IWA:MS TED PETTY INVITATIONAL 2004
September 17th & 18th, 2004
Lincoln Center
Highland, IN
So, I put up a poll over on Twitter. (@BQReviews), and even though I knew the perverts would pick this due to both its importance and its insane length, like a fool I did it anyway. I’ve only seen IWA:MS matches and clips here or there, never a full show. I’ve always heard about the TPIs and, regardless of time, I’m looking forward to this. Let’s go.
NIGHT ONE
A picture memorializing Ted Petty with “Here Comes the Hot Steppa” playing shows to start the show.
Backstage, some guy that looks like Glenn Humpnik from the Tom Green Show interviews Lacey. She won the women’s belt in a three way tournament final that Mercedes was also in. She’s also nursing a knee injury. But she’s confident she’ll beat her again.
Mercedes Martinez cuts a pretape promising to win that belt and go after Lacey’s bad knee.
Ian Rotten is in the ring to start the show. He jokes about having an announcement and says that he was going to blow up a picture he had with Lita and say the baby was his. LOL TOPICAL. He says he was hoping to announce a TV deal tonight but he’s not. Instead, he’s announcing that in 2005 KOTDM will be happening in unison with NJPW over at Korakuen Hall, and then goes on an overly long rant about how they want to bring fans with them and they’re gonna have travel arrangements. He sounds so unsure and like the worst salesman ever. Jesus Christ. One fan will win a free trip to the JAPAN KOTDM based on how much merch they buy between now and next April, every time IWA:MS runs this building. Oh, so like Marlboro points. What the shit. He then goes on a rant to tribute Ted Petty and yeah whatever.
Match #1: Lacey (c) vs. Mercedes Martinez [IWA:MS Women’s Championship]
This wasn’t bad, all things considered. I never knew Lacey was much of a women’s wrestler but she’s pretty decent. I’ve always been a fan of Mercedes so it’s a treat seeing her this far back. Lacey’s got a bad knee that’s a hard target for Mercedes and there’s an entertaining cat and mouse sort of story to it. Lacey does some basic arm work on Mercedes to keep her at bay and it’s mostly fine. This kind of loses something in the last few minutes but the finish is good, as Mercedes gets Lacey in a really sick looking Indian Deathlock and Lacey passes out. New champion!
**1/4
They do an introduction of all 24 wrestlers who pose for a photo and a reading of the rules. This is so awkward in a crowd of like maybe 100-150 people.
Match #2: Matt Sydal vs. Sal Rinauro [First Round Tournament Match]
I do not like Sal Rinauro automatically. More on that later. Young Sydal is so great. Like maybe the next rung below Amazing Red and AJ in terms of how fucking cool he could make things look, while maybe being an overall better actual performer than Red (but not AJ). Lot of near falls for a barely 10 min long match but whatever. Two cool spots: they do a fight up to the top rope and get into a fist fight that sees them both crotch themselves on the top. Then, with Rinauro on all fours, Sydal leaps on to his back and hits a standing moonsault. INCREDIBLE. Another trip up top and Sydal ends it with a Cyclorama. Nice.
**1/2
SHOCKER: Nate Webb’s entrance is the best no matter which decade it is.
Match #3: Hallowicked vs. Nate Webb [First Round Tournament Match]
I don’t know much about Hallowicked outside of who he is. I saw one match of his a very long time ago when I originally tried a project such as the one I’ve been doing on this website (watch all the good wrestling I’ve ever missed). But he’s pretty decent! And Nate Webb, man. What do you want me to say? Dude rocks. I’ve had a very few, short conversations with him before. He’s a great guy. Probably not a tournament format that suits his style though. He’s mostly fine. Some basic clubbering with a decent enough pace. Webb gets the win with a move I am seeing/hearing him yell out, is/was called SOYLENT GREEN 2: IT’S STILL PEOPLE. Fuck yeah.
*3/4
Nate Webb forever.
