Cruel Summer PPV (Rock Athletic Center • Orlando)

   Preshow

1. the International Players (w/Collipark) d. Manifest Destiny [w/INTLTS 2.0] (Patton Playa Hata -> pinfall Windsor)

2. "Explosive" Emily Bennett d. IBonnie Agrippa [w/Hysteria] (inside cradle -> pinfall)

MAIN CARD

the Undaunted d. the End Times [w/the Chosen](McMurray Shamrock Air -> pinfall Castle)

four corner elimination QCW NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP Nancy Crowley (w/Hysteria) d. Tre Boyd, Omar Littlefield (w/Ig de Catur, the Republic & Republic Enforcement) & "Cambodian Cool" Keo Tevi (w/"Explosive" Emily Bennett) [order of eliminations: 

1st fall: Littlefield by the field

2nd fall: Tevi by Crowley

3rd fall: Boyd by Crowley] 

#AndNEWWWWWW

QCW WORLD TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIPS Caviar + Malice [c, w/Ig de Catur, Vengeance Davis & Republic Enforcement] d. Science Fiction Double Feature [w/Collipark] (Caviar double chokeslam -> pinfall Doe) 

Summer Rose (w/"Sinister" Sarah Fowler) d. "Night Sky" Diana Spare [w/Forbidden Book Club] (Crown of Thorns -> pinfall)

triple threat Nazir el-Fadal d. Vengeance Davis (w/Ig de Catur, the Republic & Republic Enforcement) & Mason "Razorblade" Savage (avalanche Hamrin Valley Driver -> pinfall Savage)

QCW WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP Autumn Powers (w/Mean Season) d. Jupiter Jones [w/Collipark] (enzui Hazy Shade of Autumn -> pinfall)

Mayday Payday PPV (2300 Arena • Philadelphia)

  Preshow

1. Genesis King d. Jacques Krieger [w/Ashok Banerjee] (Crowned -> pinfall)

2. "Explosive" Emily Bennett, "Cambodian Cool" Keo Tevi and the Undaunted d. INTLTS and Manifest Destiny ["Her Excellency" Fiona Fogg, Sohla Patel, Serge Batroc and "the Proper Villain" Richard Windsor] (Tevi Psychedelic Shock -> pinfall Fogg)

MAIN CARD

Science Fiction Double Feature (w/the International Players) d. Justine Danek and Bella Jolie [w/Bonnie Agrippa](Doe Down To Earth -> pinfall Danek)

the Chosen (w/Goody Gardner) d. Forbidden Book Club (Gray Repent -> pinfall LaVey)

triple threat QCW NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP Orion [c] d. Bonnie Agrippa (w/Hysteria) & Summer Rose (Orion inside cradle -> pinfall Agrippa) 1️⃣1️⃣

Tre Boyd ddq. Omar Littlefield (w/Ig de Catur, the Republic & Republic Enforcement)

30 minute Iron Team QCW WORLD TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIPS Pyotr Caviar and MalicÍa Fernandez d. Nazir el-Fadal & Mason "Razorblade" Savage [c] (tied at 2 after regulation, sudden death saw a Justice Davis taser attack hand the fifth and final fall to Fernandez on Savage) #AndNEWWWWWW

QCW WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP Nancy Crowley (w/Hysteria) d. Jupiter Jones [c, w/Collipark] (4 Bite Mes -> pinfall) #AndNEWWWWWWW

QCW WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP Orion Autumn Powers d. Nancy Crowley !c, w/Hysteria] (Hazy Shade Of Autumn -> pinfall) #AndNEWWWWWWW

Golden Rule PPV (Climate Pledge Arena • Seattle)

 {preshow} Cindy Monet (w/Jane Doe & the International Players) d. Goody Gardner (w/the End Times) 🪙 This came as a sort of appetizer for tonight's main event, with Gardner proving over the past few weeks that despite her former reticence to get her hands dirty that she could acquit herself well between the ropes.  But Monet controlled the match almost from the bell and it took only a couple of minutes for Gardner to roll to the floor after getting hit by Rolling Thunder.  It turned out that Goody was actually setting a trap; when Cindy went for a follow up baseball slide, the matriarch of the Chosen trapped Cindy in the ring apron and laid into her with a barrage of forearms.  Goody controlled the offense for the next couple of minutes but when she went to Lawn Dart Cindy, multi time champion slipped out the back door and countered by hitting Gardner with a reverse suplex.  That set up the Tightrope ropewalk lariat and Cindy's win while allowing the announcers to debate if we would see Collipark beat the Chosen in the main event.

{preshow} | contract match Summer Rose (w/”Sinister” Sarah Fowler) d. “Cambodian Cool” Keo Tevi 🪙 Since Tevi debuted at the top of the year she's been targeted by Fowler, whose sidekick Midsomar revealed themselves to be Summer Rose a few weeks ago.  Coming out from under the mask and self imposed exile, the former champion had to get back on the roster by beating Keo here to nullify the Loser Leaves Town loss she suffered against Autumn Powers (speaking of QCW alums) years ago.  

Rose fought without her former grace and wore Tevi out early while Fowler looked on from the floor with deranged glee in her eyes.  Summer was rolling until Teo caught a flying crossbody attempt and turned it into an oshigoroshi to stay in the fight.   Keo showed why they'd been a three time champion Down Under as they emptied their offensive tank, but when it looked like they were going to banish Summer again, Rose bit their hand to block Psychedelic Shock.  When Keo doubled over to check on their hand, Summer log rolled into Tevi to send them crashing into the canvas to set up a basement rana driver that got the Beautiful Reckoning a three count and officially back into QCW.  Summer put pen to paper five minutes before the PPV proper started; Rose and Fowler celebrated by stomping out Tevi some more before the rest of the referee corps were able to order them to the back.

💫 MAIN CARD 💫

[ QCW NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP ] Orion [c] d. Tre Boyd 🔟 🪙 One of the big selling points of Golden Rule was every title in the company being on the line, so what better way to start than with one of the title matches?  Once a tense handshake started the match, the two of them zipped around the ring with both of them going hold for hold and counter for counter.  But after a couple minutes of back and forth it was Boyd who'd hit an early momentum shifter as he.dodged an Orion clothesline with a Matrix bridge before nipping up into an enzuigiri that took Orion down.

But the Cosmic Champion refused to stay down for long, reversing a Blue Thunder bomb into a huracanrana takedown before following up with a step up knee that sent Boyd bouncing through the ropes and out to the floor.  Tre got himself vertical just in time to eat an Orion triangle moonsault that wiped them both out.  

But Boyd bounced back when he countered a top rope flying attack with a powerbomb that drove Orion into a smear on the canvas.  From there, Boyd increasingly put pressure on the titleholder and kept them grounded for the most part.  After landing some strikes and suplexes, Tre began opening the throttle on his offense 

It looked like Tre was well on his way to taking the Natty even though Orion kept managing to kick out at the death.  But after using a Blue Thunder bomb to set up an avalanche Spanish Fly, Boyd called for the end and looked to connect with his Say Hallelujah the same way he’d just hit Heaven Sent.  Tre leapt to the top rope in one jump that he almost overshot, then balanced himself before flying off with his trusty Spiral Tap.

But the couple of moments Boyd balanced himself gave Orion just enough time to get their knees up and snuff out Say Hallelujah.  Boyd was doubled over on his hands and knees on the mat right before Orion snuck up on him and wrapped him up in a La Magistral cradle.  Tre kicked out…unfortunately for him, it was at a count of four.  Just like that, Orion had snatched victory from the jaws of defeat and once again retained the National championship.  

Still the Cosmic Champion, they got their hand raised and the title in their arms while the Qualitron showed that Orion had completed the 10 Count; it was only a matter of time until they cashed in the Natty for a shot at the World title.  Orion finished posing on the turnbuckles and hopped down, turning around and coming face to face with Tre.  They draped their belt over the top rope and offered Tre a handshake, but Boyd (openly seething after complaining to the ref several times about the three count) waved it off and rolled out of the ring before stomping off to the back to a loud, mixed reaction.  Orion shrugged and picked up their belt, allowing Mastodon to hit the PA and Orion to enjoy the moment without any of Tre’s sour grapes to leave a bad taste in their mouth.

