Ink Master: Shop Wars is the ninth season of the tattoo reality competition Ink Master that premiered on June 6, 2017, on Spike with 16 episodes. The show is hosted and judged by Jane's Addiction guitarist Dave Navarro, with accomplished tattoo artists Chris Núñez and Oliver Peck serving as series regular judges. The winning shop received $200,000, a feature in Inked magazine, the title of Ink Master, and the title of Master Shop.
The premise of this season was having teams of two sorted by their tattoo shops going head-to-head in a tag team elimination-style competition. This season features nine rookie shops battling nine veteran shops each week while tackling a skill that exposes each of the veterans' shortcomings from the last time they competed.
This season saw the return of thirteen veterans; season 1 contestant Tommy Helm, season 2 contestant Lalo Yunda, season 3 contestants Yovan "E.S." Barraza and Richard "Made Rich" Parker, season 4 contestants Aaron "Bubba" Irwin and Josh "King Ruck" Glover, season 5 contestant Aaron "Aaron Is" Michalowski, season 5 and season 7 contestant James "Cleen Rock One" Steinke, season 6 contestants Katie McGowan and Matt O'Baugh, season 7 contestants Christian Buckingham and Picasso Dular, and season 8 contestant Anwon "Boneface" Johnson.
The winners of the ninth season of Ink Master were Old Town Ink (Aaron "Bubba" Irwin and DJ Tambe), with Black Cobra Tattoos (Katie McGowan and Matt O'Baugh) being the runners-up.
Judging and ranking
Judging Panel The judging panel is a table of three or more primary judges. The judges make their final decision by voting to see who had best tattoo of the day, who's going home and who wins the competition.
Jury of Peers The shops critique each other's work to see who had the worst tattoo of the day that will send one of them to the bottom.
Contestants The competition featured a total of 36 contestants who competed in teams of two (18 teams total). Each team acted as one throughout the competition, winning together, and losing together.
Shop names, contestant names, and cities stated are at time of filming.
Shop Name ContestantsYears of experience Hometown Outcome Old Town Ink20Scottsdale, ArizonaWinners10 Black Cobra Tattoos7Sherwood, ArkansasRunners-up16 Basilica Tattoo13Las Vegas, Nevada3rd place21 Unkindness Art10Richmond, Virginia4th place7 Golden Skull Tattoo19Las Vegas, Nevada5th place21 Empire State Studio?Amityville, New York6th place13 Allegory Arts12Florence, Alabama7th place14 Artistic Skin Designs6Indianapolis, Indiana8th place7 Classic Trilogy Tattoo10Mattydale, New York9th place12 Pinz & Needlez6Edgewood, Maryland10th place4 Black Spade Tattoo20Las Vegas, Nevada11th place9 Boneface Ink Tattoo Shop?Pensacola, Florida12th place18 House of Monkey Tattoo17Brooklyn, New York13th place25 Think Before You Ink9Queens, New York14th place? Tri-Cities Tattoo8Atlanta, Georgia15th place4 Black Anchor Collective15Hesperia, California16th place26 The Marked Society Tattoo17McDonough, Georgia17th place5 Thicker Than Blood8White Plains, New York18th place5
Returning veterans Contestants Original Season Original PlacementYovan "E.S." BarrazaSeason 39th placeChristian BuckinghamSeason 73rd placePicasso DularSeason 713th placeJosh "King Ruck" GloverSeason 49th/10th placeTommy HelmSeason 1Runner-upAaron "Bubba" IrwinSeason 411th/12th placeAnwon "Boneface" JohnsonSeason 87th placeKatie McGowanSeason 68th placeAaron "Aaron Is" MichalowskiSeason 56th placeMatt O'BaughSeason 63rd placeRichard "Made Rich" ParkerSeason 310th placeJames "Cleen Rock One" SteinkeSeason 5Season 7Lalo YundaSeason 210th place
Shop progress Indicates a Newcomer shop. Indicates a Veteran shop.
Shop Episode12345678910111213141516BTM3HIGHHIGHLOWSAFELOWHIGHBTM4BTM3BTM4ADV Winner HIGHTOP2SAFETOP2BTM4BTM3ADVRunner-up SAFESAFESAFEBTM4HIGHBTM3ADVEliminated Unkindness ArtSAFESAFESAFESAFETOP2TOP2BTM3SAFELOWBTM3TOP2ELIM GuestGolden Skull TattooBTM4BTM4ELIM GuestEmpire State StudioBTM3TOP2SAFEELIM GuestAllegory ArtsSAFETOP3SAFEBTM3SAFESAFESAFEBTM3BTM3BTM3ELIM Guest TOP2SAFESAFESAFEBTM3HIGHBTM3ELIM Guest SAFESAFESAFESAFEBTM3BTM3LOWTOP2HIGHELIM GuestPinz & NeedlezSAFELOWTOP2BTM3SAFESAFEELIM GuestBlack Spade TattooLOWBTM3BTM3ELIM Guest HIGHELIM Guest SAFESAFEELIM GuestThink Before You InkBTM3BTM3ELIM GuestTri-Cities TattooBTM3BTM3BTM3ELIM GuestBlack Anchor CollectiveTOP2SAFEELIM Guest BTM3ELIM GuestThicker Than BloodELIM Guest
The shop won Ink Master. The shop was the runner-up. The shop was eliminated during the finale. The shop advanced to the finale The shop was exempt from the first elimination. The shop won Best Tattoo of the Day. The shop was among the top. The shop received positive critiques. The shop received negative critiques. The shop was in the bottom. The shop was put in the bottom by the Jury of Peers The shop was eliminated from the competition. The shop was put in the bottom by the Jury of Peers and were eliminated from the competition. The shop returned as a guest for that episode.
Episodes
References
External links