Column of Honor 12.31.07: Final Column 2007 Part Six

This list is empirical proof of why Ring of Honor was the best promotion in professional wrestling in 2007, bar none, end of story.

*******The Top 100 Matches of the Year*******

(For a list of numbers 110-101, click here for part two of this feature.)

Notes:

–Includes matches from Black Friday Fallout through Glory By Honor VI Night Two. List includes matches from ROH’s third PPV show Man Up. This represents a cycle of matches from November 4th, 2006 through November 3rd, 2007 in Ring of Honor, thus a “true” year of wrestling action

–Excludes matches from ROH’s fourth PPV show, Undeniable. List also excludes shows from November 30th, 2007 (Reckless Abandon) onward, including 12/1, 12/29 and 12/30. All of the matches for these shows will be eligible for next year’s list.

–Based on a number of factors including match quality, importance (i.e. a title vs. non-title match, a match that has an important sea change in ROH history), atmosphere, crowd reaction and personal taste. As a matter of disclosure I prefer one on one matches to tag and multi-man matches and I place more emphasis on the psychology of the overall storyline of a match (i.e. David vs. Goliath, veteran vs. rookie) as opposed to the psychology of move to move selling.

-This is a personal list and not necessarily intended to be the definitive word on the subject at hand.

For your consideration:

100. Doug Williams vs. Colt Cabana—Fighting Spirit (Edison, NJ 4/14/07)

-Cabana gave the ROH fans quite a few comedic classics in his final stretch here, including an uproarious send up of Big Daddy in England in match number 105 of this list. Here was Cabana’s final appearance on the East Coast, in which he took to Williams in the fabled British Lancaster style, but also blended in a ton of yuk-yuks. Listening to Cabana talk during his matches is extra fun, like listening to a DVD bonus commentary track.He played around with the ref and he played around with Williams, but ultimately he took the loss.

99. Four Corner Survival Match: Jimmy Rave vs. El Generico vs. Christopher Daniels vs. Davey Richards—Final Battle 2006 (New York, NY 12/23/06)

98. Kevin Steen vs. Mark Briscoe—A Fight At The Roxbury (Boston, MA 6/8/07)

-The majority of this match consisted of a wild and chaotic brawl that spiraled into the stands. I can remember the crack of a chair hitting Mark and popping the crowd huge. This match helped to take the in ring action of the Briscoes-Steenerico feud up a notch, giving the impetus for later, even more out of control fights between the two teams. This was a fun watch and worth the repeated viewing.

97. Bryan Danielson vs. Mike Quackenbush—Death Before Dishonor V Night 2 (Philadelphia, PA 8/11/07)

96. Four Corner Survival Match: Adam Pearce vs. Colt Cabana vs. Matt Sydal vs. Chris Hero—All Star Extravaganza III (Detroit, MI 3/30/07)

-Another comedy classic from Cabana, but he had plenty of help from Pearce and Hero. In fact this may have been where the comedy torch was passed from Cabana to Hero. I can’t remember much from this one except I was laughing out loud the entire time.

95. ROH World Tag Team Title Match: Christopher Daniels & Matt Sydal (c) vs. Jay & Mark Briscoe—Fifth Year Festival: Chicago (Chicago, IL 2/24/07)

94. Rocky Romero vs. Davey Richards—Dedicated (Braintree, MA 1/26/07)

-Thus we begin The Davey Richards Corner (TM) of the countdown, with five of the next six matches involving him in action. What makes Richards so solid and dependable? As a face, it was his never-say-die mentality, the ability to get the fans to believe he wasn’t going to go down or stay down. That is what we saw with his matches against Romero and against Jay Briscoe (number 92)–both men refusing to back down and just hitting each other with everything they’ve got, inside and outside the ring. As a heel, Richards’ vicious nature comes out as he beats down on an opponent. And when he’s losing the match, his non-sequitors make him getting his comeuppance that much more satisfying.

93. Race To The Top Tournament Semi Finals: El Generico vs. Davey Richards Race To The Top Tournament Night 2 (Edison, NJ 7/28/07)

92. Jay Briscoe vs. Davey Richards—The Chicago Spectacular Night 2 (Chicago Ridge, IL 12/9/06)

91. ROH World Title Match: Homicide (c) vs. Takeshi Morishima—Fifth Year Festival: Philly (Philadelphia, PA 2/17/07)

-The result of this match, ten months later, still doesn’t sit right with me. I know the story being told of the big monster coming in, dominating and taking over, but after years of working hard and paying his dues, Homicide’s title run comes to a frustratingly quick end against Morishima. The match itself is good, but not spectacular (Morishima would go on to improve his big man style in his title defenses later in the year). Homicide’s last ditch efforts to retain the title get the crowd buzzing, but the ending, where Morishima is dominating without let up, left me flat. Still, credit where it’s due for Homicide getting Morishima over as the next big thing in the company.

90. Samoa Joe vs. Davey Richards—Fifth Year Festival: Dayton (Dayton, OH 2/23/07)

-Who can forget the two massively cringe inducing moments of this match? Richards got the hell kicked out of him by Samoa Joe, such that it made a massive echo that cracked throughout the Fairgrounds in Dayton. Then he took a Musclebuster to the outside part of the ring apron–freaking insanity. I know I would never ever take that move, but Richards had the cajones to do so. Joe dominated this match, but Richards was the underrated star of this one with the selling of Joe’s beat down.

89. Masaaki Mochizuki vs. Davey Richards—All Star Extravaganza III (Detroit, MI 3/30/07)

88. Nigel McGuinness & Colt Cabana vs. Jay & Mark Briscoe—Fifth Year Festival: NYC (New York, NY 2/16/07)

86. Nigel McGuinness vs. Jimmy Rave—Dethroned (Edison, NJ 11/25/06)
86. Jimmy Rave vs. Nigel McGuinness—Final Battle 2006 (New York, NY 12/23/06)

-At the tail end of 2006 these two were engaged in bitter warfare over respect and disrespect. These two matches were the height of their brief rivalry and so I list them here together. The Dethroned match saw McGuinness take the win, but Rave would not be denied in the Final Battle match, withstanding several of McGuinness’s stronger attacks and using the heel hook for the submission. This was part of a mini-push for Rave, whose character had taken on a very sour and forlorn demeanor. Whether or not he should have received such support is secondary to the quality of the matches wherein the push took place, and these matches, as well as the Final Battle Four Corner Survival, were definitely worthy of inclusion.

