Ink Master: Grudge Match (2019–…): Season 1, Episode 10 - All Bark and No Bite - full transcript
[dramatic music]
male announcer:
In 12 jaw-dropping seasons
of "Ink Master,"
we've witnessed
amazing artistry...
- What the [bleep]?
announcer:
Insane rivalries...
- You mother[bleep].
announcer:
And wild personalities.
- And if your [bleep] camera
follows me, I swear to God.
I don't give a [[bleep].
I will break
that mother[bleep].
announcer: Now, three iconic
Ink Master champions,
Ryan Ashley...
[cheers and applause]
DJ Tambe,
and Cleen Rock One
have risen to judge status,
deciding grudges between
some of the competition's
most furious rivals.
- We gonna hash it out
like grown men,
or are you gonna
get in my face again?
- Let's tattoo!
announcer: These foes
will have the opportunity
to settle the score
once and for all.
- I can be in your face, okay?
- I can be in your face too.
- Guys, guys, guys, guys.
- We can do this all day.
- Hey, hey, hey!
Hey, hey, hey!
I don't think
that grudge is over.
I think it just got worse.
♪ ♪
announcer: Tonight,
two epic feuds
will come to a head.
It's bad blood fueled
by clashing personalities
and a mutual lack of respect,
and the grudges
will be settled now.
♪ ♪
In our first grudge match,
on season nine,
team representing shops
were at war,
and April Nicole
had zero patience
for the loudmouth Made Rich.
- You were mad.
- You were crying.
- You were yelling.
- You were storming out.
- Damn straight I stormed out.
announcer: Now they'll have
a chance to go head to head.
- We'll just let the tattoos
speak for themselves.
- Very much excited.
- And then maybe you don't
have to speak so much.
♪ ♪
- Two competitors
battling it out.
We got April and Made Rich.
You remember April.
- I remember April, and I know
she's a little spunky fighter.
I'll tell you that.
- Oh, yeah.
She's--she's a little crusher,
but Made Rich came in the house
with a big mouth,
the kind of person that
no one wants when you're--
when you're all
living together.
He was--he was the epitome
of that dude.
- Y'all lines are [bleep].
- I don't agree with that.
I don't think that that's true.
I don't think anybody said that
that was true.
- Two.
- Some people are frustrated
with you because you get--
- I don't care if you're
frustrated with me or not!
- You're being obnoxious.
- Shut up. Shut up.
- You can't expect people to--
- Fine.
- Shut up. Shut up.
- I'm walking out
because you're obnoxious.
- These are horrible tattoos!
- They are not
horrible tattoos.
That's just being mean
for the sake of being mean.
- I said that the same way
that he said I sucked,
so I'm gonna defend my shit
just how he defended his.
- Man, I'm so excited
to see this.
- Me too, me too.
- Man, it's like
two polar opposites.
- You're gonna run your mouth
and say that you're better?
- Yeah.
- Well, put up or shut up.
[train rattling on tracks]
[dramatic hip-hop music]
- On season nine, I guess
some of the competitors
would think I'm a villain.
That really wasn't
my intention.
I just don't put up
with people's shit
and I'm gonna speak my mind.
- Inhale.
Reach up.
- My only beef with April
is I just don't feel like
she was respecting my work.
Coming into this grudge match,
I'm here to put the nail
in her coffin, man.
I honestly don't even feel like
she has what it takes
to even compete.
♪ ♪
- I like it.
- Wow.
I love that.
Turn around.
Do a spin.
[mellow pop music]
- I'm a very positive person
and I'm very lighthearted.
I want everybody to get along
and have a great time.
Well, Rich doesn't.
He really wants to fight
with everybody all the time.
He just wants to be
in your face and yelling,
and I'm just
not about that life.
It would be amazing
to take Rich down
just because he thinks
that I'm not going to.
♪ ♪
Oh, my God.
- She wore her shit-kickers.
- Those boots are made for
kicking ass today, not walking.
- [laughs] That's right.
That's why she wore them.
- Yeah.
This is nice.
- Ooh, here he is.
Oh, I already
don't like his strut.
- April.
- Well, well, well...
- Nowhere to hide?
- I don't need to hide.
You picked on the wrong person.
- I didn't pick on anybody.
I defended myself.
- I was just here to tattoo.
You had another agenda.
You were mad.
- You were crying.
- You were yelling.
- You were storming out.
- Damn straight I stormed out.
- You want to talk about my
work, I'ma defend it.
- I didn't shut up then,
and I'm not gonna
shut up this time.
- I've seen too much of this.
You guys ready?
- Yeah, let's get this started.
- I mean, let's do this.
- I want to prove that
you don't need to be
loud and obnoxious
to get your message across.
- I'm gonna be confident,
and I will be arrogant.
- What's going on?
- Hey, you two.
- Oh, here we go.
- How's it going in here?
Hey, guys.
- Good.
- What did this beef
start over?
- Ask him.
- She had the problem.
People ain't like how
I was playing the game.
- We just play the game
a little differently.
- I wasn't upset.
- I don't know.
I think you have
to be pretty upset
to tell somebody to shut up
over and over and over.
- I'm just not gonna
let nobody speak over me.
I'ma speak my piece.
I'ma defend my work.
- Ooh, well, today,
you guys both better let
your tattoos do the speaking.
- 100%.
- This is it.
Head-to-head.
- Let's do it.
- Yeah. [laughs]
- We're gonna assign you guys
a 90-minute Face-Off Tattoo.
- And we pick the challenge.
- Yeah, bring it on.
- Lay it on me.
- The winner of the 90-minute
Face-Off Tattoo
gets to determine
the style and subject
of the six-hour
Grudge Match Tattoo.
- Heck, yeah.
- Whoever wins the Grudge Match
settles the score,
and ends this thing
once and for all.
- Put your money
where your mouth is.
- I put my money
where my tats are.
- What are you guys thinking
for this 90-minute challenge?
- I don't want
to make it easy on them.
- Gotta do something geometric.
Something with symmetry too.
- How about mandalas?
- Mandalas.
- Mandalas is definitely
a great head-to-head.
If you mess up one line,
that throws your whole
entire pattern after that off.
- I agree.
- Yeah.
- 90-minute mandalas.
- Yes.
- Wanna squash this?
- I'm so ready.
- Yeah.
- Let's get to your shops
and get these tattoos started.
- Showtime.
- Whoo!
[dramatic music]
We'll just let the tattoos
speak for themselves.
- I'm excited.
Very much excited.
- And then maybe you don't
have to speak so much.
♪ ♪
announcer:
In our second grudge,
rookie artist LT's loud bark
was checked by the veteran
hothead Ryan Eternal.
- We gonna hash it out
like grown men,
or are you gonna
get in my face again?
- Let's hammer it out
right [bleep] now.
announcer:
Now LT wants respect.
- I'm not letting nobody else
telling me
that I don't have
what it takes.
- Never said you didn't
have what it takes.
I said you never listen.
- Back the [bleep] up.
- Back me the [bleep] up.
♪ ♪
- All right, both of these guys
were on my very first season
of "Ink Master."
These two in the house--
I mean, it was insane.
LT, he snaps,
and Ryan Eternal--
he's a firecracker.
Both of these guys were
pushing each other's buttons,
and the house was insane.
- I don't really care
what anybody has to say.
I don't have to prove myself
to any of you guys.
- Look at how much experience
is sitting right next
to you right now.
- I don't care about
your experience.
- That's why
we're [bleep] confident.
You don't care?
- That's why I'm here.
- I don't give
a [bleep] about...
- I don't give a [bleep]
how loud you [bleep]!
You wanna [bleep]
talk to me like that?
- Yeah.
- Yeah? Yeah?
- Yeah. Yeah.
What you gonna do?
- [bleep] talking about it.
- I'm talking to you!
- Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey,
hey, hey, come on.
- I'm talking to you, bro.
[overlapping chatter]
- You don't know
who the [bleep] I am.
- You don't know who
the [bleep] I am!
- Oh!
- I mean, hopefully,
LT, you know,
got better at tattooing
and Ryan doe--
isn't as explosive as he was,
you know?
[laughing] He can keep it cool
and just do a good tattoo.
- I mean, that's gonna
be a tough one, man.
I know Ryan, and I know LT.
- Oh, I know them too.
- And I think
that both of these guys
are gonna come out swinging
no matter what.
[rock music]
- What's up, Elton?
What's going on, man?
- How you been, bro?
- How's the paint?
How's the tattoos?
- You know, art is--
tattooing is amazing.
- Love that.
- It's been going good.
It's been going great.
Season five
was a long time ago.
I was just a kid, and I've
grown so much as an artist.
- Ah, ya, ya, ya.
Back and back,
and right, left, boom.
There we go.
LT, ready?
- I do a lot more things
than Ryan can ever do--
music, art, I'm a dancer.
I'm just
a multitalented artist.
Ryan Eternal disrespected me.
Listen, Ryan, bring it,
'cause I'm coming guns blazing.
[rock music]
♪ ♪
- The way I grew up,
you had to be a tough-ass
to get through,
but now I'm at the beach
living the dream.
I'm a laid-back hothead.
We're living
that good life, huh?
Yeah.
LT just had a mouth
that wouldn't quit,
and he just came
to the wrong person
and pointed the wrong finger,
so I just let him know
what was up.
LT probably thinks
I'm a bully.
I'm not really a bully.
I'm just a big, tough [bleep]
guy that doesn't take shit,
and I sure as hell ain't gonna
take it from some kid.
♪ ♪
- Oh.
- Ryan, there he is.
- Ol' Ryan throw--he looks like
a lumberjack with that beard.
- Wow.
- Holy moly.
- [mutters]
[bleep].
- Dude, he looks pissed, man.
- The calm before the storm.
- He's pacing back and forth.
- He's like, "All right,
where are you?"
- [chuckles]
What's up, Ryan?
- [scoffs]
- It's been five years, man.
Long time.
- Five years it's been.
- [gasps]
Ryan does not look pleased.
- Oh.
- Still holding a grudge?
- We gonna hash it out
like grown men,
or are you gonna get in
my face again like last time?
- Oh, you've grown?
- I'm grown.
- Ryan could bench press
this dude.
- It don't look like you learned
no respect from back then.
- Did you forget that
you was running your mouth?
- Watch your little hands
with me, all right?
- [chuckles]
Listen, this is a bubble.
I can do whatever I want
in my bubble.
- Well, what if I step
in this bubble?
- I mean, then you're crossing
that bubble.
- And then what?
What are you gonna...
- Now you're crossing
that bubble, bro.
- Back the [bleep] up.
- Back me the [bleep] up.
