My aim of going to a range of shows this year continued as I went to my first Kamikaze Pro show of 2014 - Project K. On paper, the card looked really good with UK talents Pete Dunne, Eddie Dennis and T-Bone being joined by a couple of imports from America, ROH (Ring of Honour) TV Champion Tommaso Ciampa and former WWE star Trent Barreta.
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| Former WWE star Trent Barreta |
Also, going into this show, I was very interested in seeing Battle Squad: Awesome. I'd never seen them before but had heard good things. Earlier this year, along with the support of Harvey Dale, they have managed to get a huge number of votes and secure a PCW (Preston) tag title shot. This got me thinking that there must be something about them worth seeing.
I wasn't wrong, as the second match on the card saw The Bhangra Knights face them in a 'face vs face' match. This was something that really worked as there was a lot of talking amongst them; RJ Singh and Dave Andrews had a comedic exchange, accepting that they weren't going to match the speed and excitement that their tag partners had just displayed moments earlier; being a face vs face match, there was also no need to sneak up on each other to gain an advantage. As a result, you knew that you were going to get a straight-up 'who's the best team' match - this is exactly what we got.
Usually, my uncontrollable smile face is reserved for James Mason shows, but this match had me grinning from ear to ear because of the flow and the tag team work that was on show - I really appreciated the tandem work that both teams put in. I'm just a sucker for proper tag teams who look alike (character and attire) so this match ticked all boxes.
As I started this segment about Battle Squad: Awesome, I'll finish it with them: I don't know much about them but I gather their gimmick is that it's an Avengers tribute with Andrews as Captain America and Chase as Iron Man (due to their tights). I've also checked them out on Twitter and they've also got the alter-ego thing as well. I LOVE that! As my journeys will take me further north in the coming months, I really hope to see these guys more (maybe in Southside or House of Pain?).
After four paragraphs on my favourite match of the night, I should say something about the rest of the show! The first half really worked for me; Justin Sysum and T-Bone were in the opening match and this was something that I knew wouldn't fail as I like to refer to T-Bone as the 'king of the openers'; along with James Mason, Bone can't have a bad match when opening the show. Along with the audience being into this show from the start, Bone and Justin put on a nice little opener that had the audience giving the appropriate reactions throughout. Job done. After speaking with Justin after the show, YES there did seem to be a couple of mistakes, but I've got no doubt at all that he'll work on them and improve as he has done for well over a year now!
The main event of the first half of the show saw a ROH TV Championship match with 'Pride of Wales' Eddie Dennis challenging Tommaso Ciampa for his title. I thought this was a nice touch by Kamikaze/Ciampa for allowing this (or whatever permissions were needed) as it gave the show a little more importance that a title from the USA could be showcased over here. Along with the spitting on the belt (by Dennis) and the derogatory comments made about ROH (again, by Dennis), it all added to a heated brawl between the two and a really nice back-and-forth match that ended with the (somewhat predictable) win for Ciampa, AND the further elevation of Dennis.
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| ROH TV Champion Tommaso Ciampa |
Just after the interval, things took a slower pace leading into the main event of the evening. First up was Stixx (heel) taking on Birmingham's own Rick Van Damage.
I really like both guys, but despite this being a, kind of, battle of the heavyweights, it didn't quite flow that well. I was expecting Stixx to carry this match as he's the more experienced of the two and that was definitely the case. I've only seen Van Damage a handful of times in the last year but there seems to be the same issues that I've always had with him; he's kind of stiff looking and robotic at times. He could also do with cracking a smile, too, as if he's the face (and our hero), then we need a friendly face to cheer for. I really hope that this is taken in a constructive way as I hate giving what can sometimes be seen as negative comments.
Also on this night, the Kamikaze Pro Championship was also defended as the popular Robbie X challenged Ryan Smile. This started with a really nice, flowing exchange before the pace would drop just a little. The one thing that I couldn't get past was that towards the end, there were a couple of instances where Smile kind of no-sold a couple of moves and a chop from Robbie X before gaining the win convincingly. I'm not too big on Smile in the couple of times that I've seen him, but a huge positive that I will say is the intensity he showed in the last thirty seconds of this match before getting the pinfall. It was an intensity from a guy that WANTED to defend his title successfully. This impressed me.
The main event of the show pitted Birmingham's own 'Dynamite' Pete Dunne against former WWE star Trent Barreta. As I said earlier, Barreta wasn't the thing that sold the show to me before I came, Pete Dunne, however, WAS one of the things that made the trip up to Birmingham more than worth it; I'd already seen Dunne take on Zack Sabre Jr at a Triple X Wrestling show in January and it was amazing.
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| 'Dynamite' Pete Dunne |
The start of the match was a friendly, respect-showing exercise; shaking hands and even hugging-it-out, too - this got a really good reaction. Then for the first half of the match it was a solid 'face vs face' match before frustration set in. Barreta would show more of more signs of annoyance as Dunne matched him move-for-move. The line of the match, and the thing that shifted Barreta from face to heel was when he screamed at Pete, "you think you're in my league?". This set the tone for the rest of the match as Barreta threw everything at Dunne and he kept kicking out and coming back for more. Eventually, Dunne would get the win, a hug and the respect of his American counterpart. Equals and rightly so.
I really love it when guys come to this country and 'do the right thing'; yes, they are the 'stars' but they should be here to make our guys - our EXTREMELY TALENTED guys - look that extra bit special. Credit to Ciampa and Barreta for doing so.
Results
- T-Bone defeated Justin 'The Hammer' Sysum (Justin was then attacked by Marshall X, setting up a future match between the two)
- The Bhangra Knights; RJ Singh & Darrell Allen defeated Battle Squad: Awesome; 'Diamond' Dave Andrews & 'Adrenaline' Danny Chase (MOTN)
- ROH Television Championship: Tommaso Ciampa (c) defeated 'Pride of Wales' Eddie Dennis
- 'The Heavyweight House of Pain' Stixx defeated Rick Van Damage
- Kamikaze Pro Championship: Ryan Smile (c) defeated Robbie X
- 'Dynamite' Pete Dunne defeated Trent Barreta
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| Making strides; Robbie X |
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