The Independent Mid-Card 04.08.08: Steen vs. Danielson

Kevin Steen vs. Bryan Danielson
Tournament – Semifinal Match
Ring of Honor – Eye of the Storm – Deer Park, NY – February 22, 2008

The Wrestlers:
Kevin Steen – Though “Mr. Wrestling” Kevin Steen returned to Ring of Honor in 2007 to become one of the company’s top heels, he soon gained something of a cult following both for his sense of humor and a string of incredible in-ring efforts alongside his tag team partner El Generico. When Steen shifted over to the babyface side of the ledger late in the year by turning down a spot in the Hangmen 3 faction, it was simply a formality to complete a transformation that had been building for months. Still, despite an earlier run as a singles champion for Pro Wrestling Guerrilla, Steen was something of an unknown commodity in terms of going solo in an ROH ring. Steen would put those questions to rest, however, with a run of victories early on in 2008. When inclement weather forced a rebooking of a mid-February show, Steen found himself entered in a one-night tournament whose winner would earn a future shot at the ROH World Title. After dispatching with Delirious in the opening round, Steen was set for a semifinal duel with ROH ace “American Dragon” Bryan Danielson.

Bryan Danielson – After spending the first part of 2007 on the shelf rehabbing a shoulder injury, “American Dragon” Bryan Danielson returned to Ring of Honor intent on regaining the ROH World Title he had lost some five months earlier. Though he was unsuccessful in a pair of highly competitive bids to wrest the belt from Pro Wrestling NOAH star Takeshi Morishima, the Summer of 2007 saw a rekindling of Danielson’s rivalry with Nigel McGuinness, a storyline element that would become even more important when McGuinness became the man to dethrone Morishima in October. Danielson’s quest for a shot at McGuinness would end up being slowed during the Fall, when the “American Dragon” would lose a hotly contested three match series to longtime rival Austin Aries, earning Aries a Pay-Per-View match with the champion. When it was announced that Danielson would finally receive his shot at McGuinness, who was now fully healed from a variety of injuries, at ROH’s Sixth Anniversary Show, many thought the belt had a high chance of ending up back around Danielson’s waist. Entering the impromptu #1 Contenders Tournament, Danielson was actually coming off of some fantastic efforts against relative ROH newcomers like Erick Stevens and Tyler Black, including losing to Stevens in a bout for the FIP World Heavyweight Title, but in the tournament’s first round the “American Dragon” had been able to advance by defeating ROH World Tag Team Champion and No Remorse Corps member Rocky Romero.

The Match:
The Final Countdown signals the arrival of former ROH World Champion “American Dragon” Bryan Danielson. Danielson hails from Aberdeen, Washington and weighs in at his usual 185 pounds. He also has a beard, but not the absurdly large one he had during the first part of 2005. Danielson slaps hands with fans on the way to the ring before climbing up to the second rope for the climax of his entrance music. He gets a few scattered streamers as well. Drowning Pool’s Tearing Away brings “Mr. Wrestling” Kevin Steen through the curtain, and the Marieville, Quebec, Canada resident is fighting at 239 pounds. Steen’s often cocky facial expressions are missing, as he seems to be a bit more hesitant than usual. That said on the way to the ring he extinguishes any notion that he’s lacking in confidence (Steen: “Best in the world? I’ll show you who’s the best in the world…”). The referee calls for the Code of Honor to be followed, and indeed Steen does shake Danielson’s hand, albeit after mocking some ringside fans. The bell then rings to start things off.

The two men reach in for a knucklelock, but Danielson releases and grabs a side headlock instead. He takes Steen down to the mat, but Steen grabs a headscissors to counter and then both men quickly hop back to their feet. They begin to circle again as the incredibly bizarre “You’re gonna get your fucking head kicked in!” chant, which became a crowd staple early in Danielson’s title reign, begins seemingly out of nowhere. Danielson waits through a few rounds of the chant, but then (rather politely) asks the crowd to stop for the sake of a child sitting at ringside. The two men lock up again and Steen grabs a waistlock. Danielson counters to an armbar and takes Steen down to the mat and into a hammerlock. Danielson adds an armbar to Steen’s other arm and maneuvers his shoulders onto the canvas for a one count. Danielson grabs the armbar again after some maneuvering on the mat, but Steen works back to his feet, forcing Dragon to grab a headlock instead. Danielson takes Steen down again, but another headscissors reversal leads to another stalemate.

