Low Ki

[5.0] "I remember watching Low Ki since his time in TNA, and I used to think he was straight up a killer in all the good ways. I now rewatch his older matches and I realise of how unprofessional he was and how he treated his opponents. It's so important to protect your opponents when performing your moves, yet he has clearly shown disrespect to so many in the ring, straight out knocking people out, intentionally punting people in the head and so on. Clearly skilled in the ring, but forever remembered for burning every bridge he ever crossed."

[7.0] "He was a great in ring wrestler who sucked on the mic and who voice didn't match up to his stature. He could have been a big start in RoH, TNA and NJPW but he's a big moron who sniffs his own farts too much so he's now relegated to no name indies for the rest of his career, big big waste of potential."

[5.0] "Incredible talent that's been in the ring with the likes of Eddie Guerrero, AJ Styles, CM Punk, Daniel Bryan and Samoa Joe. Not the biggest guy but he's incredibly intense, well-spoken and stiff. His biggest downfall is seemingly his ego as he comes across as a bit of a mark for himself."

[9.0] "Baby face, tenacious ass kicking Low Ki of 2001 to 2003 was unrivalled. He was a draw, he had incredible aura and outstanding matches, he was easily one of the top stars, if not the top Indy star of the time. Yep, his attitude might have eventually rubbed people the wrong way but I will never forget the joy his matches brought me during this time."

"The fact that he uses his moves in a stiff manner that could injure or knock someone out tells me he should've been in MMA. Honestly, it's like he never learned from D'Lo Brown's mistakes against Darren Drozdov & how to prevent that."

[8.0] "His track record speaks for itself. WWE missed the boat on that immensely but everyone else knows what he is & what he's about. And most importantly what he can do & what's he done"

[3.0] "Whatever skills he posses got buried under his miserable attitude and ability NOT to care about his opponents in the ring. Doesn't care if he hurts people, and is prone to throwing hissy fits if people give it back to him. Completely alienated from the locker room and most promotions decided he wasn't worth the trouble. Indy darling aside, he tries to pass himself off as a big guy but he just comes off as looking like a little kid stomping around making mongoloid faces because he thinks he is a badass. Would have been fine for the cruiserweight divisions but strikes out in every category, especially being a pain in the ass employee to everyone. If this was the old territory days, he would have gotten himself destroyed very early in his career by the vets who didn't care for young punks trying to go into business for themselves and just act above what they ever will be."

[5.0] "A good wrestler who couldn't stop being a dick long enough to let his career blossom. Everywhere he went he made a big impression and then hung around long enough for everyone to see he simply wasn't worth the headache."

[9.0] "Brilliant yet controversial worker Low Ki's legacy is so interesting to me as somebody who saw his early work. He's no doubt had a significant influence on the current crop of Indie darlings (for better & worse ) yet his style has never truly been replicated. Outside of his in-ring work though the guy is by all accounts an asshole but I'd be lying if I said he wasn't one of the best in his prime."

[5.0] "[5.3] The old saying is true, the biggest obstacle to Low Ki's success is and always was Low Ki. I firmly believe that if he wasn't anywhere near as much of a prick behind the scenes, he would probably be looked at with the same reverence as Danielson or Samoa Joe. There isn't a single person who does the things he does at his level, and he's undeniably sick to watch, but is still a colossal prick, between shooting on his opponents, being insanely protective of his image and completely impossible to work with, peddling conspiracy shit, to the point where he's gotten himself blacklisted from nearly every major promotion in the world and is one of the only people I can think of to get fired from both NJPW and AJPW within a year. Genuinely a guy who is forever held back by his personality, would absolutely be in my top 10 favorites if he wasn't a colossal dickhead."

[3.0] "As a kid, I loved Low Ki's wrestling, and I still do. The problem is that I didn't understand one of my favorites was purposefully trying to injure his coworkers. The problem is is he claims he had anything to do with LayCool's success. The problem is now he's on Twitter complaining that McDonalds is made from dead babies by transgender people or whatever the fuck he's on about now. I truthfully think he IS a good worker, and I still enjoy seeing his moves. But if you're going to be a dumbass and/or a dickhead, being good isn't enough to make you worth hiring. Any reasonable bookers avoid Low Ki like cancer, and that's all his own fault. Maybe in 10 years he'll mellow out and apologize and he might get the 9-10 his skill would warrant, but for now, he gets a three, cause I enjoy seeing his highlights for 3 seconds before remembering he's a deeply unserious loser."

