ROH Supercard of Honor IX Review

Match 1: ACH vs. Mark Briscoe
First time watching this since being there live a year ago. Good opening match here to set the tone for the night. You get your regular fun stuff from the two guys and the crowd was definitely with them throughout the whole ride. I should note how bad ROH is with their volume on these DVDs. Is it really necessary to turn down the in-ring volume so much for the commentary? Half the time, the audio was fucked up, too! Regardless, Mark Briscoe rolls up ACH for the win. I feel like Mark hasn't made much progress in spite of Jay's success. His gimmick is old and definitely needs a change. How I feel about ACH taking the loss is another story.
Winner: Mark Briscoe
Rating: **3/4

Match 2: Michael Elgin vs. Frankie Kazarian
It's been awhile since I've seen both these guys so this should be fun. You know you're going to get a good match whenever these two step in. Michael Elgin definitely embraced his role as a heel here and it showed in this match. Elgin hits an Elgin Bomb on Frankie Kazarian for the win. Daniels rushes to Frankie's help after the match but suffers a chair shot to the back and an Elgin Bomb for good measure. Really good following match here, nothing too crazy, just good action from the first bell and something the crowd really enjoyed. I don't know what to say here, it's an expected great match from the two and it's cool to see Elgin getting back in the title hunt.
Winner: Michael Elgin
Rating: ***1/4

Match 3: Andrew Everett vs. Moose vs. Caprice Coleman vs. Cedric Alexander vs. Tommaso Ciampa vs. Matt Sydal
Gotta love the six-man mayhems! Perfect way to get the guys on the card and have a fun match for the show with nothing taken too seriously. The match starts off with two guys squaring off as the other competitors stand on the apron. We all know how that goes. Things quickly turn into mayhem and the pace turns up a notch as the crowd gets louder and louder as the match winds down. Finally, Matt Sydal emerges as the victor to the delight of the crowd. Fun stuff here to take a break from the singles action, all men put in work and things fell into place nicely.
Winner: Matt Sydal
Rating: ***

Match 4: No Disqualification - BJ Whitmer vs. Jimmy Jacobs
We all know the story here, even if I didn't know when I was watching this live. This is Jimmy Jacobs' final match in Ring of Honor and it's against his old rival in BJ Whitmer. They embrace each other before they try to knock the living daylights out of each other. It's always fun to watch a match like this. They brought out the chairs and a table and just straight up had fun with everything. Even when the first table spot didn't work, they still managed to work around it. Whitmer picks up the win and after the match, Colby Corino attacks Jacobs from behind as Lacey comes out of nowhere to make the save. The two then embrace each other after the match. Cool moment from one of the company's most enigmatic stars.
Winner: BJ Whitmer
Rating: **3/4

Match 5: Christopher Daniels vs. Roderick Strong
Feels like yesterday that we were watching these two go at it for the ROH World Championship. They worked a pretty similar match here on a lesser scale. Solid action from the two, nothing crazy, just smart wrestling from the very beginning. There weren't any crazy flips or crazy dives but the crowd still enjoyed the action. Commentators took into consideration that Christopher Daniels wasn't at his best after suffering a beating from Michael Elgin earlier. Roderick Strong took advantage of that and won with the Stronghold. The two shake hands after as Strong picks up the big win and looks to get back into the title hunt. Good match, very reminiscent of their match at Fate of an Angel II. I felt like this one was just better and didn't suffer from dragging on so much like that match did.
Winner: Roderick Strong
Rating: ***1/2

Match 6: ROH World Tag Team Championships - reDRagon (c) vs. The Kingdom
I always say this and I will say it again, Michael Bennett does not get the recognition he deserves. Such a great heel and he played his role perfectly here once again. I love both teams, the contrast in styles gelled nicely here. The Kingdom almost wrestle like they work for the WWE while reDRagon wrestle as if they were MMA fighters. Both are unique in their own ways and it made for a fun match. I love how Bennett & Matt Taven toy with the crowd and their opponents, you just want to hate these guys. On the other hand, I love how Bobby Fish & Kyle O'Reilly are so explosive and look like legit badasses. The finish, on the other hand, is a completely different story. Some dude in a mask ran in and looked to take out reDRagon. He tried to kick Fish in the face but landed it on Bennett instead. ReDRagon was able to capitalize on the situation and score the win. That finish looked so stupid. Regardless, the match was fun and a welcomed change of pace headed into the main events.
Winners: reDRagon
Rating: ***1/2

Match 7: ROH World Television Championship - Jay Lethal (c) vs. Jushin Liger
This is my first time watching Jushin Liger wrestle since 2010. It was a treat then and it's still a treat now. It's hard to believe he was 51 years old for this match, he more than held his own against the younger Jay Lethal. Great match here despite Adam Cole's annoying commentary. Liger was able to pull out his classic moves and Lethal was able to do his thing. Lethal gets to work with all the legends. What a treat for him. End saw Lethal pull out his belt and try to smack Liger in the face with it before Liger ducked. But for whatever reason, Liger picks up the belt to pose and by way of distraction, gets drilled in the face with a Superkick. Lethal is able to hit a Lethal Injection to pick up the big win. Liger then exits to a well-deserved standing ovation.
Winner: Jay Lethal
Rating: ***3/4

Match 8: ROH World Championship - Jay Briscoe (c) vs. Samoa Joe
Two ROH originals main eventing one of the company's marquee events, gotta love it! Jay Briscoe has become the face of the company and his second reign as champ was great. His match here against Samoa Joe proved that point. Stiff would be the best word to describe this match. It did start off a bit slower than expected but once the pace picked up, the crowd got more into the action and the match took off. Both guys were landing their big blows and finally, Briscoe was able to hit a Jay Driller to score the win over Joe that had become so elusive to him. Solid main event that felt just a bit underwhelming. The win for Briscoe over Joe was a good one, his stardom continues to rise. Nothing is better than seeing Jay get the recognition he has earned. When you want to talk ROH legends like Bryan Danielson, Nigel McGuinness, CM Punk or Samoa Joe, Jay Briscoe needs to be in that discussion.
Winner: Jay Briscoe
Rating: ***1/2

Overall Show Thoughts and Rating:
Was it the best Supercard of Honor ever? Absolutely not. Was it an event worthy of the title? Absolutely. The matches didn't really blow me away, but they were all consistent and they all made sense. With that being said, this was still a great show that answered a lot of questions and still made room for new ones. Check this show out!
Rating: 8/10