ROH Titles

[The Summer of Muskrat XVII]

They really, really need to pull back on ROH title defenses on AEW. Right now, you're watering down all your belts by having both promotions titles defended on a regular basis on AEW. I was okay with Kingston vs Claudio being for the belt, because that feud built for ages and it felt logical to have the belt on the line but that should be the exception not the rule. Stuff like Joe vs Titus or Hung Bucks vs Hardyz/Zay shouldn't be on AEW TV, it makes title shots seem meaningless. Especially with them acknowledging belts from other promotions, having ROH titles as regular features on AEW just becomes too much.

And I'm not saying you can't/shouldn't put the belts on AEW stars, or use ROH champs on AEW TV but the title defenses on AEW should be few and far between with good story justification for why the defense is happening on AEW not ROH.

[uewfigfed]

They need to do away with ROH as a whole. Unify the titles for the lineage, and be done with it

[KME]

One of my favourite moments at Wembley was MJF and Cole against Aussie Open getting the show started, was some of the best atmosphere on the whole night, would have never happened without the ROH belts, and Eddie beating Claudio was one of my favourite of the year full stop. We don't get full on programs around the ROH belts so I don't really see an issue.

I didn't like them randomly adding Joe vs Shane Taylor to All Out, that's where I personally draw the line, because I had no idea why it was added and would have rather something with actual AEW relevance made it on the show, but the belts are whatever to me. They have an enormous roster, a lot of belts going around never made much difference to how I see the show. Belts are just props, if I'm getting great matches and moments I couldn't care less whether a belt from another brand/promotion/whatever was involved. Why would Joe in a glorified squash be affected in any way because his ROH belt is on the line? Like...people say they dilute the other belts, but is anyone really claiming with a straight face that MJF, Orange Cassidy, Christian, FTR or whoever's reigns recently were hurt by the ROH Titles? Feels like something people say but there's basically no evidence of.

[schizo]

For the longest time I thought the the bucks and Page were the AEW trios Champions, then they were advertising a AEW trios match that didn’t involve them and was confused, till I realized they were the ROH Trios Champs. Like seriously? This is becoming worse than the WWE 2001 invasion where there was another promotions set of titles and anyone could win them anytime and just became to much to keep track. And worse part is it doesn’t look like it’s ending anytime soon. There’s no defending this, just put ROH on the shelve, get rid of their titles and just focus on the AEW belts. to many belts just devalue all the belts because now seems like everyone is Champion now

[Mozenrath]

It doesn't bother me, particularly when it's clear something's changing with how Honor Club works, which gives the impression ROH itself is going to be handled differently in one fashion or another, so yeah, it makes sense it's going to be given some focus.

["Evil Brood" Jackson Vanik]

I don't know. I loved seeing Eddie win the ROH Title at Grand Slam. It's fine.

[Xxcjb01xX [PIECE OF: SH-]]

I feel like we seriously get an Anti-ROH thread like this every few weeks. Not even from the OPs intention, it's just a way to invite posters into an ROH centric thread that might have a fair criticism just for people to say "I hate ROH so because I hate it AEW should do away with it", like every time.

And they always end the same, ROH is a product people are enjoying, that needs a broader reach, and in order to get that broader reach they need to actively try and advertise the product and the titles for potential future deals, and have a standout roster, which the champions are, it might be one of ROH's best champion lineups ever constructed at the moment

They clearly differentiate who the AEW and ROH champs are and why each belt matters or is different than the others. Acclaimed remind everyone how long their title reign is weekly (To the point they're having a 69th day celebration), The Elite being Six Man champions for ROH plays directly into the storyline with Hangman and Swerve because they took those belts from the Mogul Embassy

It's not like everything is happening for no reason or without merit on the TV programs or the belts aren't being used with some purpose when they are on screen, Kingston's is embroiled in an ongoing storyline on TV, The Elite's are based in storyline, the ROH Tag Belts belong to one of the most compelling wrestling storylines of the last year, to simply say "Do away with them, merge them, it's all too confusing" to me is missing the entire point of them, and also ignoring that for all things considered, they've done an absolutely fine job in displaying these belts and making them feel different than AEW's titles themselves.

[Deleted]

ROH has likely been my biggest disappointment when it comes to AEW...I've always contemplated if ROH was Khan's original purchase goal before ALL IN as he has stated he was going to start a fed anyway...Either way it's definitely not the company I fell in love with in the early 2000s much like WWECW was to ECW.

[clifford]

I've just made peace with it at this stage lol

[Von Wagner's Brownies]

I honestly don't mind it since I don't have Honor Club and I'd rather not pay for another subscription-based thing, my problem with the titles is too much silver.

The world title should not be silver.

