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Views from the Hawke’s Nest: Bryan Danielson vs. The World – Disc 1

January 3, 2015 | Posted by TJ Hawke
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Views from the Hawke’s Nest: Bryan Danielson vs. The World – Disc 1  

 photo danielsonworld_zpsee7a7a08.jpg

 

Road to the Title
June 22, 2002
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Bryan Danielson vs. Doug Williams
The winner of this match goes on to the finals of the tournament to crown the first ROH Champion.

Doug got control after a couple of minutes. He went after Dragon’s midsection. Dragon blocked a diving crossbody and then went after Doug’s left leg. Doug came back with a suplex to the floor. They started trading forearms. Dragon hit a big boot and then a diving headbutt. Doug came back with Chaos Theory: 1…2…NO! Dragon came back and tried to apply Cattle Mutilation. Doug avoided that though and hit a variation of the Ocean Cyclone suplex: 1…2…3

This was a super nifty match from the early days of Ring of Honor. It was compact and worked at a fan-friendly pace while being compelling the entire time. I certainly did not think it was great, but it provided a blueprint for how to make a sub-fifteen minute match very compelling without going over the top.
Match Rating: ***1/2

 

Scramble Madness
November 16, 2002
Wakefield, Massachusetts

Bryan Danielson© vs. Doug Williams [30 Minute Iron Man]
I’m not a fan of Iron Man matches in general, and I’ve heard some negative things about this one.

Neither man could get firm control for a while. Both men went for the arm and the neck of each other within the first ten minutes. Neither man could really get firm control (never mind an actual fall). Dragon finally got control after a series of open-hand strikes. Ffs, Jimmy Bower put over ROH’s presence in the Apter mags on commentary. Doug tried to come back with a variation on the Gory Special, but Dragon cut him off right after and went back to working him over. Dragon hit two dragon suplexes. Doug kicked out of the first one, but he was pinned on the second one.
Danielson is up one fall to none.

Doug avoided Cattle Mutilation and then made a comeback to start the second fall. He hit a tope suicida. Doug hit a SWINGING cobra clutch in the ring. Fantastic. Dragon came back and hit a diving headbutt. Doug avoided a back superplex and then hit a tornado DDT. CHAOS THEORY: 1…2…NO! Doug then hit Bomb Scare, but Dragon kicked out. Two more Germans and then another CHAOS THEORY: 1…2…LEG ON THE ROPES! Dragon then kicked out of a brainbuster. Dragon connected on the back superplex for a nearfall. Doug go the Crippler Crossface, but Dragon held on as time expired.

I liked this a tad more than I expected, but this was nothing special overall. I liked the idea of Doug failing repeatedly, but Doug didn’t sell the desperation as much as I expected and that sucked away a lot of the drama. The match felt very mechanical and without much at stake as a result.
Match Rating: **3/4

 

In Your Face
June 17, 2006
New York City, New York

Bryan Danielson vs. KENTA vs. Samoa Joe
Dragon was ROH World Champion at the time, but this was a non-title match.

All three guys were going back and forth for a while. KENTA and Joe delivered brutal slaps to the face to each other. Dragon dragged KENTA to the floor at one point, but Joe took them out with an elbow suicida. Joe and KENTA ended up in the crowd. Dragon took them out with his springboard dive. Back in the ring, Joe avoided stereo missile dropkicks from the other two. Joe was building some momentum, but KENTA jumped to the top rope and gave him a super falcon arrow. Joe had KENTA set up for the muscle buster, but Dragon clipped his bad leg. KENTA and Dragon then went at it. KENTA then applied a cloverleaf on the bad knee of Joe. Dragon made the save, and he and KENTA then went back at it. Joe assisted KENTA in delivering a GTS to Dragon. BUSAIKU KNEE TO JOE! GTS TO DRAGON: 1…2…3!

Triple threat matches are tricky to pull off for a variety of reasons. This match was mostly able to overcome the bigger clichés common in triple threat matches in a couple of key ways. For starters, they limited the amount of “two men in, one man out” time. They also mostly managed to do those spots in organic ways so it didn’t feel like someone was taking a nap on the floor. They also worked a furious pace for almost the entire match, which greatly added to the drama and excitement of the match as there were several moments where it seemed like the match could end down the stretch. This match was tremendously fun and an effective way to set up KENTA for a title match later in the year for New York City.
Match Rating: ****1/4

 

