We’re going back to wXw’s countdown for 2005, and it’s back to Fight Club 2005 as we drop in on Doug Williams vs. Low-Ki.
Andy Jackson introduces what I believe is the third match from the Fight Club 2005: Burning! show – that must have been a hell of a show at the Turock in Essen if half of the card made this list!
Low-Ki vs. Doug Williams
We start off with a stinging kick from Low-Ki, aiming squarely for Williams’ left quad. It may well be a long night for the Brit…
Williams comes in with a tie-up into the ropes, then cracked Low-Ki with an uppercut on the break as the lights flashed in time to the crowd’s chants for Low-Ki. Another lock-up ends with Low-Ki taken to the top rope, but he counters with a hanging armbar in the corner before he fell into the crowd on the break.
Williams responds by rolling down to pick Low-Ki’s leg, following in with a toe hold as he looked for an early submission. It transitions into a leg spreader, which Low-Ki eventually chops his way free of, before another lockup sees Williams escape a waistlock with a wristlock. Low-Ki tries to kick free, eventually catching Williams in the jaw as we reset. Low-Ki keeps going with headscissors on the mat, but Williams headstands free and dives in with a side headlock. Getting to their feet, they trade uppercuts and chops, before Williams elbowed Low-Ki into the corner. A crossbody off the ropes followed for just a one-count as Low-Ki wasn’t anywhere near done yet.
We’ve another lock-up, ending with Low-Ki trapping Williams with headscissors on the mat before going for a pin. It gets just a one-count, so Low-Ki comes up with a snapmare and an elbow drop, again for a one-count, before going back with figure four headscissors. Williams manages to roll the hold over into the ropes to force a break, and then a battle of chops breaks out, with Low-Ki’s Mongolian chop leading to him tiltawhirling into a Dragon sleeper, that’s quickly countered into a shoulder breaker by Williams.
A cross armbreaker on the mat ends in the ropes as Low-Ki forces a break, but Williams gets up first to throw some stomps and retain the focus on the arm, tying up Low-Ki in an arm-trapped chinlock. An arm lift dumps Low-Ki down to the mat, but Low-Ki fought back up with some kicks… only to get decked with an uppercut as Williams almost gets a two-count out of it. Staying on the arm, Williams forces Low-Ki into the ropes again before an Irish whip was countered with Low-Ki landing a crucifix for a near-fall. Williams responds with cravat knees and a running knee lift before a second crucifix was blocked, with Low-Ki getting taken back into the ropes.
Williams wraps Low-Ki’s arm around tha trope, then kicked it as the referee tried to separate the pair. Low-Ki bails to the outside, where he’s met with a baseball slide dropkick before returning to the ring, chopping Williams from the apron. Back inside though, Low-Ki’s dropped again as a springboard knee drop from Williams led to another armbar, along with a modified abdominal stretch as Williams again added pressure to the arm.
Low-Ki’s taken into the corner for a pair of leaping knees, before Williams went up top for the Bomb Scare… landing it on Ki’s arm before he bridged in a hammerlock. The submission attempt ends with Low-Ki getting to the rope, before he bounced back with a dropkick to catch Williams unawares.
Both men beat the ref’s standing ten count and start some more back-and-forth, trading chops and forearms before Low-Ki pulled ahead, taking Williams into the ropes for a leaping elbow to the head. Low-Ki followed that through with a leaping stomp before he blistered Doug with a series of mid kicks to the chest. That gets him a two-count, before he whipped Williams into the corner… leading to a rewind step-up kick as Doug thought he’d out-foxed him.
That’s another two-count for Low-Ki, before Doug came back with, of all things, a Vertebreaker tease that saw him back Low-Ki into the corner. He followed up on the top rope with a butterfly superplex for a near-fall, before Williams teed up Low-Ki for a Chaos Theory… but it’s cornered with a crossbody out of the corner for a near-fall.
Low-Ki keeps Williams away with a Koppo kick, then a handspring enziguiri into the corner, getting another near-fall, before an attempt at the Ki Krusher’s blocked. Williams continue sto dead weight himself, but another Chaos Theory attempt is countered as Low-Ki throws him into the buckles, before coming back with a Dragon sleeper. Williams quickly manages to power out of it, and shoves Low-Ki into the corner, eventually nailing the Chaos Theory for the win. A lovely finish as the progressive struggle between the pair paid off beautifully in the end. A worthy addition to the best-of list for sure!
Result: Doug Williams X Low-Ki in 21:37 (***¾)