LAST TIME ON RUCKUS:
The International Players won a triple threat #1 contenders match to
earn a shot at Team Batroc and the Unified World Tag Team
championships at AnIIIversary
International Lotus stole a win over the unlikely duo of "Night Sky"
Diana Spare and Lolo Vuitton
S. Mark Starr got his client DQed when it looked like he was going to
lose against Autumn Powers, but Jacques Krieger not only laid her out
post match, he then stole the World TV title to end the show
✨
A rare Ruckus occurrence - we started out in a quiet Arena with the entire roster on the stage, mostly in street clothes. Scott Holmes said that some weeks were harder than others, and this was an especially difficult week in that two of wrestling's brightest lights had dimmed earlier in the week. For everything Terry Funk and Windham Rotunda gave to the wrestling business, the least Quality Championship Wrestling could do was a 20 bell salute in their honors.
The lights dimmed in Quality Arena as the Qualitron alternated between images of both men for each bell ring. We saw the roster react in silence - some periodically looking back at their pictures, some fighting off tears, some others unable to, and that matched the crowd reactions even as phone lights went up in the air and fireflies paid their last respects to the man who'd had the whole world in his hands. As the salute ended you could see Mason Savage wiping tears off of his Funk U shirt, and for a few beats all you could hear was sniffling and crying. Holmes' hand was shaking as he raised the mic to say "Thank you, Terry. Thank you, Windham. QCW loves you both, and we…and we always will.". Holmes let the mic fall to the ramp and started crying, Steve and Mason hugged him and everybody's shoulders were heaving.
Even as this was happening, you could hear a rumble in the crowd, but it took a few seconds to make clear what it - they - were.
Thank you, Terry.
Thank you, Windham.
Thank you, Terry.
Thank you, Windham.
THANK YOU, TERRY!
THANK YOU, WINDHAM!
THANK YOU, TERRY!
THANK YOU, WINDHAM!
The chants got so loud that a couple of the cameras shook, wrestlers and other QCW employees looking into the crowd. Some were starting to smile, some forcing large swallows down their throats, and Nazir el-Fadal of all people went to both sides of the ramp to fire up the faithful, waving them to get even louder with their cheers before heading over towards Steve. He whispered something to Vandeblanche who nodded quickly twice, Naz said something else to him and they started heading down the ramp as the roster started to part the Tron, and that's when things went to black.
A few seconds went by, then after that we went straight to a red-eyed Steve and a slightly raspy Naz helming the desk to lead us through another episode of Ruckus as AnIIIversary gets closer and closer. Steve hyped that we'd take a long look into the rivalry between Razorblade and the Revenant on this show ahead of their Cruel Summer rematch main eventing tonight's show but we're starting tonight right where we left off last week: Jacques Krieger, Autumn Powers and the GRPL+ World TV title.
Track 1 on this week's Ruckus playlist would be "Rumble" by Link Wray, and the Quality Controllers were more than fine with booing a classic as S. Mark Starr sleazed his way down to ringside with his client Jacques Krieger casually strolling behind him with an evil grin. The GRPL+ World Television championship was wrapped around his waist as he walked down the ramp with the stolen belt on.
It turned out that if you applied enough pressure, though - say, running from backstage at full speed before jumping your belt thief from behind and starting to rain down blows on him.
The crowd popped huge as Autumn Powers laid down some righteous thunder on Krieger before grabbing him and throwing him into the barricade as Duck announced the title match was a street fight for the TV title to another big pop. But Autumn didn't care about match announcements, she was out to kick ass.
Powers lifted the apron skirt and took out a trash can before slamming it into Krieger’s head, and she caught him with another shot on his way down to send him to his knees. The champ grabbed a couple of can lids and starting swinging away from both sides of the plate before using them both in a sort of bell clap that had Krieger out of it on the floor while Steve put over that both anything goes and the pinfall would have to take place in the ring.
