Sermon on the Mat (July 13, 2017): CMLL, Lucha Forever, NOVA Pro, Shine, & AAW 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 (July 14, 9:30PM Eastern)

1. Akuma, Arkangel, & Metalico vs. Astral, Sensei, & Star, Jr.
2. Amapola, Dalys, & Zeuxis vs. Marcela, Silueta, & Vaquerita
3. Blue Panther, Diamante Azul, & Soberano, Jr. vs. La Peste Negra (Mr. Niebla & Negro Casas) & Sam Adonis
4. Pierroth vs. Vangellys (Hair vs. Hair Match)
5. Caristico, Dragon Lee, & Mistico vs. Los Hijos del Infierno (Ephesto, Luciferno, & Mephisto)
6. Ultimo Guerrero vs. Volador, Jr. (CMLL Universal Championship Tournament Finals)

CMLL are back with your usual Friday night dose of lucha libre, and those tournament finals should be pretty sweet! A hair vs. hair is always monumental as well, even if it's two guys who never exactly light the world on fire.

Check it out, as always, free for nothin' on ClaroSports, as long as they remember to take the region lock off.

Lucha Forever Lucha Loco Uno (July 14, 7:30PM GMT)

1. Bea Priestley vs. Chief Deputy Dunne

Everybody loves a mystery show!

Well, okay, they've announced one match for Birmingham and put the stipulation for it to a vote, which at this time is lead by no less than Three Stages of Hell, which is neat just because you never see it on the indies. But other than that, the card is a total mystery. We know some of the talent involved-- Rockstar Spud, Pete Dunne, Travis Banks, Jigsaw, El Ligero-- but we won't know the matches until the day.

Get your tickets here, or check it out when it goes up on Lucha Forever On Demand.

NOVA American Slang ‘17 (July 14, 7:30PM Eastern)

1. Mance Warner & Reed "By God" Bentley vs. Sandwich Squad (Aaron Biggs & Mecha Mercenary)
2. John Kermon vs. Rory Gulak
3. Angelus Layne vs. Brittany Blake
4. Arik Royal vs. the 1% (Alexander James, Bobby Shields, & Tripp Cassidy) (Gauntlet Match)
5. GymNasty Boys (Timmy Lou Retton & White Mike) vs. Ugly Ducklings (Lance Lude & Rob Killjoy)
6. David Starr (wXw) vs. Tim Donst (AIW) (AIW Absolute Championship / wXw Shotgun Championship)
7. Beau Crockett vs. Isaiah Santero
8. Matt Cross vs. Sonjay Dutt
9. Faye Jackson vs. Sahara 7
10. Chet Sterling (c) vs. Logan Easton LaRoux (PWI Ultra J Championship Ladder Match)

NOVA Pro are back in Annandale, Virginia, and I'll toss you to our NOVA Pro man Duke for a quick rundown of the card--

Sterling vs. LaRoux has been the top story of 2017, and it looks like it’s coming to a head in NOVA Pro’s first ever ladder match. John Kermon continues his King of Graps odyssey, this time facing JKI winner Rory Gulak, who, yes, is Drew’s brother. In the gauntlet, if Royal wins, then he'll face Logan Easton LaRoux in a Commonwealth Cup finals rematch for the 2nd Anniversary show in September. The popular tag team of Cutie and the Beast fell apart in May’s main event, and now Isaiah wants revenge.

But the big match just fell into NOVA Pro’s lap: Donst vs. Starr was already signed when Starr won the wXw Shotgun Title. wXw agreed to let him defend it in Fairfax, at which point Donst (kayfabe) insisted on defending his own title as well. And I haven’t even mentioned Layne/Blake or Cross/Dutt yet! This is the biggest show since November’s season finale!