85. Race To The Top Tournament Quarter Finals: Claudio Castagnoli vs. Mike Quackenbush—Race To The Top Tournament Night 2 (Edison, NJ 7/28/07)

84. ROH World Title: Three Way Elimination Match: Takeshi Morishima (c) vs. Claudio Castagnoli vs. Brent Albright—Caged Rage (Hartford, CT, 8/24/07)

83. Christopher Daniels & Matt Sydal vs. Davey Richards & Delirious—Black Friday Fallout (Long Island, NY 11/24/06)

82. Mitsuharu Misawa & KENTA vs. Takeshi Morishima & Naomichi Marufuji—Glory By Honor VI Night One (Philadelphia, PA 11/2/07)

-I think the big flaw in this one is the last two minutes, which actually set up how the last thirty seconds of the match went down. Misawa had Morishima in the process of being set up for a top rope move, maybe an attempt at a top rope Emerald Frosion, but the bell rang to signal the thirty minute time limit in an anti-climatc fashion. It deflated the crowd and took away from what was a very good match up of NOAH talent. Marufuji and KENTA were just awesome in their first in ring action against each other in ROH. They took their athletic rivalry against each other and played it up well. Misawa should definitely get credit for this one. Looks are deceiving and he actually does quite a bit here, including taking some impact bumps and heavy strikes. Yes, he’s in ring less than the others and he moves at a pace that could at best be described as “methodical”, but his presence was a very important part of the match. It’s just that the sum of the parts don’t add up to enough to get past the deflating ending such that it ranks higher than this position on my list.

81. Windy City Death Match: Colt Cabana vs. Jimmy Jacobs—Fifth Year Festival: Chicago (Chicago, IL 2/24/07)

-Cabana’s “Death Match” against Homicide last year made it into my top ten. However, this year’s version of Cabana’s ultimate struggle against a blood rival only makes it into the upper 70’s. Why? The major limiting factor is that the match was very slow and somewhat sloppy in setting up moves and spots, unlike last year where everything flowed quickly and naturally. Watching Cabana and Jacobs set up objects and then crawl over to each other became too belabored and diluted the hatred to a point. Still, this was a satisfying and effective close to the Cabana-Lacey-Jacobs triangle as Cabana was able to gain his revenge for being hit in the privates so many times. He used the Colt 45 on Lacey and pinned both she and Jacobs at the same time.

80. Resilience vs. No Remorse Corps Series: Austin Aries vs. Davey Richards—Man Up (Chicago Ridge, IL taped 9/15/07, aired 11/30/07)

79. Four Corner Survival Match: Claudio Castagnoli vs. Chris Hero vs. Nigel McGuinness vs. Mike Quackenbush—A Fight At The Roxbury (Boston, MA 6/8/07)

-The CHIKARA Three have a fine chance to show off their stuff here AND Nigel McGuinness also has some wonderful interactions with all three men. Nigel is the right style fit for these three and therefore we saw some wonderful chemistry exhibited. I enjoyed the match so much that I was sad when it was over and I think that’s one of the biggest compliments I can pay for a match. Quack’s circus like monkey flip to the outside of the ring remains an impressionable memory about this one. Overall this wasn’t as important as many of the other matches above it on the list, but for great wrestling and four man sequences you won’t find too many that are better. This may be one of the first matches you could show to a fan to turn them onto the product.

78. KENTA vs. Rocky Romero—United We Stand (Dayton, OH 6/22/07)

77. Steel Cage Match: Homicide vs. Adam Pearce—The Chicago Spectacular Night 2 (Chicago Ridge, IL 12/9/06)

-Its funny to note that that this match came out of nowhere because ROH felt it needed more on the card in the wake of several injuries. Initially this was supposed to be a strap match and Pearce conducted a great promo hyping it up. As it turned out, both men incorporated the strap as a weapon within the cage, but also used the cage to maximum effect. Both men drew blood. Both men looked great in this one, with Pearce in particular believably beating up his rival and looking like he could win the match. Homicide puts the exclamation point on this one with a Cop Killa on Shane Hagadorn. I love it when Hagadorn gets his ass handed to him.

76. Elimination Falls Count Anywhere Street Fight: Samoa Joe & Homicide vs. Jay & Mark Briscoe—Dethroned (Edison, NJ 11/25/06)

-My god, it seems like forever ago that The Briscoes were the disliked heels who became Commissioner Cornette’s muscle in his war against Homicide. There was an alliance between Homicide and Joe at this point, born out of Joe’s growing respect for Homicide (as he helped turned the tide in the CZW war). This was the rubber match between these two teams and after a tremendous street fight that went into the streets in Detroit, they had to(and did) top this one by going all out, into the crowds and blasting each other with chairs. Mark Briscoe earned his “Crazy” nickname back at Motor City Madness ’06, but on this night he became legend by doing a Shooting Star Press off the top of the ring entrance structure. Alas though, The Briscoes went down two straight eliminations as the baby faces won the final encounter.

75. Naomichi Marufuji & The Briscoes vs. Matt Sydal, Ricky Marvin, & Atsushi Aoki—Live In Tokyo (Tokyo, Japan 7/16/07)

74. Bryan Danielson, Naomichi Marufuji and CIMA vs. Davey Richards, Rocky Romero and Masaaki Mochizuki—Live in Osaka (Osaka, Japan 7/17/07)

73. Jay & Mark Briscoe vs. El Generico & Kevin Steen—Fifth Year Festival: Philly (Philadelphia, PA 2/17/07)

-The match that began it all–returning El Generico & Kevin Steen to ROH and ensuring that they stuck around to have one of the most memorable rivalries of the year. The first half of the match was steady and solid but it was the frenetic pace of the last half of the match that makes most fans recall this one with fondness. It was indicative of the larger scope of the feud–Generico and Steen kept busting out their huge moves in their attempts to win, but The Briscoes absorbed all the punishment and gave it right back. A landmark match that may have been over hyped on the ‘net, it remains an incredibly important benchmark for both teams.

72. Matt Sydal, Dragon Kid, & Ryo Saito vs.Delirious, Masato Yoshino, & Naruki Doi—Live In Osaka (Osaka, Japan 7/17/07)

71. Austin Aries, Roderick Strong & Jack Evans vs. SHINGO, Davey Richards & Delirious—Battle Of The Icons (Edison, NJ 1/27/07)

70. Matt Sydal vs. PAC—Fifth Year Festival: Finale (Liverpool, UK 3/4/07)

69. Chris Hero & Jigsaw vs. Nigel McGuinness & Claudio Castagnoli—Death Before Dishonor V Night 2 (Philadelphia, PA 8/11/07)

68. Matt Sydal vs. El Generico—A Fight At The Roxbury (Boston, MA 6/8/07)

67. FIP World Heavyweight Title Match: Roderick Strong (c) vs. Austin Aries—Supercard of Honor II (Detroit, MA 3/31/07)

-At the time, I had thought it was way too soon for both men to be fighting each other. After all, Strong had just turned on his former partner Aries not one month previous to this show. It could have turned out to be their only one-on-one encounter after Aries found himself in contractual limbo during the Spring. Even though both men have gone on to fight many more times this year, this first encounter retains a sense of importance and definition. It’s also a match in front of a good crowd, which elevates the reaction to the grudge match style these two men employ here. Aries is the underdog with the never say die attitude for much of this match and Strong tries every dirty trick in the book to win this one.

