October 17th 2023, saw the return of the popular ‘TUESDAY NIGHT GRAPS’ at Manchester’s ‘Bread Shed Arena’ (not a real arena) as Modern Nomad Pro Wrestling put on a horror themed show due to Halloween forthcoming, as the event titled ‘Do You Want To Play A Game?’ proved to be another hit. The ‘variety show promotion’ is coming up to its three-year anniversary, but within its short history, it has featured some of the best up and coming talents in British Wrestling and abroad. Over the years, its saw the likes of Martin Kilby, Chris Brookes, North West Strong (Chris Ridgeway and Luke Jacobs), Bullet Club ‘War Dogs’ member Dan (Drilla) Moloney, Wild Boar, Connor Mills, Kid Lykos II and also rising star Leon Slater having all stepped inside the squared circle for the promotion. Meanwhile, on that world scale, its saw Vaughan Vertigo (Canada), Masahiro Takanashi (Japan) TK Cooper (New Zealand) as well as Rufio and his fellow countrymen and former IWGP, ROH, RevPro and Progress Tag Champions in Mark Davis & Kyle Fletcher (Aussie Open) all appearing on a MDRN NMD show.
Not only does it have good male talent, but they’ve also showcased the best female wrestlers in the world too, as on past cards the names of – Natalie Sykes, Skye Smitson, Millie McKenzie, Alex Windsor, Rhio, Dani Luna and Lizzy Evo have all taken part. Just this past August, it saw the promotion putting on a special ‘Choco Night Graps’, as it included two stars from the Japanese promotion ‘Gatoh Move Choco Pro’ – as it saw Mei Suruga and Chie from the promotion taking part.
The brains behind the promotion are that of LK Mezinger of ‘Bowl-a-rama’ and Kid Lykos – one half of ‘Lykos Gym’ – as I think it is safe to say that anyone who has ever attended one of these shows, they will confirm that they are fantastic nights out, but as Taz would say, “But I digress!” Unless the stats on Cage match are incorrect, minus the event held back in August, then Tuesday night was the 13th event held in its short history and was befitting that for a Horror-centric show. The venue was made to feel eerie, what with red & green lights dimly lit through the fog; while the sight of a prone ‘dead’ body belonging to Man Like DeReiss just lay there all night in a ‘bloody’ white T-shirt, while the action went on throughout the night. As the lights came down to start the show, it saw a man in a black and red cloak wearing a Pig mask, and slowly walked around the ring. It saw the two competitors in the ring for the first match, as a creepy dubbed video played of ‘Jigsaw’ from the Horror series ‘SAW’, and instructed the participates of the rules before the bell rang.
Splits McPins v Mystery Masked Woman
Match One featured that of Splits McPins against the ‘Pig masked Woman’ of whose identity was a mystery! That was until her mask fell off early on to reveal the identity of none other than – Lizzy Evo. The Liverpool native wasn’t happy that the mask came off so easily, but had the early measure of Splits and took it to her opponent, and attempted to put the a black bin bag over her opponents’ head to try and win. Splits seems to cut her off at every chance, but did everything to frustrate Evo from getting the pinfall also, as the F-bombs were dropping like a card happy referee in football. Those in attendance were chanting to the wrestlers to ‘Kill The Ref’ as the man in the cloak and Pig mask, was serenaded with ‘Piggy bastard’ by a few fans. However, it would see the victory going to the member of ‘Bowl-a-rama’, but his joy was short-lived as the ‘Pig Master’ attacked him in the after match, which led to both him and his minion in Lizzy Evo carrying Splits McPins to the back under the red lights, and evil cackling.
Winner: Splits McPins
KID LYKOS II v Gene Munny – Blindfold Stab Match
The following contest was best described by Man Like DeReiss on twitter/X, as ‘the best unprofessional wrestling match I’ve ever seen’ – as Gene Munny took on the younger member of Lykos Gym in Kid Lykos II, in what was a highly eventful and fun ‘Blindfold Stab match’. Prior to the bell, it saw another video from Jigsaw appearing on the screen, and made the ruling that the winner would have to stab their opponent to survive. But there was an extra catch too, as they would both have to be blindfolded! Lykos II was telling the crowd he hasn’t watched ‘Saw’ (made two of us at least in the room) as they had no clue what was going on. Gene Munny went mental after the referee (Pig Master) blindfolded him, as he rightly claimed that you couldn’t see out of the blindfold, something I can a testify to, having had him put it on me after the event when I briefly chatted to him.
It saw the ‘Pig Master’ putting two ‘knives’ in opposite corners and setting up this genuinely chaotic match, where some in the room were offering help by chanting ‘Warmer or Colder’ akin to the Wrestlemania VII clash between Jake ‘the Snake’ Roberts v ‘The Model’ Rick Martel in the Blindfold match where the crowd cheered to direct Roberts to find Martel. Munny lifted up the blindfold and told the fans trying to guide them to where there opponents were and shouted, ‘We’re not ready for that part yet!’ – as both he and Kid Lykos II played off each other with the comedy timing and saw the fans in attendance playing their part too. This was exactly like Wrestlemania VII – however, it wasn’t due to the Blindfold Match as previously mentioned, no no. It was more for the tears flowing after the Ultimate Warrior v Macho King match, where Randy Savage and Miss Elizabeth reunited. Except, this was tears of laugher, as grown men and women were in tears laughing at what they were witnessing. It saw both leaving the ring and out to the outside, where they got up close and personal with the crowd, with Munny thinking he had ‘done-in’ Lykos II – only to realised it was a bloke in a leather coat at the front..
