Your TPI '15 Update

Cage won his way into the TPI
Photo Credit: Heather Colt/The News Gazette

Eight of the 12 members of this year's Ted Petty Invitational, the signature tournament of IWA Mid-South, have been announced: Heidi Lovelace, Kongo Kong, Timothy Thatcher, Jonathan Gresham, Masada, Chris Hero, 2 Cold Scorpio, and Sugar Dunkerton. Three more slots have been announced, although as of right now, only one person is locked into a position. That wrestler is Matt Cage, the mid-south/Chicagoland/St. Louis-area standout who won a five-wrestler scramble to punch his ticket into the tournament at the October 9 show. Cage has been plying his trade in the national eye for a couple of years, and he has to be considered at least a dark horse to win.

The other two definite spots are still somewhat up in the air. One of them will be filled in a tryout show to happen on October 23. For the entrance fee of $50, you can attempt to enter the fray and get your shot at the tournament crown. You'll have to inbox Ian Rotten on Facebook though to get more information. The 11th spot will go to the IWA Mid-South Champion. Right now, that title is held by Reed "By God" Bentley, who used his equivalent of Money in the Bank to sneak up and cash-in on John Wayne Murdoch, who had bested "The Iron Demon" Shane Mercer in the October 9 show's announced main event. Bentley will have to last between tomorrow night's show and December 11 to seal his spot in the tournament. As of right now, I don't see any shows listed between tomorrow's date and the TPI, but you never know.

ETA: Just got this quick correction/update from IWA Mid-South's Twitter:

@tholzerman our schedule, as it stands right now is 10/16, 11/6, 11/26, 12/11. All at the Colgate Gym. Thanks for the support!

— IG- @IWAMidsouth (@IWAMidSouth) October 14, 2015

Bentley is currently booked for a tag match tomorrow, so unless the card changes as it is subject to, his belt is safe. But the two November shows could put some peril into his title reign as well as his spot in the tournament. It'll be interesting to see how the next eight weeks play out on that front.

That leaves just one slot open for a surprise or a TBA entrant. I have this hunch that if he's healthy and raring to go that Matt Tremont is going to fill that slot, but then again, who knows at this point. Either way, the field is getting clearer and clearer, and if the tournament runs on December 11, it should be a slate worth checking out.