We opened, surprisingly, with a pretape from the Commissioner's Office. You could tell this was a serious one because Holmes was seated behind the desk instead of sitting on the front of it. Holmes welcomed us to Ruckus and said the night's action would begin in a few moments, but he did want to give a bit of a holiday present to the QCW fans - and not just them.
Holmes said that QCW has excelled in part over the past two years because they've been fortunate to work with great promotions from around the world: Catch Hell Wrestling League in the U.K., the Evergreen Wrestling League from Vancouver in the Pacific Northwest, and Lucha Salvaje from the outskirts of Tijuana. They've welcomed QCW in and working with them has been so much fun, they all decided that their working relationships shouldn't just be nurtured but further enhanced.
Therefore the Commissioner was overjoyed to announce that effective January 1st, QCW would be the centerpiece of what's to be known as QWIC: the Quality Wrestling International Collective. Alongside Catch Hell, Evergreen and Lucha Salvaje all four companies will be entering the year both as their own entities while also opening all doors for any talented wrestler who wishes to change between any of the QWIC leagues or, for that matter, any talented wrestler who doesn't believe the entire world revolves around them because they hold a World title. Holmes thanked us for our time, and then the show began.
Last week on Ruckus: Super Avión beat "Dark Mirror" Beckett Carpenter to get a shot at the Unified World Tag Team championships at Season's Beatings • Jupiter Jones made it two weeks straight with two World TV title defenses and he's knocking on the door of 10 • a fine main event saw the Revenant beat Einherjar in a #1 contenders match to earn a shot at Nazir el-Fadal and the World title at Season's Beatings; Jupiter Jones came out to further rattle Naz and remind him that Naz only fought him to a draw a few weeks ago and the show ended with a clearly rattled Naz backing his way out of the Arena clutching the 13 Pounds of Gold tight while the Revenant and Jones eyeballed the gold
Pyro? Yeah, we got a boatload of that.
Empty seats? Maybe if you flip channels.
Steve and Starr are on hand once again for the last episode of Ruckus before Season's Beatings. Naz will somehow have to find a partner to face the Immortals in the main event and Cindy Monet finally gets her long-awaited one on one shot at the QCW Women's World Championship, but the creepy whistling and dulcet tones of Rammstein's "Engel" mean that we start tonight off with trios action.
As the IWC ruled the ring to boos, We Took You Back To Last Week where the Consortium jumped Razorblade at the announce table, the Proper Villains served as the cavalry and that got us to this six man. “Unscripted Violence” took over the PA, and the crowd roared at the appearance of Mason “Razorblade” Savage on the ramp. Savage took in the ovation, then glared down the ramp at the Consortium. Savage took a step, stopped himself and shook his head before cracking his knuckles.
That was when the Villains struck, running in from the crowd and immediately jumping Serge Batroc and Anton Stahl – and leaving the Russian land monster Pyotr Caviar for the former double champion Savage, who sprinted down to the ring and started throwing hands against the Tracksuit Tsar while the crowd cheered even harder at the Pier 6 that was breaking out before the match could even begin. Savage peppered Pyotr with forearms from both sides, but ran into trouble when he ran into the ropes and Caviar cut off his offense with a double thrust to the throat and an European uppercut that dropped Savage before the referee could ring the bell to get things underway.
| • The Proper Villains & Mason "Razorblade" Savage d. The International Workrate Consortium (w/the Wonderful Ward Brothers) [Stahl pinfall Windsor] • | Friendly reminder to everyone who puts on wrestling shows for a living: when in doubt, start off with a banger. We got one here with the Consortium taking on less together but longtime rivals in Jim Jaspers, Richard Windsor & the Razorblade. The Consortium built on Caviar’s early lead and worked over Razorblade on their side of the ring while Steve wondered why the IWC had targeted the former champ when they all returned on the same episode a few weeks ago, and Starr said he wouldn’t be surprised if this was never over since Razorblade beat Serge in that Last Stand match over the summer which prohibits Batroc from ever getting the World title. Serge fought Mason like he hadn’t forgotten, and in fact looked like thanks to some help from Pyotr behind the referee’s back that he had the match wrapped up for the Consortium with a big Arc de Triomphe; both Jaspers & Windsor rushed the ring to stomp out the bridge on the slingshot Mt. Everest German which caused another Pier 6 to pop off in the middle of the ring to another pop. Fighting continued with Savage eating some European uppercuts before ducking a couple of attempted overhead shots and landing a sort of standing version of the tornado DDT to hit a reset button on the match.
