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By Brett Schwan
ECWA presented the 9th Annual Super 8 Tournament on Saturday, April 9, 2005 at the Greater Newark Boys' & Girls' Club in Newark, DE. In front of a crowd of 450-500 (my guesstimate).
Our trip was made interesting by some great conversation between myself, WrestlingClothesline.com correspondent Joseph Velez, and Frank. The conversation was so intriguing that we missed our exit of Rt 1. We then followed the directions of the ECWA website which stated "once on Rt 40 west go thru 6 red lights (approx 2 miles)". Joe brought up a great question. What about green lights? After going through 4 red lights and 2 greens, we found the Boys and Girls Club. We called Nick. For whatever reason, he was at the Parish Center, waiting for us to meet him there. He finally joined us at the Boys and Girls Club. He was soon followed by Brambilla.
Nick led the way to dinner. On the way we passed a Season's Pizza, Ruby
Tuesday's, Bob Evans, and numerous other eating establishments. We finally
arrived a Chili's (that poor waiter).
The show opened up with an introduction on the ECWATron by Christopher Daniels. All 8 participants were then introduced in the ring by Commissioner Neagle and Ace Darling.
Onto the matches:
First Round:
Puma defeated Eric Matlock with a belly to back suplex into a bridge. Excellent match by both men.
JJ Perez defeated Tyson Dux. Four out of five of us had Dux to take the whole tournament. There goes that theory.
Alex Shelley beat Andrew Ryker in what was surprisingly the second best match of the night. The crowd was hard on Ryker but withing minutes the entire crowd was marking out for every near fall and move. On more than one occassion the crowd was convinced (and terrified) that Ryker was going to win, only to have Shelley kick out at two. Great match.
Petey Williams Canadian Destroyed Rory Fox (who does not like to be called a paper boy as that was 5 years ago)
Cheetah Master came to the ring and got on the mic. Barry Casino was introduced and came to ringside. Gary Michael Cappetta, Pete Theophall, Scott D'Amore, Xavier, Mike Kruel, Lo Ki, and Ace Darling then came to the ring.
It was then announced that Chuck Ristano was being inducted into the ECWA Hall of Fame. Chuck started ring announcing at age 15 (which seems like it was a year ago, but it was more like 7 years ago.). Chuck has worked hard in the ECWA (and out of it as he is about to graduate from college). Chuck then gave a speech thanking all those who have worked with and harassed him over the years. On a serious note, we bust on Chucky a lot and have since his first night there ("Will the owner of the red Schwinn please report to the front desk". "Is that suit Garanimals?", etc.) but he's a good kid who has done a lot for the ECWA and truly deserves this honor. (Even if he's been trying to grow that goatee for 3 years now.) Like I'm going to end this all serious and whatnot? HA!
Intermission gave me the opportunity to catch up with and speak with the Bodyguard For Hire.
Second Round:
Puma defeated JJ Perez
Petey Williams beat Alex Shelley in a wrestling clinic. Forget describing this one, it was simply amazing and I still can't figure out why it wasn't booked as the finals. Then again, I'm not a promoter and Kettner's been doing it for 35+ years... and damn well!
During the match glass from one of the lights broke. To watch the member of the "crew" try to clean it up with a paper plate and some gloves was truly hilarious. I never thought I'd miss JJ the Ring Crew Guy.
The Logan Brothers won the ECWA Tag Team Summit. Teams in the match included Scoty Charisma/ Chase Del Monte, Kruel/Xavier, Pool Boy/Mega, Johnny Maxx/Mike Fury, Tommy Penmanship/Craig Stratton, Prince Nana/Arch Kincaid, Fred Sampson/Striker, Mr. Ooh La La/Kodiak Bear, The OC Boyz, The Chick Magnets, and the Logans.
Ooh La La's gimmick never gets old. From him falling on the steps to him sliding in one side of the ring and falling out the other. He is hilarious. I'm glad to see Mozart Fontaine in a role that suits him to a tee. Damn it's like Jimmy Garvin all over again. Full order of entrance and elimination is on the way courtesy Joe.
The Valedictorians beat the Logan Brothers to retain the ECWA Tag Team Titles
Im the main event, Petey Williams defeated Puma with the Canadian Destroyer to win the 9th Annual Super 8 Tournament!
