Quality Arena | Parts Unknown, FL
Aired live on GRPL+ | April 5, 2024
Show opened with a video package of highlights from last week of Witchfinder General winning his block to advance to the semifinals of the Duquesne Classic and Ashley “THEE Influencer” Szabo punctuating her advancing ito the semifinals by beating Nazir el-Fadal in a minor upset to go undefeated in her block.
After the opening stinger rolled, we zoomed over to the Control Center where Julius Duquesne III and Enya Face were here to welcome us to the show and give us updated scores as the round robin element of the Duquesne ends tonight. Ashley and Witchfinder are in the semis but each of their opponents are going to be decided tonight.
JD3 said that the winner of the Jones block will face Witchfinder in the semis and right now - to no one's surprise - it looks like Omar Littlefield’s to lose and he doesn't, really. All the World TV champion has to do is secure at least a time limit draw against Pierce Moore in his title defense later to punch his ticket…but if this is the night he fails, the Baron of Beverly Hills Moore has the tiebteaker over the dominant rookie.
And if “Tiki God Al Buffett can find a way to beat Jupiter Jones, then he has 10 points and a win over Moore, meaning if he and the Dashing One both win then he's the one in the semis and half of QCW’s final four would be the Game Changers with the possibility of them facing off in the finals, which would be intriguing to say the least.
Enya talked about the Powers block, it comes down to the final two matches taking place later on tonight. Razorblade has 7 points, Karyn Tisch-Warren has 5, Lolo Vuitton 4 and Pyotr Caviar 2. One match is Razorblade vs. Pyotr - Razorblade clinches the block with a win - a time limit draw keeps him (at least temporarily?) in the lead - and a Pyotr win opens up the block for the fight between former partners Karyn and Lolo to decide the whole thing.
A Razorblade loss and Karyn win means the notorious KTW goes on to the semifinals; a Razorblade loss and Lolo win means they would have to have a rematch after their time limit draw last week, and if the women fight to a time limit draw and Razorblade loses, he ties with Karyn and Pyotr, essentially triggering a three way tie that'd have to be settled by three way dance or triple threat sooner rather than later.
JD3 interjected that that was a lot of confusion, and hopefully by the end of the night the path to the semifinals would be a lot clearer. Enya said the time for talk is over and it's time for the Duquesne Classic action to begin.
Duck Eko was standing by in the ring for the introductions for the opener as Steve Vandeblanche and Carl Christensen checked in on commentary…
1. “Tiki God” Al Buffett (w/Ashley “THEE Influencer* Szabo) v. Jupiter Jones (w/Collipark) in a Jones block cycle 3 Duquesne Classic match
Two of QCW’s favorites went up against each other here with Al trying to take the block and the legendary Jones forced into the rare role of spoiler in his career. Despite losing the other matches in the block so far, it only took a couple of minutes for former QCW champion Jones to establish his dominance against the smaller Buffett.
Al did manage to get out from under the thumb a couple times and put a couple of moves together, but he couldn't find his way to do any long term damage and Jones controlled 85 (maybe 90)% of the match. Jupiter even picked off an airborne Al and turned iit nto his old Thunder Rolls power slam before loading up for his Bolt From Olympus that's won him main events and/or championships for two decades. A staggered Buffett turned as Jones uncorked the Superman punch and Jupiter's fist –
– knocked out the air where Al had just ducked, because he was busy rolling Jupiter up and bridging over Jones's legs –
– to keep him down for 3.2 seconds.
“Tiki God Al Buffett d. Jupiter Jones at 10:20; Buffett takes the lead in the Jones block with 10 points while Jupiter went winless
Crowd gave Al cheers but they weren't quite at their usual levels as some Quality Controllers were figuring out on their own what Steve was pushing on the broadcast: in the block named for his dad, QCW OG Jupiter Jones had gone 0-3. Al celebrated on the turnbuckles after Duck announced him leading the block while a stunned Jones removed his wrist tape and walked past the rest of the College Park Family like they weren't even there; his friends followed him out of ringside as both Game Changers celebrated their great showings in the Duquesne. Carl pointed out if Pierce Moore could pull the upset against Omar Littlefield later on, Al would see up his block and advance to the semis.
