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RING OF HONOR in 2022... in AEW


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On 2/21/2022 at 11:12 AM, DEAN said:

They showed Samoa Joe/Kenta Kobashi on TV this week.  I was moved.

As amazing as that match is, there's still a part of me that wants to see the version of that match where Kobashi works as a "sneaky foreign heel" like he thought he should.

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I made it a point to not constantly say why I had to stop watching ROH.  But basically the Sinclair ownership completely soured me on them as a whole and Joe Koff couldn't have given less of a shit.  That and they fucked up many things from the library to how they ran shows.

So with that said it feels damn good to finally see them owned by somebody not only competent but also one that cares a lot about the company.  I am trying to not have high expectations or speculate much on what all this means.  But I'm just so damn happy to see Sinclair finally be out of the picture and look forward to what comes next.

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So interested to see what this roster looks like.  I feel like Tony's good nature will want to bring back a lot of the talent that got released.  And if that is the case, I think they actually lucked out in losing some of the guys who have signed elsewhere.  No doubt the Briscoes and Josh Woods will be back.  Lethal maybe too.  And certainly Gresham and Flip Gordon - both noted as being backstage over the past couple weeks.  I can't imagine they won't (or haven't already) signed Bandido for either this or the Elite roster.  I could see unsigned formers like Shane Taylor, Kaun (they oughtta build him up to the top of the card), Tony Deppen, Brian Johnson, Chris Dickinson, Homicide, Dalton Castle, Silas Young, PJ Black, Joe Hendry, Beer City Bruiser, his partner, Cheeseburger and Tracy Williams all getting in on this.  Willow Nightingale's been getting some youtube time and doing very well - she was sort of a regular there, no?  Curious to see if Dragon Lee and Rush make their way back.  I kinda assume Brian Cage will be getting a fresh start in this mix.  This would be a great place for Biff Busick to land.  I'd love to see Anthony Greene get a shot.  So too John Hennigan and Taya Valkyrie.  Or how bout the rumoured to be signed Shane Strickland?  Or Gargano!?  Samoa Joe!?  So many possibilities.  

I suspect the excellent Ian Riccaboni will be back on the play by play.  Maybe they could add a fresh voice to slide in beside him.  I also suspect Bobby Cruise will find employment here.

Edited by HarryArchieGus
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On the ever regal Lord Tony Khan...

 - How about he sign Tony Regal to buy ROH and Make Wrestling Honorable Again? The contract says Tony...but not Tony Khan!

 - How about he sign Samoa Joe to win the first ever ROH Dark Championship (it's edgy, it's fight-clubish) only to forfeit the title due to injuries?

 - how about he figure he can afford Claudio Castagnoli at least as part-time bully of the ROH?

 - how about he has a big announcement next week ... a huge announcement: ROH has signed INDIE-GOD Biff Busick. The head of mother earth explodes.

 - how about he sign Timothy Thatcher as Head of Security (the unsung most important character in all of wrestling) to keep non-handshaking fiends like Danielson out of ROH?

 - how about he has a baby and signs it to ROH ... its name is Austin Creed. Austin "Consequences" Creed.

 - how about he sign Chris Hero to do play-by-play, but only CM Punk or Eddie Kingston ever show to do color...

I'm really only having so much fun with this because I only realized how cool this could be since Tony Khan thought it was worth bragging about. Showing your gazillionaire face on TV to brag about indie-wrestling means a whole lot to me as a wrestling fan. I feel so sorry now for the anti-AEW pro-WWE trolls on instagram now.

Next thing you know he signs Phil Schneider to write AEW: The Book. 

Move teh thread~

And let's STILL keep Johnny Gargano out. Ha. Kiddin'...

 

Edited by Horatio
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6 minutes ago, Cobra Commander said:

Tony Khan seems like the type of guy who has fantasy booked a way for the UWF to invade JCP in 1987, and he's gonna try to not UWF Ring of Honor.

Actually, right now he's probably trying not to buy Lucha Underground. 'Cause he already found it on tape.

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1 minute ago, TheVileOne said:

I just don't see what kind of future ROH has now. It barely even exists currently. As Solomonster said, they have no roster. They're a tape library and a bunch of logos. 

Actually, they're kinda Briscoes, heart and soul. 

But Delirious, mind. 

Their potential is big. CYN-level big. Or bigger.

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1 minute ago, Horatio said:

Actually, they're kinda Briscoes, heart and soul. 

But Delirious, mind. 

Their potential is big. CYN-level big. Or bigger.

