10. Jay Lethal (409 days)
The Current ROH World Champion needed to be on this list for the way he’s defended the belt over the past 409 days. He’s established himself as a remarkably consistent worker who can put on good matches with pretty much anyone. Lethal has defended the title over 25 times since winning it from Jay Briscoe in arguably his greatest performance as a wrestler; he has also had some tremendous matches over the past 14 months with an hour-long war with Roderick Strong and others with Colt Cabana, Kyle O’Reilly and Jay Briscoe.
9. Tyler Black (210 days)
Black;s title reign came a little late in his ROH career and really picked up steam as Tyler signed a WWE Developmental deal, similar to CM Punk. He then went on an absolute assault with some great matches with Roderick Strong in a Steel Cage, Davey Richards, Kevin Steen and a brilliant title victory over Austin Aires at Manhattan Mayhem III.
8. Jay Briscoe (89 days & 286 days)
A two-time ROH World Champion, Jay Briscoe has been with the company since day one and is truly an ROH legend, having won his first title from Kevin Steen in front of his whole family at Supercard of Honor VII. But wasn’t until his second title run that he proved he is one of the best ever to grace ROH, having some classics with Adam Cole, Samoa Joe and current Champion Jay Lethal.
7. CM Punk (55 days)
The Summer of Punk was one of the hottest angles in ROH history, Punk having signed a developmental deal with the WWE in 2005 went on an incredible run that summer having fooled the ROH faithful into believing he was leaving right away. Punk won the title from Austin Aires and then for 55 days had the fans in the palm of his hands, his famous pipe bomb promo proving that WWE was getting a superstar in the making.
6. Kevin Steen (328 days)
Steen’s war with ROH Official Jim Cornette and Davey Richards was truly outstanding, building on real-life ill will between Cornette and Steen produced one of the best storylines in the company’s history. His 2012 Ladder War Match with EL Generico is one of my favourite Steen matches of all time and an outstanding end to a feud that surely will never really die.
5. Austin Aires (174 days & 245 days)
A Double is the first two-time ROH World Champion, plus he defeated Joe and ended his 21 month reign in a timeless classic. Aries really started to get mainstream attention in ROH before moving to TNA and NXT more recently. The self-proclaimed Greatest Man That Ever Lived had an excellent triple threat match with Jerry Lynn and Tyler Black at Manhattan Mayhem III to recapture the title before dropping it at ROH’s 8th Anniversary Show to Tyler Black.
4. Takeshi Morishima (231 days)
A monster of a heel. NO ONE could beat this Japanese wrecking ball, except The Brit, Nigel McGuinness. Morishma held the World Title for 231 days defending all over the world against greats like Austin Aires, Former NWA Champion Adam Pearce, Jimmy Rave and KENTA. Takeshi and Danielson had a classic for the World Title at ROH Man Up in September 2007 which is recommend viewing.
3. Bryan Danielson (462 days)
Before he was known worldwide as the ultimate underdog, Danielson was obsessed with being the Best In the World and ROH World Champion, he perhaps had some of the best title matches in the company’s history. The American Dragon was for a long time classed as one of if not the best technical wrestler in the world during this period, and he had some epic wars with Takeshi Morishma and of course, our nest man on the list, Nigel McGuinness
2. Nigel McGuinness (545 days)
One of the companies best ever heels, the Englishman retired well before his time due to injuries but McGuinness had a unique ability to have great matches with anyone he stepped foot in the ring with including classics with Bryan Danielson, Austin Aires, KENTA and Claudio Castagnoli. McGuinness will always be held high in my esteem with regards to continuing ROH great legacy.
1. Samoa Joe (645 days)
The single greatest title run in ROH’s storied career, Joe’s title reign began on March 3rd after defeating Xavier to become the companies third ever Champion. Joe went on to cement himself and ROH on the map with some tremendous matches including an incredible trilogy with CM Punk which is highly recommended viewing, including the second match of the trilogy which most class as ROH greatest match ever.
Until Next time
@GaryRWard