2019 Top Prospect Tournament Thread

[Montana]

Looks like the TPP starts up July 21st at Mass Hysteria....

Announced so far:

#1 - Brian Johnson
#2 - Dante Caballero
#3 - Joe Keys
#4 - Dak Draper
#5 - HAITIAN SENSATION
#6 - Ken Dixon
#7 - Makita
#8 - Austin Gunn

2019 Rumored names..... Other possible names / FOH Talent: (Didn't make the cut)

Sons of Savagery , Fred Yehi,

Thoughts?? Anyone you think may be in the tournament? Anyone sticking out at a front runner to win?



Past Winners:

2011 - Mike Bennet (Notable participants: Michael Elgin, Adam COle, Kyle o Reily, Jonathan Gresham)

2013 - Matt Taven (Notable participants: Adam Page, ACH, Silas Young )

2014 - Hanson (Notable participants: Rowe, Andrew Everett , Kongo)

2015- Donovan Dijak (Notable participants: Dalton Castle , Beer City Bruiser)

2016 - Lio Rush (Notable participants: Pushishment Martinez, C2C)

2017 - Josh Woods ( Brian Milonas, Curt Stallion, John Skyler)

2018 - Jeff Cobb wiped everyone out, no tournament

(Fun fact, at least 9 people have went on to the WWE : Bennett, Cole, O'Reily, ACH, Hanson, Rowe, Dijak, Lio Rush, Pushishment Martinez)

[famicommander]

Ouch at 2017. Woods and Milonas suck, Stallion and Skyler ain't here.

The rest of those years had some damn fine contributors to ROH.

I also like how you left out any mention of Will Ferrara or Cheeseburger. Intentional?

[famicommander]

Also how the hell do you book Mike Bennett to win a tournament with Cole, O'Reilly, Elgin, and Gresham in the field?

[kovs27]

Also how the hell do you book Mike Bennett to win a tournament with Cole, O'Reilly, Elgin, and Gresham in the field?

How do you invent a tournament with that purpose of pushing Mike Bennett?

I'd expect to see Dak Draper as well. I hope Joe Keys is in the tournament. I've seen him in a few different places and usually stand out.

[Chrisvegas27]

The way Roh is coming across with these guys like draper and brian Johnson is they already have contracts I also think lady frost and her husband has a contract

[Wilson]

It wouldn't be an ROH message board if there wasn't a re-ligitation of Mike Bennett. Is there anything that strikes more at the heart of wrestling fora than a Just A Guy heel wrestler being pushed because they are a human lampshade of being Just A Guy?

Up until Final Battle 2017, I really was beginning to think that there would never be a Top Prospect participant that would ever win the World Title other than those who competed in the inaugural tourney, so I'm glad that's changed. (And I also thought that Josh Woods might have been such a bust that he spoiled the system forever.) Usually we get a small amount of talent who are pretty good from these and the tournament as a whole makes enjoyable TV. This should be an annual event for both the men and women's divisions.

[monster mafia]

by eck files draper is on the tournament.

[Montana]

Ouch at 2017. Woods and Milonas suck, Stallion and Skyler ain't here.

The rest of those years had some damn fine contributors to ROH.

I also like how you left out any mention of Will Ferrara or Cheeseburger. Intentional?

I also didn't include Grizzly Redwood, Andy Right Leg Ridge, Bobby Dempsey, lol .... but yeah... to be fair I think Cheeseburger and Will Ferrara have had better/longer runs than those guys. My opinion, they are low card type of guys.

Sometimes it seems like the ROH dojo can be a gift and a curse. It's tough for people like Cheeseburger and Will to shake the stigma of the Dojo. While getting world class training, they also don't get to wrestle in multiple companies getting used to working with lots of different workers and styles. I get why ROH really pushes the dojo, but seems like after graduating, they shouldn't always lock into a contract. Ppl like Cheeseburger and Will should be able to go to other companies and make waves.... like let's say NWA. Could be a win-win for those talents as they grow. Now, people like Rhett Titus, Eli Isom, and the NJPW dojo i could understanding making more of a long term commitment, as they have higher potential.

****************************************************************

Side Note: If i were to bring in a few outsiders to the tournament, I'd like to see ROH give Steven Pena and Shane Mercer a shot. I don't believe they are under contract with anyone, but could be wrong. Would have said Curt Stallion too, but he just signed with evolve/wwn.

[Chrisvegas27]

It seems Roh is signing alot of people lately

[monster mafia]

It seems Roh is signing alot of people lately

give me a list please.

you say this like 10 times a day.

