=== IWA Mid-South Hardcore Wrestling ===
## Official Internet Newsletter/Yahoo Group ##

[The following message is from the IWA Mid-South Wrestling Yahoo Group mailing
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It all goes down tonight! Saturday, 7/2... as IWA Mid-South Wrestling presents
"No Blood, No Guts, No Glory 2005" at the National Guard Armory in Valparaiso,
IN. Bell time is 7:30pm Central. Tickets are $20 and will be available at the
door while they last.

The following piece was written by Travis McNeill previewing tonight's show...


Wargames: The Match Beyond
By Travis McNeill


Part I: The Wargames

In 2 days, we celebrate the 18 year anniversary of the very first Wargames
Match. What better way to do so, with one taking place later on tonight. Now
I?ll admit, I?m an absolute mark for the match type. Always have been, always
will be. In fact, the 1992 version I proclaim to be my favourite match of all
time. In my opinion, when a blood feud gets so out of control, the best way to
settle it is inside the steel cage. Not one of those cheap Escape Cage Matches
either. When 2 guys have beat on each other so much and for so long and
absolutely *hate* each other, why would someone want to win by leaving? That
right there is practically giving up, but instead the wrestler is rewarded for
doing that via victory. I also don?t like a pinfall. It only takes 3 seconds to
defeat your arch rival, when that?s all it takes to beat him in a normal singles
match. The way to end a feud in my eyes, is when one of the wrestlers says ?I
Quit.? They give up because they know they are the lesser man, they give up
because they can?t take anymore, they quit the feud. Tully Blanchard and Magnum
TA had it right. Their ?I Quit? Cage Match is still today, nearly 20 years later
one of the most talked about Cage Matches of all time. So when the ?American
Dream? Dusty Rhodes knew his feud against the Four Horsemen couldn?t go any
longer the way it was, he decided to take it to the Cage. But there was 4 of
them, 5 including James J. Dillon who always stuck his nose in the business of
his client?s matches. There was no way he could defeat them all on his own, so
he enlisted some help in his Superpowers teammate Nikita Koloff, the Road
Warriors and their manager to counteract Dillon, Paul Ellering. That?s 10 men.
Now confining 10 men with that much hate for each other in their systems in one
cage just wouldn?t work, especially with not so small men such as Dusty in
there. Rhodes decided to add a second ring, and a second cage, the Match Beyond
was created. Dusty also knew a simple pinfall victory would not be enough, so he
threw in the stipulation of Submit Or Surrender. The classic ?I Quit?
stipulation in full effect. What resulted was one of the most barbaric matches
of all time, one that will be recreated tonight.

Part II: The Backstory

IWA Mid-South, a relatively small promotion out of Indiana that?s host to some
huge talent. It?s headed by Ian Rotten, 51% owner. Why is he only the 51% owner
you may ask? You see, the IWA has had some rough times resulting in some money
being leant, mostly from Jim Fannin, 29% owner. For the nearly 9 years IWA-MS
has been in existence, Jim Fannin has been there. A former friend of Ian Rotten,
hell, you could?ve even called him Ian?s best friend. He had been watching
everything Ian did. Everything he did right, and everything he did wrong. Jim
Fannin had been learning from the mistakes of Ian Rotten, just in case the
possibility ever arose that Ian would step down. I believe that secretly, Jim
wanted the company for himself all along. In mid-2004, Ian dropped a bombshell.
The IWA-MS would now be a member of the National Wrestling Alliance. A group of
promotions that used to be the leaders in wrestling, even hosting the first
Wargames Match, but has now began to fizzle out into obscurity. Many questioned
why Ian would do such a thing. To me, the answer seemed clear, money, and
publicity. With being a member of the NWA, IWA-MS would gain more notoriety.
Attendance had been down all over the place, aside from one place, Highland, IN.
Maybe the name recognition of the NWA would draw out so more old school fans.
That would lead to more money through ticket sales. Enter Ed Chuman. The
Mid-West promoter of the National Wrestling Alliance. With IWA now being
governed by the NWA, 20% of the company was given to Chuman. Many were upset
with the decision to be a member of the NWA as it lead to a set of rules
unfamiliar to IWA-MS as well as many new stars brought in via Chuman. Wrestlers
from other NWA territories such as NWA Mid-West or NWA Wildside. Jim Fannin saw
that Ian was getting desperate by joining up with the NWA. He decided to throw a
monkey wrench into everything. An envelope. For a couple months the fans
wondered what exactly was in the envelope given to Ian by Jim, as it turned out,
it was a bill for $10,000. For all those years, Jim had been giving Ian money
with the intention that he?d have to pay him back, when it never came, what
turned into a negative became a positive. If Ian didn?t repay him, he could be
taken to court, he could loose that 51% of his company?To Jim Fannin. Jim?s
desire to own the IWA Mid-South was almost a reality, but then Ed Chuman stepped
up. He leant the $10,000 to Ian, crushing Fannin?s hopes, though giving him
money back in his pocket. Just like Fanning however, Chuman expects the money
back. In the ensuing months, without the money repaid, Chuman has been getting
seemingly more grouchy. Even getting his squad of NWA wrestlers to attack Ian.
In February, Ian Rotten finally had enough. Just like Dusty Rhodes, he was tired
of fighting the forces of evil in Chuman and Fannin. He announced Wargames.
Perhaps the biggest Wargames Match ever, containing 15 men instead of the usual
8 or 10. The winning squad?s front man gets the full 100% ownership of the
IWA-MS. It?s high stakes, everyone has a lot to gain, and a lot to loose.
However, Jim Fannin has stated someone will be turning on Ian, that remains to
be seen if it will occur during Wargames.

