Sermon on the Mat (Dec. 27, 2018): NOVA, AIW, CMLL, WR, Progress, WWR, & Beyond 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...

NOVA 37 (In a Row?) (Dec. 27, 7:30PM Eastern)

1. Faye Jackson vs. Jordan Blade
2. Harlow O’Hara vs. Penelope Ford
3. Sadkampf (Dominic Garrini & Kevin Ku) vs. Ugly Ducklings (Lance Lude & Rob Killjoy)
4. John Kermon vs. Nick Gage
5. Brian Johnson vs. Isaiah Frazier
6. Allie Kat vs. Sage Philips (c) (PWF Tri-State Championship)
7. Colt Cabana vs. Logan Easton LaRoux
8. Arik Royal vs. Victor Benjamin
9. Brittany Blake vs. Terra Calaway (Fans Bring the Weapons Match)

NOVA Pro are back in Annandale, Virginia and first, as a long-time Kevin Smith fan, let me take a good long minute to appreciate that show title. Truly, it is the greatest title of our or any other time. Anyway, onto the content and this one’s gonna rule, folks. You got a Sadie Hawkins rematch in Sadkampf vs. Ducks, you got a grudge match with the Gator Pit banned from ringside and Coach Gator in a shark cage in Johnson/Frazier, you got an indie legend like Colt Cabana making his debut, but most exciting are the two matches I’ve listed last.

After his absolute tour de force in the cibernetico at Stay Golden, Pony Boy, the Savage Gentleman will go one-on-one with the Ace of the Mid-Atlantic in a match that’ll tear the house down. Which makes it convenient that our main event is a match that would be very comfortable taking place in ruins, because Blake and Calaway (who recently announced that 2019 will be her last year wrestling a full schedule) are going to tear each other apart with a little help from whatever devious items the NOVA Pro faithful bring for them to bludgeon and bloody each other with!

Get your tickets here or check it out live on Powerbomb.tv, folks.

AIW Welcome to the Party, Pal (Dec. 28, 7:30PM Eastern)

1. Tim Donst vs. Wes Barkley
2. Louis Lyndon vs. Wheeler YUTA
3. Dominic Garrini vs. Eddie Kingston vs. Joshua Bishop vs. Zach Thomas
4. #DukeMoney (Jock Samson & Mance Warner), Dr. Daniel C. Rockingham, & “All Ego” Ethan Page vs. Colt Cabana, Kikutaro, & Twins (Hornswoggle & PB Smooth)
5. To Infinity and Beyond (Cheech & Colin Delaney) vs. Weird World (Alex “Worldwide” Kellar & Evan “Weird Body” Adams) (c) (AIW Tag Team Championship)
6. KTB vs. Matthew Justice (c) (AIW Intense Championship)
7. Matt Cross vs. “Hot Sauce” Tracy Williams (c) (AIW Absolute Championship)
8. Masato Tanaka vs. Nick Gage

AIW are debuting in their new venue in Parma, Ohio, and my god, Masato Tanaka, the absolute legend that he is, is wrestling Nick Gage, and the spirit of ECW lives on! Plus Weird World defending against tag stalwarts To Infinity and Beyond, a comedy atomicos that I imagine will have to be seen to believe, a nifty multi-generational four-way, and Hot Sauce defending against M-Dogg 20 himself!

Get your tickets here or check it out when it hits Smart Mark Video, folks.

CMLL Super Viernes (Dec. 28, 9:30PM Eastern)

1. Arkalis & Oro, Jr. vs. Coyote & Grako
2. Amapola, Dalys, & Tiffany vs. Estrellita, Marcela, & Lluvia
3. El Audaz, Flyer, & Guerrero Maya, Jr. vs. Kawato San, Okumura, & Vangellys
4. Atlantis, Diamante Azul, & Titan vs. El Terrible, Hechicero, & Rey Bucanero
5. Dragon Lee, Mistico II, & Volador, Jr. vs. Nuevo Generacion Dinamitas (Cuatrero, Forastero, & Sanson)
6. Caristico vs. Penta el Zero M

CMLL are back with your weekly Friday night dose of lucha libre action from the legendary Arena Mexico and they’re closing out their year with a bang, folks. Two solid undercard trios matches, some fine women’s action, yes, but the money’s in the co-main, which should be just the best kind of CMLL trios action, and a tried-and-true main event that’s been everywhere on the lucha indies!

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.

WR Holiday Hangover (Dec. 28, 8PM Central)

1. Ace Austin vs. JT Dunn vs. Trey Miguel (WR Championship Tournament First Round Match)
2. Jessicka Havok vs. Matt Palmer (WR Championship Tournament First Round Match)
3. Larry D vs. Rich Swann (WR Championship Tournament First Round Match)
4. Brian Cage vs. Shane Strickland (WR Championship Tournament First Round Match)
5. ACH & Besties in the World (Davey Vega & Mat Fitchett) vs. OI4K (Dave Crist, Jake Crist, & Sami Callihan)
6. Arik Cannon vs. Jimmy Jacobs (Christmas Present Deathmatch)
7. Ace Romero vs. Caleb Konley (c) vs. Clayton Gainz vs. “Manscout” Jake Manning vs. Madman Fulton vs. Tommy Dreamer (WR Open Invite Scramble Championship)
8. DJ Z & Gringo Loco vs. the Rascalz (Dezmond Xavier & Zachary Wentz) (c) (WR Tag Team Championship)
9. WR Championship Tournament Finals

Wrestling Revolver are back in Des Moines, Iowa this weekend and they’re crowning a champion! Plus two indie vets clash in a Christmas-flavored deathmatch, Caleb Konley defends his Open Invite Scramble Championship in a match that will surely include a few surprise entrants, and two hype-lookin’ tag matches and it’s a real solid-lookin’ card, folks.

