IWA-Mid South King of the Deathmatches 2018 - Day 2

There is no SHLAK, only filing cabinet

The full Day 1 review can be found here: IWA-MS King of the Deathmatches 2018 Day 1 Review. For those who just want a quick reminder, here's a summary of what happened in round 1:

• Devon Moore and John Wayne Murdoch defeated Amazing Maria in a barbed wire and light tubes-themed match. As so often, Moore spent most of the match wandering around while Murdoch and Maria did the work. Some vague allusion hinted at a feud between Moore and Murdoch who still holds the IWA-MS World Title. The true highlight was that my ginger prince wore a green flannel.

• Conor Claxton and Rickey Shane Page defeated Bryant Woods in a four corners of pain (and allegedly taipei) match. This was a good match with strong storytelling. Claxton and Woods teamed up for most of the match until Claxton's betrayal led to Woods' elimination. Unfortunately, that played into my concerns about the tournament structure and questionable booking choices – threeway galore, seemingly randomized brackets – with storylines not carrying through to round 2.

• JC Rotten and Nick Gage predictably defeated Mike Roach in a home run derby. The dead weight was Rotten; Gage and Roach provided most of the action without him, and Roach took a majority of the nasty bumps. Gage still sold more than usual. The real revelation in this match was the surprising chemistry between him and Roach.

• Aeroboy and SHLAK defeated Eric Ryan in a random collection of gusset plates, chairs, light tubes, and doors. Aeroboy and SHLAK had zero chemistry and more than one near-botch, but both had good scenes when they were alone with Ryan, the stabilizing force in this match.

• Miedo Extremo and Neil Diamond Cutter defeated Dale Patricks in a stairway to hell match that involved ladders and pits of hot coals and light tubes. This was by far the best match of Day 1. Great chemistry all over, including a standout performance from Cutter.

• Ciclope and Markus Crane thankfully defeated the Sultan of Botches, G-Raver, in a messy fans bring the weapons match that went on for 22 minutes. The best thing about this match was that it didn't feel as long as it was. The second best thing was that even Markus Crane looked capable next to G-Raver who, as usual, overcomplicated things and overestimated himself.

Best Dressed on Day 1 was Bryant Woods in all white and with a good sportswear ratio, but little exposure and only moderate battle damage. Runner-up was Amazing Maria in blue trunks with matching knee pads and a gray tank top for good exposure, good sportswear ratio, but so-so colors and so-so battle damage. With both eliminated, the cards are about to be reshuffled on Day 2.

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ROUND 2

Match 1 – Light Tubes & Cinder Blocks – Markus Crane vs. Conor Claxton vs. Devon Moore

Match 2 – Shopping Cart – Rickey Shane Page vs. JC Rotten vs. Neil Diamond Cutter

Match 3 – Gusset Plates – Ciclope vs. Miedo Extremo vs. Aeroboy

Match 4 – Fans Bring The Weapons – Nick Gage vs. John Wayne Murdoch vs. SHLAK

SEMI FINALS

Non-Tournament Match

FINAL

Final Thoughts

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Day 2

Day 2 begins with a 4 minutes long music video with highlights of all entrants. From the black metal growling, we then cut to similar discomforting noises in the form of Ian Rotten with a mic. He advertises merch. Does this really need to be in the DVD/streaming edit? Several minutes later into the 2 hours 9 minutes run-time, Rotten is still rambling. No filming in the arena, buy merch, bla bla bla. When he finally mentions the tournament, he loses the plot and rambles about being tired, then circles back to shilling merch. Sweet lord, get to the point. After 9 minutes, there's finally a graphic to announce the first match.

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ROUND 2

Match 1 – Light Tubes & Cinder Blocks – Markus Crane vs. Conor Claxton vs. Devon Moore

Conor Claxton, as always impossibly handsome, wears the same impossibly uninspired yet serviceable outfit as usual. Black shirt, black trunks to maintain the wrestling gear attire and decent exposure, proper footwear with asymmetric kickpads; nothing to write home about in total. In round 2, I often consider visible battle damage for my rating, but since round 1 took place the day before, that won't be a factor for anyone today.

