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Disc 1 starts off with the three way main event between Low Ki, Christopher Daniels, and Bryan Danielson from The Era Of Honor Begins. I can't think of a more appropriate match to start with, because this match was so good that it earned a lot of MOTY votes and became the measuring stick by which future ROH main events would be judged for years to come. It was a high pressure situation for the guys involved, because not only were they going on after Eddie Guerrero and Super Crazy (who were the name draws for the event), but they had to have the best match possible to establish ROH as someplace where the focus was on strong in-ring action and young, hungry wrestlers who came to work their butts off and show what they can do without limits. Low Ki pinned Daniels after hitting the Ki Krusher, then the three of them went back and forth on the microphone to set up the Round Robin Challenge on the second ROH event. Daniels also refused to shake either of their hands since he didn't believe in the Code of Honor, setting up a long-running angle that even carried into his time as a babyface.
We only get one match from the Round Robin Challenge, but it was the best one as Low Ki took on Bryan Danielson with Ken Shamrock as the special referee. Low Ki had defeated Daniels earlier in the evening, while Daniels had beaten Danielson in the opener, and given how dominant Ki had been in his first couple of matches, it seemed a pretty good bet that he would win the RRC. Instead, they had a half-hour long classic that ended when Low Ki passed out in Cattle Mutilation, giving Danielson his first major win in ROH and ending the RRC in a three way tie. The match was terrific, but nothing had been settled in terms of determining who the best wrestler in ROH was.
That picture was made even cloudier the next month at A Night Of Appreciation, when AJ Styles made his ROH debut against Low Ki. I'd be willing to bet that most fans don't realize AJ was an ROH star before TNA even started, and this match helped make him one of the main guys on the roster for about a two year run. The stuff these two were doing here was just insane and had to be seen to be believed. Both men pulled out a lot of the fast paced, high flying offense you would expect, but they also beat the crap out of each other with insanely stiff kicks and chops. The match got very heated, and at times seemed more like a fight than a wrestling match with the way they were tearing into each other. Low Ki won the match with a small package that Styles nearly kicked out of, but Styles was presented in a way that made it look like it could have just as easily been him beating Low Ki, and he established himself as someone who would be a major player right out of the gate.
The next match (which the show had been named for) took place later that same night as Eddie Guerrero & Amazing Red took on the SAT. Guerrero's name value had been a huge blessing in terms of getting exposure for ROH, and even though he had returned to WWE and won the Intercontinental Title, Eddie had already committed to this match and returned for one night (with the Intercontinental Title) to say goodbye to the ROH fans. Red and the SAT all considered Eddie a major influence and role model, so it was good that they got the chance to work with him as he bade the company farewell. Eddie was a true professional, working hard and giving the SAT a great match even though he didn't really have to since he was already back in WWE. He also didn't force himself into the spotlight and let Red have a lot of the key spots, including one late in the match when he popped Red onto the corner to give Joel a top rope Frankensteiner. Eddie hit Splash Mountain on Joel for the win, and though they didn't show it here, he got to squash Brian XL in about twenty seconds right after this when XL came in and started mouthing off to Eddie. For fans who don't know too much about this time period, I really can't stress enough how important Eddie was to helping ROH get off the ground, even in just the two appearances he made.
Amazing Red was back in our next match, when he faced Low Ki in the ROH Title Tournament at Road To The Title. This is the only match from the opening rounds to make it onto the DVD, but it was also the most visually stunning, because Red and Low Ki had this sequence straight out of a Jackie Chan movie where they went back with a mix of martial arts and high flying that was almost too fast for the eye to follow. It was an incredibly cool visual, and someone of the small stature of Amazing Red hanging in there with an established badass like Low Ki added to the drama. Red did his best to use his speed to avoid Ki's offense, but eventually Ki countered a top rope Frankensteiner to a top rope Ki Krusher for the win, an appropriately sensational finish for a match like this.
Now we come to the legendary four way, 60 minute Ironman match to determine the first ROH World Champion. The participants, who all fought their way through two grueling matches at Road To The Title to get here, are Low Ki, Christopher Daniels, Doug Williams, and Spanky. The rules are that each win gets you two points, while losing a fall will cost you one, and the man with the most points at the end of the hour would be the first champion. In addition to the fact that an hour long match is grueling under any circumstances, the building had no air conditioning and the temperature exceeded 100 degrees while this match was taking place. It was extremely difficult to even attend a wrestling show in those kinds of conditions, much less participate in a match like this, but the fact that the fans were so into the match that they stuck with the wrestlers the entire time tells you what a special night this was. Low Ki got the first fall, but then was pinned by Daniels to put Daniels ahead 2-1. He remained in the lead until late in the match when Low Ki scored another fall, and managed to run out the clock to win the title even though he never beat Daniels during the match. The effort these four guys put in was incredible, especially when you consider the heat, and it made for one of the more memorable nights in company history.
The first disc wraps up with the first ever meeting of Jay and Mark Briscoe in a singles match in ROH. Mark was only 17 when ROH opened up, and was too young to wrestle in Pennsylvania where ROH ran all of their shows in the beginning. Jay had lost a lot of matches during that time, and always got mocked afterward by his younger brother, who would usually stand at ringside berating Jay during his matches and serving as more of an irritating distraction than any kind of support. It finally got to the point where Jay had enough of Mark's BS and challenged him to put his money where his mouth was when ROH made their debut in Massachusetts, where you could wrestle at 17. Mark had a very impressive debut where he pulled off a lot of innovative and highly athletic stuff, coming off like a way better wrestler than anyone should be at 17 years old. In fact, it's funny watching how young and skinny (not to mention un-tattooed) they both were at this point, and what amazing workers they were at such a young age. Jay was probably hoping to shut Mark's mouth with his fist, but wound up on the losing end when Mark pinned him clean as a whistle with the Cutthroat Driver. This led to an entire feud over the next six months (none of which is included on this DVD set) before they abruptly decided to stop fighting each other and form a tag team. They went on to become the most successful team in ROH history with seven title reigns to their credit as of this writing, and are the only two ROH originals left with the company after all these years.
2002 continues next on Page 2!
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