Quality Arena | Parts Unknown, FL
Aired live on GRPL+ | July 19th, 2024
A Cruel Summer highlight package opened the show instead of the usual. Stills of the women of Hysteria and the debuting w @ s t 3 l a n d e r s winning their preshow matches gave way to brief video clips of the main card’s title matches:
🌴☀️ It looked like Beauty & the Beast Mode were going to be the winners of Tag Team Turmoil by beating Team Batroc but S. Mark Starr revealed he’d not only gotten Evan O’Neill reinstated but added him to the All Starr Stable; he and partner “Upper Class” Broderick Palmer II aka A Cut Above used that surprise to win the vacant Unified World Tag Team championships☀️🌴
🌴☀️ Witchfinder General not only beating Ashley “THEE Influencer” Szabo to retain the QCW National Championship but getting another acolyte in the former of a clean shaven Drake Tremble ☀️🌴
🌴☀️ Bonnie Agrippa’s open challenge for the Crush championship getting answered by her ex partner, the returning former Crush & Women’s World champion “Night Sky” Diana Spare; Hysteria ran in to save the title ☀️🌴
🌴☀️ Ashok Banjerjee & Nazir el-Fadal damn near stealing the show in their GRPL+ World TV title match, Banjerjee responding to weeks of el-Fadal’s smack talk and sneak attacks by beating him clean in the middle even if it took almost half an hour to do it ☀️🌴
🌴☀️ Longtime rivals Lolo Vuitton and Karyn Tisch-Warren finally throwing down over the Women’s World championship, Lolo getting the ultimate revenge on her turncoat ex partner by hitting not 1, not 2, but 3 Bloody Shoes to retain the belt – but Hysteria showed up out of nowhere to pick the bones and laid out Diana Spare when she came out for a potential save; Agrippa cackled as she held both the Crush championship and the Women’s World title ☀️🌴
🌴☀️ A reinstated Mason “Razorblade” Savage watched on from the front row aas Omar Littlefield defended the Unified World championship against Autumn Powers, with Powers looking like she was going to pull off the upset and regain the Fifteen Pounds of Gold until Omar powerbombed her repeatedly and TKO’d her; Littlefield getting in ex champion Razorblade’s face started a lengthy pull apart brawl that took referees, security and most of the roster to break up while the crowd chanted “Let them fight!” ☀️🌴
Steve Vandeblanche and Carl Christensen on commentary, the Voice of QCW Duck Eko handled the ring announcing - Steve and Carl hyped up finding out what’s next for Ashok Banjerjee, who’ll defend the G+ World TV title tonight as well as Luz Cruz trying to regain the Crush championship and take it off of Bonnie Agrippa, but tonight’s action begins in the tag team division…
1. Asesinos Aereos d. The International Players at 10:41 Asesinos are Super Avión and Roberto Villalobos, who came together in the Cruel Summer build as Avión cheated to win a mask vs. mask match against ex partner Crusazdo del Oro - who unmasked to reveal Ricardo Villalobos, and then was jumped by his evil almost twin brother who he obediently laid down for in a contract match to return Roberto to QCW. This is a mini rematch from Tag Team Turmoil on Sunday night and even though neither team won the Unified World Tag Team championships, the ex champion Players beat Los Asesinos to advance then and set up tonight's opening tag.
The rudos proved Friday wasn't Sunday when they wiped out Lucius Patton and Benjamin Valentino with low topes before they could even make it into the ring, then controlled the opening minutes of the match while the crowd rallied behind the Atlantans. Valentino was able to powerbomb away a flying avalanche huracanrana attempt to tag out, and Sweet Lu ran wild for a couple of minutes after getting his first big run of the match. But an Avión blind tag allowed him to sneak up on Patton while he was occupied with Villalobos and El Super dropped him with a springboard poison rana. Asesinos dominated the rest of the way and put Patton down for 3 after a tandem 450° splash. Asesinos won last week and won again here, this time against former champions which definitely was picked up on by the announce as they celebrated on their way to the back.
After that, Steve and Carl threw to a vignette that happened Earlier Today in Commissioner Holmes' office, where Enya Face walked in on him and Nazir el-Fadal in the middle of a heated conversation. Naz complained about losing to Ashok Banjerjee at Cruel Summer, specifically that it took the World TV champ almost twice the usual time limit to beat him and that there was no way Ashok could beat Mr. Grand Slam in 15 minutes. He threatened to sue if he didn't get a rematch tonight and a peeved Holmes granted his wish. Naz left laughing and promised Enya she had dibs on the first interview once he got the title back. Holmes apologized to Enya before regaining composure and putting over that AnnIVersary tickets would go on sale once the show was over; QCW’s biggest PPV of the year happens on September 8th.
