The Furious Flashbacks – IWA-MS Ted Petty Invitational 2003

The Furious Flashbacks – IWA-MS Ted Petty Invitational 2003

The TPI reaches its second year and the field gets larger

Seeing as these shows are always really long I’m going to save some time by skipping over the intro and getting right into the crux of the action. As you’ve seen from my previous reviews this is the 4th Sweet Science tournament IWA-MS have run. 2002 saw the tournament re-named as the Ted Petty Invitational and the numbers involved increase for 2003 to 24 making this a three pronged bracket. 2002 also saw CM Punk defend his IWA-MS title throughout the tournament, which although dependant on the champion would become a theme.

November 7th 2003.

We’re in Salem, Indiana. Hosts are Dave Prazak & Chris Hero.

Sal Rinauro v Jimmy Jacobs w/Becky Bayliss

To their credit we go right into the matches suggesting they learned to edit this year, which I have to say is a HUGE relief. Sal is even smaller than during his ROH run. He’s in his second year as a pro and hails from Hollywood, Salifornia. I miss Jacobs coming out to “The Touch” from Transformers: The Movie. And the HUSS. And the top rope business. These guys are well suited to each other because of their size. Sal grabs a leg and strokes the furry boots. “Nice kitty”. Jacobs with the SURPRISE HUSS! Sal tries the same thing but Jacobs bites the hand. HUSS COUNTER! They do some nice standing counters into a neckbreaker for Jacobs. Jacobs with the senton and the double stomp for 2. Sal has been trying some mind games but Jacobs Brody character doesn’t have much in the way of mind to play games with. They do some nice switches again and Sal hits a Stunner for 2. Their counters start getting a little sloppy into a Sal neckbreaker for 2. Slingshot suplex gets 2. Then another neckbreaker, this time over the knee. Sal has been very focused for a guy that usually just pops off spots. Sal tries to double stomp the neck but Jacobs counters into a powerbomb. That was NEAT. Jacobs with a backbreaker into a sloppy bulldog. Russian legsweep gets 2. Final cut gets 2. They’re upping the pace now into a finishing sequence. They counter up top and Sal comes out with the Savage elbow for 2. They counter some more and this time its downright ugly. Sal gets a stomp to the neck for 2. Sal shakes his package at Becky. Sal goes for a springboard but Jacobs BIG BOOTS HIM LEGIT for the pin. That was an awesome finish because he just kicked him HARD as he was coming down. **1/2. Nice quick paced opener but they started by working body parts even if it didn’t go anywhere so it wasn’t a total spotfest. It degenerated somewhat though and their chaining got worse as the match went on. Sal was very green though so it’s no shock.

Brad Bradley v Nigel McGuinness

Bradley is a big guy. Thick set. Given his size it’s probably no shock to the readers to learn he’s made his way to the WWE’s feeder leagues. He’s currently competing as Jay Bradley. He controls Nigel with power to start this but Nigel figures him out quickly and gets the arm. Brad has some technical skills of his own and manages to counter BUT Nigel is way too good and dishes out some sweet reversals. Brad is out of his league on the mat and on standing counters. The one counter where he waves to show his one hand is free and when Bradley reaches for it he gets countered is brilliant. Brad boots Nigel down and suplexes him for 2. That’s the raw power advantage that Bradley has. I think he wanted to make it seem like he could hang with Nigel on the mat but when that failed he just went back to his game plan. Bradley connects with a lot of solid big man stuff although his spinebuster is a little bit loose. I can see why the WWE would be interested. BACKDROP DRIVER! That’s pretty hardcore. Nigel bumped it really well but gets the ropes to prevent the pin. Nigel starts confusing Bradley with quick pins but gets booted into a powerbomb for 2. He made that look like a legitimate finisher. Brad wants a lariat but Nigel ducks it and dives on top for an unorthodox pin. Nigel advances. **1/4. Interesting match with some great clash of styles stuff going on. Nigel looked really fresh back in 2003 so it gave the fans something to cheer. Bradley looked pretty good too.

Tracey Smothers v Ian Rotten

Smothers is missing because of a family emergency. Mickie Knuckles decides to interject herself into the Sweet Science tournament. Hero & Prazak laugh. Ian tells her she’s done wrestling men and tells her to go to the back and he’ll take the forfeit. Mickie says she’s lost respect for Ian so Ian is all “fine, let’s go”.

Ian Rotten v Mickie Knuckles

And yes Ian is competing in the tournament this year. He’s not a bad technical wrestler. He just rarely works that style because he’s more adjusted to the hardcore style. I’ve seen him have decent matches. Passable. Not great. Mickie lays in forearms so Ian nails her with one. Ian with a chop. That’s just nasty. The fans are not enjoying this. Its not fun to watch. Ian with headbutts. TECHNICAL WRESTLING~~~! Crossfaces. This is downright unpleasant. Kick to the groin. Clothesline. This is repugnant. Brainbuster. Ian with elbows to the neck and then he fishhooks the mouth. This is completely uncalled for. If I had any respect for Ian as a wrestler this would probably be the point where I’d lose it. I can understand what they’re trying for; showing Mickie as a fighter, a survivor. But Ian has only gone for one pin and has been striking and not wrestling. That makes him a complete asshole. He could just use his size and experience to outwrestle her but instead he’s being a prick. Ian eventually gets tired of Mickie surviving and head drops her with a dragon suplex. Mickie puts her foot on the ropes. “It’s not worth it” chant the crowd. Ian with the dropkick to the face in the corner. That was sick on a man. On a woman it’s disgusting. Double arm DDT gets 2. I really want this to end. Or better still never have happened. Worse still they have a female referee so the ref can’t stop Ian from having his way with Mickie. Double arm DDT with a wedgie finishes. DUD. I’m not offended because nothing offends me but I am repulsed. Sickening match.

Todd Sexton v AJ Styles

Todd is in his mid-20’s and known as the “Technician”. He’s a little skinny to get anywhere but he’s from Wildside where he’s fought AJ before. AJ is by this point a former NWA champion. That gives him enormous credibility. They show their familiarity with various roll up’s and counters. Sexton is that little bit slower but he knows AJ’s tactics and has probably spent a lot of time preparing for this one. So he’s able to catch AJ on some of his patented offence and hits a great neckbreaker through the ropes. Ultimately AJ is too good though and outclasses Sexton for the majority of the match. His dropsault lands out of nowhere. Backbreaker into a gutbuster and AJ is controlling Sexton. But Sexton does a fantastic counter where he arm whips AJ face first into the mat and then hooks up a flipping chinlock, which looks like a choke. Sexton gets a cravat and AJ can’t free himself. AJ lands some kicks and Sexton knows he can’t take too many of those and counters one into the fisherman buster for 2. AJ has clearly had enough and breaks out the DISCUS LARIATOOOOO! Sexton flip bumped it but he didn’t need to because AJ tagged him with it. AJ out-strikes Sexton so Sexton grabs a full nelson to stop him moving. PELE KICK! This is the point where you get the feeling whatever Sexton does AJ will always have an answer for it. AJ hits the quebrada inverted DDT for 2. He nailed that too. Smooth as you like. Sexton blocks the Styles Clash and that looked like a botch. To the ropes and Sexton hits a messy neckbreaker off the middle. There really wasn’t space to hit that move. AJ is too close to the ropes though and survives. He hauls Sexton into the Styles Clash through sheer power and that obviously finishes. **1/2. Very not bad. Too many mistakes for two guys that know each other well but Sexton did some good work in there to give AJ a different challenge.

