VOW Lord of Anarchy 2 (2016)

I can't say I was sold on the first Lord of Anarchy tournament, but there are 5 in total. What are the odds that all are bad?

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ROUND 1

Match 1 – No Ropes Barbed Wire – Matt Tremont vs. DJ Hyde

Match 2 – Death Match Buffet – Tripp Cassidy vs. Conor Claxton

Match 3 – Overboard – Jeff Cannonball vs. G-Raver

Match 4 – Bloodshed – Devon Moore vs. Adam Bueller

Match 5 – Dead Sea – Dale Patricks vs. John Wayne Murdoch

Recap

ROUND 2

FINAL

Final Thoughts

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So here we are, back in West Virginia in the year of the bulldozer 2016. It's the same venue - which doesn't bode well. The ceiling is ridiculously low for a wrestling show. People can't even stand upright on the top rope, so I sure hope they didn't book the high flying elite for this tournament.

There's a different announcer than last time. He has no microphone. Now this might sound like a complaint, but it isn't. Due to my hearing issues, I have a much easier time understanding people when they don't speak through a microphone regardless of volume. So scream away, my bow-tie-wearing friend!

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ROUND 1

Match 1 – No Ropes Barbed Wire – Matt Tremont vs. DJ Hyde

As so often, Tremont wears all black except for a red bandana. His shirt is tattered enough to reveal a singlet though, and he wears proper boots, so we're looking at least at some wrestling attire here. DJ Hyde, in black shirt, jeans shorts, and proper boots, is in full gas station mode. The jeans may be a better color, but that alone can't sway my opinion that Tremont looks more like a wrestler, so he wins.

Tremont is introduced as reigning champion, but that refers to him being the previous year's winner, not a title. I think. Maybe commentary will fill me in. If I caught that correctly, that involves Toby Klein. Big if true. I like his commentary.

We're off to a good start with this match. While not exactly a great person, DJ Hyde is a very effective heel and almost guarantees investment from the crowd. Other than the barbed wire, there are chairs and a few lighttubes, all of which sees early use. Tremont is bleeding a minute in. It's by no means a fast-paced spectacle, and there's little in the way of wrestling, but the intensity is there. It's a brutal brawl, plunder goes boom, and all in all, this just works between a natural heel like Hyde and a fan favorite like Tremont.

For the finish, Tremont death valley drives Hyde through a barbed wire board that Hyde propped up between chairs. Unlike in 2015, Tremont also had no trouble achieving a crimson mask, and Hyde looks appropriately messed up when all is said and done, too. One match in, and it's already bloodier than the previous tournament.

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Match 2 – Death Match Buffet – Tripp Cassidy vs. Conor Claxton (C)

Here's another improvement from the year before: Tripp Cassidy's outfit. He abandoned the strange choice of leaving a denim vest on during the match, and – better yet – doesn't wear one at all. Black shirt, black trunks, proper boots. Naturally, any color would be better than black, but there's good exposure and he sure looks like a wrestler.

Claxton makes my job difficult by wearing his usual outfit – which is almost identical to Cassidy's. The only differences are the prints on their shirts and the color of their kickpads, black vs. white. (Basic gear is usually not a factor in my judgement, unless the color is a really bad clash or a really good match. In this case, both are neutral.) It's the tie-iest of all ties.

The title is presented by the ref before the bell, so I assume it is on the line. As for weapons, well. There are several pieces of lattice fence in the ring. Certainly not the first thing that comes to mind for a 'buffet'. During the entrances, the camera briefly grazed something with forks, probably a board outside the ring. Maybe there are other more on-theme weapons hidden elsewhere. Either way, it's a step up from their tag team match in 2015 – a Clockwork Orange deathmatch that just had a cool name and nothing to justify it.

Within 30 seconds, there has already been more wrestling than in the first match combined, and it continues that way. That's not a rag. There's nothing wrong with a nice, brutal brawl. I just point it out because it's a positive to me to have variety, and a more technical, wrestling-heavy match is exactly what I want after a smashfest or brawl.

