Messengers Of Death Tournament

[5.0] "Sasaki/Ryan was a fine enough opener, setting the tone of the tournament and placing Jon Ryan as an interesting Darkhorse in the tournament. Numazawa/Moore was decently entertaining despite being very repetitive by the end of it. Kankuro/Havoc was a very weak and uninspired deathmatch with pretty much no chemistry. Bernd/Miyamoto used the Scaffold stipulation efficiently and providednice variety to the tournament with high-flying skills instead of bloodshed. Hyde/Masada was standard CZW Ultraviolence between two guys who have chemistry and could provide a sensible over-the-top war with some meaning behind it, even if it was much too long for a semi-main event. Jimmy/Ryuji felt awkward, never gelled and ended the first round in gratuitous fashion. Masada/Ryan was fast, raw and original in a cool visual way that made it stand out and perfectly opened the semifinals of the tournament. Havoc/Numazawa was rather short, average and unmemorable. Ryuji/Miyamoto was the definition of lazy garbage wrestling, having pretty much no redeeming quality to itself. The Finals of the tournament was a rather mundane deathmatch, nothing special to it really and much more noise with shiny weapons than a substantial battle. I found enjoyment in the nice performances of Jon Ryan and Masada, as well as some efforts of Bernd Fohr and Jaki Numazawa, but in my opinion this is a tournament that falls apart as it goes on, with the first round being pretty serviceable, and Masada/Ryan being a damn cool semifinals, but the other two semifinals being very mundane, as was the Finals, with the lack of originality in the last three matches hurting a lot and making sure the tournament does not go above being just average."