LAST WEEK ON RUCKUS:
The underlings of the International Workrate Consortium interrupted Autumn Powers during a promo and laid her out
The Wonderful Ward Brothers won a four corner fight to earn a Unified World Tag titles shot at Golden Rule
The Revenant introduced Katsuji Ootsuka to his red right hand and retained the GRPL+ World TV title
Roll the open and spark the pyro - where would you rather be on a Friday night than inside the Arena with a few hundred screaming fans alongside Steve Vandeblanche and S. Mark Starr? They hyped the Rev/Avión TV title main event and the champion v. champion Golden Rule appetizer between El Vengador de Gente Jr. from Lucha Salvaje and Evan O'Neill out of Evergreen Wrestling League – but tonight's action would start off with a make good from last week.
And unfortunately that meant we were kicking things off with Stranglehold, Drake Tremble, and the Red, White and True. Tremble actually dismissed his underlings and let out a few laughs as he got into the ring and riled up the faithful. Beckett Carpenter completely shifted the tenor in the building and they came out with a laser focus on Tremble in the ring. GRPL+ Helpfully Reminded Us That Last Week this match that should've happened didn't because "Dashing" Piece Moore planted "Dark Mirror" into the ramp twice with the Fresh To Death. Carpenter got in the ring and immediately got in Tremble's face…but all he did was smirk in response.
| • "Dark Mirror” Beckett Carpenter ds. "The Voice of Freedom" Drake Tremble (w/the Red, White and True) • | But very soon, he wouldn't be smirking; he would be tapping out to Look Inward.
A pissed off Beckett got out to a hot start and soon had him on his heels. Even bailing out on the match didn't happen, which is when Tremble called his goons back out. Carpenter took the high ground in the ring and Tremble huddled up. Then all three of them got on the apron and surrounded Dark Mirror. The crowd started to murmur but then popped as the Hard Way ran down to ringside and cleared Bobby Bash and Ted Holland from the periphery and started to brawl with them on the floor (revenge for a recent best down suffered at their and Tremble's hands). Tremble took his eye off the ball due to his boys getting beat down on the outside and Carpenter was quick to seize the opportunity and spent the next few minutes hurting Tremble.
There was much rejoicing.
The close of the match saw Carpenter string together a punishing combo platter: a straightjacket tranquilized Tremble to the point where Carpenter then launched almost a half minute's worth of hammer and anvil elbows that set up the Look Inward and Tremble's sad, feeble tap out. ** ½
After replays, Carpenter spoke directly without a microphone to a camera and pointed behind themselves to where Tremble was living up to his surname and said that if PKO could find his way to the PNW next Sunday, then Carpenter would give them the full Tremble. Looking Inward isn't a thing you can run from, at least not for long. Trust them.
We went from Carpenter's challenge TOTHEBACK~! where Enya Face brought on Autumn Powers to a big pop. Autumn apologized to Enya but said she was pissed off and not so much in the mood for talking, but she'd talk about a fight she wanted: against Serge. At Golden Rule.
Serge might have a bunch of sycophants but it doesn't disguise the fact that between he and her she's the one with the bigger set, because when she won her championships she did it on her own. So it's perfect that if he accepts her Golden Rule challenge, she'll show him the difference between what it's like to fight like a champion against fighting like a coward. Powers stomped off after that to a big pop and we went back to the ring.
| • Nazir el-Fadal d. “Tiki God” Al Buffett (w/Ashley “THEE Influencer” Szabo • | Really good TV match here between the longtime rivals, and a rematch of a Black Friday fight where Naz was World Champ & Al had a shot at Lucky 13 (the match where Duck interfered and almost cost Naz the belt). Al again got close to beating Naz but in the end the Grand Slam winner narrowly won – it still took him three (!) segments and most of the time limit to do so.
Al actually charged Naz at the bell and had him reeling in the opening couple minutes laying in shots to the point where el-Fadal was covering up in the corner and had his head between the ropes to force a break. That bought him a couple of seconds but Al continued the good work, at least until Naz surprised him by following him into the ropes. Al came to an empty ring and when he turned around the One Man Jihad surprised him with the Sudden Death Slingblade/Flatliner combo and took him down.
