LAST WEEK ON RUCKUS:
"Night Sky" Diana Spare defeated "Bollywood Diva" Sohla Patel to continue her reign as Crush champion; she's now halfway to a cash in opportunity at the Women's World Championship
When the Wonderful Ward Brothers failed to hand over the Unified World Tag Team championships to Serge Batroc, they were kicked out of (what was?) the International Workrate Consortium
The Revenant chokeslammed Razorblade off the announce table while he was in a trios match against Serge and his team but Razorblade would get his revenge in the main event by tasing the Rev which helped cost him the TV title in the main event to the still undefeated Jacques Krieger
Ruckus began unexpectedly, with someone whistling “Tom Sawyer” for a couple of lines before we saw a blood stained hand tapping a pen against a desk. We heard a female voice go “And here are your possessions, Mr. Ward” before handing over a clear bag with a few items to Jason the Not Entirely Terrible, who thanked her and signed his name before walking out of what turned out to be a hospital. The camera moved from in front of Jason to behind him as he walked towards a bench between the ICU and the parking lot.
He walked up to a figure sitting on the bench and touched his shoulder. Jason had a simple question for the man.
“Payback time?”
“The Wonderful” Rich Ward slowly drew himself up, and turned to face his brother with a slight limp.
“Yuuuuup.”
The Wonderful Ward Brothers walked off into the night together, unified like their championships and set to wage war against their former teammates.
A video package opened up the show, with brief highlights from last year’s Duquesne at first getting interrupted by and then completely replaced by highlights of everyone in the tournament:
“Dark Mirror” Beckett Carpenter, the former multi-tag champ looking to strike out on their own and the person that beat last year’s Cup winner to get here
“These Hands” Roy Fade, the former two-time TV champion looking to make a triumphant return after suffering an injury back at Cold As Hell
Jacques Krieger, the undefeated #1 seed that won the TV title last week in his first match that went over half a minute
Autumn Powers, one of the tentpoles of the modern era and former two-time Women’s Champion looking for the biggest accolade in a career full of them
Anton “Teknik” Stahl, the technical wizard and impeccable German from (what was?) the International Workrate Consortium, looking to keep the Cup in the collective’s trophy case for back to back years
Super Avión, the former tag champ who helped send Naz to the announce table and looks to showcase his lucha libre offense to the world
#2 seed “the Voice of Freedom” Drake Tremble, the leader of the Red, White & Blue and the man who puts the Q in QCW
And last but not least, Karyn Tisch-Warren, the former Crush champion who’s arsenal of backbreakers make her as dangerous as she is annoying
A shot of Serge Batroc celebrating with the Cup last year quickly gave way to footage of each competitor standing next to the Cup on an elevated table, some smiling, some stone faced, a couple with index fingers up–but we’re one night with limited commercials away from finding out.
For this one night a year, the best and the brightest in the league will throw hands…exchange holds…and fight the combat arts not just for money, but for the pride and honor of adding their names to QCW’s longest legacy: being the winner of the Duquesne Classic.
A black and white picture of Julius Duquesne proudly holding the QAAW (proto QCW) tag team title filled the screen almost as much as his grin did, and lingered before fading to black for a few beats.
When those few beats were over it was on — an easy 20 seconds of pyro exploded by and from the Qualitron 9004 as the sold out crowd in the Center Stage Theatre started up a barrage of Queue Cee Dub chants. If you want Steve Vandeblanche and/or “the Only Color Commentator That Matters” Nazir el-Fadal you can find them in the A for this very special episode of Ruckus. The Duquesne Cup is on the line, and thanks to a timely taser from The Unified Champ last week so now is the GRPL+ World Television Championship as well. Decked out in a retro jacket as if he were announcing “King” Berger’s signature win in ‘76 rather than being in the here and now of ‘23, Steve said that the Classic wasn’t the only thing going on tonight, if you could believe that: Diana Spare would defend the Crush championship and there would be a tag team turmoil match to decide new #1 contenders for the Unified World Tag Team championships. Steve said we’d heard enough from him and threw things up to Duck Eko in the ring to get the 2023 Classic started.
Duck welcomed us to the Classic and after the pop died down, announced that the next match and all the first round matches as set for one fall (ONE FALL!); and having twenty minute time limits.
When "Mota" came on over the PA the crowd popped big as Autumn Powers came out. After she started her walk down the ramp we got a picture in picture showing her beating Women's World Champion Lolo Vuitton to earn her way into the tournament. Powers raised her arms as she stood on the buckles but that feel good moment got cut off by the creepy whistling intro for Rammstein's Engel.
Out came Anton Stahl, with Serge Batroc and Pyotr Caviar. Stahl started to head down the ramp but was stopped by Serge, who briefly leaned in and whispered something to Anton. Stahl took it in and nodded before continuing the walk a couple steps ahead of the rest. Picture in picture showed Stahl besting Ambassadors champ Katsuji Ootsuka to earn his way in; real time showed him taking off his windbreaker while looking at Powers. Steve put over how borderline nonchalant Stahl looked while Naz mentioned that there could be a riot in the stands and it would barely budge Anton's EKG - Anton could be beaten but a man with his focus and backup on the outside was going to be a tough out. Even for…her.
