LAST WEEK ON RUCKUS:
The International Workrate Consortium celebrated over getting a shot at the Unified World Tag Team championships and promised to hold all the tag division gold
The Revenant celebrated another successful defense of the GRPL+ World TV title
Nazir el-Fadal celebrated beating Crusazdo del Oro by taking his mask
If it's Parts Unknown on a Friday night, the pyro is going off, the Quality Controllers are psyched and Steve and Starr are joining us for two hours of Quality Championship Wrestling. The Revenant is going to defend the GRPL+ World Television title in the main event and we'll hear from both the World Champion Mason "Razorblade" Savage and #1 contender Nazir el-Fadal ahead of their World Title match from Norwich in the United Kingdom next week. After hyping a Unified World Tag Team title match to come with the IWC and the Game Changers, we went to Duck in the ring for the show opener…
| • Einherjar d. Paul Fifita (w/John Goodish) • | Two former tag champs in the opener, although starting last winter Einherjar has been slowly moving in a more singles focused direction. After losing his chance at the TV title at Cold As Hell, Ein's heart has gotten even darker and he promised to hurt anyone who got in the way of his hurting the Revenant and getting the World TV title.
Another case of one step forward and one step back in Fifita's case - he put up a good showing and got in a couple of near falls, but this was the Army of One's to lose and he didn't. The last 45 seconds saw him submerge Fifita with a violent flurry of knees and strikes culminating in a vortex backbreaker and a message to The Rev sent via an emphatic chokeslam. Ein hooked the leg and got the fall after that. **
Goodish and the ref checked on a groggy Fifita while Ein dispensed with the ring and put the fear of himself into the announce, saying that he was going to continue burning down QCW until he got the TV title from his Red Right Hand. Ein stomped off to the back while the announce speculated about what a fight between the former tag champs might look like. Steve cleared his throat, and then mentioned that next week’s Ruckus was going to have Razorblade v. Naz for the World title as the main event – but since Starr beat him in paper, rock, scissors, he had the extreme misfortune of interviewing Nazir el-Fadal a couple of days ago. “So here that is.”
This was a sit down interview in some fancy room we’ve never seen before (G+ influence once again) where a sneering Nazir with Crusazdo del Oro’s mask on a chain around his neck & a tetchy Steve sat down to business. If that wasn’t enough, when Steve asked Naz how he was doing, Naz immediately barked back that he didn’t actually care, so just ask Holmes to move his arm so he’d have something almost smart to say.
Steve asked Naz about the rampage he’d been on since losing the World title, and Naz rebutted that the World title was stolen from him – again – so whatever happened to these sad luchadores wasn’t his problem. His problem was this place. And Holmes trying to put him in one that wasn’t the top spot. Up until Season’s Beatings he had respect for maybe two people on the roster, and of course Holmes got both of them, two former World champs to face him at the same time. All their talk of honor and fighting fair when that title match got changed around on Naz so often he lost count. Again, Naz does all the work to secure the TV deal, but Allah forfend he get to be on the first show as champ. He shouldn’t have to be extremely online to get a contractually obligated rematch. He shouldn’t be sitting down with Steve when it’s another 10 minutes he can be working on his core. What he should be is the World champion, and after next week he will be again. And then what will they say? And what new BS will Holmes come up with to get the title off of him that time? If these are the games that are going to be played, it doesn’t matter if it’s Oro, or Razorblade or Holmes, they’re going to get a reminder of who rules QCW as its Ace: Nazir el-Fadal, the Greatest Man Alive. Steve went to ask a follow up question but Naz unclipped his mic, tossed it in the chair and walked off.
| • "Dashing" Pierce Moore d. Atum Pharaoh • | As Atum came out GRPL+ Helpfully Reminded Us that this was a rematch from New Year's Eve Eve that saw Moore pick up a win in Atum's full jobber days.
Yeah, this wasn't that.
Moore came to the ring preening as usual, and the fired up Pharaoh barrelled through him with a flying shoulder block to the outside. Pierce was livid about taking a shot before the bell, and Atum was too focused on his revenge to care. We went to commercials with both men exchanging smacktalk.
When we came back, Atum had the upper hand and proceeded to plant The Face of QCW with a delayed suplex that got him a nearfall. Pharaoh went for another suplex but Moore reversed out of the second attempt and hit a nice looking neckbreaker then followed it up with a running knee in the back that sent Atum shoulder first into the post.
