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Post by bossrock on Jan 22, 2018 17:01:40 GMT -5
Bryan Danielson vs. Nigel McGuinness (ROH-Sixth Anniversary Show, 2/23/2008)
Doesn’t quite reach the heights of the Unified match but it comes damn close. Quite possibly one of the greatest in-ring stories I’ve ever seen with Bryan refusing to go for shots to the head even when he has the opportunity to win. Nigel is a brilliant shit as he tries to get disqualified when Bryan accidentally drops him during a German suplex and then takes the most dastardly route imaginable in response to Bryan’s code of ethics. Some uncomfortable spots when you consider both men’s physical conditions, but the strikes and grappling are as good as you would expect between these two.
Easy top 50 candidate.
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Post by tetsujin on Jan 24, 2018 19:56:06 GMT -5
SECOND. One of the smartest matches I've ever seen. Nigel's character work here is perfect, and I LOVE how he uses his head as a weapon towards the end of the match; what a heel he became. A wonderful piece of storytelling with real chances of being in my top 10, maybe even top 5.
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Post by smartmark15 on Jan 26, 2018 5:51:30 GMT -5
An unpopular opinion but this is probably my favorite match of the Bryan-Nigel series. Nigel being a spectacular heel, making the crowd buy in while still playing to a famously smarky and contrarian crowd. Bryan becomes the ultimate ROH babyface by going above and beyond the code of honor to try and win the World Title while still honoring his word. Fantastic match up that I feel will only hold up better and better with time.
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Post by bossrock on Jan 26, 2018 10:57:27 GMT -5
I don't think that's an unpopular opinion at all (at least not to me,heh). I think I still prefer the Unified match but they're almost on equal ground.
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Post by KB8 on Jan 26, 2018 13:07:19 GMT -5
To me, this is the best match ROH has ever had and one of the five best matches of the 00s. Nigel's slow burn into full blown heel mode is inspired and it garners some of the most visceral hatred I've ever seen from a smark crowd. It wasn't a case of them booing to be contrarian or because they were sick of the guy being shoved down their throats -- Nigel had them in the palm of his hand and the fact it led to an ROH crowd starting a USA chant is sort of incredible. Last minute or so is pretty much perfect.
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Post by Cap on Jan 27, 2018 11:21:00 GMT -5
Yeah... I don't think its crazy to call this the best. I think a lot of people have that opinion actually. I am glad it is on the nominees list now. I am going to rewatch it soon actually as I have been trying to work through their entire feud here and there. I need to get back on that.
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Post by shittylilboots on Jan 22, 2019 9:16:03 GMT -5
I could just say that this is the greatest match of all-time and leave it at that. It's to me what Austin vs. Bret is to many people - the absolute apex of American professional wrestling. They go into it w/ a special agreement that Danielson won't target Nigel's head, because of the concussion Nigel suffered a few months earlier vs. Austin Aries. The fans had been slowly turning on Nigel in his time as the champ, and here the crowd was at least 95% on Danielson's side, with a few chants of "NIGEL!" here & there. The whole atmosphere is something special; the random yells of "you fucking PUSSY!" & "BITCH!" to Nigel throughout are amazing, and add to the whole package of the match. The match starts w/ your usual competitive wrestling between the two; Bryan does a great job doing his usual offense, but instead of targeting the head, he goes for the body instead. The turning point comes when Bryan hits a belly-to-back suplex & Nigel complains to the ref that he wants Bryan to be DQ'd, because he hit the back of his head there. The ref doesn't do that, so Nigel hits him to get the DQ he wanted. He leaves, but is greeted by Aries & other ROH wrestlers who are not letting Nigel disrespect the championship like that. I thought that added fantastically to the whole Anniversary Show atmosphere, and it was perfectly executed. The match gets restarted, and Nigel is angry & intense as hell, even more so than before; he does quite the number on Bryan's arm, which is vintage Nigel, but this truly was some of the best arm work he did during this run. Bryan's comebacks are absolutely terrific w/ him going after Nigel's mid-section, and the big one where he puts him down w/ punches to the body, teasing the 10-count KO finish was amazing. Nigel is starting to get desperate - he has done everything in his power to try & defeat the challenger, so what does he do next? He fucking HEADBUTTS Bryan! Maybe my favorite single match moment of all-time. Bryan's reaction to it is superb; not over the top in the slightest, he just sells the shock perfectly. Nigel keeps on headbutting Bryan - it's essentially the biggest dick move of all-time because of the "Bryan will not target Nigel's head because of the concussions he has suffered" clause, but also because of Bryan's bad eye, which Prazak & Lenny brought up brilliantly. The finish is simply perfect too w/ Nigel first killing Bryan with a brutal lariat & then busting out Danielson's own signature elbows against him - at that point Bryan is out of it, but Nigel in a true egomaniac moment still has to put him in the London Dungeon to get his first non-count out 1-on-1 victory over his greatest rival. It's storytelling perfection from start to finish, and the execution by both men is on another level. #1
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Post by superstarsleeze on Feb 23, 2019 19:42:15 GMT -5
1000000x better than Unified match. Really good story with Nigel freshly turnt heel and Bryan agreeing not to go head hunting. Interesting selling and psychology!
