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On April 6, 2005 my first column was posted on Online World of Wrestling. That column was entitled "Why World Titles Mean Nothing." From there, I wrote one other column, but have taken almost a year off from column writing. In that time, I have come to believe that there is only one World Title left, only one title worthy of being called a World Championship. That title is currently held by "American Dragon" Bryan Danielson. The Ring of Honor World Title.

Ring of Honor is a wrestling company that has been capturing the minds of wrestling audiences since it's inception on February 23, 2002. Their first show was aptly titled "The Era of Honor" begins, and featured a tremendous three way dance with Low Ki defeating Christopher Daniels and Bryan Danielson. They continued to run shows once a month, and on July 27, 2002, Low Ki defeated Christopher Daniels, Spanky, and Doug Williams in a four way Iron man match to win the ROH Title. This match is, in my opinion, the second greatest four way match of all time (I'll get to the best later.)

First thing ROH did right" They made winning their title really mean something. They established their company, then they had a full show devoted to deciding who would get to be in the match for the crown the first champion, and then the match itself was a difficult match. A wrestler couldn't just steal a win. They'd have to outlast three other wrestlers for a full hour to become champion.

Low Ki didn't hold the title long, He lost it on September 21, 2002 to Xavier. Though he lost it to Xavier so quickly, Low Ki did have a nice title defense against AJ Styles. Xavier defeated Jay Briscoe, AJ Styles, and Paul London on two different occasions during his title reign. His reign ended on March 3, 2003 when Samoa Joe defeated him to win the ROH Title. Xavier had four successful defenses.

It was Samoa Joe's reign that made the ROH Title the ROH World Title. His second defense was against Zebra Kid, in London, England. His eighth defense was against Ares and took place in Germany. He defended against Balls Mahoney, against Ahmed Chaer in Germany, against Shinya Makable, against Chris Hero, none of whom were regular ROH performers.

These defenses go hand in hand with numerous defenses against regular ROH wrestlers, including two spectacular one hour draws with CM Punk, great matches against each of the Briscoe's, some good matches against Homicide, among many others. What Samoa Joe did for the ROH World Title is irreplaceable. He took the title to other countries and defended it. He defended it against guys who were not regular ROH wrestlers. When was the last time John Cena or Rey Mysterio took on non-WWE wrestlers for their respective Championships" Now, while tradition should show that the NWA Title should be defended in any NWA affiliated company, and that anyone from the NWA should have a legitimate chance at holding it, since the birth of TNA, no non-TNA wrestler has held the NWA title.

Back to ROH, Samoa Joe lost the ROH World Title to Austin Aries in what was considered a huge upset. Before his loss to Aries, Samoa Joe had twenty-nine successful title defenses. Aries was yet to have held a title. He had only been in ROH since April of 2004, and won the title in December of 2004. Aries did not disappoint though, he continued to defend the title against anyone who wanted a shot. He took the title to Montreal, Quebec, Canada to defend against Kevin Steen, then to Florida, ROH does not run shows in Florida, to defend against Vordell Walker, Insane Dragon, and Roderick Strong. He went over seas to defend against Marc Roudin in Switzerland, then to Austria to battle Ares and Steve Douglas. He also went to Mexico to defend against Super Crazy and Ricky Marvin. Those defenses are combined with his regular ROH defenses. Aries lost the title on June 18, 2005 to CM Punk. Aries has sixteen title defenses.

CM Punk's title reign was something different all together. When CM Punk won the ROH Title, it was publicized to be his last night in ROH. He was a face on that night. The moment he won the title, he turned heel with a very well preformed promo. His whole attitude became that he was going to leave ROH with the title, and each show after that was supposed to be his last. Finally, after four successful title defenses, CM Punk lost the title in what is, in my opinion, the greatest four way match of all time.

The date was August 12, 2006, it was in Dayton, Ohio. The show was Redemption. CM Punk cut a promo during the show about how he was leaving with the ROH World Title. Now, Dayton was a place where CM Punk and Samoa Joe went to their first one hour draw, a match that was given five stars by the Wrestling Observer. Samoa Joe was one of Punk's opponents. Another one of his opponents, James Gibson, was coming in with something to prove. He had three previous shots at the ROH World Title, and had failed to win. The final opponent, Christopher Daniels, also had something to prove, something to fulfil- his destiny. The match itself was fantastic. It was a fatal four way elimination match. James Gibson was taken to the back due to blood loss, he had not been eliminated. Christopher Daniels was the first to be eliminated, via submission by Samoa Joe. CM Punk then rolled up Samoa Joe, pinning his shoulders to the mat. CM Punk celebrated, until Gibson came back out, since he had not been eliminated, he was still eligible to win. Which is what he did.

James Gibson did not hold the title for that long, barely over a month, but in that month he packed in four title defenses, and on the fifth one he lost to a man who wrestled in the main event of the very first Ring of Honor show, Bryan Danielson. Bryan Danielson has been a defending champion, though he has not yet defended over-seas. He's put on some great title defenses, while developing a solid character. The night Danielson first won the ROH World Title, Glory by Honor IV, he said that the ROH World Title represents Wrestling Freedom. Perhaps it does. In this author's humble opinion, the ROH World Title is the only World Title left. The WWE defends its Heavyweight Titles all over the world as well, but the defenses are against other WWE wrestlers, which of course, only a WWE wrestler should hold the WWE Titles, but in this author's humble opinion, to be a true World Title, any wrestler should be able to get a shot at the title. Ring of Honor gives that aura, that is why I say it is the only World Title left.

by David Barker ..