Sermon on the Mat (June 15, 2017): CMLL, PWG, Style Battle, AAW, FIP, NYWC, PWR, Chikara, & Lucha Forever cards

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 (June 16, 9:30PM Eastern)

1. Magia Blanca & Sangre Imperial vs. Raziel & Virus
2. Drone, Guerrero Maya, Jr., & Stuka, Jr. vs. Los Revolucionarios del Terror (Dragon Rojo & Polvora) & Misterioso, Jr.
3. El Terrible, Shocker, & Vangellys vs. Kraneo & Los Ingobernables (Pierroth & Rush)
4. Barbaro Cavernario vs. Dragon Lee (Lightning Match)
5. Angel de Oro, Diamante Azul, & Niebla Roja vs. Los Guerreros Laguneros (Euforia & Gran Guerrero) & Negro Casas
6. Caristico & Soberano vs. Sanson & Ultimo Guerrero (Torneo de la Gran Alternativa Finals)

CMLL polish off their veteran/rookie tag tournament with a rematch of the Copa Jr. Nuevo Valores finals. There Soberano picked up the win, but in tag team action with the mighty Ultimo Guerrero at his side, there's every possibility Sanson evens the score. Plus a pretty sweet undercard featuring a top-shelf lightning match and it looks like a fine Friday night for lucha libre action.

Check it out, as always unless they forget to take the region lock off again, free for nothing on ClaroSports.

PWG Man on the Silver Mountain (June 16, 8PM Pacific)

1. Dezmond Xavier vs. Jake Crist vs. Jason Cade
2. Keith Lee vs. Lio Rush
3. Jeff Cobb vs. Trent?
4. Chuck Taylor vs. Trevor Lee
5. Unbreakable F'n Machines (Brian Cage & Michael Elgin) vs. War Machine (Hanson & Ray Rowe)
6. Matt Sydal vs. Sami Callihan
7. Leaders of the New School (Marty Scurll & Zack Sabre, Jr.) vs. reDRagon (Bobby Fish & Kyle O'Reilly)

PWG are back in Reseda with their usual bag of goodies that doesn't require a whole hell of a lot of salesmanship from me. But hey, let's do it anyway-- Jason Cade makes his debut, Keith and Lio reprise their barnburner from Joey Janela's Spring Break, it's Space Cat vs. Peruvian Jaguar as Callihan and Sydal do battle, and those two dream tag team matches, my word.

Tickets, as always, sold out basically immediately, and you'll have to wait for the DVD if you want to see this bad boy.

Style Battle S1E5 (June 16, 9PM Eastern)

1. Fred Yehi vs. Maxwell Jacob Friedman (Style Battle S1E5 Bracket A First Round Match)
2. Francisco Ciatso vs. Teddy Stigma (Style Battle S1E5 Bracket A First Round Match)
3. Anthony Henry vs. Matt Tremont (Style Battle S1E5 Bracket B First Round Match)
4. Jimmy Lloyd vs. Joey Janela (Style Battle S1E5 Bracket B First Round Match)
5. AR Fox vs. ??? vs. ??? vs. ??? vs. ??? vs. ??? (Six Man Mayhem)
6. Martin Stone vs. Matt Riddle (c) WWN Championship
7. Style Battle S1E5 Bracket A Semifinal Match
8. Style Battle S1E5 Bracket B Semifinal Match
9. Style Battle S1E5 Final Match

Style Battle are back in Ybor City, Florida and they've brought some, ah, ultraviolent guests to the World Wrestling Network! Matt Tremont, Jimmy Lloyd, Joey Janela and MJF all make their debuts as Anthony Henry seeks to prove that Gabe Sapolsky was right to give him one last shot by winning the tournament.

Plus Matt Riddle defends his WWN Championship against the Guv'nor and a scramble featuring AR Fox and his students from the WWA4 Academy!

Get your tickets here or check it out on FloSlam, live or on VOD.

