Death matches are big business in the modern wrestling landscape. Whether it’s Japan, America, Mexico or the UK, there is some kind of death match scene teeming with life. Fans are drawn to the high levels of violence, blood, drama and spectacle in these matches and the actual range of people enjoying these fights is more diverse than you think. One of the biggest tournaments for such wrestlers and fans is CZW’s Tournament of Death. Now for the eighteenth iteration we will see a new challenger take part in the tournament, the Queen of Sesh Style, Session Moth Martina. Let’s document her journey to this tournament and how she could win it.
The Tournament
Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW) is a promotion known for its death match history and some of its more outlandish characters (no one will ever forget John Zandig and his Jesus promo.) The tournament of Death was originally created by John Zandig as a means to get back into the mix after losing ownership of the company. It’s like an average tournament only every match is a death match. Since then there have been sixteen other tournaments with a whole host of familiar faces from both new and older generations. The tournament has been won by the likes of Necro Butcher, Nick Gage, Jimmy Havoc, Drake Younger (currently a WWE referee), Masada, Jun Kasai and Ricky Shane Page. Their most recent Tournament was won by Jimmy Lloyd, a current stand out from GCW.
Other famous entrants in the tournament have seen the promotion team with Japanese death match promotions to bring in famous names like Masashi Takeda, Jaki Numazawa and Abdullah Kobayashi. There have also been big American names like Jon Moxley or as most people will know him Dean Ambrose. Martina is not the first time a woman has taken part in the tournament as Mickie Knuckles took part in the TOD VII. These names and winners prove that the TOD isn’t just some backyard wrestling shoot contest but is a legitimate death match tournament and has a lot of interest from the whole wrestling world.
Live your best life ? pic.twitter.com/LAh8ihCcCW
— Session Moth Martina? マーティナセッション (@mothfromdaflats) April 16, 2019
Session Moth Martina
To those unfamiliar with her, Session Moth Martina is an Irish professional wrestler with a very unique gimmick. She is the self-proclaimed Queen of the Sesh and will often make her entrance to the likes of Darude Sandstorm or Cascada. If she’s at the ring, there’s likely a bag of cans around too. However she in not just a gimmick as her in ring skill and range of moves match her over the top persona. She can fly, brawl and grapple and is often seen delivering a Bronco Buster to the opponents she has in the corner. However she can also hit a range of DDTs and will often break out the Codebreaker. She is a fun mix of in ring talent and fan relatable character.
Her popularity has organically come through the likeability of her character and her active presence on social media. She is often seen doing things for the “bants” and has famously grinded on some of the biggest names in wrestling, including the likes of Minoru Suzuki, Jyushin Thunder Liger and Braun Strowman. Most recently she has been the first name announced for the latest Tournament of Death after a petition was started to get her in. This petition spread like wildfire amongst wrestlers and fans alike and was obviously picked up by the company. Now her position is the tournament is secure. Currently she is the only name announced for the tournament but she has been challenged by Dan O Hare on Twitter to a drunken death match at the tournament. I don’t think he knows what he’s in for.
#SESSIONSTING ??? pic.twitter.com/Kh85gShxTK
— Session Moth Martina? マーティナセッション (@mothfromdaflats) April 15, 2019
How She’ll Win
Despite the fact she is not the first woman to take part in the Tournament of Death, she is by far the most popular to take part. She has a worldwide following and it would be no surprise to see her involvement boost the overall numbers viewing the tournament. She has been brought into the tournament by the power of petitions so it’s clear there’s a following for her. Her social media presence is massive and her popularity spreads around the world. I’m not saying she should win based on popularity alone but I can see CZW, the tournament and anyone who fights her getting a massive boost from that following.
There is also the fact that she can tap into the Session Goth if she needs to. Having teamed up with former winner Jimmy Havoc in the past, it’s not out of the realm of possibility that the Session Goth appears to give her an edge as the tournament continues. Since the pair are “friends” it would be great to see Havoc training Martina for the tournament in a Rocky style training montage. Martina isn’t a stranger to hardcore wrestling. She recently took some vicious bumps in a cage match for OTT. She has fought a wide range of opponents across the globe and even smacked Joey Janela around for being a kayfabe sexist about the booking at Spring Break 3 part 2. The fact that you could get two different variations of Martina in one tournament would be a lot of fun and could be brought out as a story beat or in a Broken Matt Hardy sense after taking a vicious bump during a death match. There are a lot of chances to make her time in the tournament a lot of fun and use her character creatively.
Lastly we go for the progressive argument. There have been a lot of different winners of the Tournament of Death but none have ever been a woman. Martina presents an opportunity for CZW to show a progressive attitude and showcase the fact that women can win the hard core tournament too. Women have been taking part in death matches for years so now there’s the chance to signal boost that further through the power of the TOD. Martina can be put through hell and come out on the other side cut, bruised but standing tall. Plus I think her fans need to know if it’s bants to grind on the TOD trophy.
#TOD ready ???#CZWTOD18 #JJSB3 pic.twitter.com/XydCHL667h
— Session Moth Martina? マーティナセッション (@mothfromdaflats) April 11, 2019
So that about sums up the Tournament of Death and the long interesting road Session Moth Martina has taken to get there. She is the only entrant so far but based on her journey to the tournament she is already a favourite. She will be the second female entrant in the tournament and could potentially be the first female to win it. Her popularity has carried her to the tournament and now we shall see how she fares in the tournament and if CZW gets a boost from her presence in the tournament. She’s taken over Japan with her work in Stardom, she’s recently taken over America with her matches during Mania week and now it’s time for her to win over the death match crowd when June comes around for TOD. She’s got the perfect type of crowd to enjoy a bag of cans with.
(All images courtesy of czwrestling.com, Session Moth Martina Twitter)