APW King of the Indies 2001 Review
One of the most heralded shows of 2001 and inarguably one of the greatest indy shows ever. I think many of the matches were overrated with 4 and 5 star ratings, but that doesn't mean I don't think this stuff isn't awesome. The talent here would equal another UWF or WCCW in the 80s, too bad the WWF's changed things so much. Interesting West Coast action, which is better worked than any East Coast stuff I've seen.
Doug Williams vs. Adam Pearce
Tony Jones vs. Bison Smith
Samoa Joe vs. Frankie Kazarian
Donovan Morgan vs. Scoot Andrews
American Dragon vs. Spanky
Christopher Daniels vs. Super Dragon
A.J. Styles vs. Jardi Frantz
Low-Ki vs. Vinny Massaro
Nice night one with a **1/2 average and there was only one stinker, so that's a pretty good
show nowerdays. The eliminated: Pearce, Jones, Kazarian, Spanky, S.D., Andrews, Frantz, and
Massaro are all quite capable. Clearly any of them continuing instead of Morgan would've been a
wise move, since he chose to dog this tournament because he's a big star in NOAH. Booking him
in a singles match (either night or both) would've sufficed. Good night though and it really
makes you want to watch the second.
The second night begins with Roland Alexander presenting awards to "Bay Area Legends," I
haven't seen most of these people in their primes, but have heard great things about most.
Kenji Shibuya, Pepper Gomez, "The Destroyer" Dick Beyer, Nick Bockwinkel and Red Bastien. The
latter two tell how highly they think of these wrestlers, unfortunately "Slick" Nick (one of
my favorite interviews) keeps it short. I also think Ray Stevens, the King of San Francisco
wrestling, should have been honored posthumously. Now for the wrestling...
Bison Smith vs. Donovan Morgan
Doug Williams vs. American Dragon
Low-Ki vs. Samoa Joe
Christopher Daniels vs. A.J. Styles
Battle Royal
American Dragon vs. Donovan Morgan
Low-Ki vs. Christopher Daniels
American Dragon vs. Low-Ki
In review, I think the second night was better and the star average was slightly higher.
Again Morgan dragged things down and was banished from APW as a result. Though less guys were
used, I think the matches had more versitility as we saw highspot wrestling, shoot-style,
puro-style, and US Indy style. The Ki-Joe match was my favorite of the tournie because I enjoy
that style and don't think I've ever seen anything else in the States anywhere near that good.
A solid night of action and considering how good the first was, I can't believe they topped it.
I think a lot of this stuff was overrated by fans, though it was definately a spectacular
show. However, it's still only indy stuff, so the feel that a hot crowd brings just wasn't
there and that hurts the action. Nice versitility of styles, which you never see. I thought
limited use of shoot-style was cool. The foreseeable spotfus were there, but the majority of the
matches not going that route was unique. This is definately top-end indepedent action and I
hope these guys get recognition for such great efforts (not including Donovan Morgan).
Christopher Daniels showed he still has it in him to do great on these smaller shows, A.J.
Styles showed just because he worked in WCW that he's not going to sit on the side and wait for
another opportunity, former WWF Developmentals American Dragon and Spanky show they aren't
giving up either, and a lot of hungry youngsters offered up good samples of their abilities to
whomever is watching. These guys are the future no doubt about that.
I'd wanted to see Doug Williams for some time, since I've never seen a European grappler I
didn't like. Pearce is one of my favorite indy guys, even though he's not one of the best.
"Scrap Iron" has a lot of charisma and motivation, so he's more effective and was a good first
round opponent for Williams. Cool work early on, Williams is definately a fine European
product and could become a new-age Steven Regal (minus the acting skill). This was a solid
opener and the crowd seemed to like it. Two guys that could really become something in the
wrestling world.
