Let’s be honest, There was almost no way to top what happened in 2004; however, time marches on, and IWA did still put together some excellent tournaments in 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2008. Here are some highlighted matches from those tournaments.
-2005 TPI First Round: Matt Sydal vs. El Generico (IWA Mid-South –TPI 2005, Night 1–9.23.05)
PBP: Not sure how often these two had a chance to meet in independent wrestling, so this is a rare treat. We have an OLE off. Sydal scares Generico off. Yuk yuk. Feeling out process. Sydal jumps across. Pair of armdrags. Armdrag by Generico sends Sydal out of the ring. Fake dive. Shoulder block by Sydal catches a charging Generico. Right hand and double sledge by Generico. Back and forth with chops. They go around the ring and just have fun chopping each other. Leg lariat by Generico. Tilt a whirl backbreaker on Sydal. Sydal lands on the back of his head. Sunset flip. Generico rolls over and hits a dropkick to the back of Sydal’s head. Chop in the corner. Sydal whipped. Yakuza kick but Sydal moves. Spinning kick. Chop on Generico. Running step-up knee. Snapmare. Leg drop for two. Boot and chop. Bodyslam. Moonsault met with feet. Generico kips up. Generico with a running dropkick to the head. Right hands. Sydal cross bodies Generico, and they both go over. Moonsault and Sydal lands on Generico. Back in the ring. Moonsault. Generico snapmare. Reversals. Michinoku driver by Generico for two. Sydal placed on the top rope. Reverse rana off the top rope. 1-2-NO! Generico counters out of the Here It Is. Yakuza kick out of nowhere. Half nelson suplex. Another yakuza kick. 1-2-NO! Sydal placed on the top rope. Sydal shoves Generico off. Shooting star press but he lands on his feet. Here It is for two. Standing moonsault. 1-2-NO! Double pumphandle cradle orange crush bomb by Generico! 1-2-NOOOOO! Bryce Remsburg’s facial expression is incredible. Generico brings Sydal up with him to the top rope. Forearms by Generico. Belly-to-belly suplex from the top and that’s good enough to get three.
Analysis: Pretty scary to think how good this match was in relation to how much better these guys would be even one to two years later. While Joe, Punk, and Danielson could rely on their personalities and maybe a more cerebral approach, these two guys decided to kill each other for our entertainment. This match was pretty awesome for a number of reasons. Generico was so sudden with yakuza kicks. Sydal wasn’t as good a wrestler as AJ Styles, but he definitely exhibited a lot of the same traits. Very fun match that’s worth going out of your way to see.
Winner (s)/Time/Rating: Matt Sydal/14:47/****
-2006 TPI First Round: First Round: Mike Quackenbush vs. Colt Cabana (IWA Mid-South –TPI 2006, Night 1–9.29.06)
PBP: Two of my absolute favorites going at it here. These two had a best of three series across Chikara and National Pro Wrestling Day during 2012 and 2013, so it will be interesting to see how this compares. Exchange of arm holds. Cabana claps his legs on Quack’s head. More basic arm stuff. Quack with an applied headscissors. Cabana fades and then just gets up/leaves. Waistlock. Cabana sits down and applies one of his own. Quack locks the legs and pulls back on the arms. Cabana grabs the bottom rope. Quack takes Cabana down by the left leg. Cabana body scissors. Cabana lifts Quack up by the legs and then re-applies the body scissors. Quack ties the legs up and applies a surfboard. He rows the boat and stretches out Cabana. Wow. Modified STF. Sweeps the leg. Quack ties Cabana’s legs. Cabana small package gets two. Cabana cranks Quack’s neck. Kick to the leg and KneeDT. Quack grapevines Cabana’s leg. Cabana ends up in a sharpshooter. Quack reverses into a nearfall. Clean break. Quack brings Cabana down by the arm and stretches Cabana’s body. Cabana has no choice but to go to the ropes. Dragon screw leg whip. Cabana whipped across. Bulldog turned into a backbreaker. Snapmare and knee in the back. Quack put between Cabana’s legs. Cabana strains the neck and then goes down for a nearfall. Camel clutch. Cabana claps his legs to get out of a pinfall. Another crank of the neck. Double underhook but Quack goes dead weight. Cabana finally lifts him. Mexican slam. Chops by Quack. Cabana whipped across. Clothesline and bulldog. Dropkick to the face. Double knees. O’Connor roll blocked by Quack. Clubbering blow by Cabana. Springboard moonsault press leads to a two count. Flying Apple. Quack spin kick. Russian legsweep but Quack gets a Lightning Lock. Cabana gets to the bottom rope. Smack to the face. Cabana catches him and drives him hard for a DDT. 1-2-NO! Elbow by Cabana. Clothesline misses. Cabana ties the leg and grabs Quack by the hair. Whip across. Quack with a boot. Into the electric chair. Reverse rana. QD3! Winner!
