LIVONIA, Mich. — It’s Friday night at the Livonia, Michigan Elk’s Lodge, so you know what that means. Brad McFarlin and I were back at Horror Slam, for the third annual Murder City Death Match Cup. The last time we covered Horror Slam, the night was split between several family-friendly matches and death matches, but on Friday, September 13, it was all death matches, all night long, and this standing-room only crowd of death match connoisseurs was thirsty as hell, for some blood.
The first match of the night was a Four Corners of Hell match, between JJ Escobar, Kamikaze, and “The Old Timer” Jeff King. Escobar came out first, announced by manager Jeremiah Goldmain, weed whacker in hand, filling the room with the smell of gasoline. Then it was Kamikaze’s turn, who got a huge pop from the room. And then “The Old Timer” was announced, and received possibly an even bigger pop. Right off the bat, you could tell this was going to be a hot match, with an even hotter crowd. As expected, chaos ensued, with blood and gasoline fumes filling the ring. Often times, Escobar is the favorite in his matches, but this time, with Kamikaze and King in the ring with him, the crowd was clearly in favor of either of them winning, instead, and the crowd erupted when Escobar accidentally weed whacked Goldmain, instead of one of his opponents, and Kamikaze scored the win.
Kamikaze kicks JJ Escobar at Horror Slam at the Elk’s Lodge on September 13, 2024. Photo by Brad McFarlin.
One thing was for certain, the ring crew were going to have their work cut out for them tonight, because after this and each subsequent match, they had to clear the ring of shards of glass, barbed wire, broken doors and tables, and other items one night might not expect in a wrestling match, death match or not, which leads me to the second match of the night, Randi West versus Chuck Stein in a Horror Slam F*ckery Match. And what exactly is a F*uckery Match, you ask? Well, West answered that question when she came to the ring with a brown paper grocery bag, and emptied the contents onto the mat, revealing a plethora of dildos, including what appeared to be dildos covered in barbed wire and even a pair of dildo nunchucks. By comparison, Stein’s entrance appeared almost prudish, with nothing but his ever present barbed wire baseball bat.
Randi West and some weapons of choice at Horror Slam at the Elk’s Lodge on September 13, 2024. Photo by Brad McFarlin.
The match began on a sweet note, with the two combatants shaking hands and Stein hugging West, but then he swiftly attacked her with a barrage of light tubes. Let the f*uckery commence. It wasn’t long before the dildos came into play, with West gouging Stein’s forehead with a dildo with little gusset plates attached to it. Stein and West also took turns beating and choking each other with the dildo nunchucks. There were also several bicycle tires wrapped in barbed wire in the ring, and at one point, West pulled one of these down over Stein’s arms, temporarily immobilizing him. Later in the match, Stein hit a sling blade on West, taking her down onto a guitar with light tubes on it, and then he pulled out the sneaky win by reversing a guillotine choke, and pinning West for the 1-2-3. This was another instance where Stein is typically the crowd favorite, but the folks in attendance clearly wanted West to pull out the upset victory, so Stein got booed for pinning the much smaller West.
Chuck Stein and Randi West at Horror Slam at the Elk’s Lodge on September 13, 2024. Photo by Brad McFarlin.
Next it was time for a regular Horror Slam segment, “Richie Boy” Breyer Wellington’s Humble Yourself Rookie Challenge. Wellington is the co-owner and promoter of Horror Slam, and its sole regular in-ring authority figure, therefore he is resoundingly booed like no one else at Horror Slam. Wellington has a great pair of lungs, with a deep booming voice that he uses to cut through the boos to insult the crowd, and whatever rookies in the back who might dare to challenge him. This time around, Wellington had a partner with him, who was dressed similar to Rob Halford from Judas Priest, and Wellington announced that this would be a tag time rookie challenge. The first “rookie” to accept the challenge was “The Solution” Brandon Chapell, who I admittedly did not know, but who the crowd was happy to see. Wellington clarified that this was a tag team rookie challenge, and the next man to come out was the one and only Schwartzy, who seems to be one of the most universally beloved figures in Michigan indy wrestling, so we had two clear crowd favorites versus the despised Wellington and his Halford-esque tag team partner.
Schwartzy and Brandon Chapell at Horror Slam at the Elk’s Lodge on September 13, 2024. Photo by Brad McFarlin.
Schwartzy snuck up from behind with a surprise light tube shot, then the action spilled outside the ring, where it would remain for most of the match. For the majority of the match, it was Schwartzy and Wellington doing battle, while Chapell and Wellington’s partner beat on each other. With two pairs of wrestlers, both fighting outside the ring, there was a fair amount of action I couldn’t see, but I could certainly hear the numerous explosions of glass and light tubes, and bodies hitting folding chairs. Eventually, Schwartzy followed Wellington through the curtain, and behind the scenes, while Chapell and Wellington’s partner got back in the ring. Shortly after, Schwartzy came back and hit a light tube lung blower on Wellington’s partner, and pinned him to win this installment of the Humble Yourself Rookie Challenge.
Breyer Wellington’s partner in glass and blood at Horror Slam at the Elk’s Lodge on September 13, 2024. Photo by Brad McFarlin.
After the match, Schwartzy took the microphone and challenged Wellington to a one-on-one match at the next Horror Slam event, their seven-year anniversary show, Horror Slam: Underground Monsters, on October 11 (tickets available now).
