Sermon on the Mat (Apr. 6, 2017): CMLL, Freelance, AAW, AIW, CZW, NJPW, & RevPro results;

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 (April 7, 9:30PM Eastern)

1. Acero & Aéreo vs. Mercurio & Pequeño Nitro
2. Dalys, Metalica, & Reyna Isis vs. Princesa Sugehit, Sanely, & Silueta
3. Atlantis, Diamante Azul, & Stuka, Jr. vs. Kraneo, Negro Casas, & Último Guerrero
4. Angel de Oro vs. Bárbaro Cavernario vs. Carístico vs. Dragon Lee vs. El Valiente vs. Ephesto vs. Euforia vs. Gran Guerrero vs. Hechicero vs. La Máscara vs. Máximo Sexy vs. Mephisto vs. Místico vs. Niebla Roja vs. Titán vs. Volador, Jr. (Torneo Reyes del Aire Elimination Match)

Yep, it's tournament time in Arena Mexico again! But Reyes del Aire doesn't work like CMLL's "normal" tournaments, but is rather a cibernetico-style giant elimination match, so it should be a real hoot.

Check it out as always, assuming it's not region-blocked, on ClaroSports for free.

Freelance Snakes, Why’d It Have to Be Snakes? (April 7, 9PM Central)

1. Alex Daniels vs. CB Suave vs. Chris Mayne vs. Craig Mitchell vs. Dominic Garrini vs. Joey Janela (Scramble Match)
2. Chris Castro vs. Gary Jay vs. Jake Parnell vs. Paco
3. Arik Cannon, Robert Anthony, & Space Monkey vs. Brubaker, Darin Corbin, & Matt Knicks
4. "All Ego" Ethan Page vs. Isaias Velazquez
5. Rickey Shane Page vs. Stevie Fierce
6. Matt Cage vs. Suge D
7. N-Words (Acid Jaz & Bryce Benjamin) (c) vs. Superiority Complex (Roy Gordon & Tony Nas) (Freelance Tag Team Championship)
8. Anthony Henry vs. GPA (c) (Freelance Championship)

Freelance are back in the Bottom Lounge in Chicago, Illinois, and as always, they have an excellent show lined up ahead of us. From the most thoroughly stacked Scramble in some time, to the intensely likeable RSP against the... uh... aesthetic Stevie Fierce, to Matt Cage and Suge D throwing down grudge match style, all the way to my dude Anthony Henry getting a shot at the title, well, I'm excited.

Get your tickets here or hit up the $5 stream on the website, which should go off without a hitch this time now that we're back in the Bottom Lounge.

AAW Epic (April 8, 7PM Central)

1. Chuck Taylor vs. Trevor Lee
2. ACH vs. Shane Strickland
3. John Morrison vs. Rey Fenix
4. Los Gueros del Cielo (Angelico & Jack Evans) vs. OI4K (Dave & Jake Crist) (c) (AAW Tag Team Championship)
5. AR Fox vs. Penta el Zero M (c) (AAW Heritage Championship)

AAW are celebrating their 13th anniversary in style as they make their debut at Joe's in Rosemont, Illinois. A full card hasn't been released, but the five matches we have are of the caliber you'd expect from AAW on such a monumentous occasion.

Get your tickets here or wait for the show to go up on Smart Mark Video and Highspots.

AIW House of the Rising Sun (April 8, 7:30PM Eastern)

1. Colby Redd vs. Derek Direction (Absolute Opportunity Match)
2. Matthew Justice vs. PB Smooth
3. Philly Marino Experience (Marino Tenaglia & Philly Collins) vs. Weird World (Alex Kellar & Evan Adams)
4. Dedication Personified (Brian Carson & Dr. Daniel C. Rockingham) vs. Young Studs (Bobby Beverly & Eric Ryan)
5. Kobe Durst (c) vs. Shane Sabre (A1 Alpha Male Championship)
6. Dominic Garrini vs. Jimmy Rave
7. Alex Daniels (c) vs. Space Monkey (AIW Intense Championship)

AIW are back in Mentor-on-the-Lake, Ohio with a student-heavy show, but that headliner! Garrini vs. Rave is a match that'd be worth the cost of entry anywhere you go.