[9.0] "Ok yes hes a dickhead, but Low Ki in my eyes is one of the reasons junior heavyweights are so popularized and indy wrestlers in general, I love his style of wrestling even if he is super stiff (which I like stiff wrestling), his 2002 run is arguably the greatest wrestling run of all time, his voice his funny and he would be good with promos which sucks because he isn't THE best at it but he's not terrible either, the only problem I have with Ki is his spongebob caveman persona."

[9.0] "I always admired Low Ki's ability to make wrestling more believable with his strong hitting martial arts style. He is also a tremendous voice actor with his deep tune."

[10.0] "Low Ki is his own worst enemy but that is the only negative thing I can say about him. To me, if it weren't for Vince Mcmahon's aversion to pushing anyone under 6, 2, this guy would have been a multi-time world champ in WWE. This guy manages to be 6 inches smaller than most locker rooms he's in and still be by far the scariest. The intensity, the kicks, the infamously short fuse, this guy is the definition of the word terror and I love it. From technical mat work to RINGS-esque kicks and palm strikes, to incredible aerial displays, to amazing promos that effortlessly blend eerie silence and frightening shouting, this guy is pro wrestling to me. If I had a promotion, Low Ki would be my first world champ as he is, in my eyes, the epitome of legitimacy, his tweets and personal views leave much to be desired, but there is a reason why he is still held in high regard by so many people in spite of all of that."

[8.0] "Incredible talent with great power moves and amazing strikes but he was also a dick. He was way stiffer than needed and its uncomfortable sometimes."

[9.0] "yes, yes, he did dangerous stuff, he tanked his career by refusing to job, but ultimately wrestling is less interesting without guys like low-ki around. cool promos, cool ring presence. his bout with KENTA in '05 is ki's career highlight, he is at his best when matched up against someone as evil as himself."

[9.0] "I love Low Ki's approach to wrestling. He's not out there to say a catchphrase or do a goofy signature move to keep the crowd going, he's out there to fight. His pseudo-MMA style might not be your cup of tea is if WWE your only metric of wrestling, but if you can appreciate Strong Style you'll love his stuff. What he can be denounced for is his negligence of his opponents' health and cringy "I'm a badass" apelike attitude."

[7.0] "Low Ki was a great wrestler but his tendency to burn bridges has hurt his career. Outside of WWE he had success wherever he went with his match quality being high and having enough charisma and mic skills to make people care."

[5.0] "A great wrestler who never reached his full potential because of how far his head is stuck up his ass. Low Ki was at one point one of the best in the world, but between shooting on opponents, backing out of matches when he's booked to lose, and generally being a whiny bitch, he's held himself back. I couldn't stand that stupid Agent 47 cosplay he constantly wore in the mid-2010s. Great matches, meh promo, shit person."

[9.0] "Low-ki was a great wrestler with an aggressive, intimidating and ferocious presence. He's fast, very athletic and his strikes are a work of beauty. Unfortunately Low-Ki's biggest enemy was himself. He was a mark for himself, occasionally difficult to work with and at times dangerous. His run in WWE also wasn't great, with him basically getting buried from the start."

[8.0] "Imagine not loving Low Ki? Wrestling is so much more fun when someone takes themselves way too seriously and is willing to walk at the faintest of slights. Man could wrestle, you have to give him that. Show a picture of him to any non wrestling fans you know and ask them to guess how he talks. Comedy gold every time."

"This guy is so good! It's messed up that WWE dropped the ball on him twice. Low Ki could've had avesome matches in NXT but he was there too early. I was hyped when he mentioned TNA on a WWE promo. These kind of wrestlers make wrestling look real and his voice! So good! Love this guy!"

[3.0] "Look... I like workers who can throw, and I can appreciate stiffness in the ring, when it calls for it. But Low Ki is just outright offensive to me, looking like he's in it for himself as he's appearing to be taking liberties 99% of the time. When you can think back on a worker, and the first thing that comes to your mind is him throwing shoot flying knees at people and knocking them out or severely concussing them in the first 6 seconds of a match... That worker is a problem. You can work stiff, and not shoot injure your opponents. You're supposed to protect your opponent in ring, and send them home safe. On top of all of that, he's not great at selling, his offense is just frantic and disconnected, and I cannot take him serious on the mic. One of my "most overrated of all time" picks. For him to be "one of the hidden GOATs" according to some, I just see someone who couldn't cut it on the main stage of most promotions he appeared in."

