Please…Don’t Hate 7.06.08: Everything Else But ROH (Ring of Honor)

Last week’s topic: The “New” ECW

rey (Guest) comments:

then you have the samrts/IWC’s tendency to crap all over anything that happens today and glorify everything that happened yesterday. 5 years from now, the iwc is going to relishing this version of ecw and crapping on what is current. it is just their nature.

I agree with this sometimes sad, but true reality. I LOVED the original ECW. I became a fan around early 98′ and was hooked until their demise in 01′. When they teased of their return with the whole “Invasion” storyline in WWE, I was excited to see the brand brought back to life. But shortly after this idea fizzled out, I realized that the resurrection was just not meant to be. So when ECW came back AGAIN at the first One Stand Night and then the “final” time with the re-establishment of being a brand today, while I jumped up again for joy I just couldn’t bring myself to believe that it was the same as the original. So it’s understandable that people may have believed that the original brand was really back, but the true reality for some should have sunk in sooner than this. People can understandingly be mad at Vince McMahon for semi-pulling the wool over their eyes, but they should get over it and enjoy the “new” ECW for what it is and not hate on it for what it isn’t.

Brother Love (Guest) comments:

ECW’s name should’ve been left alone. As a line that’s often said on Zombie fan-boards, “Sometimes, just staying dead is better.”

It’s interesting that the reader above thinks that WCW would have made for a better “comeback” company than ECW. I loved WCW for the most part when it was on and, like I mentioned with ECW above, got excited when Vince brought the company back to life right after its buyout. While the idea of a separate WCW show may have exciting at the time that same mentality that was mentioned in the comments above, with viewers tuning in to see what type of train wreck will happen, wouldn’t have gained as many viewers as ECW just for that fact. If you recall when Vince had a brief “WCW-only” match during Raw (you know the infamous one with Buff Bagwell and Booker T), there was so much uncomfortable silence heard throughout the area during it that the idea was announced dead on arrival. But with ECW, Vince saw that “The Rise and Fall of ECW” DVD had record-breaking sales and that the crowd at One Night Stand (almost 5 years after ECW’s death) were still cheering even louder than ever for their favorite brand. So it was pretty academic that Vince would try to bring back ECW over WCW. So even if it ended up not living up to the original (no surprise there), you have to look at the facts on why Vince decided to take advantage of a brand name that he owns. Morally-wise (from a wrestling’s fan POV) it of course was kind of wrong for him to “pimp out” a once prominent name, but business-wise, it was one of the best moves that Vince McMahon has made in a long time.

Would you hate on the WWE, but not on CM Punk IN the WWE? We shall see.

-Cause there’s not enough wrestling on their shows
-Too much silliness with angles and backstage skits
-Too many gimmick matches
-Their overall quality of matches aren’t as good when compared to ROH/Independents

So from 2005 on, I’ve brought WAY too many ROH DVDs to even count. I watched the entire awesome “CM Punk Farewell Saga”, in which Punk turned heel after he won the ROH Title and threatened to take it with him to the WWE, seen almost everyone’s “Best Of” DVD (A.J. Styles, Spanky, etc), ordered some of their most recent PPVs, and attended a couple of their live shows (which were breathtaking). So with all of this love for ROH, why do I dare to ask people not to hate on everything else but the constantly great promotion? These are the reasons why.

First and foremost, people really shouldn’t totally crap on the WWE as the “evil, corporate anti-Christ wrestling promotion” when compared to ROH. Straight off the bat, haters are quick to point out the common faults associated with WWE when compared. These include: lower match quality, silly angles/characters, lack of overall in-ring wrestling, too many gimmicks, and the list could go on forever. People can debate for days about the big company’s issues, but at the same time, they shouldn’t take away from the fact that if it wasn’t for the WWE, then there might not be a ROH.

No matter what the haters’ current opinions are on the company, they have to give the WWE their due for everything good that they’ve have done throughout the years. Some ROH viewers want to down the company and call it a piece of crap promotion, but yet they see some of their main event stars aspiring to make it big one day in the WWE. Whether they want to admit it or not, every wrestler seems to dream of making it to the grand stage of the WWE. True, people like Jamie Noble, Paul London and Brian Kendrick finally made it to the big show only to be made into primary jobbers, but the few great matches that they’ve had in WWE has definitely made them known amongst more people in the mainstream audience than just in the much smaller ROH community. They weren’t expecting to be automatically placed in the main event or be able to put on one hour bouts, but when handed the ball for big or little matches, they make the best of it.

