Ruckus began with a video package recapping Cruel Summer; stills of Hilary Highnote’s singles victory and Beauty & the Beast Mode’s tag win gave way to brief video clips of the PPV results, including:
“Superfine” Reggie Strong besting Drake Tremble in the opener before
stating his intentions to go after the GRPL+ World TV title
Cindy Monet retaining the Crush championship over Shelley LaVey
A mild upset in the three way dance for the Unified World Tag Team
championships, as Pyotr Caviar won both falls over the Proper Villains
& the Wonderful Ward Brothers to deliver the belts to Team Batroc,
Serge triumphantly screaming while holding up both belts and
giving Caviar his share of them back
The spirited back and forth between “Night Sky” Diana Spare &
Karyn Tisch-Warren for the Women’s World championship leading to
the ref being taken out and International Lotus double teaming Spare
before Lolo Vuitton cleaned house with a chair, saving Karyn for last -
after Spare hit Nightfall and won the title, Lolo gave her a handshake –
before pulling it in and telling Diana that she owed her,
the former two-time champ leaving the new one to celebrate in the
ring with tears in her eyes
The Beg For Mercy match to end the best of 5 series for the
GRPL+ World TV title being another hard fought battle between
“Dark Mirror” Beckett Carpenter & Autumn Powers - Carpenter going
for Look Inward when suddenly being interrupted by the End Times
and Summer Rose - the subsequent brawl giving Autumn an opening
for a rear naked choke and win before getting swarmed herself -
Powers & Carpenter running off the heels and exchanging a wary
fist bump before Autumn celebrated her title win amongst the crowd
The main of Savage’s Last Stand saw Razorblade march defiantly out
to the ring while the Rev maintained eerie calm; Savage threw the
house at the champ and rattled him, the Rev roaring back and dropping
Mason only to get a 1 count - Savage continuing to come at the Unified
World champ until falling victim to almost a pump version of the Red
Right Hand before bouncing a foot off the mat after it hit him
The screen went to black while we heard the ref count 3 before going
back to video of shocked fans, Surrender Cobras, and even a few
crying kids, one of whom the Rev laughed at on his way out as he
held up the belt; a laid out Savage crawling for the ropes while the Rev
cackled and held up the 15 Pounds of Gold at the top of the ramp,
Steve ending the broadcast with a deflated sounding “QCW belongs
to the Revenant.”
From there we went into the Arena, where Steve Vandeblanche introduced himself and Naz before welcoming us to Ruckus, saying that we weren’t going to waste any time with in ring action, starting with the hot young rookie on a tear looking to make himself a champion sooner rather than later…
| • "Superfine" Reggie Strong d. Gerry Greene (w/Ian Cook) • | Good reaction for the newcomer as he continues to climb up the babyface ladder in QCW and got to do so here in what was pretty much a showcase against a Catch Hell alum; Greene did get an advantage and sent Reggie to the floor but when the Big Tosser Cook laid out Strong with a discus punch the ref ejected him much to the joy of the crowd and sadness of Greene; without his muscle to back him up Strong mounted a rally and took over the match before putting a button on it with the Fine and Dandy, Strong counting three along with the ref with his arm that didn’t have a leg hooked. **
After the match Reggie got the mic from Duck, first apologizing to the fans for interrupting Sade and all the swaying before saying that he was on a mission - and that mission ends up with him as a champion. He congratulated Autumn Powers for winning the TV title at Cruel Summer, but he said it Sunday night and he’ll say it again now: he’s coming for the TV title and if he has to beat a legend to do it…that’s Superfine by him. Sade came back on and Strong gave a sweeping bow as the announce sold the possibility of a Strong/Powers match for the belt to come down the pike if Reggie could keep up his winning ways.
From there we went TOTHEBACK~!, where we saw Julius Duquesne III welcome his guests - International Lotus. The crowd booed at the arrival of the trio, and based on the look on their faces the feeling was more than mutual. JD3 asked Karyn Tisch-Warren about how she felt about Cruel Summer – Karyn cut him off and said she got screwed out of her belt thanks to that backstabber Lolo, so – and suddenly, Karyn snatched the microphone out of Juli's hand.before marching out to the ring, stopping halfway down the ramp to continue with her diatribe.
She got screwed out of her Women's World championship thanks to that backstabber Lolo, and she'd take back her belt when she exercised her rematch clause. But while the Is were getting dotted on that, she'd pick up some insurance in the form of the Crush championship – the title that was only even IN QCW to begin with because of her. It was International Lotus' property, and she was going to have two for the price of one when she not only made everybody shut up about Cindy's comeback sob story but became the first woman e ver to hold the Crush championship four times. Soon all the titles in the division would be absorbed by International Lotus with her leading the way, and they'd be right back on course thanks to someone who was going to put the best women's division on the indies in their proper place: beneath her. And her…well, their takeover could begin when Cindy came out here and she could get beaten so that the Crush championship could be reunited with its one true love.
