GCW Tournament of Survival X (2025)

I take no pleasure from the death of the wicked

It is June 2025 and I'm reporting not exactly live from GCW's Tournament of Survival X in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Attentive readers may have noticed that this isn't a regular haunt of mine, but for the 10^th anniversary, I figured it's time I check in again. Generally speaking, GCW is too glitzy for me; too big time, too super indie, too watered down in regards to deathmatches. For reviews, that means many cards have too much I'd skip to make it worthwhile. Here, that shouldn't be a problem, so let's dive in.

---

ROUND 1

Match 1 – House of Horrors – John Wayne Murdoch vs. Mr. Danger

Match 2 – Triple Threat/Ultraviolent Doors – Dr. Redacted vs. Beastman vs. Otis Cogar

Match 3 – Light Tube Madness/Made in Japan – Daiju Wakamatsu vs. Bobby Beverly

Match 4 – GCW Ultraviolent Title Three Way/??? - Matt Tremont (c) vs. Jimmy Lloyd

Recap

SEMI FINALS

FINAL

Final Thoughts

---

On commentary, we have the good, the bad, and... no, I don't think Veda Scott is ugly, so let's go with neutral because I really don't have any kind of opinion on her. Nick Maniwa is good and familiar and takes me back to IWA-MS. Emil Jay is bad. I find his voice grating and have a strong dislike for his announcing, but it's far from 'seething hatred' (looking at you, Kevin Gill), so overall I should be good with this trio.

We start off with a tribute video for Sabu. This is fine and expected.

Intro video for TOS. 'The Last Outlaws'. Yeah, that is... Strange, coming from such a polished promotion. If I take 'outlaw' in the most non-judgmental way – neither endorsing nor criticizing – I certainly see promotions that go more against the grain than vaguely WWE-affiliated GCW. There's a stronger case for outlawry in New Fear City (skirting NYC state laws against blood with secret underground shows), IWA-DS with a list of controversies long enough to pave several entrance aisles, or backyard spectacles like POR (which doesn't even call itself 'wrestling', but 'extreme stunt show'). But let's not dwell on that. Deathmatch tournaments are always marketed as the most rebellious, most underground ever, just like commercials make every soft drink out to be the most refreshing ever.

The GCW cult compound, I mean, Showboat Hotel, is packed, and the ring is already prepared with hanging tubes.

“Stop right there, sir! Do NOT come any closer to the mic!”

Emil Jay almost has a heart attack during the opening announcement. Oh god, seriously? It's John Zandig who carries the trophy to the ring. If that guy gets any closer to the microphone, I'll have to skip. I still have severe cringe trauma from his backstage promos at TOS 1 and really can't handle another dosage. He climbs into the ring. That's it. Skipping to the first match.

---

ROUND 1

Match 1 – House of Horrors – John Wayne Murdoch vs. Mr. Danger

Before I despair over outfit choices, I must point out that this is not a classic House of Horrors stipulation. There is no tube-fencing on the ropes. Also, I'm not complaining because fewer tubes means better visibility, namely no camera angles between and around tubes.

Murdoch invested all the good colors in things he'll take off before the match: white vest, black-purple baseball hat. Underneath, the situation is far more dire: black shirt, long black pants, but proper boots. Even with the ginger bonus in play, I don't see him climb to the Best Dressed podium tonight.

Commentary notes that Murdoch is currently at 10 deathmatch tournament victories which is correct. What is – surprisingly – not correct is the claim that 'name any tournament and he probably won it'. Despite his long list of victories, Murdoch has participated in, but never won CZW Tournament of Death (still considered one of the Big Three), IWA-EC Masters of Pain, IWA-DS Carnage Cup (both considered the third of the Big Three at times), and the ellusive west coast Crimson Cup, to name some examples. I didn't pick these at random, but because they are relevant to the overarching story: the head to head in tournament victories between Murdoch and Tremont – who has won all of the above, but not Tournament of Survival (which Murdoch won in the previous year).

Mr. Danger also wears long black pants and proper footwear, but he has two clear advantages: He's shirtless for better exposure, and he has a mask for better accessorization. Clear victory in the fashion department. Beyond that, Mr. Danger stirred up some irritation by referring to himself as 'the only black deathmatch wrestler' which is weird because Hoodfoot, Malcolm Monroe III and his father DBA, Phoenix Kidd, AJ Gray, Draven, Braxx, and Abdullah the Butcher (albeit retired) exist. But who knows, maybe he's colorblind or something.

The first tubes break within seconds. It's mostly Murdoch doing the breaking, and Mr. Danger quickly goes through the first bundle as well. A gusset plate appears, first in Murdoch's hand, then it quickly finds its way into Mr. Danger's head. After more tube carving, Danger introduces a new concept: wrestling moves, namely a headscissor from the scaffolding over the ring, then a suicida with light tubes. While the fight moves back to the apron, a pillow fort consisting of chairs and a door briefly comes into frame. A struggle on the apron above the contraption ensues; Murdoch also tries his hand at wrestling moves, but Danger blocks the suplex. Now it's his turn to smash tubes, then he puts Murdoch through the pillow fort with a Blockbuster.

They return to the ring where Danger gets a first two count, then goes back to tube smashing. Murdoch has enough after a while and shoves Danger against the scaffolding, smashes a bundle on him, then gets a two count as well. More carving and smashing.

Commentary claims it's 'disgusting' when Murdoch licks his own blood. I don't think the word means what they think it means. My ginger prince looks splendid tonight and the light brings out the shades of red in an especially pleasant way. Maybe they mixed it up with 'pulchritudinous'?

