IWA-MS King of the Deathmatches 2015

It's Masada, but 20 bucks is 20 bucks...

This show has infuriated me for a while now. As many IWA-MS tournaments, this event has a Day 1 and a Day 2 – and only the former is on IWTV. Every time I decided to finally work down the remaining 2015 shows on my list, I went to search Day 2, rifling through all the usual sources. To no avail. And now I finally said 'fuck it' and seriously paid 12 bucks for half a show from 2015 on Smartmark. That's 2 bucks more than a monthly subscription costs. A subscription that lets me access thousands of full shows. But I'm a completionist, so here we go.

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Non-Tournament Matches

ROUND 1

Match 1 – Venus Fly Trap – Markus Crane vs. Nick Gage

Match 2 – Barefoot Fishhooks, Carpet Strips & Tubes - Dale Patricks vs. Adam Bueller

Match 3 – Texas Bullrope Barbed Wire Boards & Cactus Pits - Tank vs. Matt Tremont

Match 4 – Homerun Derby – Sexxxy Eddy vs. Insane Lane

Match 5 – TLC X2 – Reed Bentley vs. Devon Moore

Match 6 – Feel The Burn – John Wayne Murdoch vs. Corporal Robinson

Match 7 – FBTW – Bryant Woods vs. JD Horror

Match 8 – Caribbean Spider Web – Green Phantom vs. Masada

Recap

QUARTER FINALS

Non-Tournament Match

QUARTER FINALS

SEMI FINALS

Recap

FINAL

Final Thoughts

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Non-Tournament Match – IWA-MS Championship Match

Shane Mercer vs. Hyzaya (C) vs. Kongo Kong

As usual, I keep it short for non-tournament matches. Shane Mercer wears black-silver, his former partner Hyzaya all black. Since it's not a deathmatch, the soakability and potential to show blood is not a factor and I judge only who looks more like a wrestler. Mercer has a 100 % wrestling attire ratio, Hyzaya does not. So that's settled.

Before the match begins, music sounds and Rodney Rush appears. He obtains a microphone and introduces himself, then declares he enters his newest client into the match, Kongo Kong. So now we have a three way, and since the match has not officially started, also a new verdict. Kongo Kong wears red-black trunks and facepaint. That's also 100 % wrestling attire, but the accessory game is a little stronger than Mercer's, so I'll give this win to Kongo Kong.

Mercer and Hyzaya team up against Kong for a long while, but it's generally a fairly balanced match with far more top rope action than one might expect. It also gets strangely close to a very unusual deathmatch – a 'slippery slope' stipulation, if you will. It's an outdoors show. It was raining earlier. The ring is visibly slippery and with so much aerial action from big boys, it's a miracle nothing goes wrong.

In the end, Hyzaya retains after countering an attempted Moonsault'n'Battery into a submission. Kongo Kong proceeds to beat up Hyzaya until a wild Ian Rotten appears and Rush calls off the assault while loudly demanding a title match for his client.

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Non-Tournament Match

Viking War Party & Joseph Schwartz vs. Mitch Page, JC Rotten & The Hooligans

Entrances are cut short, so instead of a proper Best Dressed graphic, I will show you the worst outfit I have ever seen. Even a gas station would send you home to change if you showed up to a shift like this:

This is going to be a rough operation for the Fashion Police. If this was a deathmatch, there'd be arrests in the second team for sure. The Hooligans and – surprisingly – JC Rotten are off the hook with black singlets, but what Mitch Page wears (something I can only describe as a 'boyfriend shirt') is a crime. The win goes to their opponents because the three vikings have a clear theme and thereby pass the gimmick clarity test, with a good wrestling attire ratio and accessories to top it off.

The match. Well, what can I say? It's an 8 men tag team match in a slippery wet ring that stands in a parking lot. I generally think fairly highly of the Hooligans as a team, but this is just uncoordinated chaos and random brawling. Their team does win in the end, Schwartzy blames the Vikings for the loss, Herzog destroys him with several chokeslams and chokebreakers, maybe it went somewhere, I don't know. It was a very short match and I think that was the best part about it.

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Round 1

Match 1 – Venus Fly Trap – Markus Crane vs. Nick Gage

Oh boy. First Mitch Page, now this. Markus Crane wears random streetwear and sneakers. This is peak gas station. Tan pants, black-white longsleeve. Not a lot of black, but that only makes it a teenie-tiny bit better. What's surprising is that he looks less dishevelled than usual. Genuine gas station clerk vibes; employee, not potential robber.

Nick Gage, no stranger to robberies in general, disappoints. I expected him to wear his black-red tights to score an easy victory, but no. Black t-shirt, jeans shorts. At least he has boots. Crane removes his longsleeve which puts him ahead in regards to exposure, Gage takes off his shirt. Crane's belt and sneakers are black. Gage's belt is brown, his boots are black. I guess that's a point for Crane, but overall this is a complete fashion fail on both sides, so I call it a draw.

As for the stipulation, well. There is no venus fly trap. There are a bunch of loose light tubes and some on the ropes and that's it. The match kicks off with an exchange of punches, some tubes break, then the brawl goes to the outside and into the chairs. Someone hands Gage a pizza cutter. So now it's a brawl with/in/through chairs and some carving, plus the slippery canvas. Back in the ring, a trash can with light tubes gets involved, and I spotted a barbed wire contraption on the outside.

Long story short, there's no balance. It's Crane taking a beating. I'm mystified why people are so into it because it just isn't very good or interesting. Crane gets powerbombed through the barbed wire contraption – which I learn is the venus fly trap – and Gage gets a three count after only 6 minutes. Nick Gage informs the viewer that he is a 'fucking god, man'. Good for him, I guess.

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Match 2 – Barefoot Fishhooks, Carpet Strips & Tubes

Dale Patricks vs. Adam Bueller

Finally. A frontrunner. And it's not even Patricks' strongest showing. Red singlet, black shirt, proper kickpads, but that's enough to make an impression today. Adam Bueller enters shirtless and with kickpads, but brings the sportswear ratio down with tan shorts. Easy victory for Patricks who also removed the black shirt.

There are tubes and carpet strips, but I don't see fishhooks, and both wear shoes. Maybe Cagematch lied about the stipulation. Anyway. The conditions aren't ideal. It's getting dark and the spotlights pointed at the ring are way too bright and hurt more than they help.

