ECWA 5th Annual Super 8 Tournament

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.

Final Thoughts
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.