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ALL PURPOSE CONTRACT STATUS/POTENTIAL DEPARTURES THREAD

Posted: Wed May 11, 2016 8:42 pm
by supersonic
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Observer:
There has also been talk of contract questions, with Moose and Roderick Strong’s deal coming due shortly. Neither has committed to a new contract and it wouldn’t surprise anyone if one or both leave, although reports that either are definitely gone appear to be premature.

From an official standpoint, neither’s contract at this point allows them to take outside offers, although this is pro wrestling and those stipulations are constantly violated.

It’s not a secret that Moose is heavily coveted, given his size and athletic ability. WWE, New Japan, ROH and TNA all have interest in him. If he was to go with New Japan, he’d likely work ROH between tours like Matt Sydal and Michael Elgin do now, and like Kenny Omega is expected to do once his visa situation is settled.

The lay of the land is that unless WWE sees you as a major acquisition and proven talent, as they did with Styles, Gallows and Anderson, they usually don’t offer big guaranteed deals. In the case of Moose, most likely his best offer based on what’s being thrown around this month, would come from TNA. The problem with TNA is the uncertainty aspect, as nobody knows who is in charge, the issues with late pay are well known and Bobby Roode and Eric Young, two TNA-lifers who had good contracts, both left, likely for much smaller deals (Roode certainly did) because of frustration regarding being paid. There was WWE interest in Moose last year but they never made a significant money offer and he decided to stay with ROH for another year.

With Moose (Quinn Ojinnaka), people are interested based on potential. He’s an NFL caliber athlete who is a legit 6-foot-5 and close to 300 pounds with super agility and athletic ability, and who loves the business. He’s improved noticeably in the last year, Strong is different. The only drawback is age, at 32, and he’s not the polished level of wrestler that WWE has on its main roster or even at the level of the top tier in NXT.

Strong (Chris Lindsay), 32, is the opposite. He’s a polished worker, really for pure in-ring timing the equal of just about anyone in wrestling. He’s not big, which is probably the only reason I can think of that New Japan hasn’t used him as a regular. If he was 225 pounds, he’d have been one of the superstars killing it in G-1 last year, but instead it was Elgin who got the call and changed his career based on it. Strong hasn’t even worked New Japan major shows, only doing the ROH shows in February, where he tore it up on the ring when he dropped the TV title to Tomohiro Ishii. He’s been in the business for 13 years, and been with ROH most of the time since September 2003.

He’s a guy who can be counted on to always deliver a good match and be effective in a program. He’s also getting married, which also changes one’s priorities. With him, the question becomes what exactly is out there. With NXT’s new position of trying to be the WWE version of ROH as the hardcore darling company, Strong would be a solid acquisition. There was interest in him last year but in the end, there were issues that led him to sign with ROH for another year. The lack of New Japan interest in him has to have been frustrating because of his potential, but size-wise, they still think of smaller guys as junior heavyweights and don’t put them in the main eventers mix. At the PPV he did an angle based on frustration that Dalton Castle won the No. 1 contenders match for the TV title, a match he was on the verge of winning.

But regarding rumors of frustration of talent, those are accurate, as there is a lot of talent and a juggling act when it comes to pushing and keeping them happy. Even though ROH business is up and ROH is spending more on talent than ever before, and there is the New Japan link, the reality is NXT has become the hot promotion. A lot of wrestlers who previously were considered as talented but not people WWE would necessarily want, and types WWE hadn’t pushed in the past, see people like Austin Aries and Johnny Gargano and the feeling is no longer if you don’t have the right size, it’s not worth going there.

The key ROH act, the ones that are considered the biggest draws and are far and away the biggest merchandise sellers, are The Young Bucks, who are under contract until the end of the year.

Re: Observer regarding Moose, Strong, and frustration

Posted: Wed May 11, 2016 9:39 pm
by trufreedom
Another one for the Sonic is Right column.

Re: Observer regarding Moose, Strong, and frustration

Posted: Wed May 11, 2016 9:43 pm
by monster mafia
i believe that both are gonna stay in roh

Re: Observer regarding Moose, Strong, and frustration

Posted: Wed May 11, 2016 10:08 pm
by supersonic
trufreedom wrote:Another one for the Sonic is Right column.
Credit actually goes to Rovert and Lanza for first publicizing this. I simply spread the scoops.

Still though:

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Re: Observer regarding Moose, Strong, and frustration

Posted: Thu May 12, 2016 12:17 am
by The Dragon Saga
So they might leave and then they might not?

And some talent aren't happy because sometimes they get pushed and sometimes they don't?