A PERFECT example of a ROH-er making it big is with this week’s shocking event of ROH favorite CM Punk winning the WWE’s World Heavyweight Title. I’m 200% sure that everyone and anyone who’s been a fan of his since day one were shaking their heads in amazement and clapping their hands with the sight of the once small-time independent wrestler coming up throughout the years to finally be awarded one of the industry’s biggest prizes. For these kinds of moments, you can’t really stay angry with the WWE, especially with them giving Punk the chance to make himself a household name.

As for TNA Wrestling, I truly believe that the ROH/Independent Wrestling viewers REALLY shouldn’t hate on the company as they would the WWE. When people look past the promotion’s often stated flaws, they should realize that TNA is really a mid-ground between WWE and ROH. Not to down on the company’s good attempts at trying to establish its own identity but bluntly putting it, TNA is really like a good combination of ROH-type wrestling with WWE-style production. Haters should see that it’s a good thing to watch a nice majority of ROH/independent wrestlers bring their A-game on prime-time TV. Seeing great talents like Alex Shelley, Jimmy Rave, and hell even the Dragon Gate duo in the recent World X Cup being discovered by new people is a awesome thing to witness. On top of this, while some people don’t really mind it at all, you have to admit that sometimes it’s a lot better seeing a higher quality production onscreen of promos taking place in backstage interview areas/dressing rooms and matches taking place in bigger areas than seeing, no offense whatsoever, interviews with a hot-dog stand in the background or matches taking place in a high-school gym. I personally don’t mind it at all because ROH/independents are making the best of what they have, but sometimes I want to see the “WWE-type” look when watching the shows.

Now with ALL of the laundry list items of things people claimed that both major companies (TNA/WWE) have done and/or continue to do poorly, which include: lack of division creditability (tag team, cruiserweight), silly characters/angles, not enough wrestling, etc, you have to truly understand that no company is perfect. Not even ROH. While Ring of Honor definitely has the advantage when it comes to putting on five-star wrestling clinics, it just doesn’t hold a candle to the big two in terms of “bigger than life” storylines, crazy gimmick matches, and major PPV shows. While I can depend on ROH to give me a good show almost every time I watch, when I feel like watching something crazy and different like an Elimination Chamber match or want to feel the excitement and well-booked build up to a major card like Wrestlemania, I just can’t get the same feeling from ROH nor the independent circuit. ROH knows its limits and isn’t trying to be something that it isn’t by having overrated hype or extravagant productions, but one shouldn’t hate on the bigger promotions just because it’s not the same. WWE has their niche, TNA has their niche, and ROH definitely has their own niche. So you really shouldn’t compare “apples to apples” when one of them may be a totally different fruit.

You can beat the excitement and enthusiasm of Wrestlemania, PEROID. Every wrestler wants to be there, every company wants to emulate it (TNA: Bound for Glory, ROH: Final Battle), and every viewer, WWE hater or not, ends up watching it. Even if every match on the card doesn’t turn out great, the guaranteed big time atmosphere of Wrestlemania easily makes it one of a kind and is worth checking out every single year.

(Wrestlemania 24: Edge vs Undertaker Promo)

Best Gimmick Matches

This may sound a little corny and anti-wrestling like, but you gots to love some of the gimmick matches that the WWE has always managed to think of in the last decade or so. Casket Match, Hell In A Cell, Buried Alive, Last Man Standing, The Elimination Chamber (for crying out loud), all don’t particularly show the best display of wrestling skills, but all prove to be just great inventive ways of entertaining the crowds.

(Elimination Chamber Promo)

Going From The Independents to The Big Top

5 years ago, who would have truly thought that ROH veterans CM Punk and Samoa Joe would actually be top champions for the big two major wrestling promotions? Samoa Joe came through TNA Wrestling like a crazy storm by taking out almost all of the top X-Division members with winning the title multiple times and then eventually (albeit a little slower than expected) moving on to win the TNA World Title from the well-established Kurt Angle. On top of this, Joe’s frequent ROH opponent CM Punk also started with a nice winning streak of his own in the “new” ECW, became champ there, and shocked the world this week with his winning of the World Heavyweight Champion. Having two former ROH champs in top positions of the two major wrestling companies in the country is definitely something that nobody should hate on.

(Samoa Joe’s First Promo as TNA Champ)

(CM Punk Cashes In To Win World Heavyweight Title in WWE)

So overall, I’m really not asking anyone to completely stop criticizing the WWE or TNA because that seems like it will never stop, but instead to not put all of the hate more on one place than another. Every wrestling promotion has their flaws with some specifically being more than others. So if you watch all three promotions, don’t squarely blame one more than the other. And if you are solely a ROH watcher who constantly hates on the big two, stop complaining so much about their operations and just realize that their product is way different than “yours” and in fact provides various and sometimes better opportunities for those wrestlers who want to jump on board.