ECWA Super 8 Tourney Results & Review

[Guest TheDames7]

Last night, I was one of the people who took the NYC bus to the ECWA Super 8 Tournament.  As usual, on the way to the show we watched some ECWA matches.  The atmosphere on the bus was excellent as people were having logical, free spirited conversations about wrestling and it made things seem more relaxed.  After a quick rest stop, we arrived to the building pretty early.  This being my first ECWA event, I was pretty surprised that the fed runs its shows inside a parish.  

 

From there, Indy sensation Low-Ki came on the bus for a rare Q&A session.  The session was about 20 minutes long, with Low-Ki not backing down from any questions and not holding back anything.  It was a good showing as most wrestlers shy away from hard questions and just kayfabe their way through them.  

 

We took some pics with him and the SAT, who are also from NYC.  Shortly after that, we were allowed into the building first, and given the opportunity to get the best "general admission" seats available.  On that note, most of the seats were reserved and had signs with people's names on them, so the seating wasn't an issue like most indy shows have.  The first thing that I noticed when I walked in was that there were many indy wrestlers who simply came to the show as fans, and that said more than enough in and of itself.  There was a few tables set up in the back of the building, where all eight competitors in the tournament were standing there, awaiting to meet fans, sign autographs and take pictures.  Nice touch.  Another nice touch was the fact that there were ECWA staff offering free polaroids for anyone who wanted to take a picture with a Super 8 wrestler.  I'll admit, that caught me off guard, as I've seen many examples of people taking pictures and asking for a fee afterwards.  

 

A few other wrestlers such as Scott Andrews and Stryker (a different Stryker than the one in the tournament) began to sign autographs and do the same as those in the Super 8.  

 

Shortly after, the event began with the ring announcer instructing us to look up at the projection screen (another nice touch for an indy promotion).  They played a video package documenting the history of the tournament and hyped tonights non-tourney matches as well.  

 

The winner of last year's tournament, Low-Ki, then made his way to ringside in a suit and tie, and welcomed all 8 competitors as they all came to the ring.  This really put over the Super 8 as a classy event with a lot of prestige.  All 8 competitors also had custom T-shirts made for the event and were all given medals by Low-Ki.  R.C (Charlie) Haas, also came to ringside, where he thanked everyone for their support in his time of need since his brother's death.  He was supposed to be in the tournament, but blew out his knee and was on crutches.  He got a chant of both Russ (his brothers name) and Haas.  

 

The tournament began then with the first round match up Bobby Rude vs Red.  Bobby Rude is from Toronto and looks a lot like the man who trained him, Val Venis.  Red, who is a superb high flyer from the northeast, looked absolutely dwarfed in this match with Rude.  Rude immediately established himself as the heel of the match by overpowering Red with offense, such as tossing him 3/4's to the other side of the ring and taunting the crowd afterwards.  The match was mostly all Rude, with small glimpses of a babyface comeback by Red, who was finally able to win the match after his top rope Infra-Red finisher (twisting splash) and the Red Star Press (standing shooting star).  

 

Next came Donovan Morgan vs Pepper Parks.  Pepper, whom I had never seen before, looks a LOT like Lenny Lane and does a goofy cheerleader gimmick.  He kept raising his hands over his head and shaking his fingers, which looked kinda goofy and didn't get much of a babyface reaction.  I was informed that he was doing "spirit fingers" for those of you who have seen the movie Bring It On.  Donovan Morgan came out to a decent reaction, although most of his work has been in the West Coast with APW and with Pro Wrestling Noah in Japan.  The match consisted of a lot of matwork by both guys, with Morgan coming out on top for the most part.  Pepper tried to come back with some nice offense, but Morgan wowed the crowd with his quick fishermans swinging neckbreaker.  That move amazingly enough got only two.  A few seconds later, Morgan hits his finisher, a double-underhook piledriver for the pin and a solid pop for the move.  

 

3rd match of the tourney was Matt Stryker of HWA, and Jamie Knoble, also of HWA but was part of WCW before its demise.  The match didn't have many high flying or high impact moves, but consisted of some great mat work and funky submissions.  Stryker, who seemed to working as a heel, at one point got a picture perfect Sharpshooter (one that would make any Rock fan see what its REALLY supposed to look like), but Knoble made the ropes.  After trading two-counts, Knoble was finally able to roll up Stryker for the pin.  Knoble received a warm reception for his work.  

The last and best first round tournament match took place between Xavier and AJ Styles.  From what I've seen of both of these guys, they are amazing.  Xavier works mostly in the northeast and AJ Styles works for NWA Wildside and was of the last 2 men in the Cruiserweight 6-man at the WWA PPV from last week.  When I first saw this match in the bracketing in the program, I had hoped that even though only one of them could advance, that both men would get over in this match.  I got more than I had hoped for.  Neither man here worked as a clear cut babyface or heel and the match was simply tight, stiff wrestling that everyone can appreciate.  Both men tried to out do the other in terms of mat wrestling, strikes and counter holds, but no one got a clear advantage until Xavier hit a springboard moonsault to the outside onto Styles.  This got a massive pop and even a "Holy Sh*t" chant for a few moments....in a PARISH!  Xavier then threw Styles into the ring and attempted the 450 splash, one of his finishers, but Styles got the knees up and both men began rolling up each other in a close series of near falls.  After some back and forth offense, Xavier went for a 'rana but Styles blocked it and hits The Styles Clash, a weird looking variation of a flapjack).  Both men received a round of applause for the bout.  