Meanwhile, the scaffold became a focal point. Danger got Atomic Dropped while hanging from it, then Murdoch followed up with a DDT. Now he hits Danger with a double knee strike to the back in a corner and gets a two count. Murdoch has a pretty nasty cut on his side, shows it off – yeah, they definitely meant 'pulchritudinous' - then gets another two count after a Brainbuster.

Danger isn't dead yet though and fights back with kicks and a springboard lariat. He puts a tube bundle on Murdoch, then hits a swanton bomb and gets a two count. I believe that was the last available tube bundle, so Danger now resorts to a magically materialized door. He puts Murdoch on his ramp-like construction, then climbs on top of the scaffolding for a sky high leg drop. And again, Murdoch kicks out at two.

Now Danger gathers tubes – not many left on the scaffold – and puts Murdoch onto the top rope. Murdoch counters with head butts, then hits a Deep South Destroyer through the tubes. Danger kicks out, only to immediately find himself in a Koji Clutch. He does not tap, but passes out and Murdoch is announced as the winner.

Strong opener, and despite the strange comments, Danger – only 3 years into his career – made a fairly good impression. There's certainly room for improvement in regards to presentation though. Right now, it's all a bit too DIY parkour for my taste. Being the self-proclaimed deathmatch fashion guru I am, I'm rooting for sportswear and colors other than black. Mr. Danger may not be aware that he's not the only black guy in deathmatch, but he does know his own skin tone. Maybe it's just a matter of time until he discovers that this comes with a natural advantage – good contrast. He's not going to look washed out in lighter shades and can pull off things I'd give a white guy the side eye for.

---

Recap video: Feud between Atticus Cogar and Sam Stackhouse, Fuego Del Sol turns on Stackhouse

MCW promo video

Yet another promo video, apparently for GCW

---

Match 2 – Triple Threat/Ultraviolent Doors – Dr. Redacted vs. Beastman vs. Otis Cogar

You know my complaint: uneven tournament structure. Either make all matches in each round the same, or give me a kayfabe reason why some entrants have better odds of advancing than others. With that out of my system: Please welcome the frontrunner in Best Dressed, Dr. Redacted. White scrubs. I take that to mean his residency is over and he's now the head of the trauma department. Either way, all white is the perfect canvas, the theme is as clear as ever, good attention to detail. The only weakness is the high skin coverage, but Redacted rarely has trouble achieving good visible battle damage anyway.

Beastman sure came a long way since our last encounter in VOW's Lord of Anarchy. The caveman theme looks way more realized now. Fur, leather, mammoth skull mask, bone club, earthy colors. Fantastic accessorization, coherent theme, great attention to detail, decent exposure (shirtless, long pants). If he wasn't up against Redacted's pristine white, he'd go straight to the top of the podium. As it is, he has to settle for runner-up.

Otis Cogar. Oh, Otis Cogar. The Fashion Police's ultimate heartbreaker. The god king of teasing me with potential without ever pulling the trigger. What is my most common complaint in deathmatch fashion? Black t-shirts. What does Otis wear? A black t-shirt. Under a pristine white hoodie, along with white beanie and long white pants. That's progress, yes. Lots of progress. But because Mr. Cogar is a tease, he also brings his flag with the pig head. The sum of it all makes me spiral back to his pig sty vignette, to his human-face mask, to my wildest dreams of a New French Extremity-inspired cinematic horror theme. Otis plz. Stained butcher apron instead of hoodie. Meat hook, cleaver, and chains instead of straight razor. Just once. I'm begging you. You have all the tools, all the right ideas, just never all at once. Plz plz plz. Frontier(s). Be my degenerate skinhead butcher, just once.

Dr. Redacted wins this fashion round, albeit with a smaller margin than usual. Commentary pours oil in the fires of my imagination and keeps talking about Cogar's dog collar match. Before my mind's eye, I see the French butcher dragging two victims through a pig sty on long, rusty chains. Otis plz.

In the ring, we have many a thing. Doors with tubes, tube bundles, a barbed wire board with a Dr. Redacted poster, the trash can Redacted brought with him, the ladder he had during his entrance is probably also somewhere nearby, more boards, and the jagged debris of my dreams about Cogar's gimmick coherence. Yes, that does count as a weapon even if nobody in this match – least of all Otis Cogar – can see it.

The match begins with shoving duels, first Cogar vs. Redacted, then Cogar vs. Beastman. Redacted disagrees about the approach and trash can-sentons into the second pairing from the top rope. He smashes tubes, then evades a rush by Beastman which ends up with all three outside the ring. Redacted gets decorated with a gusset plate, then trash cans, chairs, and tubes see use. Cogar gets hit by Redacted's senton, Beastman gets an apron crossbody, but counters with a chair. The board outside the ring has gussets. I like that board. I like it a lot. Beastman suplexes Redacted into the chairs. The brawl continues outside the ring with a shopping cart, chair shots, and more trash cans.

For the moment, Beastman is in charge, until Cogar drop toes him onto the shopping cart and Redacted follows up with a cannonball senton. Thanks to his early gusset encounter, the good doctor already looks like a slaughtered pig which reminds me of the French extreme cinema classic Frontier(s). Otis Cogar has no such things on his mind. He pulls out his straight razor, not the meat hook of my dreams, and carves Beastman. Lots of carving. I'll never understand why crowds are so crazy about it, but I will admit that it would look pretty cool with a meat hook or cleaver.

Instead of meat hook-less carving, let us look at the gusset door that would soon become my tragic white whale.

