FDSN Florida and Ruckus presents Pure Massacre

 📺 live on FanDuel Sports Network Florida

📍 United Center 💫 Chicago, IL

• A video package opened the show, first featuring Genesis King being a thorn in Orion’s side and gunning after the National championship the past couple of months, then changed focus to last week's main event where the Republic wiped out all five members of Collipark and Savage Justice and stood triumphantly on the ring to end Ruckus.

• We zoomed into the United Center, past rows of screaming fans to the stage where a truckload of red and white pyro blasted on the stage.  Silverchair’s titular song blasted from the PA as Steve Vandeblanche and Carl Christensen welcomed us to a special super sized episode of Ruckus with limited commercial interruptions.  Steve hyped up the Forbidden Book Club v. Hysteria tag match as well as the trios main event where World champion the legendary Jupiter Jones would team up with Savage Justice to face off against the three headed land monsters of the Republic.  But they were kicking things off with a bang, as the no holds barred National championship match would kick off the show from sweet home Chicago ..

• 1. Orion [c] d. Genesis King in a no holds barred match at 13:18 to retain the QCW National championship 7️⃣ Heading into this opener, plenty of people up to and including the announce team wondered if the lawless environment would favor the stronger and clearly more devious King.  That was the story going into the match; the story of the match was the haughty newcomer to QCW getting some respect beaten and kicked into him from the Cosmic Champion.  Things were choppy right from the opening bell, as King smack talked Orion before delivering a stiff slap to the masked superstar that had the crowd oohing and booing.  Orion's response was a shrug followed by a kick to the balls that had Carl wondering if the Bears needed a new punter.  As King went down in a heap to cheers, Steve pointed out that while that’d gotten Orion  disqualified at Cold As Hell it obviously wasn't going to happen here.  In addition to dragon screw leg whips and other attacks to destroy his height advantage, Orion also was fine with using an array of weapons to keep King down.  They first dented a couple of cookie sheets to bash his head in until they were unusable, then took things up a notch by battering his back and midsection with kendo stick shots.  It didn't take too long for that until the crowd chanted for tables, and Orion heeded the call.  Dragging one out gave King an opening to take them down with a tope suicida that bought him some time.

• King took the table for himself and set it up in a corner of the ring only to turn around and take a bowling ball toss to the gut that would've made Walter Sobchak proud even if it had been on the Sabbath.  King was crawling on his hands and knees before Orion came back in with a steel chair and repeatedly hit him across the back with it; not done there, Orion maneuvered him to his back, put the chair between his legs and then stomped the chair into his groin until it was almost bent in half.  A raspy King begged for mercy but none was coming, especially after Orion hit the ropes and stilled his tongue with a satellite DDT on the chair.  Orion went for a cover after that, but pulled King up at two before pointing to the still intact table to get a massive pop from the Chicago chapter of Quality Controllers.  Orion dragged the barely conscious Genesis into position before executing a picture perfect Orion's Nebula through the table.  The match should've definitely been over after that - but Orion rolled off and did some mocking push ups, a usual taunt of their opponent’s.  Orion rolled out of the ring before reaching underneath the ring for one last object of torture - a chair wrapped in barbed wire.  Orion got the chair in the ring before tossing it at King’s head - when he tried to block or catch it with his hands, Orion delivered a Shining Wizard into the chair to send it flying into King and finally relented enough to cover him for the decisive three that the crowd counted along with.  A victorious Orion grabbed the National championship back and pointed to the Qualitron, which listed the Cosmic Champion as being only three more wins away from completing their 10 Count and being able to cash in the Natty for a World title shot any time, any place while the medical staff helped carry a bloodied and battered King to the back.

• We took another trip through the vault for a couple moments in This Week In QCW History: February 12th, 1983 saw “Cowboy” Jack Powers beat “the Communist Chainsaw” Dmitri Caviar (Pyotr's papa) to win the QCW Championship - kicking off a second and final run with the belt that lasted nearly the rest of the year 💫 and on this date in 2017, the International Players won the QCW Tag Team championships for the first time.

• 2. Serge Batroc d. “Tiki God” Al Buffett (w/Ashley “THEE Influencer” Szabo) at 9:57 Al gave the fans reason to believe early, using his surprising strength to power Serge around the ring in the early going.  But as he was raining down what looked to be 10 punches in Serge’s dome, the French Assassin changed levels and shoved Al into the ring post, leaving the Tiki God draped over the metal supports that connect the turnbuckles to the post.  Serge went out to the apron and got a running start before he blasted Al with a European uppercut that sent Al flying to the floor and crash landing with a splut.  Al managed to beat the count but that just gave Serge time to dissect him and work over an already weakened neck.  Buffett got in a brief rally before Serge almost sent him into orbit with a pop up European uppercut, and Batroc rolled once he’d hit that.  An Arc de Triomphe secured triumph for Serge, and the smug Frenchmen made sure to tip both the referee and Duck Eko for announcing him as the winner $100 a piece while Ashley checked on Al; Steve noted she has a match on the way later tonight ahead of our first commercial break.

• We came back from the break to an interview with the Republic.  But Naomi Lee couldn't even get in a question before Ig de Catur got some of his Republic Enforcement flunkies to shoo her away so he could have an uninterrupted soliloquy.  Ig said that the close of last week saw his esteemed colleagues  destroy Justice, Razorblade and Jones in the main event with a path of destruction the likes of which QCW had never seen.  de Catur promised that last week's violence was merely the beginning and wouldn't end until the Fifteen Pounds of Gold joined the World Tag Team championships as property of the Republic, because the power in QCW didn't lie with an inferior Commissioner or other relics of QCW’s past - it was with the present and future of QCW - his Republic.

