Rey Mysterio Jr vs Low Ki (JAPW - 11/14/2015)

Seconded

This was our 2015 MOTY. This match came after a 4 hour show with one other averagish match, and some real stinkers, so it had to make the trip from DC worth it, and man did it deliver. They opened up with some leg work, but based the beginning of the match around a long knuckle lock where they threw a bunch of cool twists into a basic spot, including both guys showing crazy neck strength in bridges and Ki throwing elbows while keeping his fingers laced. Rey is totally nuts, I don't know how much he is charging for an indy date, but he made sure the promotion got it's money's worth. He does a Pete Rose slide to the floor splash, takes a couple of nutso bumps off misses 619's and lets Ki kicking him in the face. Ki was maybe the 2015 wrestler of the year and he had three matches on tape, he works as Rey's base like he was 1996 Juventud and adds a bunch of his cool shit too. Ki is a JAPW original, and works simultaneously as a Rey Base and Fed Ace. I was worried that I was overrating this seeing it live, but it was even better on video. At this point I have watched the match four or five times and love as much each time. I can't think of a Rey singles match I love more.

I've been trying for two years and I still couldn't find it, in fact I still can't. Google searches are different depending from which country you search it, and I'm not from the Imperalists States of America, so it migt be that.

Thank you for the link!

Slow paced junior epic done right. They forgo doing a simple crowd pleaser and instead set out to wrestle as logical as possible. Ki looks like one of the sharpest wrestlers in the world and still has his knack for coming up with cool stuff others wouldn't think of doing; it's a pity he's not getting much work late in his career, burnt bridges be damned. Rey is a timeless wrestler and he looks limber here and never struggles whatsoever, hitting his stuff great and being willing to take punishment. Great combination of well executed basic stuff and bigger spots, they go from working leg kicks in a knuckle lock to Rey hitting a splash to the floor and then back to Ki lacing him up with chops. The constant 619 teases were great and Rey looked almost methodical chopping down his opponent for the finish. I agree that Ki went on offense a little too easy in the last few minutes but it was a fleeting moment and everything else was done just right. Loved Rey countering Kis corner finisher too. I thought they did about as well as it was humanly possible for them. On the other hand the match didn't blow my mind either and it felt very planned. It stacks up pretty well against your typical junior epic, anyways.

Extremely enjoyable and different from what you might expect a Rey v Low Ki match to look like. As others have said this is a methodically-paced match rather than the ramped-up spotfest you might anticipate.

Not up there with the Eddie/Danielson matches for me but I'm glad I watched it nonetheless. I've seen little of Rey post-05, what else is worth checking out?

I glad I watched this match, but fuck am I dissapointed. I expected more of a clash of styles and/or personalities here. Like, Rey is at his best when bumping and selling and using his spectacular offense to come back, while Ki is at his best when stiffing the living shit out of his opponents and showing how dickhead he can be, but sadly there wasn't too much focus on both guys greatest strenghts.

It was still a very good match, because the two wrestlers in the ring are two great wrestlers, but it was worked in a... kinda generic way, and generic is the last thing I would've imagined when thinking about a Low Ki vs Rey Mysterio Jr. Like, you have all these classic big epic match lock ups and tests of strenght sequences at the beginning, some lucha-esque stuff looking for early pins, the staredowns after each sequence, yadda yadda. It's cool and all, but I think this match's best possible version is not achieved that way. Then Ki starts to work a little around Rey's knee, and we all know Rey's story with that, but then it only comes back as a bunch of a few little details in the match and nothing else, there's no setup for anything. And then the "I wanna rip your mask off" spot happens, because is a Rey match and of course it has to happen, despite they not cooking throughout the match the level of disrespect and personal rivalry a moment like that would have needed in order to function and matter.

Like I said, it's still a pretty entertaining match. You have Rey doing most of his usual cool spots, and while all of them look great, I can't help but think "why is Low Ki not ready for almost anything? Why is Rey doing his stuff so easily on a guy like him, another veteran wrestler? Where's the actual struggle?". They only built up to the 619, and damn did it feel good when Rey finally hit it, but other than that... It was just an exhibition match. A pretty cool one with great highlights, but "nothing more". And I think these two could have done something better, something a little bit more ambitious, with more personality and soul, a true classic because the ringwork made it classic, and not just because they are Low Ki and Rey Mysterio Jr facing each other and that's it.