REVIEW: Modern Nomad Pro Wrestling - Zero Zero UFO

Modern Nomad Pro Wrestling: Zero Zero UFO
The Frog and Fiddle, Cheltenham
Friday, April 15, 2022
Reviewer: Lloyd Barrett (@LloydB1991)

As well as being Modern Nomad’s Cheltenham debut, it was also my first trip to the Frog and Fiddle. Having previously watched many ATTACK! shows on VOD from the unique venue, it was great to finally visit and see a show in the barn.

Having attended the first Local Shindy show in Cathays, which did not disappoint, I was excited to see the promotions inaugural Cheltenham offering.

Ethan Allen was the ring announcer for the show and he headed out to the ring to get the show underway. I felt he was a breath of fresh air throughout the show, and was a natural fit for the role despite it being thrust upon him due to injury.

Ethan would waste little time with needless preamble and led us straight into what we had come to see, wrestling.

Kid Lykos w/Kid Lykos II & Nico Angelo vs Martin Kirby

The show got underway with one of the matches I was most looking forward to seeing on the card as Kid Lykos and Martin Kirby would collide.

This match was originally scheduled to be the Modern Nomad debut of Kanji taking on Kid Lykos, however this was changed a few weeks out due to Kanji still carrying an injury.

Lykos was accompanied by Lykos Gym members Kid Lykos II and Nico Angelo, and they received a frosty reception after their actions in Cathays when they attacked Splits McPins after Kid Lykos’ victory over Splits.

This was a great mix of technical wrestling and comedy, and was a big nod to the Dragon Gate style both men hold so dearly. There was plenty of Lykos Gym interference, but Kirby was able to hold most of it off and was able to maintain the upper hand throughout the contest.

The two men would exchange in several attempts at various pinning combinations, however neither was able to keep the other man down. Lykos was able to hit a rare Brainbuster on Kirby, however this would only force a near fall.

Kirby would hit the Sable Bomb on Kid Lykos keeping him down for the three count in this tremendous opening match.

Joe Lando vs Lee Hunter

This was Joe Lando’s Modern Nomad and Frog and Fiddle debut. Standing on the other side of the ring was a man who is a stalwart of the venue, and arguably one of British wrestling's most criminally underrated talents, Lee Hunter.

These two wasted little time in going after one another in an epic showdown where the work rate was incredible. Lando showed off all his tricks which have made him a hit up and down the country, including his Pudgyplex, a top rope backflip into a Suplex which almost forced a near fall.

Hunter however would not be out done by the up and comer, and used his veteran experience to grind out the win, finally putting away Lando with a Tombstone.

Following the match Hunter gave Lando the ring to soak up the adulation of the crowd after such an impressive debut. With performances like this one Lando is not only the future, but is the now of this scene and is someone who should be on all the top shows in the country.

I hope they run this one back in the not too distant future.

Experiment In Bowlarama (Splits McPins, LK Mezinger & ELIJAH) vs North West Strong (Rhio, Scott Oberman & Luke Jacobs)

Splits McPins returned to Cheltenham for the first time since his retirement in 2018. Splits made his surprising return to the ring back in February for Modern Nomad at their Cathays debut in an emotionally charged encounter with Kid Lykos.

Following the match Lykos Gym would attack Splits, however Mezinger and a newly minted babyface ELIJAH would make the save, and Experiment In Bowlarama was born.

This show happened to fall on North West Strong member Scott Oberman’s Birthday. Experiment In Bowlarama would secretly hand out party hats and balloons to the crowd before the entrance of North West Strong.

When Oberman would make his way to the ring he was more than displeased to see everyone in attendance celebrating his birthday and was less than receptive to the festivities.

We would sing Happy Birthday to Oberman, which would only seem to fuel his anger, which would eventually lead to Oberman smashing ELIJAH’s face into a birthday cake.

