The road to Aberdeen Anarchy has officially been opened up with the over the top rope spectacular that is The Regal Rumble taking place at the Rich Energy Arena.
Coming into this year’s Regal Rumble event I had a firm top two choices to win the main event match itself that would place the winner in the main event of Aberdeen Anarchy. Two choices so firm that even on the day of I was flipping back and forth on who would be the final man standing when the dust cleared.
WrestleZone continuing to tinker with the layout at the Rich Energy Arena which adds an air of mystery of what to expect after squeezing into a space in the narrow car park. A good sized crowd was on hand to see wrestlers being thrown over the top rope to stamp their place in the history books as one half of the main event of Aberdeen Anarchy.
VIP Ticket Holder Match – Handicap Match – Captain Alan Sterling & James Taylor defeated Chip Watson by pinfall.
In follow up to Granite City Showdown, Chip Watson entered trimmer and tanned-er to get a little bit of revenge from the post-match two on one attack after defeating Captain Alan in January.
It started off easy enough with an uncoordinated attacked from Sterling and Taylor, which Watson found that simply stepping aside being advantageous in not being hit.
Chip was on fire, until Alan sacrificed his favourite seaman into the path of his charging opponent. The collision left Watson in line for a beast of a lariat.
The tide turned for Captain Alan and James Taylor, putting forward an array of tandem manoeuvres to keep Chip on the deck, including a handful of uppercut variations by Taylor, one of which looked to go through Watson in the corner.
It was looking good for the duo but Chip kept fighting on, pushing away Taylor to scale the second turnbuckle to throw hands with Sterling. The result was a Tower Of Doom thanks to James returning to powerbomb Watson whilst Captain Alan was sent hurtling to the ground for a superplex.
Watson unleashed a barrage of offense to throw Alan around like yesterday’s scraps, including chopping James Taylor like his tab at The Disco Fry had come due, and launching himself through the ropes for a slingshot spear to cause some rough seas for Sterling and Taylor.
An ill-timed knockdown of referee Mikey Innes saw the numbers coming back into Alan’s favour.
Captain Alan set up Chip for a DDT but Watson escaped to get Alan into place for a double underhook facebuster. James Taylor rushed in with a bottle of clear liquid in hand, while Mikey was recovering with his back turned, and tossed a handful into the eyes of The Tribal Chef. It was enough for the Captain to roll up Chip to collect the victory.
Alan revealed that the liquid in question was vinegar before reminding everyone that fish are friends and not food.
A lively VIP match that was in constant motion. Watson showed his intelligence to keep the numbers at bay in the early exchanges but Alan showed that veteran craftiness that always means that despite him being a bit delusional he’s still very dangerous as an opponent, the comeback from Chip was met with support and he had plenty intensity to keep in the fight.
If Granite City Showdown was the starter this was a worthy main course because the use of the vinegar assists my wishes that we may get some sort of Fish Market Brawl at Aberdeen Anarchy to put this issue to bed as dessert.
Chip has quickly fit into the big character energy that the WrestleZone crowd are drawn to, which I am glad of, I’m interested to seeing where his path goes once his issues with Captain Alan are resolved.
Ted O’Keefe, Finlay Bane, Travis Knox, & Kai Orson defeated Evan Young, & The Influence (Connor Molloy, Ronan King, & Judas Grey) by pinfall.
The annual big massive tag team match was loaded. The Influence arrived in style in matching cow print aesthetic and, not one to be left out, Evan Young also arrived with a cow print number. I think they were fleece lined, which was a smart choice in a cold, high ceiling, venue like the Rich Energy Arena.
Evan refused to get into it with Finlay Bane, at least when it was Finlay that was advancing, cowering to the corner to force some separation, Young was also keeping well away from recent foe Ted O’Keefe. Evan pumped himself up enough to stand his ground against Bane… that had him laying on his back from a massive forearm to the jaw seconds later.
Tags were made for a nice back and forth between Judas Grey and Kai Orson, thanks to Kai’s tank of relentless energy and Judas Grey having remarkable crumple physics it was a good combination. Grey was kept in the wrong side of town for a moment, but a push back to O’Keefe and double stunner to to Orson and Knox allowed Judas to get a rest and tag a fresh man in.
Ted swung for The Influence, with Evan Young ducking a punch. It was enough for King, Grey, and Molloy to get reorganised. A lovely triple team with Ronan holding O’Keefe over the second rope for Judas to land a Senton, with an added shotgun dropkick to Finlay Bane on the apron, it was finished with a German Suplex by Molloy to have Ted scrambling.
The Influence and Young, tried to keep O’Keefe isolated but a tag in to Bane caused the breakdown in the tag team ruleset with Finlay giving folks a Regal Rumble preview by sending his opponents airborne.