I know Shad Khan is a billionaire, but what's the goal here? To run ROH as a separate in-house super indy? To give the Dark and Elevation guys and gals another place to work? 

ROH had even bigger potential at many points. They had potential when Sinclair owned them, but Sinclair never pumped all that much money into ROH.

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SRS was speculating, but he thinks one of the Dark shows will be ended and ROH will basically be their feeder league. I imagine Dark will transition into something more akin to a WWF Heat/Velocity, and ROH gets the talent that just isn't important enough to be on Dynamite/Rampage, people they see potential in, and returning ROH stars.

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Just now, Ace said:

The primary goal is the library. Besides getting the ROH shows, it means TK finally owns All In.

 

To be clear about that - AEW always owned the All In trademark and logos and shit, but ROH owned the footage which is obviously the most important part.

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16 minutes ago, TheVileOne said:

I know Shad Khan is a billionaire, but what's the goal here? To run ROH as a separate in-house super indy? To give the Dark and Elevation guys and gals another place to work? 

ROH had even bigger potential at many points. They had potential when Sinclair owned them, but Sinclair never pumped all that much money into ROH.

It has to make money. If roh isn’t profitable for him it was a mistake. I bet the value was seen as the library and maybe the streaming service is lined up and they just haven’t announced it yet, and he figured the library would add value to their streaming service which would make the purchase worth it even if the live events just break even or whatever. It’s all interesting to think about. 

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21 minutes ago, TheVileOne said:

I know Shad Khan is a billionaire, but what's the goal here? To run ROH as a separate in-house super indy? To give the Dark and Elevation guys and gals another place to work? 

ROH had even bigger potential at many points. They had potential when Sinclair owned them, but Sinclair never pumped all that much money into ROH.

Strangely, I think it's about the ROH faithful, wrestlers and fans. I think there's a specific market of those who mark for a "pure" wrestling promotion, handshakes and tradition included. Same way there's a market for GCW death-related material, Bloodsport shoot-related material, etc... If there's actual WWE marks who think AEW is a glorified indy (and there are), then there are those who are just waiting to see Claudio and Johnny Gargano shake hands and wrestle for an hour on Friday at midnight. Tivo/DVR gave everything a chance to thrive. 

I don't think Dark/Elevation was ever gonna be a permanent youtube station.

Sky's the limit with Limitless Keith Lee on board and Hook on the rise.

The main complaint I hear about AEW is the way they rotate their stars with not enough guys getting to show off their stuff on Wednesdays.

Stealing the NXT concept this quick after NXT made it to TV would be a great move I think.

Edit - personally, I don't care about the library. I've never had the time or money to be that heavily invested in wrestling, but this has me excited. 

Edited by Horatio
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35 minutes ago, Casey said:

SRS was speculating, but he thinks one of the Dark shows will be ended and ROH will basically be their feeder league. I imagine Dark will transition into something more akin to a WWF Heat/Velocity, and ROH gets the talent that just isn't important enough to be on Dynamite/Rampage, people they see potential in, and returning ROH stars.

I speculate if they even know what they're going to do with it yet. But my question is this, is there true value in making ROH your YouTube minor league? Unless they are going to sell the rights to those shows and get them on the air somewhere, is that really good return on your investment?

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Dave was questioning how they can do live shows with it. Aew doesn’t do house shows now because they would lose money. Roh was sold because they couldn’t make money. If you come to San Francisco, why would you call a show roh when an aew show would sell more tickets? Even if it’s a smaller show with rookies, just call it aew, it’s a way stronger brand name. Then he gave all the examples of wrestling promoters who bought other promotions, and how quickly they dropped the other name that failed and just called the shows by their bigger more successful name. 

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3 hours ago, matt925 said:

Dave was questioning how they can do live shows with it. Aew doesn’t do house shows now because they would lose money. Roh was sold because they couldn’t make money. If you come to San Francisco, why would you call a show roh when an aew show would sell more tickets? Even if it’s a smaller show with rookies, just call it aew, it’s a way stronger brand name. Then he gave all the examples of wrestling promoters who bought other promotions, and how quickly they dropped the other name that failed and just called the shows by their bigger more successful name. 

