Ring of Honor: Decade of Excellence Tournament

This week, eight superstars that signed with ROH (Ring of Honor) ten years ago will be competing in the first ever Ring of Honor Decade of Excellence tournament that begins on this weeks edition on Ring of Honor Wrestling. The finals are set to take place January 14th 2017 in Atlanta, Georgia’s center stage with the winner facing current Ring of Honor World Champion Kyle O’Reilly  at the next Pay-Per-View on March 10th 2017 taking place in Las Vegas.

The Decade of Excellence first round will start this week with Christopher Daniels facing off against Mark Briscoe of the Briscoe brothers tag team. Daniels, a former Ring of Honor World Tag Team Champion and TV Champion, is also one of the founding fathers. He competed in the first ever ROH Pay-Per-View in February 2002. Mark Briscoe and his brother, Jay Briscoe, however, have held the ROH World Tag Team championship a record of 8 times since they debuted.

In the coming weeks, matches will include BJ Whitmer facing off against the other half of the Briscoe Brothers, Jay Briscoe. BJ Whitmer has the dubious distinction of being one of the most despicable competitors in ROH history, but there’s no denying his success. Whitmer, who debuted in ROH in January 2003, is a four-time former co-holder of the ROH World Tag team Title and has been a member of two influential factions in ROH (The Prophecy and The Decade). Nobody in ROH History has held more titles than Jay Briscoe.

Also happening in the upcoming weeks will be Chris Sabin facing off with Colt Cabana. Chris Sabin,is one half of the tag team known as  The Motor City Machine Guns with Alex Shelley, made his ROH debut in June 2003 in a Four Corners Survival Match. As a member of the Machine Guns, Sabin is a former co-holder of New Japan-Pro Wrestling’s IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship.Cabana has won titles all over the world and has come very close on several occasions over the years to winning the ROH World Title.

The final match taking place in the tournament is the Japanese legend Jushin “Thunder” Liger facing former ROH World Champion Jay Lethal. Jushin “Thunder” Liger, a Japanese legend who is perhaps the most influential junior heavyweight of all time, made his much anticipated ROH debut in November 2004 when he headlined two “Weekend of Thunder” shows named in his honor. Jushin Liger, who has competed in four decades, is still going strong in both ROH and NJPW.  Jay Lethal on the other hand competed in his first match in ROH in January 2003 when he was just 17. He has gone on to become one of the biggest stars in ROH history.