King became a mattress for mayhem, not only finding himself to be the cushioned landing for a Finlay Bane vertical suplex that had Judas Grey crash onto him, but also the victim of a Titanic splash from Kai Orson and Travis Knox.
Mikey Innes tried his best to get things settled but it was no use with the action being totally non-stop. Knox landed a beauty of a tilt-a-whirl DDT to Judas Grey. The bodies started to amass at the entrance way for Travis to gear himself up for a dive. Ronan interrupted the set up with a lariat to the back of the head of Knox to then lawn-dart Travis out of the ring onto the crowd of wrestlers fighting in the entrance way.
With just about everyone taken out, Ronan and Connor had Ted ready to eat a double superkick but O’Keefe ducked that lead to Molloy strike the recently rehabilitated knee of King. A livid Ronan berated Connor but they had little time to hash it out as Ted got a roll up on Connor to win the match for his team.
The crashout of The Influence continued after the match with Judas Grey once again having to clip King and Molloy on the back of their heads, playing peacemaker to send the pair to the back.
A busy eight man tag match that serviced plenty of story advancement. Young avoiding O’Keefe, The Influence falling apart, Orson and Knox getting a win under their belt as a tag team, and showcasing the raw strength that Finlay Bane possesses. An excellent show opener.
WrestleZone Tri-Counties Championship – Ryan Riley w/Richard R. Russell vs Umar Mohammed ended in a time limit draw. Ryan Riley retained.
In the first of three championship matches, this was up there as one of the most heated. Umar Mohammed rushed out the corner as the echoes of the ring bell reverberated around the venue to dropkick Ryan Riley, landing a flurry of punches while Riley tried to cover up.
Russell proved his worth to drag Ryan out to avoid a second rope backstabber to halt The Asian Sensation’s momentum.
Mohammed wasn’t going to stand for it, sailing over the top rope to land on Riley and Russell. It was an all out assault until once again Triple R was on hand to stop the backstabber by holding onto Ryan’s hands.
Riley tried to get the pace to his liking by pushing the match into a brawl. Umar ducked a wild clothesline to connect with a cutter to reset the bout.
The former Tri-Counties Champion went about dictating a high speed tempo, sending Ryan over with hiptosses, and a meaty spinebuster.
Another onslaught had Mohammed send Ryan face first into the top turnbuckle to leave Riley dazed in the corner, with just enough wherewithal to get a leg up to stop a rush, Umar caught the limb to swing it into the ropes and cracked Riley with the draping backstabber but Ryan rolled on top of Mohammed. The referee made the count but suddenly called for the bell.
Confusion started to raise, Richard R. Russell declared victory, and as the instructions started to filter through it was officially marked as a time limit draw as the 10 minutes had elapsed.
When the referee informed Umar of the result the distraught and anger poured from every fibre of his being.
The return to the backstabber throughout the match is going to be electric when it hits in an inevitable final showdown. Umar and Ryan have gelled really well in their series of matches. It’s comparable to a clash between the head and the heart, with the cerebral Ryan Riley currently with the upper hand.
WrestleZone Tag Team Championships – Casino Brutale (RABU & Mikey Devine) defeated The Warriors Against Low Life Entities (Rhys Dawkins & Bryan Tucker) by disqualification. The Warriors Against Low Life Entities (Rhys Dawkins & Bryan Tucker) retained.
Nought’s had, all’s spent, where our desire is got without content
— Macbeth, Act 3, Scene 2
Tucker and Dawkins tried to get the jump but Casino Brutale had it scouted, leaping over the champions. Mikey Devine shoulder tackled Dawkins, joining RABU to pinball Bryan Tucker with punches and uppercuts.
It was all Brutale, Devine sentoned off the apron to take down The WALLEs, as the match settled into a standard tag team format.
Casino Brutale isolated Rhys Dawkins, not letting him have any time to breathe with quick tags and a merry-go-round of attacks. Dawkins finally reached out to tag in Bryan Tucker who suffered the same fate, overwhelmed by Devine and RABU.
It took a quick thinking dodge of a Mikey Devine 6-1-Devine to give Tucker and Dawkins the opening to turn the tables. They dominated Devine for a bit, but some Tucker instigated miscommunication caused Mikey to bring RABU back into the fold who knocked Dawkins off the apron, sensing the weakness in the team he wisely concentrated on Bryan Tucker.
An assisted Gory Bomb had Bryan on the ropes to be hoisted for an Ace High, but Tucker wriggled out to avoid the double foot stomp.
