APW King of the Indies 2001 Night 1

King of the Indies 2001

Vallejo, CA

October 26 &27, 2001

2001 is probably one of the most important years in wrestling history.  ECW died and WCW was bought by WWE.  Wrestlemania 17 seemed like “The Godfather” of wrestling shows and everything seemed to peak after that point.  New companies were in the process of being created as result and new talent had to prove themselves on the indies even more so due to the fact that WWE was twice as crowded and that ECW and WCW were no longer options.

Roland Alexander, owner of the APW training school and promotion, was experiencing a boom in training school business due to the exposure the school got in “Beyond the Mat”.  And for those of you, who haven’t seen “Beyond the Mat”, if you call yourself a wrestling fan, watch it right now.  Stop reading this, go watch it and come back to this exact point….So you watched it?  It was awesome right!?  That myth about the power going out seconds after ECW Barely Legal 97’, it was true!  Jake Roberts being a scary drug addict?  Scary true.    Too many chair shots to the head being unnecessary?  Very true.

However, the documentary did feature the APW training school and hopeful young wrestlers trying to make it big.  After the movie released in 1999, aspiring wrestlers flocked to the school and business went up.  With that extra money, it helped produce these two famous and influential shows that would set certain events into motion that has led us to the today’s state of pro wrestling.  These two shows feature the future top talent that would go on to be the stars of today like Danielson, Styles, Joe and Low Ki. They would also go on to influence other future promotions like ROH, PWG, EVOLVE, DGUSA, etc, etc.  So in reality, “Beyond the Mat” is some what responsible for the indy scene of the 2000’s and beyond.

I had heard of this tournament many years ago but never going out of my way to buy the DVD.  Then I recently heard Roland Alexander on Art of Wrestling and I researched the shows.  Coincidently, some one on YouTube posted the whole thing.  So here it is:

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLADD6B154FB69686B&feature=plcp

PARTICIPANTS: American Dragon Bryan Danielson/Daniel Bryan, Samoa Joe, Low Ki, Bison Smith, Tony Jones, AJ Styles, Spanky, Donovan Morgan, Doug Williams, Adam Pearce, Scoot Andrews, Frankie Kazarian, Super Dragon, Jardi Frantz, Vincenzo Massaro and Christopher Daniels.

STATS: 

3 Ring of Honor World Champions (Danielson, Joe, Ki)

6 Pro Wrestling Guerrilla World Champions (Danielson, Ki, Styles, Pearce, Kazarian, Super Dragon)

2 NWA World Heavyweight Champions (Styles, Pearce)

1 WWE World Heavyweight Champion (Danielson)

2 TNA World Heavyweight Champions (Joe, Styles)

Based on those stats and star power, this tournament is packing a lot of heat.  And really, it fired on all cylinders.

Night 1

The show opens with intros and promos from the participants on the projector screen.  I love how it’s a VCR playing the videos on the screen.  Anyway it’s nothing memorable, as it’s just the usual ceremonial opening tournament fodder.

No commentary, so as I like to do, just make up your own or listen to random PWG commentary from 2004.  Trust me; you wouldn’t even notice the difference.

ROUND 1

Doug Williams vs. Adam Pearce

This one started kind of bland.  Feel out to start with Pearce going outside to stall and pandering to the crowd like he usually does.  Back and forth action.  The ending was kind of interesting.  Pearce hit a top rope hurricanranna but Williams kicked out.  Then Williams won with the Chaos Theory at 8:21.  Nothing special, but definitely showed promise for both of them, more so Williams than Pearce.  **1/2

ROUND 1

Bison Smith vs. Tony Jones

RIP Bison.  This match was okay, but it had no heat.  Typical big man, power match.  Again, nothing special.  Bison did take some hard germans though.  They did try to make this a NOAH style match.  The ending was even a lariat by Smith on Jones.  Smith advances at 9:23. Bison was far from his Vader-esque, “Who’s the Man!?” persona, but shades of it were shown. **1/4