Devon Moore, wearing a black t-shirt to black shorts, proves that 'uninspired' doesn't need to be 'serviceable'. The shorts count as sportswear, but the t-shirt – not sleeveless and paired with black sleeves, decreases the exposure and pushes this firmly into 'gas station chic' territory.

Markus Crane traditionally fishes his attire out of the nearest dumpster. Today, he got lucky with a red devil mask and at-least-not-black rags. That's all I can say with certainty because the camera blurs his entire entrance and I have to wait for everyone to gather in the ring for the introductions before I see more. Once there, my expectations are confirmed: Crane fails in the footwear department by wearing sneakers. Tattered tan capris, a tattered tailcoat-like garment that is mainly white. He definitely has the best colors, but he's also the most covered. Boring as it is, that leads to a fairly easy ranking: Claxton wins with the best exposure and sportswear, Moore gets hired as clerk by my gas station, Crane is the most likely to rob it.

In the ring, we have one side fenced with light tubes and cinder blocks in the corners. I also notice tall poles in all ring corners. That doesn't look relevant to this match, but makes me fear the worst for later matches. IWA-MS love their over-complicated stipulations and burdened Aeroboy especially with some of the most absurd hindrances I have ever seen in future KOTDM editions.

The match begins. Crane makes a last ditch effort to enter the Best Dressed rankings by removing his shirt. I'm sorry, sir, but without acceptable footwear, you can't enter the VIP area. Commentary kicks in. Delightfully, it's still the duo of Nick Maniwa and Reed Bentley.

It starts off with an exchange of punches, then Moore introduces the first light tube and the focus shifts to tube smashing and headbutts. Unsurprisingly, Moore leaves the ring to wander around early on. It's a trademark move at this point; aggressive-passive, not the other way around. It's also sad that Claxton got stuck with two duds. Crane is sloppy – and shows it off about 2 or 3 minutes in. Moore is lazy as sin and somehow came to the conclusion that this is an edgy gimmick. Claxton has an amateur wrestling background and can actually wrestle, even drag sideshow acts like G-Raver to watchable matches. He's not a miracle worker though, and here, he has little to work with.

Minutes into the match, Devon Moore wanders around on the outside. Again.

Moore returns to the ring for a top rope dive. This was a double blockbuster, according to commentary. The camera failed to capture it though. Anyway, Moore attacks Claxton and Crane with cinder blocks. Claxton flees, Crane snowplows Moore onto his riot shield. Shortly after, Claxton returns to death valley drive Moore onto it again in a corner. He arranges cinder blocks and tombstone piledrives Crane onto them, then gets curb stomped by Moore and that leads to a three count.

The camera work also doesn’t make it easy to inject Comic Sans poetry into this review, but where there’s a will, there’s a way.

I learn that round 2 consists of elimination threeways when the match continues and Crane kicks out of a two count. Moore climbs the top rope and gets slammed down by Crane. Where did the cinder block arrangement go? Wasn't it there just a moment ago? Crane stays in charge and gets Moore into a crossface submission that leads to a tap out. Well, that development isn't ideal.

The match was pretty disjointed at times and... Why does Moore have a microphone again? To put Crane over. Ok then. Praise from a guy whose signature move is 'walking around the ring' doesn't strike me as all that flattering, but I suppose it's a nice gesture.

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Match 2 – Shopping Cart – Rickey Shane Page vs. JC Rotten vs. Neil Diamond Cutter

The camera completely loses track of Cutter during his entrance, so I have to wait for everyone to reach the ring. Spoiler: Cutter wins on technicalities as so often: proper boots, decent exposure, a hint of a theme.

I want to derail a bit into my reasoning for that last part. I often say he wears 'random things', but also acknowledge the presence of a punk theme. Where does that disconnect come from? Cultural differences, as I realized during this show. Commentary refers to Cutter as 'the smallest of the Hooligans' instead of using his 'honey badger' nickname. It's this association that's still stuck in the back of my mind. Being from the other side of the pond, 'hooligan' is firmly a football term to me – the sport with the round black-white ball – and it carries a right wing, racist connotation. Neil Diamond Cutter's gear firmly puts him in the opposite camp – anarchy and punk band patches. To me, there's a contradiction, one that likely doesn't register to American audiences because in US vernacular, 'hooligan' is just another word for 'troublemaker, ruffian' without strong links to a particular scene or mindset.

