LAST WEEK ON RUCKUS:
- Diana Spare retained the Crush championship and temporarily shut up Sohla Patel in the process
- Autumn Powers evened up the Best of 5 series at 1 apiece and won the GRPL+ World Television championship
- The Revenant retained his Unified World Heavyweight championship but ended up not only fighting Razorblade but getting chokeslammed off the stage through four tables on the floor
Ruckus didn't start with the usual open but a pretape from the Commissioner's Office, who admitted that some online rumors had more veracity than others and wanted to clear everything up with this official announcement. He noted even at the halfway point, this has been a massive year for QCW, and quite frankly with so many talented wrestlers added over the spring and the ones to come in the summer thanks to the new talent initiative, great as it is…well, great as it is, Ruckus wasn't enough.
Therefore starting in a couple of weeks, QCW would be launching an online exclusive hour long show on Wednesday nights called QCW Unleashed. The premiere of the show will take place July 12th, and fans can expect the same kind of fights they get Friday nights with no censors and all of the quality. Unleashed will be happening every Wednesday at 7 EST on QTube, and he invited fans to stream it live if they could and watch the clips if they couldn't. Holmes thanked us for our time before welcoming us to Ruckus, after which the usual open rolled.
Usual open but not the usual location or setup - this is another Ruckus emanating from QCW's unofficial home away from home, Center Stage Theater in Atlanta. After setting off the pyro Steve Vandeblanche alongside Nazir el-Fadal welcomed us to a packed show that would have match 3 in the Best of 5 for the TV title as well as two Pick Your Poison matches - one of which would have the Crush championship on the line. Steve thanked everyone for tuning in then threw things to Duck in the ring.
Katsuji Ootsuka was the first wrestler out on the show and got a good pop from the A Town Quality Controllers; GRPL+ Helpfully Reminded Us That Last Week Katsuji had been the driving factor in he & the Proper Villains retaining the Ambassadors trios championships by getting the win with his Magical Sky. As Ootsuka got loose in the ring, "Rumble" brought out the embittered Jacques Krieger and S. Mark Starr, a new alliance that's come to fruition earlier in the month. Krieger looked almost bored coming down the ramp while Starr harangued some Controllers.
We all know the cliche "styles make fights" and the opening minutes went pretty solidly to One Eye, who used his power to keep Katsuji either grounded or flying through the air at his hands. Starr bragged to anyone who'd listen as Krieger showed off why he'd had such a lengthy undefeated streak.
At one point, Krieger was standing over Ootsuka and slapping him around to boos before posing over his fallen body. Ootsuka didn't have a response - until he nipped up and snapped off a rana that sent Jacques flying. Krieger got to his feet only to get drilled with a pump kick that sent him flying over the top rope. Starr ran over to Krieger and tried to help him up but then fled because Ootsuka was coming over the ring post with a tope con hilo that took down Krieger to the roar of the crowd and shock of the announce.
The momentum completely in his back pocket now, Ootsuka spent the next few minutes increasing his time flying through the air on his terms, getting a couple of nearfalls that had Starr clutching his pearls ringside. Even when it seemed like Krieger was getting an upper hand thanks to a signature like his heart punch Ootsuka was able to not only sidestep it but send One Eye down with a basement rana driver. Ootsuka went up for Magical Sky to end it but Starr jumped up on the apron to distract the ref. Katsuji tried to wave him down but when Starr was still arguing, Ootsuka switched his focus to drill the mouthy fixer with a missile dropkick that sent him to the floor. Ootsuka went up top quickly and flew off with Magical Sky; Krieger rolled away with his time to recover and the Prince of Punishment crash landed on the canvas. Krieger waited for Ootsuka to stagger up before dusting him off with the Ace in the Hole shotei followed up by the Roll of the Dice to secure the shady win. ***
| • Jacques Krieger (w/S. Mark Starr) d. Katsuji Ootsuka • |
Naz threw some jabs at Starr getting laid out while Steve mentioned that Krieger might be lying in wait to get the next shot at the TV title after the Best of 5 series concluded. He pivoted from that to a plug for the 200 seats due to be released by Enterprise Arena after the setup for Cruel Summer got locked in yesterday (Th). He plugged QCW's ticket site for those who wanted to grab a stub tomorrow (Sa) at noon CST.
