[2000-11-17-JAPW-Battle in Bayonne] Low Ki vs Xavier

[Edwin]

Talk about it here.

[Migs]

This would go on to become a pretty big matchup on the indies, and this may be the first of them. Loved the creativity in the early matwork, like Ki using a split to escape Xavier holding his foot. This isn't super high level yet, but pretty fun. The dragon sleeper is way over for Ki now, and he can find cool ways into it. Thought this was a worthwhile watch.

[soup23]

Watching this, I would have bet the farm Low Ki would have been the best worker of the decade. His athleticism jumps off the page with his splits and transitions off of the arm work, but beyond that he has a stiffness and sound psychology that makes any match engaging. I thought Xavier hung with him well here and was just athletic enough to keep things moving along. The story really revolved around Ki trying to lock in the choke and it took Xavier getting cocky in order for Ki to accomplish this feat. I thought this was a great match overall for the 10 minutes it was allotted. ***1/2 (7.2)

[GSR]

There are “Who are you?” chants aimed at Xavier so I can only assume this is his first appearance for Jersey All Pro.  Nice leg trip by Ki, swiping Xavier’s legs out’ after reversing the wrist lock.  Ki’s flexibility is demonstrated as Xavier grabs an ankle and pulls him, Ki ending up in a splits position on the canvas.  We do get a stand-off, although this one is done slightly differently than pretty much all the others we’ve seen, climaxing after both throw kicks at the same time and end up kicking the other’s shins.  Xavier connects on a dropkick and Ki takes to the floor.  Somersault flip dive over the top rope out onto him.  This JAPW crowd who were real smarky at times during the September show are at it again here, on Xavier’s back.  At least he’s giving as good as he gets responding to their taunting by saying “I may suck, but you swallow”.  Butterfly suplex for a two.  Ki ducks out the way of the handspring elbow and lands a handspring kick to the head.  Now Xavier is the one who’s on the floor but quickly ducks scoots inside to avoid the pescado.  He goes for a tope, however Ki kicks him in the head as he comes flying between the ropes.  Xavier blocks the ‘Ki Krusher’ and catches him with a deep powerslam for a near fall.  Ki fires off some elbows to escape the cut throat neckbreaker only to get dumped on his head by a suplex.  The crowd are then back on Xavier’s case after a really weak looking kick, his attempt at dishing out some payback for earlier, although nowhere near as impactful looking as the ones Ki had been blasting him with.  A dropkick to the knee wipes Xavier out and Ki locks in the ‘Dragon clutch.  He manages to get to his feet and runs Ki backwards into the turnbuckles to break the hold.  Pumphandle throw and the fans actually gives him a round of applause for that, maybe they’re starting to realise he’s not as bad as they may have first thought?  After a rolling German Xavier leans back to make the cover (think Tim Horner’s finisher), however Ki grabs him around the throat from the bottom and transitions to the ‘Dragon clutch’.  In the middle of the ring and at the third time of asking, he gets the submission.

The crowd were dismissive of Xavier from the get go and didn’t want to give him a chance, even though I thought this was an impressive effort out of him (kick aside) and he did appear to win them round by the end.  Some real nice stuff in there too such as Ki’s trip, the spot where he ends up in the splits and the way Ki locked in his finisher.  Worth a watch.