Cagematch wasn't lying. Bueller removes his shoes. Patricks apparently didn't wear any; he just has so much white tape on his feet that it looked like shoes. Nick Maniwa claims there are fishhooks on the ropes, but I still don't see any.

The match contains decidedly more wrestling than the previous one, but also quickly moves to the outside. Patricks goes through his own light tube contraption, and the match moves back into the ring. A close-up finally makes the fishhooks visible. No JD Horror though, so they aren't legal weapons in my book. Bueller seems to agree and instead provides a holy shit moment with a double stomp through light tubes from the top rope.

Things become hard to see due to two bright lights pointing directly at the hardcam which frequently renders the action invisible. There's still a good balance between wrestling and weapon use though. Until they move to the ropes, and another close-up shows Bueller getting a barely visible fishhook through his lip. When Patricks tries to remove it, Bueller frantically taps out.

If you needed any more reasons why fishhooks are shit weapons, look no further. This match would have been improved greatly by simply not having any. The finish didn't look intended at all, and the camera stays on Patricks and his manager Rodney Rush while the ref has to free Bueller.

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Match 3 – Texas Bullrope Barbed Wire Boards & Cactus Pits

Tank vs. Matt Tremont

Night has fallen when Tank, wearing a black shirt over a white shirt and long blue jeans, makes his silent entrance. Great, now we have visibility and sound issues. It also appears to be raining. Tremont, all in black, scores a rare victory just by wearing shorts. The one plus so far: Toby Klein joins commentary.

The match opens with a headbutt duel and choking with the bullrope. Due to the darkness, it's hard to see what exactly is going on at times. It's slow and there's a lot of choking. At some point, Tank gets a cactus to stick it in Tremont's forehead. Somehow, Tremont is gushing like crazy after that. Tank goes through a barbed wire board after a while, as does Tremont.

Tremont gets a three count after flooring Tank with the bell from the top rope. Easily the bloodiest match so far, but also the least visible.

He's not standing in the void of space. There's allegedly a crowd in the background.

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Match 4 – Homerun Derby – Sexxxy Eddy vs. Insane Lane

Unfortunately for me, day 1 ended after the previous match due to rain (and presumably darkness), so this is day 2 and visible. I'm not sure if I can bring myself to watch this because Sexxxy Eddy is prime cringe territory for me. Lane wears all black, most of it at least sportswear, and a Hannibal Lector mask. Because I selectively blinded myself by rubbing Carolina Reaper cheeto dust in my eyes (a compulsion I get whenever I see Sexxxy Eddy on a card), I can still only see Lane when the match begins. So he wins since there's nobody else I could judge.

Skipping ahead and checking on Cagematch, a worst case scenario is revealed. By which I mean Lane didn't advance.

That poor woman. :(

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Match 5 – TLC X2 – Reed Bentley vs. Devon Moore

Reed Bentley never looked better. Words fail me to describe the understated elegance of a simple black singlet. Now that the Carolina Reaper has worn off, I can truly appreciate the overall dignity of someone dressing and carrying himself like a wrestler. Yes, black is bad, but it's still 100 % wrestling attire and pretty good exposure. Seeing the field so far, this puts Bentley right behind frontrunner Dale Patricks.

All good things must come to an end though, so here's Devon Moore with a gas station look. Black t-shirt, jeans shorts, black bandana, no hope.

The weaponry consists of many a thing. There are chairs, loose tubes, a ferris wheel-shaped carpet strip contraption, a ladder on the outside, and a board of some kind. Maybe it is meant to be the table, maybe there's an actual table somewhere. According to Nick Maniwa, there are tables – and candles. Presumably, that's what the board is then.

After an exchange of punches, the match quickly moves out of the ring. There's some difficulty to break the first tube with a headbutt. Then there's a scene that hurts my brain. Once Moore broke the tube in the third attempt, Bentley sells it. And sells it. And sells it. While Moore inexplicably stands around on the apron and removes the glass from a single light tube from his hair. I can and do forgive Bentley because it's 2015 and he's trying. But I don't understand what the hell Moore is doing. It's screaming obvious that Bentley expects a dive. Instead, Moore dawdles around and does nothing, then tells Bentley to come up to the apron; calling the match in plain sight of the camera. What the hell.

Anyway, the action moves back into the ring after a brainbuster from Bentley, and he throws in some suplexes for good measure. He brings a table to the ring, then climbs the top rope. Moore follows and eats a bulldog through the table, after which Bentley gets a first two count. A chair gets involved, then Moore pours hot wax on Bentley's chest. Since the not-dive made me overly critical, I will mention that Bentley pulled his singlet down before the Yankee Candle attack, proving he is indeed the one who remembers the match. While Moore hangs on the top rope for some reason, Bentley sets up the candle board and the carpet strip contraption, then follows. Moore counters the suplex attempt, Bentley goes into the candles, and Moore wins by submission with a Boston Crab. What a travesty. The contribution of Moore to this match can only be described as negligible.

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Match 6 – Feel The Burn – John Wayne Murdoch vs. Corporal Robinson

My ginger prince not only wears his crown, but also surprises with a different outfit than usual. Black shirt, black shorts with yellow dots – in honor of Dusty Rhodes. Color-wise, it's worse than his usual tan shorts, but in regards to wrestling attire, it's a step up. I guess it balances itself out in the end as overall so-so, but that means very little considering the ginger bonus is in full effect.

Corp has never been a snappy dresser, so I'm not surprised to see him in a black t-shirt to winter camo shorts. At least, he has an excuse. Military attire is acceptable for a corporal, and his belt matches his boots. All things considered, his exposure is worse than Murdoch's – longer shorts, t-shirt with sleeves, and the gimmick consistency isn't quite there. I'd give a better score for a plain shirt, maybe a wifebeater, and long camo pants. It's not a landslide, but ultimately I think Murdoch looks more like a pro wrestler than Corp looks like a pro soldier.

Waxahachie is in Tennessee today. Since it appears to be a wandering city, I finally looked it up to see why it went back and forth between Texas and Tennessee in Murdoch's earlier career. As it turns out, Waxahachie has been in Texas all along, there's no place with a similar name in Tennessee, and for reasons of utter blasphemy, Murdoch is not listed under 'Notable People' on its Wikipedia page.