[KME]

Oct 30, 2023 11:42:51 GMT -5 schizo said:

For the longest time I thought the the bucks and Page were the AEW trios Champions, then they were advertising a AEW trios match that didn’t involve them and was confused, till I realized they were the ROH Trios Champs. Like seriously? This is becoming worse than the WWE 2001 invasion where there was another promotions set of titles and anyone could win them anytime and just became to much to keep track. And worse part is it doesn’t look like it’s ending anytime soon. There’s no defending this, just put ROH on the shelve, get rid of their titles and just focus on the AEW belts. to many belts just devalue all the belts because now seems like everyone is Champion now

On the first bit...If you've missed shows, which you must have done to not know the match was announced or that they'd won the belts, or heard it announced that they're the ROH champions not AEW ever since, like what are you expecting? Skip any episodes of virtually any TV show and there are going to be things that take you off guard.

I can definitely get why it would be confusing if someone said "so and so are challenging/won for the trios titles" and didn't specify which ones, having two of that type of title is unusual and it's probably why they'd never used the ROH Six Man belts on TV before now, but even then logic would dictate that The Elite didn't just randomly go after The Acclaimed, a fellow face team, for no apparent reason, and that it would be far more likely that bearing in mind Hangman is feuding with the Mogul Embassy leader that they probably won *their* belts.

AEW seem to get this a lot, and I'm not having a pop at you personally, people not watching the shows then complaining they don't understand what's going on. That's not on AEW, it really isn't.

[CeilingFan]

ROH Titles should be defended on ROH shows.

[UN PLOMBIER NIGHTMARE #blm]

they're fine but titles shouldn't be fine, they should be prestigious. first thing that comes to mind is occasional videos about the history of each belt but then we loop back around to certain AEW titles that hardly get much play these days. not a good situation that is for sure but there could be improvements if they decide to make some

[Facetious]

I just wish the ROH show got as much focus from its champs than AEW's shows did.

[Bo Rida]

The ideal is the world, mid-card, tag set-up, it means more to be a champion.
There's seemingly too many wrestlers and hours for the biggest companies to do that now but more titles needs to be handled in away there's a clear heirarchy and reason for their existence. The best was when NXT back when big names would leave without ever winning a title because it means more. You lose the big title match and you may never have another chance.

Now the young Bucks can lose the aew trios titles and win the roh trios and also get a shot at the tag titles. There's no consequences to losing.
In kayfabe I'm not sure if The Acclaimed are supposed to be the better team because they have the "top" belts or if Hung Bucks are really the better team due to all their accomplishments and history.

The midcard is even more of a mess. Roh world, tnt, international, pure, TV. Ask people to rank the heirarchy of those titles and you'll get many different answers and they'd probably change depending on who holds them and recent booking. Joe could become aew champion while midcard roh champion. It's a mess. It's not even all the titles featured. There's also a question of why all these champions can appear in aew regularly but Athena doesn't.

They should be used sparingly in aew. The roh tag title use served it's purpose but needs to go soon and Eddie Vs Claudio was fine. But they should feel like when other companies titles appear, separate, aew is just hosting the match because their wrestler won it on their day off. Right now the tag and trio belts in particular feel like a permanent second set of titles and I hate that.

[Denny Zen is Cooking™]

I don't necessarily hate it, and I think it is a major component of AEW's separate and distinct feel from WWE that other companies' championships are defended on AEW television so frequently. In many ways it makes AEW feel more important because it showcases talent and championships from around the world. 

The issue is that I think that the major criticism of AEW's booking is that, far too often, matches happen with no rhyme or reason just for the sake of having a "dream match." Having the ROH titles defended on AEW television is a crutch for that. As has already been mentioned "Shane Taylor vs. Samoa Joe is randomly happening on a PPV now, but it's cool because it's for the ROH TV Title" is not a really satisfying build for a PPV match. 

In short, I guess I currently have no issue at all with the ROH Tag Titles having a place on AEW television because they have such a clear role in MJF's storyline of being overextended and having about a million targets on his back. The other ROH titles just feel like they're only featured on AEW television as a convenient excuse to give the Elite, Kingston, and occasionally Shibata excuses to have random matches to pad shows. That I don't care for, even if the matches are usually really good. 

[Finish Uncle Muffin’s Story]

Oct 30, 2023 13:02:16 GMT -5 Denny Zen is Cooking™ said:

I don't necessarily hate it, and I think it is a major component of AEW's separate and distinct feel from WWE that other companies' championships are defended on AEW television so frequently. In many ways it makes AEW feel more important because it showcases talent and championships from around the world. 

The issue is that I think that the major criticism of AEW's booking is that, far too often, matches happen with no rhyme or reason just for the sake of having a "dream match." Having the ROH titles defended on AEW television is a crutch for that. As has already been mentioned "Shane Taylor vs. Samoa Joe is randomly happening on a PPV now, but it's cool because it's for the ROH TV Title" is not a really satisfying build for a PPV match. 

In short, I guess I currently have no issue at all with the ROH Tag Titles having a place on AEW television because they have such a clear role in MJF's storyline of being overextended and having about a million targets on his back. The other ROH titles just feel like they're only featured on AEW television as a convenient excuse to give the Elite, Kingston, and occasionally Shibata excuses to have random matches to pad shows. That I don't care for, even if the matches are usually really good. 

Agreed.

