wrestlingscout.com's Ring of Honor Match Ratings

Top Ring of Honor Matches of 2004

Note: I am currently missing 18 Ring of Honor shows: 1/9/04 - Collision Course, 1/29/04 - Last Stand, 2/14/04 - Second Anniversary Show, 4/23/04 - ROH: Reborn Stage 1, 4/24/04 - ROH: Reborn Stage 2, 7/17/04 - ROH Reborn: Completion, 7/23/04 - Death Before Dishonor II Pt. 1, 7/24/04 - Death Before Dishonor II Pt. 2, 8/7/04 - Testing The Limit, 8/28/04 - Scramble Cage Melee, 9/11/04 - Glory By Honor III, 10/2/04 - The Midnight Express Reunion, 10/15/04 - ROH Gold, 10/16/04 - Joe vs. Punk II, 11/5/04 - Weekend Of Thunder Night 1, 11/6/04 - Weekend Of Thunder Night 2, 12/4/04 - All Star Extravaganza II, 12/26/04 - Final Battle 2004
1. Samoa Joe vs. CM Punk (Ring of Honor - 6/12/04 "World Title Classic")
Punk has been building himself for just about a year as a top tier talent in ROH: feuding with Raven, wrestling Joe once 10 months prior in a non-title match, feuding with "old school"/traditionalistic types, establishing his Second City Saints stable, being a helluva tag wrestler with Colt Cabana and now he's getting his first title shot. The gimmick of Joe as a fighting champion getting worn down and that Punk might be able to outwrestle him, lengthen the match, tire him out and get the win. The first 10 minutes of this are just setting the stage for a longer match, the next ten are Joe beating on Punk and then going into what looks like will be the last leg. They pick it up to the top level, but slow it down again. This would lose people if they didn't know either of these guys, but the crowd is hot for both sides and they stay with it. Excellent use of submission holds because they mean something, same for the big strikes and they never even have to bust out a slew of big moves. As they close in on 50 minutes, Mark Nulty begins talking about the legendary broadways of the 70s and 80s and puts over this match as reminding him of those. The last ten minutes of this is tremendous with both wrestlers coming close, climaxing with Punk hitting the Pepsi Plunge, but being unable to get the win due to his hurt knee. You know that it'll be a draw after that, but it's exciting nonetheless. The fans boo not having five more minutes, but they were able to see a great match. Afterwards, Joe is laid out by Homicide, who leaves with the belt. Punk and Joe, shakes hands, hug and that's that. This is on par with Punk's best stuff with Chris Hero and I'd argue has qualities that make it better. Excellent match, I can't wait for the rematch.
Rating: ****1/2
2. Samoa Joe vs. Bryan Danielson vs. Homicide vs. Austin Aries vs. Mark Briscoe vs. Colt Cabana (Ring of Honor - 6/24/04 "Survival of the Fittest")
I dig the concept here, these guys win their matches and get a chance with the champ, but not a shot at the title. There is a lot of angle intermingling, but enough fresh matchups to make this really intriguing. Danielson is the returning top dog and probably the favorite. Homicide is the hell-bent heel, who feels he deserves his shot. Aries is the hungry youngster, yet to get his shot. Briscoe is the kid who wants a second chance. Cabana is the dark horse. This match is setup well and does a great job at establishing some future challengers. Aries had the most time with Joe, but that's one to hold off on. The big shocker was Cabana catching him with a rollup and making the most unlikely person into someone who must get a shot. They eliminate him next though and it seems his shot might have to wait - good call. The Homicide-Briscoes feud began early in the night and continues in the this match. Though you though Joe-Homicide would be the central issue, it is Mark Briscoe stepping it up and taking out Homicide (and himself) and the Briscoes-Rottweilers feud grows very strong. Danielson and Aries are left and this is excellent booking IMO, but they have to put fourth a big effort because the eliminations were kind of rushed, despite their meaningfulness. It's almost like they have a match independent of all that and it's a dandy. Danielson is simply more experienced and talented than Aries, who is a game opponent, but he just can't win. Then one mistake by Dragon, a hurt knee and Aries takes over. It turns into a back-and-fourth battle that heats up the crowd. The last leg of this is tremendous and really establishes both guys as major players. I'd rate their twenty minutes at ****, the previous stuff was decent, mostly great booking for the future.
