ROH Best in the World 2014: ADAM COLE! MICHAEL ELGIN!

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In the case of Adam Cole, he got the belt at the right time because he still had a ton of momentum with the internet crowd...then they put him with Matt Hardy and Mike Bennett and completely fucking killed him. If he beats Elgin on the 22nd (he won't, but let's just pretend they gave the office boy the book), Elgin's as good as done and after that, who's left? AJ's not gonna commit to being around enough to warrant giving him the title and if Steen's really going, you can't put the belt on him again...not that it would be a smart decision to do if he was staying. So past those top three names...you have Ciampa. You have Tommaso Ciampa.

[maddog1981]

Jay Briscoe or Mike Bennett.

They gave it to Cole at the right time. I think where they fucked Elgin is the way they just pushed him to the side the second Jay Briscoe was back.

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Steen vs. Silas added to the show today.

[maddog1981]

Your post really made me see how shallow their roster is these days. They really don't seem to have that next generation of guys waiting in the wings.

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They have the Future of Honor shows which are like their B team. Oddly, they book Tim Donst on those shows but won't put him on the main roster. I mean, if I was running a wrestling promotion and could book Tim Donst on a major show, I'd book Tim Donst on a major show. Maybe Chikara returning to iPPV has something to do with it. Stupid indie contracts.

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What a shock.



What an even bigger shock: they're getting an immediate tag title shot. So much for Hanson and Rowe.

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I'll be surprised if reDRagon beat Daniels and Kazarian on the 22nd. There's no reason they shouldn't, but because it's ROH, that's exactly why they won't.

[maddog1981]

Quack and Colt had a good take on indy contracts. You should only offer contracts if you're paying a living wage.

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It's sad because a lot of guys are out there that would really freshen up the ROH cards like Rich Swann, Tim Donst, Drew Gulak, Biff Busick just off the top of my head. Bringing in Andrew Everett was a nice move but they need more dudes like him and they need to stop fucking pushing Mike Bennett and I'd drop Matt Hardy if I were them, too. Way too much money spent on absolutely zero return.

[maddog1981]

How WCW/TNA of them.

Hardy is the fucking worst. But he's there because management probably wants a star on the roster. They're really going to be screwed in a year or two if they don't start bringing some young fresh talent in. It feels like they haven't built anyone up in a really long time.

[Deleted]

Long ass tangent ahead. You have been warned.

They were starting to build Hanson and Rowe as a credible tag title threat and as best I recall, they haven't been booked on any shows since WM weekend, including this weekend's shows. #AllEgo/Ethan Page is good, but he's not used regularly (probably because he's Canadian), Louis Lyndon's not bad either but he's got the same problem as Page in that he's Canadian so it's best to sporadically book him than to try to get him a visa and shit. There's a few Midwestern guys (Shane Hollister and Christian Rose, namely) I'd like to see get a shot but they're not getting one, either. The ROH Dojo isn't exactly cranking out promising trainees. The best one of the post-Danielson grads I can think of is Jenny Rose, and no disrespect intended...but it's her and fucking Cheeseburger. Not like it's a huge accomplishment to be better than one of the worst guys in recent memory, but still.

They had an agreement with Quack once upon a time. Why not work out a deal to use some of his trainees out of whatever gimmick Chikara gives them? It gives ROH young talent that are trained properly (fucking imagine that) who won't cost them much money at all to book. Frankly, that's their best shot.

Delirious doesn't have a particularly good eye for talent. They didn't want Bobby Fish until Eddie Edwards pretty much forced them to take a look at him because he was a 'Gabe guy'...without a contract. And again, the indie contracts constrain them from being able to use the guys that would really benefit them (Ricochet, Gargano, Swann, Donst, Gulak, Busick).

Matt Hardy is an expensive cancer. They don't need him, he serves no purpose and he's part of the single most uninteresting faction and angle in ROH history. He can still go when he feels like it, but he hasn't felt like actually going in ROH since that short run in 2005.

Cedric Alexander could be made by this feud with Decade...but past him? Nobody's being built right now. Everyone in the company hates ACH, Silas isn't going to be a long term big deal even if he does beat Steen, O'Reilly and Fish are the eternal tag team champions despite the fact that building those two up could lead to amazing singles matches. They've apparently dropped Kingston and Homicide which is a shame because they were actually interesting. So beyond that, who's left that's young? Bennett? He proved to be the one guy that Tanahashi can't carry...would you really want to build a company around him just to make his former WWE diva/Playboy model wife happy?

[MT]

"Ricochet, Gargano, Swann, Donst, Gulak, Busick"

You just listed a group of guys who could make a difference, and the reason why they can't. Chris Hero is another guy. They grabbed him on the goodwill "comeback" tour and got some mileage out of him, but he is kind of doing his own thing now. Bringing him back in for more than a few shows would be a good thing if they can make it happen, especially since the fans are already familiar with him and he won't need to be introduced and built up. There are several guys in Chikara who seem to know what they're doing and could make a difference repackaged in more ROH friendly gimmicks. A few of them seem happy to just do Chikara and the odd show here and there instead of branching out, though.

Outside of that, they (and wrestling in general) need some big bastards who can do a different style and bring a varied look to the company. It seems like wrestling has had this backlash against big men, and the trend has turned the other way where the smaller guys are almost all that's out there. It doesn't even seem like a lot of bigger guys are even trying to break into wrestling anymore, but maybe that's a subject for another place and time.

[maddog1981]

Hanson and Rowe actually had me checking out random tv shows this year. It's a real shame that the ball is being dropped with them. Daniels and Kazarian aren't going to do much for the company IMO. Not enough to justify derailing your interesting up and comers.

I would grab Chikara guys. Get Dasher Hatfield's mask off and let him go. He's a good talker and he can have good matches with just about anyone. Grab Chase Owens, he is consistently good every time I see him. Also why not bring Jigsaw and Hallowicked in. That would add some color to the undercard and they are good workers.

It amazes me that Chikara is always finding these guys that are solid in the ring and can talk but RoH can't. I like Brutal Burgers for the goof but why is a nationally televised product letting Cheeseburger take up air time?

They're starting to remind me of ECW towards the end. A company that is depending on aging acts and has nothing going on underneath that. There's just no reason for the lack of talent on the roster right now.

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"Outside of that, they (and wrestling in general) need some big bastards who can do a different style and bring a varied look to the company."

Like Hanson and Raymond Rowe.

[MT]

Jun 5, 2014 16:28:29 GMT -4 @thedarknight said:

"Outside of that, they (and wrestling in general) need some big bastards who can do a different style and bring a varied look to the company."

Like Hanson and Raymond Rowe.

As a start. Then some big Warlord type bastard and a seven footer. NO really, a dude with seven feet would be awesome because you just don't see that stuff every day.