American Dragon v Doug Williams

[Loss]

American Dragon v Doug Williams - ROH Road To The Title

 

At last, I can see what the fuss is about as it relates to Bryan Danielson! I definitely get the hype, because he's terrific in this match, and it's my understanding that he's gotten even better since. The match is everything it is because of Danielson; that's not to say that Williams brings nothing, because he's good, but Dragon is the one that gives everything meaning, the one who knows when to speed up and when to slow down. It's a sixth sense that wrestlers either have or don't have, and it's obvious that American Dragon has it here. He also brings some nice highspots and reversals -- check out his enzuigiri off of a simple single leg attempt by Doug, and check out the little things he does between moves to give them that extra umph, like kick his opponent before applying a chinlock or forearm him while he has him in a submission hold. Dual holds, which I remarked recently I hadn't seen before in an American match, come into play here, as each guy has a legbar locked on his opponent concurrently, and with both trying to shift the momentum, they end up rolling outside the ring, where the referee has to separate them. It's at this point that the announcers explain that there are no countouts in ROH, which is ludicrous. It's not ludicrous because they need the option available to do countout finishes or anything, but they're only cheating their performers out of another way to build suspense in a match by beating the count back into the ring. The match is incredibly stiff, with both having a battle of the forearms, so to speak, and Dragon eventually getting his diving headbutt in. Williams would eventually rebound and get a nice nearfall off of the chaos theory. From there, they build to the finish, as Danielson has some cool ideas for how to set up the cattle mutilation, which in some ways reminds me of the way Bret Hart would often set up the sharpshooter in his bigger matches, getting it over as a hold he could apply from almost any position. If not for the announcers going on about "stiff work" and "match of the year candidates", and if not for the hindrance of the Code Of Honor and fans who applaud good work instead of cheering or booing it, this might have come off to be as good a match as it really is.

 

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