IWA:MS KOTDM 2011

[cavedweller73]

I know some will probably say, "Oh Jeeze....here goes that stupid blood mark/ vampire talking about deathmatch tournaments again!", but I just thought I'd post this since I already know of a few people from this area who are planning to attend. And also, so far, considering the guys they've announced for it, this might be turn out to be a decent tournament. Also, considering that IWA:MS is under new ownership, they're going to need to pull out all the stops to make this good. We'll see what happens....but here's the info about it....tickets go on sale tomorrow (Aug. 12th).

The new owners of IWA-MS are proud to present the 2011 King Of The Deathmatches

Sept. 16th & 17th
Bellevue Plaza
325 Bellevue Ave.
Bellevue IL

The first 8 participants are:

1. Matt Tremont
2. Nate Webb
3. Scotty Vortex
4. Drake Younger
5. Devon Moore
6. Masada
7. Little Mondo
8. Neil "Diamond" Cutter

Advance Ticket prices for both Friday and Saturday KOTDM 2011 will be as follows:
Front Row $50
2nd Row $40
General Admission $30
Tickets will go on sale Friday Aug. 12, 2011
Advance sales will end on Friday Sept. 2, 2011

Advance Tickets will be mailed to the person that issues the paypal.

After Sept 2 tickets will be available at the door ONLY. The prices for the tickets at the door for both nights will be:
Front Row $60 (if any are remaining)
2nd Row $50 (if any are remaining)
General Admission $40

Single night tickets will be available at the door ONLY and will be:
Front Row $35 (if any are remaining)
2nd Row $30 (if any are remaining)
General Admission $25

[cavedweller73]

Since I know IWA:MS has a connection to fans in the Evansville area, I want to get some results and info posted from last night's Night One of King of the Death Matches.

The night started off on a weird note for me. When I got to the Bellvue Plaza, an extremely drunk guy who supposedly lives there (Trust me, no matter how bad your house is, be thankful you don't live in a dump like THAT) tried to accuse me of having a child with me and taking it out back and abusing it, despite the fact that I tried to tell him several times that I was by myself. He then went on to challenge a few others guys to a fight. I only bring this up because of something that happened later.

As usual with indy wrestling shows, nothing was on time. The doors were suppose to open at 7 with the show starting at 8. That turned into the doors opening at 8 and the show not starting until 9. When I got into the main room, the first thing I noticed was that John Calvin (Ian Rotten's son) was going to be working as a ref. Ian was nowhere to be seen....so, let the "Ian is still working behind the scenes" rumors begin!

Once the show began, Drake Younger, Scotty Vorteks, Simon Sezz, Devon Moore and Pinkie Sanchez all came out to J.C.Bailey's music. Drake got on the mic and talked about how J.C. had won the tournament last year. He then brought out all the guys from the back and asked us to give J.C. a moment of silence. It was quite an emotional moment.

Next, it was announced that things had changed with the show and there were several guys who weren't at the show. After the show, when I got back to the hotel, I was looking around on the message boards and apparently, there's some controversy about Dysfunction not being there. Apparently, he was at the show, but then left because of who he was booked to work against. He was suppose to face Corp. Robinson in the first round, but Corp. wasn't there. So, I don't know what's up with all of that, but Dys, Corp., Nate Webb, and Chuey Martinez were all not there. They also announced that Jayson Stryfe wasn't there so there going to strip him of the Light Heavyweight title. So now, the first match of the night was going to fill the vacant title.

Light Heavyweight Title
BJ Whitmer vs. Bucky Collins
Bucky had been announced as a replacement for Christian Hayme who got hurt at the Dragon Gate show in Indianapolis last week. I hadn't seen Collins in a while and he looked as though he has improved quite a bit. He did get some decent shots in on Whitmer, but for the most part, Whitmer dominated him and looked amazing doing it. In the end, Whitmer got a tap out win with a really strange submission hold. I'm not totally sure how Whitmer fits in the "Light Heavyweight" category, but he's the new champ. After the match, he put Collins over.

On to the tournament...First then brought out everyone who was in the tournament. Mason and Devon Cutter (The Hooligans), Reed Bentley and Joey Grunge were all announced as replacements for the guys who weren't at the show. None of these replacements made me too happy and I started to wonder if all of this was going to end up being as bad as about every other death match tournament so for this year.