- Whew.
- We gotta get in there.
- Come on, come on.
- All I'm hearing is barking.
- I can't wait till
we get this started, man.
- If you want me, let's handle
this right [bleep] now.
Right [bleep] now.
You brought me here.
Let's have it out
right [bleep] now.
- The whole room
disrespected me, bro.
- First of all,
change your [bleep] voice
with me, you understand?
- All right, all right...
[together] Whoa, whoa, whoa.
- Yo, yo, yo, yo.
All right, all right, all right.
- Whoa, whoa, whoa.
- Break it up. Easy.
- Calm down.
- Easy, easy.
- This was years ago.
You guys still hold on to this?
- Someone is.
- I'm not letting
nobody else telling me,
you know,
that I don't have what it takes.
- Never said you didn't
have what it takes.
I said you never listened.
There's a big
[bleep] difference.
Talk is cheap.
- He's an obstacle,
and anybody else who's in front
of me is an obstacle, so...
- Talk's cheap.
Let's see it.
- I'm hoping you guys...
- Use some of this energy.
- Quit some of this
and start doing some of this.
- Obviously, there's some shit
still stirring between you guys.
We're gonna totally
level the playing field today.
We're gonna throw at you guys
a 90-minute Face-Off Tattoo
where we get to pick what
you guys are gonna be tattooing.
- Yeah, let's do it.
- Okay, cool.
- The winner of that
90-minute Face-Off Tattoo
is gonna get a huge advantage
for tomorrow's six-hour
Grudge Match Tattoo.
- That's what's up.
- And the winner of that
Grudge Match ends it all.
Grudge settled.
Somebody's walking away
with some bragging rights.
- You guys need to get out
of each other's bubble.
- Awesome.
- What do you got for us?
- I mean, both of these guys
are popping off at each other.
- The two of them definitely
have a pretty short fuse,
if you know what I mean.
- For sure.
- Explosive.
- Let's do that.
- Do what?
- Explosives.
- So anything that explodes?
- Yeah.
- Anything that explodes.
- [imitates an explosion]
- Think you can handle that?
- Don't ask me no questions.
- [imitates barking]
- He's ready to tattoo.
- All right, well, get to work.
You only got 90 minutes.
- Light some fuses.
- Let's do it.
Whew.
Shit.
- I'ma blow you
out of this competition, bro.
- Blow me out
of this completion.
- You need help?
- Yo, mine--
yo, why you looking
at my stuff, bro?
- You need help?
- Why you cheating?
- You need help.
- You need help, bro!
- I'm here helping you.
I'm here for you.
- This is how
you want to play it?
- Distractions, huh?
- It's okay. Don't get mad.
- Oh, okay.
That's how we playing?
- Look at--don't get mad.
We'll hang out.
- What are you doing, bro?
- I just want to talk to you.
- I don't wanna talk, bro.
I just wanna, like,
create art, bro.
- I'm just saying,
if you need some help...
[laughs]
[dramatic music]
♪ ♪
- Made Rich, you ready?
- I'm ready, Cleen.
- April, are you ready?
- Yeah.
- Let's tattoo!
- Whoo!
- I'm excited for these
color blends.
[dramatic rock music]
- Yeah.
I love it.
- Yeah.
You ready? Okay.
- Yeah.
♪ ♪
- One line down.
- Yeah.
- I'm trying to channel
that mandala energy in here.
Mandalas are supposed to be
a calming, meditative art,
and this is not meditative
at all. [laughs]
I have the habit,
the first time,
of making all of my tattoos
way too big...
- Yeah.
[tattoo machine buzzing]
- And then I would get
to that five-hour mark,
and I'd be like, "How am I
gonna finish this in an hour?"
As long as my lines
are straight
and my dots
are evenly distributed,
I'll be fine.
[suspenseful music]
- My clients be telling me
I'm not heavy-handed,
but I'll use my whole damn body
to hold them down.
- [laughs]
- Mandalas are a breeze.
My biggest issue
is figuring out
how to make this
a little more exciting.
People have the tendency to
judge me off of my character
instead of my artwork,
so this time,
I'm gonna show
my artwork creatively.
- [whistles] It's gonna
be something different, huh?
- Oh, I gotta, man.
I can't come back
and do the same old shit.
I'm doing my color blend.
It's kinda risky,
but I'm feeling very confident.
- What are your plans for this
blue transition to the red...
- And then the red
into the black. [laughs]
It's not the place to play safe.
I'm here to compete.
- Oh, my God.
He's doing colors?
[tattoo machine buzzing]
Psycho.
[dramatic music]
♪ ♪
- 60 minutes left.
That is only one hour
to finish these mandalas.
- 90 minutes isn't enough time
to shade it in,
so I'm just gonna do dot work.
[long exhale]
[tattoo machine buzzing]
So many lines.
I'm a human being.
I'm not a machine,
so doing perfectly-straight
line work
is definitely a challenge.
I'm freaking out!
[whispers]
It's a lot.
[dramatic music]
♪ ♪
- All right, LT, Ryan,
you guys have 90 minutes
to do an explosive tattoo,
and it better blow me away.
And your time starts now!
♪ ♪
- Oh, yeah.
- This is gonna be
a super interesting battle.
Ryan has way more
experience than LT.
I mean, he's been tattooing
for a long time.
LT is the one that has
something to prove here.
- Let's get it popping.
- On the flip side,
what if Ryan's a old dog
that hasn't learned
any new tricks
and LT is the new, fresh meat
that's coming in hungry?
[tattoo machine buzzing]
- What made you choose this?
- Well, I was
in the military, so...
- Oh, yeah?
- This is badass.
- My tattoo
is a tough-as-nails bomb
falling out of the air
with explosives behind it,
and there's a big shark face
painted across it.
[bleep], yeah.
Sharks are bad as [bleep],
and everybody knows
when you put a shark on
anything, it makes it tough.
How you doing over there?
You over there concentrating?
- Stop talking shit.
- Dude, if LT even wants a
shred of a chance to beat me,
he better step the [bleep] up.
90 minutes to me
is a regular tattoo
that I do
every day of the week.
LT is gonna sweat the shit
out of this tattoo
'cause he doesn't
tattoo like that.
This is a banger.
You go in.
You kill it.
You get the [bleep] out.
- It's gonna be a close one,
but we got this.
♪ ♪
- You've got 30 minutes left.
30 minutes.
- I'm feeling like we need
to hurry the [bleep] up.
I've been so focused
on doing these color blends
and working on these lines
that the time's almost done,
and I haven't even
put the black in yet.
I need to make sure that this
does not bite me in my ass.
I'm not trying to be antisocial.
I need to finish this shit.
- Made Rich is being
really quiet.
I thought that he was gonna
be yelling at me the whole time,
and he's just over there
doing his tattoo.
It makes me a little nervous.
♪ ♪
- Five, four,
three, two, one.
This Face-Off is over.
- Whew.
both: Yay.
- Breathe now.
[laughs]
- [laughs]
Catch a breath, oh.
- That was a really
crazy 90 minutes.
I'm proud. We did it.
- Yeah.
Holla. [laughs]
- Yay.
- All right, all right.
- Yeah.
- So who's gonna win this thing?
- I'm ready to check out
some good tattoos.
- Rich is confident.
I see it in him always
like a damn statue.
- Always.
Always.
- He said he's happy to be done.
- What?
- Hour and a half?
Last time you did
a hour-and-a-half tattoo?
[laughs]
- That is a good question.
- Think about that, man.
- It's a hard challenge.
It's a hard challenge.
- First off, I didn't want
to do just a regular mandala.
- Why?
- I'm not here to play it safe.
- So did you find
her design boring?
- Yeah, it looked like
every other mandala.
- I don't think it's boring.
I think classic-looking designs
are timeless.
- I think April's tattoo--
the overall appearance
looks great.
The overall line work--
there's a few light lines
here and there,
but the biggest inconsistency
would be the little, fine dots
throughout the whole tattoo.
- I mean, to do every dot
like a computer
is just mind-blowing,
you know?
You'd have to spend more than
an hour and a half on it.
- 90 minutes.
- Yeah.
- Yeah, but one thing
I wish that it had
that it didn't have
was solid black.
For the time it took you
to do that stippling,
whip that solid black in,
half the time,
and it would put in that pop.
Other than that,
it's a really pretty tattoo.
I mean, for an hour and a half,
it's in there.
- All right, Made Rich,
I like the overall design.
Everything's really
proportioned and tight.
I'm not a huge fan
of the outline in color,
but you pulled it off.
The black looks nice.
I wish there was
just more of it.
- The problem that I had
with putting the color in
was the inconsistencies
where your colors connect
because you stopped the line
in the middle
and you picked up
another color
and some of them
don't match up perfectly.
And if you would have run
just a solid black line,
you wouldn't have had
those issues.
- I think my only mistake was
doing too many tricks too soon.
- I mean, it's never a bad thing
to try to push yourself,
you know I mean?
- For sure.
We have to come up
with a decision here,
and it's a tough one, you know?
Because both of them have flaws.
- Made, if you put those lines
in black,
you would have my vote
all day, man.
But my vote is for April.
- I also vote for April.
- The black lines that you had
on yours were dead nuts.
It was the colored ones
that got you.
My vote is for April.
- [squeaks, laughs]
- April,
you won the Face-Off Tattoo,
so now you get to determine
the subject or style
for the Grudge Match Tattoo.
- I'm gonna choose the subject.
Maybe we could do,
like, fantasy ladies?
'Cause I love them.
- [laughs]
- Me too.
I'll take that.
Thank you.
Thank you.
- The Grudge Match is set.
You guys gotta
do fantasy ladies.
- All right, guys, get to work.
- We'll see you tomorrow.
- Thank you, guys.
- Fantasy ladies?
Wow.
- Oh, man.
- I'm actually surprised
that you picked a subject
instead of a style.
Kind of a waste of an advantage.
- Who are you to be giving
advice on what--
what style and subject
and all that?
I won.
- Your win today is irrelevant.
- What?
- Tomorrow's victory
is what matters.
- Game on.
♪ ♪
[grungy rock music]
♪ ♪
- I don't know about yours,
but mine's explosive.
- It's explosive, dawg?
- It's gonna
blow your mind, bro.
- I hope so.
Confident?
- Very confident.
- Yeah?
- Are you?
- I'm always confident, dawg.
- Then show me
how confident you are.
Don't talk about it.
Ryan's gonna do some
traditional tattoo,
just like he does
all the time,
playing the safe zone.
Me, I like to challenge myself.
This tattoo has
a lot of details.
I have a lot of creases
in the jeans, in the shirt.
