Sermon on the Mat (June 7, 2018): MLW, CMLL, PCW Ultra, NOVA Pro, Chikara, CZW, Shine, Progress, & SUP 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...

MLW Fusion TV Taping (June 7, 6:50PM Eastern)

1. Fred Yehi vs. Sammy Guevara
2. Jake Hager vs. Tom Lawlor
3. ACH vs. Rich Swann
4. Joey Janela vs. Maxwell Jacob Friedman
5. MVP vs. Sami Callihan (Boiler Room Brawl)
6. Dirty Blondes (Leo Brien & Michael Patrick) vs. Lucha Brothers (Penta el Zero M & Rey Fenix) vs. Team TBD (Jason Cade & Jimmy Yuta) (MLW World Tag Team Championship Elimination Match)
7. Brody King vs. Shane Strickland ($20,000 Bounty Match)

It’s a night of main events as MLW returns to Orlando, Florida for another round of TV tapings. A little bit of everything is on display here, folks, from the clash of styles between Yehi and Guevara, to the UFC vs. Bellator action of Lawlor and Hager, to clashing high flyers, a good old-fashioned wrestling bounty, and even a boiler room brawl. Perhaps the most obviously impactful match, of course, is the three-way eliminator to crown tag champions. The Lucha Brothers are obvious favorites, but they’re also in high demand, so it’s anybody’s match.

Get your tickets here or check it out when it airs on BeIN Sports or MLW’s YouTube channel, folks.

CMLL Super Viernes (June 8, 9:30PM Eastern)

1. Cancerbero & Raziel vs. Oro, Jr. & Star, JR.
2. Drone, Fuego, & Triton vs. Puma, Tiger, & Virus
3. El Audaz, Soberano, Jr., & Titan vs. Nuevo Generacion Dinamitas (Cuatrero, Forastero, & Sanson)
4. Hechicero vs. Stuka, Jr. (Lightning Match)
5. Caristico, Mistico, & Rey Fenix vs. La Peste Negra (Barbaro Cavernario & Negro Casas) & Ultimo Guerrero
6. El Hijo del LA Park, LA Park, & Volador, Jr. vs. Los Ingobernables (Bestia del Ring, El Terrible, & Rush)

CMLL are back with their regular Friday night dose of lucha libre action from Arena Mexico and it’s a pretty average show all told. Couple of good looking trios matches, what should be a good lightning match, Rey Fenix making his debut mere days after he returned to AAA-- (record scratch) Hold on a second?! Yes, folks, all the rules of lucha libre are out of the window, because for the time being at least, CMLL are open to using those AAA talent that aren’t totally locked down to that promotion. It’s a wild world out there, folks, hang onto your butts.

Check it out, as always, free for nothin' on Marca Claro, folks.

PCW Ultra Opposites Attack (June 8, 8:30PM Pacific)

1. Ace Romero vs. Darby Allin vs. Ely Everfly vs. Jake Atlas
2. Brody King vs. Jeff Cobb
3. Stephan Bonnar vs. Steve Madison
4. ACH vs. Hammerstone
5. OI4K (Dave & Jake Crist) vs. Warbeast (Josef & Fatu) (c) (PCW Ultra Tag Team Championship)
6. Rachael Ellering vs. Tessa Blanchard (c) (PCW Ultra World Women’s Championship)
7. Dragon Lee vs. Shane Strickland (c) (PCW Ultra World Light Heavyweight Championship)
8. Penta el Zero M (c) vs. Sami Callihan (PCW Ultra World Heavyweight Championship Steel Cage Match)

PCW Ultra are back in Wilmington, California and honestly if Dragon Lee vs. Shane Strickland doesn’t do it for you I’m not sure hyping up the rest of the card is even worth it. But the show must go on, so... crazy high flyers four-way? Check. HOSS FIGHT? Check. UFC Hall of Famer making the transition? Check. Up-and-comer getting a shot against an indie mainstay? Check. Four big title matches? Quadruple check! Plus Meng and the debut of Matt Riddle, if you needed to be sold a little more.

Get your tickets here or check it out when it hits Amazon Prime, folks.

