-Bryan Danielson & Samoa Joe VS Austin Aries & Jack Evans (3rd Year Celebration 2/25/05)
-Aries has just beaten Joe for the RoH World title a couple months before this, so he is avoiding Joe at all costs. Evans "serves" Danielson with some break dancing. Danielson gets Joe to do a little dance move with him. Danielson takes Evans down. Evans tries to bridge out, but can't carry Danielson's weight, After three tries fail, Danielson lets go and rolls around to imitate Evans' dancing. Danielson delivers a big dropkick to Evans' face, then tags Joe. Joe tosses Evans into Evans' corner and DEMANDS that Aries tag in. Aries does, but takes one forearm strike to the face before tagging right back out. Evans tries to break out some martial arts, but Joe blocks or ducks every strike before nailing Evans with an open-hand strike, which sends Evans flying.
Evans takes a little stretching from Danielson, who then tags Joe. Joe smacks Evans in the face with Evans' own sneakers, before delivering a big delayed vertical suplex, waiting until the count of 20 before dropping down. Danielson locks in a surfboard, and stretches Evans to the point where the back of his head is almost touching his own feet. Joe adds injury to injury with a basement dropkick. Jack may be legally dead. Danielson takes Evans up top, but Aries sneaks in with a suplex. Aries adds a couple strikes before tagging Jack back in, and Danielson is face-in-peril.
Joe gets tired of waiting, and hits a suicide dive to the outside on both opponents. Back in, Aries clips Joe from behind. Evans botches a move where Aries has Danielson in death valley driver position, and Evans jumps off the top, onto Danielson's back, then does a moonsault onto Joe. Aries hits a frog splash onto the back of Joe for two. The face team comes back. Danielson gets a lengthy airplane spin on Aries, then stops him from interfering when Joe applies a modified stretch muffler to Evans for the submission. Good match with good psychology, as Aries was trying to avoid any kind of injury leading into his title defense against Joe the next night.
-Cage Match: Bryan Danielson VS Homicide (Final Showdown 5/13/05)
-This is the final match of a best of 5 series between the two, and is pin or submission only. Winner takes the series, and also gets a title shot against RoH World Champion Austin Aries the next night. Despite using the Empirial March during his entrance, Danielson is the face in this match, illustrated by Homicide attacking him in the aisle and carving his forehead with a fork before they even get into the cage. Once they're in the cage, Danielson tosses Homicide around, then uses the fork to cut Homicide open. Danielson tries to suplex Homicide on a couple chair, but it gets reversed on him. Danielson turns the match around, but Homicide comes back with an Ace Crusher off the top rope for two.
Danielson comes back with a diving headbut off the top of the cage, then a belly to back suplex off the top rope for two. Homicide gets a big lariat for two, then pulls out brass knuckles. Danielson blocks that, and puts Homicide in the World's Longest Airplan Spin for well over a minute for the pin. Not everyday you'll see a grudge cage match end with an airplane spin. Match could have gone a lot longer, and needed more action inside the cage.
The two shake hands...then Homicide floors Danielson with an Ace Crusher, promising that it's not over. Danielson gets on the mic, and says that after he wins the RoH world title, he's giving Homicide the first title shot.
-Ring of Honor World Championship: Bryan Danielson [c] VS Roderick Strong (Vendetta 11/5/05)
-Danielson did not beat Aries for the title the night after Final Showdown. CM Punk, in what was supposed to be his last night in RoH (sound familiar?) before heading to WWE beat Aries. Then Punk lost the title a couple months later to James Gibson (a.k.a. Jamie Noble), who in turn lost the title a short time afterward to Danielson. During his title reign, Danielson would display an arrogance that he had not shown before, and was essentially a tweener, occaisionally defending the title against heels. He would also have really long title defenses, often approaching an hour, and sometimes going to a 60 minute draw. Strong has had a cup of coffee with TNA, and is known for two things; executing about 100 different varieties of back breakers, and having possibly the hardest chops in wrestling.
Danielson slaps Strong across the face at the bell, so Strong responds with a couple chops and a dropkick. The two fight over a knucklelock for a bit. Danielson chops Strong, who responds with chops of his own. Danielson bails to avoid them, but it doesn't work. Strong breaks Danielsons chest open with the chops. Strong works over Danielson's arm. Danielson comes back with some chops and insulting slaps, then wrenches Strong's leg to take him down when Strong fires back. Danielson gets pissed at the crowd for not cheering for his chops, and stands on Strong's face, just because he can.
The two take turns working over each other's backs, then brawl down the aisle and around ringside. Strong continues to chop Danielson, who responds by spitting in his face. Danielson goes back to working over Strong's back, and hits a diving headbut for two. Danielson keeps control, but cannot put Strong away, even after two attempts with Cattle Mutilation. Strong hits two big backbreakers out of nowhere for two. Strong locks in the Stronghold (modified Boston crab), but Danielson makes it to the ropes. Danielson ties Strong up like a pretzel, but cannot get the submission. Strong gets a big kick for two, but Danielson tosses him over the top, causing Strong to smack his head into the guardrail and bust him open. Danielson pounds away on the outside, then, once back in, dumps Strong on his head with a full nelson suplex for two.
