It was a golden period for hockey in the North East with derby matches against the Warriors often resulting in crowds which exceeded the stated capacity of the rink by a considerable margin.

The plans for a new rink in Newcastle came to nothing so a deal was made which resulted in the Whitley Warriors being evicted from the Telewest Arena to make way for the team.

A new unrelated team, the Newcastle Vipers were founded in 2002 to keep the city's ice hockey heritage alive, but due to low crowds and problems getting regular ice time at the Arena, in November 2010 the Vipers were forced to move in with the 'old enemy' and play for part of their final season out of the Hillheads rink in Whitley Bay.

Originally a one-off game, former Durham Wasps players from the 80s and 90s reformed to play former local rivals Whitley Warriors on 4 May 2008 at Whitley Bay Ice Rink, commemorating the 60th anniversary of the formation of the club, and in support of the ongoing campaign to bring back an ice rink.

Over 2,300 fans turned up to witness this encounter which saw Wasps players icing once again including the Johnson brothers, Mario Belanger, Ivor Bennett, Stephen Foster, John Hutley and Karl Walker.