Match #4: Rainman vs. Chris Sabin [First Round Tournament Match]
Contrary to popular (my) belief, this is not a wrestler working a Dustin Hoffman gimmick. This is the future Kory Chavis. How unfortunate. But hey, hail Saban, I guess. Or not. Because while Sabin certainly brings stuff to the table here, this was a showcase match for the much lesser than Rainman. Dunno why this is happening but in my experience, it seems to be the MO for Sabin in this era as ROH was usually bringing him in as a JTTS as well, and despite winning the X Division belt a couple of times, it wasn’t like Sabin was allowed to make too much noise in TNA pre-MCMG. But anyway, as I’m sure you’ve surmised, I wrote all this to distract myself from the very bad match that’s happening. Chavis, it turns out, was never good. He wins, of course, with a cobra clutch body scissors. Lame.
*
Match #5: CM Punk vs. Austin Aries [First Round Tournament Match]
Finally, some good fucking food. It feels like I’m cheating on my ROH review a bit because where I’m at, in late 2003, Punks already begun to “get it”, so seeing him a year later really start to enter the very early stages of his prime is fantastic. But on to the match. This was FANTASTIC. Aries is so damn good in this era it actually sucks to see because of how much of a piece of shit he became. I dunno if his fall from grace upsets me more than Low Ki’s, but it’s certainly close. Good strike exchanges while they’re still feeling each other out and a brawl to the floor. Punk goes for a shining wizard on the outside but misses and connects with the steel post! Aries begins working over the knee and Punk’s selling is INCREDIBLE. Everything Aries does during his control segment is just super crisp and clean, you can’t take your eyes off of it. Punk is able to outsmart Aries on a few spots which brings us to a few close near falls on Punk’s behalf but Aries always answers back quickly and stiffly. Aries begins to get run down and Punk uses that against him in a battle to get to the top rope first (starting to see that’s a favorite spot in IWA:MS) Punk eventually gets up quick enough to hook Aries in and hit the Pepsi Plunge for the win, but he damages his knee more in the process! TOURNAMENT BOOKING, BABY.
***3/4
Match #6: Danny Daniels vs. Todd Sexton [First Round Tournament Match]
Dry farts. Danny Daniels is Danny Daniels. We’ve all played this game before. Never heard of Todd Sexton and hopefully never will have to again after this review. He’s not good. Daniels gets the win with a Rubik’s Cube. Some insane finishers tonight and especially this early on in a two day tournament.
*
Match #7: Jimmy Jacobs vs. Delirious [Ladder Match - Vacant IWA:MS Light Heavyweight Championship]
This isn’t bad by any means, it’s just that…I mean, it can’t be much of a true ladder match when they’ve got the smallest cheapest ladder I’ve ever seen. I get it. But cmon. Delirious is fun here as a nasty heel which I’ve never really seen before, and Jacobs is almost always good to great. The violence builds up to Jimmy eventually getting the railroad spike and cutting through Delirious mask, making him bleed. Hell yeah dude. Weird ending, might’ve been because of the botch here — the ladder breaks apart when Jacobs tries to jump off of it down on to Delirious on the floor on a table, and he takes a VERY NASTY tumble on to the floor. He does his best to get back up and quickly does a Back Senton off the top through the table instead, AND THEN gets in and up to get the belt. Felt rushed and off putting, but that could’ve also just been the booking. Who knows.
***ish
Match #8: Chris Hero vs. Mike Quackenbush [First Round Tournament Match]
Quack is one of those guys that, when I started this exercise, I vowed I was never going to purposely review due to the foul shit he was doing. But at the end of the day, he’s unfortunately too important to the history of 2000’s indie wrestling that it’s going to be near impossible for me to do. So just know that just because I review some (a lot) of wrestlers does not mean I support or like them as human beings. Both guys work very similar styles so there’s a lot of deadlocked feeling to the story of the match, which is good. The matwork is absolutely impeccable throughout the entire thing. Hero’s a much bigger dude than Quack and out of respect he never really uses that to his advantage, instead opting to keep it mat based with his friend and trainer. But in the end, the teacher just knows more than the student does and Quack traps Hero with a quick Skyade Special pinning combination to get the win!
***1/4
Post-match, Hero is HEATED with this loss but pretty quickly, they make up. From reading ahead in certain things/planning out my review watch lists, this match was the beginning of Hero’s big heel turn that ended up elevating him in IWA:MS, CHIKARA, CZW and even eventually ROH.
