Ring of Honor Top 100 Matches of 2007
Welcome to the Top 100 ROH matches of 2007. I tried to keep these fairly objective, not choosing just my favorites. Click here for Rating Explanations to see what I mean by objective quality.
A quick note: Riren of the ROH boards did his Top 100 Around the World which was very different. Please don’t compare these. We get along fine and respect each other’s opinions.
Without further Ado, The List:
100. Samoa Joe vs. Jimmy Rave – Fifth Year Festival: Philadelphia
During Joe’s farewell tour, he battled Jimmy Rave, who was heavily pushed as a new man, a silent killer who broke legs after taking control with sudden impact moves. The match was a good one many called an extended squash mistakenly. Joe was a big monster, controlling and dominating in the place he made his ROH debut. Jimmy snuck in impact moves when he could and attacked the leg, long a weak point of Joe, in order for his deadly Heel Hook submission to take the victory. Ultimately, Rave ended up with a concussion, but before that brought a smart, quality match to Joe that would have likely been remembered as great had the concussion now caused the remained of the match to change. As is, what is here is good enough to make #100 on the Top 100 of 07, no mean feat.
99. Jay and Mark Briscoe vs. Bryan Danielson and Nigel McGuinness – Race to the Top Night 1
As usual, not a ton of selling here from a Briscoes match, but interestingly, Nigel, relying so rarely on lariats at that point, couldn’t out-smash the Briscoes and when he went to the mat game, was too out of practice to keep up with the constantly tagging Delaware brothers. Danielson on the other hand, basically dominated Jay and Mark, keeping competitive in striking while dominating on the mat until Nigel found his groove. The Briscoes were then forced to use tag wrestling to keep alive until the inevitable miscommunication between Nigel and Danielson allowed them to beat the top two men in the company.
98. Austin Aries vs. Rocky Romero – Good Times, Great Memories
Aries and Romero went at it at in a great, fast paced indy primer match. Rocky went with speed and striking, putting his best against Aries in an intense battle. Naturally, Aries was too much, a better mat wrestler and comparable striker, so got the duke.
97. Austin Aries vs. Davey Richards – Man Up
In the second in a best of three NRC vs. Resilience series Aries and Davey put on a fast paced, competitive, stiff match. Davey was going right at Aries, trying to psych him out, but Aries just had an answer for everything the rookie threw at him. Elegant in its simplicity.
96. Bryan Danielson vs. Jimmy Rave – A Fight at the Roxbury
Danielson came into this establishing his post injury persona as a killer who would no longer take his time with opponents. Rave came in expecting a normal Danielson long match and was caught on his back foot for most of the match. Because of this Rave intensely focused on weakening Danielson any way he could to lock in the one move that gave him a chance, the Heel Hook. Danielson was just too good on the mat and elbowed Rave to oblivion.
95. Briscoes vs. Claudio and Sydal – 2 out of 3 falls World Tag Title – United We Stand
This rematch of the Respect is Earned match wasn’t nearly as good, but featured high class spots and athletics, plus the improving dynamic of Claudio and Sydal so pure team work alone wasn’t enough to beat them. Of course neither could flat out smash with the Briscoes and their team work wasn’t that good, so the Briscoes escaped with theit tag titles handily.
94. Mark Briscoe vs. Kevin Steen – A Fight at the Roxbury
When Mark had a concussion, Steen attacked it brutally. This was Mark’s revenge in a wild, one on one brawl. Mark immediately showed his suicidal edge wasn’t gone while Steen is among the best brawlers in the business. A fight where the hatred was as evident as the athleticism and a harbinger of things to come in the countdown.
93. Austin Aries vs. Roderick Strong vs. Jack Evans – Manhattan Mayhem II
ROH doesn’t usually do Sports Entertainment, but when they do it’s a high class, wild affair. Here we got a good, if spotty match of varying styles featuring the debut of Ruckus, return of Julius Smokes and the Vulture Squad, along with the entire NRC and Resilience. Aries showed he was still a step ahead in the ranks of his former Generation Next teammates by eeking out a victory in the chaos.
92. Chris Hero vs. Nigel McGuinness – Driven
Ah, the early stages of the Hero and Nigel feud. This was a good match marked with smart wrestling from both men. The face-heel aspect is what makes this work as Hero got a ton of heat for his workover, while Nigel was able to beat the hell out of him with counters. The surprising and abrupt finish of the Tower of London detracts, but these two, with more time, could have had an epic on this night.
91. Briscoes vs. Kevin Steen and El Generico – World Tag Title – Driven
This lost some luster being the third wild spotfest of four matches, but was still some of the best, fastest wrestling you’ll find. Steen and Generico tried to wrestle the Briscoes kind of match, convinced they’d win by their near victory at FYF: Philadelphia and win at Fighting Spirit. They were wrong in trying to wrestle this style and lost because of it. A change in style was in order and sure to come.
90. Takeshi Morishima vs. Erick Stevens – ROH World Championship – Motor City Madness 2007
This one didn’t start off nearly as good as it became. This began with Stevens not being able to work power on Morishima, but trying fiercely. Morishima controlled for most of the match, leaving Stevens great selling to carry the match. It did and the match really turned at the at the awesome Stevens comeback as he absorbed Morishima’s comeback and managed to nail his power moves. He was unfortunately too worn down by Morishima’s offense to score the upset, but not before coming within a breathe of the title.
89. Delirious vs. Colt Cabana – This Means War II
Delirious and Colt started and ended with comedy gold here, pulling out tons of hilarious antics including Cabanalirious. This is comedy wrestling at its best (besides Kikutaro). This is the best match of Colt’s farewell tour and, like Joe’s best of his, the very first.
88. Pac vs. Matt Sydal – Fifth Year Festival: Fifth Year Festival Liverpool
Pac is, despite my distaste for him, the premier innovative, epic high flier in the western portion of the world today. Sydal is merely a hair’s breath behind. Neither is consistent, but each hit here with a match that lives up to each man’s pedigree and would have stole many lesser shows.
