Sermon on the Mat (Aug. 31, 2017): AAW, Lucha Forever, CMLL, wXw, Chikara, PWG, OTT, & RevPro 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...

AAW Defining Moment 2017 (August 31, 7:30PM Central)

1. OI4K (Dave & Jake Crist) vs. Scarlet and Graves (Dezmond Xavier & Zachary Wentz) (c) (AAW Tag Team Championship)
2. Rey Fenix vs. Sami Callihan (c) (AAW Heavyweight Championship Mask vs. Title Match)

AAW are keeping tonight's card close to their vest, but the two matches announced for the Berwyn Eagles Club are spectacular enough to carry the day, I reckon. Teachers and students clash over the tag titles, and a year-long journey culminates-- either Fenix will win the title, or he'll walk out unmasked. Also scheduled to appear are Brian Cage, Jeff Cobb, Matt Riddle, AR Fox, and Cody Rhodes, so it's gonna be a big one for sure.

Tickets are sold out, so you'll just have to wait for the show to hit Highspots and Smart Mark Video, folks.

Lucha Forever A Whole Lot of Getting Over (August 31, 7PM GMT)

1. #CCK (Chris Brookes & Kid Lykos) vs. Aussie Open (Kyle Fletcher & Mark Davis) vs. Hunter Brothers (Jim & Lee Hunter) vs. Kings of the North (Bonesaw & Damien Corvin)
2. Jinny vs. Sammii Jayne
3. Bubblegum vs. Pete Dunne
4. Chief Deputy Dunne vs. Will Ospreay (Steel Cage Match)

Lucha Forever are back in Birmingham, England, and there's no better place than the city in which heavy metal was born to have their first steel cage match. The inevitable triumph of Damian Dunne (because a steel cage is no fun, you see) isn't all they have, of course, as they've got a stacked four-way tag team match as well as two standout singles matchups set for the show.

Get your tickets here or check it out on Lucha Forever On Demand, folks.

CMLL International Grand Prix (September 1, 9:30PM Eastern)

1. Blue Panther, Blue Panther, Jr., & the Panther vs. Cuatrero, Mascara Ano 2000, & Sanson
2. Amapola, Dalys, & Zeuxis vs. Marcela, Princesa Sugehit, & Silueta
3. Caristico, Mistico, & Soberano, Jr. vs. La Peste Negra (Barbaro Cavernario, El Felino, & Negro Casas)
4. Team International (Juice Robinson, Johnny Idol, Kenny King, Marco Corleone, Matt Taven, Michael Elgin, Sam Adonis, & Satoshi Kojima) vs. Team Mexico (Diamante Azul, Dragon Lee, El Valiente, Euforia, Mephisto, Rush, Ultimo Guerrero, & Volador, Jr.) (CMLL International Grand Prix 2017)

CMLL are in Arena Mexico as always on a Friday night and it's time for the International Grand Prix! It's an elimination that pits Mexico's best against the rest of the world, but as always with cibernetico rules, the twist is that eliminations will continue until only one man remains, even if that means brother fighting against brother. Plus the co-main trios match should be a hoot in and of itself.

Alas, unlike most Fridays, this one is NOT available free for nothin' on ClaroSports, and CMLL are partnering with Internet TV to deliver this on iPPV.

wXw Fan Appreciation Night 2017 (September 1, 8PM CET)

1. Die Keiler (Jan Dietrich & Veit Mueller) vs. Julian Nero & Toni Harting
2. Dirty Dragan vs. Francis Kaspin
3. A4 (Absolute Andy & Marius Al-Ani) & Kim Ray vs. RISE (Lucky Kid, Pete Bouncer, & Tarkan Aslan)
4. Bobby Gunns vs. Timothy Thatcher
5. David Starr (c) vs. Flip Gordon vs. Ivan Kiev (wXw Shotgun Championship)
6. Avalanche vs. Ilja Dragunov (wXw Unified World Wrestling Championship #1 Contender's Street Fight)
7. "Bad Bones" John Klinger (c) vs. Jurn Simmons (wXw Unified World Wrestling Championship)

wXw are in Hamburg, Germany, for their annual Fan Appreciation Night, and RISE is a critical thread running through the night. Jurn Simmons looks to reclaim his title, taken from him by Bad Bones in conjunction with RISE, Ivan Kiev hopes to use the confusion of a three-way to divest David Starr of the Shotgun title and put all of wXw's gold in their hands, and tag champs Kid & Aslan pair up with Bouncer to try and take out three of wXw's most stalwart in A4 and Kim Ray.