More comments about the show will be up later by all the rest of the
"Crew" in attendance!!
-------
ECWA Super 8 results (4-10-05)
We arrived in Newark, Delaware at the Boys and Girls Club after waiting for Nick and Brams. We decided to head over to Chili’s for some beer and grub. The food was pretty good to, especially there ranch bacon cheeseburger; it was out of this world. Anyway, we had a great time, between the food and Brett’s comical stories (especially the one about The Ice Princess).
In the beginning of the show there was a countdown to the 9th annual super 8, along with the opening ceremony and national anthem.
Luminaries in attendance, Brett Schwan, Jim Brambilla, Frank, Nick from Delaware, Paul “Give it to him” and about 350+ fans.
Puma d. Eric Matlock to advance to the second round of the super 8.
J.J. Perez d. Tyson Dux to advance to the second round of the super 8 (There goes my pick)
Next we got to witness a special video presentation of the previous Super 8 winners.
Alex Shelley d. Andrew Ryker via his Boarder City Stretch submission hold. (This was a solid match that went back and forth.)
Petey William d. “Rapid Fire” Rory Fox by his Canadian Destroyer to advance to the next round. (Brett is still waiting for his Sunday paper)
Next was the hall of fame introduction… (See Brett’s recap on who was there)
INTERMISSION
Puma beat J.J. Perez to advance to the final round.
Petey Williams’s d. Alex Shelley to advance to the final round
Next up was the ECWA TAG TEAM SUMMIT…”What’s that, you ask?” Well 12 tag teams competed and every 50 seconds a new team entered the ring. The winner received a title match with ECWA Tag Team Champions of Rob Eckos and Billy Bax. Here was the order of entry--
1. The Chick Magnets (Mike Tobin, Mozart Fontaine and Brian Soscia)
2. Mega & The Japanese Pool Boy (Dressed as robin playing the batman theme song)
3. Mr Ooh La La and The Kodiak Bear
4. Johnny Maxx and Mike Fury
5. The Canadian Super Stars (J Busta and Dave Cole)
6. The O.C. Boyz (Aden Chambers & Shawn Patrick)
7. Prince Nana and Arch Kincaid
8. The Logan Brothers (Bryan and Bill)
9. Mike Kruel and Xavier
10. Fred Sampson and Matt Striker
11. Tommy Penmanship and Craig Stratton
12. Scotty Charisma & Chase Del Monte
Order of Elimination –
Mr Ooh La La and The Kodiak Bear
Johnny Maxx and Fury
Pool Boy and Mega & O.C Boyz
The Canadian Superstars
Penmanship and Stratton
Nana and Kincaid
Kruel and Xavier
Charisma & Del Monte
Sampson & Striker
The Chick Magnets
Winner: The Logan Brothers (The boys up in Lowell, MA must be proud)
Valedictorians with Carlton Hightower d. The Logan Brothers to remain Tag Team Champions (Maybe next time Bryan and Bill)
Petey Williams d. Puma to win the 9th annual super 8
Joseph Velez Jr.
-------
As Usual, the Cream Rises to the Top
The East Coast Wrestling Association ran its ninth annual Super 8 tournament
this past Saturday at the Greater Newark Boys and Girls Club in Newark,
Delaware, and
as usual, Jim Kettner and the ECWA showed everyone else just how it’s
done.
Everything that Saturday pointed towards a great show and a great time,
as
the weather was picture perfect, the ride down to the “new”
venue (new in
terms of most of the Crew never going there before) was fast and uneventful,
and Steely Dan was playing the whole ride down.
(webmaster's note: only Brams has not been there before so where he gets "most" from is beyond me)
Things got quickly settled as everyone met at the new venue- eventually,
in
Nick’s case, as Nick continues his strange tradition of being one
of the
last people to show up despite having the shortest commute to any ECWA
show.
(webmaster's note: Nick was actually there before Brams was so what
is he talking about?)
Seeing Joe Velez was a pleasant surprise, and it was even nice to see
what’s left of Nick, as he’s done a great job (as has Brett)
of dropping a
lot of weight and keeping it off.
