April 20th, 2018
Opening Match: Laynie Luck vs. Angelus Layne
Luck shoves Layne at the opening bell and snaps off an armdrag. She connects with a dropkick but Layne catches her with a wheelbarrow facebuster. Layne takes control until Luck fights back with a series of forearms and a yakuza kick. Luck connects with double knees in the corner. Layne answers with a death valley driver into the turnbuckles for a nearfall. Luck comes off the middle rope with an ace crusher for a two count. Layne hits a flipping gourdbuster for the win at 7:57. The opening minutes felt a bit lifeless, but the action greatly picked up down the stretch. A few more minutes here would have made for a really solid opener. **
Match #2: Jonathan Gresham (w/ Stokely Hathaway) vs. Sage Philips
Philips shows no willingness to back down to Gresham early on. They begin with chain wrestling and neither budges during a shoulder block battle. Gresham eventually takes down Philips but eats an enzuigiri. They exchange chops and Gresham finds an opening to target the left arm. Philips fights back by focusing on Gresham’s back with a series of suplexes. Philips lands a dive to the floor and hits a slingshot flatliner back in the ring for a nearfall. They trade strikes and Gresham hits a german suplex for a two count. Gresham stomps on the left arm and traps Philips in a pinning combination for the victory at 11:32. They established an excellent energy from the opening bell and kept the action flowing for the entire twelve minutes. Philips ended up looking great for not backing down and taking the fight to Gresham. The action played out in a natural way and it was Gresham’s veteran experience that won out. These two delivered big time. ***½
Match #3: The Hooligans (Devon and Mason Cutter) vs. Pow Meow (Allie Kat and Christi Jaynes)
Jaynes uses her agility to win an opening exchange against Mason. She lays in a series of kicks and lands a standing moonsault. Jaynes snaps off a nice springboard hurricanrana. Kat and Devon trade back scratches. The Hooligans find an opening to isolate Jaynes until she plants Mason with a DDT and makes the tag. Kat hits a seated senton on Devon and a corner cannonball on Mason. Mason responds with a corner cannonball of his own for a close two count. He hits a brainbuster on Jaynes as Devon chokeslams Kat. All four wrestlers are down. Everyone brings a char into the ring. They sit down and exchange chops. Kat ends up being the last person standing after catching Devon with a northern lariat. The Hooligans hit a double stomp-piledriver on Kat for the win at 14:45. This was an odd match in terms of pacing and flow. The segment where everyone sat down and traded chops lasted too long. But after Kat’s triumphant strike battle victory, the Hooligans quickly put her away and it ended up being anticlimactic. There were definitely some strong moments throughout, but this one didn’t fully come together. **½
Match #4: Women’s Commonwealth Cup Qualifier: Veda Scott vs. FaceBrooke vs. Jordan Blade
Scott offers an alliance with Blade given their matching ring gear. She very unconvincingly says, “I will not turn on you.” FaceBrooke runs over Scott with a shoulder tackle and hits a back suplex. Blade pulls FaceBrooke to the floor and they get into each other’s faces. Scott takes them out with a dive from the top rope. In the ring, FaceBrooke slams Scott onto Blade. Scott catches Blade with an ace crusher and shining wizard for the victory at 6:07. The action was at its best when they were playing with the personalities involved. FaceBrooke and Blade were fun enough, but the match was too short and disjointed to mean much. *¾
Match #5: Arik Royal and The Ugly Ducklings (Lance Lude and Rob Killjoy) vs. The 1% (Logan Easton LaRoux, Gunner Miller, and Bobby Shields)
The 1% attack from behind at the opening bell. LaRoux suggests that he wants nothing to do with Royal early on. Miller levels Lude with a lariat from the apron and the 1% isolate him. Lude catches LaRoux coming off the top rope with a dropkick and makes the tag. Killjoy hits an exploder on LaRoux and lands a lionsault. The Ugly Ducklings start landing dives. Royal finally enters the match and hits a series of exploders on Miller. The 1% use the numbers game to beat down Royal. Lude hits a nice sliced bread on Miller. The Ducklings hit the launch pad on Shields for a nearfall. At ringside, Miller pounces Royal into the ringpost. Miller then pounces Killjoy and follows with a jackhammer for the win at 12:49. The 1% attempted and largely succeeded in neutralizing Royal here, keeping him out of the ring whenever possible. The Ducklings provided some fun offense and everything clicked well for the most part. It’s been intriguing watching Miller be presented as an equally destructive force as Royal. ***
Match #6: Harlow O’Hara vs. Faye Jackson
