📺 live on FanDuel Sports Network Florida
📍 Quality Arena 💫 Parts Unknown, FL
It's another raucous Friday night in Parts Unknown, with Steve Vandeblanche and Carl Christensen behind the desk for another episode of Ruckus. They hyped up major announcements from Commissioner Holmes as well as a pure rules match between Manifest Destiny and the Undaunted before throwing things to Duck Eko in the ring. The Voice of QCW made ring introductions for our opening contest…
1. The International Players (w/Collipark) d. w @ s t 3 l a n d e r s at 7:22 Two wins in 48 hours for the Players, who beat Beast Mode to close Uncensored and kicked off Ruckus with a win over QCW’s resident post(/pre?) apocalyptic scavengers in a showcase match. Steve noted that while their teammates Science Fiction Double Feature were angling for a return match for a shot to regain the World Tag Team championships, the Players could also be in position to ask the same of the Republic. Playa Hata for the win and rejoicing ensued.
We got a sizzle reel of Malicía Fernandez looking badass, hitting her power moves, holding up the World Tag Team championship as well as the National championship. To end the reel, a chyron said that she'd be returning next week.
2. The Undaunted d. Manifest Destiny in a pure rules match at 8:08 After being at each other's throats for months and exchanging dirty victories as well as Serge Batroc defeating “Unforgettable” Dave Mullin to kick off Unleashed two nights ago, these two teams rematched with the pure rules stip demanded by Manifest Destiny and agreed to by the Undaunted last week before MD jumped them in the back. But it would be the aerialist Irishmen who beat them at their own game here and maybe beat some respect into the haughty Serge and his partner “the Proper Villain” Richard Windsor.
It didn't go that way early on for the former Catch Hell Wrestling League champions however, as they blew through both their chances to use closed fists in the opening 90 seconds and having to adjust their offense was the exact opening MD needed to get control via Serge rocking Mullin with a pop up European uppercut. That set up a tag to Windsor and a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker plus second rope knee drop combo from the black hats that put them in the driver's seat while the Quality Controllers booed.
Batroc and Windsor spent the next couple of minutes working Mullin over, employing quick tags and turning their half of the ring into the Bermuda Triangle for poor Dave. Mullin tried to fight out from under and managed to land some shots - but when he tried to make the tag Manifest took him down with a HiLo combination that could've won the match had McMurray not dove in with a timely save via legdrop. It didn't take long for Serge and Richard to clear Tim from the ring and go back to focusing on Dave. Destiny ragdolled Mullin around for a little bit before going for their Denouement finisher, but Mullin threw sand in the works by reversing Windsor to eat Serge’s springboard European uppercut so the Unforgettable One could hit Windsor with his own half and half suplex to take him out. Serge realized too late what had happened and went after Mullin only to eat a rack bomb, and that allowed Dave the opportunity he needed to tag out to Tim.
McMurray hit the ring and picked up the pace, sending Destiny to the mat repeatedly before hitting them both with a simultaneous Sliced Bread #2 to pop the crowd. The Only Hope was rolling over the Proper Villain and even walked the top rope before hitting a beautiful 450° splash on Benedict Richard, and that made Serge have to come in. The teams engaged in a Pier 4 that featured European uppercuts instead of fists before the Undaunted managed to send Serge flying out of the ring with double high elevation dropkicks. That left Richard to eat a two on one attack that culminated in an unwanted flight on Shamrock Air and McMurray to pin him after making the Brit eat their Doomsday Meteora finisher. Manifest sulked their way to the back while the Undaunted celebrated on the turnbuckles with Steve calling it their biggest win in QCW to date. Tim & Dave continued their celebration as Ruckus went to tonight's first commercial break.
We came back from the break to see Steve Vandeblanche in the ring for a very rare interview between the ropes and his guest was as big as it could be - because standing next to him was Commissioner Holmes. Holmes thanked the crowd for helping make QCW what it is now and making Ruckus appointment TV every Friday night. Even though it wasn't officially summer, things were heating up in QCW so he would make three quick, important announcements before leaving so that Ruckus could return to action.
