Column of Honor: Final Column 2006-Part Four: 12.31.06

Posted by Ari Berenstein on 12.31.2006

No, no, too much Honor! …but I must! The Column of Honor ONE HUNDRED and the best match from Ring of Honor during the last year. Happy New Year everyone!

Its time to complete the award features with the list for matches of the year, but this year I went all out…got a new tux, a kerchief and some cologne. This time around, I went insane, and instead of a top 31, I've gone so far as to rank the top ONE HUNDRED, that's 1-0-0 matches of the year. Believe me, it was not an easy task, and I actually could have gone on and done a top 150, but…I'm not insane…almost there, but not yet. So here it is, all shined up and ready for you to chew down on. Without further ado:


The Column of Honor Top 100 Matches of 2006
-List includes matches from January up through November 4th, 2006.

-Excludes shows after The Bitter End, 11/04/06 as I have not seen the 11/24, 11/25, 12/8, 12/9 and 12/22 shows as of the publication of this column. Excludes Final Battle 2006 even though I was there to witness the matches. It wouldn't be fair to include these matches on the list, but they would be eligible for entry on next year's list.

-List is based on a number of factors including match quality, importance (i.e. a title vs. non-title match, a match that has an important sea change in ROH history), atmosphere, crowd reaction, personal taste and live reaction (if applicable).

-I don't look at this as a "be all, end all" list, and I expect some disagreements with placements. Hell, I'd be surprise if there were NO disagreements, but with one hundred matches placed in order I'm sure I won't have to worry about it. I'll be happy to argue the merits of choices as long as they are dealt with respectfully. Bottom line is I wanted to pay tribute to the great matches of ROH throughout the year and this is my way of doing so.

For your consideration:



100. Tony Mamaluke, Sal Rinauro, & Delirious vs. Jimmy Rave, Alex Shelley & Abyss-Dissension (Cleveland, OH 1/28/06)
99. Matt Sydal vs. Davey Richards-Survival of the Fittest 2006 (Cleveland, OH 10/06/06)
98. Fight Without Honor: Homicide vs. Steve Corino-The Bitter End (Philadelphia, PA 11/04/06)

-The crowd reaction was minimal (it was a long night of wrestling in Philly) and the fight itself was ugly…but it was Steve Corino and Homicide in the same ring against each other for the last time. There was violence of a high order, call backs to previous fights (and the psychological scars of the past were well inserted with Corino rubbing his deaf ear and Homicide rubbing his scarred shoulder early on in the match). The sheer amount of history involved in this series and between these two participants demands attention and notice. These matches are always a gruesome experience due to the amount of blood shed and violence, but these two do it well. A fitting farewell to a feud that has ties all the way back to the origins of ROH.

97. Low Ki vs. Jack Evans-Dissension (Cleveland, OH 1/28/06)

-Ostensibly a squash match for Low Ki where Evans really wasn't given much of a serious chance, but goddamn was it ever a fun squash match. The politics of Low Ki's run in ROH aside; Ki has this tendency to make every strike of his look like it hurts worse than going through major surgery. Evans took a hell of an ass kicking in this one and makes it out alive.

96. SHIMMER Four Corner Survival Match: Allison Danger vs. Lacey, Daizee Haze, & Mercedes Martinez-Best In The World (New York, NY 3/25/06)
95. Jay & Mark Briscoe vs. Matt Sydal & Davey Richards-Anarchy In The UK (Broxbourne, UK 8/13/06)
94. Jay Briscoe vs. Matt Sydal-Irresistable Forces (Chicago Ridge, IL 10/28/06)
93. Four Corner Survival: Delirious vs. Samoa Joe vs. Davey Richards vs. Jimmy Rave-Throwdown (Detroit, MI 6/23/06)
92. Four Corner Survival: McGuinness vs. Lethal vs. Daniels vs. Claudio-Fight of the Century (Edison, NJ 8/05/06)
91. Christopher Daniels vs. Claudio Castagnoli-The 100th Show (Philadelphia, PA 4/22/06)

-One of the most constant visuals in my head when I think back to matches is the arm drag sequence early on in this match where Daniels just sort of seems to hover in mid air and hooks Claudio over. Daniels is just so on point in his wrestling and this match (and a few others on the list) is just fine and fun matches of his where you can just watch over and over and be entertained by it, but also pick up new little things he does along the way. This match is also important in ROH history as the first time Christopher Daniels shakes hands willingly with ANYBODY else in the company. It is also further irony when the man whose hand he shakes and puts over as being so honorable turns on Ring of Honor at the end of the night. THAT is just CLASSIC wrestling storyline work right there. Match number 92 on the list, the Four Corner Survival, continues the Daniels vs. Castagnoli feud in great fashion—Claudio will just NOT let Daniels get to him during the match. Nigel's rebound lariat in this and other matches is a thing of beauty.

90. Davey Richards vs. Jimmy Rave-In Your Face (New York, NY 6/17/06)

- You have to give it to both men—toilet paper hit the chandelier above the ring in The New Yorker Hotel and shards rained down all over ringside. These two men were professional and toughed it out, putting on a upbeat grudge style contest Both men were cut open by the glass and Davey had his eyebrow busted by a stiff strike during the match. Say what you will about the "character" of Rave, but you can't deny he and Davey are both tough and brave men. Match number 89 also featured a brutally stick kick, delivered by Joe onto Whitmer. Whitmer looked like he died, and that wasn't even the worst of the pain that was in store for him this year. The third match in the Rave-Richards mini series from the Unified show appears later on in the list; it is a well played back and forth encounter but the main memory is the interaction Rave has with the snooty kids up in the balcony and the chant by the adult fans of "past your bedtime!"

89. Samoa Joe vs. BJ Whitmer-Hell Freezes Over (Philadelphia, PA 1/14/06)
88. ROH World Title Match: Bryan Danielson (c) vs. Delirious-The 100th Show (Philadelphia, PA 4/22/06)
87. KENTA & Naomichi Marafuji vs. Jay & Mark Briscoe-Glory By Honor V Night 1 (East Windsor, CT 9/15/06)
86. ROH World Title Match: Bryan Danielson (c) vs. BJ Whitmer vs. Jimmy Jacobs-Throwdown (Detroit, MI 6/23/06)
85. Jay & Mark Briscoe vs. AJ Styles & Matt Sydal-The 100th Show (Philadelphia, PA 4/22/06)
84. Six Man Mayhem: Jack Evans vs. Ace Steel, Matt Sydal, Jimmy Jacobs, & Irish Airborne-Better Than Our Best (Chicago, Ridge, IL 4/1/06)
83. Christopher Daniels vs. Matt Sydal-Ring of Homicide (Edison, NJ 5/13/06)

-Before they teamed up to win the ROH World Tag Team championships, Daniels and Sydal had quite the rivalry, but not one based on grudges but rather one born out of athletic competition. Sydal has been quite the upstart this year, always wanting to test himself against the veterans and established players of Ring of Honor. This was the fourth of five matches in the series and in this one Sydal had the best chance out of the first four matches to defeat Daniels. A constant factor in this series was an "injury" that affected a wrestler's ability to fight throughout the match. In this match it was Sydal's leg injury that was a factor in the psychology. Sydal fought through the pain and had everyone in the crowd rocking and rolling, believing he could get the upset. Not this time though it was soooooo close. Sydal finally got that singles win over Daniels in the number 71 match on the list.