[Chrisvegas27]

Well lady frost and her husband austin gunn Tasha steelz Karissa rivera and draper Brian Johnson not including soldiers of savagery and most of this is based on the Philly tapings and who is been appearing on roh t.v. that is part of the roh dojo

[monster mafia]

the only ones signed in that list by roh are soldiers of savagery

austin gunn is still to be announced

lady frost is for the dojo like the rest of the other guys.

tasha and karissa are still free agents

[Big Red Machine]

Also how the hell do you book Mike Bennett to win a tournament with Cole, O'Reilly, Elgin, and Gresham in the field?

How do you invent a tournament with that purpose of pushing Mike Bennett?

In hindsight, I think the booking worked. Bennett definitely had a "go away you sports entertainment jerk" factor to him, Elgin hadn't quite broken out yet, and Cole and O'Reilly were already seen as future stars and were thoroughly entrenched in the tag team division at the time. Bennett was the guy who they liked the most but also most needed the win to help him get over as a threat and to give him the necessary starpower to fit into his feud with Corino.

[Big Red Machine]

Up until Final Battle 2017, I really was beginning to think that there would never be a Top Prospect participant that would ever win the World Title other than those who competed in the inaugural tourney, so I'm glad that's changed. (And I also thought that Josh Woods might have been such a bust that he spoiled the system forever.) Usually we get a small amount of talent who are pretty good from these and the tournament as a whole makes enjoyable TV. This should be an annual event for both the men and women's divisions.

I'd actually keep it off TV aside from the finals (which they need to make sure get time). Give us enough time to really see that the competitors are good enough to be in a tournament like this so that the tournament doesn't feel like a collection of random dudes having four-minute matches and the announcers are stuck telling me how awesome these guys are and how excited for them I should be, only to have one of them get beaten in four minutes. You can dedicate some TV time to highlight packages and personality profiles of the wrestlers involved, but don't limit the tournament via trying to squeeze it all into one tapings worth of TV time when you also have to do so many other things with that TV time.

I like the idea of doing one tournament each for the men and women. I think G1 or BOSJ time would be a great time to do the men's tournament so you have more room on the card if you've got a couple of regulars going to NJPW for a stretch (it's also a great time of year to plan a blow-off to a big women's feud for), and maybe do the women's tournament in November when you've got some men heading to NJPW for SJTT and some of the more established women heading to STARDOM for their tag tournament. It also leaves you the option of pushing the winner huge by giving her the title shot at Final Battle (or doing a post-match confrontation with the champ) while she's still hot off of the tournament victory if you want to go that route.

[Zhuge1]

I would expect other "FOH" guys like Joey Keys and Rayu to be in the tournament along with Johnson and Draper.

[Chrisvegas27]

Possessing handsome features and a chiseled, 6-foot-5, 250-pound frame, Dak Draper certainly looks like a star. And once the bell rings, it’s obvious that he’s anything but all show and no go.

Draper claims he always stood taller, ran faster, and jumped higher than his peers growing up in Colorado. Now “The Mile High Magnum” is looking to use his considerable athletic ability to win Ring of Honor’s upcoming Top Prospect Tournament and thus earn an ROH contract and a shot at the ROH World Television Title.

Draper, who was an all-state football player and state champion wrestler in high school, wrestled for Chadron State, a Division II wrestling power house in Nebraska. In addition to being the captain of the wrestling team, he had the ignominious distinction of leading the conference in penalty points given up during his senior year.

After college, Draper began his pro wrestling training at the WWE Performance Center before ultimately making his way to the new ROH Dojo and Future of Honor.

Draper gained attention recently for stepping up to challenge Silas Young during Young’s training session with the trainees at the dojo. After bullying one of the smaller students, Young took one look at Draper and decided he was done for the day. Young told Draper his opportunity would come in time.

That opportunity has arrived in the form of the TPT. We’ll soon find out whether Draper can capitalize on it.

The Top Prospect Tournament begins on July 21 at Mass Hysteria in Lowell, Mass. Join us live in person or streaming for HonorClub to watch first-round tournament action as well as matches featuring the top ROH stars!

[TYFDK]

Draper's my pick to win.

Hope Yehi really is in the tournament.

[Montana]

So far 4/4 are from Future of Honor. So far I'd say Draper is the favorite... I like Brian Johnson too, but don't expect him to win. Wonder if the squid will be the 8th competitor.

[monster mafia]

we need fred yehi on this.

[Chrisvegas27]

HAITIAN SENSATION is the tournament