📺 live on FanDuel Sports Network Florida
📍 Quality Arena in Parts Unknown, FL
The show opened with a pre tape from Earlier Today with Ig de Catur - now with a bandage on his forehead - behind his desk in the Commissioner’s office flanked by Quality Force Security, National champion Malicía Fernandez, and the QCW World champion Omar Littlefield. de Catur said that despite the assault last week that had him afraid for his life, he suspected he knew what that street thug Razorblade meant when he said Ig owed him and despite his misgivings he was inclined to give it to him. Therefore, tonight, in a rematch of their instant classic at Cruel Summer that many people were calling the best QCW match of all time, Razorblade would get a rematch against that arrogant prick Nazir el-Fadal…and the winner of that match would become the new #1 contender and be summarily destroyed by the REAL World champion, Omar Littlefield. When Ig said “Enjoy the show” to close the piece afterwards, the grin on his face was far too wide to be misinterpreted as anything friendly.
The standard open rolled from there, welcoming us to another Friday night from Quality Arena. The fans were almost as loud as Steve Vandeblanche was in hyping the bombshell of a Naz/Razorblade rematch with the #1 contendership on the line, and presumably Craig Jacobs is still legally alive. We then went to the Voice of QCW center ring, and Duck Eko made the introductions for tonight's opening tag…
1. “Explosive” Emily Bennett & Shelley LaVey fought Justine Danek & Bella Jolie of Hysteria (w/Bonnie Agrippa & Nancy Crowley) to a double countout at 9:05 Things eventually broke down to the point where everybody wouldn't stop fighting and got counted out, but before that we had an entertaining tag match in the latest installment of Hysteria vs. the rest of the women's division. Despite nothing really uniting them besides a mutual hatred of Hysteria, Emily and Shelley showed good cohesiveness in the early going of the bout and even cleared the ring after landing a couple of double dropkicks. But a blind tag allowed Danek and Jolie to hit a diving leg lariat Hi/Lo combo that wiped out the unsuspecting Bennett and tilted things in Hysteria’s direction. Long time teammates Justine and Bella started working Emily over by doing what they do best: halving the ring, tandem offense, and if there was a stray cheap shot here or there behind the referee’s back, all the better. The women of Hysteria looked like they were going to end things by taking Emily out with their vaunted Twelve Feet Under but Emily managed to shove Bella into Justine on the apron. As they tried to recover, Emily landed a handspring double heel kick to send them both to the floor. Emily bounced off the ropes twice to ramp up speed and LaVey joined in on her way back before both of them took out Danek and Jolie with stereo tope suicidas. That sparked a Pier 4 on the outside that saw LaVey get lawn darted into one set of stairs and Jolie into the other. Justine kept Emily from getting into the ring, Bennett did it right back to her and with their brawl on the outside rolling merrily along the referee had no choice but to call for the bell.
But the bell ringing didn't stop fists from flying, and what was a Pier 4 turned into a Pier 6 when the World Tag Team champions quickly came around the corner to the defense of their friends. Bennett and LaVey couldn't fight off all four members, leading to them getting beaten down before being tossed in the ring like dirty laundry into a hamper. They used the ropes and binded Emily in them before they focused on Agrippa and Crowley’s ex friend LaVey. Justine and Bella pinned Shelley's arms while the champs seemed like they were setting up to make Shelley's head the dark meat in a title belt sandwich…right before Bad Bunny hit the PA. Luz Cruz came running down the ramp to even the odds a bit and throw hands against her former stable but she struck feet first with a springboard dropkick that loosed Bennett before slamming right into Bonnie Agrippa’s temple. Cruz’s appearance moved the needle for the babyfaces, who began to rally - but of course the numbers meant that despite the former Women's World champion lending a hand it wasn't too long before the 4-3 advantage swung things back in Hysteria's favor. It looked like QCW’s resident coven were going to wipe out three of their enemies in one fell swoop when we found out three fun facts about “Night Sky” Diana Spare;
(I) She's not your baby (II) If you think she's pretty, you should see her in a crown (III) she does a decent Usain Bolt impersonation. Spare ran down the ramp and went witch hunting, swinging on her former ex friends Agrippa and Crowley before going after Justine and Bella too. A full on Pier 8 was on to the joy of the crowd, and their cheers only increased when despite their random assortment the babyfaces began to win the fight. Soon most of Hysteria found themselves on the floor, leaving Bonnie Agrippa alone to eat some humble pie for once. Luz got into position and delivered ¡MUERTE!, and the recoil from the double jump poison rana put a limp Agrippa into Spare’s hands, who promptly hoisted Nancy up and drilled her with a Nightfall. Shelley went to the top rope but before she could fly off with her Fallen Angel splash the rest of Hysteria managed to grab their leader by the legs and pull her out of the ring. Billie Eilish came on the PA again, allowing us to bask in the rare scene of Hysteria in retreat while Bennett, Cruz, LaVey and Spare smack talked the coven from the higher ground in the ring.
