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Post by MGH on Jan 31, 2007 11:44:00 GMT -5
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Brain Of F'n J
Hank Scorpio
Not that cool enough to have one of these....wait.
We Discodians must stick apart.
Posts: 6,890
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Post by Brain Of F'n J on Jan 31, 2007 11:48:08 GMT -5
Since I can't watch the video wire here at work, kindly elaborate. When? Why?
Jed Shaffer ~This just depresses the living hell out of me. Suddenly, the Detroit shows seem ... lacking.
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Post by Chuckie Finster on Jan 31, 2007 11:50:42 GMT -5
His last shows are the England shows in the FYF.
Someone on their message board called it....and then that thread was locked. Sucks, but what more can Joe do in ROH?
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Post by MGH on Jan 31, 2007 12:03:24 GMT -5
Here's more from Mike Johnson at PWI. It's hard to think of Ring of Honor without Samoa Joe, but come March, that's going to be a reality that ROH fans are going to have to come to terms with. In an announcement made in the latest edition of the ROH Video Wire, it was announced that one of the most important talents to ever step into a Ring of Honor ring, Samoa Joe, would be leaving the promotion full-time in March. In the Video Wire, Joe stated, "I'd like to start this off by saying thank you. Thank you to the Ring of Honor fans. Thank you to the Ring of Honor loyalists. For all those who helped make this grow and become what it is today and for those that will continue to help this grow and become bigger and better in the days to come. It has come to light that my tenure here in Ring of Honor will soon be coming to an end. As most of you know, a great deal of my heart, a great deal of my soul, a great of who I am as a wrestler, as a person is linked to this promotion and what I've done in it. I started out in Southern California and did my best to hone my skills, but Ring of Honor was the place where I go to display that. It was the place where I got to go out and be Joe and that's all I had to be. The past three years, three plus years, hell, damn near four now, I've called this place home. I have proudly carried its banner and I've proudly displayed my work here to all those who would see it. So, in light of that, I am making an announcement that the Samoa Joe Farewell Tour will begin on February 16th and will end in Liverpool, England. I will have my final match as a regular part of the Ring of Honor as a wrestler. I've made a lot of promises and I've said a lot of things, especially into this camera, but I promise you this, I came into this company to do a mission - to wrestle my ass off, to give my best at all times for the best fans in the world. I promise you this Ring of Honor fans, in my final run here, my final string of matches that I will leave with this promotion, I will give you my best. I will give you my greatest. I promise you. I will give you my all. Unfortunately, circumstances and time move on, and so much I. Ring of Honor's always been a promotion about new talent, new people, a new breed of wrestling. Trends aren't followed here, trends are made and now I leave the trends, the edginess, the realness of pro wrestling for those here on this roster. Ring of Honor was a huge part of my life and always will be. I hope you will join me and the rest here as I'm forced to say farewell to a company that I love. Thank you. I am Samoa Joe. I love pro wrestling and I leave it all here, in Ring of Honor." Although not stated, the move is being made in order for Joe to dedicate his full attention to TNA and independent bookings that TNA set forth for him in the future. When asked for comment about Joe's departure this afternoon, ROH booker Gabe Sapolsky declined comment, stating, "I'd rather not discuss the matter". In an interview conducted last week with ROH booker Gabe Sapolsky on www.PWInsiderElite.com, however, Sapolsky did comment on losing talent, noting, "Talent hits in Ring of Honor are inevitable. We're always going to lose talent, so when we do, that just thins things out a little bit, then things settle and you can construct a really good card from top to bottom. It also makes it easier on the fans. The fans are always going to panic at first when they hear a talent is leaving. When you are able to remove guys from the show, it allows others a chance to move up the card and that softens the blow. That's something that we'll do and something we've always had to do and it helps, but we're always going to lose talent. It happens to everybody - Vince McMahon lost Steve Austin, Bret Hart, The Rock, Chris Jericho, it happens to everybody. [Losing talent] is an important part of the business because if you have guys forever, it's tough for them not to get stale and the fans start to take them for granted to a point. As long as you keep finding new hungry talent that wants to improve and move up the card, it will be OK. It's just a process of the business." Joe's importance in the growth of ROH cannot be understated. Originally scheduled for just one appearance against Low Ki at the first-ever Glory by Honor event in October 2002, Joe earned a regular slot with the company following a stellar match. By March 2003, he had won the ROH championship from Xavier, going on to carry the title for 21, getting a great deal of prestige and legitimacy to both the