82. Delirious vs. Chris Sabin-Weekend of Champions Night 2 (Cleveland, OH 4/29/06)
81. Jimmy Rave & Alex Shelley vs. Claudio Castagnoli & Jimmy Yang-Supercard of Honor (Chicago Ridge, IL 3/31/06)

-Alex Shelley is such an underappreciated comic genius, even now with all the skits with Kevin Nash in TNA. I don't think people realize how truly funny Shelley is when he plays the comic foil as a baby face or a heel. This was a match where he and Jimmy Rave were able to highlight those comedic heel features as they bounced around and were made fools of by Claudio and Yang (who actually had quite good chemistry as a tag team). It was The Embassy who had the last laugh however, as they came away with the ever important victory in this match as they made their last great run to an ROH Tag title shot..

80. Samoa Joe vs. Jay Lethal-Fourth Anniversary Show (Edison, NJ 2/25/06)
79. ROH World Title Match: Bryan Danielson (c) vs. Jimmy Yang-Weekend of Champions Night 1(Dayton, OH 4/28/06)

-A match that snuck underneath the radar of most. From the outset, Yang didn't have much of a chance, but the crowd was definitely supportive of him. This is one of those matches where Danielson slowly draws you in by his heel behavior and his interaction with Yang. Yang would get his moments, score with some big kicks and has his chances where it was plausible he could win the title. Ultimately, Yang succumbs to Danielson's chicken wing cross face. An overlooked but good little title match

78. Davey Richards vs. Jimmy Rave-Unified (Liverpool, UK 8/12/06)
77. Austin Aries vs. Davey Richards-Glory By Honor V Night 1 (East Windsor, CT 9/15/06)
76. Survival of the Fittest 2006 Finals: Delirious vs. Matt Sydal vs. Jay Briscoe vs. Mark Briscoe vs. Austin Aries-Survival of the Fittest 2006 (Cleveland, OH 10/06/06)
75. ROH World Title Match, Two Out of Three Falls: Bryan Danielson (c) vs. Nigel McGuinness-Epic Encounter II (St. Paul, MN 8/25/06)
74. ROH World Tag Team Title Match: Austin Aries & Roderick Strong vs. Nigel McGuinness & Colt Cabana-In Your Face (New York, NY 6/17/06)
73. ROH World Title Match, Two Out of Three Falls: Bryan Danielson (c) vs. Colt Cabana-Gut Check (Chicago Ridge, IL 8/26/06)
72. KENTA vs. Matt Sydal-The Bitter End (Philadelphia, PA 11/04/06)
71. Matt Sydal vs. Christopher Daniels-War of the Wire II (Dayton, OH 7/28/06)
70. ROH World Title Match: Bryan Danielson (c) vs. Chris Hero-Hell Freezes Over (Philadelphia, PA 1/14/06)

-The first match in what would become an all out war between Ring of Honor and Chris Hero and his CZW allies. The fact that Hero came out from a side entrance and had his own back up really got over the idea that Hero and "his kind" were not wanted. The match was a bit slow to start and picked up towards the middle when Chris Hero became more aggressive and it became clear that he could steal the title away from Danielson. Not my favorite title defense but certainly a very important match that set the tone for the first six months of 2006 and set the entire ROH-CZW series in motion..

69. Low Ki vs. Christopher Daniels-Tag Wars 2006 (Dayton, OH 1/27/06)
68. NWA Champion Christian Cage & Colt Cabana defeated ROH World Champion Bryan Danielson & Christopher Daniels-How We Roll (Long Island, NY 5/12/06)

-I will continue to fight for this match despite many fans decrying it for Christian Cage allegedly not pulling his weight. Cage didn't start doing a million headlock chain sequences, but he put in effort and used more technical wrestling than usual to adjust to the ROH style. In addition I am tickled by the thought of Cage and Cabana as a tag team—they worked well together. The NWA champion and the ROH champion were on opposite corners was also a landmark moment. We could not get a singles match and have any sort of satisfying conclusion for the loyal ROH fans, but at least in this environment, Danielson and Cage could mix it up and we could see them wrestle. I thought it was a good "dream tag" style match, where the personalities and the interaction were slightly more important than the outcome of the match.

67. ROH World Tag Team Titles: Austin Aries & Roderick Strong (c) vs. ROH World Champion Bryan Danielson & Jay Lethal-Tag Wars 2006 (Dayton, OH 1/27/06)
66. Generation Next Finale: GN vs. Richards, Clarke, Irish Airborne (Generation Now)

-Important for being the last "official" match with all four member of Generation Next teaming up for a common cause. I don't think the match was as successful as it could have been in putting the younger guys over. Looking back on the opposition only Davey Richards has come close to making it on the level of Evans, Sydal, Aries and Strong. The big highlight of this match is the non stop action thanks to Dragon Gate rules and the stereo shooting star press / stereo 630 splash sequence.

65. Samoa Joe and Nigel McGuinness vs. Bryan Danielson and Jimmy Rave-The Bitter End (Philadelphia, PA 11/04/06)
64. KENTA and Davey Richards vs. The Briscoes-Time to Man Up (Long Island, NY 8/04/06)
63. Austin Aries vs. Matt Sydal-Arena Warfare (Philadelphia, PA 3/12/06)
62. Homicide & Samoa Joe vs. The Briscoes-Glory By Honor V Night 2 (New York, NY 9/16/06)
61. Nigel McGuinness defeated Austin Aries to retain the Pure Title-Unscripted II (Long Island, NY 2/11/06)

-One of the finer PURE title matches. Aries and McGuinness match up very well and these two had some great back and forth chain sequences. This is the first match where I began to notice McGuinness's improvement in his strikes and his movement in the ring. He and Aries are as smooth as silk as they move around the ring and the crowd is very appreciative and aware of how great they are doing in this one.

