Brian Cage vs Dalton Castle

Cage is such an imposing physical force in the ring but Dalton Castle is not phased, Castle a rather charismatic force himself. The two clash and Cage established early dominance with his power and speed. Dalton tried to save a semblance of momentum with his cunning but Cage is relentless. Dalton hit a desperation German suplex but only got a short two-count. Cage hit a diving elbow drop and could only muster a two-count out of it. Castle was not ready to give in. Cage continued a beat down on Dalton Castle, hitting him with a hip toss on to his knee but again, a two count! In a last gasp, Castle hit Cage with a Bang-A-Rang but Cage kicked out! Oh man that was close. They don’t call Cage the Machine for nothing though, he ended the match with a devastating Discus Lariat. WINNER: BRIAN CAGE



Match Quality: 79% / Crowd Reaction: 44% / Overall Rating: 61%

Cage Promo

After the match, showing signs of exhaustion from his battle with Dalton Castle, Cage motioned for a microphone.

“JAY LETHAL…” he paused and looked to the camera. “You have hidden from me for long enough. There is a reason I didn’t join House of Truth, and that’s because you have something that I want. You have held the TV title for over 800 days but trust me when I say your days are numbered. You’ve beaten every man you’ve faced but there’s just one problem for you Jay Lethal. I’m not a man…

I’M A MACHINE!”



Overall Rating: 79%

House of Truth Reply To Addiction



In the backstage area, Truth Martini is standing with House of Truth members Donovan Dijak and J Diesel. He’s got his textbook smirk on his face and he also has his ‘hired guns’ Taka Michinoku and Tajiri with him as well.

“Addiction, Knights of the “Rising Dawn”… what does that mean anyway? Dawn is sunset. Anyway, you want to fight these two men, Donovan Dijak and J Diesel before you get a chance at my hired guns for the tag-titles? Be my guest. You’re just making yourselves ripe for the picking at Best In The World.”

Truth Martini looks to his men and nods. “We might as well get this started right away. J Diesel, he wants a fight. Kazarian if you want a piece of J Diesel he will be waiting for you in the ring.”

Overall Rating: 62%

Kazarian vs J Diesel

J Diesel started out strong showing his strength advantage but it was only a matter of time before the wily veteran Kazarian managed to change the momentum in to his favor. Slingshot DDT and Kazarian got a two-count. J. Diesel started to mount a counter-offensive cracking Kazarian with a neckbreaker followed up by dropping a knee on to his face. Diesel stayed on the offensive, wrecking Kazarian with a clothesline and earning a two-count. Diesel found himself on the receiving end of a belly-to-belly suplex and Kazarian hit a Tomikazi. He could only get a two-count. Diesel had clearly taken some damage as his offense was leaving something to be desired but Kazarian could not put him away. He rolled J Diesel up with a handful of trunks. The ref didn’t see! WINNER: KAZARIAN!



Match Quality: 72% / Crowd Reaction: 34% / Overall Rating: 53%

rEDragon vs All-Night Express

O’Reilly and King start off the match and meet each other blow-for-blow. Both teams start out red hot, tags to the partners and Fish and Titus do not miss a beat. reDRagon show why they are one of the best tag-teams in the entire world, as Fish eventually gains the upper hand after a two man smash machine catches Titus but Kenny King was sure to break up the pin attempt. Titus was still isolated and being dissected by reDRagon, desperate to make a tag. Double Dragon! Oh they cannot put Titus away, King made the save again. Titus gets the desperation tag, Kenny King with some momentum. King and O’Reilly with an intense back-and-forth. Exploder suplex in to the turnbuckle but Fish breaks up a pin attempt. Chasing the Dragon ends up spelling the end for King and the ANE. WINNER: REDRAGON!



Match Quality: 88% / Crowd Reaction: 64% / Overall Rating: 76%

Adam Cole vs Tajiri

The arena is buzzing for this one as Tajiri and Cole circle each other inside the ring. Cole started out hot, trying to wear Tajiri down but he is akin to a force of nature with his insane kicks, Cole couldn’t mount much momentum. Tajiri met him blow-for-blow and the match stayed pretty even early on. Tajiri really took it to Cole for a while, wearing him down. It seemed as if there was no chance of Cole overcoming for a little while and the crowd was torn on willing him back to life. In spite of being a heel for HoT, Tajiri had quite a lot of love from the crowd. Cole hit a enzuigiri and stifled Tajiri’s momentum. Tajiri got Cole in to a Tarantula but Cole managed to break free. Damage appeared to be done. Cole did not quit however, fireman’s carry neckbreaker got him a two-count. Tajiri answered with a dragon suplex but also only got a two. Buzzsaw Kick!!! But Adam Cole kicked out. Adam Cole managed to wear Tajiri down and snap him in to a figure-four leg lock. Tajiri found the ropes! Cole hit the Florida Key and that managed to put Tajiri away. WINNER: ADAM COLE!

