Match #1: Bryan Danielson vs. Doug Williams (Road to the Title – 6/22/02)
Danielson quits the mat wrestling plan early on with an enzuigiri. Williams hangs onto a wristlock and Danielson agrees to wrestle his game. They have a nice sequence on the mat followed by Williams hitting a backbreaker. Williams goes to work on Danielson’s back with a variety of holds and slams. Danielson blocks a frog splash with a dropkick. He hits a dragon screw leg whip and targets the left leg. Williams suplexes him to the floor and hits a tornado DDT in the ring. They exchange uppercuts and Danielson hits an overhead suplex. He connects with a diving headbutt. Williams responds with Chaos Theory for a nearfall. Danielson connects with a knockout kick and hits a back superplex. Williams escapes Cattle Mutilation and pins Danielson with a nelson rollup for the win at 13:35. An excellent match given the shorter duration. This contest was all about styles and felt like the human game of chess referenced so much in professional wrestling. Williams dictated the style throughout the course of the match so while it was surprising that he won, it made perfect sense. ***½
Match #2: 30-minute Iron Man Match: Bryan Danielson vs. Doug Williams (Scramble Madness – 11/16/02)
They begin with a feeling-out process. Danielson attempts a muta lock but Williams quickly elbows out. Williams connects with a lariat. They trade control of a cravate and wrestle to a stalemate. Danielson takes control and prevents Williams from making any strides at a comeback. Williams traps Danielson in a gory special and rams him into the turnbuckle. Danielson immediately returns the favor and hits a superplex. He follows with a dragon suplex for a nearfall. Danielson adds another dragon suplex to win a fall at 18:34. Danielson leads 1-0. Williams fights off Cattle Mutilation and hits an ace crusher variant. He lands a dive to the floor. Back in, Williams connects with a series of knee strikes and hits a german suplex. Danielson responds with a snap suplex and a diving headbutt. They battle on the top rope and Williams crossbodies out of a back superplex. He hits a tornado DDT and adds Chaos Theory for a nearfall. Williams comes off the top rope with a knee strike and hits rolling german suplexes. He hits another Chaos Theory but Danielson gets his foot on the ropes. Danielson fires back with a back superplex and both men are down. Williams applies a crossface, but Danielson holds on at gets the victory at 30:00. While this had the potential to be epic, I thought it was pretty much on par with their previous match. Although I sympathize with the argument that everything they did in the first fifteen minutes didn’t come into play in the last fifteen minutes, all of the mat wrestling was so unique and crisp that it stands out on its own. We saw Danielson more prepared for Williams’ tricks and his progression from the previous match to this one was a joy to watch. ***½
Match #3: Bryan Danielson vs. KENTA vs. Samoa Joe (In Your Face – 6/17/06)
We’re jumping forward in time quite a bit here. Danielson tries to keep both of his opponents at bay with minimal success. KENTA slaps Joe, who slams him down to the canvas. Joe walks away from a crossbody by Danielson and hits a powerslam on KENTA. KENTA showboats against Danielson but gets caught off-guard by a slap from Joe. Danielson slaps Joe and retreats to the floor. He is a smart man. KENTA connects with a double springboard dropkick. Joe uranagis Danielson onto KENTA and lands a dive to the floor onto both of his opponents. Joe and KENTA brawl into the crowd. Danielson lands a springboard dive onto them in the front row. In the ring, Joe walks away from stereo missile dropkicks. He hits a senton on Danielson. KENTA leaps to the top rope and falcon arrows Joe. Danielson locks in Cattle Mutilation on KENTA but Joe breaks it up with a senton. Danielson clips Joe’s leg during a Muscle Buster attempt. KENTA hits a fisherman buster on Danielson, who answers with a regalplex. Danielson hits a back superplex on KENTA for a nearfall. KENTA tiger suplexes out of a crossface chicken wing. Joe elevates Danielson into a nasty Go 2 Sleep from KENTA. That was awesome. KENTA sends Joe to the floor and hits another Go 2 Sleep on Danielson for the victory at 20:22. This was a tremendous three-way that never fell into the “two in, one out” pattern that most do. These three hit each other hard, as some of the slow motion instant replays revealed. The Joe-assisted Go 2 Sleep down the stretch was absolutely sick. This main event not being for the ROH World Title helped the atmosphere and everything came together here to make the action memorable. This is a forgotten gem in ROH history so check it out if you haven’t. ****
