Pro Wrestling Chronicle

Brian Streleckis offers some brief history on IWA Mid-South’s BIG annual tournament, in addition to a rundown of this year’s edition featuring old faces, new faces, and even some death match regulars in more traditional matches.

IWA Mid-South’s Ted Petty Invitational (or TPI) actually began in the year 2000 in another form: The Sweet Science 16, featuring sixteen technically sound competitors. Two years later, with the passing of Ted Petty (better known as Rocco Rock of Public Enemy fame), it was renamed in his honor. Since Petty was considered a man of many styles (mat wrestling, high flying, brawling), the tourney became open to more of a variety of wrestlers. The following year, the TPI expanded from sixteen participants to twenty-four (resulting in a three-way elimination Finals).

I first heard of the TPI following the 2004 edition (won by AJ Styles), which was a veritable who’s who of talent - Samoa Joe, CM Punk, Bryan Danielson, Alex Shelley, Austin Aries, Chris Sabin, etc. - and had a lot of standout matches, including an early matchup between Samoa Joe and Roderick Strong that had the fans on their feet. This was considered by many fans as the best edition of the tournament, and after seeing it based on word of mouth, I’d have to agree. TPI ‘05 (won by Matt Sydal) suffered from a lot of cancellations, but still provided a lot of good wrestling with the likes of Sydal, Sabin, Danielson, Kevin Steen, El Generico, Chris Hero, Arik Cannon, and many others. I’ve become such a fan of the TPI after the two previous editions that I actually flew out to the Chicago area to attend last year’s TPI, won by Low Ki and also featuring the likes of Strong, Hero, Cannon, Generico, and Davey Richards. I met contributor Robert Dolezil out there (dude gave me a ride to the venue) and we had a blast attending these two wild nights.

This year’s TPI, set for September 28th and 29th in Midlothian, IL (same location as last year), has again been plagued with some cancellations. A few previously announced participants have bowed out due to injury (Generico and B-Boy), reporting to OVW (Sydal), and IWA-MS owing a debt to TNA for booking fees (Joe and Low Ki, initially matched up together in the First Round). Still, they have gathered up a field of twenty-four that looks pretty enticing, and if TPI ‘05 proved anything, there’s still a chance to impress (as impressive as the Battle of Los Angeles has become in PWG, the TPI hasn’t gone by the wayside yet). Here’s a rundown of First Round matchups, as well as some TPI history for certain guys, going back to TPI ‘04 when I got hooked on the tourney. As always, this card’s subject to change, and more info can be found at IWA-MS’ message board.

In no particular order (actually, this order is listed on their site):

1. Chuck Taylor vs. Jimmy Jacobs. In addition to being a tournament match, Taylor will be defending his World Heavyweight Title here. It was a brief tradition (between ‘02 and ‘04) for the champion to defend his title in the tournament (and the title has changed hands in tournament action) until Jimmy Jacobs broke that tradition by defending it (yep, he was their champ) in non-tourney matchups. What’s interesting here is that at last year’s TPI, Taylor won the title and Jacobs made a surprising return to IWA-MS (running in during another match) after a nine-month absence. This year’s TPI would mark one year of Taylor as the champion, trumping the previous record set by… Jimmy Jacobs. No clue what will go down here, especially since Jim Fannin (former heel manager and one of IWA’s higher-ups) wants Taylor to lose the belt, but also holds a grudge against Jacobs last time I checked.

2. Chris Hero vs. 2 Cold Scorpio. This might be considered another one of the top matches in the tournament. This marks the TPI debut for decorated veteran Scorpio, who’s returning to IWA-MS here since his last appearance last August. Hero won the initial Sweet Science 16 in 2000 and has since been in every incarnation of this tourney. In ‘04, he lost in the First Round to Mike Quackenbush, resulting in a heel turn on Quack in Chikara a few months later. In ‘05, still a face in IWA-MS, he defeated Rainman and Bryan Danielson before losing to longtime rival Arik Cannon in the Semi-Finals, resulting in him turning heel in IWA-MS. Last year, he overcame Ricky Reyes and another longtime rival in Trik Davis before losing again in the Semi-Finals to Roderick Strong in surprising fashion (Strong scored a backslide after getting a body part worked over a lot).

3. “Lightning” Mike Quackenbush vs. Billy Roc. An interesting veteran/rookie matchup. Myself and others have mentioned before that Roc, making his TPI debut, has been pretty impressive in the ring. Quack, the IWA-MS World Light Heavyweight Champion last time I checked, has been very impressive in his TPI outings. In ‘04, he defeated Hero and Nate Webb before losing to Bryan Danielson in the Semi-Finals. In ‘05, he again made it to Semi-Finals, defeating Alex Shelley and Skayde before falling to that dastardly Kevin Steen. Last year, he defeated Colt Cabana in very fun First Round match, then lost to Claudio Castagnoli in the Quarter-Finals in one of the best matches under ten minutes I’ve ever seen.

