TPI 2007 [Night 2]

I think I'll just title the blogs with whatever I'm watching. I'm not witty enough to think of... well... witty titles.

Let's see. Thus far, it's been a pretty damn good show. I've seen '04 & '06 and I really liked them both, 2006 wasn't as star studded as 2004, but I liked it more. Claudio/Quack and Low Ki/Davey Richards in particular were sooooo awesome. Here in 2007, there's some complete goons like Dysfunction and Devon Moore, but there's some great names like Brent Albright, Nigel McGuinness, and Scorpio (no longer 2 Cold :(). Night one was pretty standard, I really liked the Hero/Scorpio match. Jimmy Jacobs vs. Chuck Taylor was a good main event, but seeing Chuck selling little Jimmy Jacobs' offense just turned me off. I saw BJ Whitmer's best match against Davey Richards, thanks entirely to Davey, who was awesome in both his matches (that and his 2nd round match with Claudio). Claudio/Nigel was also a really good match, so they had a really strong finish to night 1.

Night 2 has seen Josh Abercrombie advance by beating Devon Moore. I like Josh. He's got wacky tights, an AWESOME hat, and has some cool stuff I haven't seen before (Sidewalk Slam Driver, the lungblower variation he calls the Taliban Backpack). Brent Albright beat Joker in a match I thought would just be strikes and suplexes. It was fine, Joker and the rest of Blackout sans Eddie Kingston are pretty bad the more I see them. Tornado beat Nate Webb in a forgettable match. Hero on commentary's always great. Quack had his nasty botched dive against Joey Ryan, but he finished the match and the fans were really into him. Davey and Claudio had a great match. Davey was on point with his kick, even doing some rana's and lucha stuff which was awesome. Claudio threw his uppercuts, did some good mat work, pretty standard stuff and he won with the Ricola Bomb. Chuck and Scorpio had a pretty fun match. Chuck was being wacky as usual, Scorpio didn't do as well as he did against Hero, but it was pretty fun for what it was. Chuck won with the Awful Waffle out of the corner to advance to the semifinals. Ian Rotten came out and said Quack couldn't continue due to his head injury. So here we go!

1) Claudio Castagnoli vs. Brent Albright in a semifinal match.
Claudio came out with a HYDRA'S GYM shirt. Awesome. Brent has a cool jacket. By the way, the announer's name is STEVE STEVE. Claudio's the definite babyface here. Stalemate early, neither men getting the advantage. Brent Albright with a headlock, Claudio's having trouble getting out. God, I hope this isn't like the Danielson/Claudio match from PWG where they did a headlock for like 10 minutes. Albright goes to a front facelock, and Claudio still can't get out. Back to the headlock. Still with the headlock. Back to the front facelock. Claudio finally gets the ropes, but Albright back with the headlock. If this is what their ROH matches are like, I can see why people hate them. Front facelock, and Claudio finally hot shots him to break the hold. Not the pop they were expecting, probably. Claudio with the giant swing for 11 revolutions. 10 MINUTES HAVE GONE BY. About 9 were the headlock. Albright with a victory roll for 2. Albright went for the half nelson suplex, but Claudio hits the Alpamare Waterslide. Ricola Bomb attempt, Albright with an Exploder for 2. Forearm/Uppercut battle, Albright gets the Crowbar, but Claudio gets the ropes. Albright looking for a superplex, but Claudio shoves him off and goes for the flying uppercut. Albright catches him with the Crowbar (Fujiwara armbar), but Claudio gets out. Albright switches to the cross armbreaker, and Claudio gets the ropes. Albright went for the Crowbar again but Claudio got out and hit the Bicycle Kick. Ricola Bomb attempt, but Albright slips out and gets the half nelson suplex for a really good near fall. Albright misses a cross body and Claudio hits the Ricola Bomb for the pin. Really picked up at the end, good stuff. Claudio's going to the finals!

