WARNING: STRONG VIOLENCE AND LANGUAGE AHEAD
Welcome back to ICW NHB and to a momentous return to the Heart Ballroom. Deathmatch summer is going strong and ICW is bringing its first offering of bloodletting. The rabid New Jersey fans were being treated to a super show as the company offered another barrage of brutal bouts and the return of the Hardcore Giant Ron Niemi to commentary. On the cards tonight, we’d see AKIRA take on the debuting Cambodian Axe Murderer Joker, Kasey Kirk vs Joel Bateman, Colby Corino vs Homicide, John Wayne Murdoch vs Masha Slamovich and so much more leading to the 44OH! warfare main event where Atticus Cogar took on Eric Ryan. Well, that was what was supposed to happen but 44OH! never play ball do they? Let’s get into the carnage.
Fights, Camera, Action
Joker defeated AKIRA via Joker Driver
Up first tonight, we had the Death Samurai AKIRA kicking things off with another monster opening match challenge. It seems that more often than not now, AKIRA is the chosen man to either kick things off with a bang or welcome new guys to the company. In this case, he was doing both as he welcomed one of Danny Demanto’s dream company picks, the Cambodian Axe Murder Joker to the mix. The Death Samurai thrives under pressure but he was coming up against one of the top dogs of hardcore. Holy shit did this start things off right. Addressing the elephant in the room right away, yes, I do not approve of that type of trash talk. Uncalled-for slurs are just that, uncalled for. No wonder fans were booing after that point. That being said, these two murdered each other. This wasn’t a deathmatch down to fuckery, it was a deathmatch because they could have killed each other with their kicks and Suplexes. This was a vicious back-and-forth war of powerful striking and kicking with both feeding the other’s fire by never backing down. The legend got the win with his Joker Driver but damn, AKIRA had survived every other bullet in his gun. We’re talking pure punt kicks and Kawada Kicks. AKIRA ate them like nothing. This is how you open a show, with your gutsiest underdog facing someone of a similar style in an all-out slugfest. It didn’t need fuckery to create an impact. Joker seemed to have found a kindred spirit in AKIRA and the action showed that. They held nothing back and left me hoping for a round two somewhere down the line.
Brandon Kirk (w/Kasey Kirk) defeated Tommy Vendetta (w/Darren McCarty) via Chair Platform Psycho Driver
Psycho Driver #2 onto steel chairs from @ItsBrandonKirk!#NHB26 @ICWNHB @indiewrestling
▶️https://t.co/d3DddxfYzx pic.twitter.com/FABzPyv4i4— Rob (@HeyyImRob) June 26, 2022
Love the Kirks Fest ‘26 began with Brandon Kirk taking to the chains to battle the Loveable Psychopath Tommy Vendetta. This was a very crowd-tearing match as both are beloved bloodletting brawlers with roguish antics and a lot of heart. That meant we were about to see them beat the absolute shit out of each other. Both also had help in their corner. Brandon had Kasey and Vendetta had Darren McCarty watching his back. This went exactly as expected, an absolute fuckery fest. These two made use of all the weapons at their disposal, breaking firecracker bats, tubes, tables, and more on their massacre in and around ringside. Both guys had their time to shine with Vendetta coming off worse from Kirk’s shots to the back and literal salt in the wounds. Both fighters’ aid didn’t really help them either as Kasey brained Kirk with a bundle and McCarty accidentally speared Vendetta through a table. It was all chaotic fun as the two tried to bludgeon each other to death and kept coming back from the brink. The ring was a mess of broken fuckery and blocks by the end with Kirk sealing the deal with that hellacious chair platform Fuck Your Life Psycho Driver.
Bobby Beverly defeated Casanova Valentine via Bundle Breaker Superkick
Do you like Suplexes? You were about to see a whole lot of them as 44OH!’s Enforcer Bobby Beverly collided with Deathmatch’s answer to Gary Albright, Casanova Valentine. Brooklyn Black Death was gracing the chains once again and he was about to lock up with one of the nastiest additions to the ICW roster. There’d be no mercy and a whole lot of blood by the end of this one. Fucking hell, was there a lot of glass in this one. These two went tube mad, breaking bundles, singles, and super tubes across each other’s bodies and bonces with joyful glee, coating everyone in attendance in glass and spooky dust as they did so. They were both bleeding within the first minute and took their brawling and broken glass all around the venue, stopping by the merch tables for the first barfight of the night. We even got a Billie Starkz cameo as she encouraged the pair to batter the hell out of each other. It was a very visceral, very physical fight as these two big men just tried to outdo each other. The Suplex games of both eventually made their appearance but neither actually got the win with them. Beverly survived the overhead belly to belly and Valentine survived a can door Saito. In the end, it took the Bev’s Bundle Breaking Superkick to put things to bed and give 44OH! the win. Once again, Valentine put on a classic style brawl mixed with new style fuckery. This was another fun one with both just going hell for leather on the brawling and beating.