Plus the Gunns/Thatcher feud rages on and Ilja Dragunov looks to earn another shot at the big one.

Get your tickets here or check it out on wXwNOW!, folks.

Chikara King of Trios 2017 (September 1-3)

—Night One (September 1, 7PM GMT)—

1. House Fight Club (Kyle Fletcher, Millie McKenzie, & Omari) vs. House Furies (Fire Ant, Solo Darling, & Travis Huckabee) (King of Trios 2017 First Round Match)
2. House Bike Cops (Donald Kluger, Jasper Tippins, & Officer Warren Barksdale) vs. House Calamari (Chris Brookes, Elijah, & Kid Lykos) (King of Trios 2017 First Round Match)
3. Casa Dorada (Cornelius Crummels, Juan Francisco de Coronado, & Sonny Defarge) vs. House Sport (Danny Boy Collins, James Mason, & Mal Sanders) (King of Trios 2017 First Round Match)
4. House Revival (Jody Fleisch, Johnny Moss, & Jonny Storm) vs. House Seven Seas (Cajun Crawdad, Hermit Crab, & Merlok) (King of Trios 2017 First Round Match)
5. House Attack (Chief Deputy Dunne, Jim Obstruction, & Lee Obstruction) vs. House Throwback (Dasher Hatfield, Mark Angelosetti, & Simon Grimm) (King of Trios 2017 First Round Match)
6. House Strong Style (Pete Dunne, Trent Seven, & Tyler Bate) vs. House Whitewolf (A-Kid, Adam Chase, & Zayas) (King of Trios 2017 First Round Match)
7. House Bodyslam (Emeritus, Michael Fynne, & Vasyl) vs. House Rot (Frightmare, Kobald, & Hallowicked) (King of Trios 2017 First Round Match)
8. House Sendai Girls (Cassandra Miyagi, Dash Chisako, & Meiko Satomura) vs. House Xyberhawx (Nytehawk, Razerhawk, & Sylverhawk) (King of Trios 2017 First Round Match)

—Night Two (September 2, 7PM GMT)—

1. Johnny Kidd vs. Mike Quackenbush (World of Sport Rules)
2. Chuck Mambo vs. Red Eagle vs. ??? vs. ??? (Rey de Voladores Elimination Match)
3. El Phantasmo vs. the Whisper vs. ??? vs. ??? (Rey de Voladores Elimination Match)
4. King of Trios 2017 Quarterfinal Matches

—Night Three (September 3, 3PM GMT)—

1. King of Trios Semifinal Matches
2. Rey de Voladores Finals
3. Los Ice Creams (El Hijo del Ice Cream & Ice Cream, Jr.) vs. ??? vs. ??? vs. ??? vs. ??? vs. ??? vs. ??? vs. ??? vs. ??? vs. ??? (Tag Team Gauntlet Match)
4. King of Trios Finals

Yes, folks, it's Labor Day weekend and that means it's time for Chikara's premiere tournament, King of Trios! Sixteen squads from around the world will converge on Wolverhampton, England, but only one will leave victorious. Also part of the festivities as always, we have Rey de Voladores and the venerable 10-team tag gauntlet, plus Johnny Kidd coming out of retirement for one last match against "Lightning" Mike Quackenbush!

Get your tickets here, or wait for the shows to hit Chikaratopia.

PWG 2017 Battle of Los Angeles (September 1-3)

—Stage One (September 1, 8PM Pacific)—

1. Brian Cage vs. Dezmond Xavier (2017 Battle of Los Angeles First Round Match)
2. Marty Scurll vs. "Flash" Morgan Webster (2017 Battle of Los Angeles First Round Match)
3. Rey Fenix vs. Rey Horus (2017 Battle of Los Angeles First Round Match)
4. Matt Sydal vs. Penta el Zero M (2017 Battle of Los Angeles First Round Match)
5. Jonah Rock vs. Zack Sabre, Jr. (2017 Battle of Los Angeles First Round Match)
6. Flamita vs. Ricochet (2017 Battle of Los Angeles First Round Match)
7. Chosen Bros (Jeff Cobb & Matt Riddle) vs. Donovan Dijak & Keith Lee

—Stage Two (September 2, 8PM Pacific)—

1. Joey Janela vs. Sammy Guevara (2017 Battle of Los Angeles First Round Match)
2. Donovan Dijak vs. Trevor Lee (2017 Battle of Los Angeles First Round Match)
3. Jeff Cobb vs. Sami Callihan (2017 Battle of Los Angeles First Round Match)
4. Matt Riddle vs. Michael Elgin (2017 Battle of Los Angeles First Round Match)
5. Mark Haskins vs. Travis Banks (2017 Battle of Los Angeles First Round Match)
6. Keith Lee vs. WALTER (2017 Battle of Los Angeles First Round Match)
7. LDRS (Marty Scurll & Zack Sabre, Jr.) vs. Matt Sydal & Ricochet
8. Flamita & Lucha Brothers (Penta el Zero M & Rey Fenix) vs. the Elite (Kenny Omega, Matt Jackson, & Nick Jackson)

