A decade ago, an iconic championship reign finally came to its conclusion after 15 months. It spanned throughout all of 2006, and for its titleholder, is recognized by purists as an all-time classic year of individual performers in the history of the business.
As we enter 2017 and ROH’s 15th anniversary approaches soon, there continues to be debate as to what the greatest ROH Title reign is in its rich history. Many will argue for Samoa Joe; others for Nigel McGuinness; and then there’s Bryan Danielson’s run spanning from his victory at Glory By Honor IV to his defeat at Final Battle 2006.
The arguments for Joe and McGuinness are sound; like Danielson, they had reigns that spanned well beyond a full year, allowing for an impressive resume with numerous opponents and matches to gush over. Today, the argument is made once and for all that Joe and McGuinness, although absolutely tremendous holders of the ROH Title, do not measure up to what Bryan Danielson accomplished with it.
The biggest case against Joe is that for his entire time as ROH Champion in 2003, which spanned for 9 months, he never came close to providing a consensus MOTYC. It would be 8 months until he reached even a consensus great match, which is underneath a MOTYC, and that would be at War of the Wire against AJ Styles, who is now deservingly recognized along with Danielson, Shawn Michaels, Rey Mysterio, and Hiroshi Tananashi as one of the elite performers of the early 21st Century.
Joe’s first few months of 2004 are honestly nothing super blow-away either. While there’s the tremendous cage match against Jay Briscoe at At Our Best, it still doesn’t reach the all-time classic consensus. It would be over a year until Joe had a match that provided substantial buzz, that being the first 60 minute Broadway against CM Punk at World Title Classic. From that point, his title reign had many MOTYCs; it took 15 months, the entire length of Danielson’s reign itself, to reach this point.
What Joe has in his favor is that his lengthy run generated great buzz for him individually and got the attention of purists, as his lengthy reign and monstrous persona were a stark contrast to the numerous primary title changes and disappointing reigns in WWE. Undoubtedly, the trilogy against Punk is a major feather in his cap (both sequels getting ***** from me), as is the gets-better-over-time ***** masterpiece against Danielson. The title loss to Austin Aries at Final Battle 2004 is also a better, crisper, more cohesive match than Danielson’s loss 2 years later to Homicide, and by a substantial margin.
Even more favorable for Joe is that as champion, and with help from Punk and Homicide with carrying the major portions of the wagon, his contributions in 2004 helped keep ROH from dying off, instead thriving in the aftermath of ROH founder Rob Feinstein’s ephebophilia scandal. This was a very trying time for ROH that resulted in talent losses including Low Ki, Raven, Jerry Lynn, Christopher Daniels, and Pure Champion Styles. There was tremendous pressure on Joe to help ROH weather the storm, and in the process his in-ring contributions reached their peak levels, hitting his prime that would span to 2006.
As for McGuinness, while his ROH Title reign has the workrate to match up with Danielson, his run unfortunately came at a time when ROH was creatively going downhill, as was its business. Through no fault of his own, booker Gabe Sapolsky’s burnout delayed and negatively impacted his run at the top. DVD sales dipped significantly enough in 2008, an entire year that saw McGuinness as the ROH Champion, that Sapolsky would be fired with 2 months remaining in the calendar year. Adam Pearce wasn’t an upgrade with the book whatsoever, as instead of having McGuinness drop the title to the red-hot Tyler Black, the reign was extended a few more months and then ended by Jerry Lynn due to his resemblance to Randy the Ram in The Wrestler, a move that only looks shitter and more off-the-pulse as time passes on.
These weaknesses in the reigns of Joe and McGuinness cannot be found in Danielson’s ROH Title reign. Unlike Joe’s title change win over Xavier at Night of Champions and McGuinness’s win over Takeshi Morishima at Undeniable, Danielson’s reign kicked off in tremendous fashion when he defeated James Gibson at Glory By Honor IV. It was a technical masterpiece that also got accurately marketed by ROH as “a game of human chess.” It is the consensus great match that foreshadowed what would come for Danielson as the ROH Champion.
Is Danielson’s reign without flaw? Of course not. The feud against Joe would turn out to be disappointing, with their final match ever against each other being nothing special even though it was in a cage. The real right shoulder injury he suffered at Gut Check, while it enhanced the storytelling excellence in his work of art against KENTA at Glory By Honor IV Night 2, marginalized ROH’s opportunity to depend on him to continue having outstanding matches on a frequent basis while booker Gabe Sapolsky entered his burnout phase.
While Danielson’s first weekend of defenses kicked off in forgettable fashion, they were still good title defenses. He then quickly kicked his shit in MOTYC gear right after that against Roderick Strong. It was the matches against Strong that enhanced Danielson’s heel work and made him an interesting character, not just an elite technician. In particular, the match against Strong at Vendetta, now 11 years later, is STILL the greatest match I’ve ever seen in person, even above the only other live match I’ve ever given *****, that being Sami Zayn vs. Shinsuke Nakamura at NXT Takeover: Dallas. It is also my pick for the greatest match of Danielson’s iconic reign.
