PROGRESS Co-Owner Remarks On End Of WWE Partnership

New content from PROGRESS Wrestling and Insane Championship Wrestling will no longer be found on Peacock and WWE Network moving forward. It was revealed last week that the independent promotions' agreements with WWE had come to an end. PROGRESS co-owner, Martyn Best, has now provided some clarification on the situation. 

"In very pure terms, our contract with WWE had been completed, so in that sense, nothing caused a change – just a straightforward completion of that contract," Best told PWMania. "Huge respect for WWE, and they are clearly facing some change. While I'm curious and watch with interest, I'm not going to be so rash as to speculate how the next few months will play out. For us, a contract ended, but not the relationship."

PROGRESS, who presented their first show of the year, Chapter 148: Start Spreading the News, this past weekend in London, confirmed they are already "in discussions" with a handful of streaming platforms as they seek to find a new home for their content. The promotion has yet to disclose who those talks have been held with. As their 2023 calendar gets underway, Best is optimistic about the future.

"That WWE contract was agreed over six years ago by people no longer associated with the company, and the digital media landscape has changed dramatically, as has the wrestling scene, so we have some exciting opportunities ahead of us."

Best and fellow co-owner Lee McAteer announced they had purchased PROGRESS in December 2021. The UK-based organization is set to return to the United States to run a currently unannounced show during WrestleMania 39 weekend in Los Angeles, California.