Sermon on the Mat (Feb. 15, 2018): RevPro, CMLL, Freelance, NOVA, PWG, Revolver, AAW, Chikara, WC, Glory Pro, & PWX 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...

RPW At Our Best (February 15, 7:30PM GMT)

1. El Phantasmo vs. Tyler Bate
2. Kyle Fletcher vs. “Speedball” Mike Bailey
3. Charli Evans vs. Veda Scott
4. Mark Davis vs. Pete Dunne
5. David Starr vs. Kurtis Chapman (c) (RPW British Cruiserweight Championship)
6. Trent Seven vs. Zack Sabre, Jr. (c) (RPW British Heavyweight Championship)

RevPro are back in Portsmouth for some Thursday night graps action and this one looks to be all-killer, folks. Every single match on this one could very easily rule, but if I have to pick two out I’m going with Aussie Open’s singles matches here, against Speedball and the Bruiserweight himself, both of which should be hoots of the highest caliber.

Get your tickets here or check it out when it hits RPW On Demand, folks.

CMLL Super Viernes (February 16, 9:30PM Eastern)

1. Mercurio & Pierrothito vs. Stukita & Ultimo Dragoncito
2. Fuego, Stigman, & Triton vs. Kawato San, Puma, & Tiger
3. Niebla Roja vs. Soberano, Jr. (Lightning Match)
4. Atlantis, Caristico, & Diamante Azul vs. Kraneo & Los Guerreros Laguneros (Euforia & Gran Guerrero)
5. Angel de Oro, Dragon Lee, & Mistico vs. Nuevo Generacion Dinamitas (Cuatrero, Forastero, & Sanson)
6. El Terrible & Rush vs. Ultimo Guerrero & Volador, Jr. (Torneo Pareja Increibles Finals)

Your regular Friday night dose of lucha libre action from Arena Mexico is back and this is a really darn good looking card here, folks. New Japan young lion Kawato makes his second Friday night appearance teaming with rudos par excellence Puma nad Tiger, a sweet babyface on babyface lightning match, a couple of dynamite trios, and the finals to the annual parejas increible tournament, which should be great as well.

Check it out, as always, free for nothin' on ClaroSports or Claro's Facebook page, folks.

Freelance Is Home (February 16, 10PM Eastern)

1. Alex Ohlson vs. Arik Cannon vs. Gringo Loco vs. Kenny Sutra vs. Robert Anthony vs. Scott Story (Scramble Match)
2. Elliott Paul vs. Kobe Durst
3. Four Star Heroes (Chris Castro & Matt Knicks) (c) vs. N-Words (Acid Jax & Bryce Benjamin) vs. Viking War Party (Alexander Rudolph & Jake Parnell) (Freelance Tag Team Championship)
4. Craig Mitchell vs. James Drake
5. Anthony Henry vs. Stevie Fierce
6. Darin Corbin vs. “All Ego” Ethan Page vs. Isais Velazquez vs. Space Monkey (Freelance World Championship #1 Contender’s Match)

Don’t sweat the deja vu, folks, bad weather forced a cancellation of this one last week but Freelance were able to make a couple changes and get the show right back on only a week later!

Freelance are back in Chicago, Illinois and Freelance Champion Sugar Dunkerton is busy representing Freelance as only he can in the UK, but don’t take that as a sign that they’re mailing this one in. You’ve got a top contenders four-way, the trademark Freelance scramble, a three-way tag match that should deliver big, and the one I’m most excited for personally, former Freelance Champion Stevie Fierce goes head-to-head with PWX World Heavyweight Champion Anthony Henry. Oughta be great!

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

NOVA Pro Cupid’s Chokehold (February 16, 7PM Eastern)

1. Jake Parnell vs. Tim Donst
2. Fuller’s House (Josh Fuller & Mack Buckler) vs. ??? (Open Challenge)
3. Jordynne Grace vs. Laynie Luck
4. Pow Meow (Allie Kat & Christi Jaynes) vs. the Carnies (Kerry Awful & Nick Iggy)
5. Hooligans (Devin & Mason Cutter) vs. Ugly Ducklings (Lance Lude & Rob Killjoy)
6. Logan Easton LaRoux vs. Wheeler YUTA
7. Alexander James vs. Rickey Shane Page (Men’s Commonwealth Cup Qualifier)
8. Angelus Layne vs. Isla Dawn (Women’s Commonwealth Cup Qualifier)
9. Faye Jackson vs. LuFisto
10. Arik Royal vs. Gunner Miller

NOVA Pro are back in Annandale, Virginia, and as always our man Duke (follow him on Twitter!) has the low down on what’s going down for you.

