Throughout 2000, East Coast Pro Wrestling earned a reputation as one of the best independent promotions in the state. Boasting major league talent like Ivan Koloff, Bobby Fulton, the Barbarian, and ECPW Heavyweight champion Jackie Fulton, working alongside veteran competitors like Rob McBride, LA Wildone, the Storm Brothers, and Tim Blaze. These veterans mixed nicely with some of the best young talent in this area, with names such as Dewey Cheatum, High Octane, Tommy Steel, Redd, Mental Disorders, and Corey Edsel competing within ECPW's ranks. The future appeared bright for the fleeting promotion last October, when ECPW went on a self-imposed hiatus after the most critically acclaimed show in the company's short history. Thus, it was only natural that expectations were high going into the first true ECPW show of the year last Saturday in Burlington, with backstage rumblings that Cheatum, Gotti, and some of the other top talent in the area were rumored to appear. Once the card was announced on the Insider, much of that speculation was silenced, but expectations were still moderately high. Wendell Smooth, Iceman Joe Storm, LA and Rob, and several of the other established stars were back, as well as some of the younger guys, with a new regime overseeing the show to boot. The leader of this new regime Tommy Steel promised changes on the March 17th show, and changes were certainly delivered. What was presented before us last Saturday night was a far different product than what we had seen last October. That, however, is not always a good thing.

Of the six matches on the card, not one of them ended in a clean finish. Inexplicable run-ins plagued a show that by the end of the night, left fans more bewildered than ecstatic. It started off simply enough, with Steel and Damian Storm taking the stick and informing everyone of their intentions as CEO and Commissioner respectively, even bringing out a proven heat magnet, the classic heel referee, to further establish their power. The first match came and went with little fanfare, and if it wasn't for The Insider's write-up, most of us would not even be able to identify both competitors. Up next, Heavy C vs Redd, but Redd had a very legitimate family emergency, so we get Heavy C vs Willie G instead. Here is where things get complicated. After less than three minutes of...hmm...action...the Mavericks inexplicably ran to the ring, and attacked Willie. C looked just as confused as the rest of us, before finally embracing the Mavs for their apparent assistance. CEO Steel approached the ring, and in his best Russo form, chastised the Mavs for their actions, then corrected them by attacking Willie himself. Nice touch with the markers, but why were the Mavs out there in the first place? Furthermore, wouldn't it have been more logical to let the big man get in some of his impressive high spots before the obligatory run in? Unfortunately, this was just the beginning.

Up next, the Mavs in action against Sage and Steve Michaels. After a few moments, I was longing for a surprise Mental D run-in to end the pain. Unfortunately, no such luck, though the crooked ref did rear his head again in this unspectacular match. Joe Storm and Wendell Smooth, out next, and this was much like I expected it to be. Typical good work from both, including a particularly harsh looking bump to the floor by Joe and several high impact bumps from Wendell. Smooth over in a good match, at least we got through this one without a run-in. The Tag Title match followed, with the sudden addition of "Rumble rules" confusing some of the crowd who thought the battle royal was beginning already, and coming off overall looking amateur-ish since the two intervals were so inconsistently timed. Once all four were in the ring, the match got going, with the crowd as always way into McBride and LA, supported by pretty good work from all four throughout the contest. Beauty and the Beast seem poised to retain their titles when Wendell Smooth approached the ring for yet another obligatory run-in. Smooth cracked McBride with a chain and helping Sudden Impact secure the belts. A decent enough match-up, but the finish came off looking sloppy and mistimed, as the referee glared right as Smooth as he waited for McBride to turn around. The purpose behind this, could, in theory have been to further establish him as a heel ref, but the spot came off as rushed.

The night wrapped up with the Burlington Rumble, with Rob the Bull and Wendell Smooth being the last two scheduled participants. Kudos to LA and Lumbee, who both took a beating in an impromptu chopping contest that broke out during the match. Lumbee's chest was beet red and turning purple by the time he was eliminated. McBride disposed of Smooth, and Steel was visibly frustrated. He apparently wanted his former Kru partner Smooth to win the title. Since this was never really established at any point during the match, we will never know. Damian Storm and Steel hit the ring to congratulate the new champ, but he would have a very short reign, as Storm nailed McBride and quickly pinned him to win the title. Storm's celebration would prove to be even more short-lived as Steel himself cracked Storm with ye ole' kendo stick (or Singapore cane, if you prefer) and Steel won the title. Then, to the shock of everyone (and I don't mean spectacular shock, I mean "What the hell!?" shock) Willie G ran out and dropped Steel with a nasty looking Acid Drop (nasty in the sense that it came off really bad and Steel appeared to struggle to keep the move from being totally botched) and scored a quick pin to win the title, before running off, Crash Holly-like, with the belt. In the span of about three minutes, the lineage of a title that several performers had struggled to make credible was tarnished. We go from Jackie Fulton, a competitor known worldwide, and a legitimate main event caliber wrestler in All Japan Pro Wrestling, to Bobby Fulton, a famed tag team competitor, whose wars with the likes of the Midnight Express and the Sheepherders are legendary to this day, to Willie G.

Nothing personal against Willie G, I don't know the guy personally, and the Burlington show was my first opportunity to see him, but even his biggest supporters would concur that is a severe gap. McBride, Damian, and Tommy are all established names within the territory and would have made perfectly fine champions, but Willie is an inexperienced and unknown performer and at best a questionable choice for champion. Like I said, this is not a personal attack on Willie, it is well known that Corey Edsel is one of my best friends and that supercedes the wrestling business, but I would have similar feelings even if he were given the title in such a manner.

The powers-that-be put together a decent enough show on paper, but the execution, with constant run-ins that had no explanation or clear purpose behind them and no clean finishes left many fans soured on the show. The concepts that made Raw and (at one time) Nitro a success worked wonders for them, but indy wrestling, especially in this particular region, is a totally different commodity and many of those ideals don't work as effectively. Just to drive the point home one more time, this is not a personal attack on anyone mentioned herein, either by name or insinuation. The new regime promised change at the March 17th show, and they delivered, but frankly, I think this group can do better. I was eager to write this after The Insider asked me to "write (him) something", because I had some rather strong feelings on the show. My intent is not to personally insult or be overly harsh on anyone, these are merely my opinions. If anything, my review of this show is, in a contorted way, complimentary, because it is only by looking at the (predominantly good) past work of the people involved that I can say I *know* they can do better.

Brad Stutts