After a fairly long back and forth, the chain wrestling phase comes to an end when Claxton reaches for a weapon. I'm not sure if this is what the camera briefly caught – it's a wobbly tube of some kind (fire hose?) with forks. Since the forks don't seem to be attached too well, Claxton tries to stab Cassidy with one that fell off – but no, the wrestling phase isn't over yet, and the eventual stabbing is brief. A chair gets involved. And I mean, why not? I wouldn't want to be at a buffet with only a fork, so I guess the chair fits the theme. A pit of gusset plates Claxton gets slammed into might require some more mental gymnastics to fit, but whatever. I don't feel like nitpicking a good match because not every weapon belongs to a buffet.

Seconds before things get really ugly for his wrist.

The appearance of a pizza cutter still doesn't result in a carving session. I am really pleased with how this is going. The brutality and weapon use picks up, skewers (also from a tube-thing on the ropes, not a bundle as usual) get involved, the lattice (which turns out to be the source of the gussets) begins to break, and a skewer board results in a justified 'Holy Shit!' chant when Claxton gets a skewer stuck deep in his wrist. In the end, he retains and I have a strong MOTN contender. Very well paced, excellent wrestling/weapon balance, good spots.

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Match 3 – Overboard – Jeff Cannonball vs. G-Raver

Jeff Cannonball wears all black, but I see spandex and proper boots for an acceptable wrestling attire ratio. Unfortunately, his opponent is G-Raver, a permanent stain on this era of deathmatch wrestling. Today, he can't even make up for his general presence with a decent outfit. He has a mask, yes, but it looks pretty half-assed compared to some he wore in the past (or future, depending how you look at it). The rest isn't great either; all black, little sportswear, and overall, he's also more covered than his opponent. It's a close call in favor of Cannonball for that reason.

The weaponry, as the name implies, includes boards; barbed wire boards, to be precise. I also think I've seen a larger lighttube contraption on the outside.

I'm not super keen on watching G-Raver matches in general. Time and attention are limited resources, and I see no need to waste either on junkies with druglord aspirations. For the sake of this review, I'll at least give it a skim because the opening suggested more variety with a dominant big guy vs. the lightweight using his speed. That didn't last long though, and 3 minutes in, we get G-Raver jamming his tattoo gun into Cannonball's forehead. Nothing against Cannonball, but if Raver, on top of being trash, can't even be assed to use weapons that break or go boom, I can't be assed to review his matches.

Skipping to the end, Cannonball is being recovered from the ground on the far side of the ring, with several people helping him up. Once visible, it looks like he lost more blood than the entire line-up of VOW Lord of Anarchy 1 combined, and G-Raver unfortunately advances.

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Match 4 – Bloodshed – Devon Moore vs. Adam Bueller

The whole fashion police thing started with this man, the notorious gas station clerk Devon Moore. However, today somebody beat him at his own game already. Moore wears all black, but for once, his shorts count as sportwear. While it still ranks high on the 'looks like he walked in from the street' scale, the jeans shorts put DJ Hyde ahead.

Adam Bueller turns the familiar duel between Moore and Hyde into a three way with a black t-shirt and tan shorts to black/white kickpads. At least everyone is in the clear when it comes to acceptable footwear. Since he has lighter colored shorts, he's the winner of this duel. He confirms my verdict by removing the shirt before the bell, so he has firmly beaten Moore with better exposure.

I will try my best to ignore the discomfort that comes with hindsight. For the unitiniated, Bueller very likely already had HIV at the time of this match. I'll refer to this comment thread on Reddit (in which Bueller himself explained the situation) if you want to read up on it.