Styles make fights and it seemed like in the early going that Anton's mat work was going to win the day; while Autumn mostly hung with him Stahl was able to establish superiority before breaking cleanly and gesturing to Powers to come meet him in the middle of the ring again. Serge was yelling occasionally on the outside but otherwise seemed pleased as his teammate went to work.
Powers had to take things up a notch when Anton started going after her arm to set up his Matter of Time and did so by popping him across the jaw with a tight forearm. Returning to her mosh pit roots, Powers turned things less technical and more into a fight. Autumn started finding success there but couldn't keep it as the size advantage he held would come into play and stop any rally from really flourishing.
With Stahl in the driver's seat and delivering damage to Autumn's arm it seemed as if everything was going according to plan…but "We Made It" coming on over the PA made it clear that it wasn't.
Serge and Anton turned towards the Qualitron 9004 to gear themselves for a fight, but they didn't see the Wonderful Ward Brothers jump the railing and suddenly jump them from behind while the crowd went nuts. Steve said he couldn't believe they were here after the beating they took last week, and the Wards got enough traction in their brawl with their former Consortiumites to have all four men brawl their way to the back.
Anton was distracted by the chaos as you might expect and Autumn took advantage, hitting him with a missile dropkick that sent him over the top rope and smashing into the apron, then the floor. Stahl grabbed his ribs and crawled away to where he thought he'd be safe but Autumn not only followed him outside but cannonballed him into the steps to a pop. While the ref made the countout Powers increased her advantage by repeating the move not once but twice, and after she rolled Anton in at 8 before following in herself at 9 she never was on the wrong end of the seesaw in this match again. With a few minutes left in the time limit, Autumn sent Anton ass over teakettle with a basement dropkick into the knee to set up a Hazy Shade of Autumn that got her to the semis. ***
| • Autumn Powers d. Anton "Teknik" Stahl (w/Serge Batroc and Pyotr Caviar) in a first round Duquesne Classic match • |
Steve and Naz talked about the surprising appearance of the Wards to run off their old stablemates before things went back to Duck in the ring to announce the next first round match, the only one that will see two of the three seeds face off.
| • Super Avión d. "the Voice of Freedom" Drake Tremble in a first round Duquesne Classic match • | Before the match started, Avión asked the referee if she would banish the rest of the Red, White and True and she agreed. The crowd popped while Ted Holland and Bobby Bash blew their gaskets on their way to the back and Tremble upbraided the zebra.
Unfortunately for Tremble, he wasn't fighting the ref; who he was fighting was Avión who took it to him right from the bell and had Tremble so far on the back foot that the Voice of Freedom was bailing out from the ring within the first three minutes of the match. It wasn't a dumb move but it didn't matter to an aerialist like Avión, who two pieced him with a wrecking ball dropkick before following it up with a picturesque tornillo. Avión even landed on his feet before sitting on the barrier and filching a little popcorn from a fan in the front row.
Avión continued dominating the match and looked to close things out with a top rope move, but…well, if you're feeling charitable, Tremble accidentally sent the ref into the top rope to crotch Avión. This being Drake Tremble, we can all agree he did the sort of trip he could get away with. Unfortunately for us, he followed up with a textbook superplex that slowed down Avión and gave the Voice of Freedom some breathing room.
Tremble continued to have the upper hand but Avión stymied every attempt at the Truth Bomb and eventually surprised Drake with an around the horn maneuver into a rewind rana that honestly killed the #2 seed's best chance of winning this one. The last couple minutes were all Avión, who got his revenge by bouncing Tremble from the Classic with his Air Superiority to the cheers of (most of) the crowd. ** ½
Avión got to celebrate for a bit before fleeing the ring as Holland and Bash came back out to check on the leader and offer condolences. Meanwhile, the #3 seed said to the camera following him backstage that the only thing better than shutting up that culero would be winning the Cup. He didn't stick around since he'll be facing the winner of the next fight.
The second half of the first round began with the arrival of OnlyFitness. With mulitime Crush champion Karyn Tisch-Warren representing the faction we PIPed her shady-ass win over the Tiki God that got her in the tournament. Karyn was taking advice from Scott the Simp when Siouxsie and the Banshees' "This Town Ain't Big Enough For the Both Of Us" brought out "Dark Mirror" Beckett Carpenter to a big reaction from the Quality Controllers. As they stood in front of the Tron staring daggers down the ramp at Karyn we got a few highlights of Carpenter's mild upset over last year's winner Serge to get passage here.
Carpenter stepped into the ring and started towards the buckles to pose but Tisch-Warren snottily blocked their path; when Beckett tried to go around them the other way, Karyn followed suit. Carpenter shook their head and backed into a corner to remove their robe before the referee called for the bell. Naz jokingly referred to this as the leftovers first round match since neither participant got to or was picked in the Protocol last week.
