Quality Arena | Parts Unknown, FL
Aired live on GRPL+ | May 10th, 2024
The show started with a video package recapping everything that went down on the main card this past Sunday at Mayday Payday.
We saw religious fundamentalists Witchfinder General and Goody Gardener beat the Game Changers in intergender tag action - four ghosts from the past of the women's division ruining the lumberjill Crush championship match by laying out not only the women on the outside but Luz Cruz and Shelley LaVey as well - Ashok Banjerjee actually making Omar Littlefield bleed in the Quality Choice steel cage match for the G+ World TV title before Omar got his revenge and then some, pinning a bloodied Ashok and making the ref count to 5 followed by Ashok getting stretchered out of the Cow Palace while Omar mocked him
Lolo Vuitton overcoming International Lotus interference to get the upper hand and beat Sohla Patel to kick off her third reign as Women's World champion - the main event of “Dark Mirror” Beckett Carpenter, Nazir el-Fadal and the Champ Autumn Powers in a triple threat for the Unified World championship being an instant classic with all 3 borrowing liberally from each other's playbooks in addition to their own (Mirror hitting Nazquil on Naz, Naz drilling Carpenter with hammer and anvil elbows only to get spun around and eat a WMDDT from Autumn, Mirror hitting Powers with a Hazy Shade of Autumn down the stretch) - Naz going for his own Hazy Shade while Mirror had Powers in Look Inward only for the One Man Jihad to whiff when Beckett ducked and send himself flying into the ropes before hitting the floor - the referee checking Autumn's arm and finding it limp before calling for the bell; Mirror celebrating winning the Unified World championship and becoming the newest member of QCW’s Triple Crown club [Jupiter, Naz, Razorblade] while the Game Changers came out in support of their friend and the confetti fell…
🎶 This kind of music, use it, and you get amped to do sh-sh-sh… 🎶
Their celebration coming to a quick end as Omar came back out to cash in the World TV title for a shot at the Unified World title, laying out the Game Changers before the referee could even ring the bell then dominating an exhausted Carpenter (shades of his PPV debut) before laying them out with the Face Eraser to win the top prize in QCW while a bunch of fans were looking on in shock and/or sadness…and that was before Omar lifted the 15 Pounds of Gold and threw them repeatedly into the steel steps (the video stopped at Omar mid throw, though you could hear the crowd's screams while the screen was all black).
The screen stayed black for a bit before an updated version of the opening stinger rolled, closing with newly minted World champions Lolo Vuitton and Omar Littlefield before we zoomed into a sold out Quality Arena for all the fallout from Mayday Payday. Steve Vandeblanche and Carl Christensen barely welcomed us to Ruckus before they got cut off by a Kendrick Lamar song. No, not that one. Not that one, either. Not even that one, but one of his hits from a few years back: “King Kunta”.
The crowd reaction was confusion until a hulking presence parted the Qualitron 9004 and the tenor inside the Arena shifted dramatically. As Duck Eko asked us to please welcome the new Unified World champion Omar Littlefield we could see the 15 Pounds of Gold hanging around his neck with a chunk of it missing after what he did to it on Sunday.
The Quality Controllers kept booing right up until Omar barked at them to shut the hell up before he went out there and hurt somebody. That quieted the crowd and in their absence of noise Omar talked.
He said he showed up barely six months ago and he was already QCW’s measuring stick. Duffing up the Game Changers wasn't nuthin’, being the greatest TV champion of all time was a layup, and ruining all their fun Sunday night by cashing in to get a newer, bigger, better chain just proved that QCW was his to run as he saw fit. If he felt like sending Banjerjee to the hospital, he’d do it - if he felt like breaking Mirror again to prove how easy it was for him to own this place in barely half a year, he’d do it - and if he wanted to put a scar on his title to match the one he's giving QCW then he would. Hell, if he wanted to smash this thing into tiny little pieces and cut his steak with them, he would. Because GRPL+ didn't run QCW, and Holmes didn't either - The Champ did, and he was The Champ. And now that he was The Champ, QCW and the entire world would see exactly what winning ugly truly meant.