Nick quickly erased most of his goodwill by leading the Crew on a merry
ride
through the outskirts of most of Delaware on the way to Chili’s,
bypassing
at least five other decent alternatives, one weird one (Bob Evans, guys?
Was someone in the mood for a sausage sandwich and orange juice?) and
having
most of the Crew in one car questioning Nick’s sanity, especially
when he
decided to blow through the red light arrow on the turn into Chili’s.
And
it was a bit weird to realize that this was the same Chili’s the
Crew ate at
five years ago before the big ECWA Carpenter Center show.
Dante the waiter came over to introduce himself and immediately question
what the hell he had gotten himself into as the Crew ended up ordering
half
the menu and nearly fell out of the booth in hysterics listening to stories
of Sin City, autographs, conventions, and Brett’s classic
should-be-written-about-in-detail-on-the-boards story about the Ice
Princess. Poor Nick had to wait as his Salad Explosion entrée lived
up to
its name all over poor Dante, but the food was all worth the drive,
especially the Southwestern Eggrolls.
(webmaster's note: the "Crew" that ordered half the menu
was actually Brambilla as, inreality
I had chicken fingers, as did Frank, and Nick had a salad. Also, it's
Ice Princess not THE Ice Princess)
Now sated, the Crew drove back to the Club to find somewhat of a short
line
waiting to get in, even if it was filled with many of the Usual Suspects
and
the Magee Brothers’ great greeting of “There goes the neighborhood”
as the
Crew walked up. Looks were deceiving though, as the place did gradually
fill up to around 450-500 people, even if it wasn’t Crew verified
by the
usual head counting before the show and after the second match. We must
be
slipping in our old age…the official ECWA count was 461, by the way.
The Crew got their assigned seats and time cruised by quickly as everyone
waited for the start of the show. After almost 10 years of attending shows
at the St. Matthew’s Parish Center, the Greater Newark Boys and Girls
Club
took some getting used to, and the acoustics weren’t all that friendly,
but
it offered plenty of room and not a bad seat in the place. The Crew were
very happy to see their ad displayed on the ECWATron several times during
the show, and got a mean-spirited chuckle from PWI’s ad that followed
which
advertised their “wrstling” magazine.
The show started right around 7:00, continuing that great ECWA standard
of
always starting on time, and the Corpse of Commissioner Richard Naegle
arose
from beyond the grave and entered the ring with Ace Darling to introduce
the
eight participants in the tournament. All eight came out, and this time,
unlike previous Super 8 cards, there were some established heels and faces,
as they came out of the separate locker rooms and some took time to jaw-jack
with the crowd.
After the National Anthem, the tourney started as PUMA faced off against
Eric Matlock. The Crew had seen PUMA before at Ring of Honor’s Final
Battle
2003 on their afternoon show, but none of Matlock, who came off here as
flat
as a pancake. Very nondescript match that really only established PUMA
as a
solid worker and introduced his injury to his kidney area that was played
out further into the tournament.
JJ Perez then took on Tyson Dux, who came out establishing himself as
a face
but nearly turned the building on him with his goofy dance moves. Dux
had
to bow out of last year’s Super 8 because of a knee injury, so it
was nice
to see him invited back. Because of that, many people, present company
included, had Dux picked as the winner of this year’s. Perez at 5’6”
came
in as the smallest participant in the tournament, something he was reminded
of at every occasion by half the crowd, including one inventive kid who
brought a small dry erase board to remind Perez that he was a “Midget”
and a
“Dwarf.”
(By the way, it was great to see that while Rolo the APW Carny found
time in
his “busy” schedule in 1999 to accompany Mike Modest and Tony
Jones to
Pennsylvania to work PCW for one weekend, but couldn't be bothered to
fly
out to see his head trainer JJ Perez compete in the biggest matches of
his
life on the biggest card of the year in the best, longest lasting, most
established indy fed in the country. Have fun at the trial, Rolo.)
Perez won the match, which had many people ripping up their tourney sheets
and wondering if Dux left the car running in the parking lot. Give credit
to the ECWA for not giving us the obvious, even if it was a bit
disappointing.
