IWA-Mid South Double Death Tag Team Tournament (2021)

This is a very short tournament/show with a total runtime of only 1 hour 45 mins. What stands out is unfortunately not only the loaded card, but also the godawful audio with a constant layer of droning. Since it's a short show, I'll give some thoughts about the only non-tournament, non-deathmatch as well.

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Non-Tournament Match

Vincent Nothing vs. Pompano Joe

ROUND 1

Match 1 – Barbed Wire Madness – 44OH (RSP & Bobby Beverly) vs. The Underdogs (Kevin Giza & Jack Griffin)

Match 2 – Fans Bring The Weapons – 44OH (Atticus Cogar & Eric Ryan) vs. The Hallowed (Lord Crewe & Otis Cogar)

Match 3 – Lighttubes/Four Corners of Pain – Herzog & Neil Diamond Cutter vs. Young Dragons (Dale Patricks & Josh Crane)

Match 4 – World Series of Glass/Taipei – The Rejects (John Wayne Murdoch & Satu Jinn) vs. Bloody Brothers (JC Bloody/JC Rotten & Lane Bloody/Insane Lane)

ROUND 2

FINAL

Recap & Final Thoughts

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Non-Tournament Match: Vincent Nothing vs. Pompano Joe

Vincent Nothing, the one not-really-44OH guy who is never far from 44OH nonetheless, takes on Pompano Joe in the show's only singles match. The two put on a fairly solid technical match, but it's obvious the crowd isn't here for that. I, on the other hand, am. With his MMA background and physique, Nothing is a rare agile powerhouse, a delightfully ruthless heel, and always a joy to watch. Is there still some ring rust from his long break from wrestling? Maybe. Do I care? Not really. He's still the smoke show he always was, so this could as well be a Judy Bagwell on a Pole match and I wouldn't complain. ¯\(ツ)/¯ Nothing wins with a beautiful 2-1-Sic.

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ROUND 1

Match 1 – Barbed Wire Madness – 44OH (RSP & Bobby Beverly) vs. The Underdogs (Kevin Giza & Jack Griffin)

The barbed wire madness consists of a barbed wire door, a barbed wire bat, a barbed wire crutch, and a barbed wire table. The rules, as in all tournament matches, are total elimination and tornado tag. 44OH attack the Underdogs before the announcement is over, with Giza being thrown out of the ring and Griffin meeting his first barbed wire door. Ever. This is Griffin's first deathmatch, and I think he also stepped up to fill in for a no show, so I'm not going to be overly critical of him/his limited involvement.

Most of the match consists of Kevin Giza doing what he does best: taking a crazy amount of punishment and selling the hell out of it, with Griffin being little more than a pesky fly to 44OH. Until he isn't and lands a picture-perfect double stomp against RSP through the barbed wire table; certainly the first big moment of the match. Shortly after, Beverly eliminates Griffin after a Burning Hammer, and Giza is up alone against 44OH. When he manages to grab the barbed wire crutch, the tides turn in his favor and he eliminates Beverly with a quick roll up.

RSP dominates from here on, slows the match down to a snail's pace, which is offset by Giza's incredible speed in his moments of offense. After countering RSP's Chokebreaker attempt with a Ball Buster, Giza takes a very earned underdog victory – only to be attacked by Beverly and taking some more punishment from both 44OH members for good measure.

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Match 2 – Fans Bring The Weapons – 44OH (Atticus Cogar & Eric Ryan) vs. The Hallowed (Lord Crewe & Otis Cogar)

There are plenty of bats, lighttube bundles, and some kind of board. In other words, it's an average day in Ohio. The match starts off with a fast-paced brawl. An early scene implies that Atticus doesn't want to fight Otis; when they are alone in the ring, Atticus opts for a dive onto Crewe on the outside instead. Otis follows suit with a dive from the top rope, and the match fully turns into an outside brawl. First Otis gets studded with thumbtacks, then Ryan.

Back in the ring, The Hallowed double team against Ryan until Atticus returns and tries to pin his brother, ending the not-really truce. Thumbtack weapons remain the dominant theme, but gusset plates and lighttubes also see use. It's a fast-paced match that doesn't rely on the various weapons alone, and I'm not even annoyed when Atticus puts his trademark skewers into Otis' head. In moderation, skewers don't bother me, and with the back and forth between the brothers, I even think it was a nice touch in this case. Crewe and Otis are eliminated in quick succession, and 44OH advance.

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Match 3 – Lighttubes/Four Corners of Pain – Herzog & Neil Diamond Cutter vs. Young Dragons (Dale Patricks & Josh Crane)

The match begins with an orderly brawl after the bell, with the Young Dragons dominating early on by double teaming first Herzog, then Cutter. Things become more balanced when they split up in pairs, Patricks and Herzog on the outside, Crane and Cutter in the ring. Gusset plates, lemon juice, and salt come into play, along with a staple gun. The cameras have a little trouble keeping up with the action when the pairs switch up and brawl all around the ring.

There are few big spots, but there is constant action and it's quite entertaining to see just how many different weapons and substances – rubbing alcohol, hot sauce – appear out of nowhere. The first elimination comes with a quick roll up from Crane against Herzog, rapidly followed by Cutter doing the same against Crane. With only Patricks and Cutter left, two former Princes of the Deathmatches fight it out, first with chops and punches, then a finisher and counter duel. Patricks finally scores the pinfall after a double underhook piledriver, and the Young Dragons advance.