60. Trios Tournament 2006 Semi Final: Matt Sydal & Jimmy Yang & Jack Evans vs. Adam Pearce & Jimmy Jacobs & BJ Whitmer-Tag Wars 2006 (Dayton, OH 1/27/06)

-This match is most notable for Evans hitting an out of this world Space Flying Tiger Drop into a Hurracanrana, which was the first time ROH fans were privileged to see the move. Jack Evans is a special person and I don't mean in the Eugene way. The move came out of nowhere and completely electrified the audience. There were tons of other huge flying moves with Sydal and Yang in there and a fast and furious pace was the key towards creating a successful match.

59. AJ Styles & Matt Sydal vs. Dragon Kid & Genki Horiguchi-Dragon Gate Challenge (Detroit, MI 3/31/06)
58. Bryan Danielson and CM Punk vs. Jimmy Rave & Adam Pearce-Unscripted II (Long Island, NY 2/11/06)
57. ROH vs. CZW: Ace Steel, Adam Pearce and BJ Whitmer vs. Claudio Castagnoli, Necro Butcher and Nate Webb-Chi Town Struggle (6/24/06)
56. ROH World Tag Team Titles: Austin Aries & Roderick Strong (c) vs. The Briscoes-Destiny (East Windsor, CT 6/03/06)
55. ROH World Title: Bryan Danielson (c) vs. Colt Cabana-Chi Town Struggle (Chicago Ridge, IL 6/24/06)
54. ROH Pure Title: Nigel McGuinness (c) vs. Roderick Strong-Death Before Dishonor IV (Philadelphia, PA 7/15/06)

-Two lesser wrestlers would have taken the negative vibe put out there by the CZW fans and then proceed to take a dive in their effort. Not McGuinness and Strong—they take a rowdy CZW crowd and a relatively quiet ROH side in the opening minutes of the match and they completely turn around the crowd reception. The CZW fans chanted "This is Awful" at the scientific wrestling match that was on display, but after several hard high impact moves and dramatic moments involving the teases of a count out finish, the chants has turned to "This is Awesome!" They may not admit it, but that chant was just too loud not to include the majority of CZW fans. This may be one of my favorite matches that ends with a count out finish, even though I usually can't stand them. The chase to see if Strong or McGuinness could make it back into the ring was so well worked out and so intense that it actually HELPED to make a better contest.

53. Trios Tournament 2006 Finals: Alex Shelley, Jimmy Rave, & Abyss vs. Jack Evans, Matt Sydal, & Jimmy Yang-Tag Wars 2006 (Dayton, OH 1/27/06)
52. Jimmy Rave, Alex Shelley, & Masato Yoshino defeated Do Fixer (Dragon Kid, Genki Horiguchi, & Ryo Saito-Better Than Our Best (Chicago Ridge, IL 4/01/06)

-This was a really fun six man tag that continued the cross over between Dragon Gate and Ring of Honor wrestlers. Yoshino gets to play along with The Embassy's heel tactics while the fans get to witness more of Do Fixer's high tech tag team work. The triple dropkick they set up is one of the coolest things this year and looks to be something out of Cirque De Soleil. This had to be the match that got the attention of Dragon Gate officials in Japan, because it wasn't much longer after this that Rave got the invite to tour over there.

51. Samoa Joe vs. AJ Styles-Time to Man Up (Long Island, NY 8/4/06)

-This will certainly be viewed as a controversial call as after the match many fans on the message boards and even writers here at 411 were complaining that the match was too short and that AJ Styles had not given his best efforts during the match. Now I was not live at this show, but I saw the match at home and as it turns out, I really liked it. Sure, as a main event for an ROH show the fans expect a lengthier match, but aside from that ideological standpoint, the match itself was nothing but good. I mean, what else CAN you expect from Samoa Joe and AJ Styles? They could have a great ONE minute match if they wanted. The twelve minutes, while short, was non stop and action packed. The finish, a choke sleeper suplex, was different and had never really been seen done by Samoa Joe, yet it was very interesting to see something other than the expected finisher or roll up / flash pin end a match. This would also be AJ Styles last match in ROH for the foreseeable future. Styles had so much to do with ROH's early years and adding to the quality of matches on those cards. Later in the year Samoa Joe would have another shorter than expected match in TNA with Kurt Angle, and the same complaints about length would be registered. Me, I just look at how good the action was while it lasted.

50. ROH World Title Bryan Danielson vs. Delirious-Ring of Homicide (Edison, NJ 5/13/06)

-Their first match at The 100th Show, Delirious was a surprise opponent and thus didn't seem to have much of a chance. A gruesome hand injury also affected Delirious' hopes of winning. This time around Delirious was prepared and ready to become more of a serious threat to defeating Danielson. Nothing better can be said about Danielson as a wrestler and the vast improvement of Delirious when a deranged mad man in a mask can be seen a legitimate threat to taking the ROH World title and that is exactly what happens in this match. This is also around the time that the ROH audience finally gets the idea that Danielson is the heel as he is jeered and insulted—Prazak on commentary attributed the cat calls to CZW fans, but we really know the truth. Delirious's comeback and finishing move sequences—the Panic Attack and Shadows Over Hell—become huge moments in this encounter, but it is Dragon that has a final ace up his sleeve with his ever impressive Small Package.

49. BJ Whitmer vs. Jimmy Jacobs-In Your Face (New York, NY 6/17/06)
48. BJ Whitmer vs. Jimmy Jacobs-Dragon Gate Challenge (Detroit, MI 3/30/06)

-I put the DGC match ahead of the IYF match because the first one begot the second one. I also think that while both power bomb spots were incredibly dangerous and risky, it is the unexpected landing of the first one, how close to death or paralysis Jacobs truly came should rank the first match just slightly ahead. That these men had the idea to continue the match after Jacobs landed awkwardly on the ring apron for five more minutes is either a sign of their incredible heart or their incredible insanity. Oh and by the way, the matches themselves were pretty good too.

47. Four Corner Survival, Non Title: Austin Aries vs. Bryan Danielson vs. Homicide vs. Delirious-War of the Wire II (Dayton, OH 7/28/06)
46. ROH vs. CZW: Homicide vs. Chris Hero-In Your Face (New York, NY 6/17/06)
45. Christopher Daniels vs. Alex Shelley-Best In The World (New York, NY 3/25/06)

-Perhaps a bit higher up on the list than it should be, but this one gets the extra mile because of my personal preferences. I freaking love this match—loved it live and loved it on DVD. If I had to choose any Alex Shelley match to watch for the rest of my life, it would be a race between this match and his title shot against Austin Aries last year in NY. While there was no particular grudge between these two men, this was more than an athletic contest—it was a view into the possible future of Alex Shelley as a top wrestler in the sport. Now, don't get me wrong, Christopher Daniels was terrific in this match and he was so incredibly over with the crowd that night, including myself. However, Shelley had something going on that night because the crowd was all over him (in a good way). Even better, when the crowd chanted "Y2J" at him, Shelley broke into the Chris Jericho two armed pose. He might be the next Chris Jericho in the ring and with his personality. The match itself is a terrific back and forth encounter and there is a ton of great subtle exchanges that show that while Daniels is great, Shelley is right there along with him.