4. Claudio Castagnoli vs. Nigel McGuinness. In addition to happening a number of times in Ring of Honor, this is a rematch from the First Round of TPI ‘04, in which Nigel was victorious. Nigel hasn’t been in a TPI since, but Claudio’s been busy in them. In ‘05, he lost to Bryan Danielson in the “main event” of the First Round. Last year, he defeated Kevin Steen and Quack before losing to Arik Cannon in the Semi-Finals. Based on what I’ve seen of these two since ‘04, I have to think this will improve upon their first TPI encounter.

5. Davey Richards vs. BJ Whitmer. This is the matchup set up in May at the Candido Cup, when Whitmer turned on his partner Richards after their loss together, and the feud between the two has been picking up some steam on recent shows. Whitmer, the IWA veteran and fomer Heavyweight Champion for the promotion, won the ‘02 TPI, but lost to Petey Williams in his last TPI appearance in ‘04 in the First Round. Richards, a babyface here while a heel nearly everywhere else, made his IWA-MS debut in last year’s TPI, defeating Jigsaw in the First Round before losing to the eventual winner Low Ki in the Quarter-Finals (probably my favorite match of that weekend, by the way). This should be a nice, hard-hitting match between the charter member of the No Remorse Corps and the former Hillbilly Jesus (now looking like a Hillbilly Ken Doll these days).

6. Human Tornado vs. Eddie Kingston. An intriguing match between two widely different men, both making their TPI debut. Not much else to say here, except it could be like the match I saw Kingston have with Ricochet last month in Chikara (Kingston fights off and laughs off his smaller opponent, who in turn comes back with some aerial offense).

7. Drake Younger vs. “Spyder” Nate Webb. Continuing the diversity of this tournament, we’ve got a match between two guys who’ve delved into both death matches and traditional matches. Younger makes his TPI debut. Webb made it to the Quarter-Finals in ‘04, defeating Hallowicked before losing to Quack, then he got beat by Kevin Steen in the First Round the next year. Sounds like a good matchup, especially for longtime IWA-MS fans.

8. Joey Ryan vs. Brandon Thomaselli. Ryan, before adopting the Magnum, P.I. look, made his IWA-MS debut in TPI ‘05 (as a replacement for Super Dragon representing PWG), losing to Arik Cannon in the First Round. He has since returned to IWA-MS this year, spreading his sleaze all about. Thomaselli, the promotion regular and former Light Heavyweight Champion, has appeared in the last two TPIs, but has lost in the First Round both times to Delirious and Strong respectively. I’m a fan of Brandon, and this matchup between two enthusiasts of aviator glasses could surprise some people.

9. Jimmy Rave vs. Josh Abercrombie. Rave, now with TNA but still allowed to wrestle in the tourney, last appeared in TPI ‘04 (and IWA-MS in general, if I’m correct), losing to AJ Styles in the First Round. Abercrombie, in TPI ‘05, defeated the WWE-bound Jamie Noble Gibson before falling to Chris Sabin in the Quarter-Finals. Rave’s BOLA match with Sydal earlier this month was reportedly pretty bad, probably due to Rave coming back to action too soon after suffering a ruptured eardrum at the end of July. He should be in better shape by now, and I think his heel persona interacting with the cocky Abercrombie could be pretty fun.

10. Joker vs. CJ Otis. Both of these hard-hitting wrestlers make their TPI debuts here. Joker actually earned a spot in the TPI with a victory over Otis not too long ago, but with the recent turn of events, Otis has found his way into the tournament as well. Bob Dolezil’s really high on Joker (I haven’t seen enough of him), and I’ve enjoyed the progression of Otis, the “Strong Style Superman,” so this should be good.

11. Devon Moore vs. Dysfunction. Two more TPI debuts. The Philadelphia-based Moore has been impressing IWA-MS fans, while death match vet Dysfunction has been having a rivalry with Josh Abercrombie recently. Honestly, this doesn’t really feel like a TPI match, but I haven’t seen enough of either guy to form a full opinion of them. No better place to impress than here.

12. Brent Albright vs. Tank. Albright is making his IWA-MS debut here. Tank, another death match guy (currently embroiled in the feud between IWA Mid-South and IWA Deep South), is making his second TPI appearance. In ‘05, he lost in the First Round to Brad Bradley (who has since then signed with WWE and is now wrestling in OVW as Jay Bradley), and their match came off quite well for what those two offer. Albright’s a little smaller but more diverse than Bradley, so I expect this one to be pretty good and surprise some people.

So the First Round is set for the 28th, while the 29th will have all subsequent rounds, some non-tournament matches (the last two years have had some crazy, comedy-heavy matches with multiple eliminated participants), and even a preshow put on by Elite Pro Wrestling, the fledgling promotion run by the Thomaselli brothers. I have no clue who will win the tournament (likely someone who will stick around for a few shows afterwards), but I have to think that Chuck Taylor is going to lose the Heavyweight Title. Again, I have no clue who that could be. The subsequent brackets have always been a big mystery, usually announced after the First Round is complete. And that about does it for me; my memory and fingers are spent after previewing two 24-man tournaments.