WrestleZone are set to host the 2017 Battle of the Nations next month on September 9th from the Aberdeen Northern Hotel featuring the inaugural WWE United Kingdom Champion, Tyler Bate. Throughout Battle of the Nations history, there have been some phenomenal matches put on. What do I think were the best ones? Let’s take a look!
Honourable mentions;
Shawn Johnson vs Crusher Craib (Battle of the Nations 2011)
Battle of the Nations Match: Zach Dynamite vs Dave Rayne (Battle of the Nations 2013)
Battle of the Nations Match: Scotty Swift & Bingo Ballance vs Rob Cage & Dave Rayne (Battle of the Nations 2012)
WrestleZone Tag Team Championships: Team SMASH (Aspen Faith & James Midas) (c) vs Scotty Swift & Jay Lethal (Battle of the Nations 2013)
Triple Threat Elimination Match for the WrestleZone Tag Team Championships: The Granite City Hotshots (Shawn Johnson & Bryan Tucker) (c) vs Mr P & Kaden Garrick vs Chris Archer & Lord Mr Malice (Battle of the Nations 2015)
10. Undisputed WrestleZone Championship: Johnny Lions (c) vs JD Sassoon (Battle of the Nations 2012)
Kicking off the list is a match from the 2012 Battle of the Nations as Johnny Lions defended his Undisputed Championship against WrestleZone debutant JD Sassoon. JD put in a fantastic effort and it was clear he really wanted that belt, which he almost won on several occasions with a multitude of rollups and a huge Codebreaker for an extremely close two count. But it wasn’t enough to win the gold on this night, as the vicious tenacity of Johnny Lions showed through. It would be a pop-up Lion Cutter that allowed The Tenacious One to hold on to the title once again. Johnny would hold on to the gold for the next two months, before he lost it to Bingo Ballance at Halloween Hijinx 2012.
9. Triple Threat Match for the Undisputed WrestleZone Championship: Scotty Swift (c) vs Damien vs Joe Coffey (Battle of the Nations 2016)
The main event of last year’s Battle of the Nations saw Scotty Swift defending the Undisputed Championship in a huge Triple Threat Match against Damien and Joe Coffey. Aspen Faith was originally scheduled to be part of the match, but had to pull out due to a concussion suffered earlier in the day while wrestling for Discovery Wrestling. Damien had earned the shot by teaming with The Sterling Brothers to defeat Johnny Lions, Mr P and Kaden Garrick in a Ladder Match at Aberdeen Anarchy, so he was obviously frustrated about not getting a one on one title opportunity. Despite that, we had a tremendous main event with every man getting their chance to shine. Coffey shined exceptionally well in the match as he performed a simultaneous giant swing/airplane spin on both opponents at once. Swift would eventually go on to retain the gold after planting Damien into the mat with a Granite City Driver while Coffey’s arms were trapped in the ropes. As Damien left without the gold after the match, Swift and Coffey embraced in the ring as the show came to a close.
8. Handicap Match: Crusher Craib vs Sterling Oil (Damien & The Sterling Brothers (Alan Sterling & William Sterling)) (Battle of the Nations 2012)
After becoming a member of Sterling Oil (for the first time in his career anyway), Crusher Craib wasn’t treated as well as the other members. This led to Craib turning on Sterling Oil during the 2012 Regal Rumble Match, which he would go on to win. After that, Crusher would go on a tear through the members of Sterling Oil as he defeated their bodyguard Mr Malice in Inverurie, William Sterling in Nairn, Damien in Stonehaven and finally Alan Sterling in Lossiemouth. WrestleZone management were clearly impressed with Crusher and gave him the chance to earn a match against Richard R. Russell. All he had to do was defeat Damien and The Sterling Brothers in a 3 on 1 Handicap Match at the 2012 Battle of the Nations. Despite dominating the majority of the match, Crusher was unsuccessful in his quest as he was rolled up for the three count by William. However, Crusher lifted his shoulder off the mat at the referee’s count of one. As Crusher brawled with Sterling Oil back through the curtain, all was revealed as Russell handed the money to referee Andy Andrews who had seemingly sold out to Sterling Oil. Despite this, Crusher went on to defeat Sterling Oil in a rematch at Halloween Hijinx to earn the right to face Richard R. Russell at Christmas Chaos. Russell picked up the win there by disqualification as Crusher just went all out and lost his temper.
