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...
BLP Quantum Leap (Feb. 29, 1PM Central)
- Aaron Williams vs. Ren Narita
- Bear Country (Bear Beefcake & Bear Bronson) vs. Corn Beef (“Big Beef” Jake Garvin & Steve Manders)
- Lee Moriarty & Wheeler YUTA vs. Violence Is Forever (Dominic Garrini & Kevin Ku)
- Alex Zayne & Blake Christian vs. the Radicalz (Dezmond Xavier & Trey Miguel)
- Chris Dickinson vs. Jake Something
- AJ Gray (c) vs. Kylie Rae (BLP Midwest Championship)
- Erick Stevens (c) vs. Josh Alexander (BLP Championship)
- EFFY vs. “Warhorse” Jake Parnell (c) (IWTV Independent Wrestling Championship)
Black Label Pro are back in Crown Point, Indiana, and boy I wish they were the only show today so I could make better leap year jokes! Ah well, every leap year is the one we hope that will be the leap home, right? Nyuk nyuk nyuk. Anyway, this is BLP’s standard great pro wrestling show, what’s not to love? Check it out!
Get your tickets here or watch it live on IWTV, friends.
Chikara Stem the Hemorrhaging of Polka (Feb. 29, 3PM Eastern)
- Joshua Wells vs. Matt Makowski
- Dasher Hatfield & Molly McCoy vs. Xyberhawx 2000 (Danjerhawk & Razerhawk)
- Mobius vs. the Whisper
- Masked Enforcer #2 vs. the Spoiler
- Bird and the Bee (Solo Darling & Willow Nightingale) vs. the Colony (Green II & Thief Ants)
- Boomer Hatfield & ZERO vs. Team FIST (Icarus & Travis Huckabee)
- ”Lightning” Mike Quackenbush vs. Ophidian
Well that’s a hell of a show name, folks! Chikara are back in the Wrestle Factory in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and it’s all about the rubber match! Quack and Ophidian both have victories over each other in the last year, and in less than two minutes, to boot, and now they meet for a real decider!
Get your tickets here or check it out on Chikaratopia, friends.
Shine 65 (Feb. 29)
- Jay Raves vs. La Rosa Negra
- Candy Cartwright vs. Vipress
- Alex Gracia vs. Stormie Lee
- Double D’Rose vs. Jenna
- Avery Taylor & Brittany Blake vs. BTY (Jayme Jameson & Marti Belle) (c) (Shine Tag Team Championship)
- Brandi Lauren vs. Natalia Markova (c) (Shine Nova Championship)
- Ivelisse (c) vs. Lindsay Snow (Shine Championship)
Shine are back in New York City as part of a double-header with Evolve, and if you haven’t been paying attention to Shine, we’ve got some news for you as Ivelisse is the first and only three-time Shine Champion! She makes her first defense against the American Kaiju, it’s gonna be a blast!
Get your tickets here or check it out on Club WWN, friends.
Evolve 145 / 146 (Feb. 29 - Mar. 1)
—Evolve 145 (Feb. 29, 6PM Eastern)—
- Alex Sky vs. Jessi Kamea
- Denzel Dejournette vs. Harlem Bravado
- Avery Taylor vs. Brandi Lauren
- Colby Corino vs. Joe Gacy
- Brendan Vink vs. JD Drake
- Curt Stallion vs. Mansoor
- The Skulk (Adrian Alanis & Liam Gray) vs. the Skulk (AR Fox & Leon Ruff) (Evolve Tag Team Championship #1 Contender’s Match)
- Anthony Greene vs. Josh Briggs (c) (Evolve World Championship Anything Goes Match)
—Evolve 146 (Mar. 1, 7PM Eastern)—
- Alex Sky vs. Brandi Lauren
- Avery Taylor vs. Jessi Kamea
- Brendan Vink vs. Leon Ruff
- Harlem Bravado vs. Stephen Wolf
- Curt Stallion vs. JD Drake
- Anthony Greene vs. Mansoor
- AR Fox vs. Josh Briggs
Evolve are back in New York City as well as Melrose, Massachusetts, and hey, I’ve been open about how I feel about the way Evolve’s roster has changed over the past several years, and I’m not going to mince words now. It sucks that guys like Keith Lee and Tommaso Ciampa are allowed to show up for meet and greets while the actual card gets the Brendan Vinks and Denzel Dejournettes of NXT. But it’s not quite as bad as it first seems, because Jake Atlas will be in action on these and the next several shows, and honestly, even with that, the “native” talent? Guys like JD Drake and Curt Stallion, vets like AR Fox and Jon Davis? That’s a lot of awesome right there, friends.
