Sermon on the Mat (July 27, 2017): CMLL, Tier 1, GCW, ICW, Beyond, & Progress 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 28, 9:30PM Eastern)

1. Electrico & Stukita vs. Mercurio & Pequeno Nitro
2. Esfinge, Fuego, & Pegasso vs. Puma, Raziel, & Tiger
3. Cuatrero, Forastero, & Sanson vs. Drone, Soberano, Jr., & Titan
4. Hechicero vs. Stuka, Jr. (Lightning Match)
5. Blue Panther, Diamante Azul, & El Valiente vs. Los Ingobernables (Pierroth & Rush) & Sam Adonis
6. Caristico, Mistico, & Niebla Roja vs. Los Guerreros Laguneros (Gran Guerrero & Ultimo Guerrero) & Mephisto

As ever on a Friday night, CMLL are in Arena Mexico looking to bring a heaping helping of lucha libre action into your home. The absolute highlight of this week's show looks to be the Adonis/Panther saga continuing in trios action ahead of their hair vs. hair apuestas match, but we've also got a pretty slick grappler/flyer lightning match and both the third match and main event trios have a good amount of potential.

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

Tier 1 2 Years Later... (July 28, 8PM Eastern)

1. Kid Christian vs. Leon St. Giovanni
2. Dominic Garrini vs. Maxwell Jacob Friedman
3. Kyle the Beast vs. Mario Bokara
4. Chris Dickinson vs. Tom Lawlor
5. John Silver vs. Sonny Kiss
6. Brandon Watts vs. "Chainsaw" Joe Gacy vs. Matt Macintosh (One Year Contract Match)
7. Darius Carter vs. Matt Riddle (Tier 1 Championship #1 Contender's Match)
8. Federated (Mike Orlando & Nick Comoroto) vs. the Awakening (Matt Tremont & Stockade) (c) (Tier 1 Tag Team Championship)
9. Gran Akuma vs. Mike Verna (c) (Tier 1 Championship)

Tier 1 are back in their home base of Brooklyn, New York and they've got a full slate of quality matches lined up. Riddle and former champ Cater battle for a shot at the Tier 1 title that the Man of Steel will be defending against Gran Akuma, new tag champs (crowned after Verna and David Starr had to vacate the titles due to the King of Taunts busy touring schedule) the Awakening take on Federated and more.

Perhaps the most exciting match on this card personally, however, is Garrini vs. MJF. Friedman tore the house down with Fred Yehi at Style Battle and with Anthony Henry at FIP last month, and Dominic Garrini is a man whose name fits right in next to those luminaries of mat grappling. Exciting!

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

GCW The Art of War (July 29, 7:30PM Eastern)

1. Jimmy Lloyd vs. Reed "By God" Bentley (Cinder Smash Deathmatch)
2. Aeroboy vs. G-Raver (Light Tubes, Ladders, and Lucha Deathmatch)
3. Danny Havoc Farewell Gauntlet Match
4. Conor Claxton vs. Markus Crane (Home Improvement Deathmatch)
5. Joey Janela vs. Teddy Hart
6. Matt Riddle vs. Nick Gage
7. Private Party (Isiah Kassidy & Marq Quen) (c) vs. Tabarnak de Team (Mathieu St-Jacques & Thomas Dubois) (GCW Tag Team Championship)
8. Matt Tremont (c) vs. SHLAK (GCW Championship)

GCW (perhaps best known for being the host promotion for Joey Janela's Spring Break) are back in Howell, New Jersey this weekend, and how could I pass up a card that has the King wrestling the Bro? Just watch this promo from Gage and if the idea of a prison rules fight between these two men doesn't get you excited I don't know what will. And that's without even getting to the idea of Joey Janela vs. Teddy Hart or Danny Havoc saying goodbye to GCW in a gauntlet match! Plus Stan "the Lariat" Hansen is making an appearance!

Get your tickets here or wait for the show to go up on Smart Mark Video, but do not miss it!