7. Triple Threat Tornado Match for the WrestleZone Tag Team Championships: The Granite City Hotshots (Shawn Johnson & Bryan Tucker) (c) vs The Thunder Buddies (Blue Thunder & William Sterling) vs Revolution (Damien & Johnny Lions) (Battle of the Nations 2014)
Kicking off Battle of the Nations in 2014 was a Triple Threat Tornado Match for the Tag Team Championships between defending champions The Granite City Hotshots, former champions The Thunder Buddies and the recently formed Revolution. Revolution got the match started before the champs could even enter as they attacked Blue Thunder and William Sterling before the bell. When Shawn and Bryan entered, all hell broke loose with all six men getting their chance to shine. A beautiful spot came when Shawn Johnson superplexed Damien off the top rope onto the other four at ringside. In the end, Blue Thunder took Johnson off his feet with a missile dropkick but before he could go for the pin, Johnny Lions dragged him from the ring as Damien got the pin to crown new WrestleZone Tag Team Champions. Revolution should’ve been around for a bit longer in my opinion, with their sick f’n tag moves.
6. Undisputed WrestleZone Championship: Scotty Swift (c) vs Damien (Battle of the Nations 2015)
The main event of Battle of the Nations 2015 saw Scotty Swift defending the Undisputed Championship against Sterling Oil’s Damien. After finally winning the title from Joe Coffey at Aberdeen Anarchy earlier in the year, The Red Haired Warrior was attacked from behind by the reformed Sterling Oil. Damien would be the first of the three to challenge Swift, and he wasted no time as he ambushed Swift from behind while he was making his entrance. The two went at it for a while longer, with Scotty executing a nasty superplex that saw Damien almost landing on his neck. The Revolutionary would go on to introduce a steel chair to the contest. Before he could use it, Scotty countered his attack and got the chair for himself. As he decided whether to use it or not, Damien spat in his face with Scotty retaliating to get himself disqualified. As he looked to continue the attack after the bell, Damien was rescued by The Sterling Brothers. A staredown ensued, before a hooded figure emerged from the crowd. The man softly hit Swift in the back to distract him, allowing Sterling Oil to take him down. With the Undisputed Champion beaten down, the man revealed himself as the returning Sterling Oil strategist Richard R. Russell. What a way to end that year’s Battle of the Nations.
5. Battle of the Nations Match: Johnny Lions vs Sir Andrew Wilde (Battle of the Nations 2016)
“Tenacious” Johnny Lions represented Scotland in last year’s Battle of the Nations Match as he took on Sir Andrew Wilde. A vicious brawl ensued in and around the ring, with Wilde overhead belly to belly suplexing Lions on the hard wooden floor of the Northern Hotel. Taking the action back in the ring, it looked as if Scotland would be winning as Lions came back into it but Andrew would have none of it. The Englishman superkicked Lions in the jaw (beautiful superkick he has, he should use it more often) before planting The Tenacious One into the mat with a Doctor Bomb he calls The Wildest Driver for the win. A huge victory in what would turn out to be a fantastic year for one Andrew Wilde as he went on end the 525-day reign of Scotty Swift just two months later at Halloween Hijinx.
4. Battle of the Nations Match: Johnny Lions vs Doug Williams (Battle of the Nations 2015)
Johnny Lions also represented Scotland in the 2015 Battle of the Nations, this time facing former TNA X-Division Champion and international ambassador for British wrestling Doug Williams. As soon as the bell rang, a technical exhibition ensued as the two used multiple submissions and grapples to wear each other down, Lions tried on several occasions to get the job done with his signature moves, but Williams managed to fight through them all. The end of the match came when Lions attempted to suplex Williams off the top rope only to be pushed off as Doug dove off with his Bomb Scare diving knee drop for the three count. The two shook hands after the match as the fans applauded their performance.