• 3. Forbidden Book Club (w/”Night Sky” Diana Spare) fought Hysteria (w/Bella Jolie) to a double countout at 10:50 As Luz Cruz and Shelley LaVey came out, we got picture in picture footage from last week of Diana Spare choosing to join but not lead the FBC as she preferred a team of equals.  As the three of them hit the ring, the lights cut out - when they came back on not only was Hysteria there but a Pier 4 was already underway to the joy of the Chicagoans.  For two segments there wasn't a wristlock or hold in sight as the former friends turned enemies fought each other raw with hard hitting suplexes and big impact strikes.  When the Club started to get the upper hand on Bonnie Agrippa and Nancy Crowley, the top shelf of Hysteria bailed out to the floor for a timeout.  But as they were being consoled by Bella, Luz and Shelley broke up their huddle by flying over the top rope in stereo with twin step up Shooting Star planchas to take out all three black pointy hats to “Holy shit!” chants from the Chicago faithful.  We got a few replays of Cruz and LaVey hitting their synchronized dives, but when we returned to live action things weren't so pretty - the brawl had resumed on the floor, with Bella and Diana exchanging smack talk as the referee continued his count in the ring.  Both teams kept the other from getting back in the ring, leading to a double countout that led to jeers.  

• The six women stopped for a few beats when Duck Eko announced the double countout, but then re-engaged in fisticuffs with Bella and Diana squaring off as well.  All six women continued brawling around ringside, with the fight between Luz and Bonnie spilling into the crowd and out through the concourse.  Quality Force Security came out and split into thirds to handle all the brawls happening while Steve noted that this years-long rivalry was far from over and it was going to take something seismic to end it.

• A splashy video package hyped up next month's Golden Rule PPV.  Highlights from multiple upper card superstars were interspersed with overhead and helicopter shots of Pike Peak Market, the Space Needle, and just to show off, highlights of the Seahawks’ Super Bowl win and parade cued up the announcement. On March 22nd, the Climate Pledge Arena is going to host this year's Rule.  A city that knows something about champions is going to host QCW’s spring spectacular - and every championship in QCW will be on the line.  Tickets on sale to Quality Insiders on Monday morning, and the general public on Wednesday.  Available on PPV dot com in the States and BBC Two across the pond, it's going to be a can’t miss show.  Ruckus took a commercial break after this.

• 4. Ashok Banerjee and Jacques Krieger d. A Cut Above (w/S. Mark Starr & Prince Ootsuka) at 10:08 A tale of two teams passing like ships in the night played out here, as former Tag Team of the Year ACA couldn't shed their losing streak while unlikely allies Ashok and Jacques continued to climb the tag ladder with another win.  Starr’s squad worked well in small fits and spurts that showed their former championship pedigree but they could never find an answer for Ashok's speed and looked helpless against Krieger's power.  The good guys turning things into a showcase allowed the announce team to speculate if they were a couple more wins away from a shot at the tag titles and note how their styles complimented each other.  Evan O'Neill ended up taking the fall after the white hats hit him with sandwich shoteis and a version of Total Elimination where Banjerjee did a leg sweep and Jacques drilled the usually mouthy Oregonian with a stiff looking pump knee strike.  The winners celebrated on separate turnbuckles while on the floor Starr looked like he was trying to tear his own hair out with the frustration of the losing streak.

• The announce team were putting over Ashok and Jacques’ victory when they were suddenly interrupted by Hysteria on the Qualitron.  A seething Bonnie Agrippa said that those poser rejects could revive the name all they wanted but it was Hysteria's success that drove them to bring back something that was better off dead.  Golden Rule was coming up and it would be the death knell for the so-called Forbidden Book Club! whatever they came after them with, Hysteria would return three fold.  Crowley hissed and made a cutthroat gesture before the Tron returned to normal 

• 5. Ashley “THEE Influencer” Szabo (w/”Tiki God” Al Buffett) d. “The Proper Villain” Richard Windsor by disqualification at 12:17 Not a fun night to be a Game Changer.  By contrast to Tiki God’s match, Ashley was able to use her power to nullify Richard’s technical wrestling and even started to show him up by giving him a drop toe hold into the bottom turnbuckle.  Windsor was defenseless and easy pickings for Ashley to drill him with a Game Changer.  Once the enzui corner to corner Meteora landed Szabo showed off her S tier offense and maneuvered Windsor into position for a cluster bomb of hammer and anvil elbows. Once she’d flattened out the Englishman she went up top to end things with Smash That Subscribe Button - but that just gave her an eagle eyed view of Serge Batroc running down the ramp to sneak up on Buffett and throw him into the steps.  Szabo was clearly deliberating between hitting her finisher and taking out Serge; as she turned back to the ring she found Windsor hanging onto her leg like a barnacle.  Szabo tried to shake him off but couldn't before Batroc hopped on the apron and hit her with a European uppercut to draw the DQ. 

• The Europeans clearly didn't care about that as they beat Szabo down and sent her into Al when he tried to make the save, which knocked him back down to the floor.  Ashley actually got in a few shots on them both before she ended up a victim of Serge’s Arc de Triomphe - and her bouncing off the canvas from the impact put her right into Richard's arms before she went flying again courtesy of a Necessary Evil half and half suplex.  Batroc and Windsor looked at each other for a few beats before Windsor offered his hand and Serge took it.  As the Game Changers remained down, some of the referee corps came out to fend off another attack but Richard and Serge merely put their noses in the air.  Before we got in the last commercial break of the evening, the last thing we saw from the scene were the European technicians laughing at the top of the ramp over their dastardly deeds.