Afterwards, Ian Rotten inserts himself into the affair to announce Hero and Delirious will be making their first Japan tours through the IWA/NJPW office relations I guess. Hero is very emotional about that and he thanks Ian and the fans.
Match #9: AJ Styles vs. Jimmy Rave [First Round Tournament Match]
Again, it feels like I’m cheating on my ROH review because this program has JUST started in late ‘03 over there. AJ is just on another level. Every single match I watch of him in this era, he just finds new ways to get better and better. It actually bums me out to see because of how cooked he’s been (mostly) the last 3-4 years because god damn he might be one of the best to ever do it. Rave is still figuring things out and is still the innocent babyface here. So it allows AJ to play that “good guy bully” card that him and Danielson do so well. Styles just absolutely brutalizes Rave with strikes and work on the head and neck, leading to him trapping Rave in the MUTA LOCK and just wreeeenching back and forth to get the win. On the Muta Lock scale, this was only slightly less than the version he had on Danielson in ROH 2002 in their first match.
***
Match #10: Samoa Joe vs. Roderick Strong [First Round Tournament Match]
It’s always funny to see young, kinda chubby but ridiculous traps Roddy. Just doesn’t even feel like the same guy. Punk has a rant on commentary about Roddy having r*tard strength and yeah…not everything ages well. But the match itself sure as shit did! This has to be an early career defining match for Roddy and Joe is in his PRIME here. Joe just absolutely beats the shit out of him, as it should be, and the lay out of the match let’s Roddy get it to a point of believability when it comes to how far he could realistically take Joe in kayfabe. And once they reach that exact line? They’re able to go just one step further when Roddy gets a few legit shots and near falls in that has the crowd hooked and suddenly, these 150/200 people sound like 1500/2000. Roddy starts to buy into his own brand of bullshit and starts throwing kill shots at the monster Joe, but he doesn’t have the skill just yet to really close it and Joe ends up getting the best of him, and just starts MAULING him in a fantastic sight before ending it with the Muscle Buster. Incredible match.
****1/4
Match #11: Claudio Castagnoli vs. Nigel McGuinness [First Round Tournament Match]
Was really looking forward to this but it sort of just…happened. I dunno if it’s because of the length of this show or how hot the last match was. But this simply just existed. Punk and Prazak get bored and start reading rules from the old NWA rule book to pass time. They throw your typical BritWres style counters and strikes. Claudio is of course already excelling in the drinking department with those European uppercuts of his. They do some basic shit on the mat and Nigel sort of just wins out of nowhere with the Rings of Saturn? Hmm. Okay.
**
Match #12: Bryan Danielson vs. Alex Shelley [First Round Tournament Match]
AJ joins Punk and Prazak on commentary for this and chastises the NWA rulebook. Punk and AJ also have a discussion about boy bands. Fun. This is another good, solid mat based match that sort of blows even Quack/Hero away because Danielson is one of the greatest of all time and Shelley is really really good, too. My favorite bit was Danielson having a modified surfboard on Shelley where they’re both in sort of an upright position, and Danielson keeps loosening his grip in order to move further up Shelley’s arms to pull back even more, but he loses his grip for just a second too long at one point, allowing Shelley to quickly reach back and clap Danielson’s ears and break the hold. The match doesn’t really go for much outside of stuff like that which is fine for an early tournament match. They exchange a lot of mat based stuff which Danielson is excellent at but honestly so is Shelley. He’s kind of slept on I feel like. More than is even discussed. Fun finish comes when:
Hell yeah.
***1/4
Match #13: Super Dragon vs. Arik Cannon [First Round Tournament Match]
On commentary, Punk and Styles make themselves laugh over speculating on if Super Dragon may actually be a black man who suffered an accident in a grease fire. Punk also sings the hook to “Party all the Time.” This is a solid exchange of blows that’s probably just going on too late in the card. The whole show was structured pretty poorly. I know you probably didn’t realize how great Joe/Roddy was going to be but you should’ve ended with that or Punk/Aries. The crowd is really starting to get gassed and it sort of affects this match as a result. I dunno. Maybe I’m overreacting. I just feel like this gets over if it’s on two hours earlier. The booking of the match is 50/50 but in a real stunner (at least for me), Cannon actually gets the big win here. He really starts to wear Dragon down with some big shots to the head and nasty looking head drops. It takes two of them BUT the Glimmering Warlock (shining wizard) ends it.