We’re baaaack! The Season 3 opener has a banger of a main event, as two of the best heavyweight in the Southeast go at it. Arik Royal was attacked at the last show by Gunner Miller, a hired gun of the 1% (you think they’re still bitter over Nova Project 3?), and now they will square off in a dream match of the Mid-Atlantic.

In November, Faye Jackson’s team lost a Survivor Series style matchup in part because LuFisto got disqualified, then got mad and attacked captain Jackson. Those two will settle the troubles at this show, but with how wild LuFisto is and with what we know of Jackson’s background, will there be a winner?

The Commonwealth Cup is in June. 16 men and 8 women will face off to be named champions, but who’s in the field? The 2nd entrant of both tournaments (behind Eddie Kingston and Cheslea Green, respectively) will be determined Friday!

All this, plus two great tag matches and the debut of the War Horse to Northern Virginia, coming up Friday! See you there!

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

PWG Neon Knights (February 16, 8PM Pacific)

1. Adam Brooks vs. Brody King
2. David Starr vs. Travis Banks
3. Dalton Castle vs. Joey Janela
4. Flip Gordon vs. Zack Sabre, Jr.
5. Keith Lee vs. Matt Riddle
6. Chuck Taylor (c) vs. Trent? (PWG World Championship)

Oh no, here it goes again, can’t remember when we came so close to love before... that’s right, folks, PWG are back in Reseda, California with a show named after the most excellent first song of the Ronnie James Dio era of Black Sabbath! And even better, Brody King is on the show, the first local guy to come into PWG in some years, after a long interlude of only using stars well-established elsewhere. Don’t let his lack of credentials fool you, though, because Brody is the real deal for sure.

Tickets, of course, sold out in minutes so you’ll have to order the DVD like everyone else if you want to see this one, folks.

Wrestling Revolver Naito Takes Dayton (February 16, 7:30PM Eastern)

1. Brody King vs. Cole Radrick vs. Curt Stallion vs. Greg Iron vs. Kody Rice vs. Myron Reed vs. Palmer (c) vs. Pat Monix (Open Invite Scramble Championship)
2. Alienated Youth (Trey Miguel & Zachary Wentz) vs. Besties in the World (Davey Vega & Mat Fitchett) vs. Zero Gravity (Brett Gakiya & CJ Esparza)
3. Brian Cage vs. Clayton Gainz
4. Jessicka Havok vs. Shotzi Blackwell
5. Ace Romero, Maxwell Jacob Friedman, & Moose vs. OI4K (Dave Crist, Jake Crist, & Sami Callihan)
6. AR Fox vs. Jason Cade
7. Shane Strickland vs. Trevor Lee
8. Michael Elgin vs. Tetsuya Naito

Wrestling Revolver are in Dayton, Ohio partnering with Rockstar Pro again, and the Stardust Genius’ excursion to the United States begins here! It’s a card full of goodies, in fact, with that scramble match, Havok vs. Blackwell, that six-man, and Fox/Cade to boot, it’s gonna be a damn good show.

Tickets are long since sold out, but you’ll be able to check this one out soon on Highspots Wrestling Network, folks.

AAW Showdown (February 17, 8:30PM Central)

1. Sami Callihan vs. Tetsuya Naito

Naito’s US tour rolls on, moving to AAW in Chicago against Sami Callihan! Even better, the rest of the card is a total secret, so lord only knows what suprises AAW have cooked up for us.

Tickets are sold out, but you can check it out on VOD at Smart Mark Video or Highspots, folks.

Chikara National Pro Wrestling Day 2018 (February 17, 3PM Eastern)

1. Blank vs. Proletariat Boar of Moldova
2. Beach Bums (Freddy the Flamingo & TJ Crawford) vs. Cornelius Crummels & Sonny Defarge (Tag World Grand Prix Qualifying Match)
3. Janelope (Joey Janela & Penelope Force) vs. Xyberhawx2000 (Tag World Grand Prix Qualifying Match)
4. Frightmare vs. Ophidian
5. Los Ice Creams (El Hijo del Ice Cream & Ice Cream, Jr.) (c) vs. the Closers (Rick Roland & Sloan Caprice) (Chikara Campeonatos de Parejas
6. Juan Francisco de Coronado (c) vs. Oleg the Usurper (Chikara Grand Championship)

Chikara are back in the Wrestle Factory in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania for the annual spectacle that is National Pro Wrestling Day. The happenings are big enough to match, with both titles on the line, Ophidian following through on his promise to come after Frightmare, and the man formerly known as Race Jaxon fighting the Boar of War under a hood!