Rating: ****1/2
3. Alex Shelley, Austin Aries, Roderick Strong, Jack Evans vs. John Walters, Jimmy Rave, Mark & Jay Briscoe (Ring of Honor - 5/22/04 "Generation Next")
After the Briscoes knocked off the Outcast Killaz, the newly formed Generation Next comes out to make their presence felt and their victims from earlier in the night return for an impromptu eight-man tag that ends up stealing the show. They start this by pairing up different people and letting everyone show their stuff. It is kind of what you'd expect, until Aries kicks Mark Briscoe in the side of the head and things pick up in physicality and pacing (bar restholds). It pretty much stays even, so the fans are able to really see the "future," but it doesn't provide for a particularly dramatic match. Eventually Jack Evans is picked off and the see-sawing begins. This match does a beautiful job at establishing the roles of each wrestler in Generation Next: Shelley is the leader and tactician, Aries is the intense bad ass, Strong is the bruiser and Evans is the weak link (though he is a dynamic highflyer when on the offense). The faces here don't really change their standing much in my mind, the Briscoes are established, Walters seems to be largely an upper midcard supporting player and they try to get Rave over, but the fans just won't take to him. The Briscoes who should be the strongest faces here aren't at their best and Gen-Next works them over very well and they're able to work on Rave and Walters to get the win. Tremendous match at doing what it's meant to do, get this new stable over and while the fans chant "MOTY," I question that. This had plenty of weaknesses, but I think it really has to be appreciated for what it was and I enjoyed it thoroughly. Handshakes all around make this interesting, but it sets some stuff up.
Rating: ****1/4
4. Mark & Jay Briscoe vs. CM Punk & Colt Cabana (Ring of Honor - 5/15/04 "Round Robin Challenge III")
This is the third match in the round robin challenge, which was decent (a pair of ***-ish matches), but not like the first (****1/2,***1/2,***1/2), but better than the first (***3/4,***1/4,***1/4). These two had an excellent match in ROH's Chicago debut and the Second City Saints have a chance to win the belts from the Briscoes again. They warm things up with typical stuff and then Mark and his injured ribs become the focal point. The last leg is really hot with Jay Briscoe taking over after the hot tag and the SCS using dirty tricks to stay ahead, but they go over clean in the end. Maff & Whitmer establish themselves as the next challengers, they did beat the SCS early in the night to win the belts and then Steamboat returns (after being laid out by the SCS) and takes out Punk to a huge ovation.
Rating: ****
5. Matt Stryker vs. Alex Shelley (Ring of Honor - 1/10/04 "The Battlelines Are Drawn")
Hyping the "pure wrestling" concept of three rope breaks, these are two of the best mat wrestlers on the indies and Stryker is coming off momentum as the Field of Honor winner. Shelley is getting the opportunity to do his technical wrestling after being wasted in undercard filler. I really dug the hell out of this because it showed two guys really stepping up their complete games. Stryker is so colorless, but he is a hard worker and the company has jumped behind him. Shelley is just finding his place in ROH, but seemed so indy-ish in his wrestling style before this. This is closer to what the "pure wrestling" belt should have represented than what I think it became. The scientific wrestling was excellent, they used big moves without going over-the-top with them and the finish was strong and got over the style. Excellent card opener and I think this feud could have really gotten both of these guys over on their skill and ROH kind of did that.
Rating: ***3/4
6. Jimmy Jacobs vs. Chris Sabin (Ring of Honor - 1/10/04 "The Battlelines Are Drawn")
Two guys that have potential to go places in the wrestling world, neither have been fully utilized in ROH. Sabin's improvement since becoming an NWA-TNA regular and if Jacobs is paired with the right people he is a furry bootload of fun. Though this is a Pure Title Tourney qualifier, this is largely designed to be a fun midcard match and it is certainly that. I liked a few of the dynamics of this, though this didn't seem to have much to do with setting the stage of what "pure wrestling" is. These two meshed really well and showed their skills completely in my opinion. This ended up being much stronger than I anticipated and the fans at it up. An excellent match with two guys going all out to get recognition, too bad ROH didn't get behind these two like they should have.