Fans Bring the Thumbtacks Match
Pinkie Sanchez vs. Juicy Jimmy Feltcher
The match started off with the usual Jimmy comedy spots, but once they were about to do a dance off, Pinkie attacked him and the fight was on! They brawled all around and Pinkie pulled off some cool high flying moves to the outside. Lots of chairs and thumbtack weapons were used. Despite what anyone might think, these two can put on an entertaining match...and they did. In the end, Pinkie got the win with (I believe) a reverse 'rana.

Home Run Derby match
Freakshow vs. Joey Grunge
Grunge is suppose to be Johnny Grunge's (from Public Enemy) brother. I don't know if that's legit or not. Surprisingly, this match wasn't as horrible as I expected either. The match was really slow since both guys are large, slow guys. Lots of weapons were used and they mostly brawled around the ring. In the end, Show set Grunge up on some chairs with some light tubes and dove (yes, DOVE) off the ring apron onto him and then pinned him on the outside.

After this, they had an intermission and I made my way back upstairs to hit the rest room. As I left the main room, I heard Devon Moore's voice coming from the top of the stairs. Apparently, the extremely drunk guy from before had now challenged Devon to a fight. I worked my way past them and Devon was behind me. He was going off on the guy. So, Devon and myself were having a "That guy's f*cked UP" conversation while we were both p*ssing. HA HA!!!! As we walked back down the stairs, Devon said to me, "Man, I'll f*ck him up like I did Levy!" HA HA!!!!!!!!

Light Tube match
Simon Sezz vs. Damian Payne
This was Payne's first death match. Simon came out and got on the mic and said they were going to do this right....without shirts. They started off actually wrestling and teasing the first light tube shot. Once the tubes started flying, things got CRAZY!!! Both guys were so sloppy in the ring, but it was like a car wreck where you can't look away. The biggest botch was when Simon went for a moonsault and Payne was going to hit him with several tubes in the middle of the air. Simon jumped too soon and Payne swung wildly and him IN THE NECK!!!!!! Simon was bleeding RIVERS!!!! Blood was squirting from the side of his neck! It was nasty!!! They should have stopped the match right there, but Simon kept going. He ended up doing a dive off the top rope and got the pin.

After this, they took a LONG intermission to remove the ropes and put up barbed wire on two sides of the ring.

Caribbean Spider Web match
Mason Cutter vs. Devon Cutter
Yes, you read right, The Hooligan brothers going against each other. I certainly didn't expect that one! The match started off a little slow but once they started brawling around the outside, they beat the CRAP out of each other!!! Chairs, light tubes, waterjug bats, crutches....everything you can imagine was used. They did a sit-down bar fight at one point. On the one side of the ring, there was a spider web which ended up being set up between some chairs. Both Cutters fought on the edge of the ring above it and then fell through it together. One of them was on top of the other's arm and when he got up, the wire had to be cut and was deep into his arm. In the end, one of them was set up in a chair outside the ring with some tubes and the other jumped on top of him from the ring and got the pen. The winner (and I got the name from the announcement at the end since I can't tell them apart) was Mason Cutter.

Next was another LONG intermission to take down the wire (which wasn't used!) and put the ropes back up.

4 Corners of Pain
Rory Mondo vs. Reed Bentley
Rory used to be known as "Little Mondo". At one time, he was the little kid who went to CZW shows and dressed like Nick Mondo. Now, he's not so "little" anymore. Rory is his real first name and he's the legit brother of Drew Gulak from CZW. Bentley is a young guy who was trained by Billy Roc and works IPW shows and some shows around Louisville. This match wasn't much to write home about. Both guys were really sloppy. Mondo was doing all the usual "Sick" Nick spots, and although he did pull off a so-so M. Bison the match ended with him doing a sloppy assault driver off a ladder through a table with light tubes on it and getting the pin.

Hardcore Aerial Assault
Marcus Crane vs. Devon Moore
Before this match, they set up a wooden thing on the corner for the guys to jump off of, but it wasn't very sturdy. Crane came out and was doing his "insane Willy Wonka" style gimmick and honestly, I didn't even recognize him. Moore came out and was basically saying, "What's up with THIS idiot?" The match was fast and crazy. They brawled on the outside and were throwing chairs at each other. Moore took a metal chair to the back of the head that split him wide open and he was P*SSED about it. He pretty much mauled Crane at that point. I can't remember how, but Moore ended up winning and after the match, he put Crane over and shook his hand.

