Photo: Apophis Photography, via ETT Facebook
The following article contains photos and images of real-life men bleeding real-life blood. Click away now if that isn’t your thing.
The worlds of ultraviolent deathmatch wrestling and extreme metal have always been kindred spirits (we previously covered it here, here and here), but Philly blood freaks Eat the Turnbuckle did it like no one else. Formed in 2011, the band of misfits—who had spent years in other bands like Call the Paramedics and The Bad Luck 13 Riot Extravaganza and now play in The Crippler, Family Garden and more—brought deathmatch professional wrestling to the stage, battering each other with wrestling moves, glass, doors, barbed wire and more in their performances.
Word of these performances spread and Eat the Turnbuckle toured the world, playing everything from Wacken and Obscene Extreme to Combat Zone Wrestling’s Tournament of Death. Eventually, all bad things come to an end and Eat the Turnbuckle quietly called it quits following their set at GWAR-B-Q 2016… until now. A few years ago, Eat the Turnbuckle began working on Stabbed in the Face, a documentary about the band’s bloody history. Once they were back in the same room, it became clear that the need to bleed was still there and plans were set in motion for Eat the Turnbuckle’s final show, at Underground Arts in Philadelphia on April 4, 2024. Taking place during Wrestlemania weekend, Eat the Turnbuckle will be joined by a bloody cast of wrestlers and bands for their final performance.
While you can’t see new documentary Stabbed in the Face just yet (stay posted to the website for screenings and release date information), Decibel got our hands on early access and spoke with Eat the Turnbuckle members SHLAK, Beer Dust, Chubbrock and JAG 13 about the documentary, their career and what to expect on April 4 (tickets available now).
When you guys first started Eat the Turnbuckle, what were your ambitions? Were you dreaming of festivals like Wacken and Obscene Extreme?
SHLAK: It was a continuation of all of our previous chaotic shithole bands and an excuse to wreak havoc in a more convincing and controlled situation. Something that didn’t always pan out as safe for the audience [laughs].
Beer Dust: I was a late addition, I believe 2 years after the band had already formed, [drummer] Antman decided to call it quits and SHLAK and I had be in several bands together previously so he gave me a ring and asked, “Are you willing to bleed and do you want to tour the world?” Obviously I said yes.
Chubbrock: I just wanted to play shows. Everything else that came along was a bonus.
JAG 13: We didn’t really think anything, we just wanted to start an extreme wrestling band and bring the bloodshed. We all came from bands basically doing extreme gimmicks and had to combine our superpowers of violence into an unstoppable force.
Eat the Turnbuckle plays music that is about deathmatch wrestling and incorporates it into the performance. How was it originally perceived? When did people come around to it?
SHLAK: It really depended on the area. Around here in Philly and Jersey, ultraviolent wrestling is a paramount. So they ate that shit for breakfast and understood it immediately. Other areas that aren’t as hip to the sport just looked at us like a bunch of fucking intoxicated baboons flailing about [laughs]. Which is slightly correct in itself.
JAG 13: Being from {hilly and wrestling fans at our age means you grew up around ECW, which was way crazier than watching WWF. It was like you knew about this underground thing that was local, then the offshoots of ECW started taking shit to the next level, independent wrestling shows with people like Abdullah the Butcher and Terry Funk would come around, then Combat Zone Wrestling came along. It’s like being part of an underground music scene like hardcore or punk, but wrestling. We just did what came natural and combined the two.
In the documentary, it says that Eat the Turnbuckle performed at the last GWAR-B-Q and then sort of just went your separate ways. Was there any discussion of more shows or was it mutually agreed that the band was done?
SHLAK: No words were said, I think it was just assumed. I was wrestling for CZW at that time and it became the primary focus on my end. [Mike] Hook began to play in another band, and Beer Dust was on the road working constantly so no new music was getting made. Once no new material happens, a project gets stale. Aside from that, we were fuckin’ exhausted and beaten to shit at that point.
Beer Dust: It was strange, speaking for myself. There had been a lot of tension on the last Euro tour and you could feel it in the air at GWAR-B-Q. Once we walked off stage, I think most of us just knew it was over, we never spoke about it and that was that. We just drove off.
