The Independent Mid-Card 04.29.08: Morishima vs. Danielson

Umm, yeah. Not really sure how to build to a column from there…

You know what, we’ll get to that part later. For now, I figured it would be strangely appropriate to bring the column to an end on a match from a feud that seemingly has no end in sight. Some have criticized Ring of Honor’s lack of true blood feuds over the last year or so, but one issue has truly lived up to the hype. At one point or another during this feud, both combatants have been disqualified for excessive force and one man’s power of sight has hung in the balance. It’s a brawl for the ages in this, the final IMC.

Takeshi Morishima vs. Bryan Danielson
Relaxed Rules
Ring of Honor – Rising Above – Manhattan, NY – December 29, 2007

The Wrestlers:
Takeshi Morishima – Pro Wrestling NOAH star Takeshi Morishima first came to Ring of Honor in early-2007 to take part in the first four shows of the company’s Fifth Year Festival. Though he lost his debut to ROH legend Samoa Joe in one of Joe’s final Ring of Honor appearances, Morishima would rebound the very next night by defeating “The Notorious 187” Homicide for the ROH World Title. With the company’s top belt now in his grasp, Morishima would go on a dominating roll in the coming months, turning back title challenges from the likes of Nigel McGuinness, BJ Whitmer, Shingo and Claudio Castagnoli, let alone having dispatched with KENTA and KAZMA while back in Japan and on tour with NOAH. Morishima’s highly-anticipated defense against “American Dragon” Bryan Danielson in August left the latter with a severely injured eye. Their rematch a few weeks later saw Morishima target Danielson’s damaged eye despite a pre-match vow to not take advantage of the injury. Though Morishima would lose his title weeks later to Nigel McGuinness, he would be scheduled for an intended final showdown with Danielson during Glory By Honor VI weekend. Unfortunately, Danielson would get so frustrated during the course of the match that he began liberally stomping Morishima’s groin, drawing a disqualification. Another match was quickly signed for Pay-Per-View to hopefully settle the issue between the two former champions once-and-for-all.

Bryan Danielson – After an epic fifteen-month ROH World Title reign, “American Dragon” Bryan Danielson took the first portion of 2007 off to rehab a lingering shoulder injury. Upon returning to Ring of Honor action in May, Danielson set his sights on regaining the belt he had held for so long, though the championship was now held by Takeshi Morishima. After defeating longtime rival Nigel McGuinness to earn a title shot, Danielson was eventually unsuccessful in a pair of title matches, the first of which nearly cost him his sight. Though it would ironically be McGuinness who would go on to upend Morishima for the ROH World Title in October, Danielson’s focus had since become twofold, as he was intent on reclaiming his spot as ROH World Champion as well as getting revenge on the former champion for injuring him. After Danielson was unable to beat Austin Aries in a best-of-three series to earn a shot at McGuinness, he resolved to take down Morishima first, leading to a match between the two right near the end of the year.

The Match:
Takeshi Morishima’s music hits and the former ROH World Champion makes his way through the curtain. He hails from Tokyo, Japan and weighs in at 149 kilos (approximately 328 pounds). His entrance is accompanied by an on-screen graphic that notes the following as things to “look out for”: Backdrop Driver, Size & Agility, Anger Factor. I’d consider the third the most dangerous, but that’s a matter of opinion. The Final Countdown begins and we get an on-screen graphic for “American Dragon” Bryan Danielson. Things to look out for include: Cattle Mutilation, Elbow Strikes, Thirst For Revenge. I’m not sure which of those is most dangerous, actually. Danielson hails from Aberdeen, Washington, but Morishima attacks him in the aisle way before the ring announcer can broadcast his weight. Let’s assume it’s his usual 185 pounds.

Morishima throws Danielson into the barricade and then strikes him around ringside. No opening bell is evident, so I’ll keep track of time from the break in the ring announcing absent a later bell. Morishima whips Dragon into another guardrail and the two begin to exchange blows. Morishima’s strength overwhelms Danielson and he gets whipped into the barricade a third time. Morishima picks up the time keeper’s table and literally throws it at Danielson, drawing admonishment from the referee (albeit from a safe distance).

Morishima eggs on the crowd from the ring, as Danielson pulls himself out of the wreckage. He is bleeding from the forehead, and staggers around before climbing up to the apron. Morishima lariats him from the apron to the floor, where his wound begins to pour blood everywhere. Morishima follows him out, but immediately rolls him back into the ring. The crowd begins the old “you’re gonna get your fucking head kicked in!” chant, but Danielson stumbles around right into a front dropkick off the top from Morishima.

