Ring of Honor
Best in the World 2015
Friday, June 19
New York City, New York – Terminal 5
Watch: PPV & ROHWrestling.com
Ring of Honor returns to traditional PPV tonight with Best in the World 2015 headlined by what ROH is calling their biggest match ever: Jay Lethal vs. Jay Briscoe, ROH’s TV champ (Lethal) vs. ROH’s dominant World Champion Jay Briscoe — Title for Title. Briscoe has not been pinned in over two years and Lethal is the longest reigning Television Champion in history (441 days). Though I’d argue about its status as the biggest ROH match ever, you can’t argue with how protected both competitors have been. This is one of the few matches where either guy winning would make perfect sense but could also be endless argued. Is Jay Lethal worthy of the main event World Title level? Though if he doesn’t win, did they miss an opportunity to pull the trigger? Briscoe has been built up for a long time and you do that for the eventual Title loss to mean something, does it mean enough if it’s Jay Lethal? There are a lot of questions surrounding the main event but they are all positive. One way or another, ROH deserves a pat on the back for a job well done keeping these two men apart from one another and protecting both for this monumental showdown. Let’s get to our staff preview! -Rich Kraetsch (@voiceswrestling)
C&C Wrestle Factory (Caprice Coleman & Cedric Alexander) vs War Machine (Hanson & Raymond Rowe)
Rob Reid (@TheRDouble): After being derailed by Ray Rowe’s motorcycle accident War Machine are very much on track and a highlight of the core roster of guys for me. They’re big guys with great looks who can both really go in the ring and have good chemistry together, what’s not to love? I expect them to win here to catapult themselves into a feud with the newly heel Addiction for the tag titles. The only potential complication for that is that Cedric is on the precipice of a heel turn that’s been built up for months. What I expect to happen is War Machine will get the win and Cedric will attack Coleman after the match, but if they want to hold off the War Machine tag title challenge then they could turn both members of C&C and have them steal a win, making this into a place holder feud, with Coleman working a heel preacher gimmick and being Alexander’s manager and occasional tag partner.
Prediction: War Machine
Aaron Bentley (@aaron_bentley): War Machine is awesome. It does feel like they’ve lost a little bit of momentum since they returned, mainly because they haven’t gotten much time on ROH TV. Still, it’s clear ROH loves these guys and they are going to continue getting pushed up the card. As for C&C, Alexander’s apparent heel turn is a much needed change for a stale character. Also, Caprice Coleman will definitely be part of this match. Alexander’s recent booking leaves open the possibility for something untoward here but it makes the most sense to keep War Machine on the march toward the titles.
Prediction: War Machine
Warren Taylor (@TeddyNoir): Cedric Alexander’s descent into the full throes dark side will happen post-match. War Machine will get a win in a very competitive contest either via a C & C miscommunication or a flub by Caprice Coleman. Either way Alexander is going to brutalize the first person to believe in him in Ring of Honor, setting up the a nice feud to get Cedric back on track.
Prediction: War Machine
Larry: War Machine is currently crushing cans on the undercard and has been fantastic since Raymond Rowe has come back from injury. These guys are a vintage big, tough, ass kicking biker dudes that were the rage of the 1980s, but unlike those teams from yesteryear they can also really go in the ring. The sky’s the limit, especially for Rowe. On the flip side, Cedric Alexander is on the cusp of turning heel after a shocking win over Moose where he cheated his way to victory. Caprice Coleman is just…kind of there? War Machine should win here as they stay in a holding pattern waiting for the tag title scene to shake out. However, watch out for more heelishness by Alexander, either to steal a win or give Caprice a post match beatdown for eating and pin.
Prediction: War Machine
Silas Young vs. Dalton Castle
Rob Reid:I’m all aboard this match, these two characters are pretty much custom made to play off each other. Couple that with the fact that these guys can both very much go, and this should be great. As for who wins, I’m not entirely sure. Young in theory is the guy higher up the card, but he’s been booked pretty poorly really. I hope this isn’t just a one-off match and develops into a feud, it’d give both guys a thing to do.
