On one hand, the roster has been something of a question for months, with a lot of talent in the company and formerly in the company in something of a holding pattern.
...WWE then pulled offers agreed upon, in some cases with starting dates, after Sinclair evidently got wind of allegations of tampering and sent legal letters. Obviously the evidence was strong enough to get the offers pulled but it left a slew of talent in limbo.
The most obvious departure was Kyle O’Reilly, who disappeared after losing his ROH title back to Adam Cole. Officially, he decided against renewing his contract. The impression we have is with him in limbo, ROH hasn’t made any attempts to bring him back.
O'Reilly is expected to work more indies for now, and it is possible he could return to New Japan. If WWE was to make an offer, obviously that would be the place he’d most likely end up with.
Donovan Dijak also left the company last month and has started with Evolve and working other independent dates. He’s in a similar situation as O’Reilly.
Obviously the Hardys are going to WWE unless things change, likely after the Lakeland show or shortly thereafter.
Adam Cole dropped his ROH title to Christopher Daniels in the main event of the 3/10 PPV show in Las Vegas. The next day, he was kicked out of the Bullet Club. His contract expires on 5/1. It’s well known WWE has been after him for some time to be a star on the NXT brand. It’s possible he could do a New Japan/ROH deal or go to WWE. Certainly the ROH booking feels like they are not planning on him to be a key player much longer.
Bobby Fish is still on a short-term deal with ROH, which expires on 3/27. He has already sent out word that he’ll be taking independent dates soon beginning that week, which means he isn’t planning on signing a new deal. It is likely he’ll be doing indies until getting the chance to go to WWE. It was noted here last week that he had teased already that he and O’Reilly would be teaming up again, and it wasn’t a secret that O’Reilly was WWE bound, for NXT, at the time WWE suddenly backed off on signing people. While it clearly the threat of legal action that caused WWE to back off, since historically the company has been blatant about being the big dogs who can do what they want, bullying everyone with no repercussion, but in reality, while a bigger parent company called them on it, the victims are the talent since in the industry the feeling used to be that ROH was the place to be because of the New Japan connection and then having the former ROH goes go to bat for you to get you into WWE. With NXT being the direct line to WWE, and NXT really being the competition to ROH, that dynamic has changed.
Lio Rush is booked for Evolve at the end of the month and is another wrestler who had WWE interest but everything is in the holding pattern. Working Evolve is usually a sign somebody is leaving, and he’s also put out word he’s looking for indie dates (he didn’t have an exclusive ROH contract) and he could be like Dijak, who looks to be working Evolve until something changes in the WWE situation.
Dalton Castle, who is under an exclusive ROH contract, is believed to have that deal expiring in a few months. Independent promoters have noted that word has gone around that Castle will be available for dates later in the year, although that could be testing the waters. Castle’s act will get over in NXT if WWE has interest in it. As far as the WWE main roster, who can tell anymore because the WWE main roster booking has marginalized so much good talent.
There’s also War Machine, as Ray Rowe looked to be leaving at one point, and the tag team does want to stay together. They’ve since gotten over big in New Japan, so that also could change the dynamic.
ALL PURPOSE CONTRACT STATUS/POTENTIAL DEPARTURES THREAD
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Re: ALL PURPOSE CONTRACT STATUS/POTENTIAL DEPARTURES THREAD
Observer:
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Re: ALL PURPOSE CONTRACT STATUS/POTENTIAL DEPARTURES THREAD
I doubt anyone would begrudge Fish the chance with the WWE, I wouldn't for any talent, do I think some should probably wait though and grow with ROH, yeah sure but then I am slightly selfish when It comes to ROH, I still think it is a great place to create something meaningful in your career and develop as a wrestler from every stand point. I may well be wrong on all of that but I don't see the likes of The Bucks, Cole, Fish, Castle being who there are now without ROH, especially with how many eyes it has.
