Ring of Honor hosts the inaugural Decade of Excellence Tournament this Sunday at the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia. Eight competitors who debuted in ROH more than a decade ago will face off to receive a shot at the ROH World Championship at the 15th anniversary pay-per-view on March 10 in Las Vegas.
The quarterfinals will take place during ROH’s last TV tapings of 2016, starting at 6 p.m.
The tournament matches are:
Christopher Daniels vs. Mark Briscoe
Alex Shelley vs. Colt Cabana
Jushin “Thunder” Liger vs. Jay Lethal
BJ Whitmer vs. Jay Briscoe
Tickets are still available at ROHWrestling.com.
Final Battle 2016 also takes place this weekend and more information can be found here.
Days before entering the Decade of Excellence, Christopher Daniels stopped by Wrestledelphia Radio to discuss the importance of the tournament.
How did this come about?
Daniels: “I really don’t care how it came about. Just being in this tournament gives me a goal to shoot for. I know there’s a lot of great guys in this tournament, but I plan on being the one with his hand raised at the end of it all.”
On facing Mark Briscoe in the quarterfinals:
Daniels: “Well, I’ve fought Mark a lot of times. Mark is a tremendous talent, probably one of the best wrestlers in Ring of Honor that hasn’t held the world championship yet. I say that because I feel there is definitely a possibility that he will be world champion someday. Between myself and Mark, I feel I have the edge in terms of experience and big matches and tournament wrestling.
Before I came to Ring of Honor full-time, I was like the king of the tournaments. I went around the country and wrestled two or three times a night, wrestling the best in any given territory, and a lot of times, I’d go to the finals and often win these tournaments. So I’ve got that experience edge over Mark in this instance, and that’s what’s going to carry me to the second round.”
What kind of conditioning do you put yourself through to compete in these tournaments?
Daniels: “One of the things I always strove to have is in-ring stamina. Despite the fact I’m coming up on 24 years in the business, it hasn’t slacked off in anyway. I’ve always known I wasn’t the strongest guy or the biggest guy, but certainly I wanted to be the guy that lasted the longest if it came down to that. That’s something that has always served me well in terms of wrestling, in terms of playing the long game, in terms of putting a strategy together to win a match.”
Daniels also reminisces on the first ROH show and reveals Gabe Sapolsky’s influence, how he clicks with Kazarian, and his thoughts on the current tag team scene.
For the full interview, listen to Wrestledelphia Radio this Friday at noon.
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John Corrigan
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