GRPL+ Presents QCW Ruckus [s3e20 • April 26, 2024]

 

Quality Arena | Parts Unknown, FL 

Aired live on GRPL+ | April 26, 2024

A video package opened the show focusing on Witchfinder General gaining Goody Gardner as an acolyte on the way to beating Ashley “THEE Influencer” Szabo to win the 2024 Duquesne Classic in last week's main event.

Standard open rolled from there before we went zooming inside the Arena in front of hundreds of Quality Controllers ready to make some noise.  Steve Vandeblanche and Carl Christensen hyped we would be hearing from both Commissioner Holmes and Ig de Catur as well as the evening’s big main event - GRPL+ World Television champion Omar Littlefield and Nazir el-Fadal versus “Dark Mirror” Beckett Carpenter and The Champ, Autumn Powers.  

But we have a while until that goes down, so let's start tonight’s proceedings with a singles preview of the Unified World Tag Team championships match at Mayday Payday…

1. “Upper Class” Broderick Palmer II (w/Evan O’Neill) v. Mason “Razorblade” Savage (w/ Justice Davis)

With someone still in their rookie year at QCW facing off against one of the few Triple Crown winners in company history, it had all the makings of a mismatch.  And nothing that happened in the early going seemed to suggest that the match was going to be anything besides what everybody expected it to be; Razorblade used his size to repeatedly knock Palmer II in his ass and dominate the opening minutes of the contest.  Savage used his usual rough and tumble tactics in addition to a double arm DDT and it seemed like the next stop on the line was the Soul Crusher in a quick win 

But in a surprise to the building, BP2 fended it off with short range knees then spiked the former Unified World champ with a (pretty crisp, actually) sunset flip powerbomb out of the corner.

Surprising as that was, BP2 had more in store by following it up and sticking Razorblade with a jackknife powerbomb that put him in the driver's seat even after Savage kicked out.  With Evan O'Neill looking increasingly pleased on the outside and the fans looking increasingly confused if not outright salty, Broderick continued to empty the offensive clip on Mason and showed off his Yale education by dodging a corner charge.  Savage shouldered the post and BP piled on by adding an inverted tornado DDT to the mix.

It looked like he might've been on the door of pulling off the upset, but when he went for his finisher Savage shoved him away and speared both of them through the ropes and out to ringside.  With their partners both trying to coach them up, both men got in the ring at 8 in the referee’s count and started throwing hands. 

The fight went to Razorblade as you might expect, but what no one expected was for Palmer II to keep coming at him after that.  Savage looked to go for a spinebuster but Broderick countered out into a standing DDT before using momentum off the ropes to hit a basement diving lariat.  At Evan’s encouragement he went up to the top rope but Savage saw it coming and cut him off from flying.  Both men threw more punches before Palmer II shoved Savage off and sent him flying into the top rope crotch first.  BP2 rolled him up from there and not only put his feet on the middle rope but got additional leverage by O’Neill holding down his ankles during the count.  

Unfortunately for the good people of Parts Unknown, this zebra might as well have been a bat since it was blind to the cheating and slapped the mat three times and wait what

Broderick Palmer II d. Mason Savage at 12:20

Carl almost let an f bomb slip he was so shocked, while in the ring Palmer II ripped his arm out of the referee's grasp and started talking smack to Razorblade.  It looked like he was about to slap the Triple Crown winner when Justice launched himself into the ring and at “Upper Class”.  JD started to ground and pound Broderick before O’Neill came into the ring to his partner's defense.   The heels enjoyed a brief 2 on 1 advantage before Razorblade got to his feet and started throwing hands on both #1 contenders.

Mayday Payday showed up a couple of weeks early as a Pier 4 broke out.  The brawl eventually went to the champion brawlers as the #1 contenders were sent out of the ring.  “Unscripted Violence” hit the PA as Savage Justice invited the heels to come back in the ring and get some, but A Cut Above were more than happy to head to the back with Evan O'Neill crowing to the camera about his boy Broderick's (shady AF) victory.

After that upset we went TOTHEBACK~!, where Julius Duquesne III brought out his guest - the #1 contender for the Women's World championship, Lolo Vuitton.

Lolo got a big pop from the crowd as she removed her star shaped sunglasses and smiled at JD3, who pointed out next Sunday at Mayday Payday she had a chance to become a three-time champion if she could beat Sohla Patel.  Vuitton said that's exactly what would happen and it's what Sohla deserved for convincing Karyn to knife her in the back.  The two of them had to plot and scheme to get the belt off of her, but Lolo didn't need any BS to get her belt back - she just needed to get Sohla one on one to get her revenge and if it helped her get back the title, all the better.  Come next Sunday, she was getting that gold, and there wasn't a damn thing Lotus could do about it.  

Lolo bumped fists with JD3 and headed off set while he threw things to Duck Eko in the ring to make introductions for the next match on the docket.

2. Crusazdo del Oro v. Super Avión

At least that was the plan - what happened was Avión jumping his ex partner on the ramp as he was coming out and both luchadores brawled around ringside and even on top of the announce table for a little bit before Quality Force security came streaming out from the back and broke it up.   Crowd weren't fans of that but they loved Oro breaking loose from his sector of purple shirts to hit a tope con hilo on Avión and the rest of QFS.  

Crusazdo del Oro and Super Avión fought to a no contest 

QFS tried to corral Crusazdo as Steve started to tee up a commercial break only to see Avión hit a low tope that wiped out Oro and some of the guards.   

As we saw him walking through the hallways backstage with a satchel under his arm, Carl Christensen hyped that minority owner “Ig” de Catur had a big announcement to deliver - and he’d do so coming up next.

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We came back to the Ruckus theme playing as Ig was announced by Duck as he stepped into the ring to a mild pop.  de Catur set down the satchel on a pedestal in the ring and thanked the Controllers for another sold out episode of Ruckus.  He was going to keep speaking but smartly opted to wait until the Queue Cee Dub chants died down.  Ig said that it was always fun to be in the Arena on a Friday night but something was in the air tonight - it was the first time in weeks there weren't going to be any Duquesne Classic matches.  

It’d been the biggest tournament in QCW history but a…very singular man had managed to beat out 15 other superstars, and that deserved recognition. He then introduced the winner of the ‘24 Duquesne Classic, Witchfinder General.  