I have a couch
that he's sitting on.
I have a background to do,
so the fact
that there's a time limit--
it's gonna be a tough one.
- All right, guys,
we're at the halfway point.
There's 45 minutes left
to finish your explosion.
♪ ♪
- So are you taking more
of a illustrative approach?
- Uh-huh. I'm just trying
to be as free as I can with it.
- Yeah, okay.
You gonna make it?
I mean, you got 40 minutes.
- Whoo.
- Yeah.
- Don't tell me
about the time, bro.
I get it.
[bleep].
[rock music]
♪ ♪
- Come on.
How many minutes
do we got left?
- 15 minutes left to finish up
your explosive tattoos.
- I need more time!
[tattoo machine buzzing]
Just kidding.
♪ ♪
- Try not to move.
- Okay.
♪ ♪
[tattoo machine buzzing]
- Five seconds to detonation.
Five, four,
three, two, one.
Stop everything.
- Good job.
- Definitely.
- Killed it.
- That was, like,
the quickest 90 minutes...
- Right?
- I've ever experienced.
- I love it.
- Fire.
- Thank you.
- How you feel about it?
- Confident.
- Yeah?
- You?
- Oh, I'm always confident
'cause I've been doing this
a long time.
- When I win, are you gonna
give me the respect I deserve?
- I give respect that's earned.
- What's going on, guys?
- Come on down.
Let's do this.
- So whose explosive tattoo was
the bomb, and whose was a dud?
- His was the dud.
Mine was the bomb.
- Mine was better.
You know that.
Mine was more solid.
- Ryan, I really like
the design you chose.
My favorite part
about this tattoo
is how you blended the black
into the dark green.
It's blended
really seamlessly.
I think that solid saturation
is the highlight
of your tattoo.
- You do got some good lines
in this thing,
but there are some
that run away.
You know, your line work
should be a little tighter
on your points
on the little explosions,
but I feel like it was a good,
solid tattoo in 90 minutes.
- Thank you very much.
- LT, I feel like the line work
you put in was very sculpted.
Your line weight
transitioned really neat
to all of the different shapes
and silhouettes.
It was a very illustrative,
sketchy,
comic book sort of style
you're going for,
but I really wish
you would have went in
with these super solid,
single-pass lines
because you have to have
some sharpness
to separate the textures
in your image.
Right now, everything looks
a little bit flat.
- I like the overall drawing.
I think it's a cool idea,
but where the bomb's at
is just a little too dark.
I feel like it just needs
some big highlights.
- I 100% understand.
I wanted to go and
put more whites on the bottom.
It was time.
- Yeah, I mean,
I think you definitely swung
for the fences on this one.
It's a tough call because
LT went out of the box
and showed us something
that's really creative,
and Ryan kept it simple and
gave you a bulletproof tattoo
that has a few little hiccups
in the line work.
- Both of you guys had some
amazing shining moments,
but judging on tattoo
fundamentals alone,
I'm gonna go with Ryan.
- Clean and simple.
My vote's for Ryan today.
- Whoo!
- I'm gonna have to go
with Ryan on this one.
- Thank you very much.
I really appreciate it.
- I'm ready, man.
Just give me the six hours.
Just--what do--
what do you want to do, man?
- Ryan, you get to pick
the style or subject
for tomorrow's
six-hour Grudge Match Tattoo.
- Well, here's the thing.
I'm built on tradition.
It is what it is, you know?
It shows technical ability.
It lasts.
It's everything that I love,
and it's what I'm proud of.
I want to see his fundamentals.
That's where all this starts.
That's why we become
tattoo artists.
We want to be
fundamentally sound,
and we want to give people
great tattoos.
- What's it gonna be, dude?
- I'm choosing
American traditional.
- LT, do you do
any of this stuff at home?
- Nope.
- I believe he can do it
if he takes the time
and settles down and,
like, uses his head,
so I don't wish ill against him,
but I want to see him shine.
- There is nowhere to hide
in that style.
- Mentally prepared.
I mean, I'm an artist,
so I'm here.
I'm here for this.
- That's what I wanna hear, man.
That's a fight.
All right, good luck, guys.
Hey, get to drawing.
- I'll get to drawing, man.
- Let's go.
- Okay, guys, good luck.
- He's gonna have to pull
some clean lines, man.
- He probably didn't expect
to be doing that right now.
- If you pull it off,
you will earn my respect 100.
- I don't even
want to talk, bro.
I just want to focus.
Not here to be buddy-buddies.
We're here to settle the score.
- It's a lot harder
than it looks.
- Oh, my God.
This is what
American traditional is?
♪ ♪
- [laughs]
[dramatic music]
♪ ♪
- You guys ready
to end this grudge?
- Yeah, let's do it.
- April, ready to kick this off?
Let's do this.
Six hours.
Time starts now.
- All right,
let's get this stencil on.
- April called fantasy ladies.
That could mean anything.
Is it a cricket with lips?
Half donkey, half lady?
This is your chance
for something different.
- I think it looks pretty good.
- Anything outside the box.
What's your fantasy lady?
- I'm gonna let that dry.
I always get--
get a little anxious
before every tattoo, man.
It's like a game day jitter.
- You ready?
- Hell, yeah.
- [rough voice] Hold still.
[laughs]
[tattoo machine buzzing]
♪ ♪
It's a little nerve-racking
going into the Grudge Match
Tattoo because I picked it,
so if I do a bad job,
I'm gonna look like a weenie.
♪ ♪
- It's all back and gray?
Cool.
- Yup.
- Okay.
Make good choices, you know?
- Yeah.
I'm taking the critiques
that the judges gave me
on my Face-Off Tattoo to heart,
so I'm gonna
tone down my design,
but I refuse to let it
tone down my creativity.
- What is your fantasy?
- [laughs]
I wouldn't call it my fantasy.
I'm pretty sure it's a lot
of people's fantasies.
I worked off an image of you.
- Oh, really?
- Yes.
- No, you did not.
- [laughs]
- Are you trying to get
brownie points with that?
- [laughs]
Whatever works.
- You've got them, baby--
a whole tray.
- I'ma be using Ryan's face
as a reference.
She has this moon tattoo,
and I'm just gonna
build off of that.
We're gonna make
this starry night scene
on the side of the face.
We're gonna work some trees.
I'm gonna have her hair
flowing down.
I can't even be basic
if I tried.
Like, it's not in my blood.
- Does it look familiar?
- It kinda looks like Cleen.
- That's what I was going for.
Cleen.
- You got a [indistinct].
- He doesn't have the moon--
he doesn't have the moon
on the side.
- Oh, it could be you.
It could be you.
- [laughs]
- It could be you.
- It takes a lot to stump me,
and, uh,
I think in this moment,
I might be a little stumped.
I look good as a stencil.
- [snickers]
[dramatic music]
♪ ♪
- All right, LT, Ryan,
you guys have to do a six-hour
American traditional tattoo.
You ready for this?
- [bleep], yeah.
- You ready?
- I'm ready.
- Let's tattoo!
[grungy rock music]
- Just like that.
- Let's [bleep] get this.
- Ryan took it
to American traditional
because it's the whole backbone
and the beginning of tattooing.
- Let's have some fun, bro.
♪ ♪
[tattoo machine buzzing]
- I'll probably talk to you more
after I'm done
with the line work.
- No, no, no.
It's okay.
In my world,
there is nothing tougher
than an American eagle.
Eagles are American,
and that's me.
- Did you pick
American traditional
because that's
your strongest suit?
- It's pretty much to see him
own up to what he says, man.
I want to see his fundamentals.
Everybody knows fundamentals
lie in a traditional tattoo.
When we go to school,
we learn our history,
where we came from.
We learn about
our forefathers.
Wouldn't you want to know
everything about tattooing?
But this newer generation--
their head's so big.
And they're very talented,
but they're lawless,
and I'm not a fan of people
that are in my industry
that don't know
where we come from
because respect is
the only thing in tattooing.
I don't give a [bleep]
about much else.
- All right, guys,
first hour is down.
You guys have five
hours remaining.
- What I chose
for today's Grudge Match
is a snake wrapped around
a dagger going through a rose.
- Having any issues or anything?
- No, surprisingly.
[laughs]
- [sarcastic] Yeah,
American traditional is tough.
- I didn't do
American traditional ever.
It's my first time.
- This is your first time ever?
Really?
- Yeah, officially.
[laughs]
♪ ♪
Ryan picked American
traditional because he knows
that I don't do
American traditional.
What a dick.
- You enjoying yourself?
- I am.
- Good.
- The beauty
of American tradition.
- LT needs to be taught
a [bleep] lesson.
Let's see him pony up
and actually do a good tattoo.
[dramatic music]
[tattoo machine buzzing]
- All right,
we are now halfway there.
Three hours remaining.
- So you don't do a lot of
traditional tattoos back home?
- Nah, I don't.
Me myself, I don't--just don't
wanna be a one-trick pony.
I don't--
you know what I'm saying?
I'm an artist.
It's good to have
more than one skill
when it comes
to this profession.
Growing up for the most part,
I was always out on the streets,
and I was trying to
figure out different outlets
to get me out of trouble,
and art was one of them.
Tattooing has freed me.
It has definitely taught me
a lot about life.
These are the moments
that I live for.
American traditional?
Sure, no problem.
All right, cool.
Yeah, I haven't done it.
No problem.
I'll do it.
♪ ♪
- There's four hours
to go, guys.
Four hours.
♪ ♪
- What made you create this?
- This is an illustration
of how I feel when I'm here.
I got a lot of butterflies
in my stomach.
- Yeah, yeah, I'm with you.
- I'm doing the lady
with her ribcage exposed
with butterflies
flying out of it.
There's a lot of line work--
a lot of different colors.
There's a light source,
which I don't typically do.
This tattoo
is a little difficult,
but I wanted it to be weird.
- So you're gonna do blue--like,
a blue glow from the inside?
- Yeah.
- Yeah, I was curious how
you were--what you were doing
'cause I didn't see any black.
- I thought that'd be cool.
Light sources
are hard to make up.
If I could rip open
a woman's ribcage
and shove
a blue light bulb in there,
I'm sure it would
be really easy,
but that would be murder.
- I really like April's outline,
but where's all the black?
- We had that
whole conversation
about black yesterday.
- So I'm curious
if she's gonna throw
some [bleep] heavy black in it
to really get that glow.
- Even though he says it's
not a portrait, Made Rich--
he's following the reference
as exact as he could.
Why would you do that on a day
you could make anything
look like anything?
- I'm just happy
his fantasy wasn't my ass.
- Oh, yeah.
Are you flattered?