After another, slightly shorter clean-up break, it was time for the next qualifying match in the Murder City Death Match Cup, a Pane Killer triple threat, between Dr. Redacted, Tommy Trainwreck, and MM3 (Malcolm Monroe III). Based upon the name of the match, one might assume this match would involve glass, lots of glass, even more glass than what was used before, and one would be correct. This time, in addition to the stacks of light tubes around the ring, there were multiple panes of glass, and these would not remain intact for long. Within minutes of starting, MM3 was down in the corner, with a pane of glass over his body, and Trainwreck would hit Dr. Redacted with a death valley driver through the glass, onto MM3, and shortly after that, Dr. Redacted would return the favor, hitting MM3 with a death valley driver through flaming glass onto Trainwreck. In the end, I’m not sure who among them got the worst of this exchange, but they were all bleeding profusely, and the crowd was loving it. In the end, it was Trainwreck who pulled out the victory, securing his place in the finals of the Murder City Death Match Cup.
Dr Redacted falls through glass on Tommy Trainwreck at Horror Slam at the Elk’s Lodge on September 13, 2024. Photo by Brad McFarlin.
Next it was time for the fourth and final qualifying match, in which Tommy Vendetta faced Drake Younger in a TLC (Tubes, Legos & Chairs) match. Vendetta is yet another crowd favorite, so he was cheered soundly when he entered the ring, and even though Younger was the outsider in this match, he also received a warm welcome. Despite all of the extra accoutrement in the ring, this was possibly the most technically-sound match of the night, and for the most part, they kept it in the ring, which meant that all of the crowd could easily watch the action. Still, this was a TLC match (or Horror Slam’s version of a TLC match), so there was plenty of chaos and destruction at play. At one point, Vendetta hit a backdrop on Younger through a door that had a pile of Legos on it, and anyone who’s ever stepped on a Lego barefoot could probably imagine what that might have felt like. After this, Vendetta poured a handful of Legos in Younger’s mouth and hit him with an elbow strike, sending Legos flying like pieces broken teeth. Vendetta even paid homage to John Cena at one point, hitting a Five Knuckle Shuffle on Younger, who had a folding chair over his face, then followed it up with an Attitude Adjustment into a pile of light tubes. Not to be outdone, Younger hit Vendetta with a frog splash, through light tubes, of course, which had to have hurt the shirtless Younger, as well, but in the closing sequence, Vendetta stopped Younger with a good old fashioned piledriver, followed by a curb stomp.
Tommy Vendetta pins Drake Younger at Horror Slam at the Elk’s Lodge on September 13, 2024. Photo by Brad McFarlin.
After the match, gracious in defeat, Younger asked for the microphone, and spent a couple minutes thanking the Horror Slam wrestlers, crew, and audience, after which Vendetta took the mic, thanked Younger, and led the audience in a rousing performance of “Happy Birthday,” since Younger had just turned 40. Like clockwork, after the crowd finished singing, Vendetta hit Younger with a low blow and another piledriver, leaving him motionless in the ring. Predictable or not, it was old-fashioned heat, and the crowd booed Vendetta. But Vendetta didn’t stop there. After the referee and ring crew attended to Younger, Vendetta came back out and hit Younger with yet another piledriver, and eventually a third, leading to Younger being stretchered out on a wooden door.
Tommy Vendetta piledrives Drake Younger at Horror Slam at the Elk’s Lodge on September 13, 2024. Photo by Brad McFarlin.
With that, it was time for the main event, and the finals of the Murder City Death Match Cup. This time, the ring crew rubber banded light tubes to the ropes, creating a fence of light tubes, so it took a little more time to set up than earlier matches. There were also multiple new panes of glass. Kamikaze was the first to be announced, and he was still bloody and battered from his qualifying match, and the same with Tommy Trainwreck, who was introduced next, but didn’t have much time to gather his thoughts, as Chuck Stein, also still covered in crusted blood, interrupted Trainwreck’s introduction by hitting him with his barbed wire bat. As Trainwreck and Stein approached the ring, Kamikaze dove through the ropes, and through the light tubes (living up to his name), crashing into Trainwreck and Stein. I thought there was supposed to be a fourth competitor, Tommy Vendetta, but perhaps he had gotten too injured to compete or was disqualified for his attack on Younger. Either way, he was nowhere to be seen in this match.
Chuck Stein and Kamikaze at Horror Slam at the Elk’s Lodge on September 13, 2024. Photo by Brad McFarlin.
So, after the three finalists entered the ring, Trainwreck hit Kamikaze with a vicious, thudding chop, then threw him through another wall of light tubes. Trainwreck and Stein basically took turns murdering Kamikaze, who ended up with two syringes stuck in his mouth, thanks to Chuck Stein. Eventually all three men ended up in the center of the ring, exchanging light tube blows, clouding the air with “spooky dust,” but just as Stein took control of the match, and looked to finish Kamikaze, Trainwreck hit Stein with a low blow, and pinned Stein, winning the third annual Murder City Death Match Cup.
Tommy Trainwreck wins the Murder City Death Match Cup at Horror Slam at the Elk’s Lodge on September 13, 2024. Photo by Brad McFarlin.
It was a wild night for Horror Slam, who had a packed house, and delivered the blood and horror in copious amounts, as advertised. Over the next two months, they have two big shows to promote. First, on October 11, they have their seventh-anniversary show, Horror Slam: Underground Monsters, which is being co-promoted by JCW (Juggalo Championship Wrestling). In addition to regular Horror Slam talent, they’re advertising appearances by Rhino, Kongo Kong, Detroit legend Soul Taker, and Insane Clown Posse’s Violent J, who was in attendance to watch the Murder City Death Match Cup. After that, on November 29, Horror Slam is partnering with ICW No Holds Barred for a death match super show. For more information and tickets to future Horror Slam shows, follow them on Facebook.