All of this has been coming for while, with some I think it certainly has needed to happen just to give ROH a younger fresher feel. The change in talent will be interesting and there might be some short term pain and it works it self out in the end or it might not. All I know is there are positions freeing up now and they will have to replaced, hopefully that will be with younger talent or at least certainly guys that can work.
All of this has been coming for while, with some I think it certainly has needed to happen just to give ROH a younger fresher feel. The change in talent will be interesting and there might be some short term pain and it works it self out in the end or it might not. All I know is there are positions freeing up now and they will have to replaced, hopefully that will be with younger talent or at least certainly guys that can work.
Last edited by BurningHammer on Thu Mar 16, 2017 8:02 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: ALL PURPOSE CONTRACT STATUS/POTENTIAL DEPARTURES THREAD
i dont blame any wrestler that leaves the company,so i dont know why do you mention me.TYFDK wrote:Roque and monster mafia don't make up the entire forum, you know.rovert wrote:Fish is taking indie bookings again
https://twitter.com/theBobbyFish/status ... 5846403072
Can't for you guys to attack him.
Re: ALL PURPOSE CONTRACT STATUS/POTENTIAL DEPARTURES THREAD
monster mafia wrote:i dont blame any wrestler that leaves the company,so i dont know why do you mention me.TYFDK wrote:Roque and monster mafia don't make up the entire forum, you know.rovert wrote:Fish is taking indie bookings again
https://twitter.com/theBobbyFish/status ... 5846403072
Can't for you guys to attack him.
We're called 'ROHMecca' because rovert likes to call out the whole forum as such because of little battles he gets into with the both of you.
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Re: ALL PURPOSE CONTRACT STATUS/POTENTIAL DEPARTURES THREAD
Fish is more of a loss than the average hand but he's not exactly "gone" either.
Re: ALL PURPOSE CONTRACT STATUS/POTENTIAL DEPARTURES THREAD
Called it that once or twice. Mostly as a result of people writing off every departure as no great loss or shit talking them - something TNAMecca did to everyone upwards to and including AJ Styles.TYFDK wrote: We're called 'ROHMecca' because rovert likes to call out the whole forum as such because of little battles he gets into with the both of you.
The hubris some people here have/had is scary. New Japan could foreseeably end their relationship with ROH. Future of Honor and this year's Top Prospect Tournament is primarily composed of the most rinky dink talent and no hopers.
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Re: ALL PURPOSE CONTRACT STATUS/POTENTIAL DEPARTURES THREAD
Its not like NJPW does that much for ROH.
We see a lot more Toru Yano's than we do Kazuchika Okada's coming over here.
ROH needs NJPW but I don't think they die without them.
Truth is ROH looks to be on fairly strong ground.
They're just not willing to let these guys rape them.
There's a reason the Donovan Dijak's of the world are gone and their top hands (Bucks, Lethal, Briscoes) have stayed.
They keep the ones they want to keep.
The anti WCW if you want to look at it that way.
Don't worry though.
They'll have Punk and Bryan back eventually.
We see a lot more Toru Yano's than we do Kazuchika Okada's coming over here.
ROH needs NJPW but I don't think they die without them.
Truth is ROH looks to be on fairly strong ground.
They're just not willing to let these guys rape them.
There's a reason the Donovan Dijak's of the world are gone and their top hands (Bucks, Lethal, Briscoes) have stayed.
They keep the ones they want to keep.
The anti WCW if you want to look at it that way.
Don't worry though.
They'll have Punk and Bryan back eventually.
Re: ALL PURPOSE CONTRACT STATUS/POTENTIAL DEPARTURES THREAD
Not sure if serious.
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Re: ALL PURPOSE CONTRACT STATUS/POTENTIAL DEPARTURES THREAD
Yes I am indeed serious.
Bryan's dieing to wrestle but WWE won't let him and Meltzer said he had a NJPW contract in hand before he re-signed last time and when you consider their relationship with ROH and Bryan's past in ROH then it's just a matter of time.