• Backstage interviewer Julius Duquesne III welcomed us back to Pure Massacre before bringing out special guests Savage Justice and the QCW champion - the legendary Jupiter Jones.  The trio got a huge pop as they flanked JD3, who asked them for comments ahead of the big trios main event in a few moments.  Razorblade pointed out at last year's Pure Massacre, Ig de Catur had begun his hostile takeover of QCW and assembling his goon squad.  And for a while it had worked.  But he hadn't been able to hold on to it because people like him wouldn't let him, people like Justice wouldn't let him and legends like Jupiter wouldn't let him.  Jones began to speak, saying that after tonight he will have kicked Republic ass from Cambodia to Chicago and he wouldn't stop until they were all beaten and broke.  The only reason there even was a QCW for Ig to try and put in his portfolio was because of sacrifices people like his teammates made, or he had made, or his father before him had made.  They wanted to take QCW and make it their private playground, but they were going to lose because QCW belonged to the fans and the wrestlers who didn't sell out to the Republic.  And tonight, the only thing they’d be buying with Ig’s millions was an ass kicking in front of Chicago and the world.  Julius asked Justice if he had anything to add and Davis said that they'd gotten the hurt put on them last week, but in a few moments they were going to get payback on those sellouts . It was going to take more than a few cheap shots to keep them down, and it was time to kick down Iggy boy’s house of cards by kicking some Republic ass.  JD gave JD3 a nod and left the set, and Razorblade and Jupiter followed suit.

• Before the main event, Steve conducted the hype train for 💫 next week's Ruckus 💫: we’ll hear from the #AndSTILL National champion Orion 💫 Tre Boyd looks to continue his winning ways against the haughty technician Richard Windsor 💫 and “the Purifier Caleb Gray will go heads up against Jacques Krieger.  All that and more next week - but we have an all-star trios match to end this supershow on.

• 6. Jupiter Jones & Savage Justice (w/Science Fiction Double Feature) d. The Republic (w/Ig de Catur & Republic Enforcement) at 14:08 The Republic might as well have shown up in Green Bay Packer jerseys given the hailstorm of boos and jeers they got coming out, but Omar Littlefield and the World Tag Team champions Pyotr Caviar and Malicía Fernandez didn't react to the negative reaction (unlike their patron Ig).  “Bombs Over Baghdad” began briefly but was cut off by “Unscripted Violence” and an already rabid crowd went nuclear as the opposition materialized in the bleachers.  For while Justice Davis was well liked by the faithful and the legendary Jupiter Jones and the World title he had around his shoulder were respected by the thousands in attendance…it was a young Mason Savage who’d come to many a wrestling show here, and growing up a sneeze away from Terror Town and fighting his way into his own QCW immortality had sharpened him into the Razorblade the fans were roaring for now.  

• The three men came down the steps through a sea of screams and pats on the back; once they hit the ring it only took a few beats for a Pier 6 to break out and when the referee couldn't keep it from continuing after 15 seconds of right hands flying like planes at O’Hare she called for the bell.  Once things finally settled down a little bit, it was the World champion Jones battling World Tag Team champion Fernandez in a double display of power.  Both went for their finisher early only to see their opponent counter it, and it took a rope running sequence for Jupiter to pull a veteran move of avoiding a Fernandez dropkick and following up with a Samoan drop to get the upper hand.  The Champ quickly got Malicía to his corner and tagged in Justice, and they teamed up on the lanky luchadora for a double suplex.

• Justice had to fight uphill against La Monstrua; fortunately for the white hats fighting uphill is how he made his name and even though it took him three clotheslines off the ropes to drop Malicía he managed the feat.  With her down, Justice quickly picked up on the “We want Razorblade!” chants and brought in the hometown hero to a massive pop before they teamed up on a double dropkick to drop the former National champion again.  The person she & Ig had cheated to take it from was Razorblade, and he took particular pleasure in lighting her up with some offense.  Malicía went for a desperation Death Warrant, but Savage snuck out the back door before spinning her towards him and planting her with a spinebuster.  Fernandez rolled over to her side and then rolled out of the ring entirely.  Razorblade was quick to follow her out and give chase – and walked right into a trap, as a Pyotr Caviar Russian sickle sent him for a loop and an Omar Littlefield Pounce sent him flying over the announce table.  When Steve and Carl barely got out of the way, there was nothing stopping Razorblade from bouncing off the retaining barrier and bouncing violently face first off the table before going down in a heap.  With Republic Enforcement keeping the path clear for a recovering Malicía to stagger over and grab Razorblade, replays of Razorblade getting pinballed repeatedly around ringside played without the usual commentary.

• When Fernandez pulled Savage up from his slumped over position on his desk, a bloody nose could be seen on the Grand Slam champion.  The Republic now had a target to go after and retribution on their minds as she threw him back in and tagged in Omar, who immediately targeted Razorblade’s already injured face with back elbows before tagging in Pyotr Caviar so all three of them could club away on Razorblade and stomp him down in their corner much to the disdain of everyone in the United Center not named de Catur or anyone on his payroll.

• But that was all noise happening outside the ring, as between the ropes the Republic showed why they were the biggest threats to QCW’s way of life and had been for the better part of the year.  Mason Savage could take a beating and the black hats were more than happy to dish one out - first, Pyotr put Razorblade through his paces and nearly eclipsed the ring with a vicious running crossbody block.  Then he doubled over the former World champion with a military press gutbuster.  Caviar showed off his strength by holding Razorblade over his knee with one hand before tagging in Malicía with the other, setting her up perfectly for the towering Fernandez to show off her athleticism with a somersault axe kick before she tagged in Omar Littlefield.  Omar wasted no time in picking up Razorblade and tossing him back into the Republic corner.  When he managed to get upright, Omar added injury to injury by repeatedly cross facing the busted nose with his meaty forearm.  Once Razorblade slumped down, Omar ratcheted up the violence with boot rakes to set up a face wash off the ropes and a tag back to Pyotr.  Caviar hit the ropes himself and delivered a basement running crossbody block before reaching up and tagging in Malicía, who completed the Republic's dark trifecta with an impressive basement dropkick that got the first nearfall of the main event.