ICW Shug’s Hoose Party 4 (July 29-30)

—Night One (July 29, 6PM GMT)—

1. Bull James & Liam Thomson vs. Krieger & Lou King Sharp
2. Dickie Divers vs. Thomas Kearins
3. Mikey Whiplash vs. Stevie Boy (Dog Collar Match)
4. Joe Hendry vs. Lionheart (Unsanctioned Match)
5. Grado & Joe Coffey vs. Pinky Party (Noam Dar & Sha Samuels)
6. Kasey Owens vs. Kay Lee Ray (c) (ICW Women’s Championship)
7. BT Gunn vs. Pete Dunne (c) vs. Trent Seven vs. Wolfgang (WWE United Kingdom Championship)

—Night Two (July 30, 7PM GMT)—

1. Super Crazy vs. Wolfgang
2. Marauders (Iestyn Rees, Mike Bird, & Wild Boar) vs. Polo Promotions (Jackie Polo & Mark Coffey)
3. Coach Trip & DCT vs. Davey Blaze & the Wee Man (Kiss My Arse Match)
4. Grado vs. Sha Samuels
5. Jack Jester vs. Joe Coffey (c) (ICW World Heavyweight Championship Steel Cage Match)

Don't adjust your set, folks, ICW are back in Glasgow and they're bringing WWE superstar Noam Dar with them! 2017 pro wrestling at its finest, he reunites with his erstwhile Pinky Party teammate Sha Samuels to face the team of GFW's Grado and the Iron Man, Joe Coffey, because what's the point of having a WWE guy on the card if you can't book him against somebody that works somewhere else on TV, right?

Plus a four-way WWE UK title defense, Super Crazy wrestling Wolfgang, and Ravie Davie and Session Moth Martina holding some kind of self-professed scheme wedding? Now that's a pair of wrestling events!

Tickets for night one are sold out, but you can pick up seats for night two here, or just wait for these bad boys to go up on ICW On Demand

Beyond Americanrana ‘17 (July 30)

—Matinee Card (2PM Eastern)—

1. Bobby Fish vs. Tom Lawlor
2. AR Fox vs. Brandon Watts
3. Ace Romero vs. Brian Milonas
4. Mikey Webb vs. "Hot Sauce" Tracy Williams

—Main Card (6PM Eastern)—

1. Chuck Taylor vs. Hornswoggle (Tables, Ladders, and Chairs Match)
2. John Silver vs. JT Dunn
3. Doom Patrol (Chris Dickinson & Jaka vs. Team PAWG (Jordynne Grace & LuFisto)
4. Brian Cage vs. Jonathan Gresham
5. Da Hit Squad (Mafia & Monsta Mack) vs. Roppongi Vice (Rocky Romero & Trent?)
6. David Starr vs. Donovan Dijak
7. EYFBO (Angel Ortiz & Mike Draztik) vs. Lucha Brothers (Penta el Zero M & Rey Fenix)
8. Joey Janela vs. Matt Riddle

Beyond are back in Worcester, Massachusetts with their biggest show of the year, and boy howdy is it big! The matinee card alone features the debut of "Filthy" Tom Lawlor against Bobby Fish, a HOSS FIGHT GRUDGE MATCH between Romero and Milonas, as well as a rematch between Fox and Watts, all worthy of a main card anywhere in the world.

But things REALLY heat up for Americanrana proper, from Chuck Taylor finally getting his wish to be part of WeeLC II to Trent Baretta getting his revenge on Monsta Mack for throwing him into a wall years ago, to Mr. Americanrana taking on Tall Don in what is surely one of his last Beyond matches, to GFW tag champs EYFBO taking on PWG tag champs the Lucha Brothers, to that first time main event...

Riddle. Janela. It's gonna be a hell of a match.

The main show is sold out, but matinee tickets are still available here as I write this. And of course, you can always catch all the action on Beyondemand whenever you'd like after the fact.

Progress Chapter 53: Fate Loves the Fearless (July 30, 2PM GMT)

1. James Drake & Zack Gibson vs. Never Say Die (Alex Cupid & Dillon D'Angelo)
2. Chuck Mambo vs. Chief Deputy Dunne
3. #CCK (Chris Brookes & Kid Lykos) vs. Extra Talent-ed (Aaron Solow & Ricky Starks) (Progress Tag Team Championship #1 Contender's Match)
4. James Davis vs. Rob Lynch (Winner gets an Progress Atlas Division Championship title shot)
5. Jack Sexsmith vs. Pete Dunne
6. Keith Lee vs. Travis Banks

Progress are back in London this Sunday, and hoo boy... Keith Lee making his debut alone is something to be super excited about, but debuting against Travis Banks?! Plus Sexsmith gets his biggest challenge yet, the London Riots explode as Progress tries to give them the competition they crave so badly, and more besides.