Everyone is back in the ring now. Cogar gets tubes stuck under his shirt, then a double stomp from Redacted. Beastman black hole slams Redacted and for now, he's the only man standing. He throws the barbed wire board at Redacted, then Cogar gets up and tries to interrupt Beastman's climb to the top rope with chair shots. Beastman keeps ascending anyway, but ultimately drops to the outside. The camera didn't capture the impact, but there's a door on the ground, so maybe Beastman went through it.

Here is a man who knows how to use white attire.

Now it's Cogar vs. Redacted, and once again, the former goes at it with the straight razor. I dream in meat hooks and chains. Cogar has a new idea. He arranges the tube door and places a chair for a dropkick against Redacted. A suplex sends Redacted to the outside and commentary mentions that this is not Falls Count Anywhere. That's strange for a deathmatch, but not unwelcome. I'm typically not a fan of outside brawls – although in this match, it was quite entertaining – so I'm not against preventing the match from straying too far.

Beastman is back in the ring with Cogar while Redacted stalks the outside. After a headbutt, Beastman spears Cogar through the tube door, then kicks Redacted away before he returns to the ring. He found a bear trap. Interesting. I thought they were larger. Anyway, he sets it up in the ring and tries to force Redacted's hand into it. Redacted wiggles out, almost gets slammed, but Otis Cogar interferes to prevent it. Redacted still gets hit by a Cannonball from Beastman, then Cogar gets involved again with a chair. He removes the bear trap, places Redacted on the top rope with tubes, then gets hit with a chair by Beastman who proceeds to awkwardly shove Redacted into a tree of woe position without losing the light tubes. It results in something akin to a top rope Banzai splash, then an elbow strike duel between Beastman and Cogar leads to a light tube collision.

Redacted drags more boards into the ring. He throws the cut can board at Beastman, the barbed wire one at Cogar, then smashes tubes on the former. Cogar gets put on the top rope, but Redacted gets suplexed away by Beastman who climbs the ropes himself, then slips and... I suppose it was an accidental hurricanrana? Either way, in the end both went down without dropping on their heads, so that's something.

I’m not sure where this was supposed to go, and neither were they.

Beastman is busy with his bear trap again and hits Cogar with its chain. Redacted hits him with Green Mist which, much like my shattered dreams of Cogar with a grindhouse butcher gimmick, is invisible today. Cogar uses the bear trap to counter a punch, and Beastman, now with the trap on his hand, flees the ring. Cogar seizes the opportunity to floor Redacted with a chair and get a three count, under audible boos from the crowd.

I thought about taking a screenshot of the actual finish, but how could I deny the spotlight to a man who willingly stuck his hand in a bear trap?

Redacted may not have won the match, but even without using the gusset door, his outfit lives up to my expectations. What was once white is now soaked in red. Picture-perfect visual storytelling right there. Good match, too, except for the sloppy hurricanrana-whatever. Closing in on 19 minutes, this didn't drag and kept up the tension. Admittedly, part of that was my anticipation for the gusset door that ultimately went untouched, but the bear trap turned out to be a good replacement. I just wish it had been introduced earlier to build around the unusual weapon. There was so much plunder in the ring that it completely flew under the radar until Beastman dug it out and presented it to the camera and crowd.

---

Yet another Atticus Cogar recap video. It starts feeling like bloat, so I'll skip to the next match.

---

Match 3 – Light Tube Madness/Made in Japan – Daiju Wakamatsu vs. Bobby Beverly

Wakamatsu is the first entrant to reach a 100 % sportswear ratio today. Unfortunately, it comes in the form of long black pants with some yellow. Still, decent exposure by being shirtless. If past experiences are anything to go by - Beverly never goes shirtless - Wakamatsu should have this duel in the bag.

Yes, he does. Bobby Beverly wears a black shirt to his orange garbage man jeans. While the color is better than black, the problem is that he does not have a garbage man gimmick. He doesn't have one at all. 'The Ultraviolent Enforcer', yes, but let's look at this:

What law, rule, or obligation is enforced by ultraviolent means? The rules of the match? Is he a referee then? Because that's what referees do. Gweedo started out as a referee and used 'ultraviolent ref' as a gimmick at some point. That's not what's going on here. I don't recall seeing Bobby Beverly in a referee role. (I do recall Jimmy Lloyd as a ref in his early career, although he never used it as a gimmick.) So what if we are going with the most applicable informal definition: '(in sport) a strong, aggressive, or intimidating player whose role is to protect teammates or dominate an area of the field of play'? That works better because there's a team, 44OH, notorious for protecting stable members with a seemingly endless list of interferences. The main offenders, however, are RSP and Eric Ryan. The longer I think about this, the more sense it makes. I call Bobby Beverly 'the guy who made a career out of getting booked because the rest of 44OH was busy that night'. He calls it 'the Enforcer'. A more polite phrasing of 'my gimmick is <shrugs>'.

If you can't tell, my excitement about this match is just below 'moderate' on the scale, but for the sake of the review, I will watch it. We have Tokyo towers, loose tubes, terracotta shards, light tube fan rakes, and that damn tempting gusset door still looms on the outside.

The match begins with a lock-up and weapon evasions, then Beverly gets shotgun dropkicked through the first tower. Wakamatsu follows up with a tube-enhanced senton, then smashes tubes on himself. Beverly escapes to the outside and gets hit with a tope suicida. Wakamatsu sticks tubes down Beverly's shirt and smashes them with elbow strikes. The advantage shifts to Beverly who smashes and carves, then wanders around for a bit and – finally! - takes the gusset door. He sets it up against the ring, goes for a suplex, Wakamatsu turns it around and suplexes Beverly instead. What a waste. My precious gusset door wasted on a back covered with a black shirt. Good damage on the shoulder though, and Beverly already has the ground work done for a crimson mask, too.

