ROH Classics: Scurll vs Okada, Bryan vs London in 2-out-of-3 falls, more!

There’s not much news this week from ROH, so let’s hit some nifty free videos released over the past week. Marty Scurll profiled his favorite matches, which included Okada at All In. Daniel Bryan and Paul London went 40+ minutes in a 2-out-of-3 falls contest. The Honor List featured ROH’s greatest debuts.

Scurll vs Okada

Marty Scurll took control of episode 451 of ROH Wrestling to spotlight some of his favorite matches during his ROH run. You can watch the episode through Honor Club or for free on Fite TV (here).

Highlights were shown of Scurll’s 2016 ROH debut in the UK and also winning gold in his second ROH match by defeating Will Ospreay for the Television Championship.

As part of the Bullet Club, Scurll was fortunate to be part of the All In event from Chicago, IL on September 1, 2018. He wanted to step up against heavyweight talent, so he went to the top against the golden boy of Japan, Kazuchika Okada.

The story was Scurll rising to the challenge despite Okada’s size advantage. After Scurll grabbed momentum with an early brainbuster, his back couldn’t muster the strength to follow through with a powerbomb. Scurll tried to play it off then ran right into an Air Raid Crash from Okada.

Scurll had momentum again after a superplex. That led to a successful powerbomb, but Okada kicked out. Scurll had trouble overcoming Okada’s size, so he resorted to snapping fingers. That took Okada enough out of his element for Scurll to duck a Rainmaker and latch on a chickenwing submission. Okada was too strong and escaped.

Scurll even tried to use Okada’s own moves against him. The referee had been knocked down, so Scurll used an umbrella to whack Okada on the head. That is when Scurll struck with a Rainmaker. Okada kicked out.

For the finish, Scurll demanded that the two stand toe to toe and exchange blows. The smaller Scurll came out on the losing end after two consecutive Rainmakers.

I don’t know if this is Scurll’s best match, but it is one I would recommend as a nice introduction to his Villain work if you have never seen Scurll before. He showcased intestinal fortitude, hit his signature maneuvers, and played games cheating.

The next match was a singles bout against Bandido at Center Stage in Atlanta on August 24, 2019. Scurll wanted to test himself in a clash of styles. The match began with Scurll clowning around to work the crowd. He softened up Bandido early until Bandido hit a flurry of moves with a superkick, a springboard tornillo, a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker, a cutter, then a rotating plancha to the outside.

The second half of the match had counters and transitions in key moments. Bandido had a 21-plex set up, but Scurll countered into a chickenwing submission. Bandido escaped and landed a standing moonsault. Bandido also hit a sweet moonsault fallaway slam. In the end, Scurll took over with a big clothesline, the Bird of Prey sitout side powerbomb, and the Black Plague swinging double underhook suplex to win. This bout gets the thumbs up from me.

Bryan vs London

ROH’s free throwback bout this week was Bryan Danielson (aka Daniel Bryan) against Paul London in a 2-out-of-3 falls contest at The Epic Encounter on April 12, 2003.

The first 15 minutes were primarily mat work exchanges. The impact picked up leading to the first fall around the 20 minute mark. Bryan was setting up a belly-to-back superplex, but London shifted position mid-air to fall down upon Bryan for the pin.

London’s undoing in fall 2 was when his knee got hung up in the ropes. Bryan immediately focused on damaging that joint. He tied the score with a single leg crab submission.

Fall 3 lasted about 13 minutes. Bryan kept up the attack on the knee, but London fired back with boots to the head. The finish had callbacks to the previous two falls. Bryan successfully executed his belly-to-back superplex and also hooked in another single leg crab. London dramatically crawled to the ropes for the break. Bryan went back to the belly-to-back superplex, however, London escaped with elbows and headbutts to counter into a spinning super DDT. That didn’t put Bryan away, so London pulled out the shooting star press to win.

This was one of the better stories for a 2-out-of-3 falls match that I’ve seen. While this bout took a long time to get cooking, all of the action was part of the tale being told. Bryan circling back around to his signature moves in fall 3 was a nice touch. London did a great job selling his pain to create drama.

The Honor List

We’ll close with The Honor List of the 7 biggest debuts in ROH history.

7. Larry Sweeney (2006)
6. Matt Taven’s new Kingdom with TK O’Ryan & Vincent (2016)
5. Will Ospreay (2016)
4. Jimmy Jacobs, Tyler Black, Necro Butcher, & Lacey as Age of the Fall (2007)
3. Jeff Cobb (2018)
2. Hardys (2017)
1. Marty Scurll (2016)

This version of The Honor List wasn’t as intriguing for me. I feel like background knowledge was necessary to really appreciate the picks. I did enjoy Scurll, as narrator, poking fun at himself in the top spot.

If you are looking for ROH merch, they currently have a sale for ROH logo apparel.

What are your favorite matches from Scurll’s ROH career? Where does Bryan vs London rank in your best 2-out-of-3 falls matches? Who would you like to see as the next big debut for ROH?