Quality Arena | Parts Unknown, FL
Aired live on GRPL+ | February 23, 2024
After the opening credits rolled and we saw the loud and proud Quality Controllers we went to Steve Vandeblanche and Carl Christensen, who noted there was a big buzz in the Arena on a Pick Your Poison night where both the Unified World champion and the #1 contender would be in action for tonight's special double main event - but that's not even getting into the three title matches on tonight's card.
Steve threw it to Duck Eko, who introduced the first title match of the evening and Midsomar, who was already in the ring. Guess where we're going?
1.. “La Flor” Luz Cruz [c] v. Midsomar for the Crush championship
Squash City. Rewind rana + triple jump moonsault= 3.
“La Flor Luz Cruz d. Midsomar in 1:01 to retain the Crush championship 9️⃣
But instead of Bad Bunny hitting the PA, “Roar” brought out Sohla Patel to in front of the Qualitron 9004 where she stayed. Sohla apologized to her Lotus Blossoms that she couldn't be bearer but she had business to take care of: regaining she Crush championship so that International Lotus could rule the women's division as they were born to do. Come next week, Luz would find her dreams of getting to 10 and cashing in on Karyn on the cutting room floor. Ciao for now!
Patel left, conveniently ignoring Cruz loudly challenging her to fight right here, right now.
A video package recapping the titles change at Cold As Hell set up our second title fight on the night…
2. Savage Justice [c] v. Team Batroc for the Unified World Tag Team championships
To the shock of Duck Eko and everybody else watching, Team Batroc jumped the champs during the introductions and used it to gain the advantage in the opening minutes. Steve bitterly ranted about how Serge and Pyotr were resorting to cheating to win matches since dropping the belts. But Serge didn't care – he was too busy laying in European uppercuts or, most impressively, taking almost half a minute before dumping his eternal rival Razorblade with a delayed suplex.
Serge got in Razorblade’s face before tagging in Pyotr, who introduced himself with a running crossbody that got the former champions the match’s first two count. Pyotr worked over Razorblade while Serge gave the marching orders.
A few minutes in “We Made It” suddenly hit the PA, and out strolled the Wonderful Ward Brothers in matching red and white tracksuits (maybe a subtle dig via attire at their former teammates in Team Batroc?).
They stayed in front of the Qualitron 9004 as Razorblade snuck up on Pyotr and threw him shoulder first into the ring post before crawling for his corner. Serge came in to try to prevent the tag but Razorblade saw him coming and pulled down the top rope down to let Serge's momentum send him out to the floor.
Now with an opening, Razorblade crawled to his corner and made the tag. Justine Davis wasted no time in going to work. A cannonball off the apron took out Serge and then moved as quick as he could to go up to the apron. Justine waited on Pyotr to turn around then hit him with a springboard clothesline. Davis got a two count but stayed in motion afterwards.
Justine had Pyotr reeling for a bit and flew off the top again, but this time Pyotr caught him and splattered him with a powerbomb. Serge demanded and got the tag, then Team Batroc combine for a European uppercuts variant on the Doomsday Device.
Serge made the cover but Razorblade dived into the ring to make the save. Then chaos reigned - Razorblade and Pyotr got in a brief hockey fight before Caviar floored Savage with a discus European uppercut. Pyotr cinched up Razorblade and tried to throw him over the top rope but Razorblade found a way to reverse it and toss Pyotr out of the ring.
Behind Razorblade, Serge was lying in wait before hitting a springboard European uppercut that sent Razorblade between the ropes and out. The French Assassin turned his attention to Justice Davis…and found himself on the wrong end of an inside cradle. And you know what happened when you kick out at four?
You lose.
Savage Justice d. Team Batroc at 17:09 to retain the Unified World Tag Team championships
After replays, JTeam Batroc we're in the referee's face all the way up the ramp and to the bac. ustice Davis took the mic from Duck and said that he was proud to stand alongside his personal hero Razorblade still a tag team champion. But one thing he never saw Razorblade do and something he wouldn't do is jump contenders from behind to get an advantage. Justine turned his gaze to the ramp, where Jason the Great and Rich looked stonefaced as he continued on.
The Wards might’ve wanted to send a message last week but when you're a champion the title sends a message snough. And now that Team Batroc is firmly in the rearview mirror, if the Wards are done dishing out a dollar store version of savage justice they could get in the ring with the real thing and find out just what the difference is. Davis tossed aside the mic and posed with his belt high in the air and Razorblade followed suit., gesturing between him and Justice.
3. Omar Littlefield [c] v. Jacques Krieger (w/S. Mark Starr) for the GRPL+ World Television championship
Back to back to back title matches to kick off the first half of Ruckus the week after the supershow last week; sheesh. Former TV champ Krieger went up against the steamrolling Littlefield, who took the title last month and has been on a roll since debuting late last year.