AAW Killers Among Us (June 17, 7:30PM Central)

1. Chuck Taylor vs. Davey Vega vs. Jake Crist vs. Paco
2. ACH vs. Garza, Jr.
3. Myron Reed, Stephen Wolf, & Trey Miguel vs. Scarlet and Graves (Dezmond Xavier & Zachary Wentz) & Zema Ion
4. Mat Fitchett vs. Zack Sabre, Jr.
5. Abyss vs. Low-Ki
6. Eddie Kingston vs. Jeff Cobb
7. reDRagon (Bobby Fish & Kyle O'Reilly) vs. War Machine (Hanson & Ray Rowe)
8. Brian Cage vs. John Morrison
9. Penta el Zero M (c) vs. Trevor Lee (AAW Heritage Championship)
10. Michael Elgin vs. Sami Callihan (c) (AAW Heavyweight Championship)

AAW are back in Merrionette Park, Illinois, and it's like a PWG hangover, there's so much overlap! But with a heaping helping of more local flavor and titles on the line. Rather than blather on here, I'm just gonna go ahead and link the official video preview, folks.

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

FIP In Full Force 2017 (June 17, 6PM Eastern)

1. Aria Blake vs. Priscilla Kelly
2. Matt Tremont vs. Teddy Stigma
3. Anthony Henry vs. Maxwell Jacob Friedman
4. AR Fox vs. Martin Stone
5. Fred Yehi (c) vs. Joey Janela (FIP World Heavyweight Championship)
6. Jon Davis vs. Matt Riddle (c) (WWN Championship)

FIP closes the double shot in Ybor City out with an equally monumentous show. TPK and Blake look to settle their score once and for all, Tremont and Stigma stand ready to get violent, MJF is looking to claim Dontay Brown's bounty on Henry, the Hooligans return to defend their tag titles, Jon Davis takes a shot at the WWN Championship (if Riddle retains against Stone the night before) and, most exciting of all, after holding the FIP title for over a year, Fred Yehi puts it on the line against the Bad Boy!

Get your tickets here or check it out on FloSlam, live or on VOD.

NYWC A Matter of Pride Vol. 2 (June 17, 4PM Eastern)

1. Billy Dixon vs. El Elemento
2. Candy Cartwright vs. Megan Mason
3. Ashton Starr vs. Sonny Kiss
4. Eddy McQueen vs. Jamie Senegal
5. Keita Murray vs. Tommy Purr (Skin 2 Win Match)
6. Alicia & Brittney Savage vs. Milk Chocolate (Brandon Watts & Randy Summers)
7. Alex Reynolds vs. Rex Lawless (NYWC Championship #1 Contender's Match)
8. Maria Manic vs. Rick Cataldo
9. Tina San Antonio vs. Willow Nightingale (c) (NYWC Starlet Championship)

New York Wrestling Connection have a double-header in Deer Park on Saturday, and the evening show, Going the Distance, surely has its merits, featuring the likes of "Hot Sauce" Tracy Williams and Devon Moore (assuming he’s good to go after the spill he took at TOD), but given that I don’t follow NYWC very closely, I want to focus on the afternoon show here, because they’re doing something special.

Yes, folks, A Matter of Pride, NYWC's LGBT pride event returns! Not everyone on the card falls under the LGBT umbrella, but it's still pretty cool to see a wrestling promotion shine a spotlight like this, and that it's now yearly? Even better.

Get your tickets here or wait for the VOD to go up on NYWC Archives.

PWR Revolution XI (June 17, 7PM Pacific)

1. Eki Sol vs. Zucarita
2. El Prostipirugolfo & Jungle Boy vs. La Migra (JR Kratos & Nick Ruiz)
3. Mr. Primetime vs. Pantera, Jr.
4. Arkady Fedorov & Papo Esco vs. Chico Lopez & El Dinamita
5. Grapplers (Grappler III & Grappler VI) vs. Kikutaro & Ultimo Panda
6. Falco vs. Meteoro vs. Rey Bucanero vs. Vaquero Fantasma
7. Juventud Guerrera vs. El Heredero Rey Misterio

Pro Wrestling Revolution are back with a dose of northern California (Gridley, to be precise) lucha libre. With Juventud continuing his career-long feud against the Misterio family on top against 28-year-old El Heredero Rey Misterio, you know you're in for some fun.

Get your tickets here or check it out on FloSlam, live or on VOD.