"Everyone tells how amazing he is but to be honest i saw nothing cool or spectacular about him. His ROH days were cool and that was it. Overrated."

[3.0] "Wish Steve Blackman/Ken Shamrock type except he botches constantly and actually hits people and his gimmick borders on racial stereotyping which would be offensive if he weren't so clueless it's funny. He's basically the guy that gets a "Japanese" tattoo and it says something offensive and ridiculous and he thinks it means "HONOR" or something. Also he's like 5'6" and 150lbs so his look is eh. Screams "Napoleon complex" more than tough guy. No ring psychology. His stuff looks passable in spite of that. Injured pretty much everyone he worked with at some point esp. with a "bella kick". Makes me think Blackman and Shamrock would be over af if they were 10 or 15 years younger when they hit. There's a difference between "working stiff" and being a botch machine. Shamrock and Blackman ran this same schtick except they didn't constantly hurt people because they understood wrestling wasn't the one where you actually punched people that was mma. So do the strong style guys. Deducted a point or two for the fact he's injured more talent than Viscera and has that whole teddy hart/new jack psychopath mentality. He may have intentionally injured some of the indie guys. He's out of his mind and literally may be insane, claims he invented every wrestling move, is a generally lousy person, an anti-vaxxer and well, don't bother checking his twitter. I thought it was a joke, but he apparently believes all this conspiracy stuff He also has a hilarious typo in the "Japanese" on his profile which translates roughly as "Low Key 'of the World' Senshi. He's using katakana (which you use for foreign words) instead of kanji (which you use for Japanese) or hiragana which you use for words there's no kanji or because it's easier to type, that'd be "". What he wrote makes absolutely no sense in Japanese on a variety of levels and shows more of his hilarious cultural appropriation. He seems to think it means "One World Warrior" which is I think something from a videogame. The warrior he's looking for is probably "bushi" like a samurai warrior. The word he used basically means selfish, teacher, or soldier/warrior/combatant, like in the military but he used the letters for a foreign language so it means nothing. I thought he meant licensor or "Essential" but misspelled it. So it's closer to "Low Key of the World Licensor" or "Low Key of the World Selfish" than whatever he wants it to mean. I didn't deduct points for that since I already have him at a 3 for injuring so many people including Ziggler who was just about the safest wrestler on the roster and just looking to put the kid over. Somewhat surprisingly, has some extremely decent matches in the first half of his career mostly in TNA's X-division, but he's carried in almost all of them by talented people like AJ Styles, Austin Aries, Chris Sabin, Shelley, Daniels, Samoa Joe and old hands like Jerry Lynn. Manage to f a match with Dolph Ziggler who can make anyone look good and accidentally knock him unconscious, giving him a concussion. edit: I wrote the actual Japanese but this doesn't have Japanese character support."

[10.0] "Look, Low Ki is the dumbest motherfucker on planet earth. He's a little violent, he has thin skin, & he's anti-vax. However, I can put aside all that stupid bullshit because this man is a MENACE. I love people who work stiff as fuck, and he throws his kicks and slaps and forearms as hard as humanly possible. I'm currently going through 2002 ROH and 9 times out of 10 this man has the best match on the card. Low Ki could do literally anything, He is famed for his strikes so I won't get too into that, He could be a powerhouse to talents like Amazing Red (sort of like how Jericho could be a powerhouse to Rey Mysterio back in the 90s.), He has amazing agility, the Tidal Wave kick in the corner is so damn cool and the Phoenix Splash was so good looking. His promos actually weren't bad, probably helped by his deep voice. He had every single tool, and he sadly didn't make it big in a major company because of his ego. I'm hoping he rehabilitates his image, as I don't he's that deep in shit, he could easily apologize and probably get a run in AEW or ROH again, although maybe it's just wishful thinking on my end. Regardless, as a pro wrestler Low Ki is based."

[5.0] "Fantastic wrestler, unfortunately he's worked out a way to get himself barred from every major promotion in America and Japan. From everything I've heard he was just impossible to work with and from what I've seen on twitter I'm not surprised. Comes off really like a bully."

[7.0] "Low Ki was badass back in the early to mid-2000s. Had an incredibly stiff move-set and could put on great matches without much effort. But because he was a locker room cancer and he was a dick to everyone he pretty much sandbagged himself to hitting his ceiling way too early."

[8.0] "A real jackass, but his curmudgeonry is only matched by his sheer willpower to grind out epic matches. Perhaps a top 5 striker of his time and can lay claim to being a top 10 all time. EDIT: LMAO WHAT THE FUCK MONSTA MACK IS HIS COUSIN?"

