Reported by Adam Martin of WrestleView.com
On Saturday, September 29, 2007 at 1:40 PM EST

Larry Goodman sent this report in:

IWA Mid-South ran night one of the annual Ted Petty Invitational 24 man tournament at Preson Recreation Center in Midlothian, Illinois.

Changes in the originally announced field have taken some of the luster off this year’s tournament. The promised Samoa Joe/Low Ki opening round match was dropped because IWA Mid-South owner Ian Rotten couldn’t come up with the money he owed TNA. That problem also cost them the services of Alex Shelley. Matt Sydal signed with WWE. B-Boy and El Generico cancelled out due to injuries. Jimmy Rave was added and subsequently dropped from the lineup.

Some fans compared this year’s TPI to 2005 in that more of the load would have to be carried by the regular IWA Mid-South crew.

Still, the first night was anything but a disappointment. The crowd of 250 was psyched. There were several outstanding opening round matches, and the angles got over strong.

The show opened with the introduction of all 24 competitors. Chris Hero got a very loud and very mixed response. Jimmy Jacobs got significant hate. The biggest pops were for Mike Quackenbush, Scorpio, Eddie Kingston, Human Tornado and Chuck Taylor. B. J. Whitmer attacked Jacobs after the intros. Chuck Taylor went after Whitmer and joined forces with Jacobs. But not for long. Taylor laid Jacobs out with the Omega Driver. Jacobs said he was known for beating the odds. He said Taylor was a 2005 version of himself and he knew it.

(1) Josh Abercrombie beat Ricochet via submission in 8:27. A nice way to ease into the tournament. Ricochet replaced Jimmy Rave. A fan had constructed a giant fake mustache in Abercrombie’s honor. This thing was like 6 feet wide. Abercrombie worked on the neck. Ricochet made an aerial comeback highlighted by a wild flip dive and shoulder-mounted double kneedrop for a big near fall. Abercrombie hit the Taliban Backpack and got the tap out with a variation on the crossface chickenwing. Crowd liked the finish.

(2) Joker beat C. J. Otis (with Joey Eastman) in 5:05. Joker ended up in the tournament after losing a qualifying match. Eastman said this would be his last appearance in IWA Mid-South. No tears were shed. More intense than the first match. In a pure Japanese style spot, Otis bounced right up after taking a German suplex and nailed Joker with a lariat. Joker didn’t sell a german by Otis either, and pinned him with a Whiplash Powerbomb. Eastman wasn’t happy with Otis for shaking hands.

(3) Human Tornado beat Eddie Kingston in 9:14. A meeting of two very entertaining characters. Tornado outquicked Kingston. He gave Eddie the House Party (corner kicks to a seated Kingston finishing with a splits low blow). Kingston went to work on Tornado’s back. Tornado did springboard missile dropkick. Tornado flying stuff was looking good. Kingston got big near falls with a uranage and decapitation lariat. But Kingston missed with a spinning backfist and Tornado pinned him with Dat Nigga Dead. A lot of fans were was pulling for Kingston to advance. Major show of respect in the postmatch. Crowd really liked this match. So did I.

Chris Hero came out and called Kingston a loser. Kingston hopped the rail but couldn’t get to Hero. Kingston said he had enough of the politics in Chikara and CZW. He said he wanted the bitch on night two after he lost to Scorpio. Rotten told Kingston if he interfered in the match, he would be gone from IWA Mid-South for a full year.

(4) Davey Richards beat B. J. Whitmer via submission at 14:14 with the Keylock Clutch. Excellent match.This felt like serious business. They matched up dead even in agility and power. Richards strikes were wicked stiff. Whitmer did some nice work on Richards’ back. A dangerous spot saw both men spill over the top on a vertical suplex. Richards sent Whitmer through the ropes with a missile dropkick to the back and followed up with flip tope. Richards went for the keylock, but Whitmer got a ropes break. Whitmer stormed back with a brainbuster and a frogsplash. Richards did a sunset powerbomb and caved Whitmer’s chest in with a kick. Whitmer kicked out. Whitmer got a near fall with a jackknife powerbomb. Richard hit a Saito suplex and locked in the submission. To this point, each match was better than the one before.

(5) Devin Moore pinned Dysfunction in 5:05 with a Shooting Star Press. They worked a fast pace but were nowhere close to as crisp as the previous match. Moore kicked out of everything Dys could throw at him and got the pin with a Shooting Star Press.