During Bueller's entrance, there's the first instance of what I feared: one of the cruiserweights trying to stand on the top rope and having to duck under the ridiculously low ceiling. The stipulation – pretty sure the name was randomly drawn from a hat, but whatever – is about carpet strips. The ropes are fenced with them, and there are boards that probably also have either carpet strips or gussets. Seeing that the two cruiserweights not only have to deal with the low ceiling, but are also limited in their use of the ropes, I assume somebody just hates flippy shit.

Moore gets thrown against one of the boards early on and thereby confirms that there are carpet strips on them. They do what they can, both in regards to wrestling and weapon use, and manage to work in some flippy shit. Somebody backstage is probably fuming at Moore's springboard moonsault, and Bueller's spectacular dive through the carpet strips. Things slow down after that though, and chairs find their way into the ring to prop up a large and wobbly carpet strip board. Weirdly, Moore gets a three from the first cover after a very short match that didn't deliver the 'bloodshed' its name promised.

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The announcer now has a microphone, so all I know is that the winner of the next match will – something. Finals. Josh Crane. ??? It is a something match set for one fall. My eyes work better than my ears, so I can tell you that there are two boards in the ring, and a table with salt and seashells on the outside.

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Match 5 – Dead Sea – Dale Patricks vs. John Wayne Murdoch

I smell a fashion frontrunner. Dale Patricks wears a black shirt, black/white kickpads – and the white satin boxing shorts that scored him the Best Dressed trophy in KOTDM that same year. The shirt comes off right away, which translates to 100 % sportswear, primarily white, good exposure. That's hard to beat, more so because Patricks has proven time and time again that he knows how to soak his attire and doesn't coast by on his opponents' juice.

My ginger prince wears his crown. Regular readers know how dangerous that is for the coherence of my reviews. I'll try to refrain from Venetian oil paintings, but no promises. Other than his gorgeous crown, Murdoch wears a black shirt to tan shorts, black belt to black boots. Not his worst – there's some color coordination between the shirt, sleeve, kneepads, and shoe laces. Still, the verdict is pretty clear: Time to get cocky, Mr. Patricks. So far, there's no worthy challenger for your snow-white satin in sight.

Thanks to commentary, I learn that this is a Dead Sea match. Makes sense. Now the seashells don't seem so random anymore. There are also some other boards lying in the ring. No telling what's on them though. From the hardcam viewpoint, they are covered by the crowd, so I only get brief glimpses.

The opening is fast-paced yet methodical, evading weapons, feeling each other out. After an early cannonball that puts Patricks through the first board, Murdoch is limping and selling his knee, so I expect to see a strategical approach in the long run. Patricks positions one of the mystery boards in a more visible place and I think there's sandpaper on it. Some of it is green, but I don't know what the beaches of the Dead Sea look like, so maybe that's accurate.

The action moves to the outside, and some other boards are revealed to contain barbed wire. And maybe gusset plates? The brawl spills out to the crowd and when the camera manages to catch up, there's definitely a gusset plate – and Patricks is gushing like a fountain all along the floor. It's looking good for his second Best Dressed trophy.

Back in the ring, Murdoch still has the upper hand until he tries to climb the top rope and Patricks suplexes him onto the sandpaper board again for a first two count.

Things slow down, but move toward the seashell table. Patricks gains the upper hand and piledrivers Murdoch through it. Amusingly, this match apparently has count out, but is also falls count anywhere. Both are moving and trying to get up when the ref starts a 10 count, so I don't think he's counting because they are down and out. Patricks then tries to pin Murdoch on the floor which interrupts the double count out in progress.

By now, I'm pretty sure that Patricks is going to take the fashion trophy home. How can I be sure when the show is far from over? It's 2016, three years before the only man (Lil Sicko) whose regular outfit could beat Patricks' will debut.

Murdoch maneuvers a large board with salt into the ring, and a suplex attempt struggle ensues. It's Patricks who ends up going through the board.

My desire to grab a paint brush reaches almost unbearable levels...