44. CZW vs. ROH 8 Man, Anything Goes: Claudio Castagnoli, Super Dragon, Necro Butcher, & Nate Webb vs. Adam Pearce, Ace Steel, Colt Cabana, & BJ Whitmer in an Anything Goes Match-Weekend of Champions Night 1 (Dayton, OH 4/28/06)
43. ROH World Tag Team Titles: Austin Aries & Roderick Strong (c) vs.Samoa Joe & Matt Sydal-Weekend of Champions Night 1 (Dayton, OH 4/28/06)
42. ROH World Title Bryan Danielson (c) vs. AJ Styles-Dissension (Cleveland, OH 1/28/06)
41. ROH World Tag Team Title Match: Kings of Wrestling (Chris Hero and Claudio Castagnoli) (c) vs. Austin Aries & Roderick Strong-The Bitter End (Philadelphia, PA 11/04/06)

-I don't think The Kings and Aries / Strong can have a bad match. They work incredibly well together as a tag team. This is a great match where all men show their charisma in the ring work and their playing off of each other. The one flaw is that the heat isolation segment seems to go on forever (albeit KOW cuts off the tag in creative ways) and the crowd does not help by sitting on their hands. A very enjoyable viewing and a worthy rematch of their 9/16 encounter, but the really big fun is the finish and post match brawl with multiple shots with the Halliburton. Steve "Mongo" McMichaels would be proud. I can't believe I just made a Steve "Mongo" McMichaels reference.

40. Ghetto Street Fight: Homicide vs. Colt Cabana-Fourth Anniversary Show (Edison, NJ 2/25/06)

-This wasn't just a match; it was a massacre. Live and in color, fans witnessed the suffering of one Colt Cabana at the hands of one of the dirtiest, least remorseful men in the wrestling industry. Homicide nearly killed Colt Cabana three times during the match, with coat hangers and chairshots, rubbing alcohol and a piledriver to the floor that finally ended it for good. Chicago's own was a bloody freaking mess but he WOULD NOT allow the ref to end the match for him—and the result was Cabana giving us a different side of him than he had ever showed before. This was an intense and visually macabre event and at some points I was very uncomfortable with watching it—but I guess that was the intended reaction. The match kicked up the feud to the level it needed to be for the final blow off matches in Chicago.

39. AJ Styles vs. Matt Sydal-Hell Freezes Over (Philadelphia, PA 1/14/06)

-Matt Sydal's break out match. Styles had challenged Sydal to a test—an athletic contest to see how far Sydal had come along. The resulting match was a blazingly fast back and forth contest. One huge highlight (well, lowlight for Sydal) was the sick, SICK brainbuster on the ring apron hit by Styles. The finish was Sydal hitting a hurricanrana out of the Styles Clash only to be reversed and pinned. Sydal proved he was where he needed to be as far as his ability in the ring and Styles requested that they join up to take on the ROH tag team champions.

38. ROH World Tag Team Title Match: Austin Aries & Roderick Strong (C) vs. The Briscoes-Ring of Homicide (Edison, NJ 5/13/06)
37. Triple Threat, Non Title: KENTA vs. Samoa Joe vs. Bryan Danielson-In Your Face (New York, NY 6/17/06)
36. ROH World Title Match: Bryan Danielson (c) vs. Austin Aries-Motor City Madness (Detroit, MI 10/07/06)

-Aries had the match that was Danielson's first title defense and almost one year later these two once again fought. What is great about Aries is that since he is a former champion he is a perennial contender and always has a realistic chance of winning the title again. I also love the little twists thrown into this match in particular, since these two have wrestled each other now in singles match for four other occasions. There are many twists to previous matches, such as dodges to forearm strikes and the avoidance of each other's trademark moves (watch how quickly Aries slips out of the airplane spin and watch as Danielson makes sure it doesn't become the crucifix driver). These learned spots really make this match that much more entertaining for the long time fan, but this title defense is just really damned good as match unto itself. A side note is that both men lost their regular ring gear to due the airline they traveled and had to fight in borrowed gear. Now, in WWE maybe that wouldn't even be acknowledged, but in ROH Jarred David makes a small but GREAT point that this kind of small thing can throw off a wrestler, because athletes are superstitious and used to certain things when they compete. Jarred David has come a long way on commentary in a short amount of time.

35. The Briscoes vs. Jack Evans and Roderick Strong-War of the Wire II (Dayton, OH 7/28/06)
34. Roderick Strong vs. KENTA-Throwdown (Detroit, MI 06/23/06)

-Absolutely some of the sickest and stiffest chops I have ever seen thrown can be seen in this match. Strong must have rubber band hands because snapping someone with a rubber band is EXACTLY the sound emitted by those chops. You know, we never did get that KENTA and Marufuji match against Aries and Strong for the titles, but the two singles matches were very cool and unique in their own right. While KENTA matched Strong's strikes and intensity in this match, he would match his own athleticism and agility to that of Aries in their match (number 32).

33. ROH World Title Match: Bryan Danielson (c) vs. Homicide-Destiny (East Windsor, CT 6/03/06)
32. Austin Aries vs. KENTA-Chi Town Struggle (6/24/06)
31. Jay & Mark Briscoe vs. Homicide & Samoa Joe-Motor City Madness (Detroit, MI 10/07/06)

-Mark Briscoe lost his sanity before he lost his two front teeth. There is clear evidence here in the shooting star press off the Ryder truck onto Samoa Joe and the ROH Student Squad. That isn't the only crazy thing in this "match" that really isn't so much of a match as it is a free floating brawl throughout Detroit. I give much love to all four men here for doing some crazy shit here besides the SSP, including a WALL FLIP that comes out of nowhere, and some sick table breaking moves onto Homicide. This is one of the most memorable brawls of the year and that says a lot in the wake of the many ROH-CZW encounters.

30. No Ropes Barbed Wire Match: BJ Whitmer vs. Necro Butcher -War of the Wire II (Dayton, OH 7/28/06)

-This was the second exclamation point on the ROH vs. CZW feud—the first being Homicide's Cop Killer on Nate Webb onto the barbed wire board at Cage of Death. The camera close ups of the barb wire meeting flesh on BJ and Necro are absolutely sickening—in the best sense of that word. There is a lot of bloodshed, pain and damage done to both men in this match. I honestly don't have much to say about this match because this is not a match where words can do justice to what you see on screen. It's a true spectacle and one for the hardcore fans.

