Back in the year 2000, the Minnesota Independent Wrestling (MIW) promotion created a new title for the MIW Television championship. They held a tournament to crown the first champion. Three matches are included below. Mild spoiler– the fact that there are all three videos means I must have made it to the finals.
All matches were held at The Wave in Waverly, MN. The semifinals and the final match took place on the same night.
Quarter Final Match
“Playboy” Pete Huge was one of the top wrestlers in the cruiserweight division at the time. Although having several singles and tag team matches against each other, Davis and Huge briefly worked as a tag team earlier in 2000 (a.k.a “The Tag Team of the 90’s”) until Huge left the team.
Referee: Lacey
Ring announcer: Tim Larson
Commentary: Tim Larson, “Capital City” Kyle
Semi Final Match
Despite his slender physique, “City Slicker” Jake Ricker showed a lot of talent and natural wrestling ability during his short stint in professional wrestling. His quickness, extraordinary sense of balance, and intelligence prevailed in many matches.
Includes a pre-match interview with Tim Larson
Referee: “Diamond” Joe
Ring announcer: none
Commentators: “Capital City” Kyle, “K-Train” Kraig Karger
TV Title Finals
Darin Davis and Robbie Thunder had a long and storied history. They started training camp together (trained by Eddie Sharkey and Terry Fox), and they had been both friend and foe, wrestling with and against each other over a multi-state territory throughout Davis’ five year career.
Referee: “Diamond” Joe
Ring announcer: Tim Larson
Commentators: Tim Larson, “Capital City” Kyle