Morishima stomps on Dragon and goes to work ripping open his cut even more. Morishima chokes Danielson against the ropes and then hits a double hand slap to the back. Morishima kicks Danielson over into the corner, where the smaller man is now literally covered in blood. Danielson gets whipped cross-corner and Morishima follows him in with a running forearm strike. Morishima pounds Danielson down with right hands and then rakes Danielson’s lacerated forehead against the ropes. That’s a pretty great heel move. Morishima stands on Danielson’s chest in the corner, and then stands back and lets him struggle to his feet. Morishima kicks him in the chest and then whips him cross-corner again, this time following him in with a Yakuza kick.

Morishima pounds on Danielson some more, but this time a cross-corner whip sees him run into a boot on the blind charge. Danielson charges out of the corner with a jumping knee strike and then just starts plastering Morishima with kicks to the back and chest. Danielson comes running with what seems to be a knee strike, but he segues from that position right into a triangle choke. Morishima forces Danielson’s shoulders onto the canvas for a two count, but then the big man just lifts him off of the mat while still in the triangle choke.

Danielson releases the hold and begins to hit a series of elbow strikes to the head. He comes running with a forearm strike against the ropes, but goes to the well once too often and Morishima floors him with a lariat when he comes off the ropes again. Morishima slowly pulls Danielson to his feet and then plants him with a Backdrop Driver. Danielson somehow gets to his feet, so Morishima levels him with another lariat. Morishima hooks the leg for the cover, but Danielson improbably gets his shoulder up at two.

We get a replay of the first lariat and then cut back to the match as Morishima is pushing the referee out of his way. Morishima hits a clubbing forearm, but Danielson hops onto his back and grounds him. Danielson begins to hit his trapped elbow strikes and Morishima looks to be out of it, so Danielson switches to a mounted position and rains down forearms. Morishima rolls on top and begins to hit a series of clubbing forearms, but Danielson regains the dominant position and goes back to his own forearm strikes. Morishima once again gets control and a couple of very stiff forearms allow him to pull Danielson to his feet.

Morishima can’t lift Danielson for a suplex, so he just kicks him in the groin instead as a receipt for their earlier match. Normally that would be an automatic disqualification, but this is Relaxed Rules, so the referee only gives Morishima a warning. Morishima goes back to stomping on Danielson’s groin, so the referee tries to stop him and gets shoved aside for his trouble. The referee has the wherewithal to call for the bell and disqualify Morishima at a little shy of eight minutes.

Morishima continues to pound on Danielson after the match, and officials and students run down to pull him off. Referee Bryce Remsburg eats a Backdrop Driver, and the students finally corner Morishima and try to calm him down. Danielson, however, has other plans, as he has grabbed the time keeper’s hammer and charges Morishima with it. Danielson tries to gouge Morishima’s eye out with the butt of the hammer and it takes nearly five men to eventually pull Dragon back. Danielson is officially announced as the winner by disqualification, but neither man looks to be doing all that well in the wake of this one.

The Analysis:
Filled to overflowing with brutality and intensity, this match was actually more about angle advancement than it was about being a competitive contest unto itself. Morishima dominated Danielson for the first several minutes, with Danielson’s knee strike being his first real offensive move. What’s more, that dynamic is perfectly reasonable, as Danielson’s whole ROH persona is based on his ability to out-wrestle and out-strike his opponents. Given Morishima’s immense weight and size advantage, it’s logical that he would be able to blitz Danielson early on and keep him from stringing any real offense together.

They even found time to work in some psychology, with Morishima subtly going after Danielson’s eye on a couple of occasions, and Danielson responding in kind post-match. That said, this was mostly about both men hitting each other with everything but the kitchen sink, and each one showing the resolve and fortitude to fight through it. Danielson literally bled all over the place here, something that is becoming a signature of his in huge matches after his barn burner with Nigel McGuinness last Spring. If blood is meant to serve as a metaphor for emotion, Danielson seems truly invested in his issue with Takeshi Morishima.

Though some fans have expressed frustration in a second straight non-finish between these two, I think the tit-for-tat disqualifications was a great booking move, as it literally turned the intensity here up to a rolling boil. It is rare that an ROH feud has seemed to feature genuine dislike between the competitors, but here you could most certainly feel the hatred flowing from Morishima to Danielson and back. The only error in judgment may have been in the overall timing, as four months later the issue has yet to be settled. Taking into account the current situations of both men, it’s unclear whether they will be able to have a final matchup before any and all heat is gone. Or if it’s already too late.