Barbwire Board, Tai Pai, Sandpaper Kickpads
Matt Tremont vs. Masada
This match was as nasty as you'd expect. Tremont is a guy from New Jersey who filled in for WHACKS at the Carnage Cup this year. He made such an impression that he's been used all over the death match world and even got a win over Necro Butcher at TOD this year. Both guys beat the living Hell out of each other and were bleeding buckets. At one point, Masada hit Tremont with a bat covered in toothpicks and pieces of wood were stuck in his head and stomach. It was SICK!!!! There were tones of near-falls and close finishes. Masada pulled out his wooden spikes and put the whole thing into Tremont's head. He then pushed them in farther while putting Tremont in a camel clutch, but Tremont didn't give up. He got to the ropes to break the hold. Once both guys were up, Tremont pulled out brass knuckles and hit Masada with them and knocked him out and pinned him. After the match, Masada said, "So, brass knucks?" After the match, BJ Whitmer came out and challenged Masada to a match tomorrow night....that should be AWESOME!!!!

Fans Bring the Weapons
Drake Younger vs. Neil Diamond Cutter
The ring was FULL of stuff. Drake came out and was sort of working his "Golden Boy" gimmick, but was way over as a face, which was kind of nice since he's been working as a heel for a while now. The match was as nasty as you'd expect. Cutter got in a few shots, but mostly, Drake just beat the crap out of him. Cutter was bleeding all over the place. In the end, Drake hit a "Drake's Landing" with a light tube between them for the pin.

That ended Night One. I'm sure there are people who will bash this show, but honestly, so far, it's been the best death match tournament in a while (and I know because I've been to them all). By the way, when I left the place, it was 1:40 A.M.

They announced that the next IWA:MS show is going to be on Oct. 7th in Bellvue and is going to be a 15-year anniversary show. I won't be able to make that because I'm planning a trip to Tennessee that weekend that is going to include my first live Chikara show!

Night two is tonight, so we'll see what happens!

[iketurner]

Thanks for the results Dweller. I was kind of hoping IWA would come back with a bang and while you say it was good action, it sucks big time there were so many no shows. I saw on twitter where Xpac said Corp was in the hospital. Not sure what thats all about but i figured he wouldnt be there. Hope things go better tonight.

[iketurner]

Stryfe posted this on IWA:
I just want to point out that I did not no show the KOTDM shows. People where informed in plenty of time as to my absence. That is not how I do business. There was a lot of miscommunication involved and I was being talked to by 2 different parties at the same time. Due in part to miscommunication and the fact that I was not going to be 100% due to a shoulder injury in Europe I was unable to attend the KOTDM. Sorry to the fans that came out and was disappointed, however being as it was mostly death matches I doubt anyone sorely missed me this weekend.

And Dysfunction....

I have taken myself out of the KOTDM tournament. I made the trip and found out I was booked against someone I just cant work with for my own health and personal reasons. Im sorry to any fans I let down but this is a personal choice. Im let down by how i wasnt informed of this at all before when i expressed my dislike of doing business wirh said person. I hope my boys brig,Drake,Decon n lil mondo tear it up and stay safe!

[cavedweller73]

I will say that at least they have been using some decent stips in this tournament....so far anyway. That's the thing that's really been hurting these things lately...the lack of decent stips. Also, they've been trying to make up for the missing workers by putting the replacements situations in which they can be used without totally killing the whole tournament. But yeah, I know what you mean, Ike. I was also hoping this would be a turning point for IWA:MS. As of right now, from a fan's point of view, things aren't looking too much different than when Ian was around. I will say though that I'm digging the Whitmer/Masada match they have lined up for tonight! That should define the term "stiff".

I'm most intrigued right now by this Dys thing. He was suppose to face Corp. last night and he wasn't even there. So, I'm guessing the person he couldn't work with was the replacement. But....the match him and Corp. was suppose to have turned into the Cutter Vs. Cutter match. So, I can't see him getting so upset about working one of them that he went home. Weird situation! Hopefully, I'll get some more info tonight.

[cavedweller73]

Now that I've slept pretty much all day (that 5 hour drive after the show was tough last night!) here's what went down at Night Two:

They opened the doors 45 minutes late, but the show only started about 15 or 20 minutes late. They announced that the first few matches would be non-tournament....which basically meant they were using all the guys who lost on Night One.

