Highlights:
- Bandido, Jr. defeated his CZW tag team partner Azrieal in the first tournament match of the evening.
- Gregory Iron scored a mild upset by upending Kyle Matthews.
- Kekoa fought valiantly, but an arrogant Bobby Fish hurt his leg enough to make him tap out to a knee bar.
- "Greek God" Papadon needed a Canadian Destroyer and shining wizard to upend Tony Nese.
- A three-way tag match featuring Fusion DS, the Flatliners and the Midnight Sensations featured a hextuple superplex.
- The Sensations retained their tag titles after the Nigerian Nightmares came out and laid out the Flatliners after a ref bump.
- Bandido, Jr. ended Iron's run in the tournament to advance to the finals.
- It took two shining wizards for Papadon to defeat Fish to become the second finalist.
- The Flatliners got their revenge on the Nigerian Nightmares by eliminating them (illegally) from the Super 8 Invitational Battle Royale.
- Mr. Ooh La La won said battle royale by eliminating promotion owner Mike Tartaglia. This happened after Tartaglia offered Mustafa Aziz a cash payoff to eliminate himself.
- Papadon defeated Bandido, Jr. in a relatively uncompetitive match to win the ECWA Super 8 Tournament. Bandido was apparently injured in the match.
General Observations:
- The first and really only "YES! YES! YES!" chant broke out during the introductory video where tournament alumnus Daniel Bryan was shown on the screen. It was kind of surprising that was the only time it happened.
- Interesting that they opened with Azrieal and Bandido, Jr. That being said, for a match between tag team partners, it was pretty off-sync.
- Having seen him only work babyface spots, I was pretty impressed with Matthews working heel on Iron. IT was subtle, but it was still clearly playing to make Iron get the crowd's sympathy.
- Iron also looked the best that I can recall ever seeing him. They really let him go, and he left it all in the ring for this match.
- For those who only know Fish as a "wrestler" from EVOLVE, they need to seek out his first round match with Kekoa. Seriously, he was the best heel of the night BY FAR, at one point putting the Flyin' Hawaiian in a headlock and shouting "WRESTLING!" in mockery of the smark-fan chant.
- Fish also jacked with the crowd early, often and effectively to the point where later on, where he was trying to play the babyface against Papadon, the crowd was still cheering for him to get his ass beaten.
- Fish busted out some freaky strong spots targeting Kekoa's leg, lifting him up by his "injured" left leg and nailing some shinbusters in an almost deadlift fashion.
- Of all the people I saw for the first time tonight with one huge exception (more later), Kekoa was the most impressive. He plays a very good underdog babyface.
- Papadon kept getting pizza-related chants all night. He was definitely the John Cena of the ECWA crowd. The kids loved him, but most of the adults hated him.
- At one point, someone started a "I prefer Domino's" chant, to which Papadon replied "SILENCE!" It was the most impressive thing he did all night.
- Tony Nese totally went balls out to make sure the match worked on his end. He totally Dolph Ziggler-bumped on a sick kick by Papadon that I thought was really impressive.
- All three teams in the tag title match had matching gear and cool names. I got a total flashback to the '80s. That's not a complaint.
- Let's talk about the Flatliners. How are these guys not signed by WWE or at the very least TNA? Their ring gear was straight out of the mid-'90s WWF, wearing singlets that were one half green, one half pink and that had a graphic of a gorilla in the front.
- They also had a really cool spot in the beginning of the match where Asylum had one of the other guys in a stalling suplex with Matt Burns on the outside counting seconds. Burns then tagged in, switched off and held the suplex for a few more seconds before dropping.
- Yes, there was a hextuple suplex. It's the kind of spot that you'd see in Chikara, so it's a love-hate thing. I loved it.
- The Nigerian Nightmares are probably the most racist gimmick I have ever seen in wrestling. Think Kamala, only fatter and more stereotypically savage-acting.
- Not gonna lie, the show fell apart after intermission. It totally peaked with the tag title match, mainly because the tag title match was BATSHIT INSANE.
- Bandido came to the ring for the semifinal holding his ribs, although it didn't figure into the finish of the match at all.
- Bandido/Iron actually pretty ordinary except for the Fisherman Driver Iron took for the finish.
- Fish/Papadon was weird because both guys at first heeled it up. It was a weird dynamic, and I think it killed the crowd a little bit. It definitely got weird when Fish started to make babyface comebacks.