The bell rang and both competitors went at each other hard early, and if one of them even got to a 55-45 advantage in the opening few minutes I didn’t see it. The one upspersonship was on display early, with Karyn snapmaring Beckett over and going for a basement dropkick only for Carpenter to roll away – a few seconds after that, Carpenter tried to receipt Tisch-Warren with a snapmare to set up an enzui basement dropkick only for KTW to wheel away from that. Tisch-Warren was using the ropes to bring herself up but managed to catch Beckett coming in and backdropped her to the floor while we did a 2:1 split screen commercial break and Karyn started laying in hammering forearms across the back of the former Unified World Tag Team champ.
As the commercials wrapped up, Tisch-Warren pressed her advantage with an Irish whip that sent Carpenter flying into the steps. Karyn rolled in the ring and posed on the buckles closest to the fallen Mirror as the ads ended and we went back live to the Center Stage. Karyn went to press her advantage only to fall victim to a hangman from BC that snapped her neck across the top rope. Carpenter slowly climbed up and flew off with a crossbody only to be caught and planted with a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker that got Tisch-Warren another near fall.
Karyn questioned the count to the ref but continued following her gameplan, hitting Carpenter with a couple more backbreakers. She whipped Mirror to the ropes and looked as if she was going for another tilt-a-whirl backbreaker, but Carpenter managed to reverse it mid move and armdrag Tisch-Warren away from them. Both of them got up nearly at the same time but KTW was up first and charging, but Carpenter first backed up across the ring then lowbridged the First Lady of Fitness to let her momentum take her out to the floor. OnlyFitness went over to encourage Karyn to shake it off and get up only to scurry as Carpenter pulled out a handless plancha over the top rope and wiped them both out on the floor.
Karyn was on her heels from that point forward as Beckett targeted her head with a tornado DDT and a pop up version of the Cracked Mirror headbutt that looked like it might end the match, but Tisch-Warren shouldered out at 2 ¾.
Carpenter didn't relent and poured on the gas, eventually locking down Look Inward on the Californian…only for Scott Warren-Tisch to earn his keep by grabbing one of Karyn's legs and putting it on the bottom rope. This pissed off the crowd and Beckett something fierce, with the latter having words with the zebra about it. Before Steve could even get the whole sentence out about turning your back on Karyn Tisch-Warren, the notorious KTW spun Carpenter around and took them off their feet looking for her Circuit Breaker. Tisch-Warren tried to cross up the legs and turn into the elevated Texas Cloverleaf before Beckett put paid to that with a series of upkicks to get her away from them. Karyn kept coming and looked to snatch up Beckett when Carpenter snatched her up in a victory roll that got them a narrow three count. ***
| • "Dark Mirror" Beckett Carpenter d. Karyn Tisch-Warren (w/OnlyFitness) a first round Duquesne Classic match • |
Karyn lived up to her name and complained loudly to the referee that she'd kicked out at a late 2 (for those of us watching at home we could see she did kick out but right after 3) before Scott tried to pin Carpenter's arms behind their back. Carpenter turned around and Cracked his Mirror, only for Lolo to slyly trip the winner and succeed where Scott failed. A seething Tisch-Warren grabbed the hydro flask and was looking to get revenge when the crowd first popped then roared.
Super Avión was running down the ramp, and he was armed with a chair to boot. The luchador hit the ring and with his arrival OnlyFitness suddenly remembered that they'd left the door on and the stove open. Avión swore at them in both his tongues before throwing the chair at them to send them further into retreat. The crowd popped as Avión extended a hand to help Carpenter up, and did so. Avión nodded at them and went to leave the ring – only for Carpenter to pull them back into a face to face showdown. Mirror started chirping and Avión didn't backpedal, so within moments the Quality Control purple shirts were on the scene to stand between them. Dueling chants broke out as they got separated ahead of their match in the next round, both pointing at the other and continuing the repartee.
"That's the thing about 'next week problems'," said Naz. "Sooner or later next week shows up and you still have problems." Steve chided Naz, who came as close to feigning innocence as someone like him cared to do. Three first rounders down and the one with the #1 seed left…
| • Jacques Krieger [c] d. "These Hands" Roy Fade in a first round Duquesne Classic match to retain the GRPL+ World Television championship 1️⃣ • | The last first round match saw the #1 seed and newly minted TV champ Krieger take on former two-time returning champion Fade.
Going into the fight, it was thought that if anybody could match hands with Krieger it would be the Golden Gloves winner, and Roy proved his bona fides by not backing down to One Eye before the bell. In fact, right after it rang he ran across the ring and floored Krieger with a straight right hand that had the mystery man from Atlantic City reaching for the ropes and Fade smacktalking while he slapped his own chest, saying we were going to find out who the man was.
We sure did: Krieger slowly pulled himself up and then headbutted Fade in the face. Then did it again and again and a couple more times until Roy started going limp. Roll of the Dice. Check, please! DUD
Naz joked during the replays they could replay the whole match; when the replays were done, a bleeding Fade was holding a towel to his face and getting helped to the back while Krieger took back his new title, got his hand raised, and bailed per usual. Steve commented on what an explosive start we had for hour 2 with Krieger closing out Fade in under half a minute, then threw things to Julius Duquesne III & Enya Face at the Duquesne Classic Control Center for an update.