RSP quickly turns the ref face before match begin.

With that out of the way, I'll quickly summarize the gear choices Rotten and Page made today. Rotten looks like the guy who hangs out at gas stations and wins the hearts of high schoolers by buying them cigarettes and booze with his 21+ ID. Jeans, street shoes; for his entrance a black shirt and baseball bat with a bit of a 'How do you do, fellow kids?' vibe. Which is sad/funny because he's only 22 and shouldn't have to pretend that he's cool and youthful. RSP wears all black. His saving grace is proper footwear, but he's far more covered than his opponents. If Cutter wasn't in this to win this, it would be a tie.

The weaponry appears to be contained in shopping carts next to the ring. I see light tubes and possibly crutches in the cart closest to the hardcam.

Cutter and Rotten immediately rush previous year's winner Page, but the alliance doesn't last. RSP flees the ring after a Cannonball from Cutter who runs into the same issue as Aeroboy the day before: an opponent not agile enough to match his speed. Thankfully, Rotten didn't drop him, but the flow of the match took damage. Cutter suplexes Rotten away and RSP returns. I'm more confident about this pairing. RSP has the experience Rotten lacks and generally works well with much smaller opponents. Hopefully, they'll eliminate Rotten first.

Anyway. Cutter hits a back senton from RSP's back, then tries to suplex him onto a chair – where did that come from? - but only succeeds when Rotten joins to help. It's back to Cutter vs Rotten, but not for long. RSP steps aside when Rotten tries a dive to the outside, resulting in Rotten landing in a shopping cart full of weapons. Nice. Selling that should keep him busy for a while.

Barely in frame, RSP attacks Cutter with something that contains Christmas ornaments, then throws the cart and Cutter back into the ring. Rotten is apparently up already as RSP has to stop him from joining in. With Rotten successfully kept at bay, Page and Cutter prove their better coordination when Cutter tornado-leg sweeps Page onto the shopping cart and follows up with a springboard frog splash. A double stomp and back senton connect, then goddamn JC Rotten sneaks in and tries to pin RSP, but gets hit by Cutter's springboard moonsault instead.

Cutter retreats to gather weapons. Rotten attacks Page with... something. Commentary speculates it might be something with thumbtacks, but when the camera moves to them, it's just punches. A barbed wire hockey stick gets involved and blocked by the referee. Cutter is back and it looks like he brought another shopping cart with him. RSP distributes running big boots and lariats in the corners, then yeets Cutter and Rotten to put both down. Using Cutter as a weapon, RSP slams him onto Rotten and tries a cover, but only gets a two. He puts Rotten on the top rope, but Rotten has other plans and for some reason, ropewalks, then floors RSP with a Stunner. Cutter also tries his luck by putting Rotten on the top rope and follows up, then gets eliminated after a tombstone piledriver onto the shopping cart.

RSP and Rotten exchange punches, then RSP bodyslams Rotten and the camera pans away. He did something else, possibly some kind of kick, but the camera is getting rather creative with its angles and positions. For instance, it now films through a shopping cart filled with light tubes. RSP gets a two count while the ref has to stop the cart from falling over. After a pump kick, RSP death valley drives Rotten into the cart, then gets a three count.

Decent match with clear role distribution: RSP stabilizes, Cutter adds spectacle, JC Rotten... Well, he was one of the people who participated in this. Can't underestimate the importance of that role! Without him, it wouldn't have been a three way! But let's be real, the match would have been better if the third man had been somebody else.

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Match 3 – Gusset Plates – Ciclope vs. Miedo Extremo vs. Aeroboy

The entrances are not cut short, but the smoke machine is running at full force, so I have to wait for everyone to leave the cloud.