The two men circle again and move in for another knucklelock. Danielson rolls backwards to apply a top wristlock and then armdrags Steen over and continues twisting away on his wrist. Steen is able to counter into a rollup for two and Dragon backs off on the kickout. The two men lock up proper in the middle of the ring, but Danielson is quick to grab a head vice and force Steen to the corner. Steen pushes Danielson off in frustration as the referee’s count reaches three. Steen gets the better of the next lockup by grabbing a side headlock, and then gets the better end of a shoulderblock when Danielson sends him off the ropes to break. They go into a leapfrog sequence that sees Danielson take Steen over with a hiptoss and then immediately follow up with a snapmare into a rear head vice. Steen works back to his feet and elbows out before coming off the ropes. Danielson ducks down, so Steen takes advantage with a sunset flip that gets a two count. Interestingly, Danielson’s kickout involved sandwiching Steen’s head in-between his legs, again causing damage to Steen’s ears (which had previously been worked over with the head vices).

Steen, unappreciative of Danielson working his ears, shoves Dragon, who is more than eager to shove “Mr. Wrestling” right back. Another shove from Steen leads to Danielson retaliating with a slap right to the ear. Steen, now livid, charges Danielson and peppers him with rights in the corner. The referee separates them, but Steen has more than a few words for him about Danielson targeting his ear. Steen moves towards Danielson again, but he gets a boot to the face out of the corner. Steen is undeterred and moves in again, and this time catches Danielson’s boot attempt and tosses his leg through the ropes before kicking the middle rope, in-so-doing locking Danielson’s leg up in the ropes. Danielson ends up in what amounts to a single-leg crab, which is causing damage to his already bandaged leg. The referee tries to free him, but Steen, now having taken a moment to regain his composure, comes over and begins to stomp away at Danielson’s injured leg. Steen even stands right on it until the referee forces him to break with a five count.

Steen hits a pair of sitting splashes to the knee before Danielson is able to roll away from the ropes. Steen stomps the knee again as Danielson continues to try to crawl away from him. Steen finally catches up to him and grabs the leg for some more kicks. Steen continues the assault by hitting Danielson in the leg with punches and forearms, irritating the pro-Danielson crowd along the way (Steen: “Keep clapping…”). Steen then slams Danielson’s leg into the mat before rubbing his forearm on Danielson’s ear to get a bit of payback from earlier in the match. Danielson tries to crawl to the corner to get away, but Steen kicks him in the leg again and pulls him over towards the ropes. Steen then rolls to the outside and slams Danielson’s leg onto the apron from there. Danielson tries to fight Steen off, but the big man is relentless and wraps Danielson’s leg around the ringpost. Steen rolls back in and makes the cover for a surprisingly close two count.

Steen grabs Danielson’s leg and shouts “Wooo!”, obviously signaling for Ric Flair’s patented Figure-Four Leglock, but then confounds expectations by locking in a single-leg crab instead. While locking in the hold, Steen makes sure to mock Danielson’s entrance theme (Steen: [in high pitched voice] “It’s the final countdown doo doo doo doo!”). Steen even pulls down Danielson’s kneepad to increase the torque on the injured leg. Danielson inches his way towards the ropes, so Steen pulls him back to the middle of the ring (Steen: [looking into the camera] “I’m never letting go, baby!”). Steen actually starts bobbing his head along to the beat of the crowd’s clapping in a funny moment. Danielson finally makes it all the way to the ropes, forcing Steen to break the hold. Of course, not a moment goes by before Steen slams Danielson’s knee into the mat again.

Steen drops an elbow on the injured knee and then lands his patented flipping legdrop onto it before covering Danielson (hooking the bad leg in the process) for a two count. Danielson and Steen get into a strike battle on the mat and Danielson is able to lock in for his repeated elbow strikes. Steen rolls away and Danielson gingerly works his way back to his feet before unwrapping the bandage on his leg before leveling Steen with a running forearm. Danielson hits another forearm that sends Steen stumbling backwards into the corner and then whips him cross-corner for another running forearm, albeit with less momentum than usual. Danielson takes Steen down with a Judo DDT, but immediately grabs his leg upon impact.

Danielson gets back to his feet and goes out to the apron. Danielson climbs to the top but crashes and burns on a diving headbutt attempt. Steen takes Danielson down to the mat and goes for a spinning toehold, but Danielson kicks him off. Steen rebounds off the ropes and again goes for the spinning toehold, but again Danielson is able to kick him off. Steen goes back for a third try, but Danielson counters into a schoolboy rollup for two. Steen walks into a pair of forearms, but when Danielson comes off the ropes, Steen is able to elevate him into a powerbomb for two. Steen goes right into a Sharpshooter (cross-legged grapevine Boston Crab) attempt on the kickout, but Danielson does everything he can to block the hold. Dragon is successful in blocking it and gets back to his feet, but turns around right into a superkick that gets another two count for Steen.