Bucky Collins vs. Marcus Crane
I got to admit that I like Crane's "vampire Willy Wonka" gimmick much better than his "Satanic emo kid" gimmick he uses in IWAU. He came out wearing the same white shirt he wore the night before, which was covered in Devon Moore's blood. The match wasn't anything overly special, but I will say that Collins looked good. I can't remember exactly how, but Collins got the win.

Juicy Jimmy Feltcher, Damian Payne & Reed Bentley vs. Devon Cutter, Neil Diamond Cutter & Joey Grunge
This was your standard IWA:MS KOTDM Night Two "put as many of the losers from Night One into one, comedy match" match. As matches like that go, this was a fun one. Payne came out drinking a beer. Feltcher took the bottle away from him and deep-throated it. He then gave it back to him and Payne looked disgusted....but then drank it anyway. The guy next to me and myself gave him a "He's hardcore!" chant. Payne looked at us and said, "What? I like beer!" The match started with Feltcher and Grunge. Feltcher did all of his usual "gay" comedy spots. Some of Neil Cutter's comments about that towards me and the guy next to me were funny. Devon Cutter just wanted to get in there and tear someone's head off. Once the match went outside they all brawled around the ring. Reed Bentley pulled off a nice dive on top of everyone. They then made their way over to a broken down scaffold that was on one side of the room. Neil Cutter climbed to the top of it and dove off. When they got back into the ring, Devon Cutter hit Feltcher with a clotheline that nearly took his head off and then Neil did a HUGE splash off the top rope for the pin. All in all, a pretty decent match.

Next, they announced that Necro Butcher is going to be at the 15th Anniversary show next month.

BJ Whitmer vs. Masada
To say I was stoked for this match is an under-statement. These are actually the kinds of matches in which Masada is the best. Sure, he can do "blood and guts" but there are times in deathmatches were he will "dish it out but not take it". In this kind of a match, he just just be purely stiff and brutal. And quite honestly, the guy can wrestle much better then most promoters will allow him to do since he's so known as a "blood and guts" guy. The match was super stiff with so many nasty chops and strikes, but there was also a lot of crazy stretching and submission moves used as well. Both guys looked like a million bucks! Masada got busted open from headbutts because of the cuts he had from the night before. The match was awesome, but the ending really sucked! Whitmer had Masada in some sort of a submission hold and rolled him over and John Calvin counted three. Both guys had a sort of "What?" look on their faces. We all started chanting "BULLSH*T!!!" Whitmer then got on the mic and challenged Masada to another match, which Masada accepted. However, Masada said that he's going to be in Japan next month....so, Bucky Collins then came out and challenged Whitmer to a match next month and Whitmer accepted.

On to the tournament:

Four Pits of Hell match
Pinkie Sanchez vs. Devon Moore
The pits were around the ring. One had mousetraps, one had lit cigarettes, one had lemons, salt and hot sauce and the other had hot coals. Talk about old school IWA!!! Both guys fought around the ring some. Chairs were thrown and used and they fought on the bleachers. Once they got back inside, Pinkie brought in the mousetrap pit. Most of the traps went off before it was used though. Pinkie then (with the help of me and several others) brought in the lemons pit. He mixed everything together but Devon ended up piledriving him in it, which really didn't seem that effective since Pinkie wasn't even bleeding. Next was the cigarettes pit. Pinkie ended up putting chairs over it and was thrown into the chairs. Next he brought in the hot coals, but ended up putting sand over most of them and put them out. Devon ended up dropping him into the now not-as-hot coals and pinned him. A decent match but Pinkie killed almost all the gimmicks....which I can't say I blame him, but still....it did take away from the match being a death match and all.

World Series of Glass
Drake Younger vs. Mason Cutter
This was one of those "put your opponent through 4 light tube constructions before you can pin him" kind of stip. Both guys were like bulls, trying to get to each other and man, they fought hard and stiff. Drake really dominated the match and was dropping Cutter into several mini-log cabins. Drake won the match by hitting a Drake's Landing on Cutter through one of the log cabins. After the match, Drake put over both Hooligans and I have to agree....those guys have really stepped up their game in the last year.

