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BG Says Special Edition: Ring of Honor and the World Championships

December 1, 2007 | Posted by Brad Garoon
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BG Says Special Edition: Ring of Honor and the World Championships  

BG Says

I know a couple months ago I said I’d be off of Japan for a while, but I had to move a few of these Special Editions around so here we are. I still plan on staying off of Japan for a while; this is just a little hiccup.

One of ROH’s big kicks is to make every belt that is closely associated with them into a world title. They first did it with the ROH championship when Samoa Joe defended it against Zebra Kid at Frontiers of Honor in 2003. Recently the FIP Heavyweight Championship was defended by Roderick Strong at The Fifth Year Festival: Liverpool against PAC, making it a world title. Since then ROH champions have taken advantage of any and every opportunity to defend their titles outside of America. In this Special Edition I’m going to look at some of those international title defenses.

On July 9th, 2006 Strong and then partner Austin Aries took their ROH Tag Team Championships to Dragon Gate to defend it against Naruki Doi and Masato Yoshino to make them world belts. It was during a big tour for Dragon Gate that saw them import quite a few gaijin, including Jimmy Rave and B-Boy. Here’s the match that turned the ROH tag belts into world titles.

Austin Aries & Roderick Strong VS. Naruki Doi & Masato Yoshino [ROH Tag Team Championship Match – WrestleJam 2006]
Strong and Yoshino start. They trade armdrags and Yoshino gets a roll up for 2. Aries and Doi tag in. Doi puts on a headlock but Aries catches him with a hiptoss. He hits a back elbow and tags to Strong. Strong hits a fall away slam and tags to Aries. Aries hits a slingshot splash for 2. He hits a Lionsault for 2. Strong tags in and hits a butterfly suplex for 2. Aries tags in and hits a senton and an elbowdrop for 2. A little clip leads us into the champs hitting a double hiptoss and Aries hitting the powerdrive elbow for 2. Yoshino tags in and hits a nasty low blow. He works over Aries’s leg and tags to Doi. Their corner men come in and hit a quadruple dropkick to Aries’s face with Doi and Yoshino. Doi hits the Dai Bosou! and tags to Yoshino. Yoshino hangs Aries on the second rope and Doi comes off the top with a senton for 2. Aries hits a shinbreaker on Yoshino and tosses him into Doi. Strong tags in and suplexes Yoshino onto Doi. He hits a dropkick on Yoshino and one on Doi. Aries hits the corner elbow on Yoshino. He hits the corner dropkick for 2. Yoshino comes back with From Jungle but Aries escapes. With the referee distracted every Muscle Outlaw attacks Aries in the corner, including Jimmy Rave and Chris Bosh. Aries shoves Doi into the corner and all the good guys attack him, including Matt Sydal. Doi hits Yoshino by mistake and Strong capitalizes with the gutbuster and the Sick Kick. Doi hits a spinebuster for 2. Strong and Aries hit the dropkick/powerbomb combo. Doi favors his leg so Strong puts on a half crab. Yoshino comes in and hits a neckbreaker on Strong. He climbs the ropes but Aries cuts him off. Doi catches Aries with a German superplex and Yoshino hits the double stomp dropkick off the top for 2. Doi hits the Doi 555 but Strong catches him with a backbreaker. The champs hit a double backbreaker and the chop/brainbuster combo for 2. Aries climbs the ropes but Gamma hits him with a cane. Yoshino goes up and brings Aries down with a DDT for 2. He hits the Torbellino on Strong and Doi follows up with the Bakatare Sliding Kick for 2. Yoshino drops Aries on top of his head with the Lightning Spiral for 2. Doi throws powder in Yoshino’s face by mistake and Aries hits him with the Heat Seeking Missile. Strong hits a tiger driver and a half nelson backbreaker on Yoshino and Aries finishes him off with the 450 splash at 15:10 shown of 18:49 actual match time to officially make the belts world titles. There was less than no selling in this match. Mostly it was the abridged version of the stuff these teams did against each other during ROH’s Milestone Series, with a little Dragon Gate interference fun thrown in.
Rating: ***¼

The new ROH World Champion Takeshi Morishima took the title back to NOAH rather than defend it in Liverpool and Detroit in March. He did defend it in the main event of a NOAH show against KENTA in front of almost 20,000 fans however. Here’s a little review.