💫

A video package set up our second match on the evening, recapping “Night Sky” Diana Spare “rejoining” the Forbidden Book Club and their challenge to their ex friends in Hysteria to an elimination match - with Hysteria accepting as long as it was an extreme rules match as well and the Club more than eager to accept that stip too - weeks and months and years of broken/new/reformed allegiances, sneak attacks from both sides, and both sides promising they would be the ones who’d get their hands raised while putting their rivals in the dirt…

extreme rules elimination match Forbidden Book Club d. Hysteria (survivor: Luz Cruz) 🪙 To the surprise of nobody, this was a chaotic bloody brawl that went at peak intensity for nearly half an hour; to the surprise of some the Club ended up victorious, with Luz Cruz landing the decisive shot that finally ended the brawl.  Hysteria emerged out from the darkness they created, but to the surprise of everyone in Seattle the FBC all emerged from underneath the ring and jumped QCW’s resident coven before they could pose and kicked off a Pier 6 that spilled out to ringside and a little bit up the ramp depending on which of the three fights you were watching the most.  

The Club was the first to use plunder, grabbing multiple weapons from under the ring and swinging for the fences on their ex friends.  After Bonnie Agrippa and Nancy Crowley had taken several shots each from kendo sticks, Bella Jolie threw her body onto theirs to act as a human shield.  FBC then mugged her with a myriad of kendo stick shots before sending Bonnie and Nancy out of the ring.  Luz and Shelley handled them while Diana beat Bella like a rented goalie, using a Black Hole Slam to set up a pop up Michinoku Driver into a trash can to bounce Bella and give the Club a 3-2 lead. 

But that only fueled the fires of Hysteria and made Nancy Crowley more Feral than usual; first she grabbed Carl’s candy jar from off the announce table and smashed it over Diana's head to leave her laying, then she & Bonnie worked over Luz and Shelley long enough to be able to bring steel chairs into the fray and tilt things further in their direction.  Both Cruz and LaVey ate steel, and when Spare recovered enough to get vertical again Hysteria dropped her with a standing Conchairto.   Having taken out who they clearly thought was the Club’s linchpin, Agrippa and Crowley put knots on the heads of the rest of the Club.  They managed to even up the score in vicious fashion, not only hitting their trademark spike brainbuster on Shelley LaVey but doing it into the bottom half of the steel steps to even things up at 2 apiece.   The Hysteria team began showing why they weren't too long removed from being the World Tag Team champions as they sent Cruz sailing over the announce table then overturned it onto her, and even pinned her underneath the remnants of the table with both parts of the steps, the announcers’ chairs and even a piece of the retaining barrier that Bonnie and Nancy had put Luz through moments earlier.  They then bundled Spare up and tossed “Night Sky” into the ring.  Diana staggered over to grab a cookie sheet but Crowley quickly ran up on her and gave Diana a Code Black into some scattered chairs.  While Nancy dragged Diana to her knees, Bonnie made sure to taunt her former tag partner and point to where Luz was buried under the announce table, and even without being miced up you could hear Agrippa mocking Diana about how she should've left the Club for dead and now she was going to get her little sidekicks put in the ICU.  Spare’s response was to spit in her face and Nancy's as well to a big pop, but Hysteria’s response was to give Spare a spike brainbuster into the chair pile before Nancy put a foot on Diana's chest and pinned her to send Hysteria up 2-1.

The crowd's shock and disappointment quickly gave way to loud “Fuck Hysteria” chants that only made the diabolical duo cackle.  Having saved Luz for last, they were more than ready to give La Reina of the ropes flashbacks to last year's Golden Rule and worse.  They rolled out of the ring at the same time and began picking through the wreckage to get Luz Cruz and turn this chaos filled match into a gentlewoman’s sweep - but they couldn't find Cruz, who was hiding in the timekeeper’s area and blasted them both with a spray from a fire extinguisher.  Cruz then climbed up onto the barrier and took them both down with a tornillo off of it to drop Hysteria again before letting out a war cry followed by some cursing in Spanish.  Luz picked up Nancy and lawn darted her into the ring post to stop her shrieks then focused on the woman who’d replaced her 360 days ago as the top of Hysteria's food chain.

Agrippa scrambled into the ring for the high ground and to get a chair, but her swing missed and Luz's springboard dropkick sent the chair into Bonnie's face to a pop.  Cruz grabbed that chair and another one before opening them up to face each other.  Cruz moved as quick as she could and hit the opposite corner on a diagonal, running up onto the chairs before launcherung herself over the ring post with a queen sized tope con hilo that drove Nancy through another section of the retaining barrier, causing the crowd to break out into “HOLY SHIT!” chants.  Cruz staggered up and grabbed Nancy.pff the floor before tossing her back in the ring.  Luz had Nancy in the drip zone and went up for ¡MUERTE!, but that meant she’d taken her eyes off of Bonnie and Agrippa threw a trash can at her to knock her off of the top rope and send Cruz back down to the canvas.  Bonnie pulled Nancy off the deck for a two on one stomping out of Luz while Steve told us that with this advantage it was only a matter of time before Hysteria got their hands raised - but first they were going to make Luz suffer.  Bonnie held Luz down as Crowley climbed to the top rope and flew off with an avalanche senton.  Agrippa shower why she took Luz's spot as leader, giving Crowley whispered instructions in Crowley’s ear.  Crowley cackled before rolling out of the ring while Bonnie laid out Luz with Eclipsing the Light.  Two suplexes and a brainbuster later, Luz was dead weight so she missed Crowley coming into the ring with a full pane of glass.  Bonnie pulled up a limp Luz as she smiled, encouraging Nancy to bring the hammer down.  Crowley reared back and swung the pane like Cal Raleigh…but Luz either went limp or fell down and Bonnie took the sheet of glass to the head as Hysteria’s lieutenant accidentally wiped out her general to the delight of the crowd.  Bonnie was out like Shia LeBouf on Bourbon Street as Nancy screamed in the ring - but for once it was out of panic and not sadistic glee.  Crowley reached down to check on a clearly out of it Agrippa, and she was borderline crying as she tried to bring the High Priestess of Hysteria back to consciousness.  With her attention focused on Bonnie, Nancy forgot all about Luz until she heard cursing in Spanish.  Nancy turned around just in time to block a flying chair with her face that spun her around and dropped her to her knees.  It took Luz longer to climb the ropes but once she was in the penthouse she flew down to ground floor with ¡MUERTE!, sending Nancy head first into the mat with her double jump poison huracanrana.  Cruz flopped on top of Nancy to get the three count to save the match for the Club.  And then it was down to her and an out of it Nancy…

…or not, as when Luz tried to pick her up Agrippa snuck in an inside cradle for 2.8.  Cruz beat Bonnie in getting vertical and laid her out with a massive dropkick before letting out a war cry and pointing to the corner.  Cruz went up top again and flew off for ¡MUERTE! but not only did Bonnie counter it, she picked Cruz out of mid air with a Backstabber and then jumped on Luz with a crossface.  Blood came down Luz’s face while Bonnie was bleeding but also screaming at Luz while she had the hold on, screaming at Luz that this was what she deserved, that this was the reason Hysteria was better off without her, that she was going to humiliate her at Golden Rule just like she was last year.  Cruz started going limp as Bonnie screamed at her to tap out.  Luz slumped over as Agrippa torqued the hold.  Luz’s hand went limp on the mat for a couple of seconds but then it suddenly shot out, back and to the left leaving Bonnie screaming in pain   The crowd gasped or popped upon seeing Bonnie freak out and holding her right wrist where Luz had just stabbed it with a shard of brown glass.  The usually haughty and composed High Priestess screamed for a good while, right until Luz came flying out of the sky to drop Bonnie with another ¡MUERTE!, delivered head first into some of the chairs.  Agrippa was bleeding from the hand and wrist as she was flat on her back, a spent and bleeding Cruz getting her arm across her former friend for the winning pinfall.

We got replays for a solid couple of minutes recapping the biggest moments of the back and forth battle and Cruz stealing victory from the jaws of defeat.  When we cut back to live action we saw Luz Cruz getting her hands raised by the referee while LaVey and Spare helped to steady her.  Cruz looked like she was going to go limp in their arms but suddenly reared back and hocked a bloody loogie onto Bonnie, before cursing her out in Spanish.  The referee quickly moved FBC towards the ropes and they opted to celebrate on the floor, Cruz repeatedly beating her chest while Shelley and even the usually stoic Spare gave her praise.  Steve and Carl were doing the same, but got interrupted by Cruz herself as she talked to the ringside camera she’d shut up Hysteria and that two witches were no match for one brujera. The Club headed to the back as a bloody Agrippa sat up and gave them the finger behind their backs before falling over to her side.  The referee and the medical staff checked on Agrippa heading into some commercials.

