IWA-Mid South Prince of the Death Matches 2021

While I mentally prepare to tackle another long show – either IWA-MS KOTDM 2021 or IWA-DS Carnage Cup 12 – I figured I get some shorter shows done. With a run time of only 93 minutes, IWA-MS POTDM 2021 was an obvious pick.

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IWA-MS World Title Match – Old School Rules - Billy Tipton vs. Tyler Matrix (C)

ROUND 1

Match 1 – Barefoot Toy Box - Hunter Drake vs. Jack Griffin

Match 2 – Tick Tack - Phoenix Kidd vs. Lord Crewe

Match 3 – Barbed Wire Boards and Lighttube Ropes – Jayce Karr vs. Big Dre Parker

Match 4 – Fans Bring The Weapons - Remington Rhor vs. Carver of Cutter's Alley

ROUND 2

FINAL

Final Thoughts

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Non-Tournament Match

IWA-MS World Title Match – Old School Rules - Billy Tipton vs. Tyler Matrix (C)

As the Death Match Fashion Police, I must overstep my authority here and point out that Tyler Matrix picked the ugliest possible color for his trunks. Mustard. What the hell, man? For that alone, Billy Tipton – with themed Tennessee Sunshine attire – should win. Fashion choices – and my aversion for world title matches as sideshow acts – aside, this is a good, fairly technical match with some outside action. Tyler Matrix wins clean, then a wild RSP appears to attack him. RSP rants about wanting the world title and makes a challenge. Okay.

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ROUND 1

Match 1 – Barefoot Toy Box - Hunter Drake vs. Jack Griffin

These are deathmatch rookies, so I can't be too harsh here. That doesn't mean I won't judge their fashion choices, and they leave a lot to be desired here. The only credit I can give goes to Jack Griffin – fully in street clothes, obviously minus shoes – for looking kind of like the skater kid his nickname 'Skate or die' implies he is. But only kind of. A baseball hat could have brought the look together. Anyway.

They open the match by flipping over the kiddie pools to dump all the toys in the middle of the ring. That's refreshing enthusiasm for a barefoot stipulation, and that theme continues when they proceed with chain wrestling in the legos. After an outside dive, a chair sees use, as does Griffin's skateboard. I appreciate that he's doing something with his gimmick. Griffin gets a gusset plate which both use to draw first blood. Back in the ring, a chop duel ensues, followed by quite a few actual wrestling moves and the use of a barbed wire skateboard. Hunter Drake gets lighttubes and puts them in a kiddie pool, but Griffin blocks the suplex attempt, and in the end, Drake gets planted feet-first into the tubes. Griffin gets a three count and advances.

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Match 2 – Tick Tack - Phoenix Kidd vs. Lord Crewe

With the masked Phoenix Kidd, an early contender for the best look has been identified. Lord Crewe, wearing white jeans, is in the running as well. The weirdly named stipulation involves pools of thumbtacks, carpet strips, fish hooks, and bottles of Listerine.

Crewe starts off strong, using his size advantage against the smaller luchador. The stipulation keeps evolving when Crewe also hammers a gusset plate into Kidd's chest. Phoenix Kidd pays him back and sticks it in Crewe's forehead, then the brawl goes to the outside. Crewe catches Kidd with a chairshot, then the carpet strips come into play, and Crewe's white jeans get a good amount of red sprinkles. Phoenix Kidd takes a Sidewalk Slam onto a chair which remains their weapon of choice for a while.

Another evolution; Phoenix Kidd adds a kendo stick to the mix, then hits a Cannonball on the outside. Back in the ring, Crewe regains the upper hand and shoves a kiddie pool of carpet strips in the middle. He ends up going into it with a Death Valley Driver for a first two count, then Phoenix Kidd just smashes carpet strips on Crewe and finally goes for the Listerine. Crewe gets a Listerine shower, followed by a Big Splash which yields another two count. While Phoenix argues with the ref, Crewe sneaks up on him and catches him off guard with a Falcon Arrow for a two count of his own. He throws all remaining carpet strips, fish hooks, and some Listerine in the other pool, then takes Kidd to the top rope. Kidd counters though and gets a three count after a near-botched Flipping Piledriver.

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Match 3 – Barbed Wire Boards and Lighttube Ropes – Jayce Karr vs. Big Dre Parker

No contenders for 'Best Dressed' here. Jayce Karr wears jeans and t-shirt – and for some reason, white gloves, so Dre Parker wins the fashion duel by default just by wearing sports shorts and kickpads. The stipulation – the lighttubes are taped along the ropes, not upright between them – looks a bit strange, but the more I think about it, the better I like it. Sure, you can't arrange an impressive amount of tubes this way like a 200 Lighttubes match would have. But in turn, you get 100 % visibility right from the start. Anyway.

Karr and Parker kick it off with a furious exchange of punches, forearms, and kicks. Karr then goes to get some loose tubes into the ring as well. He whips Parker – in the middle of the ropes where they have no lighttubes. Which may sound meh, but I think it's another advantage of the arrangement. The ropes are not entirely unusable, and it looks good when the tubes do break on the second whip that sends Parker out of the ring. Karr, with loose tubes, climbs the top rope and moonsaults to the outside. He takes Parker back to the ring, then returns to the top rope, but is intercepted by some loose tubes.

