Pro Wrestling Guerrilla Nominees

Nominate matches below, let us know why you think something is good, lists of matches with no context will be deleted. Links are appreciated

THE LIST

Chris Hero vs. Low-Ki - BOLA '08 - 4 YES, 0 NO

THE NOMINEES

Chris Hero © vs. Low-Ki - BOLA '08.

Great match, starts out slow with some tentative grappling, but very quickly turns nasty at about the 6 minute mark, when Ki, apropos of nothing, kicks a downed Hero in the face like he was a soccer ball (I know this because the announcers referred to it for the rest of the match as a "soccer-ball" kick) and splits his nose open. From this point on, Hero is a pissed-off beast, drilling Ki with roaring elbows and even busting out a multitude of cravates. Like most PWG matches, this one lasts about 5 minutes too long, but is definitely worth a watch. I assumed the missing ropes would detract from this match (takes away quite a bit from Ki, for example), but they just caused the competitors to stick to the scrappin'. I dug this one a lot, and I believe KillSteve posted a link in the D/L forum.

Chris Hero Vs. Low Ki - YES

The fact the middle and bottom rope were gone might have even helped this match. Imagine the heart attack Triple H or Marufuji (CLAP CLAP CLAPCLAPCLAP) would have in a match with two ropes missing. The beginning wasn't all that great right up until Ki hit that perfect drop kick to the face that's when the match picked up. The visual of a bloody hero (which I have not seen til this match) just getting furious and laying those elbows on Low Ki with him actually selling them for over a period time (something else I have not seen much up until this match). You have to love the build up to the dragon clutch, Hero's reaction let you know if Ki applied it at any point of the match properly that it would be over especially with the ropes being gone. Best match either man has had this year.

Chris Hero vs Low Ki - BOLA '08

Yes. So they go at it good enough on the mat at first, and Hero reaching with his legs all the way up the top rope is all good fun and all, but then Ki BREAKS HIS FACE with a kick. From there the match is officially "on" with both men laying stiff beatings into each other. The use of the Hangman's clutch, which had been a running theme through the tourny, was great and Ki selling the beating gradually to the point where he just calapses was great. Best match either man has had in so, so long and probably the best PWG match I myself have ever seen.

Chris Hero vs Low Ki - BOLA 08

Hell yes. I just watched this at the laundromat waiting for my clothes. It's funny, because Chris Hero seems to be in a Necro Butcher situation; his work in RoH is spotty or weak, and going from only that you'd think they were over-rated. But in PWG (and almost everywhere else)? Holy shit does Hero bring his game. I complained about the KO Kid gimmick because in RoH his elbows looked like the softest shit I've seen. But here? Holy hell. His elbows look like world-class finishers.

Likewise, I was never a fan of Ki when I first started watching indy stuff, much in the same way I didn't like Joebashi. But watching him now? I can see all the crap that makes him really good. His strikes, of course, are brutal. And well-placed. He also has great facials here, and perhaps my favorite moment in the match comes from what I use to critique him the most for; his selling. I always used to think he was a no-seller, but watching you can see just how subtly or superbly he can sell something. Fave moment is the first lolling elbow he eats, where he tries to be THE MAN and go back after Hero but just fucking falls on his ass as he stumbles from trying to take a step and having his head rocked out.

Both guys did great submission work, as I never really got the difference between restholds submissions and...submission submissions when I was younger, but damn can you tell this shit was cinched in. Ending sequence was also pretty nifty, that Ki Crusher looked nice and the vying for submissions was real cool.

Very good shit. I know I may be over-estimating Hero/Nado in the cage, but this match was right up there. Might even nominate Hero/Nado.

Ki v. Hero YES

I was live at the 2001 ECWA Super 8, which was the birth of current indy wrestling. The thing about most Northern Indies prior to 2001 is that they were even looser then the WWF, which looks really bad when you are 10 feet away from the action It got to the point when you would get excited when Tom Brandi threw a noisy knife edge chop. So here come Dragon and Kid delivering brutal back and forth shots and what they are doing is so different then everyone else it was just captivating. Now you can show up to any indy show and the guys in the first match are shoot kicking each other in the face, stiffness, like head drops and crazy bumps and dives are something which have lost pretty much all of their value in and of themselves.

Ki is on his way to the WWE, so this was his swan song in the style he created. It was a catchy little song, Hero and Ki start with some nice tight matwork early and Ki opens it up with a brutal soccer kick to Hero’s face busting his nose. Undaunted Hero fires back with a brutal forearm, that either rung Ki’s bell or Ki sold his ass off (I actually think it was selling, as he didn’t blow anything later.) You get Hero working him over for a while, Ki has a big comeback and you have a really great finish, All you could possibly want out of a Low-Ki match. PWG isn’t a promotion I normally care for, most of the pimped PWG matches really feel like bloated Directors Cuts of good matches. They are in LA, if they hired a film student, to cut three minutes here, take the selling here and put it someplace else, then move around the finish, they would be in better shape. This match however didn’t feel like Cimino got carte blanche, someone cut 10 minutes from the roller skating scene and it really worked.