Sermon on the Mat (May 23, 2019): CMLL, AIW, Chikara, Alpha-1, IWTV, Progress, & PTPW 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 (May 24, 9:30PM Eastern)

1. Cancerbero & Raziel vs. Magnus & Robin
2. Black Panther, Blue Panther, Jr., & Fuego vs. Kawato San, Misterioso, Jr., & Virus
3. Amapola, Dalys, & Metalica vs. Estrellita, Kaho Kobayashi, & Princesa Sugehit
4. El Valiente, Soberano, Jr., & Stuka, Jr. vs. Los Guerreros Laguneros (Euforia, Gran Guerrero, & Templario)
5. Dinamitas (Cuatrero, Forastero, & Mascara Ano 2000) vs. La Peste Negra (El Felino & Negro Casas) & Ultimo Guerrero
6. Barbaro Cavernario vs. Mistico II

CMLL are back with your weekly Friday night dose of lucha libre action from the legendary Arena Mexico and hoo boy, a singles match on top! And not just a singles match, but Cavernario vs. Mistico! That alone makes this a show to keep an eye on, but the two trios matches immediately underneath it have a lot of potential to be fun as well.

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.

AIW Little Guido’s Beer Bash (May 25, 6:30PM Eastern)

1. Arthur McArthur vs. Chuck Stone vs. Eric Taylor vs. Mikey Montgomery
2. Faye Jackson vs. “Big” Twan Tucker
3. Dominic Garrini vs. Lee Moriarty
4. Matthew Justice vs. Wes Barkley
5. Dr. Daniel C. Rockingham vs. Joey Ryan
6. Full-Blooded Italians (Little Guido Maritato & Tracy Smothers) vs. the Production (Derek Director & Eddy Only)
7. Joshua Bishop (c) vs. Zach Thomas

AIW are back in Cleveland, Ohio and this card is a bit more chill after the intensity of Keep Their Heads Ringin’-- mostly focused on the students here, but Dr. Dan gets a chance to show Joey Ryan that dedication is more important than, uh... cocksmanship and the FBI are in action against the Production!

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

Chikara Aniversario (May 25-26)

—Aniversario: The Apes of Wrath (May 25, 3PM Eastern)—

1. BLANK vs. Lady Frost
2. Cornelius Crummels & Sonny Defarge vs. the Rascalz (Trey Miguel & Zachary Wentz)
3. Jason Gory vs. Travis Huckabee
4. Green Ant II vs. Still Life with Apricots and Pears (c) (Chikara Young Lions Cup)
5. Hallowicked vs. Missile Assault Man
6. Dasher Hatfield & Icarus vs. John Francis of Coronado & Princess KimberLee

—Aniversario: Scotch Mist (May 26, 7PM Central)—

1. Creatures of the Deep (Cajun Crawdad, Hermit Crab, & Merlok) vs. Da Soul Touchaz (Acid Jaz, Marshe Rockett, & Willie Richardson)
2. Arik Cannon & Darin Corbin vs. Lucas Calhoun & Stray Kat
3. Icarus vs. Solo Darling
4. Minnesota Wrecking Crew (Air Wolf, Estonian ThunderFrog, & Wildcat) vs. Proteus Wheel (Callux the Castigator, Frantik, & Volgar)
5. Boomer Hatfield vs. Dasher Hatfield (Mask vs. Mask Match)

Chikara are in Pittsburgh for night one of their anniversary weekend and Chicago for night two, and you read that right-- father and son locked in luchas de apuesta action as both Hatfields put their masks on the line! ‘Nuff said!

Get your tickets here or check it out on IWTV and Chikaratopia, where night two airs live!

A1 Immortal Kombat VI (May 26, 4PM Eastern)

1. Anthony Greene vs. Danny Adams vs. Jake Parnell vs. Jody Threat vs. Justin Sane vs. Mark Wheeler vs. Trey Miguel (Any Time, Anywhere Championship Opportunity Ladder Match)
2. Josh Briggs vs. Moose
3. A1 Originalz (Cheech & “EZE” Eric Cairnie) vs. Sad Buds (BMD & Rickey Shane Page)
4. Josh Alexander vs. Josh Prohibition
5. David Arquette vs. “All Ego” Ethan Page
6. Lotus (Gavin Miller & Juntai) vs. Savage Society (Holden Albright & Terrell Kenneth) vs. Space Pirates (Shane Sabre & Space Monkey) (c) (A1 Tag Team Championship)
7. Kobe Durst (c) vs. Sami Callihan (A1 Alpha Male Championship)

Alpha-1 are back in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada and my word, former WCW World Heavyweight Champion David Arquette against All Ego?! Plus a battle for supremacy of the north between two Joshes, HOSS WAR between Briggs and Moose, a ladder scramble that should be capital-W Wild, and more!