Bryan went for a Twist of Fate that would countered for RABU to trap Bryan in an arm trapped crossface, a panicked Rhys Dawkins grabbed his trusty hardback to clobber RABU on the back of the head to cause the disqualification. The champions remain The Warriors Aganst Low Life Entities but they may have gambled a bit more than they have bargained for.
I really liked that Rhys pulled the trigger on the disqualification because he didn’t trust that Tucker wouldn’t tap out. After their fumble to get Casino Brutale back into the hunt, that was arguably caused by Bryan, it’s only logical that Dawkins would have to go to an extreme length to keep his first ever championship in his hands.
There seems to be some buyers remorse from Dawkins, a slight of desperation, he not only has to concentrate on his own endeavours but also keep an eye on a wildly erratic tag team partner that could cost him the match at any time.
RABU and Mikey were machines when they got revved up, barrelling in to smash ‘em, showing that they are still thee team to beat in WrestleZone. A resolution looks to be on the horizon and Aberdeen Anarchy isn’t that far away…
WrestleZone Undisputed Championship – Damien w/Mr P defeated Mikkey Vago w/Lost Boy Aspen by pinfall to retain.
In the first half main event it was another very personal encounter. Mr P relieved MC Martyn Clunes of his duties to introduce the WrestleZone Undisputed Champion to the ring. Interestingly they entered first which makes me think that Mr P is so arrogant that he doesn’t want his champion to be sharing the ring with someone he deems unworthy. It does track.
Plus it also meant that Damien had the high ground which was handy to rush Vago as he entered the ring.
The fight quickly spilled out into the crowd, around the Rich Energy Area, over to the merchandise tables, and eventually back to the ringside area.
Mr P ended up being rolled into the ring and while referee Mikey Innes tried to get him to leave it left Damien in an Aspen/Vago sandwich of strikes on the outside of the ring.
Mikkey Vago kept the pressure on Damien, with his vintage Vago moveset, cartwheel back elbow, running knee into the corner, leg lariat on the second rope. Damien weathered the heavy metal storm to throw Mikkey off the top turnbuckle but he still couldn’t string a combination of moves against a defiant Mikkey Vago.
After several attempts, Vago hit the stunner but Mr P was on hand to cause a commotion at ringside. Aspen stalked Mr P to the back that drew referee Mikey Innes in join the fracas.
A low blow by Damien had Mikkey writhing on the canvas. The Singapore Cane was brought into the match with Damien aiming to maim. Suddenly Alex Webb rushed out to relieve the weapon from Damien… a fake out saw Webb smash the wood over the head of The Heavy Metal Hooligan, then added a further insult with a Claymore Kick.
Damien picked up the pieces to pin the challenger and retain the WrestleZone Undisputed Championship.
Aspen returned to get a lay of the land, but felt the Singapore Cane off his back and forehead thanks to Alex Webb.
Mr P, with Damien and Webb, stood over Mikkey and Aspen to declare that this was Phase One, which I thought was a great faction name, with Phase Two coming up in the Regal Rumble when Mr P was going to win and then handpick the main event of Aberdeen Anarchy.
A shocking ending. The match itself was a scrap, it had plenty of mayhem that made sense with the revenge in mind. The turn was well done, Alex had built up such a strong positive reaction in his battles with Damien in late 2025 and into 2026 so to see that visceral reaction to the betrayal worked a treat.
Now with hindsight it makes sense as to why there was no shenanigans in January in the main event of Granite City Showdown. It was a test, both of Damien as champion, but of Webb’s ability to do what needs to be done. There are layers to this that I hope are unfolded in the coming weeks.
Much like last year with Damien, I’d love to know when the agreement of an alliance was made as a bigger picture world building piece of lore.
After the interval it was time for The Regal Rumble.
The Regal Rumble – Bruiser Brad last eliminated Mr P to win The Regal Rumble.
An irate Mr P drew the short straw by being unveiled as number one in the Regal Rumble, he was even more heated to see number two, Lord Mr Malice. As is recent tradition, the Undisputed Champion joined commentary as Damien grabbed a headset.
Malice was on bald head slapping duties to rattle Mr P, before grabbing a jar of pickled pigs feet and chasing Mr P out of the venue, leaving the ring empty.
The countdown hit zero for a very pleased with himself Alex Webb to strut out with the Singapore Cane. In true Rumble fashion the next entrant was someone who very much wanted to get his hands on Webb, a furious Mikkey Vago stomped out to start jabbing at the YouTube star’s jaw.
Kai Orson joined the match to bounce Webb around, until Ronan King made his way out to form a team with the Social Blade to take down Orson and Vago.