This should be interesting. Everyone has a red/black theme, Miedo and Ciclope wear near-identical outfits. Ciclope wants to make it easier for me by not removing his black hoodie before the bell. I had such a nice breakdown of tiny details that put Miedo ahead. Miedo's hair matches their red shorts slightly better, and he also has all-black footwear. It's slightly more coherent than Ciclope's white/green shoes. But alas, with the hoodie still on after the bell, that's irrelevant. The real duel is between Miedo and Aeroboy. Miedo has the advantage in sportswear (his black singlet vs. Aeroboy's shirt) and exposure (shorts vs long pants). Aeroboy has the accessories on his side though – mask, glittery cape for his entrance. That suits his 'underground hero' name and gives him an overall stronger persona. I'm calling it a tie.

The weapons are gusset plates in various forms. I see a board, bats, loose tubes, and light tube-lined ropes. Cicople really leaves his long sleeve hoodie on when the match begins with quick technical lucha action. Miedo and Ciclope team up against Aeroboy, but this is total elimination, so the alliance can't last. For the moment it does though. Aeroboy fights back and sends both out of the ring, and after the first dives, he removes Ciclope's hoodie. Black shirt. Yeah, that wouldn't have changed my verdict.

The camera struggles to keep up with the action and wildly drifts around, often cutting off the upper half of the wrestlers. After a Total Anarchy, Ciclope – currently alone in the ring with Aeroboy – brings the gusset board into play. A struggle ensues, Aeroboy ends up with the advantage, then Miedo – now shirtless – pulls him off Ciclope, attempts a German suplex, but gets one from Aeroboy instead. Miedo returns the favor, then light tubes and kicks... The camera zooms on the weapons, but according to Reed Bentley, there was a two count.

The camera wasn’t prepared for this opening. The ref, on the other hand, was.

Now Aeroboy is out of the ring and the tag team partners go at each other with suplexes, a powerbomb, and Miedo has some gusset item. Ciclope counters though and Aeroboy returns with a Codebreaker against Miedo. After a Yakuza Kick, he puts Ciclope on the top rope for a superplex. Miedo gets involved and sunset bombs them both. Aeroboy, lucky recipient of the camera's fickle attention, arms himself with a gusset crutch. However, the crutch gets abandoned in favor of a triple gusset distribution into arms and heads. Ciclope now targets both his partner and Aeroboy, and the action continues outside. A close-up of Aeroboy, freshly headscissored onto concrete, reveals that his shoes are black-red. That's maximum thought put into color coordination. With Miedo's better exposure after the singlet-removal, that keeps the tie intact.

Aeroboy and Ciclope trade forearm strikes on the outside, Miedo double dropkicks them before an Asai Moonsault. Again, the camera struggles to keep up, but ultimately follows Miedo and Aeroboy to the ring where Miedo gets a two count after a Tumbleweed. He hangs Aeroboy in a tree of woe position, then Ciclope returns and prevents whatever Miedo was planning. Aeroboy fights off Ciclope with a Spider German Suplex, then gets dropkicked by Miedo.

Miedo Falcon Arrows Ciclope, then returns to Aeroboy, still hanging in the corner. Miedo lands on his feet after another Spider suplex attempt, but eats a Shining Wizard from Ciclope right after. Aeroboy leaves his corner, gets a two count on Ciclope, then Miedo gets involved. Aeroboy reverses the double underhook attempt, bombs Miedo himself, and again gets a two count. He places a gusset board on Miedo, frog splashes him, gets another two count. Miedo then eliminates him with a Fire Thunder Driver, and it's the GCW Tag Team Champions against each other now.

They stick gussets into their own heads, then Ciclope misses a light tube kick and the advantage goes back to Miedo. He gathers the gusset boards in the ring's center, tries to go for a Fire Thunder Driver, but gets suplexed onto the boards for a two count. The camera is wonky again and apparently commentary can't see properly either. Bentley, who was reprimanded by Maniwa earlier for using technical names for moves 'because people will only argue if that was the correct term', suspects an arm trap saito suplex, so let's go with that. Miedo is down, Ciclope is on the top rope, and frog splashes with a tube bundle, then gets a three count.

A fantastic match, simple as that. No botches, no lengths, great weapon to wrestling balance, and it was impossible to book a 'wrong winner'. These were three flawless performances. The match's only weakness was the wobbly camera work.