ROH World Champion Nigel McGuinness vs Bryan Danielson - ROH 6th Anniversary Show 2/23/08
Before the match, Danielson agreed not to attack the head of McGuinness, who has been struggling my concussion issues. They had been doing a slow burn heel turn for Nigel and finally exploded this night as everyone in the Manhattan Center thought he was being a chump.
I really feel the dynamics of this match are far better with Danielson as the babyface and McGuiness as the heel. I really like how character driven this is. Danielson remains true to his word throughout the match and never attacks the head of McGuiness even thought he has plenty of opportunities. I always like when a heel wrestles the match straight at the beginning and only resorts to heel tactics when the match is slipping through his fingertips. They start with some of their chain wrestling which I thought had more struggle to it and Danielson clearly had a comfortable lead winning these exchanges. I really liked the callback where Nigel does the headstand in the corner, but this time Danielson dropkicks him in the chest instead of the head. Nice job! Danielson is kicking the back of Nigel and hits a back suplex, but all these shots rattle Nigel's head. I love this because Danielson is staying away from the head, but he cant help it a lot of strikes and suplexes will rattle the head. The fans get on Nigel's case for being overly sensitive. Nigel loses his cool and decks the ref to trigger the DQ. I really liked that spot. Austin Aires & Co. say they will not let Nigel disgrace the title like that and order him back in the ring. I like that it was wrestlers instead of an authority figure that did that.
Nigel takes over on the restart, not the best transition, but the heel work on top is solid. He is working on the arm and he is doing a lot of jaw jacking with the crowd. Danielson is very good at selling. Danielson strings together a couple moves, but Nigel ends up suplexing him from the apron to the floor. Nigel rocks him big time European Uppercut up against the railing. Danielson gets a desperation backdrop into the crowd and then hits his big springboard somersault into the audience. Great highspot! I really thought the rest of the match picked up in a big way from here on out. Danielson looked poised to capitalize in the ring when Nigel hits a big time lariat. Danielson does an incredible job selling the lariat. The insufferable ROH fans chant "Same 'ol shit!" and I roll my eyes. I will say the ROH announcers were really good. I was not expecting that at all.
The best spot in my opinion of the match was when Danielson goes for a suicide dive and Nigel hits a European Uppercut. Then Nigel summarily hits a Tower of London from the apron. I loved how they both sold, they both bladed especially how Nigel sold the head injury because of the force of his own blow. Since it was on the outside and they were selling, it made sense that Danielson could kick out. Nigel goes for Cattle Mutilation, but cant hold the bridge and Nigel misses his big rebound lariat, but he hits the one when Danielson is hung up on the corner. TOWER OF LONDON! 1-2-NO! Reverse Top Wristlock by Nigel. Danielson finally catches a break with Chaos Theory! Danielson cant capitalize he has taken too much punishment and his arm is just slung to his side. Danielson goes all Fujiwara on us with TREMENDOUS body shots and even busts out a Fujiwara armbar and then elbows to the body. All the while, Danielson refuses to elbow Nigel in the head instead he hits a Tiger Suplex. I really liked when Danielson told the ref to count Nigel for ten after a barrage of body shots. Danielson go home sequence was so great. He stayed away from highspots focused on strikes to the body and submission holds. The best part of the match by far is when Nigel uses headbutts to crack Danielson in his bad eye (Morishima match) repeatedly then elbows him in the head repeatedly in Danielson like fashion. I love that after all that shit was made about Nigel's head he used it as a weapon and went after Danielson's own injury. That is beautiful heel work. Danielson passes out in the reverse top wristlock.
