Sermon on the Mat (Aug. 10, 2017): BCP, CMLL, Progress, Beyond, & NJPW 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...

BCP The Bounty in King’s County (August 11, 8PM Eastern)

1. Myron Reed vs. Travis "Flip" Gordon
2. Deonna Purrazzo vs. MJ Jenkins
3. Heavenly Bodies (Desirable Dustin & Gigolo Justin) vs. Ugly Ducklings (Lance Lude & Rob Killjoy)
4. Anthony Henry vs. Logan Black
5. Matt Cross vs. Rey Fenix vs. Shane Strickland
6. Anthony Bowens vs. Brute VanSlyke vs. Matt Macintosh vs. Mike Verna (Battle Club Pro Championship Tournament Semifinals)
7. British Strong Style (Trent Seven & Tyler Bate) vs. Carnies (Kerry Awful & Nick Iggy)
8. Darius Carter vs. Pete Dunne

So, what happens when Progress is in the US but WWE aren't especially inclined to let their contracted talent like Dunne, Seven, and Bate head over and do Evolve on FloSlam? Well, they go and have some dream matches for Battle Club Pro in Brooklyn, of course! Seriously, Carnies/BSS is as real as it gets-- two of the best tag teams on the independents today, normally separated by an ocean but here doing battle? Hell yes. And the rest of the card ain't too bad either, with that sick Lucha Underground three-way, a battle of the up-and-comers between Gordon and Reed, and yet more besides.

Ticket presales have ended, but you can try your luck at the door or check it out on the Title Match Wrestling Network, folks.

CMLL Super Viernes (August 11, 9:30PM Eastern)

1. Mercurio & Pierrothito vs. Shockercito & Stukita
2. Blue Panther, Jr., Esfinge, & the Panther vs. Disturbio, Puma, & Tiger
3. Amapola, Dalys, & Zeuxis vs. Lady Maravilla, Princesa Sugehit, & Silueta
4. Caristico, El Valiente, & Soberano, Jr. vs. La Peste Negra (Barbaro Cavernario & Negro Casas) & Sam Adonis
5. Diamante Azul vs. Rush
6. Dragon Lee, Mistico, & Niebla Roja vs. Los Guerreros Laguneros (Gran Guerrero & Ultimo Guerrero) & Mephisto

CMLL's Friday night lucha show has a rare straight singles match on it this week, as Diamante Azul goes one on one with one of the meanest men in Mexico, Rush. Other than that, all those trios matches look pretty good, with the Peste Negra one in particular piquing my interest, as Soberano/Cavernario could have some real fire to it.

Check it out as always, free for nothing on ClaroSports, or give CMLL's Facebook page a check to see if they're streaming it there.

Progress: New York / Boston (August 12, 8PM Eastern, and August 13, 5PM Eastern)

1. Mark Andrews vs. Mark Haskins vs. Zack Gibson
2. Dahlia Black & Dakota Kai vs. Deonna Purrazzo & Jinny
3. Jimmy Havoc vs. Joey Janela
4. Donovan Dijak vs. Timothy Thatcher (Progress Atlas Division Championship #1 Contender’s Match)
5. Matt Riddle vs. WALTER (c) (Progress Atlas Division Championship)
6. British Strong Style (Trent Seven & Tyler Bate) (c) vs. South Pacific Power Trip (TK Cooper & Travis Banks) (Progress Tag Team Championship)
7. Jack Gallagher vs. Pete Dunne (c) (WWE United Kingdom Championship)

Progress are coming to America again, and they've got a hell of a card set up for their northeast debut, featuring, because it's the year of our lord 2017 and wrestling is nuts, no less than two WWE superstars. When Joey Janela vs. Jimmy Havoc ISN'T the craziest match on a card, you know you're looking at something special!

As far as Boston goes, they won't be announcing any matches for that one until after the New York show, but just given the talent on hand here, well, you can imagine how wild it might end up being.