Rating: ***3/4
7. AJ Styles vs. Homicide (Ring of Honor - 1/10/04 "The Battlelines Are Drawn")
This is one of those lets see what these two great workers can do matches that ROH does for our viewing pleasure more than anyone these days it seems. Both of these guys work at an amazing fast pace, so a lot of their stuff looks tremendous. They go back and fourth on the mat, then go into more high impact spots, which really make this unique because of the high speed. Styles really made Homicide look like he's at his level because, of course, he is and Homicide put fourth one of his best efforts IMO. Homicide's tope con hilo sending him into the third row and leading to an injured shoulder was well done, well sold and all, but it didn't really lead to anything. Styles went over clean, but Homicide was elevated in a way. Excellent match that really needed to be taken to another level after this, but Homicide was made a heelthey programmed Styles with Punk before he was forced to leave by TNA.
Rating: ***3/4
8. Briscoe Brothers vs. Samoa Joe & Bryan Danielson (Ring of Honor - 1/10/04 "The Battlelines Are Drawn")
I loved the pre-show hype with Joe and Dragon battling over who was better with submission holds. The gimmick is Joe is bullying the Briscoes and trying to win their tag belts with various partners, now he tries out the American Dragon. Danielson really shows off his recent British influence with aggressive mat wrestling, which Joe uses himself. The Briscoes try to mount an offense, but get outbrawled. They struggle to stay even and have to use fast tags and even a little corner-cutting to do it. Finally they isolate Danielson and go to town on him, leading to the hot tag. Joe is really great in that roll because he is believable as someone who kills both guys and could probably put the match away. Just when you think it's leading into the immediate finish, they stretch it a few more minutes and you are kind of surprised by what happens. This match worked for me and really opened up some interesting programs. A solid semi-final, but this could have been excellent with another 15 or 20 minutes IMO.
Rating: ***1/2
9. CM Punk & Colt Cabana vs. BJ Whitmer & Danny Maff (Ring of Honor - 5/22/04 "Generation Next")
A real heated feud as the feud between the SCS and the struggling remains of the Prophecy in what seems like a battle of heel teams. They had a ***-ish match the week before and the Prophecy took the belts, can they do it again? This starts with Punk & Cabana doing the heel tag schtick and after Whitmer makes the hot tag it really picks up. The pace is impressive and the crowd heats right up as a result. It keeps building and building into an excellent, clean finish. I think everyone made a pretty showing good here. This is what I expect out of an ROH Tag title match.
Rating: ***1/2
10. AJ Styles vs. CM Punk (Ring of Honor - 3/13/04 "At Our Best")
The first Pure Wrestling Title defense by champion AJ Styles and the man he beat in the tourney CM Punk. Rules are simple: only 3 ropebreaks, 20 count on the floor and no punching to the face. Basically, , but people really question it. Steamboat is added as a referee and he does an incredible job. It seems like the match, style and belt just has too many motives that I don't know if I like them or not. The match is another attempt to get over this new style, this style is trying to do something that worked with the Code of Honor two years ago and this belt seems like it wants to equal with Joe's ROH title and create new top guys or something. I kind of think someone watched an Akira Maeda match and said, "hey let's use some of that stuff." The countout thing is dumb because you know we won't see one. The no punching thing is dumb because you can use headbutts and even UFC doesn't allow that. The rope break thing has potential, but it seems to central to the style. I think this match looked like any other ROH match, so I don't see this thing getting over. You need guys who work a different style to get this over. I think a European-looking match would be ideal, but shoot-style would be interesting as well. All that stuff aside, this was a good match. Basically what I accepted no more, no less. Steamboat was such a focal point as the man to personify and get this style over, this new belt over and the Punk-Steamboat feud began with a bang. Meanwhile, AJ wrestled his last ROH match.
Rating: ***1/2
11. Samoa Joe vs. Jay Briscoe (Ring of Honor - 3/13/04 "At Our Best")
The feud between bully champion and the young tag champion Briscoe Brothers reaches a bloody climax in a steel cage match. Joe does a real strong promo, Jay doesn't and then they climb in there and you can anticipate blood and big moves in this blowoff. The gimmick is Jay only has to escape to win the belt, thanks to Jim Cornette, which gives him an edge over previous challengers. The match itself is good, but not an especially memorable ROH match. What makes this work is the story of Jay earning Joe's respect in this brutal match. Basically Joe roughs him up, then Jay juices...and juices... and juices. It's disgusting actually. The cameras pull in tight so you see the blood, not dripping, streaming off Jay's head, it's splattered on the mat, smeared on Joe, speckling the floor, it's sick. But the psychology is sound because you know Jay has to be struggling to get through, but in the end Joe puts him away. Good for what it is, but lacking in some areas. The post-show bit has Joe punking out Julius Smokes in a very realistic way and telling him he accepts the challenge of Homocide and the Rottweilers - great, instense stuff.