***ish
Match #14: Petey Williams (c) vs. BJ Whitmer [IWA:MS Heavyweight Championship - First Round Tournament Match]
I have never hated Petey Williams. I just don’t see how, in a company that is able to use a generation of guys who may arguably be the greatest generation of indie workers ever, you pick Petey Williams as your top guy. My issues with BJ’s work are long documented on this site by now. So this stinks. And I don’t like it. And I need this show to end. Fuck you. Canadian Destroyer wins it/retains it for Petey.
3/4*
Ian waddles on out to congratulate Petey. He also wants to announce the second round match ups. Apparently, Ian didn’t believe in doing an actual tournament bracket so he’d just throw first round matches out there and then book on the fly from there? I kind of both love it and hate it. Anyway, second round (and bracket) will be:
Styles/Sydal
Cannon/Petey
Joe/Nigel
Rainman/Daniels
Quack/Webb
Punk/Danielson - (during this, Punk is on commentary going “no whammies no whammies no whammies” and when Ian announces his opponent as Danielson, he lets out “WELL THATS A BIG FUCKING WHAMMY!”)
I also want to point out that Ian is doing all of this in a shirt that says “OPERATION: EXTERMINATE VINCE”.
Rotten also hypes up the rest of the non tournament matches tomorrow including his non sanctioned match with Steve Stone.
NIGHT TWO
Match #1: CJ McManus vs. Billy McNeill vs. Thunderbolt
So I’ve read stories before that Ian would run shows where people would pay HIM to be able to get on and sort of try out, and like 80%+ of the time, the guys would be the drizzling shits. Maybe they’d get booked again, maybe they wouldn’t, I don’t know. I do not have any specific confirmation at the time of writing if THIS match was like that, but it wouldn’t surprise me. Never heard of these dudes names even in passing, and good lord do they fucking suck. Absolutely abysmal match. CJ wins with a superkick on Billy and pins him. Moving on. Die.
1/4*
Post-match, Thunderbolts lays them both out and Punk just buries it on commentary.
Match #2: Jimmy Jacobs (c) vs. Sal Rinauro [IWA:MS Light Heavyweight Championship]
I’m pre-dispostioned to dislike Sal Rinauro because I know he eventually teams with Tony Mamaluke, and fuck Tony Mamaluke. Jacobs sells the “brutality” of the ladder match the night before, namely his back, and they work that as the story of the match, which is fine. Jimmy’s selling and fiery comeback is enough to save this from Sal’s blandness. Jimmy wins with a stiff looking Back Senton.
**1/4
Match #3: Ian Rotten vs. Steve Stone [Unsanctioned Match]
I’ve never seen an Ian Rotten match outside of his ECW run in 93-95. So seeing him ten years later (not that he was some prime athletic specimen back then) is kind of sad. He looks like someone cosplaying as Dirty White Boy Tony Anthony trying to work like an ECW style all while moving around like Abby in 2002 ROH. The only time this pops me is when Chris Candido randomly comes through the side door of the building to beat Ian down with Stone. This really and truly sucked though. Candido hits repeated diving headbutts and leg drops to Ian’s bad match and I guess the match just ends? But then Patti Rotten (Ian’s wife?) comes out with a chair and tries to “chase” Stone’s manager but nothing really happens. ICEBERG then comes out and clears out the heels to help Ian up. This shit is TRASH.
pissing yourself in bed because you were too tired to get up and then just laying in your own piss and there’s piss everywhere
Backstage, Chris Candido cuts a really coked up promo with his face all swollen up and his hair fading. It’s so sad. He’s so young here and honestly he looks like he’s in his late 40s/early 50s. I don’t even want to recap this because I mostly don’t care but also because it’s got me sad for Candido.
Match #4: Rainman vs. Danny Daniels [Quarter Final Round Tournament Match]
Oh man this was rough. Neither of these guys are good. Honestly, and this just may be me being harsh, but I wouldn’t even call either of them close to average. This was like a backyard wrestling match without any real rhyme or reason to any of it and missing all of the charm and spontaneity. Whatever. Finish comes when Daniels tries for a superplex and, while in mid air, Rainman uses his size to turn it into a pin as they land to win. Patheticly bad.