Match #4: ROH World Title: Bryan Danielson © vs. SUWA (Anarchy in the UK – 8/13/06)
They begin brawling before the opening bell. Danielson throws SUWA into the crowd and sends him into the wall of the venue. SUWA cheap shots him with a chair and crotches him on the guardrail. Danielson is bleeding from the top of his head. In the ring, SUWA takes control until Danielson fights back with a superplex followed by a diving headbutt. SUWA escapes Cattle Mutilation and hits a saito suplex. Danielson responds with a german suplex for a nearfall. They exchange strikes and SUWA connects with a lariat. They headbutt each other and Danielson sneaks in a small package for the win at 10:05. Danielson still had to wrestle Roderick Strong later in the night, so the duration is understandable. This was entertaining while it lasted and SUWA provided a different type of challenge. ***
Match #5: ROH World Title: Bryan Danielson © vs. KENTA (Glory By Honor V Night 2 – 9/16/06)
They are not in the business of giving each other clean breaks. KENTA kicks at Danielson’s injured right shoulder and he immediately retreats to the floor. They trade kicks in the ring and Danielson stretches KENTA on the mat. Danielson connects with a dropkick. KENTA dodges a plancha and kicks away at the shoulder. He sends Danielson shoulder-first into the barricade. KENTA takes over until Danielson catches him with an uppercut. Danielson now settles down and showcases his offense while minimizing the work done by his right shoulder. He slams KENTA’s knees into the canvas instead of leaning back with the surfboard. KENTA fights back with a series of kicks and a springboard dropkick. He tries a cross armbreaker but Danielson reaches the bottom rope. Danielson applies a half crab and hits a superplex. He locks in a crossface chicken wing. KENTA reaches the ropes and blocks a diving headbutt. Danielson blocks a springboard maneuver with a dropkick and both men are down. They exchange strikes and suplexes. Both men are down after a discus lariat from KENTA. Danielson baseball slides KENTA into the front row and lands a springboard dive into the crowd. In the ring, Danielson connects with a missile dropkick but gets trapped in an armbar. KENTA hits an ace crusher and goes back to the fujiwara armbar. Danielson makes the ropes and hits a regalplex. Danielson hits a superplex and applies Cattle Mutilation. KENTA escapes and hits the Go 2 Sleep out of nowhere for a nearfall. Danielson tries a quick bridging rollup to no avail. He turns a Go 2 Sleep into a crucifix for a two count. Danielson lays in MMA elbows and synchs in Cattle Mutilation to retain his title at 33:01. It’s hard for me to remember the exact circumstances at the time, but it felt like everyone gave KENTA a real chance to win the title in this match. Danielson was nursing a shoulder injury and KENTA made no bones about going after the injured body part. The atmosphere and drama down the stretch is something that only comes along every few years and this is truly a special match in ROH history. Aside from a few selling issues, it’s extremely difficult to nitpick anything else that this match didn’t do well. ****¾
Match #6: Bryan Danielson vs. Go Shiozaki (Live in Tokyo – 7/16/07)