Jonny Storm v M-Dogg 20

This is going to be flippy. They start by running the International with flips. Crowd are psyched. Dropkick duel. Indy standoff! Japanese armdrag with flip from M-Dogg. I never liked the Japanese armdrag. It’s a convoluted bump. M-Dogg makes a standing moonsault look much better. Told you this would be flippy. They blow a sequence with Storm falling off M-Dogg’s shoulders but they do some nice improvisation to cover for it. M-Dogg goes for a wheelbarrow but Storm counters into a DDT. M-Dogg bails and Storm hits a tope. This has been entirely high-flying spotwork so far. It often irks me when I see Storm work these matches when I know he can wrestle. Michinoku driver from Storm and the 2nd rope moonsault gets 2. As you can see this match is just one flip after another. Some people like that though. If you do you’ll like this match. Storm’s able selling allows M-Dogg to believably set up far more of his stuff than usual. Like the Arabian press to the floor. M-Dogg springboards back inside but gets caught in a sitout powerbomb. REWIND RANA! That gets 2. Storm’s selling again helps M-Dogg to set up a split legged corkscrew senton for 2. Swinging DDT from M-Dogg gets 2. This would be the finishing section in any other match but they’ve been hitting spots throughout. M-Dogg blocks the Wonderwhirl once but the second time finishes. **. A fun spotfest. Crowd dig it.

Nate Webb v Sonjay Dutt

This match is also for the IWA-MS Light Heavyweight title of Sonjay Dutt. Webb dives up into the commentary position to tell Dave Prazak that this will be the greatest match of all time. Webb’s entrance is almost Undertaker-like in terms of length. These guys have the sense to start off a little slower after the spot heavy match that preceded this. They do some dancing then chain a little. They waistlock counter at speed until they end up down. This gets a little too goofy as they yell at each other and Dutt sells it to the apron. They counter some more into Webb’s crazy 50’s dance off. ARMDRAGS! Drink! They get a little sloppy doing a near misses sequence. I can see what they were going for but it didn’t really work out. The guys in the last match did the same sort of thing only smoother. Webb’s style is somewhat unorthodox. He’s all limbs. Dutt bails but stupidly stands around waiting for Webb to hit him with a moonsault. Webb blows a 619 on the floor twice. Dutt with a missile dropkick for 2. I like Nate Webb and yet I’m well aware he’s not a good wrestler. I just admire his character and effort. I think the big problem is I don’t buy his offence. It’s all over the place. And most of Dutt’s offence is slapdash. So this match is basically a mess with the odd moment of greatness. Dutt clocks up one with an elbow drop across the ring. Spicy! He also nails the Phoenix Splash, which finishes Webb off. *1/2. Uneven and Webb wasn’t in good form at all. Dutt’s more flashy offence and smoother wrestling skills make him the obvious choice to advance.

Arik Cannon w/Alison Danger v Chris Hero

Cannon’s shiny outfit reminds me of Chris Hamrick. These guys have some nice counters in their locker thus creating some of the best technical wrestling since Nigel was out here. Hero goes to the cravat that he’s so fond of. Hero decides to wrestle circles around Cannon and it’s really impressive and must be de-moralising for Cannon. The ease of it for Hero makes him look a favourite in this tournament. Cannon barely has openings and Hero controls mainly with a cravat. Cannon gets some nice counters on the mat though and they work an assortment of counters. Hero is far more focused looking for either the neck or the arm. Cannon just gets whatever he can. Hero gets a cross armbreaker but Cannon gets the ropes. Cannon makes a point of working heel by ragging on the crowd although the basis of everything is technical holds and counter holds, which is ideal for the tournament. Hero works a Goku Raku but Cannon does a great job of countering it by flipping over Hero’s head. With the technical stuff getting neither guy an advantage they go to chop each other. Cannon tries to go back to wrestling but Hero chops him down. Hero stomps the ribs and he’s really showing Cannon a thing or two here. Not only does he possess a wide range of technical skills, beyond Cannon’s abilities, but he’s also superior in striking because he’s studied such a wide range of wrestling attributes. Cannon steps up with a series of vicious forearms. Now he gets some focus by going after the leg, although his first dropkick to the leg hit a little too high. Cannon gets a half crab in a lousy ring position. When Hero gets the ropes Cannon goes right back to the leg. Cannon’s new strategy sees his best moments in the match as Hero is completely grounded. Alison chooses this moment to interject herself by choking Hero on the ropes and slapping him. Kick a man when he’s down why dontcha? Cannon’s offensive streak is broken when he leaves his arm open. Hero looks to remove it from his shoulder but Alison pushes the rope nearer so Cannon can get out. The story of this match is developing nicely. 15 minutes gone now. Cannon goes back to the knee and dropkicks it a couple of times. Hero is so big though he’s able to hit a lariat from his knees on the smaller Cannon. Hero lays in some forearms and manages a big boot. If he’d sold on the boot that his standing leg couldn’t support him I’d have marked. He didn’t, just limped afterwards. Cannon escapes the Hangman’s Clutch and pops off a German suplex. Hero looks a little glassy eyed so Cannon hits another German suplex and a rolling elbow for 2. Cannon counters the Hero’s Welcome by kicking the knee out. Nice. Glimmering Warlock (a Shining Enzuigiri) gets 2. Alison goes after Hero again but he grabs her and the heels miscue in lame fashion. You can actually hit her Arik. Cannon distracts the ref and goes low but Hero counters into the HERO’S WELCOME. He rolls through into the HANGMAN’S CLUTCH and Cannon taps out. ***1/2. Now will Hero sell the knee in the next round? That’s the big question. I liked the body part work and the countering although Hero was a bit too good to get caught like he did in a long match.