Get your tickets here or check it out when it hits Highspots Wrestling Network.

Progress Chapter 82: Unboxing Live: A Dukla Prague Away Kit (Dec. 30)

1. ???

Progress are back in London, England to close their year out with what has become a most excellent tradition-- Unboxing Live! A secret show wherein the entire card is kept a mystery until it actually happens, not only does it make my job here real easy, it makes for some damn good pro wrestling.

Tickets are, of course, long since sold out, but you can try your luck at the official ticket resale site or just wait for it to go up on Demand Progress with the rest of us schlubs, folks.

WWR Women’s TFT (Dec. 30, 5PM Eastern)

• Black & Blue (Davienne & Vionette)
• Gothicc (Harlow O’Hara & Terra Calaway)
• Kimber Lee & Skylar
• Ruthless Ambition (Maria Manic & Penelope Ford)
• Team Adams (Karen Q & Tasha Steelz
• Team Sea Stars (Ashley Vox & Delmi Exo)
• The Bird and the Bee (Solo Darling & Willow Nightingale)
• Twisted Sisterz (Holidead & Thunder Rosa)

Women’s Wrestling Revolution Pro are back in Worcester, Massachusetts and it’s time for the distaff version of Beyond’s Tag [REDACTED] Tournament! The full bracket and card are being kept secret, but you can see from the list of tag teams participating in the tournament that this is gonna be a fairly-well exciting show, folks.

Get your tickets here or check it out live on Powerbomb.tv!

Beyond Heavy Lies the Crown (Dec. 31, 9PM Eastern)

1. Simon Grimm vs. Timothy Thatcher
2. Andrew Everett vs. Matt Cross
3. Eddie Kingston vs. Stokely Hathaway
4. ”Hurricane” John Walters vs. Wheeler YUTA
5. Beaver Boys (Alex Reynolds & John Silver) vs. WWR TFT Winners
6. Josh Briggs vs. Nick Gage
7. Chris Dickinson vs. David Starr
8. Orange Cassidy vs. “Hot Sauce” Tracy Williams (c) (Powerbomb.tv Independent Wrestling Championship)

Ring in the New Year right with Beyond in Worcester, Massachusetts with their annual New Year’s Eve show, folks! We got the title shot Orange Cassidy earned in his grueling match against David Starr last month, unsung would-be Ace of Beyond Chris Dickinson stepping up against Starr, a bout sure to scrape the ultraviolence in Briggs vs. Gage, a couple of grapple-tastic matches between Walters/YUTA and Thatcher/Grimm, and oh yes, you read that right-- Stokely by god Hathaway is wrestling Eddie Kingston. Don’t hurt him too bad, Stoke!

Get your tickets here or check it out live on Powerbomb.tv!

Free matches here!

Kay Lee Ray vs. Viper (Queen of Insanity Deathmatch)

From the fine folks up at ICW in Scotland, we’ve got some hype women’s deathmatch action fresh off the presses. From Fear & Loathing XI, their biggest show of the year, the ICW Women’s Championship is on the line as KLR and Piper “Viper” Niven meet. Enjoy!

IWRG 41 Aniversario Arena Naucalpan

From the good people over at +LuchaTV and Mexico’s longest-running indie IWRG we’ve got a full show for you! 41 years in operation for IWRG and they’ve got the festivities to prove it, including Dragon Bane vs. Freelance and a family vs. family main event pitting the Wagners against the Parks. Check it out!

David Starr vs. Orange Cassidy

And last but certainly not least, we’ve got one of my favorite matches of the year courtesy of the chaps over at Beyond Wrestling. Comedy wrestling stalwart Orange Cassidy takes on the self-proclaimed Ace of Beyond David Starr and the end result is one of the most titanic compelling David and Goliath matches I’ve ever seen, folks. DO. NOT. MISS. THIS. MATCH.

Results

wXw 18th Anniversary (Dec. 22)

1. RISE (Da Mack & Tarkan Aslan) over Avalanche & Emil Sitoci, Jay-FK (Francis Kaspin & Jay Skillet) (c), RISE (Ivan Kiev & Pete Bouncer), and the Crown (Alexander James & Jurn Simmons) to win the wXw World Tag Team Championship (Gauntlet Match)
2. Yuu over Alpha Female & Killer Kelly
3. Absolute Andy (c) over Lucky Kid to retain the wXw Unified World Wrestling Championship
4. Shigehiro Irie over Bobby Gunns
5. Toni Storm (c) over Kellyanne to retain the wXw Women’s Championship
6. Ringkampf (Axel “Marcel Barthel” Dieter, Jr., Timothy Thatcher, & WALTER) over British Strong Style (Pete Dunne, Trent Seven, & Tyler Bate)

So, a pair of injuries caused our two men’s singles title matches to get collapsed into one that saw Lucky Kid win the title only for the finish to be reversed when German MMA fighter Nick Hein pointed out that Andy’s foot was on the ropes, which on one hand is a bummer, but on the other is a pretty solid way to roll with the punches. Plus RISE take the tag titles back, Storm retained over Kellyanne, and not only did Ringkampf win in the main event, NXT’s Marcel Barthel was confirmed as an entrant into next year’s 16 Carat Gold!

Check it out when it hits wXwNOW! on the 28th, 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.