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LOOKING AT CM PUNK, SAMOA JOE & BRYAN DANIELSON: THE ROH THREE

There has been a lot of talk of late regarding the ROH Three -Bryan Danielson, Samoa Joe, and CM Punk about possible interest on their part from World Wrestling Entertainment. That talk has laid the groundwork for the beginning of the next stage for these young athletes' careers. CM Punk has been offered a WWE developmental deal, so it's a matter of whether he takes the offer or not. Samoa Joe has had some communication with WWE as well, which he wrote about on his website, but there's been no word on firm offers coming his way yet. There is also said to be interest in Bryan Danielson, who had a WWE developmental deal a few years back, but he is traveling in Europe for the summer and working shots from Brian Dixon's All Star Wrestling, so there's been no word as to whether WWE has discussed anything with him.

Trained by Ace Steel and Kevin Quinn, among others, Punk cut his teeth in the Mid-West before settling into a spot with Ring of Honor. A feud with Raven led to some TNA work and a top spot on the ROH roster, where he's cut a number of tremendous promos and of late, has been working hard to elevate other talent in the company, similar to Tommy Dreamer's work in ECW. In recent months, Punk has been said to have been obsessed with overcoming the system by killing himself in the gym in a rededication to improving his overall look to get on WWE's radar. With several strong dark and enhancement bouts and praise from WWE wrestlers under his belt, Punk appeared to have gotten his wish and is at a most interesting time period of his career.

For all intents and purposes, Samoa Joe is ROH in every manner and respect that Sabu or Taz were ECW. The ROH champion for close to two years, Joe fought and worked his way up from mid-card attraction with excellent matches to a legitimate main event draw. He's easily one of the top 2 or 3 names in ROH history at this point. Mixing the best stiff work of Vader in his legendary WCW run, a unique aura and dry, sarcastic promos declaring "I am Samoa Joe, I am Pro Wrestling" he is as much a flagbearer for the company as he is a professional wrestler. It's more shocking than anything else that he hasn't been picked up by a national promotion yet as there is a unique performer in Joe - while he doesn't fit the cookie cutter look of most WWE performers (which can be a positive in the eyes of anyone thinking outside the WWE box), Joe's other assets more than make up for that aspect, putting him in a situation similar to say, Mick Foley.

Considering that he was trained by Shawn Michaels and Chris Benoit has been praising Bryan Danielson publicly for some time, it's not a surprise that at some point he would be brought into the WWE fold. Perhaps the best pure wrestler competing anywhere in the world today, he's a throwback to the days of Dean Malenko, Chris Benoit, and Fit Finley. Having working in Europe and Japan extensively as well as in the United States, Danielson looks to be the next step in the evolution of great scientific professional wrestlers on a national scale.

WWE may not be the only option for these three performers, as well. TNA has made an offer to Punk and Joe to do a match at the Slammiversary PPV as well. TNA has also discussed bringing in Danielson down the line as well, as the new booking committee is looking to put an exclamation point on the idea that TNA is a destination point for great wrestling (something ROH has modeled themselves around since day one of the company). New Japan is also an option for at least Samoa Joe, according to Joe's latest live journal entry, and it stands to reason that Simon Inoki's recent ascendancy to the Presidency of the company may help Danielson's standing as well. I appears to be, as Joe wrote, a matter of everyone taking what is the best offer for them personally, if any at all. With all the talk that TNA is looking to sign a deal with WGN, it's obvious that WWE is making sure they aren't caught with their pants down by missing the chance on talent that could help build TNA. Whether you see that as predatory practices or good business by WWE depends on your point of view.

The irony here is that in recent weeks, both Danielson and Joe had been dealing with their own personal doubts about their future in the business. Joe went public with his frustrations over New Japan reneging on a potential deal while Danielson, also said to be upset about New Japan not booking him regularly, basically went off to re-evaluate his career in Europe for the summer. A few weeks makes a world of difference as now the eyes of the world are on them to see what their next move is.

Whether Ring of Honor loses the services of one, all three, or none of these talents, their legacy has already been written in stone. Ring of Honor would have imploded in 2004 if not for the Joe vs. Punk feud propping the company up and giving it a major buzz, allowing fans to focus on ROH's product when the company was still reeling from internal issues and the loss of the TNA talent. Later, the return of Danielson to a pretty much full-time schedule with ROH helped build upon the foundation that Punk and Joe set down as the company rebuilt on a lot of hard work and a series of star power cameos with the likes of Jushin Liger, The Midnight Express, Ricky Steamboat and Mick Foley. While names like Austin Aries, James Gibson, and Alex Shelley are working on the top of the cards today for ROH and talent like Spanky, AJ Styles, and Christopher Daniels are returning, had it not been for the ROH Three, there might not have been the time and longevity for Ring of Honor to build this new generation into main event performers or wait for old standouts to return. That and the catalog of great matches they have worked, are these fine athletes' gifts to ROH fans.

It will be an interesting time for these three performers, no matter if and where they decide to go. One could draw an analogy to Dean Malenko, Eddie Guerrero, and Chris Benoit (dubbed the "New Japan 3" back in 1995) when they all moved to WCW in one fell swoop. No matter where they decide to go, or if they even don't move on, they should be remembered for what they did for Ring of Honor as a company, helping set it upright when it was in a most vulnerable position, and in the process helping to set the stage for their talents to be seen by a wider audience in the United States. When the careers of the ROH Three are written and the book is closed, this stage of their lives will be one that many look back upon as a major turning point in their careers.

Mike Johnson can be reached at Mike@PWInsider.com.

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