We’ll have a road trip episode of the podcast tonight about this event, in the meantime it is available on Patreon in audio form here: www.patreon.com/scotwresnet

It was the first WrestleZone event of 2025, and I made no secret about being hyped, not only for the Casino Brutale debut, but for the intrigue around near every match. The best times in wrestling is when it is unpredictable and this event gave no clues on how the Regal Rumble match in March is going to go.

2024 was a good year for WrestleZone, with so many highlights and a steady stream of new faces being welcomed into the North East fold, 2025 looks to continue that, especially as we are looking at a 30 man Regal Rumble in March.

VIP Ticket Holder Match – Tommy Raiden defeated Lost Boy Aspen w/Captain Alan Sterling by pinfall.

We kicked off the evening with Tommy Raiden firing out of the entrance way full of piss and vinegar, a stark contrast to Lost Boy Aspen who just looked pissed to still have Captain Alan wafting around his person insisting on him wearing a battle hat in his quest to make Aspen great again.

The trend continued of Captain Alan wittering on and distracting Aspen while Tommy Raiden just kept coming back with no fear. Raiden took to the skies to mixed results as Aspen just smashed Tommy with high impact moves and big forearms.

Raiden tried his basement cutter but Aspen had it scouted, powering Tommy up to avoid damage. Aspen looked to wrap it up with a very high angled X-Plex and a sit out powerbomb but Tommy continued to survive, dodging a second rope moonsault to get that basement cutter in for a near fall.

Aspen hit a piledriver which enraged Captain Alan, who has been insistent that that move won’t win Aspen matches. The distraction was enough for Raiden to recover, and a roll up later we saw Tommy Raiden pick up a shock win against the first ever WrestleZone Grand Slam winner.

The details are hazy of the timeline of events but regardless we saw Captain Alan once again be the foil in an otherwise clinical Lost Boy Aspen game plan. I feel like we’re early days in this journey, but with Alan due to be in action against Aspen’s SKOL BROL pal Caleb Valhalla in Peterhead on February 22nd so there’s some emotional damage coming!

Tommy Raiden really showed how he’s come along since his debut, he showed plenty of fight and stubbornness that looked to mentally exhaust Aspen, and he was already on a low level of tolerance with Captain Alan floating around.

WrestleZone Tri-Counties Championship – Bryan Tucker vs TV’s Umar Mohammed ended in a time limit draw. Bryan Tucker retained the WrestleZone Tri-Counties Championship.

The main show started with a bang, and as my paranoia increased on looking for potential suspects to take up the shirt throwing mantle of Judas Grey, ‘The Asian Sensation’ strutted out in a stunning blue and gold jacket. Very nice. Very sparkly. The jacket of a champion.

Bryan Tucker entered alone, with no Rhys Dawkins at ringside the tension increased, as the bell rang and Tucker went to set his watch for 10 minutes Umar grabbed it off him and relieved the GRAND SLAM DADDEH of his timepiece. How would Bryan keep track of his evasion tactics? I mean, other than Martyn Clunes informing us of the time left in the contest.

Mohammed ran wild in the early exchanges but an attempt at some Old School rope walking was countered with Tucker managing to put Umar off balance and throwing him from the top rope to the canvas. Tucker took control, slowing down the action with headlocks, wasting as much time as possible while the crowd clamoured for ‘The Desi Debonair’ as the clock counted down.

Umar fought back, building up a head of steam with a springboard back elbow, a second rope draping backstabber, and sending the champion wobbling. When Umar locked in The Big Kachowski as the blood streamed from the nose of Bryan Tucker you felt a shift, the crowd were ready for Bryan’s hand to hit the mat three times but he managed to hold on. After a couple times of asking Umar managed to launch Tucker over with a Fisherman’s Suplex, and a T-Bone variant, it was all Umar Mohammed as the time was quickly running out.

The Thundergunn Express landed as the Umar scrambled to get the pin, one… two… time ran out. Umar Mohammed was one second away from becoming WrestleZone Tri-Counties Champion. One second from holding gold for the first time in his wrestling journey. The protests of five more minutes fell on deaf ears as Bryan Tucker made a hasty exit, clutching his prized possession.