I also think it's kind of silly that we haven't seen Athena show up on AEW television a ton despite her big ROH Women's Title run given how much we've seen of other ROH champions on TV. It's one of those "if a tree falls in the forest..." kind of things where yes, she'll show up on AEW TV in a few months and Excalibur will scream and shout about her, but this title run happened in front of like 1/10th of AEW's audience and she's lost 2/3rds of the AEW matches she's had in 2023. I'm not exactly sure being the champ has been a huge help to her stock in AEW.

[Denny Zen is Cooking™]

Oct 30, 2023 13:13:03 GMT -5 Finish Uncle Muffin’s Story said:

Oct 30, 2023 13:02:16 GMT -5 Denny Zen is Cooking™ said:

I don't necessarily hate it, and I think it is a major component of AEW's separate and distinct feel from WWE that other companies' championships are defended on AEW television so frequently. In many ways it makes AEW feel more important because it showcases talent and championships from around the world. 

The issue is that I think that the major criticism of AEW's booking is that, far too often, matches happen with no rhyme or reason just for the sake of having a "dream match." Having the ROH titles defended on AEW television is a crutch for that. As has already been mentioned "Shane Taylor vs. Samoa Joe is randomly happening on a PPV now, but it's cool because it's for the ROH TV Title" is not a really satisfying build for a PPV match. 

In short, I guess I currently have no issue at all with the ROH Tag Titles having a place on AEW television because they have such a clear role in MJF's storyline of being overextended and having about a million targets on his back. The other ROH titles just feel like they're only featured on AEW television as a convenient excuse to give the Elite, Kingston, and occasionally Shibata excuses to have random matches to pad shows. That I don't care for, even if the matches are usually really good. 

Agreed.

I also think it's kind of silly that we haven't seen Athena show up on AEW television a ton despite her big ROH Women's Title run given how much we've seen of other ROH champions on TV. It's one of those "if a tree falls in the forest..." kind of things where yes, she'll show up on AEW TV in a few months and Excalibur will scream and shout about her, but this title run happened in front of like 1/10th of AEW's audience and she's lost 2/3rds of the AEW matches she's had in 2023. I'm not exactly sure being the champ has been a huge help to her stock in AEW.

Oh, people like Ethan Page and Athena being stuck on ROH island is my single biggest grievance with AEW's general booking right now.

[Xxcjb01xX [PIECE OF: SH-]]

Oct 30, 2023 13:02:16 GMT -5 Denny Zen is Cooking™ said:

I don't necessarily hate it, and I think it is a major component of AEW's separate and distinct feel from WWE that other companies' championships are defended on AEW television so frequently. In many ways it makes AEW feel more important because it showcases talent and championships from around the world. 

The issue is that I think that the major criticism of AEW's booking is that, far too often, matches happen with no rhyme or reason just for the sake of having a "dream match." Having the ROH titles defended on AEW television is a crutch for that. As has already been mentioned "Shane Taylor vs. Samoa Joe is randomly happening on a PPV now, but it's cool because it's for the ROH TV Title" is not a really satisfying build for a PPV match. 

In short, I guess I currently have no issue at all with the ROH Tag Titles having a place on AEW television because they have such a clear role in MJF's storyline of being overextended and having about a million targets on his back. The other ROH titles just feel like they're only featured on AEW television as a convenient excuse to give the Elite, Kingston, and occasionally Shibata excuses to have random matches to pad shows. That I don't care for, even if the matches are usually really good. 

Eddie and Lethal seem to be having a legit feud for the belt though that's spanning several characters, doesn't feel like it's padding it feels like a legit run that's giving him and the belt some good credibility having to deal with Lethal's goon squad

I can agree on if the title matches for the sake of having a defense can be annoying though, but they seem to have dialed that back with some like Shibata, and are making it a point likely to have The Elite wrestle on TV with them because Swerve and the Mogul Embassy are still on their haunches (As the Six Man win transitioned immediately into the home invasion angle)

[Xxcjb01xX [PIECE OF: SH-]]

Oct 30, 2023 12:43:16 GMT -5 CeilingFan said:

ROH Titles should be defended on ROH shows.

One of the coolest things about AEW is you can have multiple belts from multiple promotions showcased on the program and defended, not just ROH but New Japan, AAA, now even CMLL titles, along with other promotions belts being showcased like even WAVE, TJPW, or Impact. There hasn't been a promotion that's been able to feasibly do this in a long time if ever at this point with the number of belts that have been shown.

This sentiment bugs me because it's really just going against the very identity AEW is, which is, they have their own home territory belts, but other belts are free to be not only shown, but defended on AEW television and within their territory, it shows there's a wider world out there.

We don't need ROH to be hidden away on Honor Club, especially when all the champions are AEW employees trying to put more stock into the brand for a deal. Doing this would be counterproductive to a lot of things, and that's why it bugs me when people share this sentiment. I get if you aren't personally enjoying ROH but many wrestlers are benefitting from it being a thing and relying on exposure like these tapings and the belts being showcased like this to help the brand in the most reliable way that Tony can until it could get picked up for something in the future.

Idk, this is the kind of stuff that makes AEW feel unpredictable and exciting to me personally, I'd hate to see it go away.