After intermission, Jason Duke got in the ring and said since he beat Billy Kidman in NWA Midwest, Ian Rotten should give him a bye into the second round. Rotten said the only “bi" Duke would be getting was from Ed Chuman. Rotten had Duke arrested by security. Rotten then wiped his ass with the Duke’s NWA Midwest X Division belt and told him he could have it back when he bailed out. Rotten said he could get 2500 for it from Chuman because he was a belt mark.

(6) Mike Quackenbush beat Billy Roc via submission at 11:54 to retain the NWA World Lightweight Title. No doubt Quack is a sentimental favorite in the tournament. Roc was holding his own against the champ’s technical skills early. Quackenbush began to dominate with lucha style and tortured Roc with submissions. Roc got a comeback series of near falls including a flip piledriver out of nowhere. Quack cut him off with a palm strike and hit a brainbuster. Roc got a near fall with a Shiranui. Quackenbush then submitted Roc with the Lightning Lock.

(7) Brent Albright beat Tank via submission in 5:05. Tank attacked Albright in the aisle but messed his ankle up in the process. They just blasted the hell out of each other in this match. Albright gave Tank a german suplex with no help from Tank. Albright blocked the chokebreaker and go for the Crowbar. Tank escaped and Albright switched to a cross armbreaker to get the win. Nice finish.

(8) Joey Ryan beat Brandon Thomaselli in 9:55. Ryan refused to shake hands. Ryan came out on top on a furious exchange of armdrags that got a big pop. Thomaselli worked on Ryan’s back. A big spot saw Ryan spear Thomaselli of the apron. Unfortunately, Ryan’s superkick wasn’t much compared to the near falls that preceded it, which resulted in the only flat finish of the night.

(9) “Spyder" Nate Webb beat Drake Younger in 8:55. The IWA fans love both of these guys. During his “Teenage Dirtbag“ intro, Webb grabbed a Hershey bar from the concession stand, threw it into the crowd and told Rotten, “that’s my payday." Younger has Tommy Dreamer’s heart and is well on the way to the scarred up body of Sabu. They opened up with straight wrestling. Younger took control. At one point, he did a flapjack into a Mutalock. Both down after a flying reverse DDT by Webb. Webb busted out the Muay Thai knees. Younger hit a Liger Bomb for a near fall. Webb murdered Younger with a lariat, but he kicked out. Webb got the pinfall with a devastating top rope half nelson/hammerlock facebuster. Standing ovation.

Rotten announced that the Cubs won the division.

(10) Claudio Castagnoli beat Nigel McGuinness in 11:22. Everyone on their feet for the intros. They traded about 30 European uppercuts. McGuinness went to one knee. After 5 more, Double C went to his knee. Castagnoli launched a barrage of blows, but McGuinness smoked him with Rope Swing Lariat. Awesome sequence. Castagnoli used a 10 count giant swing. McGuinness hit the Tower of London for a near fall. McGuinness kicked out of the Alpamare Waterslide. McGuinness escaped a Ricola Bomb and leveled Castagnoli with a short-arm lariat. But Castagnoli ducked yet another Rope Swing Lariat and hit the Ricola Bomb. Best match yet. Great pop as they did a show of respect.

(11) Scorpio beat Chris Hero in 19:32. Huge babyface response for Scorpio. Hero made the ring announcer intro him as the best athlete in the tournament “white or black." Every time Hero got the advantage, he would mock Scorpio with silly, flippy routines. Scorpio taunted Hero with a cravate and they countered back and forth. After a sequence of obnoxious flips by Hero, Scorpio nailed him with a superkick. Scorpio popped the crowd with a guillotine legdrop on the apron. Hero got his knees up on Scorpio’s standing moonsault to reverse the momentum. Scorpio made an explosive comeback, hitting a middle rope somersault senton and a top rope splash for near falls. Hero took his head off with a lariat. Scorpio escaped from the Cravate Plex, but Hero coldcocked him with a head shot and did a release vertical suplex for a great near fall. Scorpio kicked out of the cravate buster. Scorpio connected with a Pele kick and got pin with the 450 splash. Big pop. Great match. Scorpio worked his ass off. The crowd broke out a bigtime “loser" chant for Hero.

After the match, Hero said he might not show up for night two and was attacked by Kingston. They brawled until IWA officials ran out to separate them. Rotten made a no DQ-no count out Last Man Standing match for night two. The crowd loved this.

(12) Chuck Taylor beat Jimmy Jacobs to retain the IWA World Heavyweight Title in 21:30. A grueling match. Jacobs attacked Taylor outside the ring and gave him a backdrop into the first row. Tthey brawled through the seats. They did a spot where Jacobs jumped off a gimmick table to spear Taylor, who was hanging from the basketball stanchion. Inside the ring, it was still all Jacobs. Taylor started to fight back after a series of slaps, but Jacobs beat him down.