Stop the presses, ROH is crumbling before our eyes. Someone get Koff an oxygen tank.

Re: Observer regarding Moose, Strong, and frustration

Posted: Fri May 13, 2016 1:46 pm
by supersonic
ODonnell wrote:For what little its worth, Adam Cole when directly asked by Larry Dallas on Sirius XM's Busted Open about lockerroom feelings/morale concerning NJPW/Bullet Club stuff, whether people were jealous of others getting opportunities, etc. gave one of the most rehearsed, ROH office answers I've ever heard. Basically hit every bullet point about how great the lockerroom was, supporting one another, etc. Felt like he knew the question was coming and knew what to say...

Also, Meltzer said his deal was up Apr 2017, Bauer said Dec. 2016. Either way, he's got the bland corporate PR answers down pat, he'll fit in great in WWE.

Re: Observer regarding Moose, Strong, and frustration

Posted: Sat May 21, 2016 5:26 am
by supersonic
rovert wrote:
Uhaacrews wrote:Anything new on Strong, Moose or anybody else?
Dunno what new you are expecting.

Public details of their future status won't revealed until after the next PPV as so to protect the integrity of the matches.

Re: Observer regarding Moose, Strong, and frustration

Posted: Wed May 25, 2016 1:32 pm
by supersonic
The big news of today, and really for the week, month and maybe the year, is that WWE and USA Network is moving Smackdown to Tuesdays and running it as a live show. Additionally, they are going to attempt to relaunch the brand split and according to our Dave Meltzer, they are going to be aggressive in signing talent outside the company to help restock the cupboards.

Re: Observer regarding Moose, Strong, and frustration

Posted: Wed May 25, 2016 3:24 pm
by supersonic
https://twitter.com/MLW/status/735547090307289090
Ring of Honor has contracts expiring starting in June and then another wave in December. Great timing for talent and WWE.

Re: Observer regarding Moose, Strong, and frustration

Posted: Wed May 25, 2016 3:47 pm
by Memphis Mark
For every ROH talent that might leave ROH or NJPW for the WWE , two will the released by the WWE. This is just the way the the business works. Vince signed AJ , Shinsuke , Anderson and Gallows , then released Bull , Wade Barrett , Cody Sandow and bunch of under card guys. The WWE is a small company and does not have unlimited capital to sign every wrestler with talent. ROH is not in danger of going out of business because Vince signs a few wrestlers.

I am sure Moose, Strong and a couple of others will leave ROH. People like Kincaid, Rush , Keith Lee , Shane Taylor and others will step up and fill the void. Not really a big deal. ROH has a waiting list of talent just waiting to be booked by the company. Just the way the business works . A non story. . In fact this type of movement is good for the wrestling business , it generates fan interest .

Re: Observer regarding Moose, Strong, and frustration

Posted: Wed May 25, 2016 4:11 pm
by Fawrules
Memphis Mark wrote:For every ROH talent that might leave ROH or NJPW for the WWE , two will the released by the WWE. This is just the way the the business works. Vince signed AJ , Shinsuke , Anderson and Gallows , then released Bull , Wade Barrett , Cody Sandow and bunch of under card guys. The WWE is a small company and does not have unlimited capital to sign every wrestler with talent. ROH is not in danger of going out of business because Vince signs a few wrestlers.

I am sure Moose, Strong and a couple of others will leave ROH. People like Kincaid, Rush , Keith Lee , Shane Taylor and others will step up and fill the void. Not really a big deal. ROH has a waiting list of talent just waiting to be booked by the company. Just the way the business works . A non story. . In fact this type of movement is good for the wrestling business , it generates fan interest .
Not so much in recent years. Until the group of guy's this year, they've seemingly been hesitant to release anyone.

Sigh... I'm gonna miss indie wrestling.

Re: Observer regarding Moose, Strong, and frustration

Posted: Wed May 25, 2016 4:26 pm
by monster mafia
wwe taking over rohjapan and mexico

rip wrestling.

Re: Observer regarding Moose, Strong, and frustration

Posted: Wed May 25, 2016 4:45 pm
by Memphis Mark
The WWE is only worth around $ 800 million. They are not Apple or Amazon. They are a small cap company. They really don't have the money to sign every talented indy wrestler . They over paided for Aj and Shinsuke, so they cut people like Sandow and Bull . ROH and NJPW are business units of companies that are much larger than the WWE and CMLL been around over 70 years. Wrestling will be fine . There is a lot talent out there just waiting for a break.

