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By: Jim Hall
9/18/2004 2:18:03 PM

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Due to the construction on I-80/I-94 and my lack of familiarity with Northwest Indiana our trip to Highland, IN took us into IL. This seems appropriate, as once upon a time a great emancipator from Illinois freed a large group of people from oppression, so did Ian Rotten continue his efforts to save a large group of wrestling fans from the oppression of Fed TV.

Tonight was the first night of the two-night Ted Petty Invitational Tournament. Originally known as the “Sweet Science Sixteen” over the years the tournament has expanded to its present field of 24 and was renamed in honor of the late Ted Petty. And it has become my favorite show of the year, every year. When Ian arrived to welcome the crowd to the show, the crowd of approximately 250 rose to their feet.

Ian had promised a big announcement for the evening. Many were speculating that it would be the announcement of a TV deal. Those many were wrong. But it was perhaps even bigger. In October of 2005 there will once again be an IWA Mid-South King of the Death Match tournament. And it will be held in Tokyo in conjunction with Big Japan. IWA will be sending talent to Japan to start building up interest in the IWA product in Japan. Starting in October of this year, there will be a contest to provide a fan with a trip to the King of the Death Matches. The promotion is also working out the details of a package deal for the fans to make the trip.

Ian then launched into the traditional, heartfelt, tribute to Petty. This again brought the crowd to their feet. Ian is the world champion at booking marathon shows. In the context of the tournament, it would be easy to take two nights off and just put on matches. But that isn’t Ian’s style. He takes nothing easy. Every match on the card made sense, and told a story. And the flow of the matches kept the crowd involved and pumped up. Most of us didn’t even notice the lateness of the hour as we were carried from match to match in an absolute orgasm of wrestling goodness.

The opening match was for the NWA Midwest Ladies title. Defending champion Lacey was selling a leg injury from months ago. Tonight she accepted the challenge of Mercedes Martinez. This was a very solid match, the technical nature of which fit in perfectly with the theme of the show. Never mind if these ladies are beautiful or not (they are by the way) – these are no divas, they are WORKERS! The demanding Highland crowd was indeed very satisfied. Martinez won with a crossface combination hold to become your new NWA Midwest champion.

Before we move on to the actual tournament, all 24 entrants came to the ring for a group photo opportunity. Perhaps the most amazing feat of the night, in a show like this, was that there was not a single no-show.

Moving along now to the first of twelve tournament matches, we start with Salvatore Rinauro taking on Matt Sydal. These two are very well matched physically. The match showcased amazing speed, superior acrobatics plus some fierce St. Louis chops from Sydal. In what may be the move of the night, Sydal hit a standing moonsault – while standing on Rinauro’s back! Sydal came away with the win. The second tournament match of the night featured Hallowicked vs. fan favorite “Spyder” Nate Webb. Webb has the most entertaining entrance in the business today, and may well be the most entertaining worker as well. This match was just plain craziness, in a good sort of way with some great strong style back and forth action. This was two great characters doing some great in-ring work. Webb advanced after hitting his Soylent Green finisher.

Next up was Rainman taking on “The Future” Chris Sabin. This was a very nice series of moves and counters. Neither man gave up anything to the other – it was fierce and fast. After Sabin hit an amazing double hook fisherman’s piledriver, Rainman came back with a three-legged credenza type move for the win. At this point in the show I was hit with a few semi-insightful thoughts. First, there had been no promos of any kind since Ian opened the show. Secondly, while these matches all were hung on the framework of the tournament, somehow the talents involved had made me care about each match and the wrestlers involved. And third, this show was perfectly paced.

We moved along to Austin Aries and C.M. Punk. Aries is crisp and fearless, much like a young Paul London – with the addition of a mean streak. Punk is Punk – and that really says all that needs to be said. There is a reason that he is on top of so many top promotions. A series of amazing near falls from these two kept the crowd popping to their feet in anticipation of a finish. Both Aries and Punk left everything they had on the canvas. It almost seemed like a relief when Punk finally got the win – I know that I personally didn’t have much more left in my tank.

Todd Sexton and Danny Daniels provided a much needed change of pace. We needed a less frantic match – and they gave us a great one. Sexton is sharp and courageous, while Daniels is one step ahead and viscous. Sexton worked Daniel’s knee the whole match, but still fell victim to Daniels cradle drop finisher. Post match, B.J. Whitmer attacked Daniels, continuing their feud.

