APW King of the Indies 2001: Night 1
Bison Smith is from "Pro Wrestling NOAH" rather than anywhere in Japan. Doug Williams is just from "England." Adam Pearce is from Milwaukee? What happened to Chicago?
SHOW OPENING CEREMONY - Cool.
KING OF THE INDIES OPENING ROUND MATCH:
A solid opener between two great workers, but the highlight of this match was the reaction to the finish from fans who apparently had never seen Chaos Theory before. Their minds were blown.
KING OF THE INDIES OPENING ROUND MATCH:
A solid power-wrestling match.
KING OF THE INDIES OPENING ROUND MATCH:
Joe was unrecognizably thin. The match felt disjointed, but you could definitely see that the potential was in these two.
KING OF THE INDIES OPENING ROUND MATCH:
KING OF THE INDIES OPENING ROUND MATCH:
This was one of those matches that when you're watching it even many years later you can still understand the sense of wonder that people felt while watching it. This felt a level above everything else (and obviously being the longest match so far by several minutes helps with that), and it also very much felt like the future. It felt fresh and new. These two were amazing together. Every single thing they did was so fluid, and yet at no point did it ever cease to feel real and raw, either. If anyone has more of these two facing off in this era, please let me know!
KING OF THE INDIES OPENING ROUND MATCH:
This was a great "big moves" slugfest that never forgot to make sure that every move meant something.
KING OF THE INDIES OPENING ROUND MATCH:
KING OF THE INDIES OPENING ROUND MATCH:
Final Thoughts
A very fun show from APW, and very easy to sit through as well. Everything was very good for the time it got which made this feel like exactly like it was advertised as: a tournament of the best independent wrestlers in the United States.
SHOW OPENING CEREMONY - Cool.
KING OF THE INDIES OPENING ROUND MATCH:
Doug Williams vs. Adam Pearce - 6.75/10
A solid opener between two great workers, but the highlight of this match was the reaction to the finish from fans who apparently had never seen Chaos Theory before. Their minds were blown.
KING OF THE INDIES OPENING ROUND MATCH:
Bison Smith vs. Tony Jones - 6.5/10
A solid power-wrestling match.
KING OF THE INDIES OPENING ROUND MATCH:
Samoa Joe vs. Frankie Kazarian - 5.25/10
Joe was unrecognizably thin. The match felt disjointed, but you could definitely see that the potential was in these two.
KING OF THE INDIES OPENING ROUND MATCH:
Donovan Morgan vs. Scoot Andrews - 6.75/10
KING OF THE INDIES OPENING ROUND MATCH:
American Dragon vs. Spanky - 8.75/10
This was one of those matches that when you're watching it even many years later you can still understand the sense of wonder that people felt while watching it. This felt a level above everything else (and obviously being the longest match so far by several minutes helps with that), and it also very much felt like the future. It felt fresh and new. These two were amazing together. Every single thing they did was so fluid, and yet at no point did it ever cease to feel real and raw, either. If anyone has more of these two facing off in this era, please let me know!
KING OF THE INDIES OPENING ROUND MATCH:
Christopher Daniels vs. Super Dragon - 7/10
This was a great "big moves" slugfest that never forgot to make sure that every move meant something.
KING OF THE INDIES OPENING ROUND MATCH:
AJ Styles vs. Jardi Franz - 7.5/10
KING OF THE INDIES OPENING ROUND MATCH:
Low Ki vs. Vincenzo Massaro - 7.5/10
Final Thoughts
A very fun show from APW, and very easy to sit through as well. Everything was very good for the time it got which made this feel like exactly like it was advertised as: a tournament of the best independent wrestlers in the United States.