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

IWTV Midwest Mixtape (May 26, 2PM Central)

1. Darin Corbin vs. GPA vs. Gringo Loco vs. Laynie Luck vs. Pat Monix vs. Robert Anthony (Freelance Scramble Match)
2. Jake Lander & Jake St. Patrick vs. the Lowlifes (Joey O’Reilly & Jordan Perry)
3. Jeremy Wyatt vs. Mikey McFinnegan
4. Craig Mitchell vs. Gary Jay
5. Ace Perry vs. Calvin Tankman vs. Nick Iggy vs. Tripp Cassidy
6. Ace Steel vs. Arik Cannon
7. Allie Kat vs. Jordynne Grace
8. Kris Statlander vs. Orange Cassidy (c) (IWTV Independent Wrestling Championship)

IWTV are in Chicago, Illinois and they’re presenting a card featuring top talent from all of their affiliated Midwest indies, from Freelance to Glory Pro to Black Label and beyond!

Get your tickets here or check it out live on IWTV, naturally enough!

Progress Chapter 89: May 26, 1988 (May 26)

1. Johnny Swayze vs. Kung-Fu Kid
2. Candy Lauper vs. Toni Sixx
3. Blumenfeld, Harrington-Smythe, & Jones vs. Sheepwhacker Cousins
4. Marty Fox vs. the Doctor
5. Teflon Sheik vs. Wally Handford
6. Dirty Daddy Overkill vs. Detective Inspector Colin Klein
7. Davey American vs. “Baba Yaga” Idris Alexiev

Yes, folks, Progress are back in London, England also back... thirty years in the past! Their 1970s show last year was a hoot and I have every expectation this will be the same, and dare we dream that that is ACTUALLY Sylvester McCoy’s Doctor in action?!

Tickets are sold out, but you can have a crack at the official ticket resale site or just wait for the show to go up on Demand Progress with the rest of us schlubs!

PTPW Grapitol City (May 26, 3:30PM)

1. PTPW Championship Tournament Qualifying Battle Royal
2. Breaux Keller vs. ??? (PTPW Championship First Round Match)
3. Ariela Nyx vs. Faye Jackson (PTPW Championship First Round Match)
4. Ashley America vs. Lady Frost (PTPW Championship First Round Match)
5. Eel O’Neal vs. Isaiah Frazier (PTPW Championship First Round Match)
6. PTPW Championship Tournament Semifinals & Finals

At last, pro wrestling comes to the District of Columbia! Our friends over at Prime Time Pro Wrestling are jumping right into the deep end and crowning their champion on their first show!

Tickets are sold out, but be sure to check the show out when it hits IWTV, folks!

Free matches here!

“Lightning” Mike Quackenbush vs. Zack Sabre, Jr.

Chikara have been celebrating Mike Quackenbush’s 25th anniversary in wrestling all week with free matches on their YouTube channel, and when I saw that they had uploaded this bad boy, well, I had no choice. Quack. Sabre. Two of the greatest indie technicians of all time. Don’t miss it!

Danny Adams vs. “All Ego” Ethan Page

From the folks over at Glory Pro, they’ve started their match of the week feature back up so I figured this one is as good as any for us to jump back in on. Adams vs. Page, check it out!

Project MONIX vs. Simon Grimm (“I Respect You” Match)

From the fine folks over at Zelo Pro and STRONGLY recommended by our friends at the Not Your Demographic podcast, we’ve got a brutal match of respect between the erstwhile Pat Monix and Simon Gotch. Enjoy!

Results

AIW Keep Their Heads Ringin’ (May 17)

1. Jollyville Fuck-Its (Russ Myers & T-Money) over Youthanazia (Josh Prohibition & Matt Cross)
2. Tim Donst over Dominic Garrini
3. KTB over CPA, Danhausen, & Louis Lyndon
4. AJ Gray, PB Smooth, & Tre LaMar over Hornswoggle & Young Studs (Bobby Beverly & Eric Ryan) and Kaplan & Weird World (Alex “Worldwide” Kellar & Evan “Weird Body” Adams)
5. To Infinity and Beyond (Cheech & Colin Delaney) (c) over Philly-Marino Experience (Marino Tenaglia & Philly Collins) to retain the AIW Tag Team Championship
6. Joshua Bishop (c) over Matthew Justice to retain the AIW Intense Championship
7. Eddie Kingston over Nick Gage
8. Penta el Zero M over Maxwell Jacob Friedman
9. Tom Lawlor (c) over Mance Warner to retain the AIW Absolute Championship

The big story coming out of this night of no disqualification action is someone you may note is missing here-- originally it was meant to be the Lucha Brothers against the Boys from Jollyville, but Fenix no-showed and promoter John Thorne was forced to shuffle the card. For more you can listen to the latest episode of AIW’s excellent podcast, The Card Is Going To Change, but it’s not all bummers on a Friday night in Ohio-- Mr. Miz showed up and got in on the action!

Check it out when it hits Smart Mark Video, 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.