Chris Sabin v Alex Shelley

OHHH! Machine Guns collide! They start with smooth chaining and it shows that both these guys are the real deal. Sabin is just a touch loose but compared to everyone else on this show it’s hardly noticeable. The standing counters are mesmerising as it goes from arm to arm in an assortment of different ways. Shelley is borderline lucha in some of his floatovers. He goes after the Border City Stretch but Sabin recognises the hold and quickly gets into the ropes before it’s applied. Sabin gets a version of the nip up rana and they keep the counters coming at speed before both going for armdrags at the same time. Crowd applauds and they’re really into this in a quiet respectful Japanese manner. All eyes on the ring! Shelley works the arm until Sabin knocks his arms away and hits a chop then some knees. Sabin is the first to up the pace but Shelley is ready for him and catches him with a neckbreaker for 2. He feels he’s better on the mat and takes it back there. Shelley works in some knees to the back of the neck that don’t look good but he persists with them. Sabin tries hard to sell it but can’t really do much. Shelley goes after the Border City Stretch again but again Sabin sees it coming and gets the ropes. They counter around the ropes and Sabin hits a springboard elbow smash to knock Shelley outside. Sabin follows with a slingshot hilo. “HAIL SABIN!” Back inside Sabin hits a slingshot rana for 2. Northern Lights for 2. There hasn’t been much in the way of transitions going on here, which is unfortunate but otherwise the pacing is getting there. Sabin powers Shelley up into a backbreaker. That was mighty impressive strength. Shelley gets a tornado DDT after springboarding off the bottom rope when it was first blocked. That was nice too. Springboard spinning heel kick from Sabin gets 2. The double downs are coming into this now, which should please Glenn Gilberti. They trade forearms and we get a full on brawl. Sabin sort of wins and they both fall. They get back into countering and Sabin hits the wind up urinage over his knee. He calls that the Bum Rush. No idea why. Or why he has names for about a dozen moves. They counter again standing and Shelley wins out with a German suplex. Shelley wants the Step Kick but Sabin blocks it and hits his own Step Kick! Touche! Sabin comes off the top but lands in the SHELL SHOCK…for 2. BORDER CITY STRETCH! Sabin isn’t aware of his ring positioning or he’d move backwards and get the rope. Instead he tries for the other rope and can’t get there. Sabin taps out. Shelley advances. ***1/2. Great counter wrestling but it was lacking that special something to take it to the next level. Two great wrestlers though so it’s no shock this is the best match in the tournament so far.

JC Bailey v B-Boy

B-Boy just won the 2003 Best of the Best in CZW. He’s debuting in the IWA this evening. The crowd know him from tapes and do his entrance bit. Bailey can do high spots but that’s about it. It’ll be up to B-Boy to hold this one together. Bailey shows a little more technical wrestling than I’m used to seeing from him. He tries to take out the legs to stop B-Boy’s kicks. It doesn’t work. B-Boy kicks the shit out of him. Bailey comes back with his own pussy kicks. B-Boy FOREARMS HIS FACE OFF. DON’T YOU BRING THAT PUSSY ASS SHIT, FAGGOT!!! So yeah, JC Bailey is dead. Bailey manages a weak tope about a minute later. He’s REALLY outclassed here. The only pleasure I’m getting from this match is when B-Boy wails on the scrawny kid. You know that boot MVP does in the corner? Well B-Boy kinda does that but instead he boots him under the chin so Bailey’s head rocks backwards. Then he dropkicks him in the face. It’s a fine line between beating up some scrawny kid and beating up a woman but this legalised version of murder is far more entertaining. There’s a feeling that if you’re a man and you get in the ring with someone like B-Boy then you can expect to get your ass handed to you. B-Boy double stomps him off the apron and then ties Bailey up in an attempt to get a tap. CHOP! I feel a little bad for him now. But at least B-Boy is trying to win the match and is willing to take the same abuse off Bailey. Like taking a double stomp off the top. Flatliner from B-Boy and that’s the first thing he’s done that’s NOT been strongstyle. Bailey is resorting to cheeky roll up’s in an attempt to get an upset. B-Boy has way too much left to take a job even when Bailey breaks out an inverted DDT. Bailey lands a few forearms. Nothing nasty. Neckbreaker sets up the leg jam but B-Boy kicks out of that too. Bailey gets desperate and pops off a German suplex. But he’s tired from hitting so much stuff. B-Boy isn’t. RELEASE SUPLEX INTO THE BUCKLES! Double down. Brainbuster gets 2. Bailey keeps kicking out but B-Boy hasn’t unleashed anything unpleasant yet. Bailey avoids the Shining Wizard so B-Boy BACKDROP DRIVERS him. Bailey just about gets his eyes open to see B-Boy’s knee about an inch from his nose. POW! SHINING WIZARDOOOOOOOOOOO! **. Nice concept of badass v guts. JC took an ass-kicking in that one. B-Boy brought the strongstyle big time. Ian Rotten comes out here to put himself over. “Next time you let someone hit you like that and don’t hit him back, your ass is mine” – @ JC. B-Boy looks unimpressed by the booker but accepts a hug from Ian on the way out. B-Boy sure kicked JC Bailey’s ass in the match.

Colt Cabana v Jimmy Rave

Colt has the audience in the palm of his hand before we even start. He pretends to fall off the apron and then kicks the announcer in the back of the leg before mocking all the Rave’s warm ups by doing them exactly the same. We call this the MIRROR JERK! Rave does goofy babyface clapping. “They came to see a tournament let’s make them happy” – Colt while doing a mocking clap in the same style. Colt grabs a hammerlock referring to a fan as a “tard” in the process. Rave doesn’t know what to make of Colt’s comedy and even less so of his unusual roll up’s. He sorts it out by suplexing Colt on his head off a belly to belly. Colt takes a breather to recover from that because it was a shoot. Colt grinds at a goofy looking headlock. Is this a rib on Jimmy Rave? Rave gets a nice reversal into a cross armbreaker but Colt gets the ropes. Rave gives Colt a receipt for the headlock but can’t take him over and Colt does a great counter into a roll up for 2. Rave tries to come off the top but gets caught in a powerslam. Colt seems to have the match completely in control and then occasionally does something really goofy that costs him. Otherwise he’d be able to put Rave away easy. Rave gets a crucifix into the crossface but Colt is in the ropes. Ref has bad positioning on a couple of things there. Colt with the flying butt attack for 2. Poor Jimmy Rave. Another victim of Cabana’s goofiness. IRON CLAW! HAHAHAHA. God, I love the Iron Claw. Love it. Rave tries for a diving DDT but Colt blocks him into a bearhug then turns that into a capture suplex for 2. Cabana’s influences in this match are extremely varied. It makes him a hell out of a lot of fun to watch. Colt overpowers Rave and Jimmy has to try some striking. He counters a sunset flip into a running knee strike. POW! I love those running knees. Colt is selling for Rave now. The goofiness is lessened. Rave hits a running knee to the back, which is great and he should do that more often. That gets 2. Colt invents a new move setting for a backbreaker but then turning it into a driver. Rave lands on his neck. Rave can’t kick out because Colt jacks him up for a powerbomb. He tries it again but uses too much energy and gets rana’d. This has been a hard hitting back and forth match. Colt unloads with some chops but there’s less behind them now. He tries a Johnny Saint tribute but lands in an armbar. Colt rolls out of it. Rave counters into the FROM DUSK TIL DAWN! Colt is stuck in the middle of the ring and has to bite Rave’s hand to break the hold. It was that or tap. Colt looks like he’s stopped playing and looks for the Colt 45 but Rave reverses it into a backslide to get the upset win! ***. Colt’s confusing psychology aside that was a lot of fun. His offence was really varied but Rave gutted it out. Because Colt didn’t put him away he left himself open for the surprise loss.

Ken Anderson v Danny Daniels w/Jim Fannen

ANDERSON! If you did this match now who do you think would be more likely to grab the mic? Well, its 2003 so Daniels gets a promo. He points out the title was defended every match last year at the TPI. He puts the title on the line.