[10.0] "One of the best american wrestlers ever. Dude has a presence and intensity only matched maybe by Danielson or Joe in the states at the time. Sadly his awful attitude kept him from reaching his full potential which says a lot seeing what hes done. When promoters actually get him to honor bookings youre always in for a treat"

[9.0] "I don't really care about the drama surrounding this guy's supposedly difficult personality backstage. In his prime, Low Ki was one of the best wrestlers in the world. He brought a great level of legitimacy to his matches with his incredibly realistic grappling and striking which were still flashy enough to fit the spectacular nature of pro-wrestling, and his warrior's intensity made him incredibly engaging as a character. He looked like a "dumb jock" who wanted to absolutely rip his opponents' heads off or cave their chests in, and it was awesome. He also managed to even have some fantastically smooth acrobatics, adding yet another tremendous skill to his arsenal. He was seriously a near-perfect all-rounder, able to compliment any wrestler with whatever style they desired. I admittedly haven't seen much of his post-00s stuff, but I consider him at his peak to be one of my favourites. I hope most people will look past the controversy of his backstage persona and instead focus on the many great matches and amazing performances he gave us. If he wasn't so (apparently) difficult to work with and desperate to burn bridges with every promotion that ever devoted their time towards him, I think he would have continued to have great-to-amazing matches, racked up even more prestigious title wins, and become someone that most people would easily consider one of the best wrestlers of all time. That may seem excessive, but that's the exact trajectory I would have predicted based on how amazing he was in the 00s."

[9.0] "Low-Ki is a man for whom controversy surrounds him at every turn. That said, I fault anyone who thinks less of him, for things such as the EVOLVE incident, or Dolph Ziggler (he got there first). You have to admit he was a pioneer of the early 2000s indie scene, with a great feud against Christopher Daniels in ROH, a mainstay in the TNA X-Division, as well as some nice matches in Japan, like the 6 man tags with Jun Izumida. Its a shame backstage politics cut his run short as The Hitman. They could cast him if they made another Hitman movie! I saw him live in New Jersey against Blood Fighter Masashi Takeda in ICW No Holds Barred, and with great strikes and a sense of strong style that not many can match nowadays, he has an undeniable aura when seen in person. Also, better Tidal Wave than Keiji Muto."

[6.0] "Low Ki had tremendous potential, a great in-ring performance and incredible moves, brutal kicks and an incredible moveset, but he could never reach a higher level, he had an opportunity in WWE where he could see a lot of potential, but he could never do anything relevant."

[6.0] "Has been given chances all over the world was pushed in the early days of both ROH and TNA at the same time. Was treated like an idiot on the game Show version of NXT. Has a reputation for being careless with opponents. MMA style does come across well but he also lacks charisma."

[2.0] "Everybody tried to make Low Ki a star: ROH, WWE, Zero-One, Impact, NJPW... and everybody ended up giving up. That really should tell you everything you need to know about this guy, but if we want to go in-depth Low Ki is kinda like going to see a too-good-to-be-true used car. At first glance you say "Wow! Why is this thing so cheap? This is an amazing car! " but then you stop a minute and realize a lot of stuff doesn't add up and that seemingly shiny car is actually barely running, but it has a great paintjob. Low Ki is like that: he had all these cool moves but then you realize there's not really that much in between, that he has serious communication issues and that he tries to compensate by hitting his opponents very hard. To make matters worse he seems to belong to that category of workers who only care about how cool their big moves look, their opponents be damned. No wonder he's become persona non grata in pretty much all the major promotion he worked for. No thanks, I'll pass."

[6.0] "Low-Ki's always been a example of wasted potential. Amazing moveset with brutal kicks and slaps matched with a insane athleticism that made anyone he worked with usually look great. Big problem through: he has literally zero charisma and is a bad worker, always hitting stiff, usually hurting the guys he was wrestling or at best pissing them off. That, and his horrible personality and lack of professionalism meant that he never managed to get himself into any major business, always squandering his chances. Even when he got to WWE, his style was still massively hindered due to their policy against stiff strikes, so his best asset was gone. While he has good matches, his goofy facial expressions and lack of proper conduct meant his talent never went anywhere."

[10.0] "One of my favorite people to watch work. So crisp & clean in the ring. Also insanely intense. I know he has a bad rap for taking things too seriously, but I'm under the mindset that more people should take things more seriously. Has had insanely awesome matches with just about everyone under the sun."

