This month's Best of British see's Over The Border writer Billy Strachan take a look at WrestleZone.
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WrestleZone
have been tearing up the North East of Scotland since 2008, with a
strong and rabid fanbase along with steller wrestlers and guests, I'm
here to throw their name into the hat to be called "Best of
British".
I
had gotten the independent wrestling bug in mid-2012 when I attended
SWE Hell for Lycra IX and from then on I was on the hunt to see as
many shows that I could afford…which wasn’t many but it allowed
me to pick and choose events. When I saw that one of my favourite
wrestlers (Billy Gunn) was coming to Aberdeen of all places, I had to
get along to that!
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| Former WWE Intercontinental Champion Billy Gunn was the man that got Billy interested. |
My
first experience of WrestleZone was their fifth Aberdeen Anarchy
event in 2013. Before this I had attended a couple SWE shows and a
W3L event so had an idea what to expect from an independent event.
The main drawing point for me was the special guests, "Hacksaw"
Jim Duggan and Billy Gunn. When I got to the Beach Ballroom to watch
the event though, wow, it was the wrestlers that made me want to come
back. When you kick off the show in a sold out Ballroom with Bingo
Ballance vs Stevie Xavier (www.youtube.com/watch?v=tOvAElvdRm4)
you
know you're in for a treat.
What
followed was a packed show top to bottom and that's what you expect
when you come to a WrestleZone event. They have their "big
events" like the Regal Rumble, Aberdeen Anarchy and Battle of
the Nations but they also tour the North East in places like Ellon,
Huntly and Fraserburgh so that everyone gets a chance to see their
roster in action.
Their
core roster is full of talented individuals, with some just coming to
prominence and debuting in other promotions. The characters are well
thought out and fill the needs for every person that comes to an
event from comedy acts like Mr Malice, Super Executioner and the
Cystos to pure wrestling like Aspen Faith or just a hero for the
crowd to pull for like Scotty Swift.
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| Scotty Swift is a big fan favourite at WrestleZone |
Their
tag team division is currently home to three very good teams from the
champions The Granite City Hotshots (Bryan Tucker and Shawn Johnson)
to the odd couple team of Thunder Buddies (William Sterling and Blue
Thunder) and the dangerous pairing of Revolution (Damien and Johnny
Lions). Two of these teams put on a fantastic display at Aberdeen
Anarchy in 2014 when Thunder Buddies and The Hotshots faced off in a
ladder match. It was brutal but mesmerising with a well deserved
standing ovation at the end for all four competitors.
What
impresses me about WrestleZone is their production, match graphics
for every match, every event. Promos from their wrestlers are
produced in plenty of time and their own podcast answers any
questions fans may have about the product. They excel in fan
interaction and getting people involved.
 |
| An example of WrestleZone's recent match graphics. |
I went
to their Regal Rumble event which saw Jack Jester win the annual
battle royal to face the champion at Aberdeen Anarchy that year. This
program between Jack Jester and the champion Crusher Craib was the
best build up that I had seen in a very long time. It had started
prior to this event when Jester handed the champion his first loss
(by DQ) and gotten into the monsters head. Crusher was a monster that
just booted folk in the face and left but with Jester he had become
more human by showing weakness. After Jester won the Regal Rumble
there was a pull apart brawl between the two which consisted of the
whole roster and staff to pull the two away from each other. What
happened at Aberdeen Anarchy was shocking as Jester had Crusher
pleading as Jester had held one of the camera girls by the neck and
threatened her with his corkscrew. The monster had become human by
showing mercy. It was fantastic storytelling, with every little
detail adding to the match. The video package before the match at
Aberdeen Anarchy summed it up (www.youtube.com/watch?v=w32sRBoWqE8).
Not
only do they pull out all the stops at their big events but at their
smaller events the guys involved put everything into their matches
and work hard to get the crowd invested into their matches. Their
regular roster boasts a lot of talent from the likes of Zach
Dynamite, Chris Archer, Alan Sterling and the aforementioned Scotty
Swift, Crusher Craib and Aspen Faith. I’ve been to smaller shows in
Fraserburgh and Nairn where the crowd may not have been big but they
were loud and were left wanting more.
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| Crusher Craib is a regular for WrestleZone |
In
the last couple of years, WrestleZone have brought over some
fantastic guests that have been enthusiastic and willing to perform,
no false advertising or phoning in here. The likes of the
aforementioned “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan, Billy Gunn, Sonjay Dutt and
Jay Lethal have come from across the pond along with Colt Cabana,
X-Pac, Scotty 2 Hotty and, in May, D-Von Dudley, Chris Masters and
Hardcore Holly. With these stars they’ve hosted dream matches like
Grado vs Scotty 2 Hotty.
It’s
not only international talent that comes through the doors at
WrestleZone but the best in Britain like Drew Galloway, Joe Coffey
and Lionheart having made appearances for them in the past.
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| Former WWE Intercontinental Champion Drew Galloway appeared for WrestleZone in August. |
WrestleZone
are a company that work hard and try and give the fans something to
remember at every event. They are definitely a company to keep your
eye on.
For more on WrestleZone see http://www.wrestlezonescotland.co.uk/, as well as on Facebook and Twitter.
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