Anyway. The match is about fire. The only visible weapons are two pits of what I assume is hot coals on the outside, and Corp had two yellow bottles – either lighter fluid or mustard, but more likely the former. According to Nick Maniwa, there are hot coals and lit cigarettes in the pits, and there's also tabasco/hot sauce.

The match starts off with some actual wrestling, albeit very briefly. The action quickly moves outside for a headbutt duel over a coal pit, then a slugfest that gains Corp the upper hand. Back at the coal pit, Corp tries to push Murdoch's face into it, but ends up going into it himself. Shortly after, Murdoch gets backdropped into the lit cigarette pit on the other side of the ring, then into the chairs. Headbutts are generally the dominant theme, although several chairs also get involved. Namely, Murdoch uses them to build a pillow fort and places Corp on them, then misses a senton from the top rope though.

Pictured: Fire?

Corp is the first to go for a fire-related move by spraying his hand with lighter fluid, but can't get it lit. Instead of standing around like Moore, he floors Murdoch with a DDT before he makes another attempt with rubbing alcohol. It's barely visible, but commentary calls it a 'flaming chop', so I guess he succeeded this time. Corp tries again, this time with his boot, but gets cut off by Murdoch's surprise offense and a quick pinfall attempt.

How about now?

Murdoch opts to light up his elbow pad with the help of the referee. Again, I must rely on commentary to gauge whether he succeeded. 'A flaming elbow drop' it apparently was, but it doesn't keep Corp down. Murdoch signals a Deep South Destroyer, but Corp interrupts with his Boot Camp and gets a two count out of it. Corp now tries his luck with a light tube. I can't tell if it was really on fire, but it shattered on Murdoch, and there was another Boot Camp and another two count. A third Boot Camp follows while a table is heaved into the ring. Corp sets it up, puts Murdoch on the top rope, then douses the table in lighter fluid – and that finally gets visible fire. It's to Corp's disadvantage though as Murdoch double knees him through the table and gets a three count after that.

Corp immediately gets a towel wrap and a microphone, and puts Murdoch over.

I'm of two minds about this match. It has a good story – the veteran and his heir apparent duking it out, a generational shift, out with the old and in with the new. However, the stipulation really dragged it down. The pits were kind of fine although it wouldn't have hurt to make both coals. One had maybe 5 cigarette butts and looked more like a very very large ashtray than a weapon. The real problem was the wind (at least that's where commentary put the blame) and the obvious struggle to light anything on fire. Other than the great-looking finish, none of the 'flaming' moves looked good. They looked rushed; trying to quickly hit something, anything, before the flame went away, and that naturally doesn't translate to a great flow. With a different stipulation altogether, this could have been a modern classic. But alas, it was not.

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Match 7 – FBTW – Bryant Woods vs. JD Horror

As so often, Bryant Woods is a glimpse of hope for Best Dressed by consistently wearing white. Today, he wears black kickpads and a black shirt to white pants, which is still the best color choice in the entire round so far.

JD Horror, unsurprisingly a strong contender as well, wears all black, but scores high due to a consistent theme, good wrestling attire ratio, and probably the strongest accessory game on the card. Woods has the better soakability – JD really likes his pleather – but his black shirt is still on when the bell rings, so the white remains his main advantage. Close call, but JD's accessory game gives him the slight edge in the end.

The stipulation is pretty straight-forward. Fans have brought all sorts of weapons: various bats, a skewer board, a blow-up doll, crutches, some kind of large frame, light tubes. Both Woods and Horror make their IWA-MS debut amidst this plunder, and – spoiler – what a first impression they make.

They start off with chain wrestling for longer than anyone else so far. It doesn't take long until both arm themselves with bats – skewers and gussets (commentary alleges 'a fish' and 'oh god, it's a porcupine' – I'm not so sure, although it could be quills) – and draw blood.

That bad boy right here is about to make a big impression. The orange one in the foreground.

Woods finds a fishhook. Unlike earlier on the card, this is legal because now JD Horror – who ends up shoving it through Woods' nose – is present. Horror remains in charge and also shows brains by only removing the black shirt from Woods now. Before the bell, that could have cost him the fashion victory. Now, it shows off the toothpicks in Woods' back after a bat attack. This will be an on-going theme for Toby Klein on commentary who can't stop cringing and begging Woods to remove the toothpicks. Which Woods does not, in part because he probably can't hear Mr. Insanity's pleas. Instead, he leaves the ring to show off, and Horror stalks him, armed with a new bat.

They return to the ring after Woods obtained a mystery weapon – commentary speculates it might be a Roman candle – which, as before, refuses to be lit. Horror interrupts the attempt to light the fireworks with a skewer board shot, followed by attacks with a thumbtack keyboard. More weapons – a baby doll head bat and an arrangement of Christmas ornaments – get involved, the latter being a turning point as Woods counters a suplex attempt and puts Horror through them.

Horror rolls out of the ring, only to be hit by a tope suicida over the top rope from Woods, who – much to commentary's dismay – still has toothpicks in his upper back. They quickly return to the ring, and it's Horror's turn to get sharp shit stuck in his body. Woods hammers two kenzans into his head and makes sure they stick by shattering a guitar on it.

A pinfall attempt only yields a two, and Woods places the light tube-enhanced blow-up doll on Horror before climbing the top rope, but misses the moonsault. He smashes the light tube bundle on Horror instead, then gets pliers – which Horror uses to pull out Woods' eyebrow piercing.

They end up outside the ring, now with Horror and a thumbtack bat in charge, but quickly return to the metric ton of trash in the ring. Horror arranges the 'some kind of frame' – which is a screen door, now that I can see it – in a corner, but Woods gains the upper hand with the aid of the dreaded toothpick bat. Horror goes through the glass door, then gets a cannonball that fully breaks the glass. A close-up shows that he now has toothpicks and two kenzans in his head.

No dry eye at the commentary table.

Woods sets up a chair pillow fort, shoves Horror onto it, and goes for another moonsault, but Horror counters and puts Woods through the chairs instead for a close two count. After Horror evades a corner splash, he gets a three count after a piledriver onto the remains of the light tube-blow-up doll.