💫

Serge Batroc & “the Proper Villain” Richard Windsor d. The Undaunted 🪙 It didn't take long for the “styles make fights” chestnut to play out in this battle where Serge & Richard continued to be the unwelcome committee for the newly arriving fun-loving Irishmen.  It was the heels who struck a big blow early, a blind tag from Windsor setting up a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker + guillotine legdrop combination.  Windsor & Batroc then targeted the back of “Unforgettable” Dave Mullin and halved the ring on him.  It took Mullin a few minutes to get out from under and he did so in spectacular fashion by planting the black hats with a double handspring tornado DDT.  They both tried to pick his ankle to prevent a tag, but Dave upkicked Serge away and then did so to Windsor, sending him flying into Serge to allow room for the tag to Tim “the Only Hope” McMurray.  Tim came in fresh and went wild on his opponents, hitting flying forearms, hard knife edged chops and even a Sliced Bread #2 of both of them at the same time.  The Undaunted landed some double team offense and looked to put things away with the Doomsday Meteora they call Shamrock Air – but Serge broke it up with a charging European uppercut that sent Dave to the floor, allowing Richard to counter with a victory roll that helped secure a victory…as he wrapped his arm around the middle rope and Serge pulled on it from the floor.  The referee missed both cheats and declared Serge & Richard the winners to a tidal wave of boos; they quickly made tracks up the ramp while Mullin rightfully complained to the referee having seen the last bit of their cheating.

💫

A brief vignette showed Tre Boyd stomping out of Climate Pledge, ignoring questions from Julius Duquesne III about the title loss to Orion as well as pleas from his former friends in Sky’s the Limit to reunite since they were better off as a unit than set apart.  The Gospel ignored everyone on his way to a Town Car that sped off into the Seattle night the second he closed a back door behind him.

💫

Ashok Banerjee (w/Jacques Krieger) d. Omar Littlefield (w/Ig de Catur and Republic Enforcement) 🪙 The upset of the night - maybe of the year - came before the double main event as Ashok managed to steal a victory over the former two time World champion.  Banjerjee was able to successfully play a cat & mouse game with Omar, but once the Republic’s land monster caught up to him he turned him into a figurative and at times literal punching bag.  Omar showed off his deep offensive playbook; he nearly Pounced Ashok out of the ring, he cut off a Banjerjee rally with a sit out choke bomb, and after five consecutive Vader Bombs he looked to have things wrapped up after connecting with his Face Eraser.  But Ashok managed to get a foot on the bottom rope to save the match, which Omar didn't notice as he celebrated what he thought was a victory.  When the referee had to inform him someone had actually survived his vicious crucifix powerbomb DDT, Omar let loose several f-bombs (good thing we were on PPV) and backed the ref into a neutral corner before threatening to lay them out, too.  Omar went for another Face Eraser, but Banjerjee hit a flash modified Code Red that stunned Omar just long enough to get the three count, keep his undefeated streak going and ostensibly kill Omar's campaign for another World title shot.

💫

Climate Pledge got to enjoy the moment for about ten seconds before Omar popped back up and laid out Ashok from behind.  Omar hit another Face Eraser, then tossed the referee out to the floor when he tried to intervene.  Republic Enforcement held off Jacques Krieger while Omar hit a third Face Eraser, but as he went for a fourth Krieger got in the ring and went after Omar.  That worked until it didn't and Omar stopped his heavy hands by laying him out with a sit out choke bomb.  Littlefield turned his attention back to Banjerjee and laid him out with the fourth Face Eraser tonight. 

The bell kept ringing and the crowd kept booing and heckling Omar, but changed their tune as Commissioner Holmes came out and waved on not only Quality Force Security but some members of the Seattle PD.  They hit the ring too late to prevent a fifth Face Eraser but immediately swarmed Omar after it connected and took him down to the mat.  As they finally managed to stop Omar's onslaught and put him in cuffs, de Catur got in Holmes’ face and launched into a series of complaints before punctuating it with a couple of hard pokes into the Commissioner's chest.  Holmes let the first one go but after the third he socked Ig on the jaw and sent the techbro multimillionaire on his ass to a big pop from the crowd.  Shaking his head furiously, he walked over to Duck Eko and took control of the mic.

Holmes said he’d be damned if the World Tag Team titles match was going to turn into a Republic debacle as well, so by his ruling he was banning Ig de Catur and Republic Enforcement from ringside for the next match!  It was probably their fault that Justice Davis had gotten taken out on Friday the 13th, and if he could prove it he’d see the lot of them bankrupted and blackballed from the industry - these people deserved better and he was going to give it to them!  Ig de Catur had barely gotten to his feet before he too was in handcuffs, and his private security was as well.  Littlefield, de Catur & Republic Enforcement were taken out of Climate Pledge - but things quickly turned somber once the chaos died down, as it soon became clear that Ashok was barely moving.  The medical staff came to the ring and after some tests loaded Banjerjee onto a stretcher.  An absolutely irate looking Krieger followed them into an ambulance that sped out of the arena saying only one thing twice on the way out: that he was going to destroy Omar.

💫

A video package ahead of the semi main for the World Tag Team championships showed Savage Justice reuniting at Cold As Hell, Justice Davis pinning Malicía Fernandez at Pure Massacre and SJ being named #1 contenders for their old titles after winning Tag Team Turmoil - then jumped to last week when the end of the Friday the 13th Ruckus showed Justice taken out and being thrown through a car windshield, causing Razorblade to say two nights ago that he knew the Republic was behind the cowardly attack because they were scared of losing their belts and that if he had to, he’d fight them in a handicap match because now that they'd taken away the angel on his shoulder the devil in him was going to show them everyone bleeds, especially Republic bootlickers.

[ QCW WORLD TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIPS ] Mason “Razorblade” Savage and…somehow, Nazir el-Fadal d. The Republic [c] #AndNEWWWW 😞 No, that's not a typo.  And before you ask: no, that's not a typo.  Remember, with everything that went down in and after the last match Pyotr Caviar and Malicía Fernandez were left on their own to defend the straps with no help.  Still, when Razorblade came out alone it looked like they wouldn't need it as the semi main turned out mostly to be a handicap match.  Battle tested as Razorblade is, sooner rather than later the math caught up to him and that's before the size advantages of Malicía’s height and Pyotr's heft came calling.  Razorblade mustered brief rallies, but every time it seemed he was about to make some real headway, his opposition would tag out double team hin or both.  The Republic representatives had Razorblade dead to rights after hitting a double pop up European uppercut and called for the double goozle - and that's when the lights went out.  

When they came back on, someone in Republic Enforcement gear and their hat looked like they were about to strike Razorblade with a baton.  The referee got that baton and another one out of the wiry man’s hands, but as the referee had to get rid of those the man shocked everyone in attendance by pulling out a taser and literally shocking both Pyotr and Malicía.  Razorblade managed to pin down a convulsing Caviar's shoulders for three.  Razorblade looked shocked over being saved, and even more so when his savior lost his cap and ripped off the Enforcement top to reveal a familiar looking Gold Lion black and gold rugby jersey that had JIHAD 1 on the back.  Savage sat stunned on the mat while the referee draped the belts over his shoulder.  This only lasted for a moment, as Nazir’s grin was so big it almost touched the belts before he snatched one off of Razorblade.  The crowd chanted “Holy shit!” loudly while Naz gave a smirk to end all smirks and thrust the belt in the air, triggering a barrage of gold and white pyro as the Qualitron put up a graphic announcing the longtime rivals as the new World Tag Team champions.  Naz gave Razorblade a couple of pats on the cheek and swaggered his way to the back while Steve and Carl were stumbling over their words on commentary.  Razorblade turned his head towards the ramp shellshocked while Naz got in another pose with the belt and a shit eating grin before he headed to the back.  It's a good thing a couple of commercials happened after this, because what the entire f

💫

Before the main event we got a sizzle reel hyping up the return of QCW’s beloved and vaunted annual tournament - the Duquesne Classic not only will allow one person to join the ranks of QCW immortality but will grant them a World championship opportunity at Mayday Payday.  The 16 person tournament will kick off on this week's Ruckus, which means that Duquesne season has returned…who will put their name on the Cup this year?