IWA-MS title – Danny Daniels (c) v Ken Anderson

Ken celebrates with the belt before we even start. He has those same back to back K tights he wears now. Of course then it meant Kamikaze Ken as opposed to Ken Kennedy. Ken gets a waistlock and Daniels can’t shake him. Anderson looks really muscular here. Jim Fannen rather humorously calls it “steroids”. HAHAHA. Daniels does a good job of holding this together but Anderson has tremendous potential and it shows here. Not just psychically but his ring presence is great. Daniels bails out to confer with his manager again. Ken hits his version of the Hurricane Kick here. Not quite so much air on it but the process was the same. Daniels tries to DDT Anderson to the floor but Ken counters and clotheslines him back inside. KENTON BOMB gets knees. They trade on chops but Daniels boots Anderson in the hand to stop that. That was clever too. Daniels gets some serious armbar work on. He gets a bit confused and can’t get it Fujiwara style like I’m sure he would like to. Ken can’t power out of it. Ken lays in a few punches to the ass causing the fans to chant “donkey punch”. Hah, close. Ken’s arm is fucked after that long armbar and Daniels hits the Shoulder Stunner looking for the cross armbreaker. Ken blocks it with his superior strength but Daniels has great leverage. Ken gets ambitious and tries to go up top but Daniels dropkicks him off. Daniels with a pescado but he comes up short on that and Ken looks an idiot for catching him. Back inside Daniels hits a missile dropkick for 2. He’s using the ropes a lot more than usual in an attempt to keep Ken on the back foot. Ken escapes a crucifix into a Piggyback Stunner. Now that’s a WWE finisher someone needs to steal. Ken is still a little rough around the edges so a lot of his moves look ugly. Especially the striking. Some smartass fan calls Ken “blown up”. Well, he is but there’s no need to point it out. Daniels with the sunset powerbomb for 2. Daniels with the Rolling Germans. Ken reverses and the difference in muscle is clear when Ken just throws Daniels over on it. It’s easy by comparison. Daniels with a convoluted diving DDT. They’re not having the greatest of matches here. Ken is looking really tired but he’s still strong. But unfortunately the tiredness leaves his striking and transitions and whatnot looking like crap. 15 minutes is too much for him at this stage. Daniels wants a piledriver and NAILS IT for the pin giving Ken a massive wedgie in the process. **. Again this was passable but lacking in too many areas to be good. Probably too long as well.

Michael Shane v Jerry Lynn

This was back when Shane was getting a big push with TNA as the X Division champion and had been getting pushed big in ROH too as well as MLW. And now he’s out of contract with TNA and not getting booked anywhere. Nor does he have a good name anymore. These are big TV stars so they stall a lot. Lynn is too good for Shane here and armdrags Shane around. Shane wants to know what he’s doing. “Wrestling. And the WWF fired me for it” – Lynn. SHOOOOT! Shane stalls some more. And some more. Then rakes the eyes. Lynn does a lot of headlocks and Shane can’t counter them. Lynn with a clothesline and Shane bails to stall again. The commentators are calling for the “moon flip”. Lynn stays patiently in the ring until Shane pisses him off and Lynn runs into a kicking. Shane has specifically come out here to have a match that Indy fans won’t like. I can understand the approach, i.e. being different by being old school, but isn’t it rather pointless? These fans don’t care if you’re a TV star they want you to prove yourself. Lynn tries to skin the cat but Shane shoulders him in the ribs. “Michael Shane is like ‘skin this’” – I think Alex Shelley. Lynn gets his arm worked over. Shane gets pissy about the lack of rules in IWA. The ref barracks him for not being in the ring. “Count me then”. Teach that ref psychology! Lynn with the guillotine legdrop and a slingshot splash for 2. Lynn holds his arm close to his body keeping it safe. Lynn wants a bulldog off the top but that exposes his arm and Shane yanks him off the top by the injured arm. Shane gets some slick arm work in. Where did this guy disappear to? Lynn blocks the cross armbreaker. Lynn hits a lot of stuff with one arm including a backdrop, which is handy psychology. Tornado DDT gets 2 and again only uses the good arm. Lynn makes the mistake of using his bad arm to try and set for something so Shane is able to counter on that bad arm. Ref is bumped. Has no place in a technical tournament. Shane goes low and gets a roll up for 2. And it wasn’t even the finish. FORE-SHAME! Shane gets a cross armbreaker but Lynn has the ropes. Ref is bumped again on a TKO. BOOOOO! Not even a good bump. If you’re going to bump the ref make sure he can take one. Lynn tries for the cradle piledriver but can’t get it because his arm hurts. Shane counters out and hits the superkick…for 2. Shane, being a jerk, goes for a piledriver but Lynn powers out. They counter like crazy into a near falls and right out of that into the cradle piledriver. Lynn advances. But will he sell the arm second round? ***1/4. Was fine until the ref bumps. Strong match. Good psychology and in the end the wrestling was good. But I hate ref bumps in a scientific tournament. They almost killed the match. That’s night one done with btw.

At this point I’m really very happy apart from the usual bullshit from Ian Rotten. The wrestling has been good. There’s been no filler and someone learned how to edit.

November 8th 2003.

Still in Salem. Hosts are Dave Prazak & Alison Danger.

Rain v Mickie Knuckles

Rain is collecting dollars as per usual. Coming out to Courtney Love’s Hole is appropriate. If you catch my drift. You can tell this is 2003 because the fans are doing the “You can’t see me” hand gesture. That’s something smarks abandoned PRETTY quickly. I love how John Cena went from being great to crap overnight because he turned babyface. Ah, fickle wrestling fans. Rain has gained some unsightly puppy fat, which is weird seeing that on the skinniest girl in wrestling. They try and wrestle, which is horrible. Mickie breaks out a half decent clothesline. Rain with some spinal taps (“ow, quit it. Ow, quit it” – Alison). Mickie can’t take a snapmare. Rain ties her in the ropes and starts breaking out the dropkicks to the spine. TIDY! I love people getting abused in wrestling. As long as its not the kind of needless deal with man on woman violence like we had last night. They trade on rough looking forearms. Rain Drop (inverted DDT) gets 2. Well, if Mickie kicked out of all that shit Ian gave her last night she ain’t jobbing to that. Mickie with the Two Amigos for 2. No dice, Chevy Chase. Mickie KILLS Rain with a German suplex for 2. TWO? Are you shitting me? She got planted there. Mickie breaks out a Mutalock. Some of her spots are quite nice but both of these ladies need to know what they’re good at and what they’re not. And they don’t yet. Mickie hasn’t quite got her bridges worked out yet. She has one on a Northern Lights to finish. Northern Lights isn’t a finisher for me. *. It was ok for two inexperienced wrestlers. Alison says she’ll take a gun in there and shoot Mickie if she has to wrestle her.

Back to the tournament.