Far superior to the Unified match. Great character work from both wrestlers. Danielson was a great babyface fighting from underneath trying to winning earnestly and respectfully. I can get behind that and really sunk my teeth into Danielson's quest to do it a specific manner. Nigel was a great heel he was a prick and he was great at all always selling his head. Of course, the grand hurrah is that after all that stink, Nigel uses headbutts to attack Danielson's bad eye long enough to KO him with Danielson-style elbows to the head. Great finish. There are certain 2000s things that bother me (like people waiting to be hit with moves) and a lot of that is just Nigel's offense. Beautiful story with Nigel making a big stink about his own injury only to exploit Danielson's most famous injury is just excellent pro wrestling. ****1/2
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Post by midwesternlariart on Sept 4, 2023 16:39:52 GMT -5
Nigel using the real expectations put on him by the bloodthirsty ROH crowd to perform with what is suggested to be a concussion in a post-benoit world to goad bryan danielson into a cleaner cut contest (something that feels like enough of a concession for him to win it easily) only to get owned to the point where he has to use every cheap trick in the book to create an opening only for that to STILL not be enough, Nigel is forced to own up to his hypocrisy. Using his own "injured" head to attack bryan's eye, the dirty trick to open the door to knock bryan out and retain his belt. Nigel sacrifices his identity and forfeits any claim to being the best wrestler in the world, admitting his inferiority. Seeking solace in holding the belt, when he can never be the champion.
As perfectly and concisely expressed as all of Nigel's emotions are in this match and how his arch here is maybe the best of all time, the great irony here is that it is bryan's performance that stands out. He has so much poise and is so charismatic during the first act of this match (pre-restart). Nigel is never blown out of the water on the mat, but while he does offer up his own counters through the first stretch, it's bryan who always guts his way through to a dominant position. Bryan being this perfect antidote of sorts adds a lot to Nigel as a sympathetic character, Bryan being so much fun just in general to watch in this position, I end up sort of wanting to see bad things happen to Nigel. A jealous, talented guy whose struggles of not being good enough are very relatable who goes about things the wrong way vs a guy whose (in the ROH setting only) so god damn good at everything, but is impossible to dislike because he worked so god damn hard for it, wants it so bad, and is just overall a great dude. It's a brilliant dynamic.
Bryan shines even more post-restart. After Nigel uses the restart as an opening to cut bryan off (using the hurt leg and formerly injured shoulder to create openings for bigger offense, in his own great heel performance), Bryan's return is immediately gripping. Fiery as all hell, Bryan quickly begins to melt right through Nigel's two pronged attack to get to him and makes what he's allowed to do regarding his promise to not strike the head and the general rules of pro wrestling, look like the most violent attack in the world. Violent and disgusting knees and elbows to the ribs, and surviving every big bomb Nigel can reel off. Bryan pushes Nigel back and back until Nigel did the only thing he could to get off of the wall.
A devastating match mechanically and emotionally. Every single incredibly worked act being informed by the dynamic and narrative, exactly what wrestling deserves to be at its highest level. The belt owner takes home another technical win, but moral loss. A lock for my top 5.
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Post by elliott on Sept 29, 2023 12:17:46 GMT -5
I've never been a fan of these matches and that hasn't changed revisiting them.
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Post by [Darren] on Sept 29, 2023 13:22:49 GMT -5
Unified maybe hadn’t aged well.
Driven, had lost its luster
This is one of the easiest matches to just GET.
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Post by fxnj on Sept 29, 2023 14:36:45 GMT -5
Dunno what it is about these big Bryan ROH matches that I can’t get into. I like plenty of matches involving other guys, but something about Bryan’s work doesn’t hit me like I want. Most of his stuff isn’t even bad, but just caps out at “very good” for me. I’d like to say the praise for Bryan leads to me being overly critical and making unfavorable comparisons to the better matches that inspired him, but I had a hard time with this series even before the serious GOAT praise started.
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Post by elliott on Sept 30, 2023 0:04:21 GMT -5
All of these matches just make me wish ECW & WCW never died & that path was still available instead of ROH & TNA.
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