WARNING STRONG VIOLENCE AND LANGUAGE AHEAD

Welcome back to 31 Days of Deathmatches Volume 2. The second edition of the annual deathmatch advent calendar put together by yours truly. Each day we will open another bloody door on the calendar and explore another deathmatch until we hit Halloween. We’re going to explore a ton of different companies, wrestlers, and stipulations as the days go on with a few surprises here and there. So, strap in as we prepare for another round of blood, broken glass, and barbed-wire on our road of deathmatches

Sometimes matches are just special to me. I’ve recounted before how I’ve fallen in and out of love with wrestling. Part of my resurgence into the violent world of deathmatches is thanks to YouTube. Like the deathmatch Royal Rumble last year, this too is one of those matches I stumbled upon looking for BJW deathmatches and things like that. Plus, it gives me a chance to once again shine a light on Pro-Wrestling FREEDOMS, one of the most delightfully devilish promotions in Japan. It’s one of those promotions where you don’t quite know what you’re going to see. It goes from goofy to violent to next level match quality on a match by match basis.

Before this match both Jun Kasai and MASADA had already been through a war as they’d fought in semi-finals matches against Brahman Kei and Isami Kodaka. Now they’d meet in a match where it was all about glass panes and bare ring-boards. The canvas was gone so even the simplest slam was going to suck. These two starting things technically and went for basics slams onto the boards. Kasai sent MASADA careening through the first glass board and started working on his messed-up shoulder. MASADA returned fire by putting Kasai through a table with a DVD and hammered him with the broken table. He slammed Kasai into the broken glass and continued to beat down Japan’s most beloved.

As time went on, the match got more and more even and wilder and wilder as gusset plates, skewers, and more deadly implements were brought into the match. MASADA’s skewers got an outing, Kasai had a nasty meeting with a boxcutter as we built to the most dangerous spot that saw the ring boards pulled up and a hole to hell made. MASADA put a glass pane into the hole and prepared to slam Kasai through it. Kasai tried to fight back but MASADA hoisted him up and threw him to hell with a powerbomb. Kasai made it out but was fighting with a patch of skin flopping around, barely clinging on. They continued to trade until at last Kasai cut himself with the boxcutter, hit the butterfly facebuster onto the gusset board, and finished MASADA with a Pearl Harbour Splash onto the gusset board. it was a hard-fought bout but the Crazy Monkey had come out on top despite the unfavourable odds.

Despite the bloodshed and horrific war wounds, both guys showed respect to each other. They had been through a battle that would leave both men scarred. Once again, this felt more like a match with weaponry added. Even without the plunder, it would have been an excellent match as both guys could wrestle as well as get violent. This is what drove me to pursue more deathmatches. This mix of technicality and ultraviolence was an intoxicating cocktail. Plus, it was all there to enjoy on YouTube. Come back tomorrow for the next deathmatch delight.

All images courtesy of Reddit,  , Video courtesy of Dirty Luchas YouTube