I think there might be one possibly two “traditional small blocks” out there making 1,000 hp but those are essentially one-off pieces. How much do you think something like that would cost? $30k? More? Who puts THAT kind of money into a small block? And at that level, it’s all aftermarket parts so it might as well be anything. OTOH, you can generally find a junkyard Hellcat for $10-$15k and be at 700hp without doing anything. What’s bad about that?
Anything can be made to run, just depends on how deep your pockets are.
I’m a small block guy myself but I often think about going to a Gen III platform? I mean, why not?