I was going to though up an immediate reaction over the weekend and then read this, which pretty much mirrors my thoughts.Montana wrote: ↑Sat Apr 02, 2022 4:42 am Yeah, was expecting some mixed reactions to the show. To be honest, this show would have been better than anything Sinclair would have put together, given they released everyone from their contracts, and only a handful of names were announced for the show. ROH was slowly dying, and this should at least hopefully breathe some new life in.
As far as the look and feel, i thought it was pretty on par. Having Ian & Caprice call the action made it feel more like an ROH show. Thought for the most part, the in-ring quality was pretty high. I stepped out for a few minutes, but what i saw i liked. You had some big surprises with Samoa Joe & The Young Bucks. So to expect/think ROH will just be a developmental for AEW; i don't think it's going to quite be that. It seems like Talent can appear on either.
All in all, I'd give it a 8/10. I disliked that the old guard lost a majority of the matches, but Wheeler Yuta, Suzuki, and Mercedes, whom all have wrestled for ROH before are solid champs. FTR fits right into ROH's style. I would have preferred a little more 50/50 , but i'm not someone that gets overly concerned with who wins/losses certain matches (See Taven in 2019)
Pre- Show
Cabana vs. Blake Christian 3.0- Blake Christian will be perfect for the new ROH. Great to see Colt back.
Alize vs. AQA - I missed this.
SSS vs. Kaun & Toa - 1.5 - Glad Eli made it to the show, but this match sucked. Toa looked awful. Probably the low part of the show for me.
Castle vs. Hendry - Missed this too, but glad they were on the show.
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Zayne vs. Swerve 4.0 - Great opener. These guys would be great building blocks to a new ROH.
Ninja Mack vs. Cage 2.5 - Basically a squash, but a good one. Cage, another good piece for ROH.
Lethal vs. Moriarty 3.5 - I missed some of this matches, but what i saw i liked. Again, two guys that could really add a lot of a new ROH.
Martinez vs. Willow 3.0 - Solid
Briscoes vs. FTR - 5.0 - As expected, they were great dance partners, lived up to the hype and made me wanted more. I hope the Briscoes arent done; and the ending lives me to believe this isn't the end. Probably should have main evented; but understand why not too.
TItus vs. Suzuki 2.5 - This one felt a little over-board with taking out the old ROH champs. Not sure if ROH or Supercard needed Suzuki to Squash Rhett; but it happened.
Woods vs. Yuta - 3.0 - While watching this match, i kept thinking Yuta is going over. To be fair, in the AEW universe, Yuta's on Dynamite, and Woods is on dark. So Again, disappointed Woods didn't retain, BUT new ownership. If Woods had a long reign, i think Yuta would be a great replacement.
Gresham vs. Bandido 3.75-4.0 - This match went from boring , to hot very quickly. Think their styles clash, and kind of what i've expected for the match at final Battle.
The Aftermath cool, kind of what was expected.
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Gotta think more AEW fans, who weren't familiar with ROH watched the show as well. I think your trying to please both fan bases. Having one ROH original retain, would have been nice, but oh well.
I think it's too early to write off the new ROH. We have no idea what they are doing moving forward. No TV deal yet, no streaming service with AEW yet, no touring schedule. I'd like to see guys like Blake Christian, Briag Cage, Swerve, Zayne, Yuta, Gresham, Lethal, FTR, Suzuki, etc moving forward. That doesn't feel like a developmental to me. Plus with using guys like Colt, Joe, Young Bucks, it seems like they'll use a lot of legends too. Only downside was using that Toa guy... which to be honest, i'd expect AEW use them of their dark /meh guys on ROH to help them. But with just one, on the show, i was happy with that. This also leaves the door open to ROH guys earning a spot in the new ROH, and potentially some of their titles back. Not sure who/what that could look like yet, but certainly they could cycle talent in.
Would also like to see guys like STP, Deppen, Dickinson, Dragon Lee, Rush, Tracy Williams in ROH, but time will tell. Really hope this isn't the end for the Briscoes.
Colt/Blake felt like an ROH match you would have seen a decade ago, in a good way. Real happy to see Kaun, seems like a good position for him. Zayne/Swerve was good, Lethal/Lee was pretty good and Jay is better as a heel.
Having Willow, Titus, and Woods as the 3 previous ROH talents all lose the title matches did feel like a bit of a gut punch, but on the flip side I don't think it's Willow time for the belt and Rhett wouldn't have gotten the title if it wasn't for the hiatus, so Josh is really the only one you can argue had his legs cut out from under him.
Dem Boys vs FTR is why I watch ROH. If Tony let the Briscoes go, they will be a huge benefit to whatever company they land in.
I was not looking forward to Gresham/Bandido at Final Battle because they don't match on paper great and there was no story to it. Really seems like it was planned to be Brody winning at FB and Gresham taking it 6-9 months later...but I think the inclusion of Chavo added to the match and was glad when Bandido had him thrown out. Really builds the character depth and separates out ROH some. I hope that leads to Chavo bringing in someone who appreciates him more to target Bandido in the future? Post match is perfectly fine. Gresham's retaining the title over Bandido is not a moment that needed to not be "ruined" and the positioning of heel Lethal in the title picture along with a returning Joe is needed storytelling for a company that literally has nothing going on currently.