:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/51327595/CuXGLS4WgAAzxo0.0.jpg)
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...
AIW Season of the Witch (October 15)
Brian Carson vs. Rex Brody
Frankie Flynn vs. Philly Collins
Garrison King & PB Smooth vs. Weird World (Alex Kellar & Evan Adams)
Dominic Garrini vs. Kaplan
Daniel C. Rockingham vs. Jake Manning
Gringo Loco vs. Laredo Kid vs. Triton
Ray Rowe vs. Jeff Cobb
Alex Daniels (c) vs. Eric Ryan (AIW Intense Championship)
AIW are back in Mentor on the Lake, Ohio for Season of the Witch this Saturday. While it’s kind of a low-key card featuring a lot of AIW students and only one title defense, it’s got plenty going for it thanks to the one-two punch of what should be a fantastic lucha libre three-way between Gring Loco, Laredo Kid, & Triton, and HOSS WAR between Ray Rowe & Jeff Cobb.
So if you’re in the area or willing to travel, you can pick up tickets here, or you can stake out AIW’s VOD page here.
Progress Chapter 37: A Sudden Sense of Liberty (October 16)
Fabian Aichner vs. James Drake
Bubblegum vs. Chuck Mambo
Kay Lee Ray vs. Kimber Lee
F.S.U. (Eddie Dennis & Mark Andrews) vs. South Pacific Power Trio (TK Cooper & Travis Banks) vs. the Origin (Dave Mastiff & El Ligero)
Joe Coffey vs. Marty Scurll vs. Pete Dunne vs. Shane Strickland (Progress Championship #1 Contender’s Match)
Rampage Brown (c) issues an open challenge for his Atlas Championship
Mark Haskins (c) vs. Zack Gibson (Progress Championship)
...in a row?! Well, not strictly speaking, given all the ENDVRs and whatnot, but I can’t not make the joke. Progress are hitting the ground running following their biggest ever show, with a stacked #1 contender’s match, a tag three-way with serious implications for that title scene, an open challenge for the Atlas Championship, and what’s sure to be a barnburner of a technical wrestling match as Zack Gibson squares off against the unorthodox Mark Haskins for the Progress Championship.
Plus a couple of big debuts in Ray, Lee, and the Cruiserweight Classic’s Fabian Aichner, and it adds up to a show that will shape Progress for a good long time to come. Tickets are, of course, sold out, but if you’re desperate to head over to Manchester, you can have a look at the official ticket resale page, or you can just wait for it to go up on Demand Progress like the rest of us.
Free matches here!
B-Boy vs. Joey Ryan
The New-Age Punisher vs. the King of Dong Style, courtesy of Joey Ryan himself and the fine folks over at Quintessential Pro Wrestling. B-Boy is used to working the head, but is he ready for a head to work him? Only one way to find out, folks. Check it out!
Courtney “Rosemary” Rush vs. Jessicka Havok
Coming to us courtesy of Smash Wrestling from last year’s CANUSA Classic, an un-Decayed but still unhinged Rosemary takes on the Havok Death Machine.
Mark Angelosetti vs. Missile Assault Man
Chikara’s Free Match Monday hits the spot again, with Nazmaldun’s Colossus taking on the exclamation point laden former ant at this year’s King of Trios, with Joey Styles on commentary. Enjoy!
Results
AAW Jim Lynam Memorial Cup (October 7-8)
—Night One—
Heidi Lovelace over Melanie Cruise
Chuck Taylor over Davey Vega (Jim Lynam Memorial Cup First Round Match)
Mat Fitchett over Silas Young (Jim Lynam Memorial Cup First Round Match)
ACH over Brian Cage (Jim Lynam Memorial Cup First Round Match)
Zack Sabre, Jr. over Colt Cabana (Jim Lynam Memorial Cup First Round Match)
Mustafa Ali over Ethan Page (Jim Lynam Memorial Cup First Round Match)
Jeff Cobb over Drew Gulak (Jim Lynam Memorial Cup First Round Match)
Rey Fenix over AR Fox (Jim Lynam Memorial Cup First Round Match)
Chris Hero over Kongo Kong (Jim Lynam Memorial Cup First Round Match)
Pentagon, Jr. (c) over Sami Callihan (AAW Heavyweight Championship Deathmatch)
—Night Two—
Chris Hero over Mat Fitchett (Jim Lynam Memorial Cup Second Round Match)
Mustafa Ali over Rey Fenix (Jim Lynam Memorial Cup Second Round Match)
Zack Sabre, Jr. over Jeff Cobb (Jim Lynam Memorial Cup Second Round Match)
ACH over Chuck Taylor (Jim Lynam Memorial Cup Second Round Match)
AR Fox (c) over Brian Cage and Drew Gulak (AAW Heritage Championship)
Chris Hero over Mustafa Ali (Jim Lynam Memorial Cup Semifinal Match)
Zack Sabre, Jr. over ACH (Jim Lynam Memorial Cup Semifinal Match)
Davey Vega & Silas Young (c) over Kongo Kong & Markus Crane (AAW Tag Team Championship)
Jake Crist (career) & Sami Callihan (hair) over Pentagon, Jr. (AAW Heavyweight Championship) & Rey Fenix (mask)
Chris Hero over Zack Sabre, Jr. (Jim Lynam Memorial Cup Final Match)
Some late substitutions changed the composition of the tournament field but not the tenor of it, as Ethan Page stepped in for an injured Kamaitachi and ACH subbed for Josh Alexander, who couldn’t make the show due to travel issues.