Backstage, “Zaddy Longlegs” Cole Grant and “Fahrenheit” Freddie Valsada were complimenting each other on their matching two-tone singlets and sparkly elbow pads before they headed to their first photoshoot. As they walked through the halls, Dom DeSade and Bob Osterberg intentionally bumped into them and grumbled about the new blood coming into QCW trying to take their spots. Freddie said “You want to fight about it, darling?” Osterberg scoffed, and was in the middle of saying something else derogatory when Grant punched him in the face. A Pier 4 broke out that took most of the referee corps to break up, with a couple of them saying to save it for the ring as Ruckus hit the first commercial break of the evening.
2. Glam Squad (Grant/Valsada) d. A World of Pain at 7:15 The next time AWOP wins it’ll be February 30th. Grant and Valsada’s chemistry from their time limit draw a couple of weeks ago translated well as a team, and after landing a double superkick to wipe out Dom DeSade it was Bob Osterberg who’d get pinned after a double chicken wing and flying bulldog combination. Post match Steve put over the newcomers as flashy if effective additions to QCW’s deep tag division.
From there we went TOTHEBACK~!, where Julius Duquesne III gave the Glam Squad props on their first win in QCW before bringing on his guest: Orion! The Cosmic Superstar exchanged a handshake with JD3 before the interview got underway and Orion pulled out their translator. Their phone did the talking, saying that while they had a Hawk to knock out of the sky later (referring to QCW’s resident cowboy Carter), they hadn't forgotten about Malicia and so far as they were concerned they weren't done just yet. Orion might have lost to her at Cruel Summer but the only loss on Fernandez's record was because of what Orion did at Mayday Payday. It was written in the stars that there should be a rubber match and Malicía could walk around with the goon squad all she wanted, but in her heart of hearts she knew that Orion was that rubber match away from rescuing the National championship and taking it to heights never seen before. But until she could take out El Pollo Grande, shooting down Hawk tonight would do. Orion saluted young Jules and walked off, leaving him to throw things to Duck Eko back in the ring with introductions for the next matchup.
As the new look Chosen came down the ramp we saw picture in picture highlights from last week where their new and unwilling recruit Justice faced his (former?) friend “Tiki God” Al Buffett and almost knocking him out with a Busiaku knee, pissing Ashley THEE Influencer Szabo off to no end and leading to some prime Quality Social rants that led her to challenge any two members of the Chosen to face her & Al tonight. Chosen leader Caleb Gray accepted but also said he wouldn't dream of putting his newest acolyte in the ring with such an emotional woman, instead opting to lean on his first disciple Drake Tremble to quell the Game Changers threat.
3. “The Purifier” Caleb Gray & “the Paragon” Drake Tremble of the Chosen (w/”the Righteous” Justice Davis, the End Times and Goody Gardner) d. The Game Changers at 13:06 Approximately enough it was the Changers who came into this one fired up and pissed off, and that played out in the early moments as they kicked around the Chosen's chosen literally and figuratively. After they both hit delayed vertical suplexes a pair of assisted Codebreakers had Gray and Tremble scrambling for the floor. Goody Gardner came around for support while Justice followed a step behind, then jumped up on the apron because he saw the End Times about to interfere. The referee was busy getting them out of the way, which allowed Caleb and Drake to slip in behind the referee's back and have Tremble punt poor Al right in the little tikis while Gray blindsided Szabo with a high impact cyclone kick. The Chosen rolled on from there to the point where Ashley wasn't even able to tag out for the rest of the match - if the holy rollers weren't blocking her escape route, they were running around to pull Al off the apron to send him into the stairs or use their numbers advantage on the floor to cause both real and fake distractions alike to keep the ref in circles. A few minutes later the match ended the way last year's Duquesne Classic did, with Gray pinning Szabo after Repent. The Chosen celebrated their victory by hitting their usual cross alignment pose post match, a clearly conflicted Davis awkwardly jamming himself into the alignment by standing next to Goody, who smiled as if she had just discovered a fresh $20 bill in her frock.