Takeshi Morishima VS. KENTA [ROH World Championship Match – Navigate for Evolution 2007]
KENTA opens up with strikes but Morishima blocks most of them KENTA starts laying in the kicks so Morishima tries to pummel him with forearms. KENTA clotheslines Morishima down and takes a breather. He hits a climbing knee in the corner and a seated dropkick in the corner. He hits a back suplex and a running seated kick for 2. Morishima comes back with a sidewalk slam but can’t hit the backdrop driver. KENTA hits a clothesline and Morishima falls to the floor. KENTA follows him out but gets rammed into the barricade. He comes back with a drop toehold into the barricade and then drops Morishima neck-first on the barricade. He kicks Morishima’s back on the floor and hits a springboard double stomp from inside the ring to the floor. Well, that’s something I’ve never seen before. Morishima gets back into the ring at 6, which is kind of silly since there are no count outs in ROH World Championship matches. Morishima hits a big clothesline but KENTA comes back with a German suplex. He hits Go 2 Sleep but he doesn’t get all of it and Morishima kicks out at 2. Morishima hits another clothesline and a side suplex for 2. He hits the uranage suplex for 1. They trade strikes and Morishima pummels KENTA down. He washes KENTA’s face and tosses the referee away when he tries to give KENTA a breather. He hits a clothesline in the corner and the backdrop driver for 2. He hits another clothesline for 2. He hits another backdrop driver but KENTA gets right back up. Morishima hits a clothesline to the back and another backdrop driver for the win at 9:43. KENTA dominated the first part of the match but once Morishima had had enough it was just a matter of doing whatever he wanted until KENTA was spent. It only took him a few minutes too. Good stuff for the new champion.
Rating: ***

The Global Professional Wrestling Alliance was formed in 2006. Participants in this group include Kaientai Dojo, Pro Wrestling NOAH and Ring of Honor. On of the objectives of the alliance is to host multi-promotional supershows like the Differ Cup, a huge tag team tournament that occurs every other year. One highlight of this year’s Differ Cup festivities was a Ring of Honor World Championship match between NOAH’s Morishima and Kaientai Dojo’s KAZMA. Gotta love how quickly the benefits of the alliance have shown through.

Takeshi Morishima VS. KAZMA [ROH World Championship Match – Differ Cup 2007, Night 2]
KAZMA wears a towel around his head to the ring and Morishima wears a Ring of Honor shirt. KAZMA pushes Morishima to the ropes to start. Morishima returns the favor and hits a shoulder tackle. KAZMA puts on a wristlock but Morishima comes back with a hammerlock. KAZMA gets to the ropes. Morishima powers through KAZMA’s offense but KAZMA takes him down with a leaping forearm. They fight to the floor where Morishima rams KAZMA into the barricade but KAZMA rebounds with another forearm. KAZMA hits an armbreaker and then slams Morishima’s arm against the post. Back in the ring KAZMA stays on the arm. He hits a splash on it and puts on a hammerlock. He switches to a cross armbreaker but Morishima gets to the ropes. KAZMA stays on the arm but Morishima comes back with a pair of butt butts. He sends KAZMA to the ramp where he hits him with a big boot. Back in the ring he stands on KAZMA’s shoulders in the corner until the referee calls for the break. He hits the seated butt lariat and puts on a camel clutch. He stands on KAZMA’s chest, forcing him to bail. Back in the ring Morishima chokes him over the middle rope. TAKA Michinoku cheers KAZMA on as Morishima hits him with a handspring avalanche. He climbs the ropes and hits a missile dropkick for 2. KAZMA hits a vertical suplex and a clothesline in the corner. He hits an avalanche and a lariat for 2. He puts on an armbar but Morishima gets to the ropes. Morishima hits a backdrop and sits on KAZMA’s chest for 2. He hits a Yakuza kick and climbs again. KAZMA cuts him off and hits a superplex for 1. He hits a German suplex and a lariat for 2. He hits another clothesline but Morishima no-sells it and levels KAZMA with one of his own. Morishima hits a clothesline in the corner and clobbers KAZMA down. KAZMA hits another armbreaker and puts on a nasty armbar. Morishima gets to the ropes. He hits a sidewalk slam and the uranage for 2. KAZMA blocks one clothesline but not a second. Morishima hits a third for 2 and the backdrop driver for the win at 17:16. I don’t understand why Morishima get booked as such a vulnerable wrestler in Japan when he’s being booked as a monster in the states. It’s not like he’s a small guy over there. In ignoring that I find the arm-work to be a nice bit throughout the match. Aside from that this didn’t have much going for it, and was actually quite dull.
Rating: **¾

In late June of 2007 it was announced that Morishima would defend his ROH World Championship against Katsuhiko Nakajima at the Kensuke Office show on September 1st. Kensuke Office is a Japanese independent company run by Kensuke Sasaki. Many didn’t think Morishima would make it to that date with the title as he was faced with strong challenges from Nigel McGuinness in Tokyo and Bryan Danielson in Manhattan. Not only did Morishima beat McGuinness, he also destroyed Danielson and nearly blinded him in one eye. On September 1st Kensuke Office had a big main event.

