Joseph and Colette Discuss Rey Mysterio vs. Low Ki

Ami Moregore

Hello! Colette here. Just wanted to thank y’all, as always, for supporting BIG EGG. I keep looking at the calendar as my moving date draws nearer, which is around the one year anniversary of when I announced Fanfyte was shutting down, which is also around the one year anniversary of when I pitched continuing to work together to Joseph. I have a lot of BIG FEELINGS, even though BIG EGG doesn’t turn one until November.

On Twitter, I idly said that I’d be extremely happy if we got to 1,000 subscribers before said November birthday. We are extremely close, given that we have five months to get there, standing at 772 subscribers and gaining all the time. Joseph and I are planning some cool stuff, and, once my life settles post-move, I’ll be rolling out new paid features and a pilot episode of a podcast we recorded after WrestleMania week. Before that, we’ll be spending June tackling matches that you, the BIG EGG community, suggested. Check it out:

That’s right. Grandpa wrestling, an infamous HUSTLE main event, and two highly regarded lucha blood feuds. I’ve seen 2/4 of these matches, and variations on LA Park vs. Rush, so this is going to be a blast. Thank you for your suggestions.

And thank you, once again, for subscribing. Things are different, promotionally-speaking, since Elon threw a hissyfit over Substack. The best way to help us out, then, is to spread the word to your friends who love the great sport of professional wrestling. Send them a link, annoy r/squaredcircle, post essays to your Discords, invite us onto your podcasts. Paid subscriptions are nice, too, but given that this isn’t a job, I’m happy just seeing continued growth.

Anyhow, here’s the discussion on Rey/Ki that Joseph and I had. Watch the match, catch up on the essays, and join us in appreciating this hidden gem!

Joseph: Low Ki vs. Rey Mysterio: A Variation on a Dream
Colette: Rey Mysterio Jr. and Low Ki Had Themselves a Dream Match

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Colette Arrand
So, Rey Mysterio. I've said this plenty of times, but I've been watching wrestling since I was four, and I was six when he made his WCW debut, so he's been in my life for awhile. A big part of the story of his career is how he's been able to adapt and change over the course of a career that's a lot longer than you'd expect, given how brightly he burned, and this match, against Low Ki, comes during a time when he was adjusting, again, to the fact that the brutal pace of WWE's schedule made it impossible for him to stay healthy. That isn't why he left WWE in 2015, but when you go back and look at what he had to say during this period of his career, the lighter schedule is definitely something he enjoyed, and it allowed him to recontextualize himself within lucha libre, against the generation of light heavyweight wrestlers that followed, on the American and British indies, and even in New Japan to some extent. Not all of this run was brilliant, and I don't really remember most of it, but this match is, I think, among the best of his late career in general. He's great, and Low Ki is great, and the two of them wrestle with an understanding that this is a significant match. Have you seen much of Rey's work from this period? If so, how does it rate to you?

Joseph Anthony Montecillo
2015-2017 is probably when I felt the most disconnected from the indies since I first discovered them in 2009. So I just wasn't seeing a lot of stuff that Rey was in, even if I definitely heard tell of a lot of his exploits. Of course, I had access to a lot of the WhatCulture Pro stuff over on YouTube and I'd occasionally dip in for a Rey match but I don't really have a memory of closely following his time out there. I do vaguely recall that I probably did see this match at the time as it did generate enough buzz to have warranted seeking out. I don't think I had an appreciation for it then that I do now. Did you see this match when it first came out?

Colette Arrand
I didn't. JAPW was not among the promotions I checked out, and this being before streaming/when I wasn't interested enough in indie wrestling to buy a DVD or torrent anything, it just slipped by. When I looked at the card for this show, I felt pretty justified on that end. A lot of the buzzy acts of 2015 are on that card, and there aren't many that stand up to scrutiny. I watched WCPW Rey, tolerated Lucha Underground for another season for him, and was really excited about the prospect of him in New Japan, but alas, WWE eventually woke up to what was happening around them and brought him home before it was too late.