Tags were made to Richard Windsor for the white hats and Anton Stahl for the heels, and the usually staid former partners went at each other the way only former friends and partners can. At one point Stahl had Windsor locked up with his Matter of Time elevated Fujiwara armbar, only for Windsor to slip out and crucifix him into a 2.75 nearfall; later on, Stahl would be able to fully lock it in for a few beats only to have Savage come in and return the save favor. Windsor would recover and eventually have Stahl in a rear naked choke in the corner and milked the count as far as he could – he let go briefly only to reapply the hold on the mat. Jaspers and Savage ran in to try and stop Batroc & Caviar from making a save, which worked in both of their cases until it didn’t, with Caviar managing to power up Jaspers into a tackle that broke up the submission and had all six men down on the mat. The crowd applauded then started clapping to rally Richard, but Anton had the upper hand and hauled Windsor up – only for the Proper King to slip out the back, jump up and put his feet under Anton’s arms before rolling them backwards into a pin. Stahl tried to break it up but Jaspers put that to rest with a headbutt; Caviar again tried to power Razorblade up and over and while Savage was sliding backwards, by the time Caviar got through him the referee’s hand had already come down for 3. ***
If you think this stopped the Consortium, give me your PIN code so I can keep it safe. All six men continued fighting after the bell until a seventh got involved: Jason the Terrible, who used the match ending to help the Consortium beat down the white hats while Rich Ward looked almost sick on the floor about not being able to help his friends while also not wanting to help out his unwanted superiors in the IWC. Savage and Jaspers took some licks but the worst of the beatdown was reserved for Windsor, who ate the Arc and Caviar’s Hit My Music before Anton added a completely unnecessary Matter of Time that made even the proud Englishman tap out despite the fact that did nothing to break the hold in this case. More referees ran out and eventually put themselves between the Consortium and the victims but the damage had been done. As “Engel” came back on to boos, you could see Serge smile evilly down at Razorblade and say “You’re welcome” before the Consortium did their group pose and left the ring in high spirits.
The announce and especially Starr put over the Consortium being more ruthless and craven than ever, and if the likes of the Villains and Razorblade couldn’t slow them down, then even without directly being able to get the World title Serge could still use the IWC to gain power in QCW. Steve put over how difficult it was finding a man who could stop Pyotr Caviar when “Pray For Me” hit the air to the surprise of seemingly everybody. But “These Hands” Roy Fade was in the Arena and dressed for a fight, and he took the mic from Julius Duquesne III before coming into the ring and cutting a promo.
He said that it was cute that the Consortium was running around beating up Razorblade; ‘course, the difference was that when he was beating up Razorblade, he was doing it for a title and to become the first ever 2x TV champ in QCW history. So if they wanted to pick through his leftovers it wasn’t nuttin’ to him: his real problem is the same one it’s been all year – Katsuji Ootsuka. The crowd popped over mention of the Prince of Punishment, causing Fade’s face to curdle up in disgust as he said that Ootsuka got him injured early in the year, then stole the TV title from him, and if he had any guts – the theme from King Kong v. Godzilla brought out an unusually heated Ootsuka, who said he was sick of this with Fade: he didn’t injure Fade, Fade got injured while fighting him and lost. Katsuji took the TV title off him at AnIIversary, put him through two tables in Last Man Standing, and Fade’s still out here complaining about him. Hands might be the first ever two time TV champ, but that came to an end against Katsuji, who did more with his reign than Fade did in two, and if he was still going to crow about how great a TV champ he was, then Katsuji was more than happy to walk down to that ring and kick Roy’s ass once again for old times’ sake.
Roy dared him to get in the ring and fight, and Katsuji was halfway down the ramp before something happened that stopped him in his tracks: “B.O.B.”
No, not him, the song.
