American Dragon vs. Low-Ki (JAPW, 6/7/02)

This felt like an American indy homage to BattlARTS, with some whacky lucha-esque submissions from the "American Dragon" Bryan Danielson. This was Danielson at his best, fully aware, and in his primal element. His ground game is so organic and fluid, in the sort of spontaneous, uber-aggressive way in which he can counter/reverse into something painful-looking. There weren't really any glitzy submissions for the sake of glitz, as guys like ZSJ are prone to do. Everything looked like it hurt, and Danielson's strategy was clearly to try and snap Low-Ki like a twig in the middle. Like the way he made a simple side headlock look deadly, and the smart way he kept moving his legs and maneuvering Low-Ki away from the ropes. There are tons of little nuances throughout -- like the nose counter, or the supplemental kicks or knees to the submission. 

 Low-Ki can't quite hang in this department but in a frustrated way, he acknowledges shortcoming and has to rely more and more on his striking ability. At one point, Danielson unloads on Low-Ki with slaps, and Low-Ki snaps off a high kick to the head for the takedown. Oh, but Danielson hangouts perfectly in that department. Some of his crossface strikes looked especially vicious. When Low-Ki was working the submissions, he was after Danielson's arm and found ways to keep going back to it, slowly building to the sudden counter finish. They traded submission finishers, as was the trend circa 2000s.

The match could've done away with the out-ring action, as it didn't really add anything to the story -- other than Low-Ki's mild frustration over being outwrestled. But there wasn't any fire to it and Danielson's chops looked a lot more painful than anything Low-Ki did outside. The finish was also on the weaker end. I mean, I loved that Danielson dumped out a bunch of suplexes leading to the Cattle Mutilation. But after Low-Ki fights out of it, there's sort of a disconnect from what was built before. There's a sloppy irish whip reversal, Danielson battling out of the Ki-Krusher and then the hanging armbar from Low-Ki, to which Danielson quickly taps. It was like a late injection of American indie-ism into the ass of this match. Minor criticisms aside, this was one of the better U.S. matches in the early 2000s. A meaningful grapplefuck and a great showcase of Danielson's aggressive submission style. Oh, and Low-Ki as Low-Ki, selling Danielson's submissions by just bending a certain way.