ROH losing talent to the WWE.

[Ty Burna]

Well since Nigel and Danielson are now on their way to the WWE, how bad is ROH going to be hurting now since losing those two talents? Everyone in the WWE section is saying this is a deathblow to ROH because Nigel is leaving, but honestly, does no one have faith in ROH? I mean when you look at all the talent ROH had at one point, CM Punk, Joe, Christopher Daniels, AJ Styles, Homicide, Low Ki, etc etc etc etc, and then lost later on to TNA and WWE, they were capable of rebuilding and bringing in fresh talent. They've survived a mass exodus over a 2 year span essentially, why all of a sudden cant' they survive two people leaving?

Taking a look at it here, Danielson is obviously the one that hurts the most. He was in the main event scene and obviously one of the most over wrestlers in ROH. His wrestling skills are top notch, and I'm going to miss him being in the main events. Nigel, meanwhile was on the shelf for awhile after losing the ROH title to Jerry Lynn, and since coming back I really can't think of anything significant that he's done since then. The people tuning into ROH on HDNet dont' have as much invested in Nigel as the fans that have been around for awhile do, so while it may hurt the company with Nigel leaving, I don't think it's as horrible as everyone thinks it will be. They still have some very solid talent in the company. This is going back to a post I made a few days, but I mentioned that ROH should infuse some fresh blood into the main event scene, I hate to say I was psychic or some shit, but now is a crucial time to do just that, as they lost one main eventer and another that should have been main eventing when he came back. Now it's a necessity rather than a luxury, because as of now, Tyler Black and Jerry Lynn are probably the only two that are considered worthy enough of challenging Aries for the title.

While ROH can survive this, they need to do some regrouping and fast. They need to get some new people in the main event, and they need to bring in some more talent overall. They have a solid tag team division, but they only have a couple of main eventers now, so unless we all want to see Aries versus Lynn or Black for the conceivable future, some more challengers should be brought up to face off with Aries, so the product doesn't become stale.

So is ROH in serious trouble? Or are they hitting a bump in the road and just need to adapt to the situation and continue on?

 

[RawIsRamsey]

Well, last time there was a mass talent exodus, they weren't facing the same financial problems they are now. These two were primary draws for RoH, and losing them will definitely lose some fans.

However, this will give a huge opportunity for other guys to step up. Guys like Chris Hero, Claudio Castignoli, Brent Albright, and even Colt Cabana can transition into main eventers. They can start utilizing the other part-time talent like Eddie Kingston, the Young Bucks, and Mike Quackenbush. There's always an available crop of PWG, FIP, and CHIKARA guys to pick from that, despite some goofiness, have some damn fine athletes.

This is also going to be a test of Pierce's booking skills, as so far he hasn't drawn quite the same audience Gabe did during the first talent exodus. If he can learn to utilize the guys they have and the connections they have to other organizations, RoH will pull through stronger than ever.

 

[RVDgurl]

I have faith in ROH. Yes, Vince is taking my precious Bryan Danielson, and Nigel has now signed on to the WWE, but ROH will move on. Only a few short years ago Samoa Joe, Homicide and Christopher Daniels were 3 of the biggest names in ROH (not to mention AJ Styles, Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin also made various appearances). TNA pulled them from the ROH roster the minute ROH signed a PPV deal. And at that time Homicide was the ROH champion! That was a difficult mountain to climb, but they did it.

Bryan Danielson and Nigel McGuiness are 2 of the biggest draws in ROH- there's no question about it. But ROH will move on. Right now Austin Aries is their champion and the top heel in the wrestling business. He will be able to carry the company on his shoulders until things settle down. Tyler Black will now become the top babyface of the company with the departure of Danielson. Black has been groomed fairly well for this role over the past couple of months, including Danielson putting him over.

ROH has always been able to develop strong new talent in a hurry. They have a slew of upcoming talent that will be ready to take on main event matches in the near future. Until then, guys like Delirious, Roderick Strong, Brent Albright and Chris Hero who have been established main event guys will hopeful get their time to shine now.

 

[jmt225]

From people who claim to be 'in the know' (so please take this shit with a grain of salt), apparently Claudio Castagnoli will be signed real soon (again), and Chris Hero was told that if he can gain 15 pounds of muscle mass, then he'll get offered a contract, but those two are the only names being mentioned that WWE has any interest in from ROH. Briscoes, Aries, Black, etc.... nothing was said about them. However, like I said, it's just rumors, so you can't take none of this as fact. I just thought it should be mentioned.