• Ig was sure to bark at Steve and Carl at the desk that they better be telling the couch potatoes and basement renters that offense like that was why the Republic were the real power in QCW.  Smarmy as he is, it wasn't like de Catur was wrong, and the Republic continued to punish Razorblade with a sadistic congs line of offense from the former World champ and the current World Tag Team champions.  Savage tried desperately to fight out from under but couldn't gain enough momentum to gum up the gears of the Republic’s well-oiled machine, and after Omar laid him out with a sit out choke bomb, Jones had to dive in to make the save for the good guys.  For saving the match, the World champ got a cheap shot from Littlefield and roughly tossed to the outside before Omar tagged in Pyotr, who hit the ring and tagged in Malicía.  

• The tag champs gave Razorblade a double goozle and prepared to hit their dreaded double chokeslam but Savage countered with a double DDT that dropped them both.  That set a wave of positive noise through the United as Savage desperately crawled to make a tag.  Littlefield came into the ring to cut him off, never seeing Jupiter slide back into the ring to springboard off the middle rope and level him like a tree in the forest with a massive Bolt From Olympus.  That cleared the path for Razorblade to tag in his usual partner, and Justice Davis lived up to his name by putting knots on the opposition’s heads.

• When a tandem attack from the Republic failed to connect, he reached back and laid them both out with a double neckbreaker.  He, Jones and Razorblade all climbed to the top rope and landed cannonball styled sentons to wipe out the Republic to a big pop.  Razorblade got Omar out of the ring, only to eat a Russian sickle from Pyotr that sent him spilling to the outside.  Jupiter leveled Pyotr with a Bolt that had Caviar looking up at the lights from the apron - but then Fernandez picked up the World champ like it was nothing and turned his lights out with a MF5.  Fernandez put the bad mouth on Jupiter, then turned around and blocked a massive Busiaku knee with her jaw.  Davis made the cover after Justice Is Served, and with everyone else laid out there was nothing to stop him getting a surprise but welcomed three.

• Ig blew a gasket while his troops recovered at the bottom of the ramp and the victors slowly pulled themselves off the deck.  Justice helped Razorblade up while Jones got help from his Collipark proteges before the winning trio got their hands raised by the ref.  All Ig could do with his minions recovering was swear revenge from the floor, knowing that next Friday would provide another opportunity for him to put his thumb on the scale in an effort to become the first Triple Crown stable in QCW history.  For Jupiter, Savage Justice and Collipark, it wasn't the wholesale slaughter offered up by the Republic last week but it sent a clear message: we are still here, we are still fighting, and even when the odds aren't in our favor, we can win.  The supershow ended with the babyfaces holding down the ring and Steve thanking us for tubing in for Pure Massacre 2026.

FDSN Florida and Ruckus presents the 2025 Quality Summer Classic

 📺 live on FanDuel Sports Network Florida

📍 Steinbrenner Field in Tampa, FL

• A video package recapped last week's Ruckus where Commissioner Ig de Catur set a trap by announcing a Naz/Razorblade #1 contenders rematch of their Cruel Summer classic, only for his Republic of World champion Omar Littlefield and National champion Malicía Fernandez to jump them and stomp them out before they could even lock up.  Ig then gleefully announced the Republic would face off against Naz and Razorblade with the years long rivals forced to team up in a parejas Incredibles turn of events - and that all star main event tag headlines tonight's super sized episode of Ruckus - the Quality Summer Classic.

• Special opening for a special episode of Ruckus, which had John Fogerty’s “Centerfield” in place of Pat Benatar’s “Invincible” and was paced accordingly.  Once that was done rolling we were looking live at Steinbrenner Field in Tampa.  Pyro exploded from the rim of the Field and the scoreboards while Steve Vandeblanche welcomed us to the supershow with limited commercial interruptions in front of a sellout crowd of over 11,000 - and if you're wondering, Craig Jacobs is still technically alive.  

• Steve gave a little more hype to the main event as well as Hysteria facing off against “Explosive” Emily Bennett, Luz Cruz, Shelley LaVey and the Women's World champion “Night Sky” Diana Spare in an eight woman tag before throwing things to Duck Eko in the ring.  The Voice of QCW, nattily clad in a blue and green baseball jersey themed smoking jacket with the word QUALITY across the front in cursive made the announcements for the Quality Summer Classic opener…

• 1. Goody Gardner (w/the Chosen) d. Ashley “THEE Influencer” Szabo (w/”Tiki God” Al Buffett) at 11:07 Ever since a shady Caleb Gray victory over Justice Davis at Cruel Summer forced him to join the flock, the Chosen have seen their stock surge with repeated wins over the Game Changers in both singles and tag action.  This looked to be a bit of a mismatch given that Gardner rarely “lowers herself” to in ring competition and Szabo was a Duquesne Classic finalist last year and 90% of the match played out that way; THEE Influencer used her power and size advantages to toss Goody around and repeatedly make her eat canvas.  Down the stretch a frustrated Gardner slapped Ashley, who laughed it off and snapmared her down before burying a series of hammer and anvil elbows into the holy woman's jaw.  A second rope flying Codebreaker followed, and Ashley dragged Goody into the drop zone for her finishing top rope flying fist drop - but Gardner rolled out of the way at the last second leaving Szabo to crash and burn.  After a quick glance towards her compatriots, Goody pulled herself up with the ring ropes before charging out of the corner and blasting the Game Changer with an enzui Busiaku knee that sent Ashley flying hard into the middle turnbuckle face first.  Szabo went limp after impact and Goody dragged her away from the corner before stunning everyone by getting the three count.  

• After replays and getting her hand raised Goody shook hands with most of the Chosen but gave Davis (who uses a Busiaku knee as his finisher) as big a hug as her 5’4” frame allowed before jumping up and down joyously in victory - and Justice looked absolutely gobsmacked to find himself being the hugee.  Gardner disengaged and calmed herself down before the Chosen started to leave the ring…except Davis, who still looked shellshocked and Gray, who briefly looked irate but then you could almost see a light bulb go on over his head.  Drake Tremble told them to come on so they could go celebrate and Gray clapped his (former?) rival on the shoulder on his way out, leaving JD with a WTF look on his face before he eventually left the ring.

