Random ROH Thoughts Thread

[DougN]

I don't think Brody King is this elite level worker, but I think he's improved a lot and can deliver very good to great matches when given the chance and time. He's a fresh face too and can be really good in a Morishima role as building up a lot of other guys with one-off title defenses that have good showings before passing it off to someone else.

Shane Taylor. I dunno. He's not bad, but I just don't think he's that good in the ring.

If you want to say Shane Taylor is underrated and Brody King is overrated, I'm not going to argue, but I would still say Brody is better.

[tigermask7.0]

They need to do Greshman v Bandido before Final Battle, but Bandido vs Brody King feels like the rightful Final Battle main event. Him and Gresham are the only ones who feel truly main event special. Everyone else just feels like placeholders.

I actually feel like Gresham vs Bandido is the rightful Final Battle main event. Gresham has carried ROH in the pandemic era and has been one of the best in ring performers in all of wrestling.

I feel like there is more time to tell Brody's story and get him into that spot where the fans are begging for him to win the title. Just no more title matches until then. You don't want to run the risk of him being like Elgin where he lost so many title matches that by the time he won it didn't matter anymore.

If Final Battle main event ends up being Gresham challenging Bandido, it may be best to have Brody King beat Dragon Lee for the Television title.

P.S. Final Battle needs to be the return to live crowd action.

[kovs27]

They need to do Greshman v Bandido before Final Battle, but Bandido vs Brody King feels like the rightful Final Battle main event. Him and Gresham are the only ones who feel truly main event special. Everyone else just feels like placeholders.

I actually feel like Gresham vs Bandido is the rightful Final Battle main event. Gresham has carried ROH in the pandemic era and has been one of the best in ring performers in all of wrestling.

I feel like there is more time to tell Brody's story and get him into that spot where the fans are begging for him to win the title. Just no more title matches until then. You don't want to run the risk of him being like Elgin where he lost so many title matches that by the time he won it didn't matter anymore.

If Final Battle main event ends up being Gresham challenging Bandido, it may be best to have Brody King beat Dragon Lee for the Television title.

P.S. Final Battle needs to be the return to live crowd action.

I like your Brody vs. Dragon Lee idea. I think that would be a hell of a match. I hope fan will be attendance even if it is just for selfish reasons because I'd definitely be there.

[famicommander]

Baltimore is clearly the right place for Final Battle. Hopefully with no pod seating.

[Shanahan]

Do we really think after stopping shows in Oct/Nov ROH will return to live shows with fans in the dead of winter? No way. FB will be taped during the Nov TV Tapings. They'll tape Final Battle and 8 weeks of TV taking us into Jan.

[DougN]

Ugh. I hope not. You're probably right, but ugh.

[tigermask7.0]

Do we really think after stopping shows in Oct/Nov ROH will return to live shows with fans in the dead of winter? No way. FB will be taped during the Nov TV Tapings. They'll tape Final Battle and 8 weeks of TV taking us into Jan.

Understandable. I'm hoping that the Ring Of Honor talent competing in New Japan Showdown in Philadelphia mid-October shows the ROH head office that it's still possible to do live action.

Agree with the above others that Final Battle should be in Baltimore. In terms of winter, the 'Free Enterprise' event was in February in Baltimore. But that draw may have been significant because it was free. However, that draw may have significant because it had been awhile since Baltimore had an event.

People may be willing to show up for Final Battle in December (first or third weekend, I'm biased) if the card is compelling.

P.S. hoping the New Japan Showdown in Philadelphia strongly reopens the doors for Ring Of Honor & NJPW.

[Montana]

I think no matter how you slice it... it hurts ROH not running live events.

Crowd or not; how good is the build to final battle going to be over the next 8-10 weeks of TV. Maybe they can pull together something decent; but seems like episodic shows; lead to better build for storylines. Filming TV every 6 weeks or so; only get so involved with storylines. For example; Jay Lethal will likely have 1 match recorded at the tapings; and maybe a backstage segment or promo. Nothing else to build the storylines/feuds. So you may see Lethal once over the next 6 weeks. (Or anyone else on the roster) The Taven/Vincent feud is over. LFI looks like they may be disbanding soon. Just feels like a lot of uncertainty ahead for ROH. Really they should be brainstorming and focusing on what to do for the 20th anniversary show.

The one area; with the least uncertainty is the women's division which seems where a majority of their focus has been.

[kovs27]

Do we really think after stopping shows in Oct/Nov ROH will return to live shows with fans in the dead of winter? No way. FB will be taped during the Nov TV Tapings. They'll tape Final Battle and 8 weeks of TV taking us into Jan.

Understandable. I'm hoping that the Ring Of Honor talent competing in New Japan Showdown in Philadelphia mid-October shows the ROH head office that it's still possible to do live action.

Agree with the above others that Final Battle should be in Baltimore. In terms of winter, the 'Free Enterprise' event was in February in Baltimore. But that draw may have been significant because it was free. However, that draw may have significant because it had been awhile since Baltimore had an event.