Right on cue, Autumn rolled Jacques into the ring and got a two count. Powers looked miffed but continued to apply the pressure. She was so focused on beating down Krieger that she failed to notice Starr hop up on the apron and remove a turnbuckle pad to expose the steel underneath. The crowd’s rumbling alerted her to the shenanigans and she took a run at Starr, who immediately showed off his Usain Bolt impersonation as he ran around the ring. Unfortunately for her, the former QCW champ had teed up the trap perfectly for his client, and when Starr ran into the ring with Autumn in hot pursuit, Krieger made sure that he made Autumn pay by snatching her up before she could get to Starr and giving her a Stun Gun into the exposed steel knot Starr set up.
Autumn staggered back and went down, coming up bleeding as Krieger barked orders at Starr. Starr lifted the apron skirt and immediately went for the kind of plunder his client could use – say, a singapore cane. The crowd booed as Starr tossed Krieger the cane, and they booed even louder as Krieger got a running start and drove the cane horizontally right into the wound he created.
Powers kicked out at 2 ½, but Krieger was first up and started teeing off on Autumn with cane shots to the disapproval of the crowd. Krieger did the Hogan ear cups before spinning and breaking the cane over Autumn’s head, and the claret was starting to flow from the TV champ. He asked Starr for another weapon and his reedy manager obliged, sliding in a table that Krieger set up before putting Autumn on it and opening up the wound further with a bunch of rapid fire jabs. Naz noted how rare it was seeing Krieger go up top, but he had to admit that Krieger’s background may’ve made him perfect for a street fight like this.
Krieger balanced himself on the top rope before flying off with a splash — unfortunately for him it was all table and no Autumn, as Powers rolled off right before he could put her through it and possibly win the belt. Both of them were staggered, but it was Autumn who was to her feet first and rolled out of the ring to use anything she could get her hands on underneath it. Powers came up with a stop sign and slid it into the ring as Krieger was getting to his feet, so she threw it in his face and then superkicked it into his teeth as the crowd roared.
As Krieger rolled over, you could see that he, too was busted open, and it was only a matter of time before Autumn dove on him and started dishing out what he’d given her earlier in the fight. Once Krieger started covering up from the blows, Powers got fully vertical and began to treat his head like Gallagher treated watermelons, stomping on the wound or as close as she could for the better part of half a minute while the crowd chanted her name. Powers let out a roar and managed to hoist Krieger up before she ran and lawn darted him into the exposed turnbuckle, and a bloody Krieger was down on his stomach as Autumn called for the end.
When she connected with the Hazy Shade a spray of blood flew across the air, and Powers went to cover to end the fight.
It was the end.
At least, it should’ve been the end.
But like last week, Starr dove into the ring to save the count and not only that, began to throw punches at Autumn himself to the jeers of the crowd. Steve issued the usual mea culpa about this being a street fight as Starr beat on Autumn and gave his client time to recover. Starr snatched the World TV title off of the timekeeper’s table and slid into the ring ready to clobber Autumn with it once she made it all the way to her feet.
A buzz from the crowd turned into cheers as the Qualitron 9004 parted and two familiar faces started running down the ramp: Gaia Green and Winter Wonderland, Autumn’s partners in Mean Season. They ran down to ringside and not only grabbed Starr by the legs, they made a wish and caught him in the terabytes by pulling him into the post. A high-pitched Naz said that had to hurt, even if Starr would be less affected than he was by such a move. With the title down in the ring, Autumn staggered over towards it, only to be German suplexed by Krieger.
But Autumn landed on her feet, and as Krieger went to cinch up the TV title she curb stomped him right into the G+ logo. Huge pop for that, but Autumn wasn't quite done yet as she laid out the title belt before throwing a fist high in the air and smiling, doubling Krieger over.