Look how they massacred my boy. 😞

Back in the ring, Wakamatsu gets suplexed through a Tokyo tower and Beverly gets a first two count. He tries to take a rake, but seems to realize that the construction isn't exactly stable. Instead, he sticks a tube in Wakamatsu's pants, almost slips in an attempt to stomp it, then finishes the job with a splash. Now he has a terracotta pot, one of the many things that had a brief stint as Eric Ryan's trademark weapon. Beverly shatters the pot, then Wakamatsu just barely manages to slam him into the shards.

Geez. Wakamatsu takes Beverly to a corner with the evident intention to headbutt him through a bundle of tubes. I know, I know, the average viewer doesn't pause to type and probably doesn't pay as much attention, but it just takes me out of it that there's a few seconds of negotiation to make Beverly hold the weapon he's about to get attacked with in place.

Now Wakamatsu climbs the top rope, throws Beverly a bundle of tubes, then dropkicks him. That also involved 'holding weapons' and just flowed so much better. More tube smashing. Wakamatsu manages to lift the wobbly rake fans and smash two over Beverly's head. Then Beverly no-sells, slams him, and gets a two count. He too takes a rake fan and smashes it on Wakamatsu's back, then turns his attention to the last remaining Tokyo tower and gets a spinning heel kick through it. Wakamatsu suplexes him, gets a two count, follows up with a top rope elbow drop, and again, Beverly kicks out. More tubes get stacked on him; Wakamatsu tries his elbow drop again, Beverly evades and gets a one count after a crossbody. A cradle DDT finally gets the job done and Beverly advances.

Technically fine, at times quite exciting – those elbow drops looked amazing – but ultimately there's only static beyond some big moves. Lots of blood, but no soul.

---

Another promo video or something about that Fuego Del Sol/Sam Stackhouse feud. Skipping to the next match.

---

Match 4 – GCW Ultraviolent Title Three Way/??? - Matt Tremont (c) vs. Jimmy Lloyd

OMG. It finally happened. I can correct Nick Maniwa! He just said Tremont is the only man to have won IWA-MS KOTDM twice and back to back. Incorrect! Eric Ryan did, too: 2020 and 2021, the last ever KOTDM.

Anyway. Tremont wears all black, including the bandana. Black shirt, long pants. Tournament records he may hold, but a deathmatch fashion icon he'll never be. Commentary informs me he will face a mystery opponent, so I will be appropriately surprised now.

OMG! It's Jimmy Lloyd! And he's about as covered up as Tremont, but he has white pants to his black shirt and thereby wins the fashion duel!

There's the bell, but there was no stipulation (or speculation about one from Maniwa), so I guess I have to step in. Which isn't easy because the weapons are flat and somewhat hidden behind the crowd. Something with barbed wire, likely a board or door. Loose tubes. Outside the ring, a contraption of chairs and a door which I believe the camera showed during Tremont's entrance.

Right after the bell, music hits again and Shotzi Blackheart appears to join the match. Horned helmet, black leather jacket, white shorts and top, a coherent black/green theme in the accessories, decent exposure. Well, that's awkward. This outfit is the best out of the three by miles. Since she enters literal seconds after the bell and nothing at all happened yet, I will make an exception to my judgement rules and give her the win. Her 'late' arrival also grants me another glimpse at the weapons and I can add 'at least one pane of glass' to the arsenal.

Commentary informs me that Blackheart made her return to the indies in Hoodslam less than 24 hours ago. Commentary now also had a swap; Maniwa left the booth and Emil Jay replaced him. Not a fan. Not a fan at all, but I will endure.

Tremont and Lloyd end up in a tube duel right away, then Blackheart dives onto them with a crossbody and follows up with dives onto both outside the ring. Lloyd sells the hell out of it, then engages in a somewhat awkward sequence back in the ring. This results in a Blockbuster from Blackheart. She puts the barbed wire door I scouted on Lloyd in the ropes, then gets a chair for a step-up... I suppose it was a Cannonball that broke the door. Tremont returns and floors her with a Samoan Drop, then sets a plain door up and Death Valley Drives her through it. A fork materializes from Tremont's boot and Blackheart gets stabbed in the head with it.

According to Emil Jay, Tremont was declared 'the black Abdullah the Butcher' last year. I don't know about that. I really don't, Mr. Jay.

Tremont goes wild with the fork until Lloyd disarms him and tries to stick the fork into Tremont's forehead. It goes so-so. Lloyd smashes a tube bundle instead, then Blackheart gets involved again. There's a Neckbreaker from Lloyd, a Package Piledriver, then another, but it's all only good for a one count. Two weed whackers appear. Lloyd attacks Tremont with his. Blackheart takes the other. Things happen, but I get a replay of the first Package Piledriver, so I'm not entirely sure what's going on. I can say with certainty that Lloyd put Blackheart and himself through the door contraption on the outside with a Victory Roll, and there was probably some kind of Destroyer from her earlier, perhaps a Sliced Bread, but that may have been a replay.

It was a good piledriver, but the replay timing wasn’t great.

Tremont is still selling... something. The fork or tube bundle attack? Lloyd, Blackheart, and a light tube log cabin enter the ring now. All except for the log cabin climb to the top rope. Blackheart headscissors Lloyd through the cabin, then Tremont wakes up, frog splashes Lloyd, but Blackheart breaks up the cover at two.