Anarchy in the UK
August 13, 2006
Broxburne, England

Bryan Danielson© vs. SUWA [ROH World Championship]
This match actually started as a brawl on the floor. SUWA was in control as they got back into the ring. Dragon got busted open, and SUWA went after his back. SUWA applied a Boston Crab, but Dragon got to the ropes. Dragon finally started to come back after a diving uppercut. SUWA managed to hit a Saito suplex and then made a comeback of his own. Dragon hit a bridging German. SUWA hit a lariat. SUWA hit a big punch but then got caught in a small package: 1…2…3

The final few minutes elevated this slightly, but this was a very underwhelming title defense for Danielson overall. SUWA’s control segment lasted too long, and there was no payoff to the back work. The crowd also did not really get into it until the closing stretch.
Match Rating: **1/2

 

Glory by Honor
September 16, 2006
New York City, New York

Bryan Danielson© vs. KENTA [ROH World Championship]
The big storyline going into this match was KENTA had pinned Dragon multiple times with Go 2 Sleep in non-title matches. Also, this was Dragon’s first match after a terribly shoulder injury that he received in a match with Colt Cabana.

KENTA was kicking that shoulder without mercy. KENTA was mostly in control in the beginning, and he was primarily targeting the injured arm. After some brutal shots to Dragon’s shoulder, Dragon came back after a cravat suplex and then went for the surfboard. He lost the hold though and decided to just drive KENTA’s knees into the mat (“I don’t ever FUCK UP”). Dragon applied the figure four and then pretended that he couldn’t get out of the Figure 4 when the ref told him to break the hold. KENTA made a comeback and applied a cross armbreaker. Dragon came back and applied a single leg crab. KENTA survived that, but Dragon was in control after it. KENTA blocked a diving headbutt. Dragon blocked a springboard attack. They traded a ton of strikes. They ended up on the floor, and Dragon hit a release belly-to-belly. He followed that up with his springboard dive into the crowd. Dragon went for a discus forearm in the ring, but KENTA reversed it into an armbar. Dragon survived but then dove into Ace Crusher. Dragon survived another armbar. REGALPLEX FROM DRAGON: 1…2…NO! Dragon hit a back superplex and then applied Cattle Mutilation. KENTA survived. Dragon went for a diving attack, but KENTA caught him and hit the GTS: 1…2…FOOT ON THE ROPES! No one had survived the GTS in ROH at this point. Dragon reversed a Busaiku Knee attempt into an O’Connor Roll: 1…2…NO! Dragon delivered some big elbows. KENTA went for the GTS, but Dragon avoided it. He applied Cattle Mutilation again, hit a bridging dragon, and then applied Cattle Mutilation again. KENTA had to tap out!

This is about my fourth or fifth time watching this match, and I honestly remembered there being a lot more work on Danielson’s injured arm then there ended up being. Danielson’s injured arm basically did not prevent him from doing everything he normally does in the final ten minutes of a match despite KENTA targeting it throughout the match. That seems surprisingly unlike Danielson. That is basically the only negative thing I have to say about the match though. It may be a bigger negative for some people.

In the end, this match provided great drama that overcame that. Danielson surviving the GTS is one of the greatest nearfalls I think I’ve ever seen. That really shows the kind of vision ROH had in this time period to actually set that up over a period of months. No one had survived that move before, and it truly meant something for Danielson to survive it here.
Match Rating: ****1/4

 

Live in Tokyo
July 16, 2007
Tokyo, Japan

Bryan Danielson vs. Go Shiozaki
Go avoided an early pescado attempt and then delivered some big chops. Go was then in control for a while. Dragon tried to fire back with chops of his own, but they were not effective. Go maintained control for a while. Dragon came back with a dropkick that sent Go to the floor. Dragon got control after Go crashed into a barricade. Dragon targeted the right arm. Go came after a shoulder tackle. Dragon came back and hit a springboard dive into the crowd. Dragon applied the crossface chickenwing in the ring on the injured arm. Go got to the ropes. He hit a spinning side slam from the middle rope. They traded some big moves. Go no-solded a back suplex and hit a superkick. Dragon hit a German, but Go avoided the dragon. CHOPS~! Go set up for the moonsault, but Dragon hit a back superplex. Go hit some brutal strikes. He followed it up with a scoop slam and then a failed moonsault. Cattle Mutilation! Go got to the ropes. Go kicked out of a tiger suplex, but he then ate some elbows. Cattle Mutilation! Go taps out!