Dave's speculation seems to be a bit in the box.  JCP, WWE (outside the tape library) etc. never utilized their purchases.  Not to say what he was saying was wrong in anyway, but it's history and a precedent set by a megalomanic (who couldn't let go of his now purchased company still being competition-clearly that was empty headed) and a blind man (Jim had too much 'Stardust' in his eyes.  He was somehow convinced the company and roster he bought wasn't worth a dream match card or competitive invasion-pure dumbdumbfuckery).  Everything Dave said could also be applied to even starting a new company in the first place-when in the last 20 plus years has that worked well?  TK has proven to have his eyes open and is making great effort to avoid the mistakes of the egocentric and/or foolish company heads that came before him.  Still, Dave raises some good points, but putting time and money into a brand like ROH, in this situation, certainly has great potential.  For a number of reasons.  First, it's an established brand with a pretty rich history that could certainly be built stronger and more visibile than it ever has been (it happens in various industries all the time).  That could mean, down the road, a potential 'money' invasion or 'money' dream match card.  But more importantly the well of underutilized WWE talent available going forth, especially considering the low calibre talent they're grooming now, is going to run dry.  It makes a lot of sense to build and develop all those indie standouts that WWE won't be.  Dark's been good for giving out single shots, but there's clealry a need for a place where talent can learn and hone their craft.  And there are both a lot of really good Indie and former TV workers out there, and excellent teachers (see 'Lord' Steven, Joe, etc.).  I have no doubt that when they build up their own Undisputed Eras, and Malakai Blacks and Keith Lees that they'll be used properly on the 'main roster'.  But even saying that, there's potential for this brand to stand alone and be an end stop too.  I'm giving a lot of benefit of the doubt here, but I do so because of how, in three short years, AEW has been intelligently and sustainably built up as strong as any company I've ever seen.  And they don't seem to have hit anywhere near their peak yet.  The streak of consistently great television, the great angles and matches are a testament to that, but maybe the biggest strength is how they've responded to mistakes.  Their ability to gauge the audience seems like a no-brainer, but not from any precedence set before them in pro wrestling.  On that Dave talk, yeah, right now putting on an AEW show in Seattle is going to draw more than ROH, but Dave didn't give much to the fact that this new ROH will have a lot of buzz going in, and will also very likely make good on that buzz.  So how do they fare a year from now putting on that show in Seattle?  It's no different from the way AEW chooses to feature unestablished stars on their TV to build said perfomer up for a year from now.  Further, I can't imagine this roster won't be better than any the promotion has had since the Elite and company defected in 2018.  The last couple year's roster, and moreso the money behind it was very unappealling to a lot of fans.  Again, I get the warning signs, it could certainly go awry as a continuing business, but I can't see the end result of a TK venture, at least right now, being simply the valuable tape library.  I expect this ROH chat will be as active as the AEW chat in due time.     

Edited by HarryArchieGus
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11 hours ago, TheVileOne said:

I just don't see what kind of future ROH has now. It barely even exists currently. As Solomonster said, they have no roster. They're a tape library and a bunch of logos. 

I hear ya, but I actually think that's a GOOD thing. When WWE bought WCW they took like 24 people with it. And those 24 were nowhere near stars. TK has a blank slate to do whatever he wants with it now. Everyone knows there are no people under contract. He can run it like an indy if he chooses to, like ROH had planned to do going forward. And there is a lot of merit in that. Don't worry about a TV deal. Just get a touring weekend indy up and running again. The purpose would be develop and trying out new talent. Maybe AEW is too full to sign a Biff Busick. But an indy ROH can book him on a three month run and try him out. If he gets way over and you enjoy his stuff, sign him for AEW. If not you get a seasoned vet working with younger guys and making them better. Garcia getting an extended run with Biff in an ROH would certainly help him learn and grow. That's worth it alone, but double so if Biff ends up catching on big too.

The TV competent is not even necessary. Listen where there's smoke there's fire. There is something in the works with HBO Max. For argument's sake let's say Max has agreed to do a deal with TK. They get quarterly AEW live PPVs. They get the library of all of AEW & ROH. And they also get monthly ROH PPVs. Envision ROH being like NXT was when it was Network only. 4 PPVs a year and only 3 years of a history on it's own probably couldn't score a big rights fee yet. But 16 PPVs, 3 years of AEW, & 20 years of ROH sure could. They essentially expanded their library exponentially.

There's def a component to this that hasn't dropped yet. Kahn is way too savy of a business man to buy a dead brand that he doesn't have plans for just to mark out for it's history. There is a purpose and a reason for this purchase and he probably will reveal more once this PPV is done. DON 2019 was their first event. Technically this is the last PPV of year three for them. Seems like DoN 2022 would be the perfect point for a new streaming plan to start, if that's in the works.

But admittedly this is just me speculating.

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