Mean Season came out before the first communion break ahead of their rematch from last week…
✨ ✨ ✨
2. Hysteria (Justine and Bella w/Nancy) d. Mean Season at 8:02 The next chunk of the show belonged to Hysteria. Mean Season controlled the early part of the match but Hysteria distracted the ref, allowing Nancy Crowley to wipe out Gaia Green with a German suplex on the floor. After that, Justine and Bella halved the ring on a weakened Green and kept Winter Wonderland from getting back into the fray. The black pointy hats put Gaia twelve feet under and got their revenge for last week after a combination Buckshot lariat from Justine and Eat Defeat from Bella.
We didn't see Bonnie Agrippa out with the rest of the group because she was scheduled to face Luz Cruz for the Crush championship in the next fight, but Luz didn't show up when Bad Bunny hit the PA. We found in short order why, as a limp Cruz was tossed out on the stage by Bonnie, who had a mic and started off her promo by cackling. Bonnie said as she strolled down the ramp that since obviously Luz couldn't face her tonight that she would issue another open challenge and dared any woman in the back to try and beat her. Hilary Highnote came out and cut a brief promo, saying that Wednesday nights knew what she was about and now Bonnie would know her as the woman who ended her title reign. The rest of Hysteria began to surround Hilary on the floor but Bonnie told them to stand down…
3. Bonnie Agrippa [c, w/Hysteria] d. Hilary Highnote at 8:18 to retain the Crush championship in an open challenge 5️⃣. Pretty much a showcase match for Bonnie, though Hilary threw a queen sized scare into her when she hit a Destino out of nowhere and got 2¾ off of it. When both women got back up, Agrippa hit a Stun Gun and followed up with a pump kick to regain the advantage. The champion didn't lose it the rest of the way and shut Hilary down with consecutive suplexes and a brainbuster. Bonnie's halfway through her 10 Count to be able to cash in the Crush championship for a shot at Lolo Vuitton and the Women's World championship - and Hysteria bounced back from last week to go 2-0 here tonight.
Lights out.
Lights on.
No Hysteria. Just a few commercials.
✨ ✨ ✨
Surprising start to the back end of the show, as Steve Vandeblanche was in the ring for a rare interview. Steve made a reminder about purchasing AnnIVersary tickets after the show or on PPV if you couldn't be in the Arena live on September 8th. Steve then asked the Quality Controllers to help him welcome back his guest - one of the backbones of QCW’s modern era - Mason “Razorblade” Savage!
The PA fired up “Unscripted Violence” and out came the Triple Crown winner to the pop of the night. Once he hit the ring Savage played to the fans for a little bit before shaking hands with Steve. Steve said just like all the fans here and watching along at home, he wanted to welcome Razorblade back to QCW. Razorblade thanked everyone for the warm reception and noted that while he was recovering from some injuries it felt like QCW had been taken over by a bunch of [whatever he said got bleeped but it popped the crowd and startled Steve a little bit]. Evan O’Neill was walking around with one of his Unified Tag belts, and Omar Littlefield was literally destroying the Unified World title he’d worked so hard to bring to QCW. Razorblade had beaten champions from around the world to make it happen and now Omar was making it look like something you’d find in the back of a hoarder’s garage when he wasn’t out here sending people to the hospital or ending the careers of competitors he respected. If Omar ever dared to step to him that way, he’d bleed him real slow and show him who the real Big Bad in QCW was. Razorblade continued addressing Littlefield for a little bit until he got cut off by “Engel”, which brought out Team Batroc to boos.
They stayed on the ramp as Serge said if anyone was screwed out of the Unified World Tag titles it was he and Pyotr on Sunday night. They should’ve been last in Tag Team Turmoil - hell, they should’ve gotten the belts back after they were held up. They came down the ramp as Serge said that Razorblade didn’t have to worry about Omar, he had debts to pay and if he wanted to have a 10 minute comeback they would be happy to oblige him.
Razorblade asked Steve to get out of the ring and then told Team Batroc to get in the ring if they wanted to fight. Serge laughed, saying that there were two of them and one of him, causing Razorblade to say that welllll….really…there was Pyotr and the guy leeching off of him. That got a 90s style :”oooooh!” from the crowd and a double take from Serge before the Europeans hit the ring and started beating down Razorblade.
