Last issue I spoke about the tournament that determined the final four wrestlers that will battle to be Ring of Honor’s first ever Champion. In this issue I want to talk about the actual final itself; a Four-way Sixty-Minute Iron-Man Match. The competitors? Christopher Daniels, Doug Doug, Spanky and Low Ki. What you must keep in mind, is that each pin is two points and each wrestler that is pinned gets minus one points. Unique, but interesting.
If this article I’m going to go with something a little different this time. Maybe others do it, but I’ve never done it before, and that is to write-out the whole match in this article as if I’m commentating. I decided to do this for all those matches that either put R.O.H. on the map, or shaped R.O.H. into what it is, if the feedback is good and it turns out good. The reason? It seems original to me, and I think it will give a clearer picture of how R.O.H. action is.
So let’s pop in the D.V.D. into the Xbox (no, I don’t have a regular D.V.D. player).
I’ll skip the intro
Christopher Daniels (Daniels from now on) and Low Ki (Ki from now on) are the two to start out in the ring, however Daniels turns around and tags in Doug Doug (Doug from now on) and jumps out of the ring. Doug gets in the ring to face Ki and avoids an Enzeguri Ki and grabs Ki’s legs in a standing position and starts punching Ki, with the hold still in place. Dou applies a double under-arm hook hold which Ki reverses into an arm bar. Doug gets up and flips over Ki into an arm bar. Ki grabs Doug by the head with his feet and flips him over, as they separate and stare at each other.
They lock up as Doug goes into another arm bar. Ki starts kicking Doug and gets up with Doug not let going of the hold. Ki reverses it though, and Doug escapes it and applies a spider type hold on Ki. Ki elbows Doug and tries a bridge pin with a two. Low Ki tags in Spanky as the fans chant his name.
Doug and Spanky start out with a test of strength which twists into a cross-arm choke hold, and he kicks Spanky as the hold is applied. Spanky backs Doug into the corner, but Doug doesn’t let go, and Spanky reverses it but Doug flips Spanky over. A drop toe hold by Spanky into a head lock which Doug reverses into a headlock of his own and Spanky reverses into an armbar. They go into the corner as Daniels tags himself in.
Daniels and Doug trade arm locks and then Doug throws Daniels into two of the corners and puts Daniels’ arm in the back of the head. Doug then goes for the pin and it’s a two. Doug tags in Spanky who applies another arm bar on Christopher Daniels.
Spanky lifts Daniels and applies a headlock. Daniels irish whips Spanky off the ropes and Spanky performs a clothesline on Daniels. Spanky applies another headlock on Daniels. Daniels again whips Spanky off the ropes and Spanky him down with a shoulder block. Spanky bounces off the ropes but Daniels catches him with a knee to the gut. Now Daniels goes off the ropes however Spanky responds into arm drag takedown and applies another headlock on but this time Daniels backdrops him. Daniels beats on Spanky and takes him in the corner and cheaply tags in Ki.
Ki continues beating on Spanky and applies a head scissors. Spanky reverses it and bangs Ki’s knee into the mat.
Spanky tags in Doug who applies a leg lock on Ki. Ki and Doug then trade chops and forearms.
Doug tags in Daniels and Daniels runs in beating on Low Ki.
Daniels tags in Spanky and Spanky continues to work on Low Ki’s leg and puts applies a leg lock which Ki then turns into a dragon sleeper.
Daniels runs in and attacks Ki and beats on him. Daniels goes for a body slam and Low Ki jumps out of it and chops Daniels. Daniels headbutts Low Ki and uses forearms, as Low Ki then tags in Doug.
Daniels beats on Doug after a test of strength attempt. Daniels chops Doug without any effect and then it’s Doug who begins giving Daniels forearms. European Uppercut by Doug and an arm lock. Another European Uppercut by Doug into an irish whip which Daniels counters with a kick and then turns around and hits Low Ki, and Doug then hits a front lariat for a two count.
Doug tags in Spanky who works Daniels’ arm. Irish whip, and a forearm by Spanky. Another irish whip and an arm drag take down to an arm bar. Daniels reverses a third irish whip and kicks Spanky, and applies a neckbreaker for the two.
Daniels tags in Doug who applies a chin lock on Spanky. Spanky escapes it and tags in Ki.
Ki beats on Doug and applies a reverse chin lock on him, which Doug escapes. Doug applies a leg lock on Ki. Ki kicks his way out of the hold but Doug jumps on Ki’s knee. Doug stomps on Ki and applies another leg lock. Daniels comes in and stomps on Ki. Doug kicks Ki in the knee and puts him in a torture device and slams him.
