Death by Midwest: IWA Mid-South Ted Petty Invitational 2004, Disc 3

DISC THREE

TPI FIRST ROUND: Alex Shelley vs. Bryan Danielson
Shelley out first. IWA was the promotion he first became well known in when he came in during early 2003. He was in the finals last year against Danny Daniels and Chris Hero. Mixed reactions for both guys, though Danielson gets more cheers. Punk on commentary again. Danielson beat Shelley earlier this week in ROH. Shelley gets the advantage early with a headlock. Danielson quickly stretches his head. Haha. Danielson reverses an arm wringer into a dropkick and Shelley takes a quick powder. They work on each other in a test of strength, which is way more entertaining when they do it. Stranglehold by Danielson and he bridges back with it. Shelley reverses into a Strangehold of his own and then sits down in the Camel Clutch position with it. Shelley locks in the Wilbur Snyder, which Dragon reverses into a seated ab stretch. He then attaches a crossface to it. Danielson goes to a crucifix for 2, Shelley rolls out of a small package and hooks on the BORDER CITY STRETCH. Danielson gets the ropes. Back up and Shelley hits a clothesline backbreaker type combo. I like it. Dragon selling the back now. Strangehold hip toss by Shelley followed by a running kick to the back. Big Euro Uppercuts by Danielson. 3 of them to be exact. Danielson goes for the surfboard, but stops mid-stride and turns it into a DRAGON SLEEPER. Shelley tries to escape, but Danielson continually pulls him back until Shelley boxes his ears. AJ Styles on commentary now as well. Shelley grabs Danielson….SKULL****. And that is not my star rating. That’s censorship. Cocky cover gets 2 by Shelley. Swinging Fisherman’s Neckbreaker by Shelley. Punk is confusing Styles. Punk predicts Danielson to win because he doesn’t have two girls’ names. Back suplex by Shelley gets 2. Still working on the back and neck. Shelley goes up top but Danielson forearms him. Euro Uppercut followed by a SUPERPLEX by Danielson. Danielson hurt his neck and back on that. Flurry of uppercuts on Shelley. Running forearm follows up. Shelley blocks the Dragon Suplex, rolls him up….no! BORDER CITY STRETCH! Awesome reversal there. SEVERE CRANK on it, too. Danielson grabs the ropes. Back up, AIRPLANE SPIN from Danielson. Over 25 rotations on it I believe. Danielson stumbles up and KICKS AIR. HAHAHA. Selling rules. Both men back up now, Shelley ducks the Discus Forearm and goes for the Border City Stretch again but Dragon rolls out and hooks on the CATTLE MUTILATION…but only for a second as Shelley reverses into the BORDER CITY STRETCH again! Dragon breaks the hold and goes for the cow killer again. Shelley resists so Danielson backslides him for 3. ***1/2. Good match. Shelley kept going after the same move over and over, and by the 3rd time Danielson knew it enough to power out of it. Shelley resisted the Cow Killer but left himself prone to a quick pinning combination. I like it.

