Christopher Daniels, the champion and an original. Cody, the challenger and an outsider. Tonight at ROH Best in the World, Cody looks to complete his takeover of Ring of Honor by taking the ROH title away from Christopher Daniels in the main event. Plus, Bullet Clubbers The Young Bucks look to retain the tag titles against Wat Machine and “The Villain” Marty Scurll looks to regain the TV title from KUSHIDA! All that and more tonight at ROH Best in the World!
We are LIVE from Lowell, Mass. Ian Riccaboni and BJ Whitmer have the call for tonight.
Lucha Rules: The Kingdom (w/TK O’Ryan) vs. Team CMLL (Ultimo Guerrero & El Terrible)
Terrible and Marseglia start and feel each other out by biting and submissions. Terrible takes control and works Marseglia in the corner. Marseglia tags out to Taven and Taven dropkicks Terrible out, bringing in Guerrero. They exchange chops and Guerrero with a basement dropkick to drop Taven outside. Team CMLL in control outside as they work The Kingdom against the barricade. O’Ryan gets involved and gives Marseglia the advantage against Guerrero. Guerrero takes control back inside and lands a pendulum bronco buster in the corner. The Kingdom with a double stun gun on Terrible and a superkick on Guerrero, but Team CMLL sends them out and fly to drop The Kingdom. O’Ryan again distracts outside and allows The Kingdom to land dives of their own. Kingdom in control inside on Terrible. Guerrero evens the numbers and Terrible pulls Taven out. Guerrero rolls up Marseglia as he loses the tug of war for Taven.
Winners by pinfall: Team CMLL
Rating: 2.5 out of 5
Video package on what lead up to the strap match between Hangman Page and Frankie Kazarian.
Strap Match: Hangman Page vs. Frankie Kazarian
Each has one strap tied to them and they look to brawl early. Page thumbs the eye and takes control early, but Kazarian with a strap to the back and a hurricanrana outside. Page regains control tossing Kaz into the barricade and they brawl outside. Kaz suplexes Page on the stage steps. Page ties Kaz up inside and pulls the strap off Kaz. Strap thrown into the crowd and Page works Kaz with the strap as he regains control. Page pulls out a strap from under the ring with nails and thumbtacks. Kaz gets his strap back and hits Page before he can get tacked. Slingshot cutter from Kaz and Page comes back, but Kaz with an Unprettier for a nearfall. Kaz gets the tack strap, but Page with Rite of Passage that nearly wins it and he gets the tack strap. Page works him with the tack strap. Kaz steals the tack strap and hits Page with it before landing a throw with the strap on the exposed floor. Kaz hangs the Hangman with the strap on the first rope and Page taps.
Winner by submission: Frankie Kazarian
Rating: 3.25 out of 5
Video package on what lead up to the losing team must disband match between The Rebellion and Search & Destroy.
Losing Team Must Disband: The Rebellion vs. Search & Destroy
The two teams brawl at ringside to begin and Jonathan Gresham, Jay White, and The Motor City Machine Guns work Caprice Coleman inside with a triple dropkick in the tree of woe. Kenny King and Rhett Titus take out Gresham outside. Shane Taylor takes out MCMG and The Rebellion takes control inside on Gresham. The Rebellion play the isolation game for a long time before Gresham gets a tornado DDT and brings in White. White like a house of fire on the hot tag. Search & Destroy in control on King and MCMG take Titus and Coleman outside, but get taken out. White worked in the corner by Coleman and Titus. Royal Flush, Sky Splitta, and Big Dog Splash unable to put White away as MCMG break the pin. Taylor up top and a splash lands, but White kicks out and Titus is shocked. Both teams fight outside and White lands a German suplex on Taylor inside. Search & Destroy hit Titus with a double-team of flying moves, but he’s able to kick out. Search & Destroy lock in The Rebellion in submissions and none can move.
Winners by pinfall: Search & Destroy
Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
Post-match, Punishment Martinez clears the ring of Search & Destroy and lays out Jay White.
