WARNING: STRONG VIOLENCE AND LANGUAGE AHEAD

Welcome to something a bit different. IWA East Coast tends to get a bit less recognition than its Midsouth but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t deserve attention. Now it’s time to shed some light on the company as they put together one of the strongest deathmatch line-ups I’ve ever seen. Shane Mercer, SHLAK, Alex Colon, Jimmy Lloyd, John Wayne Murdoch, G-Raver, AKIRA, and Nolan Edward were about to clash across three rounds of high-impact deathmatch violence. Only one of these eight titans of the genre could walk away the winner if they could actually walk at all. Let’s get into the violence and see who stood tall when the blood and spooky dust had cleared.

Round 1 Extreme Backyard Wrestling Deathmatch: Shane Mercer defeated SHLAK via Ball Kick La Magistral

Shlak bleeds like art pic.twitter.com/sp4AB4bW04

— deathmatchmag (@deathmatchmag) June 15, 2021

What better way to start than with a deathmatch kaiju battle? Shane Mercer and SHLAK were about to have an extreme rendition of Godzilla vs Kong in a bout that could only be held in a backyard. Mad Man Pondo explained the rules and both fighters made their way to the battlefield. Once everyone was outside, the fight began on the back of a flatbed truck. They opened by throwing hands and Mercer quickly slammed SHLAK onto the truck. SHLAK returned the favour with a Suplex and tried to murder Mercer with a wrench. Mercer dodged and threw SHLAK into a car windscreen. Mercer tried to follow with a tope but got nothing but glass. SHLAK ripped off the car’s spoiler and beat Mercer with it, then ran for cover as Mercer found his flail in the back seat. SHLAK gave Mercer more spoiler shots and broke off a wing mirror to beat him with too. Mercer brained him with a wiper and carved into SHLAK with the mangled plastic before suplexing him into a trailer. SHLAK returned fire with a Michinoku Driver but only got two. They continued to hit each other with anything not nailed down and Mercer broke a rear car window with SHLAK’s back. Mercer got his leg stuck missing a superkick and SHLAK took the chance to stab him with an ice-scraper. SHLAK began to work the leg and the pair took turns trying to break off a door with Irish whips. They fought in the back seat and continued to wreck the car and each other. SHLAK threw Mercer off the car roof and went back after the leg. Mercer bucked him off and threw him off the rear window. SHLAK did the same and the pair climbed back to the truck. Mercer drove him into it with a Tombstone and kicked SHLAK in the balls for a La Magistral. Mercer had taken the win through wrestling since no amount of brutality would keep SHLAK down. This was a chaotic mess of an opener with a whole lot of fun. SHLAK’s head was pissing blood by the end and the Iron Demon had beaten SHLAK.

Round 1 Barbed Wire Mayhem Deathmatch: AKIRA defeated John Wayne Murdoch via 2K1 Table Bomb

Next up was some Reject warfare as AKIRA took on the ace of ICW, John Wayne Murdoch under no-rope barbed wire rules. This was going to get ugly as AKIRA would give it his all to best his war brother. Things were about to get very interesting. There was glass, barbed wire, and technicality to be expected. They opened with a slugfest and danced around the wire. They tried for roll-ups and AKIRA threw Murdoch into the wire with an arm wringer. AKIRA forced more of Murdoch into the wire and gave the fans a show. Murdoch threw AKIRA into the wire and smashed a glass pane over AKIRA’s skull. Murdoch kept up the assault with a fork bat and smashed another pane on his brother. He choked AKIRA out with his own jacket and charged forth but AKIRA tripped him face-first into a chair. AKIRA took Murdoch on another stabbing tour and broke a pane on Murdoch before getting stabbed in the head with the same tool. They returned to the ring and Murdoch crotched AKIRA on the wire. AKIRA was trapped so Murdoch mercilessly swung a bodyboard full of gussets into his back. He removed AKIRA from the wire and dropped him on the board again with a swinging neckbreaker. Murdoch grabbed a table and glassed AKIRA again, trying to crush another pane with a senton. Murdoch continued to try and break the invincible pane, eventually succeeding and set up another table. He tried for the chair brainbuster but AKIRA blocked and dropped him on it with a Northern Lights bomb. AKIRA cut away the wire and the pair played Rockem Sockem Robots with wire spools. They fought around the exposed area and AKIRA drove Murdoch through the tables with the 2K1 Bomb, securing victory. These two had pummelled the hell out of each other but the survivability and skill of AKIRA had seen him through, invincible glass panes be damned. That’s just how the Rejects play.