Doug tags in Spanky who continues attacking the leg, however Ki fights back with chops and forearms. Irish whip by Ki on Spanky but Spanky drop kicks Low Ki’s knee, for a two count. Knee breaker by Spanky. Spanky goes for Ki’s leg twice but Ki smacks Spanky on the side of the head twice. Ki whips Spanky into the corner for a two count. Ki with a snap over suplex for a two. Ki drops Spanky on the top rope and kicks him in the face.
Daniels tags himself in and beats on Spanky, and hits a suplex for two. Daniels applies a backwards chin lock which Spanky reverses into an arm lock and then Daniels reverses into a pinning combination for the two. Headbutt by Daniels. Front facelock by Daniels. Irish whip by Daniels into a shoulder block. Daniels whips Spanky into the corner. Daniels runs into Spanky’s knee as Spanky jumps onto the turnbuckle but Daniels turns into an atomic drop like maneuver.
Spanky tags in Ki as Daniels turns around and tries to tag Doug but Doug jumps off the apron as Daniels frustrated. Daniels turns around and Ki starts beating on Daniels with all type of shots and chops. Irish whip by Ki reversed by Daniels but Low Ki turns into a Soppa Kick. Ki kicks Daniels twice in the chest and Daniels then ducks the third kick and charges at Low Ki’s bad knee. Both men are down. Then Daniels headbutts Ki, for a two count. Both men Exchange chops but Daniels then pokes Ki in the eye, turns around and punches Spanky. Ki grabs Daniels from behind as Spanky gets on the top rope. Spanky goes for a dropkick but Daniels moves and Spanky nails Low Ki.
Daniels grabs Spanky for a reverse DDT but Doug jumps into the ring with a flying clothesline on Daniels. Daniels whips Doug into the corner but Doug jumps on the second turnbuckle, jumps back to give Daniels a rolling DDT. Spanky grabs Doug for the sliced bread number two but Low Ki grabs Spanky into a Dragon Suplex. Daniels grabs Low Ki for a front face DDT.
The Fans get on their feet going nuts.
Ki and Daniels get Doug and Spanky out of the ring. Low Ki goes for his cartwheel corner elbow but Daniels counters by tackling his bad knee. Daniels hits the Last Rites, and gets the three count. Daniels 2, Low Ki -1 Doug and Spanky both have zero.
Daniels goes for another pin attempt on Low but Spanky breaks it up. Spanky irish whips Daniels into a side drop kick for a two. Spanky backdrops Daniels for two. Daniels reverses an irish whip by Spanky and throws him onto his head. Daniels tags in Doug and Doug applies a front face lock on Spanky and then turns it into a camel clutch. Doug lets go, hits a knee drop and gets a two count. Spanky then drops Doug face first into his knee and tags in Daniels.
Daniels Irish Whips Doug into a drop kick. Suplex attempt by Daniels reversed by Doug into an arm bar but Daniels reaches the rope. Doug hits Daniels arm with his knee and applies another arm lock, more knee onto Daniel’s arms as Doug tags in Spanky.
Spanky whips Daniels into the corner and runs towards him but Daniels hits a boot to the face and hits a DDT for two. Daniels applies a standing chin lock on Spanky who reverses it into a Fujiwara armbar. Daniels elbows Spanky to get out of the hold. Spanky grabs Daniels and tags in Doug who punches Daniels in the ribs.
Doug back flips Daniels and into a armbar type maneuver, but Daniels gets to the ropes. Daniels punches Doug and elbows him which sends Doug to the corner. Daniels continues beating down Doug in the corner and whips him into the opposite corner. Daniels runs at Doug with a shoulder but Doug moves and making Daniels hit the turnbuckle. Doug goes applies a scissors arm bar on Daniels. Daniels escapes and elbows Doug’s head. Daniels punches Doug in the face, picks him up and and Doug starts punching Daniels in the gut but Daniels rakes his eyes. Daniels with an irish whip into the ropes, into a spinebuster.
Spanky gets tagged in by Daniels, who attempts five covers in a row but they are all two counts including one where he stands on both of Doug’s hands. Spanky tries to pick up Doug but receives an ace crusher in the process. Doug applies a scissors headlock on Spanky which Daniels breaks up from the outside.
Doug tags in Daniels. Daniels goes for a powerbomb on Spanky but Spanky blocks it and Daniels turns it into a side suplex. Spanky from the floor tries to tag Low Ki, but Daniels kicks Low Ki off the mat. Irish whip by Daniels on Spanky but Daniels drops his head, and Spanky kicks him and hits a Russian leg sweep for two. Neckbreaker by Spanky who tags in Doug who hits a knee drop.
