GRPL+ Presents QCW Ruckus [s3e28 • June 28, 2024]

Quality Arena | Parts Unknown, FL 

Aired live on GRPL+ | June 28th, 2024

Steve Vandeblanche and Carl Christensen on commentary, the Voice of QCW Duck Eko handled the ring announcing

1. Ricardo Villalobos d. Hawk Carter at 7:33 Villalobos is the slightly scarred former Crusazdo del Oro, who got a showcase win over QCW’s resident cowboy with a Phoenix splash.  After the match, Super Avión came out to the ring but before he got there Villalobos got jumped from behind by QCW alumni and his brother Roberto, who managed to lay in a few good shots before Quality Force security came out and took him out of the Arena.  As that was happening, Avión suddenly rushed to the ring and hit Ricardo with his own phoenix splash to add insulting injury to injury.

Julius Duquesne III interviewed the Game Changers backstage, though it was mostly Ashley THEE Influencer who cut a promo on Goody Gardner and Witchfinder General.  She said she had no remorse about what she did to Goody last week and challenged Witchfinder to face her with the National Championship on the line at Cruel Summer.

2. “Upper Class” Broderick Palmer II d. Justice Davis at 9:49 These guys have been feuded in singles and tag matches for a few months now; Palmer II spent the first couple of minutes in chicken shit mode before luring Davis out to the floor and throwing him into the steps.  JD managed to fight back a couple of minutes later, receipting a thumb to the eye to set up a double arm DDT to even things up.  Davis was building momentum when Jacques Krieger and S. Mark Starr came out on the ramp to watch the match.  Davis had words with/for them from the ring, allowing Broderick to land a running knee into Davis's back before dropping him with an Unprettier to win the match.  

Krieger and Starr left while Palmer II was getting his hand raised.

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Enya Face was backstage with Lolo Vuitton, who was in the middle of cutting a celebratory promo before she got jumped by the women of International Lotus, who roughed up the Women's World champion through the backstage area and pushed a production crate on her to pin her to the floor.  As Quality Force dragged them away you could hear Karyn Tisch-Warren hiss at her ex partner that they weren't done with Lolo just yet and wouldn't be until they got their title back.  Luz Cruz came on the scene with security to check on Lolo before saying that if they had the ovaries, she'd find someone to partner with her and take on International Lotus tonight.

3. Bonnie Agrippa [c, w/Hysteria] d. “Explosive” Emily Bennett at 6:59 to retain the Crush championship 1️⃣

Bennett still has yet to get that first Ruckus win but again showed some good fighting spirit before going down to the new Crush champion, who showed off her bona fides in this showcase and put Emily down for good with a couple of rolling suplexes and a brainbuster to retain.

In a pretape from his office, Commissioner Holmes announced that the currently held up Unified World Tag Team championships would be decided at Cruel Summer in an eight team unification tag team turmoil match where the winners would walk out the new champions.  As recompense for being the current and now last set of Ambassadors Trios champions, Beauty and the Beast Mode would come into the tag turmoil last.  Announce hyped up the fact that Cruel Summer would see who in QCW’s deep tag team division would walk out with the gold. 

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4. Beauty and the Beast Mode d. Team Batroc at 10:48 Speaking of Beauty and the Beast Mode, they were in action against Team Batroc, two of the inaugural holders of the Ambassadors Trios championships.  With the tag title turmoil just announced, that was in the air as these teams faced off.  Serge took the opening part of the match against Pierce Moore but got put on his heels by “These Hands” Roy Fade getting tagged in and out brawling him.  

Fortunately for Serge, he managed to  reverse a Fresh To Death into a half and half suplex and tag in the imposing Pyotr Caviar.  Pyotr dominated both members of Mode until Fade put Caviar in a rear naked choke and nearly put Caviar out before the big Russian managed to fall back to the mat twice and get free of the hold before crawling over and tagging in Serge.  But Batroc uncharacteristically stumbled on the middle rope and tumbled into the ring.  He got up but didn't stay up as Fade blasted him with the Decision to absolutely make him regret the stumble and get the three count.  Announce noted that Pyotr was probably not going to take this well but that the win was good news for B&BM.

Luz Cruz was in the back talking someone into partnering with her to take on International Lotus, and was eventually successful in winning this woman over to teaming up…

5. International Lotus d. Luz Cruz and Shelley LaVey at 11;07

Crowd was firmly behind the babyfaces early on and cleared Lotus from the ring within the first few minutes of the match.

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Control of the match ping ponged from Lotus to the babyfaces and back again.  It looked like Luz and Shelley were going to rally back and pull out a win but as two separate fights were going on in the ring, Cruz backed into LaVey, who spun around and hit an accidental almost instinctive Fresh To Death cutter on Cruz thinking that she was dropping Karyn Tisch-Warren instead of suffering a sneak attack. Lotus put away LaVey after a combination Falcon Arrow and powerbomb backbreaker.  Hard times for Shelley right now.

Earlier Today while the Arena was empty, Nazir el-Fadal cut a promo from the concourse.  He noted that he hadn't lost his shots at the Unified World title at Golden Rule or Mayday Payday, but Commissioner Holmes would rather let someone desecrate the Fifteen Pounds of Gold than let its rightful owner hold it.  If this was the part where Holmes has his fun by keeping him away from the belt, then history had shown that the next part was going to be Naz’s favorite part - the part where he became the first wrestler ever in nearly 70 years of QCW history to hold the QCW championship and the QCW World championship and the Unified World championship.  Allah would hasten the day for his greatest creation, Nazir el-Fadal - the Greatest Man Alive.  

Hype for next week's action included International Lotus in action and a non-title Lolo Vuitton match on Unleashed as well as a World TV title defense, the Agrippa/LaVey rematch for the Crush championship and a brother vs brother contract match between Ricardo and the trying to return Roberto Villalobos on next week's Ruckus.

6. Ashok Banjerjee [c] d. Super Avión at 8:23 to retain the GRPL+ World Television championship 3️⃣

The reason Ricardo is no longer Crusazdo del Oro is Avión, as when the former partners met at Steel City Showdown in a mask v. mask  to start off the month it was Avión who cheated to win the mask he currently wears on a chain to the ring.  As that rivalry has played out, Ashok Banjerjee won the Golden Gauntlet and the G+ World TV title a couple of weeks ago and came into this defense with impressive wins over Karyn Tisch-Warren and Jacques Krieger.  

