Big Damo has captured his first PROGRESS World Championship, defeating Chris Ridgeway at their latest show!
The first show of PROGRESS’ Deadly Viper tour started this past Saturday with a shocking World Championship change as Big Damo defeated Chris Ridgeway, ending his 69-day title reign.
This marks Damo’s first championship victory in the promotion, and his first championship overall since 2017. That year, he held the NXT Tag Team Championships alongside Eric Young and Alexander Wolfe as part of SAnitY.
🍻 HISTORY HAS BEEN MADE! #ANDNEW PROGRESS WRESTLING WORLD CHAMPION BIG DAMO!
THE BIG DAMO REIGN HAS BEGUN!
🥲 INCREDIBLE SCENES HERE!
THE GUINNESS IS FLOWING TONIGHT! #Sheffield#DVT#Chapter137#BIGDAMO#PROGRESSwrestlingpic.twitter.com/y4ApaBFZeS
— PROGRESS Wrestling (@ThisIs_Progress) August 13, 2022
Big Damo, then known as Killian Dain, was released from WWE in June 2021 alongside Tony Nese, Marina Shafir, 2.0, and several others. Ever since, ‘The Beast of Belfast’ has worked for numerous indie promotions, both in the United States and the United Kingdom, as well as making appearances for AEW and NJPW.
Chris Ridgeway, meanwhile, won the vacant PROGRESS World Championship in June at Chapter 135, defeating Warren Banks in the finals of the annual Super Strong Style 16 tournament. Former champion Jonathan Gresham was stripped of the title after being disqualified in a title match against Gene Munny at Chapter 134.
Elsewhere in championship action, Luke Jacobs successfully retained the Atlas Championship in a Triple Threat match against Mark Davis and Man Like Dereiss, The Sunshine Machine defeated The Greedy Souls to remain the Tag Team Champions, and Kanji retained the PROGRESS Women’s Championship match against Laura Di Matteo.