Part III: The Rules

I?m sure most are familiar with the rules of Wargames, but if not, let?s have a
little refresher. It?s 2 rings, side by side surrounded by a giant double cage.
The match will start with a member from each team. They will fight for a timed
period, longer than the others, usually 5 minutes. A coin toss will be held at
ringside between the 3 teams. When the first period is done, the winners of the
coin toss will send in their next man to begin the second period, usually 2
minutes. After the time has expired, the second team will send in their second
man. After that period is finished, the third team will send in their second
man. This will continue until all 15 men are in the Wargames. At that point, the
Match Beyond begins and eliminations are legal. The only way to be eliminated is
via Submit Or Surrender. Once one member of a team submits, that team is
eliminated. The match is then down to two teams. Once another wrestler submits,
his team is eliminated and we have our winners, and owner of IWA Mid-South.

Part IV: Team IWA (Team Ian)

Ian Rotten: The man with it all riding on the line. The Wargames for tonight was
Ian?s idea, taking on that of his hero Dusty Rhodes. Ian is a great brawler, who
also has great mat skills and stiff strikes. However, while he has an All-Star
team, it?s one of people who have been both with him and against him in the
past. With the revelation that Jim Fannin has a wrestler in the Wargames turning
on Ian, Rotten may be paranoid. He feels his biggest threat in the match is not
that of his opponents, but his own team mate Bull Pain. If Ian looses tonight,
he looses his baby. The promotion he built from the ground-up the past 9 years.
He?s going to lay it all on the line, along with his life in the Wargames. If he
goes down, he sure as hell isn?t going down without a fight.

Brandon Thomaselli: Who some call the new ?Golden Boy? of Ian Rotten. A
youngster that has been given a great opportunity by Ian. He was the first
holder of the NWA Indiana State Title and has been given shots at the IWA-MS
Light Heavyweight, Tag Team and World Heavyweight titles. However, some also
believe Ian pushed him too hard too fast and he wasn?t ready. It?s possible
though given a great shot, he could feel the same way and maybe resent Ian
slightly. The wildcard factor for him are his brothers, Vito and Sal. They came
in the IWA along side Brandon, and asked him to join up with them for Team NWA.
He declined leading to a vicious attack from his brothers and an ensuing feud
seeing matches such as Tables Matches and Tables, Ladders and Chair Matches. He
has declined in the past, but after all, Blood Is Thicker Than Water and there
will be a lot of blood spilled tonight. He has also admitted that if Team Ian is
unsuccessful, he?d suck up to the winning team in order to retain bookings.
Could he rejoin his brothers? Only he knows the answer.

