After an outstanding Battle of the Nations, it was time to keep that momentum going with WrestleZone’s annual trip to Inverurie for a night of sweat, sweat, and tears because of all the sweat. The Hopeville Social Club was filled up once again for some of that professional wrestling and I parked my backside near the door, I’ve learned my lesson from previous years and enjoyed the draft whispering against the three hairs on the top of my head. It was another sold out event for WrestleZone in what has been a year of quality shows in the North East.
It was a calm affair getting in and ready for a pleasant evening at the wrestling. Once everyone was settled, Andrew Reid introduced us to the first match of the night, the bonus for the moneybags that shelled out the extra pounds.
VIP Ticket Holder Match – Captain Alan defeated Murphy by pinfall.
A James Taylor-less Captain Alan made a triumphant entrance and he was in serious mode because the hat came off straight away. Alan tried to manoeuvre Murphy around which went as well as expected with Murphy easily overpowering the Captain. It took some wily tactics for Alan to side step his opponent and targeting the spine of Murphy with kicks and a hard Irish Whip into the corner. It was still a tough task for Captain Alan to get an extended period of offense with Murphy still swinging.
As Murphy tried to make his comeback, there was something that would become an issue, Murphy was that tall it took out some options for him including the desire to powerbomb Alan into oblivion without causing considerable damage to the ceiling. It didn’t stop Murphy from charging his way through Captain Alan and throwing him around like a fish back into the water as the tides turned in his favour until Alan slipped out of a chokeslam and sent Murphy into the corner to send him stepping into a sneaky tight gripped roll up that gave the Captain the win.
There were a couple shaky communication moments in the opening exchanges but as the match went on there was more confidence shown by Murphy who arrived in a new set of gear to shed that final reminder of The Outfit as he strikes out on his own properly. Other than some stumbles it was a fine match and Alan is always a solid choice to be in with when it comes to allowing an opponent to be expressive and build that confidence and be a bit silly. Murphy did a good job, there’s still a readjustment period to forge his path but there were plenty of positive signs coming out of this match.
Alex Webb defeated Travis Knox by pinfall.
It was a blistering start with Alex Webb trying to dictate the tempo only to have the youth and exuberance of Travis Knox looking to catch Webb off guard with a pin. As Knox started getting traction, Alex was wily to wait for Travis to hesitate and it came in the form of a lungblower from the second turnbuckle that slowed down Knox. The more Travis clapped back the more methodical Alex became to lay in the kicks and turning a rolling cutter from Travis Knox into a back suplex for a near fall.
Knox wasn’t to be denied, pushing Webb back to land the rolling cutter but couldn’t take advantage straight away. A Steel Belly Cannonball nabbed another two count with Travis Knox rolling figuratively and literally. Once again Alex put a stop to it with a pop up knee to the temple. A slingshot cutter and twisting vertical suplex neckbreaker still wasn’t enough to keep Travis down as he lifted his shoulder up. A running knee also having Knox still manage to kick out had Webb look exasperated, that turned into panic as Travis lifted him and connected with the Go To Sleep and side kick, saved only by Alex draping his foot on the bottom rope.
Travis tried to follow up but had his eyes gouged by the thumbs of Webb, who delivered the running knee and put the match to bed with a sit out lifted reverse DDT.
It was a quick one, but it established Alex Webb as ruthless in his own right as he’s been used more as fodder for Damien and Monstrum over the last few shows. Travis Knox is going to do big things in WrestleZone, he has an organic likeablity that has been caught on by the crowd and Alex was the perfect opponent to showcase what he can do. A good opener to the main show.
The full match has been uploaded on WrestleZone’s YouTube channel:
Mikkey Vago defeated Evan Young by disqualification.
Evan Young arrived with a chair in hand, and smug demeanour, as he stood his ground against a Singapore Cane wielding Mikkey Vago who tried to talk some sense into Evan before they eventually started throwing hands. Vago managed to rock Evan until his former protégé went for the back of The Heavy Metal Hooligan, who spent months on the sidelines with an injury in that very area, and with Young’s recent antics he was well versed with putting the pressure on the spine. Mikkey showed grit to push back and get a burst of energy to put together an attack plan, a double arm trap slew of head butts was followed up with Evan Young being thrown over head for a belly to belly variation which was very nice.
Evan got fed up and grabbed the steel chair but referee Mikey Innes was on top of it by snatching the weapon away. Vago took the opportunity to take out his Singapore Cane for a swing that missed as Young booted Mikkey between the legs to cause a disqualification.
An attempted post-match beat down was thwarted by Scotty Swift who chased off Evan to stop any further assault.