Anyway, get your tickets here or check it out with Club WWN, folks— and wait, 145 was just announced as streaming free on Facebook!
Beyond Championship Wrestling Network Pilot (Mar. 1, 2PM Eastern)
- Anthony Bowens vs. Richard Holliday (Beyond Championship Tournament First Round Match)
- Mike Verna vs. Robo the Punjabi Lion (Beyond Championship Tournament First Round Match)
- ”Smart” Mark Sterling vs. Puf (Body Slam Challenge)
- Matthew Justice vs. Slade (Hardcore Match)
- Denver Colorado vs. Vin Gerard (Control of Beyond Wrestling)
- Beyond Championship Tournament Finals
Beyond are joining Evolve for a doubleheader in Melrose and... wait... a Beyond Championship? No intergender wrestling? What’s going on here? Are you for real? Well... this *is* a network pilot, after all, and networks do like titles and don’t like intergender wrestling, so there you go. Of course, if Denver Colorado (the man, not the place) wins control of his promotion back from IWTV’s Gerry, I doubt any champion that gets crowned will have much staying power!
Get your tickets here or check it out on FITE, friends.
Glory Pro Three Year Anniversary (Mar. 1, 2PM Central)
- Ethan Price vs. Jake Lander
- Hyan vs. Seishin
- Mike Outlaw vs. PACO vs. Suge D
- Allie Kat & Danny Adams vs. Danhausen & Elayna Black
- Ace Romero vs. Clayton Gainz vs. Jake Something vs. Steve Manders
- Hakim Zane (c) vs. Kody Lane (Midwest Territory Championship)
- Besties in the World (Davey Vega & Mat Fitchett) vs. GymNasty Boys (Timmy Lou Retton & White Mike)
- Kevin Lee Davidson vs. Nick Gage
- 4 Star Heroes (Chris Castro & Matt Knicks) vs. Alpha Omega (Camaro Jackson & Kenny Alfonso) vs. Halal Beefcake (Idris Abraham & Joe Coleman) (c) vs. Riegel Twins (Logan & Sterling Riegel) (United Glory Championship)
- AJ Gray (c) vs. Chris Dickinson (Crown of Glory Championship)
Glory Pro are three years old this weekend! But there ain’t no growing pains here, folks, there’s just pure hot-blooded pro wrestling action featuring the best the midwest has to offer. KLD vs. Nick f’n Gage?! Sign me up!
Get your tickets here or check it out live on IWTV, friends.
Free matches here!
Smash New Beginnings
We’re kicking things off with a full free show from our neighbors in the frozen north, folks! Smash New Beginnings features the finest Canada has to offer and culminates with a street fight between Carter Mason and Tyson Dux. Enjoy!
Alexander Lee vs. Jody Threat vs. Josh Briggs vs. Kevin Blackwood
From the fine folks up at Limitless Wrestling in Maine, we’ve got another of the multi-participant matches they excel at putting on, and c’mon... look at that thumbnail with Threat absolutely hossing Briggs around, how could I not post this one? Check it out!
Jazz vs. Rhia O’Reilly
Last but not least we’ve got a clash of generations from Pro Wrestling: EVE as the legendary Jazz takes on EVE champ O’Reilly. Don’t miss it!
Results
AAW The Art of War (Feb. 21)
- Infamy (Deonn Rusman & Joe Asa) over Benjamin Carter & Travis Titan
- Karam over Solomon Fatu
- Hyan over Christi Jaynes and Kenzie Paige
- Jake Lander over Ace Perry, Clayton Gainz, Jason Cade, “Spyder” Nate Webb, and Stephen Wolf
- Kris Statlander (c) over Jody Threat to retain the AAW Women’s Championship
- Mance Warner (c) over Sami Callihan to retain the AAW Heavyweight Championship
- Nick Gage over Matthew Justice
- PACO over Zicky Dice
- Fred Yehi over Hakim Zane, Jordan Oliver, and Josh Briggs to become #1 contender to the AAW Heavyweight Championship
- TJ Perkins over ACH
- Besties in the World (Davey Vega & Mat Fitchett) (c) over FireFox (AR Fox & Myron Reed) to retain the AAW Tag Team Championship
Not a huge amount to say here except boy am I stoked to see my man Fred Yehi get a main event run in a major indie after the way Evolve just kinda cut him, folks.
Check the VOD out on Smart Mark Video and Highspots.
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.