Chris Hero: Chris Hero is looking for vengeance tonight. Not against a certain
individual, but against the fans and this so called ?Loosing Streak? of his.
Though Highland, IN is no longer on IWA?s list of towns, the stench of the
Highland Curse still lingers. For a year and a half, Chris Hero was unable to
win a single match in that town. It lead to defeats in other towns as well,
though not as frequent. When Wargames was scheduled to take place in Highland,
everyone though Hero being on Team Ian was a disaster in the making. Hero always
said he?d break the curse, but now he?ll never get the chance to. This eats away
inside of Chris. A victory in Wargames however could take away that pain. Or, it
could?ve already been too much for him, converting him to the Darkside. With the
Wargames being Submit Or Surrender, and Hero being the submission specialist he
is, he?d be an asset to any team. Another factor to consider is Hero?s longtime
friend Mark Wolf. Mark mysteriously returned to the IWA a few weeks back. You?d
think a return such as his would?ve been hype more. Well it turned out, he?d
join Jim Fannin, which explains it all. Hero and Mark have been friends for a
long time, and it?s possible Chris could be influenced by his friend. Hero has a
lot on his mind, and is another big wildcard in Wargames.

Axl Rotten: Ian?s brother is a hardcore brawler. As I stated earlier, blood is
indeed thicker than water. With that being said, sometimes Axl prefers to spill
the blood of his brother. The Bad Breed have turned on each other roughly 742
times during their lives. What makes Ian think Axl won?t do it again? They got
back together at a show in March titled surprise, surprise, Blood Is Thicker
Than Water. Ian is hoping that Axl can stay true to him and the team and help
him retain his company. Axl on the other hand, may not be thinking the same way.

Bull Pain: THE Wildcard in all of this. Bull has not seen an IWA ring since King
Of The Deathmatches 2003. His bitter war with Ian Rotten is one of the most
documented in IWA history. It cumulated in a Steel Cage Match itself with the
legendary Harley Race as the Keeper Of The Key. When he was last seen, Bull Pain
appeared to have had a different attitude and was going after Jim Fannin. That
was 2 years ago though. In 2 years a lot can change. Maybe Bull is upset that
Ian hasn?t booked him since. Maybe he still wants to kill Jim Fannin. Who knows
how much Ian has had with Bull since the announcement of him being in Wargames.
There is no telling what the maniac with the baseball bat will do, but he could
be the key factor in this. He?s the Nikita Koloff to Dusty?s Sting. Will he
turn, or can he be trusted?

Part V: Fannin?s Family (Team Fannin)

JC Bailey: The element of the unexpected was clearly in Fannin?s mind when he
announced JC Bailey as the first member of his team. It was a smart strategy
indeed. For all of late-2003 and early-2004 Bailey and Ian engaged in a brutal
war. They competed in Anything Goes Matches, Fans Bring The Weapons Matches,
Cage Matches, ?I Quit? Matches, and one thing was always the same. JC never
quit. Ian may have beat the hell out of him time and time again, but he never
quit. In a match where the only way to win is via Submit Or Surrender, it was
brilliant strategy on the part of Fannin to have Bailey on his team. Fannin and
JC have no love loss for each other however. Jim just simply does not like JC
Bailey. However, he has put his disgust for him aside for the Wargames.

Mark Wolf: The shocker. The spot that was originally to be filled by Chris
Candido is now filled by someone completely different. When Chris Candido passed
away, there was much talk about who would take his spot. The final decision was
his younger brother Johnny Candido?Or so we thought. Last night in Salem, Ian
Rotten took on Jimmy Jacobs for the IWA-MS World Heavyweight Title and chose
Mark Wolf, one man he thought he could trust as his outside enforcer for the
match. He was wrong. Mark turned on him to join Jim Fannin?s team at Wargames,
proving that Johnny Candido being in the match was all a ruse. Mark was a
shocking turn, more shocking than his surprise return to IWA-MS a few weeks back
for seemingly no reason. It was a plan all along, one no one saw coming. Now, it
is unknown if this was the turn Fannin has been speaking of, or if that is still
to come tonight. Mark has a lot of history with Chris Hero though, and it is
extremely possible he could get in his ear and cause a turn on Ian.

