Brandon Silvestry (September 6, 1979) is an American professional wrestler of Puerto Rican and Italian descent who wrestles under the ring name Low Ki. He has previously competed in Impact Wrestling, World Wrestling Entertainment where he won the second season of WWE NXT. He performed on the SmackDown! brand under the ring name Kaval. He was released from his WWE contract on December 23, 2010.
Professional wrestling career[]
Early career and training[]
Silvestry began wrestling in late 1998 under the ring name Low Ki, which he has said 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. 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.
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. 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. 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.
Ring of Honor (2002–2006)[]
Low Ki made his Ring of Honor (ROH) debut at it's 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. 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. On August 24, Low Ki successfully defended his title against A.J. Styles. 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. 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. 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). 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.
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. On December 4, at All Star Extravaganza II, Danielson defeated Homicide of The Rottweilers. 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. Instead of facing Joe at Final Battle 2004, Low Ki wrestled Danielson, but got himself disqualified and then attacked the referee. This was enough for ROH officials to suspend him indefinitely as a result.
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. 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. 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. They had a rematch on August 12 at Redemption, but the ending was the same and Rottweilers beat Lethal down after the match. 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. 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. Later in the year, Low Ki helped Homicide in his feud against Colt Cabana. On December 17, 2005, at Final Battle 2005, he challenged KENTA for his GHC Junior Heavyweight Championship, but came up short. Low Ki left ROH once again in January 2006 due to a "disagreement in business arrangements". He won his last match on January 28 against Jack Evans. 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. 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."
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2002–2004)[]
Low Ki's first stint with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) began on it's debut show on June 19, 2002, in a six-man tag team match alongside A.J. Styles and Jerry Lynn against the Flying Elvises. On June 26, he attempted to become the first TNA 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. 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. 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. He left TNA in July 2004 and made his return to ROH.
Japan (2002–2009)[]
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 Zero1 International Junior Heavyweight Championship from him. 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 GHC Junior Heavyweight Champion Yoshinobu Kanemaru, which he was unable to win. 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 heel faction, Great Bash Heel (GBH).
After joining GBH, he captured the 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.
International Wrestling Cartel (2002-2008)[]
Silvestry debuted in IWC as Low Ki, participating in the first ever IWC Super Indy Tournament on March 22, 2002, defeating Kid Sensation in the first round but losing to Christopher Daniels in the semi-finals. Low Ki also participated in the Super Indy IV Tournament on April 29, 2005, defeating Jason Gory in the first round and Homicide in the semi-finals, but lost to John McChesney in the finals. Low Ki defeated McChesney in a singles match to win the IWC Super Indy Championship, but whit only 28 days as Champion and 0 defenses he had to vacate the title so the winner of the fifth IWC Super Indy Tournament becomes the Champion. On September 16, 2006, at the IWC Boiling Point 2 event, Low Ki participated in a tournament to win the vacant IWC World Heavyweight Championship; he was defeated in the finals by Ricky Reyes, who then defeated Low Ki on October 14 to successfully defend his World Heavyweight title. On December 9 at the IWC Call to Arms 3 event Low Ki unsuccessfully challenged John McChesney for the IWC Super Indy Championship. Low Ki's last match in IWC happened on October 26, 2008, defeating CJ Sensation in a singles match.
Return to TNA (2006–2008)[]
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"). 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. 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. 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.
Senshi later feuded with Austin Starr. Their feud would continue until Lockdown in a Six Sides of Steel match, which he won. At Slammiversary, he teamed with Rhino to defeat The Latin American Xchange (LAX). At Victory Road, Senshi competed in a 10-Man Ultimate X Match, which he lost. After the match, however, Triple X was reformed with Daniels, Senshi, and the returning Skipper. They won their reunion match on the July 19, 2007 episode of Impact! against Serotonin.
Triple X faced Lethal and Dutt and The Motor City Machine Guns at Hard Justice in a losing effort. Skipper and Senshi also went on to face LAX at Bound for Glory in Ultimate X, ultimately losing.
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)[]
Low Ki made his debut for Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (PWG) on April 7, 2007, by defeating Davey Richards. On January 5, 2008, Low Ki won the PWG World Championship after defeating Bryan Danielson. However, he was forced to forfeit the championship just a month later after suffering a knee injury.
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. 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.
