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Our first email comes from one of my regular correspondents, Suzanne Abshire:
Hi Stuart,
HI!
After reading that the Canadian fans crapped all over the ROH show because of the cheap finishes and you pointing out that in the ROH Pure Rules matches they had countouts do you think that if they changed the Standard Rules in matches to the Pure Rules that it would work so Adam would have a little more freedom in his booking and not piss off the fans in the process?
While I am in favor of bringing back the Pure Title, in no way do I ever see ROH making all matches under Pure rules, nor do I think it would be a remotely good idea. In much the same way ROH is a niche promotion, the Pure Title was a niche within that niche. Now that they’re going to TV, I’m not even sure how the Pure Title would get over with a broader TV audience. I wouldn’t be against them trying it to see how it works, but making all matches under Pure rules? Not a good idea.
Also why would Gabe been against having wrestlers imput in his booking? He learned his booking style from Paul Heyman who got wrestlers imput all the time.
I don’t think it was so much that Gabe was against input from the wrestlers because he has used stuff they came up with in the past, but I think there was more of a feeling that when Gabe was in charge, it was his vision and he knew where he was going with storylines and while he might incorporate ideas from the wrestlers into his own vision, he more or less kept the process to himself. The feeling I get now is that Adam Pearce does have the final say like Gabe, but he has something of an inner circle of guys whose opinions are respected enough that they have some degree of stroke.
Lastly if I read the news correctly that ROH was going to have a On Demand Classics service like WWE does, so my question is this just for Direct TV or are the cable companies that already carry the ROH PPV's going to be getting this service too? If so when and how much will it cost?
I haven’t heard this, and frankly ROH doesn’t have enough of a history yet that they can offer an on-demand channel of their own. I think that what they’d do better to try, especially now that they’re going to be exposed to a much larger audience, is to try and beef up their rohvideos.com section to flesh out the history of ROH to people who either haven’t followed religiously or are completely new to the product.
Next up is Christopher Dean, who has some good ideas:
Once again for a guy that sees few ROH shows out her in L.A. you are able to give me a clear concise view into the goings of that company. I wasn't around when the Pure title was in it's heyday but now there seem to be a lot of guys on the card that have nothing to do so let's give them a goal if they can't be World Champ or contenders for it. Also I like the idea of new teams as I have only watched ROH for about a year via ppv and they need to freshen things up a bit. I would like to see the Briscoes as heels as only to further their storyline and for Steen and Generico to hold the belts for awhile as to get Steen his inevitable push into a singles star. Not my favorite wrestler but the potential is evident with the reaction he gets from the crowd. Heck after he feuds with Generico why don't they team Generico with Delerious lol. Oh and the Shimmer belt should be a regular feature and now that the promotion has a focus with a World and tag belts maybe you can get in more than four girls on the card. Although more of Lace isn't a bad thing lol. Speaking of which one question was Lacey's appearance a one time thing or is she coming back to the business after she finishes up school? Thanks for the info and Happy Holidays!
I think the idea of having a secondary title is something that was kind of lost on Gabe Sapolsky. Gabe didn’t like secondary titles because he thought of them as consolation prizes when everybody’s goal should be the World Title. I see where he’s coming from with that, but I like the point you make about giving the guys who aren’t in the World Title picture something to shoot for. Yes, everybody’s goal should be to become World Champion, but realistically speaking, not everybody’s World Title caliber, and even if they have the potential to one day be, they need something to work their way there. In other sports, there are mid-level or regional titles that people can win on their way to the top, and they’re not generally going to pass up an opportunity at a lower level title just because it’s not their ultimate goal.
As for Lacey, I think she’s pretty much done in the business. I don’t know for sure, but the impression I get is the return in the Jimmy-Aries blowoff was a one-time thing. She may come back down the line at some point, but I would say not to expect her around again anytime soon.
Next up is Gregory Davis, who wants to talk some SHIMMER:
As the Elite Message Board's number one SHIMMER mark, I wanted to offer some feedback on your preview of the SHIMMER Championship match.
