The Collision Cup semis and finals finally rolled around as Project Nova returned to Berlin.
Quick Results
Collision Cup Semi-Final: Big Nik pinned Nick Schreier & Pahlevan Nima in 11:38 (**¾)
Collision Cup Semi-Final: Joshua Amaru pinned David Adili in 9:35 (***)
Ronaldo Shaqiri pinned Feyyaz Aguila, Georg Asgolas & Herco Wisky in 9:23 (**¾)
Kara & Keesa submitted Heartbeat Girl & Lina in 9:28 (**½)
Dieter Schwartz submitted Sorani in 7:01 (**¾)
No Holds Barred: Bennet Brown defeated Jessy Jay via referee’s stoppage to win the Marty Shaw Cup in 13:54 (***¼)
Tim Stübing pinned Brian Sturm in 3:28 (**)
Orlando Silva & El Ramo pinned Romero & Cedric Superior in 7:02 (**½)
Collision Cup Final: Big Nik pinned Joshua Amaru in 15:24 (***¼)
We’re back at die Weiße Rose in Berlin as the Collision Cup wrapped up… Sepp Hammer and Emil Völler are on the headsets for German commentary.
Collision Cup Semi-Final: Nick Schreier vs. Pahlevan Nima vs. Big Nik
Nick and Nima went to a time limit draw in the last episode of Collision – which meant they went through to the semi-final stage jointly, up against the undefeated-in-his-block Big Nik.
Schreier and Nima tried to double-team Nik early on, sending him outside with a low bridge before Schreier’s tope was caught. Nima’s attempt to add another was swatted away with Schreier being used as a battering ram, and the door was open for Big Nik from there as he was able to divide and conquer. Nima and Schreier tried to reunite against Nik, eventually hitting a double-team stunner and a double-team back body drop before they turned their sights on each other. It’s Nima who looked to be getting the upper hand, only to get caught with some Slingblades for a quick two-count.
Nima’s able to find a way back in with a knee to Schreier in the ropes, then a high-angle back suplex before Big Nik rose up… and got knocked back down with some dives. A pop-up dropkick from Schreier looked to set off another spell of pressure, but Nima took him to the corner for some mounted punches… only for Big Nik to break it all up with chops. Nik’s pair of sidewalk slams almost win it for him, before Schreier caught him with a DDT out of a swinging uranage attempt. Nima breaks up the pin on that, then caught Schreier with a neckbreaker for a near-fall, before Big Nik found a way back in with a pair of chokeslams for the win. **¾
Collision Cup Semi-Final: David Adili vs. Joshua Amaru
This was the runner up in block B – Adili – against block A winner Amaru, with the winner taking on Big Nik in the main event.
The early feeling-out process yielded no clear advantage, as the pair looked pretty evenly-matched… Adili and Amaru trade pinning attempts going back-and-forth to troll the ref, before Amaru began to pull ahead, taking down Adili for a back senton. Adili looked to get back in the match with a neckbreaker, before a diving kick almost put Amaru away. Amaru recovered to hit an Exploder to throw Adili aside, following up with clotheslines before a running neckbreaker took down Adili. A Claymore kick followed, but it’s still not enough for Amaru to get the win, as the back-and-forth resumed with a ripcord powerslam from Adili…
Amaru keeps it going with a uranage-style takedown for a near-fall, only for a missile dropkick from Adili to lead to a teased package tombstone. Amaru rolls out though, and after see-sawing it’s Amaru who escapes with the win in what was a really even outing. ***
Supernova Match: Georg Asgolar vs. Feyyaz Aguila vs. Herco Wisky vs. Ronaldo Shaqiri
Everyone got an inset promo – Wisky bragged about being from Argentina, because of the World Cup last year, and revealed he didn’t know what a Supernova match was. That makes two of us! (turns out, the Supernova match is Nova’s name for these four-ways!)
We start with… Wisky slapping Shaqiri’s arse? Alright then… he got press slammed into Aguila and Asgolar on the outside for that, before a flip senton from Ronaldo crashed into the pile. Herco’s chased into the ring, where he scores a satellite DDT to Shaqiri… in comes Aguila to land a suplex as we’re firmly in the revolving door portion of a four-way. Asgolar’s in next to try and chuck Feyyaz around, eventually scoring with a slam for a near-fall. A wheelbarrow from Asgolar dumps Wisky onto Aguila for a two-count, with Asgolar realising at the last minute what he’d done. Ronaldo’s back to hit a backbreaker to Wisky, sparking a Parade of Moves, which led to Asgolar heading into the crowd so he could leap off the seating decks onto Shaqiri at ringside.
It’s been an age since I’ve seen a truffle shuffle, but Herco busts that one out as Asgolar and Shaqiri laid waste to each other on the outside… back inside, Shaqiri runs wild with Samoan drops, including a stacked up pair to Asgolar and Aguila, before a nasty apron powerbomb from Shaqiri rocked Asgolar. Back in the ring, Wisky takes a drink and baited in Shaqiri for some whisky mist… while a running neckbreaker sparked another Parade of Moves, leading to Shaqiri breaking up a pin from a sit-out Alabama slam from Asgolar… who then armdragged his way out of a Shaqiri uranage for a near-fall.
