Ring of Honour’s Third Annual Best In The World pay-per-view took place on June 23rd, 2017 at Lowell Memorial Auditorium in Lowell, Massachusetts. The card was stacked with huge independent wrestling personalities and the show itself was nothing short of phenomenal.
The show saw a brutal strap match, a 6-man Tag-Team Championship match, a gruesome battle for the RoH TV Title and a shocking conclusion to the main event.
The show started with a video package to create hype for the pay-per-view. We are welcomed by Ian Riccaboni and BJ Whitmer as they give us a quick reminder of all the matches to come.
#1 The Kingdom (Matt Taven and Vinny Marseglia) vs. Ultimo Guerrero and El Terrible
The Kingdom came out first with Taven donning the attire of a King on a throne and Marseglia coming out chained to a stretcher possibly drawing inspiration from the cult classic character Jason from Friday the 13th. Ultimo Guerrero and El Terrible came out next.
Marseglia and Terrible started things off with some classic headlocks and wristlocks and some biting from both sides. There was some back and forth action before Taven came in.
Taven took a lot of damage before taking out both Guerrero and Terrible. There was some minor interference by the third member of the Kingdom, TKO Ryan during the match.
The match ended after Marseglia tried to help the fallen Taven, leading to a distraction and a quick roll-up by Guerrero for the three count.
Winners: Ultimo Guerrero and El Terrible (by pinfall)
#2 Frankie Kazarian vs. “Hangman” Adam Page in a Strap Match
The match started with both men having their wrists tied together by straps. Kazarian attempted to score an early pin but Page kicked out at the two-count. Page threw Kazarian into the barricade thrice, heavily damaging his back. Kazarian answered with some hard shots before Page turned the tide yet again.
Kazarian was laid out again as Page brought out his signature noose. Page unleashed a beating on Kazarian, yet the latter asked the Hangman for more. The Hangman obliged and did a number on Kazarian before the latter managed to free himself and came back with vengeance.
The duo put everything at stake and the match eventually turned bloody. The match ended after Kazarian hung Page to the bottom rope leading to an immediate tap out by the Hangman.
Winner: Frankie Kazarian via Submission.
#3 Search and Destroy (Jonathan Gresham, Jay White, Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin) v/s The Rebellion (Rhett Titus, Shane Taylor, Caprice Coleman and Kenny King)- Losing team must disband
The match started with both teams brawling at ringside. It was chaos before Gresham and Coleman try to start things off only for Coleman to be ambushed by all the members of Search and Destroy.
The Rebellion made the much-needed save. White was tagged in and took out all the members of the Rebellion. Sabin and Shelly hit the ring and delivered multiple superkicks to the opponents accompanied by a number of double team moves. However, the Rebellion soon recovered and took out an isolated White.
Search and Destroy recovered and gained immense momentum after taking out their opponents. The match ended when each member of Search and Destroy put each of their opponents into submission holds to obtain the win.
Winners: Search and Destroy. (The Rebellion must Disband)
After the match Punishment Martinez ambushed Search and Destroy and delivered a sit-out chokeslam on Jay White.
#4 Jay Lethal vs. Silas Young
Young came out with the Beer City Bruiser but the Bruiser was taken out by a chair shot from Lethal who came out from the crowd. The two competitors started brawling at ringside and the action stayed there for a couple of minutes.
The barricade was used a few times in the match particularly when Lethal delivered a vicious suplex to Silas right there. The action went back and forth in the ring before Lethal laid Young out on the floor off the apron with a vicious superkick followed by suicide dive into the barricade twice.
The crowd was seemingly dull in this one because of how great the previous two matches were. However, they recovered mid-way into the match since this one was phenomenal as well.At one point in the match, both the competitors were out cold on the floor up until the count of 18, after which the duo rolled back into the ring at the same time. In the end, after failing to put Lethal out, Young brought in the beer keg and was stopped by the referee.
Young pushed the ref down and went for the pin but Lethal broke it at two-count and reversed the pin to get the win.
Winner: Jay Lethal via Pinfall.
After the match, the Bruiser came out and laid Lethal out as Young hit his finisher, Misery on the Beer Keg. The duo destroyed Lethal and made sure that the former RoH Champion doesn’t go out of the building in one piece.
#5 Bully Ray and The Briscoes (c) vs. Dalton Castle and the Boys- 6-Man Tag Team Championship Match
Castle and the Boys made their way out to the ring first in a glorious fashion. Bully Ray and the Briscoes came out second.
