Ring of Honor (Discussion)

[Stank of Honor]

my dumbest hot take of the weekend is Kelly Klein is possibly the best-booked woman in a US promotion right now (maybe Baszler? maybe Tessa?) and so it is all that more amazing how not over she is for it. If you replace her with anyone who was either popular or well regarded as a wrestler and have them go on a long undefeated streak thru a title reign, have them get big PPV matches with a top level Japanese star, and then set them up as the person protecting the integrity of Ring of Honor against an invading force, people would be talking about that woman like they talked about Sasha Banks that one year.

Damn when you put it like that, it’s hard to argue.

[John The Drummer]

ROH had their first show ever in the Pacific Northwest last night in Kent, WA. It was a fun show with a hot crowd.... but the venue was insanely empty . Its a 6500+ "small" arena.... and there were maybe 300 people there.

Taven vs Tracy Williams was a phenomenal main event though.

[supersonic]

[mlev76]

Not that it matters (it would be wrong regardless of who it was), but Josh is such a super fan he even went to the stupid ROH press event in NYC and is always going to shows all over. Really heavy handed and bs behavior.

[thecubsfan]

Josh and his group went to both shows this weekend, the only way he should've been taken backstage is to give him some sort of thank you.

The show last night seemed better attended but may have been more depressing. Every time they shot from the floor up into the ring, the background was the sea of empty seats in the upper deck. The lower bowl looked decently full. I'm sure they never planned on selling the upper level so I'm not sure why they ran there. Maybe the building is cheap.

The stream was dying something awful during the show last night too - it cut out somewhere between ten to twenty times. I thought it was something on my end for a while because no one was talking about it on Twitter, and then realized my bubble isn't watching late Sunday night ROH shows.

[mlev76]

My brief thoughts on BITW. Not a bad show by any means, but not essential watching with one possible exception.

► Show Spoiler

From in ring perspective, last night's show was pretty decent with three matches at 3 1/2 stars or better. But from an entertainment/highlight perspective, it didn't have a PPV feel to it except perhaps the six man match and the post match angle. They're clearly all in with Taven as champion given him getting the first pin on Cobb. I assume they didn't want their champion probably getting pinned 4-5 times in the G1, so the result makes SOME sense, but Cobb is clearly their top guy.

Based on the results, I guess Kenny King is the next challenger. Taven vs. King is quite the main event program...

[monster mafia]

i think the program is rush vs taven..maybe right now or maybe for final battle.

[yaritaihoudai]

Rush had a program with the Kingdom going back a few months. They should have had him take the belt off of Taven at this show, and save Cobb's ROH undefeated streak for a big match in the fall or even at Final Battle. In a few months time, they could run an undefeated Rush vs. undefeated Cobb title match that would be way better than whatever they're going to do with Taven. He's going to defend against Lethal next month, and then maybe King, maybe Rush? Rush might blow off his feud with Castle before he challenges.

All of these upcoming matches are ok, I guess, but ROH needs better than ok right now. The internet buzz is super negative thanks to a smorgasboard of bad decisions. There's a lot of people who don't even watch the shows that just like to shit on the product for reddit karma or whatever other cool points they can get. They need to be delivering above and beyond expectations. I like the work that Taven's been doing this year, but he is definitely not the right choice to be on top right now. They need someone that can go out and deliver spectacular 4 star plus matches every month and wash the bad taste out of everyone's mouth. Do they have a guy like that, though?

[monster mafia]

agree with you 100 %

[mlev76]

Rush had a program with the Kingdom going back a few months. They should have had him take the belt off of Taven at this show, and save Cobb's ROH undefeated streak for a big match in the fall or even at Final Battle. In a few months time, they could run an undefeated Rush vs. undefeated Cobb title match that would be way better than whatever they're going to do with Taven. He's going to defend against Lethal next month, and then maybe King, maybe Rush? Rush might blow off his feud with Castle before he challenges.

All of these upcoming matches are ok, I guess, but ROH needs better than ok right now. The internet buzz is super negative thanks to a smorgasboard of bad decisions. There's a lot of people who don't even watch the shows that just like to shit on the product for reddit karma or whatever other cool points they can get. They need to be delivering above and beyond expectations. I like the work that Taven's been doing this year, but he is definitely not the right choice to be on top right now. They need someone that can go out and deliver spectacular 4 star plus matches every month and wash the bad taste out of everyone's mouth. Do they have a guy like that, though?

[mlev76]

Rush had a program with the Kingdom going back a few months. They should have had him take the belt off of Taven at this show, and save Cobb's ROH undefeated streak for a big match in the fall or even at Final Battle. In a few months time, they could run an undefeated Rush vs. undefeated Cobb title match that would be way better than whatever they're going to do with Taven. He's going to defend against Lethal next month, and then maybe King, maybe Rush? Rush might blow off his feud with Castle before he challenges.

All of these upcoming matches are ok, I guess, but ROH needs better than ok right now. The internet buzz is super negative thanks to a smorgasboard of bad decisions. There's a lot of people who don't even watch the shows that just like to shit on the product for reddit karma or whatever other cool points they can get. They need to be delivering above and beyond expectations. I like the work that Taven's been doing this year, but he is definitely not the right choice to be on top right now. They need someone that can go out and deliver spectacular 4 star plus matches every month and wash the bad taste out of everyone's mouth. Do they have a guy like that, though?

ROH right now is leaning heavily on "comfort wrestlers"-guys who have proven loyalty to the brand and who aren't likely to get caught up in turnover that's plagued them for years. So, you get continued reliance on guys like Taven, King, Briscoes, Castle, Lethal, etc. while guys who could give your product some buzz like Cobb,Rush, Bandido and Villain Enterprises aren't being pushed to the forefront. They have the pieces available to them to put on a better product and one which could bring back some of the smart fans. They just choose comfort over buzz.

On a separate note, the move of Final Battle from NY to Baltimore seems like a clear response to the low ticket sales for the tv taping. Well, sorry, your product is not that great right now and if I am gonna spend money on a ticket, a tv taping isn't where I'm spending it.

[PrivateRadio87]

There was a video package at one point with a buncha guys talking about their feuds/matches for the show, and the prominently featured faces were Silas Young, Kenny King, Shane Taylor and Taven I believe. All this new exciting talent they've signed and I'm watching a video package with those four? It's like they're actively trying to convince me to bail. Don't even get me started on totally wasting half a year of undefeated Cobb for that main event. Hell, Mark Haskins is putting on all the best ROH matches of the year and he ends up being a background player in every story he touches.

[DXvsNWO]

I have a ticket for the upcoming Manhattan show if anyone wants one. It's the front row of the lower balcony. If you're interested, send me a message!

[monster mafia]

[Stank of Honor]

Random thoughts post. TV Tapings now live for Honor Club members. The non TV taping events tend to have more energy and keep fans engaged so I think this is an awesome move for the company. May help the continuity issues as well that everyone has ripped on. I watch it all with ROH but their TV the last 3 months has been pretty shitty outside of a couple weeks ago with Jay Briscoe vs PCO. For what it’s worth, they just added unedited Briscoes vs Rush/Dragon Lee from Philly tapings and it was awesome.

Also, I am glad to see Alex Shelley return and not go out on an injury but to have him headline the Summerslam weekend card against Taven is the company problem as a whole right now. They have So many other guys who could wrestle Taven on a big stage that stand a reasonable chance but everyone knows Shelley isn’t beating Taven, nor should he. Impact has really embraced what I wish ROH has as far as pushing talent, I mean how has Scurll not held the ROH title?? I like Taven as the champ, he’s headlined as a champ in NJPW and CMLL, he plays a perfect heel in 2019