Taking A Look Back At The ROH Era For Bryan Danielson

When people think of Ring of Honor, they think of Bryan Danielson. "The American Dragon" was the face of the independent company from day one, taking them from their first event all the way through their peak prime years, consistently towards the top end of their cards.

By ROH's debut show, The Era of Honor Begins​ in February 2002, Bryan Danielson had already had a fairly prolific career. Danielson started his career at the Texas Wrestling Academy with Shawn Michaels, before signing a WWF developmental deal and sitting under William Regal's learning tree, and then joining NJPW's original LA Dojo. With a great foundation to start, ROH would be the place that Bryan Danielson developed into the best wrestler in the world.

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Bryan Danielson Was A Founding Father Of Ring Of Honor

Having been there from the inception, Bryan Danielson is one of ROH's founding fathers, a pivotal figure in shaping the promotion. ROH was built on respect for the craft and top-notch professional wrestling, two qualities that Danielson exemplified then and still does. Interestingly, the company held off on giving Danielson any championships for quite some time, perhaps a testament to his role as a key player. Though he may not have had belts around his waist, Danielson was entrusted with important marquee matches that would set the tone for the fledgling promotion.

Danielson was a versatile player for ROH. When not in the main event, he could be trusted with bolstering the card with some stellar action, helping to make ROH a heavily talked about promotion. He found himself in massively hyped matches, taking on CM Punk with Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat as guest referee, and facing Jushin "Thunder" Liger in his ROH debut. He was also looked to for some of ROH's more experimental and envelope-pushing ideas, such as his 74 minute 2-out-of-3 falls match with Austin Aries at Testing the Limit. But, after being the company's star player, the time eventually came to officially coronate him as such.

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Bryan Danielson As ROH World Champion

On September 17th, 2005, Bryan Danielson became the seventh ROH World Champion by defeating James Gibson (better known as WWE's Jamie Noble) at Glory by Honor IV. Still in its relative infancy, the title had already built up a huge reputation, particularly from Samoa Joe's record reign of 645 days and the Summer of Punk shortly before Danielson got his hands on the belt. But, Danielson made that title his own by doing what he did best; putting on incredible wrestling matches.

Danielson's reign saw him take on a long list of varied challengers, putting on quality performances with practically everyone that stepped to him. His time as champion overlapped with ROH's feud with CZW, being at the centerpiece of it all as Chris Hero started the invasion targeting Danielson. His challengers also included Japanese talent brought in from Pro Wrestling NOAH, namely KENTA and Naomichi Marufuji, and even returning legends like Lance Storm. Over the span of 462 days, Danielson made 38 successful defenses, before ultimately losing the belt to his storied rival Homicide, and then taking time off to heal his shoulder.

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Bryan Danielson Had Many Memorable ROH Feuds

Following Danielson's injury, he continued his ROH career by following up and igniting some rivalries that are his most storied. Danielson made an emphatic return in the summer of 2007, wrestling two matches at Reborn Again and then appearing the next night at ROH's first pay-per-view, Respect is Earned. There, Danielson crossed paths with the two rivals that would push him to the limit; Takeshi Morishima and Nigel McGuinness.

Morishima was a Pro Wrestling NOAH super-heavyweight who had claimed the world championship in Danielson's absence. Danielson would challenge the giant first at Manhattan Mayhem II, a match that Danielson would lose, and also leave with a detached retina from one of Morishima's heavy blows. Despite that injury, the rivalry only intensified from there, with Danielson fighting with an eye-patch in their second encounter that ended in referee stoppage, the third ending in disqualification, and a final "Fight Without Honor" at 2008's Final Battle. In his autobiography, Danielson had mentioned how Morishima was a gentle soul outside the ring and worried greatly about hurting his smaller opponents. But, a glutton for violence, Danielson assured him he could take it, even after the detached retina, even purposefully trying to rile Morishima up in matches and coax out the monster within.

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The first chapters of the story between Danielson and Nigel McGuinness had been written during Danielson's run as world champion. McGuinness had been ROH's Pure Champion, competed for under Pure Rules. A title-for-title match under such rules ended in a count-out in April 2006, before Danielson successfully defended the world title at July's Generation Now which led to the infamous match at Unified. The bloody and brutal contest in Liverpool, England saw Danielson come out victorious, unifying the titles. McGuinness received one more title shot two weeks later at Epic Encounter II in a 2-out-of-3 falls match, but the match ended in a time limit draw with one fall apiece.

"The American Dragon" continued to get the better of McGuinness following his time as world champion, with his British rival continually failing to get a decisive victory over him. But, McGuinness managed to do what Danielson couldn't; defeat Takeshi Morishima for the ROH World Championship. McGuinness finally broke the curse at ROH's Sixth Anniversary Show, finally beating Danielson one-on-one, and then again at Rising Above in November 2008. The two would not meet again for almost a year, but upon the announcement that both men had signed with WWE, ROH organized The Final Countdown tour, named in tribute to Danielson. The tour culminated at Glory by Honor VIII, with the two fabled rivals facing off one final time. Danielson picked up the win in front of a raucous and appreciative crowd, applauding both men into the sunset, as the book closed on Danielson's time in ROH.