An excellent opening match that was emotionally charged in the conclusion, if there was any modicum of doubt that Umar Mohammed is a championship contender up here then this should’ve silenced any critic. Since arriving in WrestleZone properly at the end of 2022, Umar has constantly been a highlight on shows, consistently adored by the WrestleZone crowd. He has spent a lot of his WrestleZone journey involved in tag team shenanigans, but 2025 will surely see ‘The Asian Sensation’ with a championship cummerbund to add to his many televisual accolades.

Speaking of consistently, Bryan Tucker continues to lay a solid foundation for any match. Much like the core roster that has been around for years, he knows the best way to lead this crowd to maximise the moments.

Handicap Match – Chris Archer & Oliver Green defeated Evan Young by pinfall.

‘Mr 2004’ looked at the numbers disadvantage and didn’t let it phased him as he went straight for Oliver Green before the bell rang. He ran rings around his foes, sending Archer and Green to the outside before following up with a rolling senton off the apron.

Young kept coming at Green but some quick thinking from Oli saw him move out of the way of a corner splash and with a kick to the chest it gained his team some control. As Archer barked orders Green tried to keep Evan Young grounded.

The quick tags from Archer and Green kept Young at bay but a double team suplex was countered into a double neck breaker to put the momentum back into the Evan Young camp. Archer made sure that it didn’t last long with a knee to the back allowing Oliver Green to attempt a double foot stomp. Young rolled out of the way but he couldn’t escape the second time of asking, Green drove his boots into the chest of Evan Young to finally keep him down for the count.

The intensity of Evan Young was palpable. You could feel the hatred he has for his opponents as he scrapped to cause any damage. That intensity caused a fast paced action filled match. The added edge that Oliver Green has brought as he scowled and admonished his opponent and the WrestleZone fans was exactly what Green needed to move forward. The crowd lapped it up as they supported Evan Young coming in as an underdog and continuing to fight against all odds. A great start for Green, and a fun match.

WrestleZone Tag Team Championships – The Outfit (Ted O’Keefe & Dino) defeated The Influence (Ronan King & Connor Molloy) by pinfall to retain the WrestleZone Tag Team Championships.

In our first half main event it was The OG Outfit against The Influence, yeah their entrance tron still said Flippy N Drippy but Martyn was on it announcing The Influence sans Judas Grey. Ronan King and Connor Molloy dripped out to the ring… if that’s even a phrase… in matching black sheer gear, posing and postulating all over the place.

O’Keefe and Dino burst out from the entrance, titles in hand. I think this was the first actual defence from the original team that may’ve added some pep in Ted’s step. As the ring announcements were made, Ronan informed Clunes that he is hailed from the bedroom of everyone’s girlfriends, Connor then passed on that he was from everyone’s boyfriends bedrooms, all leading to The Outfit being announced from Ronan and Connor’s mother’s bedroom for a loud cheer. Let’s all be thankful Judas wasn’t there because DMG eh.

In a running theme of the first half, these teams went balls to the wall as the pace ramped up with the momentum swinging back and forth. The Outfit double teamed Connor early on, dropping Molloy on his back from a Dino height after his request to be let down was accepted.

The Influence got into a flow, as they quick fired a constant attack on O’Keefe ending on a dunkin’ splash from King that was so impactful his hat came off. The glory was short lived as Ronan found himself being slapped and chopped by Dino. Molloy stopped a tag by hoisting O’Keefe for a hard German Suplex but once Dino got tagged in officially it ran through The Influence including a stonking Lariat to Ronan that turning him inside out.

The match broke down, Molloy flung himself over the top rope onto Ted O’Keefe to leave King and Dino going back and forth. Ronan tried to spring off the ropes but was caught for an Alabama Slam from Dino, and finished by a Ted O’Keefe second rope elbow drop. It was over but Connor Molloy returned with a Frog Splash to break up the pin. Molloy took out Dino as it looked to be over for The Outfit’s latest title reign.