Nelly's "#1" got replaced by Ruckus' main theme, and the Quality Controllers almost took the roof off of Center Stage as they saw Razorblade finish taping his hands before sliding off a production crate and began skulking towards the ring – or as Naz put it, "That thief is up next. Say ahmadullah. Say amen."
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Back from commercials as “Pray For Me” brought out Roy Fade with “Dashing” Pierce Moore in tow behind him, lending some words of encouragement as Fade threw a flurry of shadow punches at the camera before heading into the ring. Steve put over the recent success of Fade & Moore as a tag team before “Unscripted Violence” blew up Center Stage and brought Razorblade out to a colossal pop. As he walked down the ramp we got footage of him getting revenge on the Rev last week and chokeslamming him off the stage through a handful of tables.
Steve put over the fact that Savage had a claim as QCW’s best fighter, but Fade wasn’t too far behind him when it came to that. In fact, the opening moments saw the former three-time TV champion match the #1 contender and surpass him a couple of times; at one point Fade got the boots up on a corner charge before landing some hard right hands that backed Savage up into a corner with a quizzical look on his face. As Savage tried to fend off Fade's fists, Steve asked Naz for insight on this one since he'd faced both men. After correcting Steve in pointing out he'd beaten both men, Naz said they were easy to gameplan for since they didn't try to trick you with what they were coming with in the ring. He then compared them to the Miami Heat, noting that while neither one of them was the kind to give up and would make you work for it the whole time, you could beat them.
Fade continued to press his advantage on Razorblade and got a few nearfalls, even busting out a grounded version of the cobra clutch to try and keep Savage down. The Controllers rallied Razorblade, who began to get out from under. But backing Fade into a corner twice still didn't get him out of it, and when he tried it a third time Fade released the hold and let the former double champion send himself into the corner. However, when Fade tried a corner charge Razorblade was able to sidestep it, and Fade sent himself shoulder first into the post as a result.
Savage followed that up with a snap German suplex and began getting his own back and then some, Center Stage rooting him on all the way. Last summer These Hands found a shady way to end Razorblade's reign as double champ and filch the TV title; Savage got some revenge here with a John Woo dropkick setting up the Soul Crusher to get him the hard fought W. ***
| • Mason "Razorblade" Savage d. "These Hands" Roy Fade (w/"Dashing" Pierce Moore) • |
It looked like Moore was going to try a cheap shot, but Razorblade wheeled around and saw him coming; Moore immediately got apologetic, gathered up Fade and helped him to the back while Savage stared them down the whole way.
From there Razorblade got the mic from Duck and waved down the crowd chanting his name, slapping his palm against the mic when they wouldn’t stop so the feedback would break it up. Savage said he didn’t have a lot to say, but he would say this – you see who just picked up a win in the ring and who’s not here licking their wounds. He’s going to see the Rev next week, and at Cruel Summer, and the Revenant can expect to keep seeing Razorblade until the Unified World title is back where it belongs. Everybody bleeds - apparently everybody gets chokeslammed (that got some oohs from the faithful) - but not everybody gets to be Unified World champion, the title he made – and he will be walking out of St. Louis with his 15 Pounds of Gold. Savage tossed the mic as the crowd roared before he headed to the back, Steve putting over a possible face to face confrontation between the Rev & Razorblade on next week’s show.
| • the Proper Villains & the Wonderful Ward Brothers d. Team Batroc and the Red, White and True (w/Bobby Bash) • | Always nice to get the occasional eight man tag between the QCW ropes, though there was a big undercurrent of weirdness while this one happened. The Villains and Katsuji are in line for a handicap Unified World Tag Team championships shot after retaining the Ambassadors Trios belts, and you can understand why Team Batroc had problems getting along with the cosplaytriots of the Red, White and True.
