Hello my friends, we meet again. As you may have gathered from the title this will not be a review of the show but I will share my additional thoughts from the drive home back on March 28th, which culminated in three WrestleZone experiences in as many weeks from Comic Con to Regal Rumble and ending up in New Pitsligo Public Hall.

I took my son with me for this one, his second proper wrestling event ever, and much like Battle of the Nations the fatigue set in for the three year old throughout the evening which caused some distraction. So, like that review, I would be doing a disservice to do a full scale review and play-by-play when I admittedly missed parts of each match.

What I can talk about is the atmosphere, a new area, a new venue, there is a bit of pressure to not only keep stories ticking for those that are keeping track but to impress enough to draw a crowd if and when a return comes around. I lived in New Pitsligo for a year or two when I was in my late teens, and I would love to tell you anything about the village but I genuinely couldn’t. My time there was spent driving to Elgin for work, or sitting in my room on Limewire and watching cinema goers walk through The Dark Knight, whilst doing cringeworthy photoshoots with my wrestling belts.

Simpler times.

I couldn’t miss out on returning to see WrestleZone to do their thing, in an intimate setting, plus taking my Umar Mohammed obsessed boy to a show seemed like a good idea. I can tell you now, there was a lot of running, and God bless the patience of Kev on security, and everyone else, because I must’ve dragged that boy away from the ring apron, what felt like, 100 times. Thankfully the action in the ring was a great distraction, barring one moment where, I think it was when James Taylor was being peeled off the canvas, and I felt like a quarter back grabbing a football… or whatever sports reference fits here.

A lesson was learned, he’s still not quite ready to sit for a whole show.

But! With all that being said it was a really enjoyable night in New Pitsligo. The night started off on a high, seeing the joy of my boys face when Umar Mohammed entered for the VIP ticket holder match was enough to counter balance the sweat that I was going to produce in the following couple of hours. Mohammed came up against a new face in WrestleZone, Ross Fraser. Ross had made his debut the week prior in the Regal Rumble match and in that review I saw a confident performance with his match with Umar being no different.

There has been a pattern in the past of wrestlers coming out of the WrestleZone Training Academy needing a couple shows to season and adjust to a paying crowd, however, the last couple of graduates have hit the ground running with character and flourishes. Two matches in and Ross showed no fear to keep pace against a more experienced opponent. He’s currently in newbie mode for attire, with the wrestling school shirt and over plain gear, but I’m very curious on what the finished product is going to be presented as.

Umar picked up the win with a fisherman’s brainbuster in a strong showing, the good natured exchanges eased the audience in well for the rest of the night. Between that and earning the profits from at least two keyring clapper boards, it was a good night for The Asian Sensation.

We moved into the main show with Bryan Tucker strutting his way out, the hilarity of his demand for people to stand and applaud him… to have a row stand and applaud him, was incredible. It looked to almost break the Grand Slam Daddy with bemusement and confusion.

Bryan was up against someone from the previous batch of debutants, Captain Alan’s least favourite crew member, Travis Knox.

It was a battle of experience versus youthful exuberance, with youth overcoming the odds. It showcased a resiliency from Knox to keep looking for a chance, and it paid off with a snappy kick to the side of the head of a seated Bryan Tucker to collect the victory.

Of the three that marched out to The Regal Rumble last year for their debuts, and subsequent joining of Captain Alan’s crew (albeit under duress), Travis has been a bit under the radar. James Taylor is the brown noser, Kai Orson has charisma poring out of his veins, whereas Travis has been more about letting his actions do the talking, reminding me of a younger Connor Molloy.

Travis is very slick in-ring, and I’d put a heavy bets that when he moves past Captain Alan’s crew and can be more expressive in his presentation then there’s a diamond in the rough in the Granite City.

A well put together match to notch a win over the tag team champions in singles competition and continue an underlying thread that Bryan Tucker is a bit of a liability for The Warriors Against Low Life Entities.

“When sorrows come, they come not single spies, but in battalions.”
— Hamlet (Act 4, Scene 5)

It coupled nicely with the next match up between Kai Orson and Rhys Dawkins. The other halves of the equation. The dynamic of the lovable Orson and the crabbit Dawkins worked exceptionally well.

Both were on fine form, a disgruntled Dawkins having to work his way around the explosive barrel that is Kai Orson. In contrast to Tucker’s sheer luck in gaining advantage, Dawkins was calculated in finding a weakness and targeting the shoulder and top of the back to wear down Orson in anticipation for his array of game enders.

It also worked in trying to offset the damage that Kai could pose when he threw his body at Rhys.

The crowd support just overcharged Kai into overdrive, crashing into Dawkins with such force that it eventually left Rhys staring up at the lights to make it a clean sweep over Tucker and Dawkins for Knox and Orson.

As every match concludes, the complete character that Rhys Dawkins has evolved into is impressive. He is more than capable in the ring, but leaves no room for any adulation. He is a villain through and through.

Coupling that with the absolute joy Kai Orson comes into a match, the big passionate display, there’s no facade with Kai Orson, you can feel the energy that he emits before and after the bell. A brilliant combination.

The disappointment continued for Dawkins with Orson nabbing a juice from the tuck shop (which he came back and paid for at the interval), and skooshed it into the besmirched face of half of the WrestleZone Tag Team Champions.

Half time approached, but before the break Evan Young went one on one with Lost Boy Aspen. On paper it was fairly one sided if you go move for move, but in reality that stubborn nature of Evan showed no fear in throwing hands against a hard hitting opponent.