—Final Stage (September 3, 5PM Pacific)—

1. 2017 Battle of Los Angeles Quarterfinal, Semifinal, & Final Matches

BOLA is back, baby! Unfortunately after his ankle injury, TK Cooper has been forced to pull out of the tournament. He's been replaced by the Bad Boy himself, Joey Janela in the tournament, and with the originally scheduled Night One tag match against the Young Bucks off the books, Matt & Nick are just taking the night off. The rest of PWG's planned festivities speak for themselves, but I'll spare a moment to go "Keith Lee vs. WALTER, holy crap!" all the same.

Tickets, of course, sold out almost immediately after they went on sale, so if you'd like to see the tournament, you'll just have to wait in the slow lane for the DVD release like everybody else.

Gorgeous Ladies of Burlesque (September 2, 9PM Eastern)

1. Ouroboros & Rory Gulak vs. The Broad St. Burlies (Kate Nyx & Liberty Rose)

Powerbomb.tv are ramping up their live streaming efforts, and your eyes don't deceive you, this is a wrestling/burlesque crossover show coming at you from Chikara’s Wrestle Factory in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania! I have zero idea how this is going to work and to the best of my ability to research it there's only that one match scheduled, but hell, it's gotta be interesting, right? Plus Stokely Hathaway is set to unveil the Dream Team's newest acquisition!

Get your tickets here or stream it live through Powerbomb.tv, folks.

OTT WrasslePops (September 2, 7PM GMT)

1. Angel Cruz & Barry Malone vs. Justin Shape & Logan Bryce
2. Buddy George, Jr. vs. Zack Gibson
3. Damian Dunne vs. Eddie Dennis
4. David Starr vs. Jordan Devlin
5. 2 Unlimited (Jay & Patrick Sammon) vs. Kings of the North (Bonesaw & Damien Corvin) (c) (OTT Tag Team Championship)
6. Curtis Murray vs. El Ligero vs. Flip Gordon vs. Will Ospreay vs. ??? (Cereal Bowl)

OTT are back in Dublin, Ireland and they're bringing a balanced breakfast with them. The big concept here is the Cereal Bowl, a five-man staggered entry elimination match. Two men begin, an additional competitor enters every three minutes, and the action proceeds until only one is left standing!

Get your tickets here or check it out on OTT On Demand.

RPW Live at the Cockpit 20 (September 3, 5:30PM GMT)

1. Bubblegum vs. Dave Mastiff
2. Aussie Open (Kyle Fletcher & Mark Davis) vs. Josh Wall & Kurtis Chapman
3. David Starr vs. Ryan Smile
4. Bea Priestley vs. Jinny
5. Timothy Thatcher vs. Zack Gibson
6. Flip Gordon vs. Josh Bodom (c) (RPW British Cruiserweight Championship)

RevPro are back in the Cockpit in London for their twentieth show in that venue and while it's not exactly an all-out York Hall type card, they're very much bringing the heat. Flip Gordon gets a shot at the cruiserweight title, Thatcher and Gibson square off in a match that I personally am very much anticipating, two up-and-coming tag teams do battle that could have very real title implications, and more besides.

Get your tickets here or check it out when it hits RPW On Demand within a few days after the show.

Free matches here!

British Strong Style (Trent Seven & Tyler Bate) vs. Carnies (Kerry Awful & Nick Iggy)

Fresh off the presses from the fine folks over at Battle Club Pro, it's a dream tag team match that some are saying was the best match BSS had during their whole recent American excursion. Don't miss it!

Mia Yim vs. Santana Garrett

To celebrate the release of the first round of the Mae Young Classic, the good people at FloSlam have seen fit to open the archives and put several showcase matches out there, free for nothin'. I'm choosing to highlight this particular Yim/Garrett match, but hit up their YouTube channel and you'll find several more. Enjoy!

David Starr vs. Eddie Edwards

Eddie Edwards became the first westerner to win NOAH's fabled GHC Heavyweight Championship, and to celebrate his accomplishment, Beyond released this bad boy for our viewing enjoyment. One-on-one with the Jewish Cannon, check it out!

