#212: Bryan Danielson vs. KENTA, ROH Glory by Honor, Day 2 (9/16/2006).
This is for Danielson’s ROH World Championship.
Oh, this is one I’ve looked forward to for quite some time. Thanks to a working relationship with Pro Wrestling NOAH, we got to see two of the hardest hitting wrestlers of the 2000s square off. Danielson was really hitting his stride around this time in Ring of Honor, while it was no secret that KENTA was arguably the best wrestler on the planet due to his revolutionary fast and hard style he perfected in NOAH. Here, at the Manhattan Center in New York City, they’d face each other for the first time in singles action.
The crowd is white hot just for the introductions. The bell sounds, they circle one another. They lock up, and KENTA gets Danielson up against the ropes. Danielson ducks from a lethal kick from the challenger. Collar and elbow tie up, and KENTA forces him against the ropes again. He pops off a nice slap to the face, which doesn’t amuse Danielson. Another lock up, and a slap from Danielson this time. They lock hands in the middle of the ring, and Danielson goes after the shoulder, followed by a knee strike to the face.
KENTA kicks Danielson in the gut, then pops off a hard roundhouse kick to the shoulder of Danielson. They lock up, and KENTA pops off another kick to the shoulder. Danielson fires back with slaps to the face, with the opposite arm. Snap mare by Danielson, and a kick to the spine. KENTA responds by doing the exact same thing. Danielson clutches at his shoulder, as KENTA stalks him. Another kick to the shoulder, and Danielson takes the side headlock.
Side headlock takedown by Danielson, and KENTA applies a head scissors. Danielson spins his way free and ties up the legs. Danielson applies a chin lock, before giving a clean break. He kicks KENTA on the spine, and KENTA responds with hard kicks to the legs. KENTA goes back to the arm, before eating a dropkick to the face. KENTA rolls to the floor, and catches Danielson with hard kicks to the chest as he goes to follow him. KENTA sends Danielson shoulder first into the ringside barricade.
KENTA brings Danielson back into the ring, and he stomps on the injured shoulder. More stiff kicks to the shoulder, and KENTA gets a rear mount in, as he continues to add pressure to the limb. Danielson with a head scissors next, and KENTA slips out and goes back to the arm lock. KENTA drops both knees and his body weight onto the arm next. He dives into the ring from the apron, but fakes Danielson out and gives him a light kick to the head.
Danielson doesn’t appreciate this, and KENTA takes advantage of that emotion by trapping Danielson in a key lock. He’s able to get to the ropes. Danielson with some left arm slaps to the face, and he looks for a sunset flip roll up, and KENTA blocks it. He then slaps the holy shit out of Danielson, and the crowd loves it. KENTA goes back to the arm lock, and he switches to target the fingers. Danielson rebounds from an irish whip by driving his knee into the midsection, then hitting a Crovat suplex.
Danielson brings KENTA to the turnbuckle, and then fires off several roundhouse kicks to the chest. He then follows with a suplex, followed by a choke hold. He rakes KENTA’s face across the top rope. Danielson turns KENTA over, and looks for the Surfboard, but he accidentally slips free. He blames his hurt shoulder, and tells the fans that he never fucks up. Danielson transitions next into the Figure Four Leglock. Danielson uses the ropes for extra leverage, as KENTA screams at the referee about it.
He then slingshots KENTA throat first into the bottom rope. Danielson with a hard chop to the chest, and a boot to the face. KENTA blocks another boot, and kicks his hamstring. Vertical suplex follows. KENTA with some hard kicks to the shoulder, followed by a springboard missile dropkick for a 2 count. KENTA looks for a fisherman suplex, and transitions to a butterfly suplex for 2. KENTA goes right into the cross armbreaker out of that.
Danielson back flips off the top turnbuckle, and rolls right into the Half Crab submission. KENTA is nearly at the ropes, and Danielson pulls him away and adds even more pressure to the calf. KENTA eventually makes it to the ropes, and hits an enziguri to break the hold. KENTA looks for the GTS, and Danielson escapes with a rolling elbow. Diving elbow in the corner, and Danielson places KENTA on the top rope.