King and Webb were a pretty formidable duo, hitting a wheelbarrow Codebreaker to Kai Orson then a modified Skull and Bones to Mikkey Vago. The fun was over for the pair when Lost Boy Aspen entered. He’s not a butcher but he had plenty of chops to dish out.
The ring started to fill out, Mikey Devine managed to get a slice of revenge by connecting the 6-1-Devine to the Grand Slam Daddeh Bryan Tucker.
Fallout from the previous matches in the evening continued, Orson and Knox found space to land a Titanic splash to Molloy and King. Their enjoyment of being in the Regal Rumble was spoiled by the arrival of Captain Alan, who tried to rally the crew in line.
Ross Fraser from the WrestleZone Training Academy made his debut, showing some smooth strikes in exchanges with Connor Molloy and Mikey Devine.
The friction between The Influence was once again on display, with Ronan and Connor getting into a shoving match in the middle of the Rumble.
Once James Taylor arrived, Captain Alan inexplicably requested and his whole crew made their exit over the top rope. Taylor complied without question. As Knox and Orson pondered, Chip Watson was out next. Chip chased Alan to the send the Captain leaping out of the ring for a self elimination. Kai and Travis lingered too long to be debriefed, which lead Watson to bundle them out as well.
Ryan Riley and Umar Mohammed clashed again, with Umar finding himself drawn towards Riley at any given opportunity. A distraction allowed for Richard R. Russell to slide in and eliminate Mohammed to the dismay of the crowd. Riley was out soon after thanks to Lost Boy Aspen.
Bruiser Brad entered at number twenty one and that’s when things got serious, Brad started clearing out the ring, throwing Judas Grey out via a powerbomb onto the unsuspecting rabble, that included Ronan King and Chip Watson, on the outside.
After some housekeeping, Finlay Bane was next into the match. Quickly showing that he wasn’t to be lumped into the change of attitude from Alex Webb by sending him up and down via a package suplex.
A meaty clothesline by Bane sent Aspen inside out, as a showdown between Finlay and Bruiser Brad had a very vocal reaction, like seeing King Kong and Godzilla squaring up.
Ted O’Keefe and Evan Young continued their issue, fighting out to the apron and eliminating each other in the process.
The final man to enter was the debuting Tommy Lockhart, who got into the mix straight away by going after Rhys Dawkins and showing no fear against Finlay Bane.
RABU sent out Dawkins, only to be clotheslined over the top rope by Bane moments later. The numbers started to dwindle, Bruiser Brad made Lockhart’s exit tremendous with a caught crossbody into a Fallaway Slam to leave Tommy to head to the back, drawing the curtain on his first Granite City experience, of hopefully many.
Alex dispatched Finlay Bane, as Mr P and Lord Mr Malice made their timely return to the match. A triple team effort put Malice out to pasture as it looked like Mr P’s plan had all worked out.
Some bragging followed as Mr P told Brad that he’d done a good job but it was now time to hold his end of the deal and eliminate himself. The audience in the Rich Energy Arena united to demand that Brad didn’t do it, and what’s a Beef King without listening to his Beef People?
Bruiser Brad hesitated that lead to Mr P to start pushing around the Beef King for his actions.
As Alex Webb got into position to strike with the Singapore Cane. Damien stepped out from commentary to stand toe to toe with Brad.
Webb charged, but missed his target and made contact with the champion’s skull. Brad grabbed Alex for a piledriver and chucked out The Social Blade. A begging Mr P followed soon afterwards to crown Bruiser Brad as Regal Rumble winner to the elation of the audience in attendance.
A great Regal Rumble, it gave stories time to flesh out more like The Influence fracture, Evan Young and Ted O’Keefe, Casino Brutale and The Warriors Against Low Life Entities, Ryan Riley and Umar Mohammed, Chip Watson and Captain Alan, plus it provided a preview of some future matches down the line like Bruiser Brad and Finlay Bane.
The debut of Tommy Lockhart was a fantastic surprise, Tommy has such a strong character that he should slot in well with regular appearances in the North East.
The final segment was captivating, and as much as I had Umar as my number one pick, to hear the response for Bruiser Brad it was undeniable that the Beef King was to reign supreme. A homegrown stud that’s went from Mad Dog to Bruiser, he’s now one step closer to the WrestleZone Undisputed Championship and must feel damn good about it.
A brilliant event, all the matches delivered to heat up a chilly venue. The road to Aberdeen Anarchy has officially begun. Let’s go!
If you want my day-of pre and post show thoughts I’ve stuck in our On The Road episode and montage below:
So with the added knowledge of the New Pitsligo show results (review coming soon, promise), here’s my current stab at May 16th’s Aberdeen Anarchy line up.
SCOTTISH WRESTLING NETWORK | SWN 