The bell rang and Krieger began throwing haymakers and it didn't take long for Omar to respond in mind. Both men fought over a suplex while the crowd started a “You both suck!” chant. Krieger managed to get Omar up and over to rock the ring before landing a series of elbow drops. The New Jerseyian continued to maintain an upper hand and have Omar dig himself out of a hole he probably hasn't seen since coming to QCW.
In fact, for a few seconds it looked like Krieger was going to topple Littlefield with a vicious shotei that's his Ace in the Hole. Omar teetered briefly before he roared in Krieger’s face and ran over the stunned One Eye with a running crossbody. The match wasn't over then but it may as well have been as Omar dominated the rest of the match. Krieger are a trio of Vader Bombs before Littlefield hit the Face Eraser for the win - not just content with that, Omar made the referee count to 5 before taking his title back.
Omar Littlefield d. Jacques Krieger at 8:49 to retain the GRPL+ World Television championship 5️⃣
Replays of the low level heel on heel hoss fight played, followed by a shot of S. Mark Starr looking despondent and the announce putting over Omar, who’s now five more successful defenses away from a cash-in on the Unified World title.
From there, the announce pivoted to the latest in the Quality Arena arson saga. The current hope is that their work with the PUPD will allow them to release new footage in the next few days that might help identify the person or persons guilty of the crime. Between that and other threats to the Arena QCW’s received in the past couple of weeks, QCW will make a mini road trip to try and catch the arsonist(s) as well as make sure that no show before Golden Rule is postponed or cancelled. Steve promised more information to come before the show was over.
4. Beauty and the Beast Mode (w/Shelley LaVey) v. The Proper Villains
Last year, they hated each other; this year, they hate each other; if you see them fight next year you can cash it in for a free Dr. Manhattan meme. QCW Rewind threw us back a week to show a recovered Richard Windsor helping his partner “the Fury” Jim Jaspers take down their ex partner Prince Ootsuka in a street fight.
Facing the guys who benefitted from Ootsuka's turn seemed to bolster the Villains early. Windsor in particular seemed energized to take it to the new Ambassadors champions, sending both “These Hands” Roy Fade and “Dashing” Pierce Moore across the ring with arm drags and suplexes.
Shelley jumped up on the apron to try and distract Windsor but he just ignored her to give Fade a head and arm suplex.
Fortunately for Roy, Moore saved his bacon with a slingshot version of his Fresh To Death cutter to drop Windsor, and he kept running to send Jaspers' flying off of the apron. Mode took over as Moore legally came in the match and started to wear Windsor down.
Moore seemed like he was going to slam the door shut with a standard version of Fresh To Death but Windsor countered into a reverse Exploder that had both men on the mat for a stretch before tags were made to Fade and Jaspers.
Fade and Jaspers fell into a hockey fight before trading clotheslines and then wiping each other out by going for cross bodies at the same time. These Hands got to his feet with the help of the ropes before seeing Jaspers in position for the Decision. Roy lashed out with his running knee strike only for Jim to dodge it and send him flying into the turnbuckles knee first. A hobbled Fade didn't have to worry about knee pain except for the pain he felt thanks to Jaspers’ knee driving him into the canvas with Fury Road. Jasper's’ cover led Moore to come in for the save but Windsor jumped off of Jim’s back during the cover to drill Moore with a shotgun dropkick - and just like that, the Villains earned a sweet if hard fought victory over their longtime rivals.
The Proper Villains d. Beauty and the Beast Mode at 22:35
As Jim and Richard celebrated in the ring, Mode fumed/recovered on the floor. Carl Christensen noted it was a shame the Brits didn't have a third anymore so they could go after Mode and regain the trios titles; hell, they just beat most of the champions so they were a missing piece of the puzzle and a rematch away from regaining the belts.
A video package played of all the headlines from Ig de Catur infusing QCW with some money and as a result of a deal with Commissioner Holmes became a minority partner of QCW. earlier this week.
In limited remarks to the press, de Catur said that it was wild growing up on QCW and now he was in a position to help QCW keep growing. He was looking forward to making Unleashed an even bigger focus of QTube, helping fund QCW going on the road for the next couple of weeks while they got Quality Arena shining like a beacon, and he was looking forward to – depending on how the Commish felt about it – giving the QCW fans the biggest Duquesne Classic ever in just a few weeks. Ig said he was a minority owner so he didn’t want to hog up everyone’s time when he also had a Republic to run, but allowed that we’d be seeing him a little bit more on QCW TV in the weeks, months and hopefully years to come.
“Ready Or Not” hit the PA, bringing out Nazir el-Fadal to a deep swell of boos. Naz came out in gear with a mic in hand, dismissing Duck as he walked down the ramp. el-Fadal entered the ring and started to speak but was quickly cut off by “Mota” and the arrival of The Champ, Autumn Powers.