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

Shine 43 / 44 (July 14 / 16)

—Shine 43 (July 14, 9PM Eastern)—

1. Aja Perera vs. Stormie Lee (Shine Nova Championship Tournament First Round Match)
2. ACR vs. Leah Vaughan (Shine Nova Championship Tournament First Round
3. Jordynne Grace vs. La Rosa Negra (Shine Nova Championship Tournament First Round Match)
4. Candy Cartwright vs. Robyn Reid (Shine Nova Championship Tournament First Round Match)
5. Aria Blake vs. Dynamite DiDi (Shine Nova Championship Tournament First Round Match)
6. Holidead vs. Ivelisse (Shine Nova Championship Tournament First Round Match)
7. Kiera Hogan vs. Shotzi Blackheart (Shine Nova Championship Tournament First Round Match)
8. Priscilla Kelly vs. Veda Scott (Shine Nova Championship Tournament First Round Match)

—Shine 44 (July 16, 8PM Eastern)—

1. Shine Nova Championship Tournament Quarterfinals, Semifinals, and Finals
2. LuFisto (c) vs. ??? (Shine Championship)

Shine are back in their home base in Ybor City, Florida, and they've caught tournament fever! Yep, the Mae Young Classic isn't the only game in town this week, because Shine are crowning a Nova Championship to go along with their burgeoning midcard. Plus, there will be a four-way of unknown competitors on night one that sets up a title defense for LuFisto on night two!

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

AAW United We Stand 2017 (July 15, 7:30PM Central)

1. Samantha Heights vs. Scarlett Bordeaux
2. ACH vs. Myron Reed
3. Chuck Taylor vs. John Morrison
4. OI4K (Dave & Jake Crist) vs. War Machine (Hanson & Ray Rowe)
5. Mat Fitchett vs. Matt Riddle
6. Garza, Jr. & Trevor Lee vs. Penta el Zero M & Shane Strickland
7. David Starr vs. Eddie Kingston ("I Quit" Match)
8. AR Fox & Rey Fenix (c) vs. Scarlet and Graves (Dezmond Xavier & Zachary Wentz) (AAW Tag Team Championship)
9. Keith Lee vs. Sami Callihan (c) (AAW Heavyweight Championship)

AAW are back in Merrionette Park, Illinois with another hefty exciting show for us. The limitless Keith Lee looks to divest Sami Callihan of his deathgrip on the title, Kingston's issue with Starr comes to an "I Quit" match (Which, watch Eddie’s promo here and tell me you don’t want to see the match), Heritage Champion Penta is in a unique tag contest, and plenty more besides, including Cody Rhodes making his AAW debut.

Get your tickets here or check it out on Smart Mark Video or Highspots.

Lucha Forever Running Through a Wheat-Field... (July 18, 7PM GMT)

1. April Davids vs. Chief Deputy Dunne
2. Mark Haskins vs. Tyler Bate
3. Bubblegum vs. Pete Dunne
4. Mark Andrews vs. Travis Banks (c) (Lucha Forever Championship)

Lucha Forever are back with another round of Tuesday night wrestling for Manchester, England. We've only got four matches announced, but they're interesting ones, with three of them featuring WWE UK talent. Andrews/Banks? Yeah boy!

Tickets are sold out, but you can check it out when it goes up on Lucha Forever On Demand.

Free matches here!

Greatest Matches of Absolution

From the fine folks over at AIW, it's a doozy this week... Three hours of the finest matches from past editions of Absolution! Featuring dudes like Ethan Carter III, Johnny Gargano, and Seth Rollins before they made the big time, don't miss it!

Curt Stallion vs. Martin Stone

As always, Big Mike's Glory Pro is fast to give us a match to share here, and how can I pass that up? Rising star Curt Stallion looks to end his losing streak against the Guv'nor himself, Martin Stone. Enjoy!

Dragon Lee vs. Xtreme Tiger

From +Lucha, MDA, and Lucha Memes, we have some hot lucha libre action to round things out here. Dragon Lee takes on Xtreme Tiger, who you may know better from his TNA run as Tigre Uno. Check it out!

