Tony Khan Buys ROH

[Supremo]

13 minutes ago, Infinity Land said:

There's more value in ROH than Dark or Elevation take it those get binned as well?

Is there more value though? At this point? Genuine question. ROH was already a dead company that nobody watched, only now it has the added toxicity of stinking up AEW shows for six months and everyone wanting it to go away. If ROH is more valuable as a touring or television brand I think the difference is minuscule.

ROH doesn’t even have Daddy Magic at the commentary desk!

Edited December 10, 2022 by Supremo

[Infinity Land]

1 minute ago, Supremo said:

Is there though? At this point? Genuine question. ROH was already a dead company that nobody watched, only now it has the added toxicity of stinking up AEW shows for six months and everyone wanting it to go away. If ROH is more valuable as a touring or television brand I think the difference is minuscule.

Supercard did over 20k buys, DBD did over 36k buys. On what's seen as Dark specials with some bigger name talent sprinkled in.

Both had over 2,000 people in attendance. Final Battle has gone over 2,000. Better attended than some of the recent Dynamites/live Rampages.

Counter to that would be "just do more AEW" to which I would say diminishing returns and lowering the AEW brand's value. ROH just panders to a hardcore fanbase that can be tapped for cash who would otherwise be forking out on GCW, Defy, Impact, NWA etc.

[Supremo]

I take it all back. Keep ROH going for the sole purpose of FTR and the Briscoes destroying each other in every match stipulation possible.

”Fucking murder him!”

Incredible.

Has Darby Allin ever fought Mark or Jay Briscoe? That would be so much fun until someone eventually died.

EDIT: So Tony announced ROH TV will be on Honor Club. Six months of incorporating ROH onto his television, putting the ROH Title on Jericho, and still nobody wanted it. Can’t say I’m surprised.

Edited December 11, 2022 by Supremo

[WyattSheepMask]

So, 80 days later and we’re right back where we started with World Champion Cesaro all so that Chris Jericho could have a vanity run that amounted to nothing. Brilliant 

[Hannibal Scorch]

1 hour ago, WyattSheepMask said:

So, 80 days later and we’re right back where we started with World Champion Cesaro all so that Chris Jericho could have a vanity run that amounted to nothing. Brilliant 

Not really. Tony Khan has been trying to get Warner Discovery to look at ROH the last few months. Having someone they already knew (Jericho) as the champ probably was the smart thing. Which should also see less ROH content on Dynamite and Rampage.

[Nick James]

First ROH show I've watched in a long, long time.

How has Ian Riccaboni not been signed by a bigger company before now? Really good commentator with a great voice.

All I could think in the first match was how much Mick Hucknall needed a tan. Preston Vance really does look like a hench Harry Kane and I can't see anything other than that. Rush could be the top baddy in most promotions and just shows how much time has been wasted with him fannying about doing the tired recruitment angle. 

The finish looked like a bit of a fuck up, like Dralistico could have kicked out and the beatdown was awkward as fuck. Could also have done without the chairshots to the head. 

Skipped Athena Vs Mercedes, two wrestlers I couldn't give less of a toss about if I tried.

Shane Taylor has a great presence about him and the build to him Vs Keith was built well. No idea about the history of those two, but it didn't matter, you could tell thats what it was building to and they did a good job of telling the story. Swerve blind tagging to stop it happening at first was a good touch, the bastard. Swerve was the biggest babyface in this match and the shot Keith hit him with by mistake was brutal, just looked brilliant. The skinny MMA kid was rubbish, though.

Skipped Garcia / Yuta as I felt like I've seen this match a million times before, which isn't the case, but think this is possibly a victim of the never ending BCC / JAS stuff.

FTR / Briscoes, what more can be said that hasn't already been said, but these two teams just have unbelievable chemistry. I could watch them go at it over and over.

Samoa Joe rolling back the years is great to see. The fact he's older adds to it, because now he's a grumpy older bastard. It's a shame Juice Robinson seems to have lost a lot of his identity to the point he just looks like another chap in pants wearing Bullet Club merch. Last time I saw him (which was a while ago) he was quite flamboyant and stood out.

Whilst Claudio winning makes it feel like the last few months or so have been a vanity run for Jericho, hopefully this brings an end to JAS / BCC. Doubt it though. 