They exchange armdrags and dodge each other’s strikes. Danielson finally connects with a dropkick. Shiozaki avoids a plancha and chops Danielson into the front row. Shiozaki takes over in the ring until Danielson dropkicks him back to the outside. They battle on the apron. Shiozaki tries a dive to the floor but crashes shoulder-first into the barricade. Danielson uses this as an opening to work over the right shoulder. Shiozaki uses his good shoulder to come back with a shoulder tackle. He comes off the middle rope with a knee drop. They battle over a suplex and Shiozaki hits a fisherman buster. Danielson connects with a baseball slide and lands a springboard dive into the crowd. The Japanese crowd comes alive for that spot. In the ring, Danielson connects with a missile dropkick and hits a northern lights suplex. He follows with a diving headbutt and locks in a crossface chicken wing. Shiozaki reaches the bottom rope. They battle on the middle rope and Shiozaki kind of hits a bulldog. Shiozaki starts firing off superkicks. Danielson hits a saito suplex. Shiozaki pops up and connects with another superkick. Both men are down. Danielson hits a german suplex. Shiozaki lays in a series of chops and hits a german suplex of his own. Up top, Danielson hits a superplex. Shiozaki connects with another superkick and adds a lariat. He misses a moonsault and Danielson reapplies Cattle Mutilation. Shiozaki reaches the bottom rope. MMA elbows and another Cattle Mutilation gets the victory for Danielson at 26:45. I wasn’t the only one impressed with this match, as Shiozaki became a regular roster member in 2008 and even won the FIP Title. They incorporated some strong style elements while keeping the action sensible. The crowd reacted favorably to the action down the stretch, coming alive at multiple points as well. Danielson was having tremendous showcase matches like this all of the time in 2007. ****
Match #7: Bryan Danielson, CIMA, and Naomichi Marufuji vs. Davey Richards, Rocky Romero, and Masaaki Mochizuki (Live in Osaka – 7/17/07)
Richards has an answer for everything that CIMA tries to get going on the mat. Richards tries a rollup to no avail and they both attempt dropkicks but neither connects. Romero does not give Danielson a clean break and monkey flips him across the ring. Danielson sends Romero to the floor and follows out with a dive. Marufuji and Mochizuki square off in a cool moment. CIMA and Marufuji team up in another cool moment. Novelty! Both teams trade control. Romero finds himself in the wrong corner and gets worked over. CIMA even impersonates his “azucar” dance. Richards tags into the match and the heels isolate Danielson. He comes off the middle rope with an uppercut on Richards and makes the tag. CIMA double stomps Richards and connects with a coast-to-coast dropkick. Mochizuki blocks a charge from Marufuji, who responds with a lariat. Marufuji hits a dragon screw leg whip to neutralize Mochizuki’s kicks. CIMA saves Danielson from a cross armbreaker by Romero. Danielson hits a backbreaker on Romero and CIMA adds an iconoclasm. Romero finds life with the Diablo armbar on Danielson, who answers with a back superplex. Romero comes off the middle rope with a tornado DDT on CIMA. Everyone starts connecting with strikes and hitting moves. CIMA hits the Schwein on Romero for a nearfall. Marufuji hits the Shiranui on Romero and CIMA adds an air raid crash for the win at 25:11. This match had tremendous novelty value because of the Danielson/CIMA/Marufuji team. Commentary was too persistent about putting over the team of “aces,” making the result inevitable. What about the fact that the heel team had the experience edge due to Richards and Romero having experience as a team? This probably could have been better by a substantial amount, but it would be hard to deny that the action down the stretch was great. ***½
Match #8: Bryan Danielson vs. PAC (Caged Rage – 8/24/07)
Danielson tries to ground PAC early on. Wouldn’t you? PAC snaps off a few armdrags and teases a dive. Danielson connects with a series of kicks in the corner and takes over. PAC creates some space with a baseball slide and lands a springboard dive to the floor. In the ring, PAC connects with a springboard dropkick along with an enzuigiri. He hits a northern lights suplex and lands a shooting star crossbody. Danielson blocks a corkscrew dive and lays in a roaring elbow. Danielson applies a triangle choke for the victory at 12:38. This felt like an extended squash for Danielson. PAC had some tricks and the crowd popped for them, but the result was never in doubt. I would love to see these two wrestle today, as PAC has improved by leaps and bounds. **¾
