^^^ I dunno, brotha. I beg to differ about AJ. He's a nice talent, but I just can't put him over Dragon or Ki or any of the other RoH alumni. It's more than fair to place him on the same level, but I just don't think he is hands down better than any of those guys. And this isn't aimed at you in anyway but AJ is really over rated to me on these boards. To me, he's just another spot monkey and he really can't work a straight forward match like an HBK or Angle or Jericho, the people whom some are touting him as the next incarnation of mainly because he's been and is a world champ in a slightly larger promotion. He's nice, very nice, but so is Low Ki, Joe, Daniels, Nigel and certainly Dragon, and love or hate the guy, he has probably made more money than AJ with all the globe trotting he has done over the past five years working in so many companies.
So in a sense, outside the WWE realm, with all the bookings and high demand for the guy all over the world, Danielson really can claim he is the best in world, because he is the wrestler outside of the E that is in the highest demand, has had certifiably great matches here, in Mexico, Japan, all across Europe and so forth. I'm not saying he is, but of all the people, a man who has had the global exposure that Dragon has had can make that claim over a guy who basically wrestles in one city about twice a month. And of course wrestling is entirely subjective, no one is right or wrong with whom entertains them, but to me I'll take Dragon and his unique style of wrestling, and his ability to go out have classics in other styles with dudes like Necro Butcher to El Generico, which to me places him closer to being the next Angle or HBK than that of AJ who relys almost exclusively on his high spots to get over, which is what all the X dudes do anyways. I don't even think AJ is better than Evan Bourne. AJ's best matches have been with people who are exceptional workers and to be the next HBK or Angle you certainly have to have the talent to carry people to good matches, and Dragon has that ability ten fold over AJ or any of the other RoH alumni with Joe and Punk maybe being the possible exceptions.
I hope people don't misconstrue this as me bashing AJ or TNA, I'm just saying Dragon certainly isn't everyone's cup of tea, but he certainly is a breath of fresh air on an indy circuit that is polluted with AJ-esque wrestlers and a style that is overly saturated with high spots and overly contrived moves, plus he is a student of the game. He can fly. He can brawl. He can talk, he can get heel heat, he can be a blue chipper. If you've watched the guy over the years, you've seen him do it all. He does the scientific mat based work because it makes him unique, but what makes him so much more valuable as a commodity is his versatility. Just like people didn't think Punk could adapt, and trust me, if you don't care for Dragon's style now, you wouldn't have cared much more for Punk in his indy days, Dragon is even more savvy than Punk.Dragon will be able to conform to the WWE style just as well and will undoubtedly entertaining if given the chance. As for Ki, he's always been fuckin awesome to me, like a minature Tajiri and the ghetto stomp...excuse me...warriors way, will be the next big move in the E.