Results

APW Bay Area Bash (July 7)

1. Bison Braddock wins the Gauntlet to the Gold, last eliminating Styker
2. Classic Connection (Buddy Royal & Levi Shapiro) over Douglas James & Jake Atlas
3. JR Kratos over Karl Fredericks (c) by disqualification (APW Worldwide Internet Championship)
4. Black Armada (Papo Esco & Synn) over Lion Power (Marcus Lewis & Will Hobbs) (c) to win the APW Tag Team Championship
5. John Morrison over Adam Thornstowe
6. Chicano Flame & Super Crazy over Bad Boys Personified (Boyce LeGrande & Rik Luxury)
7. Penta el Zero M over Will Cuevas
8. Cody Rhodes (c) over Willie Mack to retain the ROH World Championship
9. Jeff Cobb (c) over Luster the Legend to retain the APW Universal Championship

Yes, folks, that's a Ring of Honor World Championship defense! You can read a little more about that here, and as for other notable happenings, that disqualification there is from Fredericks attacking referee Alex Goldstein, and Lion Power lost the tag titles after Classic Connection attacked Black Armada only for Lewis to take most of the damage from the attack.

Check out the replay on Fite.tv

PWG Pushin’ Forward Back (July 7)

1. Sammy Guevara over Rey Horus
2. Unbreakable F'n Machines (Brian Cage & Michael Elgin) over Young Bucks (Matt & Nick Jackson)
3. Keith Lee over Lio Rush & Trent?
4. Dezmond Xavier over Dave Crist, Jake Crist, and Sami Callihan
5. Ricochet over Trevor Lee
6. Chuck Taylor over Zack Sabre, Jr. (c) to win the PWG World Championship

PWG faced another hurdle after the issue that saw Rey Fenix pulled from this card early in that Shane Strickland and Jason Cade had travel issues, forcing the OI4K six-man into a four-way, but nevermind that, because Chuck did it! Only Zacky Two Belts, now, but not for lack of trying, because the Technical Wizard went so far as to remove the bottom rope to stop any potential rope breaks.

Pre-order the DVD here if you see fit, folks.

Chikara The Parting of Ways / The Lodger (July 8)

—The Parting of Ways—

1. Race Jaxon over Officer Bruno Meloni
2. Kobald & Oleg the Usurper over Xyberhawx 2000 (Nytehawk & Razerhawk)
3. Hallowicked over Officer Warren Barksdale
4. Icarus over Jeremy Leary
5. Cajun Crawdad, Hermit Crab, & Merlok over the Furies (Ashley Vox, Delmi Exo, & Obariyon)
6. Juan Francisco de Coronado (c) over Missile Assault Ant to retain the Chikara Grand Championship

—The Lodger—

1. Whisper over Lucas Calhoun
2. Dez Peloton (Donald Kluger & Jasper Tippins) over Sandwich Squad (Aaron Biggs & Mecha Mercenary)
3. DUSTIN over Sloan Caprice
4. Hermit Crab (c) over Cajun Crawdad to retain the Chikara Young Lions Cup
5. Fire Ant over Frightmare (Last Man Standing)
6. Rumblebees (Solo Darling & Travis Huckabee) over Cornelius Crummels & Sonny Defarge (c) to win the Chikara Campeonatos de Parejas
7. Los Ice Creams (El Hijo del Ice Cream & Ice Cream, Jr.) over Rumblebees (Solo Darling & Travis Huckabee) (c) to win the Chikara Campeonatos de Parejas
8. Razerhawk over Mr. Azerbaijan

Two changes for the Campeonatos de Parejas in one night?! Los Ice Creams cashed in a Golden Opportunity and claimed the championship for the second time in their long careers. Hopefully for them, it'll last longer than the four days their previous reign did.

Check it out on Chikaratopia, if you will.