Tickets for Boston are sold out, but you can pick up seats for New York here, or of course you can just wait like the rest of us schlubs and check these out when they go up on Demand Progress.

Beyond Bye Bye Beautiful (August 13, 1PM Eastern)

1. Donovan Dijak vs. WALTER

For their doubleheader with Progress, Beyond have only announced one match as I write this, but boy is it a big one, both literally and figuratively! In what is his last appearance for Beyond, Dijak will go head to head with Progress Atlas Division Champion WALTER! Which, given that Tall Don is wrestling for a shot at said title at Progress the day before, may well give him the experience against Austria's finest necessary to take that title away from him, if he indeed wins the shot.

Tickets are sold out, but the show, as all Beyond shows, will go up promptly on Beyondemand.

NJPW G1 Climax 27 Finals (August 13, 2AM Eastern)

1. Taguchi Japan (Ricochet & Ryusuke Taguchi) vs. Young Bucks (Matt & Nick Jackson) (c) (IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship)
2. Bullet Club (Cody Rhodes & Hangman Page) vs. War Machine (Hanson & Ray Rowe) (c) (IWGP Tag Team Championship)
3. Block A winner (Hiroshi Tanahashi or Tetsuya Naito) vs. Block B winner (Kazuchika Okada or Kenny Omega) (G1 Climax 27 Finals)

Naturally, New Japan won't release the full finals card until after the final two block shows, on Friday and Saturday, but for right now what we got ain't bad, is it? Especially since the math has shaken out simply this year, and each block has but one deciding match-- Tanahashi/Naito and Omega/Okada on their final days will determine who goes to the final.

Check it out on NJPW World.

Free matches here!

Robbie Eagles vs. Will Ospreay

Thanks to the fine folks at PWA, we have a match that's been getting a lot of buzz. Will Ospreay heads down under to face off against Robbie Eagles in what some folks are calling the best match in Australian history. Don't miss it!

Donovan Dijak vs. Sami Callihan

Ahead of Tall Don's farewell this weekend, the good people over at Beyond have seen fit to upload a match of his. One on one with Sami Callihan from State of the Art last February, check it out!

Curt Stallion, Danny Adams, & Jake Something vs. PACO, Stephen Wolf, & Trey Miguel

One of the recurring themes I hit here on Sermon is that part of the joy of indie wrestling is tuning into a show only knowing one or two wrestlers on the card and walking away with some new favorites, so this six-man from AAW is perfect for that. Pull up a chair, watch some new folks, and find somebody to cheer for, folks. Enjoy!

Results

Style Battle Season 1, Episode 6 (August 4)

1. Ethan Case over Chip Day (Style Battle S1E6 Bracket B First Round Match)
2. John Skyler over Thomas Sharp (Style Battle S1E6 Bracket B First Round Match)
3. Caleb Konley over Barrett Brown (Style Battle S1E6 Bracket A First Round Match)
4. Fred Yehi over Jarek 1:20 (Style Battle S1E6 Bracket A First Round Match)
5. Ethan Case over John Skyler (Style Battle S1E6 Bracket B Semifinal Match)
6. Fred Yehi over Caleb Konley (Style Battle S1E6 Bracket A Semifinal Match)
7. Priscilla Kelly over Dani J (Shine Showcase Match)
8. Leon Ruff over AC Mack, Alan Angels, Ashton Starr, David Ali, James Bandy, Kavron Kanyon, and Tony Midas (Eight-Man Mayhem)
9. Fred Yehi over Ethan Case (Style Battle S1E6 Finals)

As always when it's a promotion I recap (which you can check out right here) I'm gonna keep it short and sweet, but suffice it to say Style Battle S1E6 delivered in the manner to which we are accustomed to Style Battle delivering, with the added bonus of excellent storytelling in the finals, as Ethan Case's willingness to do whatever it takes contrasted against Fred Yehi's never say die attitude to make for a really excellent match.

Check it out on FloSlam, folks.