We got a video package of an anomaly that happened on Unleashed as two time limit draws took place in the tag team division: upstart jerks Evan O’Neill and “Upper Class” Broderick Palmer II had one with former champions the Wonderful Ward Brothers, and current champions Savage Justice fought the men they took the titles from on Team Batroc to one as well. Steve and Carl speculated on the possibilities the draws could mean for the tag division ahead of the break.
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2. Shelley LaVey [c] v. “Explosive” Emily Bennett for the Crush championship
Bennett’s still looking for her first QCW W and she didn't get it against rising star LaVey, who didn't need any help from her cohorts in the Culture this week to defuse Emily. LaVey may have even surprised Bennett when she dropped her with a TKO to set up her Fallen Angel splash which got the duke.
Shelley LaVey d. Emily Bennett at 7:39 to retain the Crush championship 4️⃣
From there we went TOTHEBACK~!, where JD3 was standing by to welcome half of tonight's main event: "Dark Mirror" Beckett Carpenter!
They got their usual loud and slightly mixed reaction as they walked onto the interview set looking as if they were ready to scrap right there and then. Julius asked them what their game plan was heading into their match with Naz and Carpenter replied that the plan was simple - beat Naz to get the shot at Autumn, and at Mayday Payday take their rightful place atop QCW's mountain. It was the only way to close the circle the way it deserved to be shut. Last Mayday Payday out of the kindness of their heart, they tried to...make up for past misdeeds and give Autumn the Television crown, only to get reminded over and over again through five grueling fights that Autumn didn't want to take a title...she wanted to earn one.
Well, that made one of them, because they would be taking a title at Mayday Payday: Autumn's. They would earn their Triple Crown and add their name to the very short list of QCW demigods, and if some Naz-been was foolish enough to stand between them on their path to the Fifteen Pounds of Gold then he deserved the ass kicking he would get at their hands tonight. Maybe you could never truly shut a man like the Jihad up, so you do something else that'll make them go quiet real quick - you find a way to beat them. And once you beat someone as clearly insecure as he is? Well, all that's left is to watch them look inward and destroy themselves as a result. And that decent begins tonight on a very special episode of the Beckett Carpenter Show.
With a smirk, Mirror walked off the set, leaving Duquesne III to throw it to Duck Eko in the ring for more Duquesne Classic action to get a possible winner in the Jones block...
3. Omar Littlefield [c] v. “Dashing” Pierce Moore (w/the Culture) for the GRPL+ World Television Championship in a Jones block cycle 3 Duquesne Classic match
The Baron of Beverly Hills looked a little bit apprehensive about getting in the ring against the land monster from Detroit, and the crowd booed the opening minutes where Moore kept ducking between the ropes if not bailing out to the outside entirely. Moore cheapshotted Omar by rubber banding the top rope into the World TV champion’s neck and rabbit punching away until Omar had his hands on his knees.
Moore running for the ropes was the last thing to happen to him before Omar ran for the ropes and delivered a Pounce that sent him flying into the ropes on the other side and splattering to the mat off of the recoil.
What was left of the match was Omar almost wiping Pierce off of the mat; when Fade tried to provide a distraction and stem the tide, Omar goozled These Hands and chokeslammed him into the apron. Littlefield “mercifully” ended things after 4 Vader Bombs and a pair of Face Erasers, and a cut backstage to an unusually grim faced Tiki God confirmed the outcome.
Omar Littlefield d. Pierce Moore at 9:18 to retain the GRPL+ World TV title (1️⃣1️⃣) and win the Jones block with 15 points
Beauty and the Beast Mode laid out around him, Omar roared as he held the World TV title overhead. Steve pointed out thatnot only was that Omar's 11th win as champion, Autumn Powers was going to be on commentary for the main event – and there was nothing to stop that monster of a man from flipping the switch and cashing in his title shot tonight now that he’d finished off Moore. We went to commercial with Littlefield stomping his way to the back, his title over his shoulder while Moose recovered.
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The back end of Ruckus kicked off with the lovely Enya Face, who didn't teleport her way TOTHEBACK~!, but brought on her guest: the decidedly unlovely Nazir el-Fadal.
The Arena rippled with boos as the perpetually salty One Man Jihad stomped onto the set. Enya tried to ask him a question and he mocked her until she quieted before saying if he got screwed over any more times he'd be Angela White, whoever that was. Dark Mirror was the worst kind of idiot - not only one who thought they were a genius, buta corporate puppet in edgelord clothing.
