The AEW / ROH Brand Split... Whose going where?

[andrew "the ref" coyne]

So one thing that has me quite interested is that now that ROH will have it's own show, this means they can get ROH off the main AEW shows and start focusing on making both brands worthwhile.

Tony Khan has a shed ton of talent, from jobbers to guys worthy of a decent spot, but who goes where?

Does anyone here have a "10 ten wrestlers I'd like drafted to ROH",  or is there anyone key you'd like to see shifted to ROH?

Personally I'd like to see Keith Lee get a strong singles focus on ROH, eventually building to a Samoa Joe TV title show down, and maybe even put Hangman Adam Page over to ROH to give him a bit of a change of scenery. 

[Infinity Land]

It's looking more likely that people are just going to cycle through in blocks of tapings. Rather than being ROH or AEW.

People are still going to have to deal with ROH champions carrying a belt on AEW tv with references to it. It's not like they'll be keeping Claudio, Wheeler, Athena, Samoa Joe off TV or the Dark circuit for the likes of Athena & Wheeler. Excalibur plugs for HonorClub i'm sure are incoming.

 

 

[DavidB6937]

They better not dare waste Hangman on ROH.

[Tim Healys Chutney Spoon]

10 to go to ROH and stay there:

Lance Archer

Luchasaurus

Andrade

Claudio Castagnoli

Matt Menard

Angelo Parker

Kip Sabian 

Wheeler Yuta

Bryan Danielson 

The Firm (yes I know it takes it over 10)

[Guest]

Just clear out all the Tony neese/Jay lethal types and I’ll be happy. I’d be worried about Samoa Joe being ROH tapings only as it seems he’s miles off it when he’s not kept working regular 

Kyle O’reilly when he returns should Go there 

don’t want to send too many, as then Tony will want to give them their own version for Dark that I also won’t watch 

[HarmonicGenerator]

It’s very tempting just to say “move all the people I’m not fussed about seeing over to ROH” … so I will. Tony Nese, Trustbusters, Jay Lethal, Kip Sabian, Athena, Ruby Soho, The Firm, Matt Hardy… Dynamite feels better already.

Danielson isn’t a bad shout - he’s treading water in AEW at the moment so move him across and make him their top top star, a reason for people to want to watch.

[69MeDon]

21 minutes ago, HarmonicGenerator said:

Danielson isn’t a bad shout - he’s treading water in AEW at the moment so move him across and make him their top top star, a reason for people to want to watch.

He's MJF's next challenger after Starks, surely? Although I can't imagine MJF will drop the belt that quickly/

[Supremo]

Danielson felt like the natural Title challenger for Revolution, looking for revenge for what MJF did to Regal, but then Regal did that time travelling video and now the whole thing is a pile of shit they’d be best moving on from and pretending never happened.

Skip the nonsense. Get to the good stuff. Go with MJF vs. Eddie Kingston as the feud leading into the pay per view.

[Vegeta]

I suppose it depends on his image for roh, is he going worker centric like he probably imagines roh is in his mind 

In an ideal world I would like the following on there as at least the first 10 

Danielson 

Claudio 

Garcia 

Lethal 

Nese 

FTR

Samoa Joe 

Sammy Guevara

Ethan page 

Ideally would love him to add Josh Alexander to the mix also in a perfect world

 

[LaGoosh]

Clear out the midcard of the scrubs in AEW and dump them in ROH to sink or swim. Ethan Page, Tony Nese, Lee Moriarity, Trustbusters, Josh Alexander etc. Off you go!

[BomberPat]

Absolutely mental to think that he'd move Bryan Danielson on to a niche online-only show with a paid subscription base, not going to happen. It's weird enough that Claudio and Joe will be there, but I think that's the top level of "star" that will be there to try and win people over into spending money. 

I don't think it's going to be a cut-and-dry "brand split" like RAW and Smackdown used to be; there will be some people who are permanently ROH, some who are permanently AEW, but I'm sure there'll be a lot of fluidity between the two as well. It could be a good way of cycling names in and out, rather than the current situation where wrestlers tend to disappear for weeks or months at a time. I'd like to see it be a bit more of a revolving door situation with unsigned talent too - it's been fun seeing people show up that haven't already been all over AEW; Jeff Cobb vs. Mascarita Dorada was a great fun match, and using ROH as a sandbox to throw that sort of thing together wouldn't be the worst idea in the world.

In terms of who I think could benefit from being shifted from AEW to ROH, or who I'd rather see there, I'd shunt either The Factory or The Trustbusters down to ROH - AEW doesn't need two groups of heel mooks whose only really purpose is to put other people over, and ROH could give them a new lease of life, or at least they could play a watered down version of what Jericho was doing as an anti-ROH faction. They teased something between the Trustbusters and Dalton Castle after Final Battle, so that might already be happening.

Angelico could do with a space to actually showcase what he can do, and he'd make an interesting addition to the Pure division, which so far has basically been a two-man show anyway. His llave stuff is completely different to the kind of holds and escapes that you get from the likes of Garcia and Yuta, so it would add a fun extra dynamic, and he can be a fun opponent for visiting lucha talent too.

There's not really space for Brock Anderson to grow as a talent in AEW any more, so no harm in having him in ROH to build up there. Frankie Kazarian, Matt Sydaland Jay Lethal would all be decent choices as veterans that can weather a loss - with the added advantage of not having to watch Jay Lethal on TV any more. 

There's plenty in the way of women and tag teams that aren't getting much of a look-in on AEW, so no harm in giving some of them some time in ROH until a spot opens up for them, too.

[andrew "the ref" coyne]

It's been interesting reading how some people think the roster will work with ROH.

I kind of like the idea of it being a sink or swim scenario for midcarders. I think you're going to need SOME names in their if you want people to sign up to Honor Club, but overall the  idea of it being a home for talented guys who are on the fence when it comes to getting over could be a way to use it.

Yeah, you're guaranteed to see some technically competant to great matches, and if one guys happens to get over, GREAT, you can move them over to AEW in the future and talk about their 8 month ROH Championship reign. 

[Infinity Land]

There's meant to be Universal tapings next weekend. That's going to give a sense of some direction since it'll be a month's worth of content. That's also the kind of level that the core of the ROH roster is likely to be.

 

 

[Keith Houchen]

Jay Lethal and Darby Allin - Prison. 

[RedRooster]

I imagine it'll play out similarly to NXT. You'll have a core group of ROH wrestlers, and then guest appearances from members of the AEW roster, and perhaps from other promotions also. 

Tony Khan has the money to keep ROH going for as long as he sees fit, but I'd be amazed if it's anything other than a relatively short-lived comeback. This project seems doomed to fail.