This past Saturday WrestleZone made their return to the Palace Hotel in Peterhead for a charity show to raise funds in conjunction with Peterhead Community Council. It was the final stop before March 15th’s ‘Regal Rumble’ and the foot wasn’t let off the gas as a full card of WrestleZone action was on the table. Seven matches including the pre-show bout for the very important peoples, a Blootoon Showdoon was on the horizon!

Having attended last year’s Blootoon Wrestling Extravaganza, it drove home that it doesn’t matter if it’s Victoria Hall in Ellon, or Curl Sports Complex, Danestone Community Centre, or the Rich Energy Arena in Aberdeen, you are getting a few hours of top quality family friendly sports entertainment for your buck, and Saturday once again cemented that.

Let me tell you why.

VIP Ticket Holder Match – Evan Young defeated Tommy Raiden by pinfall.

For us with the additional disposable income, we were treated to the bonus match up of Evan Young and Tommy Raiden in a first time ever match. Two young fan favourites, but the Peterhead crowd soon settled into supporting Mr. 2004 which lead to Tommy ramping up the aggression as he attempted to subdue his fiery opponent.

Though Evan was lower on the height side of things, he made up with his stockiness, powering Raiden down with shoulder blocks but Raiden was quick to return the favour by throwing his body to knock down Young.

As the back and forth continued, there was very little give as Raiden and Young tried to string a succession of moves, but the combos were broken all over the place. Eventually Evan Young managed to catch lightning and drove Tommy’s head into the mat with a headlock driver to pick up the win.

It was a lively opener, Tommy adjusting into a more villainous role with the crowd taking side of Evan Young. The headlock driver was impactful, which saw Raiden spiked then crumbled. Great stuff from both guys.

Ryan Riley w/Richard R. Russell defeated Ted O’Keefe by pinfall.

Onto the main show and after the events of ‘Granite City Showdown’ the tag team division was in a state of chaos with three teams all vying to be in championship contention. Riley, accompanied by Richard R. Russell, declared he would rather be in Fraserburgh like a scoundrel.

The cerebral arm of their respective trios were well matched, trying to out manoeuvre the other. Riley had some assistance from Russell on the outside to retain an edge, keeping O’Keefe grounded.

The swell of support for one half of the tag team champions powered Ted to dodge a slingshot uppercut to build some momentum but after another distraction from Russell, Ted found himself being sent into the corner head first which allowed Riley to trap O’Keefe into a pinning pretzel to keep the champion’s shoulders on the mat for three.

A hotly contested opener, the crowd loved them some Ted O’Keefe as he continued to hold on and fight back. In the end it was a matter of three seconds when Riley was able to quickly pounce on a groggy opponent. Two that are perhaps the most underrated on the WrestleZone roster.

Rhys Dawkins defeated Scotty Swift by pinfall.

It became a common theme through out that everyone was upping their game as ‘Aberdeen Anarchy’ is only a few months away. Rhys Dawkins and Scotty Swift called back to their loaded history as Dawkins shouted about he was the reason Swift go his retirement lifted.

I mean, he was also the reason it happened but don’t let facts get in the way of outcome.

Swift and Dawkins fought back and forth, both throwing as much as they could at each other. For every second rope uppercut from Swift, it was met with a jarring half Nelson slam from Dawkins, who didn’t let the task of taking on someone that holds the immense popularity in WrestleZone like Swift does, daunt him in the slightest.

Dawkins eventually landed The Fifth Act for a decisive victory over the former Undisputed WrestleZone Champion.

A showcase for Rhys Dawkins who has stepped up in the last 6 months especially to prove himself as a championship contender with top matches with high profile opponents in the North East. Scotty Swift always offers a high level in terms of entertainment value with Dawkins managing to maintain his cool and hang with ‘The Red Haired Warrior’ with relative ease. A fantastic match.

Triple Threat – Connor Molloy w/Ronan King defeated TV’s Umar Mohammed, and Lost Boy Aspen w/Captain Alan Sterling by pinfall.

The first half main event was outstanding. Connor Molloy strutted to the ring with Ronan King, oozing all the confidence you’d expect from ‘The Big Slay’, roasting the other competitors as they entered the hall.

When the action began there was a clear plan to make sure that Lost Boy Aspen was kept out of the ring with him being knocked off the apron several times to keep him away from the thick of it.

It was big move after big move, with Umar suffering the worst as he received a Lost Boy sized handprint engraved onto his back from an open hand chop that echoed all over the Palace Hotel.

Molloy wasn’t safe from the chops either, as all three went hammer and tong to out shine the other. Connor hit a sweet spinning reverse DDT to Aspen, while Umar landed a second rope cutter to take down Molloy. Not to be outdone, Aspen ran through his opponents with clotheslines, release suplexes, and drove Mohammed to the mat with a sit out powerbomb.

But Captain Alan once again stuck his oar into the match by insisting on Aspen wearing the battle hat.

Molloy pounced onto the distraction, rolling Aspen up, feet on the ropes and the added leverage assist from Ronan King to get the three.

A wild triple threat that constantly had action going on. Shades of the triple threat from Halloween Disco with Aspen in the Bruiser Brad position of big beefy bastard. There was so much happening that your eyes had to keep track of all the moving parts. An excellent match.

Captain Alan admonished Aspen for not winning and, contrary to all the evidence presented so far, talked about Aspen wanting the hat but he had to earn it.