87. Ryo Saito, Matt Sydal, & Dragon Kid vs. Naruki Doi, Masato Yoshino, & Delirious – Live in Osaka
A Dragon Gate style 6-man was a must for ROH’s foray into Osaka, so Sydal and Delirious, longtime rivals, were added to some DG Teams (though Sydal was a regular). This meant that the normal DG style was toned down a bit, but that was more than evened out by the awesome character work infused by Sydal and especially Delirious. Innovative DG style meets American characters in an interesting fusion.
86. Homicide vs. Jay Briscoe vs. Chris Daniels – Fifth Year Festival: Dayton
In honor of the original three way (Daniels vs. Low Ki vs. Danielson at the Era of Honor Begins), the fifth anniversary show held at the same date had a three way with men on ROH’s first show . The match failed to live up to its predecessor, or even the First Anniversary’s three way (Low Ki vs. AJ Styles vs. Paul London), but was still a very good take on both, mixing early ROH high spots and later ROH skill level.
85. Bryan Danielson vs. Matt Sydal – Death before Dishonor V Night 1
Danielson was holding onto some of Sydal’s money from their $10,000 match so Sydal agreed to wrestle him to get it back. I have a feeling this would have been far better with a face Sydal and heel Danielson, rather than the tweener match we got, but the match was still good with Sydal attempting to show he could hang on the mat with Danielson, failing miserably, then going to his speed too late as Danielson managed to stretch him out and take the win and the money.
84. Matt Cross, Erick Stevens and Delirious vs. Roderick Strong, Davey Richards, and Rocky Romero – Driven
Cross and Delirious with highspots tried to compete with the opportunistic heel team who managed to use their superior time as a group to destroy the faces. They had no answer for Stevens power, but managed to eliminate him for long enough to get the victory. The faces learned enough from the NRC in earlier encounters to make this far more competitive than previous encounters, but without Aries, just fell short.
83. Matt Cross and Erick Stevens vs. Mike Quackenbush and Jigsaw – Manhattan Mayhem II
Quack and Jigsaw are amazing at structuring a tag match together and made Stevens a Cross look like gold, timing everything perfectly from the great highspots of Cross in one of his best appearances to Stevens awesome power leaving them with no answer. That ultimately cost them the match, despite the confusion their lucha caused.
82. Samoa Joe vs. Homicide – Fifth Year Festival: Finale
This is Joe’s last ROH match and so is a great, amazing moment. The match isn’t anything special at all, just a below average Joe and Homicide match. That’s still pretty good as they pay homage to their long history together in a satisfying, aptly titled finale.
81. Jay Briscoe and Delirious vs. Chris Daniels and Matt Sydal – Supercard of Honor 2
With Mark hurt, Delirious was the replacement here to take on Sydal. This was a standard Briscoes match with only one Briscoe and set off one of the best shows of the year in high octane manner.
80. Pac vs. Roderick Strong – FIP Title – Fifth Year Festival: Finale
Roderick Strong is known for having memorable matches with the flippy, flexible Jack Evans. Here he faced a wrestler that’s as flexible and flippy as Jack, or nearly so, but has a better sense of how to make taking a beating work in the context of the match. They lack the chemistry of Jack and Strong, or at least the familiarity with one another, but their battle is still epic, memorable and exceptionably timed. Finale is one of the best all around shows ROH has ever put out, which is the only reason this is so overlooked.
79. Jack Evans vs. Necro Butcher – Street Fight – Final Battle 2007
Ths worked out far better than it had any right to. Jack attempted to flip around in counter to Necro’s outright brutality, which no one can stand up to much of. Necro is kind of lumbering so it largely worked. Unfortunately for Jack, whenever he was caught, he got utterly smashed. There’s a spot at the end Jack shouldn’t have been able to come back from, but due to his unbelievable flexibility, it’s at least plausible, so it doesn’t detract from the match too much. The later interference of Lacey and debut of Mercedes Martinez really add to the believability of Jack’s unlikely escape with a victory.
78. Delirious vs. KENTA – Reborn Again
This was a very underrated match off a disappointing show, hurt by a terrible Connecticut crowd. Delirious had a major fear of KENTA’s kicks, but was so energetic in his resistance that KENTA’s main goal became wearing Del down. Del is, however, a better mat wrestler so KENTA is forced to go to his high impact stuff, and despite the mat advantage nearly paying off in a Bizarro Driver, KENTA was able to get the win, narrowly avoiding the upset.
77. Austin Aries vs. Bryan Danielson – Chaos at the Cow Palace
Aries and Dragon have numerous epic encounters, but while this was a nice match, it wasn’t on par with any of their earlier or later encounters. This is the second in the best of three series and because Aries had a 1-0 lead, he came in quite lacksidasicly. The mat wrestling and counter sequences mostly went to Aries, though he struggled to put Aries away, his mat skill paid off with the small package finish. The main problem was that most of the match was spent with Danielson attacking Aries leg, something Aries never sold, especially during high impact, speed moves, and that Danielson never went back to. It’s a testament to these guys skill that with all that went wrong here they still managed to rank this highly.
76. Jack Evans, Ruckus and Jigsaw vs. Roderick Strong, Rocky Romero, and Davey Richards – Honor Nation
This was the return of the scramble six way to faction warfare and a match type that would make the rounds of ROH shows, pleasing crowds everywhere they went. Naturally, with a wild spotfest, the first was among the best and most significant, offering the unexpected while the others became far more predictable. The debut of the full Vulture Squad showed that Jack, Ruckus and Jigsaw, despite similar styles, would work as a team and be able to hang with the other major stables that featured more diversity, particularly the most successful stable to that point, the NRC.
75. Colt Cabana and Nigel McGuinness vs. The Briscoes – Fifth Year Festival: New York City
Great story told here. The Briscoes were a superior team, but Nigel and Colt, Main Eventers, were better wrestlers. Could Nigel and Colt manage to figure out their teamwork’s timing and use their superior technical skill to beat Jay and Mark? Well, they managed it, but it was a close call as Nigel was extremely close to suffering the springboard Doomsday Device. They knocked the hell out of each other in this one while telling a great story that didn’t drag. A bit of time and more clearly establishing that Jay and Mark were working heel here would have had this at ****.