Moore picked and pecked at Atum until he thought he had him set for the Fresh To Death but Atum caught the cutter and threw Moore nearly halfway across the ring. The crowd roared as Atum got himself fired up and called for his finisher, the Claw of Horus. Atum snatched up Moore in an Iron Claw and went for the slam, but Moore (in a matter best described for legal purposes as "from nothingness") not only wriggled free but did so in a countering Fresh To Death. Moore covered a limp Atum…but Pharaoh got a toe on the bottom rope at 2 ⅞. The crowd popped huge and started chanting for Atum but Moore was too busy arguing with the ref over the count. A dazed Pharaoh staggered up and spun Moore around, but Moore used that to hit a second Fresh To Death that deflated the crowd and ended things. ** ½
After replays, Moore went to the buckles and posed, then was against at the booing and took his leave shaking his head at the temerity of the Quality Arena. The announce put over Moore and his finisher before throwing things to Julius Duquesne III.
We went TOTHEBACK~! where he brought on his guests: the Unified World Tag Team Champions, the Game Changers. The crowd gave THEE Influencer and the Tiki God a big pop, Al shaking hands with JD3 as he pulled up next to the big interviewer. JD3 asked the champions what their mindset was given Beckett Carpenter had gone their own way a couple of weeks ago, and for that matter what was their game plan for their title defense tonight.
Al Buffett said that Beckett and them were only 48 hours away from the last time they all had a game night together. They went down their singles division path, so the path for he and Ashley is to defend these tag titles with every drop of aloha they have.
Ashley added that it was fitting they were facing the Consortium because so far as she saw, it was four different flavors of scumbag forcing Rich to carry their bags. What Rich wouldn't be holding for them would be the tag team titles they fought so hard to get. These belts belonged to the Game Changers yesterday and they would this weekend, this month, next month and all the rest. So Serge and the big Russian think they're going to live under his eye? Anyone who's seen her Gram knows that all eyes are on her and anyone who's seen Al bench press or at a shabu shabu joint knows the damage he can do. Tonight that damage gets done to the Consortium and on the other side of that, they're going to leave the Arena the way they came in - champions. She and Al exchanged a fist bump and left the set and JD3 alley-ooped things over to Duck in the ring for the next bout.
| • Karyn Tisch-Warren (w/OnlyFitness) ds. "Island Flower" Luz Cruz • | Alexa, cue the Propellerheads feat. Miss Shirley Bassey.
Going back a few weeks, we’ve seen Tisch-Warren tote around the Crush championship she used to hold a few years ago, but a little over a year ago QCW bought Crush (an all-woman major indie that operated out of the Midwest) and absorbed its roster into the women’s division…and the last great Crush rivalry was between Karyn and a certain Luz Cruz, who traded off the belt in the league’s last year and change in a series of good to great matches.
You could tell something different was in the air when Karyn tried to get the referee to raise up the Crush championship before the bell rang, maybe to get underneath the skin of Cruz before the match. Of course, some people fight better angry; Luz is one of them. The bell rang and Karyn ran her mouth, then Cruz suddenly drilled her with a spinning wheel kick and covered for 2 ½, causing Karyn to bail out to the floor as a result. Cruz faked a dive that caused all of OnlyFitness to duck, then stood her ground and waved Karyn on.
Karyn stared back into the ring, then slid in under the bottom rope and started throwing hands. Cruz met her where she was and the crowd started popping as the fists kept going past 10 seconds into 20 and close to a half minute. Karyn only got the upper hand via a sudden combination of a knee to the gut, an eye rake, and a double thrust to the throat to drop Luz.
The match was fought at that level of a pitch throughout, and the Quality Controllers quickly rallied behind Cruz in her efforts to best Karyn. Karyn tried to dip into her arsenal full of backbreakers but the early part of the match belonged to Cruz, who’s lucha libre befuddled Tisch-Warren. After a couple of minutes of eating the Island Flower’s offense, Karyn bailed to the floor again, but this time what she didn’t dodge wasn’t a tope but a beautiful handless tornillo (corkscrew plancha) that actually took out all of OnlyFitness. Once she’d recovered, Lolo got to her feet and drilled Luz with a Yakuza kick; unfortunately for Karyn, Lolo got busted by the ref, who immediately ejected her and Scott to the roar of the crowd.
Luz kept up the offense and looked like she was going to complete the upset when she went for her signature Asai moonsault, but having seen and eaten it a time or dozen Karyn got the knees up when Luz came in and effectively took control of the match away from her fellow former Crush champion. Karyn went on the attack after that, swapping out her usual backbreakers for gutbusters and Lungblowers, quickly tearing into Luz’s health under the assault. Starr put Karyn over as a technician for being able to adapt on the fly, and for once he was right: she dominated after hitting a wicked pumphandle gutbuster and wrapped up the win wih her signature Circuit Breaker elevated Texas cloverleaf. ***
Karyn made sure the ref raised her hand before we got to the replays, then after them made sure the ref gave her the Crush championship before she bailed out on the ring and headed to the back. Lolo and Scott met Karyn on the ramp, her hubby in high spirits and her…”buddy” grinning evilly while Karyn yelled “We run this!” at the camera and Cruz could only hold her side and seethe in the ring. Steve put over the match and Karyn’s winning it before hyping up Starr’s interview with Razorblade after the commercial break.
