#2.) Ending Samoa Joe‘s record world title reign
Samoa Joe was ROH World Champion for 645 days. You read that right. It’s not often we see reigns as long as that but it represented a unique period in ROH’s history as the world title was as prestigious as ever. Fans weren’t sick of Joe’s reign per se, but at 645 days, it’s understandable that they’d want to see a change.
This is what ROH did perfectly. They knew when to pull the trigger and Austin Aries was the heel challenger at Final Battle 2004. Despite Joe being a babyface, fans had cheered for Aries and were ready for him to win, so when he finally pinned Joe and ended the historical title reign, it was a massive moment. It’s wrestling 101 on how to make a championship prestigious and ROH did it right.
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