This particular match went over 45 minutes and honestly felt like it only went about 30. In reality, Strong had not even hit a backbreaker until more than a half hour into the match, and despite how long it had gone on far, the two of them had us going insane! It is arguably the best match of both men’s careers; it also provided the best facial expressions of Danielson’s career. While Danielson came out clearly looking like the superior competitor, Strong’s stock was elevated due to how vulnerable and irritated Danielson had become. This was also the match that saw Danielson debut elbow shots to the head as his finisher.
The content discussed so far in Danielson’s reign… is only from his 2005 portion, which was 3 months. In his first 3 months, he did something that Joe failed to do, and that was provide unforgettable MOTYCs, one of them an all-time classic that SHOULD be just as vividly remembered in ROH lore as Joe vs. Punk II. But as 2005 closed and 2006 came to fruition, two newcomers arrived and debuted against Danielson to challenge him based on his “open contract” challenge: NOAH’s Naomichi Marufuji and CZW’s Chris Hero. While neither turned out to be great matches, and in the latter’s case disappointed to be the preferred structure that it arguably should’ve been, both turned out to be very, very good, and in Hero’s case made him look like he belonged in ROH all along.
As 2006 continued, Danielson’s greatness seemed to have no end in sight, drawing comparisons to Ric Flair’s performances in 1989. His final match ever in the rivalry against AJ Styles at Dissension? A fantastic match between two of the best in-ring performers EVER and that doesn’t get the recognition it deserves. The technical masterpiece against Alex Shelley at Arena Warfare? A tremendous game of who would play dirtier, enhanced by magnificent pre-match promos from both competitors, a huge breakout performance on the microphone for Danielson.
Then came WrestleMania 22 weekend in Chicago for his next ROH Title defenses. The rivalry was renewed against Strong. While much of the crowd left since the match was almost an hour and started around midnight, it holds up bloody damn well on video a decade later, being a near-flawless masterpiece of vicious striking, body part targeting, and top-notch antagonism from the champion. Less than 24 hours later, Danielson would face Lance Storm, who came in with his working boots rather than sitting on his WWE and WCW laurels. The two had a great contest dripping with submission expertise, and with the sizzle of Danielson’s heel work and the crowd’s support to see Storm pull off the upset.
So after all of that gushing, guess what? We’re just NOW getting to the greatest rivalry in ROH history, that being Danielson vs. McGuinness. Many well-versed ROH fans will point to Unified, Driven 2007, the Eighth Anniversary Show, and Rising Above 2008 as their very best matches. Those are incredibly deserving of that conversation. On the other hand, it fails to recognize their first ever singles match, a near piece of perfection at Weekend of Champions Night 2. This match quelled any doubts that the two would lack in chemistry and had Cleveland rocking like a playoff game involving the Browns, Indians, or Cavaliers. It was the match that undoubtedly left the audiences wanting more battles between the two, and not just because of its count out victory for McGuinness that while contested under his Pure Title rules, didn’t specify that the ROH Title could change that way.
At this time, Delirious has broken through on the undercard, having sealed his first singles victory over Ricky Reyes at Better Than Our Best. After Danielson made quick work of Colt Cabana at The 100th Show, he made an open challenge that night and it was answered by Delirious. It was a brutal breakout affair that had the ROH crowd telling the CZW crowd in attendance “He’s our hero!”
This led to a rematch at Ring of Homicide, and it ended up being the greatest match in the career of Delirious. There are no solid arguments to dispute that fact. In an East Coast location that once again had split fan bases between ROH and CZW, the two of them got the fans cracking and believing that Delirious, who had never won a singles match in the company until 6 weeks earlier despite being around for 2 years, could pull off the upset. In addition, Danielson was yet again on fire as a troll towards the CZW audience that disapproved of his elite in-ring game plan.
Around this time, Danielson was just on his groove. Up next would be a match against the white-hot Homicide to renew their past feud at Destiny. Like clockwork, Danielson provided another classic, this time one between two of the hottest characters on the roster, with the Connecticut audience BEGGING for and being pissed about not getting a title change. This was an amazingly emotional contest that had Homicide sold his back a bit more convincingly after taking a dangerous bump on it, would’ve been yet another all-time classic on Danielson’s reign and resume, and maybe would’ve been Homicide’s best match ever; think of what that would’ve entailed when considering Homicide’s encounters against Samoa Joe and Steve Corino, as well as my pick for the greatest tag match in ROH’s first 5 years (Homicide & Kobashi vs. Ki & Joe at Unforgettable.)
