Low Ki

[JerryvonKramer]

Low Ki vs. KENTA (12/17/05)

 

This is from ROH. Elbow and collar tie up to start. Clean break. Roundhouse kick attempt by Kenta. Crowd bust out duelling "Let's Go Kenta" and "Let's Go Low Ki" chants immediately making me hate them. Headscissors by Low Ki. Arm wrenches. Kenta into a hammerlock. Reverse knife edge by Low Ki. Several stiff kicks by Low Ki now. Kenta comes back with several of his own. Some disrespectful kicks by Kenta now. Increasingly stiff chops back and forth now. Series of elbows in the corner by Low Ki. Spinning DDT-looking thing by Kenta that ends up as a gullotine over the top rop. Lariat from the top by Ketna for a 1 count. Snapmare and a kick to the head by Kenta. Kenta dumps Low Ki outisde now, and into the railings. More of these cheeky kicks from Kenta and a sly back heel into his head. More of these stiff chops back and forth now. Low Ki gets a kick in himself to know Kenta down. Drops him on the top rope and kicks him down. Low Ki now runs and jumps onto the top rope and jumps down on Kenta outside. Back in, and Low Ki with the disrespectful little kicks now and a European uppercut. Inziguri takes Kenta down again. Bodyslam. And again. Kick to the back. Cover gets just one again. Snapmare. Bodyscissors now. Kenta gets to the ropes. Sunset flip attempt by Kenta blocked and Low Ki gets in a double stomp for a two count. "Reverse bearhug" down on the mat by Low Ki now. Big chop by Low Ki. More of these kicks now with increasing levels of velocity. Low Ki smashes Kenta into the railings.

 

A fan shouts: "Low Ki just fucked you up! Do it again Low Ki!"

 

Ha ha. Double stomp from the top to Kenta's back now. Cover gets two. Scoop powerslam by Kenta is a desparation move during this onslaught. He's able to come back with a couple of dropkicks. Five kicks and a springboard dropkick by Kenta. Butterfly suplex into a bridge and a pin attempt by Kenta -- unusual suplex that. Falcon arrow by Kenta. He goes for a superplex but Low Ki blocks him, and Kenta falls down into a tree of woe. Low Ki with a double stomp to the face. More of these big chops now from Low Ki now which the commentator mentions is "very reminiscent of Kenta Kobashi". Kenta hits a "super Falcon arrow" for a nearfall which gets a "this is awesome" chant from the crowd and an eyeroll from me. More of the stiff slaps back and forth, Kenta gets the better of it for two. Kenta signals that that's enough with the Arn Anderson thumb across the chest, and he's going to finish it. Low Ki hits something for two. Both men down. Great Muta style handspring elbow by Low Ki. Kenta gets a two count with a tiger suplex. Kenta goes for his signiture combo but Low Ki floors him with a dropkick. Double stomp from the top by Low Ki gets two. Misses with a phoneix splash, Kenta gets Low Ki up into a airplane spin sort of thing and then kicks him on the way down. Flying knee strike seems to KO Low Ki and that's enough for the three. Crowd starts chanting "awesome match! awesome match!". Now we get "thank you Kenta! Thank you Kenta!". I couldn't dislike this ROH crowd more if I tried. "Please come back! Please come back!" These sorts of chants should be banned.

 

Looking beyond the setting and crowd, which I just despise, I really didn't enjoy this. The strike exchanges were somehow stiff while lacking in either intensity or real hatred. I was trying to think about why these strike exchanges were nothing compared to Flair vs. Steamboat or Flair vs. Garvin or anything I've seen from All Japan. I think it's partly an execution thing. When the older guys hit the massive chops, they sort of give it time to sink in. There's a huge chop. Then they pause and the crowd catches their breath, then you might get the reply. Here it's just chop, chop, chop, chop and somehow despite the level of stiffness they start losing their impact. I didn't like the kicks either. From what the commentators were saying, both of these guys are known for their hard kicking, and we get a shit load of them here. While, again, they had real velocity, I felt that they didn't have the effect that they should have. Early on Kenta was just toying with Low Ki, almost playing with him with these little disrespectful kicks around his head. Now, the reaction I'd LOOK FOR from Low Ki there would be to get incredibly pissed off at this treatment, but that doesn't really happen. His expression never changes. The level of hate never ramps up. Since they started off chopping each other so quickly, perhaps the violence had nowhere to go, but that was really disappointing. I will say, that there was some surprising -- if only nominal -- attempts to work the mat here. We get some armwork near the start and there's a section where Low Ki works Kenta's midsection with a bodyscissors and a "reverse bearhug" which Kenta, to his credit, sold really well. But this honestly felt like watching a match on a computer game at times, Low Ki showed practically no emotion. I thought Kenta was a lot better at emoting and for me came across as being the much better worker here. While the endless strike exchanges seemed to go nowhere, the match did tell a story: Kenta for the most part worked from underneath with Low Ki dominating. Bizarrely, Low Ki's offense seemed to lack variation -- beyond the strikes and kicks, he went to the double stomp a number of times and I don't recall him hitting any real wrestling moves apart from a bodyslam -- not a problem in itself, but surpsiring. Kenta started ramping up his offense in the finishing stretch with some cool suplex variations, but it all lacked excitement for me. Very disappointing match, since I'd read in some places that this was bona-fide 5 stars and probably Low Ki's best match. Not a very promising start at all.

 

***

 

Low Ki vs. AJ Styles vs. Jerry Lynn (08/28/02)

 

This is a ladder match from TNA. Amazing to think TNA was around in 2002. There's something so sleazy about this TNA crowd and arena, there's a girl dancing in a cage. Styles has some awful hair that wouldn't be out of place on a British council estate from the mid-90s, he's just missing the Kappa tracksuit bottoms.

 

Styles and Low Ki start out. Tilt a whirl backbreaker by Lynn on Low Ki. Surfboard by Lynn on Low Ki now. Crowd has been chanting "We Want Ladders". Styles breaks this up and stomps on Low Ki. Lynn with a vertical suplex on Styles, but falls sideways with it rather than back. Boston crab by Lynn on Styles. Low Ki hits a kick to his face which he no sells, so he kicks him again. After some other stuff, Low Ki picks up Styles and uses him as a battering ram against Lynn. Ladder involved now. Styles hits a baseball slide onto the ladder to send Low Ki flying. Styles sets up the ladder as a bridge from the safety rail to the ring. Lynn goes for a suplex on Styles outside, but he blocks it and throws him back to the apron. Low Ki and Styles are up on the ladder bridge now with forearms and a series of headbutts. Lynn gets involved and smashes both of their heads onto the ladder. He tries to take the ladder to go get the belt, Styles tries to take the ladder but Lynn hits a baseball slide to send him packing. He sets the ladder up. Low Ki is there though. He respositions the ladder and Styles creeps up behind him. Some forearms and knees from Styles now. Commentators say it's the most intense they've ever seen Styles. Lynn is back up now. Double hiptoss by Stlyes and Lynn on Low Ki into the ladder -- that looked far too choregraphed. Commentators sell it as one of the most incredible things they've ever seen. Ladder is in the corner now, Styles goes for a DDT but Lynn reverses with a release suplex onto the ladder. That was a cool sequence. Low Ki kicks Lynn's face now and "on instinct" goes for the pin. Ref reminds him of the ladder. Hurricanerana into the ladder now. Commentary is just fucking abysmal on this match. Styles goes to get the belt, but Low Ki stops him. Styles is stuck in a tree of woe on the ladder and Low Ki just kicks him in the head a few times. Pretty nasty. Low Ki goes for the belt now. Lynn stops him. Backdrop suplex by Lynn on Low Ki from the ladder now. Who is this commentatry team? Is it Mike Tenay and Don West? One of them needs to stop shouting -- is it Don West? Just the worst ever. Lots of things happen.

 

Inverted DDT by Styles on Low Ki now. Styles throws a second ladder onto Lynn's head. Low Ki has a third ladder outside the ring. Chops in the corner between Styles and Lynn as Low Ki climbs that third ladder. Styles goes up too and takes a face shot on the top of the ladder. Low Ki applies the dragon sleep on top of the ladder. Lynn goes up too. Hits a punch on Low Ki. Styles goes flying. Low Ki maintains his balance on the ladder and bounces it off the ropes back up for. Commentators mark out for that. Lynn now ... oh he's not is he ... oh fuck ... PILEDRIVER from the fifth step of the ladder. Holy shit. Crowd rightfully chants "Holy shit!" That was mental! Low Ki might be dead. Styles is outside the ring. Lynn goes up for the X Division belt and that'll do.

 

There was some very good action here even if it was a bit disjointed and (perhaps inevitably for a triple threat) lacking in psychology. Jerry Lynn did some innovative offense both in the ring and using the ladders. Sadly, I thought Low Ki was the weak link: for someone so athletic he seems very limited, and despite carrying a lot of the selling and big bumping load here again has trouble emoting. Lynn and Styles did a great job of turning this match from being a spotfest into something that felt more like a street fight at times. After about ten or fifteen minutes, it felt like things started to drag as the guys were running out of things to do, which somewhat hurts the flow of the match. But all that is saved by a phenomenal finish. Even though the cradle piledriver by Lynn is "very safe", it's a legitmate "holy shit" spot that I imagine people will remember this match for. And in fairness to Low Ki he really sold that piledriver well.

 

***3/4

 

Low Ki vs. Amazing Red (06/22/02)

 

This is from ROH. Low Ki really looks like the sort of guy a 12-year old might generate on an XBox game, I think his look is hurting him in my estimation. They exchange some kicks at the start. There's some running and jumping now and the commentators go absolutely crazy. "Holy Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon!" "Oh my one of the most exciting opening minutes I've ever seen to a match!" "That was THE most exciting"

 

So I have to stop it and go back to the start. What did I miss? Going to watch carefully ... Shake hands to start. Slap by Red. Kick by Low Ki. Roundhouse by Red. Stomping forward by Low Ki with strikes, misses with a stomp. He charges and Red gets his legs up. Low Ki poses like a dragon and roars. Okay, I didn't miss anything. The commentators go on and on about this. I don't know what they are talking about at all, make Tony Schiavone seem like he soft sells.

 

Red with a body splash and some chops. Bulldog from the top. Kick to the face. Chop. I really don't like these commentators. Is one of them Steve Corino? I don't like commentators talking about "match of the year candidates". After 4-5 minutes they are calling this a potential MOTYC. Why? For what reason? I don't get this at all, it's actively detracting from this match. Just shut up already. The worst ever commentators. "The people, the sheets, the internet, the people in the know are all saying Low Ki is having a legendary set of matches!" Never been against anything so much in all my life.

 

Flip spinny kicks and things now. One such kick sends Red to the outside. Low Ki sends him back in. Two count. Match is descending into a spotfest where the spots involve running and kicking. Ki Crusher attempt by Low Ki but Red reverses and flips over into a two count. Low Ki tries a powerbomb which is blocked. Reverse Frankensteiner. And Low Ki is down. Red with an "Infra Red" from the top, misses. Big uppercut by Low Ki. Low Ki gets Red up for the Ki Crusher again but instead runs and battering rams him into the turnbuckle. Red is out on the outiside. Back in. Low Ki with a twisting senton from the top which misses. Red kicks him in the face. Red tries a hurricanrana from the top but Low Ki blocks it. He comes crashing down with a *super* Ki Crusher for the three.

 

Commentators put this over as another MOTYC, if that's true, 2002 wasn't a very good year for wrestling because I thought this was awful. Low Ki was working as a monster against Amazing Red's Spike Dudley, which had some good storytelling potential, but this was just utterly lacking in psychology and played to just about every Indie stereotype I can think of. Stupid spotfest where the spots weren't even that good. It's not looking very good for Low Ki, worst match yet.

 

*1/2

 

Low Ki vs. Davey Richards (12/18/05)

 

I believe this is from the EPIC WAR promotion. There can't be more than 50 people in this high school gym. Low Ki uses his body weight to try to hold Richards down to start. Keylock but we get a clean break. Collar and elbow tieup. Break. Tieup again. Low Ki goes into an armbar while he's on the top rope. Jumps down to the floor. Back to the feeling out process. Leg trip and Low Ki goes back to the arm. Hammerlock. Richards comes back with a single leg takedown. Low Ki kicks him in the face. Muta-style elbow now. Low Ki goes to a chinlock. Front facelock. Clean break. I have to say there's some interesting psychology going on here: Low Ki is bringing a ground mat-based game to counter Richards from doing any high impact moves. Richards comes back with a "Fujiwara armbar". I wouldn't have expected this much matwork from these two.

 

Greco roman knuckle lock and Low Ki bridges back. Richards jumps on him. Low Ki kicks him in the side. Richards bridges back. And Low Ki jumps on him now. I've seen this sequence many times in 70s Dory Funk Jr matches. Again, wouldn't expect to see it here.This entire match has been worked on the mat so far. About 10 minutes in. Camel clutch by Low Ki. Richards gets on his own camel clutch now.

 

Things pick up now and Richards hits a snap suplex. Headlock. Chop by Low Ki. Knee lift. Richards goes over. Cover gets two. Big bodyslam. Another two. Snapmare and a kick to the shoulders. Richards with his own snapmare now and a kick. Payback. Chops all round now. Low Ki seemed pissed off by Richards coming back with that. Low Ki carries Richards outside and dumps him on the wooden gym floor. Rolls him back in. Body scissors. Richards tries to come back but Low Ki cuts him off with a double stomp. He steps on Richards's hands. Pretty nasty. European uppercut. STO by Richards takes Low Ki down, but Richards is out too. Richards with some chops now. Belly-to-belly suplex by Richards. Running forearm in the corner. Roundhouse by Richards. Backbreaker thing by Richards where's he's on his back and snaps Low Ki over his knee. Richards with some pretty terrible forearms now. Low Ki with the Kobashi machine-gun chops. Gets two. Gordbuster by Low Ki. Big reverse knife edge. Several more. Spinning back kick by Richards. Inziguri by Richards sends Low Ki down. Tiger suplex! That gets two for Richards. Richards takes the turnbuckle off and comes off the top with a shooting star press! He misses! Low Ki goes to the top himself. Double stomp! Nasty! And that'll do for three. After the match they think about shaking hands.

 

Well this was by far the best Low Ki performance so far. I was fully going into this execting it to be a meaningless spotfest but 75% of the match was worked on the mat and Low Ki actually used some pretty solid ring psychology. The main story here was Low Ki as the experienced guy working a ground game to stop Richards from busting out the suplex variations and he worked on top for about two thirds of the match. Richards became a plucky underdog and showed heart in trying to come back but Low Ki had too much for him. Match was hurt a little bit by being in such a rinky-dink venue with such a tiny crowd, but you can't blame them for that, they worked hard and pretty smart. By no means a brilliant match but there's some good basic psychology and it builds well towards the finishing stretch.

 

***1/2

[Tim Cooke]

The Red vs. Low Ki match you want to see is from the 9/14/01 UCW Elks Lodge Show.

 

Kenta vs. Low Ki from December 2005 wasn't great live and wasn't any better on tape. I've only seen big Kenta fans pimping that one.

 

Some other Ki recommendations:

 

4/15/00 vs. Mike Mayhem (from the Pittsburgh promotion - I think ICW or IWC)

2/24/01 vs. Bryan Danielson (ECWA Super 8 Final)

7/21/01 vs. Bryan Danielson (ECWA)

9/14/01 vs. Red (UCW)

11/30/01 vs. Eddy Guerrero (UCW)

3/30/02 vs. Bryan Danielson (ROH)

6/7/02 vs. Bryan Danielson (JAPW)

10/5/02 vs. Samoa Joe (ROH)

10/2/04 vs. Jay Lethal (ROH) [Ki as a heel]

[soup23]

This will be an aesthetic thing with you Parv but be prepared to loathe the crowd and announcers for this stuff. The crowd will be chanting fairly consistently and the announcers will freely talk about MOTY and other META stuff to appease the audience that was watching at the time. Jarring presentation wise to go from late 70's WWWF to that but just the way it is.

[Superstar Sleeze]

I just watched the Low Ki vs American Dragon Submission Match from JAPW in 2002 that Stomper posted in the Daniel Bryan and it was fucking amazing. I was in a bit groggy watching it so I need watch it more closely to do a proper review, but I really got into it after the 10 minute mark. It was really tight work, tons of great, gritty matwork and a basic, but awesome story of two different styles meshing. I came out of it wanting to see more Ki for sure.

 

There is a great Low Ki match against AJ Styles from ROH 2002 and an even better Ki/AJ match from Zero-One in 2003. Low Ki is now very high on the list of guys I need to watch.

[pol]

This will be an aesthetic thing with you Parv but be prepared to loathe the crowd and announcers for this stuff. The crowd will be chanting fairly consistently and the announcers will freely talk about MOTY and other META stuff to appease the audience that was watching at the time. Jarring presentation wise to go from late 70's WWWF to that but just the way it is.

 

I'm nowhere near the curmudgeon that Parv is () but I also can't stand the majority of indie wrestling commentators I've heard. Why would you call wrestling as if it's a work?

[soup23]

 

This will be an aesthetic thing with you Parv but be prepared to loathe the crowd and announcers for this stuff. The crowd will be chanting fairly consistently and the announcers will freely talk about MOTY and other META stuff to appease the audience that was watching at the time. Jarring presentation wise to go from late 70's WWWF to that but just the way it is.

 

I'm nowhere near the curmudgeon that Parv is ( ) but I also can't stand the majority of indie wrestling commentators I've heard. Why would you call wrestling as if it's a work?

 

I will never be someone that touts Marc Nulty as an all time great announcer but I do think for the type of promotion that ROH was trying to create, the commentary style fits that. Now, there are inherent problems in that they tried to push heels at points to break this mold like giving Xavier the world title and this is such a niche and narrow view that they boxed themselves into never being mainstream, but the commentary being snarky and assuming the audience is smart did and still do appeal to some if done in certain ways.

[Childs]

The Red vs. Low Ki match you want to see is from the 9/14/01 UCW Elks Lodge Show.

 

Kenta vs. Low Ki from December 2005 wasn't great live and wasn't any better on tape. I've only seen big Kenta fans pimping that one.

 

Some other Ki recommendations:

 

4/15/00 vs. Mike Mayhem (from the Pittsburgh promotion - I think ICW or IWC)

2/24/01 vs. Bryan Danielson (ECWA Super 8 Final)

7/21/01 vs. Bryan Danielson (ECWA)

9/14/01 vs. Red (UCW)

11/30/01 vs. Eddy Guerrero (UCW)

3/30/02 vs. Bryan Danielson (ROH)

6/7/02 vs. Bryan Danielson (JAPW)

10/5/02 vs. Samoa Joe (ROH)

10/2/04 vs. Jay Lethal (ROH) [Ki as a heel]

 

I love that Jay Lethal match. If I recall correctly, didn't Ki talk shit to Lethal's mom, who was in the crowd? The Ki/Homicide vs. Joe/Lethal tags from '05 were also a lot of fun.

 

Also hunt down his PWG BOLA match with Hero from '08, where the rope broke and they just murdered each other. And one of the Necro Butcher matches from IWA-Midsouth.

 

The Danielson matches from '02 are probably his crown jewels.

[Loss]

I created threads for each of the matches Tim listed in the Match Discussion Archive. Feel free to keep posting here, but I just wanted to make sure everything was there for posterity.

[Tim Cooke]

 

The Red vs. Low Ki match you want to see is from the 9/14/01 UCW Elks Lodge Show.

 

Kenta vs. Low Ki from December 2005 wasn't great live and wasn't any better on tape. I've only seen big Kenta fans pimping that one.

 

Some other Ki recommendations:

 

4/15/00 vs. Mike Mayhem (from the Pittsburgh promotion - I think ICW or IWC)

2/24/01 vs. Bryan Danielson (ECWA Super 8 Final)

7/21/01 vs. Bryan Danielson (ECWA)

9/14/01 vs. Red (UCW)

11/30/01 vs. Eddy Guerrero (UCW)

3/30/02 vs. Bryan Danielson (ROH)

6/7/02 vs. Bryan Danielson (JAPW)

10/5/02 vs. Samoa Joe (ROH)

10/2/04 vs. Jay Lethal (ROH) [Ki as a heel]

 

I love that Jay Lethal match. If I recall correctly, didn't Ki talk shit to Lethal's mom, who was in the crowd? The Ki/Homicide vs. Joe/Lethal tags from '05 were also a lot of fun.

 

Also hunt down his PWG BOLA match with Hero from '08, where the rope broke and they just murdered each other. And one of the Necro Butcher matches from IWA-Midsouth.

 

The Danielson matches from '02 are probably his crown jewels.

 

 

The Lethal match was terrific live and is still great on tape, though the lighting and the heat didn't come through with ROH experimenting with new taping equipment around that time. Lethal's mom was there. Ki and Smokes spit at her and she swung at them, which popped the crowd big time.

[Migs]

Ki v. Homicide was generally a fantastic match as well - my mind always goes to USA Pro 1/11/02 at the Elks Lodge since I was there.

[fxnj]

I think his best stuff is his 2012 NJPW run when he was having matches with Ibushi and Devitt where he'd stiff the hell out of them in between them doing cool flippy shit.

[Petey]

This thread got me wondering, what ever happened to UCW? Their footage was used on a lot of RF Video "Best Of" tapes but only in the very early 2000's. Guessing they went out of business but it seemed like a bunch of the early ROH wrestlers also worked for UCW. Was the company any good or was it just another early 2000 indy?

[rzombie1988]

I've been a Low-Ki fan since before I even saw him wrestle, but as good as he is, he is his own worst enemy. I can't believe he has gotten himself kicked out of so many promotions. NJPW totally threw him a bone when they signed him and he even had to screw that up, along with his subsequent 1 tour AJPW run where he shot on someone.

 

One match of his worth hunting down is IWC Super Indy match against John McChesney. He played heel and beat down John before John made an excellent comeback and won. So much fire in that one.

[W2BTD]

McChesney is super underrated, probably because he doesn't get booked much in the high profile indies.

[Migs]

This thread got me wondering, what ever happened to UCW? Their footage was used on a lot of RF Video "Best Of" tapes but only in the very early 2000's. Guessing they went out of business but it seemed like a bunch of the early ROH wrestlers also worked for UCW. Was the company any good or was it just another early 2000 indy?

 

UCW only last a couple of years - it was run, mostly out of Queens, by a guy who ran wrestling store, the Wrestling Universe (hence the name). I believe there was some issue with the name, because the promotion became Impact Championship Wrestling. It's continued to run on and off (as recently as this year, I believe), but it never had the cache it did as UCW.

 

In terms of quality, it was pretty good - brought in a lot of good talent, really helped develop some of the NY guys (it was a big launching pad for Red and the SATs, as well as Xavier), and did a decent job of continuing story lines. Certainly in terms of booking a show, it kicked the crap out of its local rival, USA Pro (which put on incredibly long, mind numbing shows).

[JerryvonKramer]

Low Ki vs. American Dragon (02/24/01)

 

This is from ECWA ... get this Titans of Wrestling fans, the event is called "Super 8". Dragon is in red karate bottoms, Ki is in a black and white number. Flair chops back and forth to start. Ki ends up getting a boot to the face. Dragon planchas out after him. I want to pause here to criticise this opening 2-3 minutes. To quote Tony Atlas from the Legends of Wrestling credits "too much, too soon".

 

More reverse knife edges back and forth. Ki modifies the Muta springboard elbow into a kick. Dragon takes over. Ki has his leg stuck on the middle rope and Dragon kicks at it. Focuses on this leg now. Some stiff blows to Ki's head, who comes back with a slap back. Shinbreaker by Dragon. Back down to the mat to work this leg some more. Not really a lot of struggle from Ki during this stuff. More chops back and forth. I'd like to pause here. The transition from the Dragon's legwork to those chops was awful. The ref just broke it up and they went right back to chopping. This is the definition of "no flow" to me. Ki seems to have forgotten about selling his leg during this.

 

Dragon goes back to the leg. Ki tries to kick his way out of it, but Dragon stays on it. Chops from Ki to break this. In fairness, Ki does now sell the leg as he retreats to the turnbuckle. Dragon goes flying over the top rope. Ki despite his injured leg gets on the top rope now and goes for a backwards somersault dive thing to the outside. We seem to lose audio here, then it comes back. Dragon kicks Ki in the back and applies a chinlock. Ki kicks out. Dragon tries a full nelson (??) and Ki elbows him down. Ki Crusher out of nowhere gets two. Back to the Flair chops. Ki goes for the Muta elbow but Dragon catches him and goes into a dragon suplex. We lose sound again. Slugfest with kicks involved now and it results in a two count for Dragon. He now takes his elbow pad off, but runs into a Ki Crusher and some sort of submission move which wins it for Low Ki.

 

I didn't think much of this at all. It is about a 11 or 12 minute match. It has some sound basic psychology from Dragon in focusing on the leg for a portion, but that is rather quickly forgotten about. The chop exchanges were lacking in real drama for me, again we get the stiffness but I don't feel they've earned the impact of the chops. It's like watching a paraody of Steamboat-Flair, without any of the things that made the chop exchanges in Steamboat-Flair actually mean something. I thought Dragon was a lot better than Ki in this match since he seemed like he wanted to tell a story, whereas Ki seemed like he wanted to get some of his shit in. I was watching him during the trophy celebration and he completely forgets about the leg once again. I saw someone in the youtube comments write that "the psychology is flawless" in this match. What match was he watching? The transitions were sudden and disjointed. Not a great deal of flow to things. I've talked about my problem with the strike exchanges. Very disappointing. Close to writing Low Ki off at this point. Can't think of any real reason to check this out other than curiosity as to what Bryan was upto in 2001.

 

**1/2

 

Low Ki vs. AJ Styles (04/27/02)

 

This is from ROH. This is apparently Styles's ROH debut. Head scissors to start by Styles. I'm trying to block out the commentators becuase they are already doing my frigging tree in, shut the fuck up already. Kicks back and forth now. It's a bit like watching Mortal Kombat where both people are hammering on the "high kick" button. Ki takes it down to the mat and applies a front facelock. Fireman carry takeover by Styles. The commentators put over Low Ki as a "thinking man's wrestler" -- again, I don't know what wrestler they are watching ... or perhaps their barometer for "thinking man" is different from mine, but I've not seen much evidence of that at all thus far. Some struggle now as both guys battle to get on top in the mat game. Back up to a vertical base and a big chop from Ki. Reverse knife edge again. Double leg takedown by Styles. Kick by Ki to Styles's forehead which seemed to knock him for six. Follows up with a couple more kicks. Frankensteiner thing by Styles to come back and a lariat for two. Suplex attempt by Styles but Ki slips down, so he gives him a neckbreaker instead -- that was neat. Big slap by Styles but he runs into a kick by Ki. Backbreaker. Pin attempt gets to for Ki. Big chop by Ki. Styles comes back with a knee and dumps Ki out of the ring. Styles follows him out with a couple of savate kicks. Back in for two. Vertical suplex.

 

Some exchange on commentary now about how "Low Ki" means "beelzebub" and Styles is a Christian. "What were the bookers thinking?!" We're told that appearently the bookers are Jewish and didn't consider the implications of that. I'm going to come right out and say that I couldn't hate this shit more if I tried. Just the worst. Shit. Anyway, I'll go back to trying to block them out.

 

Couple more big kicks by Low Ki now sends Styles packing. Ki tries to execute the Ki crusher from outside, but instead does a submission move in the ropes. Back in for two. Ki goes for the Ki Crusher now but Styles counters with a DDT on the fly. Syles. Sequence of counters and things now culminates in a reverse backflip by Styles for two. Powerbomb by Ki bridged into a pin attempt. That looked quite cool. Commentators are pimping this as a Match of the Year candidate already. 2002 must have been an awful year.

 

Ki kicks Styles in the chest now and gives several more stiff kicks to the head and body. This is a pretty brutal beatdown by Ki. Styles is out of it. Tiger suplex by Ki gets two. Styles gets a desperation lariat in. Back suplex by Styles into a bridge. They struggle over a suplex and Ki hits a falcon arrow. Big chops back and forth and a Muta elbow by Low Ki now. Ki is breathing hard and needs to put Styles away. He goes to the top and does a twisty thing which misses. Styles comes back with an awesome modified DDT which looks like it might have given Low Ki concussion. Styles goes to the top with a twisting senton but misses. We could have done without senton attempt. He'd just given him a DDT from hell, why the senton? I guess structurally it's quite neat as Ki had just missed one too. Stiff shots back and forth now and I have to say NOW -- at this point -- they've earnt this. It's heated and seems personal. Ki hits a "back brain kick" and Styles is down. Ki goes for that Ki Crusher again but Styles blocks it goes for a Styles splash but Ki reverses into a small package for a flash pin out of nowhere. Styles seems to kick out right at three but it's too late.

 

This might have been the best Low Ki match I've seen so far, it built really well and those final strike exchanges were heated. But once again, I much, much preferred Ki's opponent to Ki himself. Styles seems like a worker I could really get into -- he has great offense and I love those suplex variations. Ki ... not so much, the kicks in the middle portion of this match were brutal and really stiff, but he seems oddly limited in what he can do. If he's not going for a kick, it's either a reverse knife edge, a Ki Crusher or falcon arrow or else doing something off the top -- something about that particular offensive arsenal creates disjointed moments in these matches. It seemed like the story they were going for was that Ki was trying to do everything he could to put Styles away but he wasn't staying down. But Ki failed to register any real frustration other than that one moment when he was blowing hard. For what they were going for, I do wonder if a time limit draw rather than a flash pin might have been a better finish. Styles didn't need to get pinned here -- although I guess he could have argued that he kicked out before three which might set up a rematch. It's a struggle for me to watch some of these ROH matches because I despise the setting and commentary, but this was a pretty good showing from Styles. It's also bought Low Ki another few matches before I write him off.

 

****

 

Low Ki vs. American Dragon (03/30/02)

 

This is ROH and the "round robin challenge". Ken Shamrock walks out before the match to shake hands with both guys. He wants to referee this match. Shamrock is sporting some mean Elvis sideburns here.

 

Dragon goes to the mat early. Ki gets on top and applies a body scissors. Ki headbutts Dragon in the back of the head. They talk about how Dragon is 0 and 2 so far in ROH and Ki is unbeaten. Dragon gets behind Ki and goes for a chinlock and a body scissors. Ki back on top with strikes to the head. Dragon goes into a headlock. He pulls on Ki's nose and then punches on the side of Ki's head back and forth. The commentators tell us that the "kids today don't know how to use headlocks" and talk about how Aerican Dragon has studied hours of tape from the 1970s to learn how to use a headlock effectively. Interesting: I wonder how much Dory Jr, Billy Robinson and Bob Backlund, Daniel Bryan was watching in 2002. Ki slips into a front facelock and snaps on it. I have to say, the matwork has been exceptional in this match so far.

 

Kick by Ki but Dragon blocks it. Some more mat-based stuff now. Dragon eventually deadlifts Ki and sort of power bombs him to break a body scissors. Arm wrench by Ki. American Dragon grabs the ankle but Ki bridges out. Texas cloverleaf by Dragon into a surfboard-y thing. Dragon stays on this leg. Ki kicks his back as the ROH commentators go on about how this is "how pro wrestling is meant to be" and invoke Ancient Greece. Kicks to he head now by Ki and Dragon bails, his eye is cut. Dragon back in and a big belly-to-back suplex. Snapmare. Big kick and some massive chops. Nice offensive stretch this from Dragon. Ki comes back with a kick to the face. Big reverse knife edge. Snapmare. Massive kick to the back. Another snapmare. Kneedrop. Cover gets about 2. One of the better offensive stretches from Ki that I've seen. HUGE kick to Dragon's back, sounds like he broke his spine. Cover gets two. Cobra clutch and a body scissors too. In this position both guys bundle out of the ring but Ki keeps that cobra clutch on. There's no countout apparently. Back in. Cover gets two for Ki. Double stomp. Ki stands on Dragon and he tries to bridge up with Ki still on top and Ki stomps again, nasty. Ki tries to go for the Ki Crusher but Drago evades and hits a Dragon suplex into a bridge for two. Good counter and good action. Belly-to-back underhook suplex by Dragon. He goes to the top and hits the Harley Race headbutt. That took a lot ouf of him too, and Ki covers for two. "Tidal wave" by Ki. Dragon suplex by Ki for two. "Cattle mutilation" now by Ki, Drago comes back with a reverse DDT sort of thing into a body scissors and arm wrench. Big Flair chops back and forth now and Dragon decides he'd prefer to go into stiff elbows. Ki goes for a dropkick. Dragon goes for a suplex but can't get it, reversed into a brainbuster by Ki. Cover gets two. Ki hits the Ki Crusher and Dragon kicks out. Commentator says that he's never seen anyone kick out of that ... I have, quite a lot. Phoneix splash by Ki and Dragon gets his legs up. Dragon suplex by Dragon gets two. Massive super belly-to-back suplex by Dragon. Ki is out. 1, 2, NO! And again. Dragon puts him back on the top turnbuckle. Ki is groggy but comes back with strikes still on top. Ki Crusher from the top! That gets a "holy shit!" chant. Took a lot out of Ki too. Both guys down. Dragon rolls to the outside. Ki can scarcely crawl across to him, but does and rolls him in. Cover gets two but Dragon gets a foot to the rope. Kick by Ki. Massive Flair chops. Goes for the Muta elbow but Dragon catchs him and does a suplex of some sort into a bridge. Cattle mutilation by Dragon now. Excellent bridge. Ki struggles to get to the rope. Cattle mutilation again for the second time. Ki is fading. Dragon jumps up and down, he wants that submission! Shamrock checks the arm of Ki ... it drops three times. Wow, he passed out.

 

Well, wow, that was absolutely great. Terrific match. The early matwork was outstanding and it kept going until about the 20-minute mark. Then they started ramping up the big bombs. Really excellent match, and strangely Ki did none of the things that have really bugged me about him so far. Dragon was outstanding here. Great performances from both guys. This was surely a strong MOTYC for 2002.

 

****3/4

[Jimmy Redman]

Quick note, the reason why AJ Styles went for a twisting senton after a DDT in their match is because that's AJ's finisher (the Spiral Tap).

[anarchistxx]

The best Low Ki stuff is from 2004/2005 when he goes full on dickhead heel. Try and check out the 13/05/05 match with the Rottweilers vs Samoa Joe/Jay Lethal, it really is something special. One of the best FIP you will ever see from when Lethal was a brilliant sympathy face and then this incredible long post match brawl.

 

The match with Lethal in 2004 from [i believe] Midnight Express Reunion is a classic as well, Ki torturing Lethal in front of his mother at ringside being a personal highlight.

 

Haven't seen any of his stuff in years, liked a lot of the early indie hyped matches from 2000-2002 but seriously doubt any of it would hold up today. Someone needs to make a comp of that era.

[anarchistxx]

FWIW Steve Corino really stuck up for Ki when I commented on his bad reputation in a dressing room once, and seemed pissed off at me for bringing it up.

[Johnny Sorrow]

Yeah, the only times Ki was interesting to me was the Rottweilers stuff, and the WWE stuff with LayCool.

[ButchReedMark]

FWIW Steve Corino really stuck up for Ki when I commented on his bad reputation in a dressing room once, and seemed pissed off at me for bringing it up.

 

Well yeah, they're probably friends. Why would you bring it up in the locker room anyway?

[anarchistxx]

Fuck knows, just ended up chatting to him in there and was asking him about a lot of the US indie wrestlers I was into at the time. Probably coincided with one of Ki's many acrimonious exits from ROH, so wondered what went down.

[Superstar Sleeze]

Low Ki along with Styles is one of my favorite workers from 00s Indies era. I always thought he portrayed a badass well, but still being able to show vulnerability through selling. I liked his foward posture and how he moved in the ring. It felt very aggressive and offensive. Like Styles, I think he is really smart about integrating cute spots into his match that will pop the crowd and logically fit rather than forcing them in. Here is two Low Ki reviews from the 00s Japan project.

 

 

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. ****

 

 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

GHC Jr. Heavyweight Champion Yoshinobu Kanemaru vs Low Ki - Budokan 9/10/04

 

Low Ki is one of my favorite 00s American Indy workers so I thought I would give this one a look see. It was an entertaining affair with Ki carrying Kanemaru, one of my least favorite junior workers, to a very good match. This is one match where I thought a lot of the cute spots worked really well in a logical fashion to progress the match. Whether it was early on when Ki went for the kill with a springboard double stomp while Kanemaru was hanging on the railing or catching Kanemaru with a rolling kappo kick or utilzing the Tidal Wave better than Cody Rhodes ever has. In addition, to well-integrated "innovative" spots, Ki kept basic early with great arm work and anytime Kanemaru looked to rally he applies the Dragon Clutch from all sort of locations. I thought the missed double stomp outside was a great transition. I did not care for Kanemaru jump, catch, DDT off apron because it is one of those moves you can't tell who takes the damage. Credit to both of them because Kanemaru sold the arm and Ki sold the head the rest of the match. He did a great job milking the count until 19 and then being a bit foggy the rest of the match. I will say this followed more of an All Japan juniors template with lots of selling in between moves, but still executing a lot of moves. It is a weird hybrid that could rub someone the wrong way. I thought they stayed on the right side of things for the most part. Even though I think Kanemaru's offense is pretty much dogshit (has a split legged moonsault ever looked good) I thought his camel clutch, fishhook move was great and that stayed on the head. Once Ki was back on offense whilst selling the head things were more interesting I loved his elbows and that Tidal wave and I am a sucker for the double stomp. Both seemed intent on hitting their finishes: moonsualt vs Ki Krusher. Each got it and kicked out, which is a sign of times, but not something enamores me to the match. I liked Ki's strength spot on the ramp with Kanemaru in the muscle buster I especially liked the presentation of trying to each side of the crowd so they could see. It shows he really understands the showmanship aspect of pro wrestling. Then he impressed me by chucking Kanemaru back into the ring. He hits the Tidal Crush and then blows me away with his splash. You want to impress me add flips and spins to your splashes don't hit modified suplexes those just look stupid. Unfortunately, Kanemaru kicks out and counters the Ki Krusher. He hits a barrage of brainbusters to win. I thought this was a great Low Ki performance, but Kanemaru really did not add much. The match was a bit busy were the transitions made sense from segement to segment, but overall the story was lost, Styles/Ki was the better Japanese Ki performance, but still an entertaining match. ***1/2

[JerryvonKramer]

Low Ki vs. Eddie Gurrerro (11/30/2001)

 

This is for the ICW title, Ki is champ. Eddie is just coming out of rehab and this crowd are pretty hot for him. Mercifully, this match has no commentary.

 

Collar and elbow tieup to start, quickly over into an arm drag for Ki. Eddie reverses into a grapvine and they stand off. Fireman carry takeover by Eddie. Armbar. Snapmare. Headlock. He wrenches on it. Ki powers out of it, but Eddie gets him in a wristlock. Reversed. Eddie flips out of it and reverses. Ki flips up. Still on this wristlock. Airplan spin thing by Eddie but Ki manages to slide off. Eddie bails.

 

Back in and he goes to the wrist again. Test of strength spot. Ki comes out on top and pins Eddie to the mat. Eddie tries to bridge up but Ki jumps on top of him. Kind of weird that I saw Jack Brisco and Antonio Inoki do this exact spot earlier. Stand off again.

 

Headlock takeover by Eddie and he keeps this headlock on now. Puts Ki in the rack. And there are some pin reversals I can't describe. Back in this upside down crucifix rack thing. Head scissors by Eddie. These guys are really working the mat here.

 

Ki headstands out of the scissors but Eddie gets him in a cloverleaf. Half-crab now and he's working this back and leg. Inziguri now from Ki. And a big chop. More Flair chops now. Big splash in the corner. Shades of Sting there. Head scissors by Ki. Surf board by Eddie now! Full surf board. Slips over into a front facelock.

 

Chop by Eddie now. A few punches. Cover gets two. Belly-to-belly suplex. Two. Hurricanrana from the top. Two. Armbar. This match has no logic or flow or anything. I'm baffled by this sequence of moves. Its just a bunch of stuff tacked together with no rhyme or reason. I'm surprised at Eddie here in particular.

 

Ki starts with the kicks now. But Eddie catches a leg and gets over into a chinlock. Ki drags himself to the ropes to break. Muta sprung kick thing in the corner now by Ki. Gets two. Ki goes for a fisherman suplex but Eddie reverses into an inside cradle. Two snap suplex now by him for two. German suplex by Ki gets ... less than one. Chop by Ki, runs into an elbow. Eddie hits his top-rope DDT. Ki seems knocked out. Eddie goes to the top but misses the frog splash. The crowd starts an abhorrent "you fucked up" chant. Ki gets the pin but the ref's count was super duper fast.

 

Oh man, this was crap!! I needed to kill twenty minutes and had read elsewhere that this was definitely a four-five star affair, but it really isn't. This suffered from me watching it on a day when I'd seen Brisco take on the likes of Jumbo and Baba in matches with truly stellar matwork and psychology. I was struck by just how boring and listless the matwork is here by comparison. Eddie is really bad in this match. The whole thing comes off like an exhibition, but there's just no coherence to anything. They are moving through their repetoire of submission holds, but I don't understand why Eddie is following up a hurricanrana with an arm bar. That's indicative of everything here, there's just no focus to anything. The whole match is "just a bunch of stuff". Really bad match.

 

**

[ButchReedMark]

Really bad match.

 

**

 

I'd hate to see what you rate an abortion of one. "**"'s decent enough, isn't it?