(1) In fact, the first announcement concerned tonight’s show – he was tired of Naz clogging up Quality Social with his tirades and demands - and even worse for el-Fadal, he was going to get exactly what he wanted. After last week and…and, well, pretty much everything that had happened between them this entire decade, he was making a main event for tonight he was sure Quality Arena would love: Naz vs. Razorblade! The crowd cheered about getting to see such a high profile match on a regular episode of Ruckus, but of course Holmes wasn't done there.
(2) Next week, a supershow from Knoxville would feature the stars of the women's division and have limited commercial breaks. Not only that but it would have a main event even bigger than tonight's…because in a rematch from Mayday Payday, Autumn Powers would defend the QCW World championship against Nancy Crowley! The crowd greeted that announcement with cheers as well, though they were understandably more psyched about seeing Naz/Razorblade live tonight.
(3) The National championship would remain vacant until Cruel Summer, where it would be decided in a four corners elimination match. Over the next few weeks there would be three triple threat qualifying matches with the winners advancing to Cruel Summer. The fourth position in the match would be filled…well…even though she had disrespected the Duquesne Cup she had also won the Classic itself. Therefore, she was automatically in the four corner match. If she wanted to back up her claims of being the World and National champions, then –
Lights off.
Lights on, and not only was Hysteria in the ring? To make things worse, they had Holmes surrounded. Nancy demanded Steve's mic and got it before Vandeblanche bailed out. With her usual rictus grin fully in place, Crowley gave three short stabbing claps before saying that Holmes may have thought he could say a few kind words to make up for his misdeeds but why wait until Cruel Summer? Why wait until next week? Give her back her titles. Give her back her titles now and maybe juuuuust maybe she and Hysteria wouldn't tear him apart. After all, a World National champion was a World National champion and compared to that, what was a Commissioner? Well, a Commissioner was nothing more than a hospital bed’s best friend. Hysteria advanced on Holmes but suddenly both Bonnie and Nancy went flying to the floor courtesy of Mean Season, who had sprinted down to the ring and started cleaning house. Holmes quickly got out of the ring and waved towards the back as Justine Danek and Bella Jolie started brawlng with Gaia Green & Winter Wonderland. The referee passed Holmes, who passed Autumn Powers as the World champion came out to join her friends. With Holmes retreating to his office and the Pier 4 in the ring just getting started, the ref called for the bell.
3. Hysteria (w/Bonnie Agrippa and Nancy Crowley) fought Mean Season (w/Autumn Powers) to a double countout at 5:54 As you might imagine, there was very little catch as catch can and a lot of catch these hands. Justine Danek and Bella Jolie fought their way to a come back and used a diving leg lariat version of the Hart Attack to take control. But Gaia and Winter wouldn't be stymied so easily, and fired back until they had not only taken back the advantage but cleared Danek and Jolie from the ring after simultaneous backdrops to the outside. Mean Season then followed up with stereo springboard planchas to wipe out Justine and Bella, the Quality Controllers roaring over the aerial display. But when Gaia and Winter tried to get back in the ring, the women of Hysteria pulled them back to the floor. Justine and Bella tried to break the count themselves, only to be pulled to the floor themselves by Season and triggering another Pier 4 in the process.
Neither team could save the match for themselves, so after 10 the bell rang but nobody cared and the brawling continued. Justine sent Gaia into the steps, Winter sent Bella into the ring post and that led to some Danek v. Wonderland brawling. Bonnie and Nancy hit the scene when Justine got in trouble, then Autumn came in to defend her squad. That Pier 6 lasted for a bit until a slightly bleeding Bella came from the timekeeper's area with chairs and started trying to get them to her teammates before a tackle by Autumn sent the back of Bella’s head bouncing off the corner of the announce table.
Before things could really ramp up, however, Quality Force Security hit ringside to the boos of the fans with Steve and Carl pointing out the Hysteria/Mean Season rivalry was ratcheting up and would only get more heated as a result of the Autumn v. Nancy rematch for the World title being announced for next week's Summit supershow.