O’Hara tries to ground Jackson with a side headlock. Jackson counters into a headscissors. O’Hara is able to take over, focusing on the mat game. O’Hara transitions into striking as Jackson cannot seem to find an opening. Jackson comes back with a seated senton out of the corner. O’Hara pulls the referee into a corner cannonball. Angelus Layne runs out and attacks Jackson. O’Hara covers for the victory at 6:07. These two had solid chemistry together and the match was rolling along well until the referee bump. I certainly wouldn’t mind seeing O’Hara in some kind of alliance with Layne moving forward. **
Match #7: Men’s Commonwealth Cup Qualifier: John Skyler vs. Jake Parnell vs. Wheeler YUTA vs. Percy Davis
Davis and YUTA connect with stereo corner punches before squaring off in a fast-paced exchange. Skyler and Parnell form an alliance until the inevitable dissolution. YUTA fights them off with a double clothesline but he falls victim to a doomsday device. Davis takes down Skyler and Parnell with a double uranagi. Skyler responds with a slingshot spear for a nearfall. Parnell finally turns on Skyler to the crowd’s dismay. Parnell connects with a flying double stomp to Skyler for a two count. YUTA quickly hits an inverted DDT on Davis for the win at 9:09. The alliance between Parnell and Skyler was an entertaining thread throughout the match at the cost of this not feeling like a true four-way contest. Everyone received a chance to stand out and YUTA winning was the right call. **½
Match #8: Jordynne Grace vs. Shazza McKenzie
They immediately take the action to the mat and exchange quick pin attempts to no avail. Grace hits a pounce and irish whips McKenzie hard into the turnbuckles. Grace connects with double knees and a charging forearm. McKenzie avoids a vader bomb and locks in a sleeper hold out of nowhere. Grace powers out of the hold and hits a spinebuster. Both women are down. Grace fires off a series of strikes in the corner. McKenzie charges but runs into a lariat. She traps Grace in the ropes and lays in a series of kicks. McKenzie lands a flying crossbody for a nearfall. Grace fights off a stunner and hits a vader bomb for a two count. McKenzie answers with a saito suplex and a facewash knee strike. Grace connects with machine gun lariats and hits a pumphandle driver for a nearfall. Grace covers again to no avail. Grace synchs in a bearhug for the victory at 11:29. What a great exhibition. There was not a moment in this match where I didn’t think Grace and McKenzie were doing everything in their power to win. The sequences were innovative and their counter wrestling was highly entertaining. Grace is supremely underrated. There was a moment where she hit a big move down the stretch and McKenzie kicked out. Instead of exerting energy to hit something else, Grace decided to cover McKenzie again. Watching Grace wrestle is rarely, if ever dull, due to those small, nuanced decisions. ***½
Match #9: Old Dominion Rumble
Participants: Allie Kat, Angelus Layne, Arik Royal, Aspyn Rose, Beau Crockett, Billy Dixon, Bobby Orlando, Bobby Shields, Breaux Keller, Cain Justice, Christi Jayne, Graham Bell, Gunner Miller, Harlow O’Hara, Isaiah Frazier, Jake Garvin, Jake Hollister, Jaxon Stone, Jean Jean Lebon, John Kermon, Josh Fuller, Laynie Luck, Logan Easton LaRoux, Mack Buckler, Mecha Mercenary, Mikey Banker, Sage Philips, Slade Porter, The Masked Villain, Tremmor
This was a traditional Royal Rumble match were the winner was awarded a spot in the appropriate Commonwealth Cup as well as the ability to pick his or her first-round opponent. I don’t think play-by-play would be overly interesting, so I’ll instead mention the important points and give my thoughts. Mecha Mercenary returned to NOVA Pro and racked up eliminations. Similarly, Arik Royal eliminated three people within seconds of entering the match. Jean Jean Lebon, who was Logan Easton LaRoux in disguise a few shows ago, ended up eliminating LaRoux. Sage Philips was the ironman, entering at #2 and lasting until the final six. The final four were Arik Royal, Gunner Miller, Allie Kat, and Angelus Layne. Royal won the 2018 Old Domination Rumble at 51:44.
I never mind doing a match like this once a year, as I think it’s a fine way of taking a snapshot of a promotion’s roster to look back on. Royal overcoming Miller and setting his sights on LaRoux was a memorable way to end the match. However, there was a distinct lack of noteworthy entrants and as a result, not much storyline advancement happened to keep the action engaging. Still, a cool aspect of this rumble was the fairly equal balance between male and female entrants and intergender wrestling is something that NOVA Pro continues to do well. Rumble matches are difficult to pull off and while this was an admirable attempt, I think they needed some more surprises and big moments to make a statement. **½
-Show Grade: C+
–You Need to See:
–You’d Enjoy Watching: Grace/McKenzie, Gresham/Philips, six-man tag
–You Should Avoid:
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