Given the champ’s Boundlessness and Avión's lucha libre bonafides, this main event was a high octane back and forth that had the Arena rocking from bell to bell.  The opening minute or so was a stalemate before Ashok took the first advantage by landing a rebound huracanrana that had Avión rolling to the floor afterwards.  It didn't make him safe from the champ, who followed up with a step up tope con hilo over the ringpost that's probably going into the Ruckus open sooner rather than later.  Ashok continued to have the upper hand for the next couple of minutes until Avión turned a whip attempt into a springboard poison rana that flattened Banjerjee and gave Avión the breathing room he needed to mount a comeback.  Avión flooded Ashok with his offense and the announce put over that this might be the second week in a row that Ruckus ended with a title changing hands.  Avión hit a Meteora and set up for the win with Air Superiority but when he went for the avalanche Spanish Fly Ashok shoved him off instead of going down to the mat.  Avión got crotched on the top rope, then his boots tangled between the top and middle rope, which left him open to a 450° splash from Banjerjee.  Ashok dominated the rest of the way and ended Avión's title hopes with the Decolonizer Driver.

It looked like the show was going to end the show with Ashok getting his belt back and celebrating up the ramp but as he did that, Ricardo Villalobos sprinted last him and started beating the crap out of Avión to increasing cheers from the crowd.  The biggest pop came when he laid out Avión on the announce table and put him through it with a phoenix splash.  Ruckus' last bit of audio was the crowd cheering Ricardo while Villalobos was holding his ribs and staring down his former partner in the table’s wreckage promising that Avión had only just begun to feel his wrath.

QcW Unleasned [s1e43 • Quality Arena]

 

• Hysteria (Bella/Justine w/Agrippa & Crowley) d. Luz Cruz and “Explosive” Emily Bennett 

• Ian Cook and Gerry Greene v. Glory Days

• Fiona Fogg v. “Sinister” Sarah Fowler 

• non-title open challenge Omar Littlefield d. Jason “the Great” Ward (w/”the Wonderful” Rich Ward)

GRPL+ Presents QCW Ruckus [s3e27 • June 21, 2024]

 

Quality Arena | Parts Unknown, FL 

Aired live on GRPL+ | June 21st, 2024

The usual open started rolling but it got interrupted by S. Mark Starr “breaking up the feed”. Starr said that tonight was going to be a very special episode of Ruckus because it was the night where his meal ti–client went down in the history books when he became a three time TV champ.  This whole Ashok Banjerjee thing was a cute story and everything but by his clock it was well past midnight and at the hands of his client that smiling Cinderfella would get smashed like the rotten pumpkin he was.  He could do all the flippy [that's a swear] he wanted because sooner or later Krieger would punch him down and he would stay down.  At this point Jacques walked into the frame and nudged Starr aside so he took up most of the frame.

Krieger stared down the camera and only had one thing to say.

“Tonight…I get back what's mine.”

The screen went wonky for a few seconds before joining the pyro exploding already in progress.  Steve and Carl hyped up the Krieger/Banjerjee fight for the World TV title and Bonnie Agrippa facing her ex partner Shelley LaVey with the Crush championship on the line as LaVey hopes to get her 10th straight win to earn a cash in opportunity for the Women's World championship…but action would begin with a former Unified World champion…

1. Nazir el-Fadal v. “the Proper King” Richard Windsor 

Announce mentioned in the opening moments of the match that Windsor was on a bit of an island with Omar Littlefield having injured his regular partner “the Fury” Jim Jaspers, who should be back from his injuries in 4-6 weeks.  

Despite usually being a tag specialist, Windsor took an early upper hand by outclassing Naz on the mat with his technical expertise.  A pissed off Naz started throwing European uppercuts in response only to have the man from across the pond show him how they’re supposed to hit.  But after getting Naz set up in a corner and laying in some shots, when he went for a corner to corner European uppercut Naz blocked it and converted it into a cobra clutch and then hopped up on the top turnbuckle; he leaned back to crank it in and milked the referee’s five count before letting go at 4.8.  Windsor was already a little disoriented and the self-proclaimed Grand Slam winner wasn’t there to make things better - he was there to hip toss Windsor into a Michinoku Driver that was the turning point in the fight.  el-Fadal dominated the rest of the way and  ended up drilling Windsor with something like a buckle bomb version of the Outsider’s Edge, then followed that up with Nazquil before pulling Windsor away from the ropes and pinning him.

Nazir el-Fadal d. Richard Windsor at 9:26 

Enya Face was standing by backstage, but only briefly as she stated that per the previous financial arrangement “Upper Class” Broderick Palmer II would merely talk on his own and she would leave so as to not distract from his message.  Palmer II took the mic and waved Enya off camera.  Once she left, Broderick said that as he lived and breathed he couldn't understand why he wasn't standing before us a tag champion but he supposed that was a matter for the courts.  As he was plugging Hashtag JusticeForEvan All One Word, Justice Davis suddenly appeared out of nowhere and snatched the mic from Davis, saying the only reason Broderick was upright was that Davis was getting a match made where they'd fight next week because if anybody deserved to be a tag champion right now, it was him.  But his law firm was Left and Right and since Broddy didn't remember what Mayday Payday should've taught him, he’d get taught a lesson all over again.  Something told Justice a certain Ms. Face would be glad to see it.

Justice left, but not before bumping shoulders with Jacques Krieger heading towards the ring.  Davis and Krieger started getting in each other's faces when S. Mark Starr got in between them, saying to Justice that if he wanted a shot at the TV title it’d have to wait a bit since Krieger was busy - he did have a title to win.  “Hated” started playing in the Arena as Justice walked off shaking his head.   Starr told Jacques to head to the ring right before handing Palmer II a business card and saying that it looked like Broderick wasn't the only one in the business of justice and thought he could lend a hand.  

Krieger was halfway down the ramp before Starr ran down to catch up with him.   By the time they were in the ring, S. Mark was talking to his client about how he was going to be the next World TV champion.  After a commercial break we’ll get the Boundless champion out here - Banjerjee/Krieger for the GRPL+ World Television championship is coming up next!