Attendance is free on a first-come, first-serve basis, and if it’s anything like years past, you’ll be able to check this bad boy out free for nothin’ on Chikara’s YouTube page as well.

WrestleCircus The Show Must Go On (February 17, 7PM Central)

1. Brody King vs. Rey Horus vs. Space Monkey
2. El Hijo del Fantasma vs. Jordan Len-X vs. Matt Cross
3. Chelsea Green vs. Christi Jaynes vs. Deonna Purrazzo vs. Leva Bates
4. Shane Taylor vs. Trent?
5. Dirty Devils (Andy Dalton & Gregory James) vs. the Boys (Brent & Brandon) (WC Big Top Tag Team Championship #1 Contender’s Match)
6. Colin Delaney vs. Gentleman Jarvis
7. Scorpio Sky vs. Shane Strickland
8. Brian Cage (c) vs. Tessa Blanchard (c) (WC Ringmaster Championship vs. WC Sideshow Championship Title For Title Match)

After an unplanned hiatus, WrestleCircus are back in Austin, Texas at last with a full dose of their trademark action for you, folks. We got a pair of intense cross-style three-ways, women’s four way action, a match in which Trent might have flashbacks to Steve Mack throwing him across the arena, and a title-for-title intergender main event that I’m sure has a lot of folks popping.

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

Glory Pro One Year Anniversary (February 18, 3PM Central)

1. Gary Jay vs. Jake Parnell
2. No New Friends (Danny Adams & Kevin Lee Davidson) vs. the Pride (Edvin Kudic & Matt Kenway)
3. LuFisto vs. Savanna Stone
4. Trevor Lee vs. Tyler Matrix
5. Boys From Jollyville (Russ Myers & T-Money) vs. Myron Reed & Stephen Wolf
6. Brandon Espinosa vs. Gringo Loco vs. Hakim Zane vs. Sami Callihan vs. Stevie Fierce vs. Trey Miguel (Crown of Glory #1 Contender’s Match)
7. Curt Stallion vs. Jake Something (c) vs. Paco Gonzalez (Crown of Glory Championship)
8. AR Fox vs. Tetsuya Naito

Glory Pro are celebrating their one-year annniversary in Edwardsville, Illinois, and they’re going big, with the last stop on Naito’s US tour against no less than AR Fox, a big three-way title match, a scramble to determine the next contender, and more!

Tickets are sold out, but you can check it out when it hits Smart Mark Video, folks.

PWX Battlefield X (February 18, 3PM Eastern)

1. Serpentico vs. Tracer X
2. Darius Lockhart vs. Maxwell Jacob Friedman
3. Chip Day (c) vs. Martin Stone (PWX iTV Championship)
4. ”Manscout” Jake Manning & White Mike vs. Ugly Ducklings (Lance Lude & Rob Killjoy) (c) (PWX Tag Team Championship)
5. 30-Man Battlefield X Rumble

PWX are back in Gastonia, North Carolina, and why listen to me blather when you could check out the official PWX Event Center for the show and get a breakdown that way?

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

Free matches here!

Carnies (Kerry Awful & Nick Iggy) vs. Cornelius Crummels & Sonny Defarge

From the fine folks over at Chikara, we’ve got debut action from last fall! The Carnies bring a slice of the circus to Chikara against old-timey sleaze artists Crummels & Defarge, check it out!

“Supercop” Dick Justice vs. Jeff Cannonball vs. Jimmy Lloyd vs. Josh Briggs vs. Mark Sterling vs. Mr. Grim

From the good folks over at Limitless Wrestling, we’ve got one of my favorite things to bring to you folks, a scramble match featuring up-and-coming talent. Check it out and get a few new favorites, folks!

Rachael Ellering vs. Tenille “Emma” Dashwood

Don’t adjust your set, Cagesiders, WHAT! have uploaded Emma’s debut for them fresh and piping hot. She takes on fellow Lance Storm student Rachael Ellering and wouldn’t you know it, Storm is the guest referee! But let me be serious for a minute here... don’t miss it!