She tossed the mic aside and then complained while the ref patted her down; Scotty the Simp and Sohla Patel talked her up from the floor. We cut to Cindy Monet leaving behind the rest of the Collipark Family and heading towards the ring, taking in some compliments on the way from some random QCW behind the scenes staff. Steve hyped up the Karyn/Cindy showdown that get started just as soon as GRPL+ paid some bills.
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We came back to Karyn doing push-ups in the ring as she waited for the Crush champion to come out, which Cindy Monet did to a good pop from the Quality Controllers. As she hit the ring we got some picture in picture stills of her winning over Shelley LaVey at Cruel Summer to retain the belt. Cindy got in the ring and right in Karyn's face, holding the belt up while popping off with a little smack talk of her own.
The match got underway and things were chippy from jump, with the opening collar and elbow sending them all the way around the ring before going through the ropes and out to the floor. They finally disengaged and yelled at each other, then went back to the ring…except Karyn had faked Cindy out so she could grab her by the ankles before throwing her into the steps as the crowd booed this all loudly.
Karyn ratcheted things up from there and piled on while Naz put over her experience advantage in suckering in Cindy on the outside. Karyn started focusing on the back of Cindy and wearing her down in the opening few minutes of the fight. As she was in control, Steve pointed out she could win here, then win back the Women's World championship and essentially lock up the division as her own #1 contender.
Tisch-Warren continued her upper hand with the rest of Lotus rooting her on from ringside and looked like she was about to regain her old title when she locked up Monet's legs and started trying for the Circuit Breaker. But Karyn couldn't quite step over to lock it in, and then Cindy used her leg strength to not only power the former Women's World Champion off but to send her flying into the ring post shoulder first. KTW was left crumpled between the ropes while Cindy recovered, and then once she did she grabbed the arm that went into the post. Tisch-Warren couldn't avoid Cindy's running start as she hangmanned the arm over the top rope, then howled at Cindy's targeted offense.
Cindy started to rally, using a combination of her usual offense in addition to occasionally throw shots at the bad arm when it seemed like Karyn would be able to fend her off. Monet even surprised Karyn by hitting her with Sohla's Ninth Incarnation (Falcon Arrow) before setting up for her signature Tightrope. KTW dodged and Cindy landed on her feet, only to roll through - but Tisch-Warren had her somersaulting through the air after basement dropkicking her knee. Both women were down for a bit after that but it was Karyn who recovered first, and she gritted her teeth as she reapplied the Circuit Breaker. Sohla & Scott the Simp cheered this from ringside and banged against the apron while the Quality Controllers chanted “Please don’t tap!”, something Cindy had no intention of doing.
Naz noted at the desk that Cindy couldn’t fully secure it with her bad arm, and the Breaker not being at its best was what was allowing Cindy some time to survive. Monet crawled along the canvas in fits and starts, desperate to reach out and snag the bottom rope while Karyn was trying to use her armpit to help lock down the elevated Texas cloverleaf. Monet got within two feet of the ropes - determination put her within a foot, though she couldn’t immediately keep going and let out a yelp of pain that she turned into a war cry as she got within six inches…the last thing that happened before Karyn pulled her back to the center of the ring and sat down.
Tisch-Warren let out a cry of triumph as she sat down on the hold, and that was the last thing that happened before she absolutely got w r e c k e d by a blindside chair shot from Lolo Vuitton.
| • Karyn Tisch-Warren (w/International Lotus) ddq. Cindy Monet [c]; Monet retains the Crush championship • |
The referee immediately called for the bell while Lolo smacktalked the fallen Tisch-Warren, Lolo saying that she wasn’t done costing Karyn everything before cracking the chair over her back once again. Vuitton was rearing back for another hammer shot with the chair when Sohla & Scott rushed her in the ring, and the double team was on. Almost as quickly it was off, since Lolo punted Scott’s shake weights up into his rib cage and Warren-Tisch went down in a heap. Vuitton and Patel began throwing hands at each other and actually ended halfway up the aisle before Quality Force security was on the scene to separate them to boos and “Let them fight!” chants. Cindy was crawling towards her title and the ref in the ring while a face down Karyn and a fetally positioned Scott were barely starting to stir.