The crowd roared as Jupiter Jones came from backstage with the TV title gleaming off his waist with a mic of his own. He thanked the crowd for their cheers, then noted he was in the back hearing Fade talk about how great a TV champ he was, and Katsuji talk about how great a TV champ he was, but the last time he checked, neither of them had racked up four decisions in two weeks – the last time he checked, neither of them were the TV champ and he was. Fade said the only reason he wasn’t a three-time TV champ yet was because Old Man Jones was ducking him, and if he got in the ring with These Hands he’d prove it. Ootsuka didn’t like that at all, obviously, saying that with no due respect, he’s owned Fade for months – if Jupiter wanted to put his belt on the line against a former worthy champion and give these people in the Arena a dream match, he’d test his mettle against him.
The crowd (hell, even the announce) roared at the prospect of that, which further pissed off Fade, and Jupiter seemed to look back and forth between the two of them for a few beats before bringing the mic back up to his lips. He said that the entire point of his comeback was to prove he could hang with the young kids, and he could drag these old bones into the ring and give Fade some flashbacks to his daddy whooping his ass and find a way to beat Katsuji. So there wasn’t a need to choose: he’d fight them both. Everybody was into that idea except for Fade, who complained that in a triple threat match it’d just be a handicap match anyhow and then they’d double team him out of the picture just to keep him away from his belt. Ootsuka sighed loud enough to be heard on his mic (with all his body language saying “This fucking guy”) before Jones interjected – if Fade was that scared of them, as champ Jupiter could turn this into a three way dance and we’d settle the “best TV champ” argument right here, right now. Fade and Ootsuka both looked intrigued by that, while the crowd was thirsty for it; Ootsuka accepted pretty quickly, and then Fade followed suit after a few beats. A referee ran out as Jupiter walked down the aisle while the announce freaked out – they knew the TV title was going to get defended tonight, but in a three way dance against two former champions? Starr put over the match but also noted that Jupiter may’ve used up all his luck in the past couple of weeks. Especially against a pair of former champs, Jones’ reign faced its toughest challenge & probably its end.
| • Jupiter Jones [c] d. "These Hands" Roy Fade and Katsuji Ootsuka in a three way dance to retain the QCW World Television title 9️⃣ • | Jones not only overcame the odds to win the thing, but registered both the eliminations.
The first fall featured a lot of temporary alliances and brief spurts of one on one fights. Katsuji & Fade had the most rancor when it was just down to them, they both hung well with Jupiter (Ootsuka objectively doing a little better) and Jones was far happier exchanging hard body shots with Fade then trying to slow down Ootsuka, though in an impressive spot Jupiter put the brakes on an attempted basement rana driver from the Prince of Punishment and powerbombed him into a standing Fade to wipe out both former champions.
At one point Fade & Ootsuka actually teamed up when Jupiter was starting to roll and managed to keep him down but once Fade threw him out of the ring the war with Ootsuka continued on. Fade countered the basement rana driver into an overhead powerbomb and then immediately followed it up by drilling Ootsuka with the Decision, but as he got up from delivering the running knee Jones came back into the picture with a Bolt From Olympus that shut Fade up for the night (with the weakened Ootsuka also getting an arm across Roy during the pin).
That left Jones and Ootsuka to fight it out for the second fall, which started quickly with Jones trying to scoop up the Prince of Punishment for something only to have Ootsuka reverse into a small package for 2 ½. Jones had Ootsuka under control early in the second fall of the match and everything pointed towards another Bolt wrapping up the proceedings, but Ootsuka not only managed to dodge it but to plant Jones in the mat with a rewind rana that gave him second life and made the champ a face down snow angel in the middle of the ring.
Ootsuka emptied the tank and quickened the match to get things on his side of the ledger, including a great sequence where Jones kicked out of a sitout powerbomb at 2 ¾ only for Katsuji to immediately follow it up with a basement superkick that sent spit flying – but Jones again kicked out at the death after that. Katsuji briefly questioned the ref about that count but went right back to work and a couple of minutes later after dodging a couple of Jones’ planned offensives absolutely silenced him with a basement rana driver. Ootsuka went up for the Magical Sky to put a button on things, but Fade ran back out to try and put a spanner in the works. Ootsuka flew off instead with a shooting star plancha that wiped Fade out on the floor and had the faithful flipping out in their seats…but handling that business meant that he’d forsaken the match, and when he got back into the ring Jones smoked him like a brisket with a Bolt and pinned him too to win the match to the overjoyed shock of the crowd. Yeah, you’re gonna want to see this one. *** ½
Six in three weeks now.
