WARNING: STRONG VIOLENCE AND LANGUAGE AHEAD

Welcome to something a bit different. AWR is a company I’ve had my eye on for some time. They’ve had some absolutely crazy matches and now, have taken part in the Indiana festival of death alongside some of the biggest in the game. This is Deathmatch Tournament 2021, a 2-day deathmatch tournament featuring some of deathmatch wrestling’s best. Things were going to get gory as this is one of those companies that I’ve not seen shy away from the violence. With some heavy hitters and big names within the brackets, this promised to be an unpredictable bloodbath for the ages. Let’s check into the Asylum and bask in the carnage.

Last Man Standing: Aiden Blackhart defeated Otis Cogar via Light Tube Barrage

The tournament was starting strong as Otis Cogar, the deranged pig-face placing monster was going against the Flakka Daddy Aiden Blackhart in a match with no pinfalls or submissions. All you could do was murder your opponent enough to keep them down for a ten-count. Blackhart wasted no time and went at Cogar with a pelted chair, a Violence party, and tubes but couldn’t even make Cogar flinch. Cogar just mauled Blackhart from corner to corner and threw him onto a door with a Suplex Toss. Cogar went to the tubes and ground a tack bat into Blackhart’s head. Blackhart had taken enough and broke more tubes and a cap bat on Cogar. The tubes kept breaking but Cogar wouldn’t budge and snatched away a broken tube to carve up Blackhart, then winded him with a senton. Blackhart crawled to the ropes and Cogar followed to cut him up with a straight razor. Blackhart fired up on seeing his own blood and booted down Cogar to carve him up with a saw. Cogar got revenge with a tube Door-VD and Blackhart did the same to Cogar with a regular Door-VD. The pair punched it out and Cogar gave Blackhart the razor again. Cogar cut up Blackhart with another fuckery bat but Blackhart had tubes at hand and broke them for separation. He stapled Cogar’s mouth and elbowed him down but it still wasn’t enough for a ten-count. Cogar got an eight-count with a Chokeslam and Blackhart found another energy spike to win the match by pummelling Cogar with multiple tubes and a bundle after more staples to the mouth. The Clout Daddy had taken the first match but Cogar had taken a hell of a lot out of him. This made for an awesome opening contest with plenty of shock and gore to enjoy. I absolutely love the fact Cogar uses a straight razor as a weapon.

Fans Bring the Weapons: Remington Rhor defeated Mad Man Pondo via Cinderblock Breaker

The cinderblocks and saw bats were back as the second match continued Remington Rhor and Mad Man Pondo’s Batman/Joker level feud. I’d seen this pair kill each other the last time they met and now Rhor was chasing a win against Pondo and tournament glory. They opened by throwing hands and Pondo going to his trusty fork. He took Rhor on a stabbing tour of the ropes and tried to go for a bundle shot but Rhor speared it into him. Rhor cut him up with the broken bundle and bounced the food chain off of Pondo’s skull. Rhor broke a bundle on Pondo’s back with a cinderblock and took the fight outside to keep breaking fuckery on him. He enlisted a fan to hold a bundle in place and broke it into Pondo’s skull with a cinderblock. Rhor whipped Pondo with a tack belt and Pondo got revenge with a sudden stop. He ran the saw bat along Rhor’s midsection and Rhor narrowly avoided the cinderblock breaker to cut up Pondo with his own bat. Rhor hit the cinderblock breaker on Pondo and took the win. After multiple defeats, Rhor had learned Pondo’s tricks and finally scored a win over a deathmatch legend. This was more of what I’d seen from these two and that was perfect because their formula works for these types of matches. It was short, fun, and bloody as fuck. Can’t go wrong there.

Ladders and Light Tubes Three-Way: Lucky 13 defeated Phoenix Kidd & Raven Havok via Stolen Bundle Back Kick on Kidd