66. ROH World Title Match: Takeshi Morishima (c) vs. Jay Briscoe—A Fight At The Roxbury (Boston, MA 6/8/07)

65. ROH World Tag Team Title Match Naruki Doi & Shingo (c) vs. Davey Richards & Roderick Strong—Fifth Year Festival: Finale (Liverpool, UK 3/4/07)

64. FIP World Heavyweight Title Match: Roderick Strong (c) vs. Christopher Daniels—The Battle Of St. Paul (St. Paul, MN 4/27/07) CO

-Another FIP title match. While I disliked the concept of putting up the FIP title on an ROH event, I can’t knock the quality of this and several of the other title defenses that landed on the countdown (four matches including this one, also placing 50th, 67th and 101st). What made this match stand out was the high quality technical wrestling of Strong and Daniels. I love chain wrestling and the scientific, back and forth struggle in those sorts of matches. The wrestling was solid and excellently executed, never feeling robotic or performed but rather with a deep sense of the reality of these two men engaged in a “wrestling match”. Of course the finish returns us to the slightly silly world of professional wrestling, as Daniels gets his foot stuck in the guardrail and can’t make it back in time for the twenty count used in FIP title matches. I actually liked the finish, hearkening back to Strong vs. McGuinness for the Pure title from Death Before Dishonor IV. It’s another creative use of the count out rule, but once again another point in favor of still having a Pure title in ROH where you could do this sort of style and have another “ROH” belt.

63. Founding Fathers of Generation Next Match: Austin Aries vs. Jack Evans vs. Roderick Strong—Manhattan Mayhem II (Manhattan, New York 8/25/07)

-We all knew it was coming in February…but we had to wait for this one until August. The members of a stable fighting each other may seem clichéd, but when you’ve got member of one of the most important groups in ROH history fighting it out over pride and the question of “who was the best of us”, that’s another story. The three way action was good with a smart story of Aries and Evans each wanting to go after Strong because of personal vendetta and deciding whether or not they should work together or if they could trust each other. This match was also the beginning of the formation of The Vulture Squad, with the well received debut of Ruckus as he cleared the ring and the rascally J-Train being there to pump up the crowd and cheer it all on. “Don’t live in the past, kick his ass!” will live on forever as the turning point for Jack Evans and his story in ROH. As for Aries, he managed to come out on top after all the madness of all out faction warfare, finally getting a measure of revenge against his former partner Roderick Strong.

62. Samoa Joe vs. Homicide—Fifth Year Festival: Finale (Liverpool, UK 3/4/07)

-Joe and Homicide had a very well regarded feud in 2004–one that was dominated by Joe. By all measures though, Homicide was no doubt one of Joe’s toughest opponents, right alongside CM Punk and Bryan Danielson. Joe thought it would be fitting to have his last match ever within the confines of an ROH ring to be against the man he went to war against in ’04 and the man he went to war with against Cornette’s sympathizers in 2006. This was a tribute to the aggregate of all of their previous encounters, along with a celebratory context. Joe would ditch the ringside area to enjoy a farewell beer at the bar area, a humorous moment that differentiates this match from their previous wars. Should Joe have put over Homicide on the way out? He didn’t but I don’t think it mattered much. Both men would soon be gone from ROH and together once again, albeit in TNA.

61. Fight Without Honor: Delirious vs. Roderick Strong—Live In Tokyo (Tokyo, Japan 7/16/07)

60. Nigel McGuinness vs. Chris Hero—Driven (Chicago Ridge, IL 6/23/07 DVD release)

59. Chris Hero vs. Claudio Castagnoli—Manhattan Mayhem II (Manhattan, NY 8/25/07)

58. Samoa Joe vs. Nigel McGuinness—Dedicated (Braintree, MA 1/26/07)

57. GHC Heavyweight Title: Mistuharu Misawa vs. KENTA–Glory By Honor VI Night Two (New York, NY 11/3/07)

56. Naomichi Marufuji vs. Rocky Romero—Respect Is Earned (New York, NY taped 5/12/07 aired 7/1/07, 7/8/07 & 7/20/07 on PPV)

-This was the first “official” match to be shown on Ring of Honor Pay Per View. As such, it had the immeasurable responsibility of demonstrating for a potential new audience what the ROH style was all about. It lived up to the moment and then some. Chain wrestling, a hybrid of technical, high impact and aerial action, and the trademark hyper-frenetic finishing sequences were all on display in this one. The crowd really got into Marufuji as he unleashed his sickeningly brutal strikes. Romero held up his end of things, focusing on arm work and pulling out the Diablo Armbar submission for a nice near fall situation. The coast to coast dropkick late in the match created an even larger frenzy and finally Marufuji was able to put away Romero with the Shiranui. Putting ROH over for its style as well as getting NOAH an increased amount of attention? Success on all counts.

55. Resilience vs. No Remorse Corps Series: Erick Stevens vs. Roderick Strong—Man Up (Chicago Ridge, IL taped 9/15/07, aired 11/30/07 on PPV)

54. ROH World Title Match: Takeshi Morishima (c) vs. Austin Aries—The Battle Of St. Paul (St. Paul, MN 4/27/07)

53. Two out of Three Falls: Matt Sydal vs. Delirious—Fifth Year Festival: Liverpool (Liverpool, UK 3/3/07)

-I think this was Matt Sydal’s “coming out party” for acting more of a heel and putting some extra “dirty” in his wrestling style. This was actually three months before his official heel turn and joining with Sweet & Sour Incorporated. The crowd was clearly picking favorites and to Sydal’s credit he followed through all the way with his heel act, cheating and acting like a spoiled brat. Delirious was the valiant hero trying to come up with a win against a heated rival. Although these two may have fought too frequently for many of their matches to stand out, the two out of three falls stipulation and the extra heated action makes this the one to remember. They got it right with this one.

52. ROH World Tag Team Title Match: Jay & Mark Briscoe (c) vs. Naruki Doi & SHINGO—Fifth Year Festival: Liverpool (Liverpool, UK 3/3/07)

51. Claudio Castagnoli vs. Matt Sydal—Driven (Chicago Ridge, IL taped 6/23/07, aired 9/21/07 and 9/28/07 PPV)

-The fastest eight minute match, both in terms of the speed that both of these men went after it and also how the match just seemed to fly by. Sydal’s growth really shone in this match along with match # 53. When you put Claudio up against the smaller speedsters you have a very effective foundation for the match, as witnessed all year all over different independent promotions. They went balls out for eight minutes, the last four of which was a frenzy of flight and near falls that really caught the eye and captured my imagination. I loved Sydal bouncing off of Claudio for more height and the finish, with the hurricanrana rotated in mid air to a sunset flip powerbomb pin brought the entire match to a crescendo. Sydal would join Sweet & Sour Inc. after this one, but because Matty would soon be gone for WWE developmental, the heat from this turn eventually became placed more on Sweeney for corrupting Sydal and Chris Hero for his post match attack on Castagnoli.