The announce freaked out over Jupiter making it three straight weeks with multiple decisions, and if he could find a way to beat Einherjar at Season's Beatings that would make him eligible to cash in the World TV title for a World title shot whenever he wanted. Jones celebrated with the title on the buckles to the joy of the crowd when Muse's "New Born" hit the system, causing more cheers from the Quality Controllers. Jones left the ring as the Unified World Tag Team champions the Game Changers came out. Jones and the Changers exchanged friendly words with Al Buffett clearly marking out over hanging with Jones, and before Jones left for the back he and the Tiki God tapped titles (literal you sickos) before the Game Changers took over the ring to the cheers of the faithful. The crowd chanted Game Changers! while Carpenter smiled and Buffett jumped up on the buckles and fired up the fans further; Ashley Szabo followed him up and took a couple selfies while Carpenter shook their head. Dark Mirror started talking but was suddenly interrupted by "Aces High" by Iron Maiden.
Everybody whipped their heads around to the entryway and immediately started groaning and booing as Super Avión came out in street clothes with a mic of his own. You won't be surprised to find that Avión had barely appeared on the scene before he started whining, this time that despite their little jokes, he was the one who had Carpenter nailed to the mat last week. It just went to prove that when the zebras here DID THEIR JOBS, Super Avión in QCW was still the same elite championship level luchador he had always been. Carpenter scoffed and jokingly asked if he wanted a handicap match at Season's Beatings and it was Avión's turn to scoff - maybe their pinche gringo fans and the Game Changers were fine getting belts that way but he was above that, and furthermore –
Ashley Szabo cut him off and pointed out that he was doing a lot of talking for a man without a partner. Avión retorted that there were puh lenty of people who hated the Game Changers…pfft, they were more hated than he was! The crowd booed as Al rolled his eyes but Avión pressed on and then surprisingly called anyone from the back to come out, stand with a future tag team champion, and join him in his insurgency!
Stirring words, but they got met with a goose egg. 10, then 20, then half a minute passed before Al grabbed the mic and started exaggerating an invisible partner that was 10 feet tall, 555 pounds, and had the best moonsault in the business. And oh no, he's cleaaaarrrly coming to the ring right now to have his boy Avión's back. Al proceeded to "have a match" with "Super Duper Avión" by comically bumping around the ring to nothing and do play by play on his own "whooping", causing Tiki God chants and Carpenter to lose some of their noted composure. Avión's head tilt and body language suggested pretty obvious seething as Buffett asked Avión to do us all a favor and shut up, loser. The crowd popped as Al apologized for his lack of aloha only for the crowd to start and then bolster a "SHUT UP LOSER 👏 👏 👏👏👏" chant that Szabo interjected occasionally by singing a falsetto harmony about what a sad loser Avión is and she had the DMs to proooove iiiiiitttttttttt. Oh, and free with purchase, snap. Avión scowled, then disgustedly threw his mic at the ring before stomping off to the back. Starr said that was exactly why he didn't mess with the Internet and "New Born" came on over the PA, Steve putting over the Game Changers' connection to the QCW fan base before we went into commercials on an up note (well, unless you're Avión).
As has been happening recently, back from the break we got a raspy voiceover while Atlantic City showed in black and white. Krieger talked about it being the only home he ever knew, and how he was willing to burn it down to make himself at home in QCW. And if the suits thought they could make him wait until the PPV to get his hands dirty, then they didn't know One Eye. Allow him a more…visceral demonstration, hm?
| • Jacques Krieger d. Il Postino • | The multi scarred Krieger came out with a patch on over his left eye and absolutely vivisected poor Postino in under a minute - a strike flurry knocked the smaller man for a loop and Krieger actually cartwheeled across the top rope before spearing Postino down and getting the 3, though it might as well have been 300. DUD Krieger barely let the referee raise his hand before he bailed on the ring and headed to the back while Steve noted that it was going to be an interesting 2023 in QCW with wild cards like Krieger coming to fight in the Quality Arena.