Round 1 Air Raid Deathmatch: Jimmy Lloyd defeated G-Raver via Fork Board DVD

The first-round chaos continued with an Air Raid Deathmatch between G-Raver and Jimmy Lloyd. Everyone knows these two have pulled out every stop to murder each other and this was the next stop in that tour of terror. There was fuckery everywhere with forks, tubes, and scaffolding all present. Raver opened with Lucha arm drags so Lloyd tried to go for the tubes. Raver dodged and made Lloyd pay with a tube knee. Lloyd bailed and Raver followed with a tope. He knocked Lloyd down again with a seated Cannonball and broke a painting over Lloyd’s skull. He gave Lloyd another tube to the skull and carved Lloyd up. Lloyd got revenge with superkicks and dumped Raver on his head with a superkick. Raver escaped a choke with a Stunner and kneed Lloyd in the ropes before suplexing him into the mat. Lloyd kicked out so Raver threw him into the buckles and attacked him with Salt and Vinegar crisps. He drove Lloyd into the mat again with the rope-hung uranage and gave him another tubing outside. They fought up the scaffold and Lloyd put Raver through tables with a Finlay Roll. Another table entered the ring and Raver hammered Lloyd onto it after a low blow. He climbed up a mobile ladder and put Lloyd through it with a Swanton. Lloyd refused to stay down and dodged the Meteora to smash Raver with a superkick and drop him with a Psycho Piledriver. Raver kicked out at one so Lloyd ended things with a fork board DVD. Lloyd really had to work for this win. Raver had come for blood and taken a fair amount of it but Lloyd managed to survive and took out Raver in a nasty fashion. This definitely had its fair share of shocks and I love the fact Raver is making the crisp spot a running thing.

Round 1 25,000 Thumbtacks Deathmatch: Nolan Edward defeated Alex Colon via Roll-Up

Lastly in the round one fights; we had a carny taking on the best deathmatch wrestler in the US right now. It was time for another epic battle between Alex Colon and Nolan Edward. These two have had some wars before and now, it was time to skirmish again, this time amongst thousands and thousands of tacks. They started technically and the pair had a pose off. We got a tack implement standoff and Edward countered Colon with a Bridging Northern Lights. They battled over a tack jug and Colon smashed it into Edward’s back. Edward used the same jug to cut off a dive and carved into Colon with a tack bat. Colon took a seat and Edward pushed another bat at him for a running strike but Colon woke up and cracked it into Edward’s gut. Colon ran into Edward with the bat and stuck him with more tacks. Colon raked the tacks in his back and took a bite out of Edward for fun. He gave Edward a tack bat to the ass and pummelled the rest of the tacks out of it with various swings to Edward’s body. Edward tried to fight back but Colon emptied a jar of tacks over him and smashed him into them with a Tiger Bomb. Edward kicked back and dumped the other jar of tacks on Colon and hit a DDT into the tacks. He pushed a tack into the back of Colon’s head and the pair fought on the top rope until Edward hit a superplex into the tacks. The pair continued to trade and Colon pushed Edward to the outside for a Suicide DDT. They returned to the ring and Edward gave Colon an arm full of tacks and powered through to the apron where he put Colon through a table with a Drill Bit. He followed up with a cannonball and hit a Blue Thunder Bomb into the tacks. They opened the final box of tacks and slugged it out. Colon booted the box of tacks into Edward and embedded them in his head with a Sleeper Suplex. He went for the Camel Clutch but Edward rolled through and rolled up Colon for the win. The Carny had stolen the win and did so at the expense of one of the best around right now. This had been a gruelling fight for both guys with Nolan entering his next fight full of holes.

Semi-Final Light Tube Deathmatch: AKIRA defeated Shane Mercer via Gotch Style Piledriver

It was tube time. Our first semi-final match would see the Iron Demon lock horns with the Death Samurai amongst hundreds of light tubes. Things were going to get messy fast with AKIRA having to use all his wits to deal with Mercer’s power game. Mercer started by inserting another flail into the fight and dodged into a Cross Armbreaker. He lit up Mercer with tube kicks and Mercer took out AKIRA’s leg with the flail. AKIRA booted Mercer outside and went for the Shatter Star Bomb but Mercer caught him out of the air and powerbombed him into the fan’s seats. Mercer gave AKIRA the tube treatment and ragdolled him into more tubes. The flail re-entered the fight as Mercer dragged it across AKIRA’s eyes. AKIRA fired back with more tubes but couldn’t land a backdrop and suffered as Mercer tried to break the ring apron with his body. AKIRA went tube mad and tried to disembowel Mercer with a broken tube. He kicked down Mercer again and smashed another bundle in his face with a Tiger Feint Kick. AKIRA tried for the Shatter Star Bomb again but Mercer cut him off with a tube and brought him crashing down with a stalling superplex. AKIRA dared kick out so Mercer hit him out of the air with a Military Press tube. He escaped the Asmodeus Wrath and locked on the Muta Lock with Mercer’s flail, then transitioned into a choke when Mercer wouldn’t tap. A tube duel was threatened but AKIRA cut it off with a Bridging Northern Lights. Mercer elbowed free of Sudden Death and chopped AKIRA’s soul out. AKIRA welcomed the strikes and lit up Mercer with another combo before getting thrown into more tubes with an Exploder. AKIRA refused to give so Mercer carved him up again and broke even more with a Tombstone. That wasn’t enough so he dumped AKIRA on more with a deadlift powerbomb… but it still wasn’t enough. Mercer called for the end with Moonsault and Battery but AKIRA rolled through to a pin. Mercer powered out but AKIRA was ready with a German. Mercer powered up but AKIRA dodged again and nailed him with a Pele Kick. He ended things with a Koppu Kick into the Gotch Style Piledriver and took the win. AKIRA had slain the Iron Demon but it had taken everything. Man, even my adrenaline was flowing as a bystander. These two had so much chemistry and the clashing of their styles told an incredible story along the way. I demand a rematch.

