Takeshi Morishima/Bryan Danielson vs. Nigel McGuiness/Kenta 05.12.07

Where: New York, NY

Back Story:

This was actually the first ROH show I attended live which happened to be their first PPV. Bryan Danielson is just returning from a 5 month absence for this show, and Takeshi Morishma has established himself as the top dog in the company by winning the ROH World Title. Nigel McGuiness is a veteran of the company and I believe he brought Morishma in the storyline. The match is set up earlier in the match when Nigel confronts Morishima in the ring and asks for a match. Danielson comes back, announces his return, and reminds the crowd that he had the title for 15 months, so he deserves a title shot. Later they brawl, and Kenta from Noah comes out to save McGuiness from a beat down at the hands of Morishma and Danielson. Later the tag match is announced as the main event.

In Ring Action:

Match starts off with Danielson vs. Kenta. Some good mat wrestling to start which is expected. A test of strength which Kenta wins with leverage, but after a few failed attempts to capitalize, Danielson reverses into a monkey flip. I hear Kenta is a big star in Japan which is great because he doesn't have a great physique, and I hate to think that keeps talent down in Japan as it does in the US.

Nigel McGuiness and Morishma both tag in, and I have to be honest, this was my first time seeing McGuiness' work, or even seeing what he looks like. He plays a British stereotype, but not the William Regal snob, but the British Oi! rocker. I was very curious about him because Wade Keller from the PWTorch mentioned that he has a style where he doesn't have to take a lot of bumps to have a good match. I'm all for wrestlers dazzling me with as little physical pain on their bodies as possible, so I was really hoping he could impress.

Morishma takes control with a shoulder block after Nigel runs the ropes. Morishma and Danielson are utilizing quick tags, and Danielson and McGuiness go back at it with Danielson taking control with some mat submissions moves. McGuiness gets control, but Morishma distracts which allows Danielson to hit a flying european uppercut. Good heel move. Morishma and Danielson start double-teaming so Kenta comes in and uses his superior speed to take Morishma down with a running kick to the face. After Danielson takes Kenta down, all four men are standing in the ring at a stalemate. The crowd applauds as they've taken turns showing their offense, but no one has taken a substantial advantage in the first 8 minutes of action.


After more action, Nigel finds himself in trouble, and Danielson gets a painful looking variation of the dragon sleeper on Nigel. There is no way Nigel could reverse the hold, but he is able to roll over into a pinning attempt which makes Danielson realease.

While the opening action is good, there doesn't seem to be a real story to follow here. ROH matches tend to run long, so maybe we're just still in a very long opening portion of the match. Danielson and Morishma has been working very well together putting a hurting on McGuiness. Kenta could do well to show more emotion as he's just standing in the corner with very little emotion being shown. Nigel eventually gains momentum dodging a turnbuckle charge and hitting his signature kick to the back/clothesline spot which I've always liked. He them hits his rebound lariat on Morishma who was trying to make the save. McGuiness uses a ton of clotheslines, but they're done in such variation, and in the most opportune moments where they never get stale.

Kenta tags in, and uses some of his great high flying including a springboard drop kick and a kick back leg kick. Danielson takes over by hitting a great back breaker. Morishma tags in and does a cartwheel into a clothesline which is amazing by someone of his size. He also does it in a way that makes it look like he is getting more impact due to the the cartwheel. Then he tops that with a missile dropkick which is crazy, and probably not healthy for a man of his size. Morishma then hits a wicked side slam, and it's becoming apparent that Morishma is being positioned as he killer of this company.

Morishma later goes for another missile dropkick on McGuiness but he rolls back and comes back for a huge lariat. Morishma then tries his cartwheel, but Nigel already has it scouted and lariats him down again. Nigel then later his Tower of London finisher, but it too fatigued to cover.

There's too much action to call, but everyone is hitting their big spots including Nigel diving from the top rope to the stands on Morishma. Kenta hits his Go 2 Sleep on Danielson, but Morishma saves. Danielson hits the diving headbutt on Kenta.

The finish comes when Danielson reverses a second Go 2 Sleep into his finisher the Cattle Mutilation.

Winners: Bryan Danielson and Takeshi Morishma by submission in 24:43 ***3/4

Afterwards, Danielson grabs the belt and puts it on his shoulder which prompts Morishma to give him a backdrop driver. Nigel then picks it up and puts it on Morishma's shoulder, but apparently Morishma doesn't care, and clotheslines him down. Great finish to show that Morishma doesn't need any allies.

Great action that really picked up after the 15 minute mark. There were great moves being used by all guys. While Morishma is the champion, there were good sub-stories with McGuiness vs. Danielson, and Kenta really stood out as a great worker. I really would like to see him in a singles match to see if he can put together a compelling story. Overall, it's not a WWE style match in which they are telling a story and going for the emotional high. It was 4 guys fighting their hearts out to try to win a match. It may not be every one's cup of tea, but I definitely like it