First, you pointed out that Dave Prazak would want to keep continuity in the storylines, and thus that means MsChif will retain. That's not really accurate, as there has been plenty of continuity in this storyline. After losing the title, in a match where the fans seemed to turn on her, Del Rey developed a darker, more vicious character. In an ROH Video Wire segment, she demanded her title shot, but was held back by Larry Sweeney, saying that it wasn't time yet. Since then, she's been given opponents that are "beneath her", in both ROH and SHIMMER rings, and destroyed them. Heck, Sweeney himself actually appeared in Berwyn last month to announce that her rematch would be in an ROH ring. So, from the viewpoint of a SHIMMER fan, this match makes 100% perfect sense (except for MsChif's role in AOTF).
Next, you were concerned about upsetting the SHIMMER fanbase with a title change outside of the Berwyn Eagle's Club, specifically mentioning the economy. At the current schedule, there are only six SHIMMER DVDs released a year. There have been about 35 ROH shows this year alone. SHIMMER DVDs are not putting a huge hole in our pockets the way ROH DVDs do. We can afford one more DVD (or in this case, a PPV purchase). In addition, this won't have an affect on the SHIMMER shows themselves. SHIMMER sells on it's name alone. In the four DVD tapings in Berwyn since the crowning of a champion, only one title match has been announced ahead of time (Del Rey vs. Kong @ Vol 15). And three of those tapings sold out. We get fans from all over the country and the world. Heck, at the last taping, I gave a ride to a fan who was visiting from the UK. He came specifically for this show! Basically, SHIMMER fans are attending these shows without knowledge, or care, of what the title matches may be.
I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing. In a lot of ways, ROH sells on name value alone, but they do benefit when they announce big matches ahead of time. I guess when you’re taping two shows a night you can’t give too much away because you don’t want to spoil what’s happening in the first taping, but at least announcing one or two matches ahead of time couldn’t hurt.
Now, with all that in mind, I will say that SHIMMER fans will be POed if the title changes hands in ROH. We have not been thrilled with the way women's matches have been done this year in that promotion. Most have been only a few minutes long, and the reputation is that ROH fans don't really care for women's wrestling. So to have them receive a rare title change could be seen as insulting. Nonetheless, I won't be that upset. The show is in Chicago, aka SHIMMER-country, so many SHIMMER fans have a chance to easily witness this match, and it's a PPV title match with a long build, so I have every reason to believe it will be given plenty of time.
But that doesn’t change the fact that the SHIMMER Title is not an ROH title, it’s a SHIMMER title and title changes, except on rare occasions, should take place in SHIMMER. I know when I was sitting in the Manhattan Center watching Erick Stevens beat Roderick Strong for the FIP Title, I was wondering why two of the four FIP title changes up to that point happened outside of FIP, and thought it showed a lack of respect to the importance and/or viability of FIP (or in this case, SHIMMER) if it’s basically being treated as ROH’s version of Sunday Night Heat.
And that's it on the SHIMMER match. One other thing I wanted to point out was that you completely skipped over an important aspect of the I Quit match. A mystery person will accompany Austin Aries to the ring. I personally hope it's Lacey, but it could be a number of people. It really should have been covered.
Thanks for the preview, as I'll be at tomorrow's show.
Come on, I think I’m pretty complete in my coverage of ROH, are you really going to gripe over that one little detail? Geez!
Now let’s go to my old buddy A. Russo, who is thinking about our former booker’s future career prospects:
What's good? I read your latest column, good stuff. Maybe TNA should consider hiring Gabe Sapolsky because that episode last night was pretty lame. That creative team could use some new ideas.
I think that if Gabe were given complete control of the product like he was in ROH, he could undoubtedly improve TNA immeasurably. He’s already shown that he’s got what it takes to successfully book an entertaining alternative to the WWE style, and a lot of former ROH talents are now working in TNA, so combining Gabe’s ability with basically having most of his pre-2007 crew back, I think it could work. Problem is, he’ll never have that kind of control because TNA’s gotten comfortable with their 1.x that they’re getting with Vince Russo booking, and they have a network to answer to, which ROH didn’t when Gabe was in charge. I think if Gabe were to successfully advance his career in wrestling anywhere it would have to be TNA, but I don’t see it happening anytime soon.
Joseph White sent me a pair of emails, one before and one after ROH’s return to Manassas back in January. Let’s see what he has to say:
(before Manassas)
Hi Stue this is Joe White and I have been subscribing to PWInsider for about tw years now. I enjoy your hotlines and columns. I do have one question for you. What do you think about ROH returning to VA as this will be their third time out there? Also will you be attending the show in Manassas?