Takeshi Morishima VS. Katsuhiko Nakajima [ROH World Championship Match – Take the Dream vol.2 ~ A New Dream]
Nakajima opens up with a jumping knee but it has no effect. A dropkick is equally useless for him and Morishima hits a shoulder tackle. Nakajima tries to wear Morishima down with leg kicks while avoiding a knuckle lock. Each time Morishima gets a hold of Nakajima’s hand he shoves him to the ropes. He grabs a kick and gets a takedown. Nakajima dodges a blind charge and dropkicks Morishima’s knee. He tries to follow Morishima to the floor but Morishima catches him and hits a spinebuster. He boots Nakajima down to the floor but Nakajima comes back by sweeping Morishima’s legs on the apron. He stays on Morishima’s leg with kicks and rolls him back into the ring. He puts on a toehold but Morishima gets to the ropes. Nakajima hits a kneedrop on the leg and then puts on a Mutalock. He switches to a modified figure 4 leglock but Morishima gets to the ropes. Morishima hits a butt butt and Nakajima bails. Morishima follows him out and rams him into the barricade. He hits the Olé Butt Splash and gets back in the ring. Nakajima makes it back in so Morishima stands on his gut. He hits the butt lariat for 2. He puts on a chinlock and then pins Nakajima for 2. He hits the handspring avalanche and climbs the ropes. He comes down with a dropkick for 2. He tries to sit on Nakajima’s chest but ends up on the mat. Nakajima kicks his chest for 2. He hits a running forearm and goes for a vertical suplex. Morishima blocks it and hits a northern lights suplex. Nakajima hits a leg lariat to the face and one to the back for 2. He hits a leaping bicycle kick for 2. He puts on a waistlock but Morishima gets to the ropes. Morishima levels Nakajima with a forearm and then pummels him in the corner. He shoves the referee away and slaps Nakajima across the face twice for 2. He climbs the ropes again but Nakajima cuts him off with a kick to the face and brings him down with a hurricanrana. Morishima pops right up so Nakajima hits him with a back suplex for 2. He goes for a German suplex but Morishima blocks it. He kicks Morishima’s head but runs into a lariat. He hits an enziguiri and finally lands the German suplex for 2. Morishima hits a lariat and a big boot for 2. Nakajima gets a crucifix pin for 2. He goes for a roll up so Morishima sits on his chest. Morishima kicks his chest for 2. He hits another lariat for the win at 20:56. The psychology was there but Morishima’s selling was non-existent. The last few minutes of the match were somewhat exciting but nothing special at all and the finish was very strange, with Nakajima sort of kicking out and the closing bell coming very late.
Rating: **¾

BONUS MATCHES
The ROH championships are also defended in other companies in the United States. That doesn’t particularly make them World titles, but it does do a lot to give them exposure and raise their stock in the eyes of non-ROH fans. As a bonus I’m going to take a couple ROH defenses that took place outside of ROH but in the United States.

Samoa Joe was a big factor in making the ROH title a World title. While the following title defense took place in California and thus within the United States, it did take place under the NJPW banner at a New Japan USA television taping. I remember being very excited whe New Japan USA started taping, with main events like Ultimo Dragon vs. Bryan Danielson (which never made it to TV), Danielson vs. Taiji Ishimori and Heat defended his IWGP Jr. title against Rocky Romero I thought there was a lot of potential. Unfortunately like most things in wrestling it didn’t last, but at least we got another outside title defense out of the deal.

