[Baldwin.]

I've been wanting to try and see if I can get into ROH. I was just wondering if anyone could tell me what year I could start watching or specific matches that have occurred in ROH that are good to watch?

 

[ViolenceIsGolden]

There's actually plenty of best of lists on this forum and on other sites on the net. Just research yourself on google.

I suggest seeing the last 3 ippv's if you have $45. Not sure how much the other two are as far as the price goes but the last one was only 15 dollars. You get them on gofightlive.tv. In my sig those are the two best matches of the year and theres a few on my top ten that took place in those 3 ippvs that were among the best matches of this year. Also try to look into the Kevin Steen/El Generico feud from it's beginning after they broke up as one of ROH's best tag teams.

If you wanna go far back try out the dvd's or best of ROH or best of a specific wrestlers dvd's because it isn't just one specific year. So you get a lot of different stuff on there. That or torrent them if you know how to do that.

 

[SHIRLEY]

'Man Up!' is the perfect place to start IMO.

 

[Baldwin.]

Thank you both for your help. I read that there was 2 matches between Samoa Joe & CM Punk that went to Time Limit Draws. Are they worth having a look at?

 

[Martyn]

Watch ROH since the beginning (2002) to 2007. They had a lot of great matches in their first year of existence, such as Dragon/Ki/Daniels (**** 1/2), London/Shane (**** 3/4), Joe/Ki (**** 3/4), Styles/London/Ki (**** 1/2), Ki/Styles (****) and many, many more!

@up - I'm personally not a fan of Joe/Punk matches. They bored me, watch Joe/Kobashi, Ki/KENTA, Supercard of Honor Dragon Gate 6 Man Tag. That were a lot better iMO.

 

[Thisskateboarding]

Depends on what you are looking for. If you are interested because you have seen CM Punk in the WWE and want to check out his work you should look back at shows from 04. If you are a Daniel Bryan mark and want to see what he could do unrestricted in ROH then go for shows where he was champ around 05 - 06 every match he had is amazing plus those years have the ROH vs CZW feud which is probibly ROH's highest point.

Otherwise if your after recent stuff and of there iPPV shows or even there older PPV shows are all tremendous for in ring quality. Hope that helps

 

[patrickshelley]

totally, go watch man up thats almost good as Michael Jackson, also a 2006 show called Better Than Our Best.

 

[jawbreaker]

Yes, the two time limit draws are worth looking at, as is the third match between the two that year. My ratings for the trilogy:

Joe vs. Punk I - World Title Classic - June 2004 - ****1/2
Joe vs. Punk II - Joe vs. Punk II - Oct. 2004 - *****
Joe vs. Punk III - All-Star Extravaganza II - Dec. 2004 - *****

I also made this list of good starting points a while back. Editing and adding now.

Feb. 02: The Era of Honor Begins (first show, obviously)
Jun. 02: Road to the Title (birth of ROH title, obviously)
Mar. 03: One-Year Anniversary (because 2002 ROH mostly sucked and 2003 had some really good shows)
Apr. 04: Reborn: Stage 1 (start of the Cary Silkin era, ROH goes to the midwest, Homicide heel turn)
Feb. 05: Third Anniversary Celebration: Part 1 (Aries' first title reign, Summer of Punk, James Gibson aka Jamie Noble in ROH)
Jan. 06: Hell Freezes Over (ROH vs. CZW, Danielson being the fucking man)
Feb. 07: Fifth Year Festival: NYC (Steenerico/Briscoes feud, Morishima title reign, most of Nigel's as well)
Nov. 08: Bound By Hate (start of the Pearce era)
Dec. 09: Final Battle 2009 (first iPPV, start of Steen/Generico feud)

If you let me know what you're most interested in in ROH I can suggest which of these you might be most interested in.

 

[Baldwin.]

Thanks for letting me know. I shall check some stuff out. Hopefully I'll be able to get into it.

Ph and to the guy who said it's almost as good as MJ. I lol'd. Rep given to all of you.

 

[SHIRLEY]

Thank you both for your help. I read that there was 2 matches between Samoa Joe & CM Punk that went to Time Limit Draws. Are they worth having a look at?

The trilogy of Joe-Punk matches were bundled with a recent show called 'Allied Forces', as a bonus disc. Apparently that disc has some of the promos etc. on it too. Yes, the matches are more than worth having a look at. They'll be a test of your wrestling stamina though, as far as a first real taste of ROH goes.

As far as 'Best of...'s go, I'd recommended getting a copy (legal or otherwise) of the 'Samoa Joe: World Champion' DVD. It's a really good watch, that tells the story of his title run and has a lot of important matches on it (the booking of his title run was awesome). IIRC they're all remastered quality too (quality can be an issue with the older stuff). You won't find any Joe-Punk matches on there though.

