Full Ring of Honor Recap From California, PA (9/25): Taeler Hendrix Returns, Strong vs. Elgin

ring of honorThanks to Joseph Gerard for the full recap below:
 
The show opened with Scarlett Bordeaux doing ring announcing instead of Bobby Cruise, as has been standard practice with ROH house shows for a while. Scarlett announces to the crowd that Nick Jackson’s wife went into labor and wasn’t there, but Matt Jackson promised that there would still be a Superkick Party. Veda Scott then came out with some guy to do commentary for the opening match.
 
Taeler Hendrix vs. Mandy Leon. Hendrix, in her first ROH appearance in over five years, immediately establishes herself as a heel by coming out with Truth Martini. The match was a very good match to open up the show with and was very back and forth, with Hendrix even giving Leon a French kiss at one point. Hendrix won the match in an obvious referee botch, as Leon kicked out right before 3, but the referee rang the bell anyways. There was some confusion, as it became clear it wasn’t the planned finish. BJ Whitmer (in the only appearance by anyone from The Decade tonight) came out and belittled both Hendrix and Leon and introduced someone named Kelly who has wrestled on the indies for nine years–she looks like a more muscular version of Lita. Whitmer also mentioned that Leon was now 2-0, apparently not seeing that the referee botched the finish. Despite the referee botch it was a solid match and easily the best one in the first half of the show.
 
Kevin Kelly and Steve Corino come out for their commentary for the remainder of the event as Scott went to the back and the other guy sat at ringside with Scarlett.
 
The Addiction vs. Watanabe & Will Ferrara. Nothing much to say here, as the Addiction easily wins this match. Christopher Daniels then cuts a promo about respect and that they should still be the Tag Team Champions, which prompts the Briscoes to come out. Jay Briscoe challenges them to a match later on, which Daniels says “they will think about”.
 
ACH vs. Caprice Coleman. Coleman cuts a promo about their match from ROH TV this week before they start. Pretty much the same match that they had on ROH TV this week minus the One Inch Punch–there were a lot of fans asking for the One Inch Punch. Like this week’s match, ACH wins. ACH offers to honor the Code of Honor after the match, but Coleman slaps his hand and goes to the back, furthering his slow-burning heel turn.
 
Adam Cole comes out and challenges Kyle O’Reilly to a match, only to then note that ReDRagon is in Japan this week. He then decides he wasn’t going to have a match when Cheeseburger comes out and challenges him. Cheeseburger actually got a lot of early offense in before it turned into a squash match. On two occasions, Cole went to pin Cheeseburger before breaking the pin himself just before 3 (the first time by lifting the shoulders and second by putting Cheeseburger’s leg on the ropes), in both instances acting “surprised” that Cheeseburger broke the pin. Cole even did some commentary to the crowd during the match and got some cheap heat on bashing the Steelers. He eventually pinned Cheeseburger for real. After the match, with his back turned, Matt Jackson runs out and superkicks Cole just as Cole turned back around.
 
War Machine & Moose (with Stokley Hathaway) vs. the House of Truth (with Truth Martini and Taeler Hendrix). I guess Taeler Hendrix is now a full-fledged member of the House of Truth. (Any confirmation she may have signed a contract with ROH?) Moose and Jay Lethal started the match with the two of them doing Ric Flair struts. Match was good, but could’ve been better. Moose eventually pinned J. Diesel. That being said, War Machine deserves a run at the Tag Team Titles–wonder why ROH hasn’t pulled the trigger on that one yet, especially with Rowe being back to 100%. And Donovan Dijak, well…ROH better use him while they can. I have a very good feeling WWE will be calling him very soon.
 
After intermission, Shaheem Ali came out to face Brutal Bob Evans. Ali got booed when he was announced as being from Philadelphia, but all the heat went to Brutal Bob afterwards when Brutal Bob was announced as his opponent. Brutal Bob won in a squash–this was easily the worst match of the night. Best way to describe it is that it was very comparable to any match within the last 2-3 years Big Show has won a squash in with WWE–Big Show himself is probably better than Brutal Bob, even at this point for Show. Brutal Bob seriously needs to retire, and I’m not sure why ROH keeps him around.
 
The Kingdom (with Maria Kanellis) vs. ANX. Michael Bennett is back in short tights, while Matt Taven (thankfully) is back in a full-length T-shirt. This match ended up being a very good match, with Rhett Titus playing the “face in peril” for a while. (More on that later.) Adam Cole ends up interfering, causing Bennett to pin Titus. After ANX and the rest of the Kingdom leaves, Cole shows off only for Matt Jackson to once again come out and surprise superkick him. This eventually leaves Cole to challenge Jackson to a match on the spot. Another good match considering that it was Cole’s second match of the night. Cole eventually got the pin. After teasing Sweet Chin Music, he gets another superkick from Jackson.
 
Roderick Strong vs. Michael Elgin. Hands down the best match of the night, and very back-and-forth. Elgin eventually gets the win, after which the two honor the Code of Honor.
 
The Briscoes vs. The Addiction. Another solid match, but being the second match of the night for the Addiction their age showed and it wasn’t as good as it could’ve been. They still made it a decent match considering it was booked on such short notice. Interestingly enough, Jay Briscoe played the “face in peril” before getting the hot tag to Mark. Mark eventually pins Daniels to win the match. The Briscoes thank everyone for attending and do a quick interview with Kelly and Corino before heading to the back.

 

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