Mar 2, 2020 1:33:40 GMT Baker said:

Mar 2, 2020 0:29:00 GMT @admin said:

Nicky A doing his bit for the Less Boomer World Champions movement. Baker 🤯

Time for an unexpected take....

That's a total dick move by Aldis that makes me like him a tiny bit less. PCO hadn't done anything untoward to Slick Nick. It's gonna be so great when PCO finally invades the Powerrr Zone. 

This also makes me want to see the upcoming Aldis/PCO Wrestlemania weekend match even more. I'll have to track that one down. I'm also a little more conflicted now.... #ItsStillRealToMe

Meanwhile, as the truer bluer fan of the Resplendent One, I'm all on board with this and totally supportive of Slick Nick's actions.

Mar 2, 2020 1:41:41 GMT 🤯 said:

Mar 2, 2020 1:33:40 GMT Baker said:

Time for an unexpected take....

That's a total dick move by Aldis that makes me like him a tiny bit less. PCO hadn't done anything untoward to Slick Nick. It's gonna be so great when PCO finally invades the Powerrr Zone. 

This also makes me want to see the upcoming Aldis/PCO Wrestlemania weekend match even more. I'll have to track that one down. I'm also a little more conflicted now.... #ItsStillRealToMe

Meanwhile, as the truer bluer fan of the Resplendent One, I'm all on board with this and totally supportive of Slick Nick's actions.

:suspic:  Oh, puhleeze! You're the guy who thought Stu Bennett would make a better Real World Champ than Slick Nick! And you DARE besmirch MY Aldis fandom?!? Stu Bennett!!! smh.

Mar 2, 2020 2:00:24 GMT Baker said:

Mar 2, 2020 1:41:41 GMT 🤯 said:

Meanwhile, as the truer bluer fan of the Resplendent One, I'm all on board with this and totally supportive of Slick Nick's actions.

:suspic:  Oh, puhleeze! You're the guy who thought Stu Bennett would make a better Real World Champ than Slick Nick! And you DARE besmirch MY Aldis fandom?!? Stu Bennett!!! smh.

Breaking Newz Bennett WOULD make as good if not a better Rwal World Champ. That's definitely a hill I'm willing to die on.

Mar 2, 2020 2:47:39 GMT 🤯 said:

Mar 2, 2020 2:00:24 GMT Baker said:

 Oh, puhleeze! You're the guy who thought Stu Bennett would make a better Real World Champ than Slick Nick! And you DARE besmirch MY Aldis fandom?!? Stu Bennett!!! smh.

Breaking Newz Bennett WOULD make as good if not a better Rwal World Champ. That's definitely a hill I'm willing to die on.

Love ya, man. But no. Just....no. You need to elaborate on this one day. I want to see your argument for Barrett. 

As far as I'm concerned, the following is a list of all the wrestlers who would make a better Real World Champ than Slick Nick at any point since JBL's first retirement in 2006....

Rick rolled by Baker-man with that scroll job. Well played, sir.

Thinking on it, I think I realize I'm in the wrong just because of how well Slick Nick fits the bill. He has a certain sincerity or genuineness that BNB lacks.

They're equal in look at their best, with BNB having the height advantage. But his big ears and schnoz have been distractions in the past.

BNB wins in the promo department. At least in terms of audio quality. That booming deep voice and unmuddled accent give him a leg up over Slick Nick. But then again, the sincerity and genuineness of Slick Nick compensates. So... Draw?

In ring, BNB is as FCW as Slick Nick is OVW... So... Draw again?

So, I'll call them equal peers but give Slick Nick the ultimate edge for coming across as so sincere and genuine and thus seeming to fit NWA as its champ better than BNB, who'd likely feel like he was treating NWA as a pit stop detour.

Is ROH still a thing?

EC3 is coming to ROH apparently.

Oct 6, 2020 2:14:17 GMT NATH45 said:

Is ROH still a thing?

EC3 is coming to ROH apparently.

It still is. Actually, the tournament to revive the Pure title has been great so far.

Woke up in the middle of the night and watched a little ROH tv for the first time in...3 years, probably.

Looks like they're going for a "real sports" feel these days. The Pure Title is back and there seems to be a renewed emphasis on rules, win/loss records, history, and even time limits.

The 20-30 minutes I saw was all devoted to a Shane Taylor vs. Kenny King match. First both guys cut lengthy promos detailing their history together. Then they had a two commercial break match. It was a methodical bout. This is a good thing! Nothing about this match reminded me of the Young Bucks. Taylor controlled most of the way doing a Misawa/Narcissist "Master of the Forearm" thing. Kenny actually sold! Hooray! And occasionally fired back, usually with his educated feet. It was almost a good match. And then Kenny King kicked out of a Package Piledriver....in a tv match....in front of no fans. Stupid. Taylor does pick up the win a few minutes later with a Rikishi Driver.