As they both returned to the ring, it saw Kid Lykos sticking the object up the backside of Munny, who let everyone know just exactly what part of the body the weapon had gone up or in, as the audience was loving every second. If Lykos II thought he had the match in hand, then that all changed when Gene got him upper back and saw the end of the match having both weapons used on each other to force a draw. Once more, the red lights and evil cackling laughter could be heard as both ‘victims’ were rolled out of the ring and taken to the back.
Winner: DRAW
LUKE JACOBS v KID LYKOS – ‘Dog Collar of sorts match’
Match Three saw a sort of ‘Dog Collar’ match with what looked like a blue plastic clothesline being attached to the collars of both Kid Lykos and Luke Jacobs. We then saw that sicko in ‘Jigsaw’ reappear and informing both wrestlers that the collars had explosives on them. Prior to the start of the match, it saw a chant breaking out of ‘This is Kinky’ while both men were getting hooked up to each other, but we soon got some hard hitting action, with the cable being used as a weapon to whip their opponent. But then dear god, have mercy on Kid Lykos soul, as Luke Jacobs had Lykos in the corner, and chopped him hard twice which vibrated around the room. Things got interesting when the ‘Pig Master’ left the ring to head into the back to get a Solid steel Saw plate’ (or cardboard covered in kitchen foil to give it the shiny metallic look, sorry for breaking kayfabe).
As it was, the ‘Pig master’ stood on the outside turning the saw round manually to make it look like it was spinning, all the while it had the sound effect of a electric saw and had both men risking everything to avoid facing the chop. In the end, it saw Jacobs being the next victim to ‘Jigsaw’ and met his ‘demise’ by a possible papercut off the saw.
Winner: KID LYKOS Wins
Danny Black v Elijah v Leon Slater – 3-way ‘TIME BOMB: Everybody dies match“
The penultimate match pitted Danny Black v Elijah and Leon Slater in a ‘TIME BOMB: EVERYBODY DIES match’ – as Jigsaw told those in the ring that a timer would go off, so it was a race against time to get the match over with. The ‘Pig master’ did no one any favours with his slow counts, as it saw all three enjoying spells of dominance as well as all three having the same idea of kicks, punches and drop kicks. While the action was fun, there were a couple of spots that saw some watching on and grimacing over the move. One involved Elijah taking a move that looked a bit gnarly and went out to shake it off; meanwhile, later on Leon Slater took a ‘poison-rana’ and seemed to be a bit of a sore one, as it reminded you the dangers and that this isn’t ballet. As three then battled in the ring, with a clock appearing on the screen to show the time bomb counting down, while the ‘Pig Master’ and two show helpers stood behind three ring posts and pulled on a large party poppers that exploded alongside flashing lights to signify the time bomb going off with all the wrestlers down and victims.
Winner: No Contest
Watching them drag the bodies out of the ring under the red lights and evil cackling over the sound system left everyone watching on, as the ring was full of ticker tape and saw the REAL MAIN EVENT in the form of the RAFFLE!!
Prior to the TNG’s MAIN EVENT of the evening, it saw the cameraman drawing the Raffle and have a video from Jigsaw informing him that he had attached a detonator to his ‘penis’, and that if he didn’t do the raffle within two minutes then it would go off. So, he tried to rush through and saw no winners being drawn three out of five picks, but prior to the time expiring, the Pig Master shot the man in the groin and picked up the raffle ticket. While the cameraman was helped away, Lizzy Evo brought out both Kid Lykos & Splits McPins to the ring, as they were the only two survivors left. Meanwhile, the ‘Pig master’ and suddenly, the Man Like DeReiss rose from the dead to take part in a 3 on 2 handicap match. We then saw the final raffle number being drawn, and saw the winner refereeing this Main Event, but there were still two huge surprises to come.
TEAM DEATH: Lizzy Evo, Man Like DeReiss & ‘Pig Master’ v TEAM LIFE: Kid Lykos, Splits McPins & Dan Moloney
First of all, it saw Bullet Club ‘War Dogs’ member Dan Moloney rocking up in his tracksuit and shouting, “Wait. This isn’t Terminal 2?” and drew a huge pop from the people there and was a shock appearance. It then saw Moloney and Lykos talking, with Lykos asking him if he wanted in and had obviously come dressed for combat. That meant it now became a 6-person tag match. It saw the second biggest shock of the night coming in the shape of the identity of the ‘Pig Master’. As it was revealed that the man in the mask (not Excalibur) was none other than that of referee James Greenwood! The action then spilled all over the building and saw near falls in the ring with McPins being worn down by Team Death, with the biggest heel all night in Greenwood directing traffic and really embracing the Evil!
TEAM LIFE was constantly thwarted from the hot tag, as trio of TEAM DEATH worked well. But the tag finally happened and saw the match breaking down, as a paddling pool was introduced to the match with a ‘bed of plastic forks’ stuck up inside it. Man Like DeReiss was the unlucky one to take the full forks of it, as he was sent crashing through it twice with the winning move being a ‘Falcon Arrow’ through the forks to give victory to Team Life.
Winner: TEAM LIFE – Dan Moloney, Kid Lykos & Splits McPins
After the match, it saw Kid Lykos thanking the crowd for coming out to support the event and also gave Lizzy Evo and Dan Moloney a shoutout for coming in as late replacements. The crowd went home happy once more, and had Lykos Gym announcing one more show to round off the year in 2023, as I for one, can’t bloody wait to book my ticket for the next instalment of this fun and wacky promotion.
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