Match #9: ROH World Title: Takeshi Morishima © vs. Bryan Danielson (Manhattan Mayhem II – 8/24/07)
Morishima starts clubbing away at Danielson’s head. Danielson goads him with leg kicks. Both men stick to their game plans in the early stages of the match. Morishima overwhelms Danielson and connects with a corner yakuza kick. He takes Danielson to the floor and sends him into the guardrail with hip attacks. Danielson throws Morishima into the front row and lands a springboard dive into the crowd. Danielson attacks Morishima’s left leg with a chair. In the ring, Morishima shrugs off some offense and connects with a lariat. Danielson crossbodies out of a saito suplex and applies a legbar. Morishima escapes and hits a german suplex. Danielson avoids a missile dropkick and goes back to work on the leg. Morishima breaks out of the hold. Danielson tries a small package for a nearfall. Morishima blocks a sunset flip by sitting down on Danielson. Danielson hits a german suplex. Morishima shrugs off MMA elbows but gets his head kicked in. Danielson locks in Cattle Mutilation but Morishima gets his feet under the bottom rope. Morishima crossbodies out of a back superplex. Both men are down. Morishima connects with a huge lariat and hits a back drop driver to retain his title at 20:15. What a war. Danielson started things off with a strategy in mind but quickly showed his willingness to wrestle Morishima’s style of match. Although he was able to put up quite a fight, Morishima overwhelmed him in the end. Not only was this a phenomenal match on its own, they also set the stage for many rematches down the line. Danielson was an absolute trooper here, and the crowd gives him a huge ovation after the closing bell. ****¼
Match #10: ROH World Title: Takeshi Morishima © vs. Bryan Danielson (Man Up – 9/15/07)
Danielson is wearing an eye patch after suffering an eye injury at Manhattan Mayhem II. Danielson charges at Morishima, but the champion sends him to the floor. Morishima connects with a corner yakuza kick and rocks Danielson with a forearm. Danielson lands a dive to the floor and connects with a flying kick in the ring. Morishima avoids a missile dropkick but finds himself in a triangle choke. Danielson transitions into a bow and arrow and then to a rear-naked choke. He hits a back superplex and lays in MMA elbows. Danielson hits a tiger suplex and synchs in Cattle Mutilation. He goes back to the triangle choke. Morishima powers out of the hold and connects with a lariat for a nearfall. He hits a back drop driver for a two count. Morishima takes off the eye patch and hits another back drop driver. Morishima repeatedly elbows Danielson’s eye and Paul Turner stops the match. Morishima retains his title at 12:45. Danielson once again showed his willingness to wrestle Morishima’s style of match. However, this time it was because of his hatred for the champion. For a twelve-minute match, you’re not going to get much better than this. Morishima’s dominance and Danielson’s lingering eye injury both made this a great continuation for their feud. ***¾
Match #11: Bryan Danielson vs. Takeshi Morishima (Glory By Honor VI Night 2 – 11/3/07)
Danielson dives onto Morishima during his entrance and throws him into the barricade. He chokes Morishima with a chair and throws a table onto him. In the ring, Morishima hits an overhead suplex and connects with a corner yakuza kick. He catches Danielson with a missile dropkick and takes control. The action goes to the floor, where Danielson is able to land his springboard dive into the crowd. He tries to stab Morishima’s eye out with the ring bell dinger. Morishima hits a back drop driver onto the floor. Danielson is groggy and bleeding from the forehead. Back in, Danielson lays in repeated kicks to the chest along with MMA elbows. He hits a german suplex for a nearfall. Morishima gets his head kicked in and finds himself in a triangle choke. Morishima powers out of the hold and connects with a lariat. Morishima goes after the eye but Danielson low blows him. Danielson repeatedly stomps Morishima in the groin and gets disqualified at 11:43. This was a disqualification finish that you didn’t mind. They were having their usual intense matchup until Morishima going after Danielson’s eye made him snap. Another very good yet different encounter from these two. ***¼