Semi-Final Cinderblock Deathmatch: Nolan Edward defeated Jimmy Lloyd via Roll-Up

We went from glass to cinderblocks as the second semi-final got underway. Both of these guys took a beating in their round one matches but neither of these guys knows quite how to stay down. It was No Flinch vs Different Boy with quite possibly the most dangerous of the deathmatch tools. The pair sprinted to the ring and went tube duelling. They fired up and commentary took some tube shrapnel. They had a barfight and hammered on each other with glassed-up fists. Lloyd broke one of the chairs with Edward’s back and Edward glassed Lloyd again so he could stab a syringe into his mouth. They danced around the cinderblocks and Lloyd broke Edward’s back again with a slam onto them. Edward wouldn’t quit so Lloyd broke a pane on his back using another cinderblock. The two threw shots and Lloyd covered the ring in crushed glass. The punches continued to fly and Edward dumped Lloyd in the crushed glass with a rope-bounce Blue Thunder Bomb. Edward broke a bunch of the blocks and drove Lloyd into the fragments with a Gory Bomb. Edward charged again but Lloyd caught him into a cutter. Edward kicked out and escaped the Psycho Piledriver with a headbutt but couldn’t get the three-count. Edward went for the pin again, rolling Lloyd inward and took the win. He had stolen another win with that pin and now he was going to the finals. All I can say for this match is ouch. It was a glorious clusterfuck of nasty weapons spot and fuck you brawling. A whole lot of fun crammed into a small match.

Final Fans Bring the Weapons Dog Collar Deathmatch: AKIRA defeated Nolan Edward via Shatter Star Bomb

Last but not least, the main event. The new generation of deathmatch was taking the spotlight here. Both men here had fought off a veteran and a fresher face on the scene and were now about to battle in a bit of KOBK warfare. Edward and AKIRA are friends, brothers, which makes them even better enemies. They were to be chained together with whatever fuckery was around to break on each other. We had doors of fuckery, tube contraptions and so much more to be weaponised. Edward went right for the roll-up and tried to choke AKIRA with the chain. AKIRA bridged into a roll-up and the fight reset as Edward clutched his back. They punched it out with chained fists and AKIRA snapped him into the canvas to hit him with a bauble bat. Edward rolled out and tried to choke out AKIRA again, forcing him into the ropes by his collar. AKIRA finally fought outside but Edward was waiting with a water jug and broke it on and around AKIRA’s head. The pair broke bundles and AKIRA bent up Edward’s arm in the ring post. AKIRA continued to use the chain to his advantage and whipped Edward into the chairs. He returned Edward to the ring for a kicking and Edward avoided doom by lawn-darting AKIRA into a fuckery board. They slugged it out and AKIRA suplexed Edward through a Christmassy door. AKIRA softened Edward up with more tubes and went for the Muta Lock using the chain for extra punishment. Edward swore at the ref for asking him to quit so AKIRA dropped him with a 2K1 Bomb.

Edward got revenge with a bundle of Blue Thunder and a second rope bounce bomb. That got two so he attacked AKIRA with a unicorn helmet with a gusset attached. The pair went tube wild as both men tried to empty a bin’s worth of tubes on each other and AKIRA broke a bundle sword over Edward. AKIRA got a near-fall with a Bridging Northern Lights and set up another door on some chairs. The bin of tubes fell over so AKIRA smashed more on Edward’s head and Edward decided to just shitcan AKIRA onto the whole damn lot. Edward tried to end things with a top rope Brainbuster but AKIRA headbutted him away and broke Edward and the door with the Shatter Star Bomb for the win. This was carnage. AKIRA and Edward gave the fans a final they’d remember. Between the deadly improvised weaponry to the insane amount of tubes broken, these guys left it all in the ring. Nolan Edward might not have won but he earned just as much respect as AKIRA. The next generation of hybrid deathmatch blood fighters are here and they just burned down the fucking house. AKIRA is your 2021 Masters of Pain 2021 survivor.  A trophy well-earned and well fought for. This was a stacked tournament and probably one of the best shows I’ve bought all year. It had a feel-good ending, seven competitive as fuck deathmatches and a whole lot of fun interjected in. Even commentary killed it all show despite getting battered by tubes. Hats off all round, this show rocked.  As Mad Man Pondo so eloquently put it, “Give it up for both these motherfuckers.”

#NewProfilePic pic.twitter.com/sLmzsAVsmp

— AKIRA アキラ (@theakiraway) June 16, 2021

All images courtesy of IWA EC Twitter, Screenshots, Deathmatch A Love Letter,