House of Truth (professional wrestling)

The House of Truth was a professional wrestling stable, created by its leader, Truth Martini. Martini, under the character of a Life Intervention Expert, allied with various wrestlers to accompany them to their matches. The stable had existed in Ring of Honor since 2009 under different incarnations.

House of Truth
Stable
Name(s)House of Truth
Former
member(s)
Truth Martini (leader)
Jay Lethal
Joey Daddiego
Taeler Hendrix[1] (valet)
Roderick Strong
Michael Elgin
Rhino
Christin Able
Josh Raymond
Matt Taven
The Guardians of Truth
Christopher Daniels
Zach Gowen
Donovan Dijak
Seleziya Sparx (valet)
Scarlett Bordeaux (valet)
Debut2009
Disbanded2016

Career

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All American Wrestling

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Since 2008, independent wrestlers Josh Raymond and Christin Able wrestled as tag team. However, on January 24, 2009, at AAW Path of Redemption, Truth Martini managed them, changed their name to The House of Truth. At AAW Fate of Eight Tournament, they defeated Dash Phoenix & Matt Cross to win the AAW Tag Team Championship. They ended up winning the title one more time in 2010.

Ring of Honor (2009-2016)

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The House of Truth (Martini, Raymond and Able) made their debut in Ring of Honor in 2009 at Violent Tendencies as heels, facing Kevin Steen and El Generico in a losing effort. Later, Martini managed his first singles client, Roderick Strong struggled with achieving his ultimate goal but with the help of Truth Martini became the ROH World Champion at Glory By Honor IX. Martini also managed Michael Elgin.[2] On November 12, 2010, Zach Gowen appeared at an ROH show in Detroit, where he was announced as the newest member of Truth Martini's House of Truth faction. He teamed with ROH World Champion Roderick Strong and Michael Elgin in a loss to the Briscoe Brothers and Christopher Daniels.[3] After a tag team loss to Grizzly Redwood and Bobby Dempsey at the following day's event in Toronto, Elgin and Martini turned on Gowen and kicked him out of the House of Truth.[4]

During his time as World Champion, Strong feuded with the Television Champion Christopher Daniels. In preparation for his World Championship match against Strong, Daniels stole "The Book of Truth" from Martini, to learn his match strategy. He was forced to shift his focus when, on March 19, Strong lost the title to Eddie Edwards.[5] On April 2, at Honor Takes Center Stage 2, Daniels completed his heel turn by attacking El Generico with "The Book of Truth" and aligning himself with Truth Martini, Roderick Strong and Michael Elgin.[6] On June 26, at Best in the World 2011, Daniels lost the Television title to El Generico.[7] This was his last appearance in ROH before rejoining TNA full-time.[8]

In April 2012, Martini enlisted the services of Rhino to become the hired muscle of the House of Truth. At Best in the World on June 24, 2012 Martini managed two masked wrestlers named The Guardians of Truth, but they lost to the Briscoe Brothers. Later on, they left ROH. During late 2012, both Michael Elgin and Roderick Strong quit the House of Truth.

In 2013 he became manager of Matt Taven and assisted him to win the ROH World Television Championship.[9][10]

Scarlett Bordeaux became the first official female manager of the stable during that time period as well.[11]

At Supercard of Honor VIII on April 4, 2014, Truth Martini helped Jay Lethal win the ROH Television Championship and became Lethal's manager[12] then later on alongside Martini as a female recruit Seleziya Sparks also became Jay Lethal's manager but another female version[13] replacing Bordeaux and then even further on afterwards Taeler Hendrix returned to Ring of Honor in the ROH Women of Honor division picture as a manager and replaced Seleziya Sparks in the female valet position alongside Martini and Lethal.[14][15][16] Then, Lethal started a feud against former House of Truth member Matt Taven. Also, Martini recruit Donovan Dijak as well as J Diesel. Lethal would retain his championship against numerous acclaimed opponents for over a year before proclaiming himself "The Ring of Honor Champion" as well as "the only champion that matters in ROH", even above the ROH World Championship held by Jay Briscoe. This resulted in matchmaker Nigel McGuinness booking Lethal and Briscoe in a winner-take-all "Battle of the Belts" at Best in the World 2015 with both championships on the line. With Martini's backing, Lethal defeated Briscoe after two Lethal Injections to retain the Television Championship and win the World Championship.

