Prior to ROH’s Best in the World PPV Event, episode #354 of Ring of Honor Television was taped in New York City on June 2nd. Let’s get right into the action.
Opening Contest:
Kenny King vs. Jonathan Gresham: This match was full of incredible chain wrestling from both men. It seemed like Gresham had a kip up, a pin, or a reversal for everything King threw at him. There were quite a few arm drags from each man, including a nice Mexican arm drag sequence from King, off of which he used some arm submissions to slow down the speedier Gresham. It looked like Gresham had the upper hand after a long chain of cradle attempts and a moonsault, but King was able to finally get a hold of him and land the Royal Flush for the pin. Winner: Kenny King
Second Match:
Josh “The Goods” Woods vs. Facade: Shane Taylor joined Ian Riccaboni and Colt Cabana to scout Woods. This was a showcase of Woods’ offense, which consisted of some strong striking and some impressive dead-lift style suplexes. Facade wasn’t able to get much offense in, but he did do some impressive moves using his superior agility. He walked the top rope out to the middle and landed a dropkick, which he followed up with a running double-jump front flip dive. Woods finally countered Facade into a rolling German suplex, which led to a big slam off his shoulders for the pin. Winner: Josh “The Goods” Woods
After the match, Woods confronted Taylor and wanted to fight him right then, but Taylor said no because he doesn’t fight for free.
Backstage Segment/Hype Video:
The Dawgs were looking for a third man so they can enter the six-man tag team gauntlet for next week’s show. They went into Shane Taylor’s dressing room and offered him an I.O.U. as payment to join their team. Taylor said no and that they already owe him money and if they pay him again in change, there will be trouble.
A video package aired hyping the no disqualification match next week between Bully Ray and Cheeseburger.
Main Event:
Matt Taven vs. Ultimo Guerrero: Taven cut off Guerrero and distracted the referee so TK O’Ryan could choke Guerrero. On the outside, Guerrero took over and tossed Taven into the crowd and also threw O’Ryan around for good measure. Taven took advantage after Guerrero missed a splash from the top to the floor. Taven did a dive to the floor over the top rope but connected on O’Ryan instead. This allowed Guerrero to sit both men on a chair so he could hit them both with a running splash. Guerrero chopped away at Taven until Taven was able to connect with a running knee and a moonsault. Taven put Guerrero on the top turnbuckle and went for a hurricanrana, but Guerrero turned it into a huge powerbomb. Taven regained control and went back up top, but Guerrero grabbed him. Guerrero was distracted by The Kingdom, which allowed Vinny Marseglia to pop a balloon in Guerrero’s ear. Taven then hit the Climax spike DDT for the pin. Winner: Matt Taven
After the match, Taven grabbed a mic and talked about his greatness, and said that he will always be better than Guerrero. ROH TV goes off the air.