After that we went TOTHEBACK~!, where Naomi Lee caught up to the College Park Family as they headed out of Quality Arena. Nao complimented the International Players on their win earlier before asking what was next for Collipark. Cindy Monet said that if Malicía had gotten over her boo-boos, she and Jane wanted another crack at the World Tag Team championships. The belts belonged to the Family, not some CEbro and his hired goons. Jupiter Jones added that while it looked like Autumn Powers and Nancy Crowley were heading for a showdown, he was the one that had walked into Mayday Payday with the gold and he wasn't going to be forgotten about just because they had beef. Jones said for all the accolades he'd racked up over the years, he’d never been World champion twice in the same year and that sounded exactly like the sort of thing he wanted to accomplish. When Nao asked them why they’d have better luck in return matches to people they’d dropped titles against, Jupiter asked her if they were still here and still fighting. Nao said yes and Jupiter said that as long as that was true, he and his would keep throwing hands until they got back what was theirs. Collipark left Lee behind to marinate on that as we went to commercial.
4. Summer Rose (w/”Sinister” Sarah Fowler d. Luz Cruz (w/Forbidden Book Club) at 7:44 Rose’s roll continued to kick off the back half of the show, even if Cruz made her earn it in this battle of former champions. The feeling out process wasn't a long one and a game of counters for counters ended when Rose countered a springboard attack from Cruz with a Stun Gun and a lariat off the ropes to get the upper hand. Rose took sadistic glee in working her over and repeatedly glared over to “Night Sky” Diana Spare on the floor. Rose practicay dedicated a move to Spare before hitting an avalanche rana on Luz for two. To her credit, Luz took the beating and hung tough; when Summer looked to drop her with Dark Days, Cruz countered it with a poison rana that stopped Rose dead in her tracks. Both women were slow to get to their feet but once they did Luz obliterated Summer with a God level dropkick that sent Rose rolling out to the floor after blocking it with her jaw. That veteran strategy would've worked on a lot of wrestlers but didn't mean shit to Cruz, who flew out of the ring with a step up tope con hilo to wipe Summer out again. Once she recovered, Luz tossed Summer into the ring before following up with a Shooting Star press that was on the button…but Rose managed to just barely kick out at around 2¾ to stay alive.
The action ping ponged down the stretch with both women hitting big moves: Rose managing to connect on her Dark Days for a near fall, Cruz coming back with a Gory Especial neckbreaker only for Summer to get her foot on the ropes, and both women connecting with simultaneous cross bodies off the ropes that wiped them both out. Cruz got up first and went for ¡MUERTE! but Summer powered out of the finisher and sent Luz flying into a corner with an Electric Chair facebuster that sent Cruz crashing down hard to the mat. Summer leered over Cruz before slowly turning her head and fixing Diana with a grin far too wide to be considered anything friendly. Summer grabbed Luz and then hit her with Diana's Nightfall finisher to the shock of everyone in the arena and the demented cackling of Fowler on the floor. Rose went for the cover but to add insult to injury pulled Luz up at 2½ just so she could hit it again. This time the ref completed a three count but Summer just glared at Diana while it happened.
Diana and Shelley LaVey hit the ring as Summer rolled out of it, blowing off Fowler so she could snatch the mic out of Duck’s hand and fix her creepy glare on the Forbidden Book Club in the ring. Summer coldly said she was tired of all these so called badasses around here like Diana and Autumn doing bad Summer Rose imitations after she’d proven she was the real deal. She might become the next National champion, might use it to become World champion, but one thing was for certain: she was going to take all the fake Summers on a one way trip to the woods. And then she was going to burn the cesspool of QCW down to the ground. Summer shoved the mic into Duck’s chest and jumped the barricade with a smiling Fowler in tow; Spare glared at the back of their heads as they left through the concourse, Steve noting Summer got a measure of revenge for Diana beating Sarah with a pair of Nightfalls last week. As Carl said, it was clear Diana and Summer were heading for a showdown - the only question was when?