At least early on, it didn't present itself as a massive problem; the opening few minutes were a back and forth until the dynamics changed when Serge tagged in Pyotr Caviar and the Russian land monster started taking control of the match over a rotating door of opponents. Whether they were the Unified World Tag champions or the Ambassadors Trios title holders, the Tracksuit Tsar held things down for his side for a wide swath of the match. It looked like it was going to be a borderline romp for the black hats…until Drake Tremble tagged himself in since Team Batroc wouldn't tag him in, something he complained about so loudly after getting in that you could hear him without a mic. Pyotr looked like he was going to lay out Drake, but Serge calmed him down and smiled and nodded to Tremble.
Then he spoke to Caviar.
And then they left, Tremble fuming the entire time while Team Batroc casually walked their way to the back. His yells for them got subsumed with noise from the Controllers, and suddenly Reggie Strong was ringside and down went Bobby Bash. Ted Holland hopped down from the apron and went after Reggie, knocking him down - then it only took one shot from Reggie to drop Holland as well. Strong flashed his trademark grin right before he flashed some brass knuckles and casually tossed them onto Holland's unconscious body while taunting Tremble. Drake screamed at Strong and then the ref about Strong, but the ref pointed out that Reggie had only attacked non legal men so her hands were tied.
Left on the wrong side of a 4 on 1, Drake then became the lead contestant in tonight's episode of Finisher Bingo - the Wards went first, then the Villains - two Wonder Cutters, Fury Road knee strike, and a half and half suplex from Richard Windsor finished things off. ** ½
Reggie Strong strutted towards the back with a cackle on his lips before replays fired off. When they were done there was a man on every turnbuckle celebrating. Once they climbed down it looked like the Wards wanted to shake hands with the Villains, but it was Old Jim and the Proper King who put it off before asking for a clutch of mics from Duck.
Jim Jaspers asked the Controllers to give it up for the Unified champions, which they did, and then asked for some applause for them as the #AndStill Ambassadors Trios champions, which they got as well. (Maybe not to the level of the Wards, but…) Jaspers was about to follow up when uncharacteristically Richard asked if he could have the floor. Jim looked a little surprised but let Windsor talk, and once the Proper King did he pointed out that they had a title shot coming their way with Katsuji.
But while they were Villains, they were Proper Villains and wanted to do things in a proper manner. They knew that they were facing The Batrocs at Cruel Summer, but it looked like their next Friday was wide open and he and Old Jim had a proposal for them. Jason the Great made the "hurry up, c'mon" hand gesture and Richard said they wanted the Wards next week. It'd be non-title…but if they managed to win it, then the Unified World Tag Team championships match at Cruel Summer would become a three way dance. Crowd and the announce had the reaction to that you might expect as the Wards discussed it amongst themselves. Rich came back proffering the Hand of Friendship and said "Deal" as the crowd popped and all four men ended up shaking hands and exchanging some smack talk; nothing too outrageous but in the end they all ended up hoisting up titles and continuing the chatter as Steve put over their fight next week before we headed into commercials.
✨
We came back from the break to "Bodak Yellow" bringing out Lolo Vuitton to a big mixed reaction from the Controllers. The former two time Women's World Champion did her usual runway walk down the ramp while Steve sold the first Pick Your Poison match on the night with the other one coming in tonight's main event for the Crush championship. Lolo did her usual pose on the ropes as Duck started to introduce her, only to be cut off by Diana Spare on the Qualitron.
Spare said that unlike Lolo, she had a title match to worry about later. But while it wouldn't be a title match, Lolo could get some revenge and if Diana was really lucky, they'd destroy each other.
"Roar" brought out International Lotus and the threesome controlling the Women's World Championship. Sohla Patel wasn't dressed to compete but Karyn Tisch-Warren was, and once Lolo saw that she slid out of the ring and ran up the ramp. Vuitton immediately ran up and laid out Scott the Simp with a big boot, but that got her double teamed by International Lotus on the floor. The referee tried to separate Lotus from Lolo but Vuitton had things handled and ended up back dropping Sohla over the barrier nearly into the front row.