Now that Tremont is awake again, he engages in a slap duel with Blackheart, tries to go for a Samoan Drop, but gets floored with a DDT instead. Tremont's waking phase doesn't last. He's down again and rolls out of the ring, so Blackheart turns her attention to Lloyd who evades her outside dive, and she lands in a pile of chairs.

Lloyd, armed with a chair, returns to the ring and sets up it up, then adds some more chairs. Tremont spinebusters him through them, then gets the pane of glass I had forgotten about. He places it on Lloyd and goes to the top rope, then waits a very long time for Blackheart to join him, and powerbombs her through the pane and onto Lloyd. After that, Tremont gets a three count over Lloyd.

Look. This wasn't a great match. Little natural flow, lots of Tremont downtime, some flippy stuff from the recent WWE dropout, and in the end, it was Lloyd who held this thing together. Everyone loves Tremont, I know. And he's a likeable guy with an impressive résumé, no doubt. But he's not getting younger and it's frankly been a hot minute since I've seen a match that lived up to the hype. For the life of me, I can't figure out why people are so excited to see endless fork stabbings, and I'd really hate to see Tremont's matches devolve to just that. I'm seeing it from Mad Man Pondo; 50+ and still up and running – fueled by charisma, carving, and nothing else.

---

INTERMISSION, RECAP

An entertaining, yet overall mixed first round. The opener set the bar. A bit on the smashy side – it just comes with the House of Horrors territory - but it did incorporate weapons in more creative ways than just hitting each other over the head, too.

The second (and by far longest) match was wildly entertaining and had a good flow. No lengths, the pin breaks I expect from a one fall three way were there, but at times it was somewhat sloppy.

The third match was firmly 3.6 roentgen for me. Going by wrestling quality alone, it was probably not far behind the opener. It was bloody, too. But as I laid out above at great length, the lack of showmanship left me uninvested. I already said my piece about Beverly, so I'll just add that Daiju Wakamatsu is no Jun Kasai or Onita either. The presentation is simply too flat for me. I didn't care who'd advance. Not because I hated the match or either competitor, but because both register as 'yeah, whatever, at least he'll pull his own weight in round 2' and nothing beyond that.

The final first round match, well. The surprise entrant was certainly in line with my GCW expectations: a recognizable name for mainstream fans to latch onto. At no point did I think she might advance. Spectacle over substance, and that took the suspense down a notch. The other issue, as I already said above, is that advancing Tremont begins to feel like casting Jared Harris as Spiderman. Great actor with an acclaimed filmography? Definitely. Young Peter Parker? Most certainly not. In this match, the literal (grown-up) child actor stood right next to miscast Jared Harris, acted his heart out, and went home empty-handed. To me, Lloyd was the obvious choice to advance; young, more able than not, and with some chops and tournament credibility to his name. He's still sloppy with moves, yes, but his ring instincts are growing like an artificial brain in a lab that someone accidentally left in the petri dish with the nutrient solution overnight. Oh. Umm. I'm working on a b-movie script on the side. Something might have gone crosswired there. Never mind. What I'm saying is: In this match, Lloyd's job as 'the third guy' was to make his opponents look good and take the pin. It was not his job to carry the whole thing, but he did it anyway and deserved to advance based on his performance.

But alas. We are going to the semi finals with Murdoch, Cogar, Beverly, and Tremont. Regular readers might expect I’ll be rooting for Murdoch to go back to back, but I'm not. No bells and whistles: I'm in Otis Cogar's corner today. I mean, yeah, Cogar vs. Murdoch would be my ideal final. I do love my ginger prince. I just don't need more bling on him. I praised WLW Death Wish Cup for eliminating Murdoch a minute into the final and letting Remington Rhor and Dr. Redacted – two fresh faces as far as trophies are concerned – duke it out. The same logic applies here. Cogar's résumé is the shortest out of these four. He'd benefit most from a win. It's the right time to pull the trigger and start stacking trophies on guys like him, Rhor, Redacted, Lloyd. Otherwise we'll be left with legends who crawl to the ring on all fours in a few years, crushed by the weight of time and all their accolades.

Back to business.

---

Recap video again. I'll skip these.

Richard Holliday approaches the ring, obtains a microphone, and starts ranting about the state of the world in general and the ring in particular. He continues to heel it up. You do you, bro. Skipping ahead. Landing on intermission screen. Skipping more.

Here we go.

---

SEMI FINALS

Match 1 – Panes of Glass – Otis Cogar vs. John Wayne Murdoch

Otis left the white hoodie backstage, so we're looking at a black shirt right from the start. He still has the white pants going for him and man, that's a nice bloody handprint. I don't know how it got there, but I'm giving style points.

Murdoch wears all black, but out-battle damages Cogar by miles with plenty of dried blood on his arms, shoulders, and back.

Time to nitpick. Murdoch clearly has worse colors and there's no sportswear, he's fairly covered up, but didn't let that stop him from looking like a mess. Proper footwear. I love classic boots like these, almost as much as asymmetric kickpads. The ginger bonus is in play.

Cogar has white – no sportswear either - and he used it well. His pants are sprinkled with crimson, including that incredibly stylish handprint. No visible battle damage on his skin though. I'm also no fan of the footwear. Does he still wear lifts? He doesn't need them. I mean, who the hell cares? Neil Diamond Cutter, 5'5, nobody cares. Bobby V, 5'6, nobody cares. Otis plz.

On Cagematch, everyone is 5 '10 regardless of actual height anyway.

A call must be made. This is the final I wanted, and nobody likes ties in finals. I'm going with Cogar because using white properly must be rewarded.

