ROH Best In The World 2018 Official Thread

[monster mafia]

On Friday June 29, Ring of Honor returns home to Charm City for the first time in more than a year to present the Best In The World pay-per-view at the brand new UMBC Event Center!

MAIN EVENT – TRIPLE THREAT
RING OF HONOR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
ROH WORLD CHAMPION DALTON CASTLE W/THE BOYS vs. “THE AMERICAN NIGHTMARE” CODY vs. “THE VILLAIN” MARTY SCURLL

RING OF HONOR WORLD TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIPS
ROH WORLD TAG TEAM CHAMPIONS THE BRISCOES (JAY & MARK BRISCOE) vs. THE YOUNG BUCKS (MATT & NICK JACKSON)

RING OF HONOR WORLD SIX-MAN TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP
RING OF HONOR WORLD SIX-MAN TAG TEAM CHAMPIONS THE KINGDOM (MATT TAVEN, TK O’RYAN, & VINNY MARSEGLIA) vs. LOS INGOBERNABLES DE JAPON (BUSHI, EVIL, & SANADA)

PUNISHMENT MARTINEZ vs. ADAM PAGE

BULLY RAY vs. FLIP GORDON

WOMEN OF HONOR CHAMPION SUMIE SAKAI, JENNY ROSE, MAYU IWATANI, & TENILLE DASHWOOD vs. KELLY KLEIN AND OEDO TAI (HAZUKI AND GODDESS OF STARDOM TAG TEAM CHAMPIONS KAGETSU & HANA KIMURA)

JAY LETHAL vs. KUSHIDA



SIGNED TO COMPETE:
KENNY KING

[monster mafia]

Approaching nearly a half-year as Ring of Honor World Champion, Dalton Castle has amassed an incredible list of fallen challengers and countries he has defend his championship in. Whether it was Jay Lethal, Punishment Martinez, EVIL or more in the US, Japan, the UK, or Austria, Castle is ensuring his run as the ROH World Champion is one to remember.

But time and toll put on the body of Castle has him running on fumes. Mounting injuries have limited Castle and have even caused defenses to be postponed and, a reign that started with an emphatic win over Cody at Final Battle and included a successful defense of the ROH World Championship in the Main Event of Supercard of Honor against “The Villain” Marty Scurll, now looks in peril with both of those individuals having since earned a pinfall victory over the champ.

A hobbled champion brings his Championship gold into Baltimore and defends it against two individuals who have pinned Castle while Champion in multi-man and tag team matches respectively in a World Championship showdown in a Triple Threat Match worth of the Main Event of ROH’s Pay Per View return home to Baltimore at Best in the World!

MAIN EVENT – TRIPLE THREAT
RING OF HONOR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
ROH WORLD CHAMPION DALTON CASTLE vs. “THE AMERICAN NIGHTMARE” CODY vs. “THE VILLAIN” MARTY SCURLL

Dalton Castle has defeated any and all challengers, proudly holding and defending the ROH World Championship for nearly a half of a year. But after “The Villain” Marty Scurll pinned Castle at ROH Masters of the Craft in April in Columbus and then Cody pinned Castle at Bound By Honor in April in Lakeland, Castle seems to be running on fumes.

After a doctor prevented Castle from defending his Championship against Matt Taven in Lowell, MA and a UK doctor barely cleared the Champ to compete in London to defeat EVIL, Castle heads to Baltimore to take on not only two of the top contenders but two men that have pinned him!

While Castle pinned Cody to win the ROH World Championship at Final Battle and pinned Scurll to retain at Supercard, Castle must face both in similar environments in which he was pinned by the two: multi-man matches. And he must face both men, Bullet Club members, knowing that the two may find a common understanding to help one or the other leave as World Champion.

But will that be a strength or a weakness? Bullet Club has been navigating troubled waters and both Cody and Scurll believe they have what it takes to capture the Championship and that each are the true number one contender.

Can Castle gut out yet another world class World Title defense on Pay Per View when ROH returns home to Baltimore for one of its flagship events or will Bullet Club have what it takes for one of their members to capture the ROH World Championship? Join us to find out!

BEST IN THE WORLD airs LIVE Friday June 29 at 9 PM ET for all HonorClub VIP members, to be ordered with a 50% discount for HonorClub Standard members, and available on Pay Per View, and on Fite.TV! With championships on the line, stakes the highest, and talent from ROH, New Japan, and STARDOM converging on Charm City, anything can and will happen!

