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Views from the Hawke’s Nest: Bryan Danielson – The American Dragon – Disc 1

February 6, 2015 | Posted by TJ Hawke

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Views from the Hawke’s Nest: Bryan Danielson – The American Dragon – Disc 1

The Epic Encounter
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
April 12, 2003

Bryan Danielson vs. Paul London [2/3 Falls]

They took their time early on with this one. London used a headlock to maintain control. Dragon made a comeback after a backbreaker. Dragon was then in control for a while. London managed to headscissors Dragon to the floor and then made a comeback himself. Dragon fired back within a minute though with a tope suicida. They went back and forth. Dragon went for a back superplex, but London reversed it into a crossbody: 1…2…3!!
London is up one fall to none.

Dragon was very aggressive at the start of the second fall. London had the advantage and went for the shooting star press. Dragon kicked out the left leg though and caused London to be hung up by the injured leg. Dragon targeted the left leg. I love that Dragon started acting like a dick because he realized he had to be ruthless to even up the match. He applied a single leg crab, and London had to tap out.
London and Danielson are tied with one fall each.

London used kicks to the head to stay alive in this one. His left leg was in bad shape. Dragon won a strike exchange and applied Cattle Mutilation. London immediately got to the ropes. Both men were on the struggle bus by this point. Dragon got the single leg, but London got to the ropes again. London managed to kill Dragon’s momentum with something I can only call a Steenalyzer bomb. Dragon came back with the back superplex. SINGLE LEG CRAB! Dragon had it so deep, but London crawled and crawled until he got to the ropes. Dragon teased a back superplex to the floor. London headbutted Dragon to the mat. London hit a ridiculous swinging DDT off the middle rope. London struggled to the top rope and pulled off the shooting star press: 1…2…3!
London wins the match two falls to one

I’ve gone back and forth on this match over the years, but now I’m pretty certain that I firmly believe it’s great. London’s selling was just on another level here. He earned so much goodwill from me throughout the match that I did not even mind that the finish came from a move that requires great leg strength. Danielson was in peak form here, and he looked as good as he’s ever looked in his career (which means he’s been a world class wrestler for at least 12 years if not more). This is one of the best matches in Ring of Honor history.
Match Rating: ****1/2

Main Event Spectacles
Elizabeth, New Jersey
November 11, 2003</i

Bryan Danielson vs. AJ Styles [Number One Contender’s Trophy]

The commentators left the booth after a minute, which was an occasional ROH gimmick to make the match seem more important. Neither man could get an advantage. Dragon finally got control after he started targeting the left arm. Styles was able to come back after dumping Dragon to the floor. Styles went after the left leg. Dragon fought back though and applied a single leg crab before going back after the left arm. AJ came back and called Dragon a “faggot” because AJ Styles. Dragon fought back and got control. AJ reversed a back superplex into a crossbody. Dragon then hit a Fucking Machine Back Suplex to get firm control again. AJ came back after hitting a Pele. Dragon went for a cross armbreaker on the injured arm, but AJ reversed it into a modified Styles Clash. Styles Clash again: 1…2…3!

This was a compelling match overall, but I was hoping for more focused work on the injured limbs story that they started exploring early on.
Match Rating: ***1/4

Final Battle
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
December 27, 2003

Bryan Danielson vs. Jay Briscoe
I’ve actually never seen this one before.

Both men struggled to get an advantage over the other early on. Dragon was targeting the left arm. Jay got control by applying a headlock. As Dragon went for the arm again, Jay fought back and hit a big lariat. They traded chops. There is a level of physicality in this match that is missing from most independent pro wrestling in 2014-5. Dragon was using some lifters to get control. They traded some slaps. Jay threw some bombs to get back control. Dragon came back with a dragon suplex and then transitioned to the Cattle Mutilation. Jay tapped out!

What a gem of a match. As I wrote in the recap, the physicality here really stood out to me here and compelled me enough to pay close attention to every single moment. Excellent work from both men. I need to go back and re-watch a lot more of Danielson’s 2003 stuff. He was absolutely incredible.
Match Rating: ***3/4

Reborn: Stage 1
St. Paul, Minnesota
April 23, 2004

Bryan Danielson vs. CM Punk

Somehow, this was the only match these two had in ROH.

Ricky Steamboat was the referee for this match. Punk and Steamboat were having issues at this point in time. They were jawing with each other here and there. Dragon and Punk were struggling to get control of the match. Dragon eventually found success by targeting the midsection of Punk. Punk avoided an abdominal stretch and then dumped Dragon to the floor. Punk targeted Dragon’s back. Dragon finally fought back after hitting a diving uppercut. He applied Cattle Mutilation. Punk survived and got a nearfall with a shining wizard. They went back and forth some more. Punk applied a single leg. Dragon survived and then hit a dropkick to the gut. He then applied an abdominal stretch, and Punk had to tap out!

This was a real mixed bag. I wanted to love the whole match, but they just took way too long to get there. Danielson’s work on the midsection really held the match together though, and it led to a great finish.
Match Rating: ***1/4

Survival of the Fittest
Essington, Pennsylvania
June 24, 2004

We saw footage of the SOTF finals. Austin Aries and Bryan Danielson were the last two remaining in the finals. This was the match that gave Austin Aries main event credibility if I recall the popular narrative correctly. They basically worked a proper singles match where both guys had control for a significant period of time. Dragon avoided the 450 and turned it up a notch. Aries escaped Cattle Mutilation but couldn’t put Dragon away. Aries seemed on the verge of victory, but Dragon blocked a 450. They kept battling and battling but neither man would stay down. Dragon eventually made him submit. There was a level of physicality here that I’m not used to seeing from these two together. It’s one of my least favorite pairings that endured from the early days of ROH until the end of Danielson’s time there.

Testing the Limit
Essington, Pennsylvania
August 7, 2004

Bryan Danielson vs. Austin Aries [2/3 Falls]

This is the infamous 70+ minute match. I’m not keen on re-watching it, as I usually don’t even particularly like their matches of a reasonable length. The recap may be sparse.

Nothing about the early work grabbed me. Dragon eventually got firm control and was even willing to use the ropes while applying an abdominal stretch. Dragon was mostly in control for a long time, but Aries had some comebacks and periods of control here and there. Aries managed to apply Cattle Mutilation on Dragon to get the first fall!!!
Austin Aries: 1
Bryan Danielson: 0

Aries was in control to start, but Dragon dumped Aries to the floor. He then went after Aries’ left leg. Bryan seemingly botched a tope suicida where his face landed very badly. Not entirely sure what happened. Bryan sold it like he was dead. Aries gave him some time to recover and then just gave him an elbow drop. Aries then was in control for a long time. Bryan fought back eventually and went after the left arm. Aries came back with a brainbuster out of nowhere. Bryan came back with the Cattle Mutilation and transitioned into a pinning combo 1…2…3
Austin Aries: 1
Bryan Danielson: 1

This match is ambitious and creative if nothing else. Just stupid long. They were on the struggle bus, but they continued to battle. Bryan was relying on scoop slams. BEARHUG! This is actually the second time that Bryan has used this in the match. Aries reversed it, but Bryan quickly got control again. Bryan avoided the 450. They kept going and going. Aries eventually hit an avalanche brainbuster, two regular brainbusters, and the 450: 1…2…3!

This match genuinely deserves credit for the effort put in. It was worked at an incredible pace given how long it went, and they genuinely tried to incorporate some twists and turns into the match to keep us on our toes. In the end though, it still just went too long for my tastes. An admirable attempt at greatness.

Match Rating: **1/2

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