Rating: ***1/2
12. Alex Shelley, Austin Aries, Roderick Strong vs. John Walters, Jimmy Rave, Matt Stryker (Ring of Honor - 6/12/04 "World Title Classic")
Shelley and Stryker plan to go head-to-head, until GenNext jumps him and bloodies him. Walters and Rave make a late save and f'n kill Evans with a powerbomb over the top to the floor. So, it's a six-man with a hurt Stryker returning and Evans leaving as the action gets underway. GenNext struggles early, but takes over with great teamwork, before the typical hot tag. The finish is good with Rave getting caught and GenNext sneaking one in. What you expect out of an ROH six-man and a damn entertaining little match.
Rating: ***1/2
13. Austin Aries & Roderick Strong vs. John Walters & Josh Daniels (Ring of Honor - 6/24/04 "Survival of the Fittest")
The scheduled Aries-Walters match sees GenNext beatdown Walters, then Daniels comes out and gets beatdown, so let's make it a tag match. Of course, it's Walters and Daniels dominating in the early going and some cheating by GenNext turns things around. Strong and Aries are a tremendous heel tag team and they take apart Walters, who makes several futile comebacks. Daniels and Strong are the bruisers here and they really beat the hell out of one another. The finish is solid and with the heels winning because of double-teaming, but it doesn't seem "dirty." Very good tag match.
Rating: ***1/2
14. Homicide vs. Spanky (Ring of Honor - 5/15/04 "Round Robin Challenge III")
An interesting "dream match." Homicide's been pushed as the company's 2003 MVP and a future champion, who has become this loose cannon heel. Spanky is making his return after spending almost two years in the WWE going unused. This seems like a strange match to have stylistically, but it serves a purpose. The story is basically Spanky getting killed again and again before mounting his big comeback. Julius Smokes gets involved and they logically should disqualify Homicide, but instead he's able to get the win. Aside from that being illogical, this was a great win for Homicide making him a stronger heel going into his next match with Samoa Joe.
Rating: ***1/2
15. Samoa Joe vs. Homicide (Ring of Honor - 5/22/04 "Generation Next")
These two had a great ****+ match a year ago and Joe has been the reigning champ for just over a year. A title shot the previous month saw Homicide fully turn heel, form the Rottweilers and now he wants the ROH title more than ever. They try to do a few tricks to put Homicide over the top as a challenger having him be the first to bust open Joe and we all know Julius Smokes has no problems interfering. It is really a brutal battle, going back-and-fourth and the fans really believe Homicide might be the one and this might be the time. This works as a ROH style match with two guys just having a hard battle, but this doesn't work as a grudge match and the overlap only hurts this. An STF with fork-stabbing? Homicide is capable of having a stiff match filled with hate, so is Joe...this wasn't it. A damn good match, but not the match it needed to be. It works to further him as a heel afterwards and hopefully their fourth match will be the big one.
Rating: ***1/2
16. Nigel McGuiness vs. Jimmy Jacobs (Ring of Honor - 5/22/04 "Generation Next")
The Generation Next concept was pretty cool, put eight up-and-comers and interesting new matches and let the fans pick who the next star is. While they short of changed it up on the fly, this match survived and really delivered in the undercard. In my opinion, Jimmy Jacobs is really the next evolution of indy wrestler - he still has that junior style, but he realizes he has to be colorful and entertaining and the crowd loves. McGuiness has really taken off and seems like he'll be someone to watch in the next few years. This match is largely designed to get him over because the fans already know and enjoy Jacobs. Good match for what it is, but expect bigger and better things out of both in the future.
Rating: ***1/2
17. Samoa Joe vs. Ricky Reyes (Ring of Honor - 5/15/04 "Round Robin Challenge III")
Two of the top workers out of the SoCal indies, this seems like an obvious win for Joe, but it's building to something. Reyes is basically doing the Rottweilers' dirty work (in addition to turning the lights out, so Homicide could spit fire at Joe) and they establish that from the onset as they try to remove Homicide from ringside and he ends up brawling with Joe anyway. Reyes is able to go the offensive early and make this a bit more interesting. Stiff work and a fun little match for what it is. Good finish, not surprising, but a strong effort for Reyes and another win for Joe.
Rating: ***1/4