Back from the break and TOTHEBACK~!, where Enya Face was outside of the locker room of the Immortals hoping to get a word with them before the main event. Einherjar came out after a couple of knocks and greeted Enya, then yelled behind him that she was doing the interview, which brought over the Revenant with a tip of the hat and a smile that honestly would be a lot sweeter if I didn’t know how many men that man has [unactionable due to parody] over the years. The Revenant and Einherjar spread out a little so they both would be next to Enya, who asked them what they expected tonight and who could or even would team with Naz?
Einherjar complimented Enya on the question and said he’d given it a lot of thought, more thought than Naz had given if he thought they were going to be weakened after their sparring session last week. The Revenant leaned in and noted he won, which caused Enya to smile and look away while Einherjar rolled his eyes and agreed but said that the reason they were going to be playing Splatter The Champ tonight was because they were no mere men, but the Immortals, and they’ve seen and won more fights than Naz has been alive. And with that cartoonishly big ego and absolute absence of scruples, who would trust him? Razorblade? The crowd didn’t like that idea at all but Einherjar noted the fact that Savage and them have never gotten along, and a few months ago he & Naz teamed up only to fail against them, so if he was looking for misguided revenge he would get another ass kicking, and he’d already gotten one of those tonight the last time he’d checked.
He then referenced “Tremble & his clowns” in the Red, White & True but wrote that off as unlikely, saying that they were nithlings who despised Naz for all the wrong reasons. Einherjar similarly dismissed the Consortium (since Naz would want someone who has at least won against them) as well as Collipark (too much respect to stooge for Naz, probably). The Revenant interjected, and said they were at a loss as to who would possibly be dumb enough to risk their health and team with Nadir; when Enya pointed out this was not the World Champion’s name, the Revenant held Enya’s gaze for a while and then added he said what he said. It didn’t matter who Nadir got, because tonight was just an appetizer, and when he got his red right hand around Nadir’s scrawny little neck at Season’s Beatings, it would truly usher in the Age of the Immortals. They thanked Enya for her time and retreated back inside their locker room; Enya threw things to her buddy Julius for the next fight.
| • "Great American" Bobby Bash NC Paul Fifita • | The Red, White and True got one over on the Hard Way here - Bash, Holland and Tremble swarmed them in the aisle as Fifita was coming out for a scheduled match against Bash and ended up getting just that. NC It took multiple officials to keep the three black hats from laying out the former tag champs worse than the past few minutes had, and the Quality Controllers booed while Stranglehold blared and Tremble pumped up his flock.
The announce wondered what Tremble was up to, then threw to a video package focusing on Autumn Powers returning earlier this year and regaining the Women's World championship nearly five months ago, then the tear she's been on since as QCW's longest reigning champion. The package then pivoted to Cindy Monet, slowly fighting her way up the ranks the past few months in the hopes of getting the title shot she has up next. Autumn talked about respecting and liking Cindy - Cindy talked about respecting and liking Autumn - but they both talked about fighting too hard for too long just to stop where they are now, and promised to retain or win the belt.
We cut to the Sweet Spot backstage, where Cindy was taking some last minute advice from Benjamin Valentino and Jupiter Jones before "Dance Or Die" came on over the PA. The crowd popped as she bumped their fists before strutting down the ramp, occasionally pointing to fans calling her name or showing off pro Cindy signs. Monet stood on the buckles but didn't pose then we went back to the Sweet Spot, where Autumn Powers stretched and cracked her back before the Offspring's "Mota" hit the PA and the crowd roared to life. As Autumn hit the ring, Starr pointed out that Autumn's not only been in this situation before, she's dominated it for months – this is Cindy's first time in a singles title fight.