Naz was especially sadistic in his offense, repeatedly rubbing Al’s face in the mat or paintbrushing him, and those were light offenses compared to the rabbit forearms or the especially tight Saito suplex that almost got him a victory in what turned out to be the opening half of the fight. Ashley tried to rally Al from the floor but Naz kicked the ropes by where she was to further antagonize the Game Changers. el-Fadal continued grinding down Buffett as Szabo got the crowd into it and Al briefly got out from under; Nazir pulled Buffett’s hair and then hiptossed him into a Michinoku Driver (!) but Al kicked out at 2 ½.
After a couple of more high impact moves, Naz started to try to lock in the Black Lotus, but Al first kicked away Naz’s cobra clutch STF then back elbowed out of it when Naz tried a follow up. Al managed to stick and move for a time to build his strength back up, then it was his turn to catch Naz off the ropes with a surprising Spanish Fly that hit a reset button on the match with both men down.
Naz beat Al to his feet and moved in for the kill only to be suddenly laid out by a textbook dropkick from Al, and for a while after that it certainly looked like it was going to be Al’s night as he threw the kitchen sink at Naz to bigger and bigger pops, at one point before a commercial break landing a second rope Spanish Fly that got him 2 ¾. Buffett continued the attack and it looked like he had Naz set up for the Inner Strength that would secure him the victory, but Naz not only reversed out – he slipped behind Al and then ended things emphatically with an avalanche Saito suplex chant that would’ve gotten louder “Holy shit!” chants had Naz not been able to recover relatively quickly to cover and win the bout. Bumping this one up a bit for the finish. *** ½
Not content to take his victory and leave, Naz immediately continued hammering Al a bit more after the bell and went to apply the Black Lotus on him, but when Ashley slid in the ring with Duck’s chair Naz released the hold and bailed from the ring, staring blank faced at the yelling Szabo. Ashley and the ref checked on Al while Naz put on his chain with Crusazdo del Oro’s mask on it and held it up as a warning – maybe to the Game Changers, and probably for Super Avión. el-Fadal headed to the back under a sea of boos while the announce begrudgingly put over his leaner look and somehow even more sadistic moveset.
From there, we got a This Week In QCW History segment; on March 4th, 1960, construction on the Qualitorium (the original Quality Arena) was completed. Back to Duck in the ring, who put special gusto in announcing a QWIC showcase champion v. champion match.
| • El Vengador de Gente Jr. ddq. “Off Book” Evan O’Neill in a non-title match • | Wasn't even actually a match - O'Neill stalled and bailed a couple of times, the ref finally got him into the ring, then O'Neill baited Vengador into going for a test of strength and promptly punted him in the balls. DUD, but this was clearly leading to post match shenanigans anyway; O'Neill shoved Duck down & took his chair, than waffled Vengador a couple of times with it. He added a couple of more shots across the back, then opened the chair across the luchadore's neck to pin him down and cut a promo.
Much like his stinger, O'Neill took a few more shots at Vengador but saved his vitriol for Florida compared to Portland (understandable), QCW (hey wait a minute buddy), and Razorblade (offense!). O'Neill said that Savage should be in line at the Dollar General with the rest of this Florida trash, not holding a major wrestling championship…of course, after Golden Rule he wouldn't be. O'Neill's been calling him out for weeks, but he doesn't have anything to say when the Oracle of Off Book is preaching the gospel in his so-called ring?! And you idiots call that a champion?
Lights off.
You could hear the buzz in the crowd grow.
Lights on.
Hi, Champ!
The lights came on to show Evan O'Neill standing face to face with Mason Savage, but that only lasted a second before The Champ started throwing hands, knocking the Evergreen Wrestling League's champ on his heels and eventually on his ass. Savage wheeled around for the chair and went to do further damage, but O'Neill had already bailed out and taken the EWL title with him to higher ground. Razorblade and the ref checked on a recovering Vengador as Unscripted Violence came on over the PA much to the joy of the Quality Controllers and the seething fury of O'Neill.