In a previous review I wrote that Big F'N Joe and Judge Joe Dred put on an XPW main event in CZW. In the same sense, this was a IWA-DS main event in IWA-MS. It is rare to see a double debut of relative unknowns get by far the biggest pops on a stacked card, and Woods and Horror more than earned that reaction with 14 minutes of unhinged, DS-worthy madness – that somehow also managed to have a decent wrestling to weapon balance. Personally, I could do without the fishhook and piercing stuff, but they offered so much more than that here that I have no issues overlooking the face fumbling.

The full match, including commentary, can be watched on Bryant Woods' YouTube channel.

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Match 8 – Caribbean Spider Web – Green Phantom vs. Masada

Green Phantom wears all black to his green mask, but I strongly suspect that his wrestling attire ratio will be enough to score the victory over notoriously gas-station-y Masada. But what's that? Masada wears light-gray shorts? That's new. Or maybe old. It might just be the original state of the tattered tan shorts I associate with him. Whatever the backstory may be, Phantom's wrestling attire ratio is indeed enough to beat Masada's primarily streetwear-based look.

The ring has barbed wire on two sides, and the spider webs are on the outside in the form of two barbed wire contraptions with light tubes underneath on the open ring sides.

They start off with chain wrestling, and both evade the barbed wire until Phantom manages to draw first blood. A test of strength follows, more chain wrestling, then they awkwardly fall out of the ring and through the first spider web. Phantom is partially stuck in the barbed wire, Masada is visibly annoyed when he realizes the light tubes are in paper or plastic sheets which explains why they don't properly shatter and just turn into limp straws. Irritated, they continue to brawl between the chairs, then wander into the building to the merch tables.

Back outside, Masada gets more annoyed by also not finding adequate chairs, it seems. He resorts to using the broken backrest as means to carve, until Phantom throws him into the chairs and follows up with a slam. Chairs remain the weapon of choice, and by now the action is somewhere near the commentary table. They do remember the stipulation after a while and move back toward the ring.

After a DDT, Phantom tries a first pinfall, Masada kicks out, and gets put onto the barbed wire. An exchange of lariats follows, then Phantom shows a Michinoku Driver, only to get dragged down and through the second spider web, this time with slightly better aim and a better sound. Masada immediately pulls Phantom back into the ring for a series of suplexes and pinfall attempts; Phantom kicks out at one. Masada fights out of a Death Valley Driver attempt, then... I have no idea what this finish was supposed to be. Something like a leg sweep into something akin to a small cradle into a bridging pin? What the hell. Masada advances.

???

The previous match was really tough act to follow – Horror and Woods didn't just deliver a Match of the Night, but a Match of the Month at the very least – but even if I completely ban any comparisons from my mind, Phantom vs. Masada just wasn't good. It was weird, the spider web spots didn't look really intentional, and the finish was... yeah, not a clue what they were even trying to do.

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INTERMISSION

The real intermission was before the Caribbean Spider Web match, but this seems a better point for me to recap. Round 1 is complete now, and this is also where the IWTV cut ends. Without the rain, this would have been 'Day 1'.

I won't beat around the bush. Round 1 isn't great. Some matches may have been better than I can give credit for, but were simply barely visible and therefore hard to follow (Tank vs. Tremont, but also Bueller vs. Patricks). Others were just bad, namely – Crane vs. Gage was an extremely one-sided beatdown without any highlights, and Bentley vs. Moore seemed uncoordinated and half-assed from Moore's side, to such a degree that I find it unacceptable from a veteran of 14 years. Murdoch vs. Corp was coherent, but clearly suffered from them having to work with an uncooperative stipulation. Masada vs. Phantom was confused and confusing, lots of wandering around, lots of chair use instead of the actual stipulation – which also fell flat – and a terrible finish that wasn't even preceeded by a move or attack.

Seven pretty mediocre matches make the clear MOTN, Woods vs. Horror, stand out even more as the undisputed highlight of Day 1. At times, Patricks vs. Bueller could have been the runner-up, but the bad visibility and awful finish knock it down from the podium. I'd actually rank the opener, Mercer vs. Hyzaya vs. Kong, above the other tournament matches.

The fashion front isn't doing too hot either. Bryant Woods had a strong look post-match – shirtless with bloodsoaked white pants – but being eliminated, he can't reap the scores for it in the next round. Unless there's a major outfit change down the road, it will likely come down to Dale Patricks vs. JD Horror in the Best Dressed finals. For the moment, they are tied with Patricks having an advantage in color and skin exposure, and Horror having accessories and the theme on his side.

And so we arrive at what is officially the 'Day 2' part of the release, meaning the quarter and semi finals, another 8 men tag team match, and the final. The total run time is 2 hours 49 minutes, slightly longer than Day 1 at roughly 2 hours.

QUARTER FINALS

Match 1 – Scaffold – Devon Moore vs. John Wayne Murdoch

Very minor outfit change for Moore who ditched the bandana. Murdoch changed his outfit completely. Oh boy. The white t-shirt is a clear improvement over the all-black look from round 1, but he also swapped the Dusty Rhodes memorial shorts for jeans shorts, possibly to match Moore's gas station vibe. At least his belt and boots match.

Neither of them had an especially bloody first round match. I think Moore looks marginally more battered, but not enough to factor in for my judgement – which I can really only base on Murdoch's better color choices.

Ian Rotten explains the match. A pinfall only counts after going off the scaffold. There also appears to be barbed wire or maybe chains on the ropes, and two tables are folded in the ring. Today, Waxahachie is in Texas, by the way.

The match starts off with a furious exchange of punches. The intensity is sure better than the fashion sense on display. Murdoch gets monkey flipped into what is indeed barbed wire, but somehow Moore is the one who gets carved up first. An Ace Crusher from Moore leaves both floored, however, Moore gets up first, climbs the top rope, and misses a Moonsault. Now Murdoch goes onto the top rope, Moore follows and fights out of a Deep South Destroyer to show a Superplex instead. Moore quickly climbs the scaffold and elbow drops down, then goes for a pinfall – but the ref doesn't even begin to count. Ian Rotten chimes in to say 'you went off the scaffold, you dumbass'. Ok, but wasn't that the point? The ref seems to agree and finally counts, but of course Murdoch kicks out, and commentary says the rules were not explained to the ref. Which doesn't really explain the problem because there was a dive and a cover is a cover, but whatever.