50. FIP Heavyweight Title Match: Roderick Strong (c) vs. PAC—Fifth Year Festival: Liverpool (Liverpool, UK 3/3/07)

49. Bryan Danielson & Nigel McGuinness vs. Takeshi Morishima & Naomichi Marufuji—United We Stand (Dayton, OH 6/22/07)

48. ROH World Title Match: Nigel McGuinness (c) vs. Chris Hero–Glory By Honor VI Night One (Philadelphia, PA 11/2/07)

-This one was a short encounter, but sometimes you need the short but strong matches to help differentiate from the longer matches in ROH. As it was, this match accomplished so much in just a short amount of time. There was a definite buzz when this one went down, because many felt that Nigel’s injury was too much and that he would drop the belt here. However Nigel took on the role of the underdog babyface—fighting back against nearly insurmountable odds. He unleashed a devastating Tower of London to the apron—and it connected full on. He also adjusted his game plan to hit lariats from the other, not injured arm. Unlike their previous matches, which make it to the list for their mix of pure wrestling and Hero’s wacky heel antics that entertain, this one was super serious, super intense and that’s why it launches itself all the into the top fifty even though it just took place a scant few weeks ago.

47. ROH World Title Match: Takeshi Morishima (c) vs. Brent Albright—Death Before Dishonor V Night 2 (Philadelphia, PA 8/11/07)

46. CIMA, Susumu Yokosuka & SHINGO vs. Dragon Kid, Ryo Saito & Masaaki Mochizuki—Supercard of Honor II (Detroit, MI 3/31/07)

45. CIMA, SHINGO & Matt Sydal vs. Austin Aries, Roderick Strong & Delirious—Final Battle 2006 (New York, NY 12/23/06)

-You shouldn’t forget about this fast paced Dragon Gate style six man from the very end of ’06. It drove the fans in attendance crazy with its fast action, hyper moves and great interaction between all the wrestlers. The interaction between CIMA and Delirious before, during and after the match should be noted as the highlight of the match as well as the NYC crowd chanting “Mullet!” over and over at SHINGO. The Schwein on Delirious was very believable, but it only got the closest of two counts. The Package Powerbomb was looking a bit scary when it planted D down, but everything was a-okay and turned out to be a hell of a finish.

44. Roderick Strong defeated Jack Evans—Good Times, Great Memories (Chicago Ridge, IL 4/28/07)

43. Best of Three Series, Match One: Austin Aries vs. Bryan Danielson—Honor Nation (Boston, MA 10/5/07)

-Aries and Danielson—when you put them in the ring you just get great wrestling. I loved the chain sequences these guys do and every time out it gets better and better because they play off of their previous matches and also incorporate a few new tricks to keep the fans and themselves on their toes. Danielson amps up his strikes and submissions while Aries takes to his new move, “The Horns of Aries”, as a difference maker in this series. The last match in the series is just slightly better than the first, but both are pure joys to watch. This was also an important series as it helped give Aries that final push to the top as the new number one contender for the title as ROH headed to a close for its 2007.

42. Best of Three Series, Match Three: Austin Aries vs. Bryan Danielson—Glory By Honor VI Night One (Philadelphia, PA 11/2/07)

41. ROH World Tag Team Title Match: Jay & Mark Briscoe (c) vs. Bryan Danielson & Nigel McGuinness—Race To The Top Tournament Night 1 (Deer Park, NY 7/27/07)

40. $10,000 Tag Team Challenge: Bryan Danielson, Austin Aries, Matt Sydal, & Mark Briscoe vs. Nigel McGuinness, Roderick Strong, Delirious, & Jay Briscoe—Race To The Top Tournament Night 2 (Edison, NJ 7/28/07)

39. Race To The Top Tournament Finals: Claudio Castagnoli vs. El Generico—Race To The Top Tournament Night 2 (Edison, NJ 7/28/07)

-The start of this match wasn’t so hot, because both men had to sell the injuries and the wear and tear of previous matches. However, once the match kicked into high gear you could tell this was going to end up being something great. It ended up being the confirmation of Claudio’s abilities in 2007 as well as an elevation of El Generico (who was also PWG champion at the time) a couple of levels. The excitement was provided by Claudio’s repeated attempts at the Riccola Bomb and how it played into each man adjusting out of it and into other high level marquee moves and potential finishes. Castagnoli flied through the air with the European Uppercut with an elegance and grace belying a man of his height, meanwhile Generico’s speed gives his running boot that extra impact and makes his winning here entirely plausible, especially judging from the reaction of the fans.

38. Kevin Steen & El Generico vs. Mike Quackenbush & Jigsaw—Domination (Philadelphia, PA 6/9/07)

-Steen’s personality and heel actions once again emerged in this match and took an active and competitive match and gave it an edge and a force to it. Quackenbush being the polar opposite of Steen also helped push that button. Quack as the altruistic face, Steen as the bully, El Generico caught in the middle and Jig taking an ass whupping, it all adds up to a terrific contest.

37. ROH World Tag Team Title Match, Steel Cage Match: Jay & Mark Briscoe (c) vs. Kevin Steen & El Generico—Caged Rage (Hartford, CT 8/24/07)

36. Pure Wrestling Match: Chris Hero vs. Nigel McGuinness—Death Before Dishonor V Night 1 (Boston, MA 8/10/07)

35. Kevin Steen & El Generico vs. Jay Briscoe & Erick Stevens Mark Briscoe (non title)—Fighting Spirit (Edison, NJ 4/14/07)

-Mark Briscoe’s return to the ring for this one remains one of the dramatic high points for the match. The entire crowd was behind him on that one, cheering like madmen when he got tagged in and gasping in extreme concern when he took all those nasty bumps from Kevin Steen’s impact moves. Stevens was received very well, although perhaps the way he was “written out” of the match was a bit underplayed. However, you could definitively feel the drama in the second half of the match as The Briscoes had to battle from behind. In the end they just couldn’t do it. This is a very important match for Steen and Generico as it was this win in a non-title environment which justified their future title shots and really brought a legitimacy to their contenderhsip status.