Autumn marched to the ring and got to it just in time to see Naz bail out and got on top of the announce table. el-Fadal told Autumn and the Quality Controllers to enjoy ithis moment, because when QCW returned to the Arena in a couple of weeks time, HE would be holding the Fifteen Pounds of Gold and Autumn would go back to managing the Hot Topic she crawled out from.
In fact, the idea of Autumn losing her title at a PPV helped him make his choice for Pick Your Poison. Because good as Autumn is, she’d lost big title matches on PPV to who Naz had slotted for her opponent.
He gestures behind Autumn to the entryway, where “Bodak Yellow” brought out Lolo Vuitton. Autumn alternated her gaze between the entering Lolo and the smirking el-Fadal.
Lolo entered the ring and took to a turnbuckle, casting an eye back towards the Unified World champion while Naz applauded her at the desk.
5. Autumn Powers’ non-title Pick Your Poison match
The bell rang and Naz cackled, saying that Lolo would do him a favor and win here - he’d win the belt at Golden Rule - then he’d give Lolo a title shot and beat her because of course he would.
Autumn and Lolo circled each other after the bell rang. Then she offered a handshake; Lolo looked at it for a few beats before slapping it. The opening few minutes saw Autumn going for rolliups to try and end it quickly, but Lolo managed to counter or kick out each time. The match rolled on as the former rivals over the Women's World championship sent each other into the ropes leading to leapfrogs and drop downs.
After about half a minute, Lolo fired off an armdrag only to get armdragged by Autumn when she tried to follow up. A Cactus clothesline sent them both over the top rope but Autumn hung on as Lolo hit the apron then the floor.
Vuitton took a best before pulling herself up with the apron before Autumn flew off with an Orihara moonsault that dropped Lolo. Autumn got up and in Naz’s face, who encouraged her to take a swing on him and blow the match. Powers stared down el-Fadal before promoting to beat his ass at Golden Rule. Powers then went back to work, tossing Lolo in the ring and getting a nearfall.
Autumn continued to wear Lolo down and set up for a superplex, but Lolo managed to counter with an avalanche gourdbuster to send Autumn crashing to the canvas. Lolo got her feet underneath her then drove them into Autumn’s face with a missile dropkick that sent a ripple through the crowd.
Lolo gave back every inch of offense Autumn fished out earlier while at the desk Steve speculated that Lolo should earn a Unified World title shot if she won here regardless of who won at Golden Rule. Naz took offense to that, of course, and said he didn't miss sitting at the desk and Steve being wrong.
Lolo continued the roll she was on, countering a Hazy Shade with a big chop block before cinching Autumn up and rattling The Champ with a textbook buckle bomb. The glint in Lolo's eyes meant that she knew she was one move away from winning, so she went around the horn before coming at Autumn with the Bloody Shoe –
– but Autumn suddenly leapt up with a pump knee strike that sent Vuitton down to the mat in sections. Vuitton tried to get her wits about her but when she sat up Autumn blasted her with a Hazy Shade, and don't nobody get up from that.
Autumn Powers d. Lolo Vuitton in a non-title Pick Your Poison match at 16:46
Replays of the hard hitting match rolled before we went back to live time, where it was Lolo who was offering Autumn a handshake. Autumn hesitated but eventually shook hands, leaving Lolo to take the long, lonely walk to the back. Naz grumbled that he should've picked Littlefield as Autumn talked to Duck and got the mic. Quality Force Security came out from the concrete and the back to come between Autumn and Naz as Steve hyped that after this last break, Autumn would pick Naz's poison and he would try to beat Powers’ time against her hand picked opponent next.
Before the tail end of the double main event we went to the back, where Julius Duquesne III was standing by with Lolo Vuitton. He congratulated her on her effort out there and said she was so close to beating the Unified World champion, so what was next for her?
Lolo was in the middle of answering JD3 when she got blasted from behind from what turned out to be a belt shot from Shelley LaVey, who held up her share of the Ambassadors Trios champions before smack talking the fallen Vuitton. Shelley said that people should be focusing on who's been here instead of who came back, on current champions instead of has been champions. What's next for Lolo? Getting this work next week. Shelley got in a parting kick before stomping off the set, leaving JD3 to try and help Lolo to her feet before we went to the announce table.
Steve and Carl hyped up next week's programming which will see QCW leave the Arena in the leadup to Golden Rule,.
Unleashed will be coming live from Center Stage in Atlanta and will feature Savage Justice and Nazir el-Fadal in action.
And next week's Ruckus is coming from Nashville - among the big matches will be Ambassadors Trios champion Shelley LaVey vs. Lolo Vuitton based on what just happened and two title rematches: Luz Cruz will fight Sohla Patel with the Crush championship on the line, and “Superfine” Reggie Strong will try to recapture the GRPL+ World TV title from the still undefeated champion Omar Littlefield.
