WWE vs. TNA ROH 12.16.06: Chris Benoit vs. Bryan Danielson
Posted by Jordan Linkous on 12.16.2006
What happens when the best wrestler you can’t see on TV meets up with the master of the Crippler Crossface? Stuart Carapola helps me out this week as we compare Bryan Danielson and Chris Benoit!
The Pre-Match Warm-up:
How's it going? I'm writing this late at night as we had lost power last night, and I finally got some power. There were some massive rains and winds at like 60 mph. So here I am. You will have to excuse the shortness of the column tonight. I spent the whole day living it up on the town because I didn't have any power. I went and saw Happy Feet with my family, treated a friend with cancer to the mall and early dinner, and then went and saw In Pursuit of Happiness. Good flick, IMO. Now let's get to the results of last weeks column.
Johnny Nitro: 37% 178 votes
Alex Shelley: 63% 303 votes
WOOT! Looks like TNA is two in a row. I'm in a giddy mood and spontaneously wrote fellow 411mania writer Stuart Carapola and asked him for his help. Low and behold, here is the result. Anything written about Bryan Danielson and the conclusion are from him, since I don't know that much about Danielson. Also, since I am keeping track, ROH counts as TNA this week.
Chris Benoit vs. Bryan Danielson
Category 1: Strengths
JL: Chris Benoit: In Chris Benoit's illustrious career spanning over twenty years, he has held almost all of the big titles. WCW World Heavyweight Championship, WCW US Championship, WCW World TV Championship, WCW WTT Championship, WWE World Heavyweight Championship, IC Championship, WWE TT Championship, WWE WTT Championship, WWE US Champion, and ECW World Tag Team Championship have all been held by Chris Benoit at some point or another. Most of these can be related to the fact that he is such a great wrestler. For starters he is one of the greatest technical wrestlers of any time, up there with the likes of Bret Hart, Kurt Angle, and, yes, Bryan Danielson. His endurance is one of the most coveted in the wrestling business, and his no nonsense style of wrestling has gotten him to the status he is at today. His classic match at WM XX is a prime example of many of these attributes. He went into that match as the underdog, bled a lot, and managed to make HHH tap cleanly in the middle of the ring. That match took a lot out of him. He started his wrestling education in Stampede, where he stayed until he went to Japan, where he met Eddie Guerrero and Dean Malenko. It was with them that he would have some of his greatest matches. He is a ruthless wrestler and will stay on you, picking a body part and working it over like a wild dog. Or Rabid Wolverine. He actually got his nickname "The Crippler" when he broke Sabu's neck. He has been known to keep going in matches, notably his Royal Rumble win in 2004 where he entered at number one and won. Also his old-school style of wrestling is another one of his key strengths, ranging from his stiff chops to his German Suplexes. Anyways, I would love to see what these two guys could put together in a classic singles match.
SC: Bryan Danielson: Bryan Danielson is easily one of the best technical wrestlers in the United States today. There are few, if any people who can match him hold for hold. He is also a submission expert and is capable of making a man tap out of basically any position, and has frequently been known to be deeply into the losing end of a match, and then come out of nowhere with a submission hold or pinning combination to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. He has excellent conditioning, doing three one hour draws within a week of one another, the third of which he did after tearing ligaments in his shoulder ten minutes into the match. He finishes the final 50 minutes with those torn ligaments, and has continued successfully defending the title despite the injury. He can absorb an incredible amount of punishment and still not go down in defeat in title match situations.
Category 2: Fighting Styles
SC: Bryan Danielson: As I said above, Bryan Danielson is a master technical wrestler. Even some of the best technical wrestlers on the scene including Nigel McGuinness, Colt Cabana, Christopher Daniels, and current GHC Heavyweight Champion Naomichi Marufuji have come out on the short end of wrestling exchanges with Danielson. He is also a great submission wrestler, having scored submission victories over numerous, presumed untappable opponents such as Roderick Strong, Steve Corino, and AJ Styles. He is an underrated aerial wrestler as well, often incorporating moves off the top rope to the outside of the ring or into the crowd. Finally, for a man as small as he is, he packs an incredible striking power, both with kicks (which he showed much more of last year than recently) and stiff European
uppercuts and headbutts.