- Oh, man, this guy has my face
tattooed on him forever.
- Maybe he's gonna
turn it into somebody else.
- Oh, yeah.
It's fantasy Ryan.
Not real Ryan.
Different.
Very different.
♪ ♪
- Two hours to go.
Two hours.
♪ ♪
- Nosy time.
- Hiya. [laughs]
- So this your fantasy?
[tattoo machine buzzing]
- It's not my fantasy.
It's just, like, fantasy.
- Oh, okay.
- Every line
I pull on this thing,
I'm realizing
what's on the line.
- I'm making you uncomfortable
standing here?
- Not at all, actually.
- That's unfortunate.
- I wanna show him
once and for all that
I can do a really good tattoo
whether I'm nice or not,
'cause I am nice.
- I'm gonna do this line.
[hisses]
I might want to darken
this eye up a little bit too.
And now I feel like I'm just
searching for shit to do.
- Yup.
- I need to stop
overthinking this shit.
Right now,
my biggest challenge is me.
It's just in me
to want to add stuff.
I'm trying my hardest
to not add more black,
do a little bit of this,
a little bit of that,
and just keep it simple.
And we are almost done.
♪ ♪
- All right, guys, five, four,
three, two, one.
Time's up, put them down!
- Boom.
That's it, brother.
- Oh, man, that's awesome.
Absolutely gorgeous.
- That's all she wrote.
- This is definitely
the best work I have on me.
- Oh, stop that.
- By far.
- Do you think
the way you picked,
it was smart to not pick
your opponent's weakness?
- I think I was more excited to
just pick what I wanted to do
'cause you only get
so many chances here to, like,
do something
you're jazzed about.
- But, like,
we here to settle a grudge.
I definitely just would've
picked something that
I knew damn well you wasn't
gonna do a good job at.
- Yeah.
That's how we're different.
- You right.
- Made Rich is definitely
playing the game.
- He could have
made it anything.
Why would he make it
harder for himself?
- It's just a little weird to me
that he decided to use
one of the judge's faces.
- He was trying to get
some brownie points.
- And it wasn't mine, so....
- Yeah, but he made it
harder for himself.
- I could be a pretty chick.
- You could be.
- He could have used me.
- That could have been
a fantasy.
- Or Cleen.
Look at that fricking
pretty head.
You kidding me?
- Yeah.
- Yeah, we would have
nailed that one.
- There they are.
- What's up, Made?
- April, what was the strategy
behind your subject matter?
- The last time we were here,
it was a lot harder for us
to showcase the kind of work
that we actually do,
so I thought that it would be
a good opportunity for me to,
like, kinda put a lot of tricks
in it and kinda, like, show off,
like, what I can tattoo,
I guess, and I think I did it.
- I was super impressed
by the design.
It looked like
you put a lot of time
into the composition,
into the elements.
- The butterflies look great.
- Love the blue glow
from the inside.
I thought that was
a really cool effect,
and that line work
spoke for itself.
It was clean.
- Super crispy,
but your tattoo definitely
could have used more black
just to hold it together.
That's gonna make
your colors look brighter.
It's gonna make everything
look way cooler.
- This face definitely
had some beauty to it.
It definitely was well
put together, well-tattooed.
- It was cool,
but it could have been a lot
more dynamic, in my opinion.
- Definitely two
very different approaches.
- All right, Made Rich,
let's talk about your tattoo.
- I guess I'll start this one
off since it's a little--
little close to home for me.
Conceptually,
I think it was a really
cool take on a fantasy tattoo.
I like some of the elements
that you played in.
You used the little moon
that I had
and you created a scene
and I love the use of the
contrast that you brought in.
You made your lights
really, really light,
and you made your darks
really, really dark.
- I did like the darkness
around the eyes.
That made the eyes stand out,
but there were some
spots on the face
that maybe could have been
a little over-shaded--
down on the chin area,
eyebrows.
It kinda looked like--
- I'ma call those high brows.
- Yeah, they looked
a little high.
And then it looked like you
just kinda took a huge liner
and blasted them in there,
you know?
- I feel like
that's a style choice.
They were consistent through.
- Made's tattoo has a ton
of super high contrast.
April's doesn't have enough.
- April didn't [indistinct].
- You guys made this
hard for us.
- I'm on the fence.
[dramatic music]
- I honestly don't think
it was a snowball
on either of these guys
as far as a winner goes.
I don't think that either
of them crushed one another.
- It's not the type of challenge
where we're really comparing
apples and apples.
It's definitely
apples and oranges.
- You have
a black-and-gray tattoo
that's kind of a little dark
with good composition.
- Yeah, and then you have
a color tattoo
that has some
saturation issues.
- That being said,
when I saw April's line work,
I could not believe
how clean that was put in.
My vote is for April.
- Yay!
- I mean, Made had
some good outlines too.
- Absolutely.
- Made's tattoo--
I like the flow of it,
the composition.
April fell a little short
on that.
It's a little stiff.
I like the creativity
of April's.
♪ ♪
My vote's for April.
- I won. Sorry. [laughs]
- [high-pitched] Yeah.
- Thank you, guys.
- Congratulations, April.
You won the Grudge Match.
[rock music]
♪ ♪
- I feel like,
at the end of the day,
today was kinda like, all right,
just who liked
whose tattoo better.
I'll take that.
Losing this Grudge Match,
y'all only fueled
a different kind of fire.
My competitiveness
has now expanded.
I'll be back.
- You did an awesome tattoo.
- Thank you.
- Good job.
Good tattoo.
- Now that I've won, me and Rich
have squashed our grudge.
We're gonna send each other
fruit baskets for Christmas.
He's getting some cookies
in the mail.
It's gonna be awesome.
- Psh.
- Hug me!
- [laughs]
Get out of here.
I ain't messing with you.
Whatever.
[laughter]
[dramatic music]
♪ ♪
- Okay, guys,
this is the power hour.
60 minutes remaining.
[tattoo machine buzzing]
- I've just learned so much
in these past hours.
- Did you?
- Yeah, I did.
I'm gonna switch my whole style
to traditional from now on.
[chuckles]
- It feels amazing
to know that
I'm still doing what I love
this many years later.
Like, tattooing
and my daughter are, like,
the only things
I care about in my life.
I was in a gnarly car accident.
It was, like, 12, 13 years ago.
My whole hand was torn apart.
All my tendons
were rolled up in my arm.
- Oh, my God.
- They told me
I'd never tattoo again,
let alone
open or close my hand...
[tattoo machine buzzing]
So for me to do what I do,
it's way harder,
and to know that American
traditional is what I do,
and it has to be clean,
it's my way of pushing myself...
- Okay.
To do the absolute best tattoo
that has to be bulletproof,
you know?
- That's awesome.
- Yeah.
♪ ♪
- All right, this Grudge Match
is over in five,
four, three, two, one.
That's it.
Machines down.
- We're done, bro.
- The white in the rose--
- Makes it pop, right?
Not bad for a guy who doesn't
do traditional, right?
- Thank you very much.
- Yeah, dude.
It's awesome, man.
You killed it.
- I think you're scared, bro.
- Do I look like I've ever
been shook since day one?
- I don't think
you take me serious.
- You still don't think
I take you serious?
- Not really.
- Next time we go around,
maybe we can do
a black-and-gray realism.
- When you lose?
- Oh, today?
You said "when."
I got confused.
- Got this in the bag.
- I got it.
- I'm most definitely gonna win.
- I got it 100.
We shouldn't even
talk about who's got it.
- LT has never done a
traditional tattoo before today.
- I mean,
this blows my mind, man.
- LT's the one
that called Ryan out,
so in that case, hey, step up.
- Usually, you know, when
an artist wins the advantage,
you can either
play to your strength
or your opponent's weakness.
With this call, I feel like
Ryan played to both.
[tense music]
- What's up, guys?
- Hey.
- How's it going?
- It's about time
you showed up for lunch.
- Yeah, right?
- 'Cause we are about
to eat you alive.
- Bring it.
- All right, since Ryan called
American traditional,
let's start with his.
- Ryan, I could tell
that this was
a big, bold,
American traditional tattoo
from all the way
across the room.
- You did a solid-ass outline.
It looks really intentional.
Every line you put in there
doesn't look like
you questioned it.
- I love the red tips
of all of the wings.
Bringing that red pop
into the feathers, I think,
adds to the overall balance
of the color in the tattoo,
and it was really smart.
- Thank you.
- It's super obvious that
this is your wheelhouse.
This is what you specialize in.
You do this all the time.
LT, this was
your very first time
attempting an
American traditional tattoo.
- Yes, it was.
- Crazy.
[laughing] It's crazy to me.
- This blows Cleen's mind.
- [laughs]
- Honestly,
I'm pretty much self-taught.
I really didn't get to actually
learn the proper way,
so I went a long route
to actually get to the position
where I'm at, so...
- It's definitely a tough road.
- Two different generations
of tattooers.
- 100%.
I commend you for showing up
and putting your all into this.
As far as the outline goes--
night and day from what
you turned in yesterday.
You just really
plow in one pass.
You got some spots
in this thing
that are super solid.
You definitely showed
some strong fundamentals,
but you need to do
a little more research
as far as the whole stylistic
approach you took on this.
- You brought too many tricks.
You took something
that should have been flat
and then you kinda
stylized it.
You made the snake
look like a tube.
You made the handle look like
it's got a shine up it,
and you should have
not pulled white out,
you know what I mean?
It's a tough challenge, man.
- Yes.
- For--even for me.
- LT, you did
a good tattoo today,
and it being your first
American traditional tattoo,
you proved to us
that you do have
some pretty solid fundamentals.
- Thank you.
- On another day
with another call,
this shit could have been
totally flipped, but today,
my vote is for Ryan.
- Thank you very much.
- LT's got some great lines.
He's got some great saturation.
- I mean, he's got balls
calling out Ryan.
- LT showed up and
put up a good fight.
♪ ♪
Experience got him today.
My vote's for Ryan.
- My vote's for Ryan.
- Congratulations, Ryan.
You won the Grudge Match.
[rock music]
♪ ♪
- I appreciate him
for giving it effort
and putting in the work
and trying,
so I appreciate that
you're growing as an artist,
you know what I mean?
- I'm just happy at least
I got to show a solid tattoo
with clean lines, clean shading.
Traditional has grown on me.
- Whatever doesn't kill you
will make you stronger.
- I took the challenge,
and I feel like I crushed it.
I feel like gave it my all,
but I guess I gotta do
a little bit more studying.
But I'm not giving up,
so I'm only getting better,
and I'ma keep coming back.
Hey, good job, man.