Danielson tries to lock in a cross-face chicken wing, but Strong counters into the Death From Above gutbuster for two. Strong locks in the Stronghold again, but cannot get the submission. Danielson gets the cross-face chicken wing, but Strong makes it to the ropes. Danielson gets a belly-to-back suplex off the top for two. Strong gets a couple chops, but Danielson counters with an eye poke. Strong counters a roaring elbow into a half-nelson back breaker, which Danielson counters into a crucifix for two. Danielson uses that position to pin Strong's arms back, and land a vicious series of elbows for the knockout to retain. Excellent match that two made look like a legitimate struggle, which is always appreciated by me. For a lot of Danielson's title defenses, the quaility was inversely proportionate to the time of the match, but at over 45 minutes, it is not the case here.
-Generation Next (Austin Aries, Jack Evans, & Matt Sydal) & AJ Styles VS The Embassy (Prince Nana, Jimmy Rave, Alex Shelley, & Abyss) (Vendetta 11/5/05)
-Sydal is currently wrestling in WWE as Evan Bourne. Generation Next has turned babyface. AJ Styles is filling in for Roderick Strong, who had the world title match, and has had a long-running feud with Rave. Shelley used to be the leader of Generation Next until he was kicked out at Final Battle 2004, and joined The Embassy when they were the only ones to accept his apology for his actions when he was the leader of GenNext. Fans toss rolls of toilet paper into the ring, as was the custom whenever Jimmy Rave was in a match. Jade Chung (former abused member of the Embassy) and Daizee Haze accompany the GenNext team. Winning team gets the advantage in an upcoming Steel Cage Warfare match between the factions, which is RoH's version of War Games.
Rave gets trapped in the GenNext corner and takes all kind of abuse. At point he is able to get to his corner, but Abyss & Shelley get knocked off the apron, while Nana refuses to tag in. Match is apparently being fought under lucha tag rules, as when Rave & Styles go outside, Shelley and Sydal go in without any tags. A bunch of dives by GenNext lead to everyone but Nana brawling outside the ring. Back in, Shelley saves Nana from Aries, but takes a senton and a diving elbow for two. Evans gets caught and becomes the face-in-peril. Shelley stretches Evans to the point that Evans' feet touch the back of his own head. Nana gets in, delivers a couple chops, then tags out before doing a happy dance. Shelley talks shit to Evans while Abyss works him over. Evans responds by flipping Shelley off, so Shelley bites Jack's finger.
Nana gets back in and allows Evans to tag. GenNext corner Nana, then move out of the way of a charge by Abyss, so he squashes Nana instead. Match breaks down and Abyss sets a table up in a neutral corner before turning his sights on Evans. The match breaks down completely, and AJ Styles hits a German suplex on Abyss, sending him through the table. Nana threatens Haze, and after Sydal & Aries save her, Haze gives them low blows, turning on GenNext. This all leads to Shelley hitting Aries with an Air Raid Crash (Kryptonite Krunch) and Rave hitting Sydal with a Pedigree for the double pin.
-GHC Jr. Heavyweight Championship: KENTA [c] VS Low Ki (Final Battle 2005 12/17/05)
-After some mat wrestling, the two exchange strikes, an exchange Ki wins with a series of kicks. Ki backs KENTA into the corner, and repeatedly elbows him in the sternum. KENTA comes back with strikes of his own, then slingshots off the apron like he's going to do a big move, only to land on his feet and mockingly kick Ki in the head. KENTA charges into a rolling Liger kick. Ki follows up with a dive. KENTA gets pissed after a series of kicks and lands some forearms, before Ki takes him down with an enziguiri.
Ki continues to kick and chop KENTA. Ki blocks a sunset flip with a double stomp for two. Ki works KENTA over on the outside. Back in, Ki gets KENTA into the position that Rey Mysterio gets opponents in for the 619, but Ki goes up top, and comes down with a double stomp to the back. KENTA fights back with a series of stiff kicks and a springboard dropkick for two. KENTA tries for a superplex, but Ki fights him off, and hits the Warrior's Way (double stomp to the face) for two.
The two trade kicks and strikes again. Ki goes up top, but KENTA leaps right up there and hits a Falcon Arrow from the top for two. KENTA wins a slap fest for two. KENTA tries a hight knee, but Ki catches him with the Ki Crusher (essentially a fisherman's Falcon Arrow) for two. Both men go for their finishes, and KENTA ends up getting a tiger suplex for two. KENTA goes for a series of strikes and kicks, but Ki interupts with a dropkick. Ki hits a double stomp from the top for two. Ki misses a twisting splash, and KENTA hits the Go to Sleep followed up by a running knee to the face for the pin to retain. Really good match, especially if you like two guys just stiffing the shit out of each other. Generally not my favorite type of match, but at the right time, with the right people, it can be good.
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