We went from that chaos TOTHEBACK~!, where Enya Face wasn’t teleporting in - she was standing by to welcome her guests at this time: Jacques Krieger & his fixer, S. Mark Starr. The crowd booed as Enya tried to ask Krieger a question and got cut off by Starr, who said he’s been spending too much time waiting for a call from Holmes that isn’t going to come and then got increasingly livid over his client not having a role at Cruel Summer while some guy like Reggie Strong is getting PPV wins and trying to call his shot for the TV title?! Krieger’s the one with the longest undefeated streak in the modern era of QCW and a former TV champ to boot, so no matter how much this strutting popinjay wanted to peacock, the path to the TV title went through Krieger. They would fix the unstable TV title situation the same way they were going to fix QCW. He had the vision, Krieger had the power, and even if somehow those failed…well, they always had an ace in the hole. Starr cackled and strolled offset with Krieger following; after that. Enya threw things to Duck in the ring.
| • the International Players (Lucius Patton & Benjamin Valentino w/Jupiter Jones) d. The End Times (w/Summer Rose) • | Big match here - not just in terms of the return of Collipark to the Arena for the first time in almost half a year but Valentino’s return to the ring after years of grueling rehab to reunite the former tag team champion Players. Danny Castle & Dr. Martin Williams usually fare better - their spooky silence and doomsday vibes get in the heads of most opponents - but even with Summer Rose stalking ringside with her YOU KNOW THEY’RE RIGHT sign they were no match for Lucius & Benjamin.
It took a couple minutes for the former champs to hit their stride and then it was pretty much a showcase from there for Patton & Valentino. With Jupiter Jones rooting them on from the outside, it took them barely five minutes to drop an L on the End Times; it came after a flapjack DDT combo and Valentino getting the W in his return match by pinning Dr. Williams. **
The guys in Collipark celebrated the victory after replays and right up until we went into the commercial break, Steve promising we’d get some exclusive footage from what happened after Cruel Summer on the other side of some ads.
✨
Back from the break, where we got some exclusive footage of what happened after Cruel Summer went off the air.
Razorblade used the ropes to pull himself up, before staggering into a corner and looking around in dismay and shock before burying his face in the turnbuckle. He didn’t appear to be crying (he might have been screaming) but he snapped out of it soon after. The St. Louisans gave Savage a standing O with Steve joining in, Savage looking around the arena chanting his nickname for the heroic effort. Eventually, Mason gave them a small wave before taking the long Sad Hulk walk to the back.
| • the Red, White and True (w/Drake Tremble) d. Atum Pharaoh & Lolo Vuitton • | This one stemmed from some matches that went down on the debut of QCW’s new YouTube show Unleashed that debuted a couple of nights ago; Lolo beat Bobby Bash when some interference from Ted Holland backfired on the show and in the main event Atum beat Ted Holland when Drake Tremble’s interference backfired - when the Red, White & True swarmed him after the match, Lolo ran out with a chair and cleared house, getting us to this tag here tonight.
Atum ran things early in the match and the cosplaytriots didn’t have an answer for him outpowering Holland and matching strength with Bash. He & Lolo combined for some impressive double teams, including Vuitton hitting a moonsault onto Holland off of Atum’s shoulders that got the intergender team a big near fall in the early going. Unfortunately for them, the black hats had Tremble for backup and he paid off when he howled to Holland to dodge a Lolo tope – he did and she went flying into the front of the announce table before crumpling in front of it. We got replays of the missed dive as Ted threw her into the ring and tagged in Bobby.
From there, the underlings kept control from the rest of the match by isolating Lolo and running interference a couple of times to keep Atum from getting back into things legally. They showed their longtime cohesion and then proceeded to win the match a few minutes after Lolo’s near miss when Holland backdropped Lolo into what turned out to be an elevated powerbomb from Bash, which secured the three while Holland raked Atum’s eyes during the count. **
The cosplaytriots celebrated their win while Steve reluctantly put it over, saying it was a big night with this win and the possibility of Tremble regaining the World TV title in the main event.
TOTHEBACK~! with us, JD3 welcoming his guests: the College Park Family. Big pop for Collipark as they all came on the scene, Julius congratulated the Players for winning their return match as well as Cindy on her successful title defense. Collipark looked plenty chuffed, Valentino gleeful over the win of the Players before passing things on to Cindy, who said it was only the beginning. Jupiter Jones interjected himself here, and congratulated his stablemates over their five star night. Jones said that watching them was great, but being between the ropes was better - so when Ruckus came back on the 28th, he would be making his return to the ring. He didn’t give himself the name Mr. QCW; other people gave it to him after he earned it. So he wasn’t just returning to the ring, he was returning to be a champion again just like Cindy was and Lucius & Benji might be some day soon. But the Family were back and you can best believe they would be holding down QCW again before too long. JD3 was happy about the news before getting more professional and teeing up the last commercial break on the evening.
