msc
Dennis Stamp
Posts: 4,559
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Post by msc on Oct 27, 2021 15:31:08 GMT -5
Bloody hell.
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Post by Ganon83 on Oct 27, 2021 15:37:23 GMT -5
Alvarez says that Sinclair has not cancelled ROH TV.
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Post by "Gizzark" Mike Wronglevenay on Oct 27, 2021 15:37:52 GMT -5
f***.
This would be terrible for the industry if this was it. And with so many other companies around, a lot of that talent may not be available any more by April.
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Post by raymondo316 on Oct 27, 2021 15:39:29 GMT -5
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Post by Error on Oct 27, 2021 15:40:54 GMT -5
I think WWE makes a big play to get it under their wing, but AEW could build a platform with AEW and ROH alone. Just me speculating, but Tony's hands may be tied on this matter. He may not be allowed to build his own streaming platform if his stuff is already on Fite and Bleacher Report/Warner streaming services. If that's the case, then its entirely up to them (Bleacher Report/Warnermedia). WWE likely has more leverage though considering they still operate the network internationally at the very least. I think at the very least he's scrambling to get the rights to All In
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Post by Natural Born Farmer on Oct 27, 2021 15:41:10 GMT -5
I imagine covid hurt them real bad last year. Zero events while paying talent to sit at home had to dig deep into their pockets. If I recall a lot of their talent was being paid right around $20k a year, and even the top guys were making in the low six figures. Still not cheap but those kind of costs are a drop in the bucket for a company like Sinclair.
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Post by BorneAgain on Oct 27, 2021 15:42:14 GMT -5
At the very least, I hope the female talent can get a spotlight in Impact; there's real solid peformers there that could really do some good in that division.
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Post by Natural Born Farmer on Oct 27, 2021 15:44:54 GMT -5
Wondering if it's coincidence the Briscoes showed up in a company outside of ROH for the first time in forever just a couple weeks before this went down.
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RKTaker
Bill S. Preston, Esq.
Posts: 16,329
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Post by RKTaker on Oct 27, 2021 15:51:59 GMT -5
That's a lot of talent that's going to be out of work for at least a few months, assuming they actually do come back. Unfortunately, AEW, NWA, and Impact can only bring on so many people and WWE has taken a "no more indie wrestlers" stance on new hires. to try to make this into a somewhat positive spin if ROH doesn’t come back there could be potentially another company that rises from this and there is still MLW, GCW, PWG that the wrestlers could potentially go to and rose that company up a bit
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Post by Natural Born Farmer on Oct 27, 2021 15:58:14 GMT -5
Come to think of it PCO also recently announced he wasn't resigning and would be making GCW his priority, which seemed like an odd move.
This might well have been in the works for awhile.
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chrom
Backup Wench
Master of the rare undecuple post
Posts: 87,124
Member is Online
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Post by chrom on Oct 27, 2021 16:00:03 GMT -5
Gah, talk about a huge blow to the company
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RKTaker
Bill S. Preston, Esq.
Posts: 16,329
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Post by RKTaker on Oct 27, 2021 16:00:22 GMT -5
Come to think of it PCO also recently announced he wasn't resigning and would be making GCW his priority, which seemed like an odd move. This might well have been in the works for awhile. could also be why ROH has allowed talent to work in other companies now
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dpg
Samurai Cop
Posts: 2,480
Member is Online
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Post by dpg on Oct 27, 2021 16:02:13 GMT -5
I doubt they'll be back I'm afraid, releasing the entire roster means they'll lose the cream, if they're lucky.
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Post by "Evil Brood" Jackson Vanik on Oct 27, 2021 16:03:08 GMT -5
I also get the optimism when people say the talent will be able to land on their feet and there are plenty of opportunities out there. And to an extent, that's true. There are contracts out there waiting to be signed. But it's not infinite and we've seen tons of talent released during the pandemic end up just largely leaving the industry. And it makes sense sadly. People have bills to pay and mouths to feed. Making it as an independent wrestler isn't easy. Some talent is going to leave ROH and never come back which sucks which is why I hope a company can come out of this and get a bigger foothold or financial backing and give these talents a place to work at an equivalent rate. As fans, if we find a product we like, just support it as much as you can.
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Post by HMARK Center on Oct 27, 2021 16:05:49 GMT -5
This is fascinating and potentially terrifying.