Video package on what lead up to Jay Lethal vs. “The Last Real Man” Silas Young.
“The Last Real Man” Silas Young (w/Beer City Bruiser) vs. Jay Lethal
Lethal takes out Bruiser with a steel chair before the match starts and the two brawl after the bell rings. The fight moves outside and Young sent into the barricade after he controls early. Young draped on the barricade and Lethal with a suplex off the barricade. Young avoids an elbow drop and Lethal crashes to the floor. Young takes control inside and locks in an abdominal stretch. Lethal regains momentum and works Young down with backbreakers across the knee. Stalling suplex from Lethal lands after Young unsuccessfully tries a comeback. Young with a springboard clothesline that drops Lethal, but Lethal sends Young out for a suicide dive. A second dive sees Young get a chair to the head of Lethal. Strike exchange won by Lethal win a discus forearm. Lethal Injection blocked, but Lethal with a superkick and elbow drop and Young with a backbreaker and lariat. Figure-four in for Young, but Lethal with the rope break. Young in control and he brings in a keg and lays Lethal’s arm on it. Young shoves the referee down and gets a jackknife cover on Lethal, but Lethal reverses as the referee recovers.
Winner by pinfall: Jay Lethal
Rating: 2.75 out of 5
Post-match, Lethal beat down by Young and Bruiser with Young landing Misery on the keg. Bruiser splashes Lethal against the keg in the corner and lands a splash off the top rope through a table outside to put Lethal out. Officials have to carry out Lethal.
Video package on what lead up to the ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Championship match between champions Bully Ray & The Briscoes and challengers Dalton Castle & The Boys.
ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Championships: Bully Ray & The Briscoes (c) vs. Dalton Castle & The Boys
Castle starts with Jay Briscoe and Jay chases The Boys at ringside. Mark Briscoe tags himself in and Jay has to be held back by his team. Mark and Castle exchange chain wrestling. Mark sent out and Castle taunts Jay. Bully in and he plays the power advantage on Castle. Bully and Castle take turns peacocking. Bully drops Castle and both The Boys tagged to be worked down by Bully. Jay in and The Boys play possum to drop him and work him down. Castle in with suplexes and throws. Jay worked up top, but he fights Castle off with a super gourdbuster. Hot tag made to Mark against The Boys and he lands chops and suplexes as he comes in like a house of fire. Fisherman’s buster almost puts Castle away and the Wasssup? lands for Mark and Bully inside. Bully calls for the tables, but Jay goes after The Boys ringside with a chair and Bully has to hold him back as The Boys run to the back. Inside, Castle with a side headlock takedown and a hook of the leg.
Winners by pinfall and NEW ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Champions: Dalton Castle & The Boys
Rating: 1.5 out of 5
Video package on what lead up to the ROH World Television Championship match between champion KUSHIDA and challenger “The Villain” Marty Scurll.
ROH World Television Championship: KUSHIDA (c) vs. “The Villain” Marty Scurll
Submissions and chain wrestling to feel each other out to start and counters exchanged until Kushida hip tosses Scurll into a cross armbreaker that forces Scurll to get the rope break. Kushida works the left arm of Scurll until Scurll sends him to the apron. Kushida comes back with a cannonball against the right leg of Scurll. Scurll with a neckbreaker and he works Kushida down with his focus on the left arm. Kushida regains momentum with an exploder suplex into the corner. Hoverboard Lock blocked by Scurll and he sends Kushida out for a thrust kick from the apron. Piledriver almost gets Scurll the win. Back elbows exchanged and Scurll catches Kushida out of the air with a backslide for a nearfall. Counter after counter exchanged and both get their signature submissions locked in temporarily before they lay each other out with punches. Kushida stomps the head of Scurll, but Scurll crucifixes Kushida and lands elbows to set up the Crossface Chickenwing. Scurll spins into a Fujiwara armbar and snaps the fingers. Kushida fights out for the rope break and kicks out of the corner. Kushida snaps the fingers up top and lands a super Back to the Future before following up with another.
