World Title Booking *ASE Spoilers*

[WHG]

Briscoe's reign will be interesting because I think very quickly people will believe that his reign could end at any time. One of the things that was boring about Elgin's reign (and Cole's to some degree) is that nobody really believed they would end (except for BITW in Cole's case). Ironically, even the Briscoe matchup lacked interest despite the no-pin streak because nobody thought Elgin would lose.

I think it's feasible to think Jay could lose the title very quickly given the circumstances of the change (to any number of guys)...or that he could hold it until someone like O'Reilly is ready. That unpredictability, along with Briscoe's promos, make him a fine choice to hold the title.

BTW, whether they knew about the visa issues or not...can you imagine the embarrassment if Elgin still had the title and couldn't get back in the country? That would have been a disaster.

[XHC]

Why should the belt be taken off of Briscoe asap? The guy is all kinds of over, whether he's tag teaming with Mark or working singles matches he's always been one of the most popular guys in the company. Most wrestling companies don't base who their champion is on work rate alone they also base it on popularity and Jay Briscoe=popular. Good choice as champion. I'd also argue that despite their popularity, longevity, and titles The Briscoes are vastly underrated by fans and the company itself. Everyone talks about how great Nigel, Bryan, and Joe were but never about how great the Briscoes were and still are and they still work for the company.

Agreed. Briscoe is ace. Not sure why people hating. Because he has 4 star matches as opposed to 4 and a half star matches?! Give me a break.

Well, at least for me, it's more like he puts on ***1/2 main events, which for me isn't close to main event standard.

And before you go "lol, star ratings don't mean anything", star ratings just reflect how much a person enjoys the match. For me, he rarely delivers at a main event standard in singles matches, at least during his most recent singles run.

I wouldn't say star ratings don't mean anything. As you said it merely a reflection of enjoyment and as good a system as any when it comes to saying how much you liked or disliked a match.

The reason I said what I said is this. Say you have Briscoe in the main event against, for argument sake, Cole. They have a ***1/2 to **** match. If the matches on the undercard are all good then the main event can afford to be not the best match on the card, as long as the finish is hot and good. Briscoe's personality more than makes up for his slight lack of match quality. I know main events should TRY and be the best match on the card but most of the time ROH just has great matches all over the card.

That's just my opinion of course and I'm sure people will think differently and that's cool with me.

[Robareid]

But Briscoe has a personality wherever he is on the card. Second to last match he's great, he builds the match up really good with promos and has matches that are perfectly serviceable as the second to last spot, while letting the guys who can really tear it up do so in the main event spot.

But hey ho, hopefully it won't last too long, and maybe he'll surprise me.

[trufreedom]

Am I the only one who fucking loves Jay's matches? He's stiff as fuck in an old school way and everything he does is so god damn crisp. Plus, as I've said so many times, he looks like if you met him on the street, and pissed him off, he could and would tear you to fucking pieces.

[Sardonic Artery]

Am I the only one who fucking loves Jay's matches? He's stiff as fuck in an old school way and everything he does is so god damn crisp. Plus, as I've said so many times, he looks like if you met him on the street, and pissed him off, he could and would tear you to fucking pieces.

You aren't alone; I dig Jay's matches. Whether it's his jabs, his neckbreaker, or his finishers, I'm down with Briscoe.

[JigsawVs.Jason]

Am I the only one who fucking loves Jay's matches? He's stiff as fuck in an old school way and everything he does is so god damn crisp. Plus, as I've said so many times, he looks like if you met him on the street, and pissed him off, he could and would tear you to fucking pieces.

apparently I am watching different matches than you, to me his punches and kicks look so half-assed and devoid of any impact, calling that stiff as fuck is beyond me.
And yes I am not a fan of him working singles in general, which might make me biased when it comes to evaluating his in-ring skills. But stiff as fuck is a big stretch to say the least from an objective point of view...have you ever seen Japanese wrestling?

[trufreedom]

They have wrestling in Japan too?

[Sardonic Artery]

They have wrestling in Japan too?

It's one of those backwoods emerging wrestling territories... like Mexico.

[Kenny]

Am I the only one who fucking loves Jay's matches? He's stiff as fuck in an old school way and everything he does is so god damn crisp. Plus, as I've said so many times, he looks like if you met him on the street, and pissed him off, he could and would tear you to fucking pieces.

