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Cook’s ROH TV Review 3.4.22
Image Credit: ROH
Loading...Hey kids! Today we wrap up our look at the first class of the ROH Hall of Fame. Highlights from the Briscoes, Bryan Danielson, Samoa Joe & CM Punk. Sounds like a good time to me, so let’s hook em up!
Cook’s ROH TV Review 3.4.22
Ian Riccaboni joins us to pay homage to the men inducted into the first class of the Ring of Honor Hall of Fame. He talks about two men that were there from Day One, one of who was in the first ROH match. Jay & Mark Briscoe were tag team royalty in ROH and across the world. They won the ROH World Tag Team Championship for the 12th time at Final Battle.
Video from the 2.4.22 episode: A video talks about the loyalty of the Briscoe Brothers. We see clips of them jumping off of houses as kids, then in Ring of Honor jumping off the ropes and becoming the foundation of the company. They wrestled all the great tag teams in the company to become 12-time ROH Tag Team Champions. Jay became a 2-time ROH Champion. They still maintain the same characteristics they had in their humble beginnings.
Then a parade of clips…
First World Tag Team Title Victory: Doomsday Device, Mark dives to the floor to take some folks out, Jay hits the Jaydriller for 3.
Ladder War vs. Kevin Steen & El Generico: Generico takes a chair to the skull from Jay. Generico hits the Helluva Kick into a ladder into Mark in the corner, Steen powerbombs Jay into a propped up ladder. Shooting star onto a ladder & Generico by Mark, then Jay dives through Steen and a table on the floor. Doomsday Device with Mark diving through the ladder. Jaydriller on Generico through a ladder, then Jay grabs the belts.
First World Title victory for Jay Briscoe: Jay fights out of a crossface, hits a German suplex & clothesline on Kevin Steen. Jay hits the Jaydriller for three. Nigel McGuinness loses his shit & runs around ringside in joy.
12th World Tag Team Title Victory: Matt Taven splashes Mark’s knees, Jay hits the Jaydriller but it only gets two. Doomsday Device, and that only gets two. Taven says they have to kill him, so Jay kicks him in the head & Jaydrills him again. Mark hits the Froggybow and that gets three.
Ian is joined by Cary Silkin. Cary says the Briscoes would have been his first selection for the Hall of Fame, as they’re the Babe Ruth of ROH. Bryan Danielson could always be relied on to have a classic match.
Video from the 2.11.22 episode: Wrestling freedom is something that Bryan Danielson has fought for his whole life, and he found it in Ring of Honor. His fighting spirit eventually led him to the ROH World Championship and countless classic matches that solidified him as the Best in the World. Perhaps his greatest opponent was Nigel McGuinness, who took him into the deep waters on many occasions, especially in their match at Unified in 2006. Since his time in ROH, Danielson has gone on to compete in WWE & AEW, where he continues to inspire people inside & outside the ring. Much has changed for Bryan over the years, but his desire to chase wrestling freedom endures.
Clips!
Bryan Danielson Wins ROH World Title: Danielson locks James Gibson in the crossface chickenwing in the middle of the ring, and Gibson has to tap.
Danielson vs. Strong (Supercard of Honor 2006): Back superplex by Danielson gets two. Cattle Mutilation, Danielson changes position to the middle of the ring and the fans ask Strong not to tap. He doesn’t. Forearm exchange. Danielson forearms Strong down, rolling elbow sends Strong back down. Dragon suplex, then a crossface chickenwing. Danielson places Strong back up top for another suplex, but Strong elbows his way out. He lifts Danielson up and hits a super gutbuster! 55 minutes have elapsed. Cover by Strong gets two. Roddy locks in the Stronghold! Danielson works his way out and rolls Strong up for the three count. (I remember this match being amazing when I watched it many, many years ago.)
Danielson Unifies ROH World & Pure Titles: Bryan & Nigel McGuinness talk about how they’re each the best in the world. This match was on the 2.11.22 episode and we get some rapidfire clips. Nigel’s lariat doesn’t finish it, but Bryan’s elbows do.
Fight Without Honor: Danielson vs. Morishima: Danielson introduces the ringbell hammer to Morishima’s face. Danielson gets choked with a chain. Blood! Danielson dives through the ropes, bouncing off of Morishima and landing in the front row. Elbows to Morishima, but the big man rises up and smacks Bryan down. Danielson runs into a lariato. Chain-assisted elbows from Morishima, then the Cattle Mutilation. Morishima is out and Todd Sinclair calls for the bell.
Final Countdown Tour: Danielson’s Last Match: Bryan & Nigel get the streamer treatment for their final match with each other, as it turned out, anywhere. Bryan has Bobby Cruise tell the fans that they’re the best. Danielson kicks McGuinness’s head in, then locks in the triangle sleeper. Nigel rolls through for a two count, but Bryan’s still got it in, and hits some elbows for the referee stoppage. Danielson talks about how this has been his favorite place to wrestle. Nigel raises Bryan’s hand and applauds him.
Ian & Cary discuss the merits of Samoa Joe. Cary talks about how Joe took the company through some rough waters.
Video from the 2.18.22 episode: In 2002, a group of athletes started a movement to bring real pro wrestling back to real wrestling fans. One of the athletes was a Samoan Submission Machine. Samoa Joe debuted at Glory by Honor 1, facing Low Ki in a hard-hitting match that set the tone. In his 10th ROH match, Joe captured the ROH Championship from Xavier. Joe made it a World Championship when he defended against Zebra Kid in England. Joe successfully defended the title 31 times in 643 days against the likes of Bryan Danielson, Homicide, Jay Briscoe, AJ Styles & CM Punk. He went on to claim the Pure Championship from his protege, Jay Lethal. After a heart-felt goodbye, Joe moved on to Impact Wrestling, where he held numerous championships. In 2015, Joe returned to ROH and challenged Jay Briscoe for the World Championship before moving on to WWE. Along the way, Joe cemented himself as the most dominant World champion in ROH history.