The fight continued down the ramp from there, and once it got ringside the ref called for the bell. It looked like things were going to start off with Lolo whipping Karyn into the steps but the Women’s World Champ saw it coming and reversed into a drop toe hold that sent Vuitton’s head bouncing off the steps. Karyn pulled Lolo away from the steps only to knock them akimbo by flinging Lolo into them, then Tisch-Warren rolled into the ring and preened before demanding the referee count Lolo out so she could get out of here.
Vuitton managed to get back into the ring at 8 but immediately got swarmed by her ex-partner, who was taking savage glee in kicking her former BFF in the back. Tisch-Warren put together a tight string of moves while her cronies recovered on the outside, including blocking a desperation Bloody Shoe attempt from Lolo. KTW drove a knee into Lolo’s face before snapping off an Olympic Slam into the turnbuckles, and Vuitton was left hung out to dry on the top rope.
Karyn climbed up and even landed a couple of stomps to the back before putting Lolo in position for a superplex. Both women flew off of the top – but Lolo pivoted in midair and turned it into an avalanche DDT, and both women became one with the canvas after it hit with the Controllers yelling “Holy shit!” Replays of Lolo’s counteroffensive played while they both took most of the 10 count to come around, and when they did it was Lolo’s for the taking.
Even though she had to stop a couple of times because her back was howling, Lolo emptied the tank against her ex partner to the joy of the Controllers, even springboarding off the middle ropes before connecting with a Blockbuster that made Tisch-Warren’s kneecaps almost kiss her eyebrows. Vuitton began to call for the Bloody Shoe only to see Scott Warren-Tisch get on the apron to complain to the referee, and she ran over and dropped him with a big forearm that sent him bouncing off the apron to the floor. Vuitton regained her focus, lined up Karyn and went to take her head off with the Bloody Shoe, but Karyn ducked it at the last second and rolled Lolo up.
It didn’t help when Karyn got her feet on the middle rope, it was even worse when Sohla popped up at two to hold Karyn’s feet down for more leverage, and even worse for Lolo, the referee missed all this chicanery and counted three. ** 1/2
| • "the First Lady of Fitness" Karyn Tisch-Warren (w/International Lotus) d. Lolo Vuitton in a non-title Pick Your Poison match • |
The crowd booed as Karyn immediately rolled out of the ring and grabbed her belt before Duck could even fully finish announcing her as the winner of the match. Steve complained that International Lotus had stolen one as Sohla gathered up Scott and they all fled to the back as fast as they could. In a mirror of last week, we cut from Lolo berating the ref in the ring to Diana Spare backstage watching her flip out with a small smile on her face.
From there it was off TOELSEWHEREINTHEBACK~!, where Enya Face brought on her guest - "Superfine" Reggie Strong. The Controllers popped as he and Enya exchanged coquettish smiles before she welcomed him back and he thanked her for being almost as Superfine as he was. He then said they know about Reggie Strong in the A (Foley pop) before saying that who didn't know him was that dastardly douche Drake Tremble. Drake might've been that guy once in the way back, but even his dumb ass knew QCW had a Strong future on his shoulders - which is why he and his little white Jeromes tried to take him out. But last week he made Drake as ugly as his mindset, and if Tremblow wanted a piece of him he'd get the whole thing at Cruel Summer.
And the Face of QCW was going to show up, show out, and prove that if you didn't move when you saw him coming…well, if you didn't move, you could enjoy the view from his finely tailored coat tails while he rocketed straight to the top of QCW. After asking Enya not to change unless she was going to text him more often, Strong let out his signature laugh and strutted off camera.