• Footage from Earlier Today showed Ig de Catur's private jet touching down at the Tampa airport and emptying a small village once it landed: Quality Force Security, the National champion Malicía Fernandez, the World champion Omar Littlefield and the (acting) Commissioner himself.  de Catur addressed the camera, saying that while he would usually avoid Tampa in the summer like it was the Hamptons after Labor Day, this was a special night with a special supershow that would end with a moment QCW fans would talk about forever.  Tonight, the handpicked soldiers of his personal army - champions both! - would rid QCW of the insolent cancers known as Nazir el-Fadal and Razorblade.  

• Ig had something else to say but Omar stepped on it, barking loudly that he would send one or both of them to the hospital tonight after Señorita behind him executed their Death Warrants.  He was pissed off that they thought they could stand up to the Republic without him destroying them!  They weren't heroes, they were chumps, and after tonight they'd just be two more bodies rotting in the swamp.  Littlefield stomped out of frame and Malicía followed him silently, leaving Ig to cackle in their wake before walking out of the shot himself.

• 2. International Lotus 2.0 d. Science Fiction Double Feature at 8:38 This was the first match for Fiona Fogg and Sohla Patel as a tag team after officially getting together a couple of weeks ago but it didn't start out well for them; a SFDF on a mission to snap their losing streak came out of the gates hot and cleared the ring before the match was two minutes old by sending Patel to the floor and backdropping Fogg onto her.  The tides turned when Fogg viciously raked Jane Doe’s eyes while she was in a fireman's carry then dropkicked her in the back of the head to send her staggering chest first into the Lotus corner.  Fogg tagged Sohla in and they used the referee's five count to hit a step up enzuigiri/Flatliner combination to further drive Jane down.  The new look Lotus spent the bulk of the match trying to put Doe on First 48 and the Collipark Curse rolled merrily along when Cindy tried to senton bomb a save for Jane after her partner had eaten a double delayed gourdbuster only for Sohla to dodge out of the way.  Cindy connected flush with Jane and when she checked on her partner Lotus snuck up on the former Women's World champion and tossed her shoulder first into the ringpost.  Already losing, Jane couldn't overcome 2 on 1 odds and Lotus put her out of her misery shortly thereafter with a Doomsday Blockbuster to start their tandem off in the win column.  They celebrated like they just invented the cure for cancer all the way to the back while in the ring Jane looked at Cindy with anger and Monet couldn't even meet her partner’s eyes.  And where the hell were the International Players?  Not the cheeriest of moods to go to commercials but needs must.

• We came back from the break to a nervous looking Julius Duquesne III, who admitted to us all that the next sentence coming out of his mouth would be words he thought he'd ever hear, let alone be the one to say.  "Let me bring on my guests at this time: "the One Man Jihad" Nazir el-Fadal and Mason "Razorblade" Savage!" You could hear the crowd in the stadium erupt as Naz and Razorblade came onto the set on either side of QCW"s avuncular interviewer.  They glared at each other while JD3 asked the question that was on everyone's mind - how in the hell were the two of them going to be together as a tag team given all the times they've gone to war in the past, up to and including Cruel Summer?

• El-Fadal and Savage glared at each other a while before Razorblade growled out "You're the one who loves talking, so talk." Naz tilted his head, let out a little scoff & sarcastically said "Lil' ol' moi?  Well, if you insist." 

• Naz then said that any time of day or night online you could find thousands of bots and simps praising the business genius of Ig, treating him like a visionary who would go on to be celebrated for the rest of history.  And Naz was willing to give credit where it was due, because he had done something for QXW nobody had ever seen before -- he sucked so (THAT'S a swear) bad that for once and maybe the only time in league history, he and Mason had found somebody to hate more than each other.  Over the past two months he'd dispatched a couple of thieves who belonged in Triple A to steal away their championships, to snatch glory, the spotlight and championship checks away from the men who deserved them -- from the men who made QCW a headline destination for ex-cons and disaffected luchadoras alike.  And their reward for killing each other to determine THE brightest light in QCW history was for some face painted Wednesday and a Scarface who knew more about being behind bars than spitting bars to walk around with their property in something Ignacious de Asshole was daring to call HIS house?! 

• Well, tonight they were going to start learning the hard way how he and Razor liked to go to bat.  It wasn't a matter of if Ig, Omar and Malicía were going to get sent flying into the upper deck but when because his rabble demanded it and the off duty dock workers who cheered for Razorblade did, too.  Because he and Savage agreed on nothing much outside of the healing properties of aged whiskies but he knew this - their hatred, their era defining rivalry, the joy they got out of whaling on each other was going to have to get a pin put in it.  Because as much as they hated each other, they hated the fact Malicía was walking around with a stolen National championship even more.  As much as they despised each other, they despised Omar that much more, because so far as Naz could figure the one who needed a gift from his sugar daddy to steal the World title wasn't them because they were man enough to fight about it no matter what the calendar said or where the arena was.  And if Ig thought he could show up and flash a little cash so he could piss in their pool, they'd find some way to kick him out of his ivory tower, take him into deep water and drown his sorry ass.  So, no, the question wasn't "caN THEY coExIST?!", the real question was how would the world like the look they got at Ig's latest, greatest innovation: a TWO Man Jihad ready to destroy the abomination that had created it.  

• The crowd roared their approval, some even chanting "Two Man Jihad!" but Razorblade hushed the crowd by grabbing the mic from Julius and getting in Naz's face.  "You forgot one thing, Nazzie." growled the multi time former World champion.  Naz puffed his chest out and stuck his chin up and called a fist, but Razorblade put a hand on his chest and smiled the grin of a daenon watching eyeballs melted off by hellfire.