Jimmy Jacobs w/Becky Bayliss v Ian Rotten

Oh good grief. This cannot go well. Becky is smokin’ out there. Although valets shouldn’t be the same height as the talent they represent. That would leave Jimmy without a valet though unless they hired a midget. Ian is forced to HUSS or Jacobs won’t shake his hand. Ian breaks out an enormous armdrag. He just threw him by the arm. “Hey Jimmy, you’re going over there”. WHOMP. Jacobs gets his own babyface basics but he can’t hit a slam because Ian is too heavy. Jacobs is confused and bails to lift Becky. He doesn’t seem to understand the size difference. R-Tard. Ian does a headstand escape from a headscissors. See? He can wrestle when he wants to. Of course not using his size advantage would be dumb. He runs through Jimmy with a shoulder. Ian really isn’t the quickest on the mat though and he does a jack-knife pin where he doesn’t even get over on it until the ref has already counted 2. They do a headbutt-off. Jimmy loses that but refuses to go down. He tries for the corner 10 count headbutts but Ian cuts him off with a powerbomb. He goes back to the wrestling theme by going after a cross armbreaker. Ian can’t stay in that zone though; back rake. Rottenamania is runnin’ wild dude! Ian tries a corner dropkick but he’s so slow that Jacobs can easily move and Ian charges nothing. Jacobs with the senton for 2. It annoys me when Dave Prazak says “back senton” as if there’s some other kind. What do you think senton means Dave? As I’m writing that Ian gets an ugly fucking roll up to win the match. *1/4. Yeah, I’m loving this run of Ian Rotten matches. Two craptacular matches so far. What were you thinking man?

Jonny Storm v Alex Shelley

Thank Christ, Jonny Storm stopped using that shitty entrance music. Storm collapses by the time he gets in the ring after touring the entire building. They start with some nice counters and Shelley has been the best wrestler on the whole show for those. He ends the opening exchange with a tidy rana that Storm himself applauds. They run the same headstand/headscissors counter as Ian did a minute ago but Shelley adds in a little comedy wave when he gets out. Storm is channelling Johnny Saint so he counters back but Shelley cartwheels around only for Storm to use Saint counters once again. They run the double headstand spot, although not as good as Doug Williams-Johnny Moss (they own that spot), with slapping. Storm fakes a dive but when he charges again Shelley kicks him in the face. That’ll learn ya! Shelley clocks Storm across the nose with a spinning heel kick. DAYUM! Storm rolls outside but Shelley isn’t about to let him get away and hits a plancha. Shelley tries to come off the top but Storm meets him with a dropkick. Storm with a 619 for 2. They head into a near falls then a double clothesline. Shelley makes the mistake of giving Storm space though and he runs right into a sitout powerbomb for 2. Not Storm’s most attractive and well executed move that. Storm with a few girls chops. Double springboard super rana! Or should that be Best. Super Rana. Ever! WONDERWHIRL! Storm is tired and can’t get a good pin so Shelley kicks out. They probably went to that a little early. IT CAME FROM JAPAN (cross armed scoop brainbuster)! Shelley finishes in short order. **3/4. I wanted more! More! Good match but it was just too damn short. It felt like they were having this awesome 20 minute match and instead of finishing it they went home 10 minutes early. Bummer.

IWA title – Danny Daniels (c) v Jimmy Rave

Daniels continues the tradition of defending the title belt in the tournament. Daniels really believes he can beat everyone. He demonstrates how superior he thinks he is by slapping Rave. They work some waistlock reversals. Rave has trouble getting his shoulders off the mat on a knucklelock. Then really telegraphs an armdrag. I guess he’s like this with guys he doesn’t know too well because he’s normally not that bad. Rave works at the arm, as per usual, with armdrags and an attempted Fujiwara. Crowd gets a little excited at that thinking we’ll see a title change. Rave blows a slingshot by falling off the apron and they repeat the spot. Sigh. He’s definitely having an ‘off night’ here. Daniels starts throwing forearms to the back. Rave replies by throwing forearms to the face. Touche, sir, touche. Daniels, not wanting to be outdone, powerbombs Rave on his face. ON HIS FACE. Boo Ya! Daniels goes back to town on the back. Rave goes for his running knee but Daniels trips him up and he fucks up the counter into the Boston crab. It’s a hard counter to be fair but they fucked it up good. Crowd is being REALLY nice to them. Since when did wrestling crowds become less jerky? Remember ECW? That was a tough crowd. These guys head up top and Daniels plants the top rope superplex only for Rave to block the pin for 2. If it was a double pin…who would advance? And who’s the champ? I guess no one and Daniels. They do a near falls but after the one in the last match it looks pretty average. Daniels keeps countering into the piledriver…for 2! Rave > Mr Kennedy. He goes for a bulldog but Rave counters and hits the RUNNING KNEE! POW! That gets 2. Rave decides to steal the piledriver just to fuck with Daniels. Doesn’t work because Daniels escapes but Rave gets the whirl into the crossface. Daniels rolls with it to get into the ropes. Rave rolls it the other way. Daniels can’t get anywhere so he drags the ref into Rave’s face. Of course any other company that’d be a DQ but there’s no DQ’s in this company. Rave goes for the cross armbreaker and nearly gets it but Daniels gets out and hits the Tombstone to retain. **1/2. Had some badly blown spots but when they got going it was really good. Contrast.

AJ Styles v Jerry Lynn

These guys had like 50 matches in 2002 and they were all good. Handshake. They counter on the mat. Indy Stand Off! Lynn goes for the same headlock control he had last night. Not showing any signs of that bad arm though. They run a near misses. Indy Stand Off! AJ lands on his feet off a monkey flip and they do flipping off the rope near misses into armdrags. INDY STAND OFF! Backdrop suplex from Lynn gets 2. Seems AJ was a little unprepared when locking up and got caught. They run the International but Lynn grabs the ropes and AJ’s dropkick hits nothing. Nip up rana but Lynn busts AJ back down with a whirl backbreaker. Lynn knows when to slow the pace and grounds AJ with a headscissors. AJ goes for his quebrada but Lynn catches him, dumps on the ropes and springboard dropkicks him outside. Lynn knows better than to follow and gets a breather. He goes to slide outside but AJ grabs him and dumps him face first on the apron. AJ fakes Lynn out by leaving his head in the ropes then moving away from the Guillotine legdrop once Lynn was airborne. AJ WILL dive and hits a suicide senton. AJ with a Mutalock. His looks significantly better than Mickie Knuckles version. They counter and AJ remembers the arm injury suddenly and grabs the Fujiwara but he’s not got it locked in. Great to see some actual psychology from AJ instead of just slick spots. Lynn tries like hell to protect his arm and provokes AJ into a slugfest. AJ lands a lot of kicks but Lynn flips him over and hits a lariat. Double down. AJ with a super rana but Lynn rolls through it…for 2. That was the first real possible finish. Lynn is trying to sell the arm on anything that happens, which is cool dedication. AJ tries a slingshot rana but Lynn just powerbombs his ass for 2. AJ escapes the TKO and hits a nice BRAINBUSTAAAAAAAAAAA for 2. AJ wants the Styles Clash but Lynn knows the hold and kicks out of it into the Kryptonite Krunch…for 2. Crowd gets a meek duelling chant going. Lynn wants the cradle piledriver but AJ knows that too and slides out into a DDT for 2. Double down. AJ goes up top but Lynn follows him – GERMAN SUPLERPLEX!!! That gets 2. There are a few people standing now sensing this match is getting special. Of course they’re still doing spot, rest, spot, rest since hitting this end stretch but if its good for RVD its good for AJ. They go and counter on the mat and AJ gets a fluke roll up out of nowhere for the pin. ***3/4. Great counter wrestling but finishing with a roll up after that German suplerplex was a little tame. I guess it shows that any match can end at any time but it was the kind of match that needed a big finish. If it had one it’d been over four snowflakes probably. As far as Lynn-AJ matches go this was about the norm. Maybe a touch above.