Wrestling Revolver The Catalina Wrestling Mixer (August 4)

1. Shane Strickland over Maxwell Jacob Feinstein (Catalina Wrestling Mixer First Round Match)
2. Simon Grimm over "All Ego" Ethan Page (Catalina Wrestling Mixer First Round Match)
3. AR Fox over Alex Colon (Catalina Wrestling Mixer First Round Street Fight)
4. Rey Fenix over Jeremiah (Catalina Wrestling Mixer First Round Match)
5. Palmer over Dezmond Xavier, Jordan Len-X (c), Myron Reed, Sami Callihan, Space Monkey, Trey Miguel, & Zachary Wentz to win the WR Open Invite Scrable Championship
6. Rey Fenix over Shane Strickland (Catalina Wrestling Mixer Semifinals)
7. AR Fox over Simon Grimm (Catalina Wrestling Mixer Semifinals)
8. Jessicka Havok over Jake Crist (Battle of the Sexes)
9. Rey Fenix over AR Fox to become the final Rockstar Pro American Luchacore Champion (Catalina Wrestling Mixer Finals)

Another one where I could sit here and talk it up and point out the obvious (oh hey, look at Simon Gotch sticking the landing and going deep!), but why not just check out the official trailer for this bad boy instead?

If you like what you see, check it out on the Highspots Wrestling Network, folks.

Scenic City Invitational 2017 (August 4-5)

—Night One (August 4)—

1. Joey Lynch over Matt Lynch (Scenic City Invitational First Round Match)
2. Jason Kincaid over Torque (Scenic City Invitational First Round Match)
3. Arik Royal over Dominic Garrini (Scenic City Invitational First Round Match)
4. Darby Allin over Joey Janela (Scenic City Invitational First Round Match)
5. Curt Stallion over Jason Cade (Scenic City Invitational First Round Match)
6. Gunner Miller over Shane Marx (Scenic City Invitational First Round Match)
7. Anthony Henry over Gary Jay (Scenic City Invitational First Round Match)
8. Matt Riddle over Tank (Scenic City Invitational First Round Match)

—Night Two (August 5)—

1. Corey Hollis over Dominic Garrini
2. The Movement (Chip Hazard & Talon Williams) over Tough Guy, Inc. ("Brutal" Bob Evans & Tim Hughes)
3. Matt Riddle over Gunner Miller (Scenic City Invitational Semifinal Match)
4. Curt Stallion over Arik Royal (Scenic City Invitational Semifinal Match)
5. Joey Lynch over Jason Kincaid (Scenic City Invitational Semifinal Match)
6. Anthony Henry over Darby Allin (Scenic City Invitational Semifinal Match)
7. Kyle Matthews over Drew Adler, Gary Jay, Kevin Ku, Kongo, & Tyson Dean (Scramble Match)
8. The Hierarchy (Adrian Armour & Murder-1) & O'Shay Edwards over the Carnies (Kerry Awful, Nick Iggy, & Tripp Cassidy (Street Fight)
9. Matt Riddle over Anthony Henry, Curt Stallion, and Joey Lynch (Scenic City Invitational Finals)

As I hope to recap this once it hits distribution I'll keep it short and sweet, but by all accounts the 2017 SCI was a hell of a weekend. Bit bummed my dude Anthony Henry didn't take the crown but really, once our Bro retired Tank and plowed through last year's winner Gunner Miller (in what sounds like it was a blowaway sprint of a match), who could stop him?

Check it out when it goes up on Powerbomb.tv, folks, you won't likely regret it.