29. ROH World Tag Team Title Match: The Kings of Wrestling (Chris Hero & Claudio Castagnoli) vs. Austin Aries & Roderick Strong (c)-Glory By Honor V Night 2 (New York, NY 9/16/06)

-The most hated men on the planet (by me anyway) were actually pretty damned over in Manhattan that night. I can't explain it. Half the crowd was cheering for KoW and the other half were staunch Aries and Strong supporters who tried to stuff the chants with their own "STFU" cheer. The match itself was a terrific heel domination game, playing off of Aries's rib injury. The comebacks that Strong and Aries were always short lived throughout. It seemed that on this night, despite some basic miscommunication early on, the KoW had an answer for everything that the champs could put out there. The Halliburton to Aries's ribs was only speeding up the inevitable. The Kings reigned supreme that night with a devastating KRS-1.

28. Pure Title vs. World Title: Nigel McGuiness (c) vs. Bryan Danielson (c)-Weekend of Champions Night 2 (Cleveland, OH 4/29/06)

-On the surface this didn't seem like it would be much of a match, but it surprised me for sure. Nigel had come in as a dominant Pure champion but I really thought his heel tatics covered up for his wrestling. By the time it was all over, my thoughts on Nigel McGuinness had completely changed. Nigel showed he could hang here against the champion and would continue to do so in other matches this year. The big moments here were Danielson shutting down an attempt at the Tower of London by riding it into a Cattle Mutilation, Nigel's huge rebound lariat careening into Danielson for a near fall as Danielson's huge dive into the crowd while Nigel held the chair that knocked into the World champion's face. The layout of the rules were a bit confusing for the finish but the count out win for Nigel gave him grounds for a rematch for the World title rematch.

27. ROH World Title: Bryan Danielson (c) vs. Nigel McGuinness-Generation Now (Cleveland, OH 7/29/06)
26. Christopher Daniels vs. Samoa Joe-Dragon Gate Challenge (Detroit, MI 3/30/06)

-Daniels and Joe had by this point in time fought many times over in ROH and TNA. This was part of a three night series that was end the rivalry built up in ROH. All throughout that time Daniels had not been able to pin Joe. After an Angels Wings and Three BME's, Daniels had finally achieved that goal.

25. ROH World Title: Bryan Danielson (c) vs. Lance Storm-Better Than Our Best (Chicago Ridge, IL 4/01/06)

-Lance Storm had foreshadowed this match in late 2005, but no one really thought he would actually come out of retirement after being successful running his wrestling school. Yet Storm was convinced to have this match after seeing some tapes of Danielson's defenses and it all led to this match. This was the longest match of Storm's career in over a decade and perhaps one of his best. He really hasn't lost a step and showed remarkable chemistry with Danielson considering it was their first time together in the ring. Storm's counter roll up to the Cattle Mutilation is smartly timed and gets a great reaction from the crowd. While Storm is relatively young compared to other retired or semi retired wrestlers, this really worked as the story of a cagey and capable veteran vs. confident and dominant champion. Its fitting that several months after this match the movie "Rocky Balboa" would be released.

24. ROH World Title Bryan Danielson (c) vs. Alex Shelley-Arena Warfare (Philadelphia, PA 3/12/06)
23. Samoa Joe vs. Roderick Strong-Glory By Honor V Night 1 (East Windsor, CT 9/15/06)
22. ROH World Title: Bryan Danielson (c) vs. Jimmy Rave-Fourth Anniversary Show (Edison, NJ 2/25/06)

-A spectacularly worked match that proved that Rave could be a viable contender to the ROH title. He had crazy heat as the fans just did not want him to win—and all Dragon had to do was take that hate and work with it. Rave goes toe to toe with the champion for over thirty minutes, both men bust out new offense and in the end both men come out looking great.

21. Austin Aries and Roderick Strong vs. KENTA and Davey Richards-Honor Reclaims Boston (Boston, MA 11/03/06)

-A last minute addition to the list as I was able to see the Honor Reclaims Boston show just in time and am I ever glad I did. This match throws some fun twists into the move sets of Aries and Strong and how they apply their offense on KENTA and Richards, who work well together in this match. The cutting off of the tags and the final series of high flying moves are done efficiently, although the crowd heat was not as high as I expected it to be (but maybe it just didn't translate to video). A top notch tag match though just a shade below other efforts from the former tag champs and KENTA.

20. ROH World Title: Bryan Danielson (c) vs. Roderick Strong -Anarchy in the UK (Broxbourne, UK 8/13/06)

- Danielson v. Strong IV was in some ways the best of all three of their previous encounters put together. It was shorter in length but still packed a lot of quality technical wrestling. Also keep in mind this was Danielson's second defense on the card, in the main event position, while Danielson had already been screwed up by an injury to the head earlier in the night. Dragon and Strong took an impromptu match and made it another fantastic effort that was worthy of earlier efforts in their series.

19. Homicide defeated Necro Butcher-Ring of Homicide (Edison, NJ 05/13/06)

-A tightly put together brawl of epic proportions. This is the match that replaced the advertised Joe vs. Necro Butcher, but if you're going to bait and switch a dream match, you might as well do it by inserting another dream match. A wild brawl that the ROH fans wanted to see and they wanted to see Homicide kill Necro badly. The million chairs thrown in the ring spot is insanely nuts as always. Necro takes the pain of several chairs landing on his head and ends up buried in them. A stunning visual. A huge lariat puts away Necro and cements Homicide as the man who can get the job done against CZW forces.

18. No DQ, Non Title, There Must Be A Winner: Samoa Joe vs. ROH World Champion Bryan Danielson-Irresistable Forces (Chicago Ridge, IL 10/28/06)

-Another late add on to the list that skyrocketed up the charts. Then again, it is Joe vs. Danielson. It's very hard to place scientific wrestling inside what is essentially a no DQ brawl, but the combination of technique and crowd brawling fits together great. As Dragon puts it "This is how I street fight!" The crowd brawl segment is entertaining; I mean I nearly died in a fit of laughter when Joe hit Dragon with the circular fan. Where else can you see a delivery man shocked as hell that a big Samoan dude and a pasty white guy are brawling right next to his delivery of water? The ending of the match was well designed, with Danielson's own aggression coming back to haunt him as Joe used Sinclair's belt which Danielson took in the first place to choke him out. Don't miss out on this match or this event.