As Enya started to make the intros, they cut the lights in the Arena so that only a spotlight could be seen and focused on the three women in the ring. Cindy got a good pop from the crowd but it paled in comparison to Autumn's; it didn't seem to concern her, as she gazed skyward when the referee put the belt in the air. After the bell rang, Powers extended her hand - Monet looked it over and shook it briskly before circling the champ and getting to work.
| • Autumn Powers [c] d. Cindy Monet to retain the QCW Women's World Championship • | It says a lot about Ruckus that you would have to choose between this week's title matches for the match of the night and you could make an equal case for them both. Autumn survived Cindy in a war that took up nearly the entire 30 minute time limit.
Opening few minutes saw them match each other move for move down to them both getting two nearfalls off cradles. The crowd applauded the technical mastery, but when Autumn went for another handshake Cindy dropped her with a forearm to some boos. Monet looked up at the crowd's reaction but it didn't stop her from picking up the offense and controlling the next chunk of the match. Monet started pressing her advantage and racking up more nearfalls, and went to put a button on things with the Tightrope only for Autumn to absolutely crack her across the jaw with a big forearm shot that turned Monet's body into almost a lower case c on the mat. Cindy fought valiantly for the remaining third of the fight but that perfect forearm shot killed off her best chance at capturing the gold. Powers lit up Monet in the final two minutes and wiped Cindy out with the Hazy Shade of Autumn…only for Monet to grab the bottom rope right before 3! Undeterred, Powers tossed Monet away from the ropes and blasted her with a roundhouse kick before an enzui Hazy Shade put another successful title defense in the books for The Champ. *** ½
Replays rolled out with the announce putting over how close Cindy came and Autumn's championship experience coming to the forefront in a fight this hard. Powers offered Monet a hand up, but Cindy crawled for the ropes and used them to pull herself up. You could see the anguish on her face before she extended her hand; Autumn pulled her in for a hug and they exchanged friendly words before Powers took her belt to the buckles and posed while Cindy watched from the middle of the ring looking a little bit conflicted.
Then suddenly she went down in a heap, and Autumn Powers followed suit - OnlyFitness swarmed the exhausted competitors and put a back alley whooping on both Autumn and Cindy in public, the Quality Controllers and Steve livid over the cherry picking of the fine fitness babes. The crowd came to life as Jane Doe came from the back and slid into the ring under the bottom rope but Scott Warren-Tisch threw her the hydroflask and it was almost as if Jane had never seen her face in a reflective glossy surface before; she looked at the hydroflask like Indy looking at the arc of the covenant. Scott gave his wife a signal, then Karyn Tisch-Warren and Lolo Vuitton laid out Jane as well. Both members of Science Fiction Double Feature and Autumn Powers ate Only Finished This, while Starr noted that there was no Diana Spare in sight. The scene ended with Lolo holding up the Women's World championship amongst a ring full of fallen bodies crowing that she would run the women's division again after the PPV and there was nothing any of these out of shape freakazoids could do about it. "Bodak Yellow" came on over the PA while OnlyFitness celebrated getting the jump on Autumn and her friends again.
Before the explosive main event tag, the announce ran down the upcoming PPV; newcomer Jacques Krieger will take on Atum Pharaoh and "These Hands" Roy Fade will face off against "the Wonderful" Rich Ward on the preshow. And those are just the appetizers; Season's Beatings has a feast of a main card.