Omar tossed aside the mic and headed to the back but as the announce team was putting over his dominant rookie year the Offspring took over the PA from Kendrick and the crowd finally had reason to cheer.
Autumn Powers came out for the show’s opener but right behind her came Quality Force security and most of if not all the other referees on the payroll. Autumn had some words for Omar since there was an ad hoc human wall between them but he just scoffed at her and slapped his (formerly her) World title while continuing to head to the back. Autumn seemed pretty pissed that she couldn't go after Omar and stomped down to the ring with venom in her eyes.
1. Hawk Carter v. Autumn Powers
Autumn is going to be a unanimous first ballot QCW Hall of Famer when the time comes and at present Hawk is just a dude. The former Unified World champion took Hawk’s legs out from under, laid in a few shots and then took him off the board with an enzuigiri Hazy Shade and the standard one to notch a dub quicker than you can cook an egg.
Autumn Powers d. Hawk Carter at 2:18
Replays showed off a big chunk of the match and when we came back to live Julius Duquesne III was on the ramp to interview Autumn post squash, but she just blew by him like he wasn't there and continued to the back. Announce attributed Powers' unusually salty mood to focus after losing the belt on Sunday and noted she had a rematch coming to her for the Fifteen Pounds of Gold.
Before our first commercial break we got an injury update on Mason “Razorblade” Savage, who suffered a sprained ankle and dislocated elbow and would be out for an undetermined amount of time (this is probably why the roster has one fewer member than it did a week ago). Steve promised an update on the Unified World Tag Team championships situation after the next match on the show.
As we went to break we saw “Swamp Pride” Ted Holland warming up in his locker room while Robert E. Moonshine talked him up; elsewhere Super Avión was slipping into his black and blue cape. They're up next.
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2. “Swamp Pride” Ted Holland v. Super Avion
Ted got off to a hot start bolstered by the Quality Controllers rooting him on. Holland took it to the luchadore, who ended up rolling to the floor after eating a floatover DDT from the Floridian. Holland went for a dive but Avión pulled back the ropes and snapped them in Ted’s face to send him sprawling back into the ring. Avión then spent the better part of a minute stomping away on the downed Swamp Pride until Holland rolled out of the ring. Ted got his eyes clear just in time to eat a slingshot huracanrana that sent him flying into the ringpost. The rest of the match was Avión's to lose and he didn't come close to that happening, putting away poor Ted with Air Superiority a few minutes later.
Super Avion d. Ted Holland at 7:44
After replays and getting his hand raised, Avión walked over to a corner camera and said so far he as he was concerned, it was still hunting season so that meant Crusazdo was going to find out it was a long fall down off of his high horse.
Back to ringside, where Steve updated us to the Unified World Tag Team championships situation. With Razorblade knocked out of action for a decent amount of time it was deemed necessary to declare them vacated. Steve said they hoped to have an update soon on how new champions would be crowned before throwing things up to Duck Eko in the ring to make the introductions for the Crush championship match…
3. Shelley LaVey [c] v. Hilary Highnote for the Crush championship
Shelley came out with the rest of the Culture but told them at the top of the ramp that she had this and didn't need them; famous last words.
A hungry Highnote threw everything at the champion and not only put her on the back foot early but kept things that way for about ⅔rds of the match. The crowd got increasingly behind Hilary stringing together her offensive arsenal while Shelley couldn't get out from under, the announce speculating the recent Luz Cruz matches Shelley survived might have opened the door for Hilary to pull the upset. Hilary stayed on the offensive until a desperate LaVey gouged her eyes and lashed out by hitting the Fresh To Death cutter. With Hilary down Shelley went up and went for the Fallen Angel splash but Highnote not only cut her off but took her down with a superplex that left them both splayed out.
