Welcome back to the Sermon on the Mat, your weekly one-stop shop for news from the wider world of wrestling beyond the big cable TV monoliths that get all the coverage.
Coming soon...
CMLL Super Viernes (March 10, 9:30PM Eastern)
El Sagrado & Misterioso, Jr. vs. Fuego & Soberano, Jr.
Drone, Esfinge, & Guerrero Maya, Jr. vs. Cuatrero, Forastero, & Sanson
Bobby Villa vs. Stuka, Jr. (Match Relampago)
Atlantis, Marco Corleone, & Volador, Jr. vs. La Peste Negra (Felino & Negro Casas) & Sam Adonis
Dragon Lee, El Valiente, & Místico vs. Los Guerreros Laguneros (Euforia, Niebla Roja, & Último Guerrero)
Carístico, Diamante Azul, & Máximo Sexy vs. Los Ingobernables (La Máscara, Pierroth, & Rush)
CMLL have a really good looking show lined up for us this Friday. Granted, the main event is mostly going to be built around promoting the Diamante Azul/Pierroth mask vs. mask they're running at Homenaje a Dos Leyendas, but the Laguneros trios match should be awesome, as well as Atlantis, Marco, and Volador against La Peste Negra and Sam Adonis.
Check it out, as always, free for nothin' on ClaroSports. Well, almost always, last week they forgot to take the region block off, but they spared us all a truly terrible YOSHITATSU match, so I can't be too mad. Seriously, folks, go check luchablog's writeup and gifs, it was bad.
NOVA Pro Great Expectations (March 10, 7:30 PM Eastern)
Rachael Ellering vs. Veda Scott
Joey Janela vs. Logan Easton LaRoux
Dominic Garrini vs. John Kermon
Alex Daniels vs. Rayo (Commonwealth Cup Qualifier)
Bobby Shields vs. Brandon Day vs. Ethan Alexander Sharpe vs. Ken Dixon vs. Lucas Calhoun vs. Slade Porter (Commonwealth Cup Qualifier)
Carnies (Kerry Awful & Nick Iggy) vs. Cutie and the Beast (Beau Crockett & Isaiah Santero)
Sonjay Dutt vs. Trevor Lee
Arik Royal vs. Rickey Shane Page
NOVA Pro are in Annandale, Virginia on Friday, and I'll cede the stage to my man WWORDuke to elaborate on what's goin' down--
A primer: NOVA Pro wrestling is still in its second season and is preparing to host its first ever tournament, the Commonwealth Cup, in five weeks. Entrants in the Cup are Royal, Dutt, LaRoux, plus Tracy Williams, Donovan Dijak, and the two winners here.
Royal has an open challenge for any indy wrestler to beat him in NOVA Pro, and despite facing Williams, Dijak, Chris Hero, and Fred Yehi among others, no one has yet. John Kermon is an MMA-style wrestler and wishes to face others of that style, with Garrini the first to meet the challenge.
The real story match is the tag match. Cutie and the Beast were beaten by Iggy and Awful in October. In November, the teams were on opposite sides of an elimination bout in which Crockett was pinned by Awful, who was pinned by Santero, who was pinned by fellow Carny Tripp Cassidy.
In February, all three Carnies plus Priscilla Kelly engaged in a 4-on-2 beating of Cutie and the Beast, complete with putting the gargoyle mask on an unconscious Santero. But this Friday, Cassidy and Kelly are banned from the building, so we may get the 2-on-2 rematch we’re hoping for.
So go ahead and get your tickets here or wait for the show to go up on Smart Mark Video.
(And remember, submissions are always welcome here at Sermon, if you have a local indie show coming up that you feel passionately about for a promotion that doesn't usually get time here, get me a writeup like this and I will be more than happy to slap it in.)
Shine 41 (March 10, 9PM Eastern)
ACR vs. Dynamite DiDi vs. Jayme Jameson vs. Leva Bates
Aerial Monroe vs. Priscilla Kelly
Angel Rose vs. Malia Hosaka
Candy Cartwright vs. Su Yung
Tessa Blanchard vs. Thea Trinidad
Allysin Kay vs. Mercedes Martinez
Chelsea Green & Santana (c) vs. Kennadi Brink & Vanessa Kraven (Shine Tag Team Championship)
Ivelisse vs. LuFisto (c) (Shine Championship)
Shine is back in their home base of Ybor City, Florida and just look at those top four matches. Ivelisse returns for a shot at the title she never actually lost, Santana and Brink have fill-in partners for the tag titles, and Allysin Kay and Mercedes Martinez face off in a match that has implications for the Shine Championship scene.
And, most 2017 of them all, Thea Trinidad and Tessa Blanchard go one-on-one in a match plucked straight out of Fighting With My Family. Yes, it's the film versions of AJ Lee and Paige (or, well, her stunt double, at least) having a match in a bar! Wild.