17. Roderick Strong & Jack Evans beat Jay & Mark Briscoe-Best In The World (New York, NY 3/25/06)

-It was an impromptu start to what had been expected to be a marquee match, but instead of looking to establish tempo and rhythm these four just went right at it in the opening moments, whipping the crowd up in a frenzy of high impact moves. The middle of the match slowed down and focused on isolating Jack Evans and working on his leg—it was some great stuff, sound psychology and really good Midnight Express like tag team work by The Briscoes. Then Evans made the comeback and did the insane stuff that only Evans is capable off, including the Ode to bulldogs into a Phoenix Splash. The crowd had been with them the whole way through this match but they were absolutely floored by the finish. Jack may have been slightly off on one or two landings but this match is just too fun for it detract that much from the overall ranking. This match almost stole the show from the number 14 choice on this list.

16. AJ Styles & Matt Sydal vs. Austin Aries & Jack Evans-Supercard of Honor (Chicago, Ridge, IL 3/31/06

-Another tremendous tag match in a year filled with great matches—a lot of them involving Aries, Sydal, Evans and Styles—that's not a coincidence do you think? The biggest moments of this match are the two minutes leading up to the finish, where it's all about placement in the ring and who is (or isn't left) to make the save. Evans tries for the Space Flying Tiger Drop into a hurricanrana, but Styles catches him in mid air in an AWESOME "did I just freaking see that?" moment. Then he throws down with the Styles Clash onto the floor and Evans is just done! Then Aries hits the heat seeking missile (mid rope tope suicida) and nails Styles, but Sydal is there to hit a shooting star press onto Evans for the win. I don't think this has been said all that much in this series, but Evans is so killer in the ring with his aerial moves. No one does it better when he's on.

15. Four Corner Survival: Samoa Joe vs. AJ Styles vs. Christopher Daniels vs. Jimmy Yang-Better Than Our Best (Chicago Ridge, IL 4/01/06)

-I had already mentioned in my Show of the Year awards that I feel this is one of the best Four Corner Survival matches of the year. Joe, Styles and Daniels was "the" pairing at this point in TNA and they have worked so well over the years—this match was a further working off of that mold but they do it so well that its basically just as fresh to watch it here as it was to watch it in their previous endeavors. When you throw in Yang as he was working hard to try to make his mark in ROH you get a great match.

14. KENTA & Naomichi Marufuji vs. Bryan Danielson & Samoa Joe-Best In The World (New York, NY 3/25/06)

- Never has a name for an ROH show been more appropriate…well, maybe How We Roll, but still. Fans had just been witness to Dragon vs. Marufuji from Final Battle 2005, but this was the first time we would be able to see Joe and KENTA in the same ring. And it…kicked…ass! KENTA and Marufuji show why they are one of the best tag teams to come out of Japan in the last five years and Joe and Dragon show that they can be a great team when they want as well. Of course, the moments where Danielson is a complete jerk to Joe are a huge foreshadowing to their series of matches during the rest of the year. I am still waiting for the Joe vs. KENTA singles match, but watching them exchange strikes and boots to the face in this match will keep me satisfied enough for now.

13. Blood Generation (CIMA, Naruki Doi, & Masato Yoshino) vs. Generation Next (Austin Aries, Roderick Strong, & Jack Evans)-Dragon Gate Challenge (Detroit, MI 3/30/06)

-It was a huge test to match up two stables, one American and the other a foreign force, up against each other to see who could come out on top. Let's face it, these guys are a great match for each other. This match was like Bogart says in Casablanca, "the beginning of a beautiful friendship."

12. ROH Tag Team Title Match: Austin Aries & Roderick Strong (c) vs. AJ Styles & Matt Sydal Fourth Anniversary. Show (Edison, NJ 2/25/06)

-The match that threw down the gauntlet for the year and stated that tag team wrestling in ROH was at a new peak. It was quite the move to main event the card with this match, but any concerns were quickly laid to rest as these guys just tore it up. The match concentrated on Sydal's challenge to his partners and how Aries and Strong responded in the ring to him as compared to his partner, the more accomplished Styles. The finish is again another awesome highlight, as Strong gives one of the stiffest running boot kicks to the face of Styles as he has Aries up in the Styles Clash position. I don't even know how these guys can think of some of the crazy stuff they pull off in the ring, but to think of something like that as a defensive move is just as praiseworthy.

11. ROH World Title Match: Bryan Danielson (c) vs. Roderick Strong-Supercard of Honor (Chicago Ridge, IL 3/31/06)

- After one of the longest nights of wrestling, Danielson and Strong still went out there and put on a near hour long display of wrestling excellence. I believe Danielson was still sporting broken and burst blood vessels on his chest from previous encounters, but this match added new ones. I know this is a match (and the next) that some will say should be much higher on this list, but for the life of me I can't rank this above the ones ahead of it. There's just a huge log jam at the top and my personal preference kept this from going higher than number eleven even though technically speaking this could easily be in the top five. This was a very well put together match that sees Dragon dominating the ground game and taking out Strong's knee to the point that it influences what kind of moves he can and cannot execute. Strong's comeback sequence of flash pins and back breakers is so freaking good, but that it came at such a late point in the match after Dragon had taken the majority of it I think is maybe the one minor flaw here that keeps it from going over the top for me. However all due respect to Danielson and Strong, their series of matches is going to be ranked right up there with the Danielson-Aries series.

10. Do Fixer (Dragon Kid, Genki Horiguchi, & Ryo Saito) vs. Blood Generation (CIMA, Naruki Doi, & Masato Yoshino)-Supercard of Honor (Chicago Ridge, IL 3/31/06)

-The OTHER much talked about and much raved about match on the SOH show. Here's the thing—I like this match, but not as much as the other nine matches ahead of it on this list. There are several reasons why—but one reason isn't that this was a high spot match without psychology. In the first there was plenty of in match psychology from the building of the team work to the heel disrespect moments to the work towards a hot tag that led towards the non stop finish at the end of the match. Also, if you're going to do a high spot laden match, then this is the how you do it. If a crowd chants "please don't stop" you know you're doing something right. However, what this match was missing was context and the little extra oomph of drama that all the other matches above this one had—all of them in some way or another grudge matches or matches built on a ton of past history within Ring of Honor. While Do Fixer and Blood Generation certainly have a plethora of history—it is in Dragon Gate. While there were definitely fans of DG in the crowd that night, a very good percentage of the fans in attendance and those watching at home were not really exposed to the DG workers (aside from CIMA who had appeared at a previous ROH show). Therefore in effect, this was simply an exhibition match—the very best of exhibition matches to be sure, but just a match to show what all these guys could do to a crowd that had not seen much if any of them before. This was a hell of an awesome match though—when I watch WWE TV I wish that those guys could just unleash their talents the way these guys did. These guys were quick, sharp in their moves and damned impressive.