Not only did he come out to a chorus of boos louder than “Shall We Gather At the River?” but Goody Gardner was a couple steps behind holding the Duquesne Cup with both arms.  They got into the ring but both passed on the option of shaking Ig’s hand.   de Catur said that one of his favorite bits of history were the cool things people who had won the Cup got once they did: of course now there was a Cup, but in other years the winner might get a brand new car or a title shot.  This year, the winner of biggest tournament ever deserved the biggest prize ever.

Therefore he was here tonight to present Witchfinder with this: the answer to WHAT'S IN THE SATCHEL?! 

What it was what was a beautiful new title belt, gold on white leather. Four stars surrounded a small map of the United States with a nameplate on the bottom shaped like a banner with WITCHFINDER GENERAL on it.  

Ig announced that as a result of winning the Classic, he was here to announce that WG would now go down in history not only as this year's Cup holder but as the inaugural QCW National Champion!  Witchfinder held up the belt with a small smile on his face while the Quality Controllers booed loudly.   Ig asked if he’d like to make a speech and Goody said that winning the Cup and being made an inaugural champion made a statement..but the leader of the chosen would bless them a sermon next week that would be worth its weight in gold.  Gardner then began to hiss at Ig until he left the ring to leave Goody to put the title around his waist.  Witchfinder outstretched his arms as “Shall We Gather At the River?” played and the announce practically recoiled with shock over the newly minted first ever QCW National Champion: Witchfinder General.

They talked about it well into the next match…

3. Jacques Krieger (w/S. Mark Starr) v. Mr. Teknik 

This was the return to the ring of two time former World TV champion Krieger, who’s been spending the past few weeks recovering from a dislocated elbow.  Krieger took out his frustrations over not being able to compete in the Duquesne Classic on the masked man while Starr flashed his usual smarmy smile and barked out orders for his client.

The match was more or less a showcase of Krieger's talents though there were a couple of minutes down the stretch where Teknik put together a rally and looked like he might pull off the upset.  But Krieger not only sidestepped his attempt at a running high knee, he almost sent him into orbit off of a strong lariat and the rout was back on.  It only took a couple more minutes for Krieger to wrap things up and put the masked dancing German away with a Jacqueshammer.

Jacques Krieger d. Mr. Teknik at 9:50

After the match, Starr hectored Duck until he gave up the mic.  Starr said usually he’d waste his words on the off duty Dollar Tree cashiers that were the audience but tonight he was going to address the locker room.

Everyone saw what he did for Krieger's career in leading Jacques to championship gold, and now that he was back it would only be a matter of time before he was a champion again.  And if anyone else wanted on the train before it left the station they could find Starr and for a reasonable 15% fee he would lend them the sort of expertise that led him and Krieger to championships in the past and would again in the future.  Or you could end up like this chump - and Krieger suddenly yanked Teknik off the apron and planted him with another Jacqueshammer.  

“Hated” came on over the PA as Starr and Krieger headed to the back.  The announce talked about Starr’s talent search before pivoting to hype up what was next - Shelley LaVey vs. Luz Cruz for the Crush championship!  

We got separate shots of both women getting ready in the back, Cruz doing box jumps while LaVey practiced her hand work on her punches with “These Hands” Roy Fade holding up mitts and “Dashing” Pierce Moore hyping her up.  LaVey/Cruz for the Crush championship is coming up on the other side of the commercial break.  Go get some snacks.

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4. Shelley LaVey [c, w/Beauty and the Beast Mode] v. Luz Cruz for the Crush championship 

The second half of Ruckus kicked off with a title match as Shelley continued her march to 10 against the most decorated Crush champion ever in Luz Cruz.  Both women went down to Lolo in last week's gauntlet, exchanged words over Quality Social and Commissioner Holmes made this title match as a result.

This was a hard hitting affair from the moment Shelley jumped Luz during Duck’s introductions and continued to jack Cruz’s jaw with some solid forearms.  The announce team decried LaVey 's actions but they clearly paid off; LaVey got the first nearfall of the match after dropping La Flor with a standing roundhouse kick.

LaVey kept her foot on the gas and looked like she was going to back up all her social media smack talk a few minutes later when she tried to land a Fresh To Death but Cruz slipped it and countered with a rewind rana.  LaVey rolled out of the ring to try and recover, perhaps to buy some recovery time but Cruz followed up with a Orihara moonsault that wiped out the champion while Beauty and the Beast Mode scowled at her.

It was Cruz's term to ride the momentum from her offense and go to work as she showed off her lucha libre bonafides in her attempt to become a five-time Crush champion.  Cruz got a handful of nearfalls and landed a beautiful satellite DDT before getting Shelley in the drop zone to set up her triple jump moonsault.  Beauty and the Beast Mode begged LaVey to get up and she couldn't, but she could get her knees up to block Cruz's attempt to end her title reign.  

It was Luz's turn to spill out to the floor and LaVey rolled out to follow up on the attack.  Shelley grabbed Luz by the hair and looked to throw her into the steps but Cruz reversed it and sent LaVey into them instead.  As the referee continued their count, Cruz went for a cannonball to sandwich Shelley into the steps with but it was the champion’s turn to dodge the former champ.  LaVey thought it’d be fun to step on Luz’s head on her way back to the ring but Luz Cobra Kai’d her and the leg sweep sent her bouncing off the top of the steps face first.  Cruz tried to get in the ring at 8 but Shelley pulled her to the floor, then tried to get in the ring at 9 only for Luz to pull her to the floor.  

As the ladies went back to whaling on each other, the referee’s count got to 10.

Shelley LaVey and Luz Cruz fought to a double countout at 10:53; LaVey retains the Crush championship 

It didn't stop Cruz and LaVey from continuing to battle each other, and they only paused briefly to both punch the referee when he tried to break them up.  Luz sent LaVey into the barricade right as other referees showed up along with Quality Force security; Cruz tried to make a case to them to let her keep fighting but Shelley took advantage of her getting restrained to drill Luz with a Fresh To Death on the floor to boos.  LaVey yelled at the refs, saying that they couldn't touch her since she was managing her squad in the next match so what they needed to do was bring her her belt and leave her alone once they did.

