Kanji and Nina Samuels are on a collision course in PROGRESS Wrestling. On September 28, it comes to a head.
IN EARLY-JUNE, PWI SAT down to mediate a virtual face-off between two of British wrestling’s top women. Kanji and Nina Samuels had been goading each other for months, and the simmering tensions were threatening to boil over as summer arrived.
While the two had never been on good terms, things had gotten decidedly worse after Samuels became PROGRESS Women’s champion in December 2024. During her reign, “The Star Of The Nina Samuels Show” was accused of ducking a match with Kanji … something she denied. The rumors persisted, however, driven in no small part by Kanji herself, who was adamant that the champion was avoiding her.
During Super Strong Style 16 weekend in May, Samuels lost the championship back to Rhio. The special referee for the match? None other than Kanji. Feeling aggrieved by the loss and the manner in which it had happened, Samuels placed the blame firmly on the shoulders of Kanji. The following evening, a vengeful Samuels challenged Kanji to a Loser Leaves Progress match, which would be scheduled for July 27.
Things only escalated from there.
PROGRESS Chapter 181: Far From Ordinary People took place on June 29. PWI was on hand at a sweltering o2 Ritz in Manchester, England, to see matters heat up even more between Kanji and Samuels. In the run-up to the show, both women had agreed to “Pick Your Poison” matches, in which they would each choose the other person’s opponent at the event.
Samuels wisely selected Lana Austin to face Kanji—someone Kanji openly admitted she has struggled against throughout her career. For Samuels’ opponent, Kanji looked further West. She chose someone shaking up the American independent scene in Shotzi Blackheart. Just a month out from the Loser Leaves PROGRESS match, would either Kanji or Samuels be able to gain an upper-hand over the other?
As it turned out, no.
At PROGRESS Chapter 181, Kanji was able to finally defeat Austin in a hard-fought match. In the process, she showed her superlative submission skills that had made her a former two-time PROGRESS Women’s champion in her own right. When PWI caught up with her after the match, she was in a buoyant, but focused mood.
“I walked into that match knowing who Lana Austin is and what she was capable of,” said Kanji. “But I came out on top. I feel relieved that I’m now walking into the match with Nina with momentum on my side.”
In her match later that night, Samuels also had an impressive showing, defeating the visiting Blackheart. Any goodwill Samuels may have gained with such an impressive outing was undone after the match, as she targeted the already broken arm of Blackheart. Thankfully, Kanji was able to make the save before any further damage was done to the American.
“Shotzi was able to come in here and wrestle with a cast on,” Kanji reflected. “Knowing Nina like I do, I was keeping a close eye on the match. I have too much respect for Shotzi, and for British wrestling, to allow someone like Nina to use disgusting and horrific tactics and try and hurt her.”
As you might have expected, Samuels cared little for the fact that Blackheart wrestled the match with a broken arm.
“Is it my fault she was hurt?” Samuels asked, indignantly. “Did I force her into the match? Call her ‘ballsy’ if you want, but I call it stupid! Shotzi put herself in that position, and I’d have been the stupid one to not take advantage of it.”
When asked about how she felt after the win, Samuels paused for a moment before answering.
“I’m actually feeling quite emotional about it,” she said. “I’m emotional because we are now one step closer to our match, and Kanji has had such an amazing career in PROGRESS, and it’s going to be really sad to see that end. So, I’m sorry to all the fans that I’m going to disappoint, but ridding PROGRESS of Kanji is something that I have to do.”
The scheduled match for July 27 did not take place. After targeting an injured Shotzi Blackheart, it was with somewhat ironic karma that an injury to Samuels ended up pushing back her showdown with Kanji. It seems that time has done nothing to soothe the bad feelings, however; nor slow down the collision course the two combatants are on. With both women cleared and ready for combat, the eagerly-anticipated match will finally go down on September 28.
With the Loser Leaves PROGRESS match now only days away, PROGRESS Wrestling is poised for one of the highest stakes contests in its history, with one of its top women wrestlers poised to take a final bow.
“I know that going into this match, I’m the most confident I’ve ever felt,” said Kanji. “I’m relaxed, and, mentally, I’m 100%. I’m having the best matches of my career right now, and I’m not about to let anybody stop it. Especially Nina Samuels.”
Samuels is feeling as equally confident heading into the encounter.
“I’m on the run of my life right now,” she told PWI. “I’m the best I’ve ever been, and you saw that against Shotzi. You’re going to see it against Kanji, too. The Nina Samuels Show is going to run forever. In fact, it’s going to run longer than Raw, or Smackdown, or anything. Do you know why? Because it’s all about me. And everyone needs more Nina!”
PROGRESS Chapter 184: Camden Lock Up goes down on September 28 at the Electric Ballroom in Camden.
For more information, visit: https://progresswrestling.com
For tickets, visit: https://progresswrestling.com/tickets/