Murdoch comes back to life with a Stunner, quickly followed by a Deep South Destroyer and a cover – which the ref breaks up and points to the scaffold. Were the rules explained to anyone? Oh well. Murdoch sets up the tables, one of which is already broken as it turns out. Murdoch abandons what looked like a plan to double stack the tables and for some reason, climbs the scaffold. Moore wakes up and shakes the scaffold which almost makes Murdoch lose his balance. Moore then follows up and just tries to pick Murdoch up. Unsurprisingly, that is countered, Murdoch Deep South Destroys Moore through the table, and thankfully, the ref got the memo now and counts to three.

Both are holding their ribs/stomachs, but when Moore gets a microphone, he says his shoulder hurts, then tells Murdoch to win. A fairly short and weird match, albeit with a spectacular finish.

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Non-Tournament Match

Kongo Kong & Viking War Party vs. Hyzaya, Shane Mercer, JC Rotten & Tank

This appears to be a continuation of the feuds from day 1. I guess the Hooligans and Schwartzy are staying neutral which seems weird after the latter had issues with the vikings. Anyway. My money is on Kongo Kong and the Viking War Party for the fashion victory. Facepaints, trunks, strong themes on all four. That's a tough one to beat, but let's see what we have. Well. At first glance, Shane Mercer is the only one in wrestling attire. JC Rotten wears a red t-shirt to tan tights, Tank and Hyzaya wear black shirts to long black pants. Yeah, my prediction comes true. Easy victory for Kong and the vikings.

Otherwise, I'll leave this short due to the non-tournament nature. It's far more orderly than the 8 men tag from day 1, at first with proper tags and less outside brawling. According to Cagematch, this is a falls count anywhere match, so it is somewhat surprising that it takes a while for them to leave the ring. It does get chaotic eventually, but overall remains more coherent. Kongo Kong scores the victory for his team over JC Rotten.

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QUARTER FINALS

Match 2 – Unlucky 13 – Sexxxy Eddy vs. Nick Gage

A rock and a hard place. Sorry, I can't do this. Skimming, I only see Nick Gage and his gas station jeans. Since Insane Lane had no opponent in round 1, I'll simply move him here for a comparison. Other than a handful of tag matches with Ian Rotten, I don't recall any instances of Lane wearing jeans, so I'm pretty sure that – if he was actually in this match – he'd win the fashion face off. Nick Gage wins the match against the invisible opponent.

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Match 3 – Cinderblocks & Light Tubes – Dale Patricks vs. Masada

Dale Patricks disappoints. Usually, he's one of the stronger contenders and lived up to that on Day 1, but now he wears dark camo pants over his red singlet. He also limps, possibly due to the barefoot match in round 1, possibly selling a knee injury. His arm is bandaged as well.

Masada jumped on the bandage hype train, too, wearing one on his forehead. His overall outfit can't beat Patricks though, mainly because Masada is more covered by wearing a shirt.

The stipulation is pretty self-explanatory. The one noteworthy thing is that the light tubes are confined into one board-like contraption, and there don't appear to be any loose tubes. There may be curved tubes on the cinderblocks, but it's hard to see from a distance, in a tiny 720x480 window that cost 12 bucks.

The match starts off with an exchange of punches and Masada firmly having the upper hand. He quickly chases Patricks out of the ring, then follows and takes a light tube – which grants me a closer look at the thing. It's indeed just light tubes, no board or anything underneath. The action, and I'm using the term lightly here, stays on the outside. According to commentary, Masada has 'some kind of grater'. I only got a brief glimpse, but my guess is a scraper. The light tube format turns out to be impractial when Masada begins to build a pillow fort and has to disassemble the board-like thing. He does get a bunch set up between chairs, but both wander away from the contraption and ultimately end up back in the ring.

A brief wrestling sequence follows, as does a closer view of the cinderblocks. It's not curved light tubes on them. It may be the weird straw-like tube remains from Masada's first round match or some kind of rag. Masada is still in charge and there's very little offense from Patricks. To be honest, it's a fairly boring match that mostly consists of punching. Patricks adds a Rocker Dropper, and there's the odd slam or suplex, but nothing all that interesting. Unsurprisingly, it's Patricks who goes through the light tube-chair contraption, but even that was the result of a plain kick.

Things don't get better when Patricks is back in the ring. He attempts a piledriver which Masada blocks and turns into a backdrop that mostly misses the cinderblocks. Masada proceeds to hit Patricks' back with a cinderblock, then suplexes him onto one, this time not missing. Patricks gets put on the top rope, but blocks a superplex attempt, pushes Masada off, and gets a weird kind of two count. He follows up with a piledriver, Masada kicks out again.

Patricks sprays lighter fluid on the cinderblock – so I guess it's rags then – and stacks light tubes on them. After setting the pile ablaze, Masada catches him with a forearm and it's Patricks who gets powerbombed onto his creation, and submits right after. Somehow, there are also skewers, but that must have happened while I was briefly looking away to type.

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Match 4 – World Series of Glass – JD Horror vs. Matt Tremont

JD Horror may have achieved a rare trifecta – mask, facepaint, dried crimson mask. I can't see if he refreshed the facepaint yet, but I don't think it makes a huge difference in such a strong showing. While all in black, it's 100 % wrestling attire, a clear theme with accessories, and a second round-appropriate amount of dried blood kicks it up another notch. (There's still enough facepaint left to make it a trifecta, too.)

Matt Tremont looks pristine in comparison. All in black, visible singlet, a black shirt that looks like someone cut a piece out for a hobby project – and barely any blood. It's not entirely Tremont's fault though. He had a very impressive crimson mask after his first round match, but unlike JD's, that match took place the day before and in the rain. Still, I can only judge what's there right now, and that makes JD Horror the very clear frontrunner for Best Dressed.

The stipulation involves several light tube log cabins and at least one pane/frame of glass. The match starts off with an exchange of chops and punches that evolves into a headbutt duel. Horror comes out on top and drags a comical 'log cabin' – or more accurately, a square of exactly 4 light tubes – to the center of the ring. Tremont unceremoniously Samoan Drops Horror through it to score the surprisingly early first point. A close-up when Horror rolls out of the ring shows that the canvas is wet again. IWA-MS really had bad luck with the weather that year.

