10 Ring Of Honor Matches WWE Fans Must Watch Before Kenta's Debut

5. vs. Mitsuharu Misawa - GHC Heavyweight Championship (Glory By Honor VI Night 2)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8Dw46-G9Ow This match was a special treat for all North American fans who truly loved Japanese wrestling. Mitsuharu Misawa, essentially Japan€™s version of Hulk Hogan, was touching down on American soil. And though he was nearly a decade past his prime and his body was breaking down on him (he would die in the ring a year and a half later), the spectacle of seeing Misawa in a ring in North America, particularly New York City, was too good to pass up. What made things more interesting was that he was defending the GHC Heavyweight Championship (Japan€™s version of the WWE Championship at the time) against KENTA, a junior. Interestingly, this match was not booked as the main event of the evening. That honor would belong to ROH wrestlers The Briscoes facing Jimmy Jacobs and Tyler Black (Seth Rollins). The reason for this dream match going on second-to-last is that these two got the main event the previous night in a tag team match where KENTA teamed with Takeshi Morishima to take on Misawa and Naomichi Marufuji. The match went to a 30-minute draw and was terribly underwhelming considering the Japanese starpower involved. It looked as if everybody was taking it easy, particularly Misawa. It€™s possible that this match was moved out of the main event slot for fear that it would underwhelm as well and have the fans go home upset. Boy, did Misawa and KENTA prove everybody wrong on this one. The match was high-flying (even for a guy at Misawa€™s stage of his career), hard hitting, and had one of the most intense false finishes as KENTA hit Misawa square in the jaw with Go 2 Sleep and got a 2.99 count. The Manhattan Center came unglued. Misawa would end up getting the win, but it was KENTA€™s willingness to bump and carry the match which made it an unforgettable classic.