Match #12: Bryan Danielson vs. Takeshi Morishima (Rising Above 2007 – 12/29/07)
They start brawling before the opening bell. Morishima sends Danielson into the barricade and throws the ringside table onto him. Danielson is already bleeding badly. Morishima connects with a missile dropkick and takes over. Danielson finds life with a flying kick and a few more kicks. He locks in a triangle choke but runs into a lariat. Morishima hits a back drop driver and connects with another lariat. They exchange strikes on the mat. Morishima blatantly goes low and starts stomping Danielson in the groin. That draws the disqualification at 7:56. Another excellent brawl between these two, showing the hatred between them. Although it would take nearly a year to blow-off this feud, at least some closure was received. **¾
Match #13: Bryan Danielson and Austin Aries vs. Nigel McGuinness and Go Shiozaki (Double Feature – 3/15/08)
Danielson and Aries made a fun little team early in 2008. They double team Shiozaki until Aries finds himself in the wrong corner. Danielson reenters the match with a series of kicks on Shiozaki and a dragon sleeper. Aries connects with a powerdrive elbow. Nigel kicks Danielson out of a headstand in the corner. Danielson is isolated until he catches Nigel with a lariat and makes the tag. Aries dropkicks Shiozaki off the apron and hits a back suplex on Nigel. Danielson connects with a double missile dropkick and lands a plancha to the floor onto Nigel. Aries follows out with the heat-seeking missile. Even Shiozaki adds a plancha of his own. In the ring, Shiozaki hits a fisherman buster on Aries for a nearfall. He misses a moonsault and Danielson catches him with a kick. Nigel lariats Danielson while Shiozaki german suplexes Aries. Aries responds with a crucifix bomb and hits a brainbuster for a two count. Danielson and Aries apply Cattle Mutilation and Last Chancery respectively. Both Shiozaki and Nigel tap out, giving Aries and Danielson the win at 18:34. Its placement on the card in the middle of the show combined with the gimmicky finish left a sour taste on what was otherwise an entertaining match. As I mentioned in the play by play, Danielson and Aries made a fun team during this period. ***¼
Match #14: Bryan Danielson vs. Naomichi Marufuji (A New Level – 5/10/08)
Marufuji escapes a wristlock and connects with a dropkick. Danielson gets a bow and arrow for a brief moment but Marufuji turns it into a pin attempt for a two count. They both connect with dropkicks and find themselves at a stalemate. Danielson hits a series of northern lights suplexes out of a knucklelock. He locks in a surfboard and transitions into a chinlock. Marufuji comes back with a slingshot DDT on the apron. He hits a brainbuster onto the apron. Jesus. Marufuji takes control until Danielson connects with a missile dropkick. Marufuji blocks a charge and drives Danielson into the middle turnbuckle. He connects with a lariat. Danielson shrugs off a Shiranui and dumps Marufuji to the floor. Marufuji blocks a dive and connects with a coast-to-coast dropkick. Danielson hits a butterfly suplex and transitions into a cross armbreaker. Marufuji transitions into a cross armbreaker of his own! Danielson hits a german suplex and synchs in a legbar. Marufuji reaches the bottom rope and connects with a superkick. Danielson avoids another coast-to-coast dropkick. Marufuji reverses Cattle Mutilation into a rollup for a nearfall. He connects with a series of superkicks but finds himself in a triangle choke. Marufuji escapes and connects with another superkick. Danielson synchs in the crossface chicken wing. They trade MMA elbows and Danielson hits a tiger suplex. Danielson locks in Cattle Mutilation for the victory at 21:23. I’ve loved all of Marufuji’s appearances in Ring of Honor and he gave Danielson a fantastic match on a big show for ROH. All of the little intricacies down the stretch really kept you guessing as each man had so many counters ready for their opponent’s offense. There’s not much else to say except this match was a joy to watch. ****