AAW Jawbreaker (August 5)

1. Alex Daniels & Davey Vega over Ace Perry & PACO
2. Jessicka Havok over Leah Vaughan (AAW Women's Championship Tournament First Round Match)
3. Ivelisse over Samantha Heights (AAW Women's Championship Tournament First Round Match)
4. Brubaker over CJ Esparza
5. Bucky Collins over Mike Hartenbower
6. Myron Reed over Arik Cannon, Brett Gakiya, Jake Something, Juntai Miller, and Kody Rice (Scramble Match)
7. Keith Lee over Bob Holly (Jim Lynam Memorial Tournament Qualifying Match)
8. Chuck Taylor over Andrew Everett
9. Scarlet and Graves (Dezmond Xavier & Zachary Wentz) (c) over Stephen Wolf & Trey Miguel to retain the AAW Tag Team Championship
10. Mat Fitchett over ACH
11. AR Fox, Juventud Guerrera, & Rey Fenix over Jason Cade & OI4K (Jake Crist & Sami Callihan)

AAW kicked its women's championship tournament off right and set up a Limitless entrant for this year's Jim Lynam Memorial, but let's cut right to the big news, shall we? A beatdown after the main event set the stage for Sami Callihan to once again rip off Fenix's match, which lead to the luchador putting it all on the line-- Mask vs. Title, AAW Defining Moment 2017!

Check it out when it goes up on Smark Mark Video or Highspots, at your pleasure.

Chikara Chikarasaurus Rex: Flesh & Stone (August 5)

1. Bike Cops (Donald Kluger, Jasper Tippins, & Officer Warren Barksdale) over Cajun Crawdad, Hermit Crab, & Sloan Caprice
2. Missile Assault Man over the Whisper by disqualification
3. Razerhawk (c) over Everett Connors to retain the Chikara Young Lions Cup
4. Hallowicked over Ophidian (Sarcophagus Match)
5. Dash Hatfield over Merlok
6. Race Jaxon over Sylverhawk by disqualification
7. The Furies (Fire Ant, Icarus, Solo Darling, & Travis Huckabee) over Cornelius Crummels, Kobald, Oleg the Usurper, & Sonny Defarge
8. Juan Francisco de Coronado (c) over Rory Gulak to retain the Chikara Grand Championship
9. Mark Angelosetti over Jeremy Leary

An unscheduled Sarcophagus Match?! The last one between Amasis and Ophidian was one of the greatest, most brutal matches in Chikara history, and the snake man showed up to Chikarasaurus Rex looking for Frightmare. Hallowicked claimed the match instead, but Frightmare got involved and in the end, Ophidian was loaded up into a van driven by the Whisper, incognito as a druid. Intrigue!

Plus Dasher Hatfield became the first man to score a pinfall victory over Merlok and while Coronado successfully defended his crown, he now has Mr. Touchdown coming after him, having scored his third point in victory during the encore.

Check it out on Chikaratopia, folks.

CZW Once in a Lifetime (August 5)

1. Ace Romero over Anthony Bennett, Brandon Watts, Jason Gory, Jimmy Lloyd, Ken Broadway, Kit Osbourne, Mike Greca, Pandita, and Smiley (Aerial Assault Match)
2. Maxwell Jacob Friedman (c) over John Silver to retain the CZW Wired Championship
3. Storm of Entrails (Dan O'Hare & SHLAK) over Hideki Hosaka & Raijin Yaguchi and the Awakening (G-Raver & Stockade)
4. Tim Donst over Ace Austin
5. Shane Strickland (c) over MASADA to retain the CZW World Heavyweight Championship
6. Lio Rush over Joey Janela (THE FINAL CHAPTER)
7. Atsushi Onita vs. Matt Tremont went to a no contest
8. Team FMW (Atsushi Onita, Hideki Hosaka, & Raijin Yaguchi) over Team CZW (Danny Havoc, Father Matthew Tremont, & Rickey Shane Page)

Yes, folks, let's get the disappointment out of the way early-- Onita/Tremont became a six-man in short order and that sucks. But Onita is sixty years old, hasn't had a proper singles match in over a year, and broke his hip early this year and chose to just work through it, so I'm not super inclined to be salty about it. Especially not if the rematch Onita mooted for Japan (with "real" explosions) actually happens!

In other news, Lio Rush closed the book on Joey Janela in a match where he no-sold a powerbomb off a ladder through a table, and Ace Romero, who is very large but flips with the best of 'em, won the returning Aerial Assault in what I can only assume is some amazing spectacle.