Enya Face & Julius Duquesne III welcomed us to the Control Center and helped provide a brief recap of the first round matchups before highlighting the semifinals that’re to come:
One will see “Dark Mirror” Beckett Carpenter face off with Super Avión, both looking to make the finals, even more so in Carpenter’s case since they were bounced from the first round of the ‘22 Classic. Super Avión, fresh off of a first round win and pretty much running Naz to the announce table would love to keep his momentum going all the way to the Cup, and of course we just saw make the save and them smacktalk each other ahead of the fight.
The other semifinal will see Autumn Powers go up against the #1 seed and World TV champion Jacques Krieger. Powers is one of the biggest stars of the modern era, boasting two reigns as the Women’s World Champion along the way – the juggernaut Krieger has been in exactly one match that’s lasted longer than half a minute, and it’s where he beat the Rev for the belt in last week’s main.
Enya and JD3 hyped up the final four, and then said we’d be back with Ruckus and the rest of the Classic on the other side of the break.
✨
| • "Night Sky" Diana Spare [c] d. Bettie Rokker to retain the Crush championship 6️⃣ • | As Spare eventually went over and dominated her showcase, Steve put over the Crush champion’s adaptability in going from someone like Sohla Patel’s finesse and treachery last week to Rokker’s all out blitz from the bell forward. Still, Diana weathered that storm and triumphed decisively, taking a little bit over five minutes to finish off Bettie with the Nightfall. ** The two shook hands post match before Spare went over to the ropes and held the title proudly, the announce noting she was well on her way to a cash in with the hot streak she’s been on all year.
After that we got a vignette from Earlier Today where Commissioner Holmes was walking and talking backstage, making sure everything was set up to go off for the presentation of the Cup after the finals. He headed to the Atlanta branch of his office only to find something stuck in the door with a dagger. Holmes cautiously looked around before yanking it out and grabbing the two pieces of paper with it. He opened one and a thinner piece of paper fell in his hand as he read the note:
Go ahead.
Cash it.
A skull and crossbones could be seen as he let the note drop to the floor, and he checked out the other piece of paper before tucking it into his jacket (money spends no matter what, kiddies). Holmes looked around again to make sure he was safe, then entered his office and shut it.
| • "Dark Mirror" Beckett Carpenter ds. Super Avión in a Duquesne Classic semifinal match • | The semis began with this fight, notable only prematch for Duck announcing an extension of time limits to 30 minutes for this round of bouts.
Super Avión made his way down to the ring with the blue of his cape picking up the spotlights as he came out, announce putting over his beating Drake Tremble in the first round to get here while he posed on the turnbuckle.
And that's when things took a turn for the weird.
Cue Arcarsenal?!
Avión slid out of the ring and immediately got in Naz's face while Steve asked him what was the meaning of this? Other than loving the song, el-Fadal claimed ignorance; Avión grabbed him by the lapels and got even more aggressive. So he was surprised as hell when Naz started cackling and pointing.
Because it turned out Naz was telling the truth for a change and wasn't behind the music - Beckett Carpenter was. Avión's slow turn towards the entryway and body language was a universal language, while Naz cackled and put over Dark Mirror's mind games before the bell.
It paid off early for Carpenter, as Avión seemed a half step off for the opening moments in the match. Dark Mirror was starting to expand on their lead but then ran into simple physics and more impressively the brief suspension of them; Avión avoided a few attack attempts off the ropes from Beckett before planting them with a mid-ring Spanish Fly that had cameraphones snapping and gave the luchador the upper hand. Avión didn’t fight dirty, but the flurry of open-handed chops in the corner were so hard they didn’t feel clean. The middle of the match continued and moved in the direction of the man from Tijuana to the point where Carpenter held onto the ropes and bailed out to the floor. Of course, Avión is no stranger to the skies and made sure he was going to end up in a short on QTube by laying out Carpenter with what was probably the move of the night: a double springboard Shooting Star Plancha that made the Center Stage molten and almost got Naz bleeped out on commentary. Replays fired off as Avión recovered on the outside, then tossed Carpenter back in the ring and started going in for the kill.
A few minutes later Avión seemed to be on the cusp of victory and looked to polish off Carpenter with his patented Air Superiority, but this time it would be Beckett who nearly popped the roof off of the dump when they countered into an avalanche DDT that wiped them both out and lead to several “HOLY [poop]!” chants on GRPL+ as we got replays of the devastating counter. Both competitors began to take the standing 10 count as you might expect, but it was Carpenter who managed to get themselves on their hands and knees at 8 while Avión was rolling over to their side. Initially Mirror stumbled, but then regained their footing and used it to seize the moment – Carpenter snatched up Avión and then began laying into him with a barrage of hammer and anvil elbows for nearly half a minute straight while the crowd got increasingly psyched over the offense. Avión tried to get an arm up to block late, but Carpenter even turned that against him and managed to lock him down in a straightjacket version of Look Inward; with four arms cutting off his oxygen it was only a few seconds before the aerialist had to feebly tap out and send Mirror into the finals of the Duquesne. *** ½
Carpenter relinquished the hold and collapsed to the mat; it looked like Avión was literally almost asleep as Steve put over the match. Replays fired off of the big moments and we came back to the ring, where Carpenter was getting their hand raised before they rolled out and headed to the back still visibly shaking off some of the harder shots they endured. That was nothing compared to Avión, who not only ended up getting checked out by the ref but some of the medical staff as well. Avión managed to get to a seated position and was talking to everyone surrounding him but they did suddenly pop in a minute long commercial break here before we got to the second semi.