With a crooked grin, Autumn yelled out "FOR TERRY!" before driving Krieger into the belt with a textbook piledriver; Krieger got driven into it like a tent spike before flopping like the Flash onto the increasingly bloodied canvas. Autumn turned and smiled at her Mean Season partners before asking for a chair, and Gaia asked her to hold on for a second. After she and Winter sent Starr into the steps, Green handed Powers the chair. Autumn held it up high with a devious grin before wrapping it around Krieger's head. With the Arena roaring behind her, Autumn got a running start and hit two sets of ropes before drilling the chair into Krieger's face with a Hazy Shade.
As they used to say, you could have counted to 100. *** 1/2
| • Autumn Powers [c] d. Jacques Krieger (w/S. Mark Starr) in a street fight to retain the GRPL+ World Television championship 8️⃣ • |
Powers picked up the blood stained World TV title and held it up high, jawjacking Krieger. Krieger's response was silence because he was probably unconscious. The ref backed Autumn off of what was left of One Eye and she allowed it before leaving the ring and hugging the rest of Mean Season to a big pop. They headed up the ramp while Steve put over Autumn getting back her property in the kind of match that'd make Terry proud if he happened to be looking down on it.
From there we got a longer than usual vidpac recapping the Mayday Payday buried alive match where the Revenant beat Razorblade with a Red Right Hand into the grave to win the Unified World championship, which got buttoned by Steve hyping Razorblade/Rev III for tonight's main event.
| • Lucius Patton (w/Benjamin Valentino) d. Serge Batroc (w/Pyotr Caviar) • | As the International Players came down the ramp with Benjamin in support of Lucius, we got a picture in picture of them winning the #1 contendership triple threat last week thanks to a smart counter by Patton to win the match.
Rammstein's "Engel" brought out the Unified World Tag Team champions, Serge Batroc uncharacteristically grinning as he walked down the ramp - of course, having Pyotr Caviar have your back could put a little extra swag in anyone's step. Team Batroc did their traditional midring pose while the Players behind them took good looks at the Unified straps.
Once the bell rang, the standoff of the feeling out period gave way to Serge using his world class mat work to start getting the upper hand on Lucius. A domineering Serge even took Patton down to the mat before giving him a hard paintbrush slap to the back of the head. Lucius took a couple of beats to recover, then slowly pulled himself up while Batroc was laughing at him. Patton stopped that noise with a bigger one, backhanding Serge to big cheers from the Quality Controllers. Sweet Lu rocked Serge with a few more shots and when Batroc tried to get away to the other side of the ring, Patton got a running start and clotheslined him over the top rope and out to the floor. With momentum on his side, Patton ran the ropes and looked to be going for a dive…but Pyotr was blocking Patton’s path to his mentor no matter what the referee was admonishing at him. Lu decided the hell with it and went for a tope anyway.
That was when Pyotr stepped to the side; even worse for Patton, Serge sprung into action with a blistering European uppercut that sent him flying almost into the apron once it connected. Not content there, Serge hoisted Patton up and gave him a back suplex throw onto the apron. (For those who’re unaware, that is widely known as the hardest part of the ring.)
Serge shoved Patton into the ring before getting in it himself, and dominated the next few minutes of the matchup as Benjamin Valentino looked increasingly worried on the outside, giving Steve time to hype the Caviar/Valentino match coming on next week’s episode. After a little more offense, Serge seemed to be ready and set for the Arc de Triomphe, but Patton surprised him by sneaking up on him and tossing him from the ring. Batroc tried to recover, only to eat a wrecking ball dropkick that sent him further behind. Caviar went to Serge to try to help him up and encourage him – right before Patton took him out with a tope.
Serge grabbed Patton from behind and looked to throw him into the steps, but Lu was the one who managed to reverse and actually do it to Serge. The Controllers cheered as Batroc clanged against the steel, and Patton wasted little time in hustling Serge into the ring.