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We came back to Starr and Krieger in the ring looking focused as “Galang” hit the PA to bring out the World Television champion.  Orange pyro exploded as Ashok Banjerjee made his way down the aisle slapping hands and getting a good pop from the Quality Controllers.  Duck made the introductions and after the referee put the belt up in the air we kicked off the first title match of the evening…

2. Ashok Banjerjee [c] v. Jacques Krieger (w/S. Mark Starr) for the GRPL+ World Television championship 

The bell rang and Jacques bullrushed Ashok into a corner and started laying in some back elbows, Starr cheering on his client’s bullyball from the floor as Krieger started to fog the head of the champion with his power.  Krieger then launched Ashok across the ring with a biel that almost had an in flight movie on it.  The opening five minutes played out largely like that, as Krieger leveraged his power to make Ashok's second title defense hell.  For a brief moment it looked like Ashok was making a rally, but when he up kicked Krieger after getting thrown into the ropes One Eye just laughed it off and blasted him with a lariat that nearly secured the man from Atlantic City his third World TV title reign.

Krieger kept pushing the pace and made Ashok kick out of some nearfalls.  Ashok battled back and started returning fire, laying out Krieger with a couple of flying forearms.  Krieger swung wildly and whiffed twice and it allowed Ashok the window to land a springboard forearm - but Jacques not only sidestepped it, he knocked Ashok loopy with a heart punch.  Krieger let out a manly laugh and signaled for the end as Starr clapped it up for his client, who set up for the Jacqueshammer only for Banjerjee to reverse out into a sort of standing tornado DDT that dropped Krieger to the canvas hard.  Both men were laid out for a few seconds, Starr yelling at Krieger to shake it off.

But he couldn't, because Ashok didn't let him.  Banjerjee kicked away a punch attempt and took Jacques down in a crossface.  Krieger scrambled around and started trying to power out but Banjerjee necked him into the middle rope with a head scissor takeover before catching him in the upper back with a dropkick.  Ashok started chipping away at Krieger with his offense, building up speed and rallying the good people of Parts Unknown behind him with five minutes left to go in the time limit.

Jacques shoved off a tornado DDT attempt but Ashok landed on his feet and hit a step up enzuigiri to rattle the challenger before getting a running start and nailing him with a front flip DDT that spiked Krieger again before he slowly melted into the canvas.  Jacques went from being a passenger in the fight to stuck in the backseat to locked up in the trunk as Ashok started rolling with more Boundless offense; the fight ended when Banjerjee up kicked One Eye to stop his Ace in the Hole shotei and landed a loud kick to his knee before hitting a Decolonizer Driver [brainbuster into his knee].  Ashok had to hook both legs, but a three count letter he’d put away a tough former champion to continue his reign.

Ashok Banjerjee d. Jacques Krieger at 12:51 to retain the GRPL+ World TV title 2️⃣

Ashok got his hand raised and his belt back as a forlorn looking Starr helped Krieger to the back.  The announce put over Ashok bouncing back from getting sent to the hospital by Omar Littlefield at Mayday Payday to winning the Golden Gauntlet to get the belt and successfully defending the belt in consecutive weeks against wildly different opponents as he continues to up his 10 Count.  A desert landscape suddenly popping up took us into a vignette.

It’s not a surprise if you walk into a dive bar and Iron Maiden is playing on an old school jukebox.  As Maiden played in the background, a pan across this dive bar showed several surprises in the form of multiple burly looking cowboy types who had clearly gotten the wrong end of a shitkicking - bloodied men laid out over a pool table, one poor bastard shoved headfirst into a pocket, one wearing a barstool for a hat, a pair of similar looking guys knocked on their asses below a broken mirror behind the bar, someone on his side with a bottle of Jack shoved in his mouth and not in the fun “just got paid” way, and one poor bastard who was trying to crawl out of the bar.

He would leave the bar when a pair of muscular hands picked him up by his scuffed jeans and threw him through the window.  Two men left the bar, one a big man with a mohawk and the other one picking a hockey mask off the end of a broken pool cue before putting it on.  As they walked off leaving behind the destruction in the bar, the screen slowly turned black - and a couple of beats after it did, a chyron IDed the background Maiden music: 

t w o

m i n u t e s

2

m i d n i g h t

3. Mr. Teknik v. Super Avión 

Avión interrupted Mr. Teknik’s entrance by blindsiding him with a tope.  Not content there, he managed to run the masked German into the dividing barrier a couple of times before the referee managed to get the former Unified World Tag champ off of his opponent and into the ring.  As Avión cackled and took off his cape the referee checked on Teknik on the floor.  Teknik waved off the referee's concern and took advantage of Avión taking off his chain with Crusazdo del Oro's mask on it to get in the ring and drop the luchadore from behind before laying in some stomps.  Now the referee had to scramble into the ring and get Teknik off of Avión.  

Once the bell rang, Teknik kept going after Avión and had things going his way right up until Avión hit a basement dropkick to his left knee that sent Mr. Teknik corkscrewing through the air.  Teknik had barely gotten to his knees before Avión drilled him with a pair of basement superkicks and a Meteora to floor Teknik.  From there a fired up and pissed off Avión showed off why he was Super, dominating with his lucha libre and not letting Teknik get any more daylight.  After a run-up-the-ropes tornado DDT, Avión slammed the door shut on the masked German with his signature avalanche Spanish Fly, Air Superiority.

Super Avión d. Mr. Teknik at 6:48

Once he got his hand raised, Avión asked for the mic from Duck Eko and got it.  He waved down the crowd's booing and brought the mic up to his lips…only to turn around and pop poor Teknik in the head with it.  Avión stomped away on Teknik and shoved the ref down when he tried to stop him, then went after Teknik’s mask.  But before he could unmask another QCW star, the last one he did that to suddenly hit the ring and sent him scurrying out to the floor.  Avión grabbed his chain and headed out through the crowd as the man whose mask was at the end of that chain - Crusazdo del Oro - was standing on the turnbuckles yelling at Avión to come back to the ring and fight him like a man instead of running like a coward.  But Avión had no interest in that, leaving the unmasked Oro (is that still even his name?) to help the referee up so that they could check on Mr. Teknik.  The announce put over that the Avión/Oro rivalry showed no signs of slowing down before teeing up another block of ads.