When we came back it was to the Quality Controllers popping for Autumn Powers as she came out ahead of the second semifinal. They replayed the end of her first round win against Anton Stahl as she entered the ring and used the ropes to stretch out.
"Rumble" brought out the undefeated Jacques Krieger, World TV title firmly in hand. Most of his first round dissection of Roy Fade played with his arrival for the fight. He looked nonchalant as he handed his title off to the ref while in the corner Powers looked absolutely focused on the mystery man from Atlantic City.
The bell rang and Krieger bullrushed Autumn into the corner, laying in a few shoulders to drive the breath out of her lungs. Krieger went to turn out the lights with the Roll of the Dice but Autumn slipped out the back and rolled from the ring. Improbably, her doing that made her the second longest fight of Krieger's career despite the fight not being a full minute old. Powers used up the count for a bit before returning to the ring.
This didn't go as she might have hoped since Krieger immediately began laying in some stomps and got booed in the process for it; he kept up the offense and again cornered Autumn before rocking her with a series of back elbows. Krieger followed it up with a huge biel that nearly sent Autumn ¾ of the way across the ring, though she managed to kick out of a pin attempt.
One Eye used his power to keep the upper hand and fought for the next few minutes at a methodical pace and had Powers scrambling. Even in the brief moments where Autumn could get out from under, some form of Krieger offense would put her back down to the mat.
But Autumn stayed in the fight even after getting drilled with a heart punch, which had Krieger questioning the count. In response to either Autumn's resilience or the crowd's response, Krieger got a little more black hatted with his offense, raking her eyes with his boot laces or using the middle rope to choke her for some of the five count. Steve sold another level of aggression in Krieger while Naz pointed out he had the most to lose going into the Classic with an undefeated streak and a title to defend repeatedly, so needs must and all that.
Krieger kept the upper hand by using increasingly shady tactics much to the crowd’s disapproval and again set up for the Roll of the Dice, but this time rather than shake off the move entirely Powers chop blocked Krieger down to cheers from the crowd. Steve noted how chippy things were getting as Autumn repeated the move and started to hobble Jacques a bit. Powers lit into the leg with some kicks and a shinbreaker before powering Krieger up and over with a falling back suplex that popped the Quality Controllers from the rafters to the front row.
Powers mounted a comeback in earnest that One Eye didn’t seem to have an answer for, and even when he rallied enough to shove her away at one point Powers just used that momentum to bounce off of the ropes and drill the leg she’d been working over with a basement dropkick to send Krieger spinning through the air before crashlanding on the mat. The move put him in position for the Hazy Shade of Autumn and Powers went to clock him with the Shining Wizard…only for Krieger to duck it and roll her up, Steve screaming about the fistful of tights he had…but the referee didn’t catch what Steve did. ***
| • Jacques Krieger [c] d. Autumn Powers in a Duquesne Classic semifinal match to retain the GRPL+ World Television championship • |
The crowd was livid about this as you might expect, and Autumn herself was arguing with the official, but Krieger merely snatched up his belt from Duck and made his walk to the back while at home we saw the replays to confirm Steve catching the cheating to no avail. Naz quoted Al Davis as Autumn looked frustrated in the ring, putting her head down across the top turnbuckle in resignation. Steve managed to get in a plug for the upcoming tag team turmoil before we went to some commercials amidst a roiling crowd at Center Stage.
✨
| • "Bollywood Diva" Sohla Patel d. "The Island Flower" Luz Cruz • | Patel rebounded from her title loss against Spare last week by again facing and beating her former partner in a surprising rout - this time Patel fought without her usual sense of style and was hyper aggressive from the bell, almost getting DQed multiple times for stretching out the count and punishing Cruz. The Island Flower had no answers for the star of the screen and eventually went under to a Ninth Incarnation. **
Post match, Patel got on the mic and berated Cruz for her failings to the point where Luz ended up crying and running from the ring, causing the audience to boo Patel loudly. Sohla left the ring at this point and made her way to the announce table before asking Naz to help her up onto it - at which point she resumed the promo, saying that the Florida imbeciles in the audience should be booing themselves - they carry themselves like they’re Cannes and they’re not even Tribeca. Patel laughed off those who doubted her after losing her Crush title shot and said since she would bloom like an international lotus, there was nothing but glory ahead for Sohla Patel. And if these people of the swamp didn’t like it, they could cry about it like Luz did.
Patel handed off the mic and had Naz help her down from the table before she left to a chorus of You Suck! chants from the Quality Controllers. Steve shook his head and expressed disgust over her actions while Naz enthused about meeting a Bollywood star in the flesh and getting to hold their hand.
From there, we went back to the ring, where Duck announced the next match to determine the new #1 contenders for the Unified World Tag Team championships in Tag Team Turmoil! It’s a six team random draw gauntlet, and we were introduced to the opening competitors.