💫

We got a video package ahead of the main event, covering Jupiter winning the World championship again at Holiday In Cambodia and following it up with a successful title defense at Cold As Hell, then successfully fighting the Republic only to get blindsided weeks ago by “the Purifier” Caleb Gray, the leader of the Chosen who stole the Fifteen Pounds of Gold and has promised to win it tonight to bring about his desire to turn the company into Quality Christian Wrestling with him on top.  Repeated attacks by the Chosen haven't deterred the legendary Jones from promising the fans that he’ll get the physical belt tonight or get crucified trying - even as the former Duquesne Classic winner and National champion Gray promises his ascension to QCW World champion tonight will be the sort of revelation that makes even the staunchest non-believer choose faith over fear…

💫

[ QCW WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP ] Jupiter Jones [c, w/Collipark] d. “The Purifier” Caleb Gray (w/the Chosen) 🪙 Golden Rule ended on an up note, as the legendary Jones retained the Fifteen Pounds of Gold over the duplicitous Gray.  Gray went after Jupiter right from the start, peppering him with punches.  But when he tried to land Reap the Whirlwind, Jupiter caught it and turned it into an over the shoulder kneebuster to halt his momentum.  Jupiter spent the next few minutes working over the leg and grounding Caleb while the announcers pointed out how Jupiter used his veteran skills to not only make an opening for himself but change up his usual offense to further tilt the scales in his favor.  After dropping Caleb with a double underhook powerbomb, Jones played to the fans before launching a Bolt From Olympus - but Gray countered and his backdrop sent Jones over the top and to the floor by his acolytes.  

Gray laid out on the mat clutching at his shin, which drew the referee's attention while the End Times grabbed Jones and launched him head first into the retaining barrier to boos from the Seattle Quality Controllers.  Jones tried to fight back, but the Times gave him a toss into the steps to slow him down further.  That drew the attention of the ref, and after hearing the crowd’s complaints ejected the stoic End Times to cheers and sent the innocent Goody Gardner along with them.  When they stood their ground, the International Players and Science Fiction Double Feature ran them off to the back.  

Gray tried to take advantage of the situation and succeeded for a little while, but the biggest weapons in his arsenal had been taken away by Jones’ leg work.  He couldn't land his Whirlwind and the one time he attempted Repent he couldn't get the bigger Jones up for the elevated crucifix neckbreaker and he collapsed under the weight of the attempt which caused Jupiter to essentially reverse splash him into the mat.  That was the beginning of Gray's end, as Jupiter hit the ropes multiple times before sending Gray heels over head with a massive spear.  When he went for the Bolt again, this time it found the target…but before the Purifier could hit the mat, Jones blocked the Chosen leader’s body with his own.  Jupiter looked at the cheering crowd before hoisting Caleb up on his shoulders and serving up a little old school Jones with his Thunder Rolls running powerslam.  Gray was down and out for the count, leaving Seattle to count three as Jupiter retained his belt and finally got back the physical object after weeks of chicanery from Caleb.

We got replays of the match highlights as Carl accurately pointed out Jupiter turned Caleb into a one legged man in an ass kicking contest.  After they were done, we saw Jupiter in the ring celebrating with the rest of Collipark - right until “Bombs Over Baghdad” cut off and was replaced by Mastodon.  

“Orion” brought out Orion to a massive pop and excited commentary from Steve and Carl; they weren't alone in wondering if this would be the moment Orion cashed in their now certified National championship for a shot at the World title.  Jupiter seemed to be waving them on, but the Cosmic Champion merely sketched out a small bow in the direction of the ring before holding up the Natty.  Jones gave a respectful nod before thrusting the World title overhead.   The cash in is going to happen at some point, but not tonight.  Golden Rule went off the air with Steve wondering if Orion’s meteoric rise would end up with them as the one to dethrone Jupiter and be the next one to hoist up the Fifteen Pounds of Gold.  

FDSN Florida Presents QCW Ruckus [s5e17 • February 27th, 2026]

 📺 live on FanDuel Sports Network Florida

📍 Quality Arena 💫 Parts Unknown, fL

• After the standard “Invincible” open we zoomed inside Quality Arena.  If it's Friday night in Parts Unknown you know Steve Vandeblanche and Carl Christensen are on the call in front of a raucous crowd.  They hyped up tonight's two title matches: Orion putting their National championship on the line in an open challenge and the World Tag Team titles match between Science Fiction Double Feature looking to regain the belts from the Republic’s Malicía Fernandez and Pyotr Caviar.  But Ruckus kicked off with some different tag division action…

• 1. Serge Batroc & “the Proper Villain” Richard Windsor d. The Game Changers at 6:36 Despite their loose affiliation for months, this was the Europeans’ first outing and subsequent win as a tag team over the former champions in the Changers.  Al.and Ashley looked good early on, with the Tiki God using THEE Influencer for some assisted dropkicks that cleared Serge and Richard from the ring.  They got in a discussion on the floor and came up with a plan: to no one's surprise it involved cheating, as Richard provided a distraction to allow Serge a cheap shot on Ashley from behind that set up a Windsor double underwear suplex and then a two man assisted pop up European uppercut combination that turned the tide   Serge and Richard showed crisp teamwork, halving the ring and repeatedly knocking Al off the apron so that Ashley couldn't tag out and had to take more punishment.  Al was able to make a save on a nearfall, but all he got for his troubles was Richard tossing him head first into the steps to fully take him out of the equation.  The bad guys picked up the duke on poor Ashley after a middle rope European uppercut sent her into the waiting arms of a Windsor half & half suplex and across the ring.  

• After replays, the Batroc/Windsor team cut a victory promo clowning the Game Changers as past their sell by date and yesterday's news.  The tag division needed new blood and genuine wrestlers who mastered superior technical wrestling, not has-beens like the Changers or floppy little boys like the Undaunted.  Richard told the crowd to save their cheers, because he and Serge were going to drive them out of the company for QCW’s own good.  They might have some high flying frippery and get some of the middle school girls in the crowd excited, but if they barked up this tree a mighty oak would fall on their heads because some didn't remain undaunted - some wrestlers were just better than others.  Serge grabbed the mic and sneered out a “De rien!” before throwing it to the canvas.  He and Richard headed to the back after that, and Carl pointed out that given what he knows about the Undaunted, they weren't going to take those swipes lying down.  He & Steve briefly discussed what would happen if that match were to be made official.

• 2. Omar Littlefield (w/Ig de Catur, the Republic and Republic Enforcement) d. Jonathan Livingston Clipper Esq. at 2:50 Complete squash for the perpetually pissed off two time former World champion as he just overwhelmed the avuncular seafaring Clipper.  Omar nearly sent JLCE flying out of the ring with a vicious Pounce, then waited in the corner for Jon to get up so he could Pounce him again.  Omar pulled this week's victim off the canvas and splattered him with the Face Eraser to pick up a quick win.  After the match, Omar broke formation with the rest of the Republic to grab a nearby camera and bellow a demand that Commissioner Holmes give him another chance at the World title or he was going to send somebody to the hospital.  Littlefield then shoved the referee down so he could fire off another Face Eraser, which brought rate chuckles from his World Tag Team champion stablemates Pyotr Caviar and Malicía Fernandez.  Ig started bragging about how they were going to walk out of Quality Arena still YOUR tag champs after the main event tonight before we took the night’s first commercial break.  

• We got another creepy vignette from “Sinister” Sarah Fowler and Midsomar, with Fowler saying that her sickness couldn't be confined to Wednesdays, and couldn't be submerged by the likes of Keo Tevi.  It was nearly time to shed skin, to rebirth the old ways and marry them to a bleak new future to the horrified scream of all who witnessed – and that would happen next Friday night   Seven days before the rebirth cleansed QCW once and for all just as it deserves to be.  After some static we returned to the ring…

• 3. Goody Gardner (w/the Chosen) d. Shelley LaVey (w/Forbidden Book Club) at 7:31 Surprise!  Goody got the biggest win of her burgeoning career and she didn't even need any help from the Chosen to do it - however, she would end up getting help from Hysteria to do it.  It was evident once the bell rang that Goody had worked on her craft, but it was also evident that she was clearly a ring or two beneath the Goddess of Love.  Shelley got out in front and then began dominating, taking Gardner down repeatedly before planting her with the Heartbreaker draping cutter before going up top to end things with the Fallen Angel splash.  

• But right after she got into position to deliver it, the lights went out and when they came back on Hysteria was swarming Luz Cruz and ”Night Sky” Diana Spare in a 3 on 2 attack.  Shelley was clearly rattled by the beatdown but after some hesitation turned to the ring and flew off to splash Goody only to crash and burn as the Heart of the Homestead rolled out of harm’s way at the last second.  Caleb Gray told Goody to take what was hers and she did, wasting no time in grabbing Shelley and planting her with a snap swinging fisherman's neckbreaker to pull the upset victory.   Having accomplished what they set out to do, Hysteria walked away from the scene cackling while Caleb congratulated Goody then repeatedly said “This is our night.”