Eddie Kingston: Another hard hitter in this match. He joined Fannin?s Family at
the January Highland event titled Anything Goes 2K5. With his former partner
Jack Marciano out for a long period of time, he needed a partner to defend the
tag titles with. Although he and Steve Stone lost the titles that night, it
proved a great experience. It was a Cage Match. Eddie learned how to use the
cage, a very important factor in tonight?s match. He also has experience in
multi-man team Cage Matches as he participated in CZW?s Cage Of Death 6. Eddie
is a person who I feel is being looked past in this match. The man can hit, he
can brawl, he has a harsh submission in the Kondo Clutch, he has been battling
Ian in NWA No Limits for a little while now, most recently in a Texas Death
Match, AND this could be the stepping stone of launching his career into bigger
and better things. You also have to think he will be pushed big if Fannin gets
control of IWA-MS. One thing is for sure, with all this talk of turning,
Kingston ain?t going anywhere.

Steve Stone: Stone is an interesting participant of this match. I always found
he was a pretty underrated wrestler and Ian saw this and took him under his wing
so to speak. The two began teaming and even qualified for the IWA-MS Tag Team
Title Tournament last year, then Stone was fired. No one really had any idea
why, aside from ?problems with Ian.? A couple months later he returned, along
side Jim Fannin. He engaged in a bitter, bitter war with Ian that had many
bloody battles. He even defeated Ian due to the match being stopped because of a
gruesome cut on Ian?s head. The two competed in a Anything Goes match at the Ted
Petty Invitational which saw the debut of Chris Candido, one of Stone?s idols.
The two men began to fight in many more matches, the last being a Cage Match at
Hoosierland Brawl in January where Ian was made a *disgusting* bloody mess.
Stone lost that match, by submission to a figure four. Stone would like nothing
more than to return the favor to Ian in this match where that is the only way to
win. Ian tired to take Steve?s career away from him, now Stone can try and help
take his company away from him.

BJ Whitmer: The man who was at one time considered Ian?s ?Golden-Boy? holding
the IWA-MS World Heavyweight Title, winning the 2002 TPI and the 2003 Revolution
Tournaments. He?s been with Fannin for 2 years now and was lead to another reign
as IWA Champ, defeating Jerry Lynn in a 30-Minute Ironman Match. In late-2004,
Whitmer was put on the shelf after a Cage Match at Rumble In Rensselaer after
being slammed in the door by Ian Rotten. Whitmer would like nothing more than
repaying the favor. Whitmer is a master of many forms of the Exploder Suplex,
and has often been teaming with Eddie Kingston as of late. He could be looking
to get the number of the Iron Saints, the reigning Tag Champs in this match, to
be in line for a future title shot after Wargames. BJ is another guy who seems
to be fully aligned with Jim Fannin, with no sign of turning.

Part VI: Team NWA (Team Chuman)

Eric Priest: The self-proclaimed ?Underwear Model? Eric Priest is one of the
biggest guys, height wise in the Wargames. While many may look at him as a
pretty-boy, he has shown in the past he can take a beating and even dish one
out. His match against Samoa Joe at NWA No Limits February Fury showed this.
He?s competed in some harder core matches before such as a 5-team Elimination
Tables match, though it is not his forte. He is NWA through and through, as
Chuman has pushed him big in the Mid-West as he even held the NWA Mid-West
Championship. There are no signs he has problems with Ed, and while Team Chuman
lacks much star power, they seem to be the most together team.

Chandler McClure: Though he is not 100% pro-Chuman as even he?ll admit, he has
discussed that he has a lot of motives going into this match. While lobbying for
a spot in Fannin?s Family for months on end, he finally had enough of the abuse
given to him by Jim and co. and he turned on them at Simply The Best 6. Since
then, Team Fannin has attacked him a number of times and he wants his revenge.
He also said in an interview with ChicagoWrestling.com [located here:
http://www.chicagowrestling.com/ed/ed-iwawargames7-1-05.htm] that he is mad at
the fans. After what he sacrificed in turning on the Family, they still did not
respect them. He knows how much a Team IWA win means to them, so he will not let
it happen. He?s had Ian?s blood on his hands before, and he may very well have
it again. He joined up with Team Chuman when one of his trainers Eric Priest
made him see that the fans ?didn?t respect him.? His Touchdown move has lead him
to many submission victories, and in Submit Or Surrender, that?s a huge factor.
Everyone is overlooking Chandler, but in a match like this, you can?t overlook
anyone.

