Last year's KOTDM was epic. Despite setbacks like Nate Webb and Dysfunction not competing due to various reasons, IWA-MS put together a worthy card with hard hitting matches. Simon Sezz had a breakthrough performance, and Drake finally won the tourney after numerous attempts!
I would imagine it would be tough to get Drake back this year to defend the crown, seeing how he is now on the West Coast. Maybe not, though...I'd like to see him back.
Yes, this would be the 14th KOTDM! If you include Prince of the DM (1), Double Death Tag Tourney (3) and Queen of the DM (3), IWA-MS has held 21 (!) DM tourneys.
There have been 11 TODs to date, along with "Fast Forward" in 2008 (tourney for the vacant UVU title) and "Rewind" in 2009 - making that 13 CZW Deathmatch tourneys. However, if you count TOD vs. Gorefest, that brings the total to 14...and there may even be other ones I can't remember.
IWA Deep-South held their 8th Carnage Cup on March 31st/April 1st, 2012.
MAW held four Hardcore Cups back in the early 2000s ('99-2000, 2002-'03).
There have been five IWA East Coast Masters of Pain tourneys. The fifth one should be released soon on Smart Mark Video.
Ian and Mid-South were associated with the first WXW Gorefest tourney in England, while the second Gorefest in Germany was more CZW-oriented.
BCW (Ballistic Championship Wrestling) has held four Brink of Death tournaments.
ICW has held three Insane 8 tournaments ('09, '10, '12).
XPW held three Baptized in Blood tournaments ('00, '01, '02).
FREEDOMS has held two Pain in Limit tourneys.
I'm surprised BJW never does any tournaments of their own. If they have in the past, I don't know of them.
Also don't forget there have been some one-off tourneys, like OHW Death in the Valley, which contains the highly underrated 40 Panes of Glass Scaffold match between Drake Younger and JC Bailey. There is also another one I recommend called "Bloodstock" from Stranglehold wrestling out of Canada.
Last but not least, who could forget the original 1995 tournament: IWA Japan - King of the Deathmatch.
1. IWA-MS at 21 Tourneys (KOTDM: Longest-Running Tourney at 14)
2. CZW at 14 (TOD: Second Longest-Running Tourney at 11)
.............13 if you don't count TOD vs. Gorefest
3. IWA-DS at 8 (Carnage Cup)
4. IWA-EC at 5 (Masters of Pain)
5. MAW at 4 (Hardcore Cup)
5. BCW at 4 (Brink of Death)
6. WXW at 3 (Gorefest, TOD vs. Gorefest)
6. ICW at 3 (Insane 8)
6. XPW at 3 (Baptized in Blood)
7. FREEDOMS at 2 (Pain in Limit)
8. OHW at 1 (Death in the Valley)
8. Stranglehold at 1 (Bloodstock)
If any of this info is wrong, feel free to correct. There may have been another MAW Hardcore Cup I'm unaware of, and some other one-off tourneys, but this should be a solid reference for DM tourney info.