• From there we went TOTHEBACK~!, where Julius Duquesne III was standing by for an interview segment, and he brought out two of QCW’s biggest stars to Q&A with: Savage Justice.  The crowd popped huge as Justine Danek and Grand Slam Club member Mason “Razorblade” Savage came out to flank JD3.  Julius congratulated them on their win in the trios main event and asked them what was next after that win and weeks of Republic attacks.  Justice said it was real simple - he’d pinned half of the World Tag Team champions, so he & Razorblade were not only throwing their hats in the ring to get a shot at the belts, they wanted their old titles back.  Razorblade added that the best way to take down the Republic was to take their last remaining belts and as the good people of Parts Unknown could attest, nobody took the fight to Ig and his hired goons like Savage Justice.  If they got the shot, the belts were as good as theirs, and if the Republic didn't like that they could bleed about it…because there was nothing they wouldn't do to recapture the World Tag Team championships.  That full throated challenge from two of QCW’s favorites hung in the air as Ruckus faded to black and into a commercial break.

• The back end of the show opened up with Mastodon bringing out Orion to a massive pop ahead of their National championship title defense in an open challenge.  In response, before Orion could get out a sentence Nonpoint’s “Bullet With A Name” brought out the All Starr Stable to boos.  S. Mark Starr talked over them, saying that he and his men knew all about holding championship gold so if Orion wanted to hand over the title while he got his 12.5% that was fine by him.  Orion noted they held the Natty and not a friendship bracelet, so they weren't going to give all three of them a shot at the belt, but…but…why not have a little fun and say the first one to make it to the ring would get the shot?  The Stable looked at each other for a few beats until Evan O'Neill headed down the ramp, but Prince Ootsuka caught up to him and stopped him, saying he wanted the opportunity.  Ootsuka began to move forward only to be stopped by O’Neill and his side of the argument.  As they bickered in the middle of the aisle, the third member of the Stable did some elbows up speed walking past them and by the time Evan & the Prince stopped bickering the man they called “Brod the Bod” was in the ring and ready for his title shot…

• 4. Orion [c] d. “Upper Class” Broderick Palmer II (w/the All Starr Stable) in an open challenge to retain the QCW National championship at 8:01 8️⃣ Palmer II has a nice pedigree and all, he didn't embarrass himself or anything.  Bad news for him is he’s him and Orion's Orion, so this one was never in doubt.  In fact, for some viewers the most notable thing about the showcase match was Tre Boyd clearly pissed off while watching the match play out on a monitor backstage.  Either way a beautiful Shining Wizard set up Orion’s Nebula and left the Cosmic Champion only two more wins away from completing the 10 Count needed to activate cash in potential for a shot at the World championship.

• Replays of Orion’s highlights got interrupted by a purple tinted promo from Hysteria, who cackled over what they did to the Forbidden Book Club earlier.  Nancy Crowley mockingly asked the FBC if they thought Hysteria were scared of the challenge the FBC threw at them for an elimination match at Golden Rule.  They weren't running, they were Hysteria, not three losers high on their own supply.  But if they were throwing out challenges, Hysteria had one for them.  Bonnie Agrippa suddenly glitched to the forefront, saying that they were fine with fighting an elimination match if the Retread Club were fine with it being an extreme rules match.  No silly things like countouts or disqualifications, just Hysteria using any weapon they could get their hands on to shut them up once and for all.  They could scramble what was left of their brains with chairs, they could toss them through tables, they could beat them with kendo sticks like piñatas.  And when the dust settled it would be Hysteria who turned out the lights on the Book Club once and for all just like this! As she said that, she snapped her fingers and the screen briefly went to black after Hysteria's logo flashed.

• When it blipped out, we saw Naomi Lee in one of the arena’s skyboxes where she was set to interview Ashok Banerjee.  The crowd cheered upon seeing the Boundless One, but he barely managed a wave in response.  Naomi picked up on it and asked him if his mind was elsewhere even after getting that reception from the crowd.  Ashok allowed that being essentially helpless at ringside for last week's main event while two faced hypocrites like Caleb Gray didn't sit well with him.  But what really didn't sit well with him was the fact that despite a mostly triumphant return from getting blinded by Hysteria, he couldn't see a clear path to Golden Rule at the moment.  So he was keeping an eye on everything tonight from up high hoping he would see something that would shed some light on what he should do next to make sure he could bring Boundlessness to Seattle.  When Naomi pointed out he’d picked a tall task given the depth on the roster and how cherished a spot on any PPV was, Ashok merely replied that if he had to make a way to make his way, he’d do it.  Ashok kept up his intense look after that edict until Nao teed up the final commercial break for the night.

• 5. the Undaunted d. Glory Days at 6:30 Another win in a showcase for the recently arrived Undaunted, who used their speed to pick apart the former footballers in our semi main event.  Tim “the Only Hope” McMurray and “Unforgettable” Dave Mullin had phone cameras out and Quality Arena going out of its collective mind when they hit stereo Shooting Star planchas to the floor that wiped out Blockhead Ferguson and Cliff Foster; a couple of minutes after that they picked up the dub with their Shamrock Air Doomsday Meteora finisher.  

• Ahead of the main event, Steve Vandeblanche hyped up what will be the main event on 💫 next week's Ruckus 💫, where there would be an eight squads deep Tag Team Turmoil match, with the winners of that getting the shot at the World Tag Team titles come Golden Rule next month.  Who they’ll face gets determined in tonight's main event, which goes down now.

• Science Fiction Double Feature exercised their rematch clause here; remember that they were the champions heading into the fatal four way at Cold As Hell but lost their belts without ever getting pinned.  Their mentor, the Legendary Jupiter Jones stood with them as they tried to bring back the World Tag Team championships to the Family the same way he’d regained the World title back at Holiday In Cambodia.  “The Old Guard Is Dead” brought out the Republic to massive heat that Pyotr Caviar and Malicía Fernandez ignored, and why would they care about boos?  Ig de Catur's checks were far and on time, they had backup from not only the ever dangerous Omar Littlefield but half a dozen Republic Enforcement officers - the plan was to flip the David/Goliath script and walk out still champions.  The lights cut out except for a lone spotlight on Duck Eko as he made introductions for both teams, and then we were underway ..

• 6. The Republic [c, w/Omar Littlefield, Ig de Catur and Republic Enforcement] d. Science Fiction Double Feature (w/Jupiter Jones) to retain the QCW World Tag Team championships at 7:17 The tag team belts stay in Ig’s house, thanks to the power advantage Malicía and Pyotr had as well as some wildly unexpected help from the Chosen.  Cindy & Jane acquitted themselves well early, but Fernandez caught a Cindy dive off the top rope and converted it into a MF5 to tip the scales in the Republic's favor.  The mercenaries of the Republic spent the next couple of minutes ragdolling Cindy around the ring while Ig cackled at their power moves and Jupiter looked anxious (either because of the beating or the mysterious absence of the International Players).  The tenor of the match changed when Pyotr went for one of his pop up European uppercuts but Cindy reversed it into a massive DDT that had both of them down on the canvas.

• Eventually after kicking each other away, tags were made and Jane Doe immediately set to work getting Malicía Fernandez off balance.  Doe’s unorthodox offense began to chip away at the former National champion and eventually took Malicía down with a springboard Meteora.  Doe continued trying to tilt the scales in SFDF’s favor and used the Lady of the Lake to lure La Monstrua into a set up that lured her into an anklelock.  Then the match’s tenor changed again - but not because of anything that was happening in the ring.

• The International Players, clearly bloodied and battered, were tossed down the ramp by the End Times before they pummelled the Players further with their THE END IS NIGH signs.  In the ring Jane managed to keep the hold on but on the outside Jupiter went running up the ramp to save his proteges - only to get violently yanked into the retaining barrier by “the Purifier” Caleb Gray, who had been hiding in the crowd against the barrier and halfway down the ramp before making his move.  Gray grabbed one of the signs and clocked Jupiter with it, drawing the referee's attention from the ring and allowing Pyotr to sneak in the ring and take out Jane with a big boot to the face.  Cindy came in for a save but Pyotr tossed her over the top rope like she weighed nothing and Republic Enforcement was quick to form a human wall between her and the ring.  Gray laid into Jones with boots while Caviar helped Malicía land their finishing double chokeslam on a disoriented Jane.  Malicía got the referee's attention as Pyotr rolled to the floor and began putting the boots to Monet - and three seconds later the Republic had retained the World Tag Team championships much to the disgust of the good people of Parts Unknown.