Chikara Johnny Kidd Invitational (June 18, 1PM Eastern)

1. Rory Gulak vs. Travis Huckabee (Johnny Kidd Invitational First Round Match)
2. James Mason vs. Juan Francisco de Coronado (Johnny Kidd Invitational First Round Match)
3. Hallowicked vs. Matt Riddle (Johnny Kidd Invitational First Round Match)
4. Mike Quackenbush vs. Zack Sabre, Jr. (Johnny Kidd Invitational First Round Match)
5. Johnny Kidd Invitational Semifinals & Finals

Chikara are back in the Wrestle Factory in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania again and they have a doozy of a special show lined up! To celebrate UK grappling legend Johnny Kidd, they've collected eight of the finest grapplers around for a one day single elimination tournament.

The crown jewel of the first round is the rematch between Quackenbush and Sabre, but that's not all they've got that's super exciting, as Matt Riddle makes his Chikara debut against former Grand Champion Hallowicked! And what's more, two stars from New Japan Pro Wrestling will make their Chikara debuts in non-tournament action!

Get your tickets here or check it out when it hits Chikaratopia, but don't miss it, folks.

Lucha Forever All Rise (June 18, 5PM GMT)

1. Jinny vs. Mia Yim
2. Kip Sabian vs. "Flash" Morgan Webster
3. El Motho & FSU (Eddie Dennis & Mark Andrews) vs. Mike Bird, Sierra Loxton, & Wild Boar (Lucha Forever Trios Championship Qualifying Match)
4. #CCK (Chris Brookes & Kid Lykos) (c) vs. Swords of Essex (Paul Robinson & Will Ospreay) (CZW World Tag Team Championship)
5. Mark Haskins vs. Shane Strickland vs. Travis Banks (c) (Lucha Forever Championship Ladder Match)

Lucha Forever finally get to their second originally scheduled event and boy have things exploded along the way. It's a strong lineup, as Jinny takes on Mia Yim, we have a trios qualifier that definitely doesn't have Session Moth Martina in it, Paul Robinson returns for one night only to have a crack at winning the CZW tag titles, and Travis Banks defends in a three-way ladder match.

Tickets are sold out, but the show will be up on Lucha Forever On Demand soon enough.

Free matches here!

Drake Younger vs. Jimmy Havoc

Starting off with a blast from the past courtesy of IPW:UK. Current NXT head ref Drake Wuertz in his Younger days goes head to head with Tournament of Death winner Jimmy Havoc in a beautiful display of no disqualification violence. Check it out!

Joe Coffey vs. Pete Dunne

Back to the present day with the fine folks over at ICW in Scotland. Joe Coffey puts his world championship on the line against Progress World and WWE UK Champion Pete Dunne. Enjoy!

Lucha Memes & MDA (June 4, 2017)

It's complete show time! Lucha Memes' show from last weekend in Arena Puebla has been put up free for nothin' from the fine folks over at +Lucha TV. Featuring Ultimo Dragon vs. Ultimo Guerrero, Hechicero vs. Satanico, and Blue Panther & Octagon challenging Black Terry & Negro Navarro for CMLL's Arena Coliseo Tag Team Championship, don't miss it!

Results

Chikara Hide (June 10)

1. Kenbai over Kobald
2. Cajun Crawdad & Hermit Crab over the Throwbacks (Dasher Hatfield & Mark Angelosetti)
3. Sylverhawk (c) over Cornelius Crummels to retain the Chikara Young Lions Cup
4. Frightmare over Silver Ant
5. Furies (Fire Ant, Ophidian, Solo Darling, & Travis Huckabee) over Chuck Taylor™, DUSTIN, & Los Ice Creams (El Hijo del Ice Cream & Ice Cream, Jr.)
6. Juan Francisco de Coronado (c) over Obariyon to retain the Chikara Grand Championship
7. Dez Peloton (Donald Kluger & Jasper Tippins) & Officer Warren Barksdale over Rick Roland, Sonny Defarge, & the Whisper

The big news coming out of Hide is the Johnny Kidd Invitational mentioned above, but the show itself was full of Chikara's trademark action, to be sure. Hermit Crab's winning streak over Dasher continued in tag form, Frightmare crippled Silver Ant by ripping his antennae off en route to victory, and the Whisper played mind games with Ophidian, leaving him with a mask in hand that left the snakeman quite disturbed indeed.