Outside the ring, Tremont attacks with a barbed wire 2x4, but gets thrown into the chairs shortly after. Tremont takes another comical 4-light tubes-square out of the ring and suplexes Horror through it. The action moves back into the ring, and Tremont shatters the glass pane on Horror's back with a chair shot. I'm not sure if that counts as 'putting opponent through the glass'. They return to the rectangles right away, and Horror puts Tremont through the next with a Michinoku Driver. According to commentary, the score is 1:3, although not for long. Horror catches up with a Blue Thunder Bomb.

Horror goes to search something under the ring, at first apparently just chairs, but when he returns, commentary claims he has skewers. What follows is a chair shot that floors Tremont though, and JD starts setting up chairs, so I'm not sure he really has another weapon. He proceeds to stack the remaining log cabins on his chair pillow fort and climbs the top rope, but Tremont counters and advances after putting Horror through his contraption.

This match was the best out of the quarter finals, plain and simple. It's really refreshing to see a World Series match in which everyone – wrestlers, referee, commentary – is aware of the rules. Oftentimes, there's confusion about the score or people try to pin each other despite being repeatedly reminded of the world series rules. None of that nonsense here. This was a well-paced match that built up to a good finish; no complaints.

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SEMI FINALS

Match 1 - (2 out of 3 doors?) - John Wayne Murdoch vs. Nick Gage

Murdoch still wears his gas station outfit from before, but somehow accomplished a decent amount of blood on his face and white shirt despite having had a not especially bloody scaffold match.

Nick Gage makes a good attempt by being shirtless, but he also still wears jeans and doesn't have a drop of blood on him, just a few scratches on his back. What he does have are two bandanas and a pizza cutter, neither of which sways my verdict. Apparently, today the line-up collectively decided to battle it out with crimson masks. Not a bad strategy because beyond round 2, looking appropriately battered is often a deciding factor in my judgement.

No formal stipulation is announced or listed on Cagematch. From what I can tell, it's light tubes and barbed wire boards, but there are also some other things in the ring – lightbulbs, a door, something I believe is a shovel. And for the record, for the duration of this match, Waxahachie is in Utah. Reed Bentley joins commentary which is usually a good thing.

To my delight, Gage gives his pizza cutter to a fan. How Bret Hart of him. The match takes a long, long time before it even starts. When it does, there's a proper lockup and a bizarrely early submission attempt from Gage. A test of strength follows, more chain wrestling, more Gage spending a long, long time interacting with the crowd. Finally, the action continues on the outside. Fans are holding weapons, so maybe this is actually a FBTW. The brawl spills out to the parking lot across the street, and Murdoch loses his white shirt which makes the whole thing look even more like a dispute between two disgruntled construction workers.

The match finally moves toward the ring again when Murdoch gets thrown into the chairs. Only Gage returns to the ring. Murdoch moves to a different side of the ring and challenges Gage to follow him there. This is where the tide finally turns, and Gage goes into the chairs and takes a keyboard shot to the head. A seated slugfest ensues, Gage seemingly wins, but Murdoch gets back on the chair and picks up where they left off. The same scene plays out again, Gage gets up to leave, but returns to continue the brawl when Murdoch challenges him to another slugfest. They must have been at it for more than 5 minutes by now, and it just keeps going. This time, it ends up with both on the concerte.

After what must have been 10 minutes, they finally abandon the chairs and return to the ring where Gage floors Murdoch with a DDT. Then he gets his pizza cutter back. I guess it was inevitable. While Gage indulges, I will ramble about trademark weapons for a bit. I can't think of many great choices. So many of them are just carving devices in a slightly different shape, and add nothing to a match that couldn't be accomplished with barbed wire or some broken glass.

Oh wait. What is that? An announcement that the score is 1:0 after Murdoch put Gage through a door? Is this a 2 out of 3 of some kind? I guess so.

Gage has a drill. Power tools are so stupid. No boom, no impact, nothing breaks.

Anyway. Trademark weapons that rarely add anything of value. Some of the better choices are Remington Rhor's machete and The Carver's axe. The size puts them above small carving devices such as the pizza cutter or Otis Cogar's straight razor. It's not just that they are easier to see from a distance/non-close up camera angles. They can also be used to shatter things or block attacks. For the same reason, I like Shane Mercer's morning star – which foregoes the marginal carving utility in favor of more brutal-looking shattering. Masada and Atticus Cogar are also not entirely on the wrong track. Their skewers are slightly more versatile and often give a good visual. The problem is just that they – and everyone else – tend to overuse the skewers instead of pulling them out only for big moments or even big matches.

Gage evens the score to 1:1 with a top rope piledriver through a barbed wire board which leaves both floored. Murdoch ends up in a Boston Crab, and I learn from Reed Bentley that this is how Gage defeated the invisible opponent in the previous round. Now that I think about it - and know this is a 2 out of 3 doors match - submissions don't really make sense. That's probably why Murdoch doesn't tap, and Gage lets go to take the shovel and hit Murdoch over the head with it. It's the ginger prince's turn to no sell something though, so he gets straight up and... oh come on, another slugfest? Really? Yep, here we go, on chairs again, just this time in the ring. It turns into a headbutt duel and can also be described as slow motion.

Another surprise announcement: There is a time limit and 25 minutes are left.

Gage ends the slugfest with a running-diving forearm, and now both are down again. It's Gage who gets up first, sort of. He sets up a single chair, then backdrops Murdoch onto it. According to Bentley, the last item that must be broken to win is the light tube door which has indeed gone suspiciously untouched so far. A back and forth of kicks, punches, and dropkicks leaves Gage in a slightly better position, and he does go for the light tube door, but doesn't do anything with it for a good while. The match has gone for about 40 minutes by now, by the way. Gage positions Murdoch in a corner for a Face Wash, then another, then randomly does push-ups, but still doesn't do anything with the crucial door. He climbs the top rope, and Murdoch slams him down onto the door, but since it's on the mat, only the light tubes break. Apparently, it still counts as a door break because Murdoch is declared the winner.

The crowd chants 'match of the year'. I wouldn't go as far. It wasn't bad. It had good intensity, several good spots, and it is definitely impressive to keep it up for over 40 minutes. However, it was also quite repetitive with the constant, drawn-out slugfests. I get that a match this long needs its downtime, but it already had that from Gage often standing around and interacting with the crowd, calling himself a god and 'the man' and what not, while Murdoch waited in a corner to be remembered by his opponent.