RING OF HONOR PRESENTS BEST IN THE WORLD
LIVE FOR HONORCLUB VIP, PAY PER VIEW, AND FITE.TV

[maxx_powerz]

A month ago, before War of the Worlds and real life interfered, I thought the booking was pretty well done and that I could buy any of the three as a winner. But with Castle so beat up, it feels like you have to get the belt off him. And unless it's a swerve, I don't see the point of introducing the ROH title stipulation into the NWA title match at All In unless Cody is the plan. So it certainly feels like a Cody win to me, maybe setting up Cody and Marty for Final Battle. It's unfortunate for Dalton, but it seems like the time off he got last year didn't help, and he probably needs to get shuffled back down the card.

[Mike0284]

[monster mafia]

[Big Red Machine]

The All In stip is really killing this for me. It makes the outcome seem so obvious. I'm not saying you can't have Cody lose and do some sort of storyline where he needs to barter something else with Aldis for a title shot (maybe he offers one night with Brandi?) or have the match be a three-way with both titles on the line with Aldis vs. Cody vs. Dalton/Marty, but I really hope that they let the tag title match main event this show.

[Wilson]

The All In stip is really killing this for me. It makes the outcome seem so obvious. I'm not saying you can't have Cody lose and do some sort of storyline where he needs to barter something else with Aldis for a title shot (maybe he offers one night with Brandi?) or have the match be a three-way with both titles on the line with Aldis vs. Cody vs. Dalton/Marty, but I really hope that they let the tag title match main event this show.

Yep, and that's not to mention the potential for Aldis to be at ringside for this.

This is just the way the company is. They give Cody the biggest contract, allot his wife as much TV presence as any other woman, let him cut promos for his personal brand, agree to have him lose as the ROH champion on New Japan's first independent US show, portray himself as heel or face at his fancy, and fantasy book All In with a stipulation that is designed to give him the edge in popularity during a PPV main event.

[AlexROH]

[alexsmellzzz]

Dude ROH is so slow with announcements. Are they EVER going to announce the Kushida match or the LIJ match? This show's in 3 weeks. They could use the upcoming Texas shows to BUILD to this PPV. Instead, it's looking like it'll be typical ROH, matches that won't mean anything.

All that's announced is the Young Bucks/Briscoes, a match we've seen, what, 800 times at this point?... the main event which doesn't really interest me... Page vs Punishment which who knows if it'll even happen.. and Page has been lackluster as of late... and then a weird Flip/Bully match that is honestly a HUGE waste of Flip. He's coming off an impressive BOSJ run and they're putting him against Bully Ray on a PPV, are you serious? LOL. Watch, it'll be LIJ vs Kingdom in the worst possible way to showcase LIJ.

I PRAY the Kushida match is Kushida/Lethal, or Kushida vs SOMEBODY decent. Needs to be something that can save this show.

I'm sure the show will end up being decent, since ROH usually has great efforts from everybody on their PPVs. It's just exhausting watching this company and hoping they ever do anything interesting.

[AlexROH]

Dude ROH is so slow with announcements. Are they EVER going to announce the Kushida match or the LIJ match? This show's in 3 weeks. They could use the upcoming Texas shows to BUILD to this PPV. Instead, it's looking like it'll be typical ROH, matches that won't mean anything.

All that's announced is the Young Bucks/Briscoes, a match we've seen, what, 800 times at this point?... the main event which doesn't really interest me... Page vs Punishment which who knows if it'll even happen.. and Page has been lackluster as of late... and then a weird Flip/Bully match that is honestly a HUGE waste of Flip. He's coming off an impressive BOSJ run and they're putting him against Bully Ray on a PPV, are you serious? LOL. Watch, it'll be LIJ vs Kingdom in the worst possible way to showcase LIJ.

I PRAY the Kushida match is Kushida/Lethal, or Kushida vs SOMEBODY decent. Needs to be something that can save this show.

I'm sure the show will end up being decent, since ROH usually has great efforts from everybody on their PPVs. It's just exhausting watching this company and hoping they ever do anything interesting.

KUSHIDA vs Lethal and LIJ vs Kingdom were announced by Riccaboni during Honor United Doncaster.

[Wilson]

Dude ROH is so slow with announcements. Are they EVER going to announce the Kushida match or the LIJ match? This show's in 3 weeks. They could use the upcoming Texas shows to BUILD to this PPV. Instead, it's looking like it'll be typical ROH, matches that won't mean anything.