Check it out on Chikaratopia.

CZW Tournament of Death 16 (June 10)

1. Jeff Cannonball over G-Raver (Tournament of Death First Round Cinder Blocks and Light Tubes Deathmatch)
2. Conor Claxton over Clint Margera (Tournament of Death First Round Barbed Wire Craziness Deathmatch)
3. Masada over SHLAK (Tournament of Death First Round Doorway to Death Deathmatch)
4. Jimmy Havoc over John Wayne Murdoch and Rickey Shane Page (Tournament of Death First Round Pains in the Glass Deathmatch)
5. Dan O'Hare over George Gatton, Jimmy Lloyd, and Kit Osbourne (Four Corners of Pain Deathmatch)
6. Conor Claxton over Jeff Cannonball (Tournament of Death Semifinal Summertime Fun Deathmatch)
7. Jimmy Havoc over Masada (Tournament of Death Semifinal Light Tube Treachery Deathmatch)
8. Father Matthew Tremont over Mad Man Pondo (Fans Bring the Weapons Deathmatch)
9. Alex Colon & Danny Havoc over Kit Osbourne & Notorious, Inc. (Devon Moore & Drew Blood) (Scaffold Match)
10. Jimmy Havoc over Conor Claxton (Tournament of Death Finals No Mat No Rope Barbed Wire Light Tube Madness Deathmatch)

Tournament of Death has come and gone and all you need to know is Jimmy, Jimmy, Jimmy f@#$in' Havoc! The King of the Goths (who, for maximum 2017 absurdity I'll remind you wrestled for WWE at WrestleMania Axxess this year) swept the tournament over Conor Claxton in the finals, but the Wrench didn't take things sitting down, attacking Jimmy after their match and banging the trophy up but good.

In other news from the show, Father Tremont continued cutting a path through deathmatch legends on his way to his match against Atsushi Onita in August, prevailing over Pondo despite taking a reciprocating saw with a barbed wire dildo for a blade to the backside, and after crushing Kit Osbourne (a mid-match replacement for Devon Moore after Moore landed badly on his leg jumping off the scaffold) with an elbow drop through tubes and a glass-covered table, Danny Havoc teased retirement, setting up a final match against Alex Colon in September.

Check out highlights here, but best of all, you can already watch the rough cut over at CZW Studios!

NOVA Pro Hi Fidelity (June 10)

1. Cabana Man Dan (c) over Donnie Primetime to retain the Pro-South All Out Championship
2. Brandon Greene & Ethan Alexander Sharpe over AC Hawx & Matty Starr
3. John Kermon over Fred Yehi
4. Carnies (Beau Crockett, Kerry Awful, & Nick Iggy) over Lucas Calhoun & Sandwich Squad (Aaron Biggs & Mecha Mercenary)
5. Faye Jackson & Jordynne Grace over Allie Kat & Veda Scott
6. Tim Donst over Anthony Henry
7. Arik Royal over Sugar Dunkerton
8. Angelus Layne over Rachael Ellering
9. Chet Sterling (c) over Bobby Shields, Logan Easton LaRoux, and Sonjay Dutt to retain the PWI Ultra J Championship

I'm only listing out results for the evening NOVA Pro card here, but you're in luck, as once again our man on the scene Duke has written an excellent recap of all the proceedings, which you can check out right here.

Get the show when it goes up on Smart Mark Video.

NJPW Dominion (June 11)

