[2000-11-25-ECWA-Battle at the Bob] Reckless Youth vs Christopher Daniels

[Migs]

This looks like a pretty big crowd by ECWA standards. After some nice looking but not consequential opening matwork, Youth busts out an apron DDT, well before apron moves came into vogue. His rolling dive that follows looks pretty awkward, though. Daniels controls for a bit and isn't too interesting in the process, but the tide turns with a Russian leg sweep from the second rope. Well, they keep trading control without much real build, although the spots are nice. There's some big moves, and some kickouts, and I'm wondering how well this match was received in 2000, because it feels like a cliche now. Even placed in context, this match feels like it's in a no man's land where it's not big enough as a spotfest to stand up to what's happening in, say, CZW, but it's also not bringing the grittiness that guys like Low Ki and American Dragon would soon bring to the indie scene. Perfectly fine but not essential.

[GSR]

After some nice looking but not consequential opening matwork, Youth busts out an apron DDT, well before apron moves came into vogue.

 

I was really surprised to see Benoit hit and apron DDT on Regal in their match at the Pillman Memorial back in May of this year.

 

[soup23]

Daniels does a promo but I can’t make much out of it. This was much better than the prior match and wouldn’t totally look out of place on an ROH undercard a couple of years later. Some of the work was still spotty and we didn’t get any overly intriguing limb work or overall story arcs but Daniels has a solid backing of when to pepper in his spots and when to slow things down. The highspots looked good as a result and him winning cleanly but taking a legal shortcut was a good finish overall. **3/4

[GSR]

Good promo from Daniels prior to the match commencing, not happy that the ECWA  inducted some gimp like Jeff Peterson into the Hall of Fame and not him.  He says how he was going to team with Reckless Youth but decided to change things up and prove to everyone who the ‘King of the Independents’ really is.  Reckless has some words of his own, the respect that he use to have for ‘the Fallen Angel’ gone with all the whining and crying that he’s been doing, while he takes great exception to the comments he made about Jeff Peterson.  Like Scoot vs Low Ki these two are also working a fast pace, although it doesn’t seem so out of place as it did then.  Daniels backdrops Reckless out onto the apron and clothesline him across the top rope.  He steps out also, however Reckless shoulders him in the mid-section and hits an apron DDT.  Some contrived forward roll into a flip dive over the top out onto Daniels.  That doesn’t look good and gets booed.  I don’t remember ever seeing him try that one before or since, probably a case of one and done, realising that it didn’t look good/was hard to pull off so consigned it to the bin.  The ‘Fallen Angel’ takes over following an enziguiri, pushing the rules to the limit on occasion as he makes the most of the referee’s five count.  As he climbs the turnbuckles to mouth off at the fans he’s caught by Reckless who hits a Russian legsweep from the middle.  Daniels cuts off the comeback with a leg lariat as Reckless takes to the outside.  Arabian moonsault to the floor.  Rear chinlock as he looks to slow down the pace.  Reckless frees himself at the third time of asking, Daniels’ underhand tactics and hair pulling preventing him from doing so at first.  Asai moonsault.  He springs to the top turnbuckle and lands the frog splash, however Daniels is able to get a shoulder up on the cover.  Huracanrana for a near fall.  Daniels stuns him with a palm strike when he heads back upstairs and slams him to the mat.  ‘Best Moonsault Ever’, which I’m thinking may need to undergo a name change as it never gets the job done.  Reckless kicks out of the ‘Angel’s Wings’ before Daniels kicks out after a brainbuster.  I’m starting to sense some non-decision here while the crowd are getting burned out by all these kick outs.  Well I was wrong on the non-decision front; Reckless’ shoulders getting counted to the mat as they run through the Guerrero/Malenko stretch.  For the second time in the match something gets booed, the finish seen as an anti-climax after everything they’ve been kicking out of up to this point.