From there we went TOTHEBACK~!, where Enya Face said hi before bringing out her guest, “Boundless” Ashok Banjerjee.  The crowd gave the newcomer a decent response while he checked Enya out a little (what jury would convict?).

Enya asked him if he was worried about facing Omar Littlefield at Mayday Payday in the Quality Choice match and Ashok said he wasn't scared, he was psyched.  Ashok may have been new to QCW but he was used to beating bigger men and winning championships no matter where in the world he hung his hat.  Banjerjee encouraged the fans to vote between the stipulations (tables, steel cage and falls count anywhere) over the next week and said it didn't matter which outcome won out because he was going to do the same thing at Mayday Payday that he'd done at Golden Rule: beat the supposedly unbeatable Omar Littlefield and prove that QCW’s future was Boundless.  Ashok left the set with Enya checking him out a little bit before seemingly realizing she was still on camera and throwing things to Duck back in the ring.

5. Beauty and the Beast Mode & Team Batroc (w/Shelley LaVey) v. “Swamp Pride” Ted Holland, Robert E. Moonshine & the Proper Villains (w/Fiona Fogg)

Eight man tag action in the semi main, with the Culture switching places before being joined by Team Batroc.  The wild eyed Southern boys got a decent pop from the good folks of Parts Unknown but the Brits got a little bit higher on the decibel meter.  Despite the odd couple nature of their team it was the white hats who took control of the early proceedings and put Roy Fade behind the 8 ball.  They even reacted to the crowd's Swamp Pride (woop woop)! chants and brought in Ted Holland to a little pop and he worked over Fade as well, disorienting the former Golden Gloves winner.

Jim Jaspers tagged back in so he could throw hands on These Hands, and things were going just fine until Pyotr Caviar blind tagged himself in and laid out Jaspers with a discus Russian sickle.  The crowd booed as the pace slowed down to Pyotr's liking.  Jim managed to tag out, but Pyotr was like a brick wall who liked adidas; Richard Windsor, Ted and Moonshine all tried their luck to decreasing degrees of success, and after Caviar countered a double suplex attempt by Ted and Robert by double suplexing then himself Jim tagged himself back into the fight.

It didn't last long, in part because Pyotr ended up putting out his lights in short order with a discus European uppercut - but seeing another chance to humiliate his rival Old Jim Fade had blind tagged himself back into the fray and stole the pinfall.  

Beauty and the Beast Mode and Team Batroc d. “Swamp Pride” Ted Holland, Robert E. Moonshine and the Proper Villains at 12:51

The Culture celebrated up the ramp while a clearly fuming Serge Batroc had words with their retreating forms before throwing a few nouns and verbs Pyotr's way.  Caviar barely shrugged at his response and we went to commercial with the Culture and especially Fade celebrating a much needed win.

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We came back from break to…Commissioner Holmes’ office and Commissioner Holmes.  He sat on the edge of his desk and said he wanted to talk before the main event about Mayday Payday’s main event.  He noted that there had been a sort of unofficial round robin going on the past few weeks after the events of Golden Rule where he’d hoped a definitive #1 contender for the Unified World championship would emerge.  Of course, given the level of participants involved, he should have guessed that they would blow up his original plans.

Naz beat Autumn, Mirror beat Naz, and Autumn beat Mirror.  Rather than continuing that loop for forever and ever until February 32nd, he would just use his power to settle this at Mayday Payday by putting all three of them against each other in a triple threat match for the Unified World championship.  

The Quality Controllers erupted inside the Arena as Holmes smiled.  The commish added that after weeks and months of speculation and possibility, someone would walk out of the historic Cow Palace with the Fifteen Pounds of Gold indisputably at the top of QCW’s food chain.  Holmes thanked the fans for their continued support and put out a reminder for fans to make their vote for the Quality Choice match before throwing things to his announce team.  

Steve and Carl spent a minute or two hyping up the newly minted MDPD main event before taking a look ahead on the calendar.  With only a couple shows left before Mayday Payday, next week is going to be a pivotal one when it comes to QCW TV.  Here's The Scoop on some of the bigger matches to come from the Arena.

UNLEASHED will have “the Fury” Jim Jaspers vs. “Dashing” Pierce Moore and the Unified World Tag Team champions Savage Justice teaming up with Crusazdo del Oro to face A Cut Above & Super Avión.

The go home edition of RUCKUS will reveal what the Quality Choice stipulation will be for the Littlefield/Banjerjee rematch, a complete rundown of the Mayday Payday card, and two big matches: Omar Littlefield defending the World TV title against Crusazdo del Oro and Super Avión in a triple threat as well as an all star triple threat trios match when “Dark Mirror” Beckett Carpenter and the Game Changers square off against Nazir el-Fadal and International Lotus as well as The Champ Autumn Powers and Mean Season.  All that and more coming out way next week, but right now we get a little amuse bouche of what next week's chaos might look like with unlikely partners joining up for what should be a tightly contested tag match:

6. “Dark Mirror'' Beckett Carpenter & Unified World champion Autumn Powers v. Nazir el-Fadal & GRPL+ World Television champion Omar Littlefield 

And here, our main event with more subthreads than Reddit.  Autumn and Mirror teaming up in a borderline parejas incredibles situation - Autumn only two shows away from defending the Fifteen Pounds of Gold against both Mirror and Naz - unless, of course, Omar decides to cash in tonight - and both the World TV champ and Triple Crown winner Naz notoriously don't play well with others.  While the tag match was a twisty one, the Controllers seemed psyched to see Autumn specifically and a fight amongst the top of QCW’s food chain in general.

Things started off with Naz and Mirror butting heads for the first time since Mirror beat Naz a few weeks ago and they wasted no time in swinging for the fences on each other.   Naz got the advantage by throwing a short range knee into Carpenter's breadbasket and threw some hammering blows to their back to follow up.  Naz kept the advantage right until he ran into a Cracked Mirror headbutt that crumpled him into a sitting position on the mat.

Mirror took over from there and dropped el-Fadal several times including going for a delayed suplex, but as they were getting him up Autumn tagged herself in.  It turned out to be for the best as Autumn flew off the top with a flying crossbody to spike Naz into the mat.  Autumn got a 2 count off it and continued to work Naz over as the crowd chanted for her.  Powers continued to eat well right up until Mirror blind tagged themselves back in, which understandably pissed off The Champ.