CZW Evilution (July 8)

1. Mr. Claxton over Rickey Shane Page
2. The REP (Dave McCall & Nate Carter) over Private Party (Isiah Kassidy & Marq Quen)
3. Tim Donst over Ace Austin Shakespeare, Alexander James, Anthony Bennett, Devon Moore, and Kit Osbourne
4. MASADA & Storm of Entrails (Dan O'Hare & SHLAK) over the Awakening (G-Raver, Father Matthew Tremont, & Stockade) (Doors Match)
5. Maxwell Jacob Friedman (c) over Trevor Lee to retain the CZW Wired Championship
6. Ace Romero over AR Fox
7. Scarlet and Graves (Dezmond Xavier & Zachary Wentz) & Trey Miguel over OI4K (Dave Crist, Jake Crist, & Sami Callihan) (Tornado Six-Man Tag Match)
8. Shane Strickland over Davey Richards (c), "Chainsaw" Joe Gacy, & Lio Rush to win the CZW World Heavyweight and Defy Championships.

Mr. Claxton? The REP? The times they are a-changin', folks! Conor has renounced his deathmatch past, Romero was confronted in victory by Greg Excellent, and after the four-way world title match, the video screen came to life with a challenge for Lio Rush at Once in a Lifetime in August...

JANELA. RUSH. ONE LAST TIME.

Check it out on CZW Studios, folks.

PWX This Is How We Do It (July 8)

1. Jason Kincaid over Tracer X
2. Corey Hollis over White Mike
3. Darius Lockhart over Chase Owens, Chip Day, and Jason Cade to become #1 contender to the PWX iTV Championship
4. John Skyler vs. Timothy Thatcher goes to a twenty minute time limit draw
5. The Syndicate (Elijah Evans IV, the Boss, & Timmy Lou Retton) over James Drake & Ugly Ducklings (Lance Lude & Rob Killjoy) (Tornado Six-Man Tag Match)
6. Martin Stone over Fred Yehi (Pure Rules Match)
7. Anthony Henry (c) over Ethan Case to retain the PWX World Heavyweight Championship (2/3 Falls Match)

As always when I've recapped a show I'll point you to it and spare you the extra words, but suffice it to say PWX had a really great show on their FloSlam debut. Especially I'd like to single out Skyler/Thatcher and Henry/Case for having some top notch in-match storytelling, but really there's not much in the way of bum moments.

Check it out on FloSlam, folks.

RPW British J Cup (July 8)

1. Marty Scurll over Tiger Mask IV (British J Cup First Round Match)
2. Jushin Liger over Josh Bodom (British J Cup First Round Match)
3. KUSHIDA over Kyle O'Reilly (British J Cup First Round Match)
4. Will Ospreay over Ryusuke Taguchi (British J Cup First Round Match)
5. Tempura Boyz (Sho Tanaka & Yohei Komatsu) over Josh Wall & Kurtis Chapman
6. #CCK (Chris Brookes & Travis Banks) (c) over Los Ingobernables de Japon (BUSHI & Hiromu Takahashi) by disqualification (RPW British Tag Team Championship)
7. Tomohiro Ishii over Matt Riddle
8. Jushin Liger over KUSHIDA, Marty Scurll, and Will Ospreay (British J Cup Finals)

For a guy who said he's done with tournaments, Liger sure managed to pull out a big win here, eh? And on the way he beat Josh Bodom, RevPro's cruiserweight champion, in less than three minutes, which in turn set up a post-tournament brawl and a rematch at Summer Sizzler next month.

But perhaps the most exciting thing that happened on this show won't even be on the VOD, because Matt Riddle was spotted talking to New Japan talent liaison Tiger Hattori. Could it be happening? Guess we'll find out soon enough!

Check it out on RPW On Demand, folks.