☾⋆ We’ll always have Venice, sweet prince. 🎨

The match opens with Murdoch immediately whipping Cogar through the first pane of glass, and Cogar repaying the favor. A dropkick floors Cogar and leads to a first one count. Murdoch breaks a tube for some carving, then follows up with jabs and biting. Cogar gets a bundle of tubes over the head, then running forearms in the corner. A shoulderblock floors Murdoch and now it's Cogar's turn to smash tubes and carve.

Look at that stylish handprint. Just look at it.

Commentary reminds us of Murdoch's bad cut from the first round. That's Cogar's cue. He pulls out the straight razor and tries to get to the injury. Murdoch flees to the outside, shows off his bandages, then gets hit by a thrown door. Cogar still has his razor out – man, wouldn't it look way more imposing with a cleaver? Just saying… – and manages to cut Murdoch, kind of. Armed with tubes, he stalks Murdoch around the ring and the razor carving goes on. There may be some psychology to this, going for the injury and all, but that honestly doesn't make it more interesting – especially when Cogar targets the face instead.

Murdoch encounters the world’s clumsiest barber mid-match.

Oh well. Back in the ring, Cogar hits an elbow drop and gets a two count. He arranges a chair in a corner, spears Murdoch, then battering rams him into the chair. A cannonball follows and results in another two count. Both slowly rise back to their feet. Cogar has tubes, but Murdoch intercepts with jabs, disarms him, and shatters the tubes with an elbow strike. Murdoch signals a brainbuster and sets up a barbed wire pane of glass. Cogar blocks at first, but ultimately goes through the glass, then kicks out at 2.5. Murdoch tries again, but Cogar floors him with a Uranage and places the last remaining glass pane on him. Cogar climbs the top rope, hits a cannonball through the pane, and gets a three count.

The carving phase could have been shorter and more coherent – targeting the injury only – but after that, this was a pretty fun match.

---

Skipping promo and recap videos.

---

Match 2 – GCW Ultraviolent Championship Title Match (cinder blocks, light tubes) – Bobby Beverly vs. Matt Tremont

No outfit change for Beverly, except for some battle damage. I'm surprised there's so little. He got pretty soaked in his match, but most of the visible damage is on one arm.

Tremont, still all in black, shows the Bev how it's done and enters with a crimson half-mask. He's using 'Enjoy the Silence' as theme today. I like the song, but it's not exactly screaming 'Bulldozer'. What do we have for Best Dressed? Nothing much, really. No sportswear. Equally covered. Beverly has better colors with the orange pants, Tremont better battle damage with his forehead. It's a tie and not one to be proud of. If you tie with Chuck Stein or Lou Nixon, you can wear that as a badge of honor, but not this.

Both arm themselves with a tube bundle, then Beverly puts his down and Tremont sets up a chair. After a back and forth with the referee, Beverly finally obtains a second chair and sits down for a slugfest. Emil Jay joins commentary again. As if my excitement needed another damper.

The referee brings a box of tubes to the still seated competitors. Now the slugfest is a smashfest. Then I'm sitting here, ready to type out what happens, but the smashfest goes for a very, very long time. When it ends and both get up, they continue the same thing standing, now with bundles. A collision somehow sends both out of the ring and they wander around, throw punches, then chairs get involved. Tremont finds a gusset, gets disarmed, and Beverly hammers it into Tremont's head. Well, we have a gusher. And Beverly rolls him back into the ring to hammer more gussets into his arms. There hasn't been a single wrestling move yet, and they spent half the time sitting on chairs.

Still life with light tubes, crayon, ca. 2025

Beverly sets up a door in a corner, then attacks Tremont with a chair. Tremont's head is squirting with each chair shot. While the crowd chants 'Holy Shit!', Beverly nonchalantly sets up a second door between chairs. Tremont chokeslams him through that, Beverly gets right up, gets shoved through the other door, gets up again and both take cinderblocks to smash them together. Beverly goes for a DDT, but gets picked up for a Death Valley Driver and after that, Tremont gets a three count. Beverly barely has a (new) scratch and doesn't exactly look defeated.

Pictured: Not a wrestling move

Two. There were exactly two wrestling moves. If that happens elsewhere - between different, less adored wrestlers - people call such matches 'pointless bloodbath' and 'mudshow garbage'. And that's exactly what I'm calling it here. No value but shock value. Gore without heart or purpose. It was simply a sequence of tube smashing and gusset hammering with no connective tissue. Which also belies my initial thought: "I have no words for my disappointment." Can't say I'm looking forward to the final. After this travesty, my hopes and expectations can be summarized in 1.5 words: Otis plz.

---

Skipping videos.

Emil Jay wants us to look at the trophy again and calls out Jeff Cannonball, along with a spoiler that he'll soon be inducted into the GCW Hall of Fame. Cannonball, followed by his family, is brought in in a wheelchair due to his recent ALS diagnosis. You can donate to support him and his family here.

Cannonball gets a microphone, but is immediately interrupted by music and the arrival of Blake Christian. He enters the ring and struts around the trophy, and he too has a mic. He mocks the feel-good moment and then rambles about his career in GCW. I'm not terribly interested in that, but I guess it's better than no setup entertainment at all. Christian keeps mocking Cannonball and his wife until Tony Deppen shows up and sends Christian out of the ring. Cannonball gets his attack in as well, and Deppen takes him backstage.

Skipping lots and lots of recap videos.

Now we're back for the final. The ring is finally prepared with cinderblock-canvas, light tube-fencing and barbed wi... and we cut back to a TOS recap video.