74. Takeshi Morishima vs. Roderick Strong – Domination
To this point in his NRC run, Roderick was the consummate heel, putting away his backbreakers and chops for the most part, while antagonizing the crowd. This match, however, Roderick broke out every trick he had in an intense, stiff battle where he took it to the champion. Roderick took his intensity to nearly impossible heights, attacking Morishima viciously, but ineffectively. The crowd was dead after Danielson vs. McGuinness, but this brought them back to life by its intensity.
73. Matt Sydal vs. Claudio Castagnoli – Driven
This match gets nowhere near the attention it deserves. It’s better than Claudio’s encounter in ROH with Quackenbush and truly shows Claudio is the definitive big man to put in a match against a high flier to get a great match. The match featured Claudio using his striking and power to dominate, while Sydal kept the pace up and so stayed in the match. Claudio wasn’t up to par there, but he was too strong to go down quietly. These two were major opponents when the Kings of Wrestling lost the tag titles to Sydal and Daniels, so when Sydal went for a similar counter, Claudio was prepared and, without touching the mat, rolled through for a win.
72. Takeshi Morishima vs. Kevin Steen – ROH World Championship – Honor Nation
Morishima matches had followed a format up until here, but he had been gradually weakening, until this match totally broke from the format. Steen absolutely took it to Morishima here, becoming the first man to stand toe to toe physically and actually dominate the beast. Steen’s combination of speed, power, and unpredictability (he broke out a sharpshooter!) kept Morishima on his heels, but due to his incredible size, Morishima was still able to stay alive, and ultimately, Steen would not prove as resilient.
71. Nigel McGuinness and Takeshi Morishima vs. Samoa Joe and Homicide – Fifth Year Festival: Chicago
Morishima was invading from Japan and Nigel urged he be treated with respect. Joe resented this and so wanted to beat the hell out of both Morishima and Nigel, while Homicide had issue with Morishima, who had taken his world title. The face team was on fire in Joe’s last U.S. ROH appearance, but Nigel knew Joe had a target on his back and so continually attacked him brutally, trying to steal Joe’s thunder on his last ROH appearance. Morishima was still unstoppable at this point and continued to show that, leaving much of Joe and Homicide’s offense wasted, while they were worn down for Nigel’s strike.
70. Austin Aries vs. Matt Sydal – Open the Brave Gate – Fifth Year Festival: Dayton
Dayton is a severely underrated show, as Aries and Sydal, former stable-mates in Generation Next, did war here with Sydal having the upper hand as a Dragon Gate champion, for the first time. Sydal was a bit cocky due to his new status of favorite, so Aries attempted to wipe the smirk off his face. This aggressiveness would be his own undoing as Sydal showed he could fight from behind and stole the victory.
69. BJ Whitmer vs. Jimmy Jacobs – Falls Count Anywhere – Fifth Year Festival: Finale
Another underrated match from this underrated show. BJ and Jacobs had a memorable brawl throughout the Liverpool arena here, notably with Whitmer continually overpowering Jacobs, so Jimmy stepped up the brutality until he was able to match BJ. This is the perfect primer to the feud and the suicidal stunts these two pulled before the blowoff.
68. Matt Sydal vs. Delirous – 2 out of 3 falls – Fifth Year Festival: Liverpool
This match is all but forgotten for no good reason. Sydal and Delirious, long time rivals, had their best match in years at this show, with each countering everything the other threw at them and showing new twists to old offense. It’s a shame they never got the main event time they needed for the classic that was sure to come from them, but this is the closest we get, and it is a testament to how good these two are together that it managed to be this good.
67. Briscoes vs. Jimmy Jacobs and Necro Butcher in a Tag Title Street Fight – Glory by Honor VI Night 2
The public backlash against the Briscoes began here. The crowd really wanted this match and it featured four of the best, if not the four best brawlers on the roster, so when they went at it in a wild affair, the crowd went wild. Despite many fun spots, the Briscoes escaped it all with a hard fought victory. The crowd was not remotely as pleased as expected, regardless of how over the Briscoes were, but that aside, the brawl and spots were top notch and Jacobs showed he can absolutely hang with at the top of the card and deliver.
66. Austin Aries, Roderick Strong and Jack Evans vs. Shingo, Davey Richards and Delirious – Battle of the Icons
The last time the main Generation Next guys would team together proved to be, as always with this trio, a memorable spotfest. Here they were put against guys who matched them in style and stature and so had a very good battle that would fit into the later part of the year beautifully due to faction warfare, but is often overlooked due to the crap on the rest of the card. Aries, Strong and Evans remain the best ever on the ROH roster at this type of match. This is your only 2007 and maybe last chance ever to see why.
65. Takeshi Morishima vs. Nigel McGuinness – ROH World Championship – Live in Tokyo
This match was strangely put together. Nigel worked the arm early, a lot, and it meant nothing. They threw out stiff strikes and fighting spirit like they were candy on Halloween. The match was, put simply, a bit of a trainwreck. So why is it number 66? Somehow, the match worked. Main eventing in Japan, the crowd treated it legitimately and they did everything to keep the crowd from falling out of it for even a moment. They built their offense to the point where they had to kill each other to finish and then they did and the crowd ate it up. Nigel showed NOAH here he was worthy of the push he is now receiving.
64. Briscoes vs. Kings of Wrestling – 2 out of 3 Falls ROH World Tag Title – Domination
This was quite a bit more story oriented than one would expect, with the fight over the giant spin, of all things, taking up a good portion of the match. The Kings looked great, trying all their old tricks, but their team work was rusty and no match for the Briscoes. Unfortunately, once the Briscoes one the first fall, this became quite anticlimactic, but if the obvious ending doesn’t bother you, these are two of the best teams of the decade going at it in a good, smart match.
63. Roderick Strong vs. Jack Evans – All Star Extravaganza III
Jack and Roddy had their first ROH match on the big stage of Wrestlemania weekend. The match was all Roddy destroying Jack and stretching him with Jack making flashy comebacks. The selling on these was lacking but the match was still great fun and a memorable assault on poor Jack’s back.
62. Briscoes and Marufuji vs. Matt Sydal, Aoki, and Ricky Marvin – Live in Tokyo
There was a lot going on in this awesome, awesome spotfest. Sydal continued his quest to prove himself as an elite tag worker, while Aoki, the rookie, carried most of the match, taking his lumps and returning them in impressive fashion. Marvin has amazing chemistry with the Briscoes and the spots they pull off are spectacular. The Briscoes, meanwhile, are intent on showing up Sydal, a tag rival and Marvin, who defeated them for the GHC Tag Titles. Aoki, unfortunately is in everyone’s way and spends a ton of time having the piss kicked out of him for it. Marufuji is, simply put, the man. See this. Whether you get the full story or not, it’s too fun and quick to not enjoy.
61. Naomichi Marufuji vs. El Generico – Motor City Madness 2007
This was really fun. These two guys didn’t go out to have a classic, but to mix comedy with great wrestling and they accomplished that in spades. Marfuji showed a fun loving side here, but when Generico took it up a notch, Marufuji had to really step up his offense to avoid the upset. Surprising in the context they placed it, but still a great match.
60. Nigel McGuinness vs. Bryan Danielson – Survival of the Fittest
It is a testament to these two’s chemistry that even though everyone knew this was going to a time limit draw, they still had a great match that kept the crowd at the edge of their seat. They go at it, slowly increasing the desperation to get the win as time clicks away.
59. Briscoes vs. Steen and Generico – ROH Tag Titles – Caged Rage
This was short and intense, featuring a good use of strategy by Steen and Generico. By this point, Steenerico knew the Briscoes double teams were deadly, but they had the advantage one on one, so they used the cage to keep the Briscoes separated, double teaming when possible. This failed to pay off, as the strategy backfired when the Briscoes showed their perseverance.
58. Roderick Strong and Davey Richards vs. Jack Evans and Delirious – Fighting Spirit
Tag formula is very commonly used because it works. Here we have a hugely underrated match because of the other two amazing ones on the card, where Jack and Delirious take a wicked beating by the hated heels and get wildly over in the process. The flashy, fun comeback destroys the heels, despite their best attempts to cut off the faces and rob them of their revenge. Great stuff.
57. Homicide vs. Jimmy Rave – ROH World Championship – Fifth Year Festival: NYC
This is a strange one, but really shows how great Rave can be. Jimmy was beaten and battered by Homicide who was inexplicably working heel. Rave managed to perfect his timing, going for every major move he’s ever used, even breaking out the second rope Styles Clash out of desperation. Homicide was just too tough in his hometown and his superior brawling allowed him to get the win in his last successful title defense.
56. Roderick Strong vs. Shingo vs. Claudio Castagnoli vs. Mark Briscoe vs. Matt Cross vs. Pelle Primeau – Fifth Year Festival: Dayton
This is among the best 6-man mayhem matches ever in ROH. This huge spotfest was held together by Strong, Shingo and Claudio being superb springboards for the spots of the others involved. Pelle and Cross were particularly impressive here as the action never slowed for a second.
55. Bryan Danielson, Austin Aries, Matt Sydal and Mark Briscoe vs. Nigel McGuinness, Roderick Strong, Delirious, and Jay Briscoe – $10,000 Challenge Elimination – Race to the Top Night 2
This is the single most fun match of the year. Nigel selected his team entirely to piss of Dragon and suffered the consequences of his actions, by getting destroyed here. Mark and Jay Briscoe had the opportunity to put blood over money and had their memorable sequence of destruction. Strong and Delirious got to show their hate for one another, while Aries and Sydal were consummate professionals, despite Danielson’s childish attempts to take the glory from Nigel, as he was so used to doing.
54. Bryan Danielson vs. Austin Aries vs. Chris Hero vs. Takeshi Morishima – Final Battle 2007
This was for the number 1 contendership. The first half of this was all about Morishima looking strong, while Danielson showed he hated him. White this went on Hero opportunistically picked apart Danielson and Aries. This eventually pissed off Morishima who was doing all the real work. He destroyed Hero, leaving him alone to be dismantled by Aries and Danielson. Hero then went after Aries, trying to isolate him from Danielson, but again, fell short, having no one left on his side. The end felt like a big deal here as Aries and Danielson tore into each other. Danielson proved the better man here, getting the win and the title shot.
53. Roderick Strong vs. Erick Stevens – Man Up
A stiff war where Strong showed Stevens why he was still ahead of him on the card. The finale of the best of three between the NRC and Resilience, the leader of the NRC was not about to lose to a Resilience underling here if he could help it. He could barely help it and just couldn’t finish Stevens, with only the super splash mountain getting Stevens worn down enough to stay down.
52. Chris Hero vs. Claudio Castagnoli – Manhattan Mayhem 2
Claudio destroyed Hero here. Hero proved to maybe be the superior wrestler and fighter, but lacked the focus to truly take it to his driven opponent. Claudio knew Hero too well for the shenanigans of Hero to work and eventually these reversals lead to the Ricolla Bomb and Hero proving the lesser King of Wrestling. It’s a shame none of the rematches lived up to this level of hatred.
51. Roderick Strong vs. Erick Stevens – FIP Title Match – Final Battle 2007
Strong again dominated here, but Stevens had to prove he could be a force here and destroy the NRC leader. Stevens was again beat down, but this time fought back more frequently and when he found his opening, destroyed Strong to take the FIP belt. In seemingly traditional manner now, Stevens had his name chanted post match in honor of the beating he took.
50. Rocky Romero vs. Naomichi Marufuji – Respect is Earned
Marufuji made this into a great match. Much of the match was spent with Marufuji working over the leg. Romero, when he came back, failed to sell it at all, so Marufuji turned up the speed, making it apparent Romero was slowed, and so took the victory.
49. BJ Whitmer vs. Brent Albright –Tables are Legal Match – Fifth Year Festival: NYC
Whitmer and Albright went into this match as two big men in need of a convincing win to move up the card. They both attempted to destroy each other using bigger and better ways to smash each other through tables, but ultimately the winner isn’t what’s remembered, it’s the star presence displayed by Albright, who came off looking like gold in his first memorable ROH match.
48. Briscoes vs. Steen and Generico – 2 out of 3 Falls ROH Tag Titles – Manhattan Mayhem 2
Four guys who hate each other, attack each other full force, as hard as they can. Steen and Generico could in no way put the Briscoes down, despite many insane spots, yet the Briscoes managed to keep their opponents down for two straight in what surely felt like a convincing feud ender.
47. Austin Aries, Erick Stevens, Matt Cross and Delirious vs. Roderick Strong, Rocky Romero, Davey Richards and Matt Sydal – Street Fight – Death before Dishonor V Night 2
How no one was badly injured here I’ll never know. This was a wild brawl throughout the building that surely dragged a big, but is kept impressive by some insanely suicidal spots by Cross that must be seen to be believed and an incredible beating taken by Stevens who came out looking like a star in defeat. This is where his name was first chanted.
46. Briscoes vs. Chris Daniels and Matt Sydal – ROH Tag Titles – Fifth Year Festival: Chicago
Daniels and Sydal were kind of lame duck champions at this point with Daniels busy with TNA and Sydal with Dragon Gate. This was a bit slow, but built quite well to both teams doing everything for the title, having shown that they are worthy competitors and holding nothing back. Ultimately, Daniels and Sydal cannot hold a candle to the Briscoes in team work and so lose the belts.
45. Davey Richards vs. Marufuji – Final Battle 2007
This was great with payoffs for everything early on, from mat wrestling to speed and counters, although I’d like to see more done with the legwork. This is the Davey Richards that was hyped coming into ROH and is his best singles match since Joe earlier in the year. When he can do this consistently, he should be in singles as a face at the top of the card. Marufuji is probably the most useful foreigner to the cards as a whole since main events will be great with or without NOAH talent. Marufuji adds great matches to the midcard and elevates talent like Davey every time he’s asked to.
44. Austin Aries vs. Roderick Strong – Supercard of Honor 2
This had been long anticipated as a match from when they were partners to when they hated each other. Aries had early answers for Strong’s attacks, but no later answers for the back work of Strong who made him pass out. Interestingly, even though they hated each other at this point, they chose to go for a “who is better†match, apparently answered with Strong.
43. Briscoes vs. Shingo and Susumu Yokosuka –ROH Tag Team Championship – Live in Osaka
This continues the story told at Fifth Year Festival: Liverpool as Shingo is kryptonite to the Briscoes, so everything they do to him, he counters. They are then left to try and focus on Yokosuka before Shingo can destroy them, and amazingly they manage to wear down and beat Yokosuka in a great match by slowing the pace to keep Shingo out of the ring.
42. CIMA, Marufuji and Danielson vs. Davey Richards, Rocky Romero and Masaaki Mochizuki – Live in Osaka
The NRC and their honorary member go after the Aces of Dragon Gate, NOAH and ROH. This works out about as well for the NRC as you’d expect but is really fun in the process, particularly seeing the faces join together.
41. Samoa Joe vs. Davey Richards – Fifth Year Festival: Dayton
This was just stiff. The young gun vs. cocky vet story was given a very good twist here with Davey, the young guy, becoming more and more dirty as the match went on to try and counter Joe. They managed to build everything here up to the climax of the match without selling short the fact that they were literally beating the hell out of each other. Davey, although he lost, came out looking great, while Joe, of course, learned to respect the upstart, even if he did cheat to try and beat Joe”¦ after all, in an interesting and famous bit of ROH history, Joe once did the same against Punk in the third match of their trilogy.
40. Claudio Castagnoli vs. El Generico – Race to the Top Night 2
The finale of the tournament featured two guys doing everything to make it to the main event of ROH cards. As such both men hit each other with every sick move they could, but just could not find the three count. The rematch has a ton to live up to and this really went into overkill, but it made sense and was pushed to the very height of tension.
39. Mike Quackenbush vs. Bryan Danielson – Death Before Dishonor V Night 2
Quack and Danielson is an indy dream match and here they lived up to the hype for a lesser match. This is among the better mat based matches of the year and though both men respect each other, Danielson is willing to go further to get the win, which proves the difference in a match that had the crowd buzzing intently.
38. Nigel McGuinness vs. Chris Hero vs. Claudio Castagnoli vs. Mike Quackenbush – A Fight at the Roxbury
Everyone here has interesting chemistry, Quack as a rival of both Claudio and Hero, Hero and Claudio being a team the next night to fight for the tag titles, and Nigel with his hatred for Hero and old rivalry with Claudio. Quack is wildly over, so kept away from McGuinness, while the former Kings of Wrestling attempt to work as a team. Quack and Claudio have a phenomenal sequence in here as well. Everything is present for this, the top four way of 2007.
37. Briscoes vs. Jimmy Jacobs and Tyler Black – ROH Tag Titles – Final Battle 2007
Standard Briscoe fare, but the stakes were higher, so the moves were bigger. Black took a ridiculous Doomsday Device from the apron to the floor and the Briscoes managed to be the first to escape the Guillotine Choke. Eventually the tag titles finally changed hands as a Super Contra Code lead to a Tyler Phoenix Splash.
36. Marufuji vs. Claudio Castagnoli – Glory by Honor VI Night 2
Up until here Marufuji had been underestimating ROH talent and turning it up when needed. Claudio is an expert against guys who can turn it up a notch on speed and so managed to use the rest of his physical tools to score a huge upset in a great match.
35. Steen, Generico and Delirious vs. Pearce, Whitmer and Albright – Tables are Legal – Final Battle 2007
This was just beautiful. This began with the faces shining and Bushwacker Luke using Delirious as a battering ram on the heels. Luke, Generico and Delirious did the Bushwacker walk to a huge pop. Steen thought it was stupid but joined in after a good licking and the place exploded.
The match got serious after that, as the heels managed to work over Generico as a face in peril through much of the match, leading into the awesome face comeback spots. As Hagadorn tried to interfere, Pelle Primeau returned, hitting a hurricanrana from the second rope through a table on the floor.
The comebacks are constantly cut short, but are brutal when they succeed. Eventually Delirious is left in the ring with Pearce and after Hagadorn, finally up, interferes, he takes a Piledriver from the top through a table. That gets three.
This worked out better than it had any right to by putting a workable structure around all the crazy spots. This is the match to see from Final Battle 2007. Steen and Generico are absolutely awesome at their roles.
34. Austin Aries vs. Takeshi Morishima – ROH World Championship – Battle of Saint Paul
Very good big man to little man dynamic here and the play off of Aries beating Joe was equally well done. A bit more on the hope spots by Aries when Morishima controlled early would have made this better, but it’s still an excellent match. This kept Aries strong as a bit better rope placement on the 450 and he could have had the victory.
33. Takeshi Morishima vs. Brent Albright – ROH World Championship – Death Before Dishonor V Night 2
Albright was able to control Morishima with arm work and when he felt Morishima was suitably worn down went to the big power moves. Morishima wasn’t as worn down as Albright thought and so he got killed. Albright sold particularly well here, but really should have done something with the arm work or put on a more efficient power display early. Still, this has the single best near fall of the year and is awesome for making a mid-carder seem a star.
32. Nigel McGuinness vs. Chris Hero – Glory by Honor VI Night 1
Nigel was hurt so when Hero demanded a title match and Nigel was forced to accept, it was thought that this had to be a title change. Turns out that Hero got his submission with Nigel’s feet in the ropes and so two minutes after the restart, Nigel got Hero to submit. Great match, great booking.
31. Takeshi Morishima vs. Shingo – ROH World Championship – Good Times, Great Memories
What do you get when two beastly Japanese superstars absolutely destroy each other, never giving an inch? You get a great, fun match.
30. Mitsuharu Misawa and KENTA vs. Marufuji and Morishima – Glory by Honor VI Night 1
It amazes me that this was 30 minutes as it felt maybe 10. Misawa’s first American trip in decades was a success based just on how well this match flowed. KENTA with his ring work and Marufuji with his silly personality helped keep this moving and the time limit draw was disappointing, but in the context of “It’s Misawa in a ROH RING!†it’s really not that big of a drawback.
29. Briscoes vs. Claudio and Sydal – ROH Tag Titles – Respect is Earned
The Briscoes, Claudio, and Sydal went balls to the wall and stole the show. All four men pulled out never before seen stuff and had the entire audience doing double takes. The match was actually built as innovation vs. tag prowess, but Sydal and Claudio’s inexperience lead to their innovative offense not being enough to beat a well oiled team like the Briscoes.
28. Steen and Generico vs. Quackenbush and Jigsaw – Domination
Thought to be a squash to build Steen and Generico, these four put on an incredible match. Steen and Quackenbush worked the crowd amazingly, while these teams put on the epitome of tag formula without going overkill in a satisfying match. This is among most who see it’s favorites of the year.
27. Briscoes vs. Steen and Generico – Fifth Year Festival: Philly
DVD doesn’t do this justice, but this match followed the same format as the one before, except they actually went overkill and just kept going higher and higher into each team’s repertoire with great near falls and awesome work from all involved. This got Steen and Generico a job, with good reason.
26. Team ROH vs. Team Dragon Gate – All Star Extravaganza III
This match was a showcase of talent. Everyone involved got to play their own role and be innovative. The company pride was at stake for each team and everyone, while hitting their spots, got to show how badly they wanted. Like any featured Dragon Gate match, the innovation factor was high.
25. Nigel McGuinness and KENTA vs. Morishima and Danielson – Respect is Earned
Nigel hates Dragon and respects Morishima. Danielson has a heated, respectful rivalry with KENTA and Morishima and KENTA hate each other. This match was about Danielson eliminating McGuinness from title contention but KENTA getting in his way while McGuinness tried to kill Dragon with his new lariats, but Morishima was in his way and Danielson had it scouted. KENTA wanted to smash Morishima, but Danielson was out to prove Glory by Honor V Night 2 was no fluke, and so he managed to hurt Nigel and beat KENTA, showing him to be a major star.
24. Nigel McGuinness and Bryan Danielson vs. Marufuji and Morishima – United We Stand
This one had Nigel desperately trying to prove himself against two guys he’s never beaten while Danielson was just showing himself worthy of a title shot. This was structured like the Respect is Earned match, but lacked a few sloppy spots the prior match had and so is just a notch better.
23. Colt Cabana vs. Jimmy Jacobs – Street Fight – Fifth Year Festival: Chicago
Jacobs and Cabana really went all out here and bled more than I’ve ever seen any two wrestlers bleed in a singles match, especially without a cage being involved. The spots were crazy, the violence was insane, and they still managed to tell their story. The added emotional investment of the storyline and the telling of said story in the ring makes this a true standout and coming out party for Jacobs as an elite brawler. With the brilliant Lacey-Jacobs-Cabana love story behind it, this was a great, heated match.
22. Bryan Danielson vs. Takeshi Morishima – Glory by Honor VI Night 2
Danielson tries to kill Morishima for attempting to blind him intentionally in their last encounter. When Danielson figures that he can’t just slug Morishima to death, he begins a series of low blows to draw the DQ but earn his payback on Morishima in a truly evil manner.
21. Nigel McGuinness vs. Samoa Joe – Fifth Year Festival: Liverpool
This match started with an amazing story as Nigel’s new lariat based offense was too much for Joe and paid it off with Joe eventually having to just outright try and kill Nigel because he couldn’t stop him any other way. Nigel got to retain heat by coming back again after that and having to be killed dead a second time before he finally lost the match. This is high drama with Nigel refusing to lose against a long time rival in their last meeting. This is a major match for Nigel and marks his full transition from his old move set, with his arm submission based offense, to his new lariat based offense.
20. Nigel McGuinness vs. Jimmy Rave – Fight without Honor – Fifth Year Festival: Finale
Well, these two had major heat over respect. Rave continually tried to break Nigel’s leg while Nigel tried to take Rave’s head off with lariats and other high impact moves. Nigel actually broke Rave’s jaw here and when breaking a bone before your opponent can break yours is the blow off to a feud, you know you have something special. Nigel had nearly had his ankle broken and was made to tap regularly by Rave. He got his revenge here, and then some.
19. CIMA, Susumu Yokosuka & Shingo vs. Dragon Kid, Ryo Saito & Masaaki Mochizuki – Supercard of Honor 2
There’s crazy spotfests and then there’s crazy spotfests. Last year’s Supercard of Honor Dragon Gate Six Man was a ***** that came out of nowhere. This years wasn’t as good, but it was a very different match and still excellent. The lack of the surprise factor here hurts the match a bit, as does the familiarity of the audience with the workers and what they do at this point, but the Dragon Gate guys are still basically the high point in the world when it comes to crazy spotfests. Put simply, sometimes high expectations are more difficult to deal with than no expectations. That this match had such high expectation and no one complained even though they did a totally different match speaks volumes about the quality of match here.
18. Briscoes vs. Doi and Shingo – ROH Tag Title Match – Fifth Year Festival: Liverpool
If this isn’t the epitome of tag wrestling, it’s damn close. The Briscoes spent the match trying to take apart Shingo who wouldn’t stay down, but the fresh Doi managed to do severe damage to both the Briscoes. By the time Jay and Mark realized they had to take out Doi because Shingo wouldn’t stay down, attacking Doi allowed Shingo to rest long enough to finish them. The storytelling at this pace is absolutely amazing.
17. Samoa Joe vs. Takeshi Morishima – Fifth Year Festival: NYC
Joe and Morishima are behemoths. Joe was preparing to leave ROH, the place where he was the monster and made his name. Morishima is coming in on Joe’s territory and he and his fellow NOAH wrestlers are running roughshod over the promotion with KENTA defeating most of the roster and only suffering one loss and Marufuji successfully defending the GHC belt on a ROH show. Joe was pissed and when these two got in the ring to settle it, they just crushed each other. Joe would not and could not let the new behemoth on the block steal his thunder as he was leaving the company. He couldn’t let Morishima, beast though he is, take what Joe worked so hard to build. But he could also barely hurt Morishima. Want to see Joe go all out with a man who might be bigger, stronger and even faster than he is? Here’s your match. Joe shows here why he is so tough as he just guts out a big win.
16. Jay Briscoe vs. Mark Briscoe
Jay and Mark Briscoe lost the tag titles due to some shoddy strategy and in typical Briscoe fashion, decide they’ve gone soft and need to toughen each other up. To do so they beat the living hell out of each other in the second match from the Fifth Year Festival Finale to make this part of the list. I actually lowered this a quarter star, mostly on the feel that this is an amazing match, but not quite memorable enough to be one step below perfection. That isn’t to say that it isn’t fantastic. Jay and Mark beat the living hell out of each other. Every sick move in each man’s arsenal is nailed on each other and they don’t hold back at all. This is two guys killing each other to make themselves stronger and is a violent spectacle. That this is out of brotherly love just makes it sicker.
15. Takeshi Morishima vs. Nigel McGuinness – Fighting Spirit
Nigel and Morishima are, to this point, friends, but, of course, the title trumps all such considerations. Nigel’s been at the cusp of winning the World Title for the better part of a year and here he gets a shot where he likely can’t unseat the behemoth, but there is a legitimate long shot chance of a title change. These are two heavyweights and they hit each other hard. Nigel, sick of coming up short, comes up with interesting new maneuvers and variations on the old. Dealing with Morishima’s size is a constant challenge and Morishima consistently crushes Nigel beneath him. The finish of this match is hot. Knowing Nigel really probably wouldn’t win the entire crowd still exploded for the near falls. Really, great stuff here.
14. Bryan Danielson vs. Austin Aries – Honor Nation
The first in the best of three is a pure mat wrestling masterpiece. Aries shows that he can still step up and still has Danielson’s number countering many of Danielson’s spots and waiting for the perfect time to unleash his high impact offense into, surprisingly, his new submission which Danielson had no answer for. This is the best mat wrestling of the year with ease.
13. Bryan Danielson vs. Go Shiozaki – Live in Tokyo
This is old school storytelling perfection. Go is a young gun trying to prove himself to Danielson and ROH. Doing so he shows he can hang on the mat and physically with Danielson, but Dragon HATES strong chops like Go’s so he destroys Go’s arm. Go can compete on the mat and by using his power, but one armed, he can’t win this way, so he goes to his other arm and takes it to Dragon. Dragon begins to sense the match slip away and turns it up a notch, barely escaping without a loss to young Shiozaki. The crowd simply didn’t care at first but totally marked out by the finish. That’s a match! It’s in my top five favorites of the year.
12. Briscoes vs. Steen and Generico – ROH Tag Titles – Ladder War – Man Up
The Briscoes and Steenerico really, really do insane things to each other with ladders. For a long time. That’s pretty much the whole match. It’s quite the spectacle.
11. Jay Briscoe and Erick Stevens vs. Kevin Steen and El Generico
This is one of the best booked matches I’ve ever seen. Jay hates Steen at this point for attacking Mark even though Mark had a bad concussion so he goes after him every chance he gets. Erick Stevens, Mark’s fill in, gets over by looking in place with the high bar these guys set, until the guys he’s feuding with, the No Remorse Corps, take him out with a powerbomb into the guardrail. From there it’s Jay alone against Steen and Generico and he fights back valiantly, but has no hope. Eventually Mark emerges from the crowd and the timing leading to the hot tag is built to absolutely perfectly. Mark’s timing here is great and his selling is phenomenal with every shot to the head looking like it might seriously injure him. When Steen finished Mark he truly comes off looking evil. What a great in ring story. This match told possibly the best story I’ve ever seen and was tag wrestling at it’s finest. The booking was superb and everything built to the horrible package piledriver and brainbuster which seemingly killed Mark. Without an ounce of blood these guys made it seem more like Mark Briscoe was in serious danger.
10. Mitsuharu Misawa vs. KENTA – GHC Match – Glory by Honor VI Night 2
Misawa busts out a great performance, his first in a long time and maybe his last ever in NYC to defend his belt. KENTA has a junior match for the ages, going against the man who founded his company, he gives everything to come up inches short. Wow.
9. The Briscoes vs. Murder City Machine Guns – ROH World Tag Team Championship
Most have this higher, but their inconsistency in telling the story and just how far overkill they go detracts from me for this match. The length also tends to lose some newer fans. This was a long, fast paced tag match designed to establish these as the best two teams in the world. To do that, both teams get double teams regularly, both get heat segments, and both kick out of unbelievable pinning combinations. It takes awhile but the Briscoes get that deadly finish barely before the MCMG have a chance to.
8. Bryan Danielson vs. Takeshi Morishima – ROH World Championship – Man Up
After Morishima broke Danielson’s eye socket and dislocated his retina, Danielson came back far too soon for a rematch. Morishima vowed to not go after it and win with honor. Danielson, however, was now more driven than before when he took Morishima to the limit, and took it to the beast with amazing skill. Morishima was, for the first time unable to really control an opponent for any amount of time. Desperate, Morishima attacked the eye until the ref stopped it. This was high drama.
7. Takeshi Morishima vs. Claudio Castagnoli – ROH World Championship Match – Death before Dishonor V Night 1
So Claudio was built with the Race to the Top Tournament and got a shot at the title. Morishima was rested and ready to rumble at this point. Claudio came in trying to use his power to keep Morishima down, but he couldn’t so Morishima squashed him. Claudio then went to the speed to set up the power and had a huge amount of success. The hope spots that were these speed moves were brilliantly timed. Claudio’s power moves turned out to not immediately be enough to put Morishima down and hitting them on the larger man wore him down so much that he never got a second attempt and Morishima was able to put him away. The atmosphere was off the hook and Claudio timed everything to look like a conquering hero, but this monster would not stay down.
6. Bryan Danielson vs. Austin Aries – Glory by Honor VI Night 1
Aries and Danielson’s third match in their series is often overlooked as a great, but it’s still one of the best of the year. Neither man is too intent on mat wrestling, Aries because he fell to a small package in match 2, and Danielson because it set up too much trouble for him in match one, so instead both men try and go with moves that worked in match 1 and 2. Both men have many counters on hand for these moves and as they cycle through them, it becomes a who will make a big mistake first scenario. Danielson, it turns out is that man, as he has clearly prepared for Aries new submission at the expense of worrying over the Brainbuster and 450, so that ends up being his undoing in a fast, cerebral match.
5. The Briscoes vs. Kevin Steen and El Generico – Street Fight – Death before Dishonor V Night 1
These two teams hated each other by this point and their intensity is unrivalled. Generico as the good guy who is bullied by Steen into hurting the Briscoes is great here as both Steen and Generico often seem like they don’t know what they got themselves into. The arena they brawl through manages to keep the Briscoes separated, giving Steen and Generico the advantage they need to steal the win, but not before one of the best, most violent, and bloodiest ECW style brawls ever.
4. Bryan Danielson vs. KENTA – Driven
Okay, first know that this was slow and these guys basically eschewed all major spots, telling their story mostly with the basics and kicking the shit out of each other, but oh- what a story.
In their early encounters, Danielson would wrestle a regular match in which KENTA would simply match him before using a big strike to knock Danielson out. Their big title match occurred right after Danielson hurt his shoulder, so KENTA spent much of the match attacking that, not the head, and the big move, the Go to Sleep, wasn’t enough to put Danielson away as a result. That combined with Danielson, wounded and dangerous, deciding that since his offense wasn’t enough decided to borrow liberally from previous opponents offense. In this way Danielson was successful in the defense.
In this match, Danielson, cocky as always and undefeated since his return, went back to his basic offense, just adding new twists. This was effective and he controlled much of the match. KENTA this time, however, didn’t stray from his strategy of trying to knock Danielson out. Danielson actually hurt his right shoulder in the middle of this match and KENTA all but ignored it, knowing that it cost him the title in their first singles encounter. Danielson, this time, attacked all the limbs of KENTA, trying to wear down the striking power, but in the end, he couldn’t do it enough. KENTA is stronger and faster and when he stuck to his strategy and didn’t go off attacking any limbs, but stuck with the knockout blows, his offense managed to pay off before Danielson’s wear and tear attack. Great stuff.
3. BJ Whitmer vs. Jimmy Jacobs – Cage Match – Supercard of Honor 2
It’s one of the best blow offs to a long standing feud ever. Remember when Tully and Magnum tried to cripple each other? It’s about as good as that. This feud was violent and insane to begin with and they took it to all new levels in this without taking away any of the storytelling and drama. They beat each other with spikes and chairs and a barbed wire bat. They use storytelling with power vs. speed and analyze the descent into madness that Jacobs has been suffering due to Lacey throughout the match. Nigel and Morishima is amazing quality. This is amazing quality with months of specific, emotional build seen only on the rarest of occasions. This is the perfect way to end a feud.
2. Nigel McGuinness vs. Bryan Danielson – Driven
So close to ***** it hurts. Every move was fought over from the start so everything counted, adding a layer of desperation. Danielson’s attack was focused here. He wasted nothing, attacking the back and head. Nigel had a fighting chance early, hitting Danielson with a lot of big moves, but big moves leave big openings and Danielson wore out Nigel, hurting the back badly. That ultimately hurt Nigel badly, as Danielson was able to beat on a near helpless Nigel until the desperation Tower of London finally evened things up a bit. From there it was Danielson’s counters to Nigel’s strikes that told the story, and Nigel was so worn out that Danielson, even taking it to Nigel with strikes, won the headbut exchange and was able to lock in his major maneuvers in a series (with a struggle, of course) to earn the victory. There is a point after Nigel hurts his back where he doesn’t sell it for a few minutes. This is the only small flaw in an otherwise perfect match. Damn near the Match of the Year.
1. Takeshi Morishima vs. Bryan Danielson – ROH World Championship – Manhattan Mayhem 2
Danielson came into this match the first man ready to use the strategy of moving around quickly and attacking Morishima’s legs. This worked fairly well until Morishima caught him and broke his eye. Danielson wouldn’t stay down though and eventually the leg work took Morishima down. Once on the mat Danielson tried everything he had to keep Morishima down, from leg locks, to the elbows, to the triangle choke and Cattle Mutilation. Morishima wouldn’t stay down, doubtless in part because of the injury sapping Danielson’s strength and so managed to kill him with a backdrop driver.
This is amazingly close to perfect. Danielson did everything right here, from taking a wicked beating to staying focused in his attack. Nothing he did would take Morishima out though, and Morishima aggressively, knowing his title was hanging by a thread, fought back constantly. This is perfect storytelling, pacing, and psychology, with the atmosphere being absolutely off the hook and everyone left with the feeling that Danielson had Morishima’s number. The distance between this and Nigel vs. Danielson is miniscule but enough to barely outstrip it due to how unique and realistic feeling this match was.
Whew, that’s it for this week. See you next for more Ring of Honor Weekly and check back this weekend for coverage from Boston and Philadephia.
