Deathmatch wrestling strips professional wrestling down to its most literal premise: two men trying to hurt each other with whatever is lying around, in this case light bulb tubes, barbed wire, and thumbtacks. VICE host Damian Abraham travels to Delaware for the CZW Tournament of Death, the sport's biggest annual event, and spends time with David Markland, known in the ring as DJ Hyde, who books the show and has spent years building it into a pilgrimage site for fans who fly in from other countries to watch it live. Wrestlers describe what the matches actually do to their bodies, and Markland talks through the tension of running an event that depends on real injury while trying to keep his performers from being permanently wrecked by it. Interviews with fans and organizers fill in how a niche built on bloodletting turned into a subculture with its own hierarchy and loyalty. The film stays close to the arena and the people who keep showing up to it, violence included.