Scotty Swift has always been known as one of the biggest names in WrestleZone, but the Undisputed Title was something that he couldn’t quite capture throughout his career. Then March 21st 2015 comes around, the night of the 2015 Regal Rumble. Entering at number 15, Scotty lastly eliminated Damien to win the 20 man contest, ending the show in a staredown with the reigning Undisputed Champion, Joe Coffey. Their match was signed for May 23rd at the Beach Ballroom for Aberdeen Anarchy.
I still remember the feeling inside the historic building when the three was counted and Scotty Swift was crowned Undisputed Champion for the first time in his career. His celebration was cut short when he was ambushed by William Sterling, Alan Sterling and Damien, the reformed Sterling Oil. Fans left the building that night not sure what to think about what had happened.
Scotty’s first title defence came on June 27th against “Tenacious” Johnny Lions in Ellon. After a Granite City Driver, Scotty left the Victoria Hall victorious as Undisputed Champion. Before he could head back through the curtain, the reformed Sterling Oil made their way through the crowd. They didn’t get the chance to attack however, as Crusher Craib, Kaden Garrick and others made the save. It was made clear on this night that WrestleZone would be taking the fight to Sterling Oil.
His next title contest came at Proving Grounds on July 25th, as Mr Malice stepped up to the plate with a guaranteed spot in Sterling Oil if he was victorious. Despite a surprisingly valiant effort from Malice, Scotty was again victorious with a Granite City Driver. Following the match, Sterling Oil entered from outside the venue and brutally attacked Malice before being run off by Scotty, Crusher Craib and William’s former tag partner William Sterling. Malice was stretchered from the Cairncry Community Centre in his last appearance before becoming a lord.
The first big show after Aberdeen Anarchy came around on August 22nd as WrestleZone presented the 2015 Battle of the Nations. The main event saw Scotty Swift defend his Undisputed Title against 1/3 of Sterling Oil in Damien. After being angered by The Revolutionary, Scotty was disqualified from the bout for using a steel chair. Damien was saved after the match by The Sterling Brothers, with Scotty able to keep out of harm’s way by keeping the chair in hand. While he was staring down the three men that ruined his Aberdeen Anarchy celebration, Scotty was attacked from behind by a masked figure emerging from the crowd. With Sterling Oil on the beatdown, the mask came off and it was revealed Richard R. Russell, the Cheif Financial Officer of Sterling Oil, had returned to lead his men once again. After continuing the beatdown, Sterling Oil were chased off by The Granite City Hotshots. Not exactly the way Scotty wanted to end the biggest show of the summer.
Although he didn’t defend the title in Inverurie on August 28th, Scotty was in the main event as he teamed with The Hotshots against the three members of Sterling Oil. After a wild brawl that went all over the Inverurie Town Hall, it was Alan Sterling that picked up the win with a Lungblower on Shawn Johnson. Not happy with what they’d already done, Sterling Oil continued the beatdown on the Undisputed Champion after the match, where Alan planted him head first into the mat with a DDT. The show ended with Alan raising the Undisputed Title above his head.
Alan recieved a one on one title match with Scotty on September 12th in Banchory. In a surprise turn of events, Alan was victorious in his challenge. However, he won by count out. As a result, Scotty Swift remained champion. After successfully defending against The Super Executioner in Keith on September 19th, Alan recieved a rematch in Brechin the following week. Scotty was victorious this time around after a Corkscrew Neckbreaker. Alan’s hand was on the ropes during the pin, unseen by the referee. Angered by this, Sterling Oil performed a beatdown on Scotty backstage after the event.
Scotty’s next defence was in Balmedie on October 3rd against Damien in a Battle of the Nations rematch, where Scotty retained with a hold of the tights, a tactic Damien tried to use earlier on in the contest. Sterling Oil beat the champion down after the match, before the crowd favourite was saved by Crusher Craib and Bryan Tucker. A staredown between the two groups concluded the show.
The rivalry between Scotty Swift and Sterling Oil continued at WrestleZone’s debut show in Blackburn, as Swift teamed with Crusher Craib in the main event against Sterling Oil members William and Alan Sterling. Alan finally picked up a pinfall victory over Scotty after drilling him into the mat with a DDT. Following the bout, management representative Chris McDonald made the blockbuster announcement regarding the main event of Christmas Chaos (Comes Early!); Scotty Swift would defend his title against Alan Sterling, Crusher Craib and the returning Bingo Ballance!
Before that, Scotty had a huge six man tag match in Huntly the week before, where he teamed with Crusher Craib and Bryan Tucker against Johnny Lions and Sterling Oil members Alan Sterling and Damien. Damien picked up the win for his team, stealing the pin from Johnny Lions after he nailed a Lion Cutter on Bryan. After Johnny and Sterling Oil headed back through the curtain, Scotty had a staredown with title contender Crusher Craib ahead of their big match the next week.