TPI FIRST ROUND: Arik Cannon vs. Super Dragon
Suggested caption for this match: “Let’s hit people!” Dragon is really over here. Punk and Styles debate the race of Super Dragon. Cannon is a heel at this point. Punk says Cannon desperately needs Queer Eye help. This is a first time match. Mat wrestling with really fast reversals by Dragon. Cannon slaps Dragon, and it is soooo on. Dragon chops the hell out of him. Cannon fires right back. Cannon punches Dragon in the temple. Forearm and slap battle! Dragon ties up the legs of Cannon….CURBSTOMP! I love that move. Dragon sets it up again, and slaps Cannon for trying to run away….CURBSTOMP PART TWO! But only a 2 count. Leg scissors by Dragon but Cannon reverses into a CURBSTOMP of his own! That does nothing but piss Dragon off….ANOTHER CURBSTOMP. That only gets 2 again. Leg grapevine on Cannon applied. Chop battle and then Dragon goes for a corner move, but Cannon stops him with a EXPLODER INTO THE TURNBUCKLES. That only gets 2 as well. Suplex by Cannon gets 2. Cravat over the knees submission applied by Cannon. Nice stuff. Dragon breaks the hold. Battle of strikes again, and a Discus Forearm by Cannon gets 2, followed by a series of near falls. More strikes. Big punch sends Cannon down for a 2 count. Cannon back up….SLINGSHOT SWINGING NECKBREAKER. Followed by another one…..but still only 2. Cannon misses the top rope back senton, followed by a HUGE LARIAT by Dragon. Crowd is really tired at this point. Dragon quiets the crowd…STRIKES! Chops, forearms, headbutts followed by VICIOUS knees to the head. Then…KAWADA KICKS. Up top….DOUBLE STOMP ON HIS HEAD. He didn’t do it as good as Low Ki does. Super Dragon looks for the Psycho Driver, but Cannon gets out…GLIMMERING WARLOCK but Dragon rolls out of the ring. Cannon drags him back in and covers…only 2. HEAD DROP BACK SUPLEX on Dragon, followed by another one. GLIMMERING WARLOCK! That gets 3. ***. Lots of strikes but not much else. Still I enjoyed it.

TPI FIRST ROUND and IWA WORLD TITLE MATCH- Petey Willams © vs. BJ Whitmer-41:52
Before the match, Jim Fannin gets into a very heated confrontation with a fan. Fannin tries to get the fan into the ring. Danny Daniels is trying to get at Whitmer but security holds him back. Whitmer asks for the bell to be rung so if Daniels gets in the ring he’ll be suspended from IWA for a year. Since the match has technically begun, Petey sneaks up on Whitmer and rolls him up for 2. Whitmer won the TPI and the belt in 2002. Petey won the belt in May from Whitmer, too, so there’s definite history here. Shoulder tackle by Whitmer. Petey goes for an armdrag but Whitmer stops him. Petey hits a messy looking cross body off the top. In their defense, it’s near 1AM by this point. Petey gets thrown to the floor but recovers and gives Whitmer a face full of turnbuckle. Petey up top and hits a rana on BJ. There’s the good execution. BJ goes to the floor so Petey gives him a rana on the floor as well. “Petey!”-IWA crowd. Back in and BJ hits a spinebuster. Punk and Styles discuss how often BJ gets dumped on his head and gets back up. Chops in the corner by BJ followed by a stiff kick to the back for 2. Punk and Styles are repeatedly making fun of the absurd rules in the NWA rulebook, like the ban on karate chops and strikes. My god, where would independent wrestling be without those?! Petey misses a dropkick, BJ hoists him up from the mat….RELEASE GERMAN SUPLEX. Scary power by Whitmer there. Snap suplex by BJ gets 2. Side headlock from BJ. Arm falls once, twice, but not three times. They mess up a crucifix bomb and both men are down. They screw up a headscissors, too, then Petey hits an enziguri. STO by Whitmer followed by a side triangle choke. Petey reverses into a crucifix for 2 then a roll up for 2. BJ stops the Tornado DDT then hits a Shining Wizard. Crowd is pretty dead now thanks to fatigue and the sloppiness of this match. That gets 2. German Suplex by BJ, goes for a Dragon Suplex but Petey rolls him up for 2. Rana for 2 by Petey. BJ places Petey on the top, goes for a Back Suplex but its reversed into a Cross Body for 2. That looked bad, too. BJ tries to block the Canadian Destroyer but Petey hits a DDT instead for 2. Petey off the ropes….BJ hits the WRIST CLUTCH EXPLODER….for 2. Petey works over the knee with a dragon screw and hooks on the SHARPSHOOTER but BJ makes the ropes. Petey goes for a top rope Canadian Destroyer but BJ backdrops him off. BJ goes for the Wrist Clutch Exploder but Petey does a victory roll for 2. He ducks a clothesline and grabs BJ….CANADIAN DESTROYER. That’s it at 13:09. **1/4. They were looking at below * before a hot last few minutes. Not terrible, but you’d expect far better from these guys.