Chubbrock: I can’t remember any type of sit down or talk. It was just kinda done.
JAG 13: We actually had a show booked after that which we canceled, then it was never really talked about again, and everyone kinda just went their separate ways and after a little break some of the guys didn’t want to play in ETT anymore. I think the term is “their pussies hurt”
SHLAK, you became a pro wrestler after Eat the Turnbuckle wrapped. Was that always a serious dream of yours or did that develop as the band did?
I have been a fan of pro wrestling way before I was ever in any band. Creating music and tattooing just kept me too busy. When ETT was going full steam and the constant violence was at a feverish pitch, I realized I had to finally pull the trigger before the band derailed. Now here we are 10 years later, reliving the train wreck.
You guys have one final show over Wrestlemania weekend. What can people who are not super familiar with deathmatch or hardcore wrestling expect? Will it be filmed for those who can’t attend?
SHLAK: Yes, it will be filmed and gotten to the public in some form. Details will emerge soon. As for what to expect? Have you ever seen a few dozen deathmatch wrestlers in the middle of a mosh pit that is completely loaded with weapons before? Neither have I, but we sure are gonna find out now, aren’t we?
Chubbrock: Pure mania, excess, chaos, bloodshed and loads of half-naked men.
Beer Dust: Without spoiling all the fun, if you have even the slightest bit of interest in: metal, deathmatch wrestling, wrestling in general, violence, true crime, crime scene cleanup, get a ticket. This is not to be missed.
And yes, everything will be filmed by Patchtown Films & XPW Wrestling.
They say in professional wrestling that retirement is rarely forever. Will Eat the Turnbuckle take a similar approach to retirement as Terry Funk?
SHLAK: To quote the late, great Bobby “The Brain” Heenan: “You know they say money can’t buy happiness. Give me 50 bucks and watch me smile.”
When Eat the Turnbuckle broke up, deathmatch wrestling was a lot less popular in the United States than it is today, in 2024. Did that influence your desire for the documentary and one final show?
SHLAK: The making of this film is kind of what brought everyone back together. Once everyone started seeing it come to life, the excitement from our friends and fans and overall the genuine support we received from our Indiegogo campaign, other bands, etc, something started stirring. We had to all get back together in the same room for interviews, photoshoots, etc and we would just start bullshitting about doing a proper goodbye, a real final show and it stemmed from there.
JAG 13: We had a lot of fun doing this band, as much as we don’t get along in real life. We would get in the van and everyone would be on the same page and never really argued and we had a blast pretty much all the time. It’s been a long time since the last show we played; everyone has been incestuous playing in separate bands with each other, like Crackhouse, Bad Luck 13, The Crippler and Family Garden. There’s a documentary about us and Wrestlemania is in Philly this year. The planets have aligned and we decided it was time to do one more show.
Stabbed in the Face features a ton of archival footage; did you guys always plan to make something like this documentary eventually?
Beer Dust: My first tour with ETT, we played a show in Denver CO, Vapor Fest, with Cephalic Carnage and a bunch of other great bands, and amongst them was Darkest Hour. Mike (Schleibaum, Darkest Hour) is a friend of JAG’s and he came up and started giving us shit about not having a camera rolling during our set at all times. So we did exactly that, bought 4 GoPros the next day and I just started filming everything. It was always in the back of my mind that we could make something really cool at some point but I wouldn’t say that was the goal. It was just too insane not to document everything.
JAG 13: We shot everything from multiple cameras when we performed, we hoped someone would do something with it someday
Chubbrock: Mike was always great at getting videos and cataloging them as soon as we got settled somewhere after the show. There was something there whether it was intentional or not.
In the documentary, there’s a part where the band Is discussing a show in Mexico, where a member of the crowd got seriously cut because of fan participation, which led to the police showing up and waiting outside the venue. Were you guys ever afraid of things going too far?
Beer Dust: No.
Chubbrock: It was always a possibility but, and I’ll speak for myself, I’m too stupid to be scared.
JAG 13: We would try to take things too far with ourselves, playing shows with gimmicks like “fans bring weapons” or have a theme like tables or 100 light tubes or something like that, but we don’t encourage the crowd to get involved themselves. Some things are too dangerous and people are morons.