Prediction: Silas Young
Aaron Bentley: I’ll be the lone member of the group with no interest in this match. To me, Castle’s gimmick reeks of the worst kind of in-on-the-joke hipsterism irony. Meh. Castle is clearly a good worker so I wish he would focus his energy in the ring. His obvious charisma could be better focused into a character that would be believable as someone who wants to win wrestling matches and wrestling titles. But I’m well aware I am on an island with this opinion. Silas Young is the opposite of Castle for me. Young does wonderful character work but his in-ring work bores me to tears. Despite my opinions, ROH appears very high on Castle. I expect him to get the win here.
Prediction: Dalton Castle
Warren Taylor: The interactions in this match will be glorious. I can’t wait to see Silas’ disgust at Castle mannerisms or his “boys”.
Prediction: Silas Young
Larry: The contrast of characters in this match is…awesome and should provide ample amounts of comedy between the overly flamboyant Castle and man’s man Young. Both of these guys are more than capable in the ring, too, so it should be fun.
Prediction: Silas Young
ROH World Tag Team Championship – No Disqualification
The Addiction (Christopher Daniels and Frankie Kazarian) (c) vs. reDRagon (Bobby Fish and Kyle O’Reilly)
Rob Reid: I wasn’t a fan of the Knights of the Rising Dawn angle when they started it, it was a very played out angle from wrestling in general and just felt lazy. Then they started ruining matches with interference and I hated them. However, when they did eventually get around to the reveal I thought it was pretty well done. I was hoping they’d just move past the whole KRD shtick and have Sabin and the Addiction just three allied heel wrestlers. Sadly, since the Addiction won the titles they’ve been booked pretty badly, taking falls left and right.
I expect them to retain here though, it wouldn’t make any sense for reDRagon to regain the belts immediately. This is likely the point where reDRagon transition away from the tag title scene that they’ve been at the centre of since the beginning of 2013, with them staying aligned but focusing on their singles careers similar to the way the Briscoes have been in the last few years. O’Reilly has already been set up as a future challenger for Lethal (potentially Final Battle) and there’s a bevy of face challengers who could be next in line (War Machine, ACH & Sydal, the Briscoes, Roppongi Vice, Time Splitters and Young Bucks).
Prediction: The Addiction
Aaron Bentley: Whatever goodwill The Addiction had with me after a pretty good payoff to the KRD angle has slowly but steadily evaporated. The build to this match has been relatively unfocused for what should be a simple story. Or, perhaps, ROH just hasn’t been focused on building this match. I hear what Rob and Larry are saying regarding the context surrounding the booking of this match. All of that makes perfect sense. However, it seems to me the purpose of a No DQ blowoff is to let the babyfaces exact their revenge so I’m leaning toward a title change.
Prediction: reDRagon
Warren Taylor: If you follow the ROH house show loop The Addiction have been getting cheap wins left and right. I look for that pattern to hold here. Fish and O’Reilly were great as tag champions but the division needs a reset and smarmy heel champs like The Addiction are just what it needs.
Prediction: The Addiction
Larry: I haven’t fully been invested in the storytelling aspect of this feud, as ROH’s week-to-week television didn’t do a great job of piecing together the purpose of the Knights of the Rising Dawn gimmick or following up on the heel turn of Daniels and Kazarian. However, between the bells, the work by all parties involved has been rock solid or better. I fully expect this to be a standout match on the card as it will be given time. reDRagon has been branching off a bit lately, working their asses off in New Japan while also putting in work as singles in ROH aside from their other Indy stuff, so I am not seeing a title change here. The stipulation leaves a lot of room for the shenanigans to give The Addiction the win.
Prediction: The Addiction
Mark Briscoe vs. Donovan Dijak
Rob Reid: Dijak hasn’t had too many opportunities to impress yet, but from what I’ve seen he’s a solid to good in ring worker with a fair amount of potential. I’m not the biggest fan of Mark, but he’s solid enough and I expect a good enough match here. The result could go either way but I’ll go with Mark so the Briscoes-HoT feud can split wins on the night.
