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.
In the news
The whole field has been set for PWG's annual Battle of Los Angeles tournament, including a host of Lucha Underground talent and no less than the unaging and eternal Jushin "Thunder" Liger.
Paul Heyman publicly offered Will Ospreay an Evolve contract at his one-man show in London.
Tier 1 Wrestling One Year Later... results from July 10th
Vsk over Mario Bokara
The M1nute Men (Devin Blaze & Tommy Trainwreck) over The Amazing Graysons (JP & Tommy Grayson) (Tier 1 Tag Team Championship Tournament First Round Match)
Randy Summers over CPA, Matt Macintosh, Maxwell Jacob Feinstein, Mike Dell, and Pinkie Sanchez
Mike Orlando (c) over Juba to retain the Sanctuary Heavyweight Championship
Cutthroat Kings (Joey Ace & Logan Black) over Viking War Party ("American Viking" Alexnandre Rudolph & "Littlest Viking" Jake Parnell)
JGeorge over Curt Stallion
Monkey Flip (Space Monkey & Travis Gordon) over The Closers (Brad Hollister & TK O'Ryan) (Tier 1 Tag Team Championship Tournament First Round Match)
Fred Yehi (c) over Black Baron and Jonathan Gresham (FIP World Heavyweight Championship)
The New Heavenly Bodies (Dustin & Justin Corino) over Team IOU (Kerry Awful & Nick Iggy) (Tier 1 Tag Team Championship Tournament First Round Match)
Darius Carter & Gran Akuma over Matt Riddle & Rude Boy Riley, earning Gran Akuma a Tier 1 Championship title shot against Riley at A Savior Among Us on 8/7 and guaranteeing Carter will be his first challenger if he wins.
Tier 1 Wrestling had their one year anniversary show this past Sunday night and seem to have put on a damn good show despite several last minute card changes. I haven't personally had a chance to check this one out (indeed, as of press time it hasn't gone up on VOD over at WWNLive.com yet), but as the Tier 1 roster is augmented by more and more national standouts like Fred Yehi and Matt Riddle, it becomes more and more a guaranteed shot of quality pro wrestling action.
Also JGeorge used a dog as a weapon, and where else are you gonna see that?
Premier XIII (Sunday, July 17th, at 5PM Pacific, 8PM Eastern)
Marcus Lewis vs. Tyler Bateman
Desi De Rata vs. Nicole Savoy
Alexander Hammerstone vs. Douglas James
Buddy Royal vs Levi Shapiro
Jeff Cobb vs. JR Kratos (Premier Championship #1 Contender's Match)
Raze (c) vs. Shayna Baszler (Premier Women's Championship)
Gabriel Gallo vs. the freshly crowned #1 Contender for the vacant Premier Championship
The best grappling on the west coast is back as Premier is running their 13th show this Sunday night. Injury forced Premier Champion "Soul Fighter" Joe Graves to vacate the title, but former champions Jeff "Matanza" Cobb and JR Kratos are ready to fight it out for a chance to step in and keep the title away from "The King of No Rules" Gabriel Gallo. Should be a good time either way-- Cobb is just a delight to watch toss dudes around, and Kratos and Gallo had a good match ended prematurely by stoppage back at Premier XI last year.
Premier's top-shelf women's division is also in full display as "Queen of Spades" Shayna Baszler attempts to take the Premier Women's Championship from Raze. I've really enjoyed what I've seen from Baszler previously, bringing that MMA sensibility to pro wrestling for some quality American shoot-style action. Also Heart of Shimmer Champion Nicole Savoy in action is an attraction unto herself.
Premier are streaming this one for free on their YouTube, so if you're free at 5PM Pacific on Sunday night and you want some fine grappling action, check it out.