• And they weren't done being pissed off, as Omar Littlefield snatched up Cindy and drove her through the announce table with a vicious Face Eraser.  Jupiter began crawling down the aisle for a desperate save attempt, but Danny Castle tossed Caleb the QCW World championship and Gray buried the Fifteen Pounds of Gold in the back of Jones' head to put him to sleep.  Caleb nodded solemnly as he lifted the belt overhead while standing over Jupiter's unconscious body, then turned to the End Times and said “We’re done here.” The Chosen headed to the back as Steve freaked out on commentary watching Caleb steal the World title for his own warped glory.  The credits box came up while we saw Collipark absolutely decimated by the Chosen and the Republic, and the last thing we saw was the Purifier holding up the World title to the camera with one last thing to say:

“Quality.  CHRISTIAN.  Wrestling.”

Cold As Hell PPV (Little Caesars Arena • Detroit)

 Preshow

1. Ashok Banjerhee (w/Jacques Krieger) d. "the Proper Villain" Richard Windsor (Decolonizer  Driver  -> pinfall)

2."Cambodian Cool" Keo Tevi d. "Sinister" Sarah Fowler [w/Midsomar] (Psychedelic Shock -> pinfall)

MAIN CARD

QCW NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP Genesis King ddq. Orion [c] (number remains at 6)

Justice Davis d. "The Purifier" Caleb Gray [w/the Chosen] (Justice Is Served -> pinfall; Davis frees his contract from Gray's control)

Forbidden Book Club d. Justine Danek & Bella Jolie [w/Bonnie Agrippa & Nancy Crowley] (Cruz ¡MUERTE! -> pinfall Danek)

fatal four way QCW WORLD TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIPS Pyotr Caviar and MalicÍa Fernandez (w/Ig de Catur & Republic Enforcement) d. Bonnie Agrippa & Nancy Crowley, Science Fiction Double Feature [c, w/the International Players] & Cole Grant & Freddie Valsada of the Glam Squad [w/John Arneson] (Fernandez double chokeslam -> pinfall Agrippa) #AndNEWWWWWWW

open challenge Tre Boyd d. Nazir el-Fadal (backslide -> pinfall)

triple threat QCW WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP Jupiter Jones [c, w/Collipark] d. Omar Littlefield (w/the Republic) & Mason "Razorblade" Savage (chair assisted Bolt From Olympus -> pinfall Littlefield)

Dia de los Muertos PPV (Toyota Center • Houston, TX)

                                                                          Preshow

1. "the Proper Villain" Richard Windsor d. "the Fury" Jim Jaspers (mule kick x Necessary Evil half and half suplex _> pinfall)

2. Justine Danek & Bella Jolie of Hysteria (w.Bonnie Agrippa & Nancy  Crowley d. Lyz Cruz & Shelley LaVey (Danek Twelve Feet Under -> pinfall Cruz)

MAIN CARD

John Arneson & the Glam Squad d. The Chosen ["the Purifier" Caleb Gray, "the Paragon" Drake Tremble & "the Righteous" Justice Davis w/Goody Gardner & the End Times] (Arneson Natural 20 avalanche powerslam -> pinfall Gray)

Russian chain Nazir el-Fadal d. Pyotr Caviar [w/the Republic] (Nazquil -> pinfall)

ladder match QCW NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP Orion d. Malicía Fernandez (w/the Republic) #AndNEWWWWW

QCW WORLD TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIPS Science Fiction Double Feature (w/Jupiter Jones & Benjamin Valentino) d. Bonnie Agrippa & Nancy Crowley of Hysteria [c, w/Justine Danek and Bella Jolie] (Monet Doomsday Device -> pinfall Agrippa) #AndNEWWWWW

Last Woman Standing QCW WOMEN'S WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP "Night Sky" Diana Spare d. Lolo Vuitton [c, w/Beast Mode] #AndNEWWWWW

¡lucha muerte! QCW WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP Omar Littlefield [c, w/the Republic] d. Mason "Razorblade" Savage

FDSN Florida Presents QCW Ruckus [s4e40 • September 5th, 2025]

 📺 live on FanDuel Sports Network Florida

📍 Quality Arena in Parts Unknown, FL

• A recap of last week's main event opened the show, the video package highlighting the Republic winning a six person tag and officially welcoming Pyotr Caviar into the fold only to have Orion and a kendo stick crash the party; they literally drew first blood on Malicía Fernandez ahead of their National championship rematch next week.  Things ended with the Republic swearing vengeance from the floor while Orion, Nazir el-Fadal and Razorblade held down the ring with weapons in hand. 

• Another hot Friday night in Parts Unknown that had nothing to do with the humidity outside.  Inside Quality Arena nearly a thousand strong were psyched for another high stakes episode of Ruckus.  Steve Vandeblanche and Carl Christensen welcomed us to the show and hyped up a special look at 2022’s AnIIversary as well as Omar Littlefield defending the World championship - but tonight's action would start with another defense of World titles.

• Lights off.

• Lights on.

• Hysteria.  Literally.  QCW’s resident coven held down the ring ahead of the arrival of their opponents and ex allies; the referee had to hold Luz Cruz and the Women's World champion “Night Sky* Diana Spare back before the lights dimmed down to a single spotlight on “the Voice of QCW” Duck Eko, who made introductions for our World Tag Team titles opener.

• 1. Bonnie Agrippa and Nancy Crowley of Hysteria [c, w/Justine Danek and Bella Jolie] d. Women's World champion “Night Sky” Diana Spare and Luz Cruz to retain the QCW World Tag Team championships at 10:25 Fun, hard hitting TV match that saw the champs retain to keep the Era of Hysteria rolling along; they’ve been holding gold 80+% of the time since last summer.  Spare started the match for her side but demanded she get to open against leader Agrippa, who readily accepted the challenge.  An early stalemate turned into a fight that the Women's World champion ended up ahead on before stomping a cackling Bonnie down in a neutral corner and nearly having to be pulled off by the referee.  (Shoutout to Carl’s deadpan “I don't think these gals like each other, Stevearino” watching this play out.) Spare tagged in Cruz before sending Agrippa into the ropes and alley ooping Cruz into a dropkick so high she could almost touch the overhead rig before laying out Bonnie with it.  That got Cruz a nearfall but it didn't stop Luz from lighting into the woman who’d taken control of Hysteria away from her for the next few beats of the match.  Bonnie’s mocking laughter came to an end quick as Luz reached into her lucha libre bag of tricks, sending Agrippa to the floor after landing a springboard dropkick.  Justine and Bella looked concerned and headed over towards Nancy as Cruz got on the hop and went for a signature step up tope con hilo - only for Bonnie to catch Cruz by the legs and swing her viciously headfirst into the retaining barrier before adding injury to injury by swinging her into the steel steps.

• Agrippa dragged Cruz closer to the Hysteria side of the ring, then rolled in to break up the count and tagged in Crowley.  The Feral Nancy climbed to the middle rope before pivoting to face the floor and flying off with a suicide senton that crushed Cruz’s rib cage like a slipper coming down on a cockroach.  As you probably guessed, the replays started flying while Luz desperately tried to keep all her Internal organs that way.  Nancy slowly drew herself to her feet before scaring the crap out of the cameraman by getting right in the lens and alternating guttural wordless noise with babbling before flashing a sick grin.  Crowley bundled up Luz and tossed her into the ring before following up with a Code Black; Luz may’ve been a little fortunate to escape at 2¾.  Crowley worked over Luz a little more before tagging Bonnie back in, and the two of them combined on a double gourdbuster that got another nearfall, this time for Bonnie.  As Bonnie kept beating on Cruz, Steve pointed out we were seeing everything that made Hysteria dangerous and the champs: they played mind games before the match, they had numbers on the outside, and they had the in ring skills to run any division they set their evil minds to.  Bonnie unleashed her fury over the next few moments and buried Spare under a flurry of flash elbows before doing a throat slash across Diana’s neck, then called for the end.  Agrippa hit two rolling suplexes before tagging in Nancy to finish off their former friend with a trademark spike brainbuster – but Diana suddenly slipped free and shoved Bonnie into Nancy, sending Crowley bouncing off the apron to the floor and Agrippa hung out to dry between the ropes.  The crowd clapped along with Luz as Spare managed to do a couple of rolls before tagging Luz to a solid pop from the Quality Controllers.