Anyway, RVDGurl brought up an excellent, excellent point. Ring of Honor has suffered far, far worse than this. When Rob Feinstein got caught trying to meet up with a 14-year-old boy, ROH lost nearly all their top stars. However, CM Punk & Samoa Joe stayed, and they built up Austin Aries. That was all they needed to do to last, and they did. Just imagine that? Your fucking owner gets accused of the worst thing anyone could ever be accused of, and you lose 75% of their top guys in the process, but you are still alive and kicking 7 years later. Unbelievable. If they can survive that, then they sure as shit can survive this.

The fact is.... they still have some great talent in Aries, Black, Cabana, Rave, Jacobs, the Briscoes, El Generico, Kevin Steen, Davey Richards, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera. All the signing of Danielson and McGuinness does is leave open opportunities for new talent, and also for already established stars to reinvent themselves. That's it, and I'm sure ROH will find a way to make it work.

 

[NSL]

I've never watched ROH, but I'll equate it to the exodus that happened when ECW started getting a name for itself. While the "top" names are leaving, the fans really don't care who's there. They'll still turn out and watch guys like Aries and Black and Delirious, and they'll continue buying DVDs. As long as the product doesn't undergo any major changes, they should be fine through all this. Some of the casual fans may tune out, but the die-hards are the ones attending every show, and buying every DVD.

 

[JDavis328]

I love what people have pointed out. They have been in worse condition. Last time they had a big roster leave was way worse then this. In a good amount of time they had Low ki,Spanky,Cm Punk,Samoa Joe,Daniels,Aj Styles,Colt Cabana,Matt Sydal,Homicide,Jay Lethal,and Alex Shelly all gone from the company. Some came back,Some make small apperances here and there but still they were gone. Worse was that was their main bunch of stars to. They had to build people up after that happened. Now they are just loseing 2 guys and the rest of the roster is still doing great and they still have guys on top. Even if Claudio and Hero end up going then still that leaves a good chunk of guys.


Heres a big point to make though about ROH loseing talent to the big guys. They are still a Indy Fed. I know they got the tv deal and all and are growing which is great but they are a Indy Fed. One of the best Indy Feds out there today(along with other names before I get flamed for not mentioning others) but a indy fed none the less. The point of the Indys is to work your way to the big leagues. To get noticed and make it big in some way. I know not all Indy feds fit this(the hardcore crazy ones mainly) but basicly thats the whole point of the Indys. Back in the day it was the only way to get in the big time was to wrestle indy till you got noticed. Eventually the hope is for Hero,Claudio,Aries,Black,etc to make it big. Gabe recently said he was happy for Bryan and no one deserves it more. Same when CM Punk went. Will ROH ever make it big? Who knows thats for the future to tell. Till then its a stepping stone to the big times. I know theres a cult following on the indy scene and believe me i love ROH and all the indy feds that put on a great show week after week but just have to realize the truth.

 

[T2KFreeker]

Man, I wish I could sympathize with you. I wish someone could record the RoH stuff for me to DVD so I could watch the HD Net stuff as I have seen none of it because I don't get it for some reason! I have seen some of the PPV's that RoH have put on though and they are an awesome company. The matches are excellent and the actual talent that they have, even though not stars yet, they seem to knwo where they are going with it. Obviously Vince has noticed them. I hope that something breaks for them to help them with their money woes as another place for talent to go and work isn't a bad thing. I just wish I could watch the show at my leisure as I love wrestling and would love to see what RoH brings to the table weekly compared to the competition. As long as they keep building the talent strong and keep the storylines fresh and logical, they could be around for a bit still. Hopefully they can get a sponsor that would be willing to give them a cash infusion to help them stay afloat and start making some money.

 

[TellMeWhy]

I wish ROH could get some more big names like TNA does. Jerry Lynn is cool but it's just not enough. I'm not saying they should bring in a number of big names in the company like TNA but adding a well known guy or 2 like an Umaga or Kennedy could really let people know what the name ROH is and may even start to follow it. I'd prefer them to do that then to spend money on Ric Flair who cannot even compete for them. I understand that ROH is about breeding new guys but so was the original ECW and even they mixed it up and brought in guys like Sid Vicious, Bam Bam Bigelow, The American Dream Dusty Rhodes and Scott Hall.