You can get tickets here, or, as always, watch live or shortly after on VOD with your FloSlam subscription, folks.
wXw 16 Carat Gold 2017 (March 10-12)
—Night One (March 10, 8PM CET)—
Ilja Dragunov vs. Robert Dreissker (16 Carat Gold 2017 First Round Match)
JT Dunn vs. Marius Al-Ani (16 Carat Gold 2017 First Round Match)
Cody Rhodes vs. Da Mack (16 Carat Gold 2017 First Round Match)
Koji Kanemoto vs. Timothy Thatcher (16 Carat Gold 2017 First Round Match)
"Bad Bones" John Klinger vs. Paul London (16 Carat Gold 2017 First Round Match)
David Starr vs. Walter (16 Carat Gold 2017 First Round Match)
ACH vs. "Speedball" Mike Bailey (16 Carat Gold 2017 First Round Match)
Donovan Dijak vs. Matt Riddle (16 Carat Gold 2017 First Round Match)
—Night Two (March 11, 6PM CET)—
Axel Dieter, Jr. (c) vs. Jurn Simmons (wXw Unified World Wrestling Championship)
—Night Three (March 12, 5PM CET)—
Alpha Kevin vs. Marius Van Beethoven (No Ropes Match)
Germany's wXw are in their home base of Oberhausen for their yearly 16 Carat Gold tournament, and honestly, I was tempted to just run something like "Kanemoto vs. Thatcher, 'nuff said!" for the blurb here. 'Cause, I mean... it's Tiger Mask III vs. the longest-reigning Evolve World Champion! Mind-blowing.
Indeed, that is a ridiculously stacked tournament field, especially if you like the grapplier end of pro wrestling as much as I do. But there's more, because although the actual bracket hasn't been announced, wXw are also running their shoot-style tournament the afternoon of the 11th. Bailey, Thatcher, Riddle, Walter, Starr, and Al-Ani are also in that field, as well as Bobby Gunns and "Mr. Athletic" Jeff Cobb! It's gonna be grapple-tastic, folks.
Tickets are largely sold out, but you have a lot of options for home consumption. wXwNOW! and Highspots Wrestling Network will carry all four shows shortly after they happen, plus FloSlam will have all three nights of 16 Carat Gold airing live on delay on March 17-19.
ACW Luck of the Irish (March 11, 6PM Eastern)
CJ O'Doyle vs. Mitch Mitchell
David Mercury & State Line (Damien Angel & Eddie Taurus) vs. the Hierarchy (Adrian Armour, Chip Day, & Murder One)
Dirty Blondes (Leo Brien & Michael Patrick) vs. Lacey Twins (Gabe & Greyson Lacey) (c) (ACW Tag Team Championship)
Omar Amir vs. Romeo Quevedo (c) (ACW Combat Championship)
Chance Champion vs. Martin Stone (c) (FIP Florida Heritage Championship)
Johann Ramzes (c) vs. Troy Hollywood (ACW Cruiserweight Championship)
Jason Cade vs. Parrow (c) (ACW Heavyweight Championship)
ACW are in Ybor City, Florida as part of WWN's triple threat weekend and they're pulling out a significant number of the stops here as a result. Headlined by an ACW Heavyweight Championship match that could have real implications on who gets sent to the elimination match for the WWN Championship at Mercury Rising, we've also got an FIP Florida Heritage Championship defense, and a guest appearance from the Hierarchy in six-man action.
Get tickets here or check it out live or after the fact on FloSlam.
AIW Girls Night Out 19 (March 11, 7:30PM Eastern)
Faye Jackson vs. Ray Lyn
Karen Q vs. Kiera Hogan
MJ Jenkins vs. Solo Darling
Penelope Ford vs. Veda Scott
LuFisto vs. Sonya Strong
Gail Kim vs. Britt Baker
Allysin Kay vs. Shayna Baszler (c) (AIW Women's Championship)
AIW are back in Cleveland for the 19th edition of their all-women supercard, Girls Night Out. Shayna Baszler defends the women's title against the AK-47 herself, Gail Kim is in action against Britt Baker, and plenty more besides.
Get your tickets here or wait for the show to go up on Smart Mark Video.