Aguila breaks up a pin on a Razor’s Edge, but couldn’t avoid a spear from Shaqiri… and that’s your lot. They crammed a lot in here, to the match’s detriment – in particular the Asgolar/Shaqiri fight on the floor, which was almost missed amid the dance-off… **¾
Heartbeat Girl & Lina vs. Kara & Keesa
Kara and Keesa – who’s not a bambi this time around – had Jacky Go in their corner, and I’m sure we’re all expecting zero shenanigans…
Heartbeat Girl chucks Jacky out of the ring before the bell, before Kara and Keesa took snapmares and low dropkicks for good measure. A clothesline took Kara out of the ring as we finally got going with Heartbeat Girl and Keesa, and with a whole bunch of armdrags. Keesa falls back on Heartbeat Girl amid a bodyslam, before tags bring in Lina and Kara… with the former almost winning with a sunset flip. Tiltawhirl headscissors take down Kara from there, as did a springboard armdrag, before Kara found a way back in with a headbutt. Oh, and some choking as well as she tried to pin down Lina…
Some boot choking in the corner trapped Lina as Keesa tagged back in… meanwhile, Jacky Go’s in the background pulling Heartbeat Girl off the apron behind the ref’s back. Jacky’s sent flying as Lina’s double-teamed with a suplex, ahead of a back senton from Keesa for a two-count. Lina fought back and was able to make the tag out, but Kara’s back in too as Heartbeat Girl ended up having to fight off both opponents at the same time. Jacky Go’s back up, but she’s knocked off the apron too as a facebuster and a crossbody off the top almost took the win. Keesa broke up that pin, but gets DDT’d out of the ring by Lina. Jacky interferes again and still the ref’s not making a call, as Kara ended up trapping Heartbeat Girl in a crossface for the submission. Hey, they made a trio – but I’d have liked the referee not to have developed convenient blindspots! **½
Sorani vs. Dieter Schwartz
Schwartz is modelling himself as “the generic grappler” (I had to rewind to make sure I heard that right), like the old Catch Point for those of you who watched EVOLVE…
The early going’s a little tentative, with a knucklelock eventually seeing Sorani take down Schwartz for some pinning attempts, only for Schwartz to return with an armdrag. Sorani removes a turnbuckle cover, right as Schwartz was running into the corner… Schwartz put on the brakes, but got his eyes raked as the ref was fixing things. The turnbuckle pad falls off before Schwartz got whipped into the exposed corner, before a fireman’s carry/suplex hybrid nearly put him away. Sorani focuses on the lower back, stretching Schwartz with a camel clutch, before Dieter powered out and spun Sorani into a pinning attempt.
Sorani’s taken down with a German suplex, then with a teardrop suplex that almost won it, before Sorani fought back in with a pump kick. A pop-up spinebuster follows, again for a near-fall, before an Alabama slam and a Boston crab earned Schwartz the win. **¾
Backstage, Melanie Sommer’s with Romero and Cedric Superior – Cedric’s making his Nova return later on after a year out injured…
No Holds Barred Match for NOVA Marty Shaw Cup: Bennet Brown vs. Jessy Jay (c)
I’m not quite sure how we got here (a promo that was released on social media in the week beforehand would have told me, so you’d expect the majority of the crowd here to not be surprised like I was), but we start with a lock-up as Brown and Jay end up spilling through the ropes to the outside.
Back inside, a double clothesline keeps them both on the deck, but it’s not long before the pair are trading blows, leading to Jay scoring with a German suplex for our first two-count. Brown begins to stretch the champion by the arm, but Jay’s able to fight back… until Brown caught her with a hanging armbar from the top rope. The no holds barred stipulation meant no rope breaks… but Brown had to let go of the hold, lest the blood all go to his head. Heading up top, Brown leaps into a Kendo stick shot as Jay began to wear him out… Brown heads under the ring and finds a wrench as an equaliser, which he quickly put to use after posting Jessy… but she manages to duck a shot with that wrench, only to get her arm posted.
A back suplex from the floor dropped Jay on the stage, before Brown headed back to the ring… and brought a couple of chairs with him from under the ring. They’re set up, but of course it’s Brown who’s suplexed into the pair of them as Jessy proceeded… to batter Brown with some badminton rackets. Heading outside again, Jessy finds a bag of Duplo under the ring, but quickly gets herself introduced into them with a spinebuster as Brown came close to the win. Brown grabbed one of those badminton rackets and attacked the injured arm with it, before he grabbed a baking tray from under the ring… only to be met with a low blow before he could use it.
