Greatest Ring of Honor World Champion

[Cyrus Riddle]

As promised, here is the tournament to determine who the Greatest Ring of Honor World Champion has been since the company has been in existence. Thankfully, ROH has a reputation of keeping titles on guys for awhile, thus giving them a better chance at having a great reign. I am expecting this to be a pretty tight tournament when it comes to votes, and I hope everyone gets a chance to participate. I'll end the 1st round of voting on Tuesday at 8 PM EST, unless I see that I may need to extend it further, but I don't forsee two days to not be enough time. Also, since the only ROH World Champion to hold the title more than once is Aries, he will be the only one with a number of reigns next to his name. The number of days as champion is in brackets, followed by the number of successful title defenses.

1. Samoa Joe [645] {29}

vs.

16. James Gibson [36] {4}

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2. Nigel McGuinness [545] {38}

vs.

15. Low Ki [56] {1}

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

3. Bryan Danielson [462] {38}

vs.

14. CM Punk [55] {4}

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

4. Austin Aries (2) [419] {29}

vs.

13. Homicide [56] {3}

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

5. Davey Richards [321] {10}

vs.

12. Jerry Lynn [71] {6}

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

6. Takeshi Morishima [231] {20}

vs.

11. Eddie Edwards [99] {3}

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

7. Kevin Steen [210+] {12}

vs.

10. Xavier [182] {4}

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

8. Tyler Black [210] {7}

vs.

9. Roderick Strong [189] {5}

 

[Postman Dave]

Joe vs. Gibson
No contest, Gibson held the title for just over a month, Joe's saved the whole company. Samoa Joe

McGuinness vs. Low Ki
Another no contest. Low Ki may have been the first and added legitimacy early on, but McGuinness's run is far more impressive and the highlight of his career. Nigel McGuinness

Danielson vs. Punk
Seriously, this is first round? Fuck man! Punk's reign was one of the best angles in the companies history, but Danielson's epic reign saw MOTYC after MOTYC contender and never got boring. Bryan Danielson

Aries vs. Homicide
The best thing about Homicide's reign was the chase for it. The reign itself was very forgettable. Austin Aries

Richards vs. Lynn
Richards reign saw him responsible for carrying company during the early Sinclair TV days. Lynn's reign was a nice reward for his career, but not a lot else. Davey Richards

Morishima vs. Edwards
Actually a big fan of Morishima's monster reign, it was fresh and something ROH wasn't used to. Like many others, not a lot really happened with Edwards reign. Takeshi Morishima

Steen vs. Xavier
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA Kevin Steen

Black vs. Strong
Not a big fa of either's reign. Black edges it but neither stands a chance in round 2. Tyler Black

 

[Cyrus Riddle]

I am going to second all of your votes, as I feel your picks are on point with mine, plus I don't see how most of these can go the other way.

Joe, McGuinness, Danielson, Aries, Richards, Morishima, Steen, Black

BTW, I love the response for Xavier lmao...I am sure not many will remember who the hell he even is.

 

[Postman Dave]

The only two that are debatable to me are Danielson/Punk & Black/Strong. Rest are all easy picks. Gonna get tough from the next round onwards though.

 

[Cyrus Riddle]

The only two that are debatable to me are Danielson/Punk & Black/Strong. Rest are all easy picks. Gonna get tough from the next round onwards though.

Most definitely. I knew Danielson/Punk would be a tough one more than any. Punk's win and subsequent reign proved to spotlight the company even more with the WWE angle involved in it. Danielson showed himself to be a great champion, having great matches, and becoming heel in the process.

I agree though, from the next round on, it will be one hell of a tournament to vote on.

 

[Heartless Bitch]

Joe vs. Gibson= Samoa Joe on this one.

McGuinness vs. Low Ki=Nigel McGuinness

Danielson vs. Punk= In all honesty I can't decide. I'll go with Bryan Danielson edging out CM Punk

Aries vs. Homicide= Austin Aries because didn't he beat the lonegst reigning ROH Champion twice? In Samoa Joe and Bryan Danielson? Correct me if I am wrong.

Richards vs. Lynn= OK, As much as I am not a fan of his Davey Richards because he did carry the company on his back when it first got national television deal on Sinclair.

Morishima vs. Edwards=Big fan of Eddie Edwards but Takeshi Morishima gets my vote here.

Steen vs. Xavier=Kevin Steen. Xavier really? lol

Black vs. Strong= Tyler Black and yeah neither of these guys stood a chance in Round2.

Pretty much feel the way linebacker does on this one.

 

[Cyrus Riddle]

Aries vs. Homicide= Austin Aries because didn't he beat the lonegst reigning ROH Champion twice? In Samoa Joe and Bryan Danielson? Correct me if I am wrong.

I definitely know that Aries was the man to dethrone Joe, but I believe he defeated Lynn and Black for his second title reign.

 

[Heartless Bitch]

I definitely know that Aries was the man to dethrone Joe, but I believe he defeated Lynn and Black for his second title reign.

You're right but heard something on TNA about him doing it twice before. As he did that to Roode as well. Maybe heard wrong. lol

 

[Horrorfan_1986]

1. Samoa Joe - Gibson had an incredible 2005, but his title reign was pretty forgettable. Meanwhile, Joe was the first great ROH champion.

2. Nigel McGuinness - Low-Ki was the MVP of 2002 and completely deserving of the first title reign, but he lost it immediately. Meanwhile, through sheer determination, Gabe made Nigel's title reign work despite so many setbacks.

3. Bryan Danielson - The Summer of Punk was one of the best time periods for ROH. That being said, AmDrag somehow got a good to great match out of everyone he faced while champion. That's a pretty huge deal when you take into account that he faced subpar guys like Xavier and Jimmy Rave while also mixing it up with comedy guys like Delirious and Colt Cabana.

4. Austin Aries - Aries' second time as champion was pretty underwhelming, but his first was vastly underrated. Homicide's title reign was all about the buildup. Once he won the belt, it was forgettable.

5. Jerry Lynn - Lynn's title reign was pretty underrated and it was your typical "Feed the usual suspects to the champion" booking. For Davey, his match quality went down and he barely defended it despite the long reign.

6. Takeshi Morishima - Despite starting off as champion as a mostly unknown, Morishima ended up having an awesome title reign. With matches against Nigel, AmDrag and Aries, Morishima was an awesome surprise. Edwards' title reign wasn't special despite the great match with DR.

7. Kevin Steen - Fuck Xavier. Worst champion in ROH history.

8. Tyler Black - Both reigns weren't anything special. In addition, both guys received the title way later than they should have. I'll go with Black since he had a few better matches, but neither deserves to go far.