JL: Chris Benoit: Similar to Danielson, Chris Benoit is a master at the art of technical wrestling. Many of the greats have fallen to Benoit's Crippler Crossface, ranging from Kurt Angle to Triple H. Whether he is utilizing the Sharpshooter, an armbar, or his Crossface, he locks it on in such a painful manner that his opponents have no option than to tap out. Along with his technical fighting style comes his old-fashioned style. He loves to wear his opponents down with series of chops, Snap Suplexes, German Suplexes, back breakers, among others. He is key at targeting other wrestlers' week points and capitalizing. He wears them down with his suplexes, and the occasional Diving Headbutt, then locks them in a submission move and it is over. I think Benoit's best strategy would be to stay one step ahead of Danielson, and always keep an eye on him.
Category 3: Finishers
JL: Chris Benoit: As mentioned before, Chris Benoit's primary finisher is the Crippler Crossface. In this move, he applies a Crossface to his opponents while also locking on an armbar. It is an excruciatingly painful maneuver that few can withstand. He has also been known to use the Sharpshooter, and the Diving Headbutt. He adapted this move after long-time idol Dynamite Kid. I think that Benoit should target the shoulder/neck area of Benoit, and then lock on the Crippler Crossface square in the middle of the ring.
SC: Bryan Danielson: Danielson's most famous finishing move, the one he's been using the longest, is the Cattle Mutilation. In this move, he has an opponent face down on the mat, hooks him in a double Chickenwing, and flips forward into a bridge, using all his weight to torque on the opponent's shoulders and also put pressure on his chest, making it very difficult for him to breathe. Men who refuse to submit have been known to pass out in the hold. Also used to great effect is the Crossface Chickenwing, a move popularized by Bob Backlund in the 90s. Danielson has also perfected the move, and even used it to win the ROH World Title from James Gibson in September of 2005. Finally, he has a move which is perhaps the most dangerous of the three, where he holds one arm back and uses his legs to scissor the other arm and render the opponent defenseless, then uses his free arm to repeatedly ram elbows into the face of his opponent. Most opponents lose the match when the referee stops the match because they can't defend themselves before the opponent is willing or able to submit. He also has an array of quick pinning combinations, most notably the small package, which he catches surprise falls on his opponents with.
The Final Result:
SC: Bryan Danielson combines his skills, determination, and array of dangerous finishing moves to become arguably the greatest wrestler in the United States that is not working for either WWE or TNA. He is so good that he may even be better than anyone in either promotion from a pure skill standpoint. He has now held the ROH World Title for an astounding 15 months, the second longest reign in the history of the title, and he has had more successful title defenses than any other ROH World Champion, including Samoa Joe. He doesn't need to cheat, and has scored clean victories over every single wrestler who has challenged him for the ROH World Title. He has been taken to the limit, but every wrestler who has thought that they had Danielson figured out has been wrong. His heart and determination make him an even tougher nut to crack, and the fact that he is still young and hasn't suffered any major injuries outside of the shoulder injury, and also hasn't been broken down mentally by the business makes him perhaps the most formidable wrestler around today.
A Chris Benoit-Bryan Danielson match would be a very even contest. Neither man is going to be caught blowing up. Benoit has a major advantage in terms of experience and is the stronger of the two, but as good of a wrestler as he is, Danielson may very well be the superior mat wrestler. He is also younger and has suffered fewer injuries than Benoit has. For Danielson to beat Benoit, he would have to concentrate on either Benoit's bad knees or, ideally, his neck, and then follow that up with submission holds. If Danielson can soften up Benoit's neck enough, it would leave him easy prey to either Cattle Mutilation or the Crossface Chickenwing. Danielson would do well to stay out of strength-based moves against Benoit and not try any moves requiring superior upper-body strength like a backslide. In fact, he'd probably be better off trying to make Benoit submit than trying to pin him. Danielson has shown that he can beat more experienced men with victories over Steve Corino and Lance Storm, so it is not out of the realm of possibility that he could pull out a win over Benoit as well.
So I am off to bed. I will have an awesome Christmas "surprise" for you guys next week. It will be awesome. Be sure to check out the other columns. Peace.