Jessy had no such issues with the tray as she DDT’s Brown onto it, before she went under the ring and pulled out a table. After setting it up, Brown’s rolled onto it as Jessy headed up top… but she’s cut off as Kara, Jacky Go and Keesa run out to attack Jessy. A Kendo stick shot from Kara set up Jessy to be superplexed through the table for a near-fall… before Brown rolled her into a Rings of Saturn for the stoppage. ***¼
Virgil Defour’s interrupted mid-speech by Ibo Latino… and this leads to a match for Ibo’s charge, Tim Stübing…
Tim Stübing vs. Brian Sturm
Looking at Cagematch, this was Sturm’s Nova debut…
Stübing shoves down Sturm to start, but his posing’s interrupted as Sturm slapped him into the corner. A retaliatory slap from Stübing knocks Sturm down, before Stübing caught a crossbody… only to get taken down moments later with some clotheslines. An Exploder from Sturm flings Stübing across the ring for a two-count, before Stübing retaliated by hurling Sturm into the turnbuckles. Stübing’s running dropkick follows, but he pulls up Sturm at the count of two before Ibo Latino waved off Stübing… who responded by hitting a torture rack driver to complete the squash. **
Cedric Superior & Romero vs. Lucha Twins (El Ramo & Orlando Silva)
The last time I saw Orlando Silva, he was being run out of the GWF… now he’s back in a lucha mask here. We’re apparently running under “Mexican rules,” which I guess is analogous for lucha rules?
Ramo started with Romero, but being the smallest in the match, Ramo had trouble finding much impact as he instead head to rely on quickness. A shoulder block from Ramo led to him celebrating… but Cedric Superior took advantage of the rules to come in and get Ramo from behind. Superior’s diving uppercut to the back of Ramo allowed Orlando in to lucha-it-up with some armdrags, before he dropkicked Superior in the arse. Romero’s back to try his luck on a sunset flip, then a waistlock takedown and a PK before a tornado DDT picked up a two-count on Silva.
El Ramo’s in as all four men hit the ring… which means it’s time for shtick from the lucha lads that led to a pop-up splash to Cedric after he’d been draped across the corner. Romero’s double-teamed by the lucha lads as “lucha rules” turned to tornado rules seemingly, as Ramo ‘rana’d Silver into Romero. Way too many r’s there! Superior’s back in to get chopped by Silver, then by Ramo, before Superior’s crossbody out of the corner took down the lucha lads. A spinebuster is next, then a Romero standing frog splash, before a dropkick-aided German suplex nearly put Orlando away. An errant dropkick from Romero wipes out Superior though, and from there it’s pretty much one-way traffic as we built to a frog splash from Orlando Silver to Romero for the win. **½
Post-match, Romero’s all apologetic to Superior… who snapped him into a Dragon sleeper that turned into a reverse DDT. Backstage, Melanie Sommer tries to get a word with Cedric, but he’s still seething with anger.
Collision Cup Final: Joshua Amaru vs. Big Nik
After all that, the finals are between the two block winners – who’d have guessed!
Our battle of the big lads started with Nik landing a waistlock takedown… but missing an elbow drop as Amaru quickly took advantage with a back senton off the ropes. Clotheslines trapped Nik in the corner, before a knee lift looked to lead to a flying crossbody… but Nik caught it and turned it into a fallaway slam. Amaru’s kept grounded with a sleeperhold, before he was taken into the corner for some overhand chops as the crowd were insanely loud in their dislike of Nik. On the apron, Nik catches Amaru with some forearm strikes… but they’re eventually caught as Amaru dragged Nik onto the apron… only to get caught with a hanging choke hold as Nik finally dropped Amaru down to the floor.
Nik’s celebrating like he won, but Amaru just about beats the count-out, only to get run into the corners. Amaru’s able to find a second wind as he countered a chokeslam into a DDT, then followed up with a suplex before he evaded Nik and landed a dropkick to the knee. A diving kick finally knocked Nik down, albeit momentarily, as two more Claymore-like kicks should have gotten Amaru the win… only for Kevin Lazar and Georg Asgolar – Nik’s Lazarus Pit stablemates – to run out and pull out the referee.
Lazar and Asgolar swarm Amaru, which led to the save from the Baklava Club’s Aytac and Abdul… before Big Nik took down Amaru with the Monster Jam – a back suplex/slam combo. The referee eventually makes it back to the ring to count as Amaru peeled up his shoulder just after two. Amaru returned with a sitout powerbomb, before Nik raked the eyes and hit back with a big boot… leading to a chokeslam for the win. Big Nik wins the first Collision Cup, in a match that was above my expectations, given the entirely of Collision before this had 10-minute time limits. I’d expect that that we’re getting more from the Lazarus Pit/Baklava Club after this… ***¼
Except first, Bennet Brown’s out with his newly-won Marty Shaw cup, confronting Nik before opting to walk away as the show ended with Big Nik celebrating to a smattering of boos.
While the atmosphere inside die Weiße Rose makes these shows look like a hell of a lot of fun to be at, but – to someone who’s not following anything outside of the shows – some of the booking does seem a little odd. Such as the Marty Shaw Cup match, which (again, from what I saw) had little set up to justify it being no holds barred… but at least it’s set up something coming out of it.