BRM Reviews NOVA Pro Commonwealth Cup 2018: Part 3

[Big Red Machine]

NOVA Pro Commonwealth Cup 2018: Part 3 (6/9/2018)- Annandale, VA


STOKELY HATHAWAY WANTS AN ANSWER FROM FRED YEHI- Last night Stokely offered Yehi a Catchpoint contract and says he hasn’t heard from Yehi since. He needs an answer now, so he is calling Yehi out to get one. Yehi came out and slapped the contract out of Stokely’s hand, then stomped on it... but then he laughed, shook Stokely’s hand, and signed the contract. A totally pointless Russo swerve is not a good way to start a show.

MEN’S COMMONWEALTH CUP 2018 SEMIFINAL MATCH: Tracy Williams vs. Fred Yehi (w/Stokely Hathaway)- 7.75/10
A good wrestling match with some decent limb-work that eventually built into an INSANE last few minutes of mat wrestling, reversals, and defense. This probably works its way onto the list of my favorite “full” matches that are 11 minutes or less, joining matches like Rhyno vs. Raven from Backlash 2001, Roddy vs. Nakajima from Supercard of Honor IV Riddle vs. Speedball from last year’s 16 Carat Gold tournament (and some others that are escaping me right now).

MEN’S COMMONWEALTH CUP 2018 SEMIFINAL MATCH: Sage Phillips vs. Dominic Garrini- 5.75/10
This is a grudge match because Garrini almost broke Phillips’ arm last month, so they started things off hot with Phillips doing a huge dive onto Garrini before Garrini could even get into the ring. This was a GREAT brawl that felt like it ended ten minutes too soon. It only went 5:48, but was OUTSTANDING for the time it got.

MEN’S COMMONWEALTH CUP 2018 SEMIFINAL MATCH: Homicide vs. Wheeler YUTA- 5.5/10
Homicide was the babyface last night, but he’s in total heel mode tonight. Wheeler YUTA got him with a quick pin, and Cide kicked out just a moment too late. Cide was unhappy with the referee, but didn’t beat him up or anything.

MEN’S COMMONWEALTH CUP 2018 SEMIFINAL MATCH: Arik Royal vs. PCO- 7/10
They had a hard-hitting match, which was pretty great for the time it got, but Royal’s finish looks really bad. The crowd loves Arik Royal, but in this match what they really wanted was to see this large demi-centenarian fly!

WOMEN’S COMMONWEALTH CUP 2018 FINAL MATCH: Allie Kat vs. Jordynne Grace- 7.75/10
They told an excellent story of each woman working over the other’s pre-injured body part (Allie’s back, Jordynne’s knee), and stuck with it, coming up with every way they could for the injuries to affect the match. Their selling was great and the match built pretty well, too. If they had given them more than eleven minutes, these two probably could have put on something memorable.

ALEXANDER JAMES vs. JIMMY JACOBS- DUD!
They started having a great little all-caps WRESTLING match… and then Jimmy Jacobs randomly grabbed a mic and took us through pointless comedy (resulting in the fans chanting “ROYAL WEDDING!” because it’s the “Prince of Pro” vs. “the Zombie Princess”) to trash talking (including Jimmy Jacobs making an accusation that resulted in the fans chanting “GLORYHOLE!” at Alexander James) back to comedy with Jimmy getting James to do a royal curtsy… at which point Jimmy punched him in the head. Alexander James is supposedly the heel here, but Jimmy Jacobs was a total asshole!
They brawled outside forever and were not counted out. They wound up behind the curtain where no one could see them, then James was sent stumbling through the curtain… and then was hit in the head with a flying garbage can. Jimmy Jacobs then emerged from behind the curtain and claimed that someone else threw it… and because the referee couldn’t prove that he had, he wasn’t able to call for the DQ. This was clever… but again, it makes Jimmy the heel and makes me want to see Alexander James end this tomfoolery and kick his ass.
James got the heat (or made his comeback in my book, I guess), then taunted Jimmy by ruining his tiara. Jimmy fired up and knocked James down with a spear, then pummeled him. Jimmy bent the tiara into a shape with which he could use it to stab James but thankfully the referee stopped him. The referee went to dispose of the tiara, but while this was happening, Jimmy kicked James in the balls. Like a total heel. Jimmy went for the pin but James kicked out. Jimmy continued to wrestle like a heel for the remaining few minutes while James was a total babyface to me, just trying for his signature submission and getting the win with it.
The babyface/heel dynamics in this match was ass-backwards, but this was more frustrating than that simply because the first minute or so and the last minute or show showed how good this could have been if they had just had a wrestling match instead of made it all about shenanigans.

NWA WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE MATCH: Nick Aldis(c) vs. Isaiah Frazier (w/Coach Gator)- 7/10
Is it as important as it used to be? Not even remotely. But G-d damn it there is something to the idea of the NWA World Heavyweight Champion coming to town and a local babyface challenging him for the belt and them having a plain old professional wrestling match for it.
THE CARNIES vs. NICK GAGE & TIM DONST (w/the Safety Squad)- DUD!
As you’d probably assume, Gage did not like the Safety Squad. The Safety Squad did their silly comedy for a minute or two, then Donst took a bump onto some chairs on the outside and had to be carried to the back. Gage fought alone until Donst reemerged as his hardcore NOVA Pro self, and hit one of The Carnies in the head with a garbage can… and instead of calling for a DQ, the referee instead told the ring announcer to tell everyone that this was now a no DQs match. Nick Gage completely no-sold a piledriver, they did a few hardcore spots, then Donst took an assisted Piledriver into the thumbtacks that didn’t look like Donst’s head came anywhere close to hitting the mat or tacks, and that was the finish.

POST-MATCH SEGMENT- fine
Beau Crockett attacked Kerry Awful & Nick Iggy, then announced rather angrily that he was leaving The Carnies.

POST AMTCH SEGMENT #2- good
Donst and Gage argued, resulting in them agreeing to have a match with “no rules” next month at NOVA Pro’s next show, American Slang ‘18

MEN’S COMMONWEALTH CUP 2018 FOUR-WAY ELIMINATION FINAL MATCH: Tracy Williams vs. Sage Phillips vs. Wheeler YUTA vs. Arik Royal- 7.5/10
I was really hoping this would go longer, as three eliminations in under sixteen minutes is kind of lame for a tournament finals. The match was certainly of main event quality, but I was really hoping something more than just a bare minimum of main event quality. Royal eliminated by Williams and Phillips, but then tapped out to YUTA.

POST-MATCH SEGMENT- very good
Homicide attacked Wheeler YUTA and forced the ring announcer to declare him as the winner of the Commonwealth Cup instead. Heel Homicide is great. I know that’s not news or anything, but it’s not something I thought I’d be saying in 2018.

This was a meh show from NOVA Pro. It had its share of bad matches, but also a lot of very good to great ones. Ultimately, though, the show disappoints because neither of the two tournament finals felt like the epic matches that the finals of your biggest tournament of the year should feel like.