ROH Classics: CM Punk vs Samoa Joe #1, PJ Black showcase, more!

Ring of Honor is giving the people what they want with classic matches for your viewing pleasure.

First on the list this week is CM Punk vs Samoa Joe #1 in their trilogy. ROH released the bout as a thank you for reaching 500,000 subscribers on YouTube. Buckle in because Punk and Joe take it down to wire of the 60-minute time limit.

In June of 2004, Samoa Joe was in the midst of a legendary ROH World Title run. Having captured the belt in March of 2003, his reign had recently eclipsed the one year mark and having already defeated numerous challengers, there was no end in sight for the dominant champion. Enter: CM Punk…

What happened on June 12, 2004 in Ohio would come to be known as “World Title Classic” and that bout between Joe & Punk would mark the beginning of a trilogy of matches that have become legendary, including the five-star-rated Joe vs Punk II (Joe vs Punk 2). From Dayton to Chicago to New Jersey, these two warriors gave everything they had, their blood, sweat, and tears, for the right to be called ROH World Champion.

Other free matches posted on ROH’s YouTube channel include:

• Colt Cabana & PCO vs RUSH & Jeff Cobb in 2019 (here)
• Cheeseburger with commentary on his first ROH match for the Six-Man Championship against Roderick Strong, Kyle O’Reilly, & Bobby Fish (here)

PJ Black showcase

PJ Black was profiled on ROH Wrestling, episode #459 (here). The opening match was against Silas Young at Honor for All on August 25, 2019 in Nashville, TN. I don’t know why this one was included. Black was beaten up most of the match then won with a surprise roll-up. The story was more about the early mentor relationship between Young and Josh Woods.

The second bout is my pick to watch of the three. Black wrestled Bandido on March 16, 2019 in Las Vegas, NV. Top moves were a slingshot corkscrew by Black, a neat counter by Black of a super hurricanrana into a Styles Clash, and a unique cradle brainbuster from Bandido. It wasn’t PJ’s night as he went down in defeat to Bandido’s 21 plex finisher.

The main event was a three-way versus Flip Gordon and CMLL’s Triton at Global Wars Espectacular on September 8, 2019 in Milwaukee, WI. It was full of splendid aerial attacks. This bout was the best of the three to showcase Black’s current skills. He pulled out the victory after getting his feet up on a moonsault from Triton. PJ closed it out with a springboard 450 splash to win.

The Honor List

The Honor List is back with a countdown of ROH’s top moments from G1 Supercard. Much to no one’s surprise, the invasion of Enzo and Big Cass was left off the list.

6. Flip Gordon, Juice Robinson, & Mark Haskins endure street fight pain to beat Bully Ray, Shane Taylor, & Silas Young
5. Jeff Cobb beat Will Ospreay to win NEVER Openweight and retain ROH TV Championships
4. Guerrillas of Destiny win ROH tag titles in four-way mayhem
3. Muta and Liger face off
2. Rush bulldozes Dalton Castle in 15 seconds
1. Matt Taven becomes grand slam champ in ladder match against Jay Lethal and Marty Scurll

For me, Muta vs Liger takes the top spot. Too bad ROH ruined it with Kenny King tossing them out. At least King received a misting from Muta for our delight. Flip Gordon taking that kendo stick shot from Shane Taylor and Jay Lethal falling off a ladder onto another ladder were both brutal, but the most painful looking maneuver was G.O.D. double chokeslamming PCO out of the ring onto the floor. Ouch.

We’ll close with a little dream traveling from Danhausen. The backstory is his attempt to be signed by ROH. Marty Scurll gave him a shot by seeing how well a Danhausen shirt would sell. It became #1. Scurll reneged out of jealousy. Danhausen hasn’t been able to get through to Scurll, so he is trying to get Brody King to put in the word. That led to King having a nightmarehausen.

While waiting for next week’s ROH Classics, take advantage of a DVD sale from ROH.