(Almost) 5-Star Match Reviews: Bryan Danielson vs. Christopher Daniels vs. Low Ki – ROH The Era Of Honor Begins

It has been almost 25 years since Ring of Honor first launched. As a promotion it has undergone many ups and downs. But that seems to be the case with almost every promotion not named WWE: a new start up is announced, it has an impressive showing on its first show, and then a honeymoon phase follows for the next few years. But then once a certain standard is set it becomes harder to meet on a regular basis. Then for one reason or another interest wanes or fades completely and over time that promotion struggles to maintain momentum. This pattern isn’t unique to ROH, either: it also happened to TNA, NOAH, AEW to some degree and, most recently, post-Vince McMahon Triple H-run WWE. Sometimes people lose faith in a brand they once loved and reminisce over better times. That’s what brings us to this match, the one that put ROH on the map in the first place.

The Story

There’s not much of a story here. It’s just a three-way match between three well-known independent wrestlers with varying degrees of experience. Daniels had been wrestling for almost a decade, Low Ki debuted in 1998, and Bryan a year after that. ROH was looking to fill the void in the wrestling market left when ECW closed and ECW’s stylistic successor Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW) decided not to pursue a business deal with ROH’s parent company RF Video. So this was RF Video’s attempt at creating its own promotion and thus started with a small spot show in a rec center in front of maybe 600 people.

The Match

This took place on February 23, 2002. It was rated ****1/2 out of five by the Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer.

After a tense standoff, Bryan kicks Daniels’ calf and gets into a kick exchange with Ki. Both those smaller guys take Daniels down again and get in a tight lock-up against the ropes until Daniels dropkicks them. Another stalemate. A complex three-way spot ends with Daniels standing tall. Bryan blocks a suplex but ends up almost getting his neck snapped in a tree of woe position and then eats a basement dropkick from Ki. Rolling kick from Ki to Daniels. Bryan catches Ki and attempts Cattle Mutilation. Daniels slams tem both and then one onto another. Then Daniels locks Ki in a camel clutch and Bryan in a Boston Crab at the same time. There’s some great ingenuity right there.

Bryan works Daniels’ arm until Ki interrupts with Kawada kicks which evolve into stomps and stiff shots to the head. Even back then Low Ki embodied the “caveman SpongeBob” meme to a T. Daniels has suplexes for days for both guys until Ki lands an exceptionally stiff chop that stops Daniels’ momentum dead. Bryan makes a comeback with chops and applies an underhook Muta Lock until Ki kicks his thigh. But Bryan doesn’t release the hold, and in a surprise turn of events Ki’s continued kicks to Bryan cause him to tighten his hold on Daniels. Bryan fights to his feet, blocks a kick, and lands a bridging Northern Lights suplex on Ki, all without breaking his hold on Daniels. Then he rolls onto his back locking Daniels in some wacky hold. Though he only gets a two-count he earns a standing ovation from the crowd.

Bryan lands a back elbow on Ki for two and attacks Daniels’ arm once more. Ki interrupts a kimura and punts Bryan’s spine like he owes him money. This turns into a semi-comedic exchange as Bryan and Ki take turns with soccer kicks to Daniels’ spine. Another standing ovation. These kick combos continue until Daniels dodges one that causes Bryan and Ki to kick each other’s’ legs. Ki blasts Bryan with chops until Daniels drops them both with neckbreaker slams. Daniels locks Ki in a torture crab until Bryan hits Daniels with a Misawa elbow smash. Daniels counters a double suplex with a neckbreaker/DDT combo on both guys. He covers both guys but gets two two-counts. They catch Daniels and launch him from the top rope. Bryan hits Ki with Kawada kicks again. Daniels lands a belly-to-belly for two. Daniels blocks another double-team and turns a headscissor from Ki into a satellite DDT from Ki on Bryan. Ki follows with a springboard kick to Daniels. One, two, Daniels kicks out.

Bryan fights out of a corner but ends up in a top-rope cobra twist. Ki ends this and applies a hanging upside-down dragon sleeper in the corner and then covers for two. Daniels fights back with a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker and then they trade counter dragon sleepers. Bryan interferes and for his efforts eats an enzuigiri from Ki into a Blue Thunder Bomb from Daniels that gets two. Daniels avoids a corner cartwheel kick and a struggle ensues in a corner. This ends with a double superplex on Ki. All three guys go down.

Bryan gets up first and lands a snap underhook suplex/bridging dragon suplex for two. Ki interferes and locks in a dragon-style camel clutch. Daniels interferes and gets into a strike exchange until he drops Ki with an STO. Best Moonsault Ever gets two as Bryan interrupts. Daniels drops Bryan with a lariat. Ki hits Daniels with a corner handspring kick. Bryan channels Misawa with more elbows to both guys. Then he locks Daniels in Cattle Mutilation…until Ki lands a Phoenix splash on a bridging Bryan. That’s followed by a Ki Crusher. One, two, and three! Low Ki wins the first main-event match in ROH history!

Winner after 20:04: Low Ki

You can watch the full match here.

Review

This is an excellent match that still holds up well after almost 25 years. All three guys had great chemistry with each other as shown through all their creative and inventive spots. Each guy brought something different: Ki had his realism and intensity, Bryan his mat skills and elbows, and Daniels the raw creativity and control over the space between spots. Each guy had his moment to shine. And unlike many three-way/triple threat matches, this one never suffered the same fate of having one guy stand around or sell for longer than necessary while the other two did their thing. The result was a match that felt new, fresh, and unpredictable, one that got genuine and deserved praise from its live audience and not the kind of forced overpraise that has been ubiquitous in the wrestling landscape for the better part of the past decade or so.

That said, the match still has some flaws. For a match that has been retrospectively considered to carry the spirit of ROH this match had a decidedly exhibition match feel. It came across as a showcase, lacking in tension or deeper storytelling. From how the match progressed it seemed like Daniels was meant to be the heel but he got cheered like everyone else and didn’t really give the match much story to follow, save his soccer kick spot. Bryan’s armwork went nowhere and compared to Low Ki he came across as a tad unpolished. There isn’t that much of a serious tone to this beyond Low Ki’s general air of viciousness. Maybe that lack of depth was intentional due to this being an opening show and thus too much of a gamble to go all in on. Still, there was this overwhelming sense of something missing to really make this match reach that next level.

Final Rating: ****1/4

If you’re into inventive spots and truly unique offense you’ll find something to love here, particular from Christopher Daniels. I’ve heard it said that he doesn’t get anywhere near as much due as other ROH veterans so I think he deserves his fair share of the spotlight. He really did a lot of the heavy lifting here directing traffic and keeping the match’s pace flowing smoothly so that nothing would get lost. This allowed Danielson and Ki to shine as the younger guys to shine which is a very unselfish thing to do in an otherwise highly selfish industry.

That said, this match is more worth noting for historical reasons than anything truly groundbreaking in the ring. All three guys would go on to have much better matches in the years ahead. Daniels would go on to leave a lasting impression on wrestling with THAT three-way at TNA Unbreakable 2005, Ki’s career best performance would take place in December 2005 opposite KENTA, and Danielson’s greatest bell-to-bell match would happen in 2006…also against KENTA. But one thing’s for sure: all three guys would become staples in the independent wrestling scene in ROH and beyond and they all deserve recognition for laying the foundation for the promotion that would lead to many more outstanding matches in the years ahead.

Thanks for reading.