An old fan's opinion of the current product

[Matt]

Hey everyone. Many many years ago (I'm talking 2003-2004ish), I used to be an avid watcher and follower of RoH, and used to post very frequently on the boards (same username; any of the older fans may remember me). I wasn't well liked by many, since I definitely didn't always agree with the booking and whatnot, and did not shy from sharing my opinions as such. But it was an active community of fans, which was pleasant, and there was never shortage of interesting discussion. Of course, as I got older, I fell out of the loop, and with the growing promotion multiplying their show count (four shows a month? Whaaaaaat?), it became harder and harder to keep up and remain interested, so I pretty much just stopped and would keep basic tabs on what was going on, including the sale to Sinclair.

I was excited about the TV deal, since I get multiple showings in my area, so I get to watch the product somewhat consistently, so I figured I would share my opinions and see what comes out of it. I don't read these forums, and only frequent one or two wrestling sites, so I'm not sure what topics are brought up often, what people like, dislike, etc etc. So please excuse any repetition!

First of all, the roster seems so unbelievably thin. I swear, there seems to be only about ten people on the active roster. Of course there are more, but on TV, we really only get the same people shown (Davey, Steen, WGTT, Briscoes, Truth Martinee and his stable). I know a lot of people criticize WWE and TNA for their overuse and over-reliance on the same talent, and there is of course merit to such opinions, but they need to realize RoH does essentially the same thing. Not that it is necessarily bad, of course. You build around your popular guys, but there's of course a major downside to such a strategy, which brings me to my next point.

The roster, and promotion as a whole, is extremely unbalanced. The company only has maybe three real "main eventers", or so it would appear to me. Everyone is so stuck in their place in the card, and very rarely are people elevated to new levels (Adam Cole being the main example). Take a look at the tag team division, for example. Since the first show, it seems like we've had Briscoes and WGTT feuding with each other. It's stale, boring, and honestly, I have no interest in it any more. Some of my favorite people to watch on TV are any of the Chikara guys (since they are a breath of fresh air to RoH's climate; more on that later), the Young Bucks, and Caprice Coleman and Cedric Alexander. But the Chikara group is seen as some sort of comedy thing that has no place around real wrestling, the Young Bucks are "off for the summer", and Coleman/Alexander are just glorified jobbers. It's almost as if RoH has no idea what to do, since they have built up no believable contenders to the titles, and since they only teams that really get pushed and elevated are the Briscoes and WGTT, they just say "well just throw them back together in a feud!" That doesn't do any favors for anyone, since any of these people they over rely on are inevitably either going to burn out the audience and they stray from the product, or they get injured and there aren't people who believably can fill the gaps. Either way, RoH is setting themselves up for future disaster, and they need to start making new stars.

Continuing, "making new stars" doesn't mean using old talent from one of the bigger companies. Finley, Rhino, etc don't equate to new, and are not people to build feds around. But even so, they are booked terribly. lets look at Rhino, for instance. Suppose they want to book him as a big, mean, monster who simply demolishes those in his path. Did RoH build that up, let it gain momentum, and then have him wrestle one of the main faces so that we actually have some drama or tension in a credible main event? Not at all. He got beaten cleanly by Davey in a random TV match. What did that accomplish? Davey came out the exact same, and Rhino was pretty much killed and we have no reason to buy him as a threat to "the big boys". I don't get the point.

I remember awhile back, Austin Aries made a comment about RoH being "Smoky Mountain of Honor", and the more and more I watch, I realize it's true. This sounds crazy, but I really think RoH could benefit from learning and somewhat emulating the attitude era/Russo style booking. By this, I mean that everyone has some sort of gimmick that sets them apart, and (ideally) everyone has some place on the roster and on TV that they fill. Gimmicks are not a bad thing in the right context. In fact, I would love to see them more in RoH. But instead we get people like Davey, Lethal, Edwards, etc etc who simply talk about proving they are the best in the world at wrestling, being honorable and respectful, etc . That sort of "gimmick" might work when there is only one person doing it (Christ Benoit or Bryan Danielson, for prime examples), but when it seems 80% of the faces have it, it becomes stale and meaningless. The heels all even seem to be be the same "we're snarky, mean people who do what it takes to win!" type of characters. I'll be honest and say I still have trouble keeping track of who is who sometimes, since most are almost indistinguishable from one another in terms of "gimmick" and general look. Does anyone here remember Wrestling Society X? They had a very limited roster, but every single worker had a gimmick and were given opportunities to get the gimmick out there. If a casual fan were to be watching, they could say "oh, it's the party boy guy", or "it's the old school wrestler guy", etc etc. You simply cannot do that in RoH.

This post is already much longer than I intended, so I'll stop there. But by all means, please discuss.

[ROH Fan 81]

Agreed.

