For the first time in nearly three years with Ring of Honor, I was speechless. Instead, a rush of anxiety rode over me as pangs of uncertainty ate away at my stomach.

He did it. The American Nightmare did exactly what he said he would do.

The anxiousness brought back memories of fear and doubt. I could only recall my father. For every Lex Luthor there was Superman and for every Joker there was Batman, he would say. But not tonight. Not in Lowell. Not on Earth.

It was the wrong patriarchy, the wrong familial memory. The Von Erichs were alone in history before Friday night. In 1963, Fritz Von Erich defeated one of the greatest of all time Verne Gagne to capture the AWA World Heavyweight Championship. His son Kerry defeated the equally legendary Ric Flair on a hot, emotion-filled night with the spirit of his brother David looming large to capture the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. On Friday night, the father son duo of Fritz and Kerry suddenly had company.

Instead of a celebration, instead of a night where Cody joined The American Dream in the history books as only the second American father-son duo to hold internationally recognized world heavyweight championships, it was a night of fear.

While Cody has pontificated how dangerous it might be to be a free agent and have the Ring of Honor World Championship, I hadn’t seriously considered the notion. Christopher Daniels was going to be Batman. Christopher Daniels was going to be Superman. A 23-year journey and a 15-year quest was not going to end, no way.

But as the match started, reality began to set in. Cody made his entrance to a hero’s welcome that left me in shock. During the in-ring introductions, Cody had a look in his eyes that I had seen at least three times before. A calm, focused confidence set in and when the champion charged in his direction, it did not faze him.

Very early on, Cody’s lip was split and, suddenly, I fought to suppress my feelings. For a moment, I no longer saw the arrogant star that treated ROH like his personal playground since disrespecting “The Franchise” Jay Lethal at Final Battle. No, the red liquid, the blood of a grandson of a plumber humanized a nightmare. The moment disarmed me.

Until he became only the second man ever to put his hands on ROH Ambassador Cary Silkin.

Everyone knows Cary put everything he had into growing Ring of Honor from the best of the independents into the destination for stars at the top of their game, prospects looking to make their mark on the wrestling world, and everyone in between. Without Cary, there is no championship for which Cody can compete.

It was a moment that nearly took Cody out of the match, a rare unforced error on a night where anything short of a perfect match would have cost Cody the ROH World Title. It was a moment that perfectly demonstrated the chaos in ROH.

When I arrived home on Sunday and unpacked my suitcase, I could not help to wonder where Ring of Honor was going. With sellouts all across the United States, television viewership on the Sinclair Broadcast Group, Fite.TV app, and across the globe at record numbers, and worldwide partnerships that lead to the best talent in the world being seen in ROH, Ring of Honor is growing organically well beyond the expectations of those that filled the Murphy Rec Center in Philadelphia in 2002. But a quick look, a quick deconstruction of the situation reveals what is driving that.

It is the ROH World Tag Team Champions the Young Bucks. It is “The Villain” Marty Scurll. It is Hangman Page.

And yes, “The American Nightmare”, the new ROH World Champion Cody has led us into new territory.

It doesn’t take binoculars to look into the crowd and notice the sea of Bullet Club t-shirts thanks to record breaking sales at ROH live events, their Pro Wrestling Tees store, and at Hot Topics across the country. If you couldn’t hear the thunderous ovation, you would certainly be able to feel it every time a Bullet Club member enters a ring when you see ROH live. Bullet Club fills the seats, sells the merchandise, and is a big reason Ring of Honor continues to grow. And quite frankly, the revenue that they bring in played a big part in ROH being able to bring me in at a time when a second commentator was not something that was in the budget.

I should be grateful. Perhaps, I should have celebrated. Maybe, I got it all wrong.

Throughout the main event, BJ Whitmer asked me what would be so bad about the most-in-demand free agent in recently wrestling history holding the ROH World Championship. My answers were driven from a personal space, a personal perspective. When I was 15 years old, I had a paper route. My mother drove me to a now-long-gone bookstore in Allentown, PA to purchase something I had heard about a lot on line.