• "You forgot the most important part." Razorblade turned and stared down the camera like a sharp shooter's. scope.  "Everyone standing with Ig and Mr. Moneybags himself are going to bleed.  SLOWWWW." Savage proved he wasn't merely selling woof tickets when his other hand rose to reveal a baseball bat wrapped in barbed wire.  He slung it over his shoulder and walked off whistling some Johnny Cash, leaving Julius clearly shook and Naz beaming.  JD3 nearly jumped a foot in the air when Naz leaned over and said "Last time I saw him like that was ¡lucha muerte! and now he's going to inflict that kind of ass kicking to someone who isn't me!  Nah, I take it all back, Ig's a genius!" el-Fadal let out a familiar cackle as he walked off, leaving Julius to compose himself before throwing things back to Duck in the ring, ready to hit the intros for our next match...

• 3. “Sinister” Sarah Fowler (w/Midsomar) d. Christine Kent at 8:11 Showcase match for the steadily rising Fowler, as despite a couple of brief offensive flurries QCW’s favorite farmgirl had mostly no answer for the borderline deranged Fowler and also got ran into the steel ringpost by Midsomar at a crucial moment in the match behind the referee's back  Fowler went over (mostly) clean with her Dark Days implant inverted DDT.

• Before the commercial break we got another highlight package of the Catch Hell Wrestling League tag team champions the Undaunted, big on high risk flights and emptying pints.  Tim McMurray and Dave Mullin were seen backstage after another successful titles defense at last Saturday's Catch Hell show and said they had a surprise for everyone on our side of the pond - next Friday, QCW was returning to Quality Arena and they would be in the house to get an up close look at the Hysteria lasses who walk around calling themselves the best tag team in the world.  Some play the numbers game…some crumble under the weight of a title reign…but some?  Well, some remain Undaunted.

• 4. Hysteria d. “Night Sky” Diana Spare, “Explosive” Emily Bennett, Luz Cruz and Shelley LaVey at 11:37 It's unknown whether or not Hysteria heard the words of the proud Irish tag team champions from across the pond but what we know is they followed that promo by getting a win that was as chaotic as it was shady.  No sooner had Hysteria materialized than the babyfaces all rushed the ring as a unit, kicking off a Pier 8 that saw fists flying in the ring and on the grass.  The referee called for the bell but the fight didn't stop, and it took a few beats for things to settle down and establish Nancy Crowley and her ex friend Spare as the legal women.  They delivered the sort of borderline hockey fight only former allies can with Spare getting an upper hand and tagging in Cruz before they teamed up for a wheelbarrow suplex into a neckbreaker.  But the feral Crowley didn't take long to bite her way out of trouble and tag in the new leader Nancy Crowley who’d unceremoniously ousted Luz at the top of Hysteria's food chain back in March.  The World Tag Team champions hit a flurry of alternating strikes before dropping Cruz with a double DDT, fully milking the referee's five count in the process.  Hysteria began going to work after that and it only took a couple of minutes for the underlying truth to bear out; while the anti witches were all talented and their squad didn't fall victim to the sort of infighting that happened to other babyface teams that’d gone up against Hysteria in the past, Hysteria was a tighter unit and seemed to be a half step ahead the whole time despite the best efforts of the white hats.  

• Cruz fought gamely through the fracas and was the workhorse of her squad as she mounted a furious rally late and seemingly had Justine Danek dead to rights after connecting with ¡MUERTE!, but the rest of Hysteria all came flying in for the save.  This led to the second Pier 8 of the match, and the referee couldn't clear out the ring fast enough.  Not being one to miss an opportunity or a dirty trick, Agrippa used the chaos to her advantage and planted her share of the tag titles upside Cruz’s head.  Luz fell like a stone into a pond, Justine crawled over and flopped onto Luz, and when Hysteria held off Bennett, LaVey and Spare it led to boos ringing out in Steinbrenner as QCW’s resident coven snatched victory from the jaws of defeat.  Incensed by the BS loss, Diana, Emily and Shelley went after Hysteria post match - only for Bonnie to snap her fingers and plunge the Field into darkness.  When the lights came back on, of course there was no Hysteria to be found, leaving Emily and Shelley to try and bring Luz around while Diana stacked up bleeps on the broadcast like Pringles.

• From there, we went TOTHEBACK~!, where Naomi Lee was standing by to interview her guests: Sky’s the Limit.  The entire group was there but it was leader Tre Boyd who got the bulk of the attention as he had a singles match up next.  Naomi asked, given what we’d seen in the past few weeks if things were all good with Sky’s the Limit.  Tre waved it off, saying that it was his job as the captain of the team to coach these knuckleheads up.  (The Cooper Brothers and Kam Ellis exchanged looks but didn't correct him.) There was no better way to lead by example than going out and racking up a dub,  How they got the name Beast Mode when it was two real threats and a pretty boy from Beverly Hills was beyond him, but where the Rays had racked up so many losses all year he wasn't going to get sucked into a Pierce Moore like vortex of loserdom.  And after he won, he was going to hassle the boss man until he got a shot at the National championship.  Maybe the Coopers lost their shot at Cruel Summer, but the moment he got his opportunity at a title belt he’d prove he was good as gold.  When Naomi pointed out he’d lost a World title shot to Razorblade earlier in the year, he told her to stop trying to neg him by bringing up old stuff before telling the AV team to hit his music so he could show her, Pierce and anybody else watching why they shouldn't play with “the Gospel”. In short order “Just Wanna Rock” hit the PA to bring out StL with Boyd leading his squad to the ring, followed by “Long Live the Chief” to bring out Moore and the rest of Beast Mode.