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Match 4 – Fans Bring The Weapons – Nick Gage vs. John Wayne Murdoch (c) vs. SHLAK

SHLAK wears what SHLAK always wears which immediately defeats Nick Gage in black shirt and winter camo shorts. Sneakers without kickpads is an instant nope anyway. At this point, I wouldn't be surprised to see Gage roll up in socks and sandals. Murdoch stuck to his fantastic choice of a green flannel. Other than satisfying my inner nitpicker, this isn't relevant though. The tan shorts would beat SHLAK's much darker color, but since Murdoch's black shirt stays on, SHLAK can rest on his default outfit laurels.

The ring is filled with so much plunder that everyone has trouble finding a spot for the introductions. Between fork boards, loose tubes, cardboard boxes, skewer boards, water jugs, and various pieces of wood, I also spot the filing cabinet that will rise to infamy later on.

For the opening, Murdoch and Gage make the curious choice to rush SHLAK together. Once SHLAK is down, they immediately turn on each other and start trading punches. Murdoch maneuvers Gage over the top, then tries a dive, what the hell is the camera doing? Ok, that was visible – apron sentons onto Gage, then SHLAK. The camera work is reaching interesting dimensions once again, but this seems to be an outside brawl and SHLAK is in charge with a gusset board, then chokes Murdoch with a crutch that may also have gussets.

Gage fails to break a tube on SHLAK's head, then gets attacked by Murdoch with a broken tube. The camera randomly drifts across the weapon collection. When it finds the action, SHLAK is in charge again, this time with light tubes near the merch table. He throws a chair at Gage while Murdoch props the file cabinet up in a corner. SHLAK attacks from behind and smashes Murdoch into the furniture, and Gage joins them in the ring shortly after.

While Gage and SHLAK prepare for the tube duel, Murdoch throws the still somewhat intact cabinet at SHLAK. Again, Murdoch and Gage team up to ram SHLAK with the incredibly popular cabinet, then Murdoch gets slammed by SHLAK who also floors Gage with a lariat. SHLAK goes wild with the cabinet and repeatedly hits his opponents with the unwieldy piece of furniture, then chokebombs Murdoch onto it. The cabinet looks much worse for wear.

Murdoch is down, Gage hits SHLAK with a water jug, then turns his attention to Murdoch who flatlines him and takes him into a Koji Clutch. SHLAK gets involved with a plastic bag, but Murdoch escapes and SHLAK pivots to Gage. Murdoch breaks it up, then brainbusters SHLAK onto the remains of the cabinet and gets a thee count. This was the scene that turned out to be a lot worse than it looked, but I'll get to that later.

For now, the match continues. Gage has something, possibly a briefcase, but throws it away and piledrives Murdoch instead. Murdoch gets a two count out of a quick roll-up attempt, then another after a Sick Kick. Murdoch tries a Bulldog, but Gage chokebombs him, then puts him through what's left of the filing cabinet for a three count and the IWA-MS world title. Tragic, but not entirely unexpected. Ever since Gage got out of prison, he was overhyped beyond any rhyme or reason, and apparently everyone except me was into it.

Bureaucracy claims its second victim.

Now to the consequences of the filing cabinet appearance: The camera is outside now on a nightly parking lot, capturing a scenic highway in the distance. An ambulance arrives, a puzzled medic enters the building. Shortly after, SHLAK is brought outside on a stretcher and into the ambulance. SHLAK explains what happened; a piece of the cabinet penetrated his back and didn't feel like much at the time, and he only realized how bad it really was backstage. Sound cuts out, video doesn't, and we get a long silent scene of the medics attaching tubes and cables to SHLAK who types on his phone.

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SEMI FINALS

Match 5 – World Series of Glass/Light Tubes – Rickey Shane Page vs. Markus Crane

RSP still wears all black. Markus Crane doesn't. This will come down to technicalities because neither outfit is going to win any prizes. RSP has proper footwear. Crane doesn't, but he has better exposure and colors; shirtless and tan tattered pants. The reality is that RSP looks overall more like a wrestler, and Crane made much better choices for a deathmatch overall. This is a tie because both are bad in their own way.

