Why Marty Scurll must be the next Ring of Honor World Champion

The time to crown Marty Scurll the Ring of Honor World champion has come.

Truth be told, I wasn’t sure what to expect from Marty Scurll upon his arrival in Ring of Honor at the tail end of 2016. The little I did know about the British competitor was that he had a bit of buzz around him coming into the company, having honed his skills on the United Kingdom wrestling scene for years before making the move to ROH.

Scurll winning the ROH World Television Championship days before he even wrestled his first televised match for ROH at Final Battle 2016 sent the message right away that he had boatloads of potential. He then stole the show at the event with a successful defense of his title, kicking off what would be an amazing run as champ over the next six months.

In the time he held the gold, Scurll defended against all comers including Lio Rush, Matt Sydal, Donovan Dijak and Adam Cole. His matches gradually became more and more must-see as he found ways to gel with his wide variety of opponents regardless of what their in-ring style was.

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Once he eventually dropped the strap to Kushida in June 2017, The Villain managed to maintain momentum through his association with Bullet Club, one of the hottest acts in all of wrestling today. He was a fantastic fit for the group as soon as he debuted as a member of the stable at War of the Worlds, replacing the departing Cole.

A little over one year later at Best in the World 2018, the ROH World Championship will be up for grabs when the current champ Dalton Castle meets Scurll one-on-one, and unlike in New Orleans, Scurll must walk away with the victory and the title.

Photo Credit: ROH 2018 /

At Supercard of Honor over WrestleMania 34 weekend, Scurll received his first shot at the ROH World title against Castle and appeared to be primed to capture the prestigious prize. Despite a strong showing, he was unsuccessful in his efforts to become champ on that night, but Best in the World could be and should be a different story.

To his credit, Castle has done a decent job as ROH World champion since knocking off Cody for the gold at December’s Final Battle pay-per-view. He, too, had been overdue for a world championship run prior to that point and had always been among the company’s most popular prospects.

Just recently, Castle suffered an injury that prevented him from defending his title in Lowell, MA as part of the War of the Worlds tour. It’s unknown how long he will be out of action for, but even if he can compete at Best in the Worlds, Scurll is still the best option to go with as world champion right now.

For Castle, there aren’t many more credible heels waiting in the wings to challenge him for the championship. He has already beaten Cody, Punishment Martinez and Jay Lethal, and as talented as Matt Taven is, he is a bit of a stretch as a world title contender.

Not much damage was done to Scurll after his initial loss to Castle at Supercard of Honor, but the time is right for him to take the title and further tease tension within Bullet Club in the process.

Scurll has every tool necessary to be a perennial main event player in ROH. From his unique entrance to his above-average mic skills to his ability to captivate a crowd, he has proven time and time again he belongs in the world title picture permanently.

Coming out of Best in the World, there are a number of stories that can be told with Scurll as ROH World champion. Most notably, having Cody grow jealous of Scurll’s success would only be logical considering Cody never received his rematch for the title and views himself as the true leader of Bullet Club.

That angle could eventually culminate with The Villain breaking off from the faction and embarking on a much-needed babyface turn. Yes, Scurll is a natural heel and plays the role to perfection, but audiences have been embracing him for a while, so positioning him as the lead face of ROH could work just as well.

On the off chance Scurll falls short of victory at Best in the World, there isn’t much left for him to do in ROH given he has already dominated the TV title scene and faced almost everyone. A second loss to Castle could very well send Scurll packing to WWE/NXT, where he’d unquestionably be utilized as a top talent.

If ROH fails to capitalize on Scurll’s immense popularity by not crowning him the new ROH World champion next month, they will have officially dropped the ball on their next breakout star.

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