Doug applies a unique lock where his head goes into Daniels armpit and then changes it to an armlock. Daniels escapes but Doug clotheslines Daniels and gets a two on the pin attempt. Daniels rakes Doug’s eyes and tags in Spanky.
Doug punches Spanky and goes for a suplex, but Spanky reverses it into a front back wheel kick. Spanky tags in Daniels again.
Daniels hits a backbreaker on Doug with Spanky jumping over the top rope for a wheelbarrel spin legdrop. Double irish whip by both Spanky and Daniels but both men put their head down and Doug kicks Spanky and knees Daniels. Doug hits an overhead suplex on Daniels and whips Spanky into the corner but Spanky jumps over the turnbuckle and tries a hurricarana but Doug blocks it, grabs him and hits the Chaos Theory, but Daniels breaks up the pinfall.
Daniels goes for the slam, but Doug reverses it into a Chaos Theory attempt which Daniels blocks, and then he kicks Doug hits a sidewalk DDT and applies an arm/headlock. Ki jumps off the top rope with a foot stomp onto Daniels chest to break it.
Ki chops Daniels from the outside and goes for Doug and puts on a dragon clutch but Doug blocks it, and does like a standing surfboard submission and runs Low Ki into three corners, as Low Ki hangs off of one of them and Doug follows with the drop kick dropping Low Ki to the floor, with another standing ovation from the crowd. Both men get up as Doug gives forearms to Low Ki and backs him into the corner. Doug puts Ki on the top turnbuckle but Ki hits a double cross chop on Doug and hits a hurracarana. Ki applies the tribal sleeper and Doug powerbombs Ki twice, but Ki won’t let go, and turns it into a small package for a two and immediately applies an armbar. Doug gets up picking up Low Ki in the process for a back drop. Both men down. They both get up with Low Ki trying the irish whip which Doug reverses and Low Ki blocks a forearm attempt. Ki pushes Doug into the corner Ki whips him into the other corner as Spanky tags himself in, with Doug reversing Ki’s irish whip. Low Ki stops in the corner, Doug grabs him from behind and goes for the Chaos Theory but Low Ki lands on his feet and grabs Spanky at the same time and applies the Dragon Sleeper as Spanky taps, as the crowd goes crazy. Christopher Daniels 2 points, Low Ki 1 point, Doug Williams 0 points and Spanky -1 point.
Low Ki lets go of the Dragon Sleeper as Christopher Daniels hits him from behind and leaves the ring. He gets back in, picks up Low Ki for the body slam and goes for the pin but only gets a two. Daniels picks Ki up again into an irish whip, hits a clothesline and then a floating moonsault off the ropes for a two. Daniels picks him up again, hits Ki with some forearms, runs off the ropes but Ki kicks him in the midsection and then in the side of the head but Low Ki turns around from exhaustion as Daniels grabs him for a back roll up, and then a leg lock. Spanky comes in, breaks the hold, grabs Ki’s arm, pulls him over to the corner and tags himself in.
Daniels misses a clothesline on Spanky and Spanky hits a flying forearm as he climbs the corner and misses a frog splash onto Daniels. Daniels tries a side DDT which Spanky blocks and applies a cradle for a two. Daniels rebounds with forearms, whips Spanky into the corner, runs into the corner, but gets hit by Spanky’s boot. Spanky jumps on the second rope and hits a double underhook pedigree (how Steve Corino described it), for a two. Spanky tries to pick up Daniels but Daniels gives him a front chin breaker.
Doug tags himself in and puts a hanging man’s neckbreaker on Spanky which Spanky escapes from, runs off the ropes, jumps and Doug grabs him by the legs and plants Spanky’s face into the mat three times, for a two count. Doug whips Spanky into the corner and runs in with a high jumping knee to the face. Doug goes off the ropes again but Daniels plants Spanky with a clothesline, as Doug jumps with a knee to Daniels’s face. Doug climbs the ropes, as Ki goes for the pin on Daniels and gets a two, with Doug hitting a knee drop on Ki.
All four men on the floor, but Daniels is the first one to get up and he picks up Ki, gives him some forearms, but Doug hits a clotheslines on both.
Spanky gets up as goes for a pinball on Doug for a two. Spanky goes for a sliced bread number two on Doug but Ki blocks it in the corner, and chops Spanky and Doug grabs Spanky for a fisherman’s suplex which Ki breaking the pin attempt.