Steve then turned things over to Autunn, who opted to also stand on the announce desk to address Naz (who was in the ring making Wrap It Up gestures at her). Autumn said that she was glad she got past Lolo and wondered how long it took Mr. “Final Boss” to come up with Lolo as an opponent because his opponent found her and asked for the chance. And even though it was weird that they weren't throwing hands, she decided to give him what he wanted, bro.
“Engel” hit the PA to bring out Team Batroc but Serge was dressed in a tailored suit, as opposed to Pyotr Caviar who was in gear and clearly out for revenge after Naz sort of cost him his most recent title match vs. Autumn a few weeks ago. Pyotr stepped into the ring and gave Naz a throat slash gesture as el-Fadal's eyes narrowed.
6. Nazir el-Fadal's Pick Your Poison match
As you might expect, Naz tried to stick and move early to avoid Pyotr’s power game. You could see Naz land stiff forearms and Pyotr essentially shrug them off with the Qualitron counting down from 16:46. Steve asked Autumn what stipulation she would choose for Golden Rule if she won but she remained coy and just replied that she’d make Naz sweat as long as he could.
He was already sweating, because Pyotr was waving him on and barking at him, essentially no selling European uppercuts at this point. Naz faked one and put on a guillotine, but Caviar threw him across the ring. Pyotr charged but Naz managed to drop hold him into the middle rope before kicking it up into his neck. With Pyotr finally down, Naz wasted no time stomping away on one of Pyotr's ankles, stopping only to sneer at Autumn or Serge.
el-Fadal started to gain ground working the ankle until Caviar countered a sitting splash to the bad leg with the good leg, sending Naz over the top to the floor. But Naz grabbed the bad leg from the floor and slowly pulled him towards the ring post and swung the bad ankle into it three times while Caviar let out loud, deeply pained groans.
Naz stomped his way up the steps and threatened Serge with a backhand before going up to the top rope. The #1 contender saw Caviar dragging his leg and flew off the top only to fly into a stiff European uppercut that knocked him nearly head over heels. The referee started a count and got to 7 before both men got up – and Naz found himself eating a discus European uppercut that did knock him head over heels.
“And HERE'S what we came for!” said Autumn. You could hear the smile on her face. It might have been as big as Serge's.
It was Ass Whoop O’Clock and the Tracksuit Tsar was right on time. He limped around the ring, but more importantly he threw Naz around it replaced to increasingly loud pops. Naz tried to stymie it with a thumb to the eyes but Pyotr responded with a Russian sickle that got him 2 ½.
Caviar continued pummelling Naz for nearfalls as Serge pounded the mat and barked out orders. Naz even tried to use the referee as a shield at one point only for Pyotr to gently pick them up and put them aside before throwing el-Fadal over the top rope. Naz bounced off the apron and hit the floor with a thud.
Caviar limped out after him and went to continue the attack but got surprised when Naz spit in his face. Even on one leg Pyotr managed to drop Naz with a running crossbody to splat el-Fadal into the mats on the floor. Caviar pulled himself off of Naz and rolled into the ring to break the count. He immediately rolled back out, stepping on Naz on his way to clearing off the announce table. Caviar broke the count again before setting up Naz on the announce table and barking at Steve, Carl and Autumn to move.
Somehow he talked them into it.
Caviar slowly got on the barricade and balanced himself with his good leg before hobbling down and hitting a flying splash right through the table…but not on Naz, who moved out of the way at the last second.
So commentary couldn't say anything when Naz staggered into the ring at 8 and Pyotr didn't get out from under the wreckage of the table until after the referee's count hit 10.
A count of 10 that hit right when the Qualitron hit 0:00.
Nazir el-Fadal d. Pyotr Caviar by countout at…16:46?
We got replays as Steve and Carl slowly got back on the air; when we returned to the Arena in real time, Commissioner Holmes was making his way down the ramp while in the ring both Naz and Autumn were in each other's faces. Naz was the first to spot Holmes and started arguing his case with Autumn pretty quickly following suit.
Holmes looked at the wreckage of the announce table before talking to the timekeeper. Pretty soon a replay of the closing moments of the match played on the Qualitron, and it sure as hell looked like the ten count and the countdown clock hit zero at the same time.
And while everyone was watching the replay, Naz cheap shorted Autumn from behind and hit her with Nazquil, causing the Arena to go from confused to “oh, right, fuck that guy”.
The referee got in Naz's face and Holmes got in Naz's face to do the same, but a smirking Naz just nodded at them both before leaving the ring and doing a bit of a Fargo strut up the ramp. As the credits box popped up and Autumn pulled herself up, Steve and Carl had the exact same question:
Just who exactly won Pick Your Poison??
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