Analysis: I could argue these two men were in the prime of their careers at this point. Just some unbelievably great technical wrestling led to a great flurry. This was the best these two had to offer with some of the exchanges. Quack and Cabana took a number of bumps they’d be unwilling to take in modern times, but this was so much fun to watch. You realize just how good these guys when watching his. Great wrestling and an even better representation of what the tournament is about.
Winner (s)/Time/Rating: Mike Quackenbush/13:32/***3/4
-2006 TPI First Round: First Round: Kevin Steen vs. Claudio Castagnoli(IWA Mid-South –TPI 2006, Night 1–9.29.06)
PBP: This was the period when every independent wrestling promotion in the world gave the Kings of Wrestling their tag team titles except PWG. Castagnoli wasn’t nearly as giant of a man as he would eventually become. I think he’s somehow gotten taller in the ensuing years. Kevin Steen is thin. Feeling out process. Snapmare into a roll-up for two. Castagnoli takes him down by the leg and works his way to a headlock. Shoulder tackles go nowhere. Strikes start coming fast and furious. Uppercut by Castagnoli sends him down. Running European uppercut on Steen. Running boot. Steen hits a Gory Special. Elbow drop by Steen. Stomp and knee drop leads to a two count. Elbow to the back of the neck. Back suplex. Flipping leg drop. Gutbuster out of the firemen’s carry position. Chinlock. Headbutt. Castagnoli with a boot. Suplex countered. Back and forth they go. Superkick blocked. Castagnoli with a stalling vertical suplex. Steen comes down 10 seconds later. Steen sends Castagnoli up and over to the floor. Dropkick misses. Tope suicida by Castagnoli. Back in the ring. Back elbow and tornado DDT by Steen. Firemen’s carry. Castagnoli hits the Waterslide for two. Running European uppercut ducked. Superkick and enziguri by Steen. Rana. Into the nearfall. Boot out of the corner by Castagnoli. Steen hits a lungblower. Swanton bomb gets two. Castagnoli counters the package piledriver. Ricola bomb. 1-2-NO! Rolling European uppercut. Castagnoli advances.
Analysis: Too short to really hit that good to great mark, but they did a lot in under nine minutes. Steen exhibited that “Holy crap, he’s big but he’s also fast” speed. Castagnoli really started hitting his stride after breaking away from the Kings of Wrestling and having a lot more singles matches. He was always a great athlete and had the body WWE wanted, but it took him a few years to really nail the intensity and character down.
Winner (s)/Time/Rating: Claudio Castagnoli/8:57/**3/4
-2006 TPI Semifinal: Roderick Strong vs. Chris Hero (IWA Mid-South –TPI 2006, Night 2–9.30.06)
PBP: Most of the crowd seems to be behind Strong. These two men had at the time over the ROH world tag team titles. Shoving match. Hero mentions Strong’s fascination with chops. Shoulder block. Strong of course uses chops. Clubbering blows. Forearm. Knee into the midsection and another chop. Hero comes back with strikes, and this was before he threw a million elbows. Strong with a running forearm. Butterfly backbreaker leads to a two count. Clubbering blow across the back. Chops. Hero kicks Strong’s arm away. Stomp. Hero goes to work on Strong’s left arm. Strike exchange. Hero chokes out Strong in the corner. Hero taunts Strong with kicks. More stretching of the left arm. Strike exchange on the outside of the ring. Hero bends the left arm and hits a diamond dust. Chickenwing into the roll-up for two. Hero rams Strong shoulder to shoulder. Enziguri by Strong. Forearms by Hero. Chops by Strong. Ridiculous. Boot by Hero misses. Strong lariat. Back elbow. Dropkick leads to a two count. Falcon arrow. 1-2-NO! BUT HE DID THE DEAL! Clubbering blow. Hero blocks a whip. Strong sells the left arm. Chops. Hero cranks and then fires away with blows. Armbar and Hero drives Strong into the mat. Cycling crab. Sick kick. 1-2-NO! Left arm driven into the knee. Backbreaker while holding the hammerlock. Backslide out of nowhere and Strong picks up the win.