We got a stinger for the Women's World Champion, Lolo Vuitton. Since regaining the gold at Season's Beatings she's been dominating the division, and reminding everyone that she runs this. A couple of appearances by Karyn in this but Ruckus became The Lolo Vuitton Show for a minute and a half. The stinger ended with Lolo laying down two facts:
Next week's show should be about her instead of some dumb ol' leprechauns, so she'll be in the Arena to get her love and respect
At Golden Rule she's putting her title on the line in another open challenge, but it'll end the same way the last one did - strut in champ, secure the bag…and strut out as the champ. You know, because she runs this.
| • Jason the Terrible (w/"the Wonderful" Rich Ward) dodq. Ashley "THEE Influencer" Szabo (w/"Tiki God" Al Buffett) • | Over the past few weeks the Wards have been rising to Serge's titles-or-ejection challenge and find themselves after last week's show the #1 contenders to the belts held by Szabo and Buffett.
Jason actually didn't cheat in this one, bizarrely enough, but things got chippy a few minutes in to the point where it looked like both Al and Rich were going to jump in the ring but saw the other one listen to the referee and stay on the floor. Ward controlled the opening minutes but the former Unified World Tag champ probably took the back two thirds after the commercials and punctuated matters with a Smash That Subscribe Button yet Ward managed to get his foot under the bottom rope. But Rich had to call the referee's attention to it, and it barely came in under the wire. This back and forth continued for a while, with Al and Rich jawing back and forth around the corner from each other.
Jason got increasingly desperate at one point and rolled up Szabo then leveraged that into his feet onto the ropes; he did on the side of the ring where Al was and Buffett undercut Ward's legs to break up the pinfall. That got Rich in the ring to complain to the ref and Al wasn't far behind him. Words turned into shoves on both sides and that didn't take long to elevate into a Pier 4 brawl. The referee tried to break one up only to catch a back elbow from Jason; when the zebra accidentally backed into Buffet's back both men turned around but Al was the only one who threw a punch. The zebra went down in a heap, and Al cringed upon realizing his mistake. But the brawl rolled on for a while after that until the bell rang repeatedly. We saw the referee on the floor relay news to Duck, who announced the disqualification of both sides to boos from the crowd. **
The crowd didn't like it and the wrestlers didn't either, all four of them temporarily ceasing their fisticuffs to complain but the referee didn't budge from their position and left the area to continued complaining from all sides.
After that, the announce threw to a stinger hyping up the imminent return of two time former World TV Champ "These Hands" Roy Fade. Highlights of Fade working on his Golden Gloved punches interspersed with highlights of him hitting the Decision - a smile giving way to a snarl - Fade holding that version of the TV title over his head - repeatedly hitting the Decision and getting his hand raised - Fade rehabbing his shoulder – Fade glaring down the camera before we saw:
THESE HANDS AIN'T DONE YET.
| • the Hard Way ddq. the Red, White and True (w/"the Voice of Freedom" Drake Tremble) • | We returned to the ring with the semi main in tag action, with two of the teams that cost each other the #1 contenders match last week and since they aren't fighting for the belts at Golden Rule they fought each other here. Good TV match that had the former champs ahead on points for most of it, but when they went to seal the deal for the win with Down to Earth?
Tremble hit the ring, getting his charges intentionally DQed. **
Obviously this was a "lose the battle, win the war" situation for the cosplaytriots, who then spent the next couple of minutes laying out the former tag champs until some of the rest of the referee corps came out to break things up. Crowd booed and Drake mockingly booed them right back between stomps. Eventually they got shooed away so the medical staff could check on Fifita and Goodish, who looked more pissed off than hurt. Making his way to the back, Tremble was ranting that no matter what you saw earlier, he wouldn't ever look inward. Do tell. The announce threw to commercials after hyping up the main event coming up.