When Jacobs went for the Contracode, Taylor dumped him and did a psychotic dive. Taylor’s back appeared to land on the rail but he got right up. Moments later, Jacobs went head first into the rail on a crash and burn tope. Jacobs was down and bleeding from the forehead. He barely beat the 20 count. Taylor opened up the cut. Taylor went after Jacobs’ bad knee and ripped the brace off of it. Taylor put Jacobs in the figure four. They trade slaps and headbutts. Taylor calls Jacobs “Zach Gowen." Jacobs did a Nestea plunge diving headbutt. Crazy stuff. Finish saw Jacobs go for the Contra Code. Taylor distracted Bryce Remsburg, kicked Jacobs low, and hit the Awful Waffle. Great way to finish night one.

NOTES: Besides Kingston/Hero, night two has Thomaselli Brothers defending the IWA tag titles and the remainder of the TPI with second rounds matches as follows: Moore vs. Abercrombie, Tornado vs. Webb, Taylor vs. Scorpio, Albright vs. Joker, Richards vs. Castagnoli and Quackenbush vs. Ryan. The Elite Pro show will be at 1pm Saturday with a 2 hour Q & A to follow.

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Larry Goodman also sent this report in:

All-star Championship Wrestling returned to the VFW Fairgrounds in Carrollton, Georgia Tuesday night with the third in their series of nostalgia-based shows.

Attendance was around 300 after drawing 500 in May and 700 in July, a drop that could be attributed to several factors. The advertising for this show came out late. Promoter Rock Parsons believed that the problems with the Ricky Morton/Bobby Eaton cage match (a last-minute makeshift cage) played a role in it.

The ACW fans love their legends. They've got damn good stamina as well, as they stayed amazingly hot throughout a show than ran three and a half hours long.

Parsons addressed the crowd to open the show. He apologized for the problems with the cage match at the July show and ran down the list of legends that would be appearing. Tommy Rich got by far the loudest pop. Parsons announced that ACW would have a 30 minute show on local television in the near future.

The show was taped for television with Parsons and Bobby Simmons doing most of the commentary. They were joined by various wrestlers for color commentary during the course of the evening.

(1) Brad Armstrong beat Frankie Valentine in 4:35. Armstrong got a huge response and was in great shape as always. Armstrong won it with his signature Russian legsweep.

Armstrong was interviewed by Rock Parsons. They did the promo segments on the stage. Armstrong said Ricky Morton was scheduled to be his tag partner later in the show but he hadn’t seen him.

(2) Chick Donovan submitted Billy Knight with the figure four leglock in 7:52. The crowd was very entertained by Donovan, although I’m not sure in the intended manner. Donovan worked heel but they cheered him anyway. Knight is a jobber type without babyface appeal. The Chickster took a flat back bump when Knight kicked him off his first attempt at the figure four. Donovan used thumb thrusts to the throat to set up the submission.

Masked Superstar cut a promo to set up the rubber match with Tommy Rich for the title. It was called the Southern Heavyweight Title here but later referred to as the National title. Superstar said it was his last chance, so Rich better be at 150%.

Parsons interviewed Jimmy Golden, who was in the role of the humble babyface. Parsons noted that Golden was dressed in his gear even though he wasn’t scheduled to wrestle. Golden said a carpenter never goes to work without his tools.

The introduction of Brad Thomas got a pop. Thomas, who is undefeated in ACW, said it was the people that made him a winner.

(3) Brad Thomas beat Dillon Eaton in 6:32. Thomas is the real deal as a throwback southern style babyface. He’s trained by Ricky Morton and cut from the same cloth. In great shape, very athletic and very over. I hadn’t seen Dillon (son of Bobby) since a Les Thatcher show about 18 months ago. His work looked about the same. Dillon missed with the Alabama Jam. Thomas got the pin with springboard flying bodypress. Dillon was a sore loser. Thomas was making his save until he got jumped by Beautiful Bobby and Scotty McKeever. They raised Dillon’s hand. Ken Timbs Jr. and Billy Knight made the save.

Intermission with Armstrong and Thomas out doing autographs.

(4) Tommy Rich beat Pretty Boy Floyd in 4:50. I don’t make a habit of dogging legends, but Rich’s gut was obscene. He badly needs some different gear. This crowd loved him anyway. Rich rolled Floyd up after a missed charging elbow.

