What's the next realistic step forward?

[The Dragon Saga]

Looking back on 2014 it's pretty weird how ROH grew in 12 months. While it took awhile, I think the plan for ROH under SBG ownership to start carving out its niche finally began taking place, so much so that on many levels it was butting heads with TNA and in certain areas even out doing them, despite TNA's larger audience on Spike TV.

ROH had a year of big returns, larger crowds, better shows, a couple of goodbyes, the NJPW relationship, the return to iPPV, the debut on live PPV, some pretty good matches, expansion on TV into places such as Atlanta and the toy licensing deal.

So, in 2015 what is the next step forward for ROH that they could realistically take in your eyes? Basically, if you have an outlandish and unlikely thought at the least back it up with some rational. My idea is that they need to get syndication in at least two of the big four markets they're missing out on, my hope would be the Tri-state/NYC area and Chicago. Another step that I'd love ROH to take is to branch out into international markets. While not as big as it used to be, wrestling in the UK is pretty hot right now and ROH shouldn't have a ton of difficulty at least negotiating with some stations, even if they're lesser known than Sky Sports and Challenge.

[Northwoods_Nightmare]

I think continuing a few ppvs a year would be good. I don't know how I feel about monthly PPV but 4 a year sounds pretty good. Getting another set of NJPW shows would also be huge. It would be great if they could make that an annual thing, but ideally they would bring it to different markets every year.
I think they need to decide what to do with ippv, one way or another. They've tried and dropped it numerous times by now, they either need to go totally onboard with it and not have continued failures, or drop it for good.

What do you guys think about the syndication in general? I think that if they had a regular weekly timeslot it could help viewership, if everyone knew that ROH was on at the same time every week, in every market. In a lot of markets the show is on extremely late at night and often gets bumped. On the other hand, the syndication is really convenient for me, because I know that the show is played at least three times per weekend in my area. So if I miss it in one timeslot, I can watch it in a different one. I'm kind of undecided on this. Maybe they could have a regular broadcast on a weeknight and then syndicate replays on the weekend.

[WHG]

Continued syndication in non-SBG markets would be huge. Getting TV in Atlanta (and DC via SBG) this year was a key step that was overshadowed by some of the more product-related advancements this year. Joe Koff said on the Final Battle pre-show on Busted Open Radio on SiriusXM that they are in discussions now with an outlet for "the Tri-State area" when asked about TV in NY. I think NY, Philly and Chicago are the key targets to look for.

I'd also like to see SBG reward what sound like strong ratings with some kind of special on their affiliates. Would love to see it live, but more realistically something like Saturday Nights Main Event on NBC years ago or the Superstars on the Superstation special that Crockett ran on WTBS that was taped & was a precursor to the live Clashes.

They could have a suggested consistent airing time for affiliates (Primetime would be ideal, but maybe Late Night Sat Night to be more realistic?) and basically tape a special edited 2 hour live event instead of releasing it on VOD. This could supplement and even build to a PPV. Based on what they've done with College Football this year, the SBG affiliates are willing to preempt their syndicated reruns on occasion, which is what I'd always looked at as the reason they'd never do it.

[Memphis Mark]

ROH is not syndication in the traditional sense. Sinclair owns the stations , so they are not buying time or selling the show into syndication . The whole point of ROH is to provide Sinclair low cost programming . which generates ad revenue. Sinclair plan of attack is to provide a wrestling product that is available free to the public , not on a pay cable channel. Putting on ROH on cable is not in the best interest of the Sinclair shareholders since they are in the broadcast tv business. Additional syndication into non Sinclair markets is the watyto go instead of cable.



ROH should have 4 live PPV events per year , The booking for a 3 month period would all be a build for the PPV.

ROH really needs to grow buy running more house shows . ROH should run at least every 2 months in their current markets. Then they should run in every market they have TV . The company should have a goal to run 100 events per year. They have enough TV coverage to support the shows.That way they can keep the talent working and the guys could have a shot at making really good money working for ROH>. You cannot grow if you cannot keep your talent happy.

If you have enough house shows , tours of Japan , UK tours and Europe tours the talent could make really good money ,without having to take the risk of getting hurt working small lindie shows.

[Mr. Orange]

I think 4 Live PPVs a year(which seems likely) and trying to get into the bigger TV markets is the next logical step. I also think they should start trying to run buildings that don't just look like convention centers. A good example is running the 2300 arena instead of the National Guard armory in Philly in January. I know not every town is going to have an affordable better looking venue suited for wrestling; but I think the presentation could be done better on the shows that are done in convention centers. Adding bleachers to hide the walls and give it an arena feel is an easy fix to something like that.