CMLL Domingos Arena Mexico results for July 10th
Acero & Fantasy over Pequeño Nitro & Pequeño Violencia
Forastero, Maquiavelo, & Skándalo over Flyer, Pegasso, & Templario
El Terrible, Rey Bucanero, & Vangelis over Ángel de Oro, Stuka, Jr., & Titán, two falls to one
Euforia & Guerrillas of Destiny (Tama Tonga & Tanga Roa) over Diamante Azul, KUSHIDA, & Místico, two falls to one
Último Guerrero over Michael Elgin two falls to one
Normally CMLL don't even broadcast these Sunday night shows, and I usually don't write up Super Viernes, which is a more important show in the scheme of things. So what's up? Well,, presumably owing to fan demand for Guerrero/Elgin, they put this bad boy up on their YouTube for a one-dollar rental. Great deal for two hours of lucha libre!
Anyway, Elgin/Guerrero is every bit the intense HOSS action you'd want from those two dudes from the jump. Elgin playing rudo here for the legion of Arena Mexico fans who love Último Guerrero, suckering him into a lariat off the pre-match handshake and then mocking Último's trademark "raise the roof" gesture. As often happens with these matchups, the first two falls were kind of perfunctory, Último getting the first by countering the Elgin Bomb into a double leg rollup, and Elgin throwing headscissors takeovers and slingshot powerslams on his way to taking the second by way of a Falcon Arrow.
The final fall included highlights like Elgin catching Último over the barricade and just chucking him back over like a sack of potatoes, Último's trademark second rope gourdbuster and, my favorite, #BIGMIKE launching himself to the outside with a 250-pound tope con giro. Big drama towards the climax after Elgin scored a nearfall off a diving corkscrew senton and both men's faces express their emotions perfectly before Último Guerrero locked up the win with Pulpo Guerrero.
Let's have a rematch at Fantastica Mania in January, eh?
Heidi Lovelace vs. Veda Scott
Our free match this week comes to us courtesy of the fine folks over at Absolute Intense Wrestling. Heidi Lovelace defends her AIW Women's Championship against Veda Scott in a continuation of the classic struggle between punk rocker and lawyer. Truly, a war that will never end.
It's a fun, hard-hitting sprint and an excellent introduction to both women if you're unfamiliar with either of 'em. Check it out!
Beyond Wrestling Flesh (Sunday, July 17th at 2:30PM Eastern)
Beyond Wrestling will make their debut on iPPV this Sunday afternoon at 2:30PM Eastern with Flesh. Broadcasting on WWNLive.com and leading into Evolve 65, they're sure to put to their best foot forward and they've got a humdinger of a card lined up for the afternoon.
Jonathan Gresham vs. Zack Sabre, Jr.
Cards on the table, this match is about 75% of why I want to order this show. Gresham is, as I'm fond of saying, the best American technical wrestler working today who doesn't appear for a promotion Evolve's size or larger, and Zack Sabre, Jr. is, well, he's Zack Sabre, Jr. It's a dream match. Or, technically, a dream rematch, as they clashed for Beyond last month at Ripped Off in the Prime of Life. Just check out this 2-minute sample of the last one they had and tell me you don't want to see the rematch. Gresham won that match; does he have Sabre's number or was the Technical Wizard just having an off night?
Matt Riddle vs. Tommaso Ciampa (There Must Be a Winner)
...and this is the other 25%, right here. One of Ciampa's last two matches for Beyond before he steps away from indie wrestling in September and he's got a hell of a fight lined up. They went to a double disqualification at C5 back in May, and at Ripped Off in the Prime of Life, following his victory over David Starr, Riddle taunted Ciampa from the crowd. In response, the Sicilian Psychopath challenged him to come right down and have an MMA fight, to try and break his arm. Riddle backed down, but the seed was sown for this rematch. Gonna be brutal in the best way, folks.
And more!
So those two are the ones I'm super excited for, but Beyond have a host of other matches planned as well. JT Dunn takes on Kimber Lee in an intergender grudge match following up on their grueling 3 out of 5 falls match that you can watch for free on YouTube. Chris Dickinson and Pinkie Sanchez throw down for a spot in Team Pazuzu after Sanchez cost them a match against Scarlet & Graves last month. Plus trios action as Da Hit Squad (Dan "Mafia" Maff & Monsta Mack) & Brian Fury square off against the rest of Team Pazuzu, the team of EYFBO (Angel Ortiz & Mike Draztic) and Jaka, as well as a Women's Wrestling Revolution Showcase featuring LuFisto vs. Veda Scott.
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.