Top 10 ROH Stars of All Time
By Tim Sherry
credit: WWE.com
7. Austin Aries
The first ever 2-time ROH World Champion, Austin Aries was a guy that ROH knew from the very start would be a main event caliber guy. He entered the company in March of 2004 and by the end of the year was ROH champion having defeated and ended the historic 645-day title reign of the great Samoa Joe. If that’s not an endorsement for someone’s future, I don’t know what is. Aries had 2 3-year stints with the organization and both times managed to become World champion. The first title run lasted 174 days, the second 245 days and it proved that even after some time spent with another company, Aries was still the man.
Aries was a hero in ROH. “The Greatest Man Who Ever Lived” was beloved by the fan base whether playing heel or baby face so when he returned to ROH in 2007 after departing for TNA for 2 years, he was welcomed back with open arms. His subsequent world title run would see him defend the title successfully 14 times, a combined 32 total defenses with his first reign. Needless to say, he was a fighting champion.
Aries once again left ROH for TNA but this time he was clearly a different guy and his success proved that. In his second TNA run, he won their X-Division and World Heavyweight championships and once again proved that being top dog in ROH was a precursor for big things. Aries is now with the WWE but due to injuries is in a commentators role which he, not surprisingly, is outstanding at. Once healed, Aries, like Samoa Joe will have the chance to be the first man to ever hold the TNA, ROH, and WWE world championships. That would be a perfect narrative to renew their story that began over 12 years ago under the ROH banner.