Another step should be getting tv to be as fresh as possible. They shouldn't have TV air longer then 3 weeks after it tapes.

[TYFDK]

ROH is not syndication in the traditional sense. Sinclair owns the stations , so they are not buying time or selling the show into syndication . The whole point of ROH is to provide Sinclair low cost programming . which generates ad revenue. Sinclair plan of attack is to provide a wrestling product that is available free to the public , not on a pay cable channel. Putting on ROH on cable is not in the best interest of the Sinclair shareholders since they are in the broadcast tv business. Additional syndication into non Sinclair markets is the watyto go instead of cable.

I have to disagree with this. If ROH gets its own cable show, then it'll only increase the demand for ROH, which would mean more money going into it, which would mean more money for Sinclair. People won't stop watching the syndicated one because there's one on cable. They'll watch both.

As for what I'd like to see, it would be the ROH action figures sold in stores, DVD's and Blu-ray's of the big PPV's (13th Anniversary Show the next notable one) being sold in stores like Best Buy and FYE, international tours, and iPPV's done through LiveStream or YouTube.

[supersonic]

More focus on talking endlessly
Insult the fans that still buy events on DVD rather than on-demand
More Michael Elgin worked shoot promos
Stop over-emphasizing the titles - not every champion has to be on the marketing
Stop promoting your PPVs, DVDs, and live events
Stop promoting appearances of special attractions in advance
Have Jay Briscoe lose the ROH Title in Vegas, but still defend it at Invasion Attack
Also, more bait-and-switches of highly anticipated matches please

[The Dragon Saga]

More focus on talking endlessly
Insult the fans that still buy events on DVD rather than on-demand
More Michael Elgin worked shoot promos
Stop over-emphasizing the titles - not every champion has to be on the marketing
Stop promoting your PPVs, DVDs, and live events
Stop promoting appearances of special attractions in advance
Have Jay Briscoe lose the ROH Title in Vegas, but still defend it at Invasion Attack
Also, more bait-and-switches of highly anticipated matches please

So... TNA?

[Burnside]

ROH really needs to grow buy running more house shows . ROH should run at least every 2 months in their current markets. Then they should run in every market they have TV . The company should have a goal to run 100 events per year. They have enough TV coverage to support the shows.That way they can keep the talent working and the guys could have a shot at making really good money working for ROH>. You cannot grow if you cannot keep your talent happy.

If you have enough house shows , tours of Japan , UK tours and Europe tours the talent could make really good money ,without having to take the risk of getting hurt working small lindie shows.

I don't think more house shows is a "realistic" step forward. The idea of running house shows in "every market they have TV" is particularly implausible, as many of those markets have such low population densities that it would be crazy to try to run shows there. In 2011 and 2012 they tried to run house shows in old mid-south markets where they have TV (mainly because Cornette has a hard-on for those towns) and it failed - there were cancellations and low attendances. On the whole they've done a good job in 2013 and 2014 in focusing on running new cities that are mid-size markets where they have TV (San Antonio, Milwaukee, Baltimore, Providence, Nashville) plus sticking with the reliable established major market towns where they have no TV but are going to draw (NYC, Chicago, Philly). They do not need to try again in places like Winston-Salem, Spartanburg, or Charleston, WV where nobody is going to come.

For the past 15 years in the US, nobody except WWE has been able to make money running a full house show schedule. I'm not convinced it can be done. There is a whole generation of fans who have grown up in a world in which wrestling = WWE, and I'm not sure enough of them can be sold on anything else, especially on something that from a production standpoint will never match up.

I think realistic steps are:

- Sinclair selling a second ROH TV show to a cable company with decent national clearance. Note that for this to happen Sinclair will need to invest enough money to produce an aesthetically attractive show. This would open up the possibility of a live ROH TV broadcast someday happening, which is not a possibility with the current show airing on various affiliates in wildly different timeslots.

- A video game license

- Vastly improved website with vastly improved premium subscription service

[supersonic]

Is Nigel still commish? Keep him in that role, but turn him heel pronto!

[Alex Steel]

Personally, I'd love it if ROH did a couple of things to enhance their online presence and content.

POINT FORM:
-Give us a new website, and up ringside membership perks to include instant access to the latest shows/PPVs, and GIVE US THE WHOLE ROH LIBRARY ON VOD. I'LL PAY A HIGHER ANNUAL FEE FOR THIS!