The second hour kicked off with the sit down interview where Starr interviewed The Champ: Mason “Razorblade” Savage. Starr welcomed Savage, who nodded, then Starr got right to it – how is it last year’s probable Rivalry of the Year is still going this strong? Razorblade just gave a dry chuckle and said it was sort of a good news, bad news thing. The good news is they’ve established themselves as the best two fighters QCW has on offer and they’ve clearly established that the road to the World Championship ends with one of them. The bad news is, as much as he can’t stand Naz, as much as Naz drives him up a wall running his mouth, he backs it up in the ring and is willing to do everything and anything to be on top. Savage chuckled again and said even Ray Charles could see the similarities between them.
Starr then pressed Razorblade a little, saying while he loved what happened to Naz as much as the next guy, last year Razorblade had a couple chances at Naz when he was champion and…and, well, Naz found a way to win both of those matches without any real BS. Obviously Razorblade can beat Naz, but – and Razorblade cut him off there. Of course he knows who he lost his belt to, but let’s not forget after those times Razorblade still ended up the World champion before the year was over by pinning Naz. And he sits here as The Champ just a couple of weeks after beating Jupiter Jones. So, yeah, Naz is hot [bleep]...but the Razorblade is KING [bleep]. It doesn’t matter if it’s at the Arena, New Orleans, or over in the UK: Naz is going to get reminded why he’s the Razorblade and why everybody bleeds at the hands of The Champ. Naz can run his mouth all he wants until next Friday when Razorblade shuts him up for a good long time and walks out with Lucky 13. Starr thanked Razorblade for his time and we went to a title fight live.
Rammstein's "Engel" brought out the Consortium to boos with Serge and Pyotr leading the way, with Starr putting over the fact that the IWC was leading with their strongest tag team and Steve pressed against that a bit saying that if Serge's ego allowed it, maybe the Wards could have been in this spot. Starr was upbraiding Steve about Rich getting rewarded for his insubordination when Muse's "New Born" hit the speakers and brought out the champions to a very good response from the crowd. Al and Ashley slapped a few hands on their way down the ramp but were all business once they hit the ring, proudly holding up the belts before Duck made the intros; the referee had to step between the teams to maintain order.
| • the Game Changers ddq. the International Workrate Consortium (w/Anton “Teknik” Stahl and the Wonderful Ward Brothers) to retain the QCW Unified World Tag Team championships • | A bit of a rough outing for the champs, who managed to escape with their belts thanks to some luck.
The revamped Changers started off well by using their speed, but there seemed to be a miscommunication on whether or not there was going to be a tag between them or not to set up some full team offense, and Pyotr took advantage of the bobble by spinning Ashley around and planting her with a one-armed spinebuster. The crowd groaned in sympathy after she splattered into the mat while Pyotr and Serge started going to work on her.
The Consortium worked her over on their side of the ring and not only got off several quick tags but a few nearfalls as THEE Influencer's health meter started heading towards the red. The crowd chanted "We want Tiki!" but the black hats managed to keep him at bay. It looked like the IWC was going to win the belts when Serge planted Ashley with his signature Arc de Triomphe, but at 2 ¾ Al came flying in off the top with a double foot stomp to the roar of the crowd. Both Serge and Ashley staggered towards their respective corners and tagged out - then the bombs started flying.
Al and Pyotr had a hoss fight for a few minutes despite Al being dwarfed by the Tracksuit Tsar. Al even managed to bodyslam Caviar to the roar of the crowd, but Caviar not only bench pressed Al off of his cover at 2, he got back to work. A headbutt to the guts staggered Al back and Caviar came off the ropes with a flying crossbody – that Al ducked - and the ref didn't.
Things completely broke down as both Rich and then surprisingly Anton on the outside tried to keep Jason the Terrible from interfering; meanwhile, in the ring, the Consortium took advantage of the champs by laying out Ashley and double teaming Al, Caviar giant swinging a disoriented Tiki God right into Serge's waiting arms for a textbook Arc de Triomphe. Serge tossed Ashley then went out to the apron, while Caviar hooked the leg as the referee came to…and then rang for the bell.
After talking to Duck, the decision was announced: Caviar wiping out the referee caused a disqualification, therefore the Game Changers retained the Unified World Tag Team championships. ***
Serge was livid about this, but not as much as (of all people) Anton, who immediately hit the ring in response and started further beating down Al. Pyotr didn't need much encouragement to join in, and Serge had a slightly startled expression at the beatdown.