From there, we went TOTHEBACK~!, where Julius Duquesne III was standing by to interview his special guest ahead of the main event: Nazir el-Fadal. Naz got a loud and mixed reaction per usual, even if it leaned positive. JD3 noted that Naz had been stumping for this match all week and now he got it, so what was his mindset heading into the main event? The Grand Slam winner mockingly said that it must be depressing the merch squad that they couldn't roll out the summer line of Razorblade Jihad tank tops, but he was glad it’d come to an end because they got along like peanut butter and dog [that's a swear]. Naz was willing to carry Savage in the tag team since he had emotionally destroyed him at Cruel Summer last year but he’d lost the World Tag Team titles the same way he had lost the World title to Naz last summer, the same way he was going to lose to Naz tonight.
Naz continued putting himself over but actually cut himself off as he saw Razorblade walk into the frame to a massive pop. JD3 backed out of the scene, handing the mic to Mason Savage on his way out. Naz smirked and said handing a mic to Razorblade was like handing a mic to Morgan Waller, but he actually wanted to hear from him for a change. Razorblade gave a small grin and said cutting promos was more Naz’s thing so he’d be quick about this for everyone's sake.
Some people's favorite day of the year was Christmas, and God bless. Other folk out in the world, your Hysteria's and the like had Halloween at the top of their power rankings. Some liked their birthday the most and Razorblade just knew Naz was the sort of guy to turn his birthday into an all month deal. But Razorblade had more than one favorite day of the year, because it happened every single time Holmes cut him a check every time he whooped Naz's ass - and that made tonight the best day of the year. He said everyone bleeds but if Naz wanted to flap his yap like he was king of everyone then Razorblade would make sure he bled the most in just a few minutes. And when it was your favorite day of the year, you…you just wanted to have as much fun as you could. For example – and Razorblade dropped Naz with a headbutt. When Naz managed to sit up you could see a thin line of clarin over his right eyebrow as Razorblade looked down on him with a crooked grin. “Nazzie, I gotta say - I think I’m getting the hang of this promo thing.” Savage tossed the mic at a fuming Naz and walked off, but we hit the last commercial break before we got to see el-Fadal’s reaction.
5. Genesis King d. “Mr. Fahrenheit” Freddie Valsada (w/Glam Squad) at 6:11 As King came to the ring, he told the camera that Holmes better be watching because he was going to destroy Valsalad and prove he belonged in a National championship qualifying match. While destroy might’ve been an exaggeration, it wasn't by much as the GENerational Talent wreaked havoc upon the tag specialist. Freddie managed a brief rally but King cut it off with a brutal short piledriver. Genesis played with his food a little more before hitting Crowned so clean it’d clip a wing off of an angel to secure his victory. King made sure we got a good look at his eight pack abs on his way to the back.
Ahead of the main event, Steve hyped up next week's supershow, as Ruckus presents Summit live from Knoxville’s vaunted Thompson-Boling Arena with limited commercial interruptions and bonus runtime. On the docket: we’ll find out the date and location for next month’s Cruel Summer PPV 💫 in a triple threat National championship qualifier it’ll be Shelley LaVey v. Summer Rose v. Keo Tevi 💫 World Tag Team champion Malicía Fernandez makes her return against the ever dangerous “Night Sky” Diana Spare 💫 and in a World title rematch from Mayday Payday, Autumn Powers defends the Fifteen Pounds of Gold against Nancy Crowley. A card that deep puts the super in supershow, so make sure next Friday you catch Ruckus presents Summit live.
While that main event will be for the biggest prize in QCW, this week's main event featured two Grand Slammers with the greatest rivalry in QCW history going head on - and you have to figure the winner would be waiting on the other side of whoever wins between Autumn and Nancy.
“So Be It” from Clipse hit the PA and brought out Nazir el-Fadal to a big pop from the Quality Controllers. The One Man Jihad came to the ring looking focused and didn't react to the reaction at all, remaining standing on the turnbuckles and looking towards the crowd. But he wasn't looking at the fans - he was waiting for a familiar face to emerge from them.