Time for something a bit more chaotic. Time to put three participants of the tournament, two battling over the rights to Headbangerr by Babymetal, and give them ladders and tubes to fuck each other up with. That’s what Lucky 13, Phoenix Kidd, and Raven Havok had found themselves in. Kidd was being brave tackling glass in just trunks so Havok tried to give him glassed-up wrists. 13 went after Havok and broke a tube on him with a double stomp. He kept Kidd out of the ring and kept dropping Havok on tubes. Kidd tried to interfere again so 13 dragged him through a glass pile before dumping him back outside again. 13 rocked Havok with a backflip knee and charged with a bundle but Havok dodged and pushed him into the corner. Havok hit him with a tube knee but couldn’t get the pin as Kidd came back and got rid of him. 13 took advantage and bounced Kidd off a ladder then tasted it himself as Kidd launched him into it with a back body drop. Havok got revenge on Kidd with a step-up tube senton and tried to go top rope but 13 kicked him off into a tube door. With Havok out, 13 and Kidd battled over a ladder and 13 dumped Kidd on his head with a ladder German. Kidd fell outside so 13 dragged Havok back in and quashed his resistance with a buckle bomb into a half Package Piledriver into a bundle. That got a two-count so Kidd trapped a bundle behind 13’s back and hit a double stomp to the bundle and double knees to 13’s head. Kidd had to pick glass out of his hand so Havok attacked him with a bundle back kick and 13 took the win by stealing the pin. This had been a riot with all three men showing off and the veteran stealing the win at the last second. Excellent fun to watch and it was fun to see the deathmatch side of Phoenix Kidd.

Backyard Fuckery: Dale Patricks defeated Cole Radrick via Door Combo

Time for a surprise. The original opponent for this one wasn’t here so Dale Patricks had been left in the lurch. Or so he’d thought. Cole Radrick’s music hit and he came out to partake in a dose of deathmatch. This was backyard fuckery and I was sure the pair were going to get reckless as hell as a Wildheart fought a Jackass. They opened with a tube duel and a hockey fight. Radrick attacked Patricks’ injured leg with a fuckery bat and followed him outside for a dive. Both guys got nailed with block bats and Patricks gave Radrick a tube in the head. The pair traded chair shots and Patricks gave Radrick even more glass to the head. Radrick took another chair to the injured leg and leaped at Patricks for an axe handle before kicking the absolute shit out of him. He stabbed Patricks with a gusset and took some glass to Patricks’ forehead, then broke more bundles with a seated cannonball. Patricks came back with ladder and kendo shots, once again chasing Radrick around the outside. Another slugfest broke out and Patricks put Radrick through an Only Fans door with a hip attack. Patricks went for the kill but Radrick brought him crashing through a trashcan with a deadly drive. He scored a two-count with a Moonsault and tucked a bundle in Patricks’ shirt. Patricks broke that bundle on him and scored near-falls with a Chokeslam and piledriver. Radrick refused to stay down so Patricks blasted him with a tube tower and ended things with a Tiger Driver and Chokeslam against a door. Cole Radrick had come in as an alternate and nearly bested the first tournament winner. They had broken fuckery everywhere and Radrick had stepped up for the occasion. Like the others, this match was pure violent fun.

Carpet Strip Fuckery: Neil Diamond Cutter defeated Dysfunction via Honey Badger Splash

Time for another match where the opponents know each other very well. The last time I saw these two fight, they had dry ice. This time they had carpet strips. Before the match even began, Cutter was showing off his strip Kung Fu. Dysfunction instantly went on the attack as he ignored Cutter’s sportsmanship and whacked him with a chair. He attacked Cutter with a cheese grater and Cutter attacked him with strips. Dysfunction nailed Cutter with a can board and Cutter stabbed him with a can, then clubbed him down for a senton. He gave Dysfunction a bundle to the head and Dysfunction dropped Cutter on one with a DVD. Cutter struck back with a skewer block and Dysfunction stabbed him with a strip bat before giving Cutter a skewered superkick. A bundle and strip star were set up and Dysfunction took the pair to the top but Cutter fought free and dropped Dysfunction through it with a Frankensteiner. Cutter covered Dysfunction in strips and took the win with the Honey Badger Splash. Much like Pondo/Rhor, this was another nice little sprint that kept the fuckery fast and furious and the pace from dragging. It won’t win awards but it was fun for what it was.