NOVA Pro Commonwealth Cup 2018 (June 8-9)

—Men’s Commonwealth Cup First Round (June 8, 8PM Eastern)—

1. Allie Kat & Jordynne Grace vs. Chelsea Green & Veda Scott
2. Alexander James vs. Wheeler YUTA (Men’s Commonwealth Cup First Round Match)
3. Curt Stallion vs. “Hot Sauce” Tracy Williams (Men’s Commonwealth Cup First Round Match)
4. Jimmy Jacobs vs. Sage Philips (Men’s Commonwealth Cup First Round Match)
5. Dominic Garrini vs. Eddie Kingston (Men’s Commonwealth Cup First Round Match)
6. Fred Yehi vs. “Safety First” Tim Donst (Men’s Commonwealth Cup First Round Match)
7. Beau Crockett vs. Homicide (Men’s Commonwealth Cup First Round Match)
8. Nick Gage vs. Pierre Carl Ouellet (Men’s Commonwealth Cup First Round Match)
9. Arik Royal vs. Logan Easton LaRoux (Men’s Commonwealth Cup First Round Match)

—Women’s Commonwealth Cup Opening Rounds (June 9, 3PM Eastern)—

1. Allie Kat vs. Veda Scott (Women’s Commonwealth Cup 2018 First Round Match)
2. Angelus Layne vs. Chelsea Green (Women’s Commonwealth Cup 2018 First Round Match)
3. Faye Jackson vs. Mia Yim (Women’s Commonwealth Cup 2018 First Round Match)
4. Jordynne Grace vs. Rachael Ellering (Women’s Commonwealth Cup 2018 First Round Match)
5. Women’s Commonwealth Cup 2018 Semifinals

—Commonwealth Cup Finals (June 9, 8PM Eastern)—

1. Isaiah Frazier vs. Nick “Magnus” Aldis (c) (NWA World’s Heavyweight Championship)
2. Carnies (Kerry Awful & Nick Iggy) vs. ???
3. Men’s Commonwealth Cup 2018 Semifinals
4. Women’s Commonwealth Cup 2018 Finals
5. Men’s Commonwealth Cup 2018 Finals

NOVA Pro are back in Annandale, Virginia and they’ve got an absolutely huge pair of tournaments lined up, folks! I’ll spare you the hype here, because you’ll have a preview from me and Duke (and let’s be fair, mostly Duke-- follow him on Twitter) to read soon enough, but c’mon, look at some of those matches. PCO vs. Nick Gage?!

Of course, tournament action isn’t all we have, with a women’s tag serving as a preview of that tournament the day before it kicks off, the Carnies in action, and a chance for Isaiah Frazier to win the Ten Pounds of Gold and potentially wrestle Cody Rhodes at All In? It’s gonna be a hell of a weekend of graps, folks.

Get your tickets here or, best of all, check it out live on Powerbomb.tv!

Chikara Johnny Kidd Invitational 2018 (June 9, 3PM Eastern)

1. Jigsaw vs. Thomas Santell (Johnny Kidd Invitational First Round Match)
2. Rory Gulak vs. Travis Huckabee (Johnny Kidd Invitational First Round Match)
3. Ophidian vs. Solo Darling (Johnny Kidd Invitational First Round Match)
4. Colt Cabana vs. Green Ant (Johnny Kidd Invitational First Round Match)
5. Cornelius Crummels vs. Volgar
6. Beast Warriors (Oleg the Usurper & Proletariat Boar of Moldova) vs. Legion of Rot (Frightmare & Hallowicked)
7. Johnny Kidd Invitational Semifinals & Finals

Chikara are back in the Wrestle Factory in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and it’s time for the second annual Johnny Kidd Invitational! In the name of the UK legend eight technical wrestling auteurs converge, but only one will emerge victorious. It’s a hair lighter on starpower than last year’s tournament, but even so it should be quite grappletastic, and what better way for Colt to celebrate his recent legal victory than by tying the new Green Ant up in knots?

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

CZW Tournament of Death 17 (June 9, 2PM Eastern)

1. Dale Patricks vs. Josh Crane vs. Mance Warner (Tournament of Death First Round Four Corners of Pain Elimination Deathmatch)
2. Casanova Valentine vs. Jimmy Lloyd vs. SHLAK vs. Stockade (Tournament of Death First Round Blocks, Bats, & Bundles Elimination Deathmatch)
3. Brandon Kirk vs. Conor Claxton vs. Dan O’Hare vs. Kit Osbourne (Tournament of Death First Round Four Corners of Pain Barbed Wire Madness Elimination Deathmatch)
4. Drew Parker vs. Rickey Shane Page (Tournament of Death First Round Lotsa Lotsa Light Tubes Deathmatch)
5. Matt Tremont vs. Toby Klein (Fans Bring the Weapons Deathmatch)
6. Tournament of Death Semifinals & Finals

Oh, it’s time, folks! The premier deathmatch tournament in all the world is back, and for the first time in years it’s not being held in a field in Delaware! This year’s is being held in Berlin, New Jersey, and it’s heavy on the multi-man elimination violence, with the obligatory feature non-tourney match being a Fans Bring the Weapons dream match between the Bulldozer and deathmatch legend Toby Klein.