championship and the promotion in the process. When the company was at it's weakest point in 2003 following the fallout of the Rob Feinstein situation and the departure of (as irony would have it) pulled TNA talent, Joe's series of 60 minute matches against CM Punk for the ROH title helped put the focus back on the ROH in-ring product and gave the company something to cement themselves with as they rebuilt their relationship with fans. When asked about the series last week, Sapolsky concurred that the series helped save the company from it's issues at the time. Over time, Joe become a top draw for ROH with classic matches against Bryan Danielson, Homicide, CM Punk, Low Ki, AJ Styles, Christopher Daniels, The Briscoe Brothers, Austin Aries, and Kenta Kobashi, among a slew of other top names. With the departure of other names that were focal points of the company leaving either temporarily or permanently over time, Joe became the de facto "legend" of the company and was often a major factor in some of the company's top storylines, including last year's feud with Combat Zone Wrestling. Joe's most recent storyline has featured Joe challenging Pro Wrestling NOAH, leading to matches against Nigel McGuiness and Joe's first-ever singles bout against Takeshi Morishima on 2/16. In discussing Joe's tenure with the company last week and trying to keep him fresh within storylines, Sapolsky noted, "We've had Samoa Joe now consistently with the exception of nothing more than one or two shows in a row, since October 2002. That's over 100 shows, 100 matches. He's done a lot here. The NOAH thing has helped freshen [Joe] up as now he's in a really hot feud. Honestly it was becoming tough [to keep Joe fresh]. We had the Danielson feud, which was good we got that in. He teamed with Homicide, which was a good story, against the Briscoes. He was involved in the CZW feud and it was important to have him in the CZW feud as far as credibility goes and everything. It's not like there wasn't anything to do with him; there's always something to do with a talent like Samoa Joe, but again, it's tough to keep guys fresh. a guy like Joe, you can't turn him heel. Our crowd is never going to boo him. So then, you look up and down and the roster and go, "Who does he need to work? He's had three matches against this guy, four matches against this guy, five matches against that guy." There's not a lot of fresh matches there, but the whole NOAH feud has really helped to freshen him up." Joe will be doing a farewell tour of sorts in New York City on 2/16, Philadelphia on 2/17, Dayton, OH on 2/22, Chicago on 2/23 and ROH's doubleshot in Liverpool, Great Britain in March. Once those dates take place, Joe's run as a full-time performer for ROH will be finished. While there is always a possibility he could return for one-off appearances in the future, without a doubt, Joe's exit closes the door on another chapter for the Ring of Honor promotion. -PWI
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Post by THE Dinobot on Jan 31, 2007 12:03:59 GMT -5
He should put Jimmy Rave over before leaving. Sure, that probably won't be the case, but it'd certainly help Rave's stock rise.
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bigHEADinc
El Dandy
Wanted Conway Twitty as a special title.
lest we forget...
Posts: 7,711
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Post by bigHEADinc on Jan 31, 2007 12:30:18 GMT -5
Godamnit... The 3/30 show in Detroit better be amazing to make up for this...
I'm pissed I bought a ticket before knowing this...
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Brain Of F'n J
Hank Scorpio
Not that cool enough to have one of these....wait.
We Discodians must stick apart.
Posts: 6,890
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Post by Brain Of F'n J on Jan 31, 2007 13:01:53 GMT -5
Godamnit... The 3/30 show in Detroit better be amazing to make up for this... I'm pissed I bought a ticket before knowing this... Ditto. I was hoping they'd cap off the Joe feud with NOAH by bringing in Misawa. I expect Joe to put over Rave, though. No need to bury Rave, as hot as he's getting, with Joe on the way out. Jed Shaffer ~Man, I'm gonna have to start watching TNA again just to see Joe? Dammit ...
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Post by Solid Stryk-Dizzle on Jan 31, 2007 13:12:25 GMT -5
Damn, now I won't be able to see Joe matches that last longer than 5 minutes!
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Post by HMARK Center on Jan 31, 2007 13:36:31 GMT -5
I want to type out some long entry here, but I'll sum it up like this: this feels awful.
Good for Joe, he'll continue making a good living doing what he loves. But this is not a good day for ROH fans.
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Post by Nice Guy Cody on Jan 31, 2007 13:38:53 GMT -5
Pardon me for one moment.
f*** f*** HELL SHIT f*** MOTHER BITCH SON OF A f***ING SHIT HELL f*** ASS DAMN f***ING f***ER OF THE f***S
SON OF A BITCH
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Post by Ultimo Chocula on Jan 31, 2007 14:05:08 GMT -5
This does suck for ROH but I can see what he's saying. He's done it all and it's time to give someone else a chance.
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Post by emoney3265 on Jan 31, 2007 14:36:51 GMT -5
I am a TNA mark but TNA is really starting to piss me off with these exclusive contracts where they will control the wrestlers indy bookings.