On September 25, 2015, Martini would manage the debuting Taeler Hendrix in her match against Mandy Leon, coming up victorious. Later that night, Hendrix would come out with the rest of The House of Truth for their six-man tag match against War Machine (Hanson & Rowe) and Moose, making her a full-fledged member of The House of Truth.[1] At Glory By Honor XIV on October 23, Lethal finally lost the Television Championship to former House of Truth centerpiece Roderick Strong, who joined Lethal as only the second man to capture the TV title for the second time.[17]

On the January 13, 2016 episode of ROH TV (taped on December 19, 2015), Martini fired Donovan Dijak from the House of Truth, claiming Dijak had become a weak link and had disrespected the stable. This initially turned Dijak face in the process.[18] On February 20, at the ROH and New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) co-produced Honor Rising: Japan 2016 event, Lethal and Martini joined forces with the Los Ingobernables de Japón stable led by Lethal's fellow Total Nonstop Action Wrestling alumnus Tetsuya Naito.[19][20] On March 26 of ROH tapings, Lethal successfully defended his title against Hirooki Goto. Afterwards, a rare double-turn took place when Donovan Dijak came out with Prince Nana and attacked Truth Martini, with Lethal and Martini turning face/tweener and Dijak joining Nana as a heel.[21]

After months of inactivity due to suffering a kayfabe neck injury, on September 17, 2016, Dave Meltzer confirmed via Twitter that Martini had left ROH, effectively disbanding the House of Truth.[22]

Championships and accomplishments

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References

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  1. ^ a b Detailed ROH Reloaded Results From CA (9/25): Briscoes Vs. Addiction, Adam Cole, Elgin Vs. Strong WrestlingINC.com (09/26/2015)
  2. ^ "Truth Martini | ROH Wrestling". www.rohwrestling.com. Archived from the original on 2011-09-28.
  3. ^ Bishop, Matt (November 13, 2010). "Edwards wins 2010 'Survival of the Fittest' as ROH returns to Detroit area". Slam! Sports. Canadian Online Explorer. Archived from the original on July 14, 2012. Retrieved November 13, 2010.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  4. ^ Gerweck, Steve (November 13, 2010). "11/13 ROH Results: Toronto, Ontario, Canada". WrestleView. Retrieved November 14, 2010.
  5. ^ Gerweck, Steve (2011-03-22). "Ring of Honor Newswire for March 22, 2011". WrestleView. Archived from the original on September 1, 2011. Retrieved 2011-04-02.
  6. ^ Caldwell, James; Radican, Sean (2011-04-02). "ROH Internet PPV report 4/2: Caldwell & Radican's ongoing "virtual-time" coverage of live ROH PPV from Atlanta". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved 2011-04-02.
  7. ^ Radican, Sean (2011-06-26). "Radican's "Best in the World" internet PPV report 6/26: Ongoing "real-time" coverage of live PPV from New York City". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved 2011-06-27.
  8. ^ Martin, Adam (2011-06-27). "Daniels done with ROH, update on another star". WrestleView. Retrieved 2011-06-27.
  9. ^ Namako, Jason (September 16, 2012). "ROH Death Before Dishonor X Results - 9/15/12". WrestleView. Retrieved December 17, 2012.
  10. ^ Namako, Jason (December 16, 2012). "ROH Final Battle Results - 12/16/12". WrestleView. Retrieved December 17, 2012.
  11. ^ "ROH: A Night of Hoopla (2013 Video) Elizabeth Chihaia: Scarlett Bordeaux- The House of Truth". IMDb.com. Retrieved August 14, 2023.
  12. ^ "Alberto El Patrón vs Jay Lethal, ROH 13º Anniversary". Historiadelwrestling.blogspot.com. Retrieved June 14, 2023.
  13. ^ "ROH Throwback: Matt Taven vs Jay Lethal". YouTube. 18 July 2019. Retrieved July 18, 2019.
  14. ^ Unknown, Voice of Wrestling Staff (26 December 2015). "RING OF HONOR (EPISODE 222): TEAM LETHAL VS. TEAM STRONG". Voiceofwrestling.com. Retrieved June 14, 2023.
  15. ^ "Jay Lethal vs. Lio Rush from Ring of Honor 2016". Viewsfromthehawkesnest.wordpress.com. April 2016. Retrieved June 14, 2023.
  16. ^ ROH, Ring of Honor Wrestling (31 March 2016). "ROH AFTER THE BELL -TRUTH MARTINI gets stretchered out - ROH TV EP #236". Www.youtube.com. Retrieved June 14, 2023.
  17. ^ Meltzer, Dave (2015-10-24). "Jay Lethal drops ROH TV Title to Roderick Strong". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved 2015-10-24.
  18. ^ "1/13 ROH on Comet TV – Final Battle fallout, Bennett & Maria, more". Pro Wrestling Torch. January 13, 2016. Retrieved May 27, 2016.
  19. ^ "Honor Rising:Japan 2016". New Japan Pro-Wrestling (in Japanese). Retrieved February 20, 2016.
  20. ^ "2/20 ROH vs. NJPW "Honor Rising Night 2" Results – Lethal defends ROH Title in Tokyo, Bullet Club members win gold & say farewell, Strong-Ishii fall-out". Pro Wrestling Torch. February 20, 2016. Retrieved February 20, 2016.
  21. ^ 2/27 RING OF HONOR TV TAPING RESULTS FROM LAS VEGAS, NV - PWInsider.com
  22. ^ @davemeltzerWON (17 September 2016). "Yes" (Tweet) – via Twitter.