He didn't pay Carpenter for advice, they paid him. He did their sorry ass a favor trying to give them some much needed good advice and how'd he get repaid? By Carpenter worming their way into what should have been his coronation at Golden Rule thanks to a corrupt Commissioner and not making the count when he had Autumn dead to rights, then making him lose last week to their crony.
So he welcomed the main event tonight because once he put Mirror in their place then he would get his rightful rematch and grab yet another title that Superstar Scotty tried to keep him away from. And once he had it, his legacy as the greatest wrestler in QCW history would be secured and prove that despite conspiracies and crooked referees, he was undoubtedly the Greatest Man Alive.
el-Fadal stomped off set before Enya threw things back to Duck in the ring as we went to Powers block action in the Duquesne...
4. Pyotr Caviar (w/Serge Batroc) v. Mason “Razorblade” Savage (w/Justice Davis) in a Powers block cycle 3 Duquesne Classic match
One of the defining rivalries of QCW’s Modern Era has been “Razorblade” Savage vs. Serge Batroc - the past year has seen them both add proteges and trade the Unified World Tag Team championships. Here, Razorblade looked to advance to the semifinals but faced a 340 pound roadblock in the form of the Tracksuit Tsar.
It was the rare fight where Savage couldn't outbrawl or out strength his opponent, and after a couple of minutes Caviar dodged a Razorblade attack and laid him out with a running crossbody block.
The next few minutes saw Caviar keep the upper hand, landing European uppercuts and even a couple of headbutts to keep Razorblade off balance. Serge celebrated on the outside as Caviar squelched a Razorblade rally with an enzui European uppercut before locking on a cravate to cut off his airflow. Caviar had Savage scrambling but the former World champion back suplexed his way out of the cravate and left both men gasping on the canvas.
Savage didn't recover first but he returned fire first, laying in heavy handed right hands and then hit a spinning backfist. It wobbled Pyotr so he hit another, but Pyotr roared in response. Savage backed up after that but it was only so that he'd have enough room for a pump knee that actually dropped Caviar.
Razorblade showed why he had a Triple Crown on his resume as he fought Caviar tooth and nail as he rallied to try to win the match and the block. The crowd popped loudest when Savage found enough strength to plant Caviar with a spinebuster…but Pyotr had enough strength to kick out at 2 ¾.
Both men were down after that nearfall, and in short order a third would join them - as Serge Batroc would sneak up on Justice Davis and throw him into the ringpost. The French Assassin followed it up with another throw to lay out Davis further, and Savage went after Batroc to lay him out with a baseball slide.
Razorblade turned around only to get absolutely floored by a discus Russian sickle from the right hand of Caviar, and Mason somersaulted through the air before landing in a snow angel on the mat. Serge barked out the orders and Pyotr did the rest, first hitting Razorblade with a spinning sit out powerbomb before executing both parts of his signature Hit My Music to get the fall while the crowd booed.
Pyotr Caviar d. Mason Savage at 11:42; both men finish the Powers block with 7 points
After replays we came back to Serge celebrating while Caviar flashed a small evil grin at the fallen members of Savage Justice in the ring. Steve pointed out that the win gave Caviar the tiebteaker over Razorblade and meant that the next match would determine what came next in the Powers block and who, if anyone, would walk away with it tonight.
Before Tisch-Warren /Vuitton faced off we got a decently lengthy video package on the history between them, starting with Lolo having Karyn as her personal trainer as she recovered from injury ⏩ them terrorizing the women's division as OnlyFitness and Lolo regaining the Women's World championship ⏩ Karyn stabbing Lolo in the back with a chair shot during an open challenge to win the belt for herself and throw in with Sohla Patel to form International Lotus ⏩⏩ Lolo coming back this January to challenge then champion Karyn for the belt in another open challenge, Karyn needing Sohla to save her belt ⏩ them renewing hostilities during the four corners elimination match for the belt at Golden Rule, a match where Sohla walked out champ
And that brings us to tonight. A shot backstage showed Lolo finishing taping up her hands before leaving her locker room - the following shot showed a focused Karyn headed towards the ring with the rest of International Lotus hyping her up, as Steve drove home that the former besties were about to go to war with the Powers block hanging in the balance – and that'd happen next!