Steen makes a throat-slashing gesture and sets up for the Package Piledriver (arm butterfly piledriver), but Danielson shifts his weight and avoids the move. Danielson counters with a spinning back kick to the midsection before going to work on Steen with mounted punches to the kidneys. Danielson locks in a seated reverse armbar, but Steen won’t tap out so Dragon switches into the repeated elbow strikes again. Steen gets back to his feet and pushes Danielson off before pasting him in the face with another superkick. Steen hits the Steenalizer (pumphandle over-the-knee neckbreaker), but it only gets two.

A dueling chant has started up as Steen pulls Dragon towards the corner and climbs to the top. Steen looks for a moonsault, but takes too much time and Danielson is able to cut him off on the top rope. Danielson climbs up after him and looks for the back superplex, but Steen slips under him and crotches Danielson on the top. Steen locks Danielson in a tree-of-woe before coming cross-corner with a somersault senton splash. Steen again looks for the Sharpshooter, but Danielson punches him in the face to block. Steen is determined, however, and tries to lock the hold in again. And once again, Danielson sends him reeling with a punch to the face. Steen goes for the hold a third time and this time, despite a flurry of punches from Danielson, is able to turn the “American Dragon” over (after a few stomps to the face) and lock in the submission. Steen sits back in the hold and Danielson has no choice but to tap out at 14:40. Steen advances to face the winner of Go Shiozaki vs. El Generico in the tournament finals.

Drowning Pool begins to play again as Steen clutches at his ear. He looks into the camera and gives a very characteristic post-match interview (Steen: “Did you see what happened? I can’t hear real well, but I think I can see… ‘Best in the World’ just tapped out to Mr. Wrestling, baby!”). Danielson struggles back to his feet and offers a handshake to Steen. “Mr. Wrestling” accepts and Dragon makes his way to the back, clutching at his knee along the way. Steen heads towards the back as some of the fans sing along to his music.

The Analysis:
Interestingly, whereas in most contests Bryan Danielson is the steadiest worker in the ring, here his selling was uncharacteristically spotty and Kevin Steen was most certainly the match’s anchor. Steen was relentless in targeting Danielson’s (already injured) leg in the early portion of the match, even locking in a very painful looking single-leg crab for an extended period of time, only to have Danielson shrug the injury off to hit a cross-corner elbow and a diving headbutt. During his climb to the top rope, Danielson show no hesitation or additional care, belying the immense damage Steen had just done to his leg. Lesser workers have been taken to task for so blatantly ignoring well-worked injuries, and I think Danielson should not be immune from that analysis here.

The finish to the match, which saw Steen tenaciously work to apply the Sharpshooter, was well done and played off of the earlier leg work, but the announcers sold Danielson’s submission as a sign that he was looking forward to his ROH World Title Match with Nigel McGuinness the next night, and not as a result of Steen’s dogged attempts to work his leg. As good as a submission victory over the company’s de facto standard bearer made Steen look, there was so much more potential here to put Steen over for his technical acumen and well executed game plan.

All of that said, Steen and Danielson put on a very entertaining contest here, especially given that each had already fought once that night, and that Steen had to be looking forward somewhat to a third match in the main event. Interestingly, I think that not nearly enough was made of the fact that Steen could be facing his longtime tag team partner if El Generico were to defeat Go Shiozaki in the second semifinal. Not that it would have mattered, but it certainly was a major storyline element that was at best glossed over by the commentators.

I will say that I very much enjoyed a number of things about this match, especially Steen needing to struggle to apply the Sharpshooter. Whereas often submission holds are applied with minimal effort, Steen and Danielson were able to turn their finishing sequence into a story unto itself, with Steen trying over-and-over to lock in the hold, but only succeeding once he realized that he needed to continue to beat on the “American Dragon” until he was sufficiently weary. Also, it’s a little thing, but Steen sits back when applying holds like the Sharpshooter and the single-leg crab, a detail that a lot of wrestlers omit. Far too many competitors lock in sloppy or loose holds, while Steen’s look legitimately painful, making Danielson submitting look all the more realistic.

The Aftermath:
“American Dragon” Bryan Danielson would go into ROH’s Sixth Anniversary Show looking to become the first two-time ROH World Champion. When the night was over, he was still searching for a way to make that dream a reality, having been unable to regain the title he had once held for fifteen consecutive months. In the wake of that loss, Danielson left for an already-scheduled tour with Pro Wrestling NOAH in Japan. That excursion has found him much success, as he has recently won a series of tag team and six-man matches by forcing opponents into submission with his formidable Cattle Mutilation hold. Though nothing has been announced as of this writing, it seems reasonable that Danielson’s success will earn him a shot at either the GHC Jr. Heavyweight Title or the GHC Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Titles before the end of the current tour. Interestingly, the tag belts in question are currently held by Taiji Ishimori and Danielson’s longtime rival in Ring of Honor, KENTA.

