ROH GLORY BY HONOR III

ROH GLORY BY HONOR III

Austin Aries vs. CM Punk
This is the first ever 1-on-1 contest between these two according to Cagematch, so it's already kind of notable for that. And it's a very good one. It took a while for it to get cooking, but once it did, I was definitely sucked into the story of Aries' arm vs. Punk's ribs. They sold well & busted out nice dedicated, focused & even creative offense to further that said story. It's awesome. The finish isn't though, as it features lots of fuckery w/ a ref bump followed by all of Generation Next running in as well as Ace Steel & Steve Corino. It's not good, but everything else here is. ***1/2

Alex Shelley vs. Bryan Danielson
Hey it's another first ever 1-on-1 match-up on this show! And much like Aries vs. Punk, it's very good. Shelley's heat segment working on Danielson's neck was very solid; he has a certain charm about his work, and he is also a good little dickhead & he certainly commits well to a strategy. It's good stuff. The absolute highlight of the match is what follows, though. Dragon coming back & going to town on Shelley's banged up arm, wringing & twisting it everywhere viciously, it's so damn awesome. As was Shelley's bumping & selling of it. I do think the match could've easily been trimmed quite a bit though & Bryan could've sold Shelley's neckwork more during his asskicking-section. That's what separates the 'very good' from the 'great' here. ***1/2

John Walters vs. Nigel McGuinness
Goddamn this was such a joyful time. It's that signature early 2000s ROH/indy action where both of the competitors come off as so charming, focused & hungry, and it results in an absolute banger of a match. All the technical prowess was beautiful to watch, Walters' work over the neck was awesome & Nigel's all around babyface performance was so damn good. Great use of the Pure ropebreak rules as well. This was an absolute blast. ***3/4

Doug Williams vs. Samoa Joe
I absolutely ADORE their 2003 match for the ROH World Title. It's such a tight, action-packed sub-12 minute bout. This one was good, but doesn't come near that one in terms of quality, in my eyes. Obviously it's still good since it's Doug Williams vs. Samoa Joe & they keep it classy with the sub-20 minute runtime. Lots of badass offense & I thought Doug in particular had some really nice moments when it came to the selling side of things - especially his facial expressions sold some of Joe's kickass arsenal wonderfully. It's a good match. ***