Back to the ring, where "This Town Ain't Big Enough For the Both Of Us" brought out Beckett Carpenter to a good pop from the Controllers. They were clearly talking to themselves, firing themselves up in what could be the last match of the Best of 5 series. Carpenter seemed to ignore the response and almost the referee before the Offspring's "Mota" hit the PA to bring out Autumn Powers to a podium level pop. Powers marched down the ramp and while she slapped a couple of hands her focus was solely on the opposition to come. The zebra ended up stepping between Autumn and Beckett before things got underway, Steve noting at the desk that they both had a similar look in their eyes as the pivotal match 3 in the Best of 5 got underway.
| • Autumn Powers [c] d. 'Dark Mirror" Beckett Carpenter to retain the GRPL+ World TV title; Powers takes a 2-1 lead in the Best of 5 series • | Carpenter came to the middle of the ring and started talking (presumably of the smack variety) to Powers, who nodded twice and then piefaced Carpenter to oohs, aahs and a few boos. Carpenter chortled, then started throwing hands. Powers returned fire after eating a couple of punches and pretty soon the Controllers were cheering for a hockey fight in the middle of the ring.
Beckett got the upper hand with a couple of knees to the gut, and then started going to work on Powers with hammer shots to the upper back and the back of the neck. Carpenter roared in Autumn's face, and despite Powers' best attempts in the early going it was Dark Mirror's match.
Powers managed to duck a swing and leveraged Beckett down into a crossface. Beckett struggled in the hold, then managed to shoot out a couple of back elbows and get Autumn off of them. As they were both down, we could see Danny Castle and Martin Williams marching through the concourse with their THE END IS NIGH but surprisingly Summer Rose was a couple of steps behind the duo with a sign of her own: YOU KNOW THEY'RE RIGHT. As they moved out of the camera's eye Carpenter scrambled over to where Powers seemed to be checking her nose for blood and if Dark Mirror wasn't going for clarin they were going for damage. Befitting their last name, Carpenter worked over Autumn with some hammer and anvil elbows, and Carpenter suddenly latched on Look Inward with Powers unable to block.
Carpenter stepped over with the Dragon Clutch and let out a triumphal yell, before demanding Autumn tap out (there was an undercurrent of the audience chanting it as well). Carpenter had the hold locked in if you ignored the part where Autumn began to power out. But she wasn't powering out of the hold; she was powering up while Beckett still had the hold on. Powers took a couple of wobbly steps one direction before pivoting and suddenly lawn darting Beckett into a middle turnbuckle. Powers stood over Beckett's body before her eyes got a little bit bigger…
…and then she put the Look Inward on Beckett to the shock of the crowd and the announce, Steve losing his mind over the prospect of Carpenter being forced to submit to their own hold. While neither of them would be confused for the Revenant, Powers did have a strength advantage over Dark Mirror, who had to crawl on their belly before hooking the bottom rope with their boot. Autumn released the hold at 2, and backed up to the center of the ring while a slightly paler Carpenter looked horrified at eating the taste of their own medicine. They looked back at a grim faced Powers, who mouthed three words at them the camera picked up:
Still not ready.
The match kept playing out after she said that, but it was essentially over there. A clearly rattled Carpenter never got close to securing Inward again and couldn't even keep a battle focused Autumn down on the mat for 2 ½. Meanwhile, Powers used Match 3 to send a clear message to Beckett and the long list of people hungry for the GRPL+ World TV title in the back: I don't know where you think your weak shit goes, but it sure ain't here.
Autumn spent the next few minutes hitting Carpenter with gusto, including a tilt-a-whirl slam that put Carpenter in the mat like a tent spike. Autumn called for the end and went for the Hazy Shade…only to pull up at the moment of impact before absolutely bur y ing Carpenter under almost 30 seconds of hammer and anvil elbows. The ref went to check on Mirror, but Autumn cut him off by flying in a Hazy Shade that sent Carpenter ass over teakettle. Autumn flipped them onto their back and pinned them without even hooking a leg. Message sent, Ms. Powers! ***
Replays played of Autumn's dominant win in a must have Match 3, Naz admittedly cackling desperate his usual feelings towards Autumn at the fact the so-called master of the mind games got surprised and unraveled like a cheap sweater afterwards. Steve pushed back against that a bit, but what GRPL+ showed those of us watching at home was Autumn staring at the ring with her chin out holding the TV title high in her left hand at a glassy-eyed Carpenter…a Carpenter who was one more loss away from falling back into the long list of contenders for the belt.