Serge tried to nail another European uppercut but whiffed and ended up by the ropes; Patton tied Serge up in the ropes and used his forearm to rake Serge's eyes multiple times before running into the opposite side ropes and firing off a hesitation dropkick that caught Batroc on the chin before sending him down to the mat.
Last year's Duquesne Classic winner kicked out at 2 ½ but soon found himself surprised by Patton's surprising speed and high impact offense. Sweet Lu lived up to his name and stayed a step ahead of Batroc for the rest of the match before putting Serge away with the Bass Drop. ** ½
Patton got his hand raised before he went down in a heap from a blindside Russian lariat, and as Pyotr Caviar gathered himself he got jumped from behind by Benjamin Valentino. Valentino teed off with some rabid fire jabs but Serge uppercutted him between the legs; to add injury to injury Caviar nearly put poor Benjamin's head in the front row with a discus Russian sickle. As Steve grimly noted on commentary, Patton won the battle but Team Batroc won the war, and when they hit their in ring pose again they did so over the fallen bodies of both Patton and Valentino.
As Engel hit the PA, Naz wondered if what Serge said recently was true: maybe between Serge's brain and Pyotr's brawn no one this year could liberate the Unified World Tag Team championships from their grasp. The AnIIIversary chyron for the Unified Tags came up as Team Batroc left the fallen International Players behind, and if you didn't think the champs sent a message with that beating, give me your PIN so an adult can be in charge of your finances. Steve hyped that we'd have a Crush championship defense and hear from Mason Savage once we got on the other side of these commercials.
✨
We got another decently long vidpac, this time focused around Razorblade's Last Stand at Cruel Summer with the 15 Pounds of Gold on the line. Savage threw the house at the Rev but went down to a pump Red Right Hand that ended his night and any future dreams of being Unified champ. Steve buttoned this one by saying we'd hear from Mason Savage after this title fight.
| • Cindy Monet [c] d. "Shieldmaiden" Val Curry (w/Bettie Rokker) to retain the Crush championship 8️⃣ • | Monet's dominance since returning from injury continued against the bigger Curry, the Android cutting down the Shieldmaiden with the Tightrope to make her magic number 2 after getting the 3. **
From there it was TOTHEBACK~!, where Julius Duquesne III brought out his guest - Mason "Razorblade" Savage, who's pop rattled the roof of the Arena even if he was pacing back and forth by JD3. Duquesne asked Razorblade how he was going to approach his third fight against the Unified World Heavyweight Champion and Savage fixed him with a glare before clearing his throat and apologized to Julius.
He said he's obviously been on edge since losing his belt, and now he can't even - now he can't even get it back after Cruel Summer. But what he can do is get his hands on the Revenant tonight and hurt him, and now if he's in a position with nothing to lose…does that make him less dangerous? Or the most dangerous he's ever been? Mr. Big Bad is gonna get his answer tonight, and by the time Razorblade gets done cutting him up, he'll find out that everybody bleeds…especially him. Savage walked off the set and JD3 set up some commercials as well as the tornado tag to come on the other side of the break.
✨
This week it's MR. TEKN who's coming soon. You got me. Hwoarang, maybe?
| • International Lotus (w/Scott Tisch-Warren) NC "Night Sky* Diana Spare & Lolo Vuitton in a tornado match • | OOF. TA.
So, right up until something horrendous happened, we were rocking and rolling with a good TV fight. But then…
…we'll get there.
Lotus came out first, with Sohla Patel bragging to a camera on the way in that if they wanted to wanted to lose to them twice in two weeks, she and the First Lady of Fitness would send them back to the clearance rack where they belonged.
“Bodak Yellow” played, but then Lolo Vuitton didn’t come out when they played it. They tried two more times, and still no Lolo. So they decided to bring up “you should see me in a crown” to get the Women’s World champ out, but Diana Spare didn’t show up, nor when they played it again. When it came on for the third time, the lights completely went out in Quality Arena.
The crowd buzzed as phone lights went into the air, and then the lights came back on.