Tickets are, as always with main chapter Progress shows, long since sold out, but you can have a crack at the official ticket resale site or just check it out on Demand Progress with the rest of us schlubs.

Free matches here!

Virus vs. Xtreme Tiger

From the folks over at +Lucha TV and Lucha Memes, this one was from a show that William Regal was doing some scouting at! Okay, so it's unlikely that Tiger (who you may know better from his time on Impact as Tigre Uno) or Virus (who has been wrestling for a little less than the time I've been alive) are going to head to Full Sail anytime soon, but who doesn't love a maestro bringing it to a flyer?

Lio Rush vs. Mustafa Ali

From the fine folks over at Freelance we have the main event to Walk Among Us from last year! Lio Rush takes on 205 Live standout Mustafa Ali, and I can vouch for this one personally, it was an excellent match in the string of excellent matches that Ali had defending the Freelance Championship over the last year of his independent career. Do not miss it!

BT Gunn vs. Wolfgang

From the good folks over at ICW, let's take a look at the match that lead to that four-way WWE United Kingdom Championship match, shall we? BT Gunn takes on Wolfgang in #1 contender's action, check it out!

Results

AIW Absolution XII (July 21)

1. Dominic Garrini over the Duke
2. Frankie Flynn over PB Smooth
3. Britt Baker over Swoggle (Fans Bring the Weapons Lumberjack Match)
4. Tom Lawlor over Eddie Kingston
5. "All Ego" Ethan Page over Shawn Shultz (Bullrope Match)
6. New AIW (AJ Gray, Chase Oliver, Garrison King, Joshua Bishop, & Tre Lamar) over Old AIW (Bobby Beverly, Eric Ryan, Matthew Justice, Russ Myers, & T-Money)
7. Shayna Baszler (c) over Mia Yim to retain the AIW Women's Championship
8. Joey Janela over Alex Daniels to win the AIW Intense Championship
9. To Infinity and Beyond (Cheech & Colin Delaney) (c) over Crazy Pain (Gringo Loco & Steve Pain), DJ Z & Laredo Kid, and Ninja Elite Squad (Facade & Flip Kendrick) to retain the AIW Tag Team Championship
10. Tim Donst (c) over Josh Prohibition, Louis Lyndon, & "Hot Sauce" Tracy Williams to retain the AIW Absolute Championship

Let's get the big news out of the way first, folks-- Nick Gage is BACK in AIW! He showed up after the main event, laid Tim Donst out, and held the Absolute Championship high. Plus new AIW triumphed over the old, the Bad Boy ended Daniels' record-length Intense Championship reign, the Queen of Spades showed that Mia may have beat her previously but she doesn't have her number, and Adam Cole made a guest appearance during Baker/Swoggle because hey why not, right?

In more somber news from the show, Flip Kendrick cracked his head open pretty good on a dive to the outside, but fortunately after going to the hospital he just needed some stitches and suffered no broken bones.

Check it out when it goes up on Smart Mark Video, folks.

Freelance vs. CZW II (July 21)

1. Kid Christian over Ace Austin, Anthony Bennett, Brendan Conway, Dan O'Hare, Elliot Paul, Jimmy Lloyd, and Pat Monix (Scramble Match)
2. Suge D over Rickey Shane Page
3. Darin Corbin & Kody Rice over Private Party (Isiah Kassidy & Marq Quen)
4. Father Matthew Tremont over Craig Mitchell (CZW Rules Match)
5. Robert Anthony over DJ Hyde
6. Team CZW (Alexander James, "Chainsaw" Joe Gacy, Maria Manic, & Mr. Claxton) over Team Freelance (Arik Cannon, GPA, Kylie Rae, & Stevie Fierce)
7. Isaias Velazquez over Lio Rush

Freelance and CZW had at it in interpromotional warfare and Freelance proved themselves the winners this time around, going up 4-2. And indeed, one of those two CZW wins only came at the hand of Freelance Champion Stevie Fierce turning on his fellow Freelancers by way of smashing a mirror over GPA's head. Their rematch for the Freelance Championship was always going to be exciting, but once you break glassware over a man's head... intense!

Check it out on Smart Mark Video or CZW Studios as takes your fancy, folks.