I think it’s a good thing that ROH seems to have found a regular home in Virginia as they had gotten to a point where they needed to expand beyond the Northeast and upper Midwest. It seems to have worked out better for them than Florida did, because ROH has made Manassas a regular stop on their tour, while it doesn’t appear a return to Florida is imminent. It would be better if they found another market in the Mid Atlantic region to pair up with for Saturday shows so they didn’t have to run Friday in Virginia and then haul all the way up to Philly or New Jersey for the next night’s show.
(after Manassas)
That was my first ROH show and it was the best wresting event I have ever been to. I am just curious to see how they book it. Although to me it seems that if they are not running Chicago, Philly, NYC, or any other major city then the show just dosen't mean as much. Kinda like WWE house shows lol. Ur thoughts?
There is a noticeable difference between the shows in the B markets (usually Manassas, Connecticut, Boston, and formerly Long Island) and the shows you get in the A markets (New York, Chicago, Philly, New Jersey) and it’s even more obvious when the usual pattern is the B market show on Friday and the A market show on Saturday. I’m not exactly sure of the mentality behind the booking of the two shows each weekend, but it seems to me that traditionally, the Friday show has been more the “angle†show while Saturday is usually the “workrate†show. That’s not to say the angles or workrate is necessarily weak on either show, but that’s the way it seems to break down looking in from the outside.
Lance Smith wants to fill me in a bit on Kenny Omega:
Really enjoyed your comments. Just one thing, I'm a big Omega fan and I am certain when given the opportunity he will impress in the ring. If you haven't seen, the three way match with Danielson and Black was very good. Omega even took a wicked elbow from Danielson and got busted open. In singles matches with ROH he hasn't been given more than 8 minutes to work. Hopefully once he returns from Japan he will get more of an opportunity to perform.
I haven’t seen the three way, just the two matches in Philly and New York, so it looks like I’m going to have to wait and see just what Kenny Omega brings to the table. The entrance is a little overdramatic to me, but he does seem to connect with the crowd very well, so we’ll see.
Ben Mitchell has a pair of questions sent in separate emails, but combined here because I love the magic of editing:
-I love your coverage of ROH in the elite section of the website. Keep up the good work. Do you plan on attending/covering the TV tapings in Philly at the end of the month?
I am going to be in Philly both nights as well as Danbury the night before that. I’ve been looking forward to ROH getting TV for a long time, and I’m glad for the chance to be there for their first two TV tapings.
-just curious, where do you park at the Arena in Philly?
In the parking lot, of course!
John Hnatin responds to some stuff I talked about in a recent hotline on the Elite section:
I enjoyed your ROHotline. I very seldom listen to audio, but I had a few minutes tonight and chose yours.
Thank you very much!
I like your Stevie Richards idea.
Which, for those who haven’t heard the hotline, had Stevie putting over Nigel McGuinness in Philly, where he’s got something of a hometown connection. I think it would be great to have Nigel start picking up more wins over established national talent like he did with D’Lo, because it makes him look like he’s on the level of other national stars rather that just the champion of the #3 promotion in the country.
Also, I saw a Claudio / Hero match on video over the weekend and was amazed at how much more on both were then. You spoke of Claudio’s recent floundering, but Hero is also down a couple levels from where he should be. So, I like that tag team idea as well.
Well, since that hotline, it appears they’re now taking Claudio in a less violent direction and instead are now portraying him as more of an elitist European snob, which is more similar to what he was doing when he came in way back in 2005. They’re also giving him a chance to talk and show more personality, and I’ve really enjoyed the few promos I’ve seen from him this year. Chris Hero’s a very good promo too, and I have no idea why he needs a mouthpiece. Hopefully he’ll get away from Sweeney this year and get back on track as a top singles guy.
Even with just an hour, I hope the ROH TV matches are longer than 5 or 6 minutes.
I hope so too. I have a feeling what we’ll see is one or two shorter, enhancement-type matches and then a healthy length main event, with some video packages and live event hype thrown in between.
Back to A Russo, who wants to talk talent:
What's good? Now that Petey Williams is available, ROH should definitely sign him up. I don't know what TNA is thinking of, but he's a solid addition to any roster. I also like Bison Smith and even D-lo Brown. I've seen Bison's work throughout the years in Noah and I think he's a good fit. Anyway, keep up the good work and I got my tickets for the 2 Philly shows and the one in NYC.