This match has World Series rules, meaning opponents must be put through 4 out of 7 light tube contraptions – in this case stars – and there won't be pinfalls or submissions. RSP gets shoved through the first with Crane's riot shield within seconds. Crane keeps attacking with the shield, then tries a pinfall and commentary reiterates the rules. Crane attacks with already broken tubes, then RSP yeets him through a star.

I'm not entirely sure what RSP is doing now. According to commentary, he picks poppers off Crane's shield and throws them at him. Ladies and gentlemen, we are confronted with a textbook case of 'nonsensical match psychology' here. A body slam from RSP follows and he now gathers or rearranges light tube stars, then takes Crane to the top rope. Crane counters with a low blow and puts RSP through the tube star with a reverse hurricanrana, then rolls through to the star in the corner. Both times, Crane was the one to break the contraption, but apparently it counts as a 3:1 lead for him.

This match is absolutely hopeless and I hate it. Crane gets another star, hits a rolling elbow, then RSP slams him through the star to narrow the score to 3:2. RSP places another star in the middle of the ring. Ian Rotten announces that 5 minutes are gone like that's a historic event. RSP twist of fates Crane through the star and brings the score to 3:3. That's good news. Hopefully, it means this tragedy won't drag out much longer. Crane hits a stunner, but not through the star. RSP puts him onto the top rope, the camera wildly drifts around, then RSP superbombs Crane after a long struggle for battle. Thankfully, he hits the last star and ends this modern drama in 1.5 acts.

Wow. Just wow. RSP is usually fairly reliable, but this has to be the worst match he's ever had. At least it was short. Match psychology hit negative values with a pinfall, nonsensical scores/glass breaks, and an air of despair 'how the hell are we going to work around these flimsy stars long enough to not make this a match end within 2 minutes'.

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Match 6 – World Series of Glass/Mirrors – Nick Gage (c) vs Ciclope

And because World Series matches work so well, here's another! At least they get mirrors. Those are less flimsy than tube stars, so there's a modicum of hope that this won't turn into another catastrophe.

Ciclope sure looks like he has the fashion victory in the bag. The black shirt is gone, the hoodie is absent, and if the flannel also disappears, he's left with 100 % non-black sportswear. Even with the flannel, he's less covered up, less black-clad, and more sportswear-clad than Gage who hasn't changed his outfit. Ciclope wins, case closed.

This will also be a IWA-MS World title match. We have one mirror in each corner and three more on the apron, and Miedo Extreme at ringside. He doesn't count as a weapon, but his presence might still be relevant at some point.

World Series of Mirrors is the stipulation for one of my all time dream matches, so they better not ruin it for me.

The match begins with an exchange of punches, the camera guy's choice to stand behind one of the mirrors, and Gage getting dropkicked through one by Ciclope. So like the previous World Series match, there's a 1:0 lead within the first 20 seconds. The action moves to the outside and after a brawl, both sit down for a slugfest. Then Gage randomly bites Ciclope's bicep which causes him to fall off the chair. What?

Nick Maniwa mentions there are more than 7 mirrors and that commentary can't see anything. They keep talking, but it's more guesswork until Gage and Ciclope brawl their way back to the ring. And the mirrors. They also have very small glass panes, one of which Gage shattered on Ciclope during the crowd brawl. Ciclope now uses another to carve Gage's head – and according to commentary, his own, too. I can't confirm because he wandered out of frame though. Ah, there he is again. He and Gage shatter tiny glass panes on each other.

So far, this is a pretty dumb match with little in the way of actual wrestling. I can see why Miedo got the good opponents in the first round.

Back in the ring, a reversal duel ends with Ciclope going through a mirror and evening the score to 1:1. Gage puts another mirror over Ciclope in the corner and smashes it with a boot scrape. I'm glad they finally remember the stipulation. Ciclope gets straight up though, challenges Gage, and it's back to elbow strikes until Gage spinebusters Ciclope and puts a mirror on him.

Then he wanders around, changes his mind, puts the mirror on the mat and tries a powerbomb, but Ciclope slides out. He goes to the top rope and semi-Tornado DDTs Gage, breaking the mirror in the process. It doesn't count though because Ciclope broke it with his foot and it wasn't Gage who broke it. Here, things get confusing because Bentley and Maniwa mentioned accidental breaks earlier and stated that they do count. So this should be... what? A point for Gage because his opponent broke a mirror with his own foot? Probably. I don't know. World Series rules can be so awkward. I like the idea, but the execution...

