In this work, we propose a buffer-aided successive opportunistic relay scheme where each time a relay-pair is selected with the target of rate maximization. Due to overlapping transmissions by the source and the relay which transmits to the destination, inter-relay interference arises. The efficient mitigation of inter-relay interference either through cancellation or avoidance, requires increased channel state information. Thus, in order to reduce the implementation complexity induced by centralized selection, distributed switch-and-stay combining is combined with buffer-aided successive opportunistic relaying. In this way, by applying a rate threshold we can avoid increased relay-pair switching and channel state information acquisition. The efficiency of the proposed scheme is demonstrated through simulations and comparisons with other state-of-the-art relay selection policies.