- Yeah, take it easy.
- Thank you, man.
- Good job.
male announcer:
In 12 jaw-dropping seasons
of "Ink Master,"
we've witnessed
amazing artistry...
- What the [bleep]?
announcer:
Insane rivalries...
- You mother[bleep].
announcer:
And wild personalities.
- And if your [bleep] camera
follows me, I swear to God.
I don't give a [[bleep].
I will break
that mother[bleep].
announcer: Now, three iconic
Ink Master champions,
Ryan Ashley...
[cheers and applause]
DJ Tambe,
and Cleen Rock One
have risen to judge status,
deciding grudges between
some of the competition's
most furious rivals.
- We gonna hash it out
like grown men,
or are you gonna
get in my face again?
- Let's tattoo!
announcer: These foes
will have the opportunity
to settle the score
once and for all.
- I can be in your face, okay?
- I can be in your face too.
- Guys, guys, guys, guys.
- We can do this all day.
- Hey, hey, hey!
Hey, hey, hey!
I don't think
that grudge is over.
I think it just got worse.
♪ ♪
announcer: Tonight,
two epic feuds
will come to a head.
It's bad blood fueled
by clashing personalities
and a mutual lack of respect,
and the grudges
will be settled now.
♪ ♪
In our first grudge match,
on season nine,
team representing shops
were at war,
and April Nicole
had zero patience
for the loudmouth Made Rich.
- You were mad.
- You were crying.
- You were yelling.
- You were storming out.
- Damn straight I stormed out.
announcer: Now they'll have
a chance to go head to head.
- We'll just let the tattoos
speak for themselves.
- Very much excited.
- And then maybe you don't
have to speak so much.
♪ ♪
- Two competitors
battling it out.
We got April and Made Rich.
You remember April.
- I remember April, and I know
she's a little spunky fighter.
I'll tell you that.
- Oh, yeah.
She's--she's a little crusher,
but Made Rich came in the house
with a big mouth,
the kind of person that
no one wants when you're--
when you're all
living together.
He was--he was the epitome
of that dude.
- Y'all lines are [bleep].
- I don't agree with that.
I don't think that that's true.
I don't think anybody said that
that was true.
- Two.
- Some people are frustrated
with you because you get--
- I don't care if you're
frustrated with me or not!
- You're being obnoxious.
- Shut up. Shut up.
- You can't expect people to--
- Fine.
- Shut up. Shut up.
- I'm walking out
because you're obnoxious.
- These are horrible tattoos!
- They are not
horrible tattoos.
That's just being mean
for the sake of being mean.
- I said that the same way
that he said I sucked,
so I'm gonna defend my shit
just how he defended his.
- Man, I'm so excited
to see this.
- Me too, me too.
- Man, it's like
two polar opposites.
- You're gonna run your mouth
and say that you're better?
- Yeah.
- Well, put up or shut up.
[train rattling on tracks]
[dramatic hip-hop music]
- On season nine, I guess
some of the competitors
would think I'm a villain.
That really wasn't
my intention.
I just don't put up
with people's shit
and I'm gonna speak my mind.
- Inhale.
Reach up.
- My only beef with April
is I just don't feel like
she was respecting my work.
Coming into this grudge match,
I'm here to put the nail
in her coffin, man.
I honestly don't even feel like
she has what it takes
to even compete.
♪ ♪
- I like it.
- Wow.
I love that.
Turn around.
Do a spin.
[mellow pop music]
- I'm a very positive person
and I'm very lighthearted.
I want everybody to get along
and have a great time.
Well, Rich doesn't.
He really wants to fight
with everybody all the time.
He just wants to be
in your face and yelling,
and I'm just
not about that life.
It would be amazing
to take Rich down
just because he thinks
that I'm not going to.
♪ ♪
Oh, my God.
- She wore her shit-kickers.
- Those boots are made for
kicking ass today, not walking.
- [laughs] That's right.
That's why she wore them.
- Yeah.
This is nice.
- Ooh, here he is.
Oh, I already
don't like his strut.
- April.
- Well, well, well...
- Nowhere to hide?
- I don't need to hide.
You picked on the wrong person.
- I didn't pick on anybody.
I defended myself.
- I was just here to tattoo.
You had another agenda.
You were mad.
- You were crying.
- You were yelling.
- You were storming out.
- Damn straight I stormed out.
- You want to talk about my
work, I'ma defend it.
- I didn't shut up then,
and I'm not gonna
shut up this time.
- I've seen too much of this.
You guys ready?
- Yeah, let's get this started.
- I mean, let's do this.
- I want to prove that
you don't need to be
loud and obnoxious
to get your message across.
- I'm gonna be confident,
and I will be arrogant.
- What's going on?
- Hey, you two.
- Oh, here we go.
- How's it going in here?
Hey, guys.
- Good.
- What did this beef
start over?
- Ask him.
- She had the problem.
People ain't like how
I was playing the game.
- We just play the game
a little differently.
- I wasn't upset.
- I don't know.
I think you have
to be pretty upset
to tell somebody to shut up
over and over and over.
- I'm just not gonna
let nobody speak over me.
I'ma speak my piece.
I'ma defend my work.
- Ooh, well, today,
you guys both better let
your tattoos do the speaking.
- 100%.
- This is it.
Head-to-head.
- Let's do it.
- Yeah. [laughs]
- We're gonna assign you guys
a 90-minute Face-Off Tattoo.
- And we pick the challenge.
- Yeah, bring it on.
- Lay it on me.
- The winner of the 90-minute
Face-Off Tattoo
gets to determine
the style and subject
of the six-hour
Grudge Match Tattoo.
- Heck, yeah.
- Whoever wins the Grudge Match
settles the score,
and ends this thing
once and for all.
- Put your money
where your mouth is.
- I put my money
where my tats are.
- What are you guys thinking
for this 90-minute challenge?
- I don't want
to make it easy on them.
- Gotta do something geometric.
Something with symmetry too.
- How about mandalas?
- Mandalas.
- Mandalas is definitely
a great head-to-head.
If you mess up one line,
that throws your whole
entire pattern after that off.
- I agree.
- Yeah.
- 90-minute mandalas.
- Yes.
- Wanna squash this?
- I'm so ready.
- Yeah.
- Let's get to your shops
and get these tattoos started.
- Showtime.
- Whoo!
[dramatic music]
We'll just let the tattoos
speak for themselves.
- I'm excited.
Very much excited.
- And then maybe you don't
have to speak so much.
♪ ♪
announcer:
In our second grudge,
rookie artist LT's loud bark
was checked by the veteran
hothead Ryan Eternal.
- We gonna hash it out
like grown men,
or are you gonna
get in my face again?
- Let's hammer it out
right [bleep] now.
announcer:
Now LT wants respect.
- I'm not letting nobody else
telling me
that I don't have
what it takes.
- Never said you didn't
have what it takes.
I said you never listen.
- Back the [bleep] up.
- Back me the [bleep] up.
♪ ♪
- All right, both of these guys
were on my very first season
of "Ink Master."
These two in the house--
I mean, it was insane.
LT, he snaps,
and Ryan Eternal--
he's a firecracker.
Both of these guys were
pushing each other's buttons,
and the house was insane.
- I don't really care
what anybody has to say.
I don't have to prove myself
to any of you guys.
- Look at how much experience
is sitting right next
to you right now.
- I don't care about
your experience.
- That's why
we're [bleep] confident.
You don't care?
- That's why I'm here.
- I don't give
a [bleep] about...
- I don't give a [bleep]
how loud you [bleep]!
You wanna [bleep]
talk to me like that?
- Yeah.
- Yeah? Yeah?
- Yeah. Yeah.
What you gonna do?
- [bleep] talking about it.
- I'm talking to you!
- Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey,
hey, hey, come on.
- I'm talking to you, bro.
[overlapping chatter]
- You don't know
who the [bleep] I am.
- You don't know who
the [bleep] I am!
- Oh!
- I mean, hopefully,
LT, you know,
got better at tattooing
and Ryan doe--
isn't as explosive as he was,
you know?
[laughing] He can keep it cool
and just do a good tattoo.
- I mean, that's gonna
be a tough one, man.
I know Ryan, and I know LT.
- Oh, I know them too.
- And I think
that both of these guys
are gonna come out swinging
no matter what.
[rock music]
- What's up, Elton?
What's going on, man?
- How you been, bro?
- How's the paint?
How's the tattoos?
- You know, art is--
tattooing is amazing.
- Love that.
- It's been going good.
It's been going great.
Season five
was a long time ago.
I was just a kid, and I've
grown so much as an artist.
- Ah, ya, ya, ya.
Back and back,
and right, left, boom.
There we go.
LT, ready?
- I do a lot more things
than Ryan can ever do--
music, art, I'm a dancer.
I'm just
a multitalented artist.
Ryan Eternal disrespected me.
Listen, Ryan, bring it,
'cause I'm coming guns blazing.
[rock music]
♪ ♪
- The way I grew up,
you had to be a tough-ass
to get through,
but now I'm at the beach
living the dream.
I'm a laid-back hothead.
We're living
that good life, huh?
Yeah.
LT just had a mouth
that wouldn't quit,
and he just came
to the wrong person
and pointed the wrong finger,
so I just let him know
what was up.
LT probably thinks
I'm a bully.
I'm not really a bully.
I'm just a big, tough [bleep]
guy that doesn't take shit,
and I sure as hell ain't gonna
take it from some kid.
♪ ♪
- Oh.
- Ryan, there he is.
- Ol' Ryan throw--he looks like
a lumberjack with that beard.
- Wow.
- Holy moly.
- [mutters]
[bleep].
- Dude, he looks pissed, man.
- The calm before the storm.
- He's pacing back and forth.
- He's like, "All right,
where are you?"
- [chuckles]
What's up, Ryan?
- [scoffs]
- It's been five years, man.
Long time.
- Five years it's been.
- [gasps]
Ryan does not look pleased.
- Oh.
- Still holding a grudge?
- We gonna hash it out
like grown men,
or are you gonna get in
my face again like last time?
- Oh, you've grown?
- I'm grown.
- Ryan could bench press
this dude.
- It don't look like you learned
no respect from back then.
- Did you forget that
you was running your mouth?
- Watch your little hands
with me, all right?
- [chuckles]
Listen, this is a bubble.
I can do whatever I want
in my bubble.
- Well, what if I step
in this bubble?
- I mean, then you're crossing
that bubble.
- And then what?
What are you gonna...
- Now you're crossing
that bubble, bro.
- Back the [bleep] up.
- Back me the [bleep] up.
- Whew.
- We gotta get in there.
- Come on, come on.