This match delivered way bigger than I could have possibly expected. The arm work basically went nowhere, but it helped to get the crowd firmly behind Go. The crowd was really hot down the stretch, and it made for a very enjoyable match. This honestly might be the best Go match I’ve seen from ROH. In case you cannot tell, I was not a huge fan of his run in 2008.
Match Rating: ***3/4

 

Live in Osaka
July 17, 2007
Osaka, Japan

Bryan Danielson, Naomichi Marufuji, & Cima vs. Masaaki Mochizuki & The No Remorse Corps (Davey Richards & Rocky Romero)
The match started slowly. Dragon hit Rocky with a tope suicida. The crowd woke up when Fuji and Mochi went at it. Mochi was still in his pants phase. I like him better in trunks. Neither team could get firm control early on. Team Ace managed to cut off Rocky eventually and then work him over. If ROH had a sense of humor, Danielson, Marufuji, and Cima would have called themselves, “Team [Johnny] Ace.” Dragon got cut off, and his arm was then worked over. Dragon eventually escaped, and Cima made a hot tag. The match broke down a bit. Fuji and Mochi went back and forth. Dragon nearly made Rocky tap to Cattle Mutilation. Rocky then almost made Dragon tap with the flying cross armbreaker. The match then really broke down. Rocky kicked out of one Schwein. He then helped Fuji with an assisted Shiranui. Schwein: 1…2…3

This was an entertaining “all-star” match that (somewhat oddly enough) I think would have gotten way more over in America than it did here. They worked hard and kept my entertained me all the way through, but it never really came close to even becoming very good.
Match Rating: ***

 

Caged Rage
August 24, 2007
Hartford, Connecticut

Bryan Danielson vs. PAC
Dragon was grounding PAC to start the match. This came across as very stupid and a complete waste of PAC’s considerable talents. PAC eventually made a flippy comeback. He hit a SSP to the back of the head and then a German. Dragon blocked a SSP though, hit a rolling forearm and then applied the triangle. PAC passed out.

The first 90% of the match left me at a complete loss for why PAC was used in this way. At the very least, PAC was already well-known for his stuff in PWG. There was no reason that Danielson should have made him look like a complete geek for the first 90% of the match. If you want to make the argument that Danielson needed to look strong for his title match, then Danielson should not have been his opponent. This annoyed me. (The final few minutes were much better though and nearly saved the match.)
Match Rating: **1/2

 

Manhattan Mayhem
August 24, 2007
New York City, New York

Takeshi Morishima© vs. Bryan Danielson [ROH World Championship]
This was Danielson’s first shot at the ROH World Championship after dropping it to Homicide at Final Battle 2006.

Dragon was using kicks to try to keep his distance early on. Morishima came back with some brutal looking shots to the face. Morishima then dominated the match for a while. They went to the floor, and Morishima hit a brutal boot to the face (that we learned later broke Dragon’s orbital bone). Dragon came right back though and hit his springboard dive into the crowd. Dragon then took a chair to Morishima’s leg. Back in the ring. Morishima hit a big lariat but Dragon kept fighting back with strikes. Dragon went after the injured leg some more. Morishima kept fighting back with monster moves. Dragon avoided the backdrop driver and got a monster nearfall with a small package. Dragon hit a German for another great nearfall. Dragon rained down the elbows and kicked out the injured leg. HE KICKED HIS FUCKING HEAD KICKED IN: 1…2…NO! CATTLE MUTILATION!!! Morishima got to the ropes and then reversed a back superplex into a crossbody. LARIAT! BACKDROP DRIVER: 1…2…3

I think this is just as good as professional wrestling gets. Two athletes doing everything they can to destroy each other in order to win the championship of the promotion. A red hot crowd that is going nuts for everything. Sound in-ring strategies from both men (Dragon going after a leg; Morishima using his size to maul the much smaller competitor). I absolutely love this match, and I encourage anyone who has not seen it to check it out.
Match Rating: *****

 

Watch some Daniel Bryan/Bryan Danielson matches for free!

Bryan Danielson vs. Nigel McGuiness

Daniel Bryan vs. Chris Jericho

Bryan Danielson vs. AJ Styles

Daniel Bryan vs. Dolph Ziggler

Bryan Danielson vs. Tyler Black

Bryan Danielson vs. Jushin Liger

Bryan Danielson vs. Claudio Castagnoli

Bryan Danielson vs. Claudio Castagnoli

Bryan Danielson vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru

Bryan Danielson & Claudio Castagnoli vs. Mike Quackenbush & Jigsaw

Bryan Danielson vs. Drake Younger

Daniel Bryan vs. Sheamus

Daniel Bryan vs. Randy Orton

Daniel Bryan vs. Randy Orton

Daniel Bryan vs. Randy Orton

Daniel Bryan vs. Randy Orton

Daniel Bryan vs. Jack Swagger

Bryan Danielson vs. Tommy End

Bryan Danielson vs. Zack Salvation

 

9.0
The final score: review Amazing
The 411
One disc to go!
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