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| • "Night Sky" Diana Spare [c] d. Hilary Highnote to retain the Women's World Championship • | Well, it wasn’t like Spare was going to lose the belt the same week she got it for the first time, right? Highnote got in more offense than expected and got a really good nearfall off of a Blockbuster from the top rope, but Spare survived, rallied, and put things away with the Nightfall. ** ½
After the match, Diana grabbed the mic from Duck and hoisted the title over her shoulder before saying that she knew Karyn was complaining, that Lolo was threatening, and that Sohla was off somewhere crying – and none of it mattered, because as it has all year the women’s division runs through her. If you don’t believe her, you have no choice but to believe this belt. Her title may have changed but her mentality hasn’t – send them all!
Because QCW belongs to the night, the women’s division belongs to her, and any woman foolish enough to come after her better be smart enough to realize they’re three seconds away from embracing Nightfall. Spare tossed the mic aside as the Controllers roared and Billie Eilish hit the PA. Night Sky proudly held up the Women’s World title overhead while yelling on a set of turnbuckles, and a cut to the back showed Lolo Vuitton staring at her celebration while getting checked on in the trainer’s room…before another cut to the International Lotus locker room showed Karyn glowering at the celebration before Sohla walked up and put her hands on her stablemate’s shoulders and stage whispered to her “You know what we have to do.”
| | • the main event • | |
We were “treated” to Ted Nugent blaring over the PA to bring out the Red, White & True again – this time it was Drake Tremble leading the charge, hoping to regain the World TV title in the first main event since Cruel Summer. The trio took over the ring, Drake yelling at everyone that he was going to make this a Red, White & True night of ultimate victory – right before “Mota” hit the PA and brought out the newly minted undisputed GRPL+ World TV champion to the pop of the night from the Quality Controllers.
Steve put over Autumn’s toughness in winning the Best of 5, especially after it looked like Carpenter had her dead to rights with the Look Inward, but Naz (of course) took the glass half empty view, saying that there’s was no way she was at 100% after St. Louis and these were the exact kind of circumstances that slimeballs like Drake used to their advantage to win the title - hell, he’d done so last year.
Autumn shut up Naz pretty quickly by rushing Drake right after the bell and hitting him with a Meteora that got her a quick 2 ¾ and sent Tremble scurrying from the ring as a result, Powers standing in the middle waving him on. It was Holland & Bash’s turn to coach up Drake, and he seemed to be listening to his underlings – but when he got back in the ring Autumn kept up the roll she had started off with over the next few minutes of the match.
In fact, it took a bit of Bobby Bash interference to draw the referee to set up Ted Holland sliding in before drilling Autumn with a buckle bomb and sliding back out of the ring. Naz pointed to this as evidence as he was right while Tremble came flying down the line on a downed Powers with a (admittedly decent) cannonball. Drake only kept Autumn down for 2 and then went on the attack.
Tremble worked over the neck of Powers for a bit and got some more nearfalls, but Autumn’s bushido kept her from getting stopped in her first title defense. Frustrated over not securing the three count, Drake got in the referee’s face about her count, and it looked like Holland & Bash were set to interfere again when the tenor of the crowd changed, and suddenly back out were not only Lolo Vuitton but Atum Pharoah. A Pier 4 broke out on the outside and eventually Tremble’s backup got run off to the back, leaving Autumn and Drake to resume the match.
Tremble looked to take advantage of the chaos by planting Powers with the Truth Bomb, but Autumn slipped out the back and dumped Drake on his head with a nice Saito suplex and rode the momentum from there. Eventually Autumn lowered her kneepad and the boom on Tremble with a Hazy Shade, earning her the three count. ** 1/2
| • Autumn Powers [c] d. "The Voice of Freedom" Drake Tremble (w/the Red, White and True) to retain the GRPL+ World TV title 1️⃣ • |
Autumn was getting her hand raised by the referee when the lights cut out in the Arena. Steve apologized and the Arena got dotted with phone lights as an eerie fog started rolling across the stage.
Then Nick Cave came on over the PA - but the Arena remained baptized in darkness. After a few beats, we remained in darkness…but then a familiar, haunting voice came to fruition over the speakers.
“Autumn Powers…the Punk Princess…the Final Woman…the one who picked up the Television championship that I dropped.
Be careful who’s footsteps you follow in and be wary of all the well-meaning little mortals around you trying to make you their latest disposable hero…because my red right hand is more than capable of making you a martyr.”
Cackling reverberated across the Arena and we actually got the credit box up as Ruckus literally faded to black with the Revenant’s chilling warning to Autumn giving him the last laugh…at least for now.
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