- All I'm hearing is barking.
- I can't wait till
we get this started, man.
- If you want me, let's handle
this right [bleep] now.
Right [bleep] now.
You brought me here.
Let's have it out
right [bleep] now.
- The whole room
disrespected me, bro.
- First of all,
change your [bleep] voice
with me, you understand?
- All right, all right...
[together] Whoa, whoa, whoa.
- Yo, yo, yo, yo.
All right, all right, all right.
- Whoa, whoa, whoa.
- Break it up. Easy.
- Calm down.
- Easy, easy.
- This was years ago.
You guys still hold on to this?
- Someone is.
- I'm not letting
nobody else telling me,
you know,
that I don't have what it takes.
- Never said you didn't
have what it takes.
I said you never listened.
There's a big
[bleep] difference.
Talk is cheap.
- He's an obstacle,
and anybody else who's in front
of me is an obstacle, so...
- Talk's cheap.
Let's see it.
- I'm hoping you guys...
- Use some of this energy.
- Quit some of this
and start doing some of this.
- Obviously, there's some shit
still stirring between you guys.
We're gonna totally
level the playing field today.
We're gonna throw at you guys
a 90-minute Face-Off Tattoo
where we get to pick what
you guys are gonna be tattooing.
- Yeah, let's do it.
- Okay, cool.
- The winner of that
90-minute Face-Off Tattoo
is gonna get a huge advantage
for tomorrow's six-hour
Grudge Match Tattoo.
- That's what's up.
- And the winner of that
Grudge Match ends it all.
Grudge settled.
Somebody's walking away
with some bragging rights.
- You guys need to get out
of each other's bubble.
- Awesome.
- What do you got for us?
- I mean, both of these guys
are popping off at each other.
- The two of them definitely
have a pretty short fuse,
if you know what I mean.
- For sure.
- Explosive.
- Let's do that.
- Do what?
- Explosives.
- So anything that explodes?
- Yeah.
- Anything that explodes.
- [imitates an explosion]
- Think you can handle that?
- Don't ask me no questions.
- [imitates barking]
- He's ready to tattoo.
- All right, well, get to work.
You only got 90 minutes.
- Light some fuses.
- Let's do it.
Whew.
Shit.
- I'ma blow you
out of this competition, bro.
- Blow me out
of this completion.
- You need help?
- Yo, mine--
yo, why you looking
at my stuff, bro?
- You need help?
- Why you cheating?
- You need help.
- You need help, bro!
- I'm here helping you.
I'm here for you.
- This is how
you want to play it?
- Distractions, huh?
- It's okay. Don't get mad.
- Oh, okay.
That's how we playing?
- Look at--don't get mad.
We'll hang out.
- What are you doing, bro?
- I just want to talk to you.
- I don't wanna talk, bro.
I just wanna, like,
create art, bro.
- I'm just saying,
if you need some help...
[laughs]
[dramatic music]
♪ ♪
- Made Rich, you ready?
- I'm ready, Cleen.
- April, are you ready?
- Yeah.
- Let's tattoo!
- Whoo!
- I'm excited for these
color blends.
[dramatic rock music]
- Yeah.
I love it.
- Yeah.
You ready? Okay.
- Yeah.
♪ ♪
- One line down.
- Yeah.
- I'm trying to channel
that mandala energy in here.
Mandalas are supposed to be
a calming, meditative art,
and this is not meditative
at all. [laughs]
I have the habit,
the first time,
of making all of my tattoos
way too big...
- Yeah.
[tattoo machine buzzing]
- And then I would get
to that five-hour mark,
and I'd be like, "How am I
gonna finish this in an hour?"
As long as my lines
are straight
and my dots
are evenly distributed,
I'll be fine.
[suspenseful music]
- My clients be telling me
I'm not heavy-handed,
but I'll use my whole damn body
to hold them down.
- [laughs]
- Mandalas are a breeze.
My biggest issue
is figuring out
how to make this
a little more exciting.
People have the tendency to
judge me off of my character
instead of my artwork,
so this time,
I'm gonna show
my artwork creatively.
- [whistles] It's gonna
be something different, huh?
- Oh, I gotta, man.
I can't come back
and do the same old shit.
I'm doing my color blend.
It's kinda risky,
but I'm feeling very confident.
- What are your plans for this
blue transition to the red...
- And then the red
into the black. [laughs]
It's not the place to play safe.
I'm here to compete.
- Oh, my God.
He's doing colors?
[tattoo machine buzzing]
Psycho.
[dramatic music]
♪ ♪
- 60 minutes left.
That is only one hour
to finish these mandalas.
- 90 minutes isn't enough time
to shade it in,
so I'm just gonna do dot work.
[long exhale]
[tattoo machine buzzing]
So many lines.
I'm a human being.
I'm not a machine,
so doing perfectly-straight
line work
is definitely a challenge.
I'm freaking out!
[whispers]
It's a lot.
[dramatic music]
♪ ♪
- All right, LT, Ryan,
you guys have 90 minutes
to do an explosive tattoo,
and it better blow me away.
And your time starts now!
♪ ♪
- Oh, yeah.
- This is gonna be
a super interesting battle.
Ryan has way more
experience than LT.
I mean, he's been tattooing
for a long time.
LT is the one that has
something to prove here.
- Let's get it popping.
- On the flip side,
what if Ryan's a old dog
that hasn't learned
any new tricks
and LT is the new, fresh meat
that's coming in hungry?
[tattoo machine buzzing]
- What made you choose this?
- Well, I was
in the military, so...
- Oh, yeah?
- This is badass.
- My tattoo
is a tough-as-nails bomb
falling out of the air
with explosives behind it,
and there's a big shark face
painted across it.
[bleep], yeah.
Sharks are bad as [bleep],
and everybody knows
when you put a shark on
anything, it makes it tough.
How you doing over there?
You over there concentrating?
- Stop talking shit.
- Dude, if LT even wants a
shred of a chance to beat me,
he better step the [bleep] up.
90 minutes to me
is a regular tattoo
that I do
every day of the week.
LT is gonna sweat the shit
out of this tattoo
'cause he doesn't
tattoo like that.
This is a banger.
You go in.
You kill it.
You get the [bleep] out.
- It's gonna be a close one,
but we got this.
♪ ♪
- You've got 30 minutes left.
30 minutes.
- I'm feeling like we need
to hurry the [bleep] up.
I've been so focused
on doing these color blends
and working on these lines
that the time's almost done,
and I haven't even
put the black in yet.
I need to make sure that this
does not bite me in my ass.
I'm not trying to be antisocial.
I need to finish this shit.
- Made Rich is being
really quiet.
I thought that he was gonna
be yelling at me the whole time,
and he's just over there
doing his tattoo.
It makes me a little nervous.
♪ ♪
- Five, four,
three, two, one.
This Face-Off is over.
- Whew.
both: Yay.
- Breathe now.
[laughs]
- [laughs]
Catch a breath, oh.
- That was a really
crazy 90 minutes.
I'm proud. We did it.
- Yeah.
Holla. [laughs]
- Yay.
- All right, all right.
- Yeah.
- So who's gonna win this thing?
- I'm ready to check out
some good tattoos.
- Rich is confident.
I see it in him always
like a damn statue.
- Always.
Always.
- He said he's happy to be done.
- What?
- Hour and a half?
Last time you did
a hour-and-a-half tattoo?
[laughs]
- That is a good question.
- Think about that, man.
- It's a hard challenge.
It's a hard challenge.
- First off, I didn't want
to do just a regular mandala.
- Why?
- I'm not here to play it safe.
- So did you find
her design boring?
- Yeah, it looked like
every other mandala.
- I don't think it's boring.
I think classic-looking designs
are timeless.
- I think April's tattoo--
the overall appearance
looks great.
The overall line work--
there's a few light lines
here and there,
but the biggest inconsistency
would be the little, fine dots
throughout the whole tattoo.
- I mean, to do every dot
like a computer
is just mind-blowing,
you know?
You'd have to spend more than
an hour and a half on it.
- 90 minutes.
- Yeah.
- Yeah, but one thing
I wish that it had
that it didn't have
was solid black.
For the time it took you
to do that stippling,
whip that solid black in,
half the time,
and it would put in that pop.
Other than that,
it's a really pretty tattoo.
I mean, for an hour and a half,
it's in there.
- All right, Made Rich,
I like the overall design.
Everything's really
proportioned and tight.
I'm not a huge fan
of the outline in color,
but you pulled it off.
The black looks nice.
I wish there was
just more of it.
- The problem that I had
with putting the color in
was the inconsistencies
where your colors connect
because you stopped the line
in the middle
and you picked up
another color
and some of them
don't match up perfectly.
And if you would have run
just a solid black line,
you wouldn't have had
those issues.
- I think my only mistake was
doing too many tricks too soon.
- I mean, it's never a bad thing
to try to push yourself,
you know I mean?
- For sure.
We have to come up
with a decision here,
and it's a tough one, you know?
Because both of them have flaws.
- Made, if you put those lines
in black,
you would have my vote
all day, man.
But my vote is for April.
- I also vote for April.
- The black lines that you had
on yours were dead nuts.
It was the colored ones
that got you.
My vote is for April.
- [squeaks, laughs]
- April,
you won the Face-Off Tattoo,
so now you get to determine
the subject or style
for the Grudge Match Tattoo.
- I'm gonna choose the subject.
Maybe we could do,
like, fantasy ladies?
'Cause I love them.
- [laughs]
- Me too.
I'll take that.
Thank you.
Thank you.
- The Grudge Match is set.
You guys gotta
do fantasy ladies.
- All right, guys, get to work.
- We'll see you tomorrow.
- Thank you, guys.
- Fantasy ladies?
Wow.
- Oh, man.
- I'm actually surprised
that you picked a subject
instead of a style.
Kind of a waste of an advantage.
- Who are you to be giving
advice on what--
what style and subject
and all that?
I won.
- Your win today is irrelevant.
- What?
- Tomorrow's victory
is what matters.
- Game on.
♪ ♪
[grungy rock music]
♪ ♪
- I don't know about yours,
but mine's explosive.
- It's explosive, dawg?
- It's gonna
blow your mind, bro.
- I hope so.
Confident?
- Very confident.
- Yeah?
- Are you?
- I'm always confident, dawg.
- Then show me
how confident you are.
Don't talk about it.
Ryan's gonna do some
traditional tattoo,
just like he does
all the time,
playing the safe zone.
Me, I like to challenge myself.
This tattoo has
a lot of details.
I have a lot of creases
in the jeans, in the shirt.
I have a couch
that he's sitting on.