Jay started things off by taking the Boys out and completely ignoring Castle. Mark and Castle tagged in and faced off before going at it back and forth. Castle kept taunting Ray so he was tagged in and immediately overpowered Castle. At this point in the match, Castle was the most over person on the show so far.
Castle threw some chops to Ray’s chest but it had no effect on him. Ray then came in with the offence and threw some punches at Castle but he evaded the offence just in time and struck Ray with the infamous Peacock Pose which leads to a huge pop from the crowd.
The Briscoes took control of the match and laid Boy #1 and Boy #2 out and almost destroyed them. The Boys were almost helpless against Mark and Jay as the brothers ruthlessly attacked the Boys.
The match ended when there was some distraction from the Boys and Dalton somehow managed to get a roll-up for the win.
Winners and New ROH 6-Man Tag-Team Champions: Dalton Castle and The Boys.
#6 Marty Scurll vs. KUSHIDA (c) – ROH WORLD TV CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH
The Villain, the challenger, made his way to the ring in his trademark fashion. KUSHIDA, the champion came out next with championship.
KUSHIDA offered Scrull a handshake which is kicked away. The action starts and both men go back and forth with neither being successful in gaining the advantage.
This match was a submission fest with each putting in and countering multiple holds throughout the match. The crowd seemed to get behind this match up as the charismatic duo put up an above-average matchup.
Scurll applied his trademark chicken wing multiple times but KUSHIDA worked out of them with ease. Finally, Scurll was able to put in the chicken wing successfully and KUSHIDA looked as if he was fading but snapped out of it only to have his fingers snapped by the Villain, who then put the champion into another shoulder submission.
KUSHIDA then got caught in the top rope as Scurll looked to go for the fingers but ended up getting his own fingers snapped by the champion. KUSHIDA ended the match by hitting a Super Back To The Future followed by another Back To The Future.
Winner and still the ROH WORLD TV CHAMPION: KUSHIDA.#7 The Young Bucks (c) vs. WAR Machine vs. The Best Friends – ROH WORLD TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH
Before the match began, the Best Friends, Trent Barreta and Chuckie T hit the ring and demand their inclusion into the match because they have beaten the Young Bucks at an earlier event. Hence, the match was changed to a Triple Threat Tornado Tag Team.
The match began chaotically with the Bucks taking on WAR Machine. Abundant superkicks, powerbombs and moon-saults soon followed.
The action was equally heated both inside and outside the ring. It was an all-out battle with all three teams bringing using every move in their arsenal and hitting it recklessly. The match had a number of spots that dazzled the crowd, including Chuckie T’s devastating flip on the Bucks and the Mega Superkick Party.The chaos finally ended after the Superkick party when the Young Bucks managed to pin the WAR Machine to get the win.
Winners and still the ROH WORLD TAG TEAM CHAMPIONS: The Young Bucks.
#8 Cody Rhodes vs Christopher Daniels (c) – ROH CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH
Both men made their entrances to the ring and the action started right away with a lot of back and forth offence.
Both men gave the match their all, right from the beginning. Cody’s lip was busted open shortly into the match, and he had to take a break to wipe off the blood.
As Cody got back, Daniels almost immediately went in for Angel’s Wing but he barely evaded it and hit the floor to collect himself. Daniels gets the best of Rhodes again and this annoyed the American Nightmare to no extent.
Cody gained some momentum midway into the match as he delivered a flat-liner from the apron into the ring. The action was happening outside but then Cody saw Cary Silkin and assaulted him.
The action went back into the ring and Daniels unknowingly threw Cody into the referee twice, knocking the official out cold. Cody went in for a low blow kick followed by a pin but the ref wasn’t up yet.
Marty Scurll came out to hand his Bullet Club brethren a chair but the chair was stomped by Daniels. However, Cody picked the chair up, threw it to Daniels and pretended to fall down, as the referee recovered.
Cody then ended up using the chair to his advantage. The crowd was behind Cody from this point onwards as they started chanting his name. Soon Frankie Kazarian came out to fight off the Villain, Marty Scurll. Daniels applied the STF on Cody as the crowd booed the champion.
Daniels attempted to deliver Angel’s Wing but Cody dodged and hit the champion with a Rainmaker and used Kazuchika Okada’s trademark taunt. The match ended as Cody landed a Cross Rhodes on Daniels and pinned him to get the win.
Winner and NEW ROH CHAMPION: Cody Rhodes.
After the match, The Bullet Club came out and celebrated with Rhodes.
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