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The start of the new millennium was a trying time for the wrestling business. With ECW and WCW shutting shop and WWE buying out both the promotion, it left a huge void in the wrestling landscape in North America. While WWE becoming the biggest game in town was good for the company, it meant that young, up and coming talent had limited options when it came to making a name for themselves in the business.
Over the past two decades, there have been numerous promotions that have tried to challenge WWE in its home turf of North America. While none have been able to come to replicating WWE's success, there have been a few who have been able to carve out a niche for themselves. The biggest among them is Ring of Honor, a promotion started by Rob Feinstein and Gabe Sapolsky in 2002. It wouldn't be a stretch to say that Independent wrestling, as we know it, wouldn't exist without ROH. The company has over the past two decades been a breeding ground for some of the best talents in the world.
A major chunk of top talents in WWE today has worked for ROH at some point in their career. Names like CM Punk, Daniel Bryan, Seth Rollins, Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn, Cesaro and Samoa Joe were synonymous with ROH before making their way to WWE. All of the members of The Undisputed Era are former ROH talents. And it's not limited to in-ring talent. Former ROH head booker, Adam Pearce, currently works for the company as a road agent and ROH Co-founder and a protege of former ECW head honcho, Paul Heyman, Gabe Sapolsky is a consultant for the company.
With ROH holding it's 18th-anniversary show on March 13, here is a look at five ROH World Champions who have achieved great success in WWE :
#5 Samoa Joe
The longest reigning ROH World Champion, The Samoan Submission Machine is without a doubt, the greatest ROH World Champion of all time. The California-native's stint with the Sinclair-Owned promotion started in 2002 as the hired good for Christopher Daniels. Initially, Joe's stint with the company was supposed to be a one-off, but the Samoan impressed fans and management to such an extent that he was offered a full-time contract with the company.
Joe defeated The Zebra Kid on May 17, 2003, to become the ROH World Champion. The biggest highlight of Joe's 634-day reign as the top dog in ROH was his trilogy of title defenses against CM Punk. The duo first locked horns on June 12, 2004, at World Title Classic with the end ending in a time-limit draw.
The second bout between the two took place on October 16, 2004, at an event aptly titled 'Joe Vs Punk II'. The match once again ended in a time-limit draw as neither Punk or Joe were able to score a pinfall or submission within the stipulated time limit (60 minutes). The match earned a rare five ratings (trust us, it was very rare in those times) by Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. The third and the final meeting between Joe and Punk took place on December 4, 2004, at All-Star Extravaganza II in a match with no time-limit, which Joe ended up winning.
Joe's record-setting title reign came to end on December 26, 2004, at Final Battle 2004 when Austin Aries defeated him to win the ROH World Championship. Joe's first stint with ROH ended on March 7, 2007, where he defeated his longtime rival, Homicide. Following his departure from TNA in 2015, Joe had a brief stint with ROH before signing with WWE. He unsuccessfully challenged Jay Briscoe for the ROH World Championship at Supercard of Honor IX during WrestleMania 31 weekend.
While Joe hasn't had the same level of success in WWE, he is still considered to be one of the top guys in the company. He was one of the figureheads of NXT during the brand's rise to prominence within the wrestling world. He holds the distinction of being the first-ever two-time holder of the NXT Championship.
#4 Kevin Steen (Kevin Owens)
One of the hottest babyfaces on RAW, Kevin Owens was one of the most celebrated independent wrestlers before his arrival in WWE. The former Universal Champion has performed for a whole host of independent promotions all across the globe under his real name, 'Kevin Steen'. The Quebec-native's feud against a long-time friend turned rival, El Generico was one of the best ROH feuds of the 2010s.
Steen became the first Canadian wrestler to hold the ROH World Championship after he defeated Davey Richards at Border Wars 2012. He would hold on to the title for days defending it against the likes of El Generico, Rhino, Eddie Kingston, Jay Lethal and Michael Elgin. The Prizefighter lost the ROH World Championship to Jay Briscoe at Supercard of Honor VII during WrestleMania 29 weekend. His final match for the company took place on July 19, 2004, during an ROH TV taping where he defeated one of his long-time allies, Steve Corino.
One of the most pivotal moments in the rise of NXT was Owens showing up to RAW to confront John Cena. Owens would lay out Cena with his patented powerbomb and proceed to mock The Cenation Leader whilst holding the NXT Championship. This was in many ways the very first step in establishing the Black and Gold brand as much more than a 'developmental territory'. Owens would defeat Cena in his debut match on the main roster at Elimination Chamber.
Owens has held numerous championships during his run on RAW and SmackDown. As mentioned before, he is one of the top babyfaces on Monday Nights and is currently on a collision course with Seth Rollins with the feud potentially culminating in a match between the two at WrestleMania 36.
#3 Tyler Black (Seth Rollins)
It is quite ironic that Seth Rollins, who is one of the most hated men within the IWC today, was at one time one of its most beloved stars. This time, a decade ago (in 2010), Rollins reigned supreme as the ROH World Champion under the name 'Tyler Black'. He was one of the fastest rising stars during his time in the independent circuit.
Black debuted in ROH as part of 'The Age of the Fall' alongside Jimmy Jacobs and Necro Butcher in what is considered by many to be one of the most controversial angles in ROH history. The trio attacked The Briscoe Brothers and hanged Jay Briscoe upside down. After two successful title reigns as ROH World Tag Team Champion alongside his mentor, Jimmy Jacobs, Black would transition into becoming a singles competitor.