Autumn and Mirror started arguing with each other to the point that Naz was able to crawl for his corner and tag in Omar, who got a running start and sandwiched both Autumn and Mirror into their corner before saving the worst of his wrath for Mirror.   

The next couple minutes saw Omar practically mauling the former Unified World Tag and World TV champion Carpenter as he repeatedly tossed Mirror around the ring like a crumpled up ball of paper before throwing them towards their corner and demanding to face off with The Champ.   Mirror started barking back at Omar that he wasn't just going to get what he wanted right before Autumn tagged herself in and started throwing thigh kicks from both sides of the plate.  Autumn dodged some bear swipes and ran off the ropes to build momentum before dodging two more swipes and landing a superkick right on the button. 

Unfortunately for her, Omar no sold it and planted her with a one armed spinebuster that came damn close to putting Autumn under the ring.  Naz cheered on from the apron as Omar put the same kind of beating on Autumn that he dished out to Mirror, while the announce kept pressing the idea that he might beat Autumn in this match before cashing in and winning the title.  Littlefield seemed to have things well in hand and went for the Face Eraser but Autumn wriggled free and tagged in Mirror.  The uneasy allies used their five seconds to focus on more thigh kicks - then a tag to Autumn for another five seconds of thigh kicks - and that repeated a couple of more times until it looked like they were on the same page and went for a double suplex on Omar.

They couldn't get him up for it, and Omar smashed them into each other before hitting them both with a double suplex of his own.  Naz banged on the top turnbuckle to get Omar over to make a tag but suddenly got drowned out by M.I.A. blasting over the PA.  

Ashok Banjerjee came out smirking and golf clapping, which gave Omar enough reason to roll out of the ring and advance up the ramp.  Unafraid of the land monster, Ashok met him halfway down and the Mayday Payday rivals started throwing hands.   Speaking of MDPD rivals throwing hands,  Naz and Mirror and Autumn started having a three way fight in the ring.

After appeals to reason shockingly* failed to work, the ref called for the bell.  

Beckett Carpenter and Autumn Powers fought Nazir el-Fadal and Omar Littlefield to a no contest at 16:37

Omar and Ashok fought to the back (well, Omar was doing most of the fighting but Banjerjee was landing some shots and didn't back down) while in the ring the MDPD main event preview continued.  el-Fadal tried to give Autumn a dose of Nazquil only for The Champ to push him off right into a Cracked Mirror headbutt.  Naz crumpled to the mat but just “happened” to grab at Mirror on the way down to keep hold of their leg and keep them from following up, and as he pulled them down with him Autumn bounced off the ropes before wiping them both out with a Hazy Shade of Autumn.

As the credits box came up, “Mota” hit the PA as Autumn got the Unified World title from Duck and held it high overhead to a massive pop, smack talking both of the laid out co #1 contenders as Ruckus faded to black with a clear message: The Champ is The Champ for a reason.

QCW Unleashed [s1e35 • Quality Arena]

 

• International Lotus d. Science Fiction Double Feature

• The Wonderful Ward Brothers d. Team Batroc 

• Ashok Banjerjee d. Super Avión 

• the GRPL+ WORLD TELEVISION CHAMPIONSHIP Omar Littlefield [c] d. “The Fury” Jim Jaspers (w/”the Proper King” Richard Windsor) 1️⃣3️⃣

GRPL+ Presents QCW Ruckus [s3e19 • April 19, 2024]

Quality Arena | Parts Unknown, FL 

Aired live on GRPL+ | April 19, 2024

A video package recapping the main events of the last couple Ruckuses played to open the show, highlighting Naz spitting in Mirror’s face two weeks ago before they hit him with a Hazy Shade of Autumn and pinned him clean in the center - last week Naz faked an injury to blindside Autumn with a walking cane before their non-title match and hiptossed her off the apron into a Michinoku Driver then Nazquil to beat her clean in the center.

Tonight the triangle closes and brings us Autumn against Mirror in another non-title match in their first one on one since their epic Best of 5 series over the TV title last year.  That and Ashley “THEE Influencer” Szabo vs. Witchfinder General in the finals of the Duquesne Classic will highlight a loaded Ruckus that's coming up next.

After the open we were live from Parts Unknown with a solid sold out crowd inside Quality Arena.  Steve Vandeblanche and Carl Christensen welcomed us to the show.  They hyped up the two big matches a little more and added to the list a six woman gauntlet to determine the #1 contender for the Women's World championship.  

Oh, and there's a opener worthy of main eventing a PPV.  There's also that.

“This Town Ain't Big Enough For the Both of Us” kicked off this episode’s playlist and brought out “Dark Mirror” Beckett Carpenter to their usual massive mixed reaction.  Steve pointed out that several posts from Carpenter over the course of the week had questioned why this wasn't a World title match; of course, a win in a non-title match would make their claim to be #1 contender ironclad and probably set up the main event for Mayday Payday.

When “Mota” by the Offspring took Siouxsie’s place a monster roar came from the crowd in anticipation of seeing The Champ, Autumn Powers.  The Final Woman came out with her Fifteen Pounds of Gold and a laser focus on the ring.  She and Carpenter stared each other down while she divested herself of the belt and her shirt, revealing some kinesio tape on her neck and clavicle.

1.  Autumn Powers v. “Dark Mirror” Beckett Carpenter in a non-title match  

The bell rang as the longtime rivals continued glaring at each other, the Quality Controllers firing off dueling chants (about 60/40 in Autumn's favor).   To no one's surprise, the opening few minutes were spent in a stalemate and while both of them managed to get in a couple of pinfallls none of the counts for them got past 1 ½. 

Things ratcheted up in intensity as both stars took turns beating on each other with repeated forearm strikes in the corner, and things only kicked up from there when Autumn tried to backdrop Carpenter out of the ring only to have Mirror land safely on the apron and stun The Champ with an enzuigiri.  The hopeful #1 contender pulled her out to the apron and looked like they were going to suplex them to the floor, but Autumn put the brakes on that and shoved Carpenter back first into the ringpost.  Mirror clanged off it and sluiced down to the floor, getting up just in time to see Autumn flying off the apron with a cannonball that they couldn't avoid.  