Alex Shelley and Andrew Ryker was next, which had a lot of buzz as the
intros were being made, since no one knew the brackets, and with Ryker
an
ECWA mainstay had many concerned that Shelley wouldn’t go very far
in the
tournament. Shelley was last seen by the Crew at the 2003 JCW J-Cup getting
his ass handed to him by Homicide after baffling the place with a win
over
the (at the time) far more entertaining Ruckus.
It’s not even two years later and boy, has Alex Shelley stepped
up his game.
Shelley added some character to his previously bland look and added a
TON
of charisma as he knew exactly how to play to, and most importantly when
to
play to, the crowd. Ryker is the tallest looking six footer in the country
given mostly to his thin frame and poor choice of ringwear, and while
most
of the kudos on this great match fall on Shelley’s shoulders, Andrew
Ryker
really did impress as he was able to keep up with Shelley throughout the
match. The crowd was completely into this match, and the number of false
finishes were exhausting. Shelley won after nearly 15 minutes of on the
edge of your seat action and near falls. Based on his work, if Shelley
lost
that one it’s conceivable that the crowd would have rioted.
Petey Williams squared off in the next match with Rory “That Was
Five Years
Ago” Fox, who looked to have aged about 10 years since he was featured
on
the MTV Real Life special. Fox had a lot of fun here, declaring that “Les
(Thatcher) is dead to me” as he helped get Williams over and progressed
Williams’ ongoing storyline of getting the crap beaten out of him.
The
highlight of this match was Williams appearing to banjax his knee and
crawl
to the outside, so Fox and the ref start the 10 count. As the count passes
five, Fox turns away- but Williams bounces back in, unhurt, and has the
crowd keep up the count. Everyone reaches 10, Fox thinks he won, the Crew
chips in by “congratulating” him- and Williams just turns him
around and
levels him, pinning him soon after with the Canadian Destroyer, a move
that
has to be seen to be believed. Fun stuff!
With the first round out of the way, the Cheetah Master entered the ring
for
the Hall of Fame ceremony, inducting a clearly surprised Chuck Ristano,
the
ring announcer for the past eight years, and recipient of many of the
Crew’s
good natured taunts and one-liners. The entire locker room came out in
appreciation, and a visibly moved Ristano thanked everyone in his impromptu
speech- but not before acknowledging the Crew, a move he later admitted
he
regretted as soon as he said it. No kidding!
This brought on Intermission and the usual enjoyable talk with the Bodyguard
for Hire, who even after so many years in the business was surprised to
hear
about some of the antics going on recently.
JJ Perez wrestled PUMA to start the second round. Nothing spectacular,
nothing offensive, nothing special. PUMA continued to sell the injured
kidney area and won the match.
What followed Perez vs. PUMA was one of the best matches in the history
of
the Super 8 and the ECWA. Petey Williams beat Alex Shelley that showcased
Shelley as the flat out MVP of the tournament and gave Williams the rub
he
needed for the final round. Petey tried on several occasions to hit his
finisher, while Shelley did such a great job of getting a near fall on
Williams in the ropes that it had most of us convinced it was supposed
to be
the finish and Williams couldn’t get his feet out. Williams continued
to
play off his underdog role, and Shelley’s facial expressions, especially
after the loss, were fantastic. When people look back at the Super 8,
this
is one match they will always be talking about.
The match even managed to distract from the spectacle of one of the ring
crew and his dalliance with a broken ring light. Apparently the news of
the
invention of brooms and vacuums hasn’t yet made it down to Newark,
Delaware,
as the guy analyzed the situation (broken glass on the floor…look
up, see
that the light is out, look back to the floor…) and decided that
the best
route to a successful cleanup would be a paper plate and gloves taken
out of
a garbage can. Piece after piece was placed on the precarious paper plate
as the Crew began making bets on if and when the plate would spill the
glass
back onto the floor. Somehow the area got cleaned and cleared, and the
Crew
saw the staffer get to the back with the remains- only to hear the sad,
expected sound of glass hitting the floor.
After the Williams-Shelley classic, it was time for the ECWA Summit-
a Royal
Rumble rules battle royal. They showed a segment on the ECWATron with
the
long running tag champs the Valedictorians with manager Carlton P. Hightower
and a sadly crying baby that unfortunately distracted from the whole thing.