Rating: **1/2
Jones has a nice amateur-style with a lot of great suplexes. Smith is a regular gaijin for
NOAH and he's called "Baby Bull" for a reason, he's like a lil' Vader (whose one of his regular
partners in Japan). Jones' suplexes looked very good and really displayed his strength well, I
recall Jim Ross saying he needed to bulk up. Smith's moves were good enough, his lariats
(namely the one that won the match) being the highlight. This seemed to go long and its
midsection was dull when Jones tried to do things he shouldn't. I can only think how Bill Watts
could've made Jones into a hot commodity. This match was good, but could've been much better.
Rating: *3/4
This match was basically to display the skills of Joe in a match against someone who can
sell a beating. Kazarian is okay, you can't really see the Nova influence in this match, which
I think is good, he's definately someone who could be a solid, smaller midcarder for the WWF.
Samoa Joe is perhaps the best indy heavyweight today and without a doubt in my mind someone with
"star" all over him. Joe's puroresu-influenced style can be best described as stiff, crisp and
diverse. His recent dealings with Zero-One tell me he's making headway in Japan and I think he
could be a top gaijin if used properly. This match was pretty one-sided and not the best I've
seen out of either, but definately a good taste of Joe's offensive talents and Kazarian's
well-roundedness.
Rating: **1/4
Morgan is on the outs with Roland Alexander and APW and this match definately displays that
occurence. Andrews is okay, I think his work on Jakked/Metal is usually better than many
outsiders, he's just off here though. This match is kind of a mess without a good flow and both
guys appear to be in another world. Morgan mails it in big-time and Andrews lags, making for
the worst match of the night.
Rating: *
Two of Shawn Michaels proteges, WWF has to feel retarded when they realized they dropped two
prime prospects like these two. This match is definately the best of the first night as it
displays both men's talents well, so much so that the finale was changed. Dragon is a prodigy
for sure and Spanky isn't far behind. They go balls-out here, Dragon's stiffness being
amplified by Spanky's selfless bumping. The ending was kind of dragged out and I had to take
away for that, though it wasn't as ridiculous as the Briscoes' match. While most of the early
matches were solid this one was just fantastic.
Rating: ***1/2
I'll admit I've never seen the Super Dragon that people hold in high regard, but I saw
glimpses of brilliance. I'm a "Fallen Angel" fan, even though the gimmick is shackled and could
break out and do great things. Daniels, the man, is as good of indy junior as anyone, though
he's starting to seem like the old man on the scene. Dragon is lucharesu-style youngster, who
is RevPro's top star. I'm told the spot artist I saw was the SD of old. Hard to say this was
really "bad," but I know Daniels can do better and I believe the SD fans.
Rating: *3/4
I'm not a big fan of either as Styles seems overly indy to me with his spotfus and so
fourth, while Frantz isn't really anything special. This match sure made me a believer of both
though. Styles showed he can carry and actually work a match and not just pop a crowd with
spot after spot. Instead, Frantz played the underdog and a Styles beat on him, fed some
comeback teases and finally pinned him. Simple psychology, but still effective. Styles raised
the bar though and if I see him go back to spotfus, I'll be disappointed, but not all that
surprised. Frantz showed he's carriable and can play the underdog very well. I don't know if
these two could do a second match this good because this one seemed to be both at their best.
Rating: ***
I expected more out these two because I thought stylistically they could have a nice stiff
match. I think the fact Ki was going to go on and have a few matches the next night made them
tone things done some. The size difference wasn't used at all, which I would have preferred,
though I'm sure others would have not liked that angle. Ki's strikes were matched by Massaro's
suplexes. I don't like Low-Ki's flying and the fact that it was limited was good, Vinny also
kept his moveset reasonable, which was a positive. I'm sure on a one-night format these two
could have a crazy-stiff match and get around the **** area, despite their limitations and
flaws. This was pretty good though and fans of Ki should (key word there) enjoy this more than
most of his stuff, I know I did.
