ROH World Title Match: Austin Aries (c) vs. James Gibson - ROH Stalemate 2005 - 16/04/2005
Austin Aries is a gorgeous wrestler to watch. Aries is so slick - he embodies the word - with his offence. It’s like poetry in motion in the way he seemingly glides across the ring. And he does it in a way that helps his wrestling look more solid and grounded than a lot of people who are aesthetically pleasing but it's more of a dance and it perhaps works against them. A wonderful wrestler. I sometimes think that I’m way too high on him but then I’ll watch him in a match, like this one, and think “no, he’s just as incredible as I think”. Enough of the Austin Aries gushing as the match was superb. Not flawless, but I can see what the attempt was. James Gibson, fresh off coming in from WWE, is a hot little indie act and he’s been on a hot streak in Ring Of Honor in particular. So he had a ton of momentum coming in against Aries as a challenger but unfortunately, he’s carrying an injury inflicted by Generation Next member, Roderick Strong at the previous show and Aries knows this. So naturally, Aries zeros in on Gibson's back with a series of strikes and moves that target the area. Aries doesn’t even have to change his arsenal too much - hitting a wicked heat seeking missile bottom rope tope to Gison while he was turned towards the crowd. Gibson to his credit sells his back and makes Aries look great in the process, but he still is fighting, returning with some small work on the neck as well. This was looking to be a really excellent competitive match but, like I said, the match isn’t flawless. I disliked how the rainusters were used towards the end. It’s a signature move for Aries and they trade back and forth - while still being locked in together, retaining some semblance of a struggle - eore ending the match with a double pin. It was a very peculiar way to end a match. Scott Sinclair was sneaking though. He raised Gibson's hand, saying he was the winner, first, which the fans went nuts for, and waited to raise Aries hand as well. So I wonder if this was Gabe trying to gauge how the fans would react for a Gibson title win. They like it, Gabe. ****
ROH World Title Match: Austin Aries (c) vs. James Gibson - ROH The Final Showdown - 13/05/2005
I’m not a fan of the finish. It’s not inconceivable, but something about Aries collapsing into Gibson while in a Trailer Hitch, fluking his way to the win rubs me the wrong way. But still, these two are so good together. Gibson’s back is near enough fully healed so he’s more of a threat this time around so Aries attacks his arm to create that weakness himself and the match goes on from there. I thought Gibson’s selling was excellent as well. His defensive body language is something that really stood out to me. As soon as Aries trapped his arm in the barricade, he went into defense mode and I love that. Aries crafted some excellent counters out of Gibson's signature moves due to the weak arm in return. This was yet another awesome match between the two. I’d put the Stalemate match ahead of this though. Just on a gut feeling. ****
ROH World Title Match: Nigel McGuinness (c) vs. Austin Aries - ROH Supercard Of Honor III - 29/03/2008
This was just another incredible match from these two. They bounce off each other effortlessly, working together to get the best out of each other. Both bump big for the other, both are more than willing to lay into each other with their strikes and both matchup stylistically to create an interesting battle strategically. They played on their Rising Above 2007 match well too with Nigel quickly getting out of the way when he realises he’s in position for a heat seeking missile dive. This had some smart arm work from Nigel with a strong sell job by Aries. The magic of the match is how they convinced the crowd that this was a title change. Aries did several of the same combos that he used to defeat Samoa Joe the first time and he survived several of Nigel's biggest moves, but Nigel would not be denied the win. ****1/4
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