10. Adam Cole
During
the first ROH World Title reign of Jay Briscoe, he suffered an injury and was
forced to relinquish the gold. A tournament was set up to crown a new champion,
coming down to Michael Elgin and Adam Cole. After a grueling match that saw
Cole hold back his frustrations and manage to not get disqualified, Cole won
the title. Jay Briscoe came out to hand over the belt and shook hands with
Cole. Cole would deliver a superkick to the back of the head, turning heel. Now,
this wasn’t one of my favorite eras in Ring of Honor, so I wasn’t fully
watching on a regular basis. I’ve gone back to check some of it out and Cole
really seemed to be a bright spot in the company. Cole really shined as a heel
champion, which works for him because he’s so very good at playing the dick
role. He was allowed to run with this character and belt for 275 days and had
13 successful defenses before dropping the belt to Elgin. I really want to see
Cole get another run, during a better time period for Ring of Honor, where he
could really have a memorable run. Honestly, among current roster members, he’d
be my pick for the safest bet to become the third two-time champion in company
history.
9. Jay Lethal
This is being written before Final Battle 2015
airs, so Jay Lethal may or may not be the current ROH World Champion. Either
way though, he’s already put himself towards the top of the best ROH Champions
in history. One thing that jumps out at you when looking at Lethal’s reign is
that he was the first man to hold both the ROH World Title and ROH Television
Title at the same time. That in itself is a huge accomplishment. Led by Truth
Martini, Lethal had a 500+ day run with the TV Title. In the middle of that, he
bested Jay Briscoe to make himself the double champion, becoming the first man
to pin Briscoe in over 800 days. When it comes to the quality of the matches
during his run, they’ve all been pretty good. He had two title defenses against
Roderick Strong, one of which went to an hour draw and one that was a great win
on ROH TV. He also retained against Kyle O’Reilly to main event another
Pay-Per-View, heading into his Final Battle defense against AJ Styles. I don’t
know where his reign will stand when it comes to an end, but for now, it’s good
enough to eke into the list.
8. CM Punk
Here we have arguably the most memorable ROH World
Title runs, even if it wasn’t particularly long. With news that CM Punk had
signed with the WWE, his scheduled final match was against Austin Aries for the
ROH World Title. Punk shocked the world by finally, after multiple shots,
winning the title and then turning heel. He would come out in a new suit,
badmouth the fans and then sign his WWE contract on top of the ROH World Title.
That is such a great way to draw heat. Mick
Foley got involved, telling Punk to do the right thing and convincing him to defend
the title against the likes of Jay Lethal and Roderick Strong. He also managed
successful defenses against Christopher Daniels and James Gibson, each time
surprising the fans with the fact that he came closer and closer to leaving to
the WWE with the ROH World Title. Finally, on August 12th, 2005,
Punk’s reign came to an end in a Four Corner Elimination match against Gibson,
Samoa Joe and Daniels, when Gibson hit a super Tiger Driver. Punk hugged Gibson
before leaving officially the next night on good terms. It only lasted 55 days,
but the emotion and angle behind the reign, as well as the headlines that it
made, earn this a spot on the list.
7. Kevin Steen
Since I first saw him arrive in Ring of Honor back
in 2007, Kevin Steen stood out as a superstar. After a phenomenal rivalry with
former partner El Generico, Steen was forced to leave the company for nearly
half a year. When he returned, he was “Wrestling’s Worst Nightmare”. An angle
that saw him feud with Jim Cornette and even hack ROH’s message boards led to
Steen getting on a winning streak. He would defeat Davey Richards, a guy who
just missed out on making the list, to become the first Canadian ROH World
Champion at Border Wars 2012. Steen was one of the most interesting characters
in all of pro wrestling at the time and his matches usually delivered during
the reign. Successful defenses against Jay Lethal, Michael Elgin, his rival El
Generico and more, highlighted the run. After 18 defenses and 328 days, he lost
the strap to Jay Briscoe. Steen’s reign was definitely one of the better runs
in company history, in terms of both quality and importance.
6. Jay Briscoe
Coming in at number six is the second of two guys
to win the ROH World Championship on more than one occasion. First, at
Supercard of Honor VII, Jay Briscoe ended Kevin Steen’s title reign to win the
belt for the first time ever. He had come up short against former champions
like Samoa Joe and Nigel McGuinness, but finally won the big one. He was no
longer going to be looked at as a really good tag team wrestler. Unfortunately,
that run was cut short at 89 days due to an injury on July 3rd,
2013. After runs by Adam Cole and Michael Elgin a little over a year later,
Briscoe dethroned Elgin to win the title for a second time. This reign proved
to be much better, lasting 286 days and spanning 13 defenses with the strap (19
total). During this time, he defeated Cole, Tommaso Ciampa, Joe and others. The
two reigns spanned a timeframe that saw Briscoe go over 800 days without
getting pinned. If we were discussing titles in general in ROH, Jay has 8 Tag Team
Title reigns to go along with the two World Title runs, he’d rank higher as he
is the most decorated wrestler in ROH history. Just talking World Titles, he’s
had some great success, but some have certainly been better.