Before we hit commercials, we saw a lengthy Quality Social video package built on highlights from the Razorblade/Naz best of 3 falls World title match at Cruel Summer, interspersed with clips of reactors online losing their minds in real time and posts from X and BlueSky calling it the Match of the Year - some calling it the best match in QCW history, full stop. After seeing a bunch of reactors and posts asking when they were going to run it back, Steve hyped the fact that the next chapter in this storied rivalry wasn't just going to happen tonight - it was coming up next!
We came back from the break to the dulcet tones of “Unscripted Violence” and Razorblade making his way through the crowd before vaulting the barricade and hitting the ring. The screaming of the Quality Controllers turned from the pop of the night to warnings, but by the time Razorblade turned around it was too late and he was being pounced on Malicía Fernandez and Omar Littlefield. Seeing what he was up against, Razorblade started swinging for the fences and landed a few good shots, but the numbers and size advantages made themselves known in short order when Omar delivered a Pounce that sent Savage flying into Malicía's goozle so she could deliver a modified version of her Death Warrant finisher. Ig’s hired goons were busy stomping out a fallen Razorblade when suddenly Nazir el-Fadal showed up and jumped on Malicía's back and started rabbit punching her down to the canvas. Omar pulled him off of his accomplice but Naz responded with a cross chop to the throat. el-Fadal quickly got the man who stole the World title away from him into position for a dose of Nazquil but didn't see Malicía coming with an uppercut to the jihads that crumpled Naz on the canvas. Omar added injury to injury by hitting both Razorblade and Naz with a trifecta of Vader Bombs while they were next to each other on the mat, then picked up Naz and gave him the Face Eraser DDT on Razorblade just to firmly stamp out any hopes of recovery.
Quality Force Security came down the ramp to clear a path for Commissioner de Catur to walk to the ring while the Quality Controllers showered boos down on him. Ig took the mic from Duck and announced that “tragically” since neither Naz or Razorblade could answer a ten count, the #1 contendership match was officially a no contest. But next week neither Razortrash or The Greatest Prick Alive would get to lay down on the job because on a very special super sized episode of Ruckus, he was forcing blood rivals Razorblade and Naz to team up against his Republic: the National champion Malicía Fernandez and the World champion Omar Littlefield! The future of QCW vs. Yesterday's News, two athletes who saw the light vs. two fossils who would be cast into the dark, two people who chose Ig’s way against two morons who chose the hard way. At next week’s Quality Summer Classic, it was going to be batter up at Steinbrenner Field for the champions of QCW, and after that both the pieces of crap that were laid out at his feet would be going, going, GONE! Ig cackled before tossing the mic aside and raising both Omar and Malicía's hands to nuclear heat from the crowd. Ghais Guevara's “The Old Guard Is Dead” hit the PA and the Republic eventually left the ring, but not before Ig got in his own stomps on the laid out el-Fadal and Savage. Steve complained that even if they were 100%, there was no way both sides of QCW’s greatest rivalry could coexist long enough to overcome Ig:s hired goons, and the Commissioner's sick plan for revenge had worked to perfection here tonight.
After the last of Quality Force Security had disappeared behind the Tron, we had the actual fourth match on the show.
4. Prince Ootsuka (w/the All Starr Stable) d. “The Fury” Jim Jaspers This on-again off-again rivalry has gone through most of QCW’s modern era and seen each man switch alignments. Their matches have been mostly 50/50 affairs, which reflects their records against each other - but an early pump knee from Old Jim sent the vainglorious Prince to the floor and he didn't put up much of a fight after clearly getting knocked off balance by the shot. Jaspers controlled 75% of the match and sensing he was far ahead on points looked to connect with Fury Road. Ootsuka had enough wherewithal to counter and backdrop Jaspers over the top the floor. Ootsuka then complained repeatedly to the ref, allowing his cronies to interfere as was clearly the plan should he find himself in this kind of trouble. “Upper Class” Broderick Palmer II splattered Jim with a barricade bomb and to pile on Evan O'Neill followed up with a spear that sent Jim into the barricade again (and to make things worse for Jim the barricade didn't implode or give at all). Magically done complaining, Ootsuka rolled out and tossed Jim back into the ring where the Brit managed to kick out at 2¾. But surviving that put Jaspers in perfect position for the Prince to capitalize with Bow Down, choking Jim out with a cobra clutch while wrapping him up with a body scissors so he couldn't make it to the ropes. Jim didn't tap out but after a few seconds went limp and the zebra had to call for the bell.