[Supremo]

I remember before Rush came into AEW there was a lot of talk about him being unprofessional, yet you never got the impression based on his appearances on Dynamite and Rampage. You could absolutely see it on this show though. Seemed super obvious that the finish of the opener was fucked up, so he just went into business for himself to get his heat back. Poor AR Fox. He seemed to just accept his fate and take whatever punishment coming his way. “Nice one ref, here comes my concussion.”

On a show with Briscoes and FTR smashing the living fuck out of each other,  nothing those blood-soaked nutcases did was as scary as Rush smashing skulls in until he was happy he’d saved a bit of face. Terrifying!

[LaGoosh]

It was actually Rush's partner that hit the first chairshot, AR Fox was sitting down so couldn't protect himself so that was pretty fucked up. I think the situation felt awkward more than anything else. After attacking them Rush looked like he had no idea what to do.

It's a minor tragedy that the Briscoes are banned from TV. They'd be absolutely perfect for the main AEW roster and a real shot in the arm. Alas. Another belting dose of violence from these four maniacs.

TK and AEW have their problems but they've put on 4 really great memorable matches in less than a week so you have to give them their due.

[DavidB6937]

I know people constantly mock Impact and their ability to survive year on year but 20 years later and ROH are the ones that are a surprise survival despite having made little to no progress or change over that time. Perhaps a bit harsh to say considering the influence but also true in many ways.

But for me ROH was always about buying random DVDs and popping them on and enjoying talent I'd never seen. Or combinations that you wouldn't see elsewhere. It was never about the storylines. I never watched the ROH TV shows because I didn't have the time. And I have even less time now. So as a show to watch this was great because stuff like FTR/Briscoes doesn't need an in depth story to drive it. Arguably I probably would've enjoyed Cesaro/Jericho more if they hadn't had any interaction or never ending BCC/JSS stuff.

I guess the only slight issue I have with it is TK owning it and therefore some of the decisions being a bit like "oh well are they not good enough for a position on AEW?" but considering how much talent he has I guess that's inevitable.

So here's to ROH. The little train that could. Still doing the same shit it always has and you know what? I'm okay with that. Just keep it as its own thing and we'll be fine.

[Hannibal Scorch]

@Nick Jamesid give the Yuta/Garcia match a watch. Mainly as it’s under pure rules so at least feels unique in that way and I really enjoyed it.

[Infinity Land]

9 hours ago, Supremo said:

So Tony announced ROH TV will be on Honor Club. Six months of incorporating ROH onto his television, putting the ROH Title on Jericho, and still nobody wanted it. Can’t say I’m surprised.

 

8 hours ago, Hannibal Scorch said:

Not really. Tony Khan has been trying to get Warner Discovery to look at ROH the last few months. Having someone they already knew (Jericho) as the champ probably was the smart thing. Which should also see less ROH content on Dynamite and Rampage.

Couple of things have probably been going on. HonorClub wasn't really fit for purpose. Taking over there would have been stuff to do behind the scenes. It's not been a case of putting it on there months ago.

They'd also have been shopping a show to get guaranteed income rather than be dependent on monthly subs. Doubt they looked beyond the WBD family since they want to keep them onside.

It's no bad thing that ROH is getting put back in its box. Still going to have to deal with people walking about with belts and mentions of it.

[Nick James]

All in all, it was a fun, enjoyable show for an early Sunday morning while the kids were running around at 5am.

Definitely more positives than negatives.

Also, I will have zero FTR slander on my watch. 

[Infinity Land]

FTR v. Dralistico & Dragon Lee at the end of the month in AAA. They need special gear to pay tribute to the greatest luchador tag team in history, the Super Ranas.

[RedRooster]

1 hour ago, LaGoosh said:

It's a minor tragedy that the Briscoes are banned from TV. They'd be absolutely perfect for the main AEW roster and a real shot in the arm. Alas. Another belting dose of violence from these four maniacs.

I find the whole situation really odd, given that WBD are seemingly absolutely fine with Jay Lethal and Darby being on TV. It seems very inconsistent. 

Edited December 11, 2022 by RedRooster

[Merzbow]

Unfortunately the majority don't view those two like we do here, there's visible proof of The Briscoe/s tweeting out vile stuff etc but as there's no "proof" of a couple of sex pests being sex pests.