CZW Proving Grounds (March 11, 7:30PM Eastern)
Private Party (Isiah Kassidy & Marq Quen) vs. Ugly Ducklings (Lance Lude & Rob Killjoy)
Ace Austin vs. Alex Daniels vs. Greg Excellent vs. Jake Crist vs. Shane Strickland vs. Tim Donst (Scramble Match)
Dave Crist vs. Tony Deppen
Maxwell Jacob Feinstein vs. Rickey Shane Page
Alexander James vs. Sami Callihan
Conor Claxton vs. Devon Moore (Falls Count Anywhere)
Jeff Cannonball & Joey Janela vs. Father Matthew Tremont & Stockade
Dub Boys (Dave McCall & Nate Carter) vs. EYFBO (Angel Ortiz & Mike Draztic) vs. Scarlet and Graves (Dezmond Xavier & Zachary Wentz) (c) (CZW World Tag Team Championship)
Chris Dickinson vs. "Chainsaw" Joe Gacy (c) (CZW World Heavyweight Championship)
CZW are in their home base of Voorhees, New Jersey as usual, and also as usual, they've got a fine show lined up. Storylines advance as Claxton and Moore are out for each other's blood in a Falls Count Anywhere, Joey Janela looks to get his hands on Father Matthew Tremont in tag action, and the chaotic finish to last month's tag title match pays off in triple threat action.
Get your tickets here or wait for it to go up on CZW Studios.
Style Battle S1E3 (March 12, 8PM Eastern)
Anthony Henry vs. Martin Stone (Style Battle S1E3 Bracket A First Round Match)
Jason Cade vs. Kyle Matthews (Style Battle S1E3 Bracket A First Round Match)
James Drake vs. Jon Davis (Style Battle S1E3 Bracket B First Round Match)
Jon Cruz vs. Parrow (Style Battle S1E3 Bracket B First Round Match)
Style Battle S1E3 Bracket A Semifinal Match
Style Battle S1E3 Bracket B Semifinal Match
Style Battle S1E3 Finals
The third Style Battle caps off WWN's weekend in Ybor City, Florida, and this round is full of southern standouts. S1E2 runner-up Anthony Henry returns for his third tournament against Martin Stone (and one can easily imagine a win here earning him a shot at the Florida Heritage Championship), plus it's HOSS WAR as James Drake (not to be confused with James Drake) takes on Jon Davis. And there'll be a four-way ACW Tag Team Championship defense!
Get your tickets here or watch live or anytime after on FloSlam.
Free matches here!
Kimber Lee vs. LuFisto
Courtesy of the fine folks over at Beyond Wrestling, we have the Women's Wrestling Revolution showcase match from their first FloSlam show, Over-Nite Sensation. Kimber Lee and LuFisto took it hard to each other and now you can see it here, free-for-nothin'! Check it out!
Carnies (Kerry Awful & Nick Iggy) vs. Hooligans (Devon & Mason Cutter) vs. Viking War Party (Alexandre Rudolph & Jake Parnell)
Courtesy of my dudes the Carnies themselves, we have some throwback three-way action here against the Hooligans and the Viking War Party. Also check out the dolphin incident they found themselves involved in, it's a hoot.
Jason Kincaid vs. Matt Riddle
...Bro. Fresh off the presses from their recent Art of War, AAW bring us a match between two of Evolve's most exciting competitors. Don't miss it!
Results
AAW The Chaos Theory (March 4)
Scarlet and Graves (Dezmond Xavier & Zachary Wentz) over Besties in the World (Davey Vega & Mat Fitchett)
Jessicka Havok over Samantha Heights
"All Ego" Ethan Page over KRUGAR
Zero Gravity (Brett Gakiya & CJ Esparza) over Ace Perry & Paco Gonzalez and Louis Lyndon & Stephen Wolf
AR Fox over JT Dunn
Brubaker over Arik Cannon
Buck Nasty & Kody Rice over Mike Hartenbower & Space Monkey
ACH (c) over Dezmond Xavier to retain the AAW Heritage Championship
Sami Callihan (c) over Rey Fenix to retain the AAW Heavyweight Championship
AAW overcame some talent issues to keep their streak of fine-lookin' LaSalle shows running. Penta el Zero M had to bow out due to visa issues, and OI4K were kept from the show by a family problem, but with Dezmond Xavier stepping up to pull double duty and Besties in the World game to take on Scarlet and Graves, all was well in the end.
Check out the trailer and pick up the show when it drops if you like what you see, at Smart Mark or Highspots.
Scenic City Rumble (March 4)
Carnies (Kerry Awful & Nick Iggy) over Iceberg & Tank and Lynch Mob (Joey & Matt Lynch)
Kyle Matthews over Shane Marx
Stevie Fierce over Matt Knicks and Rob Matter
Anthony Henry (c) over Torque to retain the PWX World Heavyweight Championship
Sal Rinauro over Austin Theory
The Hierarchy (Adrian Armour, Chip Day, & Murder-1) over Corey Hollis, Gunner Miller, & Kevin Blue
Tank wins the Scenic City Rumble
Yes, the Strong Style Psycho prevailed over nearly thirty other men to win the first-ever Scenic City Rumble, securing himself a place in the Scenic City Invitational. But even better, his choice of first round opponent? Matt Riddle. Joining them in the first round so far are last year's winner, Gunner Miller, and a man who's been tearing up the indies, Curt Stallion.