Following an intermission, we continued on with a non-tournament match. Delirious faced Jimmy Jacobs in a ladder match for the vacant IWA Mid-South Light Heavyweight title, which was suspended over the ring. Jacobs is back to his old entrance theme, but now sports a pair of one-legged leopard skin tights. Most ladder matches these days seem to degenerate into a series of spots – but Jacobs and Delirious told a story that made sense. They were both going after the ladder to try and get to the belt until a spike fight drew serious color from Delirious. This led Delirious to shift his focus from winning the match to beating Jacobs. These two normally comedic workers were now involved in a deadly serious struggle. Jacobs took the sickest fall from the top rope that I have seen on the indie circuit, but recovered, hit a sweet table spot, and then claimed the belt.

Back to tournament action, six Chikara students came to ringside to observer their two trainers, Chris Hero and Mike Quackenbush, battle it out. I’m often rightly accused of being a “soft reviewer” but this match was absolutely a thing of beauty by any standard. This was a flat out technical match that reminded me of one of those 3-day rope puzzles that require you to move knots about in specific patterns. Only this puzzle had two geniuses trying to muscle the knots about in a race against each other. In a very subtle stroke of storytelling, whenever either man went away from the technical aspects to attempt a high-risk maneuver they gave up the advantage. Clearly, the winner of this match was going to have to win it in a technical style. If I had to pick a match of the night, this would have been it. It is obvious why these men are the top trainers at one of the hottest wrestling schools in the country. Quackenbush got the win, and Rotten came to the ring to announce that Hero and Delirious would be on a flight to Japan in the morning to carry the word of IWA to a new audience.

Reading the card prior to the show, I was concerned about Jimmy Rave vs. A.J. Styles. I was wrong to worry. Rave hung in with Styles and presented a credible opponent for the most electrifying WRESTLER in WRESTLING today. Styles got the win with a Romero style chin lock.

Roderick Strong and Samoa Joe also conducted a clinic in storytelling. It was obvious to anybody with two eyes that Joe is the bigger and stronger man. But early on, during a back and forth chop-fest they established that while Joe had more power, Strong clearly had enough power to hurt Joe. Joe hits the most devastating STO that I’ve ever seen live – and when Joe flies it is indeed a sight. The outcome of the match was indeed in doubt until Joe hit a muscle buster type move to gain the victory. This was my first opportunity to see “Double C” Claudio Castagnoli in person – and he didn’t disappoint. He took on Nigel McGuiness, who is one of my personal favorites. McGuiness and Castagnoli are both amazing Euro-style wrestlers, and the match featured some very interesting holds and counters that I cannot begin to describe. But they sure were cool. McGuiness got the submission win.

Alex Shelley may not be much of a Jim Hall fan, but I am certainly a fan of his work. He is an amazing technical talent, who can succeed in any style he chooses to work. Tonight he faced an equally amazing technical talent in the “American Dragon” Brian Danielson. These were two great technicians moving at a fast pace. The submission spots were nearly beyond belief, and Danielson put Shelley into the longest lasting airplane spin in the history of the move. Danielson got the win with a reverse into a backslide.

Under normal IWA circumstances, “The Anarchist” Arik Cannon is a total heat machine. He draws the same kind of heat that the Honky Tonk Man used to draw during his IC title run, with the exception that Cannon can flat out work. Tonight, working against Super Dragon the thermostat on Cannon’s heat was turned up about a dozen notches. This match was brutal and featured a very interesting match-up of differing styles. Dragon demonstrated a wide range of moves that left all of us fans wanting more and chanting “Please come back!” Cannon got the win to the dismay of the crowd.

Our main event featured the first promo of the night. B.J. Whitmer’s manager Jim Fannin tried to entice Danny Daniels to come to the ring. While the security guys held Daniels back, Petey Williams hit the ring to defend his IWA Mid-South Heavyweight title and try to advance in the tournament. This was a fitting cap to the evening – and the crowd went away happy when Williams got the win with his amazing Canadian Destroyer finisher.

The matches for Saturday’s card are Petey Williams vs. Arik Cannon and A.J. Styles vs. Matt Sydal with the winners facing each other in the third round. C.M. Punk will take on Brian Danielson while Mike Quackenbush faces “Spyder” Nate Webb with the winners facing off. In the third and final bracket, Rainman takes on Danny Daniels and Samoa Joe faces Nigel McGuiness.

If you don’t have your tickets already, get your behinds out the Lincoln Center in Highland, IN for the show. You will not be disappointed.

Review of ROH Rebirth on page 2

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