Apparently there are also fishhooks on the ropes and as so often, it slows the match down to a grinding halt with lots of fumbling in each other's arm and face. Patricks gets a hook through his mouth in the end, and after a brief offense, Murdoch surprises him with a Koji Clutch for the victory.

I could have done without the fishhook fumbling, but slowing things down before a quick surprise counter utimately made it work in this context.

Murdoch gestures for a microphone. Why would he need one? A picture says more than a thousand words here, and all of them are eloquent and flowery. Oh. I see. To put Patricks over. Admittedly, none of the words I had in mind did that.

Pulchritudinous.

Elysian.

Amaranthine.

Tranq gun.

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INTERMISSION, RECAP

What a night and day difference to the first Lord of Anarchy. The only blemish on this show is the presence of resident meth wreck G-Raver, and I can't hold that against VOW. Raver is a persona non grata nowadays, to a point where even the anti-cancel culture XPW crowd doesn't want him. In 2016, he was hot shit and expected in an all star line-up – and that's what VOW put together this time.

In 2015, many things were confused, including some of the entrants. From a strange tournament structure with one first round match being a tag match (which then resulted in a singles and a three way as round 2), to stipulations so tame that people like Matt Tremont struggled to bleed (and Eric Ryan resorted to obvious blading in a close-up), to confused booking (challengers ignoring the champion, random post-match attacks/turns that went nowhere) – it would have been bizarre if it hadn't been so dull.

One year later, Lord of Anarchy 2 has a lot more direction. The matches didn't suffer from lackluster weaponry, a clear decision in favor of 'deathmatch' over 'hardcore' was made, and there was variety in the matches. Not all choices were great – Moore and Bueller were obviously hindered by the low ceiling. While it would be a tall order to just find a better venue or not book aerially inclined wrestlers, there were ways to mitigate the problem. A more ground-bound stipulation could have excused them from the top rope. Pits of Pain placed outside the ring; building wide instead of tall, so to speak. Swap with Tremont and Hyde; no ropes barbed wire gimps anyone who likes to use the ropes by default. But honestly, it's not even a real complaint. The will to include a different style was there, just the way it was done wasn't ideal.

The one thing that leaves me wondering at this point is the number of contestants in round 2: Matt Tremont, Conor Claxton, G-Raver, Devon Moore, John Wayne Murdoch. That's five. So what's going to happen with that? 2 singles matches, 1 bye? 1 singles, 1 three way? 1 five way? A gauntlet? Except for rare storyline circumstances (extra person inserts themselves into a match, somebody gets 'officially' unfair/favorable treatment from the promotion's authority figure), I think a tournament should always have equal conditions for all entrants. Meaning, matches should have the same number of wrestlers, whether that's singles, three ways, or something else. It just seems off to me if one finalist had to go through more rivals than another and there's no story reason for that.

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ROUND 2

Match 1 – Cabin in the Woods – Matt Tremont vs. Conor Claxton (C)

No outfit change for Tremont, but he looks like his usual second round self with plenty of blood on his forehead. He has some kind of kitchen tool in his mouth – meat carver, BBQ fork, something of the sort.

Conor Claxton also wears the same as in round 1. He has less blood on his face, but otherwise his outfit beats Tremont's easily with higher wrestling attire ratio, better exposure, and a severely increased risk to inspire me to Venetian renaissance paintings. Case closed.

Tremont's weapon is a BBQ fork. Other than that, VOW clearly gets better with fitting stipulation names. There are several cabins – lighttube log cabins, a stack of curved tubes, and a wooden contraption – in the ring. There's also a lighttube bat that I can't count as a cabin. Upon closer inspection – as if I ever missed a chance to inspect Claxton more closely – he too brought a weapon, in addition to his wrench: a staple gun. I like that a lot more than a random stabbing device.

Claxton starts off very dominant and sends Tremont out of the ring almost immediately. Tremont wanders off into the crowd which is risky, seeing the camera man had trouble staying on the action before. Thankfully, Tremont returns to the guardrail, close enough for Claxton – by my estimation the tallest person to try and fail to stand on the top rope – to dive onto him.