With the match in her favor, Autumn looked to bring it to a relatively quick end and made Mirror expend their energy by kicking out of a handful of pinfall attempts.  Autumn seemed to be able to weather Beckett's attempts at a comeback and looked like she would wrap things up with her signature Hazy Shade.

Carpenter covered up to block it, but unfortunately Powers put on the breaks before her Shining Wizard didn't connect.  What did connect once Beckett popped their head up was a basement superkick that sent Mirror sprawling and a grin spread over Powers’ face as they saw a clearly rattled Carpenter try to pull themselves up to a sitting position.  Autumn's grin turned into a sneer, and suddenly they were behind Beckett and throwing Mirror’s signature hammer and anvil elbows down on them.

To add insult to injury, Autumn was clearly maneuvering towards locking Mirror up with their own Look Inward - but if anyone knew the ins and outs of the Dragon Clutch it was the former Unified World Tag and World TV champ, who pivoted before Autumn could fully secure the hold and after wobbling a bit sent Autumn flying into a middle turnbuckle with a Lawn Dart.  Powers was the one left wobbling after that, and they clutched at their face before staggering backwards into the center of the ring.  Carpenter spun them around and then spun her around a few more times before delivering on a Stun Gun that sent both of them collapsing to the mat.  

Beckett beat the count at 7 and then started beating Autumn to the punch, literally and figuratively.  The next couple of minutes were one way traffic for Dark Mirror, who peppered Autumn with escalating offense that culminated in a springboard Codebreaker (a sly shoutout to her buddy Ashley THEE Influencer who's main eventing tonight).  

Powers was down and a slow grin spread over Beckett's face before they yelled at The Champ “THIS is how you do it!” and started to lay in a flurry of hammer and anvil elbows until Autumn fell to the mat in a heap.  Carpenter started to apply Look Inward but then seemed to think better of it and threw Autumn down.  Carpenter backed into a corner, and then smirked at the dazed Autumn before pulling down their kneepad and charging forward with a…Hazy Shade of Mirror (?) but Autumn ducked it and countered with an Electric Chair drop and they were both down after that.

Quality Arena first filled up with “This is awesome! 👏🏾 👏🏾 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾” chants before dueling chants for both competitors rang out.  As they both pulled themselves off the canvas they locked eyes and started hitting each other with punches.  Autumn switched up her strikes as both of them started to slowly get to a vertical base and tattooed Carpenter with a few knife edge chops…only to get laid out by the Cracked Mirror short range headbutt that drew another big mixed reaction from the crowd.

Autumn started to recoil from the impact and Mirror snatched them up by hooking their arm and leg to keep her from falling down.  It looked like Beckett was going to hit their own version of Nazquil but Autumn blocked the follow through of the Lightning Spiral and bulldogged Carpenter into a middle turnbuckle.  Carpenter tried to scramble their way up after that but Autumn slammed that door shut with a Hazy Shade before hooking both legs and securing the victory.

Autumn Powers d. “Dark Mirror” Beckett Carpenter in a non-title match at 15:58

Replays of the match's big moments rolled before we went back to the ring where Autumn was getting her hand raised and raised the belt with her other hand.   Carpenter was holding their jaw while glaring at the scene, as Autumn towards turned Beckett and mouthed two words while tapping the Fifteen Pounds of Gold twice.  A cut to the back showed Nazir el-Fadal watching on with his face acting as a brick wall; a cut back inside the Arena showed Autumn backing up the ramp while hoisting the title over her shoulder.  The referee checked on Carpenter, who shoved him away and seethed while Steve wondered what would be next for The Champ after such a ferocious challenge/great start to the show.

From there?

Right back TOTHEBACK~!, where Julius Duquesne III was standing by to bring on his guest: the reigning Women's World champion, Sohla Patel.  

The crowd booed as Sohla came on screen, who rolled her eyes and shined up her title in response.   JD3 congratulated her on retaining the belt last week and said that gave her the opportunity to watch the upcoming gauntlet to see who she would face at Mayday Payday in a couple weeks.  

Sohla said that she'd heard all the haters after Golden Rule but her title defense was louder than all of them combined.  Now the entire division was going to fight it out so one poor woman could stand in the spotlight with her at Mayday Payday only to burn under the brightest light the women's division had to offer.  

Sohla started to walk off when Julius asked for one more question, which she eventually allowed.  Julius asked her what would happen if Karyn Tisch-Warren won and International Lotus had to face off with each other over the belt, especially since Karyn had yet to use her rematch clause. Patel responded: “Julie – and I mean this from the bottom of my heart - no comment.”

Sohla sauntered off, leaving JD3 to thank her ghost for her time before throwing things over to Duck.  Eko explained the rules to the fans: 

• Six women will be involved in the gauntlet 

• The order of entry was decided by a random draw earlier today

• It’ll start off as a one on one match before becoming a series of them, and you either win or go to the back

• The last woman standing would be declared the winner, the #1 contender and would face Sohla Patel for the Women's World championship at Mayday Payday!

And speaking of Sohla Patel, first out was her partner in International Lotus crime, the last Women's World champion: Karyn Tisch-Warren.   KTW looked plenty salty about having to kick things off as Carl on commentary noted that for her to win the gauntlet she’d have to be out here for at least an hour and probably closer to an hour.  Karyn was stretching with the ropes before her head whipped around hearing Bad Bunny replacing Katy Perry on the PA.  

And speaking of Sohla Patel, the #2 entrant and the other half of the opening stage would be the woman who Patel bullied out of the promotion last year and had screwed her out of the Women's World championship at Golden Rule and needed Karyn's help to beat last week: Luz Cruz.  Cruz removed her Puerto Rico flag themed mask before making a beeline towards the woman who’d planted the belt upside her head last week, and the fight was on.

2. Luz Cruz vs. Goody Gardner vs. Crush champion Shelley LaVey vs. Cindy Monet vs. Karyn Tisch-Warren vs. Lolo Vuitton in a Women's World championship #1 contender’s gauntlet

Stage 1: Cruz flew at Karyn before taking her down in a ground and pound to lay in some rapid fire right hands.  The Crush alums and years long rivals went at each other as if it were their first day of hatred; early on it looked like Lolo had it in the bag by hitting a ropewalk rana that sent Karyn bailing out to the floor only to get dropped by a beautiful spinning plancha at the hands of La Flor.