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Hiroshi Hase
Patti Mayonnaise
The Good Ol' Days
Posts: 30,755
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Post by Hiroshi Hase on Jan 31, 2007 14:54:06 GMT -5
Glad that Joe gets a bigger payday in TNA, but this does suck as a wrestling fan.
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Post by MGH on Jan 31, 2007 15:13:49 GMT -5
Now the "ITZ ALL A WORK YOU LOOOOSERS!" thread has started at the ROH forum.
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Post by Solid Stryk-Dizzle on Jan 31, 2007 15:16:42 GMT -5
Man, I can only hope for a work.
It was bad enough seeing Shelley regulated to 4 to 5 minute matches in front of idiots who didn't appreciate it.
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Post by "Sweet & Sour" ImSoFudginGreat on Jan 31, 2007 15:24:28 GMT -5
This blows for ROH but if it gives another competitor to shine then good for Joe.
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Murf
Dennis Stamp
Neverending Storrrrr-yyyyy
Posts: 3,638
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Post by Murf on Jan 31, 2007 16:19:00 GMT -5
Dammit.
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RAW100023
Don Corleone
Glad to see that my love has returned.
Posts: 1,304
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Post by RAW100023 on Jan 31, 2007 16:21:16 GMT -5
I want to type out some long entry here, but I'll sum it up like this: this feels awful. Good for Joe, he'll continue making a good living doing what he loves. But this is not a good day for ROH fans. I can see where your coming from as it not being a good day for ROH fans, but at the same time, I guess I can see this as good in ways. I guess one good thing coming from this is maybe in the near future, Joe gets the NWA title. I could be wrong, but who knows. After watching some 03 shows, with Joe, and now watching even more shows from 04, this man has done so much for ROH. If you think about it though, what is there left for Joe to do in ROH? He had a 21 month long reign as champ, He won the Pure title and held that for a while. He's had great feud's with some top notch stars from all over the world. What else is there left for him to do in ROH? And, to quote what HMark said, in some ways this does "feel awful." I'm not trying to sound like that I'm happy he's leaving ROH because I'm not, but if Joe thinks this is the best for his career then I support him 100%. I am a TNA mark but TNA is really starting to piss me off with these exclusive contracts where they will control the wrestlers indy bookings. Yeah, I didn't like the fact that they did this with Scott Steiner because I was really enjoying his TNA run months ago. Also what sucks about this is for the most part, this is where we will see Joe wrestle the most, TNA. And, with Angle going over in their feud recently, this doesn't make me too happy of a fan. I just hope that Joe doesn't get depushed if TNA signs wwe wrestlers in the future. I just hope TNA doesn't drop the ball with Joe, and if they're not careful they'll end up doing just that. PWI report- "When asked for comment about Joe's departure this afternoon, ROH booker Gabe Sapolsky declined comment, stating, "I'd rather not discuss the matter". And, I respect Gabe for not commenting on this situation right away. This hit Gabe probably right in the heart, because if you think about it, Joe has been the heart and soul of Ring Of Honor for over the past 4 years. I think Gabe will be alright of course, but I can see how hard this is going to be for him, and the ROH staff, but they'll make it. I mean, Punk has left, Low-Ki has left, James Gibson has left, Spanky left, Alex Shelley left, and ROH have done just fine. Good luck in your career Joe, thanks for all the great matches you gave us with Low-Ki, CM Punk, The Fallen Angel, Nigel, Cide, Danielson, the list goes on, and on. And, thank you for giving us that great shoot interview with CM Punk. -ROH_Fan
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Post by Dr. Bolty, Disaster Enby on Jan 31, 2007 17:43:17 GMT -5
Certainly a sad day, but ROH has run great shows without Joe (see: Anarchy in the UK) and will continue to do so. I imagine some of it has to do with Joe's pile-up of nagging injuries - either sticking to just TNA for his health, or perhaps even toning down his in-ring style to the point where he wouldn't be up to par for ROH. Combine that with a larger role in TNA, and his departure is quite understandable.
And I'll be honest here...there have been very, very, VERY few times that an ROH Samoa Joe match was the deciding factor in a DVD purchase. He's been fiddling around in the midcard, having pointless and subpar matches that don't accomplish much. The only time this year I was truly excited about Joe was the Danielson feud, and even that seemed to fizzle out by the end. Honestly, if Joe were to pick a time to leave just based on direction and contribution to the company, it's a good time to get going.
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JMA
Hank Scorpio
Down With Capitalism!
Posts: 6,880
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Post by JMA on Jan 31, 2007 17:54:38 GMT -5
I'd like to see a ROH/TNA feud in the future. You could have wrestlers like Joe and Homicide decide where their loyalties lie and we could see some dream matches, like Danielson vs. Angle.
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