Ink Master season 9


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 veterans' shortcoming from the last time they competed.
This season saw the return of thirteen veterans; season one contestant Tommy Helm, season two contestant Lalo Yunda, season three contestants Yovan "E.S." Barraza and Richard "Made Rich" Parker, season four contestants Aaron "Bubba" Irwin and Josh "King Ruck" Glover, season five contestant Aaron "Aaron Is" Michalowski, season five and season seven contestant James "Cleen Rock One" Steinke, season six contestants Katie McGowan and Matt O'Baugh, season seven contestants Christian Buckingham and Picasso Dular, and season eight contestant Anwon "Boneface" Johnson.
The winners of the ninth season of Ink Master were Old Town Ink, with Black Cobra Tattoos being the runners-up.
WWW Official Site

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. 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 NameContestantsYears of
experience		HometownOutcome
Old Town Ink20Scottsdale, ArizonaWinners
Old Town Ink10Scottsdale, ArizonaWinners
Black Cobra Tattoos7Sherwood, ArkansasRunners-up
Black Cobra Tattoos16Sherwood, ArkansasRunners-up
Basilica Tattoo13Las Vegas, Nevada3rd place
Basilica Tattoo21Las Vegas, Nevada3rd place
Unkindness Art10Richmond, Virginia4th place
Unkindness Art7Richmond, Virginia4th place
Golden Skull Tattoo19Las Vegas, Nevada5th place
Golden Skull Tattoo21Las Vegas, Nevada5th place
Empire State Studio?Amityville, New York6th place
Empire State Studio13Amityville, New York6th place
Allegory Arts12Florence, Alabama7th place
Allegory Arts14Florence, Alabama7th place
Artistic Skin Designs6Indianapolis, Indiana8th place
Artistic Skin Designs7Indianapolis, Indiana8th place
Classic Trilogy Tattoo10Mattydale, New York9th place
Classic Trilogy Tattoo12Mattydale, New York9th place
Pinz & Needlez6Edgewood, Maryland10th place
Pinz & Needlez4Edgewood, Maryland10th place
Black Spade Tattoo20Las Vegas, Nevada11th place
Black Spade Tattoo9Las Vegas, Nevada11th place
Boneface Ink Tattoo Shop?Pensacola, Florida12th place
Boneface Ink Tattoo Shop18Pensacola, Florida12th place
House of Monkey Tattoo17Brooklyn, New York13th place
House of Monkey Tattoo25Brooklyn, New York13th place
Think Before You Ink9Queens, New York14th place
Think Before You Ink?Queens, New York14th place
Tri-Cities Tattoo8Atlanta, Georgia15th place
Tri-Cities Tattoo4Atlanta, Georgia15th place
Black Anchor Collective15Hesperia, California16th place
Black Anchor Collective26Hesperia, California16th place
The Marked Society Tattoo17McDonough, Georgia17th place
The Marked Society Tattoo5McDonough, Georgia17th place
Thicker Than Blood8White Plains, New York18th place
Thicker Than Blood5White Plains, New York18th place

Shop progress

Indicates a Newcomer shop.
Indicates a Veteran shop.

Episodes