NOVA Pro Wrestling (often referred to as simply NOVA Pro) was an American professional wrestling promotion that was established in 2015 based in
Northern Virginia
Northern Virginia, locally referred to as NOVA or NoVA, comprises several counties and independent cities in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. It is a widespread region radiating westward and southward from Washington, D.C. Wit ...
. The company's name came from the abbreviation of its location, Northern Virginia ("NoVa"). The promotion was founded by Mike King Jr., and his son, Mike E. King, with the intention to showcase the top independent wrestlers of Virginia, Maryland, and the general Mid-Atlantic region, as well as bring some of independent wrestling's popular names to the Northern Virginia area. The debut show, titled "The NOVA Project", took place on September 25, 2015 in
Fairfax, Virginia
The City of Fairfax ( ), colloquially known as Fairfax City, Downtown Fairfax, Old Town Fairfax, Fairfax Courthouse, FFX, or simply Fairfax, is an independent city (United States), independent city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth ...
. The promotion closed its doors in early 2019
History
NOVA Pro Wrestling began on Friday, September 25, 2015, with its first show, "The NOVA Project", taking place at the Jewish Community Center of Northern Virginia, in Fairfax. The event was presented by the Virginia promotion Ground Xero Wrestling (GXW), and was run using their promoter's license and much of their equipment. The first show, casually referred to as a
pilot episode
A television pilot (also known as a pilot or a pilot episode and sometimes marketed as a tele-movie), in United States television, is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell a show to a television network or other distri ...
, was considered a borderline success, despite several last minute changes to the card. This was primarily due to issues related to Virginia's licensing committee, as the show took place with only one of the originally advertised matches taking place as planned.
NOVA Pro waited until the new year to run again, this time with their own promoter's license. The first show of 2016, titled "Stay Vicious", ran on Sunday, January 31, 2016, from the Annandale Sports Center in
Springfield, Virginia
Springfield is a census-designated place (CDP) in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. The Springfield CDP is recognized by the U.S. Census Bureau with a population of 30,484 as of the 2010 census. Homes and businesses in bordering CDPs includ ...
. The promotion would continue to run, both in Springfield and Fairfax, every other month until July, when the frequency increased to monthly shows, as the crowds continued to grow. The company celebrated their one-year anniversary with "The NOVA Project 2" on September 16, 2016, which featured the first steel cage match in the promotion's history, capping off a year-long feud between
Sonjay Dutt
Retesh Bhalla (born April 7, 1982) is an American professional wrestler currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) as a producer and manager. He is best known for his time with Total Nonstop ActionImpact Wrestling under the ring name Sonja ...
and Logan Easton Laroux. The last show of the calendar year took place on Black Friday, November 25, 2016, and featured one of the last independent wrestling appearances of
Chris Hero
Chris Spradlin (born December 24, 1979), better known by his ring name Chris Hero, is an American professional wrestler and trainer. He is currently signed to Ring of Honor as a producer. Hero has worked for a number of independent wrestling pr ...
before his second stint with the WWE.
2017 began for NOVA Pro Wrestling, with "RELoad" on Friday, February 17, 2017 drawing one of its biggest crowds at a brand new venue, the Annandale Volunteer Fire Department in
Annandale, Virginia
Annandale () is a census-designated place (CDP) in Fairfax County, Virginia.Commonwealth Cup on Friday, April 14, 2017. The one-night, 12-man tournament was won by Logan Easton Laroux, and was made even more significant by his win in the finals over Arik Royal, who had previously been undefeated in NOVA Pro since its inception in 2015.
2017 continued to be a year of firsts for NOVA Pro, as the company slowly discovered its identity. June 10, 2017 featured the first ever tryout show, "Life Is Like A Box of Chocolates", with a full NOVA Pro show, "Hi Fidelity", later that evening as well. The show "American Slang '17", on July 14, was main evented by NOVA's first ever ladder match, between PWI Ultra J Champion Chet Sterling and Logan Easton Laroux. "Cool for the Summer", on August 18, 2017, marked the company's first ever sold-out crowd, and was headlined by a No Disqualification intergender match between Angelus Layne and Keith Lee. This match came about as the focal point of a feud between Layne and promoter Mike E. King, after Layne threw a fireball at the promoter's face one month earlier. Lee was brought in to face Layne in the first intergender main event, though not the first or only instance of intergender wrestling in the promotion's history.