3/4*
Match #5: Samoa Joe vs. Nigel McGuinness [Quarter Final Round Tournament Match]
This wasn’t bad but I know their future matches in ROH will deliver far more. Nigel tries a lot of the mat work he did yesterday with Claudio and Joe meets him halfway on that. So in frustration, Nigel goes into striking exchanges which ultimately leads to his downfall. A solid but effective story. Nigel is able to get a lucky shot in on Joe and begin to do some arm work. But after a bit, Joe just works his way through it and hits a series of devastating knees to the head and neck of a grounded Nigel before locking on The Choke to win.
***
Match #6: Team FIST (Gran Akuma/Icarus) & Trik Davis vs. Hallowicked, Jigsaw & Larry Sweeney [CHIKARA Showcase]
I don’t know enough about these guys or about CHIKARA lore that pre or post dates this match to really be able to give you too much information. It was a fast paced, sort of fun spot fest type match. Something that I’d use to wake the crowd up a bit, so maybe this would’ve been saved better for later in the show. But whatever. Everyone gets to do some stuff but it always feels like it’s missing something, like one element that would make this truly good. Hallowicked gets the win for his team with a super fireman’s buster on Icarus.
**
Match #7: AJ Styles vs. Matt Sydal [Quarter Final Round Tournament Match]
This was good, but I can’t wait for their ROH 2005-06 stuff. AJ wastes no time and immediately is all over Sydal with strikes. While Sydal definitely gets some of his shit in, this is mostly to show Styles dominating and eventually moving on in the tournament. Great flippy stuff from both guys but every time Sydal pulls out something pretty, like his Corkscrew Moonsault dive, Styles is able to answer back 10x harder, and the eventual wear and tear just builds up to a point beyond saving for Sydal. His last ditch effort was a hurricanrana off the top, which Styles caught and immediately countered into a terrific looking Styles Clash for the win.
***
In a bit of an intermission, Ian Rotten comes waddling out in a sling with a mic and says that saying he is disappointed in Chris Candido would be an understatement. He's known him for all of 13 years, and if he ever needed a job, all he had to do was call him. He thought they were friends, it's why he's one of the only boys in this business who hasn't screwed Tammy (yeah, that’s why.) He says Steve Stone and Chris Candido are a hell of a team, but he has connections in this business. He could have gotten Dr. Tom or some recently fired Adonis (who?), so on 10/23 at the 8th Anniversary Show, it'll be the two of them taking on Ian Rotten AND DUSTY RHODES. Hahahahaha what the hell even is this promotion?
Match #8: Lacey vs. Mercedes Martinez vs. MsChif vs. Daizee Haze vs. Rain vs. Mickie Knuckles [Non Title Match]
This was okay, but it was kind of a mess. It starts out decent when they’re all paired off in some pretty decent pairings but once it comes time to start eliminating people, it loses any sort of rhyme or reason. I can’t fault it too much: it’s a 2000’s lower card indie match. That’s just the name of the game. Mercedes eliminates Rain with a Fisherman's Buster off the top, and like moments later also eliminates Mickie Knuckles with a Saito Suplex. Hell yeah. Some more hubbabaloo (is that a word?) and then Lacey gets rid of Haze with a decent Impaler. Something clicks and Mercedes really starts bringing the match down. First, she does maybe the worst Chaos Theory I’ve ever seen anyone do on Lacey to eliminate her. Then, her and MsChif have kind of an overly long exchange that MsChif is supposed to control in kayfabe but in reality, Mercedes is just all over the place and it’s not really clicking. MsChif mercifully gets the win with the Desecrator.