Cruz got the notorious KTW back in the ring and continued upping the ante; things might have continued in that fashion for longer than they did if Karyn didn't block a Cruz corner charge with a well-timed superkick followed by an overhead powerbomb into the corner.  Karyn barely got a 2 count off of that combo but kept the match in her favor from that point with her arsenal of backbreakers including catching a Cruz crossbody and turning it into a tornado backbreaker for a solid 2 ½.  Tisch-Warren continued to stay a step ahead of Luz whether it was through talent or chicanery for the next few minutes and looked to begin the end when she set up Luz for her signature powerbomb backbreaker Spare Me, but Luz pivoted before it could connect and hit Karyn with a Code Red instead that left both women laying but bought Luz some much needed recovery time.

Cruz struck first by twinning a standard armdrag and a Japanese one before landing a step up enzuigiri that sent Karyn sprawling.  The match pivoted back in Luz’s direction as Luz used her speed to dictate the pace of most of the rest of the fight, and found a way to counter an attempt at another tornado backbreaker by flooring KTW with a rewind rana.  Cruz pulled Karyn into position and started going up to the top rope but a desperate Tisch-Warren managed to grab onto her ankle.  Luz tried to shake her off and then just opted to double stomp Karyn down to the mat.  Cruz went up top, delivered her triple jump moonsault and sent Karyn out of the gauntlet.

Luz Cruz eliminated Karyn Tisch-Warren from the gauntlet.

A battered KTW rolled out of the ring and the third competitor headed to it in the form of former Crush and Women's World champion Cindy Monet from the College Park Family.  Cindy stood on the ramp and looked out to the crowd while Luz pulled herself together and waved Cindy on.  

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Stage 2: As Cindy played to the crowd we got picture in picture commercials at home while Cindy and Lolo shook hands and started the feeling out process. 

Luz got the better of Cindy early on, causing Monet to roll out to the floor and look forlorn.  Monet eventually got back in the ring but looked increasingly lost as Cruz's run of offense turned into a sprint where Monet couldn't quite catch up.   Cruz even countered a Tightrope attempt by landing a dropkick to the temple that took Cindy's chances from slim to none; shortly after that Cruz busted out her second triple jump moonsault and notched her second pin.

Luz Cruz eliminated Cindy Monet from the gauntlet.

The announce put over Luz’s wins right before Cardi B hit the PA, bringing Luz face to face with her sometime partner and former two time Women's World champion Lolo Vuitton.

Stage 3: With Luz on her third consecutive match and Lolo coming out fresh, it only took Vuitton a few moments to get the upper hand.   Vuitton kept the pace fast and her moves tight, hitting such a massive back body drop that Cruz landed right on her tailbone before eating a basement dropkick.  

Lolo looked to make this the shortest stage of the gauntlet yet and went for her Bloody Shoe but Cruz got out to the apron to dodge it then followed up by giving Vuitton a hangwoman's neckbreaker over the top rope.

Cruz fought her way back over the next couple of minutes and popped the crowd when she connected with a ropewalk rana; her follow up quebeada, however, saw Lolo get her knees up to counter and take the wind out of Luz as a result.  Vuitton quickly moved to end things and landed a huge roundhouse kick before connecting with a Bloody Shoe to advance.

Lolo Vuitton eliminated Luz Cruz from the gauntlet.

Stage 4: Luz got some appreciate applause from the crowd while the announce put over her strong showing in the opening half of the gauntlet.  As Lolo watched Luz leave with clearly mixed reactions on her face, Goody Gardner suddenly jumped into the ring and jumped Vuitton from behind.  

Goody laid the boots to Lolo and then sat on her to add some forearms to the mix as replays showed her racing past the End Times with their THE END IS NIGH signs and leaping the barricade before sliding into the ring and dropping Lolo.  Goody got the early advantage thanks to her shady tactics but couldn't hold onto it once Lolo started showing off her power game on her smaller opponent.  Vuitton tossed off a Goody attempt at offense and followed it up with a Pounce (periodt) that sent Goody flying awkwardly into the ropes before bouncing off of the apron and hitting the floor.

Lolo stayed on the attack and brought the newcomer back in the ring and dished out more punishment including a one armed spinebuster that might've had an inflight movie, she got Gardner so far up in the air.   Shortly after that slam dunking Lolo reeled off another Bloody Shoe and sent another competitor packing.

Lolo Vuitton eliminated Goody Gardner from the gauntlet.

Final Stage: So that meant that the last woman out would be Crush champion Shelley LaVey, and while her belt wasn't on the line the announce couldn't help but salivate over the possible champion vs. champion match to be held at Mayday Payday were she to win here.

Lolo ended that noise by surprising everyone and drilling Shelley with a Bloody Shoe as LaVey tried getting into the ring.  A fired up Lolo talked smack to Shelley's fallen body on the floor as the ref backed Vuitton into a neutral corner before starting her count.  It got all the way up to 9 before Shelley got back into the ring, and the next two minutes saw Lolo try three different pins to try and secure the #1 contendership.  Lolo kept rolling early on and even went up to the top rope, but the zebra was “accidentally” tripped by Shelley and went flying into the top rope, which sent Lolo flying into the top turnbuckle and spilling into the ring.

Shelley ground Lolo under her boots in the corner while the crowd rallied behind Vuitton.  LaVey ate a brief flurry of shots from LV before laying her out with a basement DDT that quieted the crowd.  LaVey continued her handiwork over the next couple of minutes only to get staggered again by another Vuitton comeback, but when Lolo tried to toss her out of the ring Shelley turned it into a hangwoman across the top rope and followed up with a slingshot cutter that planted Lolo.

Shelley went up top for her Fallen Angel but Lolo countered the splash attempt by kicking LaVey 's ankle out from under her, leaving her straddling the top rope - and with no defense against the Bloody Shoe that followed.  LaVey fell to the apron and started sliding out to the floor but Lolo grabbed her by the leg and pulled her back into the ring to pin her down as well.

It only took one more pinfall for Lolo to get what she came for.

Lolo Vuitton won a six woman gauntlet at 31:11 by eliminating Crush champion Shelley LaVey to become the #1 contender to the Women's World championship 

After replays of the eliminations played, the crowd chanted loudly for Lolo as she got the mic and held it up to soak up the cheers in Parts Unknown.  