This looks so much better in motion than on the best screenshot the drunk camera guy let me take.

Speaking of which. Ciclope ascends the top rope, has light tubes handed to him by Miedo, splashes Gage, then tries a cover. For some reason, Gage is back on his feet already, chokebreakers Ciclope, then powerbombs him through a mirror. Gage leads 3:1, according to Ian Rotten. While I was typing, he apparently broke another mirror with another boot scrape and won. I'm grateful because I was considering skipping the rest of this mess.

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NON-TOURNAMENT MATCH

Dale Patricks vs G-Raver vs Bryant Woods

Curious placement for the only non-tournament match of the tournament. Right before the traditional House of Horrors final with its long setup. Not sure this is the point where the crowd needs a breather, but ok.

Ah, that's why this match exists. Bryant Woods had to effortlessly place himself on the Best Dressed podium in all white attire before the show ended. G-Raver and Dale Patricks – once a very dominant contender in white sportswear – make no move to challenge Woods by wearing all black.

Yes, I intentionally took the screenshot when G-Raver was hidden behind Woods.

It doesn't appear to be a deathmatch. There are no weapons, but commentary calls it the tournament's losers bracket. It starts off with a three way counter and reversal fest; Patricks and Raver slipping out of Woods' attempts to DVD and powerbomb them, then taking him down with a double low dropkick. Everyone leaves the ring. Bentley mentions a barbed wire ladder and a chair, so maybe this match is supposed to have weapons. Raver beats down the much larger Woods; Patricks is absent. Ah, there he is. He did indeed arrange the ladder on the chairs.

Now they put Woods on it and surprisingly, it's Patricks who goes for the tope suicida. Raver then dives onto Patricks, and Woods follows up with a moonsault. It looks like a potential leg injury and causes fans to chant in Woods' support. Like I said in the Day 1 review, I think IWA-MS missed a chance to build him up as a regular. The fan interest was there, IWA-MS kept bringing him back for four consecutive KOTDMs, but never did much with him.

Anyway, we're back in the ring with Woods and Raver who ends up flooring Woods with a dropkick, then Patricks takes over. Patricks puts Raver down with a Uranage, then it's Woods against Patricks with elbow strikes. Woods appears to be injured or committed to selling his leg, but also not out of this match altogether. Patricks puts Raver onto the top rope, Woods tries to follow for a superplex, but instead gets a back senton from Raver who then resorts to Instagram bullshit by sticking his tattoo needles in Patricks' head. Undeterred, Patricks kicks Raver into a piledriver position, nonchalantly removes the needles, piledrives Raver and gets a three count.

On my screenshot skim, I noticed that Raver also almost fumbled the piledriver.

Not the best match, not the worst match. It was fine for what it was – filler before the final House of Horrors.

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FINAL

House of Horrors IWA-MS World Title Match – Nick Gage (c) vs. Rickey Shane Page

Outfit change for Gage. He now wears a different black t-shirt. RSP also changed into a different black shirt, but at least he managed to get more visible battle damage out of his much shorter mess of a match. Since Gage still wears leggins and sneakers and RSP has proper kickpads, that gives the latter the world's tiniest advantage.

The ring has transformed more than either finalist. It's now no ropes barbed wire and the hanging tubes a proper House of Horrors need are there. For some unfathomable reason, this match has a special guest announcer and it is the 2008 KOTDM, Devon Moore. Moore has little to do with Gage or RSP, hasn't been relevant in IWA-MS for years, and isn't even an especially great talker. I'm mystified what this big reveal was supposed to accomplish. Yeah, he's just rambling and for the first time in my life, I'm genuinely grateful that Nick Gage takes a microphone away from anyone.

Moore’s struggle for relevance in a nutshell.

Coincidentally, this is possibly also the first time in Gage's life that he doesn't seize the opportunity to declare his godhood, and instead just starts the match without further ado. As far as pointless segments go, this back and forth over the announcement is a hot contender.