Prediction: Mark Briscoe
Aaron Bentley: Based on what little I’ve seen so far, I am bullish on Dijak’s future. I can’t imagine the point of putting over Mark Briscoe in this match. Briscoe still has enough juice that a Dijak victory would mean something for him. But either way, by the end of this match, we’ll have a better idea of what kind of worker Donovan Dijak is.
Prediction: Donovan Dijak
Warren Taylor: Donovan Dijak is still raw but the big man has excellent charisma and is a tremendous athlete. No one makes young talent look better than Mark Briscoe. “Chicken” will help hide Dijak’s flaws and this should be a good 7-10 minute match.
Prediction: Donovan Dijak
Larry: This should be a good test for Dijak to show something in the ring. He’s big, athletic, and isn’t a total stiff. However, we haven’t seen a lot from him outside of the barebones structure of the Top Prospect matches and his not-sure-if-its-cool-yet finisher. Being in the House of Truth is going to cover up a lot of his flaws early on, so when he’s given a spot on a major PPV against a featured talent, it gonna be show time. Briscoe can carry this match to a being pretty good.
Prediction: Mark Briscoe
Matt Sydal and ACH vs. The Decade (B.J. Whitmer and Adam Page)
Rob Reid: Matt Sydal is having a great year that’s going somewhat under the radar for many. ACH is consistently great too, although is coming off an ever so slightly disappointing ROH-NJPW set of shows. I’ve been enjoying Page too over the last six months or so, but the clear guy dragging this one down is Whitmer. I imagine it’ll be fine though.
Prediction: Matt Sydal & ACH
Aaron Bentley: I can’t wait for Whitmer to get tagged in and slow down the pace of this match! Who thought putting Sydal & ACH in the ring with these two would make for anything exciting? In fairness, the build of ACH vs. The Decade has been legitimately interesting. But Whitmer and Page can’t hold up their end bell-to-bell, though Page has been improving recently. Regardless, Sydal & ACH will work their asses off here and hopefully this will still be fun.
Prediction: Matt Sydal & ACH
Warren Taylor: I may be one of the few people who does not hate BJ Whitmer. His work as a prick veteran has been fantastic over the last year. With that said Adam Page, ACH and Matt Sydal will make this match go. All three are having an excellent year in ROH and always work hard. I am breaking from the rest of the group and am going to pick The Decade because ROH clearly has some sort of plans for Adam Page.
Prediction: The Decade
Larry: I handwaved The Decade long ago. However, in its latest incarnation, with ‘The Sadist’ BJ Whitmer and Adam Page deriving pleasure from watching ‘The Twink’ Colby Corino suffering beatdowns while his father feigns outrage, they’ve officially reached ‘I’d rather watch TNA’ levels of terrible. Fortunately, ACH and Matt Sydal are very good and very fun as a team, so I hope for the best here. I’d like to see ACH and Sydal get the win, with an ACH win over Page on ROHTV somewhat soon so he can move on from this awful feud.
Prediction: Matt Sydal & ACH
The Kingdom (Adam Cole, Michael Bennett, and Matt Taven) vs. Bullet Club (A.J. Styles, Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson)
Rob Reid: To quote my friend Burnside “The thing is that the Bullet Club’s gimmick was/is sort of that they were a tribute to 90s stables like the NWO and DX, but that really they’re heels who have no self-awareness and think they’re cool when they’re actually lame and dated and cheesy with their little wolfpack signs and crotch chops and the cliched black t-shirts with white lettering. Kind of like a heel Spinal Tap. But the U.S. audience largely missed the joke and just thought they actually were cool and has largely embraced them as faces.” I really couldn’t put it better myself. Thus when Anderson & Gallows are representing the Bullet Club in ROH it doesn’t work whatsoever, but thankfully with the three members they’ve got for this match the act does. I imagine this match will be a lot of fun, and the better parts of the Bullet Club will pick their win back up.