A fun match, with Evan Young continuing to show that more merciless side to him that has been evolving over the year. Having him in with Mikkey Vago, whose recent history of back problems and their previous alliance, was a good decision to keep that in mind between the verbal sparring at the start and Evan’s focus on the back of Vago, it showed a familiarity between the two. Having Scotty come out for the save continued the feud whilst also transferring all that negative reaction from Evan Young being a right bastard to the elation for Swift as the hero saving the day.
What I also found interesting is that it was Scotty coming out to chase Evan Young, and not Lost Boy Aspen coming out to protect his recent tag team partner Mikkey Vago, further cementing their team of convenience.
WrestleZone Tri-Counties Championship – Umar Mohammed defeated James Taylor by pinfall to retain.
We headed into the first half main event with a non-title match. I don’t know if it’s something in the air in Inverurie, the waft of the Greggs, the fumes from the A96, who knows, but there’s something that keeps convincing champions to put there titles on the line in that venue. This followed that trend as James Taylor, without Captain Alan, easily negotiated himself a chance at Umar’s Tri-Counties Championship. That was after Taylor grabbed a foam finger from a fan and launched it into the crowd which bonked off the face of a lad in a wheel chair. He couldn’t have hit it better if he tried with a very audible “ohhhh” rippling around the room.
After an “accidental” attack on the audience, Umar made James work for his opportunity, sending Taylor back and forth to keep everything moving to drain the gas tank of the favourite seaman of Captain Alan’s (dilapidated) Crew. Mohammed had James literally toe tapping the ceiling before slamming him to the canvas as it looked to be a straight forward night for The Asian Sensation. It wasn’t all smooth sailing, a step up uppercut caught Umar unawares but was paid back with a receipt of a couple halal chops across the chest. Mohammed and Taylor struck hard and fast to try and keep the other at bay to the point where they clashed heads to reset the balance of the bout.
Taylor recovered with the aim to Curb Stomp Umar’s head in but a quick reposition from the champion managed to catch the challenger with an almighty spinebuster. James nipped a near fall off the back of a reverse DDT but a Thundergunn Express followed by an Uber Driver had James Taylor potentially searching for alternative transport home.
On the paper this was a foregone conclusion as soon as Mikey Innes lifted the title overhead to signal the prize on the line. However, there were some bites on the close calls, which is power to Umar Mohammed’s ability to resonate his plight with the fans that had you believing that we were going to see a new Tri-Counties Champion when the dust settled in Inverurie. Taylor was ran ragged by Umar in the opening portion but he remained level headed to be present as a potential danger to the title reign. Often times when someone wins a title it’s hard to keep that momentum going from becoming the chaser to the chased, but Umar Mohammed thrives with gold around his waist.
Damien defeated Ted O’Keefe by pinfall.
Following Umar being mobbed for photos at the interval, we returned to the show with a match that I really enjoyed in New Pitsligo earlier this year so I knew it was going to be a treat, and I wasn’t disappointed. It wasn’t long before the match spilled to ringside with Ted O’Keefe and Damien trading punches around the function hall from the merch tables to the entrance way, using anything to hand while the referee offered as much leeway as possible. Damien and Ted found themselves at the receiving end of a catapult into the ring post with the break neck speed of the brawl depleting the energy from the combatants in short order with the former Undisputed Champion spotting a potential weakness in the form of the left knee of Ted O’Keefe.
Damien went for a punt kick from the apron but was caught for O’Keefe to deliver a gnarly vertical suplex slam onto the end of the ring as Damien was reeling. Ted was able to scout and break through combos to keep Damien on defense, landing a nice snap Samoan Drop as he fought through the pain to connect with a Dusty Rhodes’ flip, flop and fly while keeping it on his right hand side to keep Damien away from the dodgy wheel.
O’Keefe fired up for another comeback, and had Damien spaghetti legged after a spinebuster to set up his opponent in the corner but his knee gave out half way across the ring to be left in no man’s land and looking ahead to see a knee trembling strike clashing with his skull to call it a night.
A highly competitive match that started hot and didn’t douse the flames as it continued. Damien with his back against the wall in fight or flight mode is great. He still feels justified in his actions and that comes across when he does something a little more nefarious, he is blessed with information and judges the fans flip-flopping on who they cheer for with his facial reactions being top tier. Ted has developed into a solid hand that you can trust to put in a shift to make a match entertaining and throw that in with someone of the quality of Damien is a stellar pairing.
With Damien clearly muscling himself into the Tri-Counties Championship picture now that he can’t challenge for the Undisputed Championship while Bruiser Brad has his beefy mitts all over it, it’s making that title scene incredibly tasty. You have Mohammed at the pinnacle with Damien, Ted O’Keefe, and Alex Webb floating around and it’s only a matter of time before Chip Watson, Judas Grey, Ronan King, and Connor Molloy start turning their attention onto looking for something shiny. It’s a strong line up of potential challengers.