Night two brought a big surprise, as after Sami Callihan interfered against Rey Fenix in his second round match against Mustafa Ali and cost him the match, a tag was set up for later in the night. Each man wagered something— Jake Crist his career, Sami Callihan his hair, Rey Fenix his mask, and Pentagon, Jr., fatefully, offered up his AAW Heavyweight Championship to anyone that might pin or submit him in the match. And lo, Sami Callihan did pin him and regain the AAW Heavyweight Championship.
And, as noted in the Rumor Roundup, following his match with Zack Sabre, Jr., ACH cut a promo widely seen as him “divorcing” Ring of Honor.
It sounds like it was a hell of a pair of shows, folks, check out the trailer for night one and be sure to pick ‘em up when they go up on VOD.
Chikara Cruise Control / Judgment Day (October 8)
—Cruise Control—
Icarus over Silver Ant
Flex Rumblecrunch over Billy Bodyslam
Los Ice Creams (El Hijo de Ice Cream & Ice Cream, Jr.) over Rick Roland & Sloan Caprice
Juan Francisco de Coronado over Donald Kluger
Jigsaw over Missile Assault Man
The Osirian Portal (Amasis & Ophidian) over the Batiri (Kodama & Obariyon)
—Judgment Day—
Wani over Officer Warren Barksdale
Worker Ant over Tim Pence
Cornelius Crummels & Sonny Defarge over Hermit Crab & Rock Lobster
Mark Angelosetti over Fire Ant
The Big Deal over Chuck Taylor™
Hallowicked (c) over Heidi Lovelace to retain the Chikara Grand Championship
Team Sea Stars (Ashley Vox & Delmi Exo) over the Gentleman’s Club Orange Cassidy & the Swamp Monster)
Another Chikara double-header in the books, folks. Cruise Control saw Flex Rumblecrunch laid out by Max Smashmaster following his dominant win over Billy Bodyslam and the Osirian Portal scrape together a win despite the best efforts of UltraMantis Black, while Judgment Day had the Big Deal (formerly Hornswoggle) take full advantage of his security detail to beat Chuck Taylor™ and Hallowicked outlast the Punk Rock Rag Doll Heidi Lovelace to retain the Grand Championship.
It’s only a matter of time before they go up on Chikaratopia, folks, so have at it.
CZW Tangled Web 9
Frankie Pickard over Blackwater, Dan O’Hare, and Jimmy Lloyd
Da Hit Squad (Dan Maff & Monsta Mack) (c) over the Fella Twins (Eddy McQueen & Rick Cataldo) to retain their CZW World Tag Team Championship
Alexander James over Nathan Cruz
“Chainsaw” Joe Gacy over BLK Jeez
The Young Dragons (Dale Patricks & Josh Crane) over the Nation of Intoxication (Conor Claxton & Devon Moore)
Team Pazuzu (Angel Ortiz, Chris Dickinson, & Mike Draztic) over Scarlet & Graves (Dave Crist, Dezmond Xavier, & Zachary Wentz)
Joey Janela (c) over Tony Deppen to retain the CZW Wired Championship
Jonathan Gresham (c) over Homicide to retain the CZW World Heavyweight Championship)
Danny Havoc over Alex Colon, Rickey Shane Page, and Tim Donst (Tangled Web Match)
The incomparable Fella Twins answered Da Hit Squad’s call, but all titles were retained all the same. In other notable happenings, Young Dragons only managed to defeated the Nation of Intoxication when Devon Moore superkicked Conor Claxton and fed him to the proverbial wolves.
If you’d like to check it out for yourselves, you can purchase the show from Highspots right now, or you can hold out a little longer and check it out on CZW Studios along with the rest of the archive.
As always...
Remember folks, no matter what type of wrestling you like, no matter how down you feel about the state of WWE, TNA, 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.