Samoa Joe VS. Makabe [ROH World Championship Match – 6/24/04]
Joe was still using Another Body Murdered for his entrance music, making me very happy. Makabe takes control to start with a back elbow and a spear. Joe bails so Makabe follows him out and they fight on the floor. Back in the ring Makabe hits a back elbow for 2. CM Punk is on commentary, bringing attention to his ROH feud with Joe. Makabe hits a bodyslam and a vertical suplex, showing he can toss Joe around. Joe chops Makabe down for 2. He hits the uranage suplex for 2. Makabe hits a running forearm but Joe comes back with the STJoe. They go back to the floor where Joe hits the Olé Kick. Makabe clotheslines Joe off the apron but Joe gets back into the ring at 19. Makabe hits a northern lights suplex for 2. He hits a powerslam for 2. He puts on a half crab but Joe gets to the ropes. Joe comes back with an enziguiri and a powerbomb. It gets 2 so he puts on the STF. Joe floats into a crossface to keep Makabe from the ropes but eventually he gets to them anyway. Joe hits a fisherman suplex for 2. They trade strikes and both men go down after Makabe hits a forearm and Joe hits another enziguiri. Joe no-sells a lariat and hits one of his own. He hits a side suplex for 2. He hits another lariat for the win at 9:25. I thought it was inappropriate that the referee was counting the wrestlers out on the floor. ROH title matches should be defended under ROH rules, which means no count outs no matter where it’s defended. It was interesting to see someone overpower Joe for the bulk of a match at this stage of his ROH title reign. If you’re looking for a fun power match and don’t have much time to watch it, this is for you.
Rating: ***

Most of the time the ROH World Championship is defended outside of Ring of Honor it’s in an attempt to raise the prestige of the belt in one way or another. I can’t say that about this defense. I have no idea what the idea behind this match was, but at least we can probably assume it’s funny. The match in question is a defense by Bryan Danielson against the Ugandan Giant Kamala that takes place in LSW in Bridgeport, Connecticut. Prince Nana comes out to the ring and announces that he’s the official referee for the match. During his speech he suggests that he’s not going to give ROH champ Bryan Danielson a fair chance. This was worrisome; ROH newswires around this time reported that Kim Chee was demanding a six-figure contract for Kamala to defend the belt in ROH should he win the title.

Bryan Danielson VS. Kamala w/ Kim Chee [ROH World Championship Match – 9/30/06]
Danielson asks for a handshake but Kamala refuses. The crowd wants Kamala to bite Danielson’s hand. Danielson avoids Kamala for a few seconds and then gets overpowered when they lock up. They knuckle up and Kamala puts Danielson on his knees. Danielson stomps Kamala’s feet to escape. Kamala hits chops to the stomach and a headbutt. Danielson ducks a chop and hits a forearm. He hits a dropkick and Kamala bails. Kamala drags Danielson to the floor and hits a chop to the head. He rams Danielson into the barricade and rolls him back into the ring. He hits a series of chops to random body parts but misses an avalanche. Danielson finally puts Kamala down with forearms and climbs the ropes. He hits the diving headbutt but Nana is slow to count. Danielson threatens Nana, giving Kamala enough time to get up and chop Danielson down. They go back to the floor where a headbutt from Danielson has no effect on Kamala but puts him on the floor. Kamala whips Danielson into a wall and hits him with some kind of foreign object. They brawl into the locker room but I’m only getting a hard camera feed so that means no action for a few seconds. Back in the building the entrance curtain comes down so Danielson hits Kamala with it. He rams Kim Chee and Nana into the wall and grabs a chair. Kamala blocks a chair shot and then hits Danielson with the chair. Nana regains consciousness and throws the whole match out at 11:02. Kamala had the benefit of always selling weird and looking awful, so time hadn’t really exposed him as anything less than he ever was. However, the one thing the match could have had going for it was comedy, and it didn’t have that. It didn’t even have a finish. That makes it the worst ROH title defense of any kind, ever. Worse than any ROH title defense in or out of ROH, worse than any title defense from another company’s belt in ROH and worse than any major title challenge by a ROH wrestler outside of ROH, and I couldn’t possibly have seen them all. That’s how bad this was.
Rating: DUD

The 411: BG Says

These are far from blow away matches. For the curious ROH fans these are treats, but for your average wrestling fan looking for blow away title defenses this isn't for you. Beyond these matches the outside title defenses of ROH belts have always been a step or two below what you see in ROH. It's interesting that a common complaint about Japanese stars is that when they come to America they phone in their matches, but as far as Morishima is concerned he's more likely to take it easy on a non-NOAH Japanese show than a Ring of Honor show any day. At any rate, you can find these matches by following these links: WrestleJam 2006, Navigate for Evolution 2007 & Differ Cup 2007.

I don't feel comfortable telling you where find Danielson vs. Kamala but if you're dying to see it I'm sure you can find it on the Globewide Interweb. Joe vs. Makabe can be found on ROH - Best of Samoa Joe, Volume 2.

 
Final Score:  6.0   [ Average ]  legend

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