The brawl continues on the outside, and Claxton remains firmly in charge, until Tremont backflips him into a pile of chairs. Now the random carving device comes into play.

Commentary can't see what happens. I can because the camera man stepped up his game. Tremont takes Claxton around the room, and I mean all around it, doing nothing. I assume he stabs him with the BBQ fork again once they reach the far side, but now I can't see it because the camera stays so close that all I see is Tremont's back. The journey continues; I can see Toby Klein at the commentary table – which explains their limited viewpoint. A singular BBQ fork stab takes place, then Tremont grabs Claxton to continue their hike through the picturesque venues of West Virginia again. Seriously, does he get paid by the mile?

Apparently, the long walk exhausted Claxton. When he finally tries to 'fight back' (against Tremont barely doing anything but leading him around), it does nothing. Only when they finally, possibly by sheer coincidence, return to the ring, I see a discernible attack in the form a lighttube smash again. Back in the ring, Tremont stays in charge with punches, then signals for the stack of curved tubes. I'm quite confused by now. Why would Claxton be as dazed as he is? Was Tremont's death march around the venue really that taxing?

With a powerbomb onto the curved tube stack – which breaks in a picture-perfect way, I should add – a first wrestling move from Tremont leads to a first cover and kick-out at two. Now Claxton finally wakes up and smashes tubes over Tremont, hits him with a salvo of kicks, then places him under the wooden contraption – carpet strips and barbed wire might be involved – and... tries to get on the top rope again. By now, it's comical. I'm here for it. I wish DJ Hyde wasn't eliminated simply because he's the tallest guy on the card and I want him to go on the top rope, too. Giant Gonzalez at Lord of Anarchy 3, please!

Anyway! While Claxton balance-crouches on the top rope, Tremont leaves his spot in the barbed wire under the wooden cabin and Claxton crashes through it instead. Another cover, another two count. Tremont picks him up for a Death Valley Driver through the lighttube log cabin, but Claxton fights out of it and goes for his staple gun. Tremont gets staples to the face (sorry, commentary, but I really doubt he took it to the eye), then a Death Valley Driver through the log cabin, and Claxton gets a three count after that.

Originally, I was planning to lament all match long that I got this close to my dream match Claxton vs. Murdoch again, and they somehow put the wrong ginger in it. But this match is frankly so confusing that I forgot to do that. Seriously, what was this? So. Much. Walking. Around.

Tremont gets a microphone to put Claxton over, but what stands out more is the amount of blood and him holding his eye. Maybe this wasn't the planned finish, but even so, if an eye injury cut it short, that must have happened after the marathon through Appalachia. Weird. Very weird.

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Match 2 – Panes of Glass – Devon Moore vs. G-Raver

Slight change for Moore; he ditched both bandanas from his round 1 entrance. Doesn't really change anything though. It's still all black and just barely above full on gas station. G-Raver ditched both his mask and his entrance, and just attacks Moore right away.

Skipping ahead to check, G-Raver unfortunately advances. I don't want to skip finals in a review, so to limit my G-Raver exposure, I'm not going back to watch this one in full.

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Now there's only John Wayne Murdoch left, but the ring sure looks like he'll have a second round match. There's lattice, a board with lighttubes, a carpet strip frame and a bunch of other plunder.

No outfit change, but my ginger prince looks ever more splendid. Unlike Tremont's crimson mask, Murdoch's is still pretty fresh and hasn't congealed yet. Crimson dripping from his ginger crown. I'm this close to whip out the paint brushes and purple prose, but I can't get too distracted because I need to know if he's going to fight himself for a lack of other contestants.

My god. What if there's two of him? Where's my palette? Nightly Venice is calling.