But yeah, Nigel leaving is a bigger loss than Danielson. Nigel had much more to contribute and had a character that you can mold into different angles. There was just plenty in the tank left that McGuiness could have done to fulfill in ROH. Danielson was pretty much done with ROH. It seemed as if he was just coasting and had nothing much left to prove. I would have preferred for him to go to TNA and have a dream match with Kurt Angle but whatever. It would be nice to see WWE use him well but I doubt it.

In all, it's not the end for ROH. They've got guys like Hero and Claudio that they can build up. And they have young up and comers like Kenny King and Kenny Omega. And they still have the rest of the indies to run to. So in all, I think they'll make it

Man, I wish I could sympathize with you. I wish someone could record the RoH stuff for me to DVD so I could watch the HD Net stuff as I have seen none of it because I don't get it for some reason!

ROH has an entire youtube channel that shows their entire TV shows in it's entirety. This person uploads the shows every Friday on youtube for you to see. You can watch the first ROH HDNET episode down onto the latest. So now there's no excuse as to why you can't watch ROH.

Here goes the person's channel:http://www.youtube.com/rohbrazil

 

[theviolentmessiah]

I think people have miss the point a little here, ROH has never had the top talent, they've never hired big names other than for a few special appearances. What ROH has done over the years is make names, not take them. ROH made Danielson, they made Joe, they made Punk, they made McGuinness, they made Low Ki. I have every faith that ROH will utilise the talent is has to put on the best show and make the next stars of the future. ROH has been so successful at making stars so far I see no reason they cant continue, its not like they're lacking in depth on their rosters of people who could easily grab a push and run with it. ROH will never die due to loss of a name, ROH made Danielson and McGuinness, McGuinnes and Danielson did not make ROH.

 

[Greenlight13]

Read this whole post before calling it spam.

I agree with theviolentmessiah. WWE isn't very good at making new stars. Years ago wrestlers got their seasoning in the indies and in territories. They got years of grappling experience under their belts, learning how to perform in front of a crowd, finely tuning their instincts so that if a spot gets blown they can hide it and carry on regardless. They'd wrestle in Mexico, Europe and Japan and get a feel for every style. Then they'd move up to WWF or WCW and the global audience would be seeing them as brand new, fresh out of wrestling school talents who happened to be really good.

Now that WWE has swallowed up the majority of the territories and the NWA has died that just doesn't happen anymore. Most of their new guys come from their own developmental leagues and I'm sorry but a year or two in FCW doesn't give you the same skills as travelling the country or even the world does. Jericho did it and look how good he is.

ROH however has over the years taken indie wrestlers and elevated them to be superstars. Originally it was meant to be like indie-all-stars wrestling. A lot of their guys have wrestled all over the country and all over the world. CM Punk walked into the WWE and has captured title after title on his way to the main event scene. To the casual fan he was a rookie no different to say Cody Rhodes. But look at which one is far and away better in terms of in ring ability and star presence. It's the guy who came from the indies, came from ROH.

I know I've sort of trailed of topic a bit but I am going somewhere with this.

What I'm getting at is that ROH builds stars in a way WWE and to a lesser extent TNA don't. Austin Aries was just a hot young star a few years ago and now he's an really good heel champion that could make it in TNA with ease and if given a shot in WWE could probably do some good things there too. He's a new age Ric Flair in terms of how he's booked (I'm not saying he's as good, calm down). Nigel was just another European wrestler and during his time in ROH he became a main event player that got interest from TNA and WWE. ROH helped the careers of Brian Kendrick, Paul London, Matt Sydal, Samoa Joe, Jay Lethal, Alex Shelley and more.

The guys that WWE and TNA have come calling for in the last few months were guys at the lower end of the card in ROH a mere few years ago and so to that end I think ROH will elevate the next generation of guys. Kenny King will win gold in one of the top two, bank on that. Rhett Titus could be a solid mid-carder. Tyler Black, Chris Hero and Davey Richards have all turned down contract offers. Kenny Omega is coming into his own. El Generico will shine now he's out on his own. Roderick Strong is at the top of his game. Claudio Castagnoli could main event any of the three companies. And they're bringing in new talent every few months.

So to sum up this very long post, it is a road block because they basically lost their top heel and face at the same time, but they're all set for a new generation of heel champions and in time they'll make another face who will later become globally recognised in WWE or TNA.