Sermon on the Mat (Dec. 22, 2016): CMLL cards, DTU, Shine, PWG, House of Hardcore, IPW:UK, & PWX results, plus free matches

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 (December 23, 9:30PM Eastern)

1. Demus 3:16 & Mercurio vs. Fantasy & Último Dragoncito
2. Blue Panther, Jr., the Panther, & Triton vs. El Sagrado, Forastero, & Okumura
3. Dragón Rojo, Jr., Luciferno, & Pólvora vs. Guerrero Maya, Jr., Soberano, Jr., & Titán
4. Atlantis, Stuka, Jr., & Valiente vs. Kraneo, Mephisto, & Ripper
5. Euforia, Hechicero, & Mascara Año 2000 vs. Marco Corleone, Máximo Sexy, & Volador, Jr.
6. Carístico vs. Último Guerrero

Kind of a slow week, folks, on account of the holiday. All I got for you as far as upcoming shows is ol' reliable CMLL Super Viernes, but fortunately it looks to be a good one on account of the final two matches. You got Mascara Año 2000 continuing his feud against Máximo Sexy in trios action, backed up by Euforia and Hechicero to make sure the match will actually be enjoyable, but the main event is where the meat's at.

Carístico has been challenging Último Guerrero to a hair vs. mask match for some time now, and Guerrero has turned him down at every turn... until now. He's not just giving it to him, but if the former Sin Cara can win this match, he'll get his lucha de apuestas.

Check it out, as always, on ClaroSports, folks.

CMLL (December 25, 6PM Eastern)

1. Astral & Shockercito vs. Pequeño Olímpico & Pierrothito
2. Bobby Z, Vangellys, & Virus vs. Dron, Johnny Idol, & Star, Jr.
3. El Terrible, Gran Guerrero, & Rey Bucanero vs. Stuka, Jr., Titán, & Valiente
4. Atlantis, Marco Corleone, & Volador, Jr. vs. Bárbaro Cavernario, El Felino, & Negro Casas
5. Amapola vs. Dalys vs. Estrellita vs. Jarochita vs. Marcela vs. Metalica vs. Princess Sugehit vs. Sanely vs. Vaquerita vs. Zeuxis (Steel Cage Hair vs. Mask Match)

...but what's this? Christmas Day rasslin'! Yessir!

Now, CMLL run shows on most Sunday nights but they're generally not televised. But hey, we're short on shows to look at and as it turns out this one will be broadcast on NJPW World... for Japanese subscribers only. Don't slink away sad though, true believers, because if it's being streamed there, our esteemed colleague luchablog feels like it'll stream somewhere we can watch it, likely free for nothin'!

As for the card itself, the main highlights are the trios match pitting Atlantis, Marco Corleone, & Volador, Jr. against Cavernario and the Casas brothers, as well as the ten-woman steel cage match, the loser of which will lose hair or mask, whichever is most appropriate. (And, that's a match that has WWE implications, as the masked Zeuxis has been rumored to be heading to the women's tournament whenever they run that.)

Whether it's on ClaroSports or CMLL's YouTube channel, if you've got a hankerin' to add some live wrestling to whatever Santa brings you, check it out.

Free matches here!

Jordynne Grace vs. Taeler Hendrix

Some women's action courtesy of Women's Wrestling Revolution and Beyond Wrestling, this one was a showcase match on Beyond's Ripped Off in the Prime of Life. Grace and Hendrix's issues with one another are far from resolved, and here's a chance to take a look for free.

Dave Crist vs. DJZ

Courtesy of AAW we have the current TNA X Division Champion taking on a man whose work I've come to really appreciate of late thanks to a bit of a CZW binge. That Yung Go-Hard's lucha libre-infused stylings come up hard against one of the founding fathers of OI4K, so give it a shot.

Fred Yehi vs. Marty Scurll

Two men whose career paths have differed wildly since this match occurred, but both came to title gold recently. FloSlam gives us the current ROH World Television Champion and one half of the current Evolve Tag Team Champions squaring off in their match from Evolve 58. Enjoy!