Hilary started to get up right when the lights went out in Quality Arena. When they popped back on, Shelley LaVey was the one standing, Hilary was down - and the ring was surrounded by Bonnie Agrippa (Shelley's former tag partner), Nancy Crowley (former teammate of Agrippa and LaVey in the Forbidden Book Club), Justine Danek and Bella Jolie who all had evil grins on their faces. Steve pointed out on Unleashed they'd ruined Hilary’s match and at Mayday Payday last Sunday they’d taken out most of the women's division and ruined Shelley's lumberjill title defense.
They circled the ring while the ref came to and Shelley's gaze went between them and the laid out Highnote. Shelley kept looking at Bonnie for a bit, then hesitantly covered Hilary. The ref crawled into position and made the count while the crowd booed the gift the…ex(?) QCWers had given Shelley.
Shelley LaVey d. Hilary Highnote at 9:08 to retain the Crush championship 6️⃣
They all hopped up on the apron as Shelley got her belt back from the recovering referee, but LaVey started to almost pirouette around the ring as she turned to face all four of them at different points. A buzz started in the crowd and grew into a mixed reaction as Beauty and the Beast Mode came from the back and slid into the ring to back up their teammate. Bonnie nodded as they took up positions around the confused LaVey and got into their ready positions; the crowd and the announce both seemed confused.
Agrippa did the eyes point to Shelley, and then snapped her fingers. The lights went out again, and when they came back up the Culture were standing in a ring that had no one on the apron. Shelley, Roy Fade and Pierce Moore looked around but the women had seemingly disappeared in a Forbidden but familiar way.
Steve and Carl tried to figure out what the hell just happened all the way up to the break but outside of Shelley retaining her title they didn't have the answers. Who did? Because outside of four possible possibilities, it seemed no one did.
More Ruckus after the break.
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We came back to Ruckus with Steve and Carl in a rare spot: in the ring, addressing the crowd. They mentioned that Mayday Payday, in addition to being a great show, caused seismic change in QCW’s title scenes. The Unified World championship changed hands twice in under 10 minutes, the chaotic last second street fight led to a firing and the Unified World Tag Team belts being held up as they mentioned earlier, and we are about to see the new/once again Women's World Champion Lolo Vuitton in action up next.
While they don't know what will happen w/r/t the Unified World Tag Team belts, tonight's main event will start QCW down the road to crowning a new World TV champ. It's happened a couple times before in the modern era, but things will begin with a pool of six contenders and over the next month and a half of Ruckuses one will be eliminated every week until the last survivor becomes the new World Television champion! Crowd liked the sound of that.
As a result of the tag titles match, Mason “Razorblade” Savage was out with an injury; his partner Justice Davis would be taking his place as one of the six participants.
The other five spots would be taken up by several people who nearly walked out of the Duquesne Classic with the Cup. While he wasn't 100% after Payday, Ashok Banjerjee was in the field. “Tiki God” Al Buffett from the Game Changers would be joining him. (Both men got good pops from the Quality Controllers.)
The other half of the field would include Team Batroc’s Pyotr Caviar, “Dashing” Pierce Moore from the Culture, and representing International Lotus - Karyn Tisch-Warren. Every week, whoever took the loss would be eliminated from the Golden Gauntlet and whoever came out of it would have earned their first reign as World TV champion!
4. Goody Gardner v. Lolo Vuitton in a non-title open challenge
Lolo won the Women's World championship for a third time at Mayday Payday and in lieu of a celebration opted to jump on Quality Social to issue a non-title open challenge to the division. Somehow Witchfinder General jumped ahead of everyone, saying that his acolyte Goody would provide a more sterling example at the top of the women's division.
That may have been what the newly minted QCW National Champion WG thought was going to happen but what did happen was Lolo showing off why she was a 3x Women's World champ. Gardner tried to turn things into a brawl early but couldn't hang with Lolo in that environment and win out at it.