Match #15: GHC Junior Heavyweight Title: Yoshinobu Kanemaru © vs. Bryan Danielson (The Tokyo Summit – 9/14/08)
Danielson controls on the mat to start. Kanemaru connects with a dropkick and lands a plancha to the floor. He hits a guillotine leg drop across the barricade followed by a DDT on the floor. In the ring, Kanemaru hits a senton and takes control. Danielson finds an opening to target the left arm. Kanemaru finds the energy to connect with a dropkick to Danielson’s leg and follows with a missile dropkick. He hits a nice tornado DDT and comes off the middle rope with another DDT. Danielson responds with a backbreaker and both men are down. Danielson comes off the middle rope with an uppercut and hits a butterfly suplex. He transitions into a cross armbreaker. Kanemaru makes the ropes and hits a brainbuster. Both men are down. Danielson connects with an uppercut and hits a german suplex. They battle on the middle rope and Kanemaru hits an implant DDT. He follows with another brainbuster. Danielson hits a back superplex and both men are down once again. Danielson can’t get Cattle Mutilation so he hits a tiger suplex. He lays in MMA elbows. Danielson hits another tiger suplex and locks in Cattle Mutilation to become the new GHC Junior Heavyweight Champion at 20:29. A great showcase exhibition with Kanemaru bringing new elements to the table. Danielson really had to fight for his Cattle Mutilation to finally pick up the win. I don’t know how shocking his title win was, but this was just as good as the Marufuji match yet totally different. ****
Match #16: Bryan Danielson vs. Claudio Castagnoli vs. Go Shiozaki (Driven 2008 – 9/19/08)
Danielson immediately goes after the newly-turned-heel Claudio. Shiozaki interjects after awhile. Danielson tries to lock in a surfboard but Claudio bicycle kicks him in the jaw. Danielson catches Shiozaki with a flying kick and knees Claudio in the midsection. Claudio pounds away on Danielson in the corner. The referee tries to break it up but Claudio suplexes him. Yep, that a disqualification. Claudio hits the Ricola Bomb on Danielson before multiple staff members restrain him. Shiozaki casually walks into the ring and picks up the scraps. He takes control until Danielson hits a butterfly suplex and almost gets a cross armbreaker. Danielson lays in MMA elbows. Shiozaki makes it to the ropes to escape Cattle Mutilation. He connects with a lariat followed by a superkick. Danielson blocks a moonsault with knees and locks in a triangle choke for the win at 14:25. This match served its purpose by giving Danielson a title shot against Nigel McGuinness. However, if you really want to see Danielson and Shiozaki tear the house down, you’re better off watching their Live in Tokyo match which is conveniently on this compilation. ***
Match #17: GHC Junior Heavyweight Title: Bryan Danielson © vs. Katsuhiko Nakajima (Glory By Honor VII – 9/20/08)
Danielson wins the battle on the mat so Nakajima starts relying on his kicks. Danielson finds an opening to work over the left arm. He applies a surfboard but Nakajima somehow reaches the ropes. Nakajima connects with an enzuigiri and hits a snap suplex. Danielson responds with a baseball slide and lands his springboard dive into the crowd. In the ring, Danielson hits a missile dropkick. Nakajima pulls off a dragon screw leg whip in the ropes and hits a shinbreaker. He works over Danielson’s right leg until he catches Nakajima with a cross armbreaker. Nakajima immediately regains control with a superkick and a DDT. Danielson hits a german suplex but falls victim to a saito suplex. He quickly responds with a saito suplex on his own. Both men are down. They exchange strikes and Nakajima sweeps Danielson’s legs. Danielson hits a backbreaker out of desperation but hurts his own leg. Nakajima hits a dragon screw leg whip and connects with a knockout kick. He applies an ankle lock but Danielson reaches the bottom rope. Nakajima hits a brainbuster