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4. The International Players and the Wonderful Ward Brothers v. Team Batroc and A World of Pain

This eight man tag twinned together two matches that happened on last week’s show (the Wards beating AWOP and Pyo-uh, Team Batroc getting the best of the Players) as speculation runs wild on the fate of the Unified World Tag Team championships.  During the feeling out period the announce said they hoped to get an official announcement on what would happen to them next before Ruckus went off the air.

Story of the match was the difference in teamwork between the competing sides; the Players and the Wards got along well together, all four men tagging and showing camaraderie but the heels never got along as the Europeans couldn't get along with the sadists, who were both sporting some bruises from Omar Littlefield laying them both out last week.

The breaking point came when Dom DeSade tagged himself into the fray when Serge Batroc was trying to tag in Pyotr Caviar, and this pissed off the former Unified tag champions so much that after Serge (presumably) cursed out Dom in French for a minute they walked out on the match.  This turned into a handicap match, which turned into Finisher Bingo.  Dom ate a missile dropkick/moonsault fallaway slam combo from Benjamin Valentino and Lucius Patton, who tagged in “the Wonderful” Rich Ward, who tagged in his brother.  Jason the Great dropped Dom with the business end of the Cutting Express to put a bow on things.

The International Players and the Wonderful Ward Brothers d. Team Batroc and A World of Pain at 8:47

All four men took to a turnbuckle and celebrated, all making Very Familiar Gestures around their waist.  Both teams doing that got the other team’s attention, and when they climbed down both sets of former tag champs had some (mostly) playful words with the men they’d just teamed with - though Carl pointed out they could be headed for a showdown with their old belts hanging in the balance.

From there we went TOTHEBACK~!, where Julius Duquesne III was standing by waiting to interview his guests: International Lotus.  The crowd booed as Scott Warren-Tisch came on the set with his wife Karyn Tisch-Warren and Sohla Patel trailing a couple of steps behind him in an uncharacteristic formation.  After having Scott brush off his initial questions with a series of “no comment”s, an exasperated JD3 asked if he did have a comment, to which Scott replied that he had just the one.

Last week's defeats happened because they were targeted by the Commissioner’s office and couldn't be there for each other.  Two title matches, no gold.  So instead of Julius asking the questions, Karyn had one for him.  The notorious KTW shoved her husband towards the wall and hissed out the following: “Do you think that makes us less dangerous or more dangerous?”

JD3 looked like he was coming up with an answer, but Lotus walked out of the frame instead of sticking around to hear it.  

5. Goody Gardner (w/Witchfinder General) v. Ashley “THEE Influencer” Szabo (w/”Tiki God” Al Buffett)

This has been bubbling up for a while, ever since Goody emerged during the Duquesne Classic final to help turn the tide and help Witchfinder General win the Cup and got the National Championship as a result; Witchfinder made his first successful defense of that belt a couple of weeks ago at Steel City Showdown over Al.

The moment the bell rang, Goody charged Ashley but THEE Influencer dodged her and Gardner ate a face full of middle turnbuckle.  Szabo followed up with a hip attack and Gardner rolled out to the floor after eating it. Goody staggered to her feet just in time to see Ashley flying off the apron with a Thesz press to drop her again, and Ashley threw some right hands for good measure.  Witchfinder came around the corner and had some words for Ashley but Al quickly had his partner’s back.  The men exchanged words around the match as Ruckus hit its final commercial break of the evening.

✨ ✨ ✨

We came back from the break with Ashley having Goody up in a delayed suplex, even doing some squats before sending the acolyte to the canvas.  As she had before the break, Ashley dominated Goody and showed off why she has been a two time tag champ, snuffing another attempt at a corner charge by getting her boots up to send GG staggering away from her.  Ashley surprisingly followed this up with a goozle and a chokeslam that planted Goody for a long two count.  Sending the end was near, a desperate Witchfinder shoved Duck Eko out of his chair and slid it into the ring; Ashley stepped on it before it could get to Goody, then picked it up and cracked it over Gardner’s back.  

That's a no-no, at least in this case.

Goody Gardner d. Ashley Szabo at 9:57 by disqualification 

Witchfinder applauded when Duck announced the decision and had some words for Ashley, but there was one little detail he overlooked — Ashley didn’t really give a frock, and with the crowd cheering her on she laid in a few more chair shots across Goody’s back until the seat of the chair bent.  Witchfinder’s face went from joyous to stoic in a hurry as THEE Influencer used the edge of the chair to nudge Goody out of the ring until she landed in a heap at the feet of the General.  Szabo threw aside the chair and pointed to the National Championship on his shoulder while WG tried to no sell it, scooping up Gardner over his shoulder and grabbing the Duquesne Cup on his way to the back.  As Muse’s “New Born” hit the PA, Steve and Carl bounced some back and forth off each other as to whether or not Ashley would get her revenge for the Duquesne by taking the National Championship off of Witchfinder.

Before the main event, the announce walked us through some of the big matches coming up next week on QCW programming - Unleashed will have Luz Cruz and Explosive Emily Bennett facing off against Justine Danek and Bella Jolie of Hysteria, and Omar Littlefield has issued a non-title open challenge openly daring anybody on the roster to try and stop him.

Next week's Ruckus will feature Justice Davis vs. “Upper Class’ Broderick Palmer II, an announcement about the future of the Unified World Tag Team championships, and Ashok Banjerjee defending the World TV title.  

The Crush championship will also get defended on next week's show - but who ends up doing the defending will get decided by tonight's main event with two former friends facing off with silver and blue on the line…

6. Shelley LaVey [c, w/the Culture] v. Bonnie Agrippa (w/Hysteria) for the Crush championship 

As the newly named woman of Hysteria snapped their way into the ring, QCW Rewind Helpfully Reminded Us that last week their Justine Danek essentially used her title shot as bait to allow a group beating on the Culture with their numbers advantage, leader Bonnie alongside her, Nancy Crowley and Bella Jolie dubbing themselves Hysteria and setting up tonight's main event…a match dating back to Mayday Payday when they first reappeared to ruin the Crush championship match and a couple of years if you factor in the glory days of the Forbidden Book Club.  