We cut from a wobbly Mirror TOTHEBACK~! where Diana Spare was slinging the Crush championship over her shoulder and headed to the ring. She's ready to defend the belt but Lolo Vuitton gets to name her opponent; Steve hyped the championship Pick Your Poison match coming up on the other side of Ruckus' final commercials on this Friday night.
✨
Ahead of the main event, Steve conducted the hype train for the go home show next week:
📺 Autumn tries to end the Best of 5 and keep the World TV title - Dark Mirror been catching Autumn's righteous wrath and been off the past couple of matches; can they find a way to win Match 4 and keep the series alive? 📺
🌟 Ahead of the rematch for the Unified World Heavyweight Championship at Cruel Summer, the Revenant and Razorblade will have a Face To Face that should end peacefully and won't certainly lead to any further violence. Why are you looking at me like that? Do you know something? 🌟
🌟 And the Crush championship will be up for grabs…will Diana Spare still be toting it heading into Cruel Summer? 🌟
If only we had some sort of principal contest coming up to provide a clearer outcome…
| | • the main event • | |
“you should see me in a crown” brought out “Night Sky” Diana Spare to a good pop from the Controllers, the Crush champion all business as usual while she walked down the rampway. Spare got in the ring and held the title overhead, then headed it off to the referee and scowled in the direction of the back.
There was silence for a few beats while a buzz grew in the crowd.
Then “Bombs Over Baghdad” hit and the roof came off the place.
Cindy Monet almost didn’t get picked up by the cameras, she went to the edge of the stage so fast, clearly missing the crowd she was now back in front of for the first time in half a year if not more. She ran to the other side and fired up the faithful over there with her Collipark letter jacket flapping in the night air. “Cindy!” chants rocked Center Stage as she made her way to the ring, Diana’s face not betraying any surprise as Monet made her way to a turnbuckle and soaked in more cheers. OutKast died down and with the crowd a little quieter but still hyped, Steve was able to talk about the return of QCW’s resident android.
The bell rang and Diana walked to the middle of the ring and waved Cindy on. Cindy waved on the “Let’s go, Cindy!” chants but Spare wasn’t too obviously rattled. For the next couple of minutes they took things to the mat and Cindy didn’t show any signs of ring rust, able to at least match Spare in the early going. Even when Diana looked like she would get the upper hand after an armdrag, Cindy immediately responded with one of her own, and both competitors’ dropkicks met air and almost got their legs tangled before they each wheeled to a knee with their fist cocked, popping the Controllers who weren’t applauding.
Both women got up and exchanged some more chain wrestling and rope running, only this time Cindy flipped the script by following Diana into the ropes after a few passes before rebounding off with a huracanrana that sent Spare to the canvas. Cindy’s slightly quicker style came into play as she started putting her thumb on the scale of the match. Diana didn’t get overwhelmed but she soon found herself behind the 8 ball as Cindy fed off of the crowd and kept showing that ring rust was for humans. Spare looked like she was going to catch Cindy off the ropes with a backbreaker only for the adopted hometown hero to go around the horn and turn it into a satellite DDT that sent Spare flopping to the mat. Cindy fired herself up and slowly went out to the apron. Monet started the ropewalking and launched off to complete the Tightrope…and Spare superkicked her so hard she ended tangled up in the ropes.
Both women were down for a spell after that, allowing for some replays as Naz gave credit to Diana’s smarts and ability to suck the air out of the building. Spare went about her business for the next few minutes and while she did get some cheers, it was nothing compared to her usual receptions. Night Sky didn’t buckle, though, and continued to put pressure on Cindy - even countering another attempt at a Monet rana and flipping her out of it. Cindy managed to land on her feet only to get plastered with another superkick, after which Diana called for the end to a big mixed reaction from the A.
She set up Nightfall and Cindy immediately began punching her way out of it. Spare had trouble maintaining her balance and in short order not only couldn’t hit her trademark finisher but went down and started clutching her ankle; behind her, she failed to notice that she’d accidentally sent Cindy into the ref and dropped them both as a result.