Get tickets here or check it out when it goes up on Smart Mark Video, folks.

CZW Decisions (April 8, 7:30PM Eastern)

1. Alexander James vs. Greg Excellent
2. Rickey Shane Page vs. Tony Deppen
3. David Starr vs. Scorpio Sky (c) (United Television Championship)
4. Joey Janela vs. "Spider" Nate Webb
5. Danny Havoc vs. Drew Blood (Pits of Thumbtacks Deathmatch)
6. Jeff Cannonball vs. Father Matthew Tremont (Cataclysm of Barbed Wire Deathmatch)
7. Da Hit Squad (Dan Maff & Steve Mack) vs. Dub Boys (Dave McCall & Nate Carter) vs. EYFBO (Angel Ortiz & Mike Draztik) vs. Scarlet & Graves (Dezmond Xavier & Zachary Wentz) (c) (CZW World Tag Team Championship Tables, Ladders, & Chairs Match)
8. "Chainsaw" Joe Gacy (c) vs. "Blackheart" Lio Rush (CZW World Heavyweight Championship)

CZW are back in Voorhees, New Jersey, but they're not taking it easy a week after Best of the Best, they have as full a slate as you could come up with. Two deathmatches, steeped in story! Blackheart vs. Chainsaw for the world title! That wacky four-way TLC tag title match! Joey Janela taking on a veritable CZW legend!

Get your tickets here or wait for it to go up on CZW Studios.

NJPW Sakura Genesis (April 9, 3AM Eastern)

1. Bullet Club (Hangman Page, Tama Tonga, Tanga Roa, & Yujiro Takahashi) vs Tiger Mask IV, Tiger Mask W, Togi Makabe, & Yuji Nagata
2. Chaos (Beretta, Rocky Romero, & YOSHI-HASHI) vs. Suzuki-gun (El Desperado, Minoru Suzuki, & TAKA Michinoku)
3. Chaos (Jado & Gedo) vs. Suzuki-gun (Taichi & Yoshinobu Kanemaru) (c) (IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship)
4. Bullet Club (Bad Luck Fale & Kenny Omega) vs. Chaos (Tomohiro Ishii & Toru Yano)
5. Los Ingobernables de Japon (BUSHI, EVIL, SANADA, & Tetsuya Naito) vs. Taguchi Japan (Hiroshi Tanahashi, Juice Robinson, Ricochet, & Ryusuke Taguchi)
6. TenCozy (Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima) (c) vs. War Machine (Hanson & Ray Rowe) (IWGP Tag Team Championship)
7. Hirooki Goto (c) vs. Zack Sabre, Jr. (NEVER Openweight Championship)
8. Hiromu Takahashi (c) vs. KUSHIDA (IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship)
9. Katsuyori Shibata vs. Kazuchika Okada (c) (IWGP Heavyweight Championship)

Yes folks, it's Invas— er, Sakura Genesis time, and as always, New Japan are set to deliver big in April. Those top four title matches are as good a brace of killer matchups as you're likely to find on this side of the Pacific, from KUSHIDA finally getting his rematch, to HOSS WAR in the heavyweight tags, to Shibata looking to dethrone the 200 million yen project.

But maybe the one I'm looking forward to the most is Zack Sabre, Jr. adding a fourth title to his torso as he clashes with Goto for the NEVER. They're both guys who are at their best when they're fired up and aggressive, and "fired up and aggressive" is what the NEVER title is all about!

Check it out on NJPW World, folks.

RPW Live at the Cockpit 15 (April 9, 5:30PM GMT)

1. Luke Phoenix vs. Martin Stone
2. Jinny vs. Toni Storm
3. Bubblegum & Will Ospreay vs. Josh Bodom & Zack Gibson
4. #CCK (Chris Brookes & Travis Banks) vs. Ryan Smile & Shane Strickland

It's a bit light currently, but RevPro's latest show at the Cockpit is headlined by a tag team grudge match that oughta tear the house down, plus an iteration of Jinny vs. Toni Storm, which is always a hoot.

Get your tickets here or wait for it to go on RPW On Demand.

Free matches here!

