BRM Reviews ECWA 5th Annual Super 8 Tournament (the one from 2001)

[Big Red Machine]

ECWA 5th Annual Super 8 Tournament (2/24/2001)- Wilmington, DE


SUPER 8 TOURNAMENT QUARTERFINAL MATCH: Low Ki vs. Billy Fives- 6.75/10
Fives attacked Low Ki during the handshake to let us all know that he’s the heel. They proceeded to have a very good match.

SUPER 8 TOURNAMENT QUARTERFINAL MATCH: Jayson Reign vs. Tony Kozina- 6/10
This was a lot of big moves without too much purpose behind them. Kozina hit a bunch of moves for a while, then Reign cut him off and did the same, then Kozina cut him off and they started to trade big moves. I know this sounds like a regular shine-heat-comeback-finish formula, but it never felt like there was any real story here; just moves.

SUPER 8 TOURNAMENT QUARTERFINAL MATCH: American Dragon vs. Spanky- 7.75/10
It’s Danielson vs. Spanky in 2001 so you expect it to be great, but what really stood out to me was how they were able to work through Spanky’s early botch of what appeared to be a big highspot so seamlessly. Yes, they’ve worked each other a million times, but having that sort of composure so early into your career is quite impressive (especially when something goes wrong very early into the highest-profile match you’ve ever had).

SUPER 8 TOURNAMENT QUARTERFINAL MATCH: Reckless Youth vs. Mike Sullivan- 6/10
Reckless worked over the midsection and got the win. During this match not only did the floor-cam die, but we also lost sound.

SUPER 8 TOURNAMENT SEMIFINAL MATCH: Low Ki vs. Jayson Reign- 6.25/10

SUPER 8 TOURNAMENT SEMIFINAL MATCH: American Dragon vs. Reckless Youth- 6.5/10
This was good for the constraints they were under (the match went less than ten minutes, both men had already wrestled once, and Dragon had to wrestle a big match again later), but it is nowhere near as good as it has been talked up as, and the idea that anyone thought this was better than either Dragon’s previous match or his following one is baffling to me.

SUPER 8 TOURNAMENT FINALS: American Dragon vs. Low Ki- 8.5/10
A match that would define the next few years of independent wrestling.

This was an entertaining little show from ECWA (I understand there were some more matches but this is all the RF Video release had on it, and none of those other matches seemed like anything I’d really want to see anyway). It is definitely a major show in the history of independent wrestling, but when watching it you have to remember that the reason for that was the way it helped change indy wrestling from what it was (mostly bad old wrestlers, young spot-monkeys, and slice-and-dice guys) to what it would eventually become. This is an early moment in that transition, so comparing it against even the stuff we would see later in the year at King of the Indies is a bit unfair. It’s an important show and the matches are entertaining, but to expect greatness out of every match or even to take your expectations from contemporary reviews will result in a lot of disappointment for anything other than Dragon vs. Spanky and Dragon vs. Ki.

[NWK2000]

It upsets me that Spanky spent the pivotal American indy years getting beat by better in-ring guys like Ki or Dragon . Dude was a fantastic heel even in early Ring of Honor but we only got glimpses of that because he wasn't as good technically as those guys, when in reality he should be spoken about the same way we speak about Ki or Dragon.

[Big Red Machine]

It upsets me that Spanky spent the pivotal American indy years getting beat by better in-ring guys like Ki or Dragon . Dude was a fantastic heel even in early Ring of Honor but we only got glimpses of that because he wasn't as good technically as those guys, when in reality he should be spoken about the same way we speak about Ki or Dragon.

I think promoters often made the mistake of making him the babyface to sell Dragon and Ki's vicious kicks and submissions. He and Dragon being linked at the hip certainly didn't help in that respect. He was a great heel personality-wise, but he was never given the chance to show it because everyone's (especially bookers' and promoters') first exposure to him was as a babyface and there was nothing about his move-set that would really ever prompt anyone to try turning him heel so they never got the chance to see it.