Two members of the FBC comprise Hysteria; a third came out to Prince and a good pop from the crowd - Ambassadors Trios champion and Crush champion Shelley LaVey with the rest of the Culture (her running buddies Beauty and the Beast Mode, “These Hands” Roy Fade and “Dashing” Pierce Moore).  LaVey entered the ring staring down Agrippa the whole time, a staredown that continued through Duck’s introductions and past the bell ringing for the first few seconds of the match.

Then they ran to each other like attracted magnets and started swinging for the fence, the crowd erupting over the hockey fight that was going on in the middle of the ring.  “It looks like Pig Pen but with fists!” enthused Carl as the brawl continued, one that Shelley brought to a halt with a sharp knee into Agrippa’s ribs, followed by some sharp elbows to the back of the head.  LaVey threw some sharp body blows and then a roundhouse kick sent Bonnie falling back towards a corner where the champ - the double champ - laid in the stomps as the crowd cheered.  The ref had to back Shelley up, but LaVey spun around and charged Bonnie only for the leader of Hysteria to get her boots up.  Bonnie climbed up the turnbuckles to add height to her offense but LaVey pulled her legs out from under her to send the back of her ex partner’s head into the top turnbuckle before she took an awkward fall back into the ring.  LaVey walked over to the side of the ring where the rest of Hysteria was and called them a “bunch of fake-ass wannabes” before pivoting to hit a running knee on a slumped down Agrippa. 

Shelley continued working over Agrippa while Beauty and the Beast Mode cheered her on and kept an eye on Hysteria on the other side of the ring.  LaVey looked like she was going for the endgame and leapt up to hit Bonnie with a Fresh To Death cutter but Agrippa shoved off the attempt; not done there, she dodged a forearm smash attempt of Shelley’s then a back elbow but LaVey dodged a couple of clotheslines Bonnie tried before both women went for flying crossbodies at the same time and crashed horribly into each other before falling limply to the mat.  We got replays of the collision as Carl noted this was essentially a lumberperson match with all the people on the outside of the ring.  

Both women got to their feet and Shelley immediately tried to floor Bonnie with a Pele kick, but Bonnie ducked and ran Shelley into a corner before rolling out of it and delivering on a Chaos Theory that had Nancy Crowley letting out a scream of delight from the floor.  Bonnie made sure to dish out every stomp LaVey had dished out, and then followed up with a series of flash elbows before getting off a pin attempt.  Shelley kicked out around 2.5 but the momentum of the match had shifted in favor of Agrippa.  Hysteria got more amped on the floor as Nancy threw more waves of offense at LaVey.  Agrippa countered an attempted whip by short arm reversing it into an Eat Defeat that almost had the double champion six feet under.  Agrippa hit a suplex and rotated her hips looking to chain together a couple of friends to go with it, but Shelley hooked her in an inside cradle that got her 2 ¾.  

Bonnie drilled Shelley with a hard forearm as Duck announced there was five minutes left in the time limit.  Agrippa turned up her intensity, throwing hard knees into Shelley's bread basket before hitting a suplex and rolling over and up to hit a second suplex, but when she went for a third LaVey stopped the trifecta by kneeing her in the head.  LaVey went for Fresh To Death but Bonnie shoved her off into a corner sternum first.  Agrippa charged but Shelley absolutely cracked her in the mouth with a big back elbow and then a buzzsaw kick that caught Hysteria’s leader in the ribs, doubling her over.  LaVey got out to the apron, watching Bonnie carefully before she slingshot into the ring with the Fresh To Death as the crowd popped and Carl lost his mind a little bit on commentary.  Shelley pulled Bonnie into the drop zone and went up top, hitting her Fallen Angel splash…

…right into Bonnie's knees, and right into an inside cradle, and as it turned out right out of her title reign.

Just like that.

Bonnie Agrippa d. Shelley LaVey at 12:09 to win the Crush championship 

We got replays of the match's big moments, but the money was watching the end, which showed Bonnie didn't cheat to win, and couldn't keep Shelley pinned for 4 seconds - but she did keep her down for something like 3.3 seconds, and that was enough for her first singles championship.  Shelley was asking the ref if she'd really lost as Bella Jolie came into the ring with the Crush championship and handed it to Bonnie, who raised it over her head and let out a whoop.  The rest of Hysteria hit the ring and celebrated as gold and white pyro exploded on the stage.  While the pyro exploded on the stage, the lights went out; when the pyro was done the lights came back on Hysteria was gone just like the Crush championship.  Shelley was clearly a little shellshocked as she sat up in the same spot she'd gotten pinned in.  Pierce and Roy were standing over her and were offering their encouragement but as the credits box popped up to end Ruckus it was LaVey staring off into nowhere that brought Ruckus to a close.

QCW Unleashed [s1e42 • Quality Arena]

 

• Beauty and the Beast Mode (w/Shelley LaVey) d. Ian Cook & Gerry Greene 

• Justine Danek d. Christine Kent

• “Explosive” Emily Bennett & Fiona Fogg d. “Sinister” Sarah Fowler & Veronica Vespa 

• Jacques Krieger d. Hawk Carter

GRPL+ Presents QCW Ruckus [s3e26 • June 14, 2024]

Quality Arena | Parts Unknown, FL 

Aired live on GRPL+ | June 14th, 2024

A video package recapping last week's Steel City Showdown opened up the show, highlighting Witchfinder General’s first successful defense of the National Championship, Ashok Banjerjee winning the Golden Gauntlet to earn the G+ World TV title, and Omar Littlefield not only decimating “Dark Mirror Beckett Carpenter to retain the Unified World championship but pushing their stretcher off the stage afterwards while they were strapped down in it (the production team cut to black while the stretcher was in mid air and followed it up with reaction shots from the horrified crowd).