- I will say that the second shining wizard that took Fish down was a pretty slick looking. Fish was about to make a comeback, doing one of those pump-up adrenaline spots, and BOOM, Papadon just took him out with a knee to the back of the head.
- When Mr. Ooh La La drew #3 in the battle royale and feigned a heart attack when he came face to face with both Nigerian Nightmares. IT was pretty funny. He lay "dead" in the ring until the mime guy (I didn't catch his name) got him with his mime defibrillator.
- I couldn't catch half the guys' names who came into that battle royale.
- The end angle was pretty humorous, but it totally wasn't the right payoff for a battle royale that lasted that long.
- The final of the tournament was pretty blase. It felt like Bandido never really had a chance in it, although it might have been because he got hurt earlier in the match. Even his comeback felt very generic.
Match of the Night: It was hard for me to pick. While the three-way tag was a legitimately fun foray back into the '80s with some relics from today contained within with the insanity turned up to 142, I still thought that Kekoa vs. Bobby Fish was the best match of the evening. Everyone knows Fish can bring it in the ring. People have seen the Danielson and Callihan matches, but they were products of the EVOLVE environment. Some might call them sterile. I wouldn't, but they were definitely more athletic contests between serious wrestlers. From even his ring entrance, coming in to the "Imperial March" from Empire Strikes Back and taunting fans in the front rows, Fish was dedicated to being the bad guy for the evening.
And what a bad guy he was. He heeled it up in ways that I didn't even know he had in him. He yelled at fans, taunted them and then using his superior ring talents to further his agenda, worked over Kekoa's knee relentlessly. The local hero had his hurdle that he had to surmount, and for a time, it looked like he was going to climb that mountain and take out Fish. Wincing in pain even during his comebacks, Kekoa showed me that he was ready for prime time. Alas, the Flyin' Hawaiian succumbed to Fish's deadly kneebar as many do, but he left an impression on me that he definitely belongs in the discussion when it comes to great wrestlers.
But yeah, Fish was the story here. The technical side and the moves and the intensity are all only portions of a match. When you can engage the crowd, you get what pro wrestling is all about. Fish proved tonight that he's a complete pro wrestler, and that all he needs is a change in environment to emote some of that essential personality needed to become an all-timer.
Overall Thoughts: This was a tale of two halves for me. The first five matches, Super 8 quarterfinals and the Tag Title three way, were all good to great. That show would've been one of the best of the year. After break though, things just fell flat. I'm not sure whether the tournament guys were just mentally and physically spent or whether there was a fundamental flaw in laying out the show, something felt off. I think if the endgame was going to be Bandido vs. Papadon in the final, then they should've switched up the semifinal matches. Iron/Papadon and Fish/Bandido would've been better options, especially with the roles they all played in their first round matches.
Papadon winning the tourney didn't surprise me at all, and it was probably the right call. That being said, I'm not sure how to read him. He's got some really cool spots, and he seems to know what it takes to be a good pro wrestler. He's also got that John Cena quality where he gets a reaction from the crowd no matter positive or negative. You love him or hate him, but you're never sitting on your hands with a quiet voice when he's in the ring. That's the kind of charisma most people wish they had. I'm just afraid that he seems a bit limited in the ring in terms of the matches he can wrestle. That being said, him stalling in the main event was a pretty good touch, and it would've been a lot better had Bandido gotten more offense than he had. C'est la vie.
But yeah, in a final thought, I need more of the Flatliners in my life. They're so awesome.
Full Results:
- ECWA Super 8 Quarterfinal: Bandido, Jr. d. Azrieal
- ECWA Super 8 Quarterfinal: Gregory Iron d. Kyle Matthews
- ECWA Super 8 Quarterfinal: Bobby Fish d. Kekoa the Flyin' Hawaiian
- ECWA Super 8 Quarterfinal: "Greek God" Papadon d. Tony Nese
- The Midnight Sensations (c) d. the Flatliners and Fusion DS to retain the ECWA Unified Tag Team Championships
- ECWA Super 8 Semifinal: Bandido, Jr. d. Gregory Iron
- ECWA Super 8 Semifinal: "Greek God" Papadon d. Bobby Fish
- Mr. Ooh La La eliminated Mike Tartaglia last to win the Super 8 Open Invitational Battle Royale
- ECWA Super 8 Final: "Greek God" Papadon d. Bandido, Jr.