Evolve 88 / 89 (July 8-9)

—Evolve 88 (July 8)—

1. Jason Kincaid over Caleb Konley
2. ACH vs. Austin Theory
3. Austin Theory over Ethan Case
4. Keith Lee over "All Ego" Ethan Page
5. "Hot Sauce" Tracy Williams over Darby Allin
6. Fred Yehi over ACH to retain the #1 contendership to the Evolve World Championship
7. Anthony Henry & James Drake over Doom Patrol (Chris Dickinson & Jaka) (c) to win the the Evolve Tag Team Championship
8. Zack Sabre, Jr. (c) over Timothy Thatcher to retain the Evolve World Championship (No Holds Barred Match)

—Evolve 89 (July 9)—

1. Timothy Thatcher over Darby Allin
2. ACH over "All Ego" Ethan Page
3. Jason Kincaid over Jon Davis
4. Keith Lee vs. "Hot Sauce" Tracy Williams goes to a no contest
5. Workhorses (Anthony Henry & James Drake) (c) over Doom Patrol (Chris Dickinson & Jaka) and Ugly Ducklings (Lance Lude & Rob Killjoy) to retain the Evolve Tag Team Championship
6. Austin Theory over Trent Baretta
7. Zack Sabre, Jr. (c) over Fred Yehi to retain the Evolve World Championship

As always when I have recaps to point you to (Evolve 88, 89), I'll keep it short, but Evolve delivered a pair of strong shows over the weekend. My dudes Henry and Drake picked up the tag titles in a bit of a shocker, ACH cemented his slow-burn turn, Darby Allin broke out big showing his technical chops, and Sabre had two barnburner title defenses.

Check 'em out on FloSlam, folks.

Glory Pro War of the New Age (July 9)

1. The Pride (Aaron Dzinic & Matt Kenway) over Isaias Velazquez & Karim Brigante
2. Curt Stallion over Martin Stone
3. Sean Orleans over Brandon Espinosa
4. Everett Connors over Stephen Wolf
5. Kevin Lee Davidson over Alex Daniels, Gringo Loco, Hakim Zane, Jake Parnell, and Louis Lyndon
6. Jake Something over Gary Jay
7. Cody Rhodes (c) over Michael Elgin to retain the Ring of Honor World Championship
8. Paco Gonzalez over Danny Adams
9. Besties in the World (Davey Vega & Mat Fitchett) (c) over Boys From Jollyville (Russ Myers & T-Money) to retain the United Glory Championship
10. Naomichi Marufuji over Donovan Dijak
11. Myron Reed (c) over AR Fox to retain the Crown of Glory Championship

Cody did it again! But alas, Big Mike couldn't overcome his losing streak to become only the fourth two-time Ring of Honor World Champion. Myron Reed's luck is rather different, however, as he knocks off yet another indie veteran to defend his Crown of Glory Championship.

As always, please, please give a watch to Elgin's post-show comments, because his love of wrestling and the fans always shines right through, and never more than in a case like this where despite a successful, sold-out show, his concern goes right to a small number of people who ended up being unable to take their assigned seats. Wrestling could use more Big Mikes.

Check it out when it hits Smart Mark Video, folks.

Progress Chapter 51: Screaming For Progress (July 9)

1. Mark Haskins over Mike Bird
2. Eddie Dennis over Kyle Ashmore
3. Jimmy Havoc over Jigsaw
4. War Machine (Hanson & Ray Rowe) over London Riots (James Davis & Rob Lynch)
5. WALTER over Matt Riddle (c) to win the Progress Atlas Division Championship
6. Chief Deputy Dunne over "Flash" Morgan Webster
7. British Strong Style (Pete Dunne, Trent Seven, & Tyler Bate) over #CCK (Chris Brookes, Kid Lykos, & Travis Banks) (c) to win the Progress Tag Team Championship

As always, with shows I'll be recapping, I'll keep it light, but clearly, a bad night for Bros and Best Boys. WALTER competed with honor, but BSS took after their adopted father Mr. H's and laid Lykos out with a sledgehammer to get the win after goading #CCK to put the tag titles on the line.

Check it out on Demand Progress.

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.