(5) Doug Sommers beat Ken Timbs Jr. in 12:22. Indeed, this was the same Doug Sommers that held the AWA tag titles with Buddy Rose back in 1986. He didn’t look all that different except for being so much bigger around the middle, but he never had the chiseled physique to begin with. And the guy can still work. Timbs worked for GCW in Columbus among others. He’s got good size. Timbs dominated the bulk of the match until Sommers rammed him into the post and pinned him with a piledriver.

Greg Valentine promo. He talked about his undying passion for wrestling.

Rich promo. He referred to Superstar as “Superstar Bill Eadie." Rich said he had the home field advantage. No doubt about that. Rich used the same line about Georgia peaches that goes back to at least 1978.

(6) Scotty McKeever (with Dillon Eaton) beat Frankie Valentine in 5:19. There was heat on McKeever after what happened to Thomas. McKeever started here under a hood as The Arsenal but was unmasked on the July show. Valentine was the babyface by default after working heel in the opener. Dillon punched Valentine behind the ref’s back to set up him for McKeever’s swinging neckbreaker.

(7) Tommy Rich beat Superstar via DQ in 7:19 to retain the National Heavyweight Title. Superstar wasn’t having much success, so he loaded up the mask. But Rich moved and Superstar headbutted the turnbuckle. Bobby Eaton jumped Rich to make it two on one. Thomas hit the ring and got tossed out. Armstrong evened the odds. Greg Valentine hit the ring to make it 3 on 2. Jake Roberts joined Armstrong and Rich to clear the ring. The crowd was really hot for the postmatch.

They announced a six man Bar Room Brawl for the return date on November 8: Rich & Armstrong & Roberts vs. Superstar & Valentine & Eaton. Superstar said he was going to stuff the snake down Roberts’ throat. Roberts got heated. Rich said Roberts didn’t even like his own daddy.

(8) Greg Valentine beat Chick Donovan in 5:30. This wasn’t as bad as I feared after seeing Valentine’s “run-in." They traded roll ups before Valentine pinned Donovan using the tights.

(9) Doug Sommers beat Billy Knight in 2:50. Timbs came to ringside. He complained to the ref about Sommers tactics. Sommers capitalized on the distraction by using a foreign object to get the pin. The finish made Timbs look like a dummy.

(10) Brad Thomas beat Pretty Boy Floyd in 6:10. From an athletic standpoint, this was probably the most competitive match of the evening. Floyd has been a regular at Deep South since Joe Hamilton started running shows again. Thomas scored the pin with a James Brown splits into a haymaker.

Golden did another interview stating that he was available to wrestle. Roberts came for an interview, and Golden accused of horning in on his time and morphed into Bunkhouse Buck. Roberts was perplexed by Golden’s attitude. Golden said what happens wasn’t his fault.

(11) Jake Roberts vs. Bunkhouse Buck ended as a double DQ at 9:15. Golden is in incredible shape for a guy that started wrestling in 1969. Fans chanted for the snake. Roberts went for the DDT but Buck slipped away. Jake ate a knee and got knocked for a loop. Buck took over with a long sleeper hold. Jake made the comeback with a short arm clothesline and went for the DDT, but Buck hooked the ropes to block it. Buck then pinned Roberts with his feet on the ropes. Ref Spanky Emerson hit the ring to tell the first ref Buck cheated. Roberts pulled out the snake. Spanky got decked and the snake ended up slithering over his body.

Armstrong came out alone at first and then brought out The Bullet as his partner.

(12) Bobby Eaton & Scotty McKeever (with Dillon Eaton) beat Brad Armstrong & The Bullet in 10:07. Bobby teased a foreign object at the start. Brad took the heat. Bullet made the comeback. Dillon got involved, and Bobby used a loaded kneepad on Bullet to get the 1-2-3.

NOTES: Notables in the house included Nightmare Ted Allen, legendary referee Charlie Smith, , Juanita Timbs, Scrappy McGowan and his son Jeff…Another of Ken Timbs’ sons is wrestling at Ohio State University…Deep South Wrestling is scheduled to resume their weekly shows in Locust Grove on 10/11. They have been on hiatus due to the brutal summer heat…Word at the show was that Morton got out of jail on 9/24. Morton had once again been arrested for owing child support payments to his ex-wife…The SECW show in nearby Villa Rica on 9/16 drew 400 for a show featuring an appearance by Mr. Wrestling II…SECW returns to Villa Rica on 9/30 with Bull Buchanan & Brad Armstrong vs. Cru Jones & Kodiak. Nightmare, Bambi, and Vordell Walker are also on the card.