All that's announced is the Young Bucks/Briscoes, a match we've seen, what, 800 times at this point?... the main event which doesn't really interest me... Page vs Punishment which who knows if it'll even happen.. and Page has been lackluster as of late... and then a weird Flip/Bully match that is honestly a HUGE waste of Flip. He's coming off an impressive BOSJ run and they're putting him against Bully Ray on a PPV, are you serious? LOL. Watch, it'll be LIJ vs Kingdom in the worst possible way to showcase LIJ.

I PRAY the Kushida match is Kushida/Lethal, or Kushida vs SOMEBODY decent. Needs to be something that can save this show.

I'm sure the show will end up being decent, since ROH usually has great efforts from everybody on their PPVs. It's just exhausting watching this company and hoping they ever do anything interesting.

This has gotta stop asap. If you keep posting like this people will think you're my alt account.

I still hold to it that ROH PPVs are Takeover lites (well, at least before the NXT shows kicked it into high gear again). Builds for PPVs have always been flawed. Even if there is considered build-up to a program, it rarely feels like wrestlers are being built up.

I'd be pretty surprised if Best in the World underdelivers. First, I would never count out a PPV with a strong Lethal singles match. Next, ROH Title defenses where the current reign looks to be in jeopardy is only a two to three-time a year occurrence. Also, there's New Japan talent. That's a rarity for this specific PPV.

[Big Red Machine]

It's funny that you call them "Takeover lites" because IMO one of the things that has made the Takeover shows work so well is that they have limited the number of matches on the show so that everything gets enough to really deliver. That's also what Gabe used to do with the old PPVS... and Delirious has basically done the opposite with the ROH PPVs, and I think that's a big reason why they rarely feel like they deliver. The roster is too large to have a three-hour PPV where most of the roster gets featured and the matches are able to deliver to an ROH caliber. The TV has had a similar problem, and having fewer people on the roster would give the booker more time to focus on each angle to make sure that the angles are actually good (and would save the company money because they're not paying so many people).

[Wilson]

It's funny that you call them "Takeover lites" because IMO one of the things that has made the Takeover shows work so well is that they have limited the number of matches on the show so that everything gets enough to really deliver. That's also what Gabe used to do with the old PPVS... and Delirious has basically done the opposite with the ROH PPVs, and I think that's a big reason why they rarely feel like they deliver. The roster is too large to have a three-hour PPV where most of the roster gets featured and the matches are able to deliver to an ROH caliber. The TV has had a similar problem, and having fewer people on the roster would give the booker more time to focus on each angle to make sure that the angles are actually good (and would save the company money because they're not paying so many people).

There are certainly crucial differences between Takeovers and ROH PPVs, and your post interrogates that pretty well. What I think they share are wrestlers putting in performances that stand apart from TV or house show affairs, and when the wrestlers do show up, it can make up for incomplete booking. NXT, not even a year ago, was perpetually in a state where people had quiet expectations of the Takeovers, knowing that the agenting and workrate would deliver in spite of frictionless stories. Guys like Dalton, Kenny King, Lethal, Silas, and the Bucks all know when and how to show up, but they can do only do so much before being worked against by inept bookers/agents/producers. Which is why it's no surprise that the best ROH PPV matches tend to be the ones that don't reek of booker's intervention.

[Big Red Machine]

It's funny that you call them "Takeover lites" because IMO one of the things that has made the Takeover shows work so well is that they have limited the number of matches on the show so that everything gets enough to really deliver. That's also what Gabe used to do with the old PPVS... and Delirious has basically done the opposite with the ROH PPVs, and I think that's a big reason why they rarely feel like they deliver. The roster is too large to have a three-hour PPV where most of the roster gets featured and the matches are able to deliver to an ROH caliber. The TV has had a similar problem, and having fewer people on the roster would give the booker more time to focus on each angle to make sure that the angles are actually good (and would save the company money because they're not paying so many people).

There are certainly crucial differences between Takeovers and ROH PPVs, and your post interrogates that pretty well. What I think they share are wrestlers putting in performances that stand apart from TV or house show affairs, and when the wrestlers do show up, it can make up for incomplete booking. NXT, not even a year ago, was perpetually in a state where people had quiet expectations of the Takeovers, knowing that the agenting and workrate would deliver in spite of frictionless stories. Guys like Dalton, Kenny King, Lethal, Silas, and the Bucks all know when and how to show up, but they can do only do so much before being worked against by inept bookers/agents/producers. Which is why it's no surprise that the best ROH PPV matches tend to be the ones that don't reek of booker's intervention.

