Since 1997, IWA Mid South has been one of the US indies top proponents of deathmatch wrestling, and since then they’ve held the ultraviolent King of the Deathmatches, a two day event where some of the most insane and hardcore grapplers from around the work meet to prove who is the King of the genre. This year’s edition takes place this Friday and Saturday in Connersville, Indiana, and both nights will be airing live on FITE.tv.
The Entrants
A huge cast of entrants for the 2020 edition of King of the Deathmatches, with a few making their debut in the tournament. There’s also a lot of former tournament winners entered this year, so the competition will be violent, bloody, and stiff!
Casanova Valentine
Notable Tournaments to Date: CZW Tournament of Death (2018, 2019), RISE Underground Games of Death (2019, WINNER), H2O King of No Ring Deathmatches (2019), H2O Hardcore Kingdom (2018)
Rickey Shane Page
Reigning Game Changer Wrestling (GCW) World Champion
Notable Tournaments to Date: IWA Deep South Carnage Cup (2009), CZW Tournament of Death (2015, 2016 (WINNER), 2017, 2018), IWA Mid South King of the Deathmatches (2016, 2017 (WINNER), 2018), Big Japan Ikkitousen Death Match Survivor (2019)
Jimmy Lloyd
Notable Tournaments to Date: GCW Tournament of Survival (2017, 2019), GCW Nick Gage Invitational (2018, 2019), CZW Tournament of Death (2017, WINNER), On Point Survival of the Sickest (2018), H2O Hardcore Kingdom (2018), VOW Lord of Anarchy (2017)
Nick Gage
Notable Tournaments to Date: CZW Tournament of Death (2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006 (WINNER), 2008, 2009, 2010, 2015), IWA Mid South King of the Deathmatches (2003, 2005, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2015, 2018 (WINNER)), IWA Deep South Carnage Cup (2008, 2009), GCW Tournament of Survival (2017 (WINNER), 2018, 2019), GCW Nick Gage Invitational (2017, 2018, 2019 (WINNER)).
Dale Patricks
Notable Tournaments to Date: IWA Deep South Carnage Cup (2015, 2017), IWA Mid South Prince of the Deathmatches (2015, WINNER), IWA Mid South King of the Deathmatches (2015, 2016, 2017, 2018), CZW Tournament of Death (2018), Asylum Deathmatch Tournament (2019, WINNER), VOW Lord of Anarchy (2016, 2017, 2018 (WINNER)).
Aero Boy
Notable Tournaments to Date: DTU Hardcore Ultraviolent Tournament (2010), CZW Tournament of Death (2014), DTU Maxima Presea Ultraviolenta (2014), IWA Mid South King of the Deathmatches (2018).
Tristen Ramsey
Rising new star in IWA Mid South making his tournament debut.
Shane Mercer
Longtime indie veteran making his King of the Deathmatches debut.
Eddy Only
Notable Tournaments to Date: H2O Hardcore Kingdom (2020)
Devon Moore
Notable Tournaments to Date: IWA Deep South Carnage Cup (2008, 2011), CZW Tournament of Death (2008, 2010, 2012), IWA Mid South King of the Deathmatches (2008 (WINNER), 2009, 2010, 2011, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019), wXw Gorefest (2009), Fight Club: PRO Bound to Violence (2011, WINNER), VOW Lord of Anarchy (2016, 2017), H2O Hardcore Kingdom (2020).
BC Killer
Notable Tournaments to Date: UEW Sovereign of Slaughter (2015, 2016 (WINNER), 2018), CCW Crimson Cup (2016, 2018).
Orin Veidt
Notable Tournaments to Date: IWA Mid South Prince of Deathmatches (2018), ICW (Milwaukee) Insane 8 (2018 (WINNER), 2019 (WINNER)), GCW Tournament of Survival (2019), GCW Nick Gage Invitational (2019), H2O Hardcore Kingdom (2019)
Eric Ryan
Notable Tournaments to Date: VOW Lord of Anarchy (2015), IWA Mid South Prince of Deathmatches (2017), IWA Mid South King of the Deathmatches (2017, 2018), GCW Tournament of Survival (2018), GCW Nick Gage Invitational (2019), ICW (Milwaukee) Insane 8 (2019)
Jeff King
Notable Tournaments to Date: IWA Mid South Prince of the Deathmatches (2016), IWA Mid South King of the Deathmatches (2016, 2017), H2O Hardcore Kingdom (2020)
SHLAK
Notable Tournaments to Date: IWA Deep South Carnage Cup (2017), CZW Tournament of Death (2017, 2018, 2019), GCW Nick Gage Invitational (2017, 2018, 2019), GCW Tournament of Survival (2018, 2019), IWA Mid South King of the Deathmatches (2018), UEW Sovereign of Slaughter (2018), VOW Lord of Anarchy (2018), Asylum Deathmatch Tournament (2019), ICW (Milwaukee) Insane 8 (2019).
Josh Crane
Notable Tournaments to Date: Evolution Pro Deathmatch Tournament (2013 (WINNER), 2014), IWA Mid South King of the Deathmatches (2014, 2016), CZW Tournament of Death (2015, 2018), VOW Lord of Anarchy (2016, 2017, 2018), IWA Deep South Carnage Cup (2015, 2017 (WINNER)).
Non-Tournament Matches
IWA Mid South Heavyweight Championship: Ace Perry (c) vs. Kevin Giza vs. Jake Crist
Ace Perry has been the IWA M-S Heavyweight Champion for 145 days, since beating Aaron Williams at Let The Madness Begin back in March of this year, but on night one of the tournament, he’s defending his championship against two worthy challengers. Kevin Giza is a 3x IWA M-S Junior Heavyweight Champion who briefly tasted Heavyweight gold last year before losing it this past January. Jake Crist is in a repackaging process with IMPACT Wrestling, but in the meantime, he’s looking to wear the top title in IWA for the first time since January of 2018 when he briefly held the title for one day. He’ll be hoping for a better run this time if he can pull off the victory.
Stay tuned to the Last Word on Pro Wrestling for more on this and other stories from around the world of wrestling, as they develop. You can always count on LWOPW to be on top of the major news in the wrestling world, as well as to provide you with analysis, previews, videos, interviews, and editorials on the wrestling world. IWA Mid South King of the Deathmatches is airing live on FITE.tv, but you can also watch back catalog on IndependentWrestling.tv (IWTV).