Lost Boy Aspen defeated Ross Fraser by pinfall.
The penultimate match of the night did sound like it was going to a rout. I’ve seen a little bit of Ross Fraser with a respectable showing in New Pitsligo against Umar Mohammed but after months of inactivity, being left off Aberdeen Anarchy, then Battle of the Nations, we got a defiant Ross Fraser and he wasn’t for listening to anybody. Aspen even looked to give Ross a chance to come into the match as an equal but Fraser kept getting into the face of the Lost Boy, shoving and antagonising Aspen until he finally shot a chop across the chest of Ross that had him getting whiplash with the speed he hit the mat causing him to wisely roll to the outside.
Now that the pleasantries were out of the way it was Lost Boy Aspen’s yard as he went about humbling his newest graduate from the WrestleZone Training Academy by dismantling his opponent, who wasn’t going down quietly, Fraser landed an enziguri and staying out of the way as Aspen tried to bludgeon him in the head with his fist to try and stop a sunset flip.
A fan in the crowd was desperate for Aspen to chuck Ross his way but Aspen politely declined as he hit Fraser with a powerbomb and kick to the head but the rookie showed gumption to not only keep getting up but challenge Aspen for more, that stubbornness couldn’t escape the inevitable, a piledriver sealed his fate to have the Lost Boy find the three count.
In most dynamics, Aspen would’ve looked like a villain as he kept hammering at Ross but because it was invited, and that Fraser entered scowling and letting everyone know he didn’t care about their input, it kept the support wholly on the side of Aspen. Aspen is a fascinating character in WrestleZone, I’ve said it many times that he’s not, by in large, a good guy, it’s just been a respect built from his journey around the UK that began in the Granite City that has the audience proud of their own, and it helps he’s against some right rotten scoundrels that the fans want to see get chopped into oblivion. That support has been unwavering since he returned in 2022 and would be hard to turn any other way.
WrestleZone Tag Team Championships – The Warriors Against Low Life Entities (Rhys Dawkins & Bryan Tucker) defeated Scotty Swift & Connor Molloy by pinfall to retain.
A smoothly run raffle lead us into the main event where the WrestleZone Tag Team Championships on the line. It was also our first time properly seeing what Connor Molloy would be like post-Influence as Battle of the Nations was all about revenge whereas this was all about re-establishing himself following a lengthy period of mogging everyone within eyesight. He was joined by Scotty Swift with a sturdy back brace to keep him in one piece. The Warriors Against Low Life Entities were overwhelmed by Swift and Molloy going high energy to make the champions become more erratic in their function than usual. The WALLEs endured to isolate Scotty in their corner though it was fleeting before Connor returned to turn up the pace. Swift assisted a standing double sliced bread that had Molloy’s toes skimming the ceiling.
The match broke down as the challengers were looking like there was going to be a title change on the horizon until Evan Young made his way back out to cause a scene by distracting Scotty. While Mikey Innes was out trying to keep the peace, Rhys Dawkins cracked Connor with the hardback of doom but it wasn’t enough. Once Evan made his exit Scotty Swift looked to have had it in the bag thanks to a Granite City Driver until Evan reemerged to open the field of play once again as Rhys Dawkins slipped in to plant Swift with The Ides of March to retain.
“Fortune brings in some boats that are not steered.”
— Cymbeline (Act 4, Scene 3)
Young tried to get him some of Scotty after the match only to be in the middle of being ping ponged back and forth between Swift and Molloy, eating a superkick from the latter. Evan slipped out of a Granite City Driver to made a hasty escape to close the night.
A proper dramatic main event that had me believing that there was a chance of shock conclusion. Connor went for a more loose cannon vibe, letting go and just putting on a show as those in Inverurie took great enjoyment in it all. The overarching story of Evan Young and Scotty Swift was great as a contained episode on the night whilst adding more fire to their existing feud.
As a show it was more stripped back in what could be considered more of a showcase event, it gave the likes of Travis Knox, James Taylor, Ross Fraser, and even to an extent Connor Molloy and Murphy, a chance to just get experience, or to reaffirm themselves, with the matches placed in such a way that they were against who they needed to be in order to find that level. The Scotty Swift and Evan Young interaction used as a one night thread but also giving enough to maybe catch a couple Inverurie locals into heading to the big city to see if Swift gets his hands on Young was well done, and every match delivered plenty of entertaining moments. I had a good time as expected which in many ways takes the sting out of having to miss Halloween Hijinks in a couple weeks, and fiercely jealous to be missing it in others.
If you want my day-of pre and post show thoughts I’ve stuck in our On The Road episode and montage below: