Andy Warhol on the Wall So You Heard Low-Ki Scream

Low-Ki vs. Eddie Kingston PWU 6/22/07 - EPIC

PAS: An awesome minimalist match between two guys who can make little things look great. This reminded me of a Johnny Valentine match, everything was hard shots and tightly applied holds, with every shot and hold given time to marinate and make an impact. Ki unloads in this match with hellacious kicks and chops, and Eddie Kingston may be the best seller of blows in wrestling history. He is so great at selling both the initial impact and the long term effect. There is a moment where Ki just unloads with a chop to the thigh, and Kingston has this imperceptible limp for the rest of the match. Kingston was on the defensive for much of the match, but he would lock in these nasty face and neck locks where he seemed to be really twisting Ki's spine out of alignment. I have seen both guys go big and splashy before, and I imagine their is a version of this match that is jazzed out with big moves and near falls, but it was great to watch them do a stripped down version all simple and impactful.

ER: This show looked like it drew about 50 people, and I like that we get something this good when these two were probably "working down" a bit. This is a much different attitude than a no kneepads Buddy Landel match, a total shift in match style and structure. After the exciting spotfest-crazed junkie style that emerged from the east coast indie scene in the early 2000s, it's cool that the fans could also get into something like this. The match had no real highspots until it was 2/3 of the way through, but the fans - while quiet - remained engaged the whole way. This is the only Ki/Kingston singles match on record, and they aren't guys who have even wrestled each other that often, and they opt to work a tight match with no big spots, no big strike exchanges, no BS. Ki controls most of it and Kingston takes over after holding the ropes, forcing Ki to miss a dropkick. But there are no weapons, nothing unprofessional, Kingston just takes over with a grounded headlock, cranking that neck, getting his weight over Ki, really dragging him down. Once he starts grinding his forearms across Ki's face Ki decides he's had enough and throws a kick up into Kingston's forehead. Kingston really is great at selling Ki's kicks (what a lousy thing to be so good at) and Ki lands some hard shots to the chest and I love seeing Kingston's expression when he takes a spinning kick to the stomach, or goes down in a heap off a rolling koppo kick. This match didn't have time to devolve into finisher sickouts, it had more interesting things on its mind. Simple wrestling, crafted by two of the good ones.


COMPLETE AND ACCURATE LOW-KI