Winner by pinfall and STILL ROH World Television Champion: KUSHIDA
Rating: 3.25 out of 5 stars
Recap of Women of Honor action earlier in the night.
Before the ROH World Tag Team Championship match, the Best Friends make their way out and Trent? says they beat The Young Bucks in Philadelphia and want their title shot now in a tornado tag. The Young Bucks accept.
Tornado Tag Match for the ROH World Tag Team Championships: The Young Bucks (c) vs. War Machine vs. Best Friends
Best Friends take out War Machine outside and Trent? and Chuckie T send The Young Bucks out. War Machine sandwiches them as they hug and they take out the Best Friends. The Young Bucks send War Machine and Chuckie T back outside to be the last team standing. Trent? lands a dive on War Machine and the teams take each other out with dives outside. Raymond Rowe with a uranage on Chuckie T inside and Hanson with a clothesline on Nick Jackson. Matt Jackson hit with a double-team by Best Friends. War Machine team up on Matt and a Hanson splash gets a nearfall broken by Nick. Nick with an X-Factor inside and a superkick takes out Chuckie. Chuckie comes back with a flip dive off the stage to take out the field and Hanson with a flip dive off the top to do the same. All three teams missing moonsaults inside. Trent? with a German superplex and the Best Friends with a double-team chokeslam on Hanson for a nearfall. The teams all exchange superkicks and all three teams down. Trent? taken out with a Doomsday Device from War Machine on the floor. Pop-up powerslam gets a nearfall on Trent? and Fallout lands, but Chuckie breaks the pin. Awful Waffle from Chuckie inside gets a nearfall on one of The Young Bucks and Rowe inside with the Best Friends. Superkick and jackknife combo from Best Friends gets a nearfall. Best Friends and War Machine take each other out and The Young Bucks with a Superkick Party on War Machine.
Winners by pinfall and STILL ROH World Tag Team Championships: The Young Bucks
Rating: 4 out of 5
Video package on what lead up to the ROH World Championship match between champion Christopher Daniels and challenger Cody.
ROH World Championship: Christopher Daniels (c) vs. Cody
Cody in control as they feel each other out early and he pie-faces Daniels. Cody continues to win the side headlock and shoulder tackle battle, but Daniels stands on the back of his head and gets control to send Cody to regroup outside. Daniels in control as Cody gets back inside and Cody rolls back outside and into the crowd. Daniels with a neckbreaker back inside and Cody continues to stall outside and in the crowd. Daniels follows him out and tosses him into the barricade, but Cody turns the tide and catches Daniels coming inside. Arm drag off the top rope by Cody and he focuses his offense on the left arm. Cody moves outside and confronts former Ring of Honor owner Cary Silkin and grabs him by the lapel. Springboard dropkick back inside from Cody and he continues to work Daniels down. Daniels with the waistlock and he runs Cody into the referee twice. Cody takes advantage with a punt below the belt and Daniels rolls outside as the referee is down. Cody calls for someone and Marty Scurll comes out with a chair. Chair slides into the ring and Daniels stomps the hand of Cody against it. Daniels does an Eddie Guerrero by fake selling a chair shot to the recovered referee and he used the advantage to roll Cody for a nearfall. Cody with a cutter on the chair and Frankie Kazarian comes out to take Scurll out. Cody sets a table outside, but Daniels with a flatliner on the apron and the comeback inside. Cody comes back with a lariat and a Disaster Kick to send Daniels to the apron. Daniels counters with a backdrop suplex the table that takes out both.
Daniels wins the striking exchange inside and locks in the Koji Clutch. Cody gets the rope break and spits water or a beer into the face of Daniels, but Cross Rhodes can’t finish Daniels. Finisher counters exchanged until a roll-up sees Cody gets Cross Rhodes.
Winner by pinfall and NEW ROH World Champion: Cody Rhodes
Rating: 3.75 out of 5
Post-match, Bullet Club celebrates to close the show.
Nolan Howell can be reached at nth993@gmail.com for any questions or comments.