Understandably tired and a little bit raspy, Lolo thanked the fans for the support she’d gotten all year since she came back.  As the crowd applauded, she noted she came back for one thing and one thing only: the finest piece of gold she’d ever seen or worn, the QCW Women's World championship.  Sohla was still on a payment plan so far as being a real champion was concerned; come Mayday Payday Lolo was going to drop Sohla like she dropped stacks and walk out of San Franceezy a three-time champion.  She had platinum for days, but it just wouldn't be a Payday without some gold, now, would it?  Lolo flipped the mic behind her while a cut to Sohla backstage saw her let out a primal scream before ripping the monitor off of the wall (!) and throwing it to the ground (!!) before stomping off through the shattered LED screen.  A chyron came up for the newly made Women's World championship match at MDPD while Steve and Carl hyped Lolo potentially making history at the PPV.

After them, Duck was standing by in the ring to make the introductions for the next match.

3. Crusazdo del Oro v. Super Avión 

A rematch between ex partners closed the first hour; QCW Rewind helpfully took us back a few weeks when Avión got himself intentionally DQed by laying out Crusazdo with a chair.

This time the masked men left the lucha libre in the back and spent a segment brawling wildly with each other.  At multiple times during the bout, the referee had to physically get involved to make sure they stopped at the 5 count.  Crusazdo actually showed the referee down so he could lay in some more kicks, and that's what got him disqualified.

Super Avión ddq. Crusazdo del Oro at 9:49

We weren't done there, as Oro got his receipt and a bonus shot by not only laying out Avión with a chair shot but hitting him with another phoenix splash just like he did last week.  Oro talked smack to Avión in Spanglish - the part I understood was when he said he wasn't done making Avión pay yet.  We went to commercials with Crusazdo leaving the ring to a decent response from the Quality Controllers and Steve plugging that Ashok Banjerjee would be in action next.

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Back to Ruckus, as we went TOTHEBACK~! and the lovely Enya Face (she probably didn't teleport onto the set).  Enya brought on her guests: the Unified World Tag Team champions, Savage Justice.

The Quality Controllers popped as Justice Davis and Mason “Razorblade” Savage came out with their belts on their shoulders.  Both men nodded at Enya, who pointed out that they would be defending their titles against Evan O'Neill and Broderick Palmer II, the duo now calling themselves A Cut Above…

Razorblade stopped Enya there, saying that they won a couple matches and gave themselves a name but that wasn't the same as being a champion.  He’d been around QCW for the whole modern era and the only thing harder than getting a title around here was holding onto it.  So if the new kids wanted to be taught an old, painful lesson, then look no further than he and JD.   They were going to walk in Mayday Payday champs and walk out champs, and prove that the only thing a cut above everything else in QCW was gold.  Justice leaned in towards Enya and smiled as he said that he picked a hell of a mentor, didn't he?  The champs thanked Enya for her time and headed off the set as Enya threw things to Duck for introductions in the next match…

4. Ashok Banjerjee v. Ian Cook (w/Gerry Greene)

Former Catch Hell compatriots went at it here, but as it went across the pond for Cook so it did again here.  Banjerjee dominated a showcase over the bigger man and eventually put him away after hitting a Decolorizer Driver (a brainbuster into the knee).

Ashok Banjerjee d. Ian Cook at 8:07

As Ashok celebrated on the turnbuckles, we heard a voice congratulating him.  A scan of the Arena eventually found the source: minority owner “Ig” de Catur, in one of the luxury boxes he’d added to Quality Arena after the fire last year.  Ig congratulated Ashok on notching another win and noted that in his eyes, Ashok first got his attention when he debuted at Golden Rule and took Omar Littlefield to the limit…and he couldn't help but notice not only had Omar gotten himself intentionally DQed to save his belt, he hadn't granted Ashok a rematch since.

Mayday Payday would change all of that - come the 5th, Ashok would get another shot at Omar and possibly the World TV title if Littlefield didn't lose it or cash it in before MDPD.  But that wasn't all, because after getting the Commish’s approval, Omar/Ashok II would come with a twist…

…it would be the first ever Quality Choice match!

Ig explained that the fans would be picking the stipulation for the match; they could go to QCW’s site, vote one of three options, and on the May 3rd Ruckus everyone would find out what the stipulation would be.  Quality Controllers could choose between a falls count anywhere match, a steel cage match or a tables match.  Ig encouraged fans to go vote, wished Ashok good luck, and then mentioned that if they liked him announcing the Quality Choice match for Mayday Payday that he'd have an even bigger announcement next week.

Ig faded back into the shadows while the announce hyped up the Quality Choice match and Ashok took to a camera to say that he was coming for Omar.  Steve said that when Ruckus came back, there’d be a big eight person intergender tag.  

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5. the Culture & Nazir el-Fadal vs. Mean Season & the Proper Villains

Originally slated to be a Mode/Villains rematch, a slew of posts at Quality Social drew in the Crush champion Shelley LaVey, Mean Season and then Naz, so an eight person tag it became.

At least in theory.  In reality, while the match started off pretty evenly matched with a slight boost towards the white hats, the Culture kept things and tags between themselves despite Naz's complaining.  Down the stretch Roy Fade managed to drop Jim Jaspers with a familiar looking cutter and went for his corner to tag.  el-Fadal was the closest and extended his arm only to drop off the apron at the last second and start heading towards the back.  Shelley LaVey and Pierce Moore went after Naz but got sideswiped by Mean Season and Richard Windsor while Naz did an Usain Bolt impersonation until he was in catering.

With those things in play, Jaspers dodged a desperate attempt at the Decision from Fade and spiked him with Fury Road to secure the victory.

Mean Season and the Proper Villains d. the Culture and Nazir el-Fadal at 11:37

The babyfaces took to the turnbuckles and celebrated the W while the Culture collected Fade and fumed on the floor.

Our friends at Scoop Republic are now sponsoring the QCW calendar and Steve and Carl have the…scoop…on some of the big matches to come next week.

UNLEASHED will not only feature International Lotus vs. Science Fiction Double Feature but Omar Littlefield defending the GRPL+ World TV title against “the Fury” Jim Jaspers as well.

