8. VS Shingo (Dragon Gate USA's Enter The Dragon 2010)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRe6DHO5NJk This match took place a mere six weeks after Danielson was fired by WWE after the incident involving choking Justin Roberts with his own necktie, and man, are the fans in Philadelphia ecstatic to see him back on the independent scene. Shingo, for those not hip to his work, is a former bodybuilder, and even though he isn't the largest man in the world of wrestling (5'10" and about 210 pounds), he has the power necessary for him to hang with men that are much larger in stature. That allowed him to be the "big man" in this match, and he would use his power in a lot of his offense. The electric crowd really added a lot to this match. They ate up everything Danielson did with a spoon, but that seemed to motivate Shingo even more. Shingo played a nice heel, keeping his game plan while not feeding into what the crowd wanted. Oh, you're looking for some hard hitting, fast paced action? Let me go ahead and lock in a rest hold to troll you then. There was so much action packed into this one, with the match building logically to Danielson trying to use the Cattle Mutilation (a bridging double chickenwing, which was his finisher until he adapted the Yes/No Lock). Once he was finally able to lock it in, the crowd, already molten hot, lost their minds. The match didn't need the help from the Philly fans to be great. Instead, it was merely the icing on the cake.
Columnist/Podcaster/Director at LordsOfPain.net for nearly seven years, with nearly 2000 total columns written. Interviewed and/or involved in interviewing the likes of Tyler Black/Seth Rollins (twice), Diamond Dallas Page, Jimmy Jacobs, Christopher Daniels, Uhaa Nation and more.