From there we went inside Quality Arena, where Steve Vandeblanche and Carl Christensen hyped up tonight as the beginning of the march to Cruel Summer next month and hyped up a Banjerjee/Tisch-Warren rematch for the GRPL+ World Television championship, but action tonight would start from the simmering tag division…

1. the Wonderful Ward Brothers v. A World of Pain

One of these teams used to be Unified World Tag Team champions and the other is AWOP.  The Canadians rolled in this showcase, “Napalm” Bob Osterberg taking this L after getting an unfun ride on the Cutting Express. 

the Wonderful Ward Brothers d. A World of Pain at 8:26

After picking up the win, Jason the Great got the mic from Duck Eko and started talking about how it had been nearly a year since he and his brother had held the Unified Tag championships.  As Jason spoke about them wanting an opportunity to regain them, he wasn't paying enough attention to the screams from the crowd and by the time he did it was too late; his brother Rich was being thrown at him.

By Omar Littlefield.

The Champ announced his arrival with even more violence, drilling Rich with a high impact Pounce before snatching Jason up and hitting him with his signature Face Eraser [crucifix powerbomb DDT].   A World of Pain stood behind Omar and clapped him on the back, laughing at the fallen Ward brothers before Littlefield got the last laugh by turning around and double lariating them both down with extreme prejudice.  Napalm Bob ate a Face Eraser before Omar grabbed his partner Dom DeSade and Face Erasered him into Osterberg.  With four men laid out around him, Omar picked up the mic and let out a low, sadistic laugh.  

Littlefield said no chump in the building could touch The Champ - not the chumps in the back, these chumps at his feet, not the clowns in the crowd, and damn sure not their precious Mirror who he finally smashed once and for all last week.  The crowd booed loudly, but once Omar barked at them to shut up most of them did.  Littlefield said he’d been in QCW for the better part of a year and hadn't even faced a real challenge yet and he never would. Nobody back there had the balls to even think about stepping to him, and…

…and that's when he got interrupted by “Mota” from the Offspring.  The Quality Controllers left their seats and cheered as the Final Woman and the former Unified World champion Autumn Powers came out for her match coming up next, looking plenty skeptical about Omar's claims.  Littlefield stepped over the top rope and started heading towards Autumn, who started speed walking down the ramp towards him.   Before they could get within swinging distance of each other, however, Quality Force security came out and stepped between them in a modified human wall.  They led the smacktalking Omar to the back while Autumn scowled at his retreating figure.

Once in the ring, Autumn stood on the buckles and looked out at the roaring crowd for a few beats before going to the other side of the ring and getting the same raucous response.  

The tenor in the Arena shifted dramatically when Iron Maiden hit the PA, and the boos only grew in scale when Super Avión showed up with a shit eating grin and Crusazdo del Oro’s mask on a chain around his neck.  El Super had gotten his ass kicked by Oro in a mask vs. mask match last week yet picked the right moment to cheat his way to victory and save his own mask, Carl wondering on commentary if we were going to have to start calling him Dos Maskos.  Avión got rid of his cape and put the chain around the ringpost before waving Autumn on.

2. Autumn Powers v. Super Aviòn

It didn't take long for Avión to regret that decision; a clearly angry Powers cleared El Super from the ring in the opening 90 seconds and hit him with a baseball slide when he tried to recover.  The crowd roared as Autumn again climbed on the turnbuckles and looked out at the crowd chanting her name.  Powers waited on Avión to get back in the ring and kept controlling him, sending him flying into a corner.   Powers went for a cannonball but Avión picked her out of midair with a basement dropkick that sent her flying almost all the way back to her place of origin.

We got replays of Avión's counter shown in the corner while in real time Avión was working over Autumn, just ruthlessly stomping away at her while the Quality Controllers jeered.  Avión smack talked the fans before continuing his blend of lucha libre and ruthlessness.  Autumn managed to put together a brief rally that Avión cut off by ducking her springboard crossbody attempt and following up with a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker that got him 2.  As he continued to work Autumn over, announce tied Avión's cutthroat attitude to his turning on Crusazdo del Oro and wanting to get championship gold back in his life - obviously a win over Autumn puts him in line for a shot at any belt he wants.  Avión stayed focused and kept rolling, catching Powers coming off the ropes and planted her with a buckle bomb that left Autumn down in a heap in a corner.  El Super’s blue and black attack continued when he blasted Autumn with a crisp Meteora.

Avión called for the end and set Autumn up on the top rope for his Air Superiority, but Autumn threw a couple shots back at him.  Avión rained down some clubbing forearms to the back.  Air Superiority was on the way but Autumn shoved Avión off and he went flying crotch first into the top rope as a result.  Avión tried to balance himself with the rope to avoid falling into the ring but that just left him open for a stuff legged missile dropkick that sent him bouncing off the apron and down to the floor.  Avión was out of sorts and used the apron to pull himself up, but he wasn't up long before a running Penalty Kick from Autumn dimmed his lights.

That gave Autumn an upper hand she wouldn't relinquish, and the Quality Controllers rooted her on as she slammed the door on Avión by battering him with some hammer and anvil elbows before finishing him off with the move that had secured her the Triple Crown - the Hazy Shade of Autumn.

Autumn Powers d. Super Avión at 10:37

After her win Autumn got the mic from Duck Eko and said she’d been quiet for a while but after what Omar did last week she was done holding her tongue.  Omar was literally ruining the belt she worked her entire career to hold, and on top of that thought it would be fun to ruin Mirror.  Autumn knew she had a long and not always fun history with Mirror; fallen cages, the Best of 5 series last year, and everything that’d happened between them earlier this year but after all of that and Mayday Payday Mirror had damn sure earned her respect.  Respect from one Triple Crown winner to another.  Respect that the new Big Bad Mr. Littlefield hadn't gotten from her, because the last time there was a Big Bad running through QCW, Autumn was the one who beat him for the Unified World title - hell, she didn't just beat him, she ran him out of the damn company.  And for over half a year she ran this place as The Champ.  So here was a challenge to the new kid holding her belt - try that crap on her so she could show him why QCW’s modern era was built on her shoulders, why she was the gold standard when it came to this place,.  Because Autumn Powers was nobody's victim – Autumn Powers made victims.  

She tossed the mic aside and defiantly stared down the hard camera for a few beats before leaving the ring to the cheers of the crowd, the announce speculating that we might see Littlefield/Powers for the first time some time soon if Autumn and the fans had their way.