For the first time – maybe ever? – Spare and Vuitton were side by side, and not only that, they were armed with cookie sheets. International Lotus’ eyes went wide as they looked at the QT9K04 and realized their biggest rivals were right behind them.
They got spun around and WHACK WHACK went the cookie sheets to the approval of the Controllers. Lolo beat Sohla down, Diana beat Karyn down, and since this was a tornado tag the referee had no choice but to call for the bell. Spare and Vuitton beat them until the cookie sheets were disfigured, and then they went under the ring and grabbed a couple more. They slid into the ring, but Lolo stopped Diana from advancing and everybody waited for the other shoe to drop. Yet Vuitton was saying something to Spare she agreed with, because what happened next was that they traded dance partners victims with Lolo getting in some licks on her ex-partner and Spare trying to pound the annoying Patel into a paste.
Lotus rolled from the ring and apparently their Plan B was to have Scott Warren-Tisch attack Lolo, but that backfired, too, as Lolo saw him coming and her back body drop of him sent him flying awkwardly into the stairs (Scott: Homer :: steps: fire hydrant). Lolo picked up the hydroflask and went to brain Karyn with it only to get spun around by Sohla Patel - she blasted Vuitton in the face with a fire extinguisher to blind her rival and buy her side some time. As we went to a split screen so each brawl got equal time on the other side on the floor, Spare went for a big boot on Tisch-Warren but Karyn side stepped and Spare almost ended up doing the splits to the apron. Even worse for Diana, that opening was all Karyn needed to send her into the ringpost face first, and that dropped Diana to the floor.
Lolo began staggering around while Karyn popped up with the hydroflask and introduced it to Vuitton’s jawline.
Karyn let out a banshee yell before grabbing a set of stairs, running towards Spare and absolutely drilling her with the base that sent Night Sky slumped against the barrier. Sohla continued to beat on Lolo while Diana drew herself up, but Karyn got another running start and leaped off the base – the subsequent high speed crossbody put both women in the front row, and some “Holy shit!” chants gave way to “QUEUE CEE DUB!” ones. Patel lifted Vuitton up for something, maybe the Ninth Incarnation, but Vuitton kicked free in midair before running up the ringpost and planting Patel with a modified tornado DDT.
Karyn and Diana continued to brawl their way through the crowd, with Spare stalking a desperate Notorious KTW. The woman DIana took the belt off of threw popcorn and a fan’s soda at Diana, who easily dodged the attempts and then ran forward, spearing her almost into some fans. Diana talked to a fan, and then grabbed his chair before winding up and slamming it into Tisch-Warren’s back to a huge pop. Spare reared all the way back and uncorked another one to leave Karyn flat on her stomach. The Women’s World champ looked to make the third time the harm, but an upkick by Karyn led to the chair getting kicked out of Diana’s hands. Karyn started speed crawling as best she could but the glancing blow meant that Diana recovered first…and that’s when disaster struck.
Diana threw the chair at Karyn, who ducked, but someone ate the chair.
Even worse, you could hear the noise the crowd made when it connected with some poor unlucky schlub of a fan, and for a big man he went down hard. Spare turned sheet white, Tisch-Warren wasn’t far behind, and the murmuring from the crowd turned into horrified gasps when the man sat up and was bleeding pretty decently from the forehead.
Steve let out a quiet “Oh, sweet Lord, no” as Naz tried to stand on his chair and see what had happened, and then we saw Lolo and Sohla had quit fighting. Karyn stared at Diana as if she was a class action lawsuit, but Diana’s shellshocked face was being held up by her right hand. You could almost see the life draining out of her body for about two seconds, and then based on what I could figure out Ruckus not only went to black, but stayed there – from what I saw online, GRPL+ shut down the show and the remaining 40-50 minutes of what would’ve happened never did.
So tune in next week, when there’s hopefully a show and that poor bastard’s out of the hospital. To reiterate:
OOF.
TA.
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