9. Chicago Street Fight: Colt Cabana vs. Homicide-Better Than Our Best (Chicago Ridge, IL 4/01/06)

-This feud started slow back in 2005 but by the time it reached its finale it had picked up a lot of steam—it meant something to the fans to see this match. While Cabana had gotten his share of verbal bombs and some physical ones, this was a feud dominated by Homicide. His attacks on cabana had damaged the Chicago superstar's psyche and it was his last chance here—the last match in HIS hometown. Cabana fought through the weapons and the bloodshed and started to deliver his own ass kicking. A lot of Cabana's pay back stems from what had happened to him in the past months. He got to pay back the rubbing alcohol, the clothes hanger and added in some chairs, tables and ladder shots to boot. Colt finally put Homicide away with the Colt 45 and a final plea of "please, please, please" to end the match. Even though he didn't say "pretty please", it worked. Cabana had bested Homicide finally and exorcized the demons of the past five months. Homicide shook Cabana's hand and hugged him, ending their beef and by its very nature began the baby face turn that eventually brought ‘Cide to the ROH World title.

8. ROH World Title Match: Bryan Danielson (c) vs. Samoa Joe-Fight of the Century (Edison, NJ 8/05/06)

-A true "Battle of the Titans" feel carried throughout this match. The fans knew they were watching an important fight and the wrestlers knew they were fighting in one. To be honest, the pattern of the sixty minutes is apparent in hindsight, but while I knew this match would go long, I didn't think it would go to a draw. The sixty minutes absolutely flew by, in part because both Joe and Dragon kept things interesting. There was some stalling every so often as a strategy used by Dragon, but it wasn't stretched out—every time Dragon got a little too cute Joe was right there with a flury of strikes to gain the advantage. Then the wrestling portion in the middle really focused on the story of Joe's knee injury and the extent to which it was or wasn't injured. The final fifteen minutes was the battle for Joe to find a way to win and how Dragon could stymie those attempts. The muscle buster attempts and the minute long choke had everyone biting at the prospect of a new champion. The standing ovation at the end of sixty minutes (and really everyone had been standing up for many minutes beforehand) was well deserved.

7. CZW vs. ROH Six Man Tag Team War: Chris Hero, Necro Butcher, & Super Dragon vs. Samoa Joe, BJ Whitmer, & Adam Pearce-The 100th Show (Philadelphia, PA 4/22/06)

- ROH proves it has gumption enough to put over ANOTHER company on what was essentially their biggest landmark show at that point. To go one hundred shows on the independent scene is no easy thing, but ROH allowed CZW to get the heat, specifically on Claudio and Hero as the nefarious traitor was exposed as on the side of the enemy. There are a whole lot of positives to this match, but most importantly was that this was difficult and complicated brawl to pull off, yet it was done so effectively. On the screen it came across like a true war—battles on all sides and minor victories adding up to major ones. Joe's Ole kick that carried Hero all the way over the ring rail is a major visual to this match, as is Claudio pushing Hero aside to nail Joe. This is essentially the middle of the ROH vs. CZW story—"The Empire Strikes Back" of the series, so to speak.

6. ROH World Tag Team Titles: Austin Aries & Roderick Strong (c) vs. CIMA & Naruki Doi-Better Than Our Best (Chicago Ridge, IL 4/01/06)

-Here is more Dragon Gate awesomeness. At Dragon Gate Challenge, Blood Generation won the six man tag to win the DG vs. ROH series at 2 matches to 1. This was where Aries and Strong were able to return the favor. This was a very high profile defense for them coming up against international competition. I absolutely loved this match—thinking about it afterwards kept me hyped up for a long time. CIMA and Naruki Doi (whose efforts in this match shouldn't be overlooked) brought some awesomeness with the quick double teams and a very sweet control segment on Aries. Aries's nose gets absolutely smashed to pieces and it looks bloody and awful. You have to love the vicious dropkick-power bomb combination, especially since it looked like it broke CIMA's neck. I also really love the Hart Attack that Aries and Strong do in this match. There's just a ton of stuff that is done right here and it all adds up to one of the strongest defenses of their run—only one defense was better in my mind and that's coming up at number 4.

5. GHC Heavyweight Title Match: Naomichi Marufuji (c) v. Nigel McGuiness-Glory By Honor V Night 2 (New York, NY 9/16/06)

-The importance of a Japanese championship being defended on American soil cannot be understated. It was the first time the GHC Heavyweight title would be defended here and for ROH to get the match in one of their largest venues on the most important debut of the year was a huge statement on their place in the industry. Marufuji had been previously exposed to the ROH audience and Nigel McGuinness had been exposed to the NOAH audience, so this match up was a natural fit. When Marufuji won the GHC title, everything seemed to click into place as to why this match was set up. McGuinness was hugely over with the NYC crowd, as was Marufuji, which was a pleasant surprise given the ROH fans were consumed with cheering for KENTA in the number 14 match on this list. The match started off slow and in NOAH style, maybe a bit too slow for it to hit the top three. Things really picked up with Marufuji's Shiranui from the apron to the floor and from there never let up. The match story was Nigel hitting Nao with as many lariats as he could as hard as he could while Marufuji did the same with his superkicks. Then each tried for their respective high impact finishers, the Tower of London vs. the Shiranui. The multiple kick sequence is so cool; a moment that I think is ingrained in a lot of minds of the fans who were there. It says a lot that most fans have trouble deciding between this match and the AmDrag-KENTA match as to which one was better. For me it became clear about a third of the way through the latter match which was going to be the match of the year, but there is absolutely no shame in this match at the number five spot. Nigel gave Marufuji a wonderful first title defense and it's a shame that his run with the title only lasted for a short amount of time.

4. ROH World Tag Team Title Match: Austin Aries and Roderick Strong (c) vs. The Briscoes-Unified (Liverpool, UK 8/12/06)

- This match was tag team perfection and easily the best title defense for Aries and Strong. It was high speed, multiple tags and expertly applied tag team moves all running together for over twenty minutes of non stop action. The reverse hurricanrana reversal out of The Briscoes' patented Springboard Doomsday Device is superb and down right genius. The best thing about this match is that near perfect action is highlighted by several neat moments of character traits playing out, such as the "gum incident" and Aries' fiery comeback and determination not to be beaten at the end of the match. You get all the biggest tag team moves at the end of the match building up one after the other—and sure you could knock them for going overboard—but really, why? If it works to hype the crowd up and everything fits together, there is no need to be so critical about it. This is the type of match you absolutely hope to get when you put the top two tag teams of the year against each other. These two teams held nothing back and the result was a match that almost stole the show from the main event unification match.