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Match 3 – Trapped – John Wayne Murdoch vs. Josh Crane

Why is Josh Crane in round two? Was there a match cut from round one? It doesn't look that way. Crane, wearing a black-white singlet to red tights and black/white kickpads for a 100 % wrestling gear ratio – doesn't look like that if he already wrestled. (Although the perfect 100 % ratio puts him in the running for runner-up to Dale Patricks.) This probably has something to do with the announcement earlier. 'Josh Crane' was one of the few things I understood. If I caught commentary correctly now, Josh Crane received a bye for round 1. Fine by me. I'm pleased with this pairing and there's some reason for him skipping the first round.

The match starts off with an exchange of forearms and punches, until Crane goes through a bunch of lighttubes in a corner. The action now moves outside, but stays within the confines of the guardrail for the moment. More tubes get smashed, the camera manages to lose track again, and when it catches up, Murdoch is attacking Crane with a tennis racket somewhere in the crowd. He finds a power tool of some kind, but before he gets to turn it on, Crane disarms him – and to my delight, they move away from it. Crane picks up scissors though, and I think they get used in a seated slugfest, but the camera makes it difficult to tell by now being much too close again.

So close in fact that Crane could as well have worn a head cam.

Murdoch and Crane sure also seem to be fans of hiking the Appalachian trails, but their journey is far less peaceful than Tremont and Claxton's. They find their way back to the ring sooner, too. Once inside, Murdoch signals for a Deep South Destroyer onto a barbed wire board, but Crane counters and puts Murdoch onto it, twice. Crane arms himself with a chair, but Murdoch catches him off guard before he can use it. He beats Crane down in a corner, puts the gusset-lattice over him, then only gets a two count after a cannonball. While Crane entertains the crowd with his crimson mask and some trash talk, Murdoch builds a pillow fort behind his back, using a chair and the lighttube board. One chair seems to be enough today, because he signals for a Deep South Destroyer again. After a back and forth, Crane comes out on top and Death Valley Drives Murdoch through the ramp-like contraption for a three count.

Other than the at times difficult camera work, this was a whole lot of fun. Naturally, I'd have liked Murdoch to go to the final against Claxton, for renaissance painting reasons, but I can also think of at least 50 – 100 people that would have been worse choices to advance than Josh Crane. From a quality standpoint, there's no real gap between him and Murdoch, so either would balance out the sloppiness of G-Raver.

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FINAL

Lighttube Prison Three Way

G-Raver vs. Josh Crane vs. Conor Claxton (C)

The camera man also really likes filming peoples' backs which made getting screenshots of outfits and crimson masks very difficult.

G-Raver wears the same as before, but also has tattoo needles in his mouth. There are not many ways to make his look worse – all black, only shoulders exposed - but this is certainly one of them. Visually, it doesn't do much, but it dampens my excitement for the match.

Josh Crane's look has become stronger, and he's firmly in place 2 behind Patricks now: fresh blood on his face, still 100 % wrestling gear, singlet pulled down – which improves his skin exposure and also reduces the amount of black.

No change for Claxton except the partially dried crimson mask has improved. This puts him ahead of his 'Spot the Differences' counterpart Tripp Cassidy with same colors, wrestling attire ratio, and exposure, but still behind Crane with his superior colors. Oh wait. Maybe I spoke too soon. Claxton takes off the shirt before the bell? That's not his usual MO, so I didn't have that possibility on my radar. The exposure is now far better than Crane's - tights vs. trunks - and the wrestling attire ratio of both is at 100 %. Last second change of verdict: Claxton is firmly the runner-up, and he might even be a threat to Patricks. I will make this call later when I skim through to get screenshots for my graphics.

