Top Prospect 2016

[187_Joeism]

You guys realize that they're not going to fill this with 8 people they really love for the long term, right? Corino's there to job. They always have crap jobbers in this thing.

Every year it´s the same complain

[Thelone]

And every year, the field is getting less and less impressive.

[187_Joeism]

And every year people shit on wrestlers that end up being good after all before watching them

[Memphis Mark]

I really don't understand why you would care about whether someone has paid his dues or not. Don't you just want to see the best wrestlers, regardless of what they did to get there. Also, I'd rather have someone who's 19 years old and has all the time to develop into a world class wrestler potentially, then a 36-year old guy that'll likely retire in 5 years and not go anywhere past the midcard until he does. Not anybody can be a star indeed, and since you can't really tell whether someone will become one or not on beforehand, you'd better book people who might become one, because if half of the guys you book are just there to fill the lower card, you'll only be able to create half the amount of stars you could if you'd only book people with potential to actually become a star.

Everyone should pay dues theirs in and wrestling and in life. These wrestlers pay for their own training , set up rings , sleep in their cars and spend years learning their craft . It is disrespectful to the business to hand people spots that have not earned them with years of hard work. That is my my opinion , no one has to agree with me.

Also 36 is not really old for wrestling. Nick Bockwinkle and Lou Thesz were having great matches in their 50's.

[Northwoods_Nightmare]

This is the perfect place to put Colby Corino, since they've decided to do nothing else with him over the past year.

Hoping Samson Walker makes the field.

[dark patriot]

has anyone here seen Colby wrestle lately, i mean some place other than getting squashed in ROH? just wondering.

Fury is a solid indy guy,a trainer as well. looks like he is better than most of the other names in the field but not a future superstar.

[FanSinceHDNet]

I really don't understand why you would care about whether someone has paid his dues or not. Don't you just want to see the best wrestlers, regardless of what they did to get there. Also, I'd rather have someone who's 19 years old and has all the time to develop into a world class wrestler potentially, then a 36-year old guy that'll likely retire in 5 years and not go anywhere past the midcard until he does. Not anybody can be a star indeed, and since you can't really tell whether someone will become one or not on beforehand, you'd better book people who might become one, because if half of the guys you book are just there to fill the lower card, you'll only be able to create half the amount of stars you could if you'd only book people with potential to actually become a star.

I'll give you two examples: Bobby Fish and Jay Lethal.

Would have missed out on Bobby Fish (35 when he became a regular) with this line of thinking.

They had to burn through what felt like 100 19 year old guys in Special K to find Lethal. And even then, Lethal had to leave and come back to be a star.

There are big reasons 19 year olds aren't given a shot. Most can't handle the road, even if it's just a few weekends a year. Behavior like that of Teddy Hart and Rene Dupree as 19 year olds are obviously the extreme examples but the prefrontal cortex is not yet developed and 19 year olds make bad decisions.

While I agree that some consideration should be given to younger up and comers, I have absolutely no problem with ROH looking to performers 30+ who haven't had their day in the sun. With just a few tweaks, they made Fish, Hanson, and others midcard stars who are realistic championship contenders. Not everyone can be a main eventer.

[Thelone]

Everyone should pay dues theirs in and wrestling and in life. These wrestlers pay for their own training , set up rings , sleep in their cars and spend years learning their craft . It is disrespectful to the business to hand people spots that have not earned them with years of hard work. That is my my opinion , no one has to agree with me.

Colby Corino isn't winning the world title anytime soon. Yeah, he probably wouldn't be there if his dad wasn't Steve Corino, but it's not like they're pushing him to the moon and most likely some nobody jobber schmuck from the seminars who bought his spot would be here instead of him. SO MUCH INJUSTICE AND NEPOTISM !!!

Also 36 is not really old for wrestling. Nick Bockwinkle and Lou Thesz were having great matches in their 50's.

Top PROSPECT Tournament. A 36yo with 15 years of experience isn't a prospect anymore.

[DBSommer]

And every year people shit on wrestlers that end up being good after all before watching them

You're missing a more basic thing to this. Here's a good way to frame it:

When your wife yells at you, do you:

A: Not look at her when she does it.

or

B: Look at her when she does it.

If you choose answer (A), the response from her is, "Look at me when I'm talking to you!" If you choose answer (B) the response is "How can you look at me after what you did?!"