Savage managed a brief comeback before Pyotr dropped him with a discus Russian sickle. Pyotr and Serge were laying the boots to Razorblade when “New Day” by the Bouncing Souls hit the PA. Batroc and Caviar’s heads whipped towards the Qualitron 9004 but Justice Davis wasn’t coming down the ramp - he was jumping in the ring from the crowd with a steel chair, and he swung for the fences. Serge nudged Pyotr aside and ate the shot himself, Batroc going down in a heap before ending up face down on the floor outside of the ring. Caviar went to check on Serge while Justice did the same to Razorblade, pulling him up before charging towards the ropes and barely missing landing a shot on Pyotr.
“Unscripted Violence” hit the PA again as Justice and Razorblade held down the ring while Serge and Pyotr were on the floor pointing up at them, swearing it wasn’t over; hell, considering their histories against each other, it may never be over. Replays played as announce gave Justice his props for making the save and wondered if we were headed for another big fight between the last two teams to hold the Unified World Tag Team championships.
4. “Night Sky” Diana Spare d. Val Curry (w/Bettie Rokker) at 5:12 ICYMI, former Crush and Women's World champion Spare returned at Cruel Summer to answer ex partner Bonnie Agrippa's open challenge for the Crush title; it turns out that wasn't a one off and after going elsewhere in the state for about a year she's back in QCW. Spare got a showcase win over the bigger Curry and put her away with Nightfall, a powerbomb into a double knee backbreaker. Post match Spare spoke briefly to a corner camera, saying that in order for QCW to belong to the night, then Hysteria would be owned by her sooner or later. She added that she'd see Bonnie again real soon.
Announce talked about Spare 's return and what it might mean for the future of the women's division before segueing into a highlight package of Omar Littlefield v. Lolo Vuitton in a champion vs. champion match that headlined the first anniversary show Unleashed had a couple of days ago. Lolo put up a fight but it's been the better part of a year and no one’s pinned Littlefield; no one's come close to making him submit. Before break, Steve and Carl were in agreement that it would take something not seen all year to stop Omar's reign of terror.
✨ ✨ ✨
Before the next match, we got a vignette of Blockhead Ferguson and Cliff Foster, former football stars looking to find the same sort of glories in the squared circle that they found on the gridiron.
5. the W@st3landers d. Glory Days at 2:15 None of those glories happened here, as the Qualitron struck m 1 d n i g h t and the w@st3landers came out for their Ruckus in ring debuts to Iron Maiden before shoving them into a proverbial locker. The…well, they're not mutants, but until a better term comes along the doomed two man legion shredded the jocks and Blockhead got pinned after a version of Total Elimination with a lariat instead of a kick. “Two Minutes To Midnight” played the whole time. f a l l 0 u t and m 3 l t d 0 w n stomped off after the win without even getting their hands raised by the ref.
Duck Eko was in the ring after that serving of summer squash, but in the middle of whatever introduction he was going to make a familiar nasally voice cut him off. S. Mark Starr came out on the ramp and said while the weasels in the crowd didn't deserve it, he was proud to bring out his All Starr Stable: the most dangerous man in QCW, Jacques Krieger and the NEWWWW Unified World Tag Team champions - “Upper Class” Broderick Palmer II and the rehired Evan O'Neill - A Cut Above!
Nonpoint’s “Bullet With A Name” brought out all three men and their manager, who had a grin that was less “cat that ate the canary” and more “lion that broke free from the zoo and just got its first taste of human flesh”. As they took over the ring, O’Neill and Palmer II triumphantly thrust the World Tag Team championships in the air, and white and gold pyro exploded on the top of the rampway in front of the QT9K04. After the pyro and the music died down, O’Neill cut a promo. He said that when he got unfairly (what) canned after his actions at Mayday Payday, the only people looking out for him were Broddy and the S-Man. He threw his lot in with the Stable because their common sense and camaraderie were two things you couldn’t get in a place that allegedly focused on the quality of its wrestling and just like always, everything Evan touched turned to gold. With a heavy hitter like Krieger backing them up the jamokes in the cheap seats wouldn’t have to do anything but watch A Cut Above dominate tag team wrestling and finally bring prestige and class to the Unified Tag belts. He asked Broderick if he had anything to add and Palmer II said if the normies didn’t like it, they could go back to waiting in line at the Dollar Store for their monthly Hydrox. Broderick asked Jacques if he had anything to add (he didn’t). Starr took back over to put a button on things, saying that he lived up to his promises and if you didn’t believe it, you could ask the new tag team champions of the world. He was the shortcut to success - the former champion who knew current and future champions when he saw them - and you could live the good life with the Stable or find yourself blocked from everything good in life. Nonpoint came back on over the PA as the All Starr Stable took their leave, announce reluctantly putting over the fact Starr had promised signing up with him would get somebody gold and now he had the Unified World Tag Team champions and some muscle behind them to boot.