ROH’s 2006 is often cited as the stuff of legend by those who followed it as it happened; the fantastic title reigns across the board, led by Danielson of course, weren’t the only reasons for that. The year didn’t just introduce the audience to the greatest rivalry in company history; it also featured a feud that in a “normal” year (ie, one that does NOT include ROH vs. CZW), would’ve easily been the Feud of the Year, that being Jimmy Jacobs vs. BJ Whitmer.
So now insert Danielson for one night with Jacobs and Whitmer in an elimination match in Detroit, with Jacobs having his home state Michigan crowd to rally behind him against the prickly red-ass champion once Whitmer was eliminated. You guessed it, this was another night in which Danielson had the crowd believing that the home territory underdog would actually pull off the upset. The frequency of this achievement is why many consider Ric Flair to be the greatest professional wrestler of all-time, so why wouldn’t it also apply for Danielson’s case as the greatest ROH Champion ever?
The next night in Chicago, yet another hometown challenger in Cabana this time. That Cabana had been dispatched of so quickly by Danielson 2 months earlier didn’t matter. Instead, it was another awesome title defense for Danielson. As the first half of 2006 came to a close, the Windy City fans found themselves believing in and aching for their native Cabana to pull off the company’s first title change of the year. But Danielson would simply shit on their hopes like a true champion, bringing the match to a sudden conclusion with a small package pin.
Exactly 3 months to the date after their first match, the Danielson vs. McGuinness rematch took place, also in Cleveland. This time it was just for the ROH Title and under standard rules. While not in the elite tier of their rivalry, it was yet another great chapter for both. The mat work was just a sight to behold in this one, and the finish was perfect for Danielson to climb under the ring and surprise the Pure Champion with a small package pin; it was a receipt for McGuinness using a chair on him in their first match.
While the Danielson vs. Joe rivalry renewal would ultimately turn out to be disappointing, it certainly started off on a high note. The same night that Danielson would go on to add Lance Storm to his victims list at Better Than Our Best, he was challenged by Joe to finally have a rematch soon for the ROH Title; it would be their first encounter in ROH since their flawless match at Midnight Express Reunion. Eventually the match got confirmed for August and the event was dubbed Fight of the Century.
A few weeks before that contest though, both men stepped up to represent ROH in the Cage of Death finale against CZW at Death Before Dishonor IV. The two of them having teamed up before against the Briscoes and Generation Next, they made good work of the Kings of Wrestling in the early stages of the violent masterpiece. But Danielson had plans of his own, clipping one of Joe’s knees and then fucking off from the match, allowing CZW to have the advantage in the process.
Danielson now didn’t just have the top-notch workrate going for him. He wasn’t just elevating talents significantly lower on the card like Flair 2 decades earlier. He wasn’t just having matches that lived up to the hype against other stars on his level. Now, at least for a brief time, he was involved in an incredibly interesting storyline.
August 2006 would end up being defined in 2 different ways for Danielson. On one hand, booker Gabe Sapolsky got overzealous in his attempt to have the champion be compared to great performers of past eras, putting him in 60 Minute Broadways that month against Joe, McGuinness, and Cabana. The results varied with the fans. Some hated that the matches went so long. Others weren’t bothered by it and only judged the matches solely for their content.
While all 3 Broadways could’ve had their time shortened, especially against Cabana (and ESPECIALLY since Danielson fucked up his shoulder early in that one), they were all good to outstanding when judged by their content and the story told to get to the draw. The match against Joe certainly didn’t turn out to be a “fight of the century,” but like the also much-criticized CM Punk vs. Christopher Daniels a year earlier at The Homecoming, these two had the crowd aching for a title change in the closing minutes.
Before even addressing the draw against McGuinness, the Unified match must be gushed over of course. Obviously, there was the stupidity of the head shots. That doesn’t need to keep being addressed; both are retired now, so we know. That doesn’t take away that Danielson’s “hometown opponent” portion of his ROH Title reign reached its peak here in a Pure Title unification/retirement match. This would turn out to be the best match in the career of McGuinness, and the one that cemented him as a future ROH Champion. The fighting spirit of McGuinness as his face was a crimson mask is a moment held in high regard by ROH, and for damn good reason as it was goosebumps-inducing. And when the match wrapped up, Danielson looked like the king of the world.
Danielson vs. McGuinness IV would also be an excellent match, hurt slightly by its length. What made this one really stand out so many years later? The Minnesota crowd was very much dead throughout the night, but Danielson managed to take his very basic offense and actually get the crowd to pop for it. How many wrestlers have the charisma and personality to turn chicken shit into chicken salad like that? Never mind that this match had the usual great psychology between these two that ROH viewers fell in love with.
The draw against Cabana is my pick for the coldest draw of Gabe Sapolsky’s tenure as ROH booker. While very much a good match, Danielson’s legitimate injury and Cabana never truly thriving in matches of such length kept this from being anything special. That injury though only led to the story of one of the defining matches of the 2000s.