Besties in the World (Davey Vega & Mat Fitchett) vs. Scarlet and Graves (Dezmond Xavier & Zachary Wentz)

Action hot off the presses from the good folks over at AAW, it's one of the deciding matches to crown new tag champs at Homecoming last month. Former champs Besties in the World square off against Scarlet and Graves, enjoy!

Alexxis & Taeler Hendrix vs. PAWG (Jordynne Grace & LuFisto)

Thanks to the fine folks over at Women's Wrestling Revolution, we have a tag team showcase from Beyond Wrestling in January. PAWG are two-on-two against Alexxis & Hendrix, check it out!

Dominic Garrini vs. Martin Stone

From Punk Pro Wrestling, this one is REALLY hot off the presses from Punk Pro Wrestling's second WrestleMania weekend show. Two elite technical grapplers clash, and you don't want to miss out, do you?

Results

So, I'm going to go ahead and skip over the WWN More Than Mania shows entirely this week, since we did recaps for several and live results for all of them. You can just go ahead here and check 'em out that way if you'd like to catch up.

RPW WrestleCon (March 31)

1. Jay White over Sami Callihan
2. Martin Stone over Jeff Cobb
3. Gideon Grey over Hornswoggle
4. Marty Scurll over Ricochet
5. Josh Bodom over David Starr
6. Will Ospreay over Rey Fenix
7. Ryan Smile & Shane Strickland over Unbreakable F'n Machines (Brian Cage & Michael Elgin)
8. Zack Sabre, Jr. (c) over Penta el Zero M to retain the RPW British Heavyweight Championship

Not a lot to say about this one, but it's another all-star WrestleMania weekend show.

Check it out on RPW On Demand, where it went up with remarkable speed.

WrestleCon Supershow (March 31)

1. ACH, Mascarita Dorada, & Michael Elgin over Caleb Konley, David Starr, & Trevor Lee
2. Low-Ki over Shane Strickland
3. Bobby Lashley (c) over Jeff Cobb to retain the TNA World Heavyweight Championship
4. Los Gueros del Cielo (Angelico & Jack Evans) over Sammy Guevara & Travis "Flip" Gordon
5. Team Ricochet (AR Fox, Dezmond Xavier, Jason Cade, Ricochet, & Sami Callihan) over Team Ospreay (Drew Galloway, Lio Rush, Marty Scurll, Ryan Smile, & Will Ospreay)
6. Hornswoggle over 2 Cold Scorpio, Abyss, Billy Gunn, Colt Cabana, Gangrel, George South, Hurricane Helms, "Manscout" Jake Manning, Joey Ryan (c), Kevin Thorn, Kikutaro, Marty Jannetty, Matt Striker, Moose, Mr. Hughes, Shane Douglas, Shannon Moore, Suicide, and Zane Riley, ultimately winning the DDT Ironman Heavymetalweight Championship (Staggered-Entry Battle Royal)
7. Joey Ryan over Hornswoggle (c) to win the DDT Ironman Heavymetalweight Championship
8. Sandman over Joey Ryan (c) to win the DDT Ironman Heavymetalweight Championship
9. Brian Cage over Johnny Mundo (Tables, Ladders, and Chairs Match)
10. Broken Hardyz (Broken Matt & Brother Nero) over Lucha Brothers (Penta el Zero M & Rey Fenix)

WrestleCon's annual supershow was, surprise, another solid Mania weekend outing. The absolute highlight was that ten man tag, especially with Jason Cade getting the pin, but the battle royal was a boatload of fun as well, and contained two title changes within itself, as Matt Striker, disguised, stole the title from Ryan only to be immediately eliminated.

And who doesn't like watching the Hardyz go at it with Fenix and Penta, especially knowing now that it was the Boyz' last match before returning to WWE and winning the tag titles?

Check it out on Highspots Wrestling Network, where, like all their shows this week, a live edit went up with astounding speed.