1. David Finlay, Shota Umino, & Tomoyuki Oka over Hirai Kawato, Katsuya Kitamura, & Tetsuhiro Yagi
2. Tiger Mask IV, Tiger Mask W, Togi Makabe, & Yuji Nagata over Jushin Liger, Manabu Nakanishi, & TenCozy (Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima)
3. Los Ingobernables de Japon (BUSHI, EVIL, & SANADA) (c) over Bullet Club (Bad Luck Fale, Hangman Page, & Yujiro Takahashi), Chaos (Tomohiro Ishii, Toru Yano, & YOSHI-HASHI), Suzuki-gun (Taichi, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, & Zack Sabre, Jr.), and Taguchi Japan (Juice Robinson, Ricochet, & Ryusuke Taguchi) to retain the NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship
4. Young Bucks (Matt & Nick Jackson) over Roppongi Vice (Beretta & Rocky Romero) (c) to win the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship
5. Guerrillas of Destiny (Tama Tonga & Tanga Roa) over War Machine (Hanson & Ray Rowe) (c) to win the IWGP Tag Team Championship
6. Cody Rhodes over Michael Elgin
7. KUSHIDA over Hiromu Takahashi (c) to win the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship
8. Minoru Suzuki (c) over Hirooki Goto to retain the NEVER Openweight Championship (Lumberjack Match)
9. Hiroshi Tanahashi over Tetsuya Naito (c) to win the IWGP Intercontinental Championship
10. Kazuchika Okada (c) vs. Kenny Omega went to a time-limit draw for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship

As always, when there's a recap I can point you to, I'll keep it short and sweet here in Sermon. While the last couple matches fell flat for me in a variety of ways, they certainly didn't for a lot of people, and the junior heavyweights stepped up and delivered a pair of killer title matches that everybody can agree on.

Check it out on NJPW World.

Powerbomb.tv Break the Barrier 2017 (June 11)

1. Brute VanSlyke (c) over Stevie Shields to retain the GSW Adrenaline Championship
2. John Silver over "Hot Sauce" Tracy Williams
3. Buxx Belmar over Joey Janela
4. Penelope Ford over Renee Michelle
5. Desean Pratt over Ophidian
6. Jeff King over Dasher Hatfield
7. Carnies (Kerry Awful & Nick Iggy) over the Monarchy (Baron Black & Prince Apollo)
8. El Felino & Puma over Guerrero Maya, Jr. & Skayde
9. Colt Cabana over Orange Cassidy
10. Fly Warrior over Chuck Taylor, Jigsaw, and Kenbai

Powerbomb.tv's resurrection of the Break the Barrier name was absolutely worthy of it, presenting a very good show with a crisp clear live stream. The highlight of the night was the lucha tag, featuring 53-year-old Felino dropping 52-year-old Skayde with an avalanche powerbomb at one point, as if to directly remind us that in pro wrestling, age needn't be more than a number, but the main event, Pratt/Ophidian, and Carnies/Monarchy were all also notably above-and-beyond good.

And a special shoutout to Buxx Belmar, who I saw for the first time here and whose character I can only describe as a puddle of human spit on a dirty sidewalk given flesh and blood.

Check the replay out on Powerbomb.tv, where new subscribers get a free ten-day trial.

Tier 1 BROoklyn (June 11)

1. Sonny Kiss over Anthony Henry
2. Federated (Mike Orlando & Nick Comoroto) over American Destroyers (Donovan Dijak & Mikey Webb)
3. Alan Lee Travis (c) over Cooley-K and "Colossal" Mike Law to retain the LDN Capital Championship
4. Jason Vera over Cave Man, El Gringo Loco (c), and Pierrothito to win the Tier 1 Lucha Championship
5. Mike Verna & Stockade (c) over Team PAWG (Jordynne Grace & LuFisto) to retain the Tier 1 Tag Team Championship
6. Logan Black over CPA by disqualification
7. Homicide over JT Dunn
8. Darius Carter (c) over ACH to retain the Tier 1 Championship
9. John Silver over Ace Romero, Chris Dickinson, and Travis "Flip" Gordon
10. Low-Ki over Penta el Zero M
11. Mike Verna over Darius Carter (c) to win the Tier 1 Championship

Our titular Bro had to miss the show due to illness, but Tier 1 sure did their best to make up for it, bringing JT Dunn in as his replacement against Homicide. And it was a big night for the Man of Steel, as not only did Mike Verna retain the tag titles alongside Stockade (substituting for David Starr), but he took the Tier 1 Championship in an impromptu matchup at the end of the night, ending Darius Carter's reign of terror after exactly six months.

Check it out on Smart Mark Video, folks.

As always...

Remember folks, no matter what type of wrestling you like, no matter how down you feel about the state of WWE, Impact, 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.