Results

DTU Nuev9 Aniversario (December 15)

1. Aero Boy, Ángel o Demonio, Crazy Boy, Drastik Boy, & Pesadilla over Corsario Negro, Jr., Lokillo, Moria, Niño de Cobre, & Tony Iron (Elimination Match)
2. Black Fire (c) over Hormiga to retain the DTU Alto Impacto Championship
3. Dragón Rojo, Jr. & Pólvora (c) over El Junior & Gio to retain the DTU Nexo Championship
4. Ovett over Halloween (Light Tube Deathmatch)
5. Kevin over Mr. Condor to take his hair in an elimination tag team match also involving Gallego and Jimmy.
6. Ronnie Mendoza over Flamita and Negro Casas (Elimination Match)
7. Ciclope & Crazy King over Paranoiko & Tóxico DF (Rancho de Texas Match)

DTU's first iPPV went off like a charm last Thursday night, albeit with a bit of a delay between the pre-show (which you can watch here and featured some awesome actual children wrestling) and the main iPPV. The highlight of the night was clearly Flamita/Casas/Mendoza, the CWC standout taking home the win overall but Flamita shining as well, eliminating Negro Casas with his own La Casita cradle and busting out a crazy muscle buster flippped into a codebreaker.

Plus an good defense of the Nexo tag titles, a really fun elimination tag opener, and a surprisingly fun hardcore match between Halloween and Ovett, and it made for a good evening of lucha libre action.

I'm not 100% sure for how long they'll continue to offer it, but it seems like you can still head over to their website, register, and go through the PayPal checkout to buy the show and check it out on VOD.

PWG Mystery Vortex IV (December 16)

1. Trent? over Candice LeRae
2. Trevor Lee over ACH
3. Matt Sydal over Pete Dunne
4. reDRagon (Bobby Fish & Kyle O'Reilly) over Death By Elbow (Chris Hero & JT Dunn)
5. Chuck Taylor over Adam Cole to become #1 contender to the PWG World Championship
6. Matt Riddle & Jeff Cobb over the Young Bucks (Matt & Nick Jackson)
7. Zack Sabre, Jr. (c) over Marty Scurll to retain the PWG World Championship

PWG's fourth Mystery Vortex didn't go down without controversy, but just looking at it you can see it's a tantalizing card. Featuring Matt Sydal's return to wrestling after his legal dustup in Japan and the team you never knew you wanted in Jeff Cobb and Matt Riddle getting a non-title win over the tag champs, as well as reDRagon possibly seeing Chris Hero off, there's a lot to like.

Preorder it on DVD and experience that 4-6 weeks of anticipation like you're ordering out of a catalog in 1996, folks.

Shine 39 (December 16)

1. Kiera Hogan over Lindsay Snow
2. Jesse Belle Smothers over Brandi Lauren
3. Leva Bates over Stormie Lee
4. Malia Hosaka over Priscilla Kelly
5. Candy Cartwright over Aerial Monroe
6. Raquel & Santana Garrett over BTY (Jayme Jameson & Marti Belle) (c) to win the Shine Tag Team Championship
7. Allysin Kay over Tessa Blanchard
8. Su Yung over Vanessa Kraven by referee stoppage (Monster's Ball Match)
9. Las Sicarias (ACR, Ivelisse (c), Mercedes Martinez, & Thea Trinidad) over C4 (Amber O'Neal, Andrea, Kennadi Brink, & LuFisto) (Shine Championship Loser Leaves Town Match)

This was basically a two-match show, folks. Sure, the main event was good fun (with Andrea leaving town) and I quite liked the opener (Lindsay Snow is real grapply!), but the real meat and potatoes were the back-to-back brawls seventh and eighth on the card. Kay and Blanchard started off slow in the best way, trash-talking and flipping fingers at each other before going pillar-to-post at ringside and generally having an awesome brawl.

And then, just as you think there's no way to top that, Su Yung came along with a bag of plunder that was mostly titles she's won elsewhere and had an even crazier match with Vanessa Kraven that included thumbtacks on the bar, particle board violence, and most amazingly of all, live crickets introduced at the final stage.

If you have FloSlam and you like a good brawl, you absolutely owe it to yourself to check those two out, folks.