Seeing the stipulation, it doesn't come as a surprise that the match opens with the smashing of tubes, paired with some difficulty to find a good camera angle. A shotgun dropkick from G-Raver to the back of Claxton's head and a lighttube is the first wrestling move. It's early, so I do have hope to see more than just a drawn-out smashfest. Despite their earlier Best Dressed rivalry, Claxton and Crane seem to agree that G-Raver is the prime target. Which is a little strange, seeing Claxton's title is on the line. Shouldn't Crane go after him? Oh well. At least, my hope to see more wrestling between all the shattering of glass wasn't in vain. Crane suplexes Claxton through a tube bundle, and Claxton follows up with a vertical suplex through a pane of glass against Raver. His cover only yields a two, and he tries again after a split-legged moonsault onto Raver, for the same result.

Crane gets chairs and sets up a pane of glass between them. He gains the upper hand against Claxton, but instead of following through and trying to wear the champion down, he returns to his contraption and G-Raver. Raver gets Crane on the glass, climbs the top rope, and comes out on top after a brief struggle that sends Crane through the glass, followed by a low angle senton (the ceiling, the ceiling...) from Raver who unceremoniously gets picked up by Claxton and powerbombed into a pile of tubes.

Claxton finds a tube bundle so long that it qualifies as a Tokyo Tower, and sets Raver up on the top rope. Wisely, he stays on the second rope himself, but ends up under his bundle and eats a low angle double stomp from Raver – which also serves as a reminder why taking the black shirt off was an excellent idea. Claxton's chest is a mess, but it doesn't stop him from catapulting Raver into more tubes. While both opponents are down – Crane is apparently still recovering from the earlier crash – Claxton sets up a tube-cross on a chair. Here, Raver's issues with basics become evident. The struggle over the chair contraption looks like he doesn't know what Claxton is going for, and ends up DDTing him on the mat in the end, ignoring the chair.

Crane has a towel on his arm when he comes back to life for a triple spot. I'm not sure who was on the receiving end of this at first. Going frame by frame for screenshots, it's G-Raver doing a headscissor from Crane's back against Claxton who was initially holding Crane in position for his finisher on top of the chair.

Crane targets G-Raver once more after though and Death Valley Drivers him onto a chair. Claxton, the only one who seems to remember that his title is on the line, breaks up the following pinfall. He sends Crane out of the ring and turns his attention to Raver who brings another pane of glass to the ring. Claxton hasn't abandoned his lighttube chair plans though, and after a piledriver onto it, he gets a three count over Raver.

There's a handshake between Claxton and Crane, the latter still clutching the towel on his arm. That might explain his reduced involvement in the second half of the match and spending so much time outside the ring. (When skimming through for screenshots again, I caught a frame where the ref tells something to Claxton while Crane is retreating to a corner, so an injury seems to be the reason indeed.)

Raver, after long hesitation, accepts a handshake from Claxton – who promptly attacks as soon as Raver turns his back, and puts him through the remaining contraption Raver set up with the pane of glass. Everything is in ruins after a pretty entertaining final.

"Was this the face that launched a thousand ships / And burnt the topless towers of Ilium?"

- Doctor Faustus, 1604

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FINAL THOUGHTS

What a huge improvement over the first tournament, I can only repeat that. Easy recommendation. Out of the matches I watched in full, the only weak spot was the bizarre hiking trip in round 2. Judging by all matches, including the ones I only skimmed, that verdict still stands. The MOTN podium looks as follows: Claxton vs. Cassidy remains on top, runners-up are Murdoch vs. Crane and Murdoch vs. Patricks. The MVP was Conor Claxton with involvement in the MOTN, a total of 3 matches, and being the driving force in a good final.

Best Dressed, after long consideration, also goes to him. It came down to details in the duel Claxton vs. Patricks. Wrestling gear (trunks, Claxton) beats sportswear (boxing shorts, Patricks), white (Patricks) beats black (Claxton), Claxton had the higher skin exposure to overrule the color – and he made the most of it. I gave Patricks the win over Jeff King with 100 % white wrestling gear a few reviews back for being more soaked in red, so it seems fair to let this tip the scales here as well. That makes the final ranking Claxton, Patricks, Crane.

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