34. Roderick Strong vs. Jack Evans—All Star Extravaganza III (Detroit, MI 3/30/07)

-Evans’ in ring game has evolved and improved in the past year and it shows with more solid in ring performances, especially against Roderick Strong. True there are moments where Evans regresses, but his high risk style has paid off this year like no other, including this terrific encounter where Evans’ air game combined with Strong’s ground game to form a very compelling match. The cartwheel avoidance of getting knocked down while on the ring apron remains a distinct visual for this one.

33. Claudio Castagnoli vs. Naomichi Marufuji—Glory By Honor VI Night Two (Manhattan, NY, 11/3/07)

-This match earned a long standing ovation after it was done—how can you argue with the fan response when it comes to in ring quality? Claudio and Marufuji had incredible chemistry in just their first match. It was also only the second loss for Marufuji in his Ring of Honor career. Claudio in a career year achieving the win against a wrestler who rarely loses was a big moment for sure. The match itself featured terrific chain wrestling and mirror image moments. The claw hold spot was borrowed from their participation in the “Man Up” four way match, but it was legitimately funny and looked like an impromptu moment. Marufuji’s superkick combo looks awesomely lethal and Claudio was on point with all of his offense and his counter (blocking a superkick early on and so forth).

32. CIMA, Susumu Yokosuka, Dragon Kid & Ryo Saito vs. Austin Aries, Delirious, Claudio Castagnoli & Rocky Romero—All Star Extravaganza III (Detroit, 3/30/07)

31. Eight Man Tag Team Elimination Match: Delirious, Colt Cabana, Nigel McGuinness & BJ Whitmer vs. ROH World Champion Bryan Danielson, Jimmy Rave, Shingo & Jimmy Jacobs—The Chicago Spectacular Night 2 (Chicago Ridge, IL 12/9/06 )

-Amid all the other tag matches and faction warfare multi-man matches, you cannot forget about this one that goes all the way back to ’06. On top of the fact that I love Survivor Series matches, this one is all the way up the list because it accomplished several things. It got over Jimmy Rave and his new submission hold, as he was responsible for three eliminations. It continued the Jacobs / Whitmer feud, with Lacey being caught in the crossfire and getting hit with the railroad spike. Jacobs thought that “disfigured” her face but actually it didn’t. Finally Delirious at long last gets the one up on Bryan Danielson. After two failed challenges to the title, Delirious gets him to tap in the middle of the ring with the Cobra Stretch. Danielson does a rare job and also for the first time loses a match in Chicago while holding the title.

30. ROH World Tag Team Title Match: Jay & Mark Briscoe (c) vs. El Generico & Kevin Steen—Driven (Taped 6/23/07, Chicago Ridge, IL Aired 9/21/07 and 9/28/07 PPV)

29. ROH World Title Match: Takeshi Morishima (c) vs. Claudio Castagnoli—Death Before Dishonor V Night 1 (Boston, MA 8/10/07)

28. Falls Count Anywhere Match: BJ Whitmer vs. Jimmy Jacobs—Fifth Year Festival: Finale (Liverpool, UK 3/4/07)

-What a fun match. These two brawled all over the Liverpool Olympia, up the stairs to the balcony, and through the bar sections and on top of the staircases and through the crowd. Jacobs does some psychotic dives off of the banister as well as a death defying hurricanrana right next to a circular eating table. Jacobs bleeds buckets and the crowd is just loving this and showing their support for Whitmer. The finish with the brainbuster on the ramp is just sick, sick, SICK stuff. I loved watching this one.

27. ROH World Tag Team Title Match: The Kings of Wrestling of Chris Hero & Claudio Castagnoli (c) vs. Christopher Daniels & Matt Sydal—Dethroned (Edison, NJ 11/25/06)

-A second look at this match reveals it to have gone at a much more methodical pace than I thought. It’s still a very good face / heel tag match with Daniels and Sydal pressing as much as they could and then Hero / Castagnoli taking advantage and working over Daniels as much as they could. Sydal impressed here with his aerial skills. The “cheerleader” shoulder stand into a DDT was and continues to be a jaw dropping moment in the match as does the cartwheel flip into the hurricanrana at the finish.

26. ROH World Title Match: Takeshi Morishima vs. SHINGO—Good Times, Great Memories (Chicago Ridge, IL 4/28/07)

-SHINGO’s defining moment in Ring of Honor where the crowd really and finally comes together in their support of him. This is also the point where Morishima finally started to click as champion, understanding what it took to get himself over as a nigh unstoppable monster but also giving his opponents enough offense to make it seem believable they could win. SHINGO’s hard lariats and Bloodfall move create some very tense nearfall situations in this one.

25. ROH World Tag Team Title Match, Two out of Three Falls: Jay & Mark Briscoe (c) vs. Chris Hero & Claudio Castagnoli—Domination (Philadelphia, PA 6/9/07)

-It was a brilliant storyline move for The Briscoes to knock Hero out in the first fall with the Jay Driller, thus necessitating Claudio goes at it alone for several minutes in the second fall. While this continued the “two straight” gimmick the action inside the ring got very hot and heavy for a while. Smooth and hard hitting action = great match.

24. Philadelphia Street Fight: Roderick Strong, Rocky Romero, Davey Richards, & Matt Sydal vs. Austin Aries, Delirious, Erick Stevens, & Matt Cross—Death Before Dishonor V- Night 2 (Philadelphia, PA 8/11/07)

23. ROH World Title Match: Takeshi Morishima (c) vs. Bryan Danielson II—Man Up (Chicago Ridge, IL Taped 9/15/07, Aired 11/30/07 on PPV)

-The weakest of the three matches between these two but the one that may be the most important as it bridges what happened in the first match to what happened in the third match. Without Morishima going after the eye mercilessly, Danielson doesn’t have the impetus to go postal in their next bout. The attitude of Danielson and the atmosphere of that third match are ultimately the product of this shorter but still enthralling encounter.

22. Number One Contender’s Four Corner Survival Match: Chris Hero vs. Nigel McGuinness vs. Naomichi Marufuji vs. Claudio Castagnoli Man Up—Chicago Ridge, IL (taped 9/15/07, aired 11/30/07 PPV)

– I know now why I loved this match so much —I was marking out from beginning to end. Just one mark out moment after another in terms of the sequence and impact of the moves in this match. This had the right combination of personalities and the right chemistry in the ring. Everyone was in the right place at the right time.