House of Hardcore 22-23 (December 16-17)

—HOH 22—

1. Brooklyn Broad Street Brawler over Alex Reynolds
2. Taya Valkyrie over Jessicka Havok
3. Tony Nese over Lio Rush
4. Connor Braxton, Dan Barry, & Kikutaro over Eddie Kingston, TJ Marconi, & Vik Dalishus
5. Moose over Colt Cabana
6. Sami Callihan over Brian Cage
7. John Hennigan over Fenix
8. Matt Hardy over Tommy Dreamer (Steel Cage Match)

—HOH 23—

1. Jessicka Havok over Taya Valkyrie
2. Eddie Kingston over Lance Anoa'i
3. Connor Braxton, Kikutaro, & Matt Striker over Benjamin Boone & the NOW (Hale Collins & Vik Dalishus)
4. Moose over Brian Cage
5. Alex Reynolds over Brandon Scott, Dan Barry, & Sonjay Dutt (Elimination Match)
6. Sandman & Tommy Dreamer over the Spirit Squad (Kenny & Mikey)
7. Fenix over John Hennigan

House of Hardcore's double shot weekend was marred somewhat at the start with technical issues with the ECW Arena's internet having issues due to the cold and wind, but in the end they put on a pair of quality shows featuring matchups you're not likely to see anywhere else (and some you are).

Matt Hardy DELETED Tommy Dreamer inside of a steel cage, despite assistance from the Sandman, in part thanks to a late assist from the nefarious Brother Nero, Tony Nese ended his indie career on a high note going over young standout Lio Rush, and Tommy Dreamer came back from the brink of deletion to beat the Spirit Squad, hand in hand with Sandman.

Check 'em out on FloSlam, folks.

IPW:UK Supershow 5 (December 18)

1. Tom Dawkins over Joseph Conners
2. Pollyanna over Tennessee Honey to win the IPW:UK Interim Women's Championship)
3. Amazon over Pollyanna (c) to win the IPW:UK Interim Women's Championship
4. Scott Star (c) over Zack Gibson to retain the All-England Championship
5. Cody Rhodes over Will Ospreay
6. Matt Riddle over Zack Sabre, Jr.
7. London Riots (James Davis & Rob Lynch) over DND (Cieran Donnelly & Danny Duggan) and Swords of Essex (Amazon & Will Ospreay) (c) to win the IPW:UK British Tag Team Championship
8. Jimmy Havoc (c) over Sammy Smooth to retain the IPW:UK World Championship in an "I Quit" Match

IPW:UK filmed their FloSlam debut with a quite eventful show, featuring a pair of US imports going over top local men, for worse and for better, as well as an evenly split slate of title retentions and changes. I'm honestly not spending a lot of time trying to encapsulate this one, folks, because it's gonna air "live" on Flo tonight at 8:30 Eastern. Gotta be worth a watch, right?

PWX Season’s DELETE-ings (December 18)

1. Ugly Ducklings (Colby Corino, Lance Lude & Rob Killjoy) over OI4K (Dave Crist, Jake Crist, & Sami Callihan)
2. Anthony Henry over Darius Lockhart
3. Timmy Lou Retton over Dezmond Xavier, Jason Cade, and Joseph A'gau
4. Ethan Case over Martin Stone
5. Bravado Brothers (Harlem & Lancelot Bravado) over the Revolt! (Caleb Konley & Zane Riley) by countout, in what was supposed to be their FINAL CONFRONTATION
6. The Revolt! (Caleb Konley & Zane Riley) over Bravado Brothers (Harlem & Lancelot Bravado) in what was their actual FINAL CONFRONTATION (No Disqualification Match)
7. James Drake (c) over Tracer X to retain the PWX iTV Championship
8. David Starr (c) over Chip Day to retain the wXw Shotgun Championship
9. Bruiserweights (Corey Hollis & John Skyler) over Jimmy Rave & Sal Rinauro
10. "Manscout" Jake Manning (c) vs. "Broken" Matt Hardy goes to a draw as a result of a double pin (PWX World Heavyweight Championship)

Another short and sweet one, folks, because you can go ahead and check out my full-service recap for all the details. Suffice it to say PWX had a pretty good night, with a crazy FINAL CONFRONTATION between the Bravados and the Revolt!, an awesome four-way featuring some talent that may be under your radar, and a really good defense of the wXw Shotgun Championship, among other things.

And better yet, the VOD is already up on the Highspots Network!

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.