3. ROH vs. CZW Cage of Death-Death Before Dishonor IV (Philadelphia, PA 7/15/06)

-A fitting conclusion that saw the use of an eight sided cage, barbed wire tables, ladders, boards and thumb tacks. There are so many great moments in this match that add to the way the story of the match would be told, from the Dragon knee clip on Joe to the 3 on 1 CZW advantage, Hero's dive, the cowbell rally and Homicide's entrance and subsequently turning the match around for Ring of Honor. Necro Butcher would take thumbtacks on his bare feet in one of the most "YOWCH!" inducing moments of the year—right up there with Homicide's Cop Killer onto Nate Webb through the barbed wire board. Being there live, I can tell you the war in the ring may have been rivaled by the war between the ROH fans and CZW fans. They tried to outdo the other with clever chants and high volume shouts for their side. It was Yankees vs. Red Sox in terms of crowd reaction and each viewed themselves as the truly righteous side. So much from the past six months worth of work on the angle came to a head here and it was all worth it for this hour of wrestling action.

2. ROH World vs. Pure Unification Match: Bryan Danielson (c) vs. Nigel McGuinness (c)-Unified (Liverpool, UK 8/12/06)

-Coming into the UK tour I didn't expect Nigel to be such a huge selling point for his countrymen, but rather it was the ROH name itself that would sell the tickets. It turns out it was a little of column A and a little of column B because these UK fans were hot and bothered to see fellow Britisher McGuinness take the title away from Danielson and unify it with his own. I know I may have said this about other matches, but this was a particularly brutal encounter with stiff hits mixed in with scientific ability. I liked the use of the Pure rules in this match but was a bit miffed by the referee not clearly indicating what was and wasn't a rope break early on (confused refereeing more than anything I think hurt the Pure division). However both men were able to tell a great story with little flourishes from their previous matches. The count out tease was there, the flying spot was there and all of them were very effective in building up to what was guaranteed to be a decisive finish. The head butt into the turnbuckle where McGuinness came out bleeding almost instantly from the impact were beyond sick—the reaction of the crowd at that moment was basically my reaction sitting and watching from home. Beyond the importance of the unification of the titles what really puts this match over the top is Nigel and Danielson's interaction. Nigel really came through in his baby face role here, especially after bleeding from the head—the desperation and the wanting to win were etched into his face and his body. Danielson reacted perfectly to all of this and became exceedingly desperate to keep his title. Ultimately this match is just one step below the number one choice, but it certainly is hugely important as the first main event in England and the conclusion of the Pure title era.

1. ROH World Title: Bryan Danielson v. KENTA-Glory By Honor V Night 2 (New York, NY 9/16/06)

- As with the number four choice, you're not going to get a better ROH World Title defense than this match. There are so many storylines that are involved both in the lead up to the match and the match itself. KENTA had won two different matches against Danielson and had smashed in his face with the Go 2 Sleep (fireman's carry into flying knee strike) for both of those victories. Those matches had earned the Japanese imported sensation a title shot. Danielson had defeated KENTA's tag partner Marufuji several months earlier and was determined that he would do the same here. This was also Danielson's first title defense since the shoulder tear. He had not been in action since the match where it had occurred. There was a huge buzz in the crowd that there was a huge chance for a title switch tonight given both Danielson's condition and that KENTA was a regular in ROH and would be able to make more appearances after this fight to defend and / or drop the belt. Therefore all the close calls and false finishes in this match were ramped up and the most dramatic of all of Danielson's run.

The shoulder injury played perfectly into the in-ring psychology of the match as KENTA worked on that shoulder with powerful kicks and submission holds. Meanwhile Danielson had to work around the shoulder injury and ended up compensating by using his head to strike KENTA repeatedly in one of the most intense back and forth strike sequences of the year. Usually these moments tend to be pretty unrealistic, but in this case everyone knew that Dragon's pride and integrity were being tested and to see how he responded was the drama of that moment. Everyone believed that at any given time Danielson could lose the belt, and when KENTA DID hit Go 2 Sleep, it was one of the most audible gasps of an entire night's worth of crowd participation. This time, Danielson found the ropes and stopped the referee's count. Danielson's chain of submissions and elbows at the end of the match worked to perfection and was a great call back to one of last year's great matches—his title win against James Gibson. KENTA, who had not only not once tapped out but also had not lost a singles match in ROH all year, put his hands to the mat to signal for a submission to the Cattle Mutilation.

At thirty three minutes in length, Danielson had finally won. The ROH fans had seen one of the most awesome title defenses in ROH history. It was one of the most important shows in ROH history being the debut at the Manhattan Center. There were so many guests in attendance along with a large and faithful crowd who had been so into everything that came before. This was the right context, with the right history and the right execution of in-ring action. It's my clear choice for number one this year. It is, fittingly enough, the best match in the world.


Well, if your eyes aren't bugging out big time right now, you're almost home. And if your eyes ARE bugging out, well don't send ME the medical bills. Didn't your mom tell you not to stare at the sun computer screen for so long?

I want to sincerely thank one more time all the writers who participated in this Final Column. J.D., Steve, Sam, Theo, Stu and Chris, I truly love you guys (even Sam although I just began correspondence with you) in that heterosexual male bonding during sports games kind of way. Thanks for going the extra mile on this one.

Of course what would this column be without the actual wrestling company that gives it the content to keep it going? There is no better professional wrestling product out there than Ring of Honor. You can quibble about this or that thing but when it comes down to it, there's no comparison. WWE might have the money and the big guns, but they don't have the heart. TNA might have the talent and the time slot, but they don't have the soul. ROH has everything I need to keep my wrestling jones going and I don't have to worry about Joe being turned into a wild Samoan with a Cuban cigar waving manager (sorry Joe, he might be a strong Samoan brother, but he's not you). I don't have to have my intelligence insulted by two dudes having a mid life crisis (no the other two dudes having a mid life crisis) or a whatever on a pole match.

Please Gabe, whatever you do, no Lacey's chastity on a pole match or a Swiss vs. USA flag match, okay?

It's to the point now where I would rather watch an ROH DVD on a Monday night than WWE. I don't think it's that unfair to say there are quite a few others out there who feel the same way. So once again ROH, thanks for doing what you do best. As Stan Lee used to say "You keep reading them, I'll keep writing them." Well, you don't necessarily read an ROH DVD, but you get the point.

Everyone that's it, that's the column, that's the show. Thanks so much for reading this and any of my work. I appreciate the emails and the correspondence. See you in 2007.
Brooklyn! THE EMBASSY FOREVER!
--Ari--