The Aftermath:
Since this match, Takeshi Morishima has returned to Japan to compete for Pro Wrestling NOAH fulltime. After finding much success early in 2008, he became the man to end Mitsuharu Misawa’s fifteen-month GHC Heavyweight Title reign. Though Morishima has yet to make a defense of NOAH’s top singles championship, there are high hopes that he will rise to the occasion as his promotion’s top competitor. During a recent Global Tag League contest, Morishima was pinned by Takashi Sugiura, fueling speculation that Sugiura will be Morishima’s first challenger. Morishima will return to ROH for the first time in 2008 in May, when he will take part in a Six-Man match against the No Remorse Corps as well as go one-on-one with the Necro Butcher. A final match with “American Dragon” Bryan Danielson seems to be on the back burner until Morishima’s GHC Heavyweight Title reign comes to an end.

“American Dragon” Bryan Danielson has had mixed success in 2008, winning competitive matches against Tyler Black and Brent Albright, but coming up short in an FIP World Title bid against Erick Stevens, as well as dropping a tournament match to “Mr. Wrestling” Kevin Steen. Danielson finally received a shot at Nigel McGuinness’ ROH World Title at the company’s 6th Anniversary Show, but would be unable to wrest the belt from his nemesis when McGuinness forced him into submission with the London Dungeon after targeting the very eye that Morishima had injured months earlier. Danielson has also formed an on-again, off-again partnership with Austin Aries, but that seems to be a background issue now with Aries embroiled in a feud with Age of the Fall leader Jimmy Jacobs. Danielson has also coincidentally found some success in Pro Wrestling NOAH in 2008, having won a number of tag bouts with his Cattle Mutilation submission hold. Danielson’s plate would seem to be full on ROH’s upcoming shows as well, as he will first have a rematch with Tyler Black before taking on former GHC Heavyweight Champion Naomichi Marufuji.

The Final Word:
Danielson and Morishima were allowed to select each other’s opponents for the upcoming Hammerstein Ballroom debut, which is what led to Morishima vs. Necro and Danielson vs. Marufuji. If those are the kind of matchups that this feud will lead to, I’d say just let them pick each other’s opponents for the next year or so. Actually, I wish wrestling politics would allow Danielson to pin the GHC Heavyweight Champion cleanly in the middle of the ring, but that’s a pipe dream at this point.

To see this week’s encounter, Rising Above is available at rohwrestling.com. The main event sees Nigel McGuinness face off with Austin Aries over the ROH World Title and is one of the best matches ROH has put on in recent months. That McGuinness wrestles most of the match with a concussion is as much a testament to his abilities as it is an indictment of his sanity. Also on the card is a great 2/3 Falls ROH World Tag Team Title defense from Jay & Mark Briscoe, as well as a tremendously fun tag team scramble. This one is very highly recommended.

411 plugs go as follows: Column of Honor, Truth B Told, and The Navigation Log. Buy or Sell is now being helmed by Michael Bauer, and he and Alex Mattis are up in the most recent edition. I also really liked Wilcox’s Thoughts From The Top Rope this week, so check that out as well. Reviews you should read are Dunn’s take on ROH Sixth Anniversary Show and check out his No Way Out 2000 review as well. Don’t ever say I didn’t plug a WWE column.

Buy or Sell’s now Bauer’s responsibility and there are no ROH shows, though the Roundtable’s now Ari’s domain.

iTunes:

1. “Ghostwriter (Remix)” by RJD2 – from The Horror
2. “All I Know” by Rahzel – from Make The Music 2000
3. “Baby I Love Your Way” by Peter Frampton – from Frampton Comes Alive!
4. “The Chemicals Between Us” by Bush – from The Science of Things
5. “Delicate Few” by O.A.R. – from Any Time Now [Disc 1]

I’ll keep the plugs for The Cool Kids’ Table Dot Net brief this week: I’ve got an Up & Under, Brad and I have CHIKARA: Two Eyebrows Are Better Than One, and Brad has a BG Thinks. Oh, and the newest podcast with live ROH reactions. Make moves. Viva la renegade website!

So the vaguely-referenced “big announcement” I’ve been alluding to over the last few weeks is that I’m leaving 411mania as a weekly columnist effective next week. I’m still going to be sticking around for some things here and there, but after a special project that’s already in the works, I’m going to essentially be a ghost. There will be a special-to-411 edition of The Up & Under later this week to explain things in more detail, but for now I just want to say thank you to everyone who’s taken the time to read the IMC over the last year-and-a-half. It’s been a slice. Consider this me finally “getting started”…

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