Unfortunately, “Stranglehold” brought them out – “Swamp Trash” Ted Holland and (deep sigh) Drake Tremble of the Red, White and True. Bobby Bash came out with them and they hit a group pose before they both shook Bobby’s hand and he headed to the back.
Fortunately as they took over the ring, the second team came out – the former tag team champions, the Hard Way. Naz clowned them as they came out, saying he’d held a tag belt more recently than these has beens. Steve chided Naz for that, but Naz waved it off, saying that even if they could find their way back to the belts it wouldn’t be happening if they had to go wire to wire in a Turmoil.
1st fall: Hot opening minutes with both teams pressing for nearfalls to further underscore el-Fadal’s point. The Red, White and True got the upper hand early on but the former champions got Holland in isolation and started halving the ring on him. Tremble ran some interference and also managed to save the match a couple of times, but eventually the Hard Way took him out on the floor before sending Holland Down to Earth with their finisher and moving on.
The Hard Way eliminated the Red, White & True
2nd fall: Danny Castle and Martin Williams were announced as the next opponents; they both came in through the crowd in their drab gray jumpsuits toting their THE END IS NIGH signs. We’ve seen first Castle then Williams after talking to him with this sort of end time mentality.
They finally showed it here – they walked into the ring with their signs and then quickly got themselves DQed for battering the Hard Way with those signs. This beating with the signs went on a full minute with the bell ringing, Steve yelling that they weren’t even trying to win this match. Naz said that if you couldn’t win, make a statement, but Steve had no idea what statement they could possibly be making other than they were out for violence. Naz: “In professional wrestling?! IN THIS ECONOMY!??! GASP!”
The Hard Way eliminated Danny Castle & Martin Williams via disqualification
Some more zebras came out to stand between the fallen Hard Way and the blank faced Castle and Williams. Referees yelled at them to get out of the ring, which they eventually did and wandered back through the concourse, completely ignoring Tremble trying to talk to them. While the announce wondered what the entire hell that was all about, the referees were trying to check on the Hard Way…right when “Engel” came on the PA.
The smiles on Serge Batroc and Pyotr Caviar were far too wide to be friendly.
3rd fall: Well, you can guess how this went – Serge waited for the bell to ring, shrugged, and covered a bloodied Fifita for a quick three.
Serge Batroc & Pyotr Caviar eliminated the Hard Way
4th fall: Fun and games for the former Consortium came to an immediate halt when Muse's "New Born" brought out the former Unified World Tag Team champions the Game Changers. The crowd popped over the emergence of Ashley THEE Influencer and the Tiki God but Szabo and Buffett were all business heading to the ring and the men that helped cost them the titles.
The early part of the match saw the Changers hoist Serge on his own petard by keeping him from tagging out and employing quick tags to keep him isolated. Batroc managed to survive a couple of nearfalls but looked like his paté was cooked when the former champions set him up to Face Reality - unfortunately for them Pyotr saved the match by absolutely bisecting Ashley with a spear. Serge raked the eyes and landed behind Al before dumping him on his head with a Mount Everest German suplex that got oohs and groans from the audience. Serge staggered over to his corner and tagged in Pyotr, who almost immediately eclipsed Ashley Szabo with a running crossbody to follow up on his spear; the near 200 pound weight difference between the two meant that without help from Al, THEE Influencer ate the pinfall.
Serge Batroc and Pyotr Caviar eliminated the Game Changers
Naz put over Serge's smarts for getting the matchups that he wanted to end the fall, but that train of thought got cut off by Robbie Williams and the arrival of ⅔rds of the Ambassadors Trios champions: the Proper Villains. The crowd popped as "the Fury" Jim Jaspers and "the Proper King" Richard Windsor ran to the ring before immediately getting into a Pier 4.
FINAL fall: Steve put over the Villains winning the belts off of the then Consortium back in February and Windsor always having an extra gear whenever he could throw hands at his former allies. It looked like they were going to lose the fight early in the proceedings with Batroc and Caviar getting the upper hand, but the Villains caught a break when Jaspers dodged a corner charge and caused Pyotr to fly shoulder first into the ring post.
The Villains took turns hammering away at the bum shoulder for the next few minutes with Caviar desperately trying to paw away from the attack that he was under. Again, the Tracksuit Tsar's being a land monster saved the day, as Jaspers dodged the traditional Russian sickle only to go down to a blindside lefty sickle. Pyotr gritted his teeth and held onto the bum arm before making the tag to his mentor with his good arm.
Pyotr eating shit a little bit bought Serge time to recover from the last fall, and last year's Duquesne winner was an easy overmatch against a still loopy Jaspers. Jaspers was pesky and even got a nearfall off of a roll-up when Caviar and Batroc almost inadvertently collided. But once both men got vertical Serge popped him with a discus European uppercut that sent Old Jim tumbling down like a freshly cut redwood. Pyotr got the tag and wiped out poor Windsor on the apron before his sickle timed with Batroc's bridging Mt. Everest German secured them the #1 contendership. ***
| • Serge Batroc and Pyotr Caviar won Tag Team Turmoil to earn a Unified World Tag Team championships match at Mayday Payday • |
We got a couple minutes worth of replays recapping Turmoil; when we went back to the ring Anton Stahl was there shaking hands before joining in the group pose. When they broke formation Caviar roared and made A Very Familiar Gesture around his waist while Serge sneered. Steve said that when QCW rolled into Vegas we would finally get a resolution to the Unified World Tag Team championship situation when Serge and Pyotr tried to take the belts away from the Wonderful Ward Brothers. Naz said it might steal the show then asked us to go get snacks while this commercial break bought him a Versace watch. Steve shook his head as el-Fadal smiled the smile of a man three minutes away from a watch.
