2018 Ongoing MOTY List: Ki vs. Johnny Major League

Low-Ki vs. John Hennigan MLW 7/19 (Aired 8/17/18)

PAS: These two had a under the radar classic in Impact Wrestling last year, which was a showcase for their freaky athleticism and body control. This was a different sort of match, as a heel champ Ki is working a much more deliberate pace. Hennigan comes in with taped ribs and Ki works him over with nasty kicks, a seated bearhug and some big double stomps. Hennigan does some nifty parkour avoidance, and takes a crazy bump bouncing his torso on the corner and flying over the top rope. I dig Ki working almost like Fuchi, dissecting his opponent. I don't think the switchblade kick is a great finisher though, Ki is a guy with a bunch of awesome finishers and a kick to the back doesn't resonate with me.

ER: This was strong, less of a trippy showcase than their great Impact match, and more Ki dominating Hennigan by targeting taped ribs and using those taped ribs to break him down and attack the rest of the body. We get some drawn out knuckle locks, which is all Ki manipulating Hennigan into a slower pace with Ki always the first to explode, first grabbing his arm and deadweighting himself over the top rope, wrapping up Hennigan in the ropes, establishing that Hennigan was going to be having trouble the whole match. So we get a cool Ki control match, with Hennigan's offense mostly limited to his big comeback, which is a cool way of using Hennigan's bursts, almost like a Jeff Hardy hot tag. Ki knocks Hennigan off the ropes after some cool rope dodging (these two move in and out and around the ropes more fluidly than anyone, definitely two guys you lobby to have on your side on a corporate retreat) and Hennigan takes this great bouncing bump onto a few of the ropes, really crashing and burning. Ki on the attack is always fun, and he just punches a hole through Hennigan's gut with a double stomp, works a hanging dragon sleeper, abdominal stretch to continue working those ribs, and Ki methodically dissecting Hennigan made Hennigan's comeback really pop. What also helped was Hennigan really laying in shots; Hennigan throwing punches and elbows in the corner were some of the best strikes I've seen him throw, looking like he was just rocking Ki. The finish was flat out bizarre though: Hennigan misses Starship Pain, and Ki absolutely obliterates him with the Warriors Way, just a human man leaping into the air and landing heels on collarbone, and it gets a near fall. Fine. That's fine. But then Hennigan carefully gets into position on hands and knees, and Ki hits that little delayed snap kick that usually lands on the back of his opponents' head/neck, and here it lands around Hennigan's shoulder blades. And that's it! It's like that Dynamite Kid/Bret Hart match where Dynamite hits the greatest leaping kneedrop in wrestling history, jumping halfway across the ring and landing safely yet devastatingly on the side of Hart's head with that perfect knee...and the match ends a little later with a small package. Ki just caves in a guy's esophagus for a nearfall, and then not long after it's like they get a call saying "I don't care what it is, but this match needs to end on whatever move just happened". Just a weird, sudden end to a match that had been taking its time, and appeared to really be opening up.


2018 MOTY MASTER LIST