I think bringing in Petey Williams is an excellent idea. He’s a guy who could come right in and immediately jump into the main event scene. He made that one appearance in ROH almost four years ago against AJ Styles and got the second biggest pop of the night after Punk’s title win. I would love to see him back.
But now that we’ve gone through the ROH topics of the quarter, I’ll turn my attention to some emails I’ve gotten about the Starrcade column and hotline series I’ve been doing. I’ll start with Darrell, who agrees with me on one of my more controversial opinions:
I just wanted to let you know that I completely agree with you regarding the Magnum TA vs. Tully Blanchard I Quit match being overrated. I remember seeing the conclusion of the match on one of the Crockett shows when I was a kid, and as I grew older I held it in reverance as this great match. Then, a few years ago I bought WWE's Bloodbath: The Greatest Steel Cage Matches, and I was estatic that the Magnum-Tully match was included.
After watching it though, I couldn't believe how short the match was. Without the benefit of seeing the months and months of their feud building, the match really isn't that exciting. Yes, the conclusion with Magnum jamming the shard of chair into Tully's skull and screaming, "Say it! Say it!" was a great moment, but as far as a match, it just doesn't live up to the legend.
Thanks for writing and recording interesting audio,
I actually had no idea until I wrote that how many people felt the same as me, that Magnum-Tully was overrated and, when taken out of context and left to stand on its own, just doesn’t live up to the hype. I may have used this analogy elsewhere, but I compare this to Wrestlemania 10, where the Shawn-Razor ladder match was amazing for its time, but just doesn’t stand up today while the Bret-Owen match still stands as one of the best matches in Wrestlemania history, and certainly one of the best of the year.
Jason M takes me to task for being lazy:
So I was wondering if you plan on continuing your "Looking Back at Starrcade" articles? I was patiently waiting for you to get to 97 and 98 but you never quite got there.
Thanks. :)
I do, in fact plan on resuming the Starrcade columns, I’ve had some personal life stuff going on that’s kept me from writing as much as I’d like lately, but I’m already working on the next batch which should be up on the site soon.
Speaking of Starrcade, David Houston has sent me a bunch of great emails about each installment of the Starrcade series that I’ve done, and while it’s far too much to post here (though I do appreciate it), he did send me a couple other emails which, again, are combined for simplicity’s sake:
-I meant to tell you before but your "Pet Peeves" column was dead on in so many ways I thought you were reading my mind. I have one that occurred to me that's really a combination of two: bad skits or repetitive video
packages between matches on ppv. I understand them and if done right they add to the overall show BUT must they show the same packages that we've seen for weeks on the television shows? WWE is a multi-million dollar company, can't they come up with different video packages. WWE and TNA kill me with the horribly acted skits (those irritate me on the shows, too). Someone at ROH must determine who can cut a promo, who can't, and act accordingly. Everyone shouldn't get the mike.
I agree about the video packages, I don’t mind something short to quickly recap the feud or whatever history, but in general I think the history packages and recaps get a little overwhelming, particularly in WWE. I have always felt that you don’t buy the PPVs for the stories, you buy them for the blowoff matches TO the stories.
As for bad skits and promos, I agree that some people are death on the mic, but they’re not going to get any better unless they get experience with it, and the only way they’re going to get the experience is by throwing a microphone in their hand. Some people never develop and that’s when you take the mic away, but you have to at least give people a chance.
-I heard your question on the mailbag this week about whether or not the Steiners ever beat Steve Williams and Terry Gordy. The answer is yes. They beat them on house shows, one of which I attended. I'm glad you asked that question because I've wondered for years what happened in that feud. It was red hot that summer and then damn near everybody was gone by the winter.
Well, there you go. I’m still not sure if this counts since I subscribe to the old adage, “If it didn’t happen on TV, it didn’t happen.†But you’re right, this was a feud that needed a big blowoff win for the Steiners and as best as I’ve been able to tell, that never happened.
But what is happening right now is the end of yet another mailbag column. I thank you all for reading and especially to the people who send in emails and give me material to respond to, thank you. If anybody else has any feedback to this or anything else I write, or just want to drop me a line with your thoughts on whatever, shoot me an email at stupwinsider@yahoo.com. Take care everybody, and I’ll see you soon!