There are many reasons WC Fields never wanted to work with children, and
that’s one of them. Hightower did promise that if his Chick Magnets
won he
would exercise some clause so the Valedictorians wouldn’t have to
wrestle.
Meanwhile, the poor kid is just bawling and bawling.
The Chick Magnets were first out (Mike Tobin, Brian Soscia, and Mozart
Fontaine) to start things as they yelled at the crowd. Nice gimmick,
especially for Mozart who just needs the feather boas and sequined pants
to
be the reincarnation of Gorgeous Jimmy Garvin. This is not a bad thing.
The matching tuxedo shorts are a great touch for the trio, who also follow
the Freebird mold of interchanging who’s going to represent the team.
If/when they get the tag titles, and it looks like a slow burn of a build
for them to do it, that will go way over with an old school crowd like
ECWA
draws.
Next out were Mega (w/out bucket of KFC) and the Japanese Pool Boy, who
came
out this time to the Batman TV theme and dressed as Robin, the Boy Wonder.
While the tag team battle royal concept isn’t a real favorite, as
it is
really frustrating to see one guy eliminated and then just watch the other
guy on the team have to just stop what he’s doing and walk out of
the ring,
the participants all got things over here.
Participants included the ECWA champion Scotty Charisma, the OC Boyz
(who
NEVER said hello to Brett! For shame! ), Mike Kruel, Xavier, Striker,
and
Mr. Ooh La La, who after 10 years of the Crew watching him work has NEVER
disappointed and NEVER failed to entertain. Unfortunately, it once again
wasn’t his night, as he got eliminated after falling on the floor
to get to
the ring, stumbling down each and every one of the three ring steps, getting
squashed in the corner by Mega, and then eliminated by his own partner
the
Kodiak Bear.
The Logan Brothers, a new team to the ECWA out of Massachusetts and seconded
by Ace Darling, won the Summit and the right to immediately face the
Valedictorians for a title shot. Hightower came out minus half of the
back
of his robe that Rob Eckos and Billy Bax used to diaper the poor screaming
little toddler, followed by Eckos and Bax, who looked to have bulked up
at
least 10-15 pounds.
Now, it’s one thing to just have an individual or a tag team hold
a title
for an extended period of time. The worst case nightmare is to have the
suck heat of the Honky Tonk Man, who frustrated the shit out of everyone
and
never added much to his role as he just took the coward’s way out
for well
over a year. The ideal situation is to have the holder(s) evolve into
the
role, like JBL as the WWE Champion and here, as the Valedictorians have
really grown into a solid tag team that cashes in on every aspect of the
gimmick and the talents of the performers. The Valedictorians have held
the
ECWA tag team titles for over a year and a half, and at this point you
don’t
want to see them lose, just because you want to see what they’ll
do next.
Bax and Eckos have made the most out of what could have been a one-note
gimmick and gel very well as a team. Carlton has also taken his role and
run with it, as he has developed into the role of Frustrated Leader. If
this does develop into an eventual face turn, it’ll have been done
beautifully.
The Valedictorians did end up retaining their belts against the Logans
after
interference from Darling, who got knocked hard out of the ring by Eckos-
showing a bit of edge that was discussed in the Year End Awards as a
component that might be missing from the team. Last year, Eckos would
have
been begging off.
Petey Williams pinned PUMA after hitting his Canadian Destroyer finisher
to
become the eighth winner of the Super 8 in a match that unfortunately
didn’t
live up to the promise of the previous matches in the tournament. Most
likely it was because Williams and PUMA gave everything they had to their
first two matches. After the match, everyone came out to congratulate
Williams who in a nice touch put over everyone who got him there, including
Shelley, his trainer Scott D’Amore, and Jim Kettner, who darted to
the back
once the chants of “Thank You Jim” started.
After over a year of not seeing any ECWA show, it was very nice to come
down
to the Super 8 and still feel that “ECWA vibe” as one of the
wrestlers
mentioned to us after the show. The usual people delivered the usual great
product, and did so without any of the sleaze that seems to be prevalent
in
every corner of the business these days.
The ECWA returns on May 14th with its Night of Unusual Matches, and looks
to
continue its usual tradition of its usual great matches and usual great
promotion.
Congratulations to Petey Williams and everyone involved in this year’s
Super
8!