Who didn’t fail to notice this was International Lotus, who came down the ramp to boos. Patel & Tisch-Warren slid in under the bottom rope with both competitors down. Sohla and Karyn were having fun mocking Spare before Patel aggressively grabbed Diana by the hair and barked at her. Patel snatched Spare up and looked to deliver the Ninth Incarnation when suddenly Cindy shot out with a spear that took out Patel and sent Spare down hard to the mat (though not as hard as the Bollywood Diva’s modified Falcon Arrow would’ve). The Women’s World Champion jumped Cindy and pretty soon had her locked up with the Circuit Breaker. Cindy yelled out in pain over the elevated Texas Cloverleaf when suddenly the crowd’s response changed for the better.
To the surprise of everyone, Cindy’s partner Jane Doe ended up sliding in the ring and no sooner had Karyn looked up to see what was going on than she was eating a Flatliner, getting her off of Cindy to the roars of the crowd…roars that only grew as down the ramp came Benjamin Valentino, Lucious Patton, and Mr. QCW himself, Jupiter Jones. Doe and Tisch-Warren brawled to the outside while a recovering Patel started skulking in Spare’s direction only to be pulled out of the ring by the reunited International Players. The gentlemen formed a wall between the ring and International Lotus, and a Doe throw of Karyn up the ramp meant that the rest of the match could go on without interference.
The referee recovered first and started counting both women out, but they both staggered up at 4 and yelled at the other before exchanging chops mid ring. Spare won the chop battle, but missed one and Cindy immediately countered into a victory roll. Spare ate it for 2 and countered, rolling Cindy up for 2. Cindy blocked another superkick attempt and swept the leg before going for a running Shooting Star Press only to eat Spare’s knees.
Sensing the end, Diana doubled Cindy over and went for another try at Nightfall, only for Cindy to slip out the back with a Code Red that dropped them both to the canvas. Cindy let out a whoop and went back up top, and Spare got up and turned around only to get wiped out by Monet’s Tightrope.
ONE.
TWO.
THRE–KICKOUT!
At the death. At 2.9999. Call it what you want, but what it left was an agog Monet who looked almost catatonic while Spare was still down on the mat with her shoulder just barely up. Cindy questioned the ref without being a jerk about it as we caught the replays, and Spare had indeed survived. The Controllers chanted “One more time!” as Jupiter Jones started banging his fists on the mat in time to it, and tht seemed to snap Cindy out of it. Diana got to her knees only to be drilled by a superkick from Cindy, who again went up top and steadied herself before flying off and hitting Diana with another Tightrope. The crowd popped huge as Diana almost flipped off the impact, and Cindy hooked both legs as the zebra slid into place.
ONE.
TWO.
THREE.
Bedlam.
| • Cindy Monet d. "Night Sky" Diana Spare [c] in a Pick Your Poison match to win the Crush championship • | ***
“Dance Or Die” hit the PA to cheers and Duck could only get out “AND NEWWWWWWWWWW” before the Controllers pop drowned him out, Cindy joyously pounding the mat with a smile on her face before being almost brought to tears by the ref bringing the Electric Android the first taste of QCW gold she’d ever earned. A wet eyed Cindy drew herself up and took the title before getting her arm raised, and then she almost got tackled by the usual far more unreadable Jane Doe, Steve putting over the moment and their bond as an unlikely tag team for the past couple of years through injuries and the rest culminating in this scene we were privileged to witness.
Doe helped Cindy up and raised her arm, smiling almost creepily wide before a bunch of red and white pyro exploded on the stage, Cindy clearly taken off guard by it before falling to her knees and holding the belt close to her. As Diana started a wobbly walk to the back, in came the men of the College Park Family, who lifted Cindy off of her knees and put her on their shoulders to show her off to everybody in Center Stage while she lifted the Crush title high overhead and trilled in celebration. Steve stopped clapping long enough to thank everyone for tuning in, reminding everyone that next week’s Ruckus from the Arena was the last show before Cruel Summer, and then gave more congratulations to the new champion as the credits box popped up. You could hear the A Town Controllers booming “You deserve it!” chants for a couple of seconds even after Ruckus faded to black.