Tank: The Strong Style Psycho is the most feared man in this match. In
interviews, when the participants were asked who they thought was the biggest
threat in the match, Tank came up a lot of the time. He is a big mean dude who
hits really fucking hard to put it blunt. He can also get really violent as he
was a participant in the 2004 King Of The Deathmatches. Tank and Ian Rotten have
been at odds since October when they clashed in the Wildside/IWA Challenge in a
match which some were even calling an underrated Match Of The Year Candidate.
Since then they have met and brutalized each other in an 8 Man Tag Team Match at
Given Em Da Bizness in February. What some may be forgetting though, is Tank has
the best experience possible for this match. He is the only one to ever
participated in a Wargames Match before, having been in the 2004 and 2005
editions in NWA Wildside. With Tank on their side, Team Chuman has a HUGE
advantage, both in size, strength and experience.

Vito and Sal Thomaselli (Current IWA-MS Tag Team Champions): Other men in this
match have competed as tag teams before, but none quite as often as the brothers
Thomaselli. Their war with their brother Brandon has been vicious. They?ve
attacked him at every turn and had some wild bouts including a crazy TLC Match
against Brandon and Trik Davis at Simply The Best 6. They?ve offered him many
opportunities to join them on Team NWA but all have been refused. But remember,
Blood Is Thicker Than Water, so who knows what they could happen. They also have
BJ Whitmer and Eddie Kingston in pursue of their titles, so they have to look
out for them in the match. They have also mastered a Pendulum Double Stomp combo
as their finish. Could they hit that off the top of the cage?

Part VII: The Conclusion

One team will walk away with the control of IWA Mid-South. There is so much hate
in this, I think it will live up to all expectations and then some. Team NWA has
the unity, Team IWA has the heart and Team Fannin has the hate and need. Who
will come out on top?

IWA-MS Presents ?No Blood, No Guts, No Glory 2005? tonight in Valparaiso, IN.
The event is limited to only 300 people, and 200 tickets have been sold. Some
will be available at the door however, so I strongly urge you to go, and go
early if you are in the area. The card so far is:

***Main Event/Double Ring/Double Cage/Three Team War Games***
IAN ROTTEN & AXL ROTTEN & CHRIS HERO & BRANDON THOMASELLI & BULL PAIN vs. BJ
WHITMER & EDDIE KINGSTON & JC BAILEY & STEVE STONE & MARK WOLF vs. ERIC PRIEST &
CHANDLER McCLURE & VITO THOMASELLI & SAL THOMASELLI & TANK

***Series Tie Breaker/60 Minute Time Limit***
CM PUNK vs. DELIRIOUS
Plus many more of your IWA-MS favorites on the card, including JIMMY JACOBS,
MATT SYDAL, BRAD BRADLEY, TRIK DAVIS, DANNY DANIELS, JOSH ABERCROMBIE, MICKIE
KNUCKLES, RAIN, and others!

Smart Mark Video will have the VHS and DVD release of the show in the coming
weeks at www.smartmarkvideo.com

Thanks for reading and enjoy Wargames: The Match Beyond.


Driving directions to the venue is as follows...

VALPARAISO NATIONAL GUARD ARMORY
1502 Linwood Avenue - Valparaiso, Indiana

Coming from the north (Chicago)...

Merge onto I-65 S.
Merge onto US-30 E via EXIT 253 toward VALPARAISO/MERRILVILLE/SCHERERVILLE.
Turn RIGHT onto LINWOOD AVE.
End at 1502 Linwood Ave, Valparaiso, IN

Coming from the south (Indianapolis)...

Merge onto I-65 N.
Merge onto US-30 E via EXIT 253 toward VALPARAISO/MERRILVILLE/SCHERERVILLE.
Turn RIGHT onto LINWOOD AVE.
End at 1502 Linwood Ave, Valparaiso, IN


Call the IWA-MS hotlines at 502-569-1701 in Louisville and 630-585-3958 in
Chicago.


