Sometimes you attend a wrestling show, you have a good night out, but its forgotten 5 minutes after you leave the venue. Other times though you walk out knowing you have just had an experience which will live with you forever. A moment which transcends entertainment and goes beyond.
Last night, in the Dome in Tufnell Park London, I had one such experience.
For context, when I was first getting back into the British Wrestling scene in 2016, I quickly found myself drawn to a pair of wrestlers who I felt had everything. They were a charismatic tag team, with fantastic free flowing tag moves, and a cockiness which meant even as baby faces they felt like assholes.
That pair was Chris Brookes and Kid Lykos: The Calamari Catch Kings: CCK.
I followed their escapades across the country, from HOPE, to Tuesday Night Graps, but particularly in PROGRESS.
I’ve always been a fan of the psychology of tag wrestling - more so even than singles in a lot of ways - and these two guys had it all.
But then Lykos got injured, and had to retire, and Chris got the chance to move to Japan to live his dream. CCK was finished, with only a newly minted Kid Lykos II (Joe Nelson) to hold the fort.
Those of us who followed the team never quite gave up hope though. For nearly 3 years, through a pandemic and its after effects we sat and waited.
Lykos against all the odds made a comeback, returning as the dickhead heel who would arrogantly announce his BRAINBUSTAH finish was coming, only to inevitably be thwarted, usually only winning with the help of trusty sidekick Lykos II and their patented Baking Tray to the Head style of offence.
Brookes meanwhile went from strength to strength, forming CDK - the Calamari Drunk Kings - with Masa Takanashi, and winning gold in DDT.
But still that inkling remained. Lykos and Brookes both active again. Could it happen? Could we see CCK once more?
Well, that brings us at last to this year. At Super Strong Style 16 weekend its announced that Chris Brookes is coming home. 2 shows, one in Birmingham, one in London. And that was it. Surely CCK were back, we were going to finally pick up where we left off?!
And here’s the masterstroke. PROGRESS, Brookes, Lykos, they could have taken that easy way out. We could have had CCK vs CPF, or CCK vs Greedy Souls, and it would have been great fun. But it would have fallen into that first category of match I mentioned earlier - fun but forgettable.
Instead it was announced that in Birmingham we would get CDK (notably CDK not CCK) vs Lykos Gym, and that in London, at the Dome, it would be Chris Brookes Vs Kid Lykos. No Disqualification.
On September 27th 2022, at Return of the Fly they were going to go to war.
Every ounce of pent up frustration that might have been languishing inside Lykos at being left behind, the feelings of betrayal and sacrifice, all of it was going to come to a head.
Out Lykos marched, Lykos II with him, and a door ready to be smashed through emblazoned with the words FUCK CCK across the front. Boos reigned down upon him. How could he forsake the team which made him famous.
Brookes of course came out to the hero’s welcome. He got the best of the early going to, dropping Lykos around the ring multiple times, much to the crowd’s delight.
Chants of Kill The Wolf rung out across the hall.
But thats where the match kicked up from good to great in a tiny instant. Brookes, holding Lykos in place began to tear at the Wolf mask upon his former friends face.
The crowd gasps audibly, the disrespect of trying to unmask a masked wrestler is well known. Those gasps only intensified when Lykos climbed back in the ring and it very quickly became apparent that his head had been ripped open along with the mask, and was GUSHING blood.
The crowd, so firmly in Brookes’ corner from the start began to see that perhaps on this occasion that he may have gone to far - a smattering of cheers for Lykos as he defiantly flipped Chris off; a slightly larger smattering of Fuck You Chris chants as he proceeded to continue to rip the mask.
These two storytellers, who had always so clearly got it when it came to holding a crowd were proving just that.
In a matter of minutes a crowd which was 100% in favour of Brookes, morphed to 50-50, and then morphed to almost entirely 100% the other way.
With ladder bumps, table crashes, and several horrific looking thumbtack bumps, it became clear these men were not going to quit.
This wasn’t the story of a hero coming home to teach his former friend a lesson in manners.
This was instead the moment Lykos got to show the world how much he deserved the spot he has. He’s not just Chris Brookes’ best mate. He’s one of the very best wrestlers in the world.
When Lykos II offers Lykos the baking tray, telling him to finish it, and Lykos declines, only for Brookes to smash him over the head with it instead, its a moment entirely informed by years of what has come before. He doesn’t want to destroy Chris. He loves Chris and always will. But he needs to feel seen, in a relationship that has always had him appear second best.
This was a match that would draw on everything the two men have done together. It was a match where the shared history between the performers and the crowd allowed it to rise up into true art.
It would have been so easy to just do a quick buck CCK reunion tour, but by giving us this instead, it elevates both men, and elevates the company. This is the best match of the Under New Management PROGRESS era. Bar none. Its also probably the best PROGRESS match of all time if I’m honest.
For probably nigh on 40 minutes (I apologise I don’t have the exact match time), these two men put it all on the line. They showed the world why they are two of the very best storytellers that our country has ever produced.
They understand exactly what makes both characters tick, and exactly what drew the fans to each of them, and exploited every ounce of the history to execute a double turn so perfect that I honestly didn’t think it was possible.
I cannot wait to watch the match again on the Network when it drops. Its an absolute must see if you weren’t lucky enough to be in attendance.
And then, beyond it all there was the post match. With Lykos finally prevailing, the two men stare at each other. Lykos, all but unmasked (its hanging around his neck by this point), and Brookes, and Lykos asks for a mic. Before he can get half a word out though, Brookes grabs the mic: “SHUT UP LYKOS” he bellows.
One more call back, to the most famous CCK promo ever - in the lead up to their PROGRESS tag title win at Alexandra Palace.
And just like that, the two men smile. The war is over.
Brookes accepts his friend has risen to a level far above the level he was at pre-retirement. They hug, and CCK chants, Thank You Lykos chants, This is PROGRESS chants, all shower down.
Its a moment of euphoria. One day we will see CCK again - the post match reconciliation all but confirms that - but this roadblock along the way has made that eventuality all the sweeter. They had to go through each other. They had to know that the other guy still cared as much as they did. They had to know that CCK was worth fighting for. And this match told that story and so much more.
Its a masterpiece. A bonafide masterpiece.
Thank you Chris. Thank You Lykos. I love you both, and I’ll see you down the road.