Gage and RSP arm themselves with tubes and proceed to smash them on the other's head. Not even a minute in and I wistfully think back to RSP's final match the year before. But let's see, maybe this will get better. Not yet though. Gage is in charge, kicks and carves RSP, and I spot light bulbs and some kind of wooden contraption on the outside. Gage keeps smashing, or at least tries to. RSP has a much better rate of tubes that break at first try. The light bulb thing ends his streak as it doesn't break when Page tries to put Gage through them.

The glass in this match looks far more breakable than it really is.

The contraption on the outside – an elevated frame with barbed wire and tubes – also doesn't break as well as one would expect when Gage gets thrown... well, not exactly through it.

RSP follows Gage to the outside to another leftover from before; a light tube ironing board. Those tubes break, then the camera loses track of both finalists. When it stabilizes, I'm once more not impressed. The camera found Gage on a chair, and commentary gave some clues by saying they've seen RSP 'do that' before – which did indeed refer to his dives through the tubes. In this case, he braced himself and got a chair shot from Gage, just barely in frame. Really, the camera work could be a lot better for a final.

Gage returns to the ring and gets a two count. The camera drifts away and around, then returns just in time when Gage whips Page into the barbed wire and tube fencing. Again, very few breakages, considering RSP is a pretty big boy. Now he is in a corner with an armful of tubes which Gage gets thrown to his face before he can hit his Face Wash. RSP floors him with a pump kick, slams him, gets a two count. One thing I can't complain about is 'lack of balance'. For a Nick Gage match, it is really pretty balanced and pretty bloody already.

The camera takes a distant position, but I gather that Gage shoved Page in the barbed wire. Once freed, Page gets set up in a corner for another Face Wash. This time, Gage hits it, but the camera decides to change angles in that exact moment. Anyway, it yields another two count for Gage.

Gage gets up first and unpacks a box of light tubes for some smashing, then two Backcrackers lead to another two count. The camera wanders around the ring now – away from the side free of tubes, I might add. A kneeling slap fest ensues, then RSP yeets Gage into the barbed wire and it's his turn to get a two count. Camera wandering and random crowd shots. RSP signals a chokebreaker, Gage counters with a low blow, follows up with two piledrivers and a powerbomb, and again it's a two count. After a chokebreaker, he does get a three count.

Weirdly short match. I'm only at 2 hours 2 minutes, with 7 minutes left. The match did get better after the wonky start, but suffered from the camera's drifting and placement. Nick Maniwa says his farewell at 2 hours 4 minutes. Gage has a microphone, so I guess there's going to be a 5 minute long speech. Skimming, it turns out: not quite. There's also a promo, but since that's also Gage talking, I'm calling it a day.

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FINAL THOUGHTS

Day 2 was a lot weaker than Day 1. The second round was mixed, but overall entertaining and delivered the best match of the show. The semi finals then dipped down to 'wtf is this?' territory, followed by an ok non-tournament filler, and a decent, but far from flawless final.

One of my three picks is easy: Ciclope vs. Miedo Extremo vs. Aeroboy was the clear MOTN. The runner-up, and I'm less sold on this pick, was RSP vs. Neil Diamond Cutter vs. JC Rotten. The single-most fun scene of Day 2 was SHLAK wielding the filing cabinet like a berserker though.

Best Dressed didn't have an especially strong field. It's really just between the Mexicans since Bryant Woods didn't get a chance to drench his pristine white in crimson due to an almost weapon-less match. With the advantage of having had the most matches, this trophy goes to Ciclope, specifically the shirtless version in the semi final.

The MVP is a bit of a headache. The standout performance across the tournament belonged to Neil Diamond Cutter, but he had only one match and the total number of matches is a major factor in this ranking. It is also hard to ignore that Miedo Extremo was the common denominator in the MOTNs, but he too only had one match on Day 2. To stick to my usual criteria, I'll pick between the finalists, each with 3 matches total on Day 2. Gage's were 'decent' for the most part, Page had one I ranked as the second-best of the day – and one of the worst I've ever seen from him in the semi finals. The World Series match against Markus Crane was so bad that it negated the better one, which leaves me with Nick Gage as the MVP for Day 2 by default.

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