The Wrestling What I Watched in 2007 Pt. 5, by S.L.L.

I have started digging into the esteemed Goodhelmet's "Best of 2007" set, so figured I'd revive this feature. But first, I noticed I started a fifth part back in late January and never posted it because I got sidetracked with the Black History Month Project. So before I start talking about how much that Big Japan eight-man sucked, here is this.

Nigel McGuinness & KENTA vs. Takeshi Morishima & Bryan Danielson
ROH - 5/12/2007 - New York City, NY

I still love that KENTA sort of randomly jacked Rey Mysterio's late-90's WCW theme. Also must say I dig the graphics they used for their entrances here, though you probably didn't want to freeze-frame on a shot of Morishima with a bloody nose, especially since the others were all done from the entrance itself. Seems pointless to use footage from another appearance just to highlight Morishima's embarrassing nosebleeding problem. Prazak on Morishima: "He hits people very hard...he drops them on their heads!". Way to describe 80% of the roster, Dave. Danielson comes back from injury, and waddya know, he's still awesome. Morishima standing on his opponent with Danielson on his back doesn't do a whole lot for you when you've seen him do it with Rikio on his back. Morishima continues to impress with his fat based offense. I liked his rapport with Todd Sinclair while standing on Nigel. Dragon throws Nigel to the corner, but takes too long to makes the charge, and Nigel dodges and hits the kick to the back/falling lariat combo. KENTA gets the hot tag, and well, it's a Morishima match, so I'm kinda grateful that the heavyweight was the face-in-peril, but that still means the cruiser is the house afire. Or not, as Danielson flips over KENTA and catches him with a backbreaker to take back the advantage for his team. KENTA isn't in for long before he tags Nigel back in, and Takeshi is able to resist the urge to work like Abyss in that time. Seriously, they've really gone out of their way to keep Mori and KENTA separate for most of this match, which kinda makes me think Gabe has a better understanding of his roster's abilities than I usually give him credit for. Danielson kicks Nigel in the elbow, and he sells it like it may have been dislocated. KENTA tries to take on both opponents himself, but eats a big Morishima uranage, a Danielson diving headbutt, a Danielson rolling elbow, and a Morishima lariat for his troubles. Meanwhile, Nigel is on the outside racing to get his arm taped up before KENTA takes the loss. Morishima and Danielson go for Dommsday Something, but Nigel makes it back in and breaks it up, managing a Rebound Lariat in the process, while KENTA leaps to the top and brings down Danielson with a Falcon Arrow. Everyone's down, Nigel and Morishima roll outside as Danielson and KENTA do the big finisher sequence, ending in Cattle Mutilation. Nigel tries to make the save, but Mori drops elbows on Nigel's injured elbow and both men give in to the pain. Lots of fun, a fine way to introduce ROH on PPV.