Low Ki
Ring name(s)	Low Ki[1] Kawal[2] Kaval[3] Loki[4] LoKi[1] Quick Kick[1] Senshi[1]
Billed height	5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)[5]
Billed weight	174 lb (79 kg)[5]
Born	(1979-09-06) September 6, 1979 (age 32)[1] Brooklyn, New York[1]
Billed from	Brooklyn, New York[5]
Trained by	Homicide[2] Jim Kettner[2]
Debut	October 10, 1998[1]

Brandon Silvestry (born September 6, 1979) is an American professional wrestler.^[6] He is best known under his ring names Low Ki and Senshi in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, and Kaval in World Wrestling Entertainment.^[6] He is a former one-time PWG World Champion and a former ROH Champion. In addition, he has won a number of tournaments and other championships on the independent circuit, and was the winner of the second season of WWE NXT in 2010.

Professional wrestling career[link]

Early career and training[link]

Silvestry began wrestling in late 1998 under the ring name Low Ki, which he admits came from the lyrics of the song "No Diggity". He began wrestling for Jersey All Pro Wrestling (JAPW) in 1998, challenging Homicide and Kane D for the JAPW Tag Team Championship.^[7] The following year he challenged for the JAPW Light Heavyweight Championship twice, unsuccessfully, but defeated Crazy Ivan and Judas Young to win the second Best of the Light Heavyweights tournament.^[8]

In 2000, he began making several appearances in the World Wrestling Federation on their programs Metal and Jakked, where he competed against the likes of Raven, Crash Holly, Christian and Essa Ríos.^[1] The following year he made it through to the finals of All Pro Wrestling's King of the Indies tournament, losing the crown to American Dragon.^[9] It was also during 2001 that he defeated Nick Berk and Homicide in separate matches on the same evening to win both the JAPW Heavyweight and Light Heavyweight Titles; he would successfully defend both titles in separate matches at their Fourth Anniversary Show later that month in July. He lost both titles in a Three Way match the following month to Homicide, with Xavier as the other competitor.^[10]

Ring of Honor (2002–2006)[link]

Low Ki made his Ring of Honor (ROH) debut at its first show, The Era of Honor Begins, on February 23. In the show's main event, he defeated Bryan Danielson and "The Fallen Angel" Christopher Daniels.^[11] On July 27, 2002, at Crowning a Champion, he became the first ever ROH Champion by defeating Daniels, Spanky and Doug Williams in a Four Way Ironman match.^[12][13] On August 24, Low Ki successfully defended his title against A.J. Styles.^[12] On September 21, at Unscripted, he lost the title to Xavier, who, after winning the title, became a member of Daniels's faction The Prophecy.^[12][14] Low Ki then faced Samoa Joe on October 5 in what was Joe's official ROH debut in a "Fight Without Honor". In what resembled more of an MMA fight, Low Ki won the match and they shook hands after the match.^[1] Low Ki left the promotion in 2004 due to the Feinstein incident, but he returned on July 17, 2004, during a match, where Samoa Joe and the Briscoe Brothers fought against The Rottweilers (Homicide and the Havana Pitbulls).^[1] It looked like Low Ki would save Samoa Joe from a beatdown by The Rottweilers, but instead he spat on the ROH Championship, which was then held by Joe, and joined The Rottweilers.^[14]

At Weekend of Thunder Night 2 on November 6, 2004, he started a feud with Bryan Danielson, who was Low Ki's partner in a match against Samoa Joe and Jushin "Thunder" Liger. Low Ki and Danielson lost the match and Low Ki blamed his partner for that, so The Rottweilers started a beatdown on Danielson.^[15] On December 4, at All Star Extravaganza II, Danielson defeated Homicide of The Rottweilers.^[16] In that same event, Low Ki wrestled Austin Aries in a number one contender's match to determine who would face ROH Champion Samoa Joe for the title. The match ended in a draw. Officials extended the match, but Low Ki refused to wrestle, so Aries was declared the winner.^[16] Instead of facing Joe at Final Battle 2004, Low Ki wrestled Danielson, but got himself disqualified and then attacked the referee.^[1] This was enough for ROH officials to suspend him indefinitely as a result.^[14]

