Best In The World 2018 Review

Best in the World 2018 had matches that truly set the bar for in-ring competition and storytelling. In this guest column, I will be looking at the top five matches from Ring of Honor’s star-studded event and ranking them based on historical significance for the company as well as match quality. Feel free to check out any of these matches at www.ROHhonorclub.com.

Austin Aries vs. Kenny King

It was a very solid mix of action and storytelling the likes of which we have come to expect from these two veterans. I particularly enjoyed the spot in which Kenny King was close to hitting the Royal Flush on the floor, but was talked out of it thanks to the begging and pleading of his former friend-turned-bitter rival. However, the exact same thing happened to him a few moments later, exposing his lack of killer instinct.

The visual of King holding the Impact World Championship was also very striking, sowing the seeds for a potential working relationship between the promotions. Overall, I have decided to give this match 7.5 out of 10. I’m also extremely glad Aries won which will set him up as a potential challenger for the ROH World Title in the coming months.

Kushida vs. Jay Lethal

While this match was initially hurt by a lack of story going in, these two men had a way to recover by Kushida rejecting the Code of Honor. Thus, Jay Lethal had to fight for not only his championship redemption, but also the personal and professional respect of his adversary.

My favorite spot in his match was the suicide dive into the hover board lock, showing the juxtaposition of Lethal’s high-flying ability and the technical proficiency of Kushida. This gets 8 out of 10 because of how exciting it was, but I can see how others might vote it down because of its lack of build beforehand.

Street Fight for the TV Title: Punishment Martinez vs. Adam Page

This was an exciting, fast-paced brawl which helped add some much needed variety to this card. Also, I loved the addition of Page’s new music, which truly gave this match a big fight feel. The numerous amounts of hardcore spots were all impressive, so it is hard single one out as the best of the bunch. But I’d certainly recommend you check out this match because it helped highlight the best of what ROH has to offer.

I kind of wish it had more of a decisive finish that is befitting of pay-per-view. 8 out of 10.

ROH Tag Team Championship: Young Bucks vs. Briscoes

This match had some extremely high expectations because of what these men have done in the past. But, as always, they found a way to surpass them. I’ve really enjoyed the heel run of the Briscoes as it freshened up the dynamic of the bout and the Young Bucks have drastically improved since the last time these men faced off.

My favorite spot of this match is the diving elbow from Mark Briscoe onto the referee – it was vicious and shocking in the heat of the moment. This was the best match of the night for its combination of high impact moves and innovative storytelling. 10 out of 10! Regarding the post-match segment, I’m interested to see where this leads with SoCal Uncensored and the other two teams…my hope is Ladder War 7 this September!

ROH World Title: Dalton Castle vs. Marty Scurll vs. Cody Rhodes

This match was fun for what it was, but it would have been better with more time. Instead of a car crash, they needed time to breathe and appropriately tell this multi-layered story. For example, Nick Aldis pulled the referee out of the ring for no storyline reason, which led to Cody diving on him.

I understand that Nick is facing Cody at All In, but the truth is All In is not strictly a ROH event. So the storylines of All In shouldn’t affect ROH main events in this extreme of a fashion. Besides that, everything stayed true to the characters, which was a nice touch and I appreciated the attention to detail of Cody not being pinned, setting him up as a potential challenger down the road.

7 out of 10 because I expected more from a ROH main event, but thankfully, the rest of the card helped support this.

Castle’s run was enjoyable, but not exactly up to the caliber that we’ve come to expect from ROH reigns, which I’m sure could have been counteracted easily if he wasn’t injured in real life during a good portion of it. Regardless, he proved himself as a main event talent and I hope he stays at the top of the card once he’s healed.

Brendan Bradley is a pro wrestling blogger whose work you can find at wrestlaholic.com and medium.com/@Brendanbradley927.

Follow Brendan on Twitter at @coolguysince01.