Analysis: These two are capable of a lot more, but given that this was the second of three matches for Strong, you can understand why this didn’t go forever. I liked Hero working the left arm as it gave him something to emphasize without the absurdity of Strong not selling the move when trying to hit moves. Fun stuff all the way from these two as they played off some past battles and added some heat to the match.
Winner (s)/Time/Rating: Roderick Strong/10:31/***
2007 TPI Quarterfinal: Claudio Castagnoli vs. Davey Richards (IWA-MS, TPI 2007, 09.29.2007)
PBP: Some mat wrestling between these two. European uppercut by Castagnoli. Single leg takedown as Richards comes back in the ring. He bridges back while holding onto the leg. Richards crawls to the ropes after a reversal. Headlock exchange. Richards can’t quite get a shoulder tackle to work. Castagnoli mocks Richards height. Kicks from Richards. Shoulder tackle by Castagnoli. Snapmare. Castagnoli locks the knuckles and gets a series of two counts. Rana by Richards. Armdrag. Sunset flip by Castagnoli. Kicks from Richards. Bodyslam. Leaping knee strike. Suplex blocked. Castagnoli fights him off and eventually manages a suplex of his own. European uppercut to the back. Bodyslam and immediate leg drop by Castagnoli. Modified full nelson. Forearms back and forth. Richards with a running kick. Castagnoli out of the way. Backslide by Richards gets two. Another rana. Running kick. Elbows by Castagnoli out of the waistlock. Water Slide blocked. Castagnoli catches Richards with an uppercut. Water Slide for two. Castagnoli swings Richards around and face plants him. Bicycle kick blocked. Castagnoli sent into the top rope. Missle dropkick by Richards. Running forearm. German suplex. Cover for two. Shooting star press met with knees. Ricola bomb. Richards sunset flip for two. Enziguri misses. Everest German suplex and running European uppercut by Castagnoli. Ricola bomb ends it.
Analysis: Maybe not the best match because it only went ten minutes, but this was still solid. Castagnoli improved 100% from 2006, and it shows in the way he used more strikes and power offense as opposed to being a Mike Quackenbush/Chris Hero clone with the mat wrestling and Lucha Libre. Richards was in an odd place in his career because he was being hyped so much at the end of 2006 that people were sort of tired of him until he joined the No Remorse Corps and acted like a dick. This pattern of Richards being beloved only for people to get tired of him is something he’s repeated multiple other times.
Winner (s)/Time Rating: Claudio Castagnoli/Rating: /9:49/***1/4
-2008 TPI First Round: Dave Taylor vs. Tracy Smothers (IWA Mid-South –TPI 2008, Night 1–9.26.08)
PBP: How could I review this match. I’ve watched a lot of crazy matches, a lot of strong style, and lot of technical battles. I had to go old school. Some basic stuff between these two. They shake hands. Taylor brings Smothers down to the mat. Hammerlock by Smothers. Taylor grabs the arm. They shake hands. Chinlock by Taylor. Smothers grabs the left arm. Exchange of lateral presses. Handshake but Taylor bounces off the ropes. Side headlock takeover by Taylor. Lock-up and there’s a clean break. It’s only a matter of time before they snap. Lock-up and Smothers takes the first cheap shot of the match. Clubbering blow and stomp. Taylor brought off the top rope. Taylor sent in the corner. Backfist. Choking along the bottom rope. Elbow by Smothers. Uppercuts from Taylor. Backfist by Smothers. Stomps as a follow-up. Roll-up for two. Smothers goes to the nose of Taylor. Series of strikes and chops on Taylor. Uppercuts. To the corner and Taylor works him over. Uppercuts. Whip across. Butterfly suplex and a bridge gets three. Just like that, Taylor wins.