 

The show took a 15 minute break to set up the ladder match, with the crew putting the ECWA title on a cord that hung above the ring.  The storyline here apparantly was that Billy Fives, the challenger had stolen the belt from Scoot Andrews earlier and claimed he was the champion.  The match started out rapidly as Scoot beat the hell out of Fives the second he got into the ring.  They brawled to the back, where we were able to see the action via the projection screen (so cool for an indy).  After some comedy spots in the back, the action came back to the ring.  Both guys simply weren't able to get to the ladder with all the punishment they were dishing out.  Finally, after Billy Fives was able to the get the advantage, he brought the ladder into the ring.  Scoot recovered and began to bash Fives with the ladder in several ways, including a slingshot into the ladder and a monkey flip onto it.  Scoot tried for the belt, but Fives grabbed him, so Scoot Rock Bottomed Fives off the ladder and both sold the move.  Fives recovered first and tried to climb with Scoot underneath the ladder, but he pushed the ladder off of him and Fives was hung out to dry by the ropes.  Both guys pasted each other with chairs a few times and Scoot went up and retrieved the belt for the anti-climatic finish.  Something about this match didn't click with me, and I'm not exactly sure what it was.  

 

After intermission, the first match back surprised me, as I had pegged Red vs Donovan Morgan vs AJ Styles and Jamie Knoble as the semis.  Instead the first match was Red and AJ Styles.  This match was ALL high flying stuff, as it seemed like AJ had to keep with Red.  Styles even fell off the top rope before he was able to hit a big move to the outside...and once again, I was stunned as a small "You F*cked up" chant began.  I don't think some people even noticed that they were in a place of worship.  Red went for a hurancanrana off the top rope, but Styles blocked it for a Styles clash off the ropes and Styles advances towards the finals.  

 

Next came Morgan vs Knoble.  The match had some excellent psychology as Morgan went for this double underhook piledriver and Knoble blocked it twice.  The fans seemed to be behind the smaller Knoble, who was doing more of a flashier style than the more grounded Morgan.  After some more roll ups, Morgan sat down on a sunset flip attempt for the pin.  It seemed as if most fans wanted to see AJ vs Jamie Knoble and the outcome of this match came as a total shock to the fans around me, including myself.  

 

The pacing of the event was excellent, as the next match was the ECWA Summit, which was essentially a Royal Rumble with the participants coming out in 30 second intervals.  Although there wasn't much downtime, it allowed the crowd to die down a bit before the main event.  The first man in the ring was Mr. Ooh La La, a fat guy who pretends to be both French AND sexy.  No comment.  Anyway, he moons the crowd, with the La La written on his cheeks.  The crowd gasped at that one.  Someone then told him that he wasn't wearing his tights underneath and he ran to the back embarrassed.  The whole point of that skit seemed to be lost on everyone.  Prince Nana then came out to big heat, as he is feuding with the ECWA's number 1 babyface, The Cheetah Master.  They chanted Cheetah's name, as the Prince awaited his next opponent.  April Hunter, the busty redhead NWO girl, was next and arrived to a babyface pop.  She had a quick staredown with Nana, but Nana then attacked her..and I was amazed at Hunter's ability to bump.  Her partner, Slyk Wagner Brown came out and began to clean house on Nana, until April stopped him.  Apparently, she didn't want his help and took offense to it.  Stryker from the northeast indies then came to ringside and it seemed like everyone was after Nana at this point.  Next in was Mr. Ooh La La again, who ran towards the ring, but ran ring into the ring apron and made his back to the back again.  At this point, a skinny bald guy wearing a Mr. Clean t-shirt made his into the ring and attacked Hunter.  She clotheslined him out before the next participant came in, to a pop.  Billy Bax came in to some Opie chants as he kinda looks a lot like the guy.  He was quickly disposed of by Slyk Wagner Brown. Next up was the Japanese Pool Boy, who is another skinny white guy, but one with a Japanese mask on....and was bouncing around in a wedding dress.  The crowd died laughing upon the entrance of this guy, and when he finally got put into the ring, he was destroyed!  Everyone stomped him and then he began to take some of the sickest chops I'd ever seen from Prince Nana.  Stryker was then eliminated by Nana.  Next was this really big blob named Ground Zero.  He didn't last long as the next guy in was Low-Ki and he kicked him out.  Kid Kruel and some other guy that I didn't recognize was next.  Low-Ki elminiated Kid Kruel.  April then turned on her partner and eliminated Slyk Wagner.  As per usual when partners battle in a battle royal, she was next as Nana got rid of her.  Ooh La La finally made it to the ring next and was eliminated in seconds.  Another guy that I didn't recognize came out....and then your typical stalling in a battle royal.  Cheetah Master came out to a big pop and Nana immediately left the ring, going through the bottom rope.  Cheetah was busy slapping hands with the fans when he was attacked from behind by a masked man, who then revealed himself to be Bobby Rude of the first match in the tourney.  Abunai came in next, followed by a guy that I also didn't recognize....and he came out to silence.  Thats never good.  Typical battle royal stuff, and Low-Ki was teasing elmination for a while.  The SAT's, and the J-team were the last guys in there and everyone was pretty much cleared except for the Prince Nana, Low-Ki, the J-team and the SAT's.  After the two teams essentially eliminated each other, it was down to Nana and Low-Ki, who was busy with Nana's manager.  Nana had been out of the ring for most of the battle royal, and returned to dump Low-Ki for the shot against Scoot Andrews at the next show.  