As far as Punk goes if you don't think he'll wrestle again you must be too young to understand how this game is played.
Bryan's dieing to wrestle but WWE won't let him and Meltzer said he had a NJPW contract in hand before he re-signed last time and when you consider their relationship with ROH and Bryan's past in ROH then it's just a matter of time.
As far as Punk goes if you don't think he'll wrestle again you must be too young to understand how this game is played.
Re: ALL PURPOSE CONTRACT STATUS/POTENTIAL DEPARTURES THREAD
So many guys leaving and the company has lost it's knack for reloading like it was always known for. It can't help things when EVOLVE is now an NXT feeder system and ROH expects even seasoned talent to shell out money for tryout camps/seminars.
Re: ALL PURPOSE CONTRACT STATUS/POTENTIAL DEPARTURES THREAD
The young talent just came and went. They were Lio Rush, Donavan Dijak, Keith Lee, and the probable Marty Scurll. The cornerstones have left without having been booked to put over the incoming talent. They were Kyle O’Reilly, Bobby Fish, Michael Elgin, and the probable Adam Cole as well as War Machine.BurningHammer wrote:I doubt anyone would begrudge Fish the chance with the WWE, I wouldn't for any talent, do I think some should probably wait though and grow with ROH, yeah sure but then I am slightly selfish when It comes to ROH, I still think it is a great place to create something meaningful in your career and develop as a wrestler from every stand point. I may well be wrong on all of that but I don't see the likes of The Bucks, Cole, Fish, Castle being who there are now without ROH, especially with how many eyes it has.
All of this has been coming for while, with some I think it certainly has needed to happen just to give ROH a younger fresher feel. The change in talent will be interesting and there might be some short term pain and it works it self out in the end or it might not. All I know is there are positions freeing up now and they will have to replaced, hopefully that will be with younger talent or at least certainly guys that can work.
Finding talent has almost never been the issue. ROH has a sort of nominal legacy and enough capital to make for a considerable option for many independent workers. The company just leverages that ineffectually by swaddling older talents and not trusting younger talent. It doesn’t take a Nostradamus to weave together the similarities between ROH and TNA’s executive follies.
Come on.SweetDaddy wrote:Its not like NJPW does that much for ROH.
We see a lot more Toru Yano's than we do Kazuchika Okada's coming over here.
ROH needs NJPW but I don't think they die without them.
Truth is ROH looks to be on fairly strong ground.
They're just not willing to let these guys rape them.
There's a reason the Donovan Dijak's of the world are gone and their top hands (Bucks, Lethal, Briscoes) have stayed.
They keep the ones they want to keep.
The anti WCW if you want to look at it that way.
Don't worry though.
They'll have Punk and Bryan back eventually.
Re: ALL PURPOSE CONTRACT STATUS/POTENTIAL DEPARTURES THREAD
I do agree to a certain extent that the NJPW relationship has been a lot more low key in recent months, which is for the best frankly.SweetDaddy wrote:Its not like NJPW does that much for ROH.
We see a lot more Toru Yano's than we do Kazuchika Okada's coming over here.
ROH needs NJPW but I don't think they die without them.
Except everyone does.Truth is ROH looks to be on fairly strong ground.
They're just not willing to let these guys rape them.
Or you know, those top hands don't have a lot of options (Briscoes and Lethal) and/or are smart enough to play their cards right and get whatever they want from a desperate ROH (Bucks and Lethal).There's a reason the Donovan Dijak's of the world are gone and their top hands (Bucks, Lethal, Briscoes) have stayed.
They keep the ones they want to keep.
You mean "Just like WCW", right ? Because all I see is "promising young talent leaving for greener pastures while being replaced by old farts and nobodies from the Power Plant".The anti WCW if you want to look at it that way.
Yeah, no.Don't worry though.
They'll have Punk and Bryan back eventually.
http://thelone.be/ => My site, which means a bunch of random stuff really.