Four Corners of Hell: Josh Crane defeated Lord Crewe via Bundle Lariat

Time to up the physicality a bit. We went from plunder to punches as Danger Josh Crane and The Bareknuckle Berserker took to the ring. They had four corners of hell to fight with but more often than not, these two are just as happy to throw hands. Time for some strong style deathmatch horror. They started by throwing hands and Crane cut off a dive with a tube. The pair did some outside brawling as both fought amongst the fans and threw more nightmarish strikes. Crane started fighting back so Crewe shanked him with a tube and reopened an old wound on Crane’s body. Crane slugged back and hammered a gusset into Crewe’s head. He rearranged the furniture but took too much time so Crewe blasted him with another bundle, then drove him neck first into the mat with a chair. Crewe returned to the injured arm and went after it with tubes and chairs, trying to aggravate that wound. They kept battling and Crewe scored another knockdown with a Cyclone Boot. Crewe wanted to see what Crane had so Crane took out his leg, landed an Axe Kick, and finished the combo with a Cutter. He pelted Crewe with a chair and began setting up more plunder. Crewe capitalised again and attacked, covering a setup door in tacks and blocks. They danced around it and Crane put Crewe through it with a sit-out DVD. That got two so they fought around a glass door, Crewe putting Crane through it with a Shotgun Dropkick. Crewe attacked Crane with anything not nailed down but it just pumped Crane up. Crane ducked a bundle and smashed it through Crewe with a lariat, taking the win. This was fucking awesome. Two big, physical monsters throwing hands, chairs, and tubes whilst tanking inhuman amounts of damage. This was one of my favourite matches in the tournament.

Boards of Bullshit: Mickie Knuckles defeated Casanova Valentine via Fuckery Sandwich Twisting Splash

Oh boy. This was going to get messy. Casanova Valentine was back in his Cocaine Cowboy tournament gear and was looking to upset Mickie Knuckles and take this tournament for himself. Thing is, he’s fighting Mickie Knuckles and she’s as tough as they come. They too opened by throwing hands with Knuckles knocking Valentine loopy. Valentine dodged a lariat and smashed a fuckery board on Knuckles, quickly dropping her on the remains with a DDT. He completely destroyed the board with a running splash and started breaking tubes. He hit another fuckery board splash and smashed it with a falling elbow. Knuckles wouldn’t stay down so Valentine hammered a gusset into her chest and drove her down with a lariat. He hammered another into her head and body-slammed her onto tacks. Valentine missed a diving splash and Knuckles made him pay with frantic kicks to the face. She broke tubes into Valentine and dropped him on more with a Groin Claw Suplex. The pair slugged it out again and after furious headbutts, Valentine reversed a whip into an Overhead Belly to Belly. Valentine set up a gusset door but Knuckles sent him into it, stuck a knifeboard in his shirt, and crushed him in the sandwiched fuckery with a twisting splash. Knuckles got the win but Valentine had bust her open and left his mark. He had come to show AWR what he was about and I think he succeeded despite the loss. Once again, the tournament keeps providing fun as hell deathmatches.

Glass Panes: AKIRA defeated Danny Demanto via Guardrail Gotch Style Piledriver

Last but not least, the main event. What better way to end the first round than with the Death Samurai going against the Cold-Hearted Player in a ring full of glass panes? This was going to get very ugly (looking on, it actually did fuck up AKIRA.) They opened with chain wrestling and AKIRA whipped Demanto at a glass pane as a warning. The pair threw hands and AKIRA sent Demanto flying into a pane, it just wouldn’t break, even a thrown chair couldn’t smash it. The pane still wouldn’t smash so AKIRA pelted Demanto in the dick with a chair. They brawled around the ring and started smashing tubes. AKIRA smashed a bundle into Demanto with a rolling elbow and Demanto mauled AKIRA with a sign. AKIRA dug into his jacket and sat Demanto down to cut him up with a bullet that bites. The bullet stuck and AKIRA took Demanto out of his seat with a crossbody. He kept cutting, using a can as his weapon, and gave him a taste of the sign. Demanto slugged back and mocked AKIRA with a N’ole kick only for AKIRA to hit him with the sign again and sit him down for the proper Ole kick. He got the fans involved and slammed one onto Demanto, making a kid’s day by making him the next weapon. AKIRA is for the kids! Demanto got tired of the bullshit and took the fight up into the bleachers. They kept striking it out as Demanto got more and more confident and double-stomped AKIRA through some tires. Back in-ring, Demanto tried for a Moonsault but AKIRA dodged and sent Demanto into another pane with a Shotgun Dropkick. A pane finally broke as Demanto reversed a Suplex and drove AKIRA through one. Here was where AKIRA’s arm got cut to fuck and Demanto took the time to set up a guardrail. They fought up to the guardrail and AKIRA dropped Demanto onto it with a Gotch Style Piledriver. AKIRA had made it through the first round with a gnarly ass wound and a whole load of momentum. He had taken the fight to Demanto and the pair put on a main-event calibre brawl around the arena, entertaining everyone. It was a whole lot of fun to watch and a welcome end to one hell of an opening-round show. Check this out if you have IWTV, the name value alone should entice you.

All images courtesy of AWR, FREEBIRDS Shop, Screenshots,