How about now? Are we there yet? Ah, yes, now there's music.

---

FINAL

GCW Ultraviolent Championship Title Match - Concrete Hell – Otis Cogar vs. Matt Tremont

No outfit change for Cogar, some battle damage, and he's still got the white pants with the stylish handprint on his side.

Tremont hasn't changed his outfit, but his theme. This time, it's Danny Havoc's music. I have thoughts about this, and not all of them circle around 'tribute', but I'll omit them because I'm judging the outfits, not the audio. After Tremont spent the previous match bleeding out in various ways, his battle damage is naturally a lot more visceral than Cogar's.

Very similar match-up to Cogar vs. Murdoch, and my ruling will be the same here. Victory for Cogar, based on 'quality over quantity' and better colors. Yes, Tremont looks like he fell into a blender and won, but Cogar's battle damage is appropriate for a finalist and he wears white. Still no stained apron, meat hook, chains, or cleaver. Still me actively-aggressively projecting my grindhouse fantasy in his general direction, hoping he'll get so annoyed by the psychic onslaught that he'll don the mask and apron just to shut me up.

What am I expecting from the match? Honestly, not too much. I recall Tremont vs. Cogar from RPW King of the Kill II in 2024. In a nutshell: lots and lots of fork stabbing and straight razor slicing to the exclusion of nearly everything else – except for a breathtakingly beautiful moonsault from Cogar. The constant, the image that haunts my dreams of him abandoning the emotional support razor and relying on the wrestling skills he clearly has. I mean, yeah, KotK II was outdoors and the clear blue sky really enhanced the visual, but that's just scene dressing. Steel rafters are different - less scenic and probably less forgiving when it comes to moonsaults – but... Otis plz. Give me some wrestling.

Tremont sits down for the introductions and remains seated even for his own. The crowd chants 'Fuck Ohio' when Cogar is announced. I realize this is the first time I'm rooting for Ohio. Geez, I'm losing my religion. Tremont gets a full career rundown, including the emphasis on '9 time tournament winner'. Since I teased it far, far above in this review, here's a full overview:

1. IWA-East Coast Masters of Pain 2012

2. IWA-Deep South Carnage Cup 9 (2013)

3. IWA-Mid South King of the Deathmatches 2014

4. CZW Tournament of Death 14

5. IWA-Mid South King of the Deathmatches 2015

6. VOW Lord of Anarchy 2015

7. GCW Nick Gage Invitational 2 (2017)

8. CCW Crimson Cup III (2019)

9. DMDU D.R.E.A.M. 4 (2024)

Depending on the narrative du jour and current moon phase, the tally between Tremont and Murdoch includes the phrasing 'American' or 'on American soil' because Tremont's most recent win took place in Australia. Today, we are getting the variant 'Tremont is the most decorated American-born deathmatch wrestler'. According to a rundown I did elsewhere, this isn't necessary because there isn't anyone not American-born who'd count as 'more decorated' either. Murdoch's victories have all been in the US, and at this exact point in time, he’s at 10 tournament trophies:

1. Evolution Pro Deathmatch Tournament (2014)

2. OWS King of the Coliseum (2015)

3. Underground Uprising (2015)

4. IWA-Mid South King of the Deathmatches 2016

5. PWT Southern Sickness Cup 2021

6. IWA-Mid South Vic Philpott Memorial Hybrid Cup (2021)

7. Primos Slave to the Deathmatch 12 (2021)

8. IWA-MS/PWT King of the Deathmatches vs. Southern Sickness (2021)

9. GCW Nick Gage Invitational 7 (2022)

10. GCW Tournament of Survival 9 (2024)

Now that we're up to date, I'm out of excuses. Yeah, I'm not super thrilled for the final, so I've been stalling. What? GCW bloats the show with an hour of recaps. I'm just matching the vibe like a sycophantic chatbot.

Tremont finally rises from his chair and the bell rings. We start off with a stare down, then we're straight back to tube smashing as if the semi final had never ended. I'd estimate that 70 % of the tube-fencing gets smashed within the first minute. Then – Cogar bodyslams Tremont! YES! A wrestling move! And this early on! The cover naturally goes nowhere, and Cogar now has two thumbtack bats. Moments later, Tremont looks like he rolled in rhinestones.

Cogar whips out his straight razor to shave off some of the decor, then hits Tremont with a new bat; thumbtacks and poppers. Light tube carving. Come on, Otis. I know you have another wrestling move in you.

No. Not yet. Cogar gets a barbed wire bat, but Tremont hits him with a tube bundle before he can use it. Bodyslam from Tremont! Two moves and the match is still young! One more and we beat the high score! Tremont has the barbed wire bat now and employs it for some carving. Make that 'a lot of carving'. It takes quite a while and I wouldn't exactly say 'it is super effective'. When he's finally done, Otis is down and has a bat, possibly with barbed wire and gussets. Tremont takes it away, hits him, and I change my guess to 'barbed wire and poppers'.

A third body slam from Cogar! HIGH SCORE! Now he gathers concrete tiles/deconstructs the canvas to build something. Three layers of concrete, I guess. But before we learn where he's going with this, we get more tube smashing and Tremont adds another layer. I mean, ok? Wouldn't it be easier to provide cinder blocks if they take the concrete canvas apart anyway? We're still deep in tube-smashing country. Now Otis is stacking concrete tiles again and shatters one on Tremont's back. Stacking. Stacking. Is this a match or a low stakes game of Jenga?

