In early 2000, Andrews competed in the annual ECWA Super 8 Tournament defeating Trent Acid and Chad Collyer before losing to Christopher Daniels in the finals in Newport, Delaware on February 26 (he would again face Daniels at the APW King of the Indies Tournament losing to him in the semi-finals on December 30). He also appeared in Ted DiBiase's short lived WXO promotion that same year, appearing in several televised events, and was voted Florida's Wrestler of the Year.[2] At the end of 2000 and beginning of 2001, he made numerous appearances for the World Wrestling Federation, now World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), on WWF Jakked, losing to wrestlers including Essa Rios and Crash Holly.[2] Shortly after his appearances on WWF Jakked, he returned to IPW, and on January 13, 2001, Andrews defeated Seijin Akki and Naphtali to win the IPW Light Heavyweight Championship, a title he held until May 19, when he lost it to Akki.[2] He also won the promotions Television title before losing it to A.J. Styles on November 24, 2001.[6]
He made further appearance for WWE at the start of 2002, competing on WWE Heat, where he and Michael Shane lost to Tommy Dreamer and Spike Dudley.[2] As well as this, he appeared on Ring of Honor's first ever show, The Era of Honor Begins, on February 23, 2002, losing a singles match against Xavier.[7] He continued competing in independent promotions throughout the rest of 2002, 2003, and 2004, occasionally wrestling in dark matches or on WWE Velocity for WWE.[2] In 2004, he mainly competed for Full Impact Pro and NWA Florida, and on September 4, 2004, Andrews, being managed by SoCal Val, defeated Lex Lovett to win the Florida version of the NWA Southern Heavyweight Championship.[2] He later dropped the Championship back to Lovett on October 9, 2004.[2][8] At the start of 2005, Andrews was involved in a feud with The Heartbreak Express, consisting of Sean and Phil Davis, taking them on in tag team matches with a number of different opponents.[2] He then moved into a quick feud with Antonio Banks, before announcing his retirement at a NWA Florida show on February 26, 2005.[2][3]
He was inducted into the ECWA Hall of Fame in December 2005.[9] In 2006, he made an appearance for Elite Wrestling Entertainment, managing D'Lo Brown in a loss to Mike Sullivan.[2]
Warner is one of several independent wrestlers referenced in the 2005 novel Backyard Empire: Inspired by a True Story by Alex Hutchinson.
Media
NWA Florida: Rage in the Cage Perf. Scoot Andrews. DVD. NWA Florida, 2004.
Takedown Masters Perf. Scoot Andrews. DVD. Ring of Honor, 2004.
Ring of Honor: The Era of Honor Begins Perf. Scoot Andrews. DVD. Ring of Honor, 2004.
Best of IPW Hardcore Wrestling, Vol. 1 Perf. Scoot Andrews. DVD. IPW Wrestling, 2006.
Further reading
McNeill, Pat. The Tables All Were Broken: McNeill's Take On The End Of Professional Wrestling As We Know It. Lincoln: iUniverse, 2002. ISBN0-595-22404-0
^Milner, John (February 18, 2005). "Bios - A.J. Syles". SLAM! Wrestling. Archived from the original on August 3, 2012.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