MORE IN-DEPTH:

-The website --> GIVE IT A FACE-LIFT
The website looks slightly dated and needs a slight redesign IMO. Even adding some colour, whether some softly tinted orange or something would look decent. I'm not a website designer, but I know the site could look better. But hey, at least it's better than the mess that is the Dragon Gate website

-Ringside Membership perks --> UP THEM
I'd be willing to pay $100 a year if it meant instant access to the latest shows instead of having to pay $15 a pop, or waiting a year for them to become available in the VOD section for free.

Also, make every ROH show ever available on the site. I'm not sure if it's a space issue, a transfer issue, a missing content issue, or what, but while what's available on VOD now is okay, I'd love it if I could watch the entire history of ROH from The Era of Honor Begins until now.

Not sure how this would impact DVD sales and company revenue, but it makes sense to me at a glance. Or it's just me being a greedy consumer.

[Ladrao12]

Realistically, I'll second a couple of things Burnside said that I think will happen. Sinclair getting ROH a 2nd show with some good national exposure, and a change to the website. I can also see ROH coming out with an app for Android/iOS to boot with their subscription service.

Also, and we've already heard enough rumblings of it recently, I can see ROH making a good chunk of their roster exclusive to ROH, or very limited indie appearances. They've seemingly done this with Cole (pending him signing, or word of him signing) O'Reilly and Elgin, and I expect by mid-year or so, they may try to sign more to that type of contract.

[Robareid]

For the past 15 years in the US, nobody except WWE has been able to make money running a full house show schedule. I'm not convinced it can be done. There is a whole generation of fans who have grown up in a world in which wrestling = WWE, and I'm not sure enough of them can be sold on anything else, especially on something that from a production standpoint will never match up.

Even the WWE just about break even on house shows these days, they don't make any profit from it. The only reason they still do it, according to Vince, is to give people the experience.

[Northwoods_Nightmare]

Here's a pretty minor change but needs to be done---New opening to the TV show with wrestlers that are actually still in ROH.

[Northwoods_Nightmare]

For the past 15 years in the US, nobody except WWE has been able to make money running a full house show schedule. I'm not convinced it can be done. There is a whole generation of fans who have grown up in a world in which wrestling = WWE, and I'm not sure enough of them can be sold on anything else, especially on something that from a production standpoint will never match up.

Even the WWE just about break even on house shows these days, they don't make any profit from it. The only reason they still do it, according to Vince, is to give people the experience.

They've already got a pretty full schedule in the first part of the year. If they were to add any dates, I would say just do more in proven markets rather than adding a ton of new places (i.e. coming to a city three times a year rather than twice a year).

[Alex Steel]

Here's a pretty minor change but needs to be done---New opening to the TV show with wrestlers that are actually still in ROH.

Good call. Every time I see Rhino, I can't help but look and think, "Uhh..." and that's about it.

[The Dragon Saga]

Here's a pretty minor change but needs to be done---New opening to the TV show with wrestlers that are actually still in ROH.

Good call. Every time I see Rhino, I can't help but look and think, "Uhh..." and that's about it.

I was speaking to Mark Brown who works for ROH as a producer/cameraman a few weeks ago and he said that this should be expected. I pointed out to him that starting 2015 with an all new intro video would be a great way to start the year, solely because the current one is outdated a new intro video alone would probably get a pop.

[Alex Steel]

Here's a pretty minor change but needs to be done---New opening to the TV show with wrestlers that are actually still in ROH.

Good call. Every time I see Rhino, I can't help but look and think, "Uhh..." and that's about it.

I was speaking to Mark Brown who works for ROH as a producer/cameraman a few weeks ago and he said that this should be expected. I pointed out to him that starting 2015 with an all new intro video would be a great way to start the year, solely because the current one is outdated a new intro video alone would probably get a pop.

@fantasygodsport on twitter, right? He works on a lot of their DVD sets. Really cool. And I'm happy to hear that we may/should get a new intro. The start of 2015 would make a lot of sense. It's time. The company is coming off a tremendous year. Let's start the next one off with a bang.

[tigermask7.0]

"The Best of ROH Wrestling" hosted by mandy leon & nigel mcguinness

[krispywrestling]

I'm always amazed that, no matter how many times it's explained, some people just don't understand ROH is owned and operated by a television company, for the purpose of airing it on their own stations.