Parker pulls out some suplexes, but only gets a two count, so he props up a barbed wire board in a corner and puts Karr through it with a belly-to-belly – for another two count. Forearms and a lariat against Karr in the corner follow, then Parker gets a lighttube bundle, but misses and goes through them himself. Back with the upper hand, Karr smashes some more tubes and carves Parker's forehead, to little avail. Parker kicks out of the following DDT. Karr hands him some lighttubes, then hits him with a coast to coast, twice, to break the two absurdly long tubes. The second barbed wire board is set up in a corner, then Parker tackles Karr into it and gets a three count. Weird finish, and I'd have preferred Karr – despite his outfit – to advance because he seemed more put together with his moves.

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Match 4 – Fans Bring The Weapons - Remington Rhor vs. Carver of Cutter's Alley

Remington Rhor strikes an excellent balance between looking like he just came from a post-apocalyptic mosh pit and looking like a wrestler. It sure helps that he, along with Crewe, also looks like he's ever seen a gym from the inside. A strong fashion showing, and yet it can't hold a candle to The Carver, my official spirit animal. With a Leatherface mask, a white shirt for the juice, a butcher's apron full of rubber faces and hands, and dragging an axe behind him, Carver easily takes the fashion trophy home.

With that settled, I can't help but question the pairing here. Maybe that's my 2024 bias speaking, but it seems strange to blow a face-off between these two on the first round. Everything about this screams 'finale', and yet it is not.

Carver opens the mayhem by storming at Rhor with his axe, Rhor – machete in hand - evades, and they have a brief, yet delightful duel with their weapons before throwing them aside. Rhor gains the upper hand with a powerslam, then they leave the ring, and Rhor continues his assault with a car part. Lighttubes get smashed, punches exchanged, and Carver carves Rhor's forehead with the axe. They brawl all around the ring, use various weapons, most of which involve glass, and Rhor takes Carver down with a lighttube bundle-enhanced spear. When they return to the ring, Carver has the upper hand, but not for long. Rhor makes use of a kitchen sink, one of the few non-glass weapons, followed by the car part, then builds a stack of lighttubes and lightbulbs. Carver counters and hits an Impaler onto the pile though, gets a three count, and advances.

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Not-really-an-intermission; recap

Like I said, I'm not going to judge too harshly because most of these guys are deathmatch rookies. With that in mind, the matches were mostly 'alright', but nothing you'd buy a ticket for. Hunter and Griffin stood out as being unusually enthusiastic about rolling around in and stomping on sharp objects – in a fun, reckless way. Unlike my arch nemesis Jimmy Lyon. Crewe vs. Phoenix Kidd was probably the most obvious display of the latter's inexperience. A lot of things looked clumsy, and Crewe was clearly the one keeping the match together. In the third match, the same can be said about Jayce Karr. I was surprised to see he was one of the greenest contestants, having debuted only one year prior. Parker has size and intensity, but doesn't quite know what to do with it. Having Rhor eliminated in round 1 still strikes me as a waste. 2024 bias or not, even so early in his career, he stands out as 'most likely to succeed' in the deathmatch yearbook by miles. More so in comparison to Phoenix Kidd and Dre Parker who I don't think were ready for the big (yeah, I know, lol) stage; certainly not for deathmatches.

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ROUND 2

Match 1 – Unlucky 13 - Carver of Cutter's Alley vs. Phoenix Kidd

Phoenix Kidd has switched from black tights to baby-pink trunks for some reason. It's proper wrestling gear, I give him that, but I don't know about this look. A lucha mask paired with trunks just looks off, and the color doesn't scream 'phoenix' either. Not that it matters at this point; Carver has the fashion battle in the bag. In a day and age where wrestling cards often read like phone registers, and wrestlers dress like gas station clerks, it's just a delight to have such a gimmicky psycho muppet around.

On to the match. Phoenix Kidd jumps Carver right away and hits a series of attacks in the corner. He then gets the staple gun from the ref and staples the first two bills to Carver's... mask. Yes, this is a staple gun match between two masked guys. Awkward. Phoenix Kidd puts more bills on him, this time opting for Carver's slightly less covered arms. Carver finally wakes up, pushes Kidd in the corner and zip-ties his hands, then just stomps him in the middle of the ring. An Impaler follows, and Carver goes for his axe, floors Kidd again, and gets the staple gun. He staples six bills to Kidd's mask in quick succession. The 7th bill follows after a brief pause, and Carver advances after what I would hardly even call a match.

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Match 2 – Home Run Derby – Big Dre Parker vs. Jack Griffin

Griffin has changed into different street wear and now has a bandana. It's not a baseball hat, and a black shirt is not a great choice, but it looks overall more skater kid. Difficult. Griffin has a discernible gimmick, Parker now wears a singlet instead of a t-shirt to his shorts, which puts him ahead in regards to actual wrestling gear. It's not a great or themed look, but it is something. I'll call it a draw. Now let's see if Parker does better than Phoenix Kidd when it comes to the wrestling part.