Christmas Chaos (Comes Early!) arrived the next week on November 14th, with Mick Foley overseeing the action. Before we got to the main event, Damien won a Former Champion’s Showcase match against Johnny Lions and Bryan Tucker to earn an Undisputed Title match at Summerhill Showdown, the first show of 2016. With the rest of Sterling Oil barred from ringside in the main event, Scotty managed to retain his Undisputed Title again in the main event after nailing a Granite City Driver on Alan. Before getting the chance to celebrate, Scotty was ambushed by William Sterling and Damien before he was saved by The Hotshots. But what happened next was truly shocking; Shawn Johnson turned on Bryan Tucker and joined Sterling Oil. The villainous group were eventually run off by Mick Foley, Kaden Garrick and Mr P to end off a monumental night for WrestleZone.
As a result of Damien being the #1 contender, Scotty was not required to defend his gold on the following two shows. He did however pick up wins over Johnny Lions on November 28th in Arbroath and Aspen Faith on December 5th in Ferryhill, the latter being by disqualification due to interference by Sterling Oil. With another defence against Damien on the horizon, The Red Haired Warrior looked like he would be having a rocky start to 2016.
Summerhill Showdown came around on January 23rd, and the main event was set. Champion and challenger took it to each other before referee Mikey Innes was knocked to the ground. The rest of Sterling Oil made their way out from backstage to help out The Revolutionary, but all eyes soon turned to the entrance way as Johnny Lions appeared. He entered the ring and removed his jacket, revealing a Sterling Oil t-shirt underneath to signify his allegiance to the stable. But it was all a ruse as he nailed Lion Cutters on William Sterling, Alan Sterling and Damien, allowing Scotty Swift to again retain the gold against one of his arch-rivals.
Following this, Scotty and Johnny teamed up the next month in Montrose to face Sterling Oil’s Damien and Shawn Johnson in tag team action. Following interference from the rest of Sterling Oil, Scotty and Johnny picked up the win via disqualification. Probably not the way they wanted to pick up the win, but as they say, a win’s a win.
Taking a break from Sterling Oil, Scotty’s next challenger for his Undisputed Title was Chris Archer, who got his shot the following week in Newtonhill. After a Granite City Driver, Scotty once again retained his title. On the third show within three weeks, Scotty teamed with Crusher Craib as they defeated The Rejected in the main event of the Peterhead show. Next stop; The Regal Rumble.
Three weeks after Peterhead, WrestleZone presented the 2016 Regal Rumble. Scotty was in action alongside Crusher Craib and Solar as they faced Lord Mr Malice, Andrew Wilde and Lou King Sharp in a six man tag match. Crusher picked up the win for his team following a jaw-shattering Big Boot on Malice. After the interval, Scotty returned to ringside to commentate on the main event, which would determine his challenger for Aberdeen Anarchy. For the 3rd time in his career, it was Crusher Craib who earned the main event shot after booting Shawn Johnson off the apron. A staredown between The Red Haired Warrior and The Creator of Carnage ended the historic show.
WrestleZone rolled into Fraserburgh on April 9th, where Swift defended his Undisputed Title against Aspen Faith. Unfortunately for us fans, the match went to a double count out, leading to a rematch the next week in Westhill. Here, Scotty scored the pinfall over The King of Catch after Lewis Girvan caused a distraction while taking Sammii Jayne backstage. The next show before Aberdeen Anarchy saw Scotty in non-title action against Shawn Johnson. After a distraction from Bryan Tucker, Scotty walked out with the win. The show came to a close with Scotty and Crusher Craib having to be seperated by WrestleZone staff ahead of their big title match.
Just going to mention here that Scotty was part of the free outdoor show at Union Square on May 21st, where he retained his title over Chris Archer in one of WrestleZone’s quickest matches in history.
With the build to Aberdeen Anarchy over, we finally arrived on the big day. Scotty Swift defended his Undisputed Title against Crusher Craib in the main event. Earlier on in the night, Sterling Oil won a Ladder match to earn title shots for themselves at Battle of the Nations, with Damien again set to challenge Scotty Swift. On to the main event! It was a huge contest that could’ve gone either way; even ring announcer Martyn Clunes was taken out. Eventually, Crusher went to the top rope for a diving splash but Scotty moved out the way and got a quick rollup for the retain. Personally, I thought a cheap rollup wasn’t the best way to end the biggest show of WrestleZone’s calendar, but it was made clear why it happened afterwards as EMTs tended to Crusher. He broke his hip and was now on the shelf.
Following this, WrestleZone arrived in Ellon where Scotty was scheduled to team with Bryan Tucker against Sterling Oil members Damien, Shawn Johnson and William Sterling in a handicap match. Before that, Tucker was attacked by the trio backstage. As a result, management representative Chris McDonald banned William from the match! Damien and Shawn were left as a duo, while Johnny Lions pulled double duty and teamed with Swift after losing a triple threat not long beforehand to Andy Wild. In the build to their Battle of the Nations match, Damien got the pin over Scotty following a one-legged Codebreaker. Damien had his intentions set on that title.