21. Bryan Danielson vs. Go Shiozaki—Live in Tokyo (Tokyo, Japan 7/16/07)

20. Samoa Joe vs. Nigel McGuinness—Fifth Year Festival: Liverpool (Liverpool, UK 3/3/07)

19. ROH World Tag Team Title Match, Two Out of Three Falls: Jay & Mark Briscoe (c) vs. Kevin Steen & El Generico—Manhattan Mayhem II (Manhattan, New York, 8/25/07)

-This was a match with a ton of crowd heat and both teams carried it through the match with their brawling and their high impact moves. I still consider this match great even without Steen & Generico picking up that elusive “one fall” over The Briscoes, who were surging on their “two straight” streak. What got Steen & Generico over in the feud and in particular during this match was just how difficult it was to put them down. They would take all of The Briscoes top tier moves in sequence and still have enough to survive. Then when they took the advantage and nailed out their big tag combinations it was they who came so close. The sequence with them hitting the assembly line (that phrase never did quite catch on, doh!) of the package piledriver and brainbuster had the fans believing, really believing that they would pick up the fall. They didn’t do it, but that doesn’t mean that this match is any less than a great grudge match. The post match handshake to low blow sequence from Steen and the stealing of the tag belts kept the heat for this feud going into their final blow off match, which makes it to the charts later on in the countdown.

18. ROH World Tag Team Title Match: Jay & Mark Briscoe (c) vs. The Motor City Machine Guns of Alex Shelley & Chris Sabin—Good Times, Great Memories (Chicago Ridge, IL 4/28/07)

-It didn’t make it into my top ten, but it did just get into my top twenty of the year. The first thing I want to reinforce is that I did like this match, but I did get caught up in the “over hype” factor and I just haven’t been able to look at this match the same ever since. I do understand why so many people look at this one to be the top of the charts when it comes to both tag team wrestling and the idea of it being a match of the year. As I have said before I consider it to be a great tag team match, but not a match without several severe flaws that ensures I cannot rate it above several other tag matches here on this list. To summarize what I wrote in my breakdown of the match several months ago, the babyface-heel lines were broken too many times, there were several aborted attempts at hot tag segments (and here’s the thing—if you’re going to go for them, do it consistently, but if you just want to do a balls-out spot fest like Briscoes vs. Sydal / Generico then do that) and several awkward moments (I still maintain that the double jump moonsault spot was not an attempt to sell Mark’s hesitation at doing big risk moves, just that he needed to catch his balance). Another factor that mitigates this match’s placement on the list is its overall importance in the grand scheme of things within ROH. It just isn’t as important enough as the top matches in The Briscoes vs. Steenerico feud. Had the Motor City Machine Guns been allowed to stick around and have a longer feud for the titles then no doubt this would be in the top ten, but that did not happen. In its stead was the rivalry against Steen & Generico. Again a match I really liked with moments I flat out loved (the water-spit, the great tag team blitzes done by both teams). Taken alone, what a match. In the context of all the other matches that made it ahead of it, I feel this is my appropriate placement of this one on the list.

17. Bryan Danielson & Takeshi Morishima vs. Nigel McGuinness & KENTA—Respect Is Earned (New York, NY Taped 5/12/07, Aired 7/1/07, 7/8/07 & 7/20/07 on PPV)

-An incredibly important match due to its position as being the main event of the first Pay Per View. You had the top three players in place here as well as the inclusion of KENTA as the skilled, potentially lethal striker who had unfinished business with both Danielson and Morishima. The match itself was really good tag formula in action, albeit not a perfect match. There were a few bobbles that were carefully edited out of the finished product (although no amount of camera work could save Morishima’s awkward stall on a McGuinness lariat). The best part of this match was actually the very end when Morishima latched onto McGuinness’s arm—hurt before the match and further damaged during—and just started pounding it into smithereens. As McGuinness writhed in pain he could do nothing to stop Danielson from locking on the Cattle Mutilation and submitting KENTA.

16. No Remorse Corps vs. Delirious, Erick Stevens & Roderick Strong—Driven (Taped 6/23/07 Chicago Ridge, IL Aired 9/21/07 and 9/28/07 PPV)

-Would I be drawing too much heat if I labeled this one “total nonstop action”? Well it was just that and more. This was a terrific opener to the second Pay Per View event, connecting events and wrestlers from the first show and drawing them together. Strong had his men from the No Remorse Corps, and of course they acted without remorse in beating their opponents to a pulp. Meanwhile the babyfaces fought back with each of their particular areas of expertise: Stevens with his strength, Delirious with his craziness and Cross with his flying moves. Cross may have actually stolen the show here with a dazzling array of moves including a springboard twisting moonsault and a fantastic shooting star press. This was a fantastic tone setter for the show and in and of itself a fast paced, energetic and entertaining match that never let up.

15. Fight Without Honor: Nigel McGuinness vs. Jimmy Rave—Fifth Year Festival: Finale (Liverpool, UK 3/4/07)

-There was only one way to end a feud between these two, who were so bent on the idea that one had dishonored the other and vice versa. There was a whole lot of violence here, including the use of chairs and most notably the use of a guardrail. The latter would be utterly smashed and bent in half by the end of the match since both men absolutely destroyed each other with said foreign object several times. In particular the Tower of London on the guardrail may have been one of more nauseating moves of the year. The Jawbreaker Lariat came into full effect here, as the story goes Rave was leveled by the move and broke his jaw along the way. Nigel gets the huge hometown win against a hated rival and would go on to use the momentum from impressive showings including this one to launch himself into the main event scene.

14. Jay & Mark Briscoe vs. Chris Hero & Claudio Castagnoli—Final Battle 2006 (New York, NY 12/23/06)

-This was an awesome match then and one year later it has hung in there to last and remain at the top of this list. The crowd was unbelievable for this match, going apoplectic about a dozen times (foreshadowing their reaction for the main event). I remember the dive Mark does to the outside at the beginning of the match and since I was sitting up on the balcony right near the stage it seemed like he was flying right towards me. The match itself was excellent and made even better because it was both a Briscoes style match of incredible move after incredible move, but it also had traditional heat building segments and genuine hot tags. I credit Hero and Castagnoli a ton for that added benefit to the match as they really know how to reign in The Briscoes at the appropriate moments and then feed them into the comeback. The combination Shooting Star / Top Rope Legdrop landed at the exact same time, which is so difficult to do that this match gets extra points right there. All in all, a terrific match that means a lot given it was the beginning of the huge Briscoes push as well as the end of The Kings of Wrestling…but what a way to go out.

13. Bryan Danielson vs. KENTA–Driven (Chicago Ridge, IL 6/23/07 DVD release)

-Danielson and KENTA had their rematch about nine months after what I considered to be the match of the year in 2006. While there was no title on the line and Danielson’s shoulder was not as important a point of reference in this match, there was still a ton of great wrestling to carry this match to the number 13 spot. This is a match that benefits from it being a rematch as both men incorporate some of the sequences from earlier encounters and also play off of them into new variations. Danielson hits a similar finishing sequence from the match at Glory By Honor V Night Two, but it is the Go2Sleep as the big move being countered and hit at the end of the match.