Rating: **3/4
Worst match of the night, an insult to the tournie and according to everyone - a work! The
two NOAH boys go no time at all before Bison is cradled for the Morgan win. Work or no-work
this was stupid, a replacement, logically Tony Jones, should have been plugged in and had at
least a non-DUD with Morgan. A blemish on perhaps the best indy show of the year.
Rating: DUD
I don't know if I watched this wrong or what, but it seemed like the rants and raves I heard
online were a bit much. The work was good, excellent even, but this just wasn't top notch
match in my opinion. The style contrast was awesome though and the counters are the kind of
stuff I love, something was just astray though. I think the lack of heat for stuff really hurt
it as a dead crowd can kill an awesome match. Worth seeing though because so many people love
it.
Rating: ***1/2
In contrast, this match that got me going. Ki's stiff style is sometimes frowned upon for
being out-of-place, but here it fit like a glove. Both men have legit martial arts backgrounds
and have a large Japanese influence. They went with a shoot-style meets puro-style match. This
stuff was stiff and painfully so. The crowd got into that aspect and I personally enjoyed the
well done (for US) shoot-style activity. The psychology was also perfect with the smaller Ki
being unwilling to exchange with the bigger and logically hard-hitting Samoa Joe. They busted
out a "beat the hell out of one another" spot that I loved almost as much as Kawada-Sasaki.
Great action in my opinion and my personal favorite (and unsurprisingly Meltzer liked it a lot
too), though its a matter of taste.
Rating: ***3/4
After an underwelming Daniels match and an excellent Styles match, this one had potential to
be either. It was inarguably a spotfest, though the level of how good it was is questionable.
I think it was pretty good, nothing was really botched, so it wasn't like CZW spotfu-level,
though these guys could do something awesome. Daniels has the ability to make me hate him, then
love him, then hate him again. Styles seems like he may become the same type of wrestler.
Rating: **3/4
Battle Royals, unlike Royal Rumbles, can only be good if they're fun or have distinct sides.
This one was moderately fun, especially the "Chico" Alvarez stuff, since everyone knows him as
Dave Meltzer's hilarious sidekick. It ended with tournament losers Spanky and Vinny Massaro as
well as APW trainer Robert Thompson. Okay ending, but nothing much, I would have preferred
less guys (like just the non-tournament guys) and maybe a different format.
Rating: **
One overworks the tounie and one underworks it, so whose method will win. This was better
than Morgan's first two matches, but he shouldn't have made it past the quarterfinals with his
piss poor approach. Okay brawling, but the lack of effort by Morgan dragged this down to being
the worst full match of the night.
Rating: *1/4
Ki has looked excellent so far, showing me his ability to work his stiff style well in the
context of wrestling match. Daniels isn't Massaro or Joe though and things had to change for
this match. Cool psychology here, after early strike exchanges, Daniels decides he can't do
that and goes to science. He attacks Low-Ki's arm, which is fine, though I think a leg would
have made better logical sense, so Ki should've done somwthing to propel this. Otherwise, the
selling was sound (minus a few things) and the finish was good. Not overly impressive, Daniels
at least showed he didn't forget how to work though after two spotfus.
Rating: ***1/4
The logical finale with the two finalist of ECWA's Super 8 tournament, in which Ki won, but
Dragon won a rematch, so now you have the third and tiebreaker in what is the hottest indy feud
going. Slow opening was good with Ki using heel-like kicks. Each has their respective injuries
real and worked, but the push it pretty hard. Ki works tight and stiff and Dragon matches him,
even continuing the tradition of stealing stuff from one another. We get some matwork as well,
including a unique chopfest. After that they had an uncalled for midsection of an unecessary
dive and finish tease material that wasn't used like that. Things pick right up though with
finishers, nearfalls and all that. Mostly good to excellent before Dragon hits his namesake
Suplex and locks on Cattle Mutilation for the win. Very good match, I preferred their Super 8
final more, but this capped off a great show.
Rating: ***1/2
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