Still can't get into Empty Arena wrestling unless it's a one off novelty between Lawler and Funk.

I like the change in direction, especially since it's allowed them to spotlight Gresham who is one of the best talents they have. Before Covid 19 and the speaking out movement, I thought ROH was in for a strong year. They were making all the right noises, guys were being repackaged to be more compelling characters and they were doing a better job of celebrating their rich history which is one advantage they have over AEW.

Is Marty Scrull still associated with ROH?

Nov 30, 2020 12:25:31 GMT NATH45 said:

Is Marty Scrull still associated with ROH?

He's been stood down for the time being.

Nov 30, 2020 8:35:05 GMT Baker said:

Woke up in the middle of the night and watched a little ROH tv for the first time in...3 years, probably.

Looks like they're going for a "real sports" feel these days. The Pure Title is back and there seems to be a renewed emphasis on rules, win/loss records, history, and even time limits.

The 20-30 minutes I saw was all devoted to a Shane Taylor vs. Kenny King match. First both guys cut lengthy promos detailing their history together. Then they had a two commercial break match. It was a methodical bout. This is a good thing! Nothing about this match reminded me of the Young Bucks. Taylor controlled most of the way doing a Misawa/Narcissist "Master of the Forearm" thing. Kenny actually sold! Hooray! And occasionally fired back, usually with his educated feet. It was almost a good match. And then Kenny King kicked out of a Package Piledriver....in a tv match....in front of no fans. Stupid. Taylor does pick up the win a few minutes later with a Rikishi Driver.

Still can't get into Empty Arena wrestling unless it's a one off novelty between Lawler and Funk.

Is there a ranking system? Because that's all my fan fic dreams were always of. I loved them numbers.

Nov 30, 2020 21:44:53 GMT @ness said:

Nov 30, 2020 8:35:05 GMT Baker said:

Woke up in the middle of the night and watched a little ROH tv for the first time in...3 years, probably.

Looks like they're going for a "real sports" feel these days. The Pure Title is back and there seems to be a renewed emphasis on rules, win/loss records, history, and even time limits.

Is there a ranking system? Because that's all my fan fic dreams were always of. I loved them numbers.

No ranking system was mentioned in the 20-30 minutes I watched but I wouldn't be surprised. Nor would it be the first time ROH had a ranking system. They had a Top 5 in their early days. Didn't last long though.

I too have always been a fan of wrestling rankings. I took the rankings in the back of every PWI magazine for gospel in 95-96. First time I ever came across a wrestling ranking system was in 1987 Watts UWF. It's one of the relatively few things from that promotion which always stuck with me. WCW also did a Top 10 in the late 80s-early 90s. And I once had a wrestling figure league that revolved around rankings. The Chalkboard League! Perennial Top 4: Abruzzi Slugger, Eighth Wonder of the World, Boston Strongman, Kim-Chee.

Nov 30, 2020 22:23:20 GMT Baker said:

Nov 30, 2020 21:44:53 GMT @ness said:

Is there a ranking system? Because that's all my fan fic dreams were always of. I loved them numbers.

No ranking system was mentioned in the 20-30 minutes I watched but I wouldn't be surprised. Nor would it be the first time ROH had a ranking system. They had a Top 5 in their early days. Didn't last long though.

I too have always been a fan of wrestling rankings. I took the rankings in the back of every PWI magazine for gospel in 95-96. First time I ever came across a wrestling ranking system was in 1987 Watts UWF. It's one of the relatively few things from that promotion which always stuck with me. WCW also did a Top 10 in the late 80s-early 90s. And I once had a wrestling figure league that revolved around rankings. The Chalkboard League! Perennial Top 4: Abruzzi Slugger, Eighth Wonder of the World, Boston Strongman, Kim-Chee.

Think they had something similar in the HDNet days. I know one of my early fan fics I tried to make it work, but you can't really do too many feuds if you're handicap with points.

TNA circa 2010 was the first time I came across rankings in Pro Wrestling. It was a mixture between fan voting and kayfabe. Never the less Desmond Wolfe was on top so instead of listening to the fans, TNA had him beaten in four minutes.

AEW has rankings that feel irrelevant and arbitrary. So far I think they've had three unranked guys challenge Moxley for the AEW Championship on major shows.

I just don't think they work. It should be something a booker is keeping a mental note of, but even then bookers should be more concerned about details (what am I trying to showcase by putting these workers together?)