Ronan attempted to cause the final fatality, getting Ted into an Electric Chair position but O’Keefe rolled through to get the pin and retain.

An excellent first half main event, I’ve enjoyed the combo of Murphy with either Dino or Ted O’Keefe but there was something very fluid with the original team causing a ruckus with the team work. It was like they were so in tune with the other that it was effortless seeing them get to work. The Influence continue to put in high quality performances even if it was in defeat on this occasion. At this point in the evening I was sure that it was the end of this chapter for The Outfit…

For a bit of admin work, Caleb Valhalla received his half of the SWN Year End Awards for Feud of the Year 2024 during the interval. Bringing his trophy haul to… probably a million at this point.

Casino Brutale (RABU & Mikey Devine) defeated The Foundation of the Future (Bruiser Brad Evans & Ryan Riley) w/Richard R. Russell by disqualification.

We all sat comfortably for the second half with The Foundation of the Future along with Richard R. Russell being showered in boos. The slot machine jackpot sounded as Mikey Devine and RABU made their Granite City debut to an ovation. The power of the absolute bastardry that The Foundation of the Future have caused for a number of years now in WrestleZone, the crowd were ready to see these new lads give Evans and Riley a battering.

RABU conducted a Casino Brutale chant, which isn’t a bad start to their Aberdonian adventures. Riley was furious that the crowd were chanting for a couple of weegies over them before charging towards his opponent.

The Foundation has to deal with a slippery RABU early on, who took Ryan down with a flying clothesline from the second rope. Bruiser Brad got involved but was splashed in the corner for his troubles. Thanks to some Richarvention (does that work as a phrase… I’m trialing it), Brad slammed RABU with a heavy Oklahoma Stampede power slam.

Mikey Devine got tagged in to give Ryan Riley the 6-De-Vine, ducking and diving to propel himself off the apron onto Bruiser Brad. A distraction from Russell lead to The Foundation back into the driver’s seat. Devine was isolated as the groundswell of support continued for ‘Horsepower’ Mikey Devine as RABU could only look on.

The hot tag was made and RABU came in like a house on fire, sending Evans flying out of the ring with a clothesline, a top rope crossbody to Riley giving Devine time to recover, knocking Brad off the apron and assisting a Gory Bomb. Riley survived and after being caught on a dive, Evans rammed RABU back first into the corner post. Mikey Devine was laid out with the elevated reverse DDT but The Foundation couldn’t keep him down for three. RABU returned to send Evans flying over the top rope again, scaling the top rope following a Devine Uranage to Riley but Richard R. Russell jumped onto the apron and swiped the foot of RABU to cause the disqualification.

A mad closing run as all involved were machines. The post-match saw The Foundation attack Casino Brutale, it took a little work but Evans got Devine up for a piledriver which looked to cause an issue for Bruiser Brad as he was slow to return to his feet. The Outfit arrived to make the save, but were followed by The Influence who delivered a stereo attack, standing tall in the end after a tandem splash onto Ted O’Keefe and Dino.

It looks like we have our contender for the big wild multi-man brawl as the first half main event at ‘Regal Rumble’ sorted!

We got a great reaction to Casino Brutale, the match delivered, technically they picked up a win over former WrestleZone Tag Team Champions, the mayhem of the post-match opening up the field for some mouth watering matches. Give me all of this. Four way for ‘Aberdeen Anarchy’?

This was a match I was excited for and I was right to be, a fantastic match.

Alex Webb defeated Captain Alan Sterling w/Lost Boy Aspen by pinfall.

Our penultimate match of the evening revisited the VIP portion of the event, as Captain Alan Sterling, wearing some of the lastest Bearhug Designed Lost Boy Aspen merch, flanked by Lost Boy Aspen (adorned in his battle hat) faced Alex Webb in a Battle of the Nations rematch.

Captain Alan remembered who Alex was from August, he was Spider-Man! Webb tried to curtail Alan from his promising investigation with numerous kicks to the face. He tied up Alan for a rendition of Row Row Row Your Boat, a song that has haunted my nightmares for the last two years but at least it wasn’t The Wheels On The Bus.