On RUCKUS, we’ll find out what Ig’s big announcement is - Luz Cruz will go against Shelley LaVey with the Crush championship up for grabs and the main event will be…interesting to say the least.  

On one side: Nazir el-Fadal and Omar Littlefield.  Their opponents? “Dark Mirror” Beckett Carpenter…and The Champ herself, Autumn Powers.  What's going to happen and more importantly, how long before the excrement kisses the cooling device? 

But those are multiple questions for next week; right now, there's only one crucial one for QCW: who is going to win the 2024 Duquesne Classic?

6. Ashley “THEE Influencer “ Szabo (w/”Tiki God” Al Buffett) v. Witchfinder General in the 2024 Duquesne Classic finals

Before the introductions were made Julius Duquesne III came down with the Cup named after his grandfather and put it on a pedestal at ringside.

Witchfinder was out first and made a slow walk to the ring, divesting himself of his flat topped black hat before setting his eyes on the Cup.  Muse cut off his gaze and brought out the Game Changers to a huge pop, Carl wondering as she came down the ramp if Ashley was going to run the table and hoist the Cup before the night was over.  

Solo spotlight on the ring while Duck made the introductions - WG being lustily booed during his while Ashley fired up the faithful even more during hers while Al applauded on the floor.

After the bell rang and both finalists circled each other for a few beats, Steve noted that due to special dispensation from GRPL+ that they would stay with this match no matter how long it ended up going.   

And at first, that seemed like it wouldn't be too long at all; Ashley dodged a few early attempts at offense from Witchfinder before springboarding off the ropes and hitting him with a Codebreaker.  WG nearly was sent out of the ring and opted to crawl out of it to the floor but as he started to get up Ashley came somersaulting over the top rope with a tope con hilo that took him back down.

Szabo took a glance at the Cup before tossing the General back in and continuing her good works.  THEE Influencer seemed to draw even more fuel from her early success and lit Witchfinder up with an attack in a corner, peppering him with body shots, forearms and knife edge chops.  

Witchfinder ate the blows before ducking between the ropes and ultimately leaving the ring.  General looked like he was going to leave the Arena, but he suddenly whirled around to use Al as a shield between him and Ashley.   Al told Ashley everything would be okay right before WG shoved Al at her, and when she caught him General put a big boot between her eyes to drop her and followed up by catapulting her into the ringpost.

General tried to win the Cup by countout - which didn't work since Ashley got in the ring at 8 - but even though that plan didn't work he had shifted the match in his favor.  In short order he followed up with a delayed slingshot suplex, using his power advantage to keep her in the air for nearly half a minute before finishing the maneuver.  

WG spent the next couple of minutes working Ashley over and even applied a cravate.  Al pounded the apron as the crowd chanted “Ashley!” in time with the slaps.  Szabo eventually got free of the hold and ran for the ropes before coming off with another Codebreaker.  At least, that was the plan; what actually ended up happening was General throwing her off and splattering her face first on the mat.  When she dared get up from that, WG hit her with a cyclone kick and hooked a leg on the cover…only to have Szabo kick out at 2 ¾.

Witchfinder General questioned the ref’s count before setting Ashley up for his finisher Repent but once he got her overhead, Ashley kicked frantically before planting her feet on the top rope and backflipping into a DDT that laid out General and bought her some time.  Both got up after a few seconds but Ashley literally beat Witchfinder to the punch before lighting into him with a series of knife edge chops that almost knocked the scripture out of him.  

Witchfinder suddenly lashed out with a double thrust shot to her throat and whipped her to the ropes but ducked too soon, allowing Ashley to roll off his back and hit him with an enzui version of the Meteora that made him kiss canvas.  Szabo kept her train a-rollin’ from there, even hitting 10 punches on General in a corner while the Controllers counted them off before leaping out and taking down General in another Codebreaker that put WG in the drop zone; Ashley spotted it, spared a glance at the Cup and went up top to hit the Button.

Then, chaos.

As Ashley went up top, Al suddenly got sent flying into the ringpost, and after he was down on the floor a small figure was on top of him swinging away wildly.  It took a few beats for the announce to figure out that Goody Gardner had jumped Al, as she had come out of nowhere.  Ashley looked torn as she saw her partner getting jumped, and then she looked startled since General swept her legs out from under her.  The back of Ashley's head bounced off the top turnbuckle before she recoiled into the ring and landed hard on her face.  

Witchfinder didn't waste much time in pulling Ashley from the canvas and getting closer to the middle of the ring before getting a running start and planting Szabo with Repent as Goody threw poor Al into the steps.  A three count later, the 2024 Duquesne Classic was over. 

Witchfinder General d. Ashley Szabo at 14:57 to win the 2024 Duquesne Classic 

We got replays of the match’s big moments before we went to Witchfinder getting his hand raised and a barrage of pyro erupted on stage while a chyron on the Qualitron congratulated him on winning the Classic.  The crowd went back to booing once the fireworks were over while a clearly disgusted JD3 left the Cup at ringside and speed walked to the back.

Goody Gardner grabbed the mic from Duck and then the Cup before getting inside the ring.  Gardner set the Cup before Witchfinder and got on her knees to bow before the 2024 Duquesne Cup holder.  Witchfinder looked at the Cup before hoisting it up and getting even more boos.  Gardner hissed at them all to silence themselves, saying that for weeks - no, for months - they had warned them all that these days would come, that the end of QCW as they knew it would come and that they had to accept deliverance and repent.  

But they refused to give up their debauchery and sinful lifestyles.  Well, finally they had an idol who wasn't false.  They had a man who knew and embraced the light.  Who they had was the man who won the biggest Duquesne Classic of all time…the leader of the Chosen.  And it was her duty and privilege to take her place as one of the Chosen on this night of triumph.

She crawled towards Witchfinder and handed him the microphone.  Witchfinder kissed the top of her head before making a brief comment:

You heathens will either learn to follow my path…or REPENT!

“Shall We Gather At the River?” played while the Controllers booed.  General and Gardner admired the Cup before he lifted it aloft one more time; Ruckus went off the air with a kneeling Gardner looking up at Witchfinder with a look of utter devotion while his stoic gaze bore holes in the hard camera.  See you next week, when the match towards Mayday Payday continues and the fine folks behind QCW bring the Ruckus.