The last few minutes were all Vuitton as she locked dominant and on her way to a Bloody Shoe when Gardner went to the floor rather than eat the Yakuza kick, then stayed there and willingly ate the countout loss as the referee counted to 10 and Cindy looked on incredulously.
Lolo Vuitton d. Goody Gardner via countout at 11:59
Goody dismissively threw her hands up at Lolo – right before she got blindsided by Ashley “THEE Influencer” Szabo from the Game Changers. The crowd popped as Ashley threw hands at Goody; the announce noted they were picking up where they left off from on Sunday night and the finals of the Duquesne Classic. As Goody started throwing her own shots at Ashley, suddenly in the ring Lolo was getting spun around and getting laid out courtesy of Witchfinder General and his signature move: Repent.
Ashley threw Goody into the barricade and slid in the ring to go after the General but he slid out as she slid in. Witchfinder pulled Goody up the aisle as Lolo checked on Ashley, champions eventually locking eyes from the ramp to the ring.
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5. Ian Cook & Gerry Greene v. the International Players
This went the way you think it would, with the bigger Catch Hell alums providing maybe a little more resistance than you might expect before going down to the quickness of the former World Tag Team champions. Collipark was represented well as Greene went down to the Playa Hata, a Benjamin Valentino missile dropkick into Lucius Patton's Bass Drop moonsault fallaway slam.
The International Players d. Ian Cook & Gerry Greene at 8:56
After replays they got mics from Duck and said that they might've lost a titles shot a few weeks ago but in 2024 they've been stacking way more wins than losses. So forget being humble - since the tag belts were now vacant, they knew the two handsome brothers and ex champs to fill that void. Whatever Commissioner Holmes decided to do with the belts, the Players had better be in the mix so that they could get their belts back. And that's how simple it all really was. “Gasoline Dreams” hit the PA again as the Players took their leave making Very Familiar Gestures around each of their waists.
Before we got to the main event, Steve and Carl gave us the lowdown on some big matches that'll happen on next week's shows - Al Buffett will go one on one with Goody Gardner, Crusazdo del Oro and Mr. Teknik will face Prince Ootsuka and Super Avión and more on Unleashed.
And Ruckus is going to be full of more Quality level wrestling. The next level in the Crusazdo del Oro/Super Avión feud might be its last as the former allies will face off in a street fight - QCW Women's World Champion Lolo Vuitton will team up with Ashley ”THEE Influencer”Szabo to go against QCW National Champion Witchfinder General and Goody Gardner - and the Golden Gauntlet will hit second gear in a frantic five way.
But the eliminations begin tonight, in fact right now with the loser getting dropped from the World TV title chase…
6. Ashok Banjerjee v. “Tiki God” Al Buffett v. Pyotr Caviar v. Justice Davis v. “Dashing” Pierce Moore v. Karyn Tisch-Warren in a Golden Gauntlet six pack challenge; loser is eliminated from competing for the World TV championship
Out first was Pyotr Caviar to the dulcet tones of “Engel”. As he came down the ramp Steve put him over as the likely favorite while Carl pushed back on that saying that was what made Pyotr a target and thus unlikely to make it through the Golden Gauntlet.
Then “Tiki God” Al Buffett came out to a good pop, looking to add a TV title reign to his Unified World Tag Team ones. Al showed no fear in getting right up in Caviar’s…well, chest if not face. Their staredown got interrupted by Silk Sonic and the emergence of “Dashing” Pierce Moore out to try and bring another championship to the Culture’s trophy case. Moore started to get in the ring but getting glared at by both Al and Pyotr seemed to keep him content to pace on the floor.
