Official ROH World Title Tournament Discussion Thread

[TYFDK]

Here's what we know:

- ROH has decided to vacate the World title
- A 16-man tournament featuring both regulars and non-regulars will be held
- The tournament will start in Providence, and continue in Toronto and NYC, and conclude in Philadelphia in mid-September
- We don't know if the finals will take place on PPV or on TV
- We also don't know if anything regarding the tournament will happen at the Alabama and Tennessee shows in early September. They probably won't.
- Jay Briscoe is pissed

Entrants so far (Location where first round match will be held):

#1 - Michael Elgin (Toronto)
#2 - Brian Kendrick (Toronto)
#3 - Karl Anderson (Providence)
#4 - Kevin Steen (Toronto)
#5 - Paul London (Toronto)
#6 - Roderick Strong (Toronto)
#7 - Adam Cole (Providence)
#8 - Sonjay Dutt (Providence)
#9 - BJ Whitmer (Toronto)
#10 - Tommaso Ciampa (Toronto)
#11 - Jay Lethal (Providence)
#12 - Michael Bennett (Toronto)
#13 - Silas Young or Adam Page (Toronto)*
#14 - Matt Taven (Toronto)
#15 - ACH (Providence)
#16 - Mark Briscoe (Providence)

FIRST ROUND MATCHES

Providence
Mark Briscoe vs. Adam Cole
ACH vs. "Machine Gun" Karl Anderson
Jay Lethal vs. Sonjay Dutt

Toronto

Tommaso Ciampa vs. Silas Young/Adam Page
Michael Bennett vs. BJ Whitmer
Kevin Steen vs. Brian Kendrick
Michael Elgin vs. Paul London
Roderick Strong vs. World TV Champion Matt Taven

* Young and Page will fight in Providence, with the winner moving onto their tournament match in Toronto

Official word from Ring of Honor:

NIGEL MCGUINNESS MAKES A HUGE ANNOUNCEMENT!
What is the future of Ring of Honor? (TV SPOILERS CONTAINED)

There has been a great deal of speculation regarding the future of the ROH World Title since Baltimore when Jay Briscoe was assaulted by S.C.U.M following his championship bout with Matt Hardy. There has also been rampant speculation about the future of Jay and Mark Briscoe as it pertains to ROH and their injuries suffered at the hands of Steve Corino’s crew.

As we saw here in a video Jay Briscoe sent to ROHWrestling.com, the World Champion is obviously injured but also obviously upset at the speculation and rumors about his & Mark’s future as well as the future of the World Title he fought so hard for the last eleven years to finally win.

To recap, for the very first time since Low Ki became the first champion, the World Title will be vacant BUT for the first time since the “Road To the Title/Crowning A Champion” events of 2002 there will be a tournament held to crown the new ROH World Champion!

Starting in Providence on July 27th and continuing in Toronto on August 3rd, NYC on August 17th, and culminating during “Death Before Dishonor XI” weekend in Philadelphia on September 20th & 21st, this tourney will feature 16 men battling it out for the right to hold the most prestigious wrestling championship in the world today!

The first man entered, as Nigel stated in his video, will be the top contender to the championship: “Unbreakable” Michael Elgin! Elgin had been patiently waiting for a title opportunity he earned back at “Supercard of Honor VII” when he defeated Jay Lethal but was one of many people sidetracked by the S.C.U.M situation. Now he finds himself the first man entered into the tournament that kicks off later this month and his 1st round match-up will go down in the city where he was originally scheduled to challenge for the World Title: Toronto on August 3rd!

Expect more competitors to be announced EVERY DAY until the field is complete so make sure you are checking out ROHWrestling.com each day, even over the holiday weekend!

The war with S.C.U.M has ended, the rebuilding phase has begun, and that post-war reconstruction can take a long time before there is a rebirth. With SCUM no longer around to serve as a distraction Ring of Honor can focus on rebuilding to what it is truly about. The road to purity has begun…

Discuss, if you will. I will update this when any new news/participants is/are brought to light.

[helms340]

Im not crazy about the idea of stripping jay Briscoe of the title but im sure the tournament will have some great matches in it. I wonder who they will have kick it off in Rhode Island.

[felkerpat]

Hopefully they bring in a few outside guys, the idea of the tournament I don't love but if we can get some new matches out of it or even just some good ones I think it will be fine.

[Northwoods_Nightmare]

I made a separate thread for this, but I probably should have put it here, along with future entrant announcements. Here it is again.

Yesterday it was announced that the ROH World Title had been vacated and a tournament to crown the new champion would begin in Providence, RI on July 27th and run throughout the summer until "Death Before Dishonor XI" weekend in Philadelphia. The first man entered into the tournament by Match Maker Nigel McGuinness was the top contender for the belt "Unbreakable" Michael Elgin and now ROHWrestling.com has been given the name of the second entrant into the field....

BRIAN KENDRICK!

It has been over three years since Kendrick has stepped into an ROH ring, since the "8th Anniversary Show" when he lost to Roderick Strong to be exact, and now he makes his return on August 3rd in Toronto with an opportunity to become the new World Champion at stake!

Kendrick, or Spanky as he was known then, does have some experience in this type of situation as he was one of the four men who competed in the legendary Iron Man Four Way at "Crowning A Champion" alongside Low Ki, Doug Williams, and Christopher Daniels. Spanky and Williams both scored -1 point in that fight Low Ki ultimately won but that was 11 years ago and Kendrick has since become an internationally traveled veteran of the ring wars.