FIRST SIXTEEN ANNOUNCED FOR 2005 TPI
---------------------------------------------------------------

The first sixteen wrestlers who will participate in the "2005 Ted Petty
Invitational" tournament have been announced. They are...

1. AJ Styles
2. Chris Hero
3. James Gibson
4. Jonny Storm
5. Tyler Black
6. Robbie Brookside
7. Homicide
8. Marek Brave
9. Bryan Danielson
10. Super Dragon
11. Mike Quackenbush
12. Kevin Steen
13. Rainman (added 6/25)
14. Matt Sydal (added 6/26)
15. Alex Shelley (added 6/27)
16. Chris Harris (added 6/27)

The tournament will take place on 9/23 & 9/24 in Hammond, IN. Tickets are
already on sale for the event, and can be purchased at all of our live events.
For those outside of the area, tickets can be bought via mail order as well.
E-mail Patti at RottenWife@... for details.


"SOMETHING TO PROVE" DVD NOW AVAILABLE!
---------------------------------------------------------------

The DVD release of the 6/11 Philadelphia, PA IWA-MS event "Something to Prove"
is now available. The double disc set features the entire event, plus locker
room interviews, as well as two big bonus matches.

The show featured the epic Samoa Joe vs. Necro Butcher battle, as well as three
IWA-MS title changes! The bonus matches on the release include Chris Hero vs.
Ian Rotten from 5/04/02 in Dayton, OH, as well as Necro Butcher vs. Mr. Insanity
from 8/01/03 at the KOTDM in Clarksville, IN.

Visit www.smartmarkvideo.com to pick up your copy!



KOTDM 97 REMASTERED DVD NOW AVAILABLE!
------------------------------------

The 2 disc remastered edition of the 1997 King of the Death Matches tournament
is now available from Smart Mark Video. It features the entire tournament,
digitally re-edited from the original camera tapes, plus a bonus match from
December of 1996 between Ian Rotten and Mad Man Pondo. The release features an
optional 2005 commentary track with Dave Prazak, Trik Davis, Chris Hero, Allison
Danger, Bryce Remsburg, and Mickie Knuckles.

Check out the New Releases at www.smartmarkvideo.com to pick it up.


IWA-MS MATCHES AVAILABLE AT CLICKWRESTLE.COM
------------------------------------

For those who may be unaware, IWA Mid-South has been in partnership with the
ClickWrestle.com service for the past several months to provide wrestling fans
with full matches for download online. Select matches are available for download
on a pay-per-minute basis, as well as a set price to download a full match. We
currently have over 30 IWA-MS matches available for viewing on the site, and
provide ClickWrestle.com with new footage (both recent and from the past) on a
regular basis.

The majority of ClickWrestle.com's customer base are fans of women's matches,
and as a result, the majority of our content on the site features the IWA-MS
women's division. We also provide them with occasional men's matches. We plan to
expand our working relationship with ClickWrestle.com during the coming months.

Other promotions that feature content at ClickWrestle.com currently include All
Pro Wrestling, NWA Wildside, International Wrestling Cartel, and Revolution Pro.
Be sure to pay a visit to ClickWrestle.com and take a look at what they have to
offer.

http://www.clickwrestle.com/


Hotline Friends of IWA Mid-South
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Ringside Report with Dwight & Andre
(based in Chicago)
847-604-3769

The Gerweck Report Hotline
(based in New York)
212-502-6636


IWA MID-SOUTH LIVE EVENT SCHEDULE
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(Event dates and locations subject to change)

07.02.05 Valparaiso, IN @ National Guard Armory
07.08.05 Muscatine, IA @ National Guard Armory
07.09.05 Hammond, IN @ National Guard Armory
07.15.05 Midlothian, IL @ Park District Rec Center
07.29.05 Herrin, IL @ Civic Center

----------------------------
Call the IWA Mid-South Hardcore Hotlines
(502) 569-1701 Louisville
(630) 585-3958 Chicago
(317) 579-3230 Indianapolis
----------------------------
Visit us on the web at http://www.iwamidsouthwrestling.com/
----------------------------
Visit the NWA Midwest web site
http://www.midwestwrestling.com/
----------------------------
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iwamidsouth-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
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