Justice Davis was out next, the brawler from the Midwest looking even more grimly focused than usual and in a similar situation to Al as he tried to add his first singles gold to prior tag gold. Moore magically found his way to the other side of the floor as goddamn “Roar” hit the PA and brought out Karyn Tisch-Warren from International Lotus. The notorious KTW was decked out in blue and silver to match the TV title she hoped to take home at the end of the Gauntlet, and the announce put over her headlining PPVs as well as showing her stamina in winning the best of 3 falls match and the Crush Rush in the recent past. Even if she came out to “Roar” you could see Steve and Carl positioning her as a dark horse who could walk out with the belt.
Last out was Ashok Banjerjee and the sixteen stitches in his forehead courtesy of Omar Littlefield roughing him up inside of the steel cage during the back end of their TV title match. Ashok came down to the ring without his usual speed while the announce said he had to have the biggest target on his back since there was no way he was 100% after pissing off Omar at Mayday Payday.
But it was Ashok who insisted on starting the match and Pierce who took him up on it (only two people legal at a time but tags between anyone are legal, Steve explained as they were in the feeling out process). Ashok and Pierce went 50/50 for a stretch until Moore got his boots up on a Banjerjee corner charge and followed it up with a Blockbuster to open a window for more of his offense.
The Duke of Dashing kept the upper hand for the next couple of minutes until Justice Davis blind tagged himself in. Moore turned around into a hangman from Davis that sent him staggering into Ashok, then Davis hit a double spear and covered Ashok for the Gauntlet’s first nearfall.
Crowd seemed split on who to root for between the babyface rookies, but Davis kept the upper hand through most of their exchanges. JD looked like he was possibly going for a piledriver or setting up a powerbomb but Ashok backdropped out of it. Both men got up at roughly the same time but Ashok delivered a step up enzuigiri and followed up quickly with a double arm DDT before he ran out of adrenaline and was down on the mat next to JD. Both men rolled away from each other but Pierce again smelled blood in the water and tagged Davis out. But before he could eat up Ashok, Banjerjee tagged in the Tiki God and rolled out to the apron to catch a breather. Moore immediately tried to hit Al with his Fresh To Death but Buffett countered the cutter by lifting Moore and throwing him nearly halfway across the ring in an atomic powered borderline atomic drop. Buffett used his freshness to run Moore ragged before impressing the faithful with a delayed suplex where he kept Pierce in the air for nearly half a minute straight and even did some squats before completing the move.
But Moore refused to go quietly into that good night, kicking out of half a dozen nearfalls. Feeling himself a bit, Al got into position and mocked Moore's Fresh To Death pre cutter pose before trying to plant him with it – but Pierce managed to shove off Al’s attempt.
And sent him flying into a tag from Pyotr Caviar. Moore tried to tag in Karyn Tisch-Warren but she dropped off of the apron. He tried to get Justice Davis in but JD followed Karyn's lead as did Al. Moore turned around just in time to get engulfed by a Caviar running crossbody, and that was just the beginning. Pyotr rocked Moore with a Russian sickle, then kept Pierce from falling to the mat so he could hit him with a discus version - sending Moore in a backflip down to the canvas with extreme force. Caviar snatched up Moore and planted him yet again with a spinning sit out powerbomb that folded Pierce damn near in half. Caviar got up and left Moore laying before unexpectedly hitting Ashok's shoulder and leaving the ring. The referee counted it as a tag and once Banjerjee confirmed it was a tag, Ashok picked the bones and gave the Baron of Beverly Hills the Decolonizer Driver. By the time the three count finished Pyotr was already parting the Qualitron.
Ashok Banjerjee d. Pierce Moore at 18:52 to eliminate him from the Golden Gauntlet
After replays we saw Ashok getting his hand raised while Karyn smirked in the background, Al applauded and Justice was on the floor staring up the ramp where Pyotr had left. A chyron with pictures of all six participants popped up on screen with Moore's going from color to black and white while shrinking in size. Steve hyped up the next round of the Golden Gauntlet next week as well as the lucha libre street fight while the credits box came up, and after he thanked us for watching another Quality episode of Ruckus the show was done.
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