Low Ki picks up Doug and goes for his well-known kicks to the forehead. He hits a series of headbutts to the back of Doug’s head and then starts twisting Doug’s head numerous times from side to side. Ki goes back to headbutts as Low Ki gets dizzy from his own headbutts.
Daniels tags himself in and plants an STO on Doug. Christopher Daniels goes to the corner and nails the “Best Moonsault Ever” which Doug kicks out of. Daniels goes for the last rites but Doug blocks it and backdrops Daniels out of the ring as Spanky climbs to the top rope goes for the crossbody but Doug kicks out.
Low Ki tags himself in and picks up Doug, goes for an irish whip which Doug reverses it. Low Ki jumps onto the second rope, jumps back for the DDT attempt which Doug blocks it puts him on by putting Ki on his shoulders and into a power slam position Ki gets on the ring apron and puts Doug in a dragon sleeper on the ropes, which he had to let go of at the ref’s four count. Ki goes for the pin on Doug but Spanky breaks It up.
Daniels comes in and attacks Low Ki, as Doug attacks Spanky. Low Ki is on the top turnbuckle and Christopher Daniels lying against the turnbuckle facing out and Spanky performs the sliced bread number two on Doug off of Christopher Daniels’s chest. Daniels breaks the pin attempt and then dumps Spanky along with himself.
Ki gets on his feet , onto the top turnbuckle and hits a Phoenix Sinton on Doug and he gets the Three count. Low Ki leads with three points, Daniels has two, and Doug and Spanky both have minus one.
Daniels goes for the pinfall on Doug but it gets broken up by Ki. Daniels rakes Ki’s eyes and goes for the suplex as Spanky attacked Daniels to break it up and both Daniels and Low Ki clothesline Spanky.
There’s an exchange of chops between Ki and Daniels, and then Daniels headbutts Ki. Irish whip by Daniels on Ki but Ki ducks a clothesline, and then both men clothesline each other. Daniels gets up, chokeslams Low Ki but misses a “Best Moonsault Ever”. Low Ki sets up Daniels on the ring floor, goes to the top rope and goes for the Phoenix Senton but Daniels puts his knees up to block it.
Spanky gets in the ring, kicks Ki and hits a snap suplex for two. Spanky goes for the sliced bread number two on Ki but Ki blocks it, and turns it into a tombstone piledriver. Ki goes for the pin but Daniels breaks it up.
Daniels throws Ki to the outside and hits Death Valley Driver on Spanky.
Doug grabs Daniels and hits him with a piledriver for two.
Low Ki grabs Doug and whips him from one corner to the other and tries the tidal wave but Doug grabs him, hits the powerbombs, and goes for the pin but Spanky makes the save.
Spanky suplexes Low Ki on the top turnbuckle and Low Ki throws him off, and hits the 450 off the top turnbuckle on Spanky.
Daniels gets in the ring, grabs Spanky tries a body slam which Spanky reverses a DDT for a two.
Spanky goes to the top rope and hits a frog splash on Daniels, but gets a two due to Ki making the save kick to Spanky’s head.
Ki grabs Spanky who’s on the ring apron and tries a suplex but Spanky reverses it and nails a back suplex. Spanky goes for the pin but only gets a two. Spanky picks up Ki and after a serious of reversals Spanky shoulder blocks Low Ki into the ropes, ducks a Low Ki clothesline with Doug grabbing Spanky’s leg and then Spanky dives to the outside onto Doug.
Daniels does a sunset flip on Ki for a two. Daniels tries the STO but Low Ki blocks it, but Daniels gets another version of the STO for a two.
Doug is seen tornado DTTing Spanky on the floor after jumping from the ring apron.
Daniels headbutts Ki and puts him into the corner with some forearms. Daniels goes for the whip to the other corner but Low Ki blocks it, forearms Daniels and then runs at Daniels, but Daniels hits him with that Cena type side suplex. Daniels goes for the pin, but gets a two.
The crowd is chanting ROH.
Daniels sets Ki up for the Angel’s wings, but Ki spears Daniels. Daniels grabs Low Ki from the ropes, goes for a last rites which is blocked, after some weird botch of reversals, Daniels gets Low Ki into a dragon sleeper. Less than a minute left. Ki reverses it Daniels hits a last rites, and ITS OVER. Low Ki wins the title. Low Ki is your new and first R.O.H. Champion.
It was R.O.H.’s greatest match up until that point. Watching it the first time was awesome, however watching it a second time, it’s very good, but since I’ve seen many great matches in R.O.H. it doesn’t set the standard or have that feeling of being something special. In any case, awesome match that I say is a must-see.
— Jose Perez