It was to the point where Aspen was lurching towards Evan with a headbutt to catch a break from the trade off of forearms and strikes. Young was relentless in staying involved, not letting Aspen rest and get too much momentum built up.

Eventually they ran at each other with stereo clotheslines and referee Jason counted both out for three.

A match that really levelled up Evan Young’s stock, he has been knocking it out of the park with his ferocity since the assault on Scotty Swift in January. He looks to have it all clicking together, showing no fear to get his hands dirty and admonish the crowd at the same time. I’m really impressed by how he has grown so quickly into being a bad guy.

A draw opens up for a rematch, which I’d think would be great for something a little more long term to further unlock a more vicious side of Young. They matched up well.

Back from getting a foam finger signed and the boy lingering around for a picture with Umar, it was back from the interval we saw a bout pitting The Heavy Metal Hooligan Mikkey Vago against Mr Deeside himself, Mr P.

A puffed out Mr P crab walked his way out of the door that formed the entrance way, making himself big like he was about to square up to a bear.

Vago anticipated a pre-match attack to send Mr P hurtling into the corner at speed. An offer of a handshake was quickly rebuffed with Mikkey taking tremendous glee in punching the face and slapping the baldy napper of Mr P around the ring.

Mr P had minutes of offence but it was all Mikkey Vago until Damien rushed out to cause a distraction which was enough for a sneaky roll up with a handful of jeans to have Mr P escape with another win under his belt.

There was something cathartic about seeing Mr P being bounced around like a baldy bouncy ball, the interference was well timed just as it was hitting a peak of response. It also added to vitriol that could be gathered for the main event. Spot on.

In our penultimate match, Bruiser Brad killed a guy.

Okay it wasn’t that open and shut, but the mismatch of siiize was played up to the hilt. James Taylor had some height over Brad but lacked the BEEF. They posed off, Taylor tried to slam Brad… then the referee, which was a bold move but he went zero for two.

An eye rake did give James some fleeting moments to get the Regal Rumble winner down to a knee, then onto his back by ramming his own knee into the temple of Brad.

Unfortunately the height gap might’ve been closed by an inch or two following a piledriver to have Taylor dreaming of a chiropractor.

There’s a lot to take from the match. James Taylor being the only blemish for Captain Alan’s crew for one, Bruiser Brad getting to embrace the crowd and have a good time, showing what we’re in store for now that Brad is a good guy in the eyes of the WrestleZone crowd for the first time since, like, 2019… maybe? The reaction to Brad entering was fantastic, he is a game changer when he walks into a room.

It wasn’t a long match but it accomplished plenty. It wasn’t anything fancy, nor should it have been.

In the main event, Damien returned with Mr P to face Ted O’Keefe in a non-title match. Ted was wise enough to introduce some back up in the form of Mikkey Vago in his corner.

Mr P was outstanding in trying to get O’Keefe to lay down because Damien has a specific training regime to deal with Bruiser Brad at Aberdeen Anarchy and Ted just isn’t the guy.

Ted seemingly agreed to the assessment and slowly stooped down, only to refuse and wail on the Undisputed Champion.

Damien tried to evade the jabs but O’Keefe was following closely behind with another fist to the jaw. The match spilled out to around the hall, Damien sought refuge behind a chair that was unceremoniously kicked into the forehead of the champion.

O’Keefe was on fire, so a timely interruption from Mr P doused the flames. Damien took control for a good portion of the match but Ted hung on, fighting back with a combination of moves to leave Damien stunned on the mat.

As he scaled to the top turnbuckle Mr P once again got involved, allowing Damien to recover and take O’Keefe off the turnbuckle into a fireman’s carry. Ted wriggled out into a sunset flip attempt only for Mr P to grab the reaching arms out of the vision of referee Mikey Innes to swing the leverage to the champion who got the win.

The duo celebrated the conclusion, however, they opened the entrance door to find Lost Boy Aspen. The panicked pair rushed over to another exit that revealed Bruiser Brad in the worst game of play your doors right.

Mr P was knocked down as a retreating Damien found himself back in the ring and surrounded by Vago, Aspen, O’Keefe, and Brad.

Damien went into the fire with forearms but was quickly being knocked from pillar to post, with Brad throwing his Aberdeen Anarchy opponent into the path of a Ted O’Keefe spinebuster to close the night on a high.

From a match perspective, Ted O’Keefe continues to be a dependable hand in any position he is placed in on the card. It was a really hot match, with the story of Ted defying the short cut offer really resonating with the crowd. Damien having this kind of gunshot offense, like if he sees a chance he doesn’t hesitate to add a little extra move to cause more discomfort, I like it.

The happy ending of seeing Damien laid out and Mr P get some comeuppance capped off their appearances earlier in the show to make the event be standalone whilst offering some story progression with Aberdeen Anarchy being about 6 weeks-ish away.

It’s hard for me to be objective on whether it was a successful night for those that haven’t seen wrestling live before, let alone coming to a WrestleZone event, but this was a quality show in giving a taste of the variety that WrestleZone provide on a monthly basis.

Full Results:
VIP Ticket Holder Match – Umar Mohammed defeated Ross Fraser by pinfall.
Travis Knox defeated Bryan Tucker by pinfall.
Kai Orson defeated Rhys Dawkins by pinfall.
Evan Young vs Lost Boy Aspen ended in a double pinfall.
Mr P defeated Mikkey Vago by pinfall.
Bruiser Brad defeated James Taylor by pinfall.
Damien w/Mr P defeated Ted O’Keefe w/Mikkey Vago by pinfall.

If you want my day-of pre and post show thoughts I’ve stuck in our On The Road episode and montage below: