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February 5, 2013
Long before Christopher Daniels became a Bad Influence on the TNA roster, he was the biggest heel in the early days of Ring of Honor. In 2002, ROH was laser focused on the Code of Honor, which included shaking hands with your opponent before and after each match. Daniels immediately eschewed that concept and got tons of heat for doing so. The new two-disc DVD set “Christopher Daniels: The Fallen Angel” showcases Daniels’ biggest matches and moments through the first 100 ROH shows.
The DVD starts fittingly enough with the main event of the first-ever ROH show, The Era of Honor Begins. Daniels stepped into the ring with Bryan Danielson and Low Ki for a triple-threat match that wowed the audience at the Murphy Rec Center and propelled ROH to the forefront of the Independent Wrestling Scene. Ki pulled off the win that night in a tremendous match, but ROH was on the map. To try and top it at the second show, ROH introduced The Round Robin Challenge concept. Daniels bested Danielson in the opening match but then fell to Ki later in the show. All three men finished the series at 1-1, muddying the waters about who the top talent 1in ROH really was.
Daniels continued to battle the best, and took on West Coast mainstay Donovan Morgan at A Night of Appreciation. Morgan picked up a surprising win, and after the match Daniels showed Morgan his respect and the two formed a unit. They were entered into the initial ROH Tag Team Title tournament, and were able to defeat The SAT, Dick Togo & Ikuto Hidaka, and Bryan Danielson & Michael Modest in one night to become the first Champions at Unscripted. Daniels and Morgan were joined by Samoa Joe for their first title defense in a great six-man tag team match against Low Ki, Homicide, and Doug Williams at All-Star Extravaganza, the only time the belts have been on the line in a six-man tag in ROH history.
Speaking of Doug Williams, he was a major thorn in Daniels’ side. The two first met in the main event of Glory By Honor, with the stipulation that if Daniels won Williams would not be allowed to shake hands, and if Williams won Daniels would have to shake hands. Daniels got the win that night and Williams felt the shame of not being allowed to shake hands. They had a rematch several months later at Night of the Champions, with both Daniels’ FWA World Title and the ROH Number One Contender’s Trophy at stake. Williams avenged his earlier loss and won both the title and the Trophy in an excellent contest.
Daniels continued to pursue the ROH World Title, now held by Samoa Joe. He participated in Round Robin Challenge II, and with a year of experience under his belt was able to defeat both The Amazing Red and Paul London to win the Challenge. Daniels would then go on to top Xavier at Bitter Friends, Stiffer Enemies to win the #1 Contender’s Trophy. He took his title shot at Glory By Honor II and had a great match with Joe but ultimately could not wrest the title from him. Daniels closed out the year by teaming with Dan Maff to face the legendary The Great Muta & Arashi in a losing effort at Final Battle 2003. The match was not great, but the novelty of seeing Muta in an ROH ring was worth it.
In the onset of 2004, Daniels and his Prophecy of Dan Maff and BJ Whitmer were set to go to war with CM Punk and his Second City Saints of Colt Cabana and Ace Steel. The trios met in the main event of The Battle Lines Are Drawn, and after fighting to a no-contest Punk and the Saints put Daniels through a table with the Pepsi Plunge, sending Daniels out of ROH indefinitely.
It would take almost a year and a half for Daniels to make his way back to ROH. After CM Punk’s shocking World Title win over Austin Aries, Punk threatened to walk out of the company with the title. Daniels came out of the crowd to the surprise of anyone (and unfortunately wearing his wrestling gear for some reason; street clothes would have been more appropriate) and challenged Punk to put the belt on the line against him. Punk declined, but the two were clearly on a collision course.
Before Daniels could get that Title shot, he had his return match in a winning effort against Colt Cabana at Sign of Dishonor, and then dropped a fun match to the debuting Matt Hardy at Fate of an Angel. Daniels did get his shot in Philadelphia at The Homecoming, and in a pretty good match ended up going to a 60 minute draw with the Champion. After that unsuccessful conquest, Daniels turned his attention to the Pure Title but couldn’t defeat his old nemesis Samoa Joe in a title match at Night of the Grudges II.
Daniels met up with an old foe, Low Ki, in one of the first shows of the New Year, Tag Wars 2006. Just as he had done in 2002, Ki got the victory that night. In a stunning move, Daniels offered to shake Ki’s hand, but Ki was still sore over Daniels’ refusal in 2002 and would not oblige. Daniels rebounded and scored victories over Alex Shelley at Best in the World and Claudio Castagnoli at The 100th Show. After the match with Castagnoli, Daniels finally broke his embargo on shaking hands, and made history by pressing palms with the Swiss Sensation.
For full match reviews and star ratings, visit my good friend Kevin Ford at 100% Fordified.
THE PULSE
Christopher Daniels is one of the most important figures in shaping ROH during its early days, and his comebacks have always helped the product improve so he surely deserves his own DVD set (and will likely get another one too). This set does a great job highlighting his early tag team days with Donovan Morgan, his title matches with Samoa Joe, and the early classics with Bryan Danielson and Low Ki. The match quality here is remarkably high and I definitely recommend this DVD for purchase. You can pick it up at the ROH Store.