Watched a few minutes of ROH tv today. It aired at the odd time of 1 p.m. on a Tuesday. Match was Jonathan Gresham vs. Tracy Williams in the finals of the Pure Title Tournament. Commentators were really pushing rules and statistics. Stuff like "the average pure title tournament match has featured 2.35 rope breaks and 0.3 closed fist punches thrown." Is ROH the AWF of 2020? I can't help thinking wrestling stats just might be the new "we wrestle in rounds."

Anyway, what I saw was a very slow paced bout. They mat wrestled on the floor. Not sure I ever saw that before. Then the furnace guy came and I had to stop watching. 

ROH's biggest show of the year Final Battle was last night and was their first PPV since the pandemic hit.

Last week it was announced that EC3, Flamita, Bandido and Kenny King would be off the show for Covid related reasons. This meant that the EC3/Briscoe and the Shane Taylor vs. Horus/Flamita/Bandido match had to be pulled.

The first hour of the show was aired freely and consisted of Tony Deppen defeating LSG, Josh Woods and Dax Draper for a shot at Dragon Lee's ROH World TV Title later in the show. It was followed by Tracey Williams and Rhett Titus going over Wheeler Yuta and Fred Yehi in a Pure Rules Tag Team match.

The rest of the show shook out this way.

3. ROH World Tag Team Championship Match: Jay Lethal & Jonathan Gresham (c) def. Mark Briscoe & PCO (12:50)
4. Rey Horus def. Dalton Castle (9:10)
5. Mike Bennett & Matt Taven def. Vincent & Bateman (16:15)
6. Danhausen def. Brian Johnson via DQ to win an ROH Contract (8:45)
7. ROH World Television Championship Match: Dragon Lee (c) def. Tony Deppen (11:50)
8. Shane Taylor def. Jay Briscoe (13:49)
9. ROH Pure Championship Match: Jonathan Gresham (c) def. Flip Gordon (24:38)
10. ROH World Championship Match: RUSH (c) def. Brody King (16:35)

After the match members of the Foundation, Jonathan Gresham, Jay Lethal, Rhett Titus and Tracey Williams made their way to the entrance ramp where they starred down the champion before Gresham raised his Pure Championship, signalling a champion vs. champion match for down the line.

Taylor/Briscoe and Gresham/Gordon were said to be stand-outs.

Vincent is the best thing about ROH.

ROH.. yes, it's still a thing. ROH have parted ways with The Villain Marty Scrull.

This is a bad testament to ROH. Not the Scrull thing, which always seemed inevitable but until this bump I don't think I've thought about ROH very often in recent years. TNA has gotten attention though. The move to Canada and the new booking "just solid stuff no goal of competing with mainstream" got them notice and started moving away from LOLTNA. Tessa the good and bad kept TNA on the back of my mind and then the recent stuff with Omega.

Never ever hear anything close to that with ROH since Sinclair and the power guys like Steen left. Like I forget it even exists. Yes mt fandom is at an all time low, but I don't remember hearing this little about ROH than the past few years.

Jan 4, 2021 23:57:00 GMT @ness said:

This is a bad testament to ROH. Not the Scrull thing, which always seemed inevitable but until this bump, I don't think I've thought about ROH very often in recent years. TNA has gotten attention though. The move to Canada and the new booking "just solid stuff no goal of competing with mainstream" got them notice and started moving away from LOLTNA. Tessa the good and bad kept TNA on the back of my mind and then the recent stuff with Omega.

Never hear anything close to that with ROH since Sinclair and the power guys like Steen left. Like I forget it even exists. Yes, my fandom is at an all-time low, but I don't remember hearing this little about ROH than the past few years.

ROH during the RF era was versatile. Then, ROH was a buffet. After that it became stagnant.

Jan 5, 2021 0:09:35 GMT Ed said:

Jan 4, 2021 23:57:00 GMT @ness said:

This is a bad testament to ROH. Not the Scrull thing, which always seemed inevitable but until this bump, I don't think I've thought about ROH very often in recent years. TNA has gotten attention though. The move to Canada and the new booking "just solid stuff no goal of competing with mainstream" got them notice and started moving away from LOLTNA. Tessa the good and bad kept TNA on the back of my mind and then the recent stuff with Omega.

Never hear anything close to that with ROH since Sinclair and the power guys like Steen left. Like I forget it even exists. Yes, my fandom is at an all-time low, but I don't remember hearing this little about ROH than the past few years.

ROH during the RF era was versatile. Then, ROH was a buffet. After that it became stagnant.

Once NXT became the super indy I think it was over for the likes of ROH and PWG.