✨
Not every episode of Ruckus can be the biggest one ever like tonight’s is, but we’ll be back at the Arena for the next episode before we head out to Vegas for Mayday Payday. Some of what to expect on that show:
📺 Diana Spare looks to continue her winning ways as Crush champion 📺
📺 Ahead of the Unified World Heavyweight Title match at Mayday Payday we’ll have a QCW staple - Pick Your Poison! The Revenant and the Unified Champion pick each other’s opponents next week, and should they both win the one who’s victory is fastest will get to select the stipulation for the title match at the PPV 📺
📺 And whoever wins the Duquesne will be defending the GRPL+ World TV title – but we still don’t know who that’s going to be just yet, do we? 📺
Before the final began we made a solemn pilgrimage TOTHEBACK ~!, where JD3 was backstage with "Dark Mirror" Beckett Carpenter. After Julius asked them what they had on their mind before the biggest fight of their singles career, QCW's resident provocateur had this to say:
“Krieger, My Liebe Herr.
I know the odds are stacked against me, seeing as you are undefeated, and a heavy favorite to win the Duquesne Cup. And I know you fancy yourself a gambler, and like to play the odds.
But being the odd person out in QCW, I know a little something about odds. I can tell you this, Mr. High Roller: every gambler’s luck eventually runs out.
But you already know this.
You felt your hot streak coming to an end when you were in the ring with Autumn Powers, a woman who has defied the odds her entire career. You had a bad hand, but you kept an ace up your sleeve, and you made it through another round.
But what happens to a cheating riverboat gambler in an old movie? He gets thrown overboard. What happened when someone gets caught cheating in Vegas? (Mimics a gangland execution).
Now, you’re coming up against another opponent on a hot streak.
Your instincts should be telling you to fold em. To walk away. To run. But you’re pot committed now. You went all in against someone with nothing to lose.
You are in my house, Jack.
And in my house with the Cup on the line, I'm going to win.".
Siouxie & the Banshees brought out Beckett Carpenter for the biggest match of their career to a big ovation from the crowd. Carpenter walked to both edges of the stage, peering at the cheering crowd and pointing at a couple of signs before they made an almost military match to the ring. First Serge, then Karyn, then Avión have all been on the wrong side of Dark Mirror as they've made their way to the Cup. Carpenter raised a fist while on the buckles, then started to bounce off the ropes and use them to stretch their core.
We went right back to the back, and this time Enya Face was standing next to a stonefaced Jacques Krieger. That changed a bit when the Quality Controllers started booing him loudly before she could even get a question out, and Krieger said he hears all of them, and he doesn’t care. His job is to retain this title. To remain undefeated. And to win the Cup. Apparently he pissed a bunch of people off beating one of their favorites in the last round, so they’re going to be real mad when he beats another favorite and wins the Cup. A broken mirror leads to seven years of bad luck - after he breaks Carpenter tonight, the next seven years will be their problem. But at least for the next year, his only problem will be where to put something as nice as the Cup.
“Rumble” fired up again over the PA and Krieger parted the Tron. Atum, Roy Fade, and most notably the shady semifinal win over Autumn Powers is what got Krieger to the finals even when he was coming out to a big mixed response. Steve piggybacked off of this, saying that it was a different response than the man from Atlantic City was used to receiving. Naz said he clearly didn’t care, and that’s what he needed to do – let the rabble make all the noise they wanted, because they weren’t going to speak louder than holding the TV title with an undefeated streak and the Cup in your trophy case.
They killed the lights except the big spotlight as Duck made the final introductions of the evening. Both opponents were stonefaced - neither reacted to the crowd’s responses - and the bell rang and they didn’t budge.
| | • the main event • | |
Between his actions in his semi and his words before the match it didn’t surprise you that “Let’s Go Mirror!” chants rang out early on. Krieger peered into the crowd once but mostly ignored them, which worked out to his advantage as after dodging some chop block attempts, Krieger couldn’t avoid a basic stomp to the foot and legsweep with Beckett putting the test to the leg Autumn had started to work on in the last round before Krieger snaked the victory out from under her.
Carpenter picked up that thread and ran with it for a few minutes, using kicks and even help from the ropes to sit down on the ankle and try to undercut Krieger’s power advantage. As with most things in life, this worked until it didn’t, and Krieger managed to kick Carpenter away on an attempt and send them over the top to the floor while Atlanta booed. While the referee counted Dark Mirror out Krieger slowly drew himself to his feet and tested out the leg.