Other than that, you could do worse than watching any of the original PPVs, like 'Rising Above '08' (and 'Man Up!' as I mentioned) or the recent iPPVs like 'Death Before Dishonor VIII' or 'Final Battle 2010'.

 

[ViolenceIsGolden]

Aside from the Joe/Punk trilogy, mainly Joey/Punk II and Joe vs. Kobashi. I've heard the best feud with the best culminating match in ROH history was in 2006 at Death Before Dishonor between ROH and CZW guys in a Cage of Death. That is one I've yet to see but I recomend it. It's got the top guys from ROH in it, Danielson, Joe, Homicide, and a couple other against the dimented brain damaged CZW hardcore guys holding nothing back with no boring parts.

 

[will94]

When I started watching, I dove in with The Summer of Punk. Recognizable names on the card to kinda garner my interest, a fantastic storyline going on with Punk, and some pretty awesome events. I guess it's just where you wanna start at though. There's plenty of places to pick up and get into the company at that could appeal to you.

 

[SuperDuperSonic]

My good shit archive is a good place to start.

 

[Thumbinthebum]

If I wee you OP I wouldn't go too far back at the beginning, instead I'd probably start at Final Battle '09 and work forward from there. I say this because you ideally want to get to know the current stars and their positions on the roster. Once you've done that, by all means go further back. There's a huge amount of stuff worth watching, I just feel that checking out matches from people who've long since moved on to other promotions is a bad idea if you're starting out.

 

[ViolenceIsGolden]

If I wee you OP I wouldn't go too far back at the beginning, instead I'd probably start at Final Battle '09 and work forward from there. I say this because you ideally want to get to know the current stars and their positions on the roster. Once you've done that, by all means go further back. There's a huge amount of stuff worth watching, I just feel that checking out matches from people who've long since moved on to other promotions is a bad idea if you're starting out.

This. I'm a newer fan of ROH and I just recently saw Joe/Punk II and some older stuff from other indys with wrestlers before they were as famous on the indys such as Punk and Hero in their TLC match in IWA Mid South.

I was into this stuff for over a year now but you'll be a lot more confident into the world of indy wrestling once you can start watching ROH's ippv's from here on out or the last one and try to get into other indys like Chikara, Dragon Gate, and ESPECIALLY PWG if you could. I suggest ROH is the best place to start though if you only have time for one or patience to go out of your way to watch one company.

 

[McQueen]

I hated the main event of MAN UP! but other than that its a good show and a good place to start if you want to go back to the 07-08 stuff. If you want, go back to 2006 (Final Battle 2005 is really good) which was the best year of the promotion IMO.

 

[seabs]

Summer of Punk in 05 up until mid 2008 is an amazing stretch. Before and after them years have some great matches but not many must see shows. Depends if you just want to see some great matches or follow an era of the company with the full shows.

 

[Pablo Escobar]

Yes, the two time limit draws are worth looking at, as is the third match between the two that year. My ratings for the trilogy:

Joe vs. Punk I - World Title Classic - June 2004 - ****1/2
Joe vs. Punk II - Joe vs. Punk II - Oct. 2004 - *****
Joe vs. Punk III - All-Star Extravaganza II - Dec. 2004 - *****

I also made this list of good starting points a while back. Editing and adding now.

Feb. 02: The Era of Honor Begins (first show, obviously)
Jun. 02: Road to the Title (birth of ROH title, obviously)
Mar. 03: One-Year Anniversary (because 2002 ROH mostly sucked and 2003 had some really good shows)
Apr. 04: Reborn: Stage 1 (start of the Cary Silkin era, ROH goes to the midwest, Homicide heel turn)
Feb. 05: Third Anniversary Celebration: Part 1 (Aries' first title reign, Summer of Punk, James Gibson aka Jamie Noble in ROH)
Jan. 06: Hell Freezes Over (ROH vs. CZW, Danielson being the fucking man)
Feb. 07: Fifth Year Festival: NYC (Steenerico/Briscoes feud, Morishima title reign, most of Nigel's as well)
Nov. 08: Bound By Hate (start of the Pearce era)
Dec. 09: Final Battle 2009 (first iPPV, start of Steen/Generico feud)

If you let me know what you're most interested in in ROH I can suggest which of these you might be most interested in.

This is a good list. It depends if you want to really get into the current product...or do you want to start further back in the CM Punk/Samoa Joe days.

Each year is like an era in ROH, and several other ways to break it up. Storyline era's, booker eras, Champion Era's,

Some years are better than others, but anyplace is a good starting point.

 

[patrickshelley]

i personally didnt like of joe vs punk II, that wasnt worth a whole hour

 

[McQueen]

Your a fan of Sami Callihan though so what does that say about you?