for a nearfall. Danielson tries a small package to no avail and hits a german suplex. He kicks Nakajima’s head in. Danielson applies a triangle choke but Nakajima gets his foot on the bottom rope. Danielson hits a back superplex and applies Cattle Mutilation to retain his title at 23:03. This was an awesome match that felt like a game of human chess. Nakajima brought a lot of fire but once Danielson was able to weather the storm, Nakajima was easy pickings. The psychology was super tight and both men did a tremendous job selling. This match really rewards the viewers with all of its little touches and was the highlight of what was otherwise a lackluster show. ****¼
Match #18: Bryan Danielson vs. Alex Koslov (Supercard of Honor IV – 4/30/09)
Danielson toys around with Koslov early on, getting the crowd to sarcastically chant “USA.” Koslov scurries to the ropes to avoid a surfboard. Danielson stretches Koslov on the mat. Koslov suddenly takes out Danielson’s leg and the action becomes more serious. Well, for a bit at least. Danielson locks in a surfboard and transitions into a dragon sleeper. Koslov suplexes Danielson to the floor, obviously hurting the already-injured leg. Koslov follows out with a springboard dive. Back in, Danielson connects with a flying kick and punishes Koslov with more kicks. Koslov lands a nice frog splash. He mocks Danielson by using Cattle Mutilation and MMA elbows. Danielson mocks Hulk Hogan and makes a comeback. Danielson lays in MMA elbows and locks in Cattle Mutilation for the victory at 15:21. I never felt as though this match reached second gear, mainly because Danielson picked up the win as soon as he decided to start getting serious. This was a fine introduction to Koslov’s work, but I have no doubt that these two could have a better, more competitive match. **¾
Match #19: Fight Without Honor: Bryan Danielson vs. Takeshi Morishima (Final Battle 2008 – 12/27/08)
Here we go. Unsurprisingly, they go at it before the opening bell. Danielson chokes Morishima with a chair at ringside. They battle on the apron, where Morishima sits down on Danielson after he tries a sunset bomb. Danielson gets busted open after being thrown into the barricade. Morishima sends him into the barricade again with a hip attack. He starts choking Danielson with a chain. Danielson avoids a missile dropkick and lands a dive to the floor. In the ring, Danielson connects with a missile dropkick of his own. Morishima responds with a corner yakuza kick and hits a uranagi. Danielson hits a big german suplex and lays in MMA elbows. Morishima wills himself to his feet and elbows Danielson down to the canvas. He connects with a lariat and chokes Danielson with the chain again. Danielson hits a back superplex and applies a chain-assisted triangle choke. Morishima powers out of the hold and hits a back drop driver. Danielson creates an opening by tying Morishima’s hands behind his back with the chain. Danielson kicks him in the groin and lays in chain-assisted MMA elbows. Danielson synchs in Cattle Mutilation for the win at 18:39. Although they hadn’t wrestled each other for a year, they continued the story of Danielson wrestling Morishima’s style of match. This time, Danielson was driven to the point of insanity and was finally able to out-brutalize the monster. This was almost the perfect feud-ending match that relied on the hatred established over the past year or so instead of throwing out all kinds of weapon spots. Even though Adam Pearce had already taken over as booker, this match is my last fond memory of the Gabe Sapolsky era in Ring of Honor. ****½
Overall: Any time you see a Bryan Danielson compilation and don’t already own a majority of the matches, it’s an almost guaranteed recommendation. Although this compilation had a particular theme, it actually served to diversify the match lineup and some hidden gems were included. His match against KENTA and the Fight Without Honor against Morishima are reason enough to pick up this DVD if you haven’t seen them. However, there’s loads of other worthwhile matches included and this set earns a high recommendation.
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