As Cole had his hand raised in victory, someone jumped from out of the crowd. It’s Christopher Daniels! Daniels floored an unsuspecting Cole with the Angel’s Wings before going right after Tajiri with vicious stomps. A referee tried to restrain him but Daniels shove him aside. He clocked Tajiri with a reverse STO and then put him in a Koji Clutch. Daniels would not let go. It took a mob of referees to break up the violence. The bad blood between Addiction and House of Truth keeps growing!

Match Quality: 95% / Crowd Reaction: 62% / Overall Rating: 78%

Backstage Confrontation

Backstage Jay Lethal was relaxing in his locker room when Benjamin Knight walked right up to him, “Can we have a word?” Lethal looked surprised that Knight would just waltz right in.

“Who the hell do you think you are?” Lethal spat.

“I’m the man that’s going to take that title, but you’re too chicken to face me one-on-one.”

“Chicken? How old are you…” Lethal retorted, looking at Knight with condescension. “I’ll tell you what. Since you’re looking for a hand out, I’ll give you one. At Best In The World… you can take anyone you want and face me and a partner of my choosing in a tag-team match. If you win, I’ll give you a title shot. If you lose…”

Lethal paused with an evil grin on his face, “And you certainly will lose… then you have to climb the ladder just like everybody else.”

“Fine. I’ve got a brute in my corner–” Knight started, but Lethal interrupted him.

“You can bring on anyone you want to team with you, it won’t make any difference for you or your ridiculous “new age” of Ring of Honor wrestling. I’m the best wrestler in the world, and you don’t stand a chance Benny…”

Knight came up to Lethal, they stood face-to-face, though Knight was a larger man Lethal did not back down. “Your house of cards will come toppling down soon enough…”

Overall Rating: 85%

Samoa Joe vs Mark Briscoe

Mark Briscoe looked focused as he stared down Samoa Joe. Joe, as always, looked ready for war as a “Joe Is Gonna Kill You!” chant broke out. Joe took it to Mark Briscoe early on, lighting him up with a blistering offense. He was relentless in his attack on Briscoe who seemed to have offended Joe by not only challenging him, but asserting that he was better. Joe acted like he was taking care of a personal vendetta. A particularly nasty half-nelson suplex folded Mark over but only got a short two-count. He wasn’t going to give in that easily. Joe continued the attack, with repeated lariats. Briscoe looked like he was in dreamland but managed to hit Joe with a Saito suplex but it only managed to slow the beast down as it were. Briscoe was fighting for everything, fighting to stave off Joe. Knocking him over, Briscoe nailed the Crab Walk but again only got a two-count. A fisherman buster seemed to ground Joe but the issue was that Joe had already inflicted a ton of damage on Mark Briscoe. Joe hit Briscoe with the Chimera-Plex, but Briscoe kicked out! Joe was showing frustration. Joe went for a muscle buster but Briscoe reversed it and hit a Mark-Out! Briscoe wanted insurance. He climbed the ropes and hit the Froggy Bow! What an upset! Mark Briscoe pulled off the upset! WINNER: MARK BRISCOE!



Samoa Joe was livid, Briscoe clearly got the worse of the exchange but seized momentum at the right time to win. Joe got up and hit Briscoe with a DDT, before tossing him from the ring. Briscoe was still fighting though and met Joe outside with fists as they punched each other heading toward the backstage area. Eventually Joe gained the upper hand as he attacked Briscoe and shoved aside any referee who tried to prevent his assault. Joe watched as Briscoe tried to get away and clocked him with a clothesline. Joe picked up Mark Briscoe and hit him with a Death Valley driver through a nearby table! Someone needs to stop this brutalization. Joe put Mark in to a Coquina Clutch.

“That’s enough!” it was the other Briscoe brother, Jay! He broke up the hold and pried Joe off of Mark. The referees were like moths to a flame to separate the two. “You wanna fight like that! You can fight me! YOU CAN FIGHT ME!” The referees were pulling the two men away from each other as the show came to an end.

Match Quality: 80% / Crowd Reaction: 61% / Overall Rating: 70%

Overall:

Rating: 71% / Match of the Night: Adam Cole vs Tajiri / TV Rating: 2.11 / Attendance: 422 / Ticket Sales $8440