Tremont grabs a chair and floors Otis with it, then tries a cover to communicate something to him. Tremont climbs the top rope, Cogar follows and superplexes him down (Another move! We are rolling!) for a two count. There's still a surprising amount of concrete on the canvas.

Now Tremont has a tube bundle, and a mystery attacker slides into the ring. Christian Napier, yet another 44OH member, all in white, attacks Tremont with the discarded barbed wire bat. The referee wildly flails, but counts anyway when Otis crawls over Tremont for a cover to get a two count.

Otis points to a contraption on the outside, a barbed wire board propped up on chairs. Tremont fights back and tries to put Napier through it. Atticus Cogar appears. Now it's a triple beatdown of Tremont. Commentary mentions they are 'all members of Vandals 48', so I guess they are not called 44OH anymore. I have no words for how checked out I am.

This again… 🙄

Joey Janela shows up to help Tremont. Napier does go through the board. Commentary claims Bobby Beverly is there, too, but I don't see him. The ref hands Tremont a tube bundle, he splashes Cogar – the correct one – but only gets a two count. Otis finally uses his dozens of concrete tile layers for a Uranage. Still just a two count. For the excessively long construction phase of the tile pile, this just felt flat after all the interferences. At least all the intruders are gone now, somehow. Cogar adds tube bundles to his pile and chokeslams Tremont onto it. Another two count. Tremont hits Cogar with a concrete tile, Death Valley Drives him onto the pile, and finally wins this overbooked mess.

---

Final Thoughts

I suspect I'm not going to make many friends with this outro, but let's start at the beginning.

Dr. Redacted was Best Dressed. Other than that, I don’t have rankings today.

I already complained about this earlier: I'm not a fan of odd tournament structures and that's what we got in the first round. Two singles matches, one official threeway, one impromptu threeway that was initially framed as a singles match. Kayfabe is dead, sure. Wrestling is athletic theatre, visual and physical storytelling. Viewers suspend disbelief and buy into the premise of competition, more so in a tournament. So I expect a narrative reason why some entrants get better odds than others. If a football team had to beat two rivals instead of one to make it to the finals while others only had to beat one, that would raise eyebrows. If the competition is real, it's about fairness. If the competition is scripted, it's a plot hole.

But enough about structure. Other than the seemingly randomized number of entrants per match, the first round made me think this would be fun. Nothing was perfect, but most matches fell between 'entertaining' and 'at least technically sound', with the fourth one being the chaotic exception. From there on out, the tournament devolved into a mess and finally culminated in disappointment. Manufactured, inorganic 'moments' like the sudden appearance of Shotzi Blackheart, the pandering to nostalgia (Zandig, Danny Havoc's theme), the predictable booking, the complete descent into a dumpster fire in the final. I wanted Cogar to look good, to finally stand on his own without the stable nonsense he's been tangled up in for years now. Instead I got '44OH Interferences, Part 247'.

Commentary called it an 'upset' when Cogar beat Murdoch, the previous year's winner. To me, the surprising thing about that was that somebody, somewhere backstage, managed to resist the 'Murdoch vs. Tremont, clash of legends' temptation. What wasn't surprising: That out of the present veterans, it was Murdoch who put the 'upstart' over. He's been doing that quite a bit lately, not least Dr. Redacted, Remington Rhor, and Lil Sicko within the span of one show. (It feels silly to refer to Cogar as 'upstart' – he celebrates his 10^th in-ring anniversary this year – but it seems fitting in this context. A single tournament victory to his name: a tag team tournament he won with his brother in 2017, a handful of semi-finals, one final.)

Since I'm on the subject: Now that Murdoch and Tremont are even at 10:10 victories, who has the shinier résumé? Tremont, no doubt. He has the Big Three, whichever constellation one applies, and the back to back. But when it comes to legacy, I'm still bowing to Murdoch. Tremont gets a lot of kudos for what he did for deathmatch in general; the savior of a stagnant scene. And I'm not saying he didn't do that. Those accolades are earned, no doubt. But I also think Murdoch's contributions over the years are flying under the radar. He's the ace, the record holder, Tremont's eternal rival, but rarely credited as the trainer or mentor he, too, is. Those are things that-

I'm stalling again because I'm not looking forward to this part, so I'll just rip off the bandaid: I very much prefer to see respected favorites retire gracefully instead of clinging to the ropes long past their prime. The glaring examples are Mr. Insanity Toby Klein and Necro Butcher, aka the Tough Crazy Bastards once upon a time. Klein retired in 2018 and has been active behind the scenes as a commentator and promoter (since 2022). To me, he's the success story. The legend who knew when to step away and find new roles beyond the ring. In stark contrast, Necro Butcher is a shadow of his former self: still going (after a fashion), turned his shitty fringe political beliefs into a gimmick, and now dismantles his own legacy by autopiloting through the same match over and over again.

After this show, I fear what Tremont might become: a legend who doesn't know when to pass the torch and keeps going, breaking my heart one awful match at a time. I don't want this. I really, really don't want this. It's not the excessive gore that shocked me today. Under different circumstances, I'd have cheered for a good bloodbath. Emphasis on 'good'. This match wasn't, and that is precisely what made it so shocking. Not the blood, but the glimpse of a possible future in which Tremont does not retire a Toby Klein, but keeps going long enough to see himself become the Necro Butcher.

Judging by the crowd reactions, I don't expect this line of thought to be popular. That's fine. I got used to being the odd man out for wanting more out of deathmatch than 'omg such legend' long ago. Somebody's gotta say it, so I'll take one for the team. Thanks for coming to my TED talk about 'legacy inflation'. Oderint dum metuant.

---