Results

MLW Road to the World Championship (February 8)

1. Santana Garrett over Lacey Layne
2. Destino Negro over Mega Dancer
3. Seth Petruzelli & Simon Grimm over Jason Cade & Jimmy Yuta
4. Low-Ki over Kotto Brazil
5. Chelsea Green over Priscilla Kelly by disqualification
6. Austin Aries over ACH
7. Barrington Hughes & Mike Parrow over Saieve Al Sabah & Vandal Ortagun
8. Jimmy Havoc over Maxwell Jacob Friedman (MLW World Championship Tournament First Round Match)
9. Shane Strickland over Brody King (MLW World Championship Tournament First Round Match)
10. Tom Lawlor over MVP (MLW World Championship Tournament First Round Match)
11. Matt Riddle over Jeff Cobb (MLW World Championship Tournament First Round Match)
12. Darby Allin over Sami Callihan (Hardcore Match)

Colonel Robert Parker’s Stud Stable is back, baby! He’s allied himself with the Dirty Blondes and is aiming to present them to the world on March 8. Also on that show will be the two semifinals, Strickland/Havoc and Lawlor/Riddle

Check it out on VOD over at MLW.tv, folks.

wXw Dead End XVII (February 9)

1. Ringkampf (Timothy Thatcher & WALTER) (c) over Jay-FK (Francis Kaspin & Jay Skillet) to retain the wXw World Tag Team Championship
2. Jurn Simmons over Mike Schwarz (Hardcore Match)
3. Lucky Kid over Ivan Kiev to qualify for 16 Carat Gold
4. Toni Storm (c) over Killer Kelly, Session Moth Martina, and Veda Scott to retain the wXw Women’s Championship
5. Bobby Gunns (c) over Absolute Andy to retain the wXw Shotgun Championship
6. John “Bad Bones” Klinger (c) over “Speedball” Mike Bailey to retain the wXw Unified World Wrestling Championship

wXw roll on to 16 Carat Gold, but why let me blather at you when you could just watch the official trailer for this one, folks?

Check it out on wXwNOW!, if you will.

CZW Nineteen (February 10)

1. Brandon Kirk over Joey Janela
2. Dan Barry over Ace Austin, Alex Reynolds, Alexander James, John Silver, and Tyler Murphy to qualify for Best of the Best 17 (Scramble Match)
3. Maxwell Jacob Friedman (c) over Alex Colon to retain the CZW Wired Championship
4. Ace Romero over Greg Excellent (Ultraviolent Dog Collar Match)
5. Anthony Gangone over “Chainsaw” Joe Gacy
6. Maxwell Jacob Friedman wins the 30-Man CZW Rumble and becomes #1 contender to the CZW World Heavyweight Championship
7. The REP (Dave McCall & Nate Carter) (c) over Angsty Ellis & Handsome Charlie to retain the CZW Tag Team Championship
8. Lucha Brothers (Penta el Zero M & Rey Fenix) & Rickey Shane Page over OI4K (Dave Crist, Jake Crist, & Sami Callihan) (Lucha Extrema)

That MJF kid, man, he’s just unstoppable, isn’t he? Anyway, in addition to his double victory here, Mr. Claxton reverted to his ultraviolent ways to attack Alex Colon, Greg Excellent passed his CZW jacket to Romero in a sign of respect, and I’m not sure it comes across but I THINK the REP are none too happy about how long it took them to get their tag title shot, given how they gave one to two guys CZW doesn’t even list on their results for the show.

Check it out on CZW Studios, folks.

NJPW New Beginning in Osaka (February 10)

1. Yuji Nagata over Katsuya Kitamura (Kitamura Challenge Series Match 6)
2. Suzuki-gun (El Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru) over Roppongi 3K (SHO & YOH)
3. Taguchi Japan (KUSHIDA, Michael Elgin, Ryusuke Taguchi, & Togi Makabe) over Suzuki-gun (Minoru Suzuki, Taichi, TAKA Michinoku, & Takashi Iizuka)
4. Chaos (“Switchblade” Jay White, Tomohiro Ishii, & Toru Yano) over David Finlay, Juice Robinson, & Toa Henare
5. BUSHI over Gedo
6. Tetsuya Naito over YOSHI-HASHI
7. Will Ospreay (c) Hiromu Takahashi to retain the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship
8. Hirooki Goto (c) over EVIL to retain the NEVER Openweight Championship
9. Kazuchika Okada (c) over SANADA to retain the IWGP Heavyweight Championship

While not quite the all-killer, no-filler show I was hoping for when it was announced as being so singles-heavy, New Beginning in Osaka was still quite good and you can go ahead and check out my match recommendations post right here if you’d like a more in-depth breakdown, folks.