Jay is great in the ring. He always delivers tough looking offense and sells really well. He's also extremely charismatic. He's something special. I'm hoping he gets a bit of a run with the belt.

[Robareid]

Having an opinion on something makes you biased on it?

[WHG]

There have been rumors that Austin Aries is done with TNA now. His contract expires before the end of the year and he tweeted what could be interpreted as a goodbye (although that's debatable) after the most recent tapings.

I know it was brought up a while back...and again when he showed up backstage at DBDXII, but Jay winning the title adds a new twist to the idea of an Aries return. I'd love to see Aries come back for a battle of the 2x champs with Jay (gives him a good reason to come back). I could see him doing a short, transitional Main Event feud like that (much the way Hero did) if nothing else. Even if he does re-sign with TNA in the new year, there's actually a chance he'd be a free agent for FB this year during TNA's TV contract gap (assuming they find a new home).

[wordsasbombs]

Interesting note: Elgin has been scheduled for the St Louis Anarchy "Mayhem and Matrimony" show on October 3rd for a while now. Earlier today the promoter said that, as of this morning, Elgin will be there. So maybe the visa situation is cleared up early? Here's the source: https://www.facebook.com/events/831760823502373/

[DXvsNWO1994]

Interesting note: Elgin has been scheduled for the St Louis Anarchy "Mayhem and Matrimony" show on October 3rd for a while now. Earlier today the promoter said that, as of this morning, Elgin will be there. So maybe the visa situation is cleared up early? Here's the source: https://www.facebook.com/events/831760823502373/

Is it even possible for him to have resolved his VISA issues this quickly?

[Northwoods_Nightmare]

Indy promoter trying to sell tickets to a show. I'm going to take that with a whole shaker full of salt.

[WHG]

The more I think about it, I don't know if I've ever been less sure about what is going to happen with the ROH World Title next, since Elgin dropped it. Up to that point, I was pretty sure he was losing it to AJ at Final Battle. While I could still see that happening with Briscoe, it really wastes the 2 year no-pin streak on a guy who couldn't need that rub less (in fact, Jay gets more from a win over AJ than vice versa). Given that they don't like to bounce the title around a lot, though, I could see a lot of alternative scenarios where AJ just doesn't end up getting a run with the title.

I have to believe that by the end of 2015 they will have anointed the next generation guy to carry the title (O'Reilly, Cedric, etc...), but there's a number of ways to get there:

1. Briscoe has a long (6+ month run) and finally loses to the future guy, giving him a huge rub (although by then fans will likely have turned on Briscoe's reign long before).

2. Cole gets the belt back and continues what many feel should have been a longer reign to begin with.

3. Lethal builds on what has probably been the most acclaimed performance of the year (his heel work) and gets a run to carry through to late 2015.

4. Ciampa, who straddles the line of current star and future star, ends his latest push by getting the title (arguably before he's "ready") and pushes back the need to get the title to one of the younger guys.

5. You stay the course and give AJ the title. His reign is more about elevating the title and you were going to waste Jay's streak on Elgin anyway. AJ carrying the belt for several months of special appearance defenses before passing the torch is still a good option.

Lots of pros and cons to each scenario and I don't even know if I prefer any one over another. I probably missed some good ones, too. This does make The current reign very unpredictable, though.

Thoughts?

[Thelone]

I can see something like Fish winning the world title in "shocking" fashion while he's still tag champ with O'Reilly and slowly build up the tension between them (they lose the tag titles and Fish blames O'Reilly because he's always the guy to eat the pin for example) before the big showdown at BITW or later.

[TYFDK]

That'd be a better feud than Edwards/Richards at BITW '11.

[The Dragon Saga]

That'd be a better feud than Edwards/Richards at BITW '11.

There was zero wrong with Edwards/Richards until after BITW 2011. That's when they made a shitpile out of it.

[Robareid]

Urgh long Briscoe reign. Can't see them going back to Cole so soon, don't think this Lethal character is a main event character, Ciampa isn't ready. So five I guess.

[Burnside]

Until I hear he has re-signed, I'm assuming Adam Cole's last ROH show is Final Battle 2014, so I don't see him getting the belt back.