• Cruz wasted no time sprinting across the ring and leaping off Bonnie's back to hit Bonnie on the floor with a corkscrew plancha, Steve freaking out over the crispness of the tornillo.  Luz tossed Crowley back in and leveled her with a springboard dropkick, then followed up by running up the ropes to connect with a tornado DDT; Crowley managed a kick out late.  Cruz hit some rapid fire kicks on Crowley before doubling her over and giving Nancy a taste of her own medicine with a Code Red.  This got Justine and Bella on the apron in protest but Cruz dropkicked Danek down to the floor, then dropkicked Jolie into the fallen Justine.  Crowley tried to sneak up on Cruz and finish things with Bite Me, but Luz held onto the buckles to send Nancy flying backwards before putting the super in superkick.  Before Nancy could drop, Luz snatched her up and took her to Widow’s Peak with a vicious looking Gory Especial neckbreaker.  Nancy was too weak to get her shoulders off the mat…but her lower body had enough to drape a leg on the bottom rope at 2.8 and save the titles for Hysteria much to the chagrin of the crowd.

• If you can believe it, the titles match broke down even further from there as Justine and Bella tried to pull Nancy from the ring only to get caught by the ref.  The zebra wound up and ejected them to a pop, and when they wouldn't leave on their own called for the referee corps to remove them from ringside.  Justine and Diana traded a few words as they were being escorted out, leading to a shoving match the refs had to try and break up - and with all the attention on the floor, it gave Bonnie perfect cover to wallop Luz in the face with one of the championships before rolling out of the ring and hiding.  Nancy crawled over and barely got an arm over Cruz, causing Steve to scream “Not like this, damnit!  Not like this l!” as the count came down…only for Diana to slide in and pull Crowley off at 2.9 to another roar from the crowd.  Spare picked up Nancy by the face and began to threaten her when Bonnie grabbed Diana by the legs and pulled her out to the floor.  Spare sent Agrippa back first into the barricade and seemed to be setting up for Nightfall only for Bonnie to slip out the back door and shove Diana face first into the ringpost so hard Spare’s body went limp after making impact, another case of steel conquering flesh.  FDSNF showed “Night Sky” bleeding from the head before panning up to the ring, where a clearly rattled Crowley wobbled to the corner and tagged in Agrippa.  The damage had been done to Diana and now it would be done to Luz, as the champs laid out their former leader with a spike brainbuster and as they have so many times this year used it to win the match and retain the gold.

• Crowd booed the fact that Hysteria had barely escaped by the skin of their teeth, but you know Bonnie and Nancy didn't care about that - they held up their belts in defiance before we got to replays, Carl putting over Nancy as the match’s MVP even if he didn't like her tactics.  Back live, Justine and Bella came back out and celebrated with their coven on the ramp amongst the boos.  Nancy and Bonnie made sure to get their titles right up in the lens before Agrippa dropped hers a little bit to hiss “Best - tag team - in the world!”

• We had a This Week In QCW History segment that took us back to September 4th, 1994 and the debut of one “Superstar” Scott Holmes to a warm reception from the fans; by the following summer he'd be getting “Superfraud!” chants.  In the modern age, most fans and wrestlers agree he’s doing super as Commissioner.

• 2. “Zaddy Longlegs” Cole Grant (w/”Fahrenheit” Freddie Valsada) d. Hawk Carter at 8:18 Fun fact: since this was his first singles match since the time limit draw with Valsada that led to the Glam Squad forming, this was Cole’s first singles win in QCW over the bigger Carter.  Hawk took an early advantage but the turning point came when QCW’s resident cowboy missed a corner charge and flew shoulder first into the ringpost.  He staggered out of the corner Grant was going up the turnbuckles in before flying off the top rope with a super bulldog that crumpled Hawk.  Grant put on a showcase from there and won with a superkick to the delight of Freddie on the floor; they celebrated up the ramp and Ruckus went to commercials.

• Back from break and to one of the skyboxes in Quality Arena, where Naomi Lee had a live interview with Beast Mode.  The crowd shouted up boos at them but Roy Fade and Lolo Vuitton were egging them right back while Pierce Moore merely looked nauseated.  Naomi asked them why they interfered in Tre Boyd’s match on last week's show and Roy said he was tired of the Boyd hype when he and his squad were standing right here holding it down for years before Sky’s the Limit showed up.  “These Hands” continued, saying that if the fly boys wanted to try and step on his turf then he'd get grimy and ain’t nobody in the building wanted that.  Lolo cackled before taking over, saying that everybody knew next week Beast Mode was going to clown Tre and his sidekick Kam, they were already on the struggle bus and running out of gas.  But it wasn't just the pretty boys holding it down because it was past time gold was back in her life.  If Diana Spare was done losing and pretending, the real best Women's World champion of all time would take her property back at the biggest show in company history - who else could the #1 contender be but her?   Respect and championships would be put on their names and they were done waiting.  Now they were going to take all the turns.  They told Lee to go find somebody else to bother so they could have their champagnes in peace; a seething Naomi threw things to Duck in the ring, who made the ring introductions for the next match up…

• 3. John Arneson d. Evan O'Neill (w/the All Starr Stable) at 10:09 This rivalry was born in QCW’s sister company in the Pacific Northwest, where the always abrasive O’Neill never took Arneson seriously due to his size even when they were trading the Evergreen Wrestling League title; their feud escalated until a EWL title loser leaves town match that Arneson won, sending O’Neill towards QCW and the Stable.  Arneson came out of the gate hot looking to shrink O’Neill down to size with some buzzsaw kicks to the thigh before battering the Oracle of Off-Book down with some old school Mongolian chips.  But his run of offensive success hit a brick wall disguised as a big boot, and if there's one thing Evan O'Neill is going to do, it's exploit an opportunity.  Evan worked over John through both force and malice, repeatedly using as much of the referee's five count as he could to choke the Cold-Forged Hammer with his boot if not his bare hands.  Even when Arneson managed a brief rally, the former World Tag Team champion put paid to it with a Stun Gun that set up a slingshot spear - still, Arneson managed to shoulder up at 2¾.  Arneson 's narrow survival just made Evan turn up the torque on another barrage of offense.  After splattering John with a powerbomb, Evan pulled him into the drop zone before coming off the top to finish him off with his trademark One Last Chance, but Arneson knew all too well the horrors of that senton elbow drop and managed to roll out of harm's way at the death.  O’Neill was trying to get his wits about him as he peeled himself off the mat but Arneson outsmarted him by scooping him up with an Oklahoma roll that just barely but successfully got him the three count and kept his undefeated streak in QCW rolling on.

• O’Neill handled this as well as you might expect, jumping Arneson from behind before FDSN Florida could even fire off any replays, and with some quick help from Prince Ootsuka and “Upper Class” Broderick Palmer II it didn't take long for the Iron Dwarf to be on the wrong side of a 3 on 1 beatdown.  The Stable looked to be setting up John for a big double team maneuver when the crowd suddenly converted jeers to cheers as Ashok Banjerjee and Jacques Krieger ran down the ramp to keep the Stable from any further bullying.  In only a few short seconds the random assortment of babyfaces had cleared the ring of the Stable, and while the bad guys fumed on the floor over their plans being ruined John thanked Ashok and Jacques for having his back.

• Before we hit another commercial break a video package flashed back to AnIIversary in ‘22 where Autumn Powers beat Summer Rose to retain the Women's World championship to force Rose to leave town (we haven't seen Summer since and for that matter we haven't seen Autumn since last year's AnnIVersary), the Game Changers won the World Tag Team championships, and the show ended with the infamous Naz belt toss after he beat Razorblade to regain the World title in his Last Stand and the Match of the Year.

• 4. The Chosen (“the Purifier” Caleb Gray, “the Righteous” Justice Davis and “the Paragon” Drake Tremble w/the End Times and Goody Gardner) d. Anton Stahl and the Wonderful Ward Brothers at 8:04 We came back from commercials right into six man action to kick off the back half of Ruckus, action that saw the newest iteration of the Chosen best three former champions in Stahl and the Wards.  The babyfaces acquitted themselves well early on, and there was some awkwardness between JD and Tremble that continued unfolding as the match went on. The Chosen used the power advantage they had over the technical trio they were up against to first get and then keep the upper hand.  As Goody Gardner rooted them on from ringside - especially Justice - QCW’s resident zealots got the duke.  Caleb only interjected in a couple of spots to keep things flowing his team’s way and it led to the finish: Justice looked to be putting the finishing touches on the fight with Rich Ward lined up to eat his Busiaku knee, but Tremble tagged himself in and drilled Rich with the Halo Effect to get the pin while Caleb and Justice fended off Anton and Jason the Great to secure the win.  The Chosen hit their group cross pose in celebration post match and all yelled “Faith over fear!”... everyone except for Davis, who was glaring a bit at a smirking Drake and didn't see Goody looking with concern at him.  

