NHB 100 took place on Saturday, August 1 at the Anchor Rock Club in Atlantic City. The 100th show was a number that the owner Danny Demanto had been striving for, but it had not been easy. Before we step in the chains for NHB 100 I want to take a look at some of the highs and lows of NHB (formerly ICW NHB).
NHB 1 took place on January 4, 2020 at the White Eagle Hall in Jersey City, New Jersey. It was the first time that the chains had gone up instead of ropes, and saw future NHB regulars like Cassanova Valentine, John Wayne Murdoch, Eric Ryan, and SHLAK. It also had like Tessa Blanchard, Nick Gage, Homicide, Killer Kross, Necro Butcher and Dan Maff. While this was the first show, I feel like NHB 2 really showed what the company could be and would end up being.
Five months later, on June, 27, 2020, in a parking lot in Atlantic City, NHB would be one of the first wrestling events to take place during the pandemic era. Many people were in their cars, while others were safely distanced around the ring, taking in the violence. As this was one of the first live events back, many independent wrestling fans were glued to IWTV for the action. The show had some insane matches that brought blood and violence all over Tennessee Ave. One of the signature moments was AKIRA diving off a roof while holding a light tube on his back. The event ended in a bloodbath between SHLAK and John Wayne Murdoch.
Volume 2 felt like community viewing for deathmatch and indie wrestling fans alike, at a time when we had been without live wrestling for months.
Volumes 3-7 took place down the road in Millville, New Jersey. These shows introduced us to Pit Fighter events, which I am pretty sure was totally by accident and shows how well Danny and his crew roll with the punches. As it was raining too hard outside to have a wrestling show, they scrambled and found a barn and had some great no ring matches and The Pit became a regular event.
Volume 8 was the first venture outside of NJ, where the chains went down to Florida and we saw an Iron Man Death Match between John Wayne Murdoch and Orin Veidt. Florida would become a bit of a second home for NHB.
Volume 13 brought NHB to their only appearance at the Showboat in Atlantic City. This was during a Marijana Convention weekend, and it was pretty crazy, but very fun. This included Justin Kyle knocking out Phil Baroni, Sadika running Kimber Lee out of the building, a pit fight in the sand, and apparently Danny Demanto telling Val Venis that he was not welcome at NHB.
In Volume 20, NHB makes their debut in Chattanooga, TN which will be one of the homes of NHB. This weekend had a Pit Fight event that included a brutal fight between Krule and Hoodfoot, as well as John Wayne Murdoch defending the American Deathmatch Championship over Merc (The Pit 6) and Tank (Volume 20).
Volume 24 was an incredible show that took place in Newark, while the rest of the wrestling world was down south for Wrestlemania, NHB took a chance and it paid off with an incredible show. This show included a hard hitting battle between Tommy Vendetta and Isaiah Bronner, Atticus Cogar against John Wayne Murdoch, and Eric Ryan taking on Dale Pattricks. It also included the iconic match between Kasey Kirk and Danny Demanto, which was a match of the year candidate, and really kicked off the summer of Kasey Kirk.
Kasey Kirk continued a winning streak, which included victories over Eric Ryan, Dale Patricks, John Wayne Murdoch and her husband, Brandon Kirk. This led to her title match at Volume 32, where she defeated Joel Bateman, in an incredible match. After this, Kasey defended the title in Los Angeles against Orin Veidt. Then NHB took their first trip overseas for Volume 34 where Kasey defeated Joel again in his home country of Australia. We also met someone that NHB fans would become familiar with in Vixsin, who faced Danny Demanto in the pit, then teamed with Mad Dog to take on Kasey and Krule at DMDU vs NHB.
Back in the states, Kasey continued to run through legends like Matt Tremont and Mickie Knuckles in Volumes 35 and 36 respectively. At Volume 39, back at the Heart Ballroom, Kasey’s title reign came to an end to the only person that could really end it and that was her husband, Brandon Kirk. This was an incredibly violent and emotional match.
The next trip overseas was to England, where Volumes 41 and 42 would take place. These had many matches that would pit the best that NHB had against the best of Rise in England. These matches included Session Moth Martina vs Kasey Kirk, Big Joe defending the RISE Deathmatch Championship against Cassanova Valentine (Volume 41) and John Wayne Murdoch (Volume 42). American Deathmatch Champion Brandon Kirk defended the championship against BA Rose (Volume 41) and Clint Margera (Volume 42).
Atticus Cogar captured the American Deathmatch Championship at Volume 62, which led to a reign of terror of 44OH. Also victorious on this show were 44OH members Bobby Beverly, who defeated Danny Demanto, as well as Otis Cogar, who bested Tommy Vendetta. The title then changed hands twice in one weekend, as Bobby Beverly defeated Atticus Cogar at Volume 72. Then the next night at Volume 73, The Bev was defeated by the Japanese Deathmatch legend Masashi Takeda.
This led to NHB’s first trip to Japan for Volumes 77, 78 and 79. Going to Japan was a huge goal for the company, so these events meant a lot to everyone.nOn the first night Takeda defeated Dr. Redacted and on the second night John Wayne Murdoch defeated Takeda to win the American Deathmatch Championship. He defended against Toshiyiki Sakuda on the third night. These events also included Toru Sugiura against Tommy Vendetta, Jun Kasai and Rina Yamashita against Danny Demanto and Dr. Redacted, as well as Jun Kasai taking on Joel Bateman.
We return to the states and the Heart Ballroom for another huge event that gives us the debuts of JB Anderson and Bear Bronson. JB debuted in a Carpet Strip Slaughter Death Match, which is his specialty weapon. He is someone that has turned it up any time he has been given the chance. If there is an opportunity, JB will go out there and have an incredible match, whether it is outside in the cold or at one of the biggest shows in NHB history in a hot sold out building.
What can be said about Bear Bronson. He is a tv star that loves deathmatch wrestling, he had an insane match on this night against Danny Demanto and will give you an incredible match anytime he steps in the ring.
Another important debut in the later volumes was Angel Metro on Volume 88. Angel has a show stealing match against Danny Demanto on this event, where her toughness and resilience earned her the respect of the NHB crowd. Angel has a true love for deathmatch wrestling. She confronted Australian deathmatch star, Vixsin after Vixsin’s match against Danny Demanto at Volume 90, which led to a rivalry that would last over multiple NHB events. Angel’s toughness earned her a title shot against John Wayne Murdoch at Volume 91, which gave us another incredible match, and even earned her the respect of the typically unimpressed champion.
Then comes Volume 97, the event that was announced as possibly being the last. Danny had been fighting a lawsuit against the company and the financial burden was about to become too much if he kept fighting it. I was on the balcony for this event and the energy in the building was like few events that I had felt before.
We had Angel and Vixsin’s feud come to an end in an extremely bloodly fight. The CZW Ultraviolent Championship was defended in the chains as SHLAK may have been outsmarted by Danny Demanto, when Danny convinced him to put it on the line. In the main event, Dr. Redacted, one of the most loved wrestlers in NHB defeated John Wayne Murdoch to win the American Deathmatch Championship. The building exploded with joy, for a moment, then Danny came out. He explained about the lawsuit, but also said that since it was under the ICW LLC, they couldn’t touch him, so ICW, was dead, NHB would live on and the will be able get to that show that he has always wanted…NHB 100.