Cue “Unscripted Violence” and the pop of the night as Mason “Razorblade” Savage, fellow Grand Slam holder emerged in the concourse and began his usual march down the stairs. Although some fans patted his back as he headed to the ring and a few even attempted high fives, he never broke his gaze with Naz and even shoved el-Fadal down off the turnbuckle after coming up the stairs. Naz tried to get after Mason, but the referee backed Naz into a corner and then turned around to put Savage in another corner. Both men were clearly seething as the bell was rung - but when Razorblade charged, Naz simply dropped down and rolled out of the ring. Savage couldn't let that abide and the chase was on until Naz suddenly lifted an apron and got under the ring. Savage looked where he saw Naz go and couldn't find him, only to get driven into the retaining barrier from an Naz tope suicida. Naz stood on the barrier and took in a massive and mixed reaction before bundling Mason up and throwing him in the ring.
6. Mason “Razorblade” Savage d. Nazir el-Fadal by technical knockout at 16:41 Naz went to work and quickly positioned Razorblade in a corner to throw some European uppercuts, but Razorblade turned the tide, switched their places and lit into his biggest rival and former World Tag Team championship partner by alternating meaty right hands with massive knife edge chops. Steve noted that Naz’s emotions might’ve been getting the best of him after what happened backstage because the last thing he should want to do is exchange strikes with the bigger Savage. In the ring, Razorblade stuck Naz with a Manhattan drop before legsweeping the One Man Jihad and coming off the ropes with a Sliding R, but that barely kept Naz down for a one count. Razorblade continued to beat up Naz until “the Greatest Man Alive” was between the ropes and spilling out to the apron to avoid taking any more of the Razorblade onslaught. That's the way things appeared; in reality Naz was laying a trap and sprung it when Savage charged him and Naz drilled him with a Hamrin Valley Driver into the hardest part of the ring.
Naz jumped up onto the announce table and hit the Are You Not Entertained?! while Razorblade writhed in pain on the floor. We got a couple of replays of the apron HVD before we went back to live action: Naz rolled in the ring to break the count before rolling back out and tossing Razorblade head and shoulder first into the steps. The Quality Controllers got into dueling chants as Naz got back in the ring and waited on Savage; the moment he got back in the ring Naz tied him up in the ropes before launching a half dozen European uppercuts that sent Savage down to the canvas. el-Fadal held onto the ropes while choking Mason with the heel of his Shiek inspired boots, not stopping until the referee’s count was at 4¾ and tersely telling the zebra he knew what the rules were.
Naz continued to maintain the advantage and locked a cravate in on Razorblade. Savage tried to back suplex his way out a couple of times but el-Fadal maintained the hold. Mason landed some body blows to get out from under, then charged Naz and walked into a Stun Gun - but Savage just ate it and came off the ropes with a King Kong lariat that sent Naz somersaulting through the air before turning into a canvas angel on the mat. The crowd popped huge for the monster lariat as Razorblade sat on the bottom rope before gathering steam. Razorblade manuevered Naz into a corner and hit him with multiple short range clotheslines until Naz slumped down into a sitting position. Razorblade continued cutting Naz into ribbons, stomping him down for almost a five count - and he too let the ref know he knew the rules after cutting off his mud hole stomping at 4.8. Savage and the ref had words, which allowed Naz the ability to lash out with a cross chop to the throat. The One Man Jihad ran the ropes only to get snatched up by a ring rocking spinebuster that made him kick out at 2¾, maybe even a little later.