While guys working "house show" matches often feels like a problem on non-televised ROH shows to me with some guys (particularly Cody, Dalton, Scurll, and The Addiction) the matches not being given enough time has felt like problem to me throughout ROH, no matter if its TV, PPV, or house shows. In NXT, however, I've never really felt too much of what you are describing. Maybe it's because once NXT started doing their own PPVs the format has always felt the same, with them building to a big show every 2-3 months, and thus I watch it more like I would watch an older show, expecting a slower build and nothing particularly great in the ring on TV, whereas ROH TV I remember thinking was pretty awesome in the ring every week from the time the SCUM angle ended until mid-late 2015 or so, and that for most of that time it did a good job of simultaneously building up to not just the PPVs and iPPVs, but the top level of house shows as well (or at least made them feel important to the story, if not actually building the matches up via segments on TV).

[dhads7161]

Hell of a card on paper so far.
But as discussed above a great card will only be great if the agenting/booking is great too. ROH PPVs are way too consistently disappointing especially the main events which always seem to have an awkward or sudden end dating back to Best In the World 2014.

[AlexROH]

Cool match, Oedo Tai will help Kelly Klein. The other team, argh, I really dislike Sumie and Rose. Hope all the STARDOM girls get more matches at the tapings.

So the final card will be:

Dalton (c) vs. Cody vs. Marty
Briscoes (c) vs. Bucks
Kingdom (c) vs. LIJ

Klein/Oedo Tai vs. Sakai/Rose/Dashwood/Iwatani
KUSHIDA vs. Lethal
Page vs. Martinez
Flip vs. Bully

And that will leave only the TV Title left. Hope ROH is able to book Aries so we get Aries vs. Silas vs. King. Strong card.

[BurningHammer]

Personally It looks like one of the best PPV cards ROH has produced in while, especially in terms of meat to the bone of the matches themselves. Everything has a history or an emotive story ridding along side (wether you are into them or not), I like how they have introduced LIJ more so recently into the ROH roster and especially with the Kingdom it gives the match more meaning.

I don't know but I think we may get a promo from Silas leading to Aries interupting, brawling leading to a match at the TV tapings or the next PPV. If we do get that three way that is a massively stacked card with a limited amount of time to fill.

[kovs27]

Personally It looks like one of the best PPV cards ROH has produced in while, especially in terms of meat to the bone of the matches themselves. Everything has a history or an emotive story ridding along side (wether you are into them or not), I like how they have introduced LIJ more so recently into the ROH roster and especially with the Kingdom it gives the match more meaning.

I don't know but I think we may get a promo from Silas leading to Aries interupting, brawling leading to a match at the TV tapings or the next PPV. If we do get that three way that is a massively stacked card with a limited amount of time to fill.

I certainly do hope we get that 3 way for the tv title but Aries was not in New York for the last taping. I haven't read IMPACT spoilers but they were taping on the same day. So if they are going to build to that match it'll have to be all backstage.

[alexsmellzzz]

LIJ vs Kingdom... LOL

Cmon.

It's about to be Bucks vs LIJ in a regular tag this weekend.... they couldn't have just added a 3rd man to the Bucks side? Why do we have to watch the Kingdom

It really BETTER be Kushida vs Lethal. Card is horrendous so far. The work will be there, everybody will give great efforts. But there's just so much sameness from card-to-card with ROH now. You guys are really paying 30 bucks to watch this? Because this isn't Honor Club... Despite the house show card, this is their actual PPV show, if you'd believe that.

Ways for this card to be saved:

--If it's Kushida/Lethal

--If Page and Punishment just bump the hell out of each other like the Punishment/Marty match from the Vegas ppv a few months ago (now THAT was a match)

Yeah idk, those two are really the only things I'd even be remotely interested in, honestly. Looking forward to when ROH comes to Vegas in September. I hope they bring some NJPW guys here for that one. I'm sure that card will be better actually. They usually have killer cards in Vegas.

[Big Red Machine]

Totally random eight-woman tag on a PPV. We've had this belt for three months now and they haven't put in any effort to build up a challenger for the PPV. It's the six-man tag team titles all over again. It just bloats the roster without any sort of effort being put into it to justify its existence.