My hope is that them locking in a venue for April 2022 means they’re confident they’ll be back. I don’t know how much of the talent would stick around to find out once deals and payments are up at the end of March next year, but ROH’s product has, like others here have said, been one of the most consistently good shows in all of wrestling since mid to late 2019.
I fully admit that my heart does not break for Sinclair Broadcasting for a variety of reasons, so them getting hurt of late with their RSN issues doesn’t bring a tear to my eye, but obviously I don’t want to see the talent ROH has under contract left out in the cold, so the promotion coming back in April with a stable business model and some money to spend would be ideal, because yeah, the rest of the wrestling scene isn’t going to pick everybody up, unfortunately.
And just as a fan…shit, ROH is the reason I’m still invested in wrestling as an adult. I gave up on WWE multiple times over the years and fully gave up on them early in 2005; TNA would get me invested sometimes only to drive me away just as often. Having ROH as my primary promotion to watch and follow from 2004 through about 2010 or so was what really kept pro wrestling in my interests consistently as I got into and then graduated college, and while NJPW became my favorite promotion later on I will always have that gratitude to ROH as an entity.
All of that is to say: I really hope it doesn’t go away. I hope ROH survives in some way, shape, or form. I want it around for the sake of my nostalgic fandom, my genuine enjoyment of their distinctive current product, and most importantly for the overall health of the pro wrestling industry. We’ve been in a great age for people making a living in the industry; it does feel like there are more options available than there’s been since at least the 80s. But losing one of the destinations would be a big blow, and at a time when we need as many places open as possible, and at a time when ROH seemed committed to reinvigorating its women’s division, I really hope it doesn’t come to that.
…and most of all, if this does end up being the end of the road, holy *shit* please don’t let WWE buy the tape library.
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Post by A Platypus Rave is Correct on Oct 27, 2021 16:05:57 GMT -5
Folks talking about new AEW signings or really any new signing might be missing the plot cause the third/fourth biggest American company just dropping EVERYTHING like this…that’s not the greatest sign for the industry?? Particularly an industry that has less eyeballs on it in total than pretty much any other period outside of the dark ages in the mid 90’s It’s not so much even that was ROH, sadly, not being able to establish itself for a long time after raids, botched shows and lack of standout shows. For the most part, it felt like a lot of the industry raced passed it. Especially your Beyonds, your GCWs and Defys and even PWG to an extent. Yeah, I can't remember the last time I heard really anything from RoH, good or bad. Individual wrestlers I guess like Danhausen... but rarely the stuff I've seen of Danhausen have been what he's been doing in RoH.
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Post by CeilingFan on Oct 27, 2021 16:08:43 GMT -5
If they don't come back then it's really sad.
Bryan Danielson, Samoa Joe, and Seth Rollins were all World Champions in this company. AJ Styles and many others competed there. At one point they were considered the Number 2 Promotion in North America!
I still hope that they do the relaunch in April.
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Post by darbus alan on Oct 27, 2021 16:09:21 GMT -5
I imagine covid hurt them real bad last year. Zero events while paying talent to sit at home had to dig deep into their pockets. If I recall a lot of their talent was being paid right around $20k a year, and even the top guys were making in the low six figures. Still not cheap but those kind of costs are a drop in the bucket for a company like Sinclair. It's long been said that Sinclair has seen ROH as a cheap original content factory, and they're not going to let a global pandemic and a near-economic depression get in the way of ruthless capitalism.
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Mochi Lone Wolf
Fry's dog Seymour
Development through Destruction.
Posts: 24,153
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Post by Mochi Lone Wolf on Oct 27, 2021 16:11:06 GMT -5
This is a dark day in wrestling. A lot of talent will be out if work for sometime and, let’s be real, most of the wrestling we see today in North America wouldn’t be here without Ring of Honor.
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Post by Ganon83 on Oct 27, 2021 16:11:39 GMT -5
WWE could be petty and buy the ROH library, but is it worth it to them at this point?
ROH has hours upon hours of stuff in their vault. But how much of it is people WWE actively want to promote, let alone are under contract to them?
Keep in mind as well that WWE is still very much of the mind of breaking records in profit every quarter. I don’t think they would drop let’s say $10 million on owning the ROH TV library. That’s about the price tag I think Khan would spend on it.
Sinclair also does not like them for various reasons so I could see that maybe playing a factor if AEW wants to match whatever WWE puts on the table.
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