3. Undisputed WrestleZone Championship: Jack Jester (c) vs Crusher Craib (Battle of the Nations 2014)
After Jack Jester arrived in WrestleZone in 2013, he made it his mission to capture the Undisputed Championship. After defeating then-champion Crusher Craib by DQ at the Cloverleaf Hotel the following year, Jester was intent on pinning Crusher’s shoulders to the mat so entered himself into the 2014 Regal Rumble Match which he went on to win. Their title match at the second Aberdeen Anarchy on May 10th was one that will go down in the history books as a great battle between the monsters of Aberdeen and Glasgow. Jester won the gold after distracting Craib with ringside attendant Thea, before using a steel chair and a Tombstone Piledriver to shock the Beach Ballroom crowd and become champion. Their third match was signed for August 30th at the Beach Leisure Centre for Battle of the Nations. In another hard-fought battle from both men, Jester again tried to use Thea to get inside the head of The Creator of Carnage. With Crusher distracted, Jack went to use his trademark corkscrew but Crusher was able to duck and big boot Jester in the jaw to become a two-time Undisputed WrestleZone Champion.
2. Battle of the Nations Match for the EVOLVE World Championship: Drew Galloway (c) vs Andy Wild (Battle of the Nations 2014)
When the news broke that Drew Galloway/McIntyre had been released from his WWE contract in June 2014, a list of companies got in contact to have Drew on their show. One of those companies was WrestleZone, who signed Galloway to represent Scotland in the 2014 Battle of the Nations Match against England’s representative “Unstoppable” Andy Wild. By the time he got released and the time he came to Aberdeen, Drew was able to pick up some gold as he became the new EVOLVE World Champion. As a result, Andy Wild challenged The Sinister Scotsman to put his title on the line, a challenge Drew was happy to accept. Despite an immense effort from Wild, it would be a Scottish victory as Drew planted Andy on his head with a Future Shock DDT to retain the gold and successfully represent Scotland in the Battle of the Nations Match.
1. Unsanctioned Match: Shawn Johnson vs Bryan Tucker (Battle of the Nations 2016)
Coming in at number one is a huge Unsanctioned Match from last year’s Battle of the Nations between former tag team partners Shawn Johnson and Bryan Tucker. After breaking up following Shawn’s defection to Sterling Oil at Christmas Chaos (Comes Early!) in 2015, Tucker took a break from wrestling before returning to cost his former friend the 2016 Regal Rumble Match. From there, the two embarked on a fierce rivalry for the remainder of 2016 with Bryan winning the first match at Aberdeen Anarchy. WrestleZone management refused to sanction the rematch between the two for Battle of the Nations due to the sheer amount of anger between them. As a result, both Shawn and Bryan used all they could to inflict damage to the other. It would be the Sterling Oil member who went on to win the bout after sending Tucker head-first into a steel chair wedged in the turnbuckles followed by rolling him up while using the ropes for leverage. Bryan would pick up the rubber match victory at December’s Christmas Chaos by defeating the then-Tag Team Champion in the annual Christmas Brawl. Months later, the two are still going at it from time to time, with Shawn recently retaining his Undisputed Championship over Tucker earlier this month in Laurencekirk.
This year’s show is already shaping up to be fantastic, with Scotty Swift set to face Crusher Craib, Mr P and Andy Wild competing in the annual Battle of the Nations Match and The Rejected defending their Tag Team Titles against former champs The Sterling Brothers in an Anything Goes Tornado Tag Team Match. General admission tickets are still available from www.ringsideworld.co.uk, priced £12 for adults and £10 for under 14s.
SCOTTISH WRESTLING NETWORK | SWN 