Jerry Lynn is still selling the arm.

Sonjay Dutt v Chris Hero

Dutt says this is not a title match. Mainly because Hero is too heavy. Dutt points out how he’s cut. Jim Fannen joins commentary. Hero grabs a cravat right away then the arm as Dutt squirms out. Dutt wrestles circles around Hero to show his speed so Hero just grabs him and throws him across the ring. And that just about says it all. Hero wrestles around Dutt as if to say he’s offended by Dutt’s suggestions and finishes with a cravat. Hero is also working the arm and he switches to that and then dropkicks Dutt to show his versatility. Dutt gets a counter into a rana. These guys aren’t great together but they’re playing off the difference in size nicely. Hero tries for the Hangman’s Clutch but Dutt squirms around again to escape. He moves a lot. Dutt shows that again with a standing Octopus. He gets into those positions SO quickly. There’s almost no way of blocking him. Hero counters him in mid-air however and lands him across his knee. That’ll slow him up a touch. Hero’s punches need work. He’s so good at everything else he does. Snap powerslam! That gets 2. Dutt still has bags of energy though. That’s his whole deal. He scurries up top but Hero cravats him off. He goes for a wind up urinage but Dutt counters using his momentum to hit a DDT. Dutt tries some striking but he’s not getting enough weight behind them because he’s so small. Hero shrugs them off and hits an Electric Chair into a front face first powerbomb. STANDING HANGMAN’S CLUTCH! That was cool. Dutt wriggles out and starts kicking Hero in the head. Those he does sell. Springboard Savage Elbow…gets 2. Fannen points out that if Dutt weighed more he’d have won. Hero just grabs him – JUMPING HERO’S WELCOME! It’s over. Dutt didn’t have enough to get the job done. ***. Nice contrast work. The size & power v speed. Ultimately Hero has way too many tools to lose to Sonjay.

B-Boy v Nigel McGuinness

The crowd like B-Boy because he fucked up JC Bailey last night. Nigel has technical skills to spare and outdoes B-Boy so B-Boy smacks him under the jaw with a forearm. Prazak rags on Fannen’s wrestler Danny Daniels calling him a midget. Nigel stretches the legs and tries for an STF but B-Boy scurries into the safety of the ropes. Nigel has a chat with the ref and B-Boy nails him with a forearm again. STF! Nigel pulled that out of B-Boy attacking him. B-Boy gets the ropes again. B-Boy bails to nurse his stretched out groin. B-Boy clocks Nigel with another forearm. Seems with that one move B-Boy can just take over. Although that’s all he’s had so far. B-Boy brings some stiff kicks in. Crowd are really digging him. Nigel has started responding now with forearm uppercuts as if he’s now fed up with taking strikes and decided to dish out some of his own. B-Boy, backed up, breaks out a Blockbuster. See, he doesn’t just have strikes. He has flying too. B-Boy goes up top but wastes too much time posing. They run the same spot the other way so both guys gets booted. SHINING WIZARDOOOOO! B-Boy wins this out of nowhere. **1/2. Felt like half a match. I was enjoying it but I thought they could have gone on and had an epic match.

Ryan Boz/Brad Bradley v Nate Webb/JC Bailey

Webb flips around a confused Bradley then dances. Bradley takes exception to the dancing and BITCHSLAPS HIM. Webb retorts by dropkicking the knee. Bailey comes in and they kick at Bradley. Webb & Bailey are more fun as a unit than as individuals as demonstrated by Webb backdropping Bailey onto Boz. The big men (Bradley & Boz) get confused and bail. That allows the babyface duo to hit dives. Webb’s is that moonsault to the floor. He’s great fun; he’s just not a good worker. Webb tries to throw Bailey at Bradley but Brad sneaks around the back for a GERMAN SUPLEX and Webb ends up giving Bailey a fallaway slam in the process. That was cool. Bradley grabs Bailey for a SAITO SUPLEX. Bradley is vicious with those suplexes. That didn’t really show up earlier on but I’m digging him here. Boz is fairly mediocre by comparison but even he has a choke-plex, which is pretty neat. Must be fun working with two real lightweight guys like this. It allows Boz & Bradley to just throw them around for shits and giggles. Bradley flat out kicks Bailey’s face off. Poor JC. Two matches, two ass kickings. Bradley with a brainbuster. They’re not even trying to pin. They’re bullying Bailey. Webb gets a blind tag for a springboard double neckbreaker though. Webb whiffs on a dropkick. He’s flawed technically. Webb tries to dance some more so Bradley forearms him a lot. Webb shows off a more complicated Hurricane Kick on Boz. But he can’t hit a dropkick? Yikes. The heels pull out two enormous lariats. The heels give Bailey the WASHING MACHINE! He landed on his face. Webb gets caught in a version of the Doomsday Device and the plucky faces have nothing left. They lose. **1/4. Surprisingly good fun. The monster heels had a great time hurling the two small guys around the ring. I had fun watching.

IWA title – Danny Daniels (c) v AJ Styles

AJ sells the arm and the ribs on the way out here thanks to the harsh match with Jerry Lynn earlier. Daniels gets the mic and tells AJ he’s impressing everyone but tonight is his night. Title is on the line. Ian comes out here and says the title is not on the line because he can’t have a champion who can’t defend his belt (as AJ works for TNA). So is this a title match? Fucking Ian Rotten. AJ baits Daniels in for the dropsault but hurts his ribs in the process. AJ is selling like a motherfucker here. AJ is able to counter anything Daniels goes for though because he’s the shit. Daniels knees AJ in the ribs to set up a gutbuster and that’ll slow him down. Daniels with a Samoan Roller, double stomp and senton for 2. All working that ribcage area. Grounded abdominal stretch and AJ is having rib issues. Daniels knees the ribs a few times. AJ tries to use the ropes but as he lands Daniels throws knees up for another gutbuster. Wind up reverse urinage over the knee. Thus targeting the ribs again. Smart move. AJ almost blows his quebrada inverted DDT. He generally gets that after spending a year kinda hitting it but that time it went wrong. AJ fires up with strikes and hits a spinning heel kick for 2. He’s trying to keep it basic but hardly any of his moves are basic. That’s the problem. It was the same with RVD. In order to do 95% of his shit he couldn’t sell. AJ goes for a press but sells the ribs and Daniels is able to counter into a DDT for 2. Emerald Frozion gets 2. Daniels calls for it and looks for the Tombstone but AJ reverses into his own TOMBSTONE…for 2. AJ goes for the 450 but Daniels moves and AJ just hurts himself. Daniels takes too long going up top and AJ hauls him off looking for the Styles Clash. Daniels desperately grabs the ropes to survive. Daniels counters standing by taking advantage of AJ trying to use his injured ribs and the OWENDRIVER ’97 finishes! Huge upset win for Danny Daniels. ***. Great to see AJ using so much selling and psychology. It didn’t entirely work but at least it being the ribs he was able to do a lot of kicks and flying and then sell when he landed rather than it preventing him from doing the move. The result was quite pleasing.

