The Ted Petty Invitational tournament (the TPI) is an independent wrestling tournament in North America, run and promoted by Independent Wrestling Association Mid-South. Created as the Sweet Science Sixteen in 2000 by Ian Rotten, the tournament was originally supposed to showcase the top technical independent wrestlers. After the death of Ted Petty in September 2002, Rotten changed the name to honor his friend. The tournament was expanded to 24 participants, with a three-way final, in 2003. Over the years, the tournament has attracted numerous famous independent wrestlers from Ken Anderson, A.J. Styles to James Gibson. The Tournament Setup In the first three years of the Sweet Science Sixteen/TPI, there were only sixteen participants. With eight opening round matches, four quarterfinal matches, two semifinal matches, and a final, the tournament shows were reasonable in length. The expansion to twenty-four in 2003 caused the addition of another eight person bracket. It also created three semifinals matches and a three way final. The final is now an elimination match. Tournament winners 2000: Chris Hero 2001: Ace Steel 2002: B. J. Whitmer 2003: Danny Daniels 2004: A.J. Styles 2005: Matt Sydal 2006: Low Ki 2007: Mike Quackenbush 2008: Drake Younger 2015: Kongo Kong 2016: Chris Hero 2017: Aaron Williams 2018: Aaron Williams 2019: Larry D 2020: Tyler Matrix Results 2000 Sweet Science Sixteen The first annual Sweet Science Sixteen was held on September 8 and 9, 2000 outside the House of Hardcore in Charlestown, Indiana. 2001 Sweet Science Sixteen The second annual Sweet Science Sixteen was held on September 7 and 8, 2001 at the House of Hardcore in Charlestown, Indiana. 2002 Ted Petty Invitational The first-annual Ted Petty Invitational took place on November 1 and 2, 2002 at the IWA Arena in Clarksville, Indiana. * Whitmer won the IWA Mid-South Heavyweight Championship by defeating Punk in the finals. Non-tournament matches: Night One Necro Butcher defeated Corporal Robinson in a Fans Bring the Weapons Drunken Deathmatch Night Two A.J. Styles defeated MDogg20, Matt Stryker and Super Dragon in a Four Corners match Hailey Hatred defeated Lacey and Rain in a three-way match Ian Rotten defeated Josh Prohibition Bull Pain defeated Necro Butcher, Corporal Robinson, Rollin' Hard, 2 Tuff Tony and Nate Webb in a Gauntlet match 2003 Ted Petty Invitational The 2003 tournament was the first to expand to twenty-four participants. Since it was no longer known as the Sweet Science Sixteen, Rotten didn't