Check it out on NJPW World.

PCW UK Road to Glory 2018 (February 10)

—First Show—

1. Dean Allmark over Adam Brooks (Road to Glory Tournament First Round Match)
2. Big T & Tel Banham over Three Mates Pissing About (Danny Hope & Joey Hayes) (Road to Glory Tag Team Tournament First Round Match)
3. Team Single (Rampage Brown & T-Bone) over Polo Promotions (Jackie Polo & Mark Coffey) (Road to Glory Tag Team Tournament First Round Match)
4. Apollo Crews over Iestyn Rees (Road to Glory Tournament First Round Match)
5. Interracial Love (Ashton Smith & Charlie Sterling) over Kings of Leon (Lionheart & Sha Samuels) (Road to Glory Tag Team Tournament First Round Match)
6. Dunkamania (Matthew Brooks & Sugar Dunkerton) over the Henchmen (Benton Destruction & Jim Diehard) (Road to Glory Tag Team Tournament First Round Match)
7. Moose over Sheik El Sham (Road to Glory Tournament First Round Match)
8. Zack Sabre, Jr. over Matt Riddle (Road to Glory Tournament First Round Match)

—Second Show—

1. Dean Allmark over Zack Sabre, Jr. (Road to Glory Tournament Semifinal Match)
2. Big T & Tel Banham over Dunkamania (Matthew Brooks & Sugar Dunkerton) (Road to Glory Tag Team Tournament Semifinal Match)
3. Team Single (Rampage Brown & T-Bone) over Interracial Love (Ashton Smith & Charlie Sterling) (Road to Glory Tag Team Tournament Semifinal Match)
4. Apollo Crews over Moose (Road to Glory Tournament Semifinal Match)
5. Matt Riddle over Adam Brooks
6. Arcadian, Rhio, & Three Mates Pissing About (Danny Hope & Joey Hayes) over Iestyn Rees, Jennie B, Mark Alexander Price, & Sheik El Sham
7. Team Single (Rampage Brown & T-Bone) over Big T & Tel Banham to win the vacant PCW UK Tag Team Championship (Road to Glory Tag Team Tournament Finals)
8. Dean Allmark over Apollo Crews (Road to Glory Tournament Finals)

U! HAA! U! HAA! U! HAA!

Perhaps “Crews can’t lose” would best be replaced by “Crews beat Moose”, eh? Anyway, check out full results on this little slice of 2018 pro wrestling right here, if you will.

And of course, you can check the actual shows out on Powerbomb.tv.

Scenic City Rumble 2018 (February 10)

1. Drew Adler over AC Mack
2. Cabana Man Dan over Matt Kenway
3. The Approved (Adrian Hawkins & Bobby Moore) (c) over Ike Cross & Jaden Newman to retain the SFCW Tag Team Championship
4. Kyle Matthews over Joey Mercury
5. Gunner Miller (c) over Matt Lynch to retain the Anarchy Triple Crown Championship
6. Curt Stallion over “Wild” Billy Buck (c) to win the Anarchy Landmark Heritage Championship
7. Corey Hollis wins the Scenic City Rumble

We have our first entrant into this year’s Scenic City Invitational, and his name is Corey Hollis! But that’s not even the biggest news out of this one, because Kyle Matthews has announced his retirement, with the tournament being his last night in wrestling. It’s sad to see him go, but much like Tank last year, you know that the SCI will give him a hell of a platform to go out on.

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

Progress Chapter 63: Take Me Underground (February 11)

1. Drew Parker over Spike Trivet (Natural Progression Series V First Round Match)
2. Charlie Morgan & Toni Storm over Chakara & Nina Samuels
3. Mark Andrews over “Flash” Morgan Webster
4. Zack Sabre, Jr. over Tyler Bate
5. British Strong Style (Pete Dunne & Trent Seven) over David Starr & Matt Riddle
6. WALTER (c) over Mark Davis to retain the Progress Atlas Division Championship)
7. Jimmy Havoc & Mark Haskins over Grizzled Young Veterans (James Drake & Zack Gibson) (c) to win the Progress Tag Team Championship
8. Travis Banks (c) over Chris Brookes and TK Cooper to retain the Progress World Championship

As always since I review Progress shows I’ll keep it short and sweet here, but suffice it to say, Vicky Haskins’ courting of Flash seems to have finally paid off as he provided a critical assist in Havoc and Haskins’ victory of the 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.