Kevin Steen would go on to defeat Go Shiozaki later in the night to earn a shot at the ROH World Title. The next night at ROH’s Sixth Anniversary Show, Steen would continue his winning ways by pinning Joey Matthews of The Age of the Fall. After dispatching with No Remorse Corps member and ROH World Tag Team Champion Davey Richards a few weeks later in Dover, New Jersey, Steen set his sights on finally winning ROH gold, challenging the No Remorse Corps to put their titles on the line against himself & El Generico. Though to date that match has not taken place, it seems likely that if Richards and co-champion Rocky Romero make it through their upcoming defenses that Steen & Generico will be right in line for a shot at the belts. A win over No Remorse Corps leader Roderick Strong on Pay-Per-View would seem to further cement Steen’s status as a top contender to the tag titles. This Saturday will see Steen cash in his shot at the ROH World Title, as he will face Nigel McGuinness in the show’s main event. Few think that Steen will walk out of Edison, New Jersey with the gold, but then few thought it possible that he would upend Danielson in February, and a year ago few thought that Steen would ever be able to establish himself as a mainstay on the ROH roster in the first place. Will this weekend mark Steen’s ascension to the top of Ring of Honor? Only time will tell.

The Final Word:
I think Kevin Steen is amongst the best all-around talents in North America right now and think ROH would do well to give him a run at the top of the company at some point. I’m not sure that now is the best time to move the ROH World Title to him, and I’m definitely not convinced that ROH is going to take the belt off of McGuinness anytime soon, but if Steen’s in-ring work continues to match is on-the-mic prowess, there’s no reason to think that he won’t be one of the top dogs in ROH by the end of 2008.

To see this week’s match, Eye of the Storm is available from rohwrestling.com. The card is highlighted by the #1 Contenders Tournament, which features such top talent as Austin Aries, El Generico, Go Shiozaki, Necro Butcher, Delirious, and Rocky Romero as well as Danielson and Steen. I really enjoyed the show, but as with so many tournaments, your mileage may vary. I think it’s well worth the purchase, especially during one of ROH’s many sales.

411 has a bunch of great columns and reviews for you to check out this week. I’ll actually start this week with a plug for Ryan Byers’ most recent edition of The Custom Made News Report, which is by far the most ‘must-read’ column of the week. There’s Ari’s Column of Honor, Bayani’s Truth B Told, and Short’s Navigation Log cover the weekly required reading. Buy or Sell was Campbell and Lansdell, so be sure to check that out, and also look at some of the new guys. Specifically, I’ll mention Wacky Wrestling Theory by Jake Chambers and Please Don’t Hate by Julian Bond. Both very good first efforts and well worth a look. In terms of reviews, Dunn’s got some ROH with Without Remorse and some FIP with Hot Summer Nights 2007 – Night 2. He’s also got SHIMMER Vol. 4 if you’re into that sort of thing. Furious goes back to one of my favorite ROH shows in Unforgettable, while Magnus has CHIKARA’s Time Will Prove Everything. Tons of great stuff this week, so be sure to check it out.

This week’s Buy or Sell will be Byers and Short, and they’ll be previewing the ROH shows that will also be covered by the ROH Roundtable.

Late-addition super awesome iTunes info goes like this:

1. “Unwell” by Matchbox Twenty – from More Than You Think You Are
2. “Kielbasa” by Tenacious D – from Tenacious D
3. “Ghost of Steven Foster” by Squirrel Nut Zippers – from Perennial Favorites
4. “Drive” by Incubus – from Live on Leno, 3.30.01
5. “Save Yourself” by Stabbing Westward – from Darkest Days

The Cool Kids’ Table Dot Net has some great stuff for you as well, with Brad’s reviews of PWG Roger Dorn Night and Jake’s take on WWE Armageddon 2007. They team up for a look at ROH Undeniable, and then of course there’s always our most recent podcast. Viva la renegade website!

Brewers are 5-1, so overall I’m very pleased. Sheets throwing a shutout the other day didn’t hurt either. I’m currently second in the 411 staff fantasy league, too. I wonder if I’ll still be eligible to play in a month when… oops… almost ruined it. Stick around, I’m sure it’ll all become clear in the next week or two.

210 to 6. Get Started. The Cool Kids’ Table Dot Net. Ole!