[6.0] "Charisma vacuum that has never had a stand out match that I've seen. He has tools to succeed but he doesn't have a personality and his psychology is severely lacking."

[7.0] "Maybe I'm spoiled by the modern big names of high flying wrestling; maybe Low Ki was super exciting in like 2002. But I've never found him all that great."

[4.0] "To be honest, I've never understood the appeal of Low Ki. He had the fortune of belong to the best generation of wrestlers in the history of ROH, that benefits him a lot considering that he has no charisma and is quite boring to watch. Obviously he has some talent but his macthes are never a great thing and if you hurt your rivals constantly you can hardly be considered "good"."

[8.0] "Low-Ki was a great talent, but his total lack of interpersonal skills ensured that he'd never get the run that talent deserved."

[9.0] "I hate the fact that I want to praise Low Ki, yet he deserves a lot of shit for all the bridges he's burnt over the years. Ignoring his drama antics for a moment, if there's one thing I have to admit respect for towards him, it's his intensity and ability to make a match feel like a fight. Of course the stereotypical "hit and kick as hard as you can" gimmick wasn't anything new, especially in Japan, but Low Ki was probably the innovator of that style at least in the West. It's debatable whether or not it is a reckless or amazing style, but almost every big match of his felt explosive because of his style. In the end he's past his prime and probably won't settle down in any major promotion ever again because of his own undoings and age, but he must be remembered for being one of the men who popularized American independant wrestling in the early 2000s."

[10.0] "Got so good so fast. Very early on when both were at the start of their careers this guy was actually a better worker than Bryan Danielson, Bryan would go on to surpass him but Low Ki has always had a brilliant understanding of how to portray his character through his in ring work. There are many theories on why he never became the massive star he seemed destined to be; from bad timing to a bad personality and everything in-between. Anyway, for a while in the first decade of this century he was top ten in the world, even today in 2017 he can still work at an elite level. Often imitated but still one of a kind."

[4.0] "There's nothing I hate more then a really talented guy who sabotages himself and that's exactly what Low Ki did. He might not have ever been as big as Bryan but he had a hell of a future ahead of him if his ego didn't take control of him. After all this time he still might have the stiffest kicks in the business, though that's heavily debatable. Hes reportedly not that good at improvising if something goes wrong in a match (like, say, knocking his opponent out in one move) and his psychology tends to consist of 'let me get my spots in' but he does deserve credit for being one of the guys who helped ROH in its infancy."

[9.0] "Low Ki is an incredible wrestler, striker, and he has a mean look and aura to boot. A very important staple of early 00's american indie wrestling. If only he could stop being an idiot for like 5 minutes..."

[10.0] "If you were to mix consistently excellent matches, with the intensity of ECW Taz, the striking of Kenta, spasticness of Kenny Omega, and the innovation Junior American Lucharetsu Strong Style you get a ten wrestler. What holds him back is him taking himself so seriously never having a extended big run on TV. Probably one of the most influential pepole in North American wrestling in the past 20 years."

[9.0] "Low Ki's early 2000's stuff in ROH & other indies absolutely rules. Stiff strikes, strong mat work & real intensity about him. It's a shame that he hasn't been wrestling in the more relevant wrestling companies as of late, but Low Ki is still a legendary figure of independent wrestling. He's great."

[8.0] "Low Ki - a stunning performer. When it was signed by WWE, I was happy, I thought he was delayed for a long time. But alas, it was drained, he was not a status. I would like to have signed it and now, but I understand that good performers lack. Overall Kaval is not bad, though the ring is some uncertainty there. But I do not pay attention too much."

[8.0] "Low Ki brought a different style to the US light-heavyweight indy scene, relying on stiff strikes and technical acumen moreso than high-flying. This has generated many entertaining matches for him and allowed him to become a 'founding father' of both Ring of Honor and the TNA X-Division (WWE, on the other hand, clearly had no clue what to do with someone like him). He reportedly can be difficult to work with backstage, which may be his worst enemy and partly explain why he tends not to stay in any particular company for a long stretch. Has done some memorable things, though, such as the three-way feud with Bryan Danielson and Christopher Daniels in ROH's early days, and his run with Triple X in TNA."

[10.0] "I am a fan of the World Warrior in almost any incarnation. His dedication to serious competition, bone rattling hits, and fantastic technique and precision keep him very high on my list. He has many all time great matches to his name and is a bonafide legend in any sense of the world. Sad to see him not working anywhere right now but hopefully soon!"