The Stable being the Stable, they decided the best way to celebrate their shady victory was by putting the boots to a barely conscious Jaspers. The three on one stomping continued until some unfamiliar music hit the PA. The crowd tittered then cheered as “the Proper King” Richard Windsor came back on the scene for the first time since Omar made him a meme at Extreme Never Dies. Windsor took in the scene and a few beats before walking down the ramp; despite having the numbers in their favor, the Stable bailed as Richard hit the ring scowling all the while. Jaspers used the ropes and smiled seeing his partner come in for the save while Steve enthused on commentary that the Proper Villains were back in business!
We went backstage where Naomi Lee was standing by and brought out as her guests Jane Doe and Cindy Monet - Science Fiction Double Feature. Nao tried to ask them a question about their losing streak and Cindy was a little testy in response, saying they’d gotten sneak attacked in singles because the haters couldn't handle them together. But she was issuing the challenge for next week: the new International Lotus against Science Fiction Double Feature, no running, no hiding, no cheap shots, just squabble up and see who's better than who. Naomi said that was all well and good, but went back to the question at hand. People wanted to know why the new look Lotus should be afraid of this challenge if SciFi themselves and Collipark as a whole couldn't buy a win recently for love or money? Cindy looked furious, then sad, then a little crazy before composing herself and saying “Sooner or later, this losing BS is going to come to an end. And that sooner is next week, so Fiona and Sohla better get their raggedy asses ready.” Jane leaned in and had way more excitement in her voice than usual when she said “Their posteriors are substandard and we will prove our human abilities to be of a higher level!” After Cindy added “Collipark ‘til I die.” she and Jane walked off, leaving Naomi to cue up the last commercial break.
5. Orion d. Hawk Carter at 8:23 Despite their focus on Malicía Fernandez and the size discrepancy against Carter, this wasn't a trap game but rather a showcase match for Orion. Even Carter's attempt to take things to the floor and make things a brawl failed when Orion dodged his signature lariat and hit him with a satellite DDT on the outside. Hawk managed to crawl back in the ring at 9 but got a Shining Wizard and Orion's Nebula for his troubles to wrap things up.
Next week’s Ruckus is the super sized Quality Summer Classic - limited commercial interruptions for us at home, a bonus half hour for run time and coming live from Steinbrenner Field in Tampa, home of the Rays. Big matches? You know it, all of which come as a result of events earlier in the show: the new International Lotus will face off against Science Fiction Double Feature 💫 a massive eight woman tag will see the women of Hysteria go against “Explosive” Emily Bennett, Shelley LaVey, their former leader Luz Cruz and the Women's World champion “Night Sky” Diana Spare 💫💫 And the main event will be something that was unthinkable even a month ago - the years long rivals Nazir el-Fadal and Mason “Razorblade” Savage will come together and face off against the Commissioner’s hired guns of the National champion Malicía Fernandez and the World champion Omar Littlefield. But that's next week’s main event and this week’s main event is right now…
6. Pyotr Caviar (w/Serge Batroc) d. Jacques Krieger (w/Ashok Banjerjee) at 12:51 With the Naz/Razorblade match being a scheme set up by a scheming Commissioner Ig, he moved this hoss fight into headlining status. Curious. Before the match started Krieger removed his long black duster to reveal kinesio tape on his left arm and shoulder, and once he got control Caviar made sure to focus his attacks on those areas. Steve mentioned Krieger barely got cleared for the match after taking an Omar sized beating at Cruel Summer, but Jacques being Jacques he wanted the fight. However, not a minute after that Pyotr leveled Krieger with a pop up European uppercut that eventually made Krieger dissolve to the floor on the recoil. The burly Russian was more than content to let Krieger get counted out but saw Jacques slowly trying to get back into the ring at 8. Thinking quickly, Krieger let Caviar get close before snapping the top rope into his neck. To add injury to injury, Krieger then caught Caviar flush with a shotei that you could hear in Ig’s skybox before starting to give back just as good as he got. Jacques finally got Caviar off his feet a minute later with a trifecta of pump knees, but Caviar still managed to kick out late. Krieger shocked then popped the crowd by hitting a second rope flying lariat before calling for the end but when he went for the Jacqueshammer, Caviar banged away on the injured arm before throwing that shoulder into the ringpost. Krieger got wiped out by a running crossbody and that was the beginning of the end for the New Jerseyite, who ate Pyotr's trademark Hit My Music and found himself counting the Quality Arena lights.
After replays, we saw Serge shove the ref aside so he could raise his protege’s arm himself - but the last scenes we saw before Ruckus went off the air were Ig clapping wildly from his skybox while Malicía and Omar flanked him looking on impassively. Were you so inclined, you could even say Ig had the same grin he’d had in the pre tape that kicked off the show. Curious.
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