Check it out on CZW Studios or the Highspots Wrestling Network, folks.

FIP Heatstroke 2017 (August 5)

1. Drennen, Odinson, & Parrow over Liam Gray, Mason Taylor, & Talon
2. Leon Ruff over Chip Day (Style Battle S1E7 Qualifying Match)
3. Jarek 1:20 over Barrett Brown
4. Aria Blake over MJ Jenkins
5. Thomas Sharp over Teddy Stigma
6. Caleb Konley over Ethan Case
7. Priscilla Kelly (c) over Stormie Lee to retain the Shine Nova Championship
8. Jon Davis (c) over John Skyler to retain the FIP Florida Heritage Championship.
9. Fred Yehi (c) over Tracer X to retain the FIP World Heavyweight Championship.
10. Hooligans (Devin & Mason Cutter) (c) vs. Ugly Ducklings (Lance Lude & Rob Killjoy) went to a no contest (FIP Tag Team Championship)

You can check out our full results for more details, but FIP delivered the action we expect from them, with the absolute highlights being the double main event. Yes, the tag title match went to a non-finish and that's always a bummer, but the action along the way was all-out insanity between both teams and their managers, and Yehi/X was really great, with chairs aplenty and plenty of really cool stuff.

Check it out on FloSlam, folks.

WrestleCircus The Cody Rhodes Summer Circus Show (August 5)

1. Lance Hoyt over Shane Taylor
2. Kevin Condron over Brandi Rhodes by disqualification
3. Christi Jaynes over Rachael Ellering to become #1 contender to the WC Lady of the Ring Championship
4. Team Jervis (Space Monkey & Super Beetle) over Team Austin the Ref ("All Ego" Ethan Page & Jay Syrious)
5. Brian Cage over Angelico, Jordan Len-X, and Travis "Flip" Gordon
6. Tessa Blanchard (c) over LuFisto to retain the WC Lady of the Ring and WC Sideshow Championships
7. Sammy Guevara over JT Dunn
8. Adam Cole & Britt Baker over Roppongi Vice (Rocky Romero & Trent Baretta) (c) to win the WC Big Top Tag Team Championship
9. Cody Rhodes (c) over Scorpio Sky to retain the ROH World Championship

Yes indeed, Cody did end up having to put his ROH World Championship on the line after Condron pulled an Eddie Guerrero fakeout with the title belt. He retained, but in the tags it was a different story, bay bay. Whatever's... next... for Adam Cole he's gonna be doing it with the WC tag title over his shoulder, and as for RPG Vice, their last commitment fulfilled, Rocky fulfills the promise he mentioned back at the US New Japan shows and let Trent soar free like the majestic-if-kind-of-weird bird that he is.

Check their Twitch channel for broadcast replays or subscribe for VOD access at any time, folks.

RPW Live at the Cockpit 19 (August 6)

1. TK Cooper over Eddie Dennis
2. Cara Noir over RJ Singh
3. Lord Gideon Grey over Kurtis Chapman
4. Mark Davis over Kyle Fletcher
5. Luke Phoenix, Ryan Smile, & Sha Samuels over Josh Bodom, Rob Lias, & Zack Gibson
6. Jinny over Dahlia Black
7. Jay White over El Phantasmo
8. #CCK (Chris Brookes & Travis Banks) (c) over War Machine (Hanson & Ray Rowe) to retain the RPW British Tag Team Championship

A bad night for Eddie Dennis, then, as his scheduled match against Chris Brookes (where if the Pride of Wales had won, he'd be inserted into the title match at Summer Sizzler) was called off after Kid Lykos suffered an injury such that he couldn't compete against War Machine. Fortunately TK Cooper was there, and with the same stipulation, but all of Eddie's scouting was for nought, as the only thing Cooper and Brookes have in common is, well, Travis Banks.

Check the show out on RPW On Demand, where it actually streamed live as part of their ongoing experimentation with getting shows to air as they happen.

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.