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Re: ALL PURPOSE CONTRACT STATUS/POTENTIAL DEPARTURES THREAD
Dalton Castle would be a huge loss. I'm going to miss a lot of the guys that have left recently or are expected to soon, and ROH will as well. But that doesn't warrant comparisons to WCW. WCW was not, at any point, fiscally responsible. ROH still has a solid base and seems to still be doing pretty well monetarily.
You can't just leak talent forever, though. I think ROH's roster is still fantastic but it's hard to deny that there's more great talent leaving than coming over the last year or so. They've got to modernize their website, increase their digital presence, get their show out there in HD for more people, and address the creative/booking/talent relations issues that seem apparent.
I still have more faith in ROH's continued existence than major any promotion besides WWE, NJPW, or CMLL. AAA, TNA, Lucha Underground, AJPW, NOAH... I wouldn't be surprised to see any of them fail in the next 2-3 years. Not that I want it to happen, nor do I think they'll all die off... just that it wouldn't be surprising.
ROH for Sinclair has always been about having cheap content for their TV stations (which may be about to roughly double in number) and other platforms. They're a media company with a 3+ billion dollar market cap, but they own a tiny amount of intellectual property/content in comparison to companies of a similar size. They're going to set realistic and conservative budgets for ROH, and as long as they continue to produce content they'll probably be around. That's the only thing that saved TNA with Anthem... but I don't think Anthem is super stable in the first place. Not like Sinclair.
You can't just leak talent forever, though. I think ROH's roster is still fantastic but it's hard to deny that there's more great talent leaving than coming over the last year or so. They've got to modernize their website, increase their digital presence, get their show out there in HD for more people, and address the creative/booking/talent relations issues that seem apparent.
I still have more faith in ROH's continued existence than major any promotion besides WWE, NJPW, or CMLL. AAA, TNA, Lucha Underground, AJPW, NOAH... I wouldn't be surprised to see any of them fail in the next 2-3 years. Not that I want it to happen, nor do I think they'll all die off... just that it wouldn't be surprising.
ROH for Sinclair has always been about having cheap content for their TV stations (which may be about to roughly double in number) and other platforms. They're a media company with a 3+ billion dollar market cap, but they own a tiny amount of intellectual property/content in comparison to companies of a similar size. They're going to set realistic and conservative budgets for ROH, and as long as they continue to produce content they'll probably be around. That's the only thing that saved TNA with Anthem... but I don't think Anthem is super stable in the first place. Not like Sinclair.
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Re: ALL PURPOSE CONTRACT STATUS/POTENTIAL DEPARTURES THREAD
I guess we're getting Adam Cole vs. Marty Scurll at some point? Sounds good to me!monster mafia wrote:
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Re: ALL PURPOSE CONTRACT STATUS/POTENTIAL DEPARTURES THREAD
Story Time with marty scurll bay bay
Re: ALL PURPOSE CONTRACT STATUS/POTENTIAL DEPARTURES THREAD
Adam Cole promised the ROH TV Title so he stays!!! ALRIGHT!!! (totally kidding BTW.. just in case)
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Re: ALL PURPOSE CONTRACT STATUS/POTENTIAL DEPARTURES THREAD
Scrull continues to be fed exiting talent, the latest being, now lump free and cosmetically pleasing, Adam Cole. Scrull is the fucking man. He has made some pretty God damn interesting TV title matches out of this. I can only imagine what he could do if he had, you know, an actual feud to work with.
Re: ALL PURPOSE CONTRACT STATUS/POTENTIAL DEPARTURES THREAD
Marty Scurll vs. Adam Cole is definitely one of their few remaining great tentpole matches. I'm glad ROH is doing this while Adam is still here (and while Marty remains with them, really). That will be the biggest TV Title defense to take place in the U.S. in the past year.
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Re: ALL PURPOSE CONTRACT STATUS/POTENTIAL DEPARTURES THREAD
Definitely the biggest since Ishii/Fish, if you ask me.