Kasey Kirk (w/Brandon Kirk) defeated Joel Bateman via Tube Chair 187
Love the Kirks Fest ’26 was coming to a close with the Tim Tam Slam. Joel Bateman was back in the US and ready to throw down in ICW once again and he’d set his sights on one of the fastest rising fighters in the company, Kasey Kirk. We’ve seen Kasey claw her way through the competition and now she was coming up against one of Australia’s best. Was her hot streak going to continue or was Bateman about to snuff the flames? This was one hell of a battle of attrition. It took the best of the strong style and the best of the fuckery then mashed them together to create the ultimate hybrid deathmatch with brains, spectacle, and creativity. Both fighters are pros and Bateman is notoriously creative when it comes to fuckery. He knew he was in there with one of the gutsiest, never say die fighters in ICW and he did everything he could to keep Kasey down. Brandon never once interfered, merely handing over fuckery when required and offering moral support as Kasey kept getting back up and beating the shit out of Bateman. These two put each other through hell and every minute that just escalated. Surprisingly enough, as time went on, they both got more and more sportsmanlike, offering the other slugging contests and tube duels. It was all a show of fighting spirit and Kasey came out on top, ending Bateman with the tube chair 187. She’s been on fire lately and this match was just as hot with Bateman acting more as an accelerant than an extinguisher. The blood poured, the glass flew and these two set the new benchmark for the show to top.
Homicide defeated Colby Corino via Barbed Wire Gringo Cutter
Next on the menu was something a lot scrappier. Pro Wrestling’s Last Bastion, Colby Corino was returning to the chains and taking on an absolute legend of the wrestling business, Homicide. We’ve seen these two do it all in their matches so it was going to be very interesting to see what would happen when the two collided again in a potential fuckery-laden environment. There was bad blood that needed to be exorcised. I thought these two were legit going to kill each other. Homicide has a lot of history with the Corino family so I wasn’t too surprised when they started throwing hands and launching each other into fuckery but this got violent. There was real malice behind the shots thrown and the plunder fighting. This was a real street fight with the pair going overtime despite the harsh shots and wired-up landings. Homicide is one of the best to lace up a pair of boots and the fact he’s still going in fights like this is a testament to his longevity. Corino is no slouch either, he’d been working all weekend at this point and still came to fully kick ass. Neither man slouched and both ate shit throughout. Brandon Kirk realised he was getting too popular and had to interfere in this one, first to help Colby, then to kill him. Despite his best intentions, he couldn’t influence the result and Homicide got the win his way. Even after the match, as he was knackered and leaning on Larry Legend, he was still talking shit about the Corinos. Colby had to be dragged away before we went into yet another scrap between the pair. Goddamn, this was an intense one. It didn’t even need glass to convey the pure hatred on display.
John Wayne Murdoch defeated Masha Slamovich via Tube Chair Brainbuster
A sicko with a sickle. @mashaslamovich #NHB26 @ICWNHB @indiewrestling
▶️https://t.co/d3DddxfYzx pic.twitter.com/E5WnBTX2vC— Rob (@HeyyImRob) June 26, 2022
Oh fuck. This was one of the biggest fights of the night. The Russian Deathwish Masha Slamovich was back and ready to fuck someone up once again. The chains were calling and this time she’d drawn the Duke, John Wayne Murdoch. The former king of the company has been killing it lately and now he was down a title, the road to redemption went through a Russian Minefield. Someone could genuinely die in this one. Well, neither fighter fucked around here. This was a deathmatch hurricane from the get-go. Masha started hot and genuinely seemed to catch Murdoch off-guard with her ferocity. He eventually caught up and we had the pair trying to outdo each other on the sadism and psychopathy. Masha had her sickle, Murdoch had his knives and both felt the full wrath of the other’s weapon. It was all very bloodthirsty and very chaotic. Both went hell for leather from the opening and sprinted through an absolute frenzy of spots and weaponry. The fans couldn’t pick a side as both kept winning back momentum and kicking things into another gear. Murdoch got the win but he’d been taken to his limit by Slamovich and the pure death wish that she has.