Every professional wrestler has surely performed at some point with severe injuries. There are very few that managed to perform so excellently as Bryan Danielson at Glory By Honor V Night 2. I don’t know of very many in the pro wrestling industry that would take such stiff kicks to a legitimately injured joint by KENTA. I don’t know very many that would be able to still pull off the technician work and storytelling that Danielson did on the night that ROH made its debut inside the Manhattan Center. This was a tremendous pressure Danielson put on himself on the underground level, knowing that this was such an important event and that the company was counting on Danielson vs. KENTA to deliver in the ring, so that it would then deliver with DVD sales when it would be made available for the holiday season a couple months later.
This wasn’t just an excellent match. It was the culmination of the other master example of Gabe Sapolsky’s booking in 2006. KENTA had finished EVERYONE off that he faced with the Go to Sleep, including Danielson twice. He was the unstoppable juggernaut, and that move was the be-all, end-all finisher in ROH. So when Danielson actually got his foot on the rope, the Manhattan Center erupted. It was a shining example of the benefits from protecting finishers. From that point, the crowd had no idea who’d win this, even with Danielson vs. Homicide seeming the likely main event when ROH would return to the Manhattan Center for Final Battle 2006 three months later.
When KENTA tapped out to the Cattle Mutilation, it signified just how much respect NOAH had for ROH and Danielson in particular. Pinning Marufuji at Final Battle 2005 was a good sign in the business relationship; having KENTA run through like a buzz-saw and then it culminating with a defining Danielson victory displayed how much the fans benefit when companies trust and respect each other. Everyone benefits from it, from those in charge down to the roster, all the way to the fans.
The last 3 months for Danielson’s reign as mentioned had to be dialed back a bit. His title defenses against Aries and Delirious were both good but nothing special obviously. The feud against Joe ended anticlimactically, coming nowhere close to what they had pulled off at Fight of the Century, let alone Midnight Express Reunion.
But as weak as the last 3 months were for ROH, as many signs of burnout for Sapolsky that were on display, none of it could stop the buzz that would come at Final Battle 2006 as Danielson would compete against Homicide for the 9th and final time in their rivalry. The Manhattan Center was buzzing as expected, hoping that the Notorious 187 would finally reach his dream of becoming ROH Champion, against the man that had slain a who’s who for the prior 15 months.
This was the match that while far from perfect, provided a catharsis in storytelling. Sometimes the finale doesn’t have to be an all-time piece of greatness to be appreciated; it just has to effectively bring the story to its emotionally satisfying conclusion. That is exactly what this match was, with EVERY protected finisher of Danielson’s during his 15-month title reign being paid off here by the man that had come to ROH’s rescue against CZW when the champion so selfishly exploited it for his own gains.
Bryan Danielson’s 15 months as ROH Champion isn’t just the greatest reign in that championship’s history. It isn’t just the greatest title reign in ROH’s history. It is unquestionably the greatest title reign in the history of underground wrestling. There is no one before or after that has touched this reign, and none that ever will on the independents.
This is a title reign that had the consistent workrate. This is the title reign that drew money for ROH both for DVD and ticket sales. While Danielson’s ROH Title reign isn’t solely responsible, it was during his reign that ROH packed the Frontier Fieldhouse on WrestleMania 22 weekend. It was during his reign that ROH advanced from the New Yorker Hotel and Basketball City to the Manhattan Center. It was during his reign that ROH made its first-ever trip to the United Kingdom without co-promoting.
This is the title reign that had Danielson repeat as Best Technical Wrestler in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Awards, a streak that spanned from 2005 to 2013 and eventually led to the award being named after him upon his retirement in early 2016. This is the title reign that was compared to Ric Flair’s peak years, eras held in such high regard by the most well-versed students of the professional wrestling business.
There’s no doubt that the success Danielson would achieve in WWE and his pioneering contributions in that company for underground superstars will be the most well-known part of his legacy for mainstream wrestling fans and those who missed out on the underground “golden years” in general.
But the title reign of Bryan Danielson not only had him being compared to Flair; it would play a significant role in why he became one of the most respected in-ring performers of his generation. It played a significant role in his epic run as the world’s consensus king of workrate. And it ultimately played a significant enough part that had he hit the same frustrating mainstream ceilings as other contemporaries such as Low Ki, Paul London, and Colt Cabana, he very likely still would’ve been voted in the Wrestling Observer Hall of Fame based solely on his in-ring contributions.
A decade later after Bryan Danielson’s time as ROH Champion reached its conclusion, there is no doubt that based on the evidence provided, not only will there never be a reign on par, but that is the greatest reign in underground wrestling history, and can be argued as the greatest reign of the 21st Century for ALL regions and levels of the industry.
Cattle Mutilation 