 

Before the main event, an interview was conducted with both Styles and Morgan in the back.  Styles declared it his night, in his thick southern accent.  Morgan then told AJ to his face that he would learn to respect him tonight, and so would the world, when he takes the trophy to Japan.  I figured that was enough to make him a heel for the night, but in the beginning of the match, he slapped AJ across the face while offering a handshake.  AJ slapped him back, and then they shook hands.  That confused me.  The match was great as it started out EXTREMELY stiff and then heading into some mat wrestling.  Morgan was dominant during this part of the match, until he was tossed to the floor.  Styles then went to the top and then did the shooting star press to the floor.  It seemed like people were expecting this move after seeing it last week on the PPV.  It got a big pop, and a concerned reaction as Styles only grazed Morgan and hit the guardrail.  Morgan threw Styles back in the ring and they went back and forth with some power moves, until Morgan was able to get his swinging fishermans neckbreaker in.  People bought that as the finish, and popped when AJ got out.  Morgan then was able to hit his double underhook finisher for 2 as everyone once again popped when AJ got out.  AJ recovered and deliberately went for the Styles Clash, which I really liked, as he used it as reversals in the first two rounds.  This got a pop as well as Morgan kicked out at 2.  Both guys were using power moves on each other for near falls as the crowd was getting hyped up.  Morgan hit his finisher for the surprise pin.  I would have lost money if I had bet on the winner of this match.  Morgan went over strong as AJ also got over in the tournament, so it was a success in my book.  Even though Morgan acted heelish, the match was so phenominal that it got a standing O.  The rest of the guys from the Super 8 came out and put him on their shoulders.  AJ raised his hand as well, and Morgan was given the trophy.  Good show.  

 

On the way back home, we watched some more ECWA stuff and got home pretty early.  The next ECWA Show is on April 6th and there may be another NYC bus trip if there is enough of a demand.  I definitely recommend it and I give the show a thumbs up.  

 

Dames

[Guest SatanPro]

A couple of things to add, that you got a little wrong...

 

Morgan used a Tiger Driver 91 to finish off Pepper Parks, and yes, it was VERY nasty looking.

 

The rest of the tourney, he used Angel Wings as his finisher. The diffrence, is the Angel Wings, you pick the person all the way up veritcal, and drop them forward, like a pancake, where are a Tiger Driver, you hook the elbows that same way, but you do not take them all the way vertical, and then drop to your knees, driving the person's head into the ground.

 

If you have never seen a TD 91, Hunter used this 1 time, it was on Cham Pain. Other than that, the move has never been on a national wrestling show in the USA.

[Guest areacode212]

Wasn't Triple H's TD '91 really an attempt at doing the pedigree, which Cham Pain kinda jumped a little too enthusiastically into? That looked really nasty.

 

Anyway, that sounds like a pretty good show; hopefully someone here can hook me up with a tape when it's available

[Guest the_metal_maniac]

If you watch HHH's TD '91, it looks like Cham Pain thought HHH was going to give him a regular Tiger Driver, or a double-underhook powerbomb. As a result, he jump up, and HHH went down. Not a pretty picture.

 

And Bobby Rude jobbed out to the midget. *Sniff*

 

At least this means I have a perfect sign for the next RAW (Rude's main promotion) event:

 

"Rude sees Red!"

 

Mwahahah.

[Guest SatanPro]

Yes, the TripleH TD 91 is due to Cham Pain being too excited, and putting too much into the move. As Cham tells it, Hunter was worried he killed him with the move, Cham Pain said he didn't get hurt at all.

 

As for Rude, he looked OK, but Red is just too good to job out that fast. If you think Red is just a small guy, watch the tapes, you MUST see the Red Low Ki match. Trust me, there is nothing else like it.

[Guest TheDames7]

From my vantage point, after the first round, Morgan did the move quicker, which may have made it look like a flapjack, but I distinctly remember him sitting down and not landing on his knees ala HHH.  

 

Dames

[Guest deaznlutz]

What did Ki say about him and Sabu?

[Guest Hit Squad]

Dames, what kind of questions and answers did low ki get?

Mind recapping it if you remember them?

[Guest Rev]

At this point, a skinny bald guy wearing a Mr. Clean t-shirt made his into the ring and attacked Hunter.  She clotheslined him out before the next participant came in, to a pop.

 

That was "Mr. Delicious" Jacey North from NWA Virginia