The point is, no matter what answer you choose, it can always be proclaimed 'wrong' if the person wants to do it. In wrestling terms, a perfect example is the Streamboat/Flair feud from 89. If someone says it was a great feud, someone else can say, "It was a terrible idea. All they did was recycle the same feud they did a few years early when the guys were younger and in better shape, and it did nothing to help the promotion since both guys were over already. It was treading water and accomplished nothing in the bigger picture. What they should have done was push a younger talent like Eddie Gilbert in Steamboat's place. Then you could have had something as no one had the ability to get people to love or hate him the way Gilbert could and you'd have changed the landscape as some of the younger talent would have worked their long overdue place up the roster to shake things up. Instead we were left with the obligatory, 'Flair drops title. Flair wins the title back. Woo, Space Mountain.' ad infinitum."

The way you win, to be blunt, is to just resign yourself to the fact smarks gotta smark and not worry about them. Let them ramble about how terrible Flair/Steambot was while you just sit back and enjoy the matches and laugh about it.


"Dalton Castle? Medicority in a ridiculous costume that harkens back to a 'wonderful' era of cartoon charicitures that buried real wrestling. Lord save me from a 'Party Peacock'"

[ColourMeCurious]

You guys realize that they're not going to fill this with 8 people they really love for the long term, right? Corino's there to job. They always have crap jobbers in this thing.

Every year it´s the same complain

Amen to that.

Watching the Northeast indies for years, I have seen Ortiz on a HOH show, Punisher at the Monster Factory, Corino in multiple promotions, Lio in MCW, and Brian Fury in Rhode Island. I have no complaints with any of the picks. I'm sure all five have done the tryout seminars too. Lio is definitely my pick to win, but I'm not sleeping on Colby getting to the second round (mostly due to BJ and his angle with the old man). Colby, if I am right, was a good high school wrestler and I've seen him put on some good stuff. Although, he looks uncomfortable as a heel...and he needs to add 15 pounds of chest muscle.

I call Punisher vs. Lio in a finals like last years David and Goliath Dijack vs. Ferrera.

[AssShooter]

I was waiting for a Colby Corino match in ROH since he joined The Decade, just to see what he is capable of.
Unfortunately the TPT matches don't even last 8mn but he has more chances on winning than against an established wrestler of the roster.
I can't say if they are good or bad considering i haven't seen them wrestle enough, but i like the diversity of their styles/sizes.

[Mrossi623]

Lio seems to be the far and away favorite. But he may not need to win to become a more frequent roster member ala Ferrera.

I'd love to see Fury win.

[Big Red Machine]

This is the perfect place to put Colby Corino, since they've decided to do nothing else with him over the past year.

Hoping Samson Walker makes the field.

I actually think that Walker has done enough over the past year that sticking him in this tournament would feel like a waste of a spot. He's been around enough that all you need to do to bring him onto the roster is say "he has impressed officials with his showings against Roddy and Moose and earned a spot." You could even give him a "trial series" a la Jimmy Jacobs (though obviously without the wold title shot part) to earn his spot on the roster. It be nice to have undercard matches that actually mean something on house shows.

[AndyDiaz]

Hasn't every Top Prospect come out of New England or somerthing along those lines? Bennett, Taven, Hanson, Dijak. Is anyone announce so far from that area?

[TYFDK]

Fury, yeah? He trained a few of the previous winners.

[dark patriot]

wow all this Fury love,impressive.

[lariat_tubman]

How many regular wrestlers do people think ROH should get out of this tournament?

[Thelone]

One so far. Of course I don't count Corino who's already on the roster and guys like Ali, Hughes and Walker who might as well be on the roster at this point.

[Mrossi623]

As a Beyond regular I have seen some great Fury matches with Heidi Lovelace, Fox, Trevor Lee, Dijak, Starr. He has really impressed me. Hell he even worked another XWA against the Bucks this year. I remember seeing him years back and not being so enamored with his work but he has worked many different styles and has come through in all of them. Hes either going to win this or make someone who does look great.

[BrandenScott]

Lio is the current CZW wired champion. He won a great match with Joey Janella at CZW Cage Of Death. I wouldn't mind seeing Joey in the tournament too. Hard to see Lio winning this though with the push he has in CZW. Do CZW and ROH have a working agreement? I assume most talent would pick ROH over CZW but I am curious