After a bunch of great dream matches, long-awaited rematches, and other goodies at ROH Reunion Of Honor: Night One, it’s time to move forward as we fantasy book the second night of our ECW One Night Stand-style ROH reunion shows.
Reunion of Honor: Night 2
We hit a few preshow matches featuring local wrestlers and ROH wrestling school graduates as people file into the building and buy their merch, and then we head into our opening match…
Christopher Daniels vs Matt Sydal
Both of these guys probably had better opponents from a history perspective (Low Ki or Samoa Joe for Daniels, Delirious for Sydal, for example), but I thought this would work well because Daniels and Sydal have a good bit of history themselves, both as opponents and tag team partners, including a run with the ROH World Tag Team Title. Working with Daniels in 2005-06 was Sydal’s breakthrough where he went from being the junior guy in Generation Next to a made man, and this match would be a nod to that sometimes-forgotten history between the two. They also always had fabulous matches, which is why I’m opening the show with it.
Pure Wrestling Rules: Colt Cabana vs Doug Williams
I wanted to do something to contrast with the Fight Without Honor on Night 1, and I decided you couldn’t make contrast with it more than you could by using this, another trademark ROH match. Cabana’s trips to the UK in the mid-2000s completely redefined his ring style to this day, while Williams obviously is a master of the British technical wrestling style, so this would give them the platform to showcase their talents and tell a great story in the ring.
Adam Cole vs Kyle O’Reilly
Both men had started to make their names as Future Shock over the year prior to the Sinclair purchase, but given the heated blood feuds they went on to have in not only ROH but NXT as well, this had to be on the show. They could take this in a million directions as far as style and practically guarantee they’ll find a way to make it special because, let’s be real, they always do.
Jay Lethal vs SHINGO
Both men were well-established stars during the golden era of ROH, then went on to HUGE success in the years that followed: SHINGO is currently the IWGP Champion, and Lethal became the most prolific and successful singles champion ROH has ever had. It’d be unique to have them come full circle and face off for bragging rights given how far both have come, and it’d make a heck of a marquee match at the same time.
Recognition Ceremony: Jimmy Rave, Xavier, Amazing Red, Izzy & Dixie, and Paul London
Similar to the women’s ceremony on Night 1, I wanted to recognize the unsung heroes of the early days of ROH who maybe weren’t always given credit for their contributions, and aren’t eligible to compete on the reunion shows, but nonetheless played major roles in building the foundations of what ROH would become, and helping to get over the guys who DID become the marquee stars.
Kings of Wrestling vs Young Bucks
This match happened several times during the Kings’ title run in 2010-11, and the matches were always excellent, but the Bucks hadn’t quite arrived as a top attraction yet at that time. Let’s put these two teams back together for one last showdown: everyone’s older, wiser, more seasoned, and bigger stars than they ever were, and doing it again today has the potential to make it an all-time classic.
INTERMISSION
At this time, we will take a short intermission. If you still have time left after waiting in line for the bathroom, stop by the ROH merchandise table where you can get ROH gear, action figures, books, DVDs from Ring of Honor, WWE, TNA, FIP, SHIMMER, and more! Oh wait, Immigrant Song by Led Zeppelin is starting up, better head back to your seat for…
Jack Evans, Jigsaw & Ruckus vs Prince Nana, Spanky & Alex Shelley
This is an homage to both the Embassy, which went from being a goofy undercard gimmick to a legit main event stable in 2005 and 2006, and also the faction warfare angle from 2007 where the former members of Generation Next created their own stables, with Evans leading Jigsaw and Ruckus as the Vulture Squad. I wish Jimmy Rave could be in this because he WAS the crown jewel of the Embassy, but fate wasn’t going to cooperate with that one, unfortunately.
Samoa Joe vs KENTA
They teased this several times during KENTA’s original ROH run in 2005-06, and they were on opposite sides of a tag match and a three way, but a singles match between Joe and KENTA never happened. This would be our chance to change that so we can watch these two beat the ever loving HECK out of each other.
Tyler Black vs Kenny Omega
I wanted to end the Reunion of Honor with a match between two major names, and you could easily make a case for these two as the biggest stars to ever launch from ROH. Tyler Black became a major, major WWE star as Seth Rollins, while Kenny Omega spent several years building his legend in Japan before winding up in AEW, and is considered by many to be the best wrestler in the world today.
Interestingly, even though they were both in ROH at the same time, the only time I’m aware of that they were in the ring together (at least in ROH) was a three way with Bryan Danielson. This match alone could sell the entire weekend, and who knows, it could set up a rematch if we get to do Reunion of Honor 2 next year!
I hope you enjoyed my attempt at doing an ROH reunion weekend, but let me know what you think in the comments section below, especially which of my matches you would be most interested in seeing, and what matches you would book if you were running this show!