Get your tickets here or check it out when it goes up on CZW Studios, folks.

Shine 51 (June 9, 6PM Eastern)

1. Allie Recks vs. Rain
2. Aja Perera vs. Amber Nova vs. Natalia Markova vs. Willow Nightingale
3. Cutie Pie Club (Dementia D’Rose & Kiera Hogan) vs. Gabby Gilbert & Luscious Latasha
4. Leva Bates vs. Stormie Lee
5. Holidead vs. Priscilla Kelly
6. Candy Cartwright (c) vs. Santana Garrett (Shine Nova Championship)
7. Las Sicarias (Ivelisse & Mercedes Martinez) (c) vs. Ruthless Ambition (Maria Manic & Penelope Ford) (Shine Tag Team Championship)
8. LuFisto (c) vs. Su Yung (Shine Championship)

Shine is back in Queens, New York, and at long last, the Red Wedding is here! Originally scheduled for Mercury Rising 2017 but canceled when Su Yung had a falling out with WWN management, over a year later, she finally gets her chance against LuFisto in a match that’s practically guaranteed to rule, folks.

Get your tickets here or check it out on iPPV through WWNLive (half-off with Club WWN memebership) or FITE TV.

Progress Chapter 71: Feeling Called Progress (June 10, 3PM GMT)

1. Danny Duggan vs. Mark Davis (Natural Progression Series V Semifinal Match)
2. Damien Corvin vs. Michael Dante (Progress Atlas Division Championship #1 Contender’s Match)
3. Anti-Fun Police (Chief Deputy Dunne & Los Federales Santos, Jr.) vs. Mark Haskins & “Flash” Morgan Webster (Thunderbastard Tag Team Series)
4. Angelico vs. Chris Brookes
5. Jimmy Havoc vs. Spike Trivet (Deathmatch)
6. Jack Sexsmith & WALTER vs. South Pacific Power Trip (TK Cooper & Travis Banks)
7. Jinny (c) vs. Steffanie Newell (Progress Women’s Championship)

Progress are back in Sheffield, England, and your eyes do not deceive you, folks-- Nixon Newell is back, on loan from NXT, and she’s answering Jinny’s challenge for contenders from far and wide! Plus Spike Trivet’s gonna have a bad day as Jimmy Havoc reconnects with his violent roots ahead of his match against Will Ospreay at Wembley, and the unlikely duo of WALTER and Jack Sexsmith team up to take on South Pacific Power Trip. If they win, the winner gets a title match against Banks. If they lose, the loser can’t challenge for the title again while he’s champion!

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

SUP Streets of Hate (June 10, 2PM Central)

1. Jaden Newman vs. Mr. Brickster
2. Joey Lynch vs. Tyler Matrix
3. Allie Kat vs. Tripp Cassidy
4. O’Shay Edwards vs. ??? (Open Challenge)
5. Kerry Awful vs. Teddy King
6. Danny Adams vs. Marko Stunt
7. Eddy Only vs. Kevin Ku
8. Brett Ison vs. Nick Iggy
9. AJ Gray vs. Curt Stallion
10. Dominic Garrini (c) vs. Jeff Cobb (SUP Bonestorm Championship)

Southern Underground Pro are back in Nashville, Tennessee and unfortunately the card has suffered a number of last-minute changes. Fortunately, however, one of those changes lead us to an absolute dream match in the form of Dominic Garrini vs. Jeff Cobb. Grappletastic! Other than that, it’s top to bottom the same up-and-coming goodness as always, so head out or tune in and find a new favorite, folks!

And of course, you can do so by buying your tickets here or checking it out when it hits SUP’s Pivotshare site.

Progress World Cup 2018 (June 13, 7:30PM GMT)

1. Progress World Cup Tournament Matches

But a full chapter show isn’t all Progress have for us this week, because the World Cup is back! It’s a single elimination tournament and it features eight men from eight different nations-- Adam Brooks (Australia), Chuck Mambo (England), David Francisco (Portugal), Einar Ironside (Iceland), John “Bad Bones” Klinger (Germany), Naoki Tanizaki (Japan), Oliver Carter (Switzerland), and Ruslan (Russia). The bracket hasn’t been announced, so we can’t get excited about matchups, but that’s a pretty slick field, folks.

Get your tickets here or check it out when it hits Demand Progress.

Free matches here!