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5. Karyn Tisch-Warren (w/International Lotus) v. Lolo Vuitton in a Powers block cycle 3 Duquesne Classic match
So!
A Karyn win gives her the block, a time limit draw forces some kind of three way match between Caviar, Savage and Tisch-Warren, and the only way for Lolo to advance is a win.
The former teammates wasted little time in going at each other hockey fight style to the cheers of the crowd. A reeling Karyn gained the upper hand by thumbing Lolo in the eye, giving her an opening to drop Vuitton with a Backstabber.
Karyn ran through her offensive playbook for the next couple of minutes and even showed how adept she was at defense by turning a Vuitton charge into a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker for a pair of nearfalls. On commentary Carl reminded us that Karyn was maybe just as thirsty as Lolo was for a win, as she sure didn't want to be in a triple threat or three way dance with Caviar and Razorblade after the big fight they’d just gone through.
Karyn seemed to be relatively sailing through until she went for her (*cough*) signature Spare Me about halfway through the time limit and Vuitton countered out into a Code Red. As they both recovered, the time limit went past the halfway point, but who recovered first was Lolo. Vuitton dropped Karyn a couple of times and then teased a pump kick before clotheslining Karyn out to the floor.
Lolo followed it up with a low tope but Karyn grabbed her husband and put him in harm's way to eat it. Vuitton looked surprised at who she’d taken out and Karyn snuck up behind her to throw her into the steps only for Lolo to reverse and send KTW into them instead. Sohla fumed on the outside as Lolo tried to goad her into getting Karyn DQed, but she didn't take the bait and left Vuitton to throw Tisch-Warren back in the ring.
With Karyn on her heels Lolo used her crowd pleasing offense to maintain control, Vuitton laying Tisch-Warren out multiple times for multiple nearfalls but KTW always found a way to save her bacon when she needed to the most. But Lolo was on a mission and had too much momentum, laying out Karyn with a Bloody Shoe with a couple of minutes left. Lolo fell on top of Karyn for the cover, and hooked the near leg – but Sohla put the far leg on the bottom rope and called the referee's attention to it. Lolo saw she hadn't won and went to chase Sohla on the outside.
Sohla ran around a couple of corners before sliding into the ring just a couple of steps ahead of Lolo. Patel got out of the ring with Lolo giving chase right up until Karyn sideswiped her ex bestie with a chop block. KTW grabbed Lolo by the legs and went for the Circuit Breaker but Vuitton still had enough leg strength to power out of the hold…and send Karyn flying into Sohla on the apron, sending the Women's World champion to the floor. The last two things Karyn saw were her husband tripping over Sohla on his save attempt and flying into a ringpost, and a Bloody Shoe when she turned around from watching her backup go down.
With Scott and Sohla down on the outside, Lolo pulled Karyn out of the corner only to tie her hands up in the ropes before plastering KTW with a second Bloody Shoe that sent Karyn down to the canvas and a three count later, down to defeat.
Lolo Vuitton d. Karyn Tisch-Warren at 19:24 and with 9 points she wins the Powers block
Lolo celebrated wildly, and had to be pulled away from Karyn's fallen body as she exulted over the giant measure of revenge she was able to get. The announce put over her comeback and her winning a match she absolutely had to win to advance to the semifinals.
The foot never comes off the gas when it comes to QCW TV, and next week's doing at least 60 in a residential area.
UNLEASHED will feature a fatal four way between Pyotr Caviar, Broderick Palmer II, Benjamin Valentino and Jason Ward. In addition, Luz Cruz will face Karyn Tisch-Warren and in a Duquesne Classic preview tag Omar Littlefield and Witchfinder General will go up against Ashley Szabo and Lolo Vuitton. Surely the future opponents will get along fine in a tag, right? Right? Man, those crickets are loud.
And next week's Ruckus is not only going to have limited commercial interruptions but it'll be coming from the UNO Lakefront Arena in the Sodom and Gomorrah of the Mississip’ New Orleans! Can we interest you in next week’s supershow called Jackpot? Thought so:
The location of Mayday Payday will be announced
The winner of Luz v. Karyn on Unleashed will get a Women's World championship shot at Sohla Patel
There’ll be a fatal four way #1 Contendership match with the winners getting their shot at the Unified World Tag Team championships at Mayday Payday when the International Players will face Evan O'Neill and “Upper Class” Broderick Palmer II, Team Batroc and the Wonderful Ward Brothers in a stacked one.
