Ring of Honor - Top 25 in 2002 - Pt. 4 (of 5)
9. Low-Ki vs. Christopher Daniels vs. American Dragon (Ring of Honor - 2/23/02 "Era of Honor Begins")
Three guys with three styles and we know how three ways often are, don't expect the same here. Daniels establishes himself as a heel well with key mannerisms, moves and so on. While everyone gets a chance at controlling the other two, Daniels seems to get more in because he makes more of it. Dragon and Ki have more respect for one another and that shows to an extent, but they attack each other as hard as anyone. There is no shortage of unique 3-man spots, but they aren't overdone either. A great deal of this is big moves or strikes followed by sound selling, unfortunately the action seldom stops so quality selling does not mat much. The crowd remains strong throughout and are amongst the best at this first show and that makes this whole thing really exceptional. The finish really estabilshes the future angle with Ki and Daniels deciding the fall, while Dragon gets caught off guard and is kind of brushed to the side. Low-Ki is clearly going to be the company's golden boy, but the other two will be right there with him for sure. The match was more of a sprint and non-spot action as opposed to storytelling, which is fine since it was the company's first show. I think this was a great match to display who will be the top talent in ROH and why. Like the final part of a first episode of a new TV series, this has to set a high standard and stand up well regarding the future. It does.
Rating: ****
Three guys with three styles and we know how three ways often are, don't expect the same here. Daniels establishes himself as a heel well with key mannerisms, moves and so on. While everyone gets a chance at controlling the other two, Daniels seems to get more in because he makes more of it. Dragon and Ki have more respect for one another and that shows to an extent, but they attack each other as hard as anyone. There is no shortage of unique 3-man spots, but they aren't overdone either. A great deal of this is big moves or strikes followed by sound selling, unfortunately the action seldom stops so quality selling does not mat much. The crowd remains strong throughout and are amongst the best at this first show and that makes this whole thing really exceptional. The finish really estabilshes the future angle with Ki and Daniels deciding the fall, while Dragon gets caught off guard and is kind of brushed to the side. Low-Ki is clearly going to be the company's golden boy, but the other two will be right there with him for sure. The match was more of a sprint and non-spot action as opposed to storytelling, which is fine since it was the company's first show. I think this was a great match to display who will be the top talent in ROH and why. Like the final part of a first episode of a new TV series, this has to set a high standard and stand up well regarding the future. It does.
Rating: ****
WON Rating: ****1/2
8. American Dragon vs. Doug Williams (Ring of Honor - 6/22/02 "Road to the Title")
Both had what I would call unimpressive first round matches, but saved themselves for this it appears. They work a Euro/Puro match with fun, pro-wrestling grappling and things done a little stiffer than normal. Williams is strange, some really don't eat up his work, but I'd rate him amongst the best in the world, he's really slick and has those lil' tricks that I though died out in the mid-90s. Dragon might be the best Euro-style worker (Chris Hero's right up there) and he clicks well with Doug. Getting Williams over is the goal here, so he gets a lot of offense and it's sold very well. I think people believed Dragon was going to win because it just made sense, but "The Anarchist" got over as being too tricky for him. Williams escapes the Cattle Mutilation and sneaks in a pinfall for a big win that makes him in ROH and leaves a rematch in the wings. Williams gets the win back from KOI `01. This totally worked for me.
Rating: ****
Rating: ****
7. Low-Ki vs. AJ Styles (Ring of Honor - 8/24/02 "Honor Invades Boston")
These guys had a really good match four months earlier and in Boston they have an even better one. The start out with exceptional matwork, which I'd expect out of Ki, but not Styles for some reason. It's damn good though and amongst the best I've seen in ROH. However they wanna go with stiffness instead and they really pound each other. Styles steps up on the striking and has amongst the stiffest match with Low-Ki that I've ever seen. He gets his nose is busted up from the Kawada-style face kicks and that's just part of it. This thing is saturated with counter-wrestling, which is done fluidly and provides for a lot of fun nearfalls. This had a great blend of that countering and stiff, intense striking that really livened this up. The finish was good, the heat was excellent and all and all I hafta say this is amongst ROH's better matches. Seems kind of straightforward to talk about much, so just go out and watch it instead.
Rating: ****1/4
WON Rating: ****1/2
These guys had a really good match four months earlier and in Boston they have an even better one. The start out with exceptional matwork, which I'd expect out of Ki, but not Styles for some reason. It's damn good though and amongst the best I've seen in ROH. However they wanna go with stiffness instead and they really pound each other. Styles steps up on the striking and has amongst the stiffest match with Low-Ki that I've ever seen. He gets his nose is busted up from the Kawada-style face kicks and that's just part of it. This thing is saturated with counter-wrestling, which is done fluidly and provides for a lot of fun nearfalls. This had a great blend of that countering and stiff, intense striking that really livened this up. The finish was good, the heat was excellent and all and all I hafta say this is amongst ROH's better matches. Seems kind of straightforward to talk about much, so just go out and watch it instead.
Rating: ****1/4
WON Rating: ****1/2
6. Michael Shane vs. Paul London (Ring of Honor - 9/21/02 "Unscripted")
Two of ROH's best-introduced stars, these two TWA graduates were at each other's necks for the months leading up to this and things were to be settled in this "street fight." Shane was emerging as an excellent heel and London as a great babyface so these two just clicked. Great fast opening with London's athleticism getting the advantage and Shane sneaks in a few prick tactics. They get the crowd into quickly with a nice combination of big bumps and spots matching up with a sound story. Shane blades huge, which makes up for him not bumping as big. This is basically an unofficial TLC match and the gimmicks are used very well with innovative "holy shit" spots and the heat goes up accordingly. London is on with everything he does and pretty much does ridiculous bumping, but his stuff is near perfect. Hot nearfalls with Shane unable to put London, who is an absolutely awesome selling underdog here, away. London rebounds with a sick Shooting Star off a ladder and gets the win. A strong big bump-type match with a nice story and considering the experience level of these two it really showed a lot.
Rating: ****1/4
Two of ROH's best-introduced stars, these two TWA graduates were at each other's necks for the months leading up to this and things were to be settled in this "street fight." Shane was emerging as an excellent heel and London as a great babyface so these two just clicked. Great fast opening with London's athleticism getting the advantage and Shane sneaks in a few prick tactics. They get the crowd into quickly with a nice combination of big bumps and spots matching up with a sound story. Shane blades huge, which makes up for him not bumping as big. This is basically an unofficial TLC match and the gimmicks are used very well with innovative "holy shit" spots and the heat goes up accordingly. London is on with everything he does and pretty much does ridiculous bumping, but his stuff is near perfect. Hot nearfalls with Shane unable to put London, who is an absolutely awesome selling underdog here, away. London rebounds with a sick Shooting Star off a ladder and gets the win. A strong big bump-type match with a nice story and considering the experience level of these two it really showed a lot.
Rating: ****1/4
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