I have a background to do,
so the fact
that there's a time limit--
it's gonna be a tough one.
- All right, guys,
we're at the halfway point.
There's 45 minutes left
to finish your explosion.
♪ ♪
- So are you taking more
of a illustrative approach?
- Uh-huh. I'm just trying
to be as free as I can with it.
- Yeah, okay.
You gonna make it?
I mean, you got 40 minutes.
- Whoo.
- Yeah.
- Don't tell me
about the time, bro.
I get it.
[bleep].
[rock music]
♪ ♪
- Come on.
How many minutes
do we got left?
- 15 minutes left to finish up
your explosive tattoos.
- I need more time!
[tattoo machine buzzing]
Just kidding.
♪ ♪
- Try not to move.
- Okay.
♪ ♪
[tattoo machine buzzing]
- Five seconds to detonation.
Five, four,
three, two, one.
Stop everything.
- Good job.
- Definitely.
- Killed it.
- That was, like,
the quickest 90 minutes...
- Right?
- I've ever experienced.
- I love it.
- Fire.
- Thank you.
- How you feel about it?
- Confident.
- Yeah?
- You?
- Oh, I'm always confident
'cause I've been doing this
a long time.
- When I win, are you gonna
give me the respect I deserve?
- I give respect that's earned.
- What's going on, guys?
- Come on down.
Let's do this.
- So whose explosive tattoo was
the bomb, and whose was a dud?
- His was the dud.
Mine was the bomb.
- Mine was better.
You know that.
Mine was more solid.
- Ryan, I really like
the design you chose.
My favorite part
about this tattoo
is how you blended the black
into the dark green.
It's blended
really seamlessly.
I think that solid saturation
is the highlight
of your tattoo.
- You do got some good lines
in this thing,
but there are some
that run away.
You know, your line work
should be a little tighter
on your points
on the little explosions,
but I feel like it was a good,
solid tattoo in 90 minutes.
- Thank you very much.
- LT, I feel like the line work
you put in was very sculpted.
Your line weight
transitioned really neat
to all of the different shapes
and silhouettes.
It was a very illustrative,
sketchy,
comic book sort of style
you're going for,
but I really wish
you would have went in
with these super solid,
single-pass lines
because you have to have
some sharpness
to separate the textures
in your image.
Right now, everything looks
a little bit flat.
- I like the overall drawing.
I think it's a cool idea,
but where the bomb's at
is just a little too dark.
I feel like it just needs
some big highlights.
- I 100% understand.
I wanted to go and
put more whites on the bottom.
It was time.
- Yeah, I mean,
I think you definitely swung
for the fences on this one.
It's a tough call because
LT went out of the box
and showed us something
that's really creative,
and Ryan kept it simple and
gave you a bulletproof tattoo
that has a few little hiccups
in the line work.
- Both of you guys had some
amazing shining moments,
but judging on tattoo
fundamentals alone,
I'm gonna go with Ryan.
- Clean and simple.
My vote's for Ryan today.
- Whoo!
- I'm gonna have to go
with Ryan on this one.
- Thank you very much.
I really appreciate it.
- I'm ready, man.
Just give me the six hours.
Just--what do--
what do you want to do, man?
- Ryan, you get to pick
the style or subject
for tomorrow's
six-hour Grudge Match Tattoo.
- Well, here's the thing.
I'm built on tradition.
It is what it is, you know?
It shows technical ability.
It lasts.
It's everything that I love,
and it's what I'm proud of.
I want to see his fundamentals.
That's where all this starts.
That's why we become
tattoo artists.
We want to be
fundamentally sound,
and we want to give people
great tattoos.
- What's it gonna be, dude?
- I'm choosing
American traditional.
- LT, do you do
any of this stuff at home?
- Nope.
- I believe he can do it
if he takes the time
and settles down and,
like, uses his head,
so I don't wish ill against him,
but I want to see him shine.
- There is nowhere to hide
in that style.
- Mentally prepared.
I mean, I'm an artist,
so I'm here.
I'm here for this.
- That's what I wanna hear, man.
That's a fight.
All right, good luck, guys.
Hey, get to drawing.
- I'll get to drawing, man.
- Let's go.
- Okay, guys, good luck.
- He's gonna have to pull
some clean lines, man.
- He probably didn't expect
to be doing that right now.
- If you pull it off,
you will earn my respect 100.
- I don't even
want to talk, bro.
I just want to focus.
Not here to be buddy-buddies.
We're here to settle the score.
- It's a lot harder
than it looks.
- Oh, my God.
This is what
American traditional is?
♪ ♪
- [laughs]
[dramatic music]
♪ ♪
- You guys ready
to end this grudge?
- Yeah, let's do it.
- April, ready to kick this off?
Let's do this.
Six hours.
Time starts now.
- All right,
let's get this stencil on.
- April called fantasy ladies.
That could mean anything.
Is it a cricket with lips?
Half donkey, half lady?
This is your chance
for something different.
- I think it looks pretty good.
- Anything outside the box.
What's your fantasy lady?
- I'm gonna let that dry.
I always get--
get a little anxious
before every tattoo, man.
It's like a game day jitter.
- You ready?
- Hell, yeah.
- [rough voice] Hold still.
[laughs]
[tattoo machine buzzing]
♪ ♪
It's a little nerve-racking
going into the Grudge Match
Tattoo because I picked it,
so if I do a bad job,
I'm gonna look like a weenie.
♪ ♪
- It's all back and gray?
Cool.
- Yup.
- Okay.
Make good choices, you know?
- Yeah.
I'm taking the critiques
that the judges gave me
on my Face-Off Tattoo to heart,
so I'm gonna
tone down my design,
but I refuse to let it
tone down my creativity.
- What is your fantasy?
- [laughs]
I wouldn't call it my fantasy.
I'm pretty sure it's a lot
of people's fantasies.
I worked off an image of you.
- Oh, really?
- Yes.
- No, you did not.
- [laughs]
- Are you trying to get
brownie points with that?
- [laughs]
Whatever works.
- You've got them, baby--
a whole tray.
- I'ma be using Ryan's face
as a reference.
She has this moon tattoo,
and I'm just gonna
build off of that.
We're gonna make
this starry night scene
on the side of the face.
We're gonna work some trees.
I'm gonna have her hair
flowing down.
I can't even be basic
if I tried.
Like, it's not in my blood.
- Does it look familiar?
- It kinda looks like Cleen.
- That's what I was going for.
Cleen.
- You got a [indistinct].
- He doesn't have the moon--
he doesn't have the moon
on the side.
- Oh, it could be you.
It could be you.
- [laughs]
- It could be you.
- It takes a lot to stump me,
and, uh,
I think in this moment,
I might be a little stumped.
I look good as a stencil.
- [snickers]
[dramatic music]
♪ ♪
- All right, LT, Ryan,
you guys have to do a six-hour
American traditional tattoo.
You ready for this?
- [bleep], yeah.
- You ready?
- I'm ready.
- Let's tattoo!
[grungy rock music]
- Just like that.
- Let's [bleep] get this.
- Ryan took it
to American traditional
because it's the whole backbone
and the beginning of tattooing.
- Let's have some fun, bro.
♪ ♪
[tattoo machine buzzing]
- I'll probably talk to you more
after I'm done
with the line work.
- No, no, no.
It's okay.
In my world,
there is nothing tougher
than an American eagle.
Eagles are American,
and that's me.
- Did you pick
American traditional
because that's
your strongest suit?
- It's pretty much to see him
own up to what he says, man.
I want to see his fundamentals.
Everybody knows fundamentals
lie in a traditional tattoo.
When we go to school,
we learn our history,
where we came from.
We learn about
our forefathers.
Wouldn't you want to know
everything about tattooing?
But this newer generation--
their head's so big.
And they're very talented,
but they're lawless,
and I'm not a fan of people
that are in my industry
that don't know
where we come from
because respect is
the only thing in tattooing.
I don't give a [bleep]
about much else.
- All right, guys,
first hour is down.
You guys have five
hours remaining.
- What I chose
for today's Grudge Match
is a snake wrapped around
a dagger going through a rose.
- Having any issues or anything?
- No, surprisingly.
[laughs]
- [sarcastic] Yeah,
American traditional is tough.
- I didn't do
American traditional ever.
It's my first time.
- This is your first time ever?
Really?
- Yeah, officially.
[laughs]
♪ ♪
Ryan picked American
traditional because he knows
that I don't do
American traditional.
What a dick.
- You enjoying yourself?
- I am.
- Good.
- The beauty
of American tradition.
- LT needs to be taught
a [bleep] lesson.
Let's see him pony up
and actually do a good tattoo.
[dramatic music]
[tattoo machine buzzing]
- All right,
we are now halfway there.
Three hours remaining.
- So you don't do a lot of
traditional tattoos back home?
- Nah, I don't.
Me myself, I don't--just don't
wanna be a one-trick pony.
I don't--
you know what I'm saying?
I'm an artist.
It's good to have
more than one skill
when it comes
to this profession.
Growing up for the most part,
I was always out on the streets,
and I was trying to
figure out different outlets
to get me out of trouble,
and art was one of them.
Tattooing has freed me.
It has definitely taught me
a lot about life.
These are the moments
that I live for.
American traditional?
Sure, no problem.
All right, cool.
Yeah, I haven't done it.
No problem.
I'll do it.
♪ ♪
- There's four hours
to go, guys.
Four hours.
♪ ♪
- What made you create this?
- This is an illustration
of how I feel when I'm here.
I got a lot of butterflies
in my stomach.
- Yeah, yeah, I'm with you.
- I'm doing the lady
with her ribcage exposed
with butterflies
flying out of it.
There's a lot of line work--
a lot of different colors.
There's a light source,
which I don't typically do.
This tattoo
is a little difficult,
but I wanted it to be weird.
- So you're gonna do blue--like,
a blue glow from the inside?
- Yeah.
- Yeah, I was curious how
you were--what you were doing
'cause I didn't see any black.
- I thought that'd be cool.
Light sources
are hard to make up.
If I could rip open
a woman's ribcage
and shove
a blue light bulb in there,
I'm sure it would
be really easy,
but that would be murder.
- I really like April's outline,
but where's all the black?
- We had that
whole conversation
about black yesterday.
- So I'm curious
if she's gonna throw
some [bleep] heavy black in it
to really get that glow.
- Even though he says it's
not a portrait, Made Rich--
he's following the reference
as exact as he could.
Why would you do that on a day
you could make anything
look like anything?
- I'm just happy
his fantasy wasn't my ass.
- Oh, yeah.
Are you flattered?
- Oh, man, this guy has my face
tattooed on him forever.