This has nothing to do with my thoughts about the match, but it is relevant to a complaint about wrestling databases later on. These men are NOT the exact same height.

Maybe it's hindsight that causes my disconnect. It is difficult to make a mental switch and see Murdoch as the up-and-comer he was in 2015 – even though Corp and Devon Moore made it very clear - and at the same time remind myself that Nick Gage was a huge deal to everyone but me. (It's very similar with Matt Tremont. It's just been so long that he wasn't at the top that it's hard to see him as anything but the big shot he's been for so many years.) I can tell by the reaction this match got that people were really, really into all the crowd pandering. To me, it just felt like artifically dragging things out when the match didn't need it. The repetition of the same scene then added to it. Condensed into 25 minutes, this would have been a killer match. But to go over 40 minutes, it just needed more variety.

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Match 2 – FBTW - Masada vs. Matt Tremont

Minimal change for Masada: the bandage is gone and the gray shorts have some minor stains. Tremont still wears the same as before, but he looks far more battered and bloodied, rivaling JD Horror's previous entrance. Masada clearly has the lighter color on his side, but he didn't make much of it. This is a semi-final, so I value battle damage more and give the victory to Tremont.

The gruesome toothpick bat from the first round is making a comeback, and there's a whole lot of plunder. Unfortunately, it's also getting dark and there are already several blinding car lights pointed at the ring. Hopefully, this match will be relatively short, so there's a chance to see the final.

Tremont opens the match by hitting himself with a thumbtack bat. A first lock-up results in Masada trying to roll Tremont up with a Schoolboy, then Tremont tries the same, but neither results in even a one count. I didn't mean that short!

The action goes to the outside, Masada throws Tremont into the chairs, then gets suplexed into them himself. After the brawl continued in the crowd for a bit, they wander off to the parking area and eventually end up in the bed of a pick-up truck. Masada hits a DDT in the relatively confined space, then sticks something in Tremont's forehead – not skewers, and even after a close-up, my best guess is a nail? - smashes light tubes, then they return to the ring and the weapons.

Masada has the upper hand long enough to grab a bat and decorate Tremont's head with thumbtacks. A struggle over a fork board turns the tide in Tremont's favor, but Masada ultimately blocks the suplex and puts Tremont onto the fork board.

Chairs fly into the ring – tons of them, until everything is buried under them.

Tremont and Masada return to the ring, the former almost slipping on the chair pile, the latter avoiding that fate by climbing the top rope. Only to get hit by a chair throw. Tremont follows him up and superplexes Masada onto the chair pile, but only gets a two from the cover. There's not even room to stand in the ring, so this should be interesting.

Masada, being the one in a less cluttered area, hits a chair throw against Tremont's head, then monkey flips him... onto the chairs, I suppose, because they are everywhere, but only gets a two count as well. Struggling to find a somewhat stable position, Tremont succeeds first and hits a Saito Suplex... onto the chairs. Again, only a two count.

Tremont arms himself with a gusset plate bat to help Masada with his crimson mask, to little avail. The referee finally begins to remove the chairs, and Tremont chops Masada out of the ring. Back to the crowd and chairs they go, exchange uppercuts, then return to the ring, probably hoping they'll have room to do anything in there now. Masada attacks with a skewer bat, then gets his actual skewers and stabs Tremont's arm before jamming them into his head. Apparently he can't find a good angle because it takes quite a few attempts before they stick. Tremont wanders around to show off, and when he's back on the apron, Masada slams him down through a light tube ironing board.

Masada follows up with a Suicide Dive, then gallantly removes the skewers and thumbtacks from Tremont's skull before slamming him onto the floor boards of the commentary truck.

Somehow, Tremont counters and suplexes Masada onto a pile of chairs under the scaffold. Commentary claims they are on the scaffold, but that is not the case. Both are on the ground and being counted on by the referee, and get up around 8. Being realistic, Masada wasn't really 'down' in a 'possible knockout' way.

This match is the tragic tale of two men trapped in a world of chairs.

Either way, they return to the ring and Masada goes on the top rope again. The Swanton only gets him a two. Tremont is down, Masada is frustrated. Not sure why, because he's the one standing and Tremont is not. After some elbows and punches, Masada tries his luck with a neckbreaker, but doesn't go for a pin. Instead, he gets the toothpick bat and gives Tremont's back the Bryant Woods treatment.

The secret MVP rears its spiky neck once again.

The referee was counting for a knockout again, and I'm wondering if there's a mystery stipulation like Texas Death or Last Man Standing in this match.

Masada hits Tremont with the toothpick bat a few more times, then retreats to the ropes. When he attacks again, Tremont fights back and puts Masada down with a lariat.

He sets up a chair, hits Masada with another, then adds it to the contraption in progress. Oh, no, it's actually done and Masada gets suplexed onto the chairs right away. This time, the ref reaches a five count on both before Tremont attempts a cover, which gets him a close two count. Tremont Death Valley Drives Masada onto a chair, again only a two, then a piledriver – and Masada gets the shoulder up at one. Tremont tries this again, onto what looks like a contraption made of tiny light tubes – and this time, it's enough for a three count.

It wasn't short, and I'm not mad about that. Yeah, it's dark now and that might be a problem for the final, but this match was great. Good balance, the aforementioned variety was there, no overuse of skewers, no excessive carving, great wrestling to weapon balance – there's nothing stopping me from calling this the MOTN. Seeing that Tremont vs. Horror is my runner-up as it stands, I'm not setting it in stone just yet though. Tremont is on a roll, so who knows what he'll pull out in the final?

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INTERMISSION, RECAP

There's an official intermission to set up for the main event, so I'll do a brief recap here. Has this show been worth 12 bucks so far? Let's see. The first quarter final was weird due to the 'pins only count after jumping off the scaffold' rule, and short at 6 mins 37 seconds, too. Good-looking finish, good-looking winner, but ultimately nothing I'd have missed. The 8 men tag match was one of the matches that took place at KOTDM 2015. Somewhat less chaotic than the previous one, but also nothing to write home about.