Prediction: Bullet Club
Aaron Bentley: I wish ROH could use Styles more so that he would have something more to do on this show. Alas, the most riveting question here will be: Can Bennett & Taven ruin this match? I was out of the mainstream opinion in enjoying their work on the War of the Worlds iPPV (though it was stuck in an awful match) but maybe they are actually finding their footing. Most importantly, Karl Anderson isn’t here so the story won’t be focused on Maria Kanellis. I may be one of the people Rob is shading in his preview as the presence of Styles and the Bucks ensures I will enjoy this.
Prediction: Bullet Club
Warren Taylor: Here is a hot take, Bennett and Taven will add not subtract to this match. Both guys are great tag team wrestlers and that has showed in ROH over the past few months. The Style Bucks always bring the goods in six man tags. This match will have all kinds of crazy spots that will have the crowd going nuts. I think Adam Cole gets the pin on Styles to set up another match between them down the line.
Prediction: The Kingdom
Larry: Michael Bennett and Matt Taven have slowly gotten a little better recently. They are working around the world now and getting some good experience. Cole is fantastic and has been the best part of this act since its inception. I dig The Bullet Club in the Ring of Honor setting. They are super over so you can’t help get into Styles and The Young Bucks. They always work their ass off. After The Kingdom’s shocking win over at War of the Worlds: Night 2, I assume the Biz Cliz is going to get their win back here in another pretty good match with a ton of big spots.
Prediction: Bullet Club
ROH World Championship #1 Contendership
Roderick Strong vs. Michael Elgin vs. Moose
Rob Reid: Some still seem convinced that Moose is winning this, but we’re going to end up with a heel champion on top so it only makes sense that Roddy wins here. For those who follow ROH booking closely it has been somewhat clear that they only started pushing Roddy again once they decided Lethal was winning the belt back. As soon as the seeds were planted for Lethal to win the World title here Roddy was gradually moved up the card, for the purpose of giving Lethal a credible challenger for a first big defense (although Briscoe’s rematch may be first). I imagine this title shot will decide the challenger for the Death Before Dishonor iPPV, and that completely rules out Elgin who is in the G1 then. I’m expecting Strong to pin Elgin, as they’re still yet to have Moose lose clean, but he could beat either of them really. As for the quality of the match, I really have no idea how it’ll turn out. It could be great, but I’d say there’s about an equal chance it’s horrible.
Prediction: Roderick Strong
Aaron Bentley: My indecision regarding the outcome of the main event of this show also plays into this match. Clearly, the person that breaks Jay Briscoe’s two-year win streak should get quite the rub. So is Lethal really the guy that needs that? I’ve suggested in my ROH TV reviews that Moose could be a guy who would really benefit from that win if ROH felt confident he was ready for it. Of course, I’m not sure he is actually going to be ready soon enough for it to make sense. But the booking of this match suggested maybe they thought he was ready. And then, Moose lost before he could even get to this match. So who knows. I agree with my colleagues that it would make sense for Roderick Strong to be used as a placeholder #1 contender. I’m just concerned this match is going to be a mess, regardless of outcome.
Prediction: Roderick Strong
Warren Taylor: Roderick Strong is the Wrestler of the Year for 2015 thus far and is working well with everyone he gets in the ring with. He would make a great first title defense for Jay Lethal and do not overlook the fact that Roddy is traditionally one of the first challengers a new ROH World Champion faces.
Prediction: Roderick Strong
Larry: Until recently, I could see every one of these guys picking up the win and going on to the main event scene. Then, Moose ate his first pin in Ring of Honor. Losing the albatross that is an undefeated streak will be good for Moose in the long run. However, I can not imagine this being his night. Elgin had a modest, if not uninspiring ROH/NJPW Supershow weekend, but he’s going off to Japan to take part in the G1 Climax. You can pick your political poison as to why I don’t think he’ll be the #1 Contender for the title after this match. That leaves Roderick Strong. Roddy has flourished as a gatekeeper on the Indy scene in the past year. He’s consistently having great matches and in the ROH bubble, he’s on a hot streak that has him positioned as the next in line for a title shot. He’s the right guy to win here and should, especially if they make the right call in the Championship match to close the show.
