Bryan Danielson’s 10 Best World Title Matches, According To Cagematch.net

Bryan Danielson is widely considered to be one of the best in-ring performers in professional wrestling history, and it is easy to see why, when looking at some of the classic matches he has had in a variety of promotions. Whether it be tearing up Ring of Honor or main eventing WrestleMania, he has done it all, and built himself up to be one of the absolute greatest of all time.

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When it comes to being as good as he is, World Championships go hand in hand with him. He has won titles nearly everywhere he has been, and some of these matches make up the best of the best when it comes to his battles with a variety of other wrestlers. Cagematch.net is a good indication seeing how good some of these matches are.

10 Takeshi Morishima Vs Bryan Danielson (ROH World Title) 9.38

This match at ROH Manhattan Mayhem 2 was just a pure show of violence for over twenty minutes straight, as the two went to absolute war. Danielson played the underdog here, and did so tremendously, proving why he would eventually become the best underdog in WWE history.

When considering that Danielson’s retina was detached during this match, it makes the entire thing even more impressive at how incredible it was. He and Morishima would have more classics too.

9 Bryan Danielson Vs Samoa Joe (ROH World Title) 9.41

At ROH Fight of the Century, Danielson defended the Ring of Honor World Championship against Samoa Joe, and the pair went the distance, wrestling to the sixty-minute time limit, resulting in a draw. These two had several classics over the years, but the stakes were high for this one, with the belt on the line.

For one hour, the two men wrestled a very strong match, with rich psychology and a focus on body parts, with the match feeling like it could have gone on for another hour, and no one would’ve gotten bored. The final 15 minutes of this match were especially thrilling.

8 Adam Page Vs Bryan Danielson (AEW World Title) 9.42

This was the highly anticipated rematch following their remarkable first match together, and it lived up to all the expectations. This was a bloody, hard-hitting battle, which made the AEW World Championship feel like the most sought-after belt in the world.

There was a particular urgency as the match went on, with both men getting more desperate, which led to the pair putting on an absolute clinic, especially in the latter half of the match. Page would emerge victorious, which was the correct choice.

7 Bryan Danielson Vs Roderick Strong (ROH World Title) 9.42

This was a peak example of how good Danielson was as a heel in ROH, as he spent a lot of time brutally beating down Roderick Strong, but also got his fair share dished out back to him too. The match ended when the referee decided that Strong could no longer compete, which accomplished both making Danielson look like an unrelenting heel, and Strong as a courageous face.

Strong stepped up to Danielson’s level, and they each put on one hell of a performance to make this match feel special at ROH’s Vendetta show in 2005.

6 Nigel McGuinness vs Bryan Danielson (ROH World Title) 9.43

McGuinness is perhaps Danielson’s greatest rival, and they had so many classics against one another – and this one at ROH’s Sixth Anniversary Show wasn’t even the best out of the bunch, and it was still sensational. McGuinness played the heel role to perfection here, and Danielson showed his incredible range with a strong babyface showing.

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From a storytelling perspective, this was brilliant, and the crowd ate into everything the two men did, with the champion McGuinness garnering super heat by targeting Danielson’s head many times throughout the match.

5 Nigel McGuinness vs Bryan Danielson (ROH World Title) 9.49

These two had yet another classic at ROH Rising Above in 2008, adding to their series of brilliant matchups. It is difficult to get bored of seeing these two in the ring together, despite several lengthy battles.

McGuinness managed to outlast Danielson here, but only just, and Danielson getting so close to winning was felt strongly here. Danielson’s knee was the target of much of McGuinness’ assaults, and it was a nice take on a match which has been seen a lot of times.

4 Adam Page Vs Bryan Danielson (AEW World Title) 9.51

The first AEW Title defense in the new reign of “Hangman” Adam Page came at AEW Winter is Coming, and it was against Bryan Danielson. This is up there with the best AEW matches ever since the company began, as they wrestled to a brilliant sixty-minute time limit draw.

Danielson’s performance here was stellar, as the match didn’t feel even half the length that it was, and this was accomplished through savvy wrestling, brilliant psychology, and world-class pacing. This would set up the aforementioned rematch, which was fantastic too, though not quite as good as this one.

3 Bryan Danielson Vs KENTA (ROH World Title) 9.59

This match at Glory of Honor 5 was a hard-hitting battle between two of the world’s best at the time. The quality of wrestling here was out of this world, with a mixture of stunning technical wrestling, smooth reversals, and edge-of-the-seat action.

Danielson would win the match, but KENTA was still presented like the world-beater he was and still is. This match kept developing as the runtime went on, constantly moving and building to an explosive finish. Danielson sold KENTA’s strikes like they were deadly, which raised the intensity two-fold.

2 Chris Hero Vs Bryan Danielson (PWG World Title) 9.59

This match from PWG in 2009 was a great showcase of what both Chris Hero and Bryan Danielson are all about. Danielson battled from below here, managing to outlast Hero’s attacks, reversing and countering, and also selling the offense that was constantly dished out.

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Danielson successfully pulled off a comeback by proving himself to be the better man on the night as he defeated Hero to cap off one of PWG’s greatest ever matches – and there is a lot of contention for that spot.

1 Bryan Danielson Vs Nigel McGuinness (ROH World Title) 9.61

Unified 2006 hosted Danielson’s best title match according to the Cagematch.net ratings, as he and legendary rival, Nigel McGuinness, fought to unify the ROH World and Pure Titles. There was not a single step put wrong in this phenomenal encounter, which was full of big moves and brutality.

The roles were switched here, with Danielson playing the vicious heel whilst McGuinness was the hometown hero, but the American Dragon would get the win, with his opponent unable to overcome his quality. They both proved themselves to be two of the best ROH had to offer.