• 5. Tre Boyd (w/Sky's the Limit) d. “Dashing” Pierce Moore (w/Beast Mode) at 9:34 It was once said that it's not bragging if you can back it up and from the opening bell Tre Boyd lived up to that maxim.  Boyd was in motion right before and as the bell rang, meaning that Moore turned and ate a shotgun dropkick a couple seconds in that sent him flying into a corner.  Boyd stomped him out until the ref pulled him off and Moore never really recovered.  Even when Pierce managed to send Tre to the floor, Boyd landed on his feet and in three jumps landed an enzui missile dropkick that sent Moore out to the floor where he did not land on his feet.  Worse, when he got to them Boyd hit a wrecking ball dropkick then skinned the cat before running the ropes and wiping out Pierce again - this time with a step up shooting star plancha that had Steve raving on commentary and Steinbrenner Field rocking with “Holy shit!” chants.  That nifty move got four replays and the rest of the match was dominated by the Gospel, who didn't need another four minutes to take care of the overmatched Moore.  A Blue Thunder bomb set up a spot on Spiral Tap that Boyd calls Say Hallelujah for the win.  Right before the last commercial break and after replays we saw the rest of Sky’s the Limit hit the ring to congratulate their friend and leader - but Boyd mostly shrugged them off and hit the turnbuckles to celebrate by himself, crowing that he was going to hold the National championship soon enough and long enough.  The colossal main event is coming up next.

• While not a supershow, 💫 next week's Ruckus 💫 will be back at Quality Arena and have some more big matches: Ashok Banjerjee and the Proper Villains will face the All Starr Stable in trios action | Justine Danek and Bella Jolie of Hysteria tag up against Luz Cruz and the Women's World champion “Night Sky” Diana Spare | And in the main event, Pyotr Caviar will go one on one with Nazir el-Fadal. Speaking of Naz and main events, we were set to get ours underway.

• “The Old Guard Is Dead” brought out Quality Force Security to flank the entire Republic as they headed to the ring.  Ig was in full smarm and you could hear him bragging off camera loud enough to be heard as he led the World and National champions down to the ring.  Omar Littlefield and Malicía Fernandez stood defiantly in the middle of the ring and thrust their titles skyward, setting off a barrage of gold and white pyro in the outfield while de Catur clapped for his foot soldiers and the crowd baptized them in boos.  The tenor of Steinbrenner changed when “Unscripted Violence” began blasting out, but after a while there was no Razorblade in sight.  “Unscripted” fired up again, but when Mason failed to show up again the music quickly changed to Nas x Keri Hilson’s “Hero”.  Yet Naz didn't come out then, nor when they fired that track up again.  Ig was bragging that they were too scared to show up and get destroyed by his handpicked champions when the voice of an unquiet ghost rang out across the baseball stadium.

• 🎶 Awww (shit).  You done (fucked) up now.  You done put 2 of Amerika'z Most Wanted in the same mutha(fuckin’) place at the SAME mutha(fuckin’) time?!  Y’all (nis) about to feel this…🎶

• And just like 2Pac and Snoop Dogg had teamed up to deliver a gangsta party on “Amerika'z Most Wanted” a generation ago, out emerged Nazir el-Fadal and Mason “Razorblade” Savage together through some light rolling fog, Razorblade with the barbed wire baseball bat on his shoulder and Naz toting Greetings From Hayt Corner.   The pop was massive as they started power walking to the ring.  Fernandez and Littlefield met them on the floor only to get the weapons thrown at them and for the oddest of couples to start throwing hands like a pizza maker tossing dough.  The Pier 4 went all around ringside even after the bell rang, with both sides tagging both members of the opposition.  Razorblade seemed to rattle the black hats with janky looking but effective chops to the side of the neck, causing Duck to move out of the way just in time to see Savage alley oop a charging Naz into a flying European uppercut on both champions that sent all 3 of them flying over the dividing barricade and into the front couple of rows (hopefully those were plants).  Naz disentangled himself from the pile and let out a war cry that sent another seismic pop across the Field. It was only then that they hit the ring and posed on the turnbuckles, Duck finally making their announcement and deciding to call them the Razorblade Jihad.  As you might suspect, the crowd was Here For It.

• 6. Nazir el-Fadal and Mason “Razorblade” Savage d. Omar Littlefield and Malicía Fernandez (w/Ig de Catur and Quality Force Security) at 14:19 There was craziness before the match, and there would be more craziness afterwards, but it’ll go down in the record books as a win for maybe the unlikeliest tag team in QCW history.   RazorNaz carried the momentum from winning the opening brawl into the early part of the match, and despite the occasional glare and hesitation between tags, el-Fadal and Savage got along well enough to keep the Republic on their heels, even teaming up for a Midnight Expression double flapjack on Omar that splashed the fallen Malicía and popped the Tampa branch of Quality Controllers something fierce.  Naz and Razorblade exchanged evil grins and kept rolling from there but their success as a team hit a brick wall when it looked like they might've been setting up to finish off Fernandez with a Doomsday Device of all things - but a Malicía poison rana on Naz and Omar booting Razorblade off the top rope to send him flying into the dividing barricade put the see saw on the Republic’s side from there.  

• Steve played up the size advantage that Ig’s squad had over the antiheroes and it played out as Omar and Malicía took turns gleefully working over the One Man Jihad.  But Naz's stubborn nature and fighting spirit refused to let him stay down for the count, whether it was after a Fernandez somersault axe kick, a massive Littlefield moonsault or a two person alley oop MF5 that saw Naz save the match by getting his foot on the ropes at 2.9.  After delivering a couple minutes’ more punishment to Naz, the Republic moved in for the kill; first they hit a double big boot to knock Razorblade off the apron.  Then they turned their attention to Naz, goozling him before splattering him square in the middle of the ring with a double chokeslam.  Naz wasn't moving this time as the three count came down - but Razorblade not only dove in for the save, he did so from the top rope with a diving headbutt on year long rival Omar.  The crowd popped at the fight going longer but snapped right back to booing as Malicía snatched up Razorblade and sent him flying over the top rope.  Seeing the situation in the ring, she thought quickly and started dragging the almost 290 pound Omar to the Republic’s corner before going back to the apron so she could tag herself in.  Malicía got into the ring and quickly scooped up Naz for the Death Warrant but the last World champion fell down limp before he could even hit the ropes.  Fernandez grabbed his wrist and kicked him in the head and somehow el-Fadal went even more limp.  Malicía let go of him and told the referee to check him and declare him out.  The referee checked but Malicía got impatient and went after Naz again, landing a series of clubbing forearms across his back until he was flat on the mat.  Malicía cursed at the booing crowd in Spanish and lifted up the One Man Jihad, but Naz surprised her with a flash dose of Nazquil that left them both down and out.  Razorblade stomped on the steps to help with location and to fire up the faithful, and after a better part of a ten count Naz staggered his way to the corner and tagged in a fresher, furious Razorblade.  Savage leapt into the ring and ducked a high kick from Malicía before landing a Superman punch that sent Omar off the apron and down to the floor.  Malicía snuck up on the man she’d taken the National championship from and went for a German suplex but Savage landed on his feet and chop blocked her - then hit the ropes and delivered a massive sliding king sized lariat. 