ROUND 1

Samoa Joe vs. Frankie Kazarian

This was good.  Joe was a few years away from becoming a monster and Kazarian seems about the same.  But this was still enjoyable.  Joe tried beat down and tap out Kazarian while Kazarian stuck with the high flying impact moves.  Joe countered them with suplexes and submissions.  Joe was just too much and won with a modified Anaconda Vice at 9:03.  ***

ROUND 1

Donovan Morgan vs. Scoot Andrews

Good outing for both guys.  They looked really good, but the match was nothing great.  It was enjoyable at times, but it felt like something was missing.  Andrews and Uhaa Nation resemble each other in a few ways because Andrews was big, strong and agile like Uhaa is.  Andrews hit a spring board leg drop at one point, but that was as impressive as he went.  Both guys kicked out of high impact suplexes and moves.  Morgan wins at 10:20 with a lift pedigree.  **3/4

ROUND 1

Spanky vs. Bryan Danielson

Can you say cult classic?  This match is kind of like “Clerks” of the 2000 indy scene.  This match created a buzz about both men that would lead to Danielson headlining the first ROH show, Kendrick getting signed by the WWE, etc., etc.  This was like a NJPW Jr. style mixed with WWE style story telling.  Both guys looked like stars.  I have never seen Kendrick so on his game and Danielson hadn’t even peeked yet.  So many great spots and near falls.  It’s too bad Kendrick doesn’t perform at this level all the time.  Danielson wins with the dragon suplex at 14:41.  This match holds up very well for the time.  It’s amazing how good Danielson was even in 2001.  MOTN, no question.  But crazy enough, it’s not match of the weekend.  ****

ROUND 1

Super Dragon vs. Christopher Daniels

This was pretty good.  I felt it could have reached another level, but Daniels wanted to save energy for night two, which is totally fine.  This felt like a prototypical PWG style match.  Good mat wrestling to start building towards the usual dive spots and near fall finishes.  Dragon hit his usual tope dive.  Daniels just out-wrestled Dragon in the end and wins with the Last Rites at 10:05.  It is awesome to see Daniels with some really, really short dyed blonde hair too.  ***1/4

ROUND 1

AJ Styles vs. Jardi Frantz

This was just like watching an old TNA X-Division match.  Lots of cool high spots with meaning and amazing athleticism shown by both guys.  This is my first Jardi match and he looked really good.  But Styles was clearly a step above.  Both guys did some great flips and high spots but AJ looked like a star already.  Styles was already busting out sick counters that led into the Styles Clash as he does so here.  Jardi went for a standing hurricanrrana AJ just held on and turned into the Clash to end it at 13:48.  Really good stuff here.  ***1/2

ROUND 1

Low Ki vs. Vincenzo Massaro

Usual Low Ki match.  Back and forth strikes, with Ki out doing his opponent at everything.  Massaro is like Arik Cannon, yet a little fatter and far less athletic.  It was clear he was a step below Low Ki at everything, but Ki carried him do a decent outing.  Way too long though.  But I think Ki just wanted to be the star of the weekend.  Crowd popped for the Tidal Wave corner kick.  Ki hit the Phoenix Splash at 15:26 to end it.  This should not have main evented but I think Ki pulled a power move or something.  Spanky and Danielson should have ended the show and gotten five more minutes but that’s just me.  Anti-climatic ending to night one.  **3/4

So for Night 2 we have:

QUARTER FINALS

Samoa Joe vs. Low Ki

AJ Styles vs. Christopher Daniels

Donovan Morgan vs. Bison Smith

Doug Williams vs. American Dragon

BATTLE ROYAL

SEMI-FINALS

Joe/Ki vs. Styles/Daniels

Morgan/Smith vs. Williams/Dragon

FINALS

Highly enjoyable night one.  Four matches were good and one really going out of your way to see. Two careers are changed instantly and yet, history is still to be made on night two.  That review and analysis is coming soon……

WATCH THIS NOW PEOPLE, IT’S ON YOUTUBE FOR FREE!!!!!!!!!!!!