*1/2
Match #9: Petey Williams (c) vs. Arik Cannon [IWA:MS Heavyweight Championship - Quarter Final Round Tournament Match]
My problem with this match is two fold. Again, Petey really isn’t that great of a worker. He gets to be passable if not good within a couple of years in TNA, but at this point, it ain’t happening. The second thing is, Cannon wants to wrestle a style that he really doesn’t seem cut out to do. A lot of mat based and striking stuff. It’s fine, but it feels like he could be way better at some other forms of the business if he focused there instead. And a bonus third, Cannon wanting to have that type of match with a superior opponent (someone who can carry him to it) is fine, but as I keep saying, Petey is NOT that guy, pal. He’s not that guy. Even the crowd seems to think so. Last night I thought they were just restless because they sat through five hours just to get to a main event of Petey Williams vs. BJ Whitmer. Here I can tell: they just really don’t like Petey or his run as champion. Cannon is supposed to be a pretty big heel in the territory but the crowd is firmly behind him. In fact, the crowd goes NUCLEAR when Cannon beats Petey with the Glimmering Warlock, because not only does Cannon advance in the tournament, but he’s beaten Petey for the belt!
*3/4
Match #10: Mike Quackenbush vs. Nate Webb [Quarter Final Round Tournament Match]
Quack gets a pretty decent match out of Webb here. Quack tries to keep it to the mat and Webb will have none of that shit, going for more high risked based offense, perhaps hoping for one of those lucky kill strikes. In order to calm him down like an insolent toddler (jk omg lol), Quack begins stretching him on the mat, variating between a few different types of neat looking holds. Nate fights through and keeps going for big stuff but can’t connect and due to the work over he’s gotten from Quack, starts to actually miss stuff. This comes into play the finish where Webb misses a big splash and Quack locks him up in the Lightning Lock to win. Honestly fun.
***ish
Match #11: CM Punk vs. Bryan Danielson [Quarter Final Round Tournament Match]
I haven’t seen any of their ROH matches yet to be able to compare, so I can’t believe I’m about to say this — I didn’t enjoy this as much as I enjoyed their matches in WWE, when both were firmly in the top part of the “best in the world” discussions. I’m kind of bummed because I for sure thought the knee injury from yesterday would play into this more but it really didn’t. And I guess to sort of make his friend feel included, Danielson decided to mostly take this match off from selling as well! Nice! A lot of good, solid mat exchanges that would make Jim Ross pound off under the desk. They start to speed it up and Punk is able to get a quick piledriver out of nowhere and immediately goes to work on Danielson’s neck which should help, theoretically, not just weaken Danielson on the mat but prevent him from being able to lock in the Cattle Mutilation. Right? Well, Bryan works his way out of the mat work and starts throwing strikes and they get into a really good back and fourth exchange that Punk gets the best of. They brawl to the floor where Danielson briefly gets the advantage with this fun bullshit:
Punk sets up the Pepsi Plunge but Danielson does this reckless ass backdrop out of it sending Punk falling all the way to the mat. Danielson then works Punk over and, in continuing his theme of not really selling this match, locks on the Cattle Mutilation without a single bit of an issue, and Punk taps. Good, but not great, and they do so much better.
***
Match #12: Brad Bradley/Ryan Boz (c) vs. Tank/Iceberg vs. Wild Cards (Eddie Kingston/Jack Marciano) [IWA:MS Tag Team Championships]
Baby Eddie! But oh man, this seems like it will stank. All love to Tank, who won me over at DEAN~!!! last week, but Iceberg fucking sucks and they’re not a good team. Once this really starts to pick up and become more of a brawl, it’s at least fun even if it’s not good. Eddie Kingston breaks out a moonsault dive, which is an INSANE thought for someone to have who’s only been watching him since 2019, and that starts your standard indie dive train spot which is all nice and fun. As we continue, Kingston and Marciano start to get completely dismantled and destroyed by the other two teams. Like it’s fantastic but holy fuck it’s a fight. But somehow they keep running their mouths and that is what’s keeping them in this. Because the other two teams get so angry they want to keep punishing them instead of pinning them. Eventually though, that backfires as Kingston blinds Bradley with SHOOT POWDER and when a blinded Bradley goes to lariat Eddie, EDDIE PULLS BOZ IN TO TAKE THE HIT! Tank then MURDERS Bradley with a Chokebreaker. He tries to move quick and get Marciano up top for his finish, BUT EDDIE POWERBOMBS TANK OFF THE MIDDLE ROPE AND HIM AND MARCIANO USE THE QUEBECERS LE CANNONBALL AND GET THE WIN. Did not DID NOT see me enjoying this match as I started watching/writing. But fuck me I was wrong.