The next defence for Scotty came a few weeks later on July 16th as Mikkey Vago stepped up to the plate in Laurencekirk. The Heavy Metal Hooligan was unable to end the streak, even with his tag partner Chris Archer at ringside, following a Granite City Driver. The Saturday after at Proving Grounds, Scotty found himself in a peculiar match; he defended against The Super Executioner in WrestleZone’s first ever blindfold match. Despite picking up his first ever win in Laurencekirk, Executioner was unsuccessful in his quest. Proving Grounds ended with a staredown between Scotty and Damien.
The day after Proving Grounds, fans were left shocked after WrestleZone management posted the official graphic for the Battle of the Nations main event on their Facebook page. It showed Scotty Swift vs Damien (as expected), but Joe Coffey and Aspen Faith were also shown, making it a fatal four way match. Damien was quick to mention the fact that he won a contract to earn a one on one shot, not a fatal four way. Unfortunately for him, management didn’t care. The match was going ahead as planned.
Battle of the Nations arrived on August 13th. The night was a successful one for Sterling Oil, as William and Alan won the tag titles from Kaden Garrick and Mr P, while Shawn Johnson defeated Bryan Tucker in an Unsanctioned match. Could Damien make it 3 for 3? No, he couldn’t. Despite Aspen being removed from the bout with a concussion to make it a triple threat, Damien still couldn’t get the job done. With the rest of Sterling Oil barred from ringside and the threat of Damien being disqualified if they got involved, Damien tried everything he could to win the belt. Joe Coffey became tangled in the ropes, giving Damien an even bigger chance of pulling out the win but Scotty managed to perform a Granite City Driver retain his title. Next stop: Banchory.
Two weeks after his hellacious triple threat match, Scotty was scheduled to team with Zach Dynamite in a tag match against Sterling Oil’s Damien and William Sterling. With William being injured after suffering two Kaden Garrick spears at Battle of the Nations, it was changed to a triple threat with Swift, Dynamite and Damien. Damien picked up the victory by stealing Scotty’s pinfall over Zach, thus feeling he had cemented himself as the next contender for the Undisputed Title. He made the challenge for WrestleZone’s next show in Keith and Scotty, being the fighting champion he was, kindly accepted the challenge.
After Damien revealed he would be accompanied by Shawn Johnson, Alan Sterling and Richard R. Russell, Scotty brought in backup of his own in the form of Johnny Lions. In a back and forth encounter (honestly, I thought the title could’ve changed hands several times, unusual for one of the smaller shows), Scotty retained with a Granite City Driver following ringside shenanigans from the managers and a wild Bryan Tucker. Damien, as expected, was fuming at having lost yet another shot at the title.
At the next show a week after in Brechin, Scotty teamed with Kaden Garrick as they challenged Sterling Oil’s Alan Sterling and Shawn Johnson for the WrestleZone Tag Team Titles in the evening’s main event. Despite coming so close to winning the titles, Alan took the cheap way out and low blowed Kaden. Although they earned the win, it wasn’t the way Scotty and Kaden wanted it. Following this, WrestleZone announced via Facebook that Scotty would be defending his gold against Shawn Johnson and Kaden Garrick in the main event of Live in Balmedie.
The October 8th show came about and it was a tough one for Scotty to retain against two of the fastest up and comers in WrestleZone. With a quick rollup on Kaden, it meant another retain for Scotty. But little did we know, this would be the last successful defence for Scotty. The next day, WrestleZone management announced there would be a battle royal the next week in their Kincorth debut, with the winner earning a shot for Scotty’s title at Halloween Hijinx.
In Kincorth on October 15th, Scotty defeated Mikkey Vago in the opening match, winning with his trademark corkscrew neckbreaker. He returned to ringside for the main event, where he witnessed Andy Wild outlast 9 others in a 10 man battle royal to earn the #1 contender’s spot for Halloween Hijinx. Scotty had no easy task heading into the show in Inverurie.
Then, it happened. Halloween Hijinx, October 29th, Inverurie Town Hall. Andy Wild defeated Scotty Swift following a Wildest Driver to capture the Undisputed WrestleZone Title. Fans were shocked as the reign of 525 days had come to an end. Scotty was noticibly upset about losing, as we expected, but he’s now on the road to getting the title back. Will he potentially be a two-time Regal Rumble winner come 2017? Will he main event Aberdeen Anarchy for the third year in a row? Will Andy Wild still be champion when Scotty gets his next championship match? So many questions left to be answered at the culmination of a historic reign.
– Adam Morrison
SCOTTISH WRESTLING NETWORK | SWN 