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With the lack of competitive wrestling companies in Birmingham, England, Kamikaze Pro are seemingly in competition with themselves – every card they put on looks to obliterate the previous one.
Sky's The Limit 3 positioned itself (as every card is positioned) as the best ever. While it didn't reach those heights – March's Underground takes some beating – it came very close. This show actually smashed Kamikaze's attendance records based on pre-orders alone, and we found unfamiliar queues snaking out the roadside.
The card itself was high-quality, and offered a mix of styles. The opener featured the Hunter Brothers – the Tag Team Champions – and one of many tag teams brought in to challenge them for their Tag Team titles, the Gzrs. This was a good, solid match, designed to appeal to the families in the audience, with patches of wrestling showing how good both teams really are.
A triple threat match featured three wrestlers who are constantly improving – Travis Banks is very, very good and looks the real deal, while both Omari and Dan Moloney are getting better and better with every card. Dan in particular is impressing me – with overseas work in last years King Of Trios showing his talent – and with a little more microphone work, he can become a true major player in Kamikaze Pro.
For the rest of the card (and in no particular order), Clint Margera and Damian Dunne were once again impressive, Pete Dunne, as the heart of Kamikaze, is always going to get good reactions, and TNA's Andrew Everett has been a joy to watch. Ryan Smile and Robbie X are the true main attractions of Kamikaze, though – they could sit and eat an apple and people would pay to watch!
It was nice to see Marshall X wrestling a serious match for a change. He's a good wrestler, and needs to show a genuine nasty side now that he's aligned himself with the other top wrestlers in the promotion. Gangrel, however, seemed an odd booking – Kamikaze don't really need to book old stars such as him anymore, or they need to realize their own talent has much more to offer. A match with local talent such as Liam Doyle would have been just as enjoyable, given that Liam is a fresher talent and can garner the same reaction that Gangrel did.
With all due respect to the main event, the true main event for me was Tyler Bate vs Zack Sabre Jr. Tyler is one of the better wrestlers in the country at the minute, and he's not even 20 years of age.
The match itself was a real wrestling contest, starting out slowly with an array of painful looking arm, hand, and leg locks. Before long, it turned into a faster strong-style match, culminating in each wrestler taking turns to soccer kick each other in the back towards the end. It's this kind of match that Kamikaze will increase its reputation with, and they need to bring in more of the Zack Sabre Jr's of the world to face off against their own top talent.
To finish the night off, Awesome Kong versus Shanna was the match it looked on paper – Kong as the proverbial brick wall, with Shanna trying to crush the foundations. As the match wore on, it become clear that Shanna was working very hard to pull off a good main event, and the fans switched their allegiance somewhat. This was by far Shanna's best match since debuting at Kamikaze, and has balanced out a number of less than 100% matches over recent months in the Fighting Females division. The division as a whole had good talent, but this match top anything they've done so far.
On the whole, this card was very high-quality – and while not matching Underground, it was close. Kamikaze still have to improve the Fighting Females division, and the tag team scene needs a talent injection – the promise of a few months back seems to have stalled after high-profile main events for the Hunters, Omari's singles push, and Liam Doyle's injury.
Finally, Kamikaze's timing has also improved – after a number of cards where matches and cards ran way over, they appear to be getting a handle on it. This is good news for everyone, especially for the large number of families who attend.
Overall, Sky's The Limit 3 had much to be proud about. Even Will Ospreay, who was scheduled to appear but had to pull out due to his NJPW commitments, wasn't missed – which should tell you how good this show was!
Onwards and upwards for Kamikaze Pro!
Full Card
Jim and Lee Hunter def. The Gzrs (Tom and Sebastian)
Omari def. Travis Banks and Dan Moloney
Clint Margera def. Damian Dunne
Zack Sabre Jr. def. Tyler Bate
Marshall X def. Gangrel
The Bigger Picture (Ryan Smile and Robbie X) def. Pete Dunne and Andrew Everett
Awesome Kong def. Shanna
Kamikaze Pro are a wrestling promotion based in Birmingham, UK. From their first card in 2013, they've grown from a local promotion, to running shows at prominent city nightclubs, and have showcased top international stars such as Will Osprey, Zack Sabre Jr., Johnny Gargano, Timothy Thatcher, Chris Hero, Angelico, and Abyss.
For more about Kamikaze Pro, check them out on Facebook and Twitter.