Results

AAA Triplemania XXV (August 26)

1. Ashley, Dragon Solar, Pardux, & Solaris over Bronco Gonzalez, Chicano, Fetiche, & Hashtary (La Llave a la Gloria Finals)
2. Angelikal, Hijo del Vikingo, & the Tigger over Angel Mortal, Jr., Tiger Boy, & Villano III, Jr. (La Llave a la Gloria Finals)
3. Hernandez, Mini Psycho Clown, La Hiedra, & Mamba over Big Mami, Dinastía, Estrella Divina, & Máscara de Bronce
4. Sexy Star (c) over Ayako Hamada, Lady Shani, and Rosemary to retain the AAA Reina de Reinas Championship
5. Monsther Clown & Murder Clown over Aerostar & Drago, Andrew Everett & DJZ, Dark Cuervo & Dark Scoria (c) by pinfall to win the AAA Tag Team Championship
6. La Parka wins the Torneo Triplemanía XXV
7. El Mesías vs. Pagano goes to a no-contest (Ultimate Consequences Street Fight)
8. Johnny Mundo (c) over El Hijo del Fantasma and Texano, Jr. to retain the AAA Mega Championship, AAA Latin American Championship, and AAA World Cruiserweight Championship (Tables, Ladders, and Chairs Match)
9. Psycho Clown over Dr. Wagner, Jr. (Mask vs. Mask Match)

Triplemania was... a hell of a show, in a lot of ways.

Let's get the bad out of the way first-- English commentary was woefully unprepared, only really being familiar with folks who also work for Lucha Underground or are established international stars. The Torneo was a mess, to put it gently, and the Ultimate Consequence turns out to be watching a boring brawl for fifteen minutes only to get no finish out of the deal. And, worse than any of that, Sexy Star's by now well-documented unprofessionalism, intentionally injuring Rosemary in the finish of the incredibly awkward women's match.

Onto the good! Hijo del Vikingo (one of three winners of La Llave a la Gloria alongside Ashley and Angelikal) is the real deal, and should have a very bright future ahead of him, for one. And match-wise, the four-way tag match was a hoot, the TLC a bloodbath full of interference and crazy bumps but captivating all the same, and the main event delivered on all the gravitas and intensity you want when a mask as storied as Dr. Wagner, Jr.'s is on the line.

The Twitch VOD is available to subscribers, or you can wait a little while and they'll likely put the whole deal up on their YouTube channel, folks.

NEW Wrestling Under the Stars VI (August 27)

1. Battle Brothers (Anthony & Chris Battle) over Amazing Graysons (JP & Tommy Grayson) and Adrenaline Rush (Daniel Evans & Keith Youngblood)
2. Brandi Rhodes over Karen Q
3. Brian Anthony over Brad Hollister
4. Hanson over Caleb Konley
5. Wrecking Ball Legursky over Jake Manning
6. Flip Gordon over Garza, Jr. and Laredo Kid
7. Jerry "the King" Lawler over Robbie E
8. The NOW (Hale Collins & Vik Dalishus) (c) vs. the Kingdom (TK O'Ryan & Vinny Marseglia) went to a double count-out draw (NEW Tag Team Championship)
9. Cody Rhodes (c) over Rey Mysterio to retain the NEW Heavyweight Championship

Injury and hurricane-related travel woes led to a bit of card shuffling, but NEW's biggest (and indeed, indie wrestling's biggest-by-attendance) show of the year went off quite well by all appearances.

Check it out when it goes up on NEW's on demand service or on Highspots Wrestling Network, folks.

Progress Chapter 54: Go to Your God Like a Soldier (August 27)

1. Never Say Die (Alex Cupid & Dillon D'Angelo) over Aussie Open (Kyle Fletcher & Mark Davis)
2. Strangler Davis over Connor Mills
3. Tyler Bate over Kid Lykos
4. Dahlia Black over Jinny to become #1 contender to the Progress Women's Championship
5. Chris Brookes over Trent Seven
6. Grizzled Young Vets (James Drake & Zack Gibson) over FSU (Eddie Dennis & Mark Andrews)
7. Timothy Thatcher over Doug Williams
8. Pete Dunne & Travis Banks over Jimmy Havoc & Mark Haskins

As always with promotions I recap I'll keep this short and sweet, but the big news coming out of Chapter 54 was always going to be the tag team stipulations for Chapter 55 in Alexandra Palace. British Strong Style thought they'd be cheeky and select a normal match as theirs after Bate beat Lykos, but they wouldn't get out of it that easily, as Brookes sealed the deal over Seven and #CCK chose a ladder match for their half. It's on!

Check it out when it hits 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.