Griffin opens with a shotgun dropkick against Parker in the corner, and Parker rolls out of the ring. Griffin follows with a barbed wire baseball bat. A thumbtack bat also sees use, Parker then counters by smashing lighttubes over Griffin. The brawl continues on the outside, various weapons get used, and I can confidently say a few minutes in that this match is much, much better than the previous one. They return to the ring for a punch duel, Parker then introduces a chair to the match, but takes a fairly brutal chair shot to the head himself. Griffin gets a three count after a top rope double stomp to Parker's head on the chair.

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No intermission, recap anyway

Well, what is there to say about the staple gun match? Maybe someone agreed with my assessment that Phoenix Kidd doesn't belong in a deathmatch tournament. Possibly Phoenix Kidd himself. This 'match' wasn't even 5 minutes long – entrances included – and it was not much of a deathmatch either. I usually like staple gun matches because they add some variety to the usual pinfall setup, and one can get quite creative with them. I'm talking about matches like Drexl vs. Akira where they stapled their hands together before a long chain sequence. This one, however, was just... nothing, really. Griffin vs. Parker was better than expected. Still fairly short, but it was an actual match with good moments and plenty of weapon use.

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FINAL

Glass Madness - Carver of Cutter's Alley vs. Jack Griffin

There's actually a surprising amount of glass for such a small tournament. Two ring sides are lined with tubes, standing upright this time, and outside is a pane of glass on two chairs. Jack Griffin brings two skateboards; the normal one, and the barbed wire one without wheels. No outfit changes, so my spirit animal scores another easy fashion win.

They start off by smashing tubes, some of which don't break, and Carver strips Griffin out of his black shirt which doesn't help his look, but at least gives some space to show juice. The lighttubes are really sturdy and still don't break when Griffin gets whipped into them. Carver remains dominant, carves and punches Griffin without encountering any resistance. They go outside where the tables turn in Griffin's favor, and he now rips Carver's shirt open. Not really necessary; being white, it's suited to get soaked in red as it is, but ok. Carver seems to agree with Griffin and laboriously peels himself out of the shirt remains. I'm not complaining.

Griffin double stomps Carver through the pane of glass on the outside, then rolls him back into the ring and follows up with a lighttube-enhanced double stomp. The pinfall gets him a two count. A shotgun dropkick into the corner and lighttubes gets another two count, and now Griffin gets his barbed wire skateboard involved by placing it under Carver's head. He tries another double stomp, but Carver evades, hits an Impaler, but only gets a two count as well. After adding some lighttubes to the skateboard, he forces Griffin over it and hits a picture-perfect curb stomp. The following pinfall yields a three count, and Carver becomes the 2021 Prince of the Deathmatches.

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Final Thoughts

To sum it up, the tournament is pretty meh. Even for a rookie tournament, some of these guys were just too green - not as deathmatch wrestlers, but in general - to put on a worthwhile show. Other than Rhor (debuted in September 2020), none of them looked truly ready for the 'big' stage – by which I mean KOTDM since the winner gets a spot in that. With that in mind, it certainly says something about the show as a whole that someone far past his rookie days won. In kayfabe, Carver of Cutter's Alley may have been in his first year - but Mallaki Matthews, the handsome chap under the mask, debuted almost a decade prior to this tournament in 2012. The two other relatively experienced guys – Lord Crewe and Jack Griffin – were not particularly known for deathmatches at the time. Looking at the line-up, Carver was the only reasonable winner because there wasn't anyone else who could have been put in the KOTDM next to the deathmatch big shots. Possibly Rhor, but I'm probably misjudging his standing at the time due to my future knowledge.

Jayce Karr stood out among the rookies. I can't find any info about Parker's debut date, but between him and Karr, I would have bet good money on the latter having a few years worth of experience more than the former. Nothing about Karr screamed 'deathmatch future' to me though – neither his look nor his style. Compare to Remington Rhor, actually the greenest competitor, with the closest amount of experience. Everything about him says 'deathmatch', and with that, he's very alone among these rookies. Crewe (not really a rookie) and Parker (just based on size) make for credible brawlers and I buy a street fight, hardcore angle from them. Everyone else, except for Carver, comes across as someone who normally works a different style and has no real ambition to break into the deathmatch scene. (The other finalist, Jack Griffin, had his first ever deathmatch about 4 months before this show, as a replacement partner for Kevin Giza in the Double Death tournament. In both their matches, he was eliminated early on and Giza did 95 % of the weapon spots. Which supports my theory that Griffin isn't necessarily interested in deathmatches, just willing to step up whenever there's an open spot on the card.)

Overall, this felt like a desperate attempt to scrape a show – any show - together in the dying days of IWA-MS, not like a chance for upcoming guys to test the deathmatch waters like previous POTDMs. There are honestly better ways to spend 90 minutes than watching this.

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