Black's first shot at the ROH World Championship came against Nigel McGuiness at Take No Prisoners 2008. In a highly-contested bout, Black would come up short with McGuiness successfully retaining his title.
Black won the 2009 Survival of the Fittest tournament, thereby earning an opportunity to face Austin Aries for the ROH World Championship. At Final Battle 2009, Black and Aries' match ended in a sixty-minute time-limit draw. A rematch was set between the two for ROH's 8th anniversary where Black defeated Aries to become the ROH World Champion.
He successfully his title against the likes of Davey Richards, Austin Aries, Kevin Steen, and Roderick Strong. His final match in ROH saw Black drop the title to Roderick Strong at Glory by Honor IX in a no-disqualification.
After signing with WWE in 2012, Rollins rose to the top of WWE's developmental, FCW and NXT, becoming the inaugural NXT Champion. At Survivor Series 2012, The Architect would make his main roster debut as part of 'The Shield' alongside Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose and the rest, as they say, is history. Rollins has been one of the cornerstones of WWE for the past few years vowing fans with his athleticism and impeccable in-ring acumen.
#2 Bryan Danielson ( Daniel Bryan)
One of the most beloved superstars in WWE history, the former American Dragon was one of the founding fathers of Ring of Honor. Daniel Bryan worked for the promotion from 2002 to 2009. Bryan competed in the main event of ROH's very first event, The Era of Honor Begins, on February 22, 2002, in a three-way match against Christopher Daniels and Low Ki.
Bryan's matches against the likes of Homicide, Austin Aries, Takeshi Morishima, and Kenta catapulted ROH to worldwide prominence. The American Dragon won the inaugural Survival of The Fittest tournament in 2004. After numerous failed attempts, Bryan finally won the ROH World Championship by defeating James Gibson at Glory by Honor IV on September 15, 2005.
However, in our opinion, Bryan's greatest rival in ROH was none other than Nigel McGuiness. McGuiness and Bryan first faced off on April 29, 2005, a match where both Bryan's ROH World title and McGuiness' ROH Pure title were on the line. The match ended in a count-out after McGuiness laid out Bryan with a steel chair, thereby winning the match and retaining his title but failing to capture Bryan's ROH World Championship.
The duo had another unification match at ROH United in Nigel's native, England, in what many consider to be one of the most brutal matches in ROH history. Bryan won the match after hitting an already bloody and battered McGuiness with stiff elbow shots, forcing the referee to end the match and declare him the winner.
At Final Battle 2006, Bryan dropped the ROH World Championship to Homicide, ending his fifteen-month long reign as the promotion's top dog. Bryan's final match for the company on September 26, 2009, at Glory by Honor VIII: The Final Countdown where he defeated his longtime rival, Nigel McGuiness.
Bryan's victory at WrestleMania 30 where he defeated Batista and Randy Orton in the main event to win the WWE World Heavyweight Championship will go down in history as one of the greatest WrestleMania moments of all time.
After a series of concussions forced him to retire from in-ring competition in 2016, Bryan would make a triumphant return to the squared circle just two years later at WrestleMania 34. Bryan would capture the WWE Championship from AJ Styles and would hold it for the next four months. He would lose the title to Kofi Kingston at WrestleMania 35 in one of the memorable matches in Mania history. Bryan continues to be a central figure in WWE programming and is someone who has elevated a plethora of younger talents since his return in 2018.
#1 CM Punk
The very fact that even after six years after he walked away from the business, we are still talking about him and putting him atop of our list, goes on to show the kind of impact that CM Punk has left on the wrestling business. Punk had the shortest reign out of anyone in this list but it's still considered to be one of the most memorable title reigns in ROH history.
As mentioned before, Punk's series of matches against Samoa Joe for the ROH World Championship is regarded by many to be some of the best matches in ROH history. In some ways, the feud between the Second City Savior and the Samoa Submission Machine helped bring the promotion into prominence. Apart from Joe, Punk also had a heated rivalry with former ECW Superstar Raven.
After having a tryout match on Sunday Night Heat against Val Venis on May 9, 2005, Punk would sign a developmental deal with WWE. Punk defeated Austin Aries at Death Before Dishonor III to become the ROH World Champion.
Following his victory, Punk would turn heel, threatening to take the ROH title to WWE. In the weeks that followed, Punk would tease the ROH locker room and fans even going as far as signing his WWE contract on the ROH World Championship. The storyline involving Punk's shocking title win leading up to his departure from the company was referred to as "The Summer of Punk" (not the botched WWE version in 2011). Punk would lose the title to James Gibson (Jamie Noble) on August 12, 2005, in a Four Corner Elimination Match which also involved Samoa Joe and Christopher Daniels.
Punk's final match in ROH on August 14, 2005, at Punk: The Final Chapter where he faced off against his long-time friend, Colt Cabana in a losing effort.
After scratching and clawing through the ranks for the initial part of his WWE run, The Chicago native finally rose to prominence during the summer of 2011 which saw him going up against John Cena for the WWE Championship. What followed next is history. Punk's pipebomb and his match against Cena at Money In The Bank 2011 is still considered by many to some of the best programs WWE has produced in the past decade.
Punk's 434-day reign as WWE Champion solidified his status as a main-event talent in WWE. After falling out with management, Punk would leave the company in 2014. The Chicago native recently returned to WWE programming as an analyst for WWE Backstage.
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