The Human Tornado vs. Chuck Taylor in a semifinal match.
Tornado should be booked in more places. I think this was his IWA debut, and the people love him after two matches. I might be wrong about the debut. I haven't heard Chuck use "Hey Sandy" in a long time, so this has been a great weekend for his music. As was the case with his first two matches, Chuck's defending the IWA World (lol) title throughout. Tornado steals the belt and the crowd chants "new fuckin' champ." Chuck goes over to the commentary table and gets the mic. "God forbid he not live up to the stereotype." Sadly, Tornado isn't being billed from "Niggakeeprunnin, Mississippi." :( Bryce says Tornado is a "Wrestling Society X superstar." Awesome. Chuck tries one of his way too long wacky chants. Chuck's being Chuck. He makes fun of a young child, who responds with "I'm Chuck Taylor, I scream like a girl when I get chopped." Chuck got served. Tornado walks the tight rope, Chuck crotches him, but Tornado does the no-sell. Pimp slap misses, and Chuck with the overhead belly to belly and the nip up. BACK RAKE AND CHEST RAKES. Backdrop suplex and then Chuck with the invisible grenade spot. "Double ultra super mega killing grenade!" The fans beg for him not to throw it, he does and hits the elbow drop. I just realized I have commentary off. Tornado with the splits low blow and a jackknife pin for 2. Tornado went for a stinger splash but Chuck got the boots up and hit a Yakuza Kick for 2. Tornado did a great spot where Chuck's head was hung over the middle rope, and Tornado slingshots (slingshoots?) over and double stomps Chuck. Tornado with an enzuigiri and Tornado DDT for a near fall. Chuck hits a catatonic into a flatliner, and puts on a wacky submission but Tornado gets the ropes. Sole Food misses, Tonrado goes for the DND, but Chuck gets out and then eats a spinning kick. Tornado goes up top, maybe the Cancun Tornado, but Chuck cuts him off. Pimp slap misses, Chuck goes for a superplex, but Tonrado tries a sunet flip powerbomb. Chuck hangs on and kicks him off. Tornado crotches him and goes for the super DND. Chuck elbows off and misses the moonsault. Chuck with a low blow, Tornado no sells and hits the pimp slap. DND connects, but Chuck gets the ropes. Fans thought it was over. Another DND, but Chuck gets out of it and eventually gets the Awful Waffle for the 3. Awful Waffle remains the best name for a move ever. Really good stuff. Afterwards, Chuck asks a kid if he wants to die. The kid agrees to meet Chuck in the parking lot, and Chuck says "I'll be the guy with a knife, stabbing your face."

Josh Abercrombie vs. Mike Quackenbush in a semifinal match.
Abercrombie comes out to accept Quack's forfeit, but Quack's music hits and he comes out to wrestle. Fans are soooo behind him. Quack's been defending his IWA Light Heavyweight title througout the tournament. Hand shake to start. Joey Ryan on commentary! Some good reversals and technical stuff to start. Abercrombie goes after Quack's injured head, the fans don't like it. Abercrombie with a one-armed swinging neckbreaker for 2. Quack takes out Abercrombie's knee and gets him in a modified Stretch Muffler, but Abercrombie gets the ropes. Abercrombie goes back to the head with elbows. Piledriver, but Quack kicks him in the face to get out. Big spinebuster and Quack with a modified ankle lock, but Abercrombie once more gets to the ropes. Abercrombie back to the head. Abercrombie goes for the Taliban Backpack, but Quack hits the palm strike. Quack with another dive, this one pays off. Quack with the clothesline in the corner, bulldog into the knee. Goes for the running palm strike, but Abercrombie cuts him off and gets a near fall with the piledriver. Quack with the Black Tornado Slam into the crucifix pin for 2. Abercrombie hits the Taliban Backpack but Quack kicks out. Abercrombie goes to a half chickenwing rear chinlock like submission, whatever it is it won him his first two matches. Quack gets his arm up on the 3rd try, and he counters into a pin for two, but Abercrombie counters that for 2. Modified slam by Quack, and he gets Abercrombie in a modified ankle lock once more. Abercrombie taps and Quack's giong to the finals! The crowd and emotion made this one really good stuff. Quack/Claudio/Chuck in finals. Ian came out and thanked Quack. Because Quack decided to wrestle when the NWA told him not to, that severed ties between the NWA and IWA. Huh? Handshake afterwards between Quack and Abercrombie. Fans chant "one more win."