• With Omar temporarily out of the picture that allowed Razorblade to pepper Fernandez with heavy rights and even a couple of suplexes.  After delivering a big spinebuster Mason was in to end it, but found himself grabbed by the boot and yanked out of the ring by Littlefield at 2 ¾.  Omar and Mason didn't take long to start hockey fighting on the floor like it was AnniVersary last year.   The fight showed no signs of stopping until a black and gold blur suddenly flew into the frame with a tope suicida, Naz having built up so much speed that he was able to drive Omar through the front of the announce table.  He and Omar were laid out flat in the wreckage while more “Holy shit!” chants went up around Steinbrenner and we got some commentary free replays.  

• Razorblade looked stunned at the carnage (the whole Naz putting somebody else through a table of it all) and Malicía looked to take advantage by capitalizing with a dive.  The National champion flew over the top with a tope con hilo - but Savage caught the luchadora and got a running start before powerbombing her into the steel steps, laying her out and causing another round of “Holy shit!” chants.  As Steve made it back on the air we got replays of the stairs bomb while Razorblade threatened Ig with a backhand in real time.  Some members of QFS came over to protect Ig, so Razorblade said “This next part’s on you” before bundling Malicía up and throwing her in the ring.  Savage followed in before hoisting Fernandez up on his shoulders and walking up a set of turnbuckles.  Razorblade pointed at Ig before getting his footing on the top rope and launching nearly 500 pounds off the top rope with the legendary Soul Crusher.  The referee slapped the canvas three times, and Razorblade nodded as the victory was secured. 

• But we weren't done there, friends.

• Naz rolled into the ring to get his and Razorblade’s hands raised by the ref but as it happened both members of the Republic came barrelling in to drop them from behind.  Steve noted Ig barking out orders and noted that if they had lost the battle Plan B was to walk out winning the war; this point was further driven home when Malicía tossed Naz with a MF5 and Omar splattered Razorblade with a tree slam.  Ig began giving orders to QFS and two members reached under the ring and pulled out a ladder; all three men shoved it into the ring while Malicía put it into position and stacked Razorblade then Naz on top of it.  Fernandez hit them both with headbutts while de Catur yelled at Omar to go to the top rope and splatter them with a moonsault.  Omar stepped on them and went up to the penthouse of the ring…right before the lights cut out.

• Three grungy, grungetastic guitar riffs blared out over Tampa, then repeated.  The riff added another piece to it, repeated twice over and a male voice said “Yeah!” before the lights came back on and a figure in a hoodie was standing in the middle of the ring right in Omar's drop zone.  But they weren't still for long, as they launched a superkick that flattened Fernandez.  The crowd roar made Omar turn around only to eat a face full of ladder in turn.  Omar fell off the turnbuckles and staggered to the middle of the ring where he ate a superkick that wobbled him.  Razorblade slowly drew himself up and shrugged, then he and the hooded figure launched a double superkick that drove Omar to his knees.  Littlefield was rocked but was waving on more punishment, not seeing el-Fadal slowly rising behind him with a malicious smile on his face.  Razorblade and the mystery man launched another double superkick that hit the World champion on the button while Naz tagged Omar with a rolling elbow to the back that sent Omar to the mat.  A furious de Catur demanded QFS hit the ring and take all three of whomever did this to his army, and after a moment of hesitation they hit the ring - but the hooded figure draped the ladder over his shoulders and began spinning around, putting several purple shirts on their ass.  “Hooded Justice” threw the ladder horizontally to floor a bunch of QFS, but got almost knocked down by a de Catur cheap shot.  The hoodie turned around and dropped Ig with another superkick that had Steinbrenner roaring, then set up the ladder by the Commissioner.  They climbed the ladder a little slowly before reaching the top and taking off their hoodie, throwing it down angrily onto Ig’s fallen form and plenty of the stadium gasped in shock and Surrender Cobras when we found out who they were.

• Six months and a day after an Omar Littlefield attack had put him in the ICU, SCOTT HOLMES WAS BACK.  And the former (?) Commissioner wasn't just back, he was flying off the ladder with the guillotine of all leg drops that crushed Ig underneath it.  Steve was stammering that he couldn't believe what he was seeing as Razorblade helped Holmes to his feet and a couple of QFS pulled Ig’s limp body from the ring.  The battered Republic stood in the aisleway glaring at the ring, where Razorblade was cackling and clapping like a kid who'd gotten a Switch 2 for his birthday, Holmes silently glared at all 15 of them, and for obvious reasons Naz glared at the returning Holmes.  Soundgarden's “My Wave” (Holmes’ OG theme 31 years ago) kicked up in full over the PA as the crowd roared over seeing him back in the company he’d taken to unprecedented heights, while the credit box came up and a cut to Steve at the desk showed him open mouthed at a scene he’d previously assumed could only happen in an alternative universe.  It was Craig Jacobs of all people who got in the last words of the inaugural Quality Summer Classic.

• “Holy (SWEAR) (SWEAR²) (SWEAR³)!”