Alex Shelley v Ian Rotten

Handshake. Shelley makes a point of going after the arm. That helps set him for the Border City Stretch. They go to the mat and Rotten uses his size to ride Shelley. This is good. It makes sense. Shelley is a superior wrestler though and grabs the arm to get him out of the ride. Ian tries to use his size to pin Shelley but Alex keeps using the arm as an out. Ian isn’t good enough to protect the arm. Ian shows his best technical wrestling to date but when Shelley gets on top he just slaps him. Ian is too loose on the mat and Shelley keeps getting holds. Ian again has to strike at him because in terms of pure wrestling Shelley has him beat. Ian manages to get a kneebar as Shelley shirks away from the strikes. Ian goes for a choke but Shelley grabs the arm and locks it out. This has been nice stuff on the mat. Shelley meanwhile tries to protect his knee by keeping it away from Ian and not giving Ian the easy out. Ian can’t keep his arm away in the same fashion, which gives Shelley the upper hand. Sadly they give up on the mat work and Ian works in a Tarantula. Ian ponderously charges in and hurts his shoulder. Too slow Ian. Shelley kicks the shoulder repeatedly. Shelley wants the cross armbreaker and gets good extension. TAAAAAP! TAAAAP! Would have been a perfect finish. More kicks to the arm. Knees to the arm. Shelley goes for the cross armbreaker again and gets full extension. TAAAAAP! No, he still doesn’t quit. Bridging hammerlock! Neato! Ian still won’t quit but increasingly he’s getting no offence and he’s just protecting himself. Badly. Ian starts throwing strikes because he’s got jack-all else. He also can’t wrestle because his arm won’t move. BORDER CITY STRETCH! TAAAAAAAAAAAAPP! IAN TAPS! Yes! ***1/4. Yeah, really. Ian goes over three stars. Not for anything he did in particular but the arm work made great sense and seeing a hardcore guy tap to a wrestling hold was groovy. Pretty one sided but that makes sense for a technical tournament featuring Ian Rotten. After all he’s not much of a technician although the opening five minutes had great mat work.

POST MATCH Ian cuts a teary eyed promo about Ted Petty.

B-Boy v Chris Hero

Hero has height and weight and experience on the mat in his corner. B-Boy can change a match with one strike and has more speed. Hero takes it right to the mat to eliminate most of B-Boy’s strengths and works a cravat. This becomes a chess match with Hero getting the arm and both guys looking a few moves ahead. B-Boy leaves his leg in there so Hero drives it into the mat. B-Boy bails right away. Hero starts wailing on him sensing an opening. Hero goes back up to the arm and he’s been unusually unfocused here. Generally he’s been getting results though because B-Boy hasn’t hit him once because he’s been too busy on defence. Hero refuses a clean break in the corner so B-Boy gives him the same abuse and finally gets to land some shots. Hero replies with forearms of his own. B-Boy has space now though because Hero has absorbed a few shots and that gives B-Boy space for the dropkick facewash. B-Boy starts getting Hero off balance by raking the face and chopping the back. Hero then doesn’t know where the next attack is coming from. B-Boy forearms him across the jaw. Hero tries to take it back to the mat but B-Boy breaks contact and DOUBLE STOMPS HIM TWICE! Crowd love that. B-Boy tries to put Hero away with the dragon sleeper. It might be a touch early to put him out. Those double stomps certainly left him open for it though. Hero goes into defence mode and blocks everything. When B-Boy gets a hold Hero is so long that he gets into the ropes regardless of ring positioning. Hero fires up with forearms. Diving cravat neckbreaker gets 2. Hero ties B-Boy up into a PACKAGE PILEDRIVER….FOR 2? ARE YOU KIDDING ME? His head bounced off the mat. Hero is tired from kicking B-Boy’s ass here. So much so B-Boy counters a suplex into a neckbreaker. B-Boy looks for his own piledriver but Hero escapes into the HERO’S WELCOME…FOR 2! B-Boy will not quit! B-Boy can’t stand but he’s not pinned. Hero tries to beat him into submission but that wakes B-Boy up. BRAINBUSTAAAAAA…for 2. B-Boy is so out of it he doesn’t even hook the leg. He’s going on instinct. Hero sees the Shining Wizard coming and ducks it so B-Boy dropkicks the knee and hits the Shining Wizard…for 2. Wasn’t a good one like against JC Bailey. B-Boy with a savage DROPKICK FACEWASH. HERO NO SELLS! LARIATOOOOOOOOOOO! “HOLY FUCK”. Double down. B-Boy goes for another Shining Wizard but Hero ducks…HANGMAN’S CLUTCH! Hero struggles to get it on because he’s tired but B-Boy is even more tired and can’t get the ropes. He has to tap out. Hero wins and goes to the finals. ****. Best match of the tournament. Of course I could have lived without B-Boy having to kick out of so many daft spots but the fans love this shit.

POST MATCH – Crowd chants “please come back”. B-Boy impressed them out there. Ian comes out to cut another promo. B-Boy gets the open invite.

Elimination match – Arik Cannon v Colt Cabana v M-Dogg 20 v Chris Sabin v Michael Shane v Ken Anderson

Crowd chants “trashbag ho” at Alison Danger. Cabana and Ken start. Shane proves himself to be a jerk by tagging right in. Cabana chops him in the back as he’s leaving. Ken looks way better than Shane in the opening exchanges flipping over Shane’s head at speed. Cannon makes a tag to try out Ken. Anderson looks strong there too countering most of Cannon’s attacks until Cannon sweeps the leg. Ken still has too much power but Sabin tags in so we don’t get conclusion on that. Sabin-Cannon is fun enough because Cannon will bump around Sabin has flash and dazzle. Cabana comes in and its his turn to bump for Sabin’s stuff. Colt comes back with repeated armdrags. M-Dogg tags himself in and hits a springboard moonsault and its not convoluted because Colt didn’t see him coming. Colt and Shane form an uneasy alliance but Colt is too much of a jerk to keep it up. Ken doesn’t want to tag Shane, because a) he’s an asshole and b) he doesn’t fancy dealing with M-Dogg’s flippery. The heels take it in turns to beat on M-Dogg. They don’t really wail on him enough for my liking. Get that early elimination folks. Lots of blind tags follow. M-Dogg gets beaten up some more. Colt must be confused by the rules because he breaks pins and submissions. Just let the other guys lose. Colt dodges a tag by doing stretches and chatting to the fans. Cannon gets frustrated at this, which allows M-Dogg to catch him unawares and finish him with the Shooting Star Press. Cannon is eliminated.

Ken comes right in and lays in spin kicks on M-Dogg. Shane tags in blind and hangs Ken up on the ropes. His kickouts look so professional. So much power in them. You can see why the WWE came a calling. Samoan Roller on Shane and Ken goes up top for the Kenton but Colt cuts him off. What’s he doing? Ken ends up missing and Shane superkicks him out of the match. Ken Anderson is eliminated. Shame, I was enjoying watching him. I think the crowd is a little deflated too.