Oh, and we have the semifinals of the Duquesne Classic with Omar Littlefield not only defending his World TV title against Witchfinder General but trying to face the winner of Ashley “THEE Influencer” Szabo vs. Lolo Vuitton - and keep in mind the opponents will have just teamed up 48 hours prior on Unleashed. It started with 16 and after next week it’ll be down to 2.
Still
not
done, because the main event will have Autumn Powers against Naz el-Fadal in a non-title rematch from Golden Rule. Funny thing about Naz, main events, and trying to get revenge for Golden Rule…
6. “Dark Mirror “ Beckett Carpenter v. Nazir el-Fadal
BNB
el-Fadal strolled out to “Ready Or Not” in a nazir World order shirt to the mostly negative response of the crowd; Carpenter followed him out once “This Town Ain't Big Enough For the Both of Us” took over the PA to a mostly positive response from the crowd and wearing a Super Avión mask (Naz no-sold this).
Opening minutes were a standstill that started to tick up in animosity when el-Fadal powered Mirror into the corner. To everyone's surprise, Naz broke clean but then gave Mirror a couple of condescending slaps on the cheek. Another collar and elbow tieup went around the ring before Mirror pulled the trunks to maneuver el-Fadal into the corner and slapped him. Naz slapped them back and that kicked off a half minute long hockey fight that had the Quality Controllers rocking.
Naz seemed to be reeling but thumbed Mirror in the eye, only for them to return fire with a jumping enzuigiri and Codebreaker that sent Naz rolling out to the floor. Carpenter went out to the apron to follow up and launched themselves into the former World champion with a tumbleweed that wiped out Naz.
Mirror continued to chip away at Naz’s power meter and got el-Fadal down on the mat, but when they started going for the hammer and anvil elbows Naz blocked it and maneuvered his way into putting on a cobra clutch. Not just content to wear Carpenter down with the hold, el-Fadal used his power advantage to giant swing them around the ring before turning it into a Lungblower to leave Carpenter laying at the hands of his Heat Check.
el-Fadal went on the attack and started to put some more offense together, taking particularly savage glee in throwing rabbit forearms and short range Kawada kicks to his long time rival. Carpenter found a way to turn that around by ducking a leg lariat to send Naz crashing into the mat, then added injury to injury by effectively chop blocking him with a diving clothesline to sweep his ankles.
Mirror exploited the opening they created and worked on Naz's leg with a focus on the knee as the commentary sold just how much hatred flowed both ways in this matchup. Carpenter even tried to take Naz to school by applying a figure four leglock, but Naz used his good leg to kick Carpenter out between the ropes. Unfortunately for him, he couldn't stop what was next: Mirror recovering first and flying off the second rope with a dropkick to his bum wheel.
Mirror worked over the leg some more, eventually grounding Naz entirely; once he had a dead leg he was dragging around the canvas Carpenter made sure to return the patronizing slaps to the cheek. Naz gave a sarcastic chuckle before spitting in Beckett's face and flipping them a double bird that got blurred out on G+.
Carpenter smirked at Naz.
And then they nearly took his head off…with a Hazy Shade of Autumn. Everybody in the Arena (announce included) lost their minds while Carpenter hooked the leg and picked up the win.
Beckett Carpenter d. Nazir el-Fadal at 16:17
After replays, Carpenter stood on the apron and blew Naz a mocking kiss before walking up the ramp to cheers - cheers that only amplified when “Mota” by the way Offspring hit the PA to wipe Siouxsie and the Banshees from it.
The Qualitron 9004 parted and out came The Champ herself, Autumn Powers toting the Fifteen Pounds of Gold around her waist. Autumn offered up a (sarcastic?) golf clap as Mirror made her way up the ramp…but before they could meet, Quality Force security poured out from the back and kept the two of them from throwing hands against each other. (G+ censors must’ve had a fun time bleeping out the “Bullshit!” chants.) Left with nothing to do but smacktalk each other, they did so from a couple of feet away as the credits box came up. See you next week in New Orleans for Jackpot and the Duquesne Classic semifinals!
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