Then there was Nick Gage and his invisible opponent which I skipped. I have to add about 5 bucks to the value here because I'd actually pay money to NOT see Sexxxy Eddy, so I'm now trying to determine if this show-half is worth 17 bucks. Masada vs. Dale Patricks wasn't great. I watched it less than 2 hours ago and don't remember a thing that happened in it. Textbook definition of 'forgettable'. From here on out, things look a lot better. Tremont vs. Horror was simply a good match, no complaints, no nitpicking. Murdoch vs. Gage, while not as great as the live audience made it out to be, was still a decent match. It was dragging at times, yes, but from a historical standpoint, it is very firmly in the category of 'must-see matches'. It can be seen as the first (albeit unofficial) ironman deathmatch due to its impressive length, and it is also a much better chapter of Murdoch's rise than the first round match against Corp.

Tremont vs. Masada then put the cherry on top of the strong quarter/semi-finals as the standout match of Day 2. Regular readers know I think Masada is overrated and rarely like his matches, but I give credit where credit is due. This match alone makes the show worth 17 bucks. Hell, make it 20.

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FINAL

John Wayne Murdoch vs. Matt Tremont

Another outfit change for Murdoch. With so many changes, odds are he'd strike gold at some point, but no. He went back to the black shirt from day 1. This time, it's paired with a light-colored shirt and jeans shorts. He's also limping and has an appropriate amount of blood on his face.

Tremont's outfit hasn't changed, so he's still all in black, but his shorts count as sportswear and he has the big advantage of back to back matches – fresher blood, overall a more battered look. And speaking of back to back – that's also on the line for him, back to back KOTDM victories. Seeing the trend of winning fashion face offs on battle damage, I have to give this victory to Tremont again. So we have two outfits that are meh in different ways, but strong storytelling.

There's an appropriate special referee – 3 times KOTDM finalist Mr. Insanity Toby Klein. And damn, the ring looks so pretty. Oh my. No ropes barbed wire and light tubes that reflect the car lights in the back like a holiday decoration, but they are spaced out, and some are hanging from ropes above the ring. That's a proper House of Horrors setup. I've nitpicked about tournaments listing their finals as such when they didn't have hanging tubes. Visibility isn't hindered and I think more tournaments should actually use such setups instead of tight light tube-fencing.

Before we begin, I must also mention something that has bothered me for a while: Cagematch and WrestlingData list both Murdoch and Tremont as 5'10. Also Reed Bentley and Nick Gage, but I couldn't get a good screenshot comparison due to camera angles with the latter. I stood right next to Gage myself though, and unless he somehow shrunk or had a growth spurt in his 30s, I'm fairly confident about his actual height. Murdoch is clearly taller than the other allegedly 5'10s. Whose height is doctored and what's the point? Just to make it harder for me to calculate scaffold and balcony dive heights by comparing to people? If I can't rely on crowd-sourced internet data bases, what can I rely on?

NOT the same height! Get your shit together, Cagematch!

Anyway. The match opens with the smashing of hanging tubes. Naturally, those need to go early on, but it's a coordinated one by one smashing. There's a shift to carving, then they turn their attention to the barbed wire. After a back and forth, Tremont goes into it, and while he's there, Murdoch cleans out the light tubes from that side on him. He goes into the barbed wire on the opposite side shortly after, but blocks a suplex from Tremont, only to get Samoan Dropped onto the loose tubes.

Murdoch rolls out of the ring, and a light tube duel ensues on the outside. They wander toward the scaffold which is a bit risky. While the ring is surprisingly well-lit, the scaffold is not. Murdoch climbs it anyway, and both Tremont and their special ref follow. That's honestly pretty surprising. Toby Klein was never one for heights during his active time, but I suppose he knows he's not going to take the bump this time.

What follows is the biggest 'holy shit' moment – and that says something after Bryant Woods vs. JD Horror. Tremont gets thrown off the scaffold into a pile of chairs. With the ref being several feet above, Devon Moore covertly checks on Tremont while Murdoch and Klein climb down.

Murdoch wants a piece of the chairs, too, and sentons onto Tremont and the pile. Instead of going for a pin, he picks Tremont up and leads him back to the ring to pin him there – but only gets a two count. Meanwhile, commentary points out that several lights are failing. Thankfully, they come back on soon, just in time for Murdoch's Flatliner into a Koji Clutch. Tremont's arm drops twice, then he powers up, only to get promptly floored with a clothesline. Murdoch places some loose tubes, but Tremont ducks under his lariat, picks Murdoch up for a Death Valley Driver, and gets a three count after the following cover – making him the first back to back winner of KOTDM.

Corp shows up to pick Murdoch out of the debris, and there's a handshake between Murdoch and Tremont – then Corp attacks Murdoch, apparently for shaking Tremont's hand. Once Corp is gone, Tremont calls for a microphone for his victory speech. He mentions that, as a five time tournament winner, he is the fucking king – which apparently upsets Toby Klein who attacks Tremont. There is no explanation, and the show ends with Reed Bentley picking Tremont up. That's confusing.

5'10 vs. 5'10 - 6'1 vs. 5'10. At least one of them must be lying.

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FINAL THOUGHTS

The final felt short – which isn't surprising, seeing the matches both had just before – and mainly lived from the big scaffold spot. It also didn't quite make sense that Murdoch was in charge most of the time and got pinned after a relatively tame finish; a Death Valley Driver onto 3 – 4 light tubes. To be fair, after the scaffold bump, everything would have looked tame, and I don't think a bigger, more spectacular spot was in order. It's also understandable that Tremont didn't have much more in the tank at that point, but a bit more offense from him would have been enough. Maybe even going in the opposite direction - deliberately toning it down and making it a submission victory instead. Either way, this show is an easy recommendation due to the standout matches making up most of the run time.

For Day 2, the MOTN ranking remains Masada vs. Matt Tremont, followed by Matt Tremont vs. JD Horror and John Wayne Murdoch vs. Nick Gage. The MVP, to nobody's surprise, was Matt Tremont with 3 matches, 2 of them back to back, and involvement in the two best matches of the day. The runner-up is John Wayne Murdoch. The Best Dressed trophy goes to JD Horror with 100 % wrestling attire, great battle damage, and a strong theme. There's no real runner-up. Dale Patricks dropped the ball/wrestling gear in round two, Reed Bentley and Bryant Woods didn't get a chance to have their battle damage taken into consideration. The closest one is Woods whose bloodsoaked white pants would have gotten him a high score, if there had been a chance to judge the aftermath of his match.

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