Eddie Kingston vs. Chris Hero in a Last Man Standing match.
Last match before I take a break. Kingston jumps Hero before Hero can make an entrance. Basically, these two still hate each other. And Ian made the match last night after they had a brawl. Brawling in the crowd to start. Hero MURDERS King with Yakuzas right to the face as King was sitting down against the wall. They continue to hit each other hard. King suplexes Hero onto a table, but it doesn't break. Headbutts on the floor by both men. King starts to choke Hero, but Hero shoves him off into the guard rails. Hero separates a part of the guard rail and hits King with it. HE JUST THREW THE GUARD RAIL AT HIM. Hero slapping King, but King fights back with chops. King's digging his eyes into Hero's eye sockets and mouth, but Hero gives him a Yakuza, and then a running one. King with machine gun chops and finally the two enter the ring. Headbutt cuts off King's attack. Hero with a few more Yakuzas. Hero goes outside and gets a steel chair. He throws it in and hits King in the head. He throws a few more in. Hero with a chair cuts off King, and then he stomps the chair on King's head. Hero puts a chair on King's stomach, then grabs one and does a senton with it onto the chair and King. Hero puts King in a Boston Crab and then puts a chair underneath, part of the chair right on King's neck, and he sits down with it. King's got a busted nose. Some retard yells "fight, fight, fight, fight, fight, fight." King takes down Hero and punches him, and then gets him in a guilltoine choke but Hero gets out with kidney shots. Saito suplex by Hero, but King gets up at 8. Hero with a powerbomb. King up at 8 once more. Hero stomps on King's hand repeatedly. King up at 5. King tries to chop and slap with the hand, but it hurts too much. Hero stomps on the same hand a few more times. Hero with chops, but King fires back and hits an overhead capture suplex. King charges with a Yakuza, but Hero gets the boot up. King gives him the Yakuza anyway and hits the ura-nage. Lariat misses, Hero with a nasty forearm. King with one of his own, and Hero fights back. Forearm exchange turns to slaps. Now headbutts. Sickening headbutts. Backdrop driver, but Hero elbows out and starts sandwiching King with elbows and knees. King with a German suplex, Hero with a cravate backdrop like suplex. King's up, and hits a Dragon suplex. LARIATOOOOOO~! Hero's up at 9. King calls for the finish. Saito suplex attempt, but Hero gets out with an elbow and a cravate facebreaker over the knees. Hero throws chairs at King's head, and looks for the standard chair shot, but instead puts King in the chair and gives him a flipping maneuver of some sort that ends with the chair hitting the mat and King taking the shot to the neck. King up at 7. Hero brings the guard rail piece into the ring. He rams it in King's gut twice. Hero pushes the guard rail into King, but King manages to drive Hero back into the opposite corner. Hero throws the guard rail at King and then hits another Yakuza. Hero off the top with a DOUBLE STOMP. Kingston gets up at 8. Hero sets the guard rail in the corner. YAKUZA AGAIN. Big slap, but King fights back. Trading slaps now, Hero going for a powerbomb onto the guard rail. Backfist misses, but he hits it on the second try. Backdrop driver, Hero's back up. King with another, Hero's up again. King tells him he's gonna die, and gives him a third backdrop driver, this time onto the guard rail. Hero's down and out for the 10 count, King wins it. Brutal stuff, great match.

That's it for now. I've got two matches left, so I'll finish those later tonight.