Before the break we saw Sohla Patel say reluctant goodbyes to the rest of International Lotus and Lolo Vuitton add her favorite accessory to her fit: her belt.  The Women's World championship rematch is up next on the other side of some commercials.

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3. Lolo Vuitton [c] v. Sohla Patel for the Women's World championship

In case you were wondering if this year+ long rivalry had simmered down any, both Patel and Vuitton went after each other during Duck’s intros and the referee had to step in on both occasions.  Once the bell rang a hockey fight broke out, and after a few punches Lolo started hammering Sohla down to the canvas much to the joy of the crowd.   That joy quickly faded when Sohla undercut Lolo with a double leg takedown and started throwing her own shots - it was that kind of throwdown.  Both women traded bombs early before Lolo slipped a couple of Patel's swings and drilled her in the teeth with a dropkick you could hang in the Louvre, as the kids say.  Patel fell between the middle and bottom rope to the floor but Vuitton wasn't done, flying off the apron with an axe kick that nearly put Patel's lights out and got some “Holy shit!” chants fired up amongst the faithful.

Sohla avoided losing by countout when she saved herself at 8, but that didn't stop Lolo from continuing to beat on her rival.  It only took Lolo a couple more minutes to get things where she wanted them and with Patel clearly on the back foot, the champ went for the Bloody Shoe to close things out as per usual.

But as Lolo rounded the corner, Sohla drilled her in the teeth with a superkick that sent Vuitton down to the canvas in sections.  Patel took a few beats to recover but managed to see Lolo trying to get up and hit her with a somersault swinging neckbreaker.  The former champion took a couple of small breaks to check on her jaw but managed to claw her way back into the fight, even when it went to the floor.  Patel bounced Lolo's face off the facade of the announce table a few times before tossing her into the ring.  A confident Sohla began making her way up the stairs but paused briefly to heckle some fans in the front row.  Those fans were as shocked as the rest of the Arena when Lolo flew through the middle and top rope to tackle Sohla, both women landing hard on the floor at ringside.

Both women were slow to recover, but it was Vuitton who tossed Sohla in the ring at the count of 9 and dominated what was left of the match; to add insult to injury, Lolo even hit Sohla with Patel's own finisher the Ninth Incarnation [Falcon Arrow] before dropping her just like she did to win the title at Mayday Payday with a Bloody Shoe.

Game, set, match Vuitton.

Lolo Vuitton d. Sohla Patel at 12:28 to retain the Women's World championship 

After replays we saw a happy Lolo and her blood stained smile head up the ramp backwards so she could taunt Sohla a little bit more on her way out.  

Once he congratulating Lolo on retaining her championship, Steve’s voice got somber as he said he had an injury update on the former Unified World champion “Dark Mirror” Beckett Carpenter and the news wasn't good. 

On top of a grade 3 concussion, they suffered a fractured sternum and cervical bruising, and that's just what is officially known for sure.  Vandeblanche alluded to the online rumors that this would force Carpenter into early retirement and he said that no one knew what would be next for QCW’s biggest provocateur but he hoped personally that the worst rumors turn out to be mere rumors and that Dark Mirror would be back between the ropes soon.  Carl seconded Steve's well wishes before throwing things to Duck in the ring, who made the introductions for Ruckus’ next match.

4.  Team Batroc v. The International Players 

Showdown between two teams that know what it's like to be Unified World Tag Team champions and have been appealing to Commissioner Holmes like the Wonderful Ward Brothers did earlier in the show to get a chance at the currently vacated titles.  After the early feeling out process, it was the Players who got the initial advantage when Benjamin Valentino landed on his feet off an attempted German suplex and dropkicked Serge in the back to send him into the Players’ corner.  This teed up the next couple of minutes as the Players gave Serge a taste of Team Batroc’s usual medicine - quick tags, double team maneuvers, and cutting the ring in half on their targeted opposition.

The Players ramped up the offense and looked to be going for maybe a Doomsday Device when Serge slipped behind Valentino and shoved him towards the corner to make Lucius Patton crotch himself on the top turnbuckle.  That was all the opening Serge needed to roll towards his corner and tag in Pyotr Caviar, who proceeded to do what he does best: save Serge’s bacon and fuck shit up.  A fresh Caviar got in the ring and spent the next few minutes working over Valentino; a save attempt from Patton saw Sweet Lu on the receiving end of a pop up European uppercut and to add injury to injury Batroc followed up with a discus version of his signature Russian sickle that turned Patton into a southern facing arrow before he went limp on the canvas.  Caviar hit poor Valentino with a few more power moves before a recovered Serge demanded a tag - and Pyotr always follows his mentor’s orders. Team Batroc showed off why they spent most of last year as the Unified Tag champs.  The former Consortium compatriots finished Valentino off with a vicious combination of a springboard European uppercut from Caviar and a high angle release German suplex from Batroc; Pyotr wiped out Patton when he tried to make a save.

Team Batroc d. The International Players at 12:48

After replays, we saw both Europeans making Very Familiar Gestures around their waists.  The announce speculated that given what we’d heard from other teams in the division, Commissioner Holmes was going to have to come up with a big time solution to keep them all happy.

Before we got to break we saw a sizzle reel of a luchadore known as El Vengador de Salvaje Jr.   The mostly clad in black Vengador, known for being seen as the conscience of lucha libre and a recent nearly year long reign as the Lucha Salvage Campeon de Campeones, is on his way across the border with his sights set on QCW.  The last thing before the break was a voiceover while he was repeatedly getting his hand raised on multiple occasions:

Yo soy El Vengador de Gente JUNIOR, y mi palabra…es la ley.

💫  💫  💫

5. Shelley LaVey [c, w/the Culture] v. Justine Danek (w/Bonnie Agrippa, Nancy Crowley and Bella Jolie) for the Crush championship 

After the lights went out and came back on, Justine Danek was standing in the ring flanked by the rest of her squad.  A picture in picture version of QCW Rewind showed the end of the contract match at Steel City Showdown last week where Bonnie Agrippa got a flash pin on Luz Cruz to get them back into QCW and continue targeting the Crush champion, Shelley LaVey.  