🕎🎄 It's official after what went down earlier tonight: former champions the Hard Way take on Drake Tremble and Ted Holland of the Red, White and True 🎄🕎
🕎🎄 The International Workrate Consortium have a stiff test in their PPV return as they face longtime rivals the Proper Villains, Katsuji Ootsuka and the former double champion Mason "Razorblade" Savage 🎄🕎
🕎🎄 The Game Changers will defend the Unified World Tag Team championships against Super Avión and…uhhhh….a mystery partner, though there seemed to be a whole lot of silence when he stumped for one earlier on the show 🎄🕎
🕎🎄 Lolo Vuitton from OnlyFitness tries to regain the Women's World Championship but has to face off against QCW's longest reigning champion, Autumn Powers – does Vuitton have what it takes to run the women's division once again or does Autumn's reign continue on through the winter? 🎄🕎
🕎🎄 Einherjar gets his first singles title shot and tries to stop Jupiter Jones from holding the World Television title or from hitting the crucial 10th decision the future Hall of Famer needs to be able to cash in for a World title opportunity anywhere, anytime, anyplace - will it be a Bolt From Olympus that destroys an Immortal? 🎄🕎
🕎🎄 Nazir el-Fadal is turning QCW into his own sick personal playground but the new #1 contender is the big bad Revenant – the last time they faced off the Rev chokeslammed Naz so many times the referee reversed his decision and Naz was injured for weeks; can Naz find a way to survive the land monster? What if the Immortals fulfill their promises and walk out of the PPV with both the TV title and the World title? 🎄🕎
Season's Beatings is going to be coming live from the sold out Greensboro Coliseum so make sure that you order the PPV (worse comes to worse you can watch the preshow on QTube). But before that happens, there's one more match to tee up before we get to Season's Beatings…
| • | • the main event • | • |
You can keep "The 12 Days of Christmas"; the crowd started shooting up in their seats before the lights died in the Arena and "Killed By Death" hit the PA. Out strode the Immortals to one of the biggest pops of the night; as they came down to ringside we got a picture in picture of last week's main event where the Revenant outlasted his partner Einherjar to earn a shot at the World title come next Sunday night, and the announce put over that as well as Einherjar getting a shot at the red hot Jupiter Jones and the TV title come Season's Beatings. Back in the ring, the Revenant was stretching in one corner while Einherjar worked on his strikes using the buckles in another corner down the line from his partner in alleged crimes.
Cue Arcarsenal.
Starr and Steve were ebullient over the imminent ass kicking as the World champion slowly strode out and was kept warm in a sweater of boos and curses from the Quality Controllers. Nazir looked even sneerier than usual, and occasionally looked behind him as he came down the aisle. el-Fadal hesitated getting into the ring and paused to look down at the World title; when he looked up the Revenant was eyeballing him in a way that suggested what he was thinking up next would involve a knife and a fork.
Naz was far quieter than usual as he handed the title off to the referee, eyeballing his opponents like a shifty eyed cartoon dog before the bell rang. Einherjar started off the match as no partner magically materialized for The Champ. It went about 55/45 in Naz's favor, but then after getting knocked on his ass close to his corner gave Naz a wry smile and reached up to have a massive red right hand tag in to the roar of the crowd. Starr was doing some Naz-level cackling at the table, salivating over el-Fadal getting his just desserts. The Revenant backed up Naz to the middle of the ring, then stuck his chin out. Naz immediately threw in a tight European uppercut.
The Revenant smiled and tapped his chin a couple more times, waving Naz on. el-Fadal looked ambivalent if not concerned and started to throw another European uppercut only to back up and suddenly lash out with a MDK Elbow. You could hear the crack through the Arena, and it did shift the Revenant's jaw…but he just wheeled around after eating it and smiled at Naz, who suddenly remembered he left the stove unlocked and the door on medium high and got on his horse. It worked for a little bit until the Rev caught Naz in a goozle and flung him into a neutral corner, but Naz thumbed him in the eye when he advanced. The Revenant clearly blinked himself free and scowled at Naz, who backed up – then looked behind him, then shoved down the ref. The crowd and the announce were livid about that, and the referee went to call for the bell…only for the Revenant to cut him off and say a couple of things while pointing at The Champ. The referee seemed to agree, then turned to Naz and informed him he wasn't getting disqualified for the shove. This made Naz livid, and he began to berate the referee for not doing his job.
This also left Naz with his back to the Revenant. This was Not Smart. The Rev tossed Naz in a corner and battered him with body blows while the crowd roared, and then the beatdown was on in earnest.
The ref's five counts took ten. Einherjar showed off some of his MMA training and Krav Maga knowledge by tying up Naz in a couple submissions until he screamed and adding some judo throws to the arsenal. Then back to the Rev. He beat Naz. He beat Naz like a rented goalie. An overjoyed Starr asked if the Immortals had Venmo as the Rev easily tossed Naz up before laying waste to him with a pop up powerslam. Tag to Einherjar.