12. Samoa Joe vs. Takeshi Morishima—Fifth Year Festival: NYC (New York City, NY 2/16/07)

-A match that fans had been anticipating since their pull apart brawl at Glory By Honor V Night Two. I think the fans really latched onto this one as two big men just having at it and the winner being the last one standing. A few minor quibbles about this one (Fans not knowing and therefore not reacting to the backdrop driver as a finish; Morishima losing in his first match, although I was perfectly fine AND thankful to see Joe finally go over someone from Japan) doesn’t stop the enjoyment of an excellent back and forth all out brawl. Morishima’s use of his mass to out power Joe, including the rolling butt attack and the cartwheel squash in the corner. Joe’s muscle buster got a humongous pop, and it was a heck of a visual to see him carry Morishima on his shoulders in that manner. This was one of Joe’s last great matches in his tenure with ROH and as it turned out it was a very emotional win for Joe and the fans.

11. ROH World Title Match: Takeshi Morishima (c) vs. Nigel McGuinness—Fighting Spirit (Edison, NJ 4/14/07)

10. ROH World Title Match: Takeshi Morishima (c) vs. Nigel McGuinness II—Live in Tokyo (Tokyo, Japan 7/16/07)

-I will discuss both of the McGuinness vs. Morishima matches together as they are very similar to each other. In fact the second match was basically an amplified version of the first match. What was impressive about each was Nigel’s desire to add onto his offense by flying around and outside the ring. He took some impressive dives for a man of his height. Morishima was impressive with his speed and durability—what I think has gone under looked in all of this time is his ability to sell Nigel’s lariats like death. The impact of the move sends him smashing down, but on these two occasions it is not enough to get the win. I was impressed with the crowd support for Nigel in both of these matches, especially in Japan where it seemed that the fans wanted him to win more than their hometown boy!

9. Bryan Danielson vs. Takeshi Morishima III Glory By Honor VI Night Two (New York, NY 11/3/07)

-Danielson suckered Morishima before the bell with a flying dive right into him and from that moment this match was a non-stop roller coaster ride of madness and insanity. The intensity and determination of Danielson to get his payback from Morishima was instantly palpable and existed throughout the match. I think the desire to see Morishima pay bled into the fans’ reactions because we were going as crazy for Danielson as teenage girls must have been for The Beatles back during the Ed Sullivan show. A weird comparison, I know, but those in the crowd were with him all the way. Danielson’s second dive to the outside, the one that went into the crowd, managed to knock down Morishima into a fan! From there Danielson took an insanely stiff backdrop driver to the floor and was knocked into the guardrail from the apron hard two times. Danielson fought back with more brawling and dirty tactics, including the bell hammer to the eye (an eye for an eye as it were). It’s funny to see that the ref was pleading for Danielson to stop kicking Morishima in the privates until he pushed the man away…and THAT was the cause for the DQ. Oh, and Danielson continues to do some damage to the Dunkin Donuts afterwards to the crowd’s delight.

So the DQ ending doesn’t actually take away from the match, but rather is a necessary ending to a match this intense and out of control. Danielson wanted revenge more than the win and it costs him exactly that. It was an awesome story and great in ring work—these big boys pulled no punches and went out there. Morishima looked like he had something to fight for and in fact he did.

8. ROH World Title Match: “American Dragon” Bryan Danielson (c) vs. Homicide—Final Battle 2006 (New York, NY 12/23/06)

-One of the most emotional moments in Ring of Honor history came right here as Homicide finally won the ROH World Title after a five year long quest to win the belt. Yes, the conclusion was incredibly telegraphed—it seemed that the year 2006 was destined to end with Homicide winning in his hometown. However, knowing it would happen and then actually going through the moment as it happened are two different things. The partisan crowd in attendance was rabid to see Homicide win the title and so they went along with the ride. They were aghast as Adam Pearce interfered for the disqualification. They cheered for Todd Sinclair when he restarted the match—and actually chanting “Sinclair!” That’s one way to tell the fans were into this moment. When Homicide hit the Cop Killer for a close two, we all thought it was the three-count. Then they were all there to try to stop Homicide from breaking down and using the ring bell. Finally when Homicide nailed the lariat and turned Bryan Danielson inside out and got the three-count. The crowd let out an incredible shout and the partying began. What a moment, what an atmosphere, one of those things that is just too short lived but still oh so important.

All of the little things from Danielson’s reign as champion become tied in together in this last defense. The various submission holds that had always worked before didn’t work here. The MMA elbow which had caused a referee stoppage in the match against Homicide at Destiny did not stop this match. The unbreakable small package was broken. Danielson’s shoulder, which had held up for an additional four long and painful months finally couldn’t take any more abuse. Homicide was champion and the fans loved it. It wasn’t the best hold for hold match, but it certainly was one of the most cathartic matches in ROH history.

7. Steel Cage Match: Jimmy Jacobs vs. BJ Whitmer—Supercard of Honor II (Detroit, MI 3/31/07)

-The ultimate conclusion to their year and a half long feud, and as stated by J.D. Dunn in his own Top 10 matches of the year, this is a match that had long term ramifications on the future of both men in Ring of Honor. These two went at it with chairs, tables and of course the spikes that became a trademark of their festival of violence. I don’t necessarily like that ROH students had to go running aback and forth from backstage to grab weapons and then give it to the wrestlers as that’s kind of ridiculous looking. However I can’t deny that it kept the match on a faster pace and let both men concentrate on actually delivering the next great moment in the fight. These men did take some out-there risks especially at the end when it was clear Jacobs was hurting badly. The Adrenaline Spike by Whitmer always is a badass move but tonight it looked particularly nasty. They bled buckets and in the end there was one clear winner, or rather, survivor. Jimmy Jacobs had finally won the big one against his “big brother.”

6. ROH World Tag Team Title Match: Jay & Mark Briscoe (c) vs. Claudio Castagnoli & Matt Sydal—Respect is Earned (New York City, NY taped 5/12/07, aired 7/1/07, 7/8/07 & 7/20/07 on PPV)

– I liken this match to a fireworks display, with all the fireworks just building up greater and greater and greater, each one larger and brighter and longer than the first. They took all of their best moves and strung them together one after the other. Castagnoli’s giant swing that lasted forever, Sydal’s shooting star press where he touches his heels, The Briscoes with all of their high impact moves like the Springboard Doomsday, all amazing. My breath was taken away when I saw this live and on PPV it was the same. This is the match that you can show a wrestling fan who asks about what ROH is about. What are these guys about? They stole the show on the first Pay Per View—that’s what they are about.