People may be willing to show up for Final Battle in December (first or third weekend, I'm biased) if the card is compelling.

P.S. hoping the New Japan Showdown in Philadelphia strongly reopens the doors for Ring Of Honor & NJPW.

Final Battle 2019 was about 2 months prior to Free Enterprise. That is a quick turnaround for Baltimore. I think it being free was by far the biggest selling point. It's a shame that due to Covid we can't get a true gauge on how well that event did to grow the ROH audience.

[DougN]

I think no matter how you slice it... it hurts ROH not running live events.

Crowd or not; how good is the build to final battle going to be over the next 8-10 weeks of TV. Maybe they can pull together something decent; but seems like episodic shows; lead to better build for storylines. Filming TV every 6 weeks or so; only get so involved with storylines. For example; Jay Lethal will likely have 1 match recorded at the tapings; and maybe a backstage segment or promo. Nothing else to build the storylines/feuds. So you may see Lethal once over the next 6 weeks. (Or anyone else on the roster) The Taven/Vincent feud is over. LFI looks like they may be disbanding soon. Just feels like a lot of uncertainty ahead for ROH. Really they should be brainstorming and focusing on what to do for the 20th anniversary show.

The one area; with the least uncertainty is the women's division which seems where a majority of their focus has been.

I agree with everything you said. Literally everything. I do think they should be commended for taking COVID seriously and protecting their staff and talent, but you're just right. At this point, they're getting hurt not running live events.

I see no problem with TV being taped in an empty arena. I think the format they use really makes it look okay. But they should have 2-3 live events per months with fans EVEN IF it's just a small amount of fans.

[famicommander]

Fuck NJPW at this point. Their product has been bad for two years and it's not getting better.

[tigermask7.0]

Fair enough. Suzuki-gun (& Dangerous Tekkers) is the only reason I follow NJPW at this point. LIJ & Bullet Club have lost some of their luster. And Chaos isn't really a faction ... it's more like a default setting for every babyface. Bullet Club & Chaos are way too large & confusing. Wrestle Kingdom being multiple days doesn't help,, it dilutes the product & shows a lack of star power. The best thing I have seen was the return to action with New Japan Cup 2020 when they mixed the light heavy & heavyweights together. That created some fresh new matches.
Haven't watched enough New Japan Strong to have an opinion.

[famicommander]

NJPW in 2021 is like ROH in 2019. Completely lost their identity and all sense.

I hope they can turn it around but until I see them put on several consecutive months of good to great shows I won't believe they've back.

[Shanahan]

If ROH was smart they would bring in a few young guys for the Nov tapings. Let them job out to the faction guys but get them some TV time and minor storylines to build on. Bring in a guy like Tre Lamar. Book him vs Foundation member. Let him lose a competitive 6-8 min match. Have him slap or push one of the foundation guys after they shake hands. You got the foundation a win,get to hype whatever fued they got going into FB,get a young guy a match & plant seeds of future storyline. It's not that hard.

[DougN]

I don't think NJPW has lost their identity and all sense, but they've definitely been ravaged by the pandemic and by wrestlers leaving. And I don't really know how they bounce back right now since they're working on building up STRONG instead of focusing on the home base.

[Chrisvegas27]

Former ROH Pure Champion Jonathan Gresham will make a major announcement on ROH’s YouTube channel on Monday at 9 a.m. Eastern.

Gresham, whose one-year reign as champion was ended by Josh Woods at Death Before Dishonor a few weeks ago, hasn’t indicated what the announcement will be about.

There’s backstage speculation that Gresham is going to announce when and where his rematch for the Pure Title will take place and that there will be a special stipulation for the bout. Another rumor is that a new member or members are joining The Foundation.

[Chrisvegas27]

Also on the next ROH Week By Week, promising competitors Ativalu and Matt Makowski will face each other in their ROH debuts.

[famicommander]

I don't think NJPW has lost their identity and all sense, but they've definitely been ravaged by the pandemic and by wrestlers leaving. And I don't really know how they bounce back right now since they're working on building up STRONG instead of focusing on the home base.

They literally had a god damn blindfold match. They destroyed the lineage of the IWGP Heavyweight title and they've been bouncing their top title around like a hot potato for years.

They're supposed to be the King of Sports. The gatekeepers of Strong Style. They're quickly becoming DDT.

[Shanahan]

Also on the next ROH Week By Week, promising competitors Ativalu and Matt Makowski will face each other in their ROH debuts.

CB was just talking about Makowski with Fightful last week. Said he thought he was ROH ready for awhile now.

[Chrisvegas27]

Also on the next ROH Week By Week, promising competitors Ativalu and Matt Makowski will face each other in their ROH debuts.

CB was just talking about Makowski with Fightful last week. Said he thought he was ROH ready for awhile now.

Ativalu is from the the rock and Roman reigns family tree i believe