📺 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)!”