With Naz all out of sorts and Quality Arena rocking with “This Is Awesome!” chants, Razorblade put Naz on his shoulders and began to ascend as he clearly was lining up a Soul Crusher to bring the fight to an end. The higher up Razorblade got the more Naz fought for his life, doing anything he could to avoid Razorblade’s vaunted finisher. That anything included gouging Savage’s eyes, a move that drew a lot of jeers but put Naz in perfect position for what he hoped would be the death blow; with Razorblade to his right and both men on the top rope, Naz delivered an avalanche Night Night hiptoss Michinoku Driver that folded Razorblade up like a K-5 off suit and had bleeped out “Holy shit!” chants airing live on FDSNF. Both men were down on the canvas while we got multiple replays of the biggest move in the match and the ref put on a ten count; at 9, Naz crawled over - when the ref got to two, he back hooked a leg - but Razorblade barely, barely kicked out before three and caused Naz to grill the zebra as he obviously wanted a quicker count to secure his victory. But it wasn't as if his arsenal was empty, something he proved when he stalked Razorblade before sneaking up on the recovering Savage and putting him in a cobra clutch. Razorblade almost pitched forward onto his forehead before backing Naz into a corner. Despite that, Naz not only maintained his hold on the hold, he added injury to injury by using it to set up a Backstabber to give Razorblade a Heat Check. With his arch rival gasping for air and almost curled up in a ball at his feet, Naz slowly brought himself up off his knees before pointing down at Razorblade. That point turned into a throat slash that got plenty of boos, more coming out when Naz moved his hand into a thumbs down.
Naz stalked Razorblade and cinched him up looking to deliver a dose of Nazquil, but the match took another turn as Razorblade powered Naz into a bulldog choke, bridging with his blood stained shitkickers to lock down the hold that might actually shut Naz up once and for all. The dueling chants turned into “(Please Don't) TAP!” as Naz tried to scramble his lower body towards the ropes, but the suffocating pressure on his carotid artery soon caught up to him. Naz appeared to go limp before the hook of his boot wrapped around the bottom rope, causing a massive mixed reaction from a crowd who was now leaning forward on the edge of their seats whether they were in the front row or up in the back rows.
Razorblade held onto his choke for almost a five count but didn't engage with the referee when he broke it at 4.9. He was more focused on being timely, and as he put Naz back on his shoulders and went up top it was evident that it was Soul Crusher O’Clock and he would be damned if he was going to be late for it. Razorblade climbed the ropes and after securing his footing, flew off with the Soul Crusher as dozens of camera phones caught the moment live as it happened. Both men were down for the count again, but this time Razorblade moved first at six before landing some forearms to the back of Naz’s head to set up another bulldog choke. Razorblade reapplied the hold perfectly, picking up right where he’d left off in his attempt to choke Naz out. But even with the hold cinched in tight and his energy being drained out of him, the last thing Nazir el-Fadal was ever going to do was go quietly into that good night. Again, Naz moved what he could of his lower body; if he couldn't power his way out of the bigger man’s hold then he could at least force a rope break. Naz contorted and pivoted as much as he could but Razorblade had the high ground; when he saw el-Fadal get within a foot and a half of the ropes, he pulled them back to center and bridged up with his feet this time firmly on the midring QCW logo. Naz thrashed and flopped around like a fish out of water, the fans yelling at him to tap or not getting louder by the second…but the light was dimming in his eyes. Razorblade wasn't a monkey on his back, he was King Kong on the Empire State, and as he melted into the canvas Naz got his middle finger up as close to Razorblade's line of sight as the choke would allow. Naz’s wrist fell into the canvas, causing the ref to check him with a hand raise - but it hit the mat again and the referee called for the bell - the Quality Controllers reacting with shock and joy over seeing Razorblade officially put Naz to sleep.
We got replays of the match’s biggest moments as the announcers put over the PPV level quality of the battle. When we went back to live action, Razorblade was getting his hand raised by the referee but quickly lowered it as Naz began stirring on the canvas and rolled over into his back. The referee checked on Naz, who looked shocked after hearing what the official had to say and clearly got heated; even without a mic you could hear him snarl that the last thing he would ever do was tap out to Savage, of all people. Razorblade gently nudged the ref to the side and offered Naz either a handshake or a helping hand up. Naz stared up at Razorblade before looking down at his hand, and several tense seconds went by as Naz continued glaring at it. Eventually, he fell onto his back and rolled out of the ring before wordlessly going up the ramp. The crowd gave some boos to Naz’s usual lack of sportsmanship but came back alive as “Unscripted Violence” fired back up and Razorblade bathed in the glowing reception he got from the faithful, raising a fist as he stood on the middle rope. After a plug for the Powers/Crowley World Title match on next week's Summit supershow, Steve thanked us for tuning in to Ruckus and said he hoped to see us again next week in Knoxville.
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