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Match 4 – World Series of Glass/Taipei – The Rejects (John Wayne Murdoch & Satu Jinn) vs. Bloody Brothers (JC Bloody/JC Rotten & Lane Bloody/Insane Lane)

World Series of Glass rules apply; pinfall, submission, or breaking 4 glass contraptions with the same opponent can result in eliminations. The available contraptions include panes of glass, a mirror, and lighttube boards. Glass is broken right away and according to commentary, it's already 2:2 mere minutes into the match. JC Rotten apparently has to leave the match due to a bad cut, and unfortunately it's his father who jumps in to take his place. Not that it matters too much; the match is mostly an uncoordinated outside brawl, and JC returns shortly after.

The first real elimination is Satu Jinn. JC Rotten gets his pretty nasty-looking cut behind his ear taped up, then continues the match by setting up a glass pane between chairs. According to commentary, Murdoch will be eliminated if he goes through one more contraption, but instead he puts Rotten through it and thereby eliminates him. Insane Lane and John Wayne Murdoch continue with a slugfest, and in the end The Rejects advance after Murdoch submits/chokes out Lane.

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RECAP

The tag team tournaments always flew a bit under the radar, this one undeservedly so. There's no weak match in the first round. The first match seemed like a foregone conclusion and surprised with resident workhorse Kevin Giza surviving against former KOTDM Rickey Shane Page and Bobby Beverly. I'm a sucker for this kind of match; an unbreakable lightweight against two bigger guys. It's rare to see the underdog prevail which makes this all the better to me. The second match was probably the strongest of the four, with a great mix of brutal weapon use and actual wrestling. It certainly showed that the four know each other well. Good timing, good pacing, and a little bit of storytelling between Atticus and Otis to mix things up. The third match was pure chaos, but it still shone through that the Young Dragons have years worth of team experience when they double teamed either opponent. The last match was the least enjoyable to me. Even with commentary trying to keep track of the broken contraptions, it was difficult to follow and would probably have been better under regular tournament rules. Ignoring the brief Rotten swap, I have seen far, far better matches from everyone involved. It wasn't unwatchably bad, but in comparison to the rest of the round, it didn't quite reach the same quality.

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ROUND 2

Match 1 – Up In Ya – The Underdogs (Kevin Giza & Jack Griffin) vs. The Rejects (John Wayne Murdoch & Satu Jinn)

Skewer boards, gusset plate bats, lit candles. Jack Griffin goes out of the ring right away, and Kevin Giza takes the first big bump of the match within a minute onto the candle board. Satu Jinn is outside with Griffin, but the camera stays with Murdoch and Giza in the ring for the most part. The Rejects team up on Griffin on the outside with the skewer board, but Giza gets his share of thumbtacks and skewers as well. He has such a gift; no matter how many times I've seen him in deathmatches, it's always unexpected just how much punishment he's willing to take.

Jack Griffin gets eliminated by Satu Jinn after a slam onto a gusset plate board. It's my favorite again – Giza against all odds. He quickly eliminates Jinn on the same gusset plates that cost him is partner. What's left is a dream match for me. A balanced one on one with heavy use of thumbtacks and skewers – until RPS shows up and cuts off Giza's attack by pushing him off the top rope, allowing Murdoch to get a 3 count. The Rejects advance.

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Match 2 – Lighttube Door Derby – 44OH (Atticus Cogar & Eric Ryan) vs. Young Dragons (Dale Patricks & Josh Crane)

The match begins with Josh Crane going through the first door right away. There are plenty of other weapons in the ring – barbed wire and thumbtack bats, a CD bat/mace - and 44OH make use of several against Dale Patricks while Crane is outside. Patricks gives his best impression of Ricky Morton and it takes a while until Crane cleans house to save him. A double small package sees both Dragons eliminated at the same time, and 44OH advance to the finale after a weirdly short match. Crane's limited involvement makes me suspect his injury from the first round was worse than it looked.

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FINAL

Caribbean Spider Web 200 Lighttubes – 44OH (Atticus Cogar & Eric Ryan) vs. The Rejects (John Wayne Murdoch & Satu Jinn)

The setup looks more like a no ropes barbed wire match, and about half of the lighttubes are in the corners. According to commentary, the spider webs are outside. It starts off with everyone smashing lighttubes and thoughtfully clearing the view for the hard cam. The Rejects come out on top, with both standing and still breaking tubes, when the first dust settles. The remaining tubes go fast, the ring looks like a warzone 5 minutes in.

While Atticus skewers and superkicks Satu in the ring, Murdoch turns two of the spider web pits upside down and stacks them. Ryan isn't involved much, and Atticus has to gain the upper hand by himself. He does so by eliminating Satu Jinn after putting him through a barbed wire and lighttube table. Ryan finally wakes up, but still doesn't get to do much. Other than going face first through the spider web, that is. Murdoch quickly pins Atticus in the metric ton of broken glass in the ring.

It's Ryan against Murdoch, and the former doesn't look to be in great shape. Murdoch wards off the Snuff Stomp, but only gets a 2 count after a brainbuster. RSP and Bobby Beverly show up, as does Satu Jinn – who attacks Murdoch, then 44OH drag a barely concious Ryan over him and 44OH win the tournament. A stupid and disapppinting finish, but 44OH gonna 44OH, I guess.

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RECAP, FINAL THOUGHTS

There was a sharp decline in quality in round 2, starting with the interference in the otherwise very strong first match. Like I said, Giza vs. Murdoch is as good as it gets for me and I'd rather have seen a natural conclusion to it. The second match suffered from being extremely short, presumably due to injury, so I can't hold that against anyone. The finale would obviously have been a lot better without the interference and weird turn from Jinn against Murdoch. I know, 44OH is all the rage, but I would rather have seen clean finishes for matches that deserved them. The constant interferences are played out and don't make me think 'wow, such heel'. They just make think twice what I watch, and I'm more inclined to skip a show if there's a good chance for yet another disappointing finish. All things considered, the tournament is still well worth a watch for the strong first round alone.

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