[NWK2000]

He and Dragon being linked at the hip certainly didn't help in that respect.

I was trying to avoid saying that because it wasn't fair to Spanky's very different wrestling style to link Spanky to Dragon, but yeah, you're right

He was a great heel personality-wise, but he was never given the chance to show it because everyone's (especially bookers' and promoters') first exposure to him was as a babyface and there was nothing about his move-set that would really ever prompt anyone to try turning him heel so they never got the chance to see it.

I think that's because in Kendrick's prime, being an indy guy meant the workrate would get you more exposure than characters, especially outright heel characters. So that's why even in situations in which he was trying almost too hard to be a heel. (his goblin-esque promo at the end of the TWA Gauntlet at Night of Appreciation springs to mind), the trigger was never pulled. And while Dragon consolidated both those things as a heel in 2005-2006 ROH, Kendrick was in the tag team division in WWE, so it really is wrong place wrong time for a lot of his career. He didn't get to be a heel until he became The Brian Kendrick in 2009, and even then, a lot of that act was down to being a little dude with Ezekiel Jackson as his heavy . he didn't really get to get that over by himself until he came back for the CWC, when he really found his groove. I honestly think Kendrick's work against Tozawa in which he would give Tozawa a new "lesson" every week was an amazing run, even outside the vaccum of Kendrick's career in general. It's just a shame that a guy like Kendrick hit his twilight when he finally got to a place that realized that you can be talented in the ring and an exceptional heel.

[Big Red Machine]

He and Dragon being linked at the hip certainly didn't help in that respect.

I was trying to avoid saying that because it wasn't fair to Spanky's very different wrestling style to link Spanky to Dragon, but yeah, you're right

He was a great heel personality-wise, but he was never given the chance to show it because everyone's (especially bookers' and promoters') first exposure to him was as a babyface and there was nothing about his move-set that would really ever prompt anyone to try turning him heel so they never got the chance to see it.

I think that's because in Kendrick's prime, being an indy guy meant the workrate would get you more exposure than characters, especially outright heel characters. So that's why even in situations in which he was trying almost too hard to be a heel. (his goblin-esque promo at the end of the TWA Gauntlet at Night of Appreciation springs to mind), the trigger was never pulled. And while Dragon consolidated both those things as a heel in 2005-2006 ROH, Kendrick was in the tag team division in WWE, so it really is wrong place wrong time for a lot of his career. He didn't get to be a heel until he became The Brian Kendrick in 2009, and even then, a lot of that act was down to being a little dude with Ezekiel Jackson as his heavy . he didn't really get to get that over by himself until he came back for the CWC, when he really found his groove. I honestly think Kendrick's work against Tozawa in which he would give Tozawa a new "lesson" every week was an amazing run, even outside the vaccum of Kendrick's career in general. It's just a shame that a guy like Kendrick hit his twilight when he finally got to a place that realized that you can be talented in the ring and an exceptional heel.

His 2005 ROH heel run was short-lived but good.

I'd not going to disagree that being a worker was more important than character in terms of indy exposure in the early 2003s (though I will argue that during Kendrick's first indy run, MOVEZ were more important than either), but I don't think Dragon and particularly Low Ki were the ones taking Kendrick's spotlight due to "workrate over character" considerations. Ki's character was excellent and even 2002 Dragon was fine for what he was. It's the Matt Strykers of the world, or the pre-2004 BJ Whitmers who were guys who were getting exposure purely on workrate.

Also, in case I wasn't clear above, I don't think it was about workrate so much as the fact that the style that Dragon and Ki (and Joe, and Super Dragon) were wrestling made it feel more natural to promoters to make them heels and Spanky the babyface (especially when all you've seen of Spanky is demo tapes of him vs. Dragon).
Also, indy wrestling back then had a lot fewer good workrate babyface than it did heels, so when a Spanky or AJ Styles or Paul London came along, they got made the babyface for Daniels/Pearce/Punk/whoever.