Low Ki returned on May 7, 2005 and immediately attacked Jay Lethal and Samoa Joe at Manhattan Mayhem with his fellow Rottweilers, Homicide, Julius Smokes, Monsta Mack and Rocky Romero.^[17] The impromptu tag team match was made: The Rottweilers vs. Samoa Joe and Jay Lethal. Low Ki and Homicide won the match and injured Lethal with a Ghetto Stomp/Cop Killa combination.^[1] The feud continued on June 18 at Death Before Dishonor III, where he and Lethal faced each other in a singles match, but it ended in a no contest.^[1] They had a rematch on August 12 at Redemption, but the ending was the same and Rottweilers beat Lethal down after the match.^[1] Finally, on September 17 at Glory By Honor IV, a "Fight Without Honor" between the two ended with Low Ki getting a pinfall victory over Lethal.^[1] After Samoa Joe went on to save Colt Cabana from a beatdown by The Rottweilers, Lethal came out to even the odds and said that he wanted yet another rematch with Low Ki, which Lethal won this time, ending the feud.^[1] Later in the year, Low Ki helped Homicide in his feud against Colt Cabana.^[1] On December 17, 2005, at Final Battle 2005, he challenged KENTA for his GHC Junior Heavyweight Championship, but came up short.^[1] Low Ki left ROH once again in January 2006 due to a "disagreement in business arrangements".^[1] He won his last match on January 28 against Jack Evans.^[1] ROH covered his leaving by having the ROH commissioner Jim Cornette ban Low Ki from Ring of Honor for life after it was discovered that he was the one who knocked Cornette's tooth out at that show.^[18] He was also used as a focus point (in name only) in the Cornette/Homicide feud in the summer of 2006, with Cornette refusing to reinstate Low Ki as Homicide's "third wish."^[18]

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2002–2004)[link]

Low Ki's first stint with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) was for its debut show on June 19, 2002, in a six-man tag team match alongside A.J. Styles and Jerry Lynn against the Flying Elvises.^[1] On June 26, he attempted to become the first X Division Champion, but was beaten by Styles. He would, though, eventually go on to win the title from Styles on August 7, but lost it three weeks later to Lynn.^[1] He would later form the Triple X faction with Christopher Daniels and Elix Skipper that year and hold the NWA World Tag Team Championship twice, once each with Daniels and Skipper.^[1] When Daniels's greed for the X Division Championship initially forced Low Ki out of Triple X, Low Ki would go on to battle Daniels in Ultimate X, but his pursuit was unsuccessful.^[1] He left TNA in July 2004 and made his return to ROH.

Japan (2002–2009)[link]

Low Ki wrestling Kenta Kobashi.

Low Ki made his first trip to Japan with Pro Wrestling Zero-One in 2002. On September 16, he wrestled Leonardo Spanky and won the International Junior Heavyweight Championship from him.^[1] He held the championship until August 31, 2003, when he lost it to Wataru Sakata.

Low Ki left Zero-One in mid-2004 to join Pro Wrestling Noah, where he was instantly given a title shot against Global Honored Crown (GHC) Junior Heavyweight Champion Yoshinobu Kanemaru, which he was unable to win.^[14] During this period, he represented Pro Wrestling Noah in MXW Pro Wrestling's Gaijin Battle Series. He later joined New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) and joined Shinsuke Nakamura's stable RISE, replacing the injured Milano Collection A.T. In his first match back, he suffered a knee injury, which required surgery. Low Ki returned to the promotion in September, defecting from RISE to join New Japan's main villainous faction, Great Bash Heel (GBH).

After joining GBH, he captured the International Wrestling Grand Prix (IWGP) Junior Heavyweight Championship from Tiger Mask IV on September 21, 2008 on NJPW's Circuit 2008 New Japan Generation tour. He subsequently lost it back to Tiger Mask on NJPW's Wrestle Kingdom III show in Tokyo on January 4, 2009. After losing the championship, Low Ki made several appearances for Hustle.

Return to TNA (2006–2008)[link]

At Lockdown, Christopher Daniels's mystery opponent was revealed to be the returning Low Ki, who wrestled under the name of Senshi (Japanese for "warrior").^[19] Following Lockdown, Senshi was not seen in action for several weeks. Instead, he was built up with a series of vignettes hyping his background, training, and desire to dominate the X Division once more, hinting at the possibility of challenging the X Division Champion, the undefeated Samoa Joe.

Senshi defeated Alex Shelley, Jay Lethal, Petey Williams, Shark Boy, and Sonjay Dutt at Slammiversary to become the number one contender to the X Division Championship.^[20] Senshi went on to become X Division Champion again on the June 22, 2006 episode of Impact!, defeating Joe and Dutt after he pinned Dutt.^[21] He defended the title on several occasions against various opponents while also remaining undefeated for six months until he lost the title to Chris Sabin at Bound for Glory.^[22]

Senshi later feuded with Austin Starr. Their feud would continue until Lockdown in a Six Sides of Steel match, which he won.^[23] At Slammiversary, he teamed with Rhino to defeat The Latin American Xchange (LAX).^[24] At Victory Road, Senshi competed in a 10-Man Ultimate X Match, which he lost.^[25] After the match, however, Triple X was reformed with Daniels, Senshi, and the returning Skipper.^[25] They won their reunion match on the July 19, 2007 episode of Impact! against Serotonin.^[26]

Triple X faced Lethal and Dutt and The Motor City Machineguns at Hard Justice in a losing effort.^[27] Skipper and Senshi also went on to face LAX at Bound for Glory in Ultimate X, ultimately losing.^[28]

During December 2007, it was reported that Senshi had submitted his resignation to TNA and he left the promotion shortly after. In 2008, Silvestry helped TNA during the development of its first ever video game by providing both voicing and motion capture for the game's protagonist, Suicide.

Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (2007–2008)[link]

Low Ki made his debut for Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (PWG) on April 7, 2007, by defeating Davey Richards.^[29] On January 5, 2008, Low Ki won the World Championship after defeating Bryan Danielson.^[30] However, he was forced to forfeit the championship just a month later after suffering a knee injury.^[1]

He returned to wrestling for PWG's All Star Weekend 7 – Night 1 on August 30, 2008 where he was a part of a four-way for the World Championship; the match also featured Eddie Kingston, Necro Butcher and Chris Hero. Hero won the match when he pinned Kingston.^[31] On November 1 and 2 in Burbank, California, Low Ki defeated Roderick Strong, Masato Yoshino, Nigel McGuinness and the PWG World Champion Chris Hero to win the 2008 Battle of Los Angeles.^[32][33]

World Wrestling Entertainment[link]

Florida Championship Wrestling (2008–2010)[link]

Low Ki appeared on the November 7, 2008 edition of SmackDown in a dark match, losing to then-WWE Tag Team Champion Primo.^[34] Low Ki then won a match against Trent Beretta at the Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW) tapings on January 8. It was later announced on his official website that he had signed a contract with World Wrestling Entertainment.^[6] Initially, he wrestled under the name Kawal – "soldier" in the Tagalog language – in FCW, WWE's development territory, but later changed it to Kaval.^[2][35] In January 2009 he took a hiatus from FCW due to a leg injury, which would keep him sidelined until late October.^[36] On November 24, Kaval defeated Paul Burchill in a dark match prior to the SmackDown/ECW tapings.^[37] At the December 8 tapings he was defeated by Goldust in another dark match. On the February 7 edition of FCW he defeated Bryan Danielson, for whom this was a debut match, after hitting him with Warrior's Way,^[38] and on February 8 won a fatal four-way match against Alberto Banderas, Wade Barrett and Michael Tarver to become the number one contender for the FCW Florida Heavyweight Championship.^[39] Kaval received his title shot two weeks later, but was defeated by the defending champion, Justin Gabriel.^[40] On July 15 Kaval and Michael McGillicutty defeated Los Aviadores (Hunico and Epico) to win the FCW Florida Tag Team Championship.^[41] Kaval and McGillicutty only held the championship for a single day before losing it back to Los Aviadores.^[42]

NXT and SmackDown (2010)[link]

Kaval (left) with Michelle McCool, his NXT mentor (middle), and Kofi Kingston (right) at WWE Tribute to the Troops in December 2010.

It was announced on June 1 that Kaval would be a participant in the second season of NXT, with Team Lay-Cool (Michelle McCool and Layla) as his storyline mentors.^[43][44] He debuted on the June 8 episode of NXT, but did not compete in a match.^[45] On the June 15 episode of NXT, he was defeated by Alex Riley in his debut, and the following week he was defeated by Eli Cottonwood.^[46][47] On the June 29 episode of NXT, Kaval teamed with Michael McGillicutty and Lucky Cannon against Riley, Cottonwood and Titus O'Neil, which his team won when he pinned Riley, giving Kaval his first win on NXT. Later that night, he was ranked first in the poll.^[48] Four weeks later on July 27, he slipped down to second place in the second poll, behind McGillicutty.^[49] On August 9 the rookies appeared in a six-man tag team match on Raw, which Kaval's team lost when he was pinned by Husky Harris. Following the match, he was attacked by Sheamus.^[50] The following night on NXT, Kaval's team won a rematch when Kaval pinned McGillicutty. In the poll later that night, Kaval regained the number one ranking.^[51] On August 31, Kaval won the second season of NXT, with McGillicutty ranked second and Riley in third place. Following the announcement of his victory, he was attacked by all the former season two rookies.^[52]

Following his NXT victory, Kaval was moved to the SmackDown brand, making his debut during the September 7 tapings in a loss to Drew McIntyre, which aired on September 10.^[53][54] On the October 15 edition of SmackDown Kaval lasted five minutes in the ring with Big Show and in doing so earned a spot on Team SmackDown at Bragging Rights. However, after the match, Kaval was challenged by Tyler Reks, who ultimately went on to defeat him for his spot at the pay–per–view.^[55]

Kaval won his first match on the November 19 episode of SmackDown, by defeating the WWE Intercontinental Champion Dolph Ziggler in a non-title match. Following his victory, Kaval announced that he would be using his guaranteed title opportunity that he earned by winning NXT at the Survivor Series pay-per-view against Ziggler for the Intercontinental Championship.^[56] At the pay–per–view Kaval was unsuccessful in his attempt to win the Intercontinental Championship.^[57]

Kaval would also tag-team with Montel Vontavious Porter (who had similarly failed to unseat Ziggler on November 12) in MVP's final match with the WWE on December 3, where the pair of former contenders lost to the tag team of Ziggler and Drew McIntyre. Kaval's own final appearance in WWE was a loss to McIntyre on the live December 21 episode of SmackDown,^[58] as Kaval was released from his contract on December 23.^[59]

Return to independent circuit (2011–present)[link]

Silvestry, under the name Low Ki, returned to Pro Wrestling Guerrilla on January 29, 2011, during the WrestleReunion 5 weekend, in a match, where he defeated Davey Richards.^[60] In his following appearance for PWG on April 9, Low Ki defeated Akira Tozawa.^[61] On May 13, Low Ki made his return to New Japan Pro Wrestling, during the promotion's first tour of the United States, teaming with Homicide in a tag team match, where they defeated Jushin Liger and Tiger Mask IV.^[62][63] The following day, Low Ki unsuccessfully challenged Prince Devitt for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship.^[64] On the third and final day of the tour in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Low Ki and Homicide unsuccessfully challenged Devitt and Ryusuke Taguchi for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship.^[65] On May 28, during the second night of PWG's All Star Weekend 8, Low Ki unsuccessfully challenged Claudio Castagnoli for the PWG World Championship.^[66] On January 14, 2012, Low Ki made his unadvertised debut for Evolve, defeating Ahtu at the final professional wrestling event in the Asylum Arena.^[67] Afterwards, it was announced that Low Ki had joined both Evolve and Dragon Gate USA full-time.^[68] On April 21, Low Ki returned to New Japan Pro Wrestling, aligning himself with the Chaos stable and teaming with Gedo, Jado and Rocky Romero in an eight man tag team match, where they defeated Jushin Liger, Prince Devitt, Ryusuke Taguchi and Tiger Mask IV, with Ki pinning IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Devitt for the win.^[69] On May 3 at Wrestling Dontaku 2012, Low Ki defeated Devitt to win the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship for the second time.^[70][71]

Return to TNA (2011)[link]

On June 27 Low Ki returned to TNA at the tapings of the June 30 edition of Impact Wrestling, defeating Jimmy Yang and Matt Bentley in a three–way match to advance to a four–way match for a TNA contract at Destination X.^[72][73] At the pay-per-view, Low Ki was defeated in the finals by Austin Aries.^[74]

In wrestling[link]

Low Ki performing the Ghetto Stomp in Jersey All Pro Wrestling.

• Finishing moves
  • Dragon Clutch^[1] (Grounded dragon sleeper)^[75]
  • Ghetto Stomp (Independent circuit) / Warrior's Way (TNA / WWE) (Diving double foot stomp, sometimes to a tree of woe hung opponent)^[75][76]
  • Ki Krusher / Ki Krusher '99^[1] (Fisherman driver, sometimes from the second or top rope)^[75]

• Signature moves
  • Bite of the Dragon^[1][75]
  • Dragon Wing^[1] (Double underhook suplex floated over into a double underhook submission hold)
  • Final Four^[1] (Elevated cloverleaf)
  • Headbutt^[1]
  • Iron Octopus (Headscissors armbar)^[75]
  • Ki Krusher '00 / Krush Rush^[1] (Lifting leg hook front facelock slammed into the turnbuckles before dropping down into a fisherman driver)
  • Knife-edged chop^[1]
  • Krush Kombo^[1] (Two kicks to the chest followed by a high speed roundhouse kick to the head of a kneeling opponent)^[75]
  • Matrix^[1]
  • Mongolian chop^[1]
  • Multiple kick variations
    • Black Magic (Feint shining wizard transitioned into a reverse roundhouse)^[75]
    • Rolling wheel^[1]
    • Shoot^[1]
    • Springboard jumping high^[1]
    • Tidal Crush^[1] (Cartwheel jumping high to a cornered opponent)
    • Tidal Wave (Springboard roundhouse)^[75]
  • Phoenix splash^[1]
  • Flashing Elbow^[1] (Twisting elbow drop)
  • Rope hung crucifix armbar^[75]
  • Scorpion Fire^[1] (Rope hung figure four necklock)

• Managers
  • Julius Smokes^[1]
  • Hector Guerrero^[1]
  • LayCool (Layla and Michelle McCool)^[1]

• Nicknames
  • "The Warrior"^[1]
  • "The World Warrior"^[77]

• Entrance themes
  • "The Realist Killaz" (instrumental) by 2Pac featuring 50 Cent^[78]
  • "Fighter's Passion" by The Immortals^[78]

Championships and accomplishments[link]

• East Coast Wrestling Association
  • ECWA Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with American Dragon (1) and Xavier (1)^[79]
  • Super 8 Tournament (2001)^[80]
  • ECWA Hall of Fame (Class of 2007)^[81]

• Florida Championship Wrestling
  • FCW Florida Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Michael McGillicutty^[41]

• Future of Wrestling
  • FOW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)^[82]

• Future Wrestling Alliance
  • FWA Heavyweight Championship (1 time)^[83]

• Impact Championship Wrestling
  • ICW Championship (1 time)^[84]

• Independent Wrestling Association Mid-South
  • Ted Petty Invitational (2006)^[85]

• International Wrestling Cartel
  • IWC Super Indies Championship (1 time)^[86]

• Jersey All Pro Wrestling
  • JAPW Heavyweight Championship (3 times)^[87]
  • JAPW Light Heavyweight Championship (1 time)^[88]

• Jersey Championship Wrestling
  • JCW Championship (1 time)^[89]
  • JCW Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Mafia^[90]

• Long Island Wrestling Federation
  • LIWF Light Heavyweight Championship (1 time)^[1]

• Millennium Wrestling Federation
  • MWF Heavyweight Championship (1 time, current)^[91]

• New Japan Pro Wrestling
  • IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship (2 times, current)^[92]

• Pro Wrestling Zero1
  • NWA International Lightweight Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Leonardo Spanky^[93]
  • NWA/UPW/ZERO-ONE International Junior Heavyweight Championship (1 time)^[94]

• Premiere Wrestling Federation
  • PWF Heavyweight Championship (1 time)^[95]

Low Ki with the 2008 Battle of Los Angeles trophy.

• Pro Wrestling Guerrilla
  • PWG World Championship (1 time)^[96]
  • Battle of Los Angeles (2008)^[97]

• Pro Wrestling Illustrated
  • PWI ranked him #26 of the 500 best singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2003^{[98][unreliable source?]}

• Pro Wrestling WORLD-1
  • WORLD-1 Openweight Championship (1 time)^[1]

• Ring of Honor
  • ROH Championship (1 time)^[12]

• Total Nonstop Action Wrestling
  • NWA World Tag Team Championship (3 times)¹ – with Christopher Daniels and Elix Skipper^[99]
  • TNA X Division Championship (2 times)^[99]

• USA Pro Wrestling
  • UXA Pro Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Xavier^[1]

• World Wrestling Entertainment
  • NXT winner (season two)^[52]

• World Xtreme Wrestling
  • WXW Cruiserweight Championship (1 time)^[100]

• Wrestling Observer Newsletter
  • Most Underrated Wrestler (2010)^[101]
  • Worst Worked Match of the Year (2006) TNA Reverse Battle Royal on TNA Impact!^[102]

• Other titles
  • ICW (New Jersey) Heavyweight Championship (1 time)^[1]
  • MCW (Illinois) Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Airborne^[1]

¹Low Ki defended the title with either Daniels or Skipper under the Freebird Rule

References[link]