to ask questions over the involvement of current Progress Proteus Champion, Paul Robinson. Robinson was named as part of series of speaking out stories by a twitter user using the handle @mystickttn, who released series of speaking out stories regarding the IPW promotion, that included names such Daniel Kern, Marty Scurll, James Davis, No Fun Dunne and Paul Robinson.
Although the original poster would add a note that the actions of Paul Robinson were not as servre as many of the other stories but the fact that he still entered a relationship with a Minor (16) was still wrong. The original poster was forced to close down her twitter account due to abusive messages from a section of wrestling fans.
Even fellow British Wrestling promotion Wrestle Island voiced their disappointment at Progress for not responding and choosing to stay quiet when being asked questions, noting that all the new safe guarding policies are useless if we continue to turn a blind eye to those accused.
Progress return again next week with chapter 105, “Bring The Thunder which will feature the first ever women’s Thunderbastard match as well as the conclusion of the Natural Progression Series.
We Have reached out to Progress for a comment.
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