That's how the next 10 minutes went and they might have been the longest time in Naz's whole QCW career. The former World Tag Team champions absolutely dissected the World champion while the announce put over the beating as an overture for the symphony of violence that would befall Naz at the PPV. Einherjar laid into Naz with a series of strikes and then pinned him…but pulled Naz up at two to the oohs and cheers of the crowd (and announce). Tag to the Revenant, who proceeded to lift Naz off the mat by his neck. Annnnnnnddddd chokeslammed.
Oh, Duck sends his regards Naz. It's via second chokeslam. The Rev dropped down for the cover (which maybe the referee wasn't doing full speed)... and pulled Naz up at five|two. Since the match was continuing, the crowd fired up a "One more time!" chant that Starr stood up and encouraged. Steve said he stood up to tell S. to sit down yet failed to do so himself and the hand gestures looked more like ramp up ones than ramp down ones. Speaking of down, that's exactly where Naz got planted after Chokeslam the Third. The Quality Controllers – fuck it, the Arena was out for some payback on el-Fadal and the Red Right Hand wasn't tired yet.
When el-Fadal hit the mat after the fourth chokeslam, the Revenant tagged in Einherjar and they called for the end.
And it was…just not how we thought it would go.
| • the Immortals ddq. QCW World Heavyweight Champion Nazir el-Fadal & Super Avión • |
Because Super Avión had come in from out of nowhere and waffled the Revenant in the back with a steel chair. Naz fell to the mat and started coughing as everyone had the same three lettered reaction. The Revenant turned around slowly then reached out for the goozle but Avión planted his feet and absolutely uppercutted the Revenant with another chair shot; it was only then that the stunned referee remembered to call for the bell. Einherjar went over towards the luchador but el-Fadal had enough strength to scrape himself up off the mat and deliver a textbook Flair uppercut right in the icicles. The crowd groaned as Einherjar crumbled into the mat, and Naz looked up at Avión. Avión dropped the chair in front of Naz, who started up at him. Avión looked down on Naz before diving between the ropes and getting Julius out of the way so he could grab another chair from the ringside area and slide into the ring with it. Naz looked at Avión, who yelled "Look out!" before shoving Naz to the side a bit and stabbing Einherjar in the ribs with his new chair, then slamming it over the Immortal's back.
Naz started at Avión.
Avión stared back, then broke out into a grin. Naz stared back at Avión.
Shortly after that, the chair swinging began. The crowd's stunned silence started giving way to boos and the announce couldn't believe what they were seeing as Avión got Einherjar up for a crucifix slam and delivered it onto one of the chairs in the ring. Starr screamed "What the hell is going on?" right before Naz blindsided the Rev with a blindside chair shot that sent the #1 contender spilling to the canvas. The Champ cackled with glee and asked Avión for a little more help in his direction, and Avión turned his gaze towards Naz standing over the #1 contender prepping one big swing that he hoped would the end of the threat. Naz mouthed something to Avión as he saw the Revenant start to come up off the mat. It looked like they were trying to figure out how they were maybe going to line up a conchairto when the crowd started buzzing and then erupting in cheers.
There were a couple of reasons for their hopeful applause and shrieks: not just Jupiter Jones, but the baseball bat he was toting with him. Nazir bailed out of the ring while Avión took a swing at Jupiter, who sent the chair flying with a bigger swing with the bat that finally sent Avión scattering to the floor as the Immortals started to stir in the ring. Jupiter was yelling at both Avión and Naz to get in the ring and fight, but he got no takers there. Naz got his title from a slightly rattled JD3 with his free hand and held it up to the jeers of the crowd. A couple of steps after preening, he backed into Avión who said "You see?! You see how it is for us here?" Naz gave a mirthless chuckle and said he been knew, then Avión extended his hand and asked if he had The Champ's support for his insurgency.
Naz looked Avión up and down for a few seconds. "You mean our insurgency!" and shook Avión's hand to a chorus of boos while in the ring Jupiter tried to help out the Immortals, who were looking groggy and pissed while using the ropes to help with balance. The show ended with Nazir holding up Lucky 13 and taunting everyone in the ring while Avión taunted the camera and told the Game Changers to shine up his belt real nice, because he didn't just get any partner– he got The Champ! Credits box popped up as Steve and Starr grumbled about this surprise development before sneaking in one last plug for Season's Beatings from Greensboro next Sunday under the wire.