On the cover, a bloodied American Dragon stood to the right of a piercing stare from Low Ki. On their left? Christopher Daniels.

As ROH grows, each year, it continues to morph while staying true to our motto that we are the Best Wrestling on the Planet. Long before Cody captured the ROH World Championship, he fit the bill. Now, the championship validates his long-held belief. And it makes it truly difficult to answer BJ’s question as it confirms nearly everything he said he would do when he became a free agent nearly one year ago.

The scariest part of the nightmare, fear, and uncertainty? “The American Nightmare” can put an exclamation point on it all when he faces IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada on July 1 at New Japan’s G1 Special in USA.

My suitcase is now unpacked as are most of my thoughts. At any other point, at any other time had the Ring of Honor World Champion been in the same ring as the IWGP Heavyweight Champion with that prestigious title on the line, my entire mind, body, and soul would be committed to the ROH World Champion bringing the IWGP title home. But Cody is different – Cody answers to no one.

That is just one reason he and Bullet Club are so revered, how they are changing the game. And as the ROH World Champion, that is a fact I am going to have to learn to respect.

Other Best in the World Notes:

- There is no better team in the world right now than the Young Bucks but I have to wonder what would have happened had War Machine had the ROH World Tag Team title match as a two-on-two encounter as planned. Word has it that Hanson and Rowe are none-too-pleased with Beretta and “The Kentucky Gentleman”.

- Speaking of Chuckie T., The Awful Waffle is one of my favorite moves of all time.

- “The Villain” may feel left out of Bullet Club, posting on social media the moniker “Marty No Belts” after falling short to ROH World Television Champion KUSHIDA but there is no shame in losing to a man who turned a loss that would lead others to sulk into a reinvigorating renaissance.

- Speaking of monikers, in an interview seen on ROH’s social media accounts, Hangman Page unfurled his noose after a match that saw him strike Kaz with a strap laden with nails and thumbtacks. Have we seen the last of the Hangman? After he got a taste of his own medicine, and for the safety of ROH stars, I hope so.

- The Las Vegas Fight Shop called BJ and I before the show and let us know the odds on each bout. In the biggest upset of the night, Dalton Castle and the Boys captured the ROH World Six Man Tag Team titles from Bully Ray and the Briscoes when Jay Briscoe’s hyper-focus led him out of the ring to chase the Boys with Bully Ray chasing after Jay. I have been told Jay’s behavior is already wearing thin on Bully Ray and Mark Briscoe.

- Search and Destroy live to fight another day while The Rebellion must disband. Shane Taylor may have the biggest leg up on life after the Rebellion as he had been competing heavily in singles competition against some of the world’s biggest stars prior to this bout while Kenny King had a great showing in Gauntlet for Gold and seemed to be growing apart from the group in recent weeks. We know Kenny is a favorite of Sarah Silverman, the producers of Ellen, and why wouldn’t he be? It will be interesting to see the fallout and where the finger of blame is pointed.

- Silas Young has had Jay Lethal’s number since the Honor Rumble but Lethal showed why he is called “The Franchise”, stepping up to finally beat Young after “The Last Real Man” defeated him in tag team and singles action, including perhaps the biggest win of Young’s career in front of a sold-out Milwaukee crowd. Things between these two are far from over after the vicious attack we saw, including the 300+ lb Beer City Bruiser frog splashing Lethal through a table following Lethal’s win. The win puts Lethal right near the top of the list for ROH World Championship contenders but puts a question mark by his name for the IWGP US Title Tournament.

- Matt Taven, Vinny Marseglia, and TK O’Ryan were treated like royalty in the building they debuted in in September and defeated Bullet Club. But wrestling royalty stood opposite and the team of two former CMLL World Heavyweight Champions in Ultimo Guerrero and El Terrible defeated Taven and Marseglia, despite the best outside efforts of O’Ryan who is not licensed to be ringside in the state of Massachusetts. Taven and Guerrero’s issues started in Mexico and the two will meet on an upcoming episode of ROH television.

- Finally, what is next for the now-former ROH World Champion Christopher Daniels? That question is perhaps too complex to answer and shall be left for another day.

Happy wrestling,

Ian Riccaboni