They really do need to start making some new stars or bringing in a few top names in indy wrestling.

[ROHFanAnthony]

I don't agree with ROH emulating the Russo style of booking. That would drive away fans even more. At least with the current booking it's a wrestling product.

[ROHdk]

So maybe ROH is not at the top, but in my view following a wrestling promotion, is like following a sports team. Your team may not win each year, but you'll continue to support it. That's what I do with ROH. I'm loyal to them, I keep buying the DVDs, and I plan to buy more merchandise. If all fans continue to support them by buying DVDs and merchandise, hopefully ROH has some money to attract new talent.

I recently watched the 10th Anniversary Show. I really liked that. The best PPV since WWE Money In The Bank 2011.

[classic-cabana]

A promotion of ROH's size are always going to have a certain amount of guys under contract and those guys are always going to be the focus in the main programs up and down the card. I do agree things need mixing up a bit though, its seems to be the same 3-4 guys chasing each belt all the time.

The roster is slim but its the same everywhere, even WWE. Id say TNA has the strongest roster right now.

I dont mind certain ex-WWE guys coming in for 1-2 shots and I see the logic when it comes to TV and attracting new fans. Personally rather see them spend the money on a couple of new, younger guys (Gargano, Callihan etc).

ROH needs to be a fresh, exciting alternative to WWE/TNA which right now its not (well not compared to the early days). That has to be from top to bottom, its okay having a hot fued that blows the competition out of the water but the entire card/roster needs to be firing on all cylinders to get and keep the interest of new fans.

Id love to see more gimmicks and variation of wrestlers in ROH. Its all a bit too serious. Only Steen and The Briscoes really stand out and they're the most popular guys by far. Pro wrestling is larger than life personalities battling each other, most of the ROH roster seem like regular guys these days.

So maybe ROH is not at the top, but in my view following a wrestling promotion, is like following a sports team. Your team may not win each year, but you'll continue to support it. That's what I do with ROH. I'm loyal to them, I keep buying the DVDs, and I plan to buy more merchandise. If all fans continue to support them by buying DVDs and merchandise, hopefully ROH has some money to attract new talent.

Agree, Im the same. Like my team, Ill stick with ROH no matter.

[supersonic]

Fans are customers - customer must be given reasons to be loyal.

[TelkEvolon]

Fans are customers - customer must be given reasons to be loyal.

No and thank god for that or most wrestling companies would of died by now.

[supersonic]

Uh, then what actually is someone that pays you to consume a product?

Where did this fallacy come from in which a sports team or federation is nothing more than a business designed to give its consumers a product to latch on to? You're probably the same person who thinks Brock Lesnar and LeBron James are douche-bags when they've done nothing wrong.

[trufreedom]

The Briscoes and Steen don't have gimmicks, they're jusy being themselves.

I HATE having stupid gimmicks shoved down my throat as if I'm a half smart nit-wit. If a guy is a great worker, that's enough gimmick for him, he can get over without a gimmick.

Furthermore, every ROH wrestler has a gimmick, and that gimmick is inherent in the story they've played out over their ROH careers. Look at the Die Hard gimmick, purely born out of the story of his time in ROH career.

[YimYac]

The Briscoes and Steen don't have gimmicks, they're jusy being themselves.

I HATE having stupid gimmicks shoved down my throat as if I'm a half smart nit-wit. If a guy is a great worker, that's enough gimmick for him, he can get over without a gimmick.
.

Are we talking about ROH or in-general?

Because I disagree strongly with that statement either way.

I also disagree with your first point, the Briscoes and Steen do have gimmicks.

[Matt]

I don't agree with ROH emulating the Russo style of booking. That would drive away fans even more. At least with the current booking it's a wrestling product.

Please don't confuse what I meant by that. I don't suggest being this "crash TV, rarely any wrestling" type of product, but rather simply incorporate more gimmicks, storylines, etc etc.

What people need to remember is that the casual TV viewer who is flipping channels is going to be more drawn to the "soap opera" style of wrestling than the merely episodic, wrestling-based style. Not saying one is better than the other since both have their pros and cons, but ultimately that is what our culture is and what they're used to.

The Briscoes and Steen don't have gimmicks, they're jusy being themselves.

I HATE having stupid gimmicks shoved down my throat as if I'm a half smart nit-wit. If a guy is a great worker, that's enough gimmick for him, he can get over without a gimmick.

Furthermore, every ROH wrestler has a gimmick, and that gimmick is inherent in the story they've played out over their ROH careers. Look at the Die Hard gimmick, purely born out of the story of his time in ROH career.

Using that logic, then the majority of guys on the roster are not "great workers", since most of them simply are not over.

I see no real "gimmicks" in the talent with the exception of perhaps four of five. And if they do, there are only two "gimmicks": dastardly, sneaky heel or honor-loving, respectful face. Extremely bland.