Sermon on the Mat (Dec. 20, 2018): CMLL & wXw 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 (Dec. 21, 9:30PM Eastern)

1. Cancerbero & Raziel vs. Robin & Star, Jr.
2. Black Panther, Blue Panther, Jr. & Drone vs. Kawato San, Okumura, & Virus
3. El Felino, Luciferno, & Polvora vs. Esfinge, Titan, & Triton
4. Angel de Oro vs. Mephisto (Lightning Match)
5. El Terrible, Euforia, & Rey Bucanero vs. El Valiente, Kraneo, & Stuka, Jr.
6. Barbaro Cavernario, Penta el Zero M, & Ultimo Guerrero vs. Caristico, Diamante Azul, & Volador, Jr.

CMLL are back in the legendary Arena Mexico for your weekly Friday night dose of lucha libre action and again this is a show without any special theme, but WITH a couple good-looking trios matches, especially that main event’s all-star rudo squad.

Check it out, as always, free for nothin’ on Marca Claro, folks, and the VOD will go up on CMLL’s YouTube channel (where they also stream shows every Monday and Tuesday free of charge) after the fact for those of you who can’t watch live.

wXw 18th Anniversary (Dec. 22, 4PM CET)

1. Julian Pace vs. Timo Theiss
2. Alpha Female vs. Killer Kelly vs. Yuu
3. Bobby Gunns vs. Shigehiro Irie
4. British Strong Style (Pete Dunne, Trent Seven, & Tyler Bate) vs. Ringkampf (Marcel Barthel, Timothy Thatcher, & WALTER)
5. Avalanche & Emil Sitoci vs. Jay-FK (Francis Kaspin & Jay Skillet) (c) vs. RISE (Da Mack & Tarkan Aslan) vs. RISE (Ivan Kiev & Pete Bouncer) vs. the Crown (Alexander James & Jurn Simmons) (wXw World Tag Team Championship Gauntlet Match)
6. Kellyanne vs. Toni Storm (c) (wXw Women’s Championship)
7. Lucky Kid vs. Marius Al-Ani (c) (wXw Shotgun Championship)
8. Absolute Andy (c) vs. David Starr (wXw Unified World Wrestling Championship)

wXw are closing out their year in Oberhausen and oh, it’s true-- Marcel “Axel Dieter, Jr.” Barthel is back! He’s coming home from NXT for one night only to team with his old Ringkampf pals against WWE UK Champion Pete Dunne and his pals in British Strong Style, and if it’s anything like the match they previously had for Progress, it’s gonna tear the house down.

Plus a gauntlet for the tag titles, two special challenge matches for Japanese imports, Aussie women battle over the title, and David Starr gets a chance to avenge his loss in the finals of this year’s 16 Carat Gold as he goes one on one with the undisputed world champion, Absolute Andy.

Tickets are sold out, but you can, of course, check it all out on wXwNOW, where it’ll be uploaded on the 28th.

Free matches here!

David Starr vs. JT Dunn

From the fine folks up at Limitless Wrestling in Maine, we’ve got a tag explosion on our hands, folks. Juicy Product no more, Starr and Dunn are goin’ at it, enjoy!

Joey Janela vs. Jordynne Grace

The fine folks up at Smash have been uploading their best matches of 2018, so I’ve selected this match between the Bad Boy and Thick Mama Pump for y’all to check out, but be sure to hit their channel up for even more Canadian wrestling goodness, folks. Check it out!

Brandon Kirk vs. Jimmy Lloyd

And last but not least, some deathmatch action to warm your heart on this holiday weekend from the jolly fellows over at CZW. Rising stars Brandon Kirk and Jimmy Lloyd find themselves tangled up in some barbed wire in the Squared Circle of Sacrifice, don’t miss it!

Results

MLW Never Say Never / Zero Hour (Dec. 13-14)

—Never Say Never (Dec. 13)—

1. Tom Lawlor over Simon Gotch (No Holds Barred Match)
2. Hart Foundation (Brian Pillman, Jr. & Davey Boy Smith, Jr.) over Barrington Hughes & Tommy Dreamer
3. Kotto Brazil over Vandal Ortagun
4. El Hijo de LA Park over DJ Z
5. Dezmond Xavier over Andrew Everett
6. Ricky Martinez over Gringo Loco
7. Dragon Lee over Rich Swann
8. Ace Romero over Ariel Dominguez
9. Rush over Shane Strickland
10. LA Park over Sami Callihan (Falls Count Anywhere in Miami Match)
11. Low-Ki (c) over Fred Yehi to retain the MLW World Heavyweight Championship
12. Teddy Hart over Pentagon, Jr.