The Captain managed to get some offense in, sending Alex to the outside before distracting the referee and not-so-subtly asking Aspen to give Webb a beatdown… who refused because it was his friend. Quick as a flash Sterling declared that Aspen was MJ. A deflated Aspen rolled Webb back in and Alex got the Anchor dropped on his chest.

The match continued with Captain Alan and Aspen having a quick chat on the outside, but Alan dodged a kick from Webb who smashed Aspen then followed up by kicking a braced Sterling to send him staggering.

Alan got into the face of Aspen on the apron, who pie faced him away and led to the Captain walk (the plank) into a Claymore Kick from Webb for the win.

SAILOR BROL continues to be on rocky waters. There were glimmers of hope for the duo when Alan hit some flashier moves than even left Aspen impressed. The Lost Boy had to teach Alan how to apply a headlock which caused a good laugh when he locked it in and Alex Webb started flailing his legs. I’ve no idea where this will go, will we see Captain Alan Sterling and Lost Boy Aspen at ‘Aberdeen Anarchy’? I’ve no idea. If I’m getting my tinfoil terrible predictions in then I’d say that SAILOR BROL isn’t the end game and that there are more ship mates on the horizon as Alan will gather more seamen in 2025. Monstrum in a sailors hat. You’re welcome.

A fine match, it was a bit more story focused so while the in-ring content was solid it wasn’t the priority. I feel like Alex Webb might need a reinvention following the end of Fair City Saints in 2024. He’s kind of spinning his wheels with the occasional cameos. I’d love him to lean heavier into the YouTube side, live stream his entrances, maybe pause matches to record content. This might be why nobody is champing for me to be on any writing team.

Before the main event Caleb Valhalla assisted Mr Paterson to draw the raffle as he excitedly exclaimed after every ticket that it was “PINK!”. He’s a gift from the Gods.

Number One Contender Fatal Four Way – Shawn Johnson defeated Damien, Rhys Dawkins, and Scotty Swift by pinfall to become number one contender for the WrestleZone Undisputed Championship.

A big time main event with the WrestleZone Undisputed Champion, Caleb Valhalla, watching on. Scotty Swift entered wearing a red Caleb Valhalla shirt, the mark of someone trying really hard to convince everyone that he’s not pissed that Valhalla questioned his possible involvement for the end of ‘Christmas Chaos’.

Damien entered last to enthusiastic reaction before the match quickly got nitty and gritty. All four brawled early on as some miscommunication caused it to get messy in a hurry. It soon settled down with Shawn Johnson and Rhys Dawkins coming to an apparent truce in order to dispatch Damien and Swift.

It’s didn’t work out too well, a Shawn-Damien showdown was interrupted as it was soon Scotty and Damien squaring off, with Damien able to drop Swift with a pop up sit out powerbomb. The Dawkins-Johnson alliance was back in function, but Shawn let his gums flap a little too often as he besmirched the name of his former Granite City Hotshot partner Bryan Tucker to Dawkins who didn’t take kindly to him saying a bad word about his friend.

The bodies were flying as each man had their moment in the sun. Shawn and Scotty threw back to ‘Aberdeen Anarchy’ past as Shawn squirmed and wriggled away from Swift hitting that final blow. There was an, albeit brief, union of Johnson and Damien but they were powered up and over to receive a suplex from ‘The Red Haired Warrior’.

The star of the bout was Rhys Dawkins, walking into the match the only man to not have any championships to his Curriculum Vitae, didn’t look out of place as he planted all of his opponents with The Fifth Act with only bad luck being the reason that he wasn’t number one contender with his pin attempts interrupted as his victim showed no sign of getting a shoulder off the mat.

Oft expectation fails and most oft there
Where most it promises, and oft it hits
Where hope is coldest and despair most fits.
– All’s Well That Ends Well. Act II, Scene I

The match ended in controversial fashion, Damien had been gunning to use the guillotine sleeper hold throughout the match and finally locked Rhys Dawkins into his The Revolutionary’s trap, but Shawn Johnson rolled up Scotty Swift for a school boy with more than a handful of tights. Referee Mikey Innes counted the fall but Dawkins appeared to tap at the count of two. Innes called for the bell and declared Shawn Johnson the winner that had Damien flip out and demand a review.