5. Jay Briscoe vs. Mark Briscoe—Fifth Year Festival: Finale (Liverpool, UK 3/4/07)

-A brother vs. brother match, but unlike Bret Hart vs. Owen Hart, this wasn’t about sibling rivalry, this was about the idea that they had to MAN UP. They had just lost the tag belts and in an impromptu moment Jay challenged Mark to a match so that they could toughen themselves up and then rededicate themselves to winning the tag straps. It was a back and forth contest with each unleashing vicious shots on the other. When neither would back down, both decided to upgrade their offensive attack, move by move to see if each could “man up” from what the other was giving. It was like two bulls running into each other over and over and you just have to keep looking at it to see who will come out the winner. The big spot here was the hurricanrana off the referee to the floor—pure insanity as can be brought to you only by Mark Briscoe. Again, like the Danielson vs. Morishima match, the non pinfall / submission finish was a natural outgrowth of the story being told in this case the ten count draw. I had no problems with this and in fact I actually thought that at this point in their careers there could be no other finish to this one than both being shown as equals.

4. Boston Street Fight: Kevin Steen & El Generico vs. ROH World Tag Team Champions Jay & Mark Briscoe—Death Before Dishonor V Night 1 (Boston, MA 8/10/07)

-It’s so very hard to do a street fight that goes all over the arena and manage to have it come out looking cohesive on video. Unlike the Philadelphia Street Fight between The Resilience and No Remorse Corps, this all out war between these two teams did just that. It was a smooth video shoot and a match that engrossed the entire crowd regardless of where they were brawling and which fans were obscured. The hate between these two teams brought out the kind of crowd reaction that keeps a match like this flowing together. There was always something going on from one moment to the next, whether it be Briscoes flying into chairs, vicious chair shots to the face, a powerbomb through a table, the use of barricades as projectile weapons and the of course all of the big moves get used to dismantle one another. The finale of Steen’s package piledriver into the ladder was insane enough In August and would go on to be attempted once again at the Man UP PPV.

3. ROH World Title Match: Takeshi Morishima (c) vs. “American Dragon” Bryan Danielson—Manhattan Mayhem II (New York City, NY 8/25/07)

-At one point this was my match of the year, but I hadn’t yet seen the actual number one match. Still, this is a huge pinnacle of in-ring action. As I described it when it occurred, this was like if you took the atmosphere and the psychology of boxing match and put it into a wrestling ring. Danielson used the rope a dope technique and zeroed in on Morishima’s leg. He would not stop working on it and then when Morishima had dropped down to one knee (and the crowd cried out in a collective gasp), Danielson knew that he had his opponent. A serious of submission moves could not get the win. Maybe Danielson had been too weakened, too beaten up by Morishima’s fists and boots landing on his face and breaking his orbital bone. Maybe Morishima was tougher than anyone had given him credit for. Whatever the cause, Danielson couldn’t quite finish the job. He went to what had worked before in his matches, his Cattle Mutilation. Yet he had not worked on that body part enough for it to be effective. Danielson was tired and woozy from the head trauma. A few big shots later, including two lariats that twisted him inside out (like in the match against Homicide) and a backdrop driver, and Danielson was done for. The “Best in the World” was no longer the best in the world, because someone had proven he was better—the ROH World Champion.

How can you not love this story? It was a perfect “fight” strategy and it worked on several levels. The environment was there as was the crowd reaction. Danielson has often booked looked at as a great technical fighter, but his reactions and his whole body of work in this match made him uniquely human, uniquely sympathetic. The crowd wanted him to win on this night, but the win was not to be. That is great storytelling.

2. Ladder War: ROH World Tag Team Title Match: Jay & Mark Briscoe (c) vs. El Generico & Kevin Steen—Man Up (Chicago Ridge, IL taped 9/15/07, aired 11/30/07 on PPV)

– I don’t think I can put it any better than what I wrote about this match just a few short weeks ago, so this is taken from that review:

So yeah, this match was SICK. You’ll hear many different adjectives similar to that one, but simply put, it’s the one that best fits. You had chairs flying all around, Generico kicking everything that moved and then bouncing around like a superball when he wasn’t, blood, ladders being thrown, people falling through ladders, sandwich through ladders, flying off ladders. For the first ever ladder rules style match in ROH, they did a tremendous job paying homage to past ladder / TLC matches of the past and then adding their own twists and turns to the style.

If there is one spot that needs to be shown over and over and over again, it’s the Springboard Doomsday Device by The Briscoes THROUGH the opened super ladder. Wait, let’s back up the truck, let me repeat that. Not over the ladder, not under the ladder, not to the side of the ladder. THROUGH the ladder. That took an untold amount of balls and guts from all four men involved. Someone could have died or been cut open incredibly badly right then and there. Fortunately they weren’t, and fortunately these four men weren’t all that injured with the exception of Generico who was out for only a few weeks after this match due to I believe a thigh injury. This was a risk-reward match—The Briscoes, Steen and Generico took high risks, and it paid off with high rewards.

1. # 1 Contender’s Match: “American Dragon” Bryan Danielson vs. Nigel McGuinness—Driven (Philadelphia, PA taped 6/09/07, aired 9/21/07 & 9/28/07 on PPV)

-Last year the Danielson vs. McGuinness match from Unified made it to number two on my list, bettered only by one other match that happened to involve Danielson. Since I hadn’t anticipated Danielson and McGuinness wrestling again in 2007 (especially with Danielson out with that shoulder injury), it was a bit of a surprise to me to hear that they wrestled an unannounced match, for the PPV taping, what would turn out to be a number one contenders match.

The fan reaction coming from this match was that this was the one—it was going to be the match that everyone had to see; that it was THE best match people had ever seen live and that for sure it would be up there in the conversation about what would be the match of the year.

The problem was that no one would be able to see the match for three months. It was taped in June, but would not be released for PPV until September. The DVD market wouldn’t get it until October.

What an agonizing wait, but was it ever worth it!

By now you’ve read about this match, most of you have seen it, and know that it isn’t the hype that makes this match number one, but all the work and effort inside the ring that makes this the best ROH match of the year . All told, it was simply another masterpiece from Bryan Danielson and Nigel McGuinness. When you want to see what professional wrestling is all about at its most basic AND at its greatest, this is the match you want to watch.

Previous Column of Honor Match of the Year Winners:

2006: ROH World Title: Bryan Danielson (c) vs. KENTA—Glory By Honor V Night Two (New York, NY 9/16/06)
2005: Samoa Joe vs. Kenta Kobashi—Joe vs. Kobashi (New York, NY 10/01/05)

Once again we have reached the end of a long journey here for the last column of the year. I am quickly running out of column space here SOOOOO let me thank ALL of the 411 writers who contributed for their hard work and THANK YOU for reading this six part year end series. Happy New Year everyone and here’s to a great 2008 for ROH, independent wrestling and professional wrestling as a whole.

BROOKLYN! DAH EM BAH SEE FOREVAH!
–Ari–