ICW American Deathmatch Title: Eric Ryan defeated Bobby Beverly via Tube Poke of Doom
Last but not least, the main event. We had tubes galore, carpet strips galore, and two brothers ready to take each other to the limit over ICW gold. Eric Ryan was facing his 44OH! brother Atticus Cogar and no one was ready for what was about to happen. Because the match didn’t happen. Cogar no-showed and Bobby Beverly reappeared to try and blue balls everyone out of a main-event. He pretended to be stepping up to fill the void, despite getting pushed to the limit by Valentine earlier in the show then took a pin for the champ. Everyone was pissed but hey, that’s the 44OH! way…
ICW American Deathmatch Title: Eric Ryan (w/Bobby Beverly) defeated Matt Tremont via Kenzan Stabbed Rear-Naked Choke
Someone else was pissed about this screwy finish too, the Bulldozer Matt Fucking Tremont. He burst through the curtain and filled the empty main event spot, promising a proper deathmatch bloodbath. Ryan has had some tough challengers so far but was he ready for the new era of Tremont. He was finally back in ICW and ready to make up for lost time. Damn did this make up for the lack of Cogar. Tremont came out with a point to prove and all the heat of a massive return. He was bloodied and beaten but refused to yield to Ryan, turning his flesh into sashimi with broken tubes. The Bulldozer was relentless and so was Ryan. This was two veterans of the game doing what they do best and getting everyone invested as they did so. It was the creme de la creme of smash and grab deathmatch mixed with nasty strikes and horrific landings on tubes. Plus, we got to see some of the H2O elite with Tremont as Kristian Ross, Chris Bradley and Deklan Grant made sure Bobby Beverly couldn’t interfere. It was all so damn fun without really needing words to describe it. Matt Tremont knows what to do and Ryan had us all rooting for him throughout. It was a damn good end to a damn good show. Though, fucking hell, it had been too long since I’d seen a Kenzan stabbed that far into someone’s head.
Best of the Bloodletting
- Once again, I leave myself struggling to pick out the best matches from this one. Every match delivered on what it set out to do. No match was allowed to drag and we got taken on a roller coaster through different degrees of deathmatch. From opening with Joker and AKIRA proving fists and feet can be the ultimate weapons of mass destruction to Bateman and Kasey drawing everyone into the ultimate battle of attrition to Masha going completely batshit with a sickle. Everything had its place and everything made the show work. Plus, they were all working their asses off in some extreme heat conditions.
- Equally, I was so happy to hear Ron Niemi back on commentary. The Struggles is a great commentator and has been doing his best to fly solo but now the dream team of deathmatch commentary is back. They immediately got back to their fun rapport and managed to call the action, alert us to conditions and keep us all entertained.
- Yeah, I popped for Separate Ways playing out of nowhere. It had been so long since the Bulldozer was in the chains and he came back with a bang. No one was going to debate his entry at the top because well, it’s Matt Tremont, why wouldn’t you want him at the top? Of course, he and Ryan made sure to put on an absolute massacre of a main-event and made sure everyone left happy despite 44OH!’s original gotcha.
What Happens Next?
.@TremontH2O sends Eric Ryan face-first into light tubes!#NHB26 @ICWNHB @indiewrestling
▶️https://t.co/d3Dddxxzr5 pic.twitter.com/bwRHSpL3QI— Rob (@HeyyImRob) June 26, 2022
- Matt Tremont is back and he has called out his next foe. He wants the match the pandemic took from him. The best of America is about to collide with the best of the UK when this match finally gets booked, Matt Tremont vs Big F’N Joe.
- Next weekend we have another triple-bill of ICW action coming at us as the Deathmatch Circus comes to town. There will be a Pitfighter and two No Holds Barred Volumes to look forward to that will see everyone featured here again in action and three title matches for the champ, Joel Bateman then John Wayne Murdoch then SHLAK? Will the champ still be the champ when the circus is done?
- Also returning next weekend is The Carver of Cutters Alley. ICW has become a home for monsters and now with Krule ruling the roost as the top monster, the Carver is coming for him. Plus, the circus will give us the debuts of MM3, Josh Bishop, and Kaplan as well as the returns of Aaron Williams and Jeff King. It’s an exciting time for ICW.
“TRUST THE PROCESS”
THE BULLDOZA is BACK ⛓
Relive all the memories of what fans are calling the WILDEST installment of the CHAINS yet!
Watch NOW only on IWTV! New to the IWTV App? Use the code ICWNHB to sign up now!
? – @RedShoesMedia pic.twitter.com/359nWBCf5u
— ICW No Holds Barred ⛓ (@ICWNHB) June 27, 2022
All images courtesy of ICW, HeyyImRob, Red Shoes Media