On tap for next week's Ruckus:
We’ll hear from The Champ, Omar Littlefield
El Vengador de Gente Jr. will make his QCW debut
The now reunited Justice Davis & Mason “Razorblade” Savage will face off against their greatest rivals, Team Batroc
Halfway through her 10 Count, Bonnie Agrippa will once again defend the Crush championship
And presumably, Ashok Banjerjee will defend the GRPL+ World TV title, assuming he still has it after the main event up next
6. Ashok Banjerjee and Nazir el-Fadal fought to a 15 minute time limit draw; Banjerjee retains the GRPL+ World Television championship The main event was a rematch from Cruel Summer, Naz successfully able to wheedle a rematch out of Commissioner Holmes earlier in the day to set this up. The self proclaimed Greatest Man Alive couldn’t completely reverse his fortunes from Sunday but he did literally push Ashok to the limit here.
Instead of the usual feeling out process Naz came out the gate with a fast start looking to catch Ashok sleeping as he rattled off four nearfall attempts in the opening 90 seconds with rollups. Banjerjee battled back after falling behind early but Naz caught a springboard attempt of his and drove him into the canvas with a particularly nasty looking Saito suplex. Naz kept Ashok grounded and even busted out something that looked like a cobra clutch version of the camel clutch; when Banjerjee started getting himself out from under that el-Fadal converted it into a Lungblower and got the first 2 ½ of the match off of his Heat Check.
Both men tried to surprise the other with rebound attacks off the ropes but it was the reigning champion who surprised Naz to get the upper hand by laying him out with a handspring enzuigiri. When both men got up Naz tried another cobra clutch but Ashok countered and threw him off. Naz charged Ashok again but Banjerjee monkey flipped him so high and far that el-Fadal did an additional rotation and landed on his face. el-Fadal rolled out of the ring to try and buy some time to collect his bearings but once he was on his feet Ashok was running down the apron at him, flying at the One Man Jihad with a huracanrana that sent Naz flying into the steps to a big pop from the crowd.
It was Ashok’s turn to show why he’d won the Golden Gauntlet and the World TV title in the process as he quickened the pace of the match to make things more in his favor. With Ashok off the mat and flying around the ring, Naz didn’t seem to have an answer to his offense for awhile; Banjerjee hit Naz with a springboard tornado DDT for 2 ½ then moments later threw Naz into the ringpost shoulder first to counter a Nazquil attempt and spiked him with an Orange Crush bomb that saw Naz kick out at 2 ¾ with a shade over five minutes left on the time limit.
Duck announced that there were five minutes left and both men emptied the tanks down the stretch. Ashok hit a second Orange Crush bomb but Naz got a hand on the ropes and scooted out to the apron when the ref broke it up. Ashok went after him but Naz snapped the top rope into his neck and Saito suplexed Ashok into the corner. A frothing Naz followed up with an Outsider’s Edge to drop Banjerjee again with a minute left on the clock but Ashok managed a kick out at 2 ¾. el-Fadal tried to win the belt with Nazquil but Ashok shoved him off into a corner. Banjerjee gathered a couple of breaths before charging into the corner but got greeted by a European uppercut. Naz hit another European uppercut from the second rope with ten seconds left on the clock, then scrambled and hit Nazquil – but the recoil off of the Lightning Spiral sent Ashok bouncing off the mat and falling to the floor between the middle and bottom rope. Naz flailed and tried to pull Ashok back in the ring but barely was able to get a hand on Ashok before the time expired, pissing everybody off.
The crowd didn't like the fact it was a draw, the announce didn't like the fact Naz was clearly ahead on points when the time expired, Naz sure as hell didn't like the fact he felt like he was another few seconds away from regaining the title and Ashok wasn't happy that Naz had come within a hair’s breadth of walking away with the belt. Ruckus went off the air with the announce debating what this meant for the future of the G+ World TV title, the Boundless champion holding the belt in one hand and the back of his head with the other as he leaned against the barricade, and Naz was getting bleeped out a couple times as he read the referee the riot act. See you next Friday night as QCW continues to bring the Ruckus - AnnIVersary tickets go on sale right now!