Column of Honor Special Edition: 10.07.07 Nigel McGuinness vs. Takeshi Morishima: The Path to a Championship

Every great wrestling story has a beginning, a middle and an end.

The beginning: McGuinness befriends Japanese import Takeshi Morishima.
The middle: McGuinness challenges his friend for the world title, but to no avail.
The end: triumph and victory; the challenger finally becomes the champion.

Nigel McGuinness vs. Takeshi Morishima is a great wrestling story.

The closing moments of tonight’s ROH World title match where Nigel finally became the tenth ROH World champion were the culmination of an extensively built rivalry. Nine months back, the roots were put in place. Nigel McGuinness took up for Morishima, a relative unknown to a good deal of ROH fans and a definite stranger within the ROH locker rooms. Morishima had a big hype machine built around him as far as his abilities and his talent. His performances in NOAH were supposed to be impressive. He was and still is supposed to be NOAH’s next big superstar.

During the very first match Morishima fought in ROH he managed to sell the New York City crowd on how he was a valid challenge to the ROH legend Samoa Joe. Morishima lost on that day, but the very next he shocked the fans by toppling Homicide’s just burgeoning run at champion.

Morishima was the Japanese monster crossing overseas and destroying all the towns and scaring all the womenfolk. Yet, Nigel McGuinness was still his friend and still stood by him. That is, until he wanted a shot at the ROH World title. From that point on, the friendship became a competitive and serious rivalry. If Nigel wanted the belt, he would have to prove himself capable of doing so against Morishima.

It was a perfect circle—Nigel lost his first title shot against Morishima in Edison, New Jersey at Fighting Spirit back in April of 2007. He gave it his all on that night, debuted new moves in an effort to win, survived smashing impact moves galore. He did not survive the backdrop driver.

Two months later, in Dayton Ohio, Nigel proved he could defeat his rival, albeit he did it in tag team action. Still it was his move, the Jawbreaker Lariat, that knocked down the big man. It was his body covering the champion’s body for the three count. Nigel had proven a point, if not to the doubters who didn’t think he could do it, at least to himself. He could defeat Morishima. And he could do it again, this time to win the title.

After the second title match in Japan had also ended in defeat for McGuinness, the talk of the fan base was whether or not Nigel’s time to be champion has passed. Maybe it was time to look for other contenders, consider other possibilities of wrestlers to get behind and support for champion. The prime suspect was Bryan Danielson, who had come back from his shoulder tear and looked ever impressive. Austin Aries, returning to ROH, had also been mentioned, as he had the knowledge and the past history of defeating larger men to become champion. After all, it was his destiny, they said, to become the first ever two time ROH World champion.

Well, Danielson had his chances against Morishima and found out, much to his dismay, that he could not stop the brutality of a determined champion or the concussive force of his fists and boots. Austin Aries had his chance back in April and he still had to work his way to the top. There was one man who was there at the beginning, one man who was still looming as a threat to the title. Nigel McGuinness was looking to get back into convention and obtain one more shot at the championship.

Nigel McGuinness won that chance in the taping for ROH’s third PPV, “Man Up” which will premiere in November. It sets the stage for Nigel’s third title opportunity, recorded for PPV tonight but will not be airing on any broadcast until January of 2008. Truly those who were not in attendance on this night (including, unfortunately, myself) have missed out on a special moment.

It isn’t bluster or over excessive hype when the ROH newswire states that you don’t want to miss attending an ROH show, that something will happen and you will regret missing out if you don’t go to the show. When the promotional work for a show with a major title match such as this one claims you’ll see history made, that’s a clear signal that something major is about to go down.

“The third time is a charm” is a cliché proven untrue in past ROH history, as CM Punk would be sure to tell you. The straight edge wrestler who is currently the ECW champion over in WWE could not defeat Samoa Joe for the ROH title in three tries. However, there was success to be found in Nigel’s third chance of 2007 against Morishima. Six months after his first title shot, at the very same venue, here he was, the winner and the new champion. He broke through all the obstacles, wouldn’t let Morishima’s offense stop him and finally put the big man down with the move he knew could do it, the Jawbreaker Lariat. Edison, New Jersey would be witness to the end of a dominating run and the beginning of a promising new era for a champion who has worked every step of the way for the opportunity.

As recently as Friday in a radio interview for Figure Four Online, Les Thatcher, Nigel’s old trainer, was talking up the vast amount of improvement his student had made over the years. Here was a man, Thatcher said, who worked through six-month temporary visas to come and train with Les down in Heartland Wrestling Association. When the six month permits expired, Nigel had to go back to Europe and wait out the application process again to return to Thatcher’s school. For Nigel, the training in Europe couldn’t compare to what he could learn in the United States.

Nigel worked every step of the way to improve his wrestling skills, and the fruits of that work have come in his run with Ring of Honor. Every step of the way there have been improvements made in his technical abilities and his ability to work a match. From his off and on tag run with Chad “hand the belts over” Collyer, to his European wrestling style classics against Colt Cabana, to his run with the Pure title that legitimized him in the eyes of ROH fans, Nigel has been a work in progress, but indeed the key word there is progress. In 2007 Nigel has reached a new peak both in popularity and in wrestling ability as a top wrestler for the company.

Nigel still has his fair share of critics, some of which can in part be placed on booking and others on his wrestling style. The new and higher impact approach has come under fire with some fans dubbing him “Nigel McLariat” in terms of his favoring usage (maybe over usage) of said move. Nigel also needs to up his game in terms of promo work, as sometimes he is too soft spoken for his own good. All are valid criticisms, but all of them together do not add up enough to deny Nigel this opportunity at the top of the ROH roster.

Nigel has shown sparks of charisma, especially during his time as Pure champion mocking the “best there is, best there was” catchphrase. He has done captivating promo work, such as the interview he did to build up the first title match with Morishima. If Nigel can put those pieces of the puzzle together with what he has already gained in terms of his work inside the ring, then we may be on the verge of witnessing one of the better babyface champions ROH ever has seen. Even maybe “the best there is.” Maybe.

The latest arc in the storied history of the ROH World title has concluded. the story of Morishima’s title run was as much the NOAH blue chipper’s dominance as it was also McGuinness’ chase for the title. It was a great wrestling story to be sure and one that ended in a happy ending. The challenger never did say die and in the end, he became the man.

This story has ended with Nigel McGuinness, arms raised in triumph. In ROH, there are always more great wrestling stories waiting to be told.