***
Match #13: Samoa Joe vs. Rainman [Semi Final Round Tournament Match]
ABSOLUTE MURDER AS THIS BULLSHIT FAIRYTALE COMES TO AN END. JOE KILLS HIM WITH A VICIOUS LARIAT OFF A ROPES SEQUENCE. MY GOD. MAYBE LESS THAN A MINUTE.
*
Tournament booking, baby! Your big nasty monster is apparently as fresh as daisy with even more time to relax now!
Match #14: AJ Styles vs. Arik Cannon [Semi Final Round Tournament Match]
So I noticed that unlike Petey’s two matches in the tournament where he defended the belt (which is apparently IWA:MS tradition), it’s not explicitly said if Cannon is doing that here? I could’ve missed it but we’ll see. AJ is brutal right away, trying to do the same game plan he had for Rave. He goes for an early styles clash off of catching Cannon in a corner charge & jump, but Cannon holds on to the ropes for dear life and eventually body scissors AJ out of the ring. Nice. Cannon has a decent enough control period and is creative in avoiding a lot of AJ’s bigger stuff, which makes the ending great when a simple miscalculation leads to AJ devastating him with a discus lariat to win!
***ish
Post match, AJ has the belt and is announced as the NEEEEEWWWW IWA:MS CHAMPION! He poses with it…but the ref rips it away! And then Cannon rips it away from the ref and bails to the floor. He grabs mic and says unlike that shit head Petey Williams, he NEVER agreed to put his title on the line, so AJ can enjoy wrestling another match tonight, he’s going home as champion! I LOVE THAT. Ian then hobbles out on a mic and says fuck that because on 10/23 at the anniversary show, it’ll be STYLES VS. CANNON II FOR THE BELT! GREAT booking, honest to god.
Match #15: Bryan Danielson vs. Mike Quackenbush [Semi Final Round Tournament Match]
On commentary, Prazak wonders if we’ll hear a pre match promo from Quackenbush, and Punk does a shitty Donald Duck voice and maybe it’s just the delirium kicking in from watching this event going on to the beginning of hour EIGHT (watching on 1.5x), but that was really funny. But this is stellar. Quack lets it be known he knows way more about technique, and how to escape said technique, than Bryan does and he uses it to his advantage. Bryan, in turn, gets to just be overly aggressive and nasty. That big bully character I referenced earlier in regards to him and AJ. Bryan lays in wait like a snake, sort of letting Quack do as he pleases on the mat, as long as it doesn’t put Bryan in too precarious of a position. The more Bryan can get Quack to wear himself down physically, the easier it’ll be for Bryan to pick the bones. Bryan then begins to transition nicely into some really beautiful arm work that Quack sells incredibly well. And the best part is, because Quack was more mat based and focused on wearing Bryan down and out wrestling him, he really didn’t have a weak enough body part to revisit on Bryan to try and sneak back to and secure a last minute win. So good. Bryan finally traps Quack in the Cattle Mutilation, but Quack holds on for a SURPRISINGLY long time. So Bryan needs to go for the kill shot, there’s that phrase again, and he ROLLS QUACK OVER INTO A DOUBLE CHICKEN WING PIN, ALL THAT PRESSURE ON QUACK’S HURT AM, AND HE STAYS DOWN FOR THREE!
****
So now the stage is set for the TPI 2004 Finals, Styles/Bryan/Joe. Oh baby.
Match #16: BJ Whitmer vs. Alex Shelley vs. Austin Aries vs. Chris Sabin vs. Claudio Castagnoli vs. Jimmy Rave vs. Todd Sexton [Seven Way Elimination Match]
Not that I’m begging for any match to get more time at this point but it’s kind of funny this got just barely 10 minutes when you could’ve started the show with it and axed the shitty women’s scramble and the three way of the untrained dudes. But whatever. Ian is Ian. Typical indie shit. Spot fest, dive train, near falls. You know. Quick order here: Sabin eliminates Saxton with a Cop Killa. That’s right. Aries escapes another Cop Killa attempt and hits a brainbuster then a 450 from the top to get rid of Sabin. Shelley then starts fighting with Aries and gets him with a quick roll up to eliminate him. Claudio/Shelley then duke it out. Claudio gets Shelley out with a Swiss Sleeper. Hmm. Don’t like where this is headed. BJ hits a really bad shining wizard on Claudio and he’s gone. Yep it’s going the bad way. Rave is the only other guy left, they do some stuff, but it’s BJ’s match to lose and he makes sure that doesn’t happen when he hits the wrist clutch exploder to win. Whatever.
