Written by: Sean McCaffrey from http://www.declarationofindependents.net/doi/pages/index1.html
ECWA presents the 7th annual Super 8 tournament. Your competitors are- Brian Kendrick (Spanky), Alex Arion, Chance Beckett, Chris Sabin, Frank Kazarian, Chris Cage, Sedrick Strong and Paul London. The show took place at the St Matthews Parish Center in Delaware. The attendance was around 500, and it was packed.
The show started off Charlie Haas, ½ of the WWE Smackdown Tag Champions, introducing the above Super 8 competitors. Haas also touched on the importance of this tournament, and how it was THE only indy tournament that matters. After the introduction, the National Anthem was played and we kicked it off. Note for all my fellow beer-a-maniacs, there was no beer on sale at Super 8.
Quarterfinal match:
In the battle of “The Future” nickname, Frank Kazarian d. Chris Sabin in a fantastic match. You have to buy the video of this show, to really appreciate the wrestling that took place. Every match on the show was a PAW (perfectly acceptable wrestling) match. The match went back and forth, and the finish saw Kazarian lock Sabin in a doomsday device position, into a slam, while holding his hands, for the pin. Never saw that before.
Quarterfinal match:
Brian “Spanky” Kedrick d. Chris Cage
Another solid match. Spanky looked good here, and Chris Cage held his own with the WWE superstar. The best thing about the tournament is seeing guys you have never seen before compete. Chris Cage was one of them, and I was easily impressed, although he didn’t advance. The crowd loved Spanky, as he clearly the favorite, probably based on name recognition. Spanky won with the sliced bread #2.
Simon Diamond then came out, and led a classy tribute to former ECWA star, Jeff “The All American” Peterson. For those not in the know, Jeff Peterson died way too young, due to lymphoma, a type of cancer. Peterson was a great wrestler, and according to my friend, who runs the Wrestling Clothesline Wrestling Clothesline , Brett Schwan, he had one of the best matches of all time between himself and Chris Daniels, in the 1999 Super 8 tournament. ECWA played a tribute video on the ECWAtron showing his highlights. Simon then said to the effect of, ‘I felt great enough to be able to train him, but honored enough to learn and know from him.’ Good way to remember a former wrestler.
Quarterfinal match:
Chance Beckett d. Sedrick Strong
Chance who? That’s what I was saying when I heard about the Super 8 competitors. What an impression he made. Chance Beckett is a future star. Early in the match, Sedrick Strong busted Chance’s chin/jaw area with a boot to the face. Chance lost some skin and a lot of blood but kept on wrestling. More on Chance later. Strong looked good in this match as well. The finish saw Chance hit a jumping reverse Sliced Bread, which is my way of describing it, I don’t know what he calls it. Great match.
Quarterfinal Match:
Paul London d. Alex “The Golden Greek” Arion
Fantastic match. Fuck Brock, London is the next big thing, and can actually hit a shooting star press. The battle of ROH regulars saw London get the win here after a sidebody victory roll. Another move I never seen before, as London is really an innovator of wrestling holds. Arion looked good as usual, but I think everyone knew it was going to be Paul’s night to shine.
6 Man Tag Team Match:
SAT and Striker d. Prince Nana, Mega and the 6’4, 275 pound Ace Darling (check this months DOI For that inside joke, only $1 an issue!) This was a storyline match, more than it was a wrestling match. Good idea, as you don’t want to overshadow the Super 8. Striker and Ace are the tag team champions, but pitted on different sides, because Striker is a face and Darling is a heel. Striker never tagged in the ring in this match. As the match was going, he finally did get tagged in and turned on the SAT. I smelt the swerve a mile away, but it served its purpose well. Striker/Darling and Nana/Mega beat the crap out of the SAT until JR Ryder and JJ Johnson made the save.
Intermission- got a pretzel. Wow.
Super 8 Semifinal match
Paul London d. Frank Kazarian in what was match of the night for me.
Great solid PAW wrestling, as was every match tonight. Kazarian was a last minute replacement for the injured John Jeter. He didn’t wrestle as a replacement, as I thought he had London beat numerous times. The finish finally saw London powerbomb Frank from the top rope, and hit a beautiful Shooting Star Press for the easy 1-2-3. Round of applause for both guys.
Semifinal match:
Chance Beckett d. Brian “Spanky” Kedrick
Crowd was pulling for a Spanky vs London finals. Chance Beckett stood in the way of that, and I’m glad he did, as Chance is a great wrestler. He wrestles in Canada regularly, but I’m hoping for some east coast bookings. Chance with his bloody face and all, won this great match with Gory Guerrero special. Tons of blood oozed out of Chance’s face.
The Annual Over The Top Royal Rumble ECWA Summit was next.
The winner of this match would get an immediate shot at the ECWA World title. Japanese Pool Boy won this battle royal. This is how you book a battle royal. From Trinity’s involvement with Venom, from Mega and Nana dissention from Johnny Maxx competing with a broken nose, this was a great battle royal.
For the ECWA World Heavyweight Championship
Chris Daniels d. Japanese Pool Boy
Wow, I didn’t know JPB could wrestle and hang with a guy like Chris Daniels. I was proven wrong. Maybe because it was the biggest night of the indy year, but JPB turned it up. Even though Daniels won the match, he put JPB over by embracing, and acknowledging JPB’s skills. Perfect match to set up….
SUPER 8 FINAL Match
Paul London d. Chance Beckett
This match was shorter then I liked but told the story and got the job done. Keep in mind that London was selling an injured leg, Chance Beckett’s face was falling off lol, and these guys wrestled 2 enduring matches before hand. Really a great match, and made a star of both men. Beckett kicked out of Londons SSP, and London put Chance in a reverse neckbreaker submission. I thought Chance would lose, by passing out of blood loss, ala Stone Cold vs Bret Hart @ WM13, but that was not the case. After being in the hold for a few seconds, the ref did the hand drop count. Chance’s hand hit the mat 3 times, and Paul London is your 2003 Super 8 Winner. Really a great finish, and the crowd gave both men a standing ovation. After the match, all the Super 8 competitors embraced and Paul London, still selling his leg, could barely lift his newly awarded trophy.
Final McWord
I have been to a lot of indy shows, and while you can say this show tends to draw and appeases the “smart mark” fans, this was a wrestling fan night. This was the best indy show I have ever been to. Yes I did mark out, but I’m always a mark for solid wrestling. ECWA put on a solid show and everything is top notch, from giving the fans a FREE autograph session with all the Super 8 competitors and other wrestlers, from presenting angles with the ECWAtron. I’m also a huge London fan, so that was great to see him win. I would def recommend picking up a tape of this show. ROH can have its code of honor, but I think the real code of honor goes to ECWA Super 8. ECWA runs again on May 3rd, in Delaware, and it’s well worth the drive.