Caleb Valhalla tried to calm down the tensions but ended up in a shoving contest with Damien, which left him distracted enough for Shawn Johnson to once again pounce, clipping the knee of Valhalla before applying a cross armbreaker to stretch the injured shoulder of the champion as Damien just watched on.

The locker room emptied to pry Johnson off Caleb, and once he relented Shawn made sure to make a hasty exit.

A chaotic end to ‘Granite City Showdown’. Bar the early wobbles, the match kept moving with all four having legitimate moments that kept you guessing on the conclusion. I’m just reiterating that Rhys Dawkins had a brilliant showing, no silliness, no Bryan Tucker shenanigans, just operating at a high level against three very established WrestleZone competitors. Shawn Johnson looked like he was comfortable for his first proper showing since his surprise return in December, the smarmy sneaky weasel is the wheelhouse that he excels in, washing away the Dad dancing with Mr P very quickly from the end of his previous run.

As the dust settled, the murmurs from the crowd dissecting the end of the night, I managed to sneak a little picture with the 2024 SWN Year End Awards Tag Team of the Year. A photo so good, due to being taken by TV’s own Umar Mohammed.

It’s been nearly 10 days since attending the event as I write this, so please forgive for any errors in the happenings during the matches or the order of moves. What I can confirm was how I felt after this show. Our SWN Podcast road trip episode is going out shortly and it confirms the excitement I emitted from the possibilities coming out of this event, the 2025 WrestleZone season has begun with a bang and I’m looking forward to being along for the ride.

Next stop, Peterhead.

I’ve had some additional time to digest the show and with one more stop before ‘Regal Rumble’ on March 15th here are my current FIVE picks for the 2025 Regal Rumble match…

Scotty Swift

Something about the protests of him not being involved in Shawn Johnson’s sneak attacks, him showing off wearing the Valhalla shirt in the main event, the big hand clapping for Damien’s entrance… I’m suspicious. Man who is routinely wrong about things is suspicious of someone who maybe just has friends. Stop making friends in wrestling otherwise I will constantly plot that particular ship to sink, the friendship. Scotty Swift verus Caleb Valhalla is a tasty main event prospect though I won’t lie.

TV’s Umar Mohammed

Give me some main event sensational scenes, not to think that Shawn Johnson won’t defeat Caleb Valhalla at ‘Regal Rumble’ but imagine the story here. Umar Mohammed made his WrestleZone debut in Inverurie against a very early days Caleb Valhalla. These two main eventing the biggest event on the WrestleZone calendar would be poetic. Imagine the video package, it would be pure cinema!

Bruiser Brad Evans

Bruiser Brad Evans was my early favourite, but I have mentally placed him into massive four way tag team explosion at ‘Aberdeen Anarchy’ Maybe he can pull off some double duty, if anyone could it’s the BEEF KING. We’ve had a beefy main event the last couple of years so what’s one more between two behemoths.

Lost Boy Aspen

Shush you, Aspen is always a contender. What’s the best way to shake off a losing streak? Throw Captain Alan out of the ring, win the Regal Rumble match, and book yourself into your fourth ‘Aberdeen Anarchy’ main event in a row and mark a trilogy of showdowns with ‘The Mighty’ Caleb Valhalla. We’re 1-1 so far, there will be a time and place, but will it be at ‘Aberdeen Anarchy’?

Zach Dynamite

I don’t know the current injury status of Zach Dynamite but he’s another that should be considered, much like Lost Boy Aspen his Regal Rumble match win will always have a little asterisk next to it as co-winner of the event. The Foundation of the Future are resetting after the war with Sterling Oil and cohorts. A returning boost, an outright Regal Rumble win and shaking the foundations once more in the main event against whomever the champion is can’t be taken off the table.

We’ll soon see if I think the same in upcoming podcast episodes for the previews and road trips. Stay tuned.

Road Trip Podcast Available Now