The match itself was a fun and fast paced encounter which allowed everyone to shine. It was really special to see Bowlarama back in action and I think ELIJAH adds another layer to the dynamic that is very welcome.

Luke Jacobs was the North West Strong standout in this match, as he showed off his impressive power and why he is one of the fastest rising stars on the scene.

ELIJAH was able to catch Birthday Boy Oberman with a roll up to pick up somewhat of a scalp for Experiment In Bowlarama.

Harry Chapman w/Mad Kurt vs Mike Bird

This contest was originally billed as Harry Chapman vs Chris Ridgeway, however Ridgeway was unable to be in attendance. Kurt explained the absence of Ridgeway by claiming he had slashed his tyres.

Kurt issued an open challenge to anyone in attendance who wanted to take on his brother and it was accepted by Frog and Fiddle favourite Mike Bird.

Kurt would tell some jokes at the expense of Bird that he had earlier prepared for Ridgeway much to the displeasure of Bird.

Once the contest got underway Bird would dominate the younger Chapman brother, brutalising his chest with a series of chops.

Harry would get in flashes of offence and seemed to be earning the respect of Bird, who was caught off guard by the heart of Harry Chapman.

When all looked to be said and done, Bird took Harry to the top rope to perform a Razor’s Edge like move, however on the way down to the mat Harry was able to reverse this into a pinning combination and score a huge win over the veteran Bird.

At the conclusion of the match Kurt got back in to the ring and after some verbal back and forth between he and Bird, put himself in the position for Bird to nail him with a Piledriver. Bird showed Harry respect and helped him to his feet after a valiant effort.

Lykos Gym (Nico Angelo & Kid Lykos II) vs The 0121 (Man Like Dereiss & Dan Moloney)

The 0121 have made a hot start to 2022, and have arguably forced their way into the spot of the scene's top tag team. The current Progress Tag Team Champions were faced with the task of taking on the Lykos Gym duo of Kid Lykos II and Nico Angelo.

Lykos II and Nico have been teaming regularly since Angelo’s addition to the faction and scored an impressive win at Local Shindy’s Cathays show when they defeated North West Strong’s Chris Ridgeway and Luke Jacobs.

In recent weeks Tag Team wrestling has been the buzz of the wrestling world and as two of the standard bearers of the British scene these two teams did not disappoint.

The 0121 would dominate Lykos II in the early stages of this match and isolate him from Angelo. After absorbing the early punishment Lykos II was able to make a tag to Nico and from there the match would become more even.

Both teams would throw absolutely everything at each other and this match looked like it could go either way on multiple moments.

In the closing stretch of the match The 0121 and Angelo would be stacked in the corner and Lykos II would head up to attempt a Spanish Fly on Dereiss.

However due to the venue’s low ceiling, Lykos II would hit his head on one of the wooden beams on the roof and come crashing down in a scary moment.

Lykos II would roll to the outside ring and the other competitors would regain composure and The 0121 would put down Angelo with a double team move that I didn’t quite catch, due to being distracted by the shock of what happened to Lykos II.

At the conclusion of the bout The 0121 helped Angelo to his feet and Lykos II would return to the ring unscathed. The two teams would stare down and exchange words before Lykos Gym would depart and The 0121 would celebrate their hard earned victory.

Despite the unfortunate ending to this contest it was still fantastic and another one I would like to see again sooner rather than later. Kid Lykos II in my opinion is hugely underrated as a tag team performer and his adaptability to gel with a new partner is incredible.

Another take away from this match is that no matter where Dereiss goes he continues to grow in popularity and be very over with the crowd.

All in all this was a really fun show and I was really glad that I made the trip to Cheltenham. The card had a little bit of everything and ticked all the boxes for me.

I’m excited to see how Modern Nomad progresses as a promotion and look forward to attending as many of their shows as possible. If you can get along to a show I highly recommend it as it showcases a lot of the positives that the British scene still has to offer.

REVIEW: Modern Nomad Pro Wrestling - Zero Zero UFO

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