Chikara Turn Left / Bad Wolf (March 31 - April 1)

—Turn Left (March 31)—

1. Xyberhawx 2000 (Razerhawk & Sylverhawk) over the Closers (Rick Roland & Sloan Caprice)
2. Oleg the Usurper over Race Jaxon
3. Legion of Rot (Frightmare & Hallowicked) over Missile Assault Man & Silver Ant
4. UltraMantis Black over Grado
5. The Furies (Fire Ant, Icarus, Ophidian, Solo Darling, & Travis Huckabee) over Cajun Crawdad, Hermit Crab, Juan Francisco de Coronado, Merlok, & Wani
6. Cornelius Crummels & Sonny Defarge (c) over Chuck Taylor™ & DUSTIN to retain the Chikara Campeonatos de Parejas
7. Space Monkey over Jeremy Leary

—Bad Wolf (April 1)—

1. Team Sea Stars (Ashley Vox & Delmi Exo) & Obariyon over Cajun Crawdad, Hermit Crab, & Merlok
2. Jeremy Leary over Ophidian
3. Wani over Space Monkey (c) to win the Chikara Young Lions Cup
4. Zack Sabre, Jr. over “Lightning” Mike Quackenbush
5. Missile Assault Man over Kobald
6. The Colony (Fire & Silver Ants) over Legion of Rot (Frightmare & Hallowicked), Los Ice Creams (El Hijo del Ice Cream & Ice Cream, Jr.), and Solo Darling & Travis Huckabee (Elimination Tag Team Match)
7. Juan Francisco de Coronado over UltraMantis Black (c) to win the Chikara Grand Championship

Chikara made some big moves, huh! Juan Francisco de Coronado dethroning UltraMantis Black not two months after we learned he won the Grand Championship during the secret season, and that's just the tip of the iceberg, as Zack Sabre, Jr. needed an opponent after Max Smashmaster proved unavailable.

So Mike Quackenbush laced the boots up and came out of retirement once again for one night only against one of the best technical wrestlers in the world! (When we getting a Timothy Thatcher match out of you, Quack? I can wait.)

Check 'em out when they go up on Chikaratopia, folks.

Wrestling Revolver Pancakes & Piledrivers (April 1)

1. Jeff Cobb over David Starr
2. Palmer over ACH, Dezmond Xavier, Michael Elgin, and Moose
3. Eddie Kingston over KRUGAR (No Disqualification Match)
4. Los Gueros del Cielo (Angelico & Jack Evans) over OI4K (Dave & Jake Crist) (Fans Bring the Presents Match)
5. Ricochet over Shane Strickland
6. "Manscout" Jake Manning over Su Yung
7. Lucha Brothers (Penta el Zero M & Rey Fenix) over Twins (Brian Cage & Sami Callihan)
8. Jason Cade over AR Fox, Arik Cannon, Caleb Konley, Davey Vega, Joey Janela, Lio Rush, Serpentico, Trevor Lee, Trey Miguel, and Zachary Wentz to win the Open Invite Scramble Championship (AR Fox Open Invitational Ladder Match)

Pancakes and Piledrivers delivered on both fronts! Pancakes came into play aplenty in the very fun Fans Bring the Presents Match, where Dave Crist jammed them in Angelico & Evans' mouths as a submission hold, and piledrivers, well, it's an indie show in 2017. There were piledrivers.

Eddie Kingston and the erstwhile Adam Rose went to war with each other, Ricochet and Strickland tore the house down in a generational battle of the high flyers, the Lucha Underground tag match was wild, and of course, that eleven man tag match was exactly as crazy as you hope it would be.

But for me, the highlight of the night was the battle of the sexes between Yung and Manning. From Jake taking what could be a played-out misogynistic heel gimmick and taking it into fun absurdity by coming to the ring with Eddy McQueen to prove that men are better than women in every regard, even in terms of generating "feminine sexual energy" to a wild apron powerbomb to the finishing piledriver into a stack of pancakes, it was a hoot and a half.

Check it out on Highspots Wrestling Network, where it went up VERY quickly.

WrestleCon Women’s Supershow (April 1)

1. Thunder Rosa over Indi Hartwell
2. Angel Rose over Renee Michelle and Samantha Heights
3. Kellyanne over Hudson Envy
4. Lucha Sisters (Leva Bates & Mia Yim) over Eddy McQueen & Jamie Senegal, Jessicka Havok & Nevaeh, and Sexy Young Caramels (Devyn Nicole & Savannah Evans)
5. Kennadi Brink over Jazz
6. Alexxis & Allie over Kiera Hogan & Tessa Blanchard
7. Shayna Baszler over Joey Ryan (c) to win the DDT Ironman Heavymetalweight Championship
8. Gabi Castrovinci & Santana Garrett over Chelsea Green & Taeler Hendrix
9. Su Yung over Taya Valkyrie

The WrestleCon Women's Supershow started off slow but by the time we got to Brink/Jazz, things heated up. That one was a very fun veteran vs. younger talent match that featured a lot of trash talk, Allie Allie'd it up for maximum sympathy opposite Hogan and Blanchard, and Su Yung had a solid example of one of her trademark brawls with Taya Valkyrie.