5. Austin Aries
Austin Aries is pretty notorious in the ROH
history books. Not only was he the man to end Samoa Joe’s record 645 day reign
as ROH Champion, but he was also the first ever two-time champion in company
history. His first run with the title spanned 16 defenses and 174 days before
dropping it to CM Punk, leading to a massive storyline. Aries would compete in
the tag team ranks with Roderick Strong, leave ROH and then return before his
run. One of the things that puts him ahead of other two time champion Jay
Briscoe, is that Aries’ reigns were very different. He reinvented himself, with
his second run being that of an arrogant heel persona. During this run, he
introduced the “A Double L Double”, or the Austin Aries Lethal Lottery, which
gave out random title shots. While this run with the gold lasted longer at 245
days, it featured less defenses at 13. Unfortunately, it was during this run
with the belt that my interest in Ring of Honor started to wane. An extremely
disappointing one hour draw with Tyler Black was pretty much the final straw
for me, as I stopped watching the company for a while. Still, the impact and
importance of Austin Aries cannot be denied.
4. Takeshi Morishima
The first ever Ring of Honor show I saw was Final
Battle 2006, where Homicide won the ROH World Title from Bryan Danielson. I
celebrated with mine and Homicide’s hometown New York crowd. The next time I
went to a show, Takeshi Morishima debuted and lost to Samoa Joe in a fantastic
match. The next night, he won the ROH World Title from Homicide and I remember
being highly upset. Morishima and his title reign would quickly turn my frown
upside down. One of the reasons that 2007 is one of, if not my all-time
favorite year in ROH, is because of Morishima’s title reign. The guy was
putting on fantastic matches each time out, with such a variety of opponents.
From Bryan Danielson to Nigel McGuinness to Claudio Castagnoli to Shingo and a
bunch more, Morishima’s 231 day reign was just so very good. While his matches
and run were great, I wanted to see him lose badly, giving me even more
interest into every defense. The emotion I felt was unmatched. I saw him and Danielson
have a classic in front of me and could not have been more disheartened when
Morishima retained. When Nigel McGuinness finally dethroned the monster
champion, it felt absolutely earned. Morishima’s run did wonders for a lot of
guys, like Nigel and Claudio, making it incredibly productive.
3. Samoa Joe
With the first two champions in Ring of Honor
history, Low Ki and Xavier, having less than stellar runs with the belt,
something or someone needed to step up. Enter Samoa Joe. Joe was unlike anyone
else in wrestling. His blend of size, strength, technical prowess, striking
ability and agility was completely unmatched. He won the ROH Title from Xavier
on March 22nd, 2003 and proceeded to hold onto it for a record 645
days, not losing until December 26th, 2004. During that span, Joe
defended the title 29 times. More important than the quantity of those matches
was that Joe put Ring of Honor on the map. The buzz he generated with his style
made people pay attention to ROH in a way that they hadn’t in the first year of
the promotion. When he finally lost the belt to Austin Aries, it vaulted Aries
into history while also solidifying him as a top guy for years to come within
the company. If this list was purely based on importance and significance, Joe
would be an easy choice for the top slot. Alas, he will settle for third
because two men would best his efforts.
2. Bryan Danielson
Despite portraying a heel for most of his title
run, Bryan Danielson pretty much defined the fighting champion style. After
taking the ROH World Title from James Gibson, Danielson was on a mission to
prove to everyone that he was the “best in the world”. That meant Danielson
would accept challenges from anyone. By anyone I don’t only mean the ROH
roster. He also faced members of CZW like Chris Hero and Sonjay Dutt, Japanese
talent like KENTA, and even Lance Storm. He has the third longest reign in
company history at 462, while being tied for the most defenses with a whopping
38. The quality of matches during Danielson’s reign was very high, including
one I gave five stars to against Nigel McGuinness. That match took place in
England and made Danielson the original double champion in ROH as he won the
Pure Title and retired it. His reign saw him feud with Homicide, KENTA, Colt
Cabana, Nigel, Samoa Joe and others. If you’ve only ever seen him as Daniel
Bryan, you’ve been missing out because his entire time in ROH was something special,
but his title reign featured absolutely must see wrestling. The “Best in the World”
chants that he got were completely warranted.
1. Nigel McGuinness
For me, nothing tops the World Title run of Nigel
McGuinness. After coming up short against Bryan Danielson and Takeshi
Morishima, Nigel finally made it to the top of Ring of Honor by beating Morishima
at Undeniable. It was a feel good moment and something that had been built to
for a very long time. Unfortunately, Nigel got injured in one of his first
defenses and had to sit out a show in New York that I attended. Then, at his next
show in New York, he and Austin Aries put on the greatest match I’d ever seen
live, but Nigel busted up his face badly and had to miss his defense the next
night in New York. The fans turned on him, chanting for him to drop the belt,
among other negative chants. It was very unjust for a guy that worked so hard
to get to the top. ROH ran with it as Nigel went full on heel, leading to an
incredible series of defenses. Nigel’s reign lasted 545 days and was the only
one in company history to last a full calendar year. He tied Danielson with 38
successful defenses but the matches he had were almost always incredible. From
wars with Chris Hero to rematches with Bryan Danielson to outings against
Claudio Castagnoli, Nigel always delivered. He stepped up against Japanese stars
like KENTA and Naomichi Marufuji, having great matches with them too. Hell, his
matches with Kevin Steen, El Generico and Tyler Black were absolutely pivotal
to those three men become major singles stars in ROH and beyond. It’s a damn
shame that Nigel had to retire because no other guy on the indies put on the
types of performances that Nigel did during this era. He had fantastic matches,
he was the champion when ROH got their first TV deal, he had longevity and he
helped create stars. There is absolutely nothing else you could want from your
champion during his reign.