- Maybe he's gonna
turn it into somebody else.
- Oh, yeah.
It's fantasy Ryan.
Not real Ryan.
Different.
Very different.
♪ ♪
- Two hours to go.
Two hours.
♪ ♪
- Nosy time.
- Hiya. [laughs]
- So this your fantasy?
[tattoo machine buzzing]
- It's not my fantasy.
It's just, like, fantasy.
- Oh, okay.
- Every line
I pull on this thing,
I'm realizing
what's on the line.
- I'm making you uncomfortable
standing here?
- Not at all, actually.
- That's unfortunate.
- I wanna show him
once and for all that
I can do a really good tattoo
whether I'm nice or not,
'cause I am nice.
- I'm gonna do this line.
[hisses]
I might want to darken
this eye up a little bit too.
And now I feel like I'm just
searching for shit to do.
- Yup.
- I need to stop
overthinking this shit.
Right now,
my biggest challenge is me.
It's just in me
to want to add stuff.
I'm trying my hardest
to not add more black,
do a little bit of this,
a little bit of that,
and just keep it simple.
And we are almost done.
♪ ♪
- All right, guys, five, four,
three, two, one.
Time's up, put them down!
- Boom.
That's it, brother.
- Oh, man, that's awesome.
Absolutely gorgeous.
- That's all she wrote.
- This is definitely
the best work I have on me.
- Oh, stop that.
- By far.
- Do you think
the way you picked,
it was smart to not pick
your opponent's weakness?
- I think I was more excited to
just pick what I wanted to do
'cause you only get
so many chances here to, like,
do something
you're jazzed about.
- But, like,
we here to settle a grudge.
I definitely just would've
picked something that
I knew damn well you wasn't
gonna do a good job at.
- Yeah.
That's how we're different.
- You right.
- Made Rich is definitely
playing the game.
- He could have
made it anything.
Why would he make it
harder for himself?
- It's just a little weird to me
that he decided to use
one of the judge's faces.
- He was trying to get
some brownie points.
- And it wasn't mine, so....
- Yeah, but he made it
harder for himself.
- I could be a pretty chick.
- You could be.
- He could have used me.
- That could have been
a fantasy.
- Or Cleen.
Look at that fricking
pretty head.
You kidding me?
- Yeah.
- Yeah, we would have
nailed that one.
- There they are.
- What's up, Made?
- April, what was the strategy
behind your subject matter?
- The last time we were here,
it was a lot harder for us
to showcase the kind of work
that we actually do,
so I thought that it would be
a good opportunity for me to,
like, kinda put a lot of tricks
in it and kinda, like, show off,
like, what I can tattoo,
I guess, and I think I did it.
- I was super impressed
by the design.
It looked like
you put a lot of time
into the composition,
into the elements.
- The butterflies look great.
- Love the blue glow
from the inside.
I thought that was
a really cool effect,
and that line work
spoke for itself.
It was clean.
- Super crispy,
but your tattoo definitely
could have used more black
just to hold it together.
That's gonna make
your colors look brighter.
It's gonna make everything
look way cooler.
- This face definitely
had some beauty to it.
It definitely was well
put together, well-tattooed.
- It was cool,
but it could have been a lot
more dynamic, in my opinion.
- Definitely two
very different approaches.
- All right, Made Rich,
let's talk about your tattoo.
- I guess I'll start this one
off since it's a little--
little close to home for me.
Conceptually,
I think it was a really
cool take on a fantasy tattoo.
I like some of the elements
that you played in.
You used the little moon
that I had
and you created a scene
and I love the use of the
contrast that you brought in.
You made your lights
really, really light,
and you made your darks
really, really dark.
- I did like the darkness
around the eyes.
That made the eyes stand out,
but there were some
spots on the face
that maybe could have been
a little over-shaded--
down on the chin area,
eyebrows.
It kinda looked like--
- I'ma call those high brows.
- Yeah, they looked
a little high.
And then it looked like you
just kinda took a huge liner
and blasted them in there,
you know?
- I feel like
that's a style choice.
They were consistent through.
- Made's tattoo has a ton
of super high contrast.
April's doesn't have enough.
- April didn't [indistinct].
- You guys made this
hard for us.
- I'm on the fence.
[dramatic music]
- I honestly don't think
it was a snowball
on either of these guys
as far as a winner goes.
I don't think that either
of them crushed one another.
- It's not the type of challenge
where we're really comparing
apples and apples.
It's definitely
apples and oranges.
- You have
a black-and-gray tattoo
that's kind of a little dark
with good composition.
- Yeah, and then you have
a color tattoo
that has some
saturation issues.
- That being said,
when I saw April's line work,
I could not believe
how clean that was put in.
My vote is for April.
- Yay!
- I mean, Made had
some good outlines too.
- Absolutely.
- Made's tattoo--
I like the flow of it,
the composition.
April fell a little short
on that.
It's a little stiff.
I like the creativity
of April's.
♪ ♪
My vote's for April.
- I won. Sorry. [laughs]
- [high-pitched] Yeah.
- Thank you, guys.
- Congratulations, April.
You won the Grudge Match.
[rock music]
♪ ♪
- I feel like,
at the end of the day,
today was kinda like, all right,
just who liked
whose tattoo better.
I'll take that.
Losing this Grudge Match,
y'all only fueled
a different kind of fire.
My competitiveness
has now expanded.
I'll be back.
- You did an awesome tattoo.
- Thank you.
- Good job.
Good tattoo.
- Now that I've won, me and Rich
have squashed our grudge.
We're gonna send each other
fruit baskets for Christmas.
He's getting some cookies
in the mail.
It's gonna be awesome.
- Psh.
- Hug me!
- [laughs]
Get out of here.
I ain't messing with you.
Whatever.
[laughter]
[dramatic music]
♪ ♪
- Okay, guys,
this is the power hour.
60 minutes remaining.
[tattoo machine buzzing]
- I've just learned so much
in these past hours.
- Did you?
- Yeah, I did.
I'm gonna switch my whole style
to traditional from now on.
[chuckles]
- It feels amazing
to know that
I'm still doing what I love
this many years later.
Like, tattooing
and my daughter are, like,
the only things
I care about in my life.
I was in a gnarly car accident.
It was, like, 12, 13 years ago.
My whole hand was torn apart.
All my tendons
were rolled up in my arm.
- Oh, my God.
- They told me
I'd never tattoo again,
let alone
open or close my hand...
[tattoo machine buzzing]
So for me to do what I do,
it's way harder,
and to know that American
traditional is what I do,
and it has to be clean,
it's my way of pushing myself...
- Okay.
To do the absolute best tattoo
that has to be bulletproof,
you know?
- That's awesome.
- Yeah.
♪ ♪
- All right, this Grudge Match
is over in five,
four, three, two, one.
That's it.
Machines down.
- We're done, bro.
- The white in the rose--
- Makes it pop, right?
Not bad for a guy who doesn't
do traditional, right?
- Thank you very much.
- Yeah, dude.
It's awesome, man.
You killed it.
- I think you're scared, bro.
- Do I look like I've ever
been shook since day one?
- I don't think
you take me serious.
- You still don't think
I take you serious?
- Not really.
- Next time we go around,
maybe we can do
a black-and-gray realism.
- When you lose?
- Oh, today?
You said "when."
I got confused.
- Got this in the bag.
- I got it.
- I'm most definitely gonna win.
- I got it 100.
We shouldn't even
talk about who's got it.
- LT has never done a
traditional tattoo before today.
- I mean,
this blows my mind, man.
- LT's the one
that called Ryan out,
so in that case, hey, step up.
- Usually, you know, when
an artist wins the advantage,
you can either
play to your strength
or your opponent's weakness.
With this call, I feel like
Ryan played to both.
[tense music]
- What's up, guys?
- Hey.
- How's it going?
- It's about time
you showed up for lunch.
- Yeah, right?
- 'Cause we are about
to eat you alive.
- Bring it.
- All right, since Ryan called
American traditional,
let's start with his.
- Ryan, I could tell
that this was
a big, bold,
American traditional tattoo
from all the way
across the room.
- You did a solid-ass outline.
It looks really intentional.
Every line you put in there
doesn't look like
you questioned it.
- I love the red tips
of all of the wings.
Bringing that red pop
into the feathers, I think,
adds to the overall balance
of the color in the tattoo,
and it was really smart.
- Thank you.
- It's super obvious that
this is your wheelhouse.
This is what you specialize in.
You do this all the time.
LT, this was
your very first time
attempting an
American traditional tattoo.
- Yes, it was.
- Crazy.
[laughing] It's crazy to me.
- This blows Cleen's mind.
- [laughs]
- Honestly,
I'm pretty much self-taught.
I really didn't get to actually
learn the proper way,
so I went a long route
to actually get to the position
where I'm at, so...
- It's definitely a tough road.
- Two different generations
of tattooers.
- 100%.
I commend you for showing up
and putting your all into this.
As far as the outline goes--
night and day from what
you turned in yesterday.
You just really
plow in one pass.
You got some spots
in this thing
that are super solid.
You definitely showed
some strong fundamentals,
but you need to do
a little more research
as far as the whole stylistic
approach you took on this.
- You brought too many tricks.
You took something
that should have been flat
and then you kinda
stylized it.
You made the snake
look like a tube.
You made the handle look like
it's got a shine up it,
and you should have
not pulled white out,
you know what I mean?
It's a tough challenge, man.
- Yes.
- For--even for me.
- LT, you did
a good tattoo today,
and it being your first
American traditional tattoo,
you proved to us
that you do have
some pretty solid fundamentals.
- Thank you.
- On another day
with another call,
this shit could have been
totally flipped, but today,
my vote is for Ryan.
- Thank you very much.
- LT's got some great lines.
He's got some great saturation.
- I mean, he's got balls
calling out Ryan.
- LT showed up and
put up a good fight.
♪ ♪
Experience got him today.
My vote's for Ryan.
- My vote's for Ryan.
- Congratulations, Ryan.
You won the Grudge Match.
[rock music]
♪ ♪
- I appreciate him
for giving it effort
and putting in the work
and trying,
so I appreciate that
you're growing as an artist,
you know what I mean?
- I'm just happy at least
I got to show a solid tattoo
with clean lines, clean shading.
Traditional has grown on me.
- Whatever doesn't kill you
will make you stronger.
- I took the challenge,
and I feel like I crushed it.
I feel like gave it my all,
but I guess I gotta do
a little bit more studying.
But I'm not giving up,
so I'm only getting better,
and I'ma keep coming back.
Hey, good job, man.
- Yeah, take it easy.
- Thank you, man.
- Good job.