Indie Heat Productions are hard at work preparing the show for launch, but in the meantime, you can check out Anthony Henry vs. Torque thanks to the folks over at Wrestling With Words, who got permission to Periscope the match.
Chikara Blink / The Empty Child (March 4-5)
—Blink (March 4)—
Dez Peloton (Donald Kluger & Jasper Tippins) over Los Ice Creams (El Hijo del Ice Cream & Ice Cream, Jr.)
Mark Angelosetti over Cajun Crawdad
Oleg the Usurper over Wani by disqualification
Chuck Taylor™ & DUSTIN over Solo Darling & Travis Huckabee
Ophidian over Jeremy Leary
Cornelius Crummels & Sonny Defarge (c) over the Force (Officers Bruno Meloni & Warren Barksdale) to retain the Chikara Campeonatos de Parejas
Lucas Calhoun over Hermit Crab
—The Empty Child (March 5)—
Hermit Crab over Dasher Hatfield
Merlok over Fire Ant
Jeremy Leary, Mr. Azerbaijan, & Wani over Mark Angelosetti & the Force (Officers Bruno Meloni & Warren Barksdale)
Juan Francisco de Coronado over Lucas Calhoun
Cajun Crawdad, Cornelius Crummels, Rock Lobster, & Sonny Defarge over Los Ice Creams (El Hijo del Ice Cream & Ice Cream, Jr.), Solo Darling, & Travis Huckabee
UltraMantis Black (c) over Max Smashmaster to retain the Chikara Grand Championship
Dez Peloton (Donald Kluger & Jasper Tippins) over Silverhawks 2000 (Razerhawk & Sylverhawk)
Chikara got Season 18 going with a bang, with Oleg's DQ victory coming after Kobald demanding that Oleg "fix" him, Chucks current and former coming up on three points for a tag title shot, and Hermit Crab managing an upset victory over Dasher Hatfield.
Check 'em out when they're on Chikaratopia, folks.
RPW Live at the Cockpit 14 (March 5)
Rob Lias over Kurtis Chapman
Zack Gibson over Eddie Dennis
David Starr over Bubblegum
Moustache Mountain (Trent Seven & Tyler Bate) over Revolutionists (James Castle & Sha Samuels)
Dave Mastiff over Jeff Cobb
Ryan Smile over Pete Dunne
Josh Bodom over RJ Singh
Matt Riddle over Timothy Thatcher
#CCK (Chris Brookes & Travis Banks) over Charlie Sterling & Joel Redman (c) to win the RPW Tag Team Championship
New tag champs! And Pete Dunne continues his losing streak, which is most fascinating. Plus our Bro picks up his first win against rival Timothy Thatcher, in a match that I'm sure is excellent.
Check it out on RPW On Demand.
NJPW 45th Anniversary (March 6)
Manabu Nakanishi over Tomoyuki Oka
Chaos (Gedo, Hirooki Goto, Jado, & YOSHI-HASHI) over Suzuki-gun (Davey Boy Smith, Jr., El Desperado, Minoru Suzuki, & TAKA Michinoku)
Bullet Club (Bad Luck Fale, Kenny Omega, Tama Tonga, Tanga Roa, & Yujiro Takahashi) over David Finlay, Jushin Liger, Tiger Mask IV, Togi Makabe, & Yuji Nagata
Suzuki-gun (Taichi & Yoshinobu Kanemaru) over Roppongi Vice (Beretta & Rocky Romero) (c) to win the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship)
Zack Sabre, Jr. over Katsuyori Shibata to win the RPW British Heavyweight Championship
TenCozy (Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima) over Chaos (Tomohiro Ishii & Toru Yano) (c) to win the IWGP Tag Team Championship
Los Ingobernables de Japon (BUSHI, EVIL, SANADA, & Tetsuya Naito) over Hiroshi Tanahashi, Juice Robinson, KUSHIDA, & Michael Elgin
Hiromu Takahashi (c) over Ryusuke Taguchi to retain the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship
Kazuchika Okada over Tiger Mask W
As always, when I have a recap to point you to, I'll save time and do so. But while a lot of the show was pretty standard filler, it should be noted that the big singles matches delivered, and Zack Sabre, Jr. joining Suzuki-gun as a heavyweight is pretty exciting, especially because on the show the night after, he set his sights on Hirooki Goto and his NEVER Openweight Championship. Could three belts become four?
Check it out on NJPW World, folks.
As always...
Remember folks, no matter what type of wrestling you like, no matter how down you feel about the state of WWE, TNA, ROH, or any other "big-time" pro wrestling, there's something out there for you. There's a pro wrestling product that can hit you in the right spot and make you love wrestling like you thought you'd never be able to love it again. It's there, I promise. You just gotta reach out and find it, and that, my friends, is what the Sermon on the Mat is all about.