The crowd murmured, then popped – Carpenter crawled out from under the ring on the oposite side of where they’d been kicked out before popping up and sending Krieger into the ringpost by splitting his uprights. Beckett rolled in to break up the count before rolling back out and locking down a figure four around the ringpost to many a WHOO! in addition to Steve freaking out at the desk about the submission hold. Naz gave them credit for the game plan as they went up to the top rope and waited on Jacques – but when they flew off they ended up getting heart punched out of the air before slamming into the mat. Krieger fell to his knees upon completing the move and clutched at his leg to try and lessen the damage he felt.
Krieger tried to snatch up Carpenter and got a jawbreaker for his troubles, but managed to recover quickly enough to catch Dark Mirror in a follow-up tilt-a-whirl slam that got the TV champ 2 ½. Despite the crowd booing him and trying to rally Mirror, the match was going in his favor for the next few minutes and it looked like the inevitable was going to happen. Krieger called for the end to a chorus of boos, but Carpenter couldn’t stop him from drilling them with a Roll of the Dice. Krieger covered and hooked the leg –
– and Beckett Carpenter became the first person ever to kick out of the Roll of the Dice.
Atlanta lost their minds as Krieger’s face turned a little red while replays confirmed it – it may have been at 2 ⅞, but it was a kickout nonetheless. The “LET’S GO MIRROR!” chants only increased in volume as Krieger questioned the count with the referee, who told him a couple of times that it was a long 2 but a 2. Carpenter started to recover while this argument happened, then charged Krieger.
One Eye sidestepped the charge and Carpenter had to pull up to avoid the referee, then turned around and dodged Krieger’s charge. Unfortunately for the referee, they ended up eating the clothesline right across the jaw and they went down in a heap. Carpenter flew at Krieger but Jacques countered out into a spinebuster that deflated the crowd. The TV champ looked around and realized the situation before rolling out of the ring and grabbing a chair from the ringside area, the crowd booing lustily as he slid in the ring with the chair in hand.
Krieger swung the chair – and Carpenter delivered a Codebreaker that sent it recoiling right into his neck! The crowd ovated huge as they both were laid out on the mat with the referee beginning to stir. Carpenter looked over the ring, the ref, Krieger, the chair, and seemed to be doing some quick math. Carpenter grabbed the chair, took one more look at the ref, then absolutely walloped Krieger with a chair shot to the cheers of the crowd. One Eye went down as if he’d been shot, and Carpenter slid the chair under the bottom rope and out of the ring before falling on top for the count. The referee made a crawl over, and then the slowest count possibly in QCW history followed.
But when it was over…
| • "Dark Mirror" Beckett Carpenter d. Jacques Krieger [c] to win the GRPL+ World Television championship and the 2023 Duquesne Classic • | ***
A 70/30 reaction greeted “This Town Ain’t Big Enough For The Both Of Us” as pyro shot off on the stage and gold confetti rained down from the ceiling. Naz was whistling and applauding at the desk, saying this is what you got from someone who’d been to Jihad Finishing School: ruthlessness to get the job done, to even ditch your friends when you could hog all the glory for yourself, and when your inferiors tried to cheat you out of a win you snatched up a chair and took their damn head off. Steve wasn’t feeling as good about the moment as Naz was, but the cheers from the crowd perked up again as Holmes came out with the Cup in tow.
In the ring we could see Carpenter pacing as Holmes entered the ring and gave them a friendly nod before handing them the Cup. (Most of) the crowd cheered as Carpenter gave it a half-hearted raise much to the Commissioner’s surprise. el-Fadal gave a couple more whistles at the desk, and Carpenter looked his way and slumped a little.
A bigger pop from the crowd happened as the Tron parted and the Game Changers came out for the coronation; as usual, the QCW crowd is all the way here for the Tiki God and Ashley THEE Influencer.
But seeing them emerge made Carpenter ask for the mic from Holmes…before waving them off?
“Not. Like. This.”
Carpenter set the Cup down in a corner of the ring and looked pensive before eventually continuing…
“Sometimes, even I have to Look Inward. I went into this tournament hoping for respect, for victory, and for that trophy.
But this victory is tainted.
Autumn was cheated out of the finals.
I was cheated out of ending Krieger’s streak cleanly.
And while that got me exactly what I wanted, I won’t be able to look myself in the mirror if I don’t win that belt the right way. So I’m going to put it up against Autumn and Jacques at Mayday Payday. We’ll have a triple threat Vegas Street Fight.”
The Quality Controllers who may not have been in love with the way Mirror won the Duquesne definitely loved the prospect of that, as did Steve and Naz at the desk.
“That way, when I DO walk out of Vegas as your TV Champion, nobody can say I didn’t earn it.”
Carpenter set down the mic and raised a fist in the air while Naz hilariously ran down their chances of their walking out of Vegas with the title while Steve gave Mirror kudos for doing the right thing even if they’d done the wrong thing first. Pyro went off and we saw Al and Ashley clapping from the stage while Carpenter stood on the buckles closest to the ramp and pointed back to their former stablemates as this epic episode of Ruckus came to a close with “Dark Mirror” Beckett Carpenter standing tall with the Cup while on the floor Jacques Krieger looked into the ring and seethed.
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