Death Becomes Us match
Rory Mondo vs. Simon Sezz
I have no idea what the "death becomes us" thing is all about but basically, there was a large wooden box on the side of the ring and several loose light tubes around. Both guys were sloppy and kind of reckless, but that's pretty much what you can expect from both of them. They brawled around the ring and around the box. Mondo got thrown into the box and Simon hit him with some wicked chairshots. Simon set up some chairs in the box and put lighttubes on the chairs. They went back into the ring and some tubes were used there as well. Simon then threw Mondo off the top rope, into the box, onto the chairs and lighttubes. He then climbed the ropes himself and jumped recklessly onto Mondo and pinned him....it was pretty sick actually. Both guys had to be helped out.

Fan Bring the Weapons
Matt Tremont vs. Freakshow
This one was sick, which I knew it would be. Both guys beat the crap out of each other. Many, many weapons were used and both guys bled buckets. They brawled around the ring and up on the bleachers. Once they got back into the ring, Tremont actually picked Show up a couple of times and slammed him down. In the end, he actually hit a Death Valley Driver (!) on Show and pinned him. All in all, certainly not a pretty match, but it sure was brutal.

They then announced that the finals were to be a 4-way match, which I wasn't too happy about. I figured the whole thing would be one, big, clusterf*ck.

No-Rope Barbed Wire, 250 Light Tubes match
Drake Younger vs. Simon Sezz vs. Devon Moore vs. Matt Tremont
Before the match, Simon got on the mic and said he was going to win the match for JC Bailey. The thought of Simon even being in the finals of KOTDM is just insane to me...but, whatever. When the bell rang, it was pretty much Drake and Moore teaming up against Simon and Tremont....at first anyway. After the first few little moves, the whole thing turned into what I expected....a complete and total clusterf*ck of epic proportions. The whole thing was just lighttube shot after lighttube shot. I was wearing my wide-brimmed "JC Bailey" hat and whenever I would look down, I could feel pieces of glass fall off the brim. It was INSANE!!! Simon and Tremont took the most abuse. Tremont was bleeding from around his eye and it was gushing. So much was going on that I don't remember how, but Tremont got eliminated first. Simon was then in the middle of Drake and Moore. Drake hit a Drake's Landing onto some tubes but Simon kicked out. Moore then went CRAZY on him and beat the living HELL out of him. Drake then hit another Drake's Landing (in which Moore super kicked him before Drake dropped him) and got the pin. It was down to Drake vs. Devon. They didn't fight too long as Drake hit him with the Drake's Landing with a lighttube between them and got the pin.

The 2001 King of the Death Matches: Drake Younger

After the match, Drake got on the mic and called out everyone from the back and gave an emotional speech about winning the tournament for JC Baliey. In a strange moment, he tried to put over Devon Moore, but Devon jumped out of the ring and left. I'm not sure if that was legit or a "work" to set up some kind of an angle in the future. In the end, everyone drank a beer in honor of JC and then Mike Miller and Vince Jones got on the mic and thanked us all for coming out and supporting them...and that was it.

All in all, it was a darn good tournament....the best I've seen in a while now. Sure there was the cancellations and last-minute replacements....sure, some of the matches were sloppy.....sure, the finals were a complete clustf*ck overkill but overall, I had a lot of fun and everyone there seemed to as well. I met so many nice, cool people this weekend and that was nice. The whole atmosphere of the show was positive even though there was also a general feeling of some questions that are left unanswered (the Dys situation, if Ian is really involved or not). I will say this much on the Ian question, I never saw Ian himself anywhere around the place, but as I've said, John Calvin was a ref and at the end of the show, I saw a lady with Ian's other son, James Christopher (the one Thumbtack Jack wanted to put in the oven...HA HA!!!)....so....draw your own conclusions. Personally, I feel as though that if they are using Ian to help book talent for their shows, who cares....BUT, if they make the mistake of letting everyone know that Ian is involved, then that's not going to help them get IWA:MS up and running to the potential they should because of the bridges they will burn before they even really get the thing off the ground....that's just my little two cents. Anyway, it'll be interesting to see what happens next....especially since the next show (the anniversary show) is going to be in Bellvue and quite honestly, I don't think anyone who was there was actually FROM the Bellvue/Peoria area. Time will tell, I suppose. But for two nights, it was a lot of fun and I'm glad I was a part of it.