The Best Of The Rest 9.26.07: Volume 15 – A TPI Preview!

September 28 & 29 – “2007 Ted Petty Invitational”
Don Preston Recreational Center
14500 Kostner Avenue
Midlothian, IL
7:30 pm bell time on Friday; 6:00 pm bell time on Saturday

Well the stage is set, how about the roster? Lemme check… yep it’s set. And while it isn’t as stacked as it initially was it still looks to be an excellent show. This is a huge show for IWA and could help turn things around for them, as it seems they have been slipping ever since the Candido Cup. A good turnout, a great show, and good DVD sales of this show could really help out this company. But enough from me, let’s get down to the meat and potatoes of this column.

Round 1 is set from top to bottom with 12 matches featuring 24 of the best on the Indy’s. The easiest way to analyze the 1st round is to break down match for match.

Chris Hero Vs. 2 Cold Scorpio:
Should be interesting to say the least. Scorpio is a seasoned veteran of the game, but will look to prove he can still go. Hero has always been a true star in IWA-MS and has never left it behind, and he will be looking to prove that he is the spine of the company. I’m not too sure what to expect when these two unique styles are mixed, it could either go really well or really bad. Either way expect Hero to advance to the 2nd round.

“Lightning” Mike Quackenbush Vs. Billy Roc:
Quack is no stranger to the TPI as this is his 5th TPI appearance and every year it seems he has one of the best matches of the weekend. To be perfectly honest, I haven’t seen much of Billy Roc but have heard good things. Given what I have heard about Roc and what I know about Quack I expect this to be a solid match with Quack getting the W.

Nigel McGuiness Vs. Claudio Castagnoli:
On paper this looks to be the best wrestling match of the 1st round. Somewhat unfortunate as I would have enjoyed seeing these two meet in a later round. But hey I’m not gonna complain about Nigel Vs. Double C. I wouldn’t at all be surprised in Castagnoli defeated Nigel and went on to wrestling Quack for the 7456th time.

BJ Whitmer Vs. Davey Richards:
Oh strong style wrestling, you son of a bitch. These two will try to take each others head’s off with forearms, kicks, and other things of a stiff nature (that’s what she said). This should be a very good match. I like Richards work, and while I’ve never been a fan of Whitmer I know that is capable of having some damn good matches. Davey Richards made it all the way to the semi finals last year and looks to redeem himself and win one of the big tournaments and add it onto his resume right next to the Super 8 and BOLA. But BJ could be there to dash his dreams once again.

Eddie Kingston Vs. Human Tornado:
I don’t think that this is going to be a fun night for HT. Kingston is a beast in the ring and very well could be the sleeper of this tourney. Eddie hasn’t really had the best year so far and could be looking to make some major waves on the Indy circuit and this would be a great way to do it. Being a mark for the “King Of Diamonds” I really hope he does well in the event and comes out of it looking strong. With that being said, you should never count out H-Tizzle who has been in several high profile tourneys like this and could pull of an upset in this year’s TPI.

Drake Younger Vs. “Spyder” Nate Webb:
Interesting pairing. Two guys who are more or less known for their work in “hardcore” wrestling looking to prove that they are more than that, which they can go in the ring. I will be very surprise if this turns out to be a good, solid wrestling match. Not to talk down on the two involved but I just don’t know how well their styles will mix. I hope to see my boy Drake win, and hopefully shown us something new.

Now a quick break to appreciate one of the greatest moments in TPI history.

Moving along.

Brent Albright Vs. Tank:
Good Christ almighty… This should be something. While Albright can get in their and mix it up and wrestle, he can also hit hard and dump mother fuckers on their heads. Tank is a no non-sense tough SOB who will beat your face in. These two are going come out to the middle of the ring and more than likely beat the holy hell out of each other. While Tank will put up one hell of a fight, I expect Albright to advance to the 2nd round; I would love to see a Albright-Drake or Albright-King match.

Joey Ryan Vs. Brandon Thomaselli:
Should be another interesting match up. Ryan has been on a tear this year, and is even now a NWA tag team champion, so he will be coming in with a lot of momentum where as Thomaselli will be looking to show that IWA-MS is “his yard.” Should be an entertaining bout.

Chuck Taylor Vs. Jimmy Jacobs:
This one will be fun, two young wrestlers both with something to prove. And to make things more interesting, the IWA title will be on the line in this one. Can Taylor add being the TPI winner on to his already impressive resume? I’m curious to see what lengths Jacobs will go to reclaim the very title he threw in away and referred to as “garbage.” This should be a hell of a match as I believe their styles will match up well.

Also in the 1st round Devon Moore will take on Dysfunction, Ricochet will face Josh Abercrombie, and Joker will do battle with C.J. Otis. It looks to be a promising tournament, and those in the area should definitely check it out.

The Stoppage:
-Well… UFC 76 is in the books and hey my predictions were 2 for 3 and HA! I was right about Forrest beating Shogun, although I would be lying if I said I wasn’t surprised that he won by tap out. But what I didn’t see coming was Keith Jardine upsetting Chuck Liddell. I don’t know what was more disheartening for me, Chuck losing or the look of sheer disappointed that Wanderlei Silva had following the decision. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Some religious head hates me and will not allow Alex Mattis to see Chuck Liddell Vs. Wanderlei Silva. I was legitimately depressed with the out come; it bummed me out for a good day or two. But putting that aside, serious props to Keith Jardine. He had a damn good game plan and executed it perfectly and it led him to the biggest win of his career. But what does this mean for him? Does he get Wanderlei? Will we see Jardine-Alexander II? I guess we’ll just have to wait and see. (As if I couldn’t be any more cliché.)

-Shogun’s debut didn’t go as well as he had hope I’m sure, and it goes to further show how PRIDE guys have flopped in the UFC so far. And don’t make the Rampage argument, because Rampage didn’t come to UFC straight from PRIDE. Back to my original point. It was a good fight, but Forrest was in control for most, if not all of the fight. Since TUF 1 Forrest Griffin has evolved right in front of out eyes and this was proof of it. With 15 seconds left in the final round, when he could of waited it out and won by decision, he kept trying to finish he locked on a rear naked choke and tapped out Shogun. He finish Shogun, many didn’t think it was possible. At this point it may be very likely that the TUF 1 winner could get a title shot, or possibly a showdown with “The Axe Murderer.” I don’t know where Rua goes from here.

-Jon Fitch kinda did what I said he was going to do. He beat Diego, he didn’t finish him but who cares? “The Nightmare” lost again! WOOO! I would like to see GSP Vs. Fitch for #1 contenders spot on the December Serra Vs. Hughes card.

-Quick mention of UFN last Wednesday. Awesome stand up battle between “Drago” and Nate Quarry. Nate Diaz had an impressive victory. Terry Martin got too cocky and ended up getting knocked the fuck out by Leban, very upsetting. Finally, Florian may have gotten lucky with Thomas’ injury, we may see a rematch down the road.

-That’s it for “The Stoppage” this week, the first episode of the Ultimate Fighter was a bunch of fun and I’m looking forward to the season. Be sure and don’t miss it this week.

*This Week’s YouTube Sendoff*

As always feedback is welcome at [email protected]

Take care everyone and have a good week.