**
Match #17: Bryan Danielson vs. AJ Styles vs. Samoa Joe [Ted Petty Invitational 2004 Finals - Three Way Elimination Match]
This was an absolute blast. I mean, talk about your star studded affair to close out your big weekend. This fucking delivers. Tons of good, violent, brutal strikes by everybody. They’re selling good, both the shots in the match and their specific levels of exhaustion. Joe is definitely more fresh having skirted past Chavis in less than a minute compared to Styles in a ten minute fight and Bryan in a 17 minute mat contest with Quack. Bryan tries sticking to the same game plan he’s had all tournament, trying to work both men up for eventual submissions, since this is an elimination three way. But he’s just about out of gas, so Joe just waits the punishment out before nailing Bryan with a Muscle Buster to eliminate him.
Joe/AJ get some time here, like around 5 minutes, to do what they would go on to do best over the next 2-3 years over in TNA. It’s great stuff. Joe is in full control but AJ doesn’t have any quit in him, and Joes just hitting harder and harder as the match goes on. But AJ gets lucky ducking Joe’s big lariat and nailing him with a NASTY Blackout Kick and both men are down. AJ is selling the leg as he goes up top but Joe is quick to catch him and tries the super muscle buster, but AJ slips out and lands on his feet! Joe goes for a quick kick, BUT AJ CATCHES HIM AND SETS UP THE STYLES CLASH…BUT HE CAN’T LIFT HIM AND HIS LEG GIVES OUT. Joe comes back, connecting with a big quick kick this time. He goes up top again and brings AJ with him, but AJ sweeps his legs apart and pulls him out and down into a power bomb set up, AGAIN trying for the Styles Clash, but he can’t plant his feet right and Joe’s too close to the ropes, so he drops him. AJ takes a step away and adjusts himself. He moves quick as Joe stumbles up, and THIS time AJ gets him up for the STYLES CLASH INTO A PINFALL! AJ WINS THE TOURNEY *AND* ENDS THE APPARENT UNDEFEATED STREAK JOE HAD IN IWA THAT I WAS UNAWARE OF UNTIL RIGHT NOW!
***3/4
Post match, everyone is out to congratulate AJ. Petey goes to hug him, BUT THEN HITS HIM WITH A CANADIAN DESTROYER! Ian lunges at Petey (who feared for his life) and Petey bails. Prazak brings up AJ/Petey having beef in TNA currently so maybe that’s why.
AJ is back up and cuts a very long, dry thank you promo to the crowd and his opponents. Ian then takes the mic to make sure AJ knows he’s very good looking with a sexy face and body. I’m not joking. He ends by reminding him that he is Phenomenal.
So overall, there was a lot of good stuff here. I definitely understand the shows legendary status. To me, the tournament booking itself, while fun at times, doesn’t get this to be a GOAT candidate in terms of best tournaments ever in wrestling. Not saying it’s bad there’s just a lot of other, better formatted and booked tournaments. What this one had going for it is it has better participants than about 90% of other tournaments I’ve seen, and thus, better matches. The BAD stuff with this company isn’t like ROH (which isn’t bad stuff it’s boring stuff which can be worse), and thus it’s hard to sort of ignore. You go from some of the best indie wrestlers/overall wrestlers in history having these epics, to shit like Chavis or Tank/Iceberg (bless them) or even the Rottenverse shit, which at least seems to be mostly kept isolated.
I’ll definitely continue to watch IWA:MS one off matches, but it might be a while before I watch a whole show again. This is a total of 10+ hours of footage that even on 1.5x speed (when you add on brief breaks, eating dinner earlier, etc) took me 8 hours and 42 minutes to watch. So I’ve kind of had my fill.
You perverts better enjoy. Or at least read it.
Die.
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