[2003-01-05-ZERO-ONE] Low Ki vs A.J. Styles

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Superstar Sleeze]

Low Ki vs AJ Styles - Z1 01/05/03

 

AJ Styles as the cocky, douchey show-off heel was one of my favorite things about wrestling in the 00s. He is perfectly contrasted against the ultra-serious, no-nonsense Low-Ki in this match. I have seen this match before and thought it was pretty good, but this time around I was actually blown away how well this came off. The spots were well-executed at a pace that kills, but in addition there were actual transitions and it felt like an actual contest with two combatants struggling for victory. The early matwork was really well done and felt super organic. Each wrestler was looking for a hold, but could never really wrangle one. I dug Ki's kick to AJ's head during a Stampede roll-around on the armbar. Everytime, AJ went to bask in his own glory it usually led to a swift kick to his head (second time he jumps over the railing to avoid contact only for Ki to wipe him and a bunch of fans out was friggin awesome). Or AJ liked to do a kip up hurricanrana at the time and I just watched the ROH 2002 match against Ki where he does it out of nowhere and it looked pretty stupid. Here, Ki has been on offense for the majority of the match, but during a criss cross AJ hits a dropkick to a leapfrogging Ki to hit his kip up rana and it looks so much better since Ki is bending over.

 

AJ was not just some Scotty Steiner doing a spot and then popping for himself. When he nailed Ki with one of his semi-finishers (one of them indy-riffic suplexes), he was pissed off that he did not win and started to unload with a bunch of closed fists. He cared about winning in a wrestling match what a novel concept! Of course, his overzealousness costed him as Ki caught him in a powerbomb. Ki showed the crowd that Styles was not the only one who cared about winning as he unleashed some devastating Kawada kicks. There were a lot of great spots in this one, but spot of the match had to be AJ catching Ki off some crazy flip and seamlessly turning it into Style Clash. AJ, brash as ever, signals he has a three only for a kick out and his face says it all. Now if Ki hit the Ki Krusher and won right there. I think I would have an argument to call this an elite match, but AJ kicks out and the finish sequence goes two minutes longer than it should. AJ counters Kawada kicks with a suplex combination that is indy-riffic in his no-selling and its presentation. He does grab his neck (Ki Krusher) and show some hesitancy to go for Super Styles Clash so I will give him that. Ki is able to take advantage of this to hit his Ki Krusher and roll into a wicked looking Dragon Sleeper for win. There are definite issues in terms of long-term selling and the finish sequence going into spot overdrive, but in terms of a fireworks display with struggle and well-done transitions this hard to beat. ****

[Alan4L]

looking forward to rewatching this after that review!

[dawho5]

Opening stuff was pretty good. had a sense of struggle to everything even if it didn't go anywhere as far as the actual match went. Then we got to the "my cool indy innovative spots vs. yours" stuff and it lost me.

[Graham Crackers]

I wasn't too excited about this going in but I was pleasantly surprised. This has the charm that many of my favorite US indy wrestling matches have even if it isn't in the top tier of that style. This is two athletic young guys trying to create their own idealized version of what a pro wrestling match should look like. Yeah, you can say that about most indy wrestling matches from this era but somehow they avoid coming across as pretentious here. It helps that there is a good ratio of stuff that works to stuff that doesn't work. They go for a slow build and it actually stays focused for a while with plenty of struggle to stop the matwork from looking like a dance routine. Not all of the late match nearfalls work but the finishing stretch isn't quite as bloated as I expected either.

 

I liked this. I don't think it'll make my top 100 for the decade or anything but I'm really glad I watched it.

[Loss]

They lost me by going too overboard with big moves in the last few minutes, but this was still a great match because of the foundation they laid before that kicked in. Loved the spots where Styles was sure he had the upper hand and was then showed up. That sense of character eroded some as the match progressed, which is too bad, but overall, this was still great.

[supersonic]

Anyone care to upload this match?

[ohtani's jacket]

We've seen these guys have their match on the indies and in TNA, now it's time to see how they do in Japan. I was pleasantly surprised by the crowd reaction here. They gave both guys warm reactions and popped for little touches in the match. As we know, that's not always the case with a Japanese crowd. The match itself was excellent. These guys are hellbent on destroying each other in every single match. Even the Japanese crowd could feel that there was no love lost between them. Personally, I don't mind the escalation in these bouts. Surely, it's over the top at times, but wrestling can go too far the other way as well with guys lying on their backs making dramatic Shawn Michaels faces. I don't know if AJ Styles was a real life douche, but his wrestling character is a douche... but he's a douche that can back it up with stiff strikes, and you come at the king, you best not miss. You almost get the feeling that these guys shouldn't match up so well, except for the fact that they hate each other so much. Great finish after the rope break tease. For a touring match in Japan, this was outstanding. Best I've seen since that Santo/Panther match. 

[G. Badger]

This was a fantastic match and on par with what they were doing in TNA & ROH at the time. Perhaps even it was a little bit more aggressive since they were in Japan. All that said, it was very much Indie wrestling in the early 2000's where they did tons of sick looking moves but I can't recall a single scoop slam, snap mare or vertical suplex let alone a headlock, half crab or chin lock. So perhaps I'm a stickler but not much later in their careers they are using these moves yet, slowing down and selling the drama & story of the match as well. Here it is all fireworks (which are damn impressive) but is what holds this back from being a classic. Nonetheless it is a great spectacle and totally worth your time.