Analysis: These guys wrestled eight minutes, took a minimum amount of bumps, and kept the crowd involved. Mission accomplished by two veterans. Maybe not a bananas match but still entertaining in the time given. They accomplished a lot by doing little.
Winner (s)/Time/Rating: Dave Taylor/8:18/**
-2008 TPI Quarterfinal: Sara Del Rey vs. Cassandro (IWA Mid-South –TPI 2008, Night 2–9.27.08)
PBP: This was during the era of the Kings of Wrestling, so Del Rey is all “Scary Sherri’d” it up. Very interesting dynamic as we have a female wrestler wrestling a male wrestler who dresses like a female. Sociologists would have a field day with this dynamic. Cassandro gets frisky with PJ Drummond. Del Rey is not screwing around as she slaps Cassandro. Lock-up to the corner. Quick submission but Del Rey bridges out. Armdrag sends Cassandro into the corner. Hammerlock. Del brings her over with a headlock takeover. Neck submission but Cassandro bridges up. Cassandro armbar. Del Rey brings Cassandro over by the arm. Crucifix pin gets two. Armdrag and we have a bit of a stand-off. Boot to the midsection by Cassandro. Gory special. Into the bridge over and a series of nearfalls. Del powers over and gets a sunset flip for two. Cassandro brings Del Rey down. Del Rey goes for an STF. Snapmare into a chinlock. Knuckle lock. Del Rey on top for the cover. Knee to the midsection. Brings Cassandro over by the hair. Staredown. Chop by Cassandro. Springboard and then an armdrag. Boot to the midsection. Del Rey dropkicks Cassandro all the way down to the floor. Cannonball senton. Knee to the head back in the ring. Series of blows. Drop down. Cassandro gets momentum and springboards with an armdrag. Del Rey with a stiff kick. Whip across. Cassandro to the apron. Shoulder to the midsection. Hair drag. Del Rey to the outside. Cassandro with a tope suicida. Boot to the head. Butterfly driver by Cassandro leads to a two count. Drop toe hold. He pulls back on the legs and arms. Del Rey tosses Cassandro down on his ass. Series of roll-ups and nearfalls. Del Rey slams Cassandro down by the hair. Cassandro misses a charge. Cross armbreaker and Cassandro has no choice but to tap out.
Analysis: I think a lot of people would see this and think “freak show.” Overall though, this was far closer to something you’d see out of a Mike Quackenbush vs. Colt Cabana match than anything else. I very much enjoyed the technical wrestling and the very interesting finish. Both competitors were even literally until Cassandro made one mistake and had to tap to Del Rey’s cross armbreaker in the end. Very solid match.
Winner (s)/Time/Rating: Sara Del Rey/10:58/***
To get Highspots TV and get access to matches like this, plus shoot interviews and more, go through our link and support both them and us. In addition, they house a lot of IWA footage and have put a number of great matches on various compilation DVDs.
I would also highly recommend to anyone that they consider purchasing any of the TPIs through Smart Mark Video. For me, the 2004 TPI is the greatest independent wrestling tournament of all-time, and even if you’re not a fan of the product or some of the people involved personality, these shows are very much worth owning. Honestly, 2005, 2006, and 2007 aren’t too shabby either. Please check out the link here and consider owning a piece of pro wrestling history.
As much as I talk about streaming content within this article and the one I wrote last about Cedric Alexander, I should point out a couple ways to watch some free professional wrestling, streaming on your computer. Adam Lash recently opened up a Youtube channel and is posting matches AND full shows. You can find out all the information through this link. Of course, everyone’s favorite TJ Hawke also does a great job with Free Pro Wrestling as well. He also talks about WWE and TNA matches, but we forgive him.
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