The eight competitors for this year's Super 8 tournament have just been announced. Now knowing who is in the tournament, here are my quick thoughts & opinions on each:

Human Tornado- this is probably the biggest "smart-mark" name wrestler out of the bunch. Tornado is one of the most charismatic & entertaining wrestlers on the indy scene. Tornado, originally from the west coast, literally has been sweeping into many east coast promotions, leaving fans wanting more. Fans will be happy to see Tornado in the tournament. ECWA fans, not familiar with Tornado, whether he wins the tournament or not, will be asking ECWA promoter Jim Kettner to bring Tornado back after they see him for the first time.

M-Dogg aka Matt Cross- I've always liked Cross's stuff and found him to be under-rated. M-Dogg, from the mid-west, has found success in the east coast already, including in ROH. Some fans might remember Cross from the brief MTV WSX promotion. I think he's a great addition to the tournament and perhaps could steal the show, and this is what this show is all about- show stealing performances.

Matt Logan- I am not too familiar with Matt Logan, although I know he comes out of Chaotic Wrestling, where he's held tag gold. The Logan name in the New England & Delaware areas stand for hard working wrestlers. He does have the cookie-cutter look that previous Super 8 competitors have had. I'm sure he will fit in nicely.

Brian Fury- I haven't seen much of Fury, but in the 5-6 matches I've seen of his, I was thoroughly impressed. I think his name is very generic and sounds somewhat e-fedish or backyardish, but don't let the name fool you, as he can go. In today's indy wrestling scene, it is tough to discover and give new guys a platform to shine, since the smart fans know all the players already. However, I think Fury might be one of these guys who will get the ECWA Super 8 rub this year.

Rob Conway- This is an interesting name. I think fans will have mixed reaction on Conway. Conway obviously is better as an in-ring performer than what you saw during his WWE stint. This could be Conway's biggest night for him, indy-business wise. If he has a great showing, more indy promoters & perhaps even ROH or TNA will be more inclined to use him. If he bombs, people will shrug it off as, "Well, that's why he was fired from the WWE anyway."

Billy Bax- Bax, an ECWA Hall of Famer, is known best for his work as one half of the longest reigning ECWA tag team champions in ECWA history, as part of the Valedictorians. I think he's a "ho-hum" name, where no non-ECWA fan will really care about him being in this. He will get good heat in his match(es) from the loyal ECWA crowd. With that said, this could be Bax's night to shine and get over with a new & different type of crowd.

Rob Eckos- the other half of the Valedictorians, Rob Eckos is a familiar name to NJ indy fans. One of Eckos' biggest criticisms is that he can be lazy and just go through the motions at random one-and-done indy feds in NJ. However, in ECWA, Eckos gives it his all. One thing to look at, in regards to Eckos, and other wrestlers who sometimes get that "lazy" label, is that it is hard to be motivated once you've been around for a while and have dealt with false promises from BS promoters. I guarantee you'll see Eckos at his highest-working level on 11/10.

Jerry Lynn- the highest valued name wrestler in the tournament. Usually names are created in this tournament, but this year Lynn will be lending his name & body of work to the 11th Annual ECWA Super 8 tournament. Lynn rounds this tournament out nicely. I don't think anyone expects Lynn to win the tournament but in Lynn you get a former WWE/ECW/WCW/TNA wrestler who can help give a rub and get a new star over.

With that all said, like every year it is hard to predict this tournament. All first round matches are announced the day of the show and not a moment before. That is what makes this tournament so hard to predict, as sometimes when promoters announce their tourney brackets, it is easy to pick who will win, just by looking at it.

For someone who is burnt out on indy wrestling & can predict 99% of what's going to happen on every indy show in this area, I am excited for this. The Super 8 is the Wrestlemania of indy tournaments. Just like Wrestlemania, there might be bigger PPVs during the calendar year, but there is only one Wrestlemania, and on 11/10, Wrestlemania takes place, courtesy of the ECWA. I know other tournaments like TPI, BOLA & other tournies might have more smart-mark appeal, but there is only one Super 8.

In this era of indy wrestling it is hard to expose new talent & give them a chance to make their name in a tournament such as this. In previous Super 8's, the internet wasn't as popular & tape/DVD buying/trading was just in its infancy. Now, every hardcore fan knows who everyone is, what they've done, their myspace page, who've they've ratted out, etc. It makes the job of ECWA promoter Jim Kettner that much harder, as he has to go to extra lengths to find talent to showcase. The advent of ROH & TNA, as well as their ability to feature & contract hot indy names also make it that much harder for ECWA to make their own mark.

In the past, the Super 8 was the breeding ground for the future of indy wrestling. Guys like Paul London, Low Ki, Ace Darling, Simon Diamond, American Dragon, Devon Storm, The Hardy Boyz, Trent Acid, The Briscoe Brothers, Davey Richards & many other top indy & TV names made their name on the wrestling scene, courtesy of the ECWA Super 8 tournament. When it's said & done, will we be mentioning some of the names in this year's tournament with the Low Ki's, American Dragon's & Christopher Daniel's of the world? I think so.

The biggest factor for me is just the pure unpredictability of it all. Many people will guess, but the truth of it all, no one has clue. ECWA does a great job of keeping their plans under wraps. Waiting till the day of the show gives another element of surprise for fans. Every Super 8 tells a story in the ring. Kettner knows his crowd & it should be interesting to see what story is wove & written when it's all over.

I am horrible at predicting Super 8 winners. Since 2002, I have only predicted one winner right, and that was in 2003 when I predicted Paul London to win it all. For what it's worth, I'm going to predict Brian Fury to win this thing. The reason I'm choosing Fury is pretty much by process of elimination, with my own theories. Kettner tells a different story every year so I'm probably way off anyway.

However, I don't see Tornado or Lynn winning it, because indy fans know them. Bax & Eckos are regulars and unless they turn into a Jushin Lyger over night, I don't see smarts appreciating them winning this. Conway also has name value, although that can be the reason he might win, since no one really knows what he can do in there when he's not in a restricted environment. Cross is another guy known by indy fans & already has a spot in a top 3 company. Logan is a toss-up. However, from I've seen from Fury, he can really go and work different styles. I think he matches up against everyone else in the tournament well, which means he could be wrestling anyone and have good matches. Then again, I'm so bad at predicting these things, that Fury could go out 5 minutes in the first round.

But then again, this is the fun of it all. 8 guys will be busting their ass at the biggest indy show of the year. No one but Jim Kettner knows what will happen that night. People will try to predict the tournament with educated guesses, but no one truly knows what will go down, except for the fact that a "Super 8" moment will be made. Whether you remember past Super 8's for their winners, the brave performances by the injured American Dragon & Chance Beckett, the night Austin Aries made his name with indy fans, seeing the Hardy Boyz for the first time or any other moments associated with the Super 8, history will be made in Delaware on 11/10.

We will have full news coverage of the Super 8, including a press release from ECWA about the event shortly.

For more, visit ECWAProWrestling.com

Sean "The MiC" McCaffrey
BULLSMC@aol.com