Friday, September 22, 2017 marked a second consecutive sell-out crowd, this time in the larger Fairfax venue, for "The NOVA Project 3". As the promotion entered its third year of operation, it enjoyed significant growth in exposure thanks to features in ''
The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'' and ''
Washington City Paper
The ''Washington City Paper'' is a U.S. alternative weekly newspaper serving the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area. The ''City Paper'' is distributed on Thursdays; its average circulation in 2006 was 85,588. The paper's editorial mix is focused ...
'', as well as many national outlets, in part thanks to appearances from viral sensation "The Progressive Liberal" Daniel Richards. Around this time, the promotion signed with streaming service Powerbomb.TV to make past shows available on the site, and announce their first
live-streamed
Livestreaming is streaming media simultaneously recorded and broadcast in real-time over the internet. It is often referred to simply as streaming. Non-live media such as video-on-demand, vlogs, and YouTube videos are technically streamed, but no ...
show on Thursday, December 28, 2017, main evented by Powerbomb TV Independent Champion
Jonathan Gresham
Jonathan Gresham (born March 20, 1988) is an American professional wrestler currently signed to Impact Wrestling. He has previously wrestled for All Elite Wrestling (AEW) and Ring of Honor (ROH), where he is a former ROH World Champion, ROH Pure ...
defending against Sonjay Dutt.
In June 2018, NOVA Pro produced both a men's and women's Commonwealth Cup, although the early rounds of the Women's Cup were not available live as the show was a matinee. In addition, in September, it was announced that NOVA Pro would do a show outside Virginia for the first time as the company would perform as part of
WrestleMania 35
WrestleMania 35 was the 35th annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view and livestreaming event produced by WWE. It was held for wrestlers from the promotion's Raw, SmackDown, and 205 Live brand divisions. The event took place on A ...
weekend.
Events
2015
2016
2017
2018
Working relationships
In 2016, NOVA Pro Wrestling became a member of the governing body known as Pro Wrestling International, which included other promotions in the southeast and mid-Atlantic regions, such as
CWF Mid-Atlantic
Carolina Wrestling Federation Mid-Atlantic (CWF Mid-Atlantic, formerly known as the Carolina Wrestling Federation and FWA-Carolinas) is an American independent professional wrestling promotion founded by Jeff Rudd in 2000. The promotion is based i ...
and
Premiere Wrestling Xperience
Premiere Wrestling Xperience (PWX) is an American independent professional wrestling promotion that is based in Charlotte, North Carolina.
History
Founded in 2003 as Carolina Wrestling Association. Renamed in 2008 as Premiere Wrestling Showc ...
. The relationship with PWI lasted for two years, and included title defenses of the Ultra J Championship. On January 7, 2018, in a tweet from the official account, NOVA Pro announced that they were no longer a member of Pro Wrestling International.
In August 2017, NOVA Pro announced that they had linked up with the streaming service Powerbomb TV, with a staggered rollout of the entire library of shows. On September 6, 2017, “The NOVA Project” marked NOVA Pro Wrestling's debut to the streaming service. Later that month, it was announced that the show “Such Great Heights” on December 28, 2017 would be the first ever live streamed event in the promotion's history. NOVA Pro has announced that they will continue to stream live on Powerbomb TV going forward.
Championships
Unlike typical professional wrestling promotions, NOVA did not feature any Championships. It did however conduct a number of tournaments.
Other accomplishments
See also
*
List of independent wrestling promotions in the United States
This is a list of independent wrestling promotions in the United States, sorted by regional area, and lists both active and defunct " indy promotions" from the 1990s and 2000s. This list does not include the regional territories or promotions a ...
*
Independent wrestling
In professional wrestling, the independent circuit or indie circuit is the collective name of independent professional wrestling promotions which are smaller than major televised promotions. It is roughly analogous to a minor league for pro wres ...