WrestleCircus The Squared Ring Circus (July 22)

1. Lance Hoyt over Steve O Reno
2. Maxwell Jacob Friedman (c) over Lio Rush to retain the CZW Wired Championship
3. Mecha Wolf over "All Ego" Ethan Page
4. Scorpio Sky over ACH
5. Sammy Guevara over Travis "Flip" Gordon
6. Jordan Len-X (c) over Andy Dalton, AR Fox, Dave Crist, Dezmond Xavier, Jake Crist, Jason Cade, Leva Bates, Myron Reed, Space Monkey, Taya Valkyrie, and Zachary Wentz to retain the WR Open Invite Scramble Championship
7. John Morrison over Donovan Dijak
8. Roppongi Vice (Rocky Romero & Trent Baretta) (c) over Lucha Brothers (Penta el Zero M & Rey Fenix) to retain the WC Big Top Tag Team Championship
9. Christi Jayne & Gentleman Jervis over Boom & Doom (Colt Cabana & Delilah Doom)
10. Shane Strickland (c) over Sami Callihan to retain the WC Ringmaster Championship (No Disqualification Match)
11. Tessa Blanchard over Rachael Ellering, retaining the WC Sideshow Championship and winning the WC Lady of the Ring Championship

The (Wrestle)Circus came to town again and aside from maybe one too many shoots, brother, they put on an enjoyable show with the absolute highlights being MJF/Rush (including one of the best/most dastardly fake leg injuries I've seen), Strickland/Callihan (where they fought in the ring, out of the ring, and around the building), and the historic title-for-title women's main event (although maybe don't watch it if you don't want a few minor Mae Young Classic spoilers from the commentary desk!), very good matches the three of them. Plus Lance Hoyt returned from injury in the opener!

So if that sounds good, you can check the Twitch channel regularly for replays or go ahead and buy a subscription for full archive access.

IPW:UK Supershow 10 (July 23)

1. Earl Black, Jr. over Adam Maxted, El Phantasmo, Jonathan Windsor, Sammy Smooth, Scott Star (c), Sid Scala, and Spud to win the IPW:UK All-England Championship (Super Scrum Match)
2. Jody Fleisch over "The Banker" Marc Lloyd
3. London Riots (James Davis & Rob Lynch) over the NAK (BT Gunn & Chris Renfrew)
4. Jimmy Havoc (c) over Carlito to retain the IPW:UK World Championship
5. Big Grizzly over Keith Lee
6. Jonny Storm wins the 30-Man Rumble Match

IPW:UK returned to FloSlam and hey, we got a new All-England champ, Havoc retained the world title over Carlito in a very fun brawl, and the Rumble was fun as they always are. But perhaps the biggest note from the evening is that the Cieran Donnelly vs. Danny Duggan "ONE TIME ONLY" grudge match never got started due to Donnelly assaulting Duggan with a chair and destroying his knee.

Duggan refused to leave it there, however, valiantly entering the Rumble in his assigned spot, hobbling on one leg, and even outlasting Donnelly, with the tag champs eliminated by Star and Maxted, who will now get a title shot... if DND can be forced to tag one last time. As well, Sid Scala eliminated Earl Black, Jr., earning himself a shot at the All-England Championship, and, in eliminating Havoc, Cara Noir earned a world title shot himself.

Check it out on FloSlam, folks.

Progress Chapter 52: Vote Pies (July 23)

1. #CCK (Chris Brookes & Kid Lykos) over Banter Edition and Extra Talent-ed (Aaron Solow & Ricky Starks)
2. T-Bone over Mike Bird
3. Toni Storm (c) over Laura Di Matteo to retain the Progress Women's Championship
4. Matt Riddle over Travis Banks
5. Jack Sexsmith over Chuck Mambo, Chief Deputy Dunne, and Zack Gibson
6. Pete Dunne over Eddie Dennis
7. British Strong Style (Trent Seven & Tyler Bate) (c) over War Machine (Hanson & Ray Rowe) to retain the Progress Tag Team Championship (Tornado Tag Team Match)

As always since I recap Progress I'll keep this short and sweet, but British Strong Style are very much at it again in the main event, taking full advantage of War Machine's willingness to fight hard with less rules in order to keep their tag titles.

Check it out on Demand Progress, 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.