He slaps him in the face, and hits a super plex to the mat below. Danielson next applies the Crossface Chicken Wing, and he grapevines KENTA with a body scissors as well. KENTA is able to pull himself towards the ropes to break the hold. Danielson with a power slam, and he goes to the top rope next. Danielson hits the Diving Headbutt, and lands face first into KENTA’s boots. KENTA looks for a springboard attack, and Danielson counters with a dropkick.
Forearm by KENTA, and a slap by Danielson. Good exchange of strikes and slaps from both men. KENTA with a boot to the face, and Danielson with headbutts. German Suplex by Danielson, and a brainbuster by KENTA. Hard elbows by both men, and they are down! KENTA with a running clothesline that sends Danielson to the floor. KENTA looks for a whip, and Danielson counters with an overhead belly to belly suplex.
Danielson is back in the ring, and hits a running baseball slide that sends KENTA into the front row. Danielson then hits a springboard dive out of the ring, and over the barricade onto KENTA! The crowd lose their fucking minds at this. Back in the ring, Danielson hits a shotgun dropkick, Toyota style. He looks for the rolling elbow, and KENTA catches it and applies the Fujiwara Armbar! Danielson quickly gets to the ropes, as his injured arm was hanging on for dear life.
Danielson escapes a back suplex, and kicks KENTA in the face. Danielson looks for a second rope attack, and KENTA counters with a Cutter. He goes right back to the arm bar! Danielson again gets to the ropes. Hard strikes by KENTA, and Danielson is able to hit the Regal Plex out of nowhere for a close nearfall. Danielson is up first, clutching onto the shoulder. He places KENTA on the top rope, and he connects with a high back suplex. He hurt himself on the way down! He covers, and KENTA kicks out.
Danielson goes right into Cattle Mutilation! KENTA maneuvers his way free, getting his foot on the bottom rope. Front Chancery suplex by Danielson, and he goes back to the top rope. KENTA leaps to the top rope, and looks for a suplex, and Danielson tosses him down. He dives down, and KENTA catches him with the GTS! KENTA covers, and Danielson just barely – and I mean barely – gets his foot on the bottom rope. The crowd exploded at the possibility of a title change.
KENTA with more kicks to the injured shoulder, and a running knee to the back. Another knee against the ropes. Danielson blocks the Busaiku Knee, and gets a roll up for a close nearfall. Single leg dropkick by KENTA. He looks for GTS again, and Danielson counters into a Crucifix pin for a 2 count. Danielson goes right into several elbows to the side of the head, and KENTA appears to be out, except his stands back up for the GTS again! Danielson counters into Cattle Mutilation, and KENTA reverses into a roll up for 2!
Danielson lifts KENTA up and hits a Tiger Suplex for a nearfall! He transitions, with the arms still hooked, into Cattle Mutilation! He quickly goes back to more elbows to the head, and then back to Cattle Mutilation. KENTA fights it as best as he can, but he can’t survive! He taps out, and Danielson has survived to retain the ROH World Championship.
Awesome match between two masters. The fans in New York that night got to see a glimpse of the KENTA that terrorized NOAH over the years, while they also got to see another masterful performance from Danielson. KENTA targeting the shoulder all match long, and Danielson was always aware enough to sell the injury as much as he could. KENTA came off like a lethal assassin here, while Danielson played both the gutsy underdog and in ring bully at the same time.
This match was also helped by a super hot crowd, who appreciated Danielson’s efforts and were also excited to see KENTA in a singles match. The shots throughout were stiff, and some of the counter sequences towards the end were absolutely salivating. Personally, I wished they leaned more into “bomb territory,” as I believe these are two guys who can do that kind of wrestling very well. But then again, that’s the easy way out, isn’t it?
Instead, they tried to give us a well wrestled story of limb work and psychology, all while being stiff enough to salve the senses. When you have two hard hitters in their zone just going all out against one another, you can’t lose, and here, the fans were the real winners.