The remaining guys do a 4-way submission over the ropes spot. Nice finish on it where Shane, who’s hanging upside down, gets dropkicked in the face when Colt dodges Sabin’s basement dropkick. Sabin gets a blind tag and hits an awesome missile dropkick on M-Dogg. Shane was the original target but he ducked. The distance and power from Sabin was awesome. Colt bails out. He’s been playing mind games the whole match. M-Dogg is tired from taking that beating earlier and Sabin finds it easy to pick him off with CRADLESHOCK! M-Dogg is eliminated.

Shane back suplexes Sabin to deflate him. Colt once again joins with Shane allowing Sabin to double DDT them both. Sabin goes spin-kick crazy. Shane ducks an Enzuigiri so Sabin uses him as a platform to enzuigiri Cabana! Cool spot. Sabin catches a superkick and Colt is on hand to roll him up. He’s out.

Cabana v Shane for the win. Shane with an unusual version of the exploder suplex. Savage Elbow gets 2. Ref is bumped. We’re 20 minutes in. Colt with a foldover powerbomb but the ref isn’t there. Shane tries to slingshot over Cabana but gets caught in a Kryptonite Krunch, which finishes for Cabana. ***. Fun match although ultimately pointless as all these guys were losers in the first round. I’d have liked to have seen more from Ken Anderson and Arik Cannon in this one. Get them over with the fans some more. Colt was the most unfortunate of the first round losers though so it makes logical sense for him to win.

TPI Finals – Alex Shelley v Chris Hero v Danny Daniels

Jim Fannen is out here with Daniels. Everyone else is solo. Hero gets the mic and says the WXW belt means a lot to him so he’s putting the belt on the line. Daniels swore he’d never give Hero another shot because he’s a cheat but this weekend no one can beat him and he puts the IWA title on the line. Elimination rules. Shelley is the biggest potential winner here putting no strap on the line coming in. They start with a three-way waistlock. They all counter into hammerlocks. Then counter into headlocks and vice versa. Shelley with a cravat to fuck with Hero and they all counter back the other way. Watching 3-way chaining is weird. But I like it. Hero reverses at one point and finds himself waistlocking a different guy. Daniels starts leaving the others to wrestle before picking his spots, which is a smart way to work a 3-way instead of relying on overselling. Shelley sets up both guys for the double facewash. Coolio. Hero starts dishing out strikes to get control. Now Shelley lies around on the floor overselling. Well it took five minutes but here comes the usual 3-way issues. Hero follows suit. Daniels, the heel, goes airborne with a senton to the floor. Odd to see the heel starting the dives. They all mount the corner buckle and Daniels Russian legsweeps Shelley off. Hero takes a breather up top. He hits a double missile dropkick. Hero is now nursing a sore back. Hero breaks out a wind up urinage with a leg drop for 2. Nice work; hitting both guys. And because he’s big it’s all effective too. Daniels wipes him out with a tornado inverted DDT for 2. Hero had been the MVP up to that point but Daniels has a habit of going after weaknesses. Which is why he’s the champion. Fisherman suplex on Shelley gets 2 while Hero was down. Daniels doesn’t see Hero get back up – HERO’S WELCOME…for 2. Shelley dropkicks Hero out of the ring. He should be going after Daniels while he’s down but Shelley makes a huge error by going after Hero. He does knock Hero cold with a Step Kick and then enzuigiri him over while tornado DDTing Daniels…for 2. Everyone looks pretty tired by this point. Shelley goes for a corkscrew senton but Daniels moves. His selling has been somewhat inconsistent here. He goes for a Tombstone but Hero comes over to reverse it and they both TOMBSTONE Daniels for 2. Oh, come on now. That was at least twice they could have had an elimination. Hero never beats anyone with his own finisher and now no one gets a pin with Daniels finisher. Hero ties both guys up in submissions but Daniels was ripe for a beating. Someone just needs to put him away. I don’t understand the logic of the other guys. Daniels with a piledriver but he goes for another and Hero reverses into a back suplex. Shelley meanwhile is lying around on the floor doing the 3-way dance selling. HANGMAN’S CLUTCH! Daniels is finished surely. He just about gets the rope. Daniels blocks the cravatplex and looks for another piledriver. Hero powers him up into a spinebuster. HERO’S WELCOME. He rolls into another one but then Shelley hits Hero with the HERO’S WELCOME INTO THE SHELLSHOCK! Shelley pins Hero!! Shelley wins the WXW title!!!

His approach had been silly up to that point but it pays off because Hero got caught cold trying to make sure on Daniels. He forgot Shelley. Daniels, for me, isn’t selling fatigue enough. He’s taken a royal beatdown. TOMBSTONE! That gets 2. Well now they’ve killed that finish. We think that Shelley winning the WXW title means he keeps it regardless. BORDER CITY STRETCH! Out of nowhere. Daniels is in the middle of the ring but he rolls with it and gets out so Shelley rolls it the other way! Daniels manages some great ring positioning to get his foot on the ropes but its Jim Fannen shouting the information to him. That’s the benefit of a manager right there. They counter standing and it’s appropriate they finish with wrestling. RUBIX CUBE DRIVER!!! FOR 2!!! Shelley survives the other finisher. They counter again and Shelley gets the ROLLING BRAINBUSTER INTO THE BORDER CITY STRETCH!! Nowhere near the ropes this time. Daniels is still able to move Shelley but Shelley is yanking away from the ropes so he thumbs Shelley in the eye instead. Shelley escapes another Tombstone into a sloppy Shell Shock. That gets 2. BJ WHITMER is out here! Becky Bayliss runs out here to attack him and Jimmy Jacobs attacks BJ. HUSS! Jacobs runs into the post to knock Shelley off the top and Daniels hits the ROLLING PILEDRIVERS for the pin. Danny Daniels wins the TPI 2003! ***3/4. A little too much overkill on those finishers but another fun match.

POST MATCH Shelley seems to blame Jacobs because he waffles him with the WXW belt. Shelley heels somewhat saying he busted ass for 4 matches and got screwed and overshadowed by Jimmy Jacobs, his girlfriend and his furry boots. Shelley makes a Best of 7 series challenge to Jacobs.

The 411: A lot of things overshadowed the tournament like the Jacobs-Shelley business in the main event and the fact Jacobs & Whitmer were out there at all. Also, no trophy? What gives? Having Ace Steel hand the trophy to BJ last year was nice. But they have BJ out there and no trophy? Makes no sense to me. Booking aside, like the ref bumps, this was a good show. They’ve learned editing, thank Christ, and removed a lot of the none-tournament crap that got used as filler in 2002. Not that the show needed any filler because it was overlong anyway. I’m glad the deathmatches are gone. There are some great matches on this show and some fun ones that don’t make it to great. It’s a pity they don’t give time to the right people. Like having B-Boy & Nigel be a short match and Storm & Shelley. What they did deliver worked for me, I guess, so that’s a success and editing makes it a double success. Thumbs up for the 2003 TPI.

Final Score:  7.5   [ Good ]