With a surprise like Brian Kendrick announced as the 2nd entrant, who knows who else Nigel McGuinness could be in contact with to compete in this 16-man tournament? Check back with ROHWrestling.com EVERY DAY for more names as they get finalized and pick up your tickets for all the upcoming events right here!

[JigsawVs.Jason]

that's the 16 guys I would like to see entered in the tournament:

1) Michael Elgin
2) Spanky
3) Adam Cole
4) Davey Richards
5) Eddie Edwards
6) Kevin Steen
7) Roderick Strong
8) Kyle O'Reilly
9) Bobby Fish
10) Jay Lethal
11) Jimmy Jacobs
12) Paul London
13) Naomichi Marufuji (or Karl Anderson)
14) Tomasso Ciampa
15) ACH
16) Doug Williams

[DXvsNWO1994]

I don't think reDRagon will be in the tournament, especially if they're putting focus on the Tag Team Division while the Tournament is going on.

[KL_]

Maybe MsChif is gonna be in this tournament and she will advance to second round by defeating QT Marshall

[Lone Wolf]

Don't think Fish and O'Reilly will be in the tournament as but they deserve to be though but seeing as they are tag champs its unlikely.

Would love Marufuji and other Japanese talent to come in as well as other indy guys. Glad Spanky is back maybe we can see him and london team up again.

[Marketh.]

Maybe MsChif is gonna be in this tournament and she will advance to second round by defeating QT Marshall

By submission, via annoying screaming.

[Yugiohnoonoo]

Maybe MsChif is gonna be in this tournament and she will advance to second round by defeating QT Marshall

That would be MOTY for me

[BlackLesnar]

Glad to see I'm not the only one who realized reDRagon's predicament today. They honestly SHOULD be included, seeing as they are champions, but if either one of them gets to so much as the second round Nigel's promise of tag division glory gets a swift kick in the nads. Maybe they agree to give the tag titles their full attention now, under the condition that Nigel gives them both World Title shots at a later date?

For the same reason, I'm starting to have doubts that Eddie & Davey will be entered. I was absolutely certain that they would be yesterday, but they've made it clear that those tag titles are their primary goal right now, and New York is both the presumed site of the quarterfinals and the perfect place to do the next Wolves-reDRagon match. Besides, they just came off back-to-back World Title shots.

[Yugiohnoonoo]

I was thinking about MsChif being in the tourney, she should be because she's beaten most of her opponents that ROH gave her, plus i'd like to see her kick some guys ass

[Marketh.]

I've seen MsChif face guys in AAW. I haven't enjoyed a single one of those matches. Granted, they weren't great opponents, but I didn't think much of her actual performances either.

[TYFDK]

What about this...

MsChif vs. RD Evans

[Yugiohnoonoo]

What about this...

MsChif vs. RD Evans

Hahahaha

[SeanWrestling]

So I was looking at the roster page to try and guess who on it could realistically be in the tournament and I came up with:
Adam Cole
BJ Whitmer
Davey Richards
Eddie Edwards
Jay Lethal
Kevin Steen
Rhino
Roderick Strong
Tommaso Ciampa
Plus Elgin and Kendrick who already have been announced and London who I can see being in it since he's going to be in Toronto. That leaves 4 spots for bring-ins which I think is a good and realistic amount for ROH in this day and age. Even that might too many for ROH to bring-in. Let's hope not. And let's hope the bring-ins are quality. Kendrick and London are good starts. I'm really excited about this tournament. If it's made up of nothing but main event level guys, there shouldn't be any matches that's not worth looking forward to. Imagine the possibilities with the guys I named alone.

[Yugiohnoonoo]

That list seems highly likely to me. A good person to bring in would be Karl Anderson if he's available. I'd like to see Pepper Parks in there , and Silas Young as well. The final spot could be a mystery spot and they not announce it until that persons match

[JigsawVs.Jason]

That list seems highly likely to me. A good person to bring in would be Karl Anderson if he's available. I'd like to see Pepper Parks in there , and Silas Young as well. The final spot could be a mystery spot and they not announce it until that persons match

why the hell should Pepper Parks and Silas Young be in there? they're not even regular roster members, guys this is a tournament for the ROH World belt, it's not some random BOLA type tournament. The point is to make this feel really special to make up for the horrible decision to vacte the belt. Bringing in guys who were the staple of the old ROH like Spanky, London is a great start, hopefully they can get at least one big name from Japan to give this tournament the prestige it deserves!

Also: Why wouldn't Fish and O'Reilly be in the tournament? The first round is going to take place at the tapings...there is no reason why they don't have a tag title match and first round macthes on the same night, based on the fact they're taping 4 episodes. They can easily at least put them in the first round to have a quality tournament roster, which is a much better option than to include guys like Silas Young or even Bennett or Rhino, those guys don't have anything to do with the world title, alas are not a good fit to be in this tournament.

[StanHanseninHD]

ROH has been completely unpredictable (sometimes for the positive and sometimes for the negative) since Delirious took over . The "predictable" final should be Cole vs Elgin. Therefore, I am predicting a finals of Steelhorse Vachon vs PN News with a run in by Dungeon of Doom.

[TYFDK]

3rd entrant is "Machine Gun" Karl Anderson. He'll be competing in Providence.

Looks like Elgin's getting that win back.