But the best match on the card-- you may have spotted this coming-- was Baszler/Ryan. The interplay between their characters was exactly as electric as you would hope. My favorite spot here was when Joey went for the Boobplex, Shayna slipped out of the clutch, went behind, pumphandled Joey's hand to his crotch, made him suplex himself with his own dick, and then locked on about five holds in quick succession, just to show that she was in charge. It was a real hoot, folks.

Check it out on the Highspots Wrestling Network, who worked incredibly hard to make sure all their Mania weekend shows went up ASAP.

CZW Best of the Best 16 (April 1)

1. Shane Strickland over Dezmond Xavier, Joey Janela, and Lio Rush (Best of the Best 16 First Round Match)
2. AR Fox over David Starr, Jason Cade, and Ricochet (Best of the Best 16 First Round Match)
3. Michael Elgin over Anthony Henry, Scorpio Sky, and Zachary Wentz (Best of the Best 16 First Round Match)
4. Dave Crist over Jake Crist, Rey Fenix, and Sami Callihan (Best of the Best 16 First Round Match)
5. "Chainsaw" Joe Gacy (c) over Brian Cage to retain the CZW World Heavyweight Championship
6. Rickey Shane Page over Ace Austin, Alexander James, Caleb Konley, Ethan Case, Mascarita Dorada, Tony Deppen, and Travis "Flip" Gordon (Ultimate Opportunity Scramble Match)
7. Dave Crist over Michael Elgin (Best of the Best 16 Semifinal Match)
8. Shane Strickland over AR Fox (Best of the Best 16 Semifinal Match)
9. Father Matthew Tremont over Penta el Zero M (Anything Goes Match)
10. Dave Crist over Shane Strickland (Best of the Best 16 Finals)

CZW Best of the Best was a real hoot. The first round matches were all beautiful chaos, Crist/Elgin was a hell of a brawl, Strickland/Fox an exhibition of flips, and Tremont/Penta bloody war with a bonus of Kevin Sullivan as guest referee! Plus epic back and forth action in the finals, and it was a good time all around.

Check it out on CZW Studios, folks.

Wrestling Revolver / WrestleCircus Midnight-ish After Mania (April 3)

1. Brian Cage (c) over Dezmond Xavier to retain the Ringmaster Championship
2. ACH over Martin Stone
3. Michael Elgin over Shane Strickland
4. Rachael Ellering (c) over Angel Rose to retain the Lady of the Ring Championship
5. World's Cutest Tag Team (Candice LeRae & Joey Ryan) over Death Machine (Jessicka Havok & Sami Callihan)
6. "Manscout" Jake Manning over Leva Bates
7. Team WrestleCircus (Aaron Solow, Boone the Bounty Hunter, Ricky Starks, & Sammy Guevara) over Team Wrestling Revolver (Curt Stallion, Dave Crist, David Starr, & Zachary Wentz)
8. AR Fox over Andy Dalton, Caleb Konley, Davey Vega, Jason Cade (c) Jordan Len-X, Lio Rush, Mascarita Dorada, Matt Palmer, Mr. 450, Rickey Shane Page, Scorpio Sky, Suicide Tessa Blanchard, Trey Miguel, and Willie Mack to win the Sideshow Championship and the Open Invite Scramble Championship (Elimination Match)
9. AR Fox (c) over Moose to retain the Sideshow Championship and the Open Invite Scramble Championship.

As you can see, despite being put together relatively late and taking place literally after WrestleMania, WrestleCircus and Wrestling Revolver managed to put on a pretty complete show, with defenses of three out of the four titles recognized by the Circus.

And yes, John Morrison did wrestle as the title character from his new movie.

Check it out on WrestleCircus' VOD service, 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.