That lasted for a few seconds before he got a running start and dropped Al with a running European uppercut. The Consortium started stomping out the champions while Jason the Terrible angrily snatched the mic from Duck and started venting about the decision, saying that these weren't real champions – the Ambassadors of QCW were the real champions and it took a crooked referee to stop them tonight. Come next week…
What he was going to follow up with got lost as “the Proper King” Richard Windsor suddenly blindsided him and left him lying. The Consortium went to swarm Windsor, only to hear bigger pops from the crowd as “The Fury” Jim Jaspers and Katsuji Ootsuka came from the back and rushed the ring to beat back the Consortium’s offensive offense. The Villains managed to double team and lay out Jason the Terrible, but that still left a three on three fight in the ring for a good period of time before the odds got uneven again…this time, the Villains and Ootsuka were the ones getting jumped from behind by their opponents tonight in the Red, White and True. The crowd booed as Drake Tremble and his crew started throwing hands on the Villains and Katsuji, and eventually it took the rest of the referee corps and the purple shirted security to break up the fights. Eventually, we were able to clean up the last match and move on into the semi main event…
| • the Proper Villains (w/Katsuji Ootsuka) d. the Red, White and True (w/"Great American" Bobby Bash) • | I’ll say this for the Red, White & True: they put the L in cosplaytriots. Despite some success last year, they’ve been on the wrong end of a lot of ass kickings and they got one here from the battling Brits. Both Jaspers and (a bit surprisingly) Windsor took turns not only tying up young Ted Holland in knots but beating Tremble like a rented goalie while Ootsuka cheered this on from the floor. Bash tried to get involved and Ootsuka ranaed him into the steps to take him out of the picture, then the Villains dropped Holland for the win after Richard lawn darted “Swamp Trash” into a Fury Road from Jaspers. **
The babyfaces celebrated together in the ring post-match, Old Jim even making A Familiar Gesture around his waist with a smirk. The announce put over the dominant showing from the Villains and noted it always helped to have positive momentum going into a title fight.
From there it was off TOTHEBACK~!, where Enya Face brought on Autumn Powers to a big pop. Enya and Autumn exchanged pleasantries before Enya asked Autumn how she was doing and Autumn let out a chuckle before saying that she was in a good mood, especially after watching Serge - that so-called leader - and his boys fail to live up to their promises. Of course, Serge was still living off of last year's Duquesne Classic win and pissed off over never being able to face Razorblade for the Thirteen Pounds of Gold…but if he didn't keep her name out of his mouth, then he was going to get her knee across his jaw and she'd drop the Shade on him. The crowd popped and Autumn shook Enya's hand before Ms. Facè threw things to the announce, who thanked Enya then hyped up next week's limited commercial edition of Ruckus:
🌟 Live from a sold out crowd from Norwich, England in QCW's first trip across the pond 🌟
🌟 "Dashing" Pierce Moore will face whoever wins the main for the GRPL+ World Television title next week 🌟
🌟 Since the show is overseas, the Ambassadors trios championships will be on the line as the International Workrate Consortium face off against Katsuji Ootsuka and the just victorious Proper Villains 🌟
🌟 And the main event almost doesn't need to be hyped, though it's damn sure gonna be – Razorblade defending the QCW World Heavyweight Championship against Nazir el-Fadal 🌟
Steve snuck in a reminder for DVR viewers to make sure they adjusted their tape times for next week. Then?
| | • the main event • | |
| • the Revenant d. John Goodish to retain the GRPL+ World Television championship 3️⃣ • | Bad night to be a part of the Hard Way and an even worse night to be poor Goodish, who had the epic misfortune of walking into a pissed off buzzsaw called the Revenant and paid for it.
It was evident to anyone watching the Rev had caught the opener; you could count the number of shots Goodish got off on your hands, and once the Rev landed a cyclone kick the rout was on. As Einherjar watched from a monitor in the back, his ex-partner shoved John into a wheat thresher. (And, of course, after the beating he took earlier Goodish's partner wasn't at ringside to help him out in any way.)
Then the chokeslams started.
Five of them later, the Rev pinned John with his foot on his chest. **
The crowd ate it all up as Steve marvelled over the World Television champion and Starr moved the clock to 11:53. After replays we saw three things: the ref helping Goodish to the back - the Rev and his black grin roaring while he held up his belt - and Einherjar landing a jumping spin kick that not only rendered the monitor worthless but bisected the holder it was in, causing something like a 35' to explode on the floor in his pissed off wake.
On those notes, Ruckus went off the air - see you next week from the Great Kingdom!
No comments:
Post a Comment