Prediction: Roderick Strong
Title vs. Title – ROH World Championship & ROH World Television Championship
Jay Briscoe vs. Jay Lethal
Rob Reid: This feud is a match that has been built up sublimely. It was foreshadowed (in that they were interacting and laying seeds while still feuding with others), it makes sense, they’ve had a nice slow build but has avoided ever just stopping in one place and repeating (see Elgin-Strong)… I’m really looking forward to the conclusion, and I don’t even think it’s going to be a good match. That’s when you can tell a storyline has done its job. With the talented in-ring wrestlers that have made up the roster over the years whoever the ROH booker has been has often been lucky enough that the match sells itself without the need for a good storyline, but the mark of a well-crafted feud is when you’re looking forward to the match regardless of how you think the in-ring work will play out. If you haven’t seen the hype video they’ve put out on youtube for this then you need to. I don’t think the outcome here is a complete lock, but I’m fairly confident that they’ll do the right thing and put the belt on Lethal here. The fans are slowly beginning to turn on Briscoe at this point, with him getting a flat out negative reaction in front of the Philly NJPW crowd, mainly because ever since his shoulder injury he hasn’t been able to have main event level straight singles matches. He’s managed to buy time by being an elite level promo and a fantastic hardcore wrestler, but things are only going to get worse if they keep the belt on him. Give Lethal the strap here and the main event scene freshens up considerably, and hopefully he gets a nice reign until Final Battle at the end of the year.
Prediction: Jay Lethal
Aaron Bentley: If ROH is actually streaming this show live on their website, this match is the reason why they will get my money. The build has been awesome. As much as I personally dislike Jay Briscoe, he is great at making his matches seem like fights. I am dying to see these guys fight. The build to this match has only been as successful as it has because both these characters have also been built extremely well. I’ve discussed Briscoe’s streak earlier but Jay Lethal’s Television title run has elevated him in this company and shown him to be one of the best wrestlers working, period. As a result, the outcome is truly in doubt. Honestly, I’m rooting for a Lethal win. I would’ve liked to have seen Briscoe’s loss really make a new star but considering the current landscape of ROH, it makes sense to try to make a truly top guy out of Lethal. We will see if they follow through on it.
Prediction: Jay Lethal
Warren Taylor: This match is an important step for Jay Lethal and the ROH World Television Championship. Lethal is ready to be the champion, his ring work is consistent and his alliance with Truth Martini has given his character much needed creative direction. What I think is interesting is that for the first time the ROH TV Championship actually means something. Ever since the belt was created it has been a token more than a trophy. Not one champion has used it as a spring board to the big belt but that changes Friday. If used correctly ROH can use the TV title to create its next big star.
Prediction: Jay Lethal
Larry: In one corner, you’ve got Jay Lethal. He has become one of the top guys in all of wrestling. After turning heel at Supercard of Honor VIII, Lethal, always charismatic and confident, finally found – after many years of sampling different variations of – himself. He’s taken on this sort of tribute act to 1985 Randy Savage and 1991 Ric Flair as a character. However, it is very much a genuine extension of himself with the volume turned way up. It is a character made for the big time. In the other corner, Jay Briscoe has been nothing short of a revelation as a singles champion and top guy. Despite an on-again, off-again flirtation with the WWE, ROH has kept Briscoe a protected, made man in the company for well over two years, most of it as champion. He’s the best talker in the industry right now and in the ring, he gives you the aura of a real southern boy ass kicker. These are two men, at the top of their game, fighting to be the TOP GUY. This is what a SUPER FIGHT is supposed to be. It is as close to a dream match as you’ll get on the Indy scene where there is often a constant reshuffling of the deck. It is a match a year in the making. Its special and you should pay money to see this match just to support this kind of thing.
As for the result…I’m a mark, but Lethal SHOULD win. Too often, do these types of matches end with the status quo after the bell rings. This shouldn’t be one of those times. Briscoe is already a made man. I could say the same about Lethal, however, this would put him over the top and give you a legitimate top heel in the company, one the likes of Michael Elgin or Adam Cole could never be. #TeamLethal
Prediction: Jay Lethal