AEW gutted ROH. Arguably the biggest draws in the last few years were The Elite and friends and they're all signed to AEW now.

Jan 5, 2021 0:13:40 GMT @ness said:

Jan 5, 2021 0:09:35 GMT Ed said:

ROH during the RF era was versatile. Then, ROH was a buffet. After that it became stagnant.

Once NXT became the super indy I think it was over for the likes of ROH and PWG.

Yeah, you're right. My point is more about ROH never changing tempo. It has always been super serious. That's why feds like PWG, CHIKARA. AIW & Progres was such a nice change of pace. They were different flavors of ice cream.

Jan 5, 2021 0:09:35 GMT Ed said:

Jan 4, 2021 23:57:00 GMT @ness said:

This is a bad testament to ROH. Not the Scrull thing, which always seemed inevitable but until this bump, I don't think I've thought about ROH very often in recent years. TNA has gotten attention though. The move to Canada and the new booking "just solid stuff no goal of competing with mainstream" got them notice and started moving away from LOLTNA. Tessa the good and bad kept TNA on the back of my mind and then the recent stuff with Omega.

Never hear anything close to that with ROH since Sinclair and the power guys like Steen left. Like I forget it even exists. Yes, my fandom is at an all-time low, but I don't remember hearing this little about ROH than the past few years.

ROH during the RF era was versatile. Then, ROH was a buffet. After that it became stagnant.

Gabe did good as well.  Once Gabe left though, shit nosedised basically.  One by one all of Gabe's guys started to leave until we basically got the same stagnant product we have now.  The Elite delayed the inevitable but once they became AEW RoH is basically another regional indy fed again.

Look, its one of those places where you either start your career or end it. It was never going to be a anything more.

And arguably, it often at its peak when the industry was at its weakest. If you're not working for WWE, ROH was sometimes the only option considering the other options for a long time where LOLTNA and getting on a plane to Japan or Mexico.

ROH fell off when they used the 2019 MSG show to promote Matt Taven as their champion and a run-in from Big Cass and Enzo Amore. Both were major turn-offs and it took ROH a long time to recover. It appeared they were on the right track with the change in creative and the decision to have RUSH turn heel and be the champion of the company, that seemed like something you could build a company around but then the pandemic hit. I actually think of all the promotions, ROH's change in presentation and decision to put forward a more scientific product (perhaps what fans expected AEW to be) was the most alluring and it has allowed them to showcase Johnathan Greshem who is one of the best technical wrestlers in the world right now.

It's a shame we never got a chance to see Marty in a creative capacity because he seemed like the breath of fresh air the company needed. I don't think they'll miss him as an in-ring talent which is an odd thing to say. They had an opportunity to make him a big star and he should have been the guy who went over at the MSG show but then they went and established him as a mid-card act who wasn't even the best wrestler in his own stable (that would be PCO).

2019 was such a bad year for ROH, I think the only positive is that they brought in Brian Zane to do a quick segment where he'd provide a quick retrospective segment. It was a nice cross-over and since Zane has experience working in television it didn't seem out of place.

Jan 4, 2021 23:14:15 GMT NATH45 said:

ROH.. yes, it's still a thing. ROH have parted ways with The Villain Marty Scrull.

Next should be Flip "Throws my right to vote to the trash can and refuses to weak a mask in an airplane/COVID is a hoax" Gordon.

Jan 5, 2021 2:14:28 GMT Big Pete said:

ROH fell off when they used the 2019 MSG show to promote Matt Taven as their champion and a run-in from Big Cass and Enzo Amore. Both were major turn-offs and it took ROH a long time to recover. It appeared they were on the right track with the change in creative and the decision to have RUSH turn heel and be the champion of the company, that seemed like something you could build a company around but then the pandemic hit. I actually think of all the promotions, ROH's change in presentation and decision to put forward a more scientific product (perhaps what fans expected AEW to be) was the most alluring and it has allowed them to showcase Johnathan Greshem who is one of the best technical wrestlers in the world right now.

It's a shame we never got a chance to see Marty in a creative capacity because he seemed like the breath of fresh air the company needed. I don't think they'll miss him as an in-ring talent which is an odd thing to say. They had an opportunity to make him a big star and he should have been the guy who went over at the MSG show but then they went and established him as a mid-card act who wasn't even the best wrestler in his own stable (that would be PCO).

2019 was such a bad year for ROH, I think the only positive is that they brought in Brian Zane to do a quick segment where he'd provide a quick retrospective segment. It was a nice cross-over and since Zane has experience working in television it didn't seem out of place.

ROH got some buzz with the Pure Tournament revival that got rave reviews couple months back that Gresham won. Could not build off of that seemingly.