Samoa Joe Wins ROH World Title: Xavier gets choked out.
Joe vs. Punk 2 – 60 Minute Draw: Joe with some big slaps, a hip toss. Some quick back & forth and Joe bails outside. Punk misses a dive as Joe walks away. Joe catches Punk on a dive and swings him into the barricade. Joe kicks Punk to the floor and hits a dive. Punk with a swinging DDT. Joe with a powerbomb into the STF. Pepsi Twist, Punk goes up top and hits a moonsault for two. Joe hits a musclebuster off the middle rope as the clock hits 0:00.
Samoa Joe Wins The ROH Pure Title: Jay Lethal gets a nearfall, then Joe hits a bunch of suplexes for the win.
2007 Goodbye vs. Homicide: Joe hits some punches on the apron, Homicide responds with a cutter. Homicide gets a nearfall with a foreign object. Up top, Joe with some headbutts, then a super Musclebuster that gets three. Joe thanks the fans and says he’ll always love ROH.
Samoa Joe’s Shocking Return: Joe walks out to the ring on March 1, 2015. Joe asks who says you can’t come home, and he will be the next ROH World Champion. Yeah, Joe was originally going to do some freelance work as part of his NXT contract, but that got kiboshed pretty quickly.
Samoa Joe’s Final Match: Joe teamed with AJ Styles to take on Christopher Daniels & Frankie Kazarian on June 20, 2015. Joe punches Daniels down in the corner. Some boot scrapes. Olay kick to Daniels. Styles makes the tag and Joe punches away on Daniels. Series of moves to Daniels & Kazarian. Senton on Daniels gets 2. Daniels goes for the BME, but Joe catches him with a German. Knee in the corner, then the musclebuster. Joe lifts Kazarian into the Styles Clash for the three count. Joe is carried around ringside.
Ian & Cary have one more inductee, whose ROH career intertwined with Joe’s. CM Punk got on the map with his matches with Raven, his matches with Joe helped the company get noticed. Punk was a man of his word.
Video from the 2.25.22 episode: CM Punk says he’s straight edge. Drug free, alcohol free & better than you. That mantra was the catalyst for the meteoric rise of Punk. Punk broke into ROH in 2002 and earned a contract at Final Battle. He made a name for himself with brutal wars against Raven, along with a ROH World title trilogy with Samoa Joe. He won the ROH Tag Team Championship two times with the Second City Saints. Just as Punk was set to depart for WWE, he shocked the world by defeating Austin Aries for the ROH World Championship. He became the Cult of Personality, holding the ROH Championship hostage and signing his WWE contract on top of the belt. The Summer of Punk came to an end at the hands of James Gibson at Redemption. Since leaving ROH, Punk would carve his own unique path in the world of wrestling, becoming one of the most iconic figures of his generation. Punk is remembered for his brash attitude, sharp tongue, and for always standing up for what he believed in.
CM Punk vs. Terry Funk: Glory By Honor II saw the Punker take on the Funker. Punk declares that this is now a hardcore match, so Funk backdrops him into the front row. Punk uses a chair on Funk’s back, punches away so Terry can wobble on the ropes. Funk suplexes Punk onto the timekeeper’s table. Funk misses a moonsault and his bad left knee becomes a huge target. Punk locks in a leglock, then uses a chair on the knee.
Punk Wins The ROH World Championship: Punk hits the reverse Pepsi Plunge for the three count on Austin Aries. He tells us that the ROH title has become the most important belt in the world. The microphone is a pipebomb in Punk’s hands. He tells us about an old man that stumbled upon a snake. He took care of the snake and nursed him to health. As soon as the snake was healthy, he bit the old man. The old man asked why, the snake told him “you stupid old man, I’m a snake.” The smartest thing the devil ever did was convince people he didn’t exist, and Punk is the devil himself. All the fans fell for it. They believed in the makebelieve superhero that Ricky Steamboat believed in. He’s not mad at them, he feels sorry for them. He’s the greatest pro wrestler walking the earth today.
CM Punk vs. James Gibson: Gibson locks in a dragon sleeper, Punk tosses Gibson off. Shining Wizard gets two, Punk goes for the Anaconda Vice but Gibson’s in the ropes. Punk goes back to the Vice in the middle of the ring. Gibson fights out, but Punk rolls him up and uses the tights & ropes to retain the title.
CM Punk Farewell: Punk hugs everybody after losing to Colt Cabana in his final match. Punk tells us that this is ROH, it’s about respect, honor & discipline. This is his family, say hello to the future of wrestling.
Ian holds a plaque with the inductees’ name on it, and he has one more award. The Hall of Fame wouldn’t be complete with one more name as part of the first class. We wouldn’t be here today if this person didn’t provide years of support. The Cary Silkin Legacy Award will also be part of future classes, and the first Legacy Award goes to Cary Silkin. Cary doesn’t know what to say. He hopes he doesn’t have to wrestle.
ROH Supercard of Honor is scheduled for Friday, April 1st at 8 PM Eastern, you can stream it on PPV & Honor Club. Jonathan Gresham will take on Bandido in the main event to decide the undisputed ROH World Champion.