Shelley and her boys in the Culture came out to a good pop, LaVey clearly amped up and ready to fight.  Once the bell rang it looked like Justine wanted no part of Shelley, frequently ducking between the ropes and even leaving the ring a couple of times.  The second time a frustrated Cindy left the higher ground and chased Justine around the ring.  LaVey almost caught Danek but around a third corner Danek suddenly turned towards Shelley, who doves at her - but when Justine sidestepped her, LaVey went flying into the steps.  

Justine let out a cackle before hustling Shelley in the ring and going after LaVey.  Danek controlled the next couple of minutes but things began to unravel for her when Shelley dodged a corner charge and she went flying shoulder first into the ringpost.  Already out on the apron, LaVey slingshot her way back in the ring and caught Danek with a cutter on her way down.  The Goddess of Love had her way with Justine for the next couple of minutes, even dropping Danek with a pulling piledriver before heading up to the top rope and the high rent district.

Before she could seal the deal with her Fallen Angel splash, Bonnie Agrippa was shoving her off the top rope to cause a DQ.

Shelley LaVey d. Justine Danek by disqualification at 5:35 to retain the Crush championship 9️⃣

Nancy Crowley and Bella Jolie slid in the ring for a four on one attack on the Crush champion. The mood in Quality Arena perked up as Beauty and the Beast Mode also hit the ring and started throwing the black hats off of Shelley.  Roy Fade and Pierce Moore had barely gotten Shelley on her feet before the whole Culture got swarmed and ended up on the wrong end of a four on three beatdown.  Once the gents were down they refocused on LaVey, who ate a rolling German from Crowley and then a brainbuster from Agrippa while Bella got the mic from Duck.

She handed it over to Bonnie, who introduced her group one by one as the crowd booed.  Agrippa said that for a while she thought she was going mad; from a QCW champion to an ex employee in a matter of months while her partner, excuse her, ex partner not only survived cutting season but latched onto a couple inferior boys and was now a double champion?!! She thought she was going mad until she had a sit with her actual friend Nancy, who had been talking about this with Justine and Bella.  They made a pact to take what was rightfully theirs: the women's division she once held in her hand.   And step one of that would begin next week - now that Justine had set the table, Bonnie would eat Shelley's backstabbing ass up and take her Crush championship.  It was what she deserved and what they were owed.  For what they were weren't witches or bitches, no no.  

Well, no, actually, after a second thought - they were four witches and bitches.  Fair play to the mortals there. But they were four women who were going to dish out the same disrespect they’d been forced to endure in exile.  Individually, you knew their names; together, they were HYSTERIA, and they could put your lights out just…like…this.

Agrippa snapped her fingers and the lights went out in the Arena.  A couple beats later when they came back on the women of Hysteria were nowhere to be seen and the Culture were still on the canvas starting to recover.  The announce decried the actions of the newly named Hysteria before getting in some hype for the main event that's coming up next.

💫  💫  💫

Before the main event, Steve and Carl had the scoop (Republic) on the big matches coming up next week - as you heard earlier, Omar Littlefield has a non-title open challenge for Unleashed next Wednesday.

Next week's Ruckus has Justice Davis vs. “Upper Class” Broderick Palmer II and two title defenses - a big one with the Crush championship on the line as Shelley LaVey tries to complete her 10 count and unlock the cash in capabilities of her belt, but she'll have to battle former friend and the leader of Hysteria, Bonnie Agrippa.   And whoever walks out of the main event with the G+ World TV title will have defending to do…but can Karyn make Ashok a one week wonder or will Banjerjee start off his reign with back to back wins against the former multiple time Crush and Women's World champion?

6. Ashok Banjerjee [c] v. Karyn Tisch-Warren for the GRPL+ World Television championship 

Match | A dominant win

The insipid “Roar” brought out Karyn Tisch-Warren to big heat from the Quality Controllers, but the notorious KTW looked even more sour than usual on her way to the ring.  Steve put over that after her loss last week she’d essentially post bombed Quality Social complaining about losing last week until Ashok said he’d give her a rematch just to shut her up.  

Speaking of the newly minted World TV champ, “Galang” brought him out to a good pop, some new orange pyro exploded on the ramp as he raised the title up before heading to the ring.  Karyn chirped at Ashok before the match, even during the introductions; the only response that the Boundless One had in response was to hold up the title in her face and shake his head.

The bell rang and Karyn took a different tack than her usual m.o., throwing some kicks at Ashok to keep him away from her, which worked in the opening couple of minutes of the fight but hit a wall when Ashok dodged a couple of grappling attempts and bowled Karyn over with a shoulder block that sent her sprawling to the canvas and rolling out to the floor.  Karyn got to her feet quickly but she still wasn't as quick as Ashok, who flew to the outside and wiped her out with a tope con hilo that popped the Parts Unknown crowd.  

Ashok got Karyn back in the ring and got a short two count, then kept the pressure on while the announce noted that Karyn's partner Sohla had seemed out of sorts without the rest of International Lotus backing her up in her title loss earlier in the show and wondered if Tisch-Warren would end up in a similar situation here.  Ashok continued plugging away until Karyn countered one of his charges with a Stun Gun and followed up with a neckbreaker to floor him.  

Karyn mounted a brief offensive attack and had Ashok on his heels a bit when she used all her strength to whip him into the ropes.  Unfortunately for her she ducked too soon; even worse Ashok came off the ropes and landed a DDT variant on the Canadian Destroyer that drove Karyn head first into the canvas like a railroad spike meeting John Henry's hammer.  While it wasn't a destroyer in the common wrestling use of the term, what it did do was destroy any shot Karyn could have reasonably had of wrestling the World TV title out of Ashok's clutches.  Banjerjee turned this from a title contest into a showcase and although Karyn managed a couple of kick outs late in the fight, Ashok stayed the course.  Banjerjee closed out the notorious KTW with a rewind rana to set up a Decolonizer Driver (hit on a Kare/yn to boot, no less) and the Quality Controllers counted along with the referee's three count after that.

Ashok Banjerjee d. Karyn Tisch-Warren at 10:57 to retain the GRPL+ World Television champion 1️⃣

After replays, we saw Karyn on her knees at the end of the ramp, seething and glaring into the ring whhe show went off the air with Ashok celebrating his first successful title defense as he tries to make his 10 Count and get into cash in territory.  We’ll see you back here next week, same Ruckus time, same G+ channel.