—Zero Hour (Dec. 14)—

1. Ricky Martinez over Fred Yehi
2. Ace Romero over Simon Gotch (Prizefight Challenge)
3. Ariel Dominguez over Andrew Everett
4. Hart Foundation (Brian Pillman, Jr. & Davey Boy Smith, Jr.) over Dirty Blondes (Leo Brien & Mike Patrick)
5. Teddy Hart over Dezmond Xavier, El Hijo de LA Park, Gringo Loco, and Kotto Brazil to win the vacant MLW Middleweight Championship
6. Dragon Lee over DJ Z
7. Rush over Rich Swann
8. LA Park over Gringo Loco
9. Ace Romero & Barrington Hughes over Dirty Blondes (Leo Brien & Mike Patrick)
10. Brian Pillman, Jr. over Tommy Dreamer (Singapore Cane Match)
11. Konnan vs. Low-Ki (c) went to a no contest (MLW World Heavyweight Championship No Disqualification Match)

Yes, folks, you read that right-- Teddy Hart is a champion in the year of our lord 2018! Plus big man flyer Ace Romero beat the challenge and earned the cash, and the main event of Zero Hour ended in chaos as Salina de la Renta’s goons attacked Konnan and Low-Ki stabbed him with a damn broken bottle!

Check it out as it airs on episodes of MLW Fusion, whether on BeIN Sports or MLW’s own YouTube channel, and since the five-way, Lee/DJZ, and Rush/Swann all aired live, that episode is already up in the archive!

NOVA Hoppy Place (Dec. 15)

1. John Kermon over Bobby Shields
2. Rebel over Ariela Nyx
3. Innocent Isaiah over Beau Crockett
4. Sage Philips (c) over Tim Donst to retain the PWF Tri-States ChampionshipI
5. Isaiah Frazier vs. Tito Santana went to a no contest
6. Isaiah Frazier & Tito Santana over Gator Pit (Coach Gator & Mikey Banker
7. Capital Vices (J-Sin & Money Greene) over Ethan Cross & John Washington
8. Sahara Seven over Gemma Cross
9. Josh Fuller over Hornswoggle
10. Allie Kat over Logan Easton LaRoux

NOVA Pro’s debut in Loudoun County seems to have been a hit, and we’ve got quick-hits details on exactly what went down from our man Duke (follow him on Twitter!), so without further ado...

Nyx attacked Rebel after the match; Jordan Blade made the save... Philips won that title on Friday and defended it the next night... Frazier/Tito was a no-contest because Gator and Banker demanded more violence from Tito and the legend refused... Vices’ match lasted 58 seconds, a new tag match record... the Fuller/Swoggle match went all over (and almost under) the ring and included German suplexes onto piles of Lucky Charms... much to Logan’s ire, as he bullied NOVA Pro staff for not cleaning up fast enough, making the loss that much sweeter.

Check the VOD out when it hits Powerbomb.tv, folks.

Shine 55 (Dec. 15)

1. Shotzi Blackheart over Christina Marie
2. Allie Recks & Willow Nightingale over Brandi Lauren & Jenna
3. Priscilla Kelly over Gabby Gilbert & Luscious Latasha (Handicap Match)
4. Kiera Hogan over Aerial Monroe
5. Aja Perera (c) over Dementia D’Rose to retain the Shine Nova Championship
6. Mercedes Martinez over Kimber Lee
7. Allysin Kay (c) over Su Yung to retain the Shine Championship

Shine delivered an afternoon of solid action without much in the way of surprises in their New York return. A bit of last minute card shuffling was necessitated due to Solo Darling’s unexpected absence, but the show must go on, and the last two matches both delivered as hard as you’d expect them to. Plus we got three matches set up for the next show on 1/19, in Brandi Lauren vs. Allie Recks, Priscilla Kelly vs. Santana Garrett (in a Street Fight!), and Allysin Kay vs. Ivelisse with the title on the line!

Check the VOD out on WWNLive, whether as an individual purchase or at no additional cost as part of your Club WWN subscription.

Evolve 117 / 118 (Dec. 15-16)

—Evolve 117 (Dec. 15)—

1. Prelim: Harlem Bravado over Joe Bailey
2. Prelim: BSHP KNG over Joe Gacy
3. Josh Briggs over Leon Ruff
4. AR Fox over Curt Stallion
5. Kassius Ohno over Darby Allin
6. Street Profits (Angelo Dawkins & Montez Ford) (Tag) vs. WorkHorsemen (Anthony Henry & JD Drake (WWN)) went to a no contest (Evolve Tag Team Championship / WWN Championship)
7. Austin Theory over Fabian Aichner (c) and Roderick Strong to win the Evolve World Championship

—Evolve 118 (Dec. 16)—

1. Prelim: Joe Gacy over Joe Bailey
2. Prelim: Curt Stallion over Anthony Greene, BSHP KNG, and Colby Corino
3. Priscilla Kelly over Shotzi Blackheart
4. Eddie Kingston vs. JD Drake went to a no contest
5. Street Profits (Angelo Dawkins & Montez Ford) (c) over Austin Theory & Harlem Bravado to retain the Evolve Tag Team Championship
6. Josh Briggs over Adrian Alanis
7. AR Fox over Leon Ruff
8. Roderick Strong over Darby Allin
9. Kassius Ohno over Anthony Henry

As always with Evolve I’ll point you at my recaps (117 here, 118 forthcoming as soon as I can watch the VOD that was uploaded early Wednesday morning) and keep it short and sweet here, but Eddie Kingston’s in Evolve, baby!

Check out the VOD on WWNLive, whether as an individual purchase or at no additional cost through your Club WWN subscription, 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.