World Wrestling Entertainment (2008–2010)[]
Low Ki appeared on the November 7, 2008 edition of SmackDown in a dark match, losing to then-WWE Tag Team Champion Primo. 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. Initially, he wrestled under the name Kawal – "soldier" in the Tagalog language – in FCW, WWE's development territory, but later changed it to Kaval. In January 2009 he took a hiatus from FCW due to a leg injury, which would keep him sidelined until late October. On November 24, Kaval defeated Paul Burchill in a dark match prior to the SmackDown/ECW tapings. 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, 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. Kaval received his title shot two weeks later, but was defeated by the defending champion, Justin Gabriel. On July 15 Kaval and Michael McGillicutty defeated Los Aviadores (Hunico and Epico) to win the FCW Florida Tag Team Championship. Kaval and McGillicutty only held the championship for a single day before losing it back to Los Aviadores.
NXT and SmackDown (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. He debuted on the June 8 episode of NXT, but did not compete in a match. 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. 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. Four weeks later on July 27, he slipped down to second place in the second poll, behind McGillicutty. 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. 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. 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 excluding Eli Cottonwood.
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. 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.
He was released from his contract with WWE on December 23, 2010.
Return to TNA (2011)[]
On June 27, 2011, 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. At the pay-per-view, Low Ki was defeated in the finals by Austin Aries.
Return to NJPW (2011–2013)[]
On May 13, 2011, Silvestry, under the name 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. The following day, Low Ki unsuccessfully challenged Prince Devitt for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship. 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.
On April 21, 2012, 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. On May 3 at Wrestling Dontaku 2012, Low Ki defeated Devitt to win the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship for the second time. On May 27, Low Ki entered New Japan's 2012 Best of the Super Juniors tournament. When the round-robin stage of the tournament concluded on June 9, Low Ki finished with eight wins out of his eight matches, winning his block and advancing to the semifinals of the tournament. The following day, Low Ki defeated Prince Devitt in the semifinals, before losing to Ryusuke Taguchi in the finals of the tournament. On June 16 at Dominion 6.16, Low Ki defeated Taguchi in a rematch to retain the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship. On July 29, Low Ki lost the title to Kota Ibushi in his second defense. Low Ki regained the title from Ibushi on October 8 at King of Pro-Wrestling. On October 21, Low Ki and Brian Kendrick entered the 2012 Super Jr. Tag Tournament as "Chaos World Wrestling Warriors". However, the team was eliminated from the tournament in the first round by Apollo 55 (Prince Devitt and Ryusuke Taguchi). On November 11 at Power Struggle, Low Ki lost the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship to Prince Devitt in his first title defense. On January 4, 2013, at Wrestle Kingdom 7 in Tokyo Dome, Low Ki unsuccessfully challenged Devitt for the title in a three-way match, which also included Kota Ibushi. Low Ki wrestled the entire match in a suit, inspired by Agent 47 from the Hitman video game series. The following month, New Japan removed Low Ki's profile from its official website, signaling the end of his run with the promotion.
Return to independent circuit and retirement (2012–2013)[]
On January 14, 2012, Low Ki made his unadvertised debut for Evolve, defeating Ahtu at the final professional wrestling event in the Asylum Arena. Afterwards, it was announced that Low Ki had joined both Evolve and Dragon Gate USA full-time. Low Ki made his debut for Dragon Gate USA on January 27, when he defeated BxB Hulk in a singles match.
Return to TNA (2014-2017)[]
TNA X Division Championship pursuits (2014–2015)[]
Low Ki returned to TNA on April 12, 2014, for a One Night Only pay-per-view taping, where he won an Ultimate X match to earn a future X Division Championship shot. Low Ki returned to TNA at the June 25, 2014, tapings of Impact Wrestling, defeating DJ Z. The following day at Destination X, Low Ki defeated DJ Z and Manik in a three-way match to advance to the finals of a tournament for the vacant X Division Championship. on the August 7th Impact Wrestling, Low Ki was defeated by Samoa Joe in the finals of the tournament, which also included Sanada. On the August 14th Impact Wrestling, Low Ki won a X Division Scramble match to become #1 contender for the X Division title, on August 20 at Hardcore Justice, Low Ki faced Samoa Joe in a losing effort. On the September 19th tapings of the November 12, 2014 episode of Impact Wrestling, Low Ki defeated Tigre Uno, Manik and DJ Z in a Four-Way match to win the vacant X Division Championship, becoming a three-time champion.
The Beat Down Clan (2015)[]
He lost the title on January 7, 2015 against Austin Aries, Low Ki turned heel along with Samoa Joe by attacking Kurt Angle thus joining BDC. On the following night's tapings of the January 16, 2015 episode of Impact Wrestling, Low Ki defeated Austin Aries to win the TNA X Division Championship, which he lost the previous night. Later that night, Lashley refused to become a part of this new group and decided to leave, but was attacked by the other members and with MVP saying that the title belongs to the BDC.
On June 25, Low Ki announced on his Twitter account that he had left TNA by posting "I have decided to part ways with @IMPACTWRESTLING. My very best to them in their future. Thank you to all the fans who joined the adventure."
Return to GFW Impact (2017)[]
Low Ki returned to the company once again on the April 20 episode of iMPACT! to compete in a six-way match for the Impact X-Division title against Andrew Everett, Dezmond Xavier, Sonjay Dutt, Suicide and the Champion Trevor Lee, debuting a Hitman inspired gimmick; he won the match to win the X-Division title for the fifth time in his career. He held the title for 40 days and defended it successfully against Trevor Lee, Andrew Everett and Caleb Konley before losing it to Sonjay Dutt in a singles match at an iMPACT! Wrestling TV tapings in Mumbai, India on the June 15 episode of iMPACT!. Then, during Dutt's Championship win celebration, Low Ki attacked him, turning heel; this led to a 2 out of 3 falls rematch for the X-Division title between the two at Slammiversary XV on July 2 which was won by Dutt. The following month Low Ki joined The Latin American Xchange attacking Alberto El Patrón. On the August 24 episode of iMPACT! he participated in a 20-man gauntlet match for the vacant GFW Impact World Heavyweight Championship which was won by Eli Drake. On the September 14 episode of iMPACT! Low Ki was defeated by Johnny Impact in a number 1 contender for the GFW Impact World Heavyweight Title match. Low Ki left GFW Impact in mid-August 2017.
In wrestling[]
- Finishing moves
- Dragon Clutch (Dragon sleeper to a facedown opponent)
- Ghetto Stomp/Warrior's Way
- Ki Krusher / Ki Krusher '99 (Fisherman driver, sometimes from the second or top rope)
- Signature moves
- Bite of the Dragon / Dragon's Bite (WWE)
- The Dragon Wing (Double underhook suplex floated over into a double underhook submission hold)
- Final Four (Elevated cloverleaf)
- Headbutt
- Iron Octopus (Headscissors armbar)
- Ki Krusher '00 / Krush Rush (Lifting leg hook front facelock slammed into the turnbuckles before dropping down into a fisherman driver)
- Knife-edged chop
- Krush Kombo / Triple Strike (Two shoot kicks to the chest followed by a high speed roundhouse kick to the head of a kneeling opponent)
- Matrix
- Mongolian chop
- Multiple kick variations
- Black Magic (Feint shining wizard transitioned into a reverse roundhouse)
- Rolling Koppu
- Springboard gamengiri
- Stiff
- Tidal Crush (Cartwheel jumping high to a cornered opponent)
- Tidal Wave (Springboard roundhouse)
- Phoenix Splash (Corkscrew 450° splash)
- Powerdrive Elbow (Twisting elbow drop)
- Rope hung crucifix armbar
- Scorpion Fire (Rope hung figure four necklock)
- Nicknames
- "The Warrior"
- "The World Warrior"
- Entrance themes
- "The Realist Killaz" by 2Pac featuring 50 Cent
- "Fighter's Passion" by The Immortals
- "Exploding Helmets" by Daniel Holter & Kyle White
Championships and accomplishments[]
- East Coast Wrestling Association
- ECWA Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with American Dragon (1) and Xavier (1)
- Super 8 Tournament (2001)
- ECWA Hall of Fame (Class of 2007)
- Florida Championship Wrestling
- FCW Florida Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Michael McGillicutty
- Future of Wrestling
- FOW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
- Future Wrestling Alliance
- FWA Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
- Impact Championship Wrestling
- ICW Championship (1 time)
- Independent Wrestling Association Mid-South
- Ted Petty Invitational (2006)
- Jersey All Pro Wrestling
- JAPW Heavyweight Championship (3 times)
- JAPW Light Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
- Jersey Championship Wrestling
- JCW Championship (1 time)
- JCW Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Mafia
- Long Island Wrestling Federation
- LIWF Light Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
- Premiere Wrestling Federation
- PWF Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
- Pro Wrestling Illustrated
- PWI ranked him #26 of the 500 best singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2003
- Pro Wrestling WORLD-1
- WORLD-1 Openweight Championship (1 time)
- USA Pro Wrestling
- UXA Pro Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Xavier
- World Xtreme Wrestling
- WXW Cruiserweight Championship (1 time)
- Other titles
- ICW (New Jersey) Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
- MCW (Illinois) Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Airborne
1Low Ki defended the title with either Daniels or Skipper under the Freebird Rule