Re: Observer regarding Moose, Strong, and frustration

Posted: Wed May 25, 2016 10:16 pm
by supersonic
Observer:
Given they are the promotion’s hottest act and biggest merchandise draws and the landscape has just changed again, The Young Bucks are under contract here through 1/1.

Re: Observer regarding Moose, Strong, and frustration

Posted: Thu May 26, 2016 6:22 pm
by Memphis Mark
supersonic wrote:Observer:
Given they are the promotion’s hottest act and biggest merchandise draws and the landscape has just changed again, The Young Bucks are under contract here through 1/1.
[/quote

Well maybe Vince will grossly overpaid the Young Bucks in his quest destroy ROH. Then , ROH gave pick up 4 new talents for the same cost and continue to move forward like nothing ever happen .

. The WWE is a publicly traded company , so they must control their labor cost or their shareholders will become upset with McMahon . Vince controls just over 50 % of the stock , but like he still must appease the company's major shareholders. The last thing Vince needs is more lawsuits from the shareholders .

Wrestlers jumping from ROH to to other companies is not a big deal . ROH will just hire new wreslers and continue to produce programming for the Sinclair media platforms.

Re: ALL PURPOSE CONTRACT STATUS/POTENTIAL DEPARTURES THREAD

Posted: Thu May 26, 2016 7:51 pm
by DXvsNWO1994
@MLW

More ROH talent that will become free agents in late December include ACH and Hanson. Great gets if they opt to test the free agent market.

Re: ALL PURPOSE CONTRACT STATUS/POTENTIAL DEPARTURES THREAD

Posted: Fri May 27, 2016 12:26 am
by BurningHammer
What I do find interesting about these dirt sheets, podcasts seemingly being so hyper about guys leaving ROH is that supposedly this brand split makes it more likely for these guys to get their big moment in the WWE or at least a better chance than ever before. Personally I just can't see there being such a huge opportunity, NXT currently has not only talent debuting but also waiting to debut, you also only got so many spots on Raw and Smackdown that would have available and considering the amount of talent that is there is currently it's not like you have huge spots left open.

The only thing I guess would be if the WWE think there are going to have more guys going, which all honesty would in end solve any issues (depending on the guys leaving of course) of guys leaving ROH.

Overall it just seems strange so many people are going nuts over guys contracts coming to an end.

Re: ALL PURPOSE CONTRACT STATUS/POTENTIAL DEPARTURES THREAD

Posted: Fri May 27, 2016 2:08 am
by FanSinceHDNet
BurningHammer wrote:What I do find interesting about these dirt sheets, podcasts seemingly being so hyper about guys leaving ROH is that supposedly this brand split makes it more likely for these guys to get their big moment in the WWE or at least a better chance than ever before. Personally I just can't see there being such a huge opportunity, NXT currently has not only talent debuting but also waiting to debut, you also only got so many spots on Raw and Smackdown that would have available and considering the amount of talent that is there is currently it's not like you have huge spots left open.

The only thing I guess would be if the WWE think there are going to have more guys going, which all honesty would in end solve any issues (depending on the guys leaving of course) of guys leaving ROH.

Overall it just seems strange so many people are going nuts over guys contracts coming to an end.
I am still eagerly awaiting the usual suspects to get a WWE opportunity... along with someone completely out of the blue like Tim Hughes.

Re: ALL PURPOSE CONTRACT STATUS/POTENTIAL DEPARTURES THREAD

Posted: Fri May 27, 2016 5:53 am
by Burnside
I do think there a bit of hysteria about this right now, but I think it's quite likely Roddy is leaving After Best in the World. The main event against Jay Briscoe and then the PPV match against Mark feel like what he'd want on his way out, since he's close with those guys.

Also would explain the out-of-nowhereness of the Jay vs Roddy main event - gives Roddy one last ROH main event as part of his farewell.

Re: ALL PURPOSE CONTRACT STATUS/POTENTIAL DEPARTURES THREAD

Posted: Fri May 27, 2016 6:00 am
by monster mafia
Burnside wrote:I do think there a bit of hysteria about this right now, but I think it's quite likely Roddy is leaving After Best in the World. The main event against Jay Briscoe and then the PPV match against Mark feel like what he'd want on his way out, since he's close with those guys.

Also would explain the out-of-nowhereness of the Jay vs Roddy main event - gives Roddy one last ROH main event as part of his farewell.

that is a good point, roddy and the briscoes are great friends...a shame if roddy leaves but he has been in roh since the early days so maybe is good for him a change..im only say this if he is going to nxt..if he is staying in the indies..well..that could be weird.