Back from commercials TOTHEBACK~! where Julius Duquesne III was just outside the medical bay with El Vengador de Gente Jr. and in a mild surprise, Mason "Razorblade" Savage. Vengador thanked Razorblade for his save earlier and apologized, saying he knew O'Neill wasn't an honorable man but he had no idea how low he was until tonight. Razorblade waved off the apology saying he didn't need to be sorry and the only thing Razorblade was sorry about was the fact that he couldn't wrap a chair around Mr. EWL's head. But if Evan could actually wrestle and grow the necessary shamrocks in a week, he could grab any partner from anywhere he wanted and see the two of them in the main event next week. Vengador looked a little surprised but mostly amped, and the two of them thanked JD3 and left.
Next week's Ruckus is the go home for Golden Rule, but there will be plenty of fireworks before we hit the PPV factory…
✨ The last show before the biggest PPV in QCW history needs one last big main event fight, and we just saw the challenge get made: Razorblade will team with El Vengador de Gente Jr. and they're bringing their belts into the fight against Evergreen Wrestling League's champ "Off Book" Evan O'Neill and a mystery partner of his choice (assuming he can get one) ✨
✨ Super Avión and Nazir el-Fadal will participate in the longest tradition of QCW's modern age - Pick Your Poison. Who'll get to make the stipulation of their Golden Rule fight…and what happens to Naz's plans if Avión finds a way to bring the GRPL+ World TV championship into St. Ruckus' Day? ✨
Hey, speaking of which…
| | • the main event • | |
Avión came out to Aces High and a good response from the crowd. As he made his way to the ring Starr noted that he was on a roll in his singles career, but rolls tended to come to a dead stop…and then again, a rolling blackout.
"Killed By Death".
A cold blue spotlight fell on the stage to the roars of the crowd, and the World TV champ stomped down the aisle with his title slung over his shoulder like a satchel. He greeted Avión with his black tongued grin and roared as he put the belt in the air, but the luchadore's eyes went up to the belt instead of his opponents. Duck announced the time limit and made the intros with Avión remaining focused on the belt and not the…we'll, man is technically accurate but is a little underwhelming here, yunno?
| • the Revenant [c] d. Super Avión to retain the GRPL+ World Television championship 7️⃣ • | Give Avión all the credit in the world; outside of Katsuji (and your mileage may vary here) Avión put up the biggest roadblock to the Rev making it to 10 defenses and a cash in. He attacked right after the bell and actually managed to get the Revenant down a few times.
When his double springboard huracanrana connected, Avión followed up with a quick cover.
The Rev bench pressed him off at 2.
Avión went for some more high flying offense, but a red right hand altered his trajectory and possibly shaved a few days off of his life. And one thing about the Rev: once he gets a lead, you're killing time until he wins. Avión got in a couple late kickouts and even his foot on the ropes at 2 ⅞…
…so the Rev allowed a small look of respect and a little grin. Then he picked up Avión in a goozle and put an end to things.
Chokeslam.
Chokeslam II.
Chokeslam III.
It would be Chokeslam the Fourth that ended things by his Red Right Hand, Starr noting during the three count that he was coming up on two straight months as GRPL+ World TV Champ without a single opponent to date seeing what the second half of the time limit looked like. Oof. Ta. **
Replays fired off and we came back to the Rev positioning the belt on his shoulder and walking up the ramp, Starr noting we were at 7 down with 3 to go before a buzz grew in the crowd.
Then in the ring, a camera wrapped itself around Super Avión's head – swung by Nazir el-Fadal.
The Quality Controllers booed lustily as Naz locked the Black Lotus on in the middle of the ring, smiling contentedly as he did so. The Revenant glared into the ring but before he could possibly get moving back towards the purple shirted security came streaming down the ramp way; it took half a dozen of them to pull Naz off Avión and the hold. el-Fadal immediately put his hands in the air and told them that he'd gotten what he came for, and crunched a couple of camera pieces under his boots as he left the ring. He stood on the stairs and mockingly blew a couple of kisses to the fans before heading to the back as Steve and Starr reluctantly closed the show on that bummer and said they'd see us on St. Ruckus' Day(?)
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