Deonna Purrazzo vs. Matt Riddle

From the fine folks over at Beyond who are starting to make good on their promise to upload all of their WrestleMania weekend show Lit Up for free, we have the opener to that one. It’s the King of Bros vs. the Virtuosa in sprinty fresh action, check it out!

Curt Stallion vs. Kyle O’Reilly

From the good folks over at Glory Pro, we’ve got a blast from the past right here. Curt Stallion was on a losing streak and cut a deal, if he could beat his next two opponents, including Kyle O’Reilly here, he’d get a shot at the Crown of Glory Championship. Don’t miss it!

Thick Boys (Jay Freddie & John Silver) vs. WorkHorsemen (Anthony Henry & James Drake)

From Limitless Wrestling in Maine, we’ve got some big-time tag team action. The south’s finest WorkHorsemen take on two of the northeast’s scrappiest competitors in the Thick Boys, check it out!

Results

GCW Zandig’s Tournament of Survival 3 (June 2)

1. Nick Gage over Takayuki Ueki (Zandig’s Tournament of Survival First Round Match)
2. Miedo Extremo over Eric Ryan (Zandig’s Tournament of Survival First Round Match)
3. Markus Crane over SHLAK (Zandig’s Tournament of Survival First Round Match)
4. Ciclope over Alex Colon (Zandig’s Tournament of Survival First Round Match)
5. Miedo Extremo over Markus Crane (Zandig’s Tournament of Survival Semifinal Match)
6. Ciclope over Nick Gage (Zandig’s Tournament of Survival Semifinal Match)
7. Joey Janela over Pierre Carl Ouellet
8. Ciclope over Miedo Extremo (Zandig’s Tournament of Survival Finals)

DTU lucha libre stands supreme! And it’s no surprise when the finals included such beloved deathmatch classics as a reciprocating saw to the forehead and a sunset flip powerbomb to the floor through a literal mountain of light tubes, really.

Check it out on Smart Mark Video, where the VOD went up as promised within an hour of the show ending.

OTT A Haven for Monsters (June 2)

1. More Than Hype (Darren Kearney & Nathan Martin) over Team White Wolf (A-Kid & Adam Chase)
2. Angel Cruz over Fabulous Nicky
3. Sean Guinness over Damien Corvin
4. B. Cool over Dan Barry
5. The Rapture (Charlie Sterling, Sha Samuels, & Zack Gibson) (c) over Mark Haskins, Pete Dunne, & Session Moth Martina to retain the OTT Tag Team Championship
6. LJ Cleary (c) over Kris Wolf and Tyler Bate to retain the OTT Gender Neutral Championship
7. Low-Ki & WALTER over David Starr & Jordan Devlin

What do you know, Low-Ki made it, folks! But don’t let me waste my time with words when y’all could be checking out the official trailer right here.

And if you like how that looks, then you can mosey on over to OTT On Demand and check out the full show once it’s up.

AAA Verano de Escandalo (June 3)

1. Arkangel Divino, Dinastia, El Hijo del Vikingo, & Star Fire over Arez, Belial, Lady Maravilla, & Ultimo Maldito
2. Black Danger, Keyra, & La Hiedra over Lady Shani, Mamba, & Pimpinela Escarlata
3. MAD (Juventud Guerrera & Killer Kross) & Texano, Jr. over La Mascara, Maximo, & Pagano
4. Aero Star over Australian Suicide, Darby Allin, Drago, Golden Magic, and Sammy Guevara
5. Brian Cage, Psycho Clown, & Rey Escorpion over El Hijo del Fantasma, Extreme Tiger, & Laredo Kid
6. Los OGTs (Averno, Chessman, & Super Fly) over Nuevo Poder del Norte (Carta Brava, Jr., Mocho Cota, Jr., & Tito “Not That One” Santana) (Hair vs. Hair Match)
7. Jeff Jarrett over Dr. Wagner, Jr. (c) and Rey Mysterio, Jr. to win the AAA Mega Championship

Welp. I called AAA doing some AAA stuff, but I never expected Jeff Jarrett to show up, insert himself into the main event, and win the title. That’s lucha libre for you, folks! Other than that, the show was pretty solid, with a fun scramble and the six-man after it being the highlights of the card, not least because the power went out during the six-man but the action never stopped. Plus Rey Fenix showed up at the end of the show to remind us that there are no rules, and then Pentagon, Jr. and LA Park made appearances at the AAA press conference on Tuesday to insert themselves into the mask vs. mask set between Psycho Clown and El Hijo del Fantasma for Triplemania to really cement that idea.

Check it out on their Twitch channel by way of a 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.