• Carl noted the weirdness from the desk but brought up his championship winning past before also noting that wins had a way of papering over any rough spots.  As Steve was putting over the win streak that the Chosen were putting together since adding the reluctant acolyte Davis, the lights went out in Quality Arena.  The Qualitron 9004 whirred to life and showed all four women of Hysteria in a dark room while purple and white tulip lights swung overhead.  Justine and Bella talked briefly about being avenged before Nancy Crowley added to it, saying they were avenged by the best tag team in the damn world, as those Hysteria rejects Luz and Diana found out earlier.  Bonnie Agrippa stepped forward from the darkness with a death grip on the QCW World Tag Team championshipship in her hand and said that as much fun as tonight's win was, the biggest show in QCW history wouldn't be complete without her and Nancy defending their titles and shutting up more haters - and she had just the victims in mind.  She was tired of hearing the Undaunted run their yaps, so she and Nancy would shut them up at AnniVersary if they had the balls.  Undaunted.  Hysteria.  QCW World Tag Team championships on the line…champions vs. champions.  The Tron cut to black and the lights came back on to the crowd buzzing and Steve hyping a potential landmark tag titles match for the PPV before we had some more tag action in our semi main…

• 5. Hellraisers d. The Proper Villains at 8:41 Problems continued for the Villains, who lost to their QCW & Catch Hell rivals the Hellraisers when some timely dodging from Gerry Greene led to “the Fury” Jim Jaspers accidentally flying into his partner “the Proper King” Richard Windsor, sending Windsor flying off the apron and into the retaining barrier.  Richard managed to recover but glowered at Jim from the floor the rest of the match, standing by passively while the black hats turned things into essentially a handicap match Windsor felt fine watching like he was in the cheap seats instead of in the match.  The cohesive ‘Raisers put an outmatched Jim away after their To Hell With You deadlift German suplex x Supernaut flying lariat combo. 

• Before we headed to break we saw Robert E. Moonshine pump up his partner “Swamp Pride” Ted Holland ahead of the World title main event and they exchanged a three step handshake before leaving their locker room; two slightly somehow familiar shadows were on the wall a few beats behind them a few seconds later.

• What's to come on 💫 next week's Ruckus? 💫 Steve's glad you asked! We’ll jump back in time two years to take a special look at AnnIIIversary • Catch Hell Wrestling League tag team champions the Undaunted make their QCW debuts against the Chosen's End Times • and next week's main event will be Malicía/Orion III for the National championship…but this week's main event with the World title on the line is right now.

• Ghaiz Guevara's “The Old Guard Is Dead” fired up over the PA to bring out the controversial World champion Omar Littlefield, his patron Ig de Catur and the rest of the Republic along with their personal security.  Carl couldn't keep the bike out of his voice when he said that for someone his size, the last thing Littlefield needed was to be surrounded by a dozen hired goons whether or not he had the champion’s prerogative to come out first.  As Guevara's song faded, it was replaced by the dulcet tones of “Thank God I’m A Country Boy” replaced it to bring out crowd favorite and perennial underdog “Swamp Pride” Ted Holland and his tag partner Robert E. Moonshine.  As the Qualitron 9004 remained open, Holland broke out into an evil grin as he and Robert gestured towards the back for someone to come forward,  Actually, that turned out to be someones plural, as the rolling fog parted to reveal first Orion and then Mason “Razorblade” Savage to massive pops from the QCW faithful while the Republic fumed over the surprise special guest stars.  The announce hyped up Holland making the playing field more level for the biggest match of his career and put over Orion and Razorblade for having his back while also throwing shade at Nazir el-Fadal for not being here to lend a hand.  We got the same sort of specialized championship lighting we did for the opener but Omar spent the whole time he was being intro’d complaining to the ref about Orion and Razorblade’s presence even as he handed over the belt and the bell rang, allowing Ted to land an immediate shotgun dropkick that wobbled Omar and got our main event underway with hope in the air…

• 6. Omar Littlefield [c, w/Ig de Catur, the Republic and Republic Enforcement] d. “Swamp Pride” Ted Holland (w/Robert E. Moonshine, Orion and Mason “Razorblade” Savage) to retain the QCW World championship at 11:11 …but no Cinderfella story to be had here. Sorry.  In Ted’s defense he threw everything and the kitchen sink at Omar.  Littlefield couldn't get a hold on Holland for nearly the first two minutes as Ted out on a stick and more clinic, going to the second and even top rope for shoulder blocks when the standard issue ones wouldn't budge the land monster from up north.  Unfortunately for Ted it only took two moves for Omar to send him to the floor, where he proceeded to beat Ted like a rented goalie; the itinerary included hard throws into the retaining barrier, a press drop into the steps and a throw onto the announce table (which didn't give, possibly making things worse for Holland).  A growling Omar tossed Ted into the ring before splattering him with a Pounce but Ted managed to kick out even if it was at 2.9.  Orion, Razorblade and Robert pounded the apron to try to rally Ted, which drew the attention of Republic Enforcement.  Omar paid the outside business no mind and hit a World’s Strongest Slam before setting up and delivering a Vader Bomb.  The words between REnforcement and the babyfaces started turning into shoves from the gray shirts, who picked a fight with three wrestlers and got treated like red shirts despite having a 2:1 advantage.  This got Ig on the apron full of self righteous anger, with Malicía and Pyotr’s attempts to talk him down falling on dead ears.  As the referee was demanding they all return to the floor, Moonshine surprised everyone by getting to the top rope and connecting with a flying lariat.  This only pissed off the rest of the Republic even further, which further just pissed off the referee and kept their focus on getting them completely off the apron - completely missing Orion and Razorblade sliding into the ring and connecting on a leg lariat HiLo that wiped Omar out right before they slid back out of the ring and threw their voices in support of the referee’s warning.  Seeing an opportunity, Ted slowly made his way to the top rope and made sure to balance himself before flying off and connecting with a diving headbutt.  Ted pinned Omar's shoulders to the canvas and the referee spun around to get down for the count – but Omar practically bench pressed Red off before it could even get to 2½.  Ted looked a little panicked but quickly called for the end and tried to get the World championship by connecting with a Doctor Bomb he calls Before the Fall; Omar made it winter real quick by lariating Ted so hard he came out of one of his short boots.  Omar showed Ted how champions did it by picking up the limp Holland and dropping him with his trademark Face Eraser DDT and not only won the match but made the zebra count to 5 on the pinfall.  Sorry, Ted.

• But things didn't end there, as REnforcement landed some post match cheap shots on Orion, Razorblade and Robert while Omar made the ref one up Ted by lariating the poor zebra out of both of their shoes.  It didn't take long for the Republic to get the upper hand on the smaller babyfaces, as titles went flying into foreheads to leave the ring looking like the plot of a mortuary.  Omar used the Fifteen Pounds of Gold to take a chunk out of Razorblade’s forehead while the much smaller Orion and Robert were no match for land mobsters Fernandez and Caviar   While the Republic played a deeply unfun game of Finisher Bingo on the babyfaces, Ig demanded and got the mic from Duck.  He shouted over the boos, saying that in a few short weeks AnniVersary would take place in this very ring and he had a special announcement for the main event.  

• He’d put together the finest personal army money could buy, so come the last Sunday of the month they were going to go to war and secure the Commissionership for him once and for all.  In Quality Arena - the house he built - he was bringing his newest invention to Parts Unknown in the form of not just a steel cage but a chamber with four holding cells that would break bones, she's blood and crush the spirit of anyone foolish enough to stand in for Holmes. He dubbed his newest invention the LockUp match and made it clear why he felt like he had nothing to worry about: he had the future of QCW with Pyotr Caviar, the gold standard of National champions in Malicía Fernandez and of course his personal wrecking ball the #AndSTILL World Heavyweight champion Omar Littlefield – if this pathetic resistance was the best Holmes could provide for opposition then at AnniVersary Ig’s conquest of QCW would be complete…and he’d put the Superstar in the ground right next to his sorry ass daddy.  

• That tore it for Holmes, who parted the Tron and odds be damned sprinted towards the ring looking to beat some respect into Ig…only for Omar to Pounce him so hard when he hit the end of the ramp that Holmes went flying into the steps head first.  A loud clang was heard and he fell awkwardly and limply to the floor, causing gasps and some super sized “ASSHOLE!” chants from the usually lawful good Quality Controllers.  With their opposition absolutely wiped out all around them in and out of the ring, Ig made sure to gather his forces on the apron over Holmes’ fallen body before letting out a screechy “Long live the Republic!” to further inflame the faithful.  “The Old Guard Is Dead” played Ruckus off the air while Steve worried that with all that firepower - and Lord help us if so - we were three weekends away from the official coronation of Emperor de Catur.