Damien defeated Oliver Green by submission.

Following the interval, a first time match up between Damien and a Chris Archer-less Oliver Green had a slightly upward struggle refocusing the crowd back into the action.

It was a tentative start with both trying to out wrestle the other, with Damien trying to pick up the pace whereas Green was happy to keep Damien as close to the ground as possible.

Damien had an answer for most things, and that answer was involving his knees or open hand slaps to try and knock the confident, bordering on arrogant, Oliver Green.

Just as Green looked to be in the driving seat, a familiar face in the form of Evan Young emerged from the entrance way to take a closer look at the action.

The distraction left Oliver Green to walk into a knee to the skull from Damien before passing out to a guillotine hold.

This was a slow starter but as the match continued the more invested the audience became. Oliver Green is just finding his feet and adjusting to the comforts of being able to insult the crowd. He’s growing into his new attitude quickly which makes me excited to see where it could go.

There are a lot of breakthrough wrestlers on the roster all vying for a very small title pool right now, which makes something like the upcoming Regal Rumble match so interesting because there is no clear cut favourite in my mind so it’s all open for a young talent like Oliver Green to be able to put in a strong showing, even winning being a potential outcome in a couple weeks.

On the flip side, Damien continues to be a consistent when it comes to providing emotive moments to be drawn into the action, pushing himself forward in every match as that crop of young wrestlers continue to nip at his heals.

An enjoyable contest, which I think could be revisited again and again with higher stakes in the future.

WrestleZone Tri-Counties Championship – Bryan Tucker vs Murphy ended in a time limit draw. Bryan Tucker retained the WrestleZone Tri-Counties Championship.

Bryan Tucker entered alone once again, and once again did everything in his power to waste time. Though Murphy pointed out that if Tucker got himself counted out then Murphy would just get a rematch due to technically beating the Tri-Counties Champion which forced the Grand Slam Daddeh to recalibrate his tactics.

The first thought from Bryan was trying to out muscle Murphy… which didn’t go well as Murphy swatted away Tucker with relative ease. And even with that recalibration, he still took plenty breaks on the outside and getting his cardio in by running away from his larger opponent. To the point where Murphy had to hide around corners just to get a hold of the slippery bugger.

As the countdown from 10 minutes continued, Tucker hit the jackpot, dodging a splash that looked to knock the wind out of Murphy who began to favour his ribs. The perfect weakness to have when getting tangled into the ropes, trapped as the time was closer to expiration.

Murphy escaped the ropes and slammed Tucker to the mat but before he could get his arm over to start the count the timer expired for another time limit draw.

Somehow Bryan Tucker managed to keep the 10 minute limit interesting. His constant avoidance of physically and evasion tactics still entertained. You just know that whomever is able to beat the time is going to be met with one of the loudest reactions in WrestleZone history.

I may’ve been sceptical of Murphy being a challenger for the Tri-Counties Championship but there were still some moments that made you think, “maybe he’ll do it”. Which is testament to how good these guys are and making you believe.

Blootoon Trophy – Caleb Valhalla defeated Captain Alan Sterling w/Lost Boy Aspen by pinfall to win the Blootoon Trophy.

After the world’s longest raffle, it was finally time for the main event. Captain Alan was disappointed that he seemed to miss the raffle portion of the evening but he had bigger fish to fry in the form of former bodyguard, and current WrestleZone Undisputed Champion, Caleb Valhalla.

Lost Boy Aspen entered, eventually, with Alan having to pull him through the curtain by his braids much to Aspen’s visible annoyance.

Alan offered Caleb to rejoin his crew and be great again like what he was doing with Aspen… which was nice in theory but Valhalla holds thee title in WrestleZone so his offer was met on deaf ears.

Valhalla showed off his power early on, with Alan doing his best wet fish impression but doing what he could to slip out of situations.

In a callback to ‘Granite City Showdown’, after the attempts to match strength failed, Alan tried the new submission Aspen taught him but couldn’t quite remember how to apply a sleeper hold.

Eventually he asked Aspen to show him how to apply pressure… on himself, which resulted in Alan immediately passing out and we got a surreal Weekend At Alan’s sequence with Aspen being the master of puppets, swinging Alan’s arm out to exchange punches with Valhalla to keep it fair. Somehow Alan, despite flopping about, managed to DDT Caleb which resulted in both men being laid out on the mat.

Alan managed to finally lock in the sleeper hold, and after a bit of a struggle, Caleb threw Alan over his shoulder, grabbing his arm for a Helride and driving him to the mat to become the first holder of the Blootoon Trophy.

A hel of a fun main event with so many little extras sprinkled in for those that know a bit of the lore but some lighthearted hilarity for all ages throughout.

Overall, a bloody good time was had at the Palace Hotel. Despite my memories of the matches being a little hazy due to writing this about 10 days after the fact, I know that it was a fun night. The coming together of fans and crew when the raffle portion felt never ending, to the cheque presenting at the end to cap off a feel good night of professional wrestling.

The matches were all of a high standard, with plot points provided to move forward to March 15th and beyond. That triple threat was incredible but every match had some hugely entertaining qualities.

A special mention to Andrew Reid on MC and raffle duties, injecting some personality into the task at hand while keeping the introductions flowing.

Another top night in the North East.

Our road trip podcast from the show is available now: