With Glory By Honor XI behind us I wanted to give an initial reaction to what we can call the 5th version of ROH creative, though in reality it would really be more the fourth but who’s counting. A few weeks ago we learned that Hunter ‘Delrious’ Johnston had regained the booking hand in ROH from Jim Cornette. It has been widely reported that this was a mutual step from Cornette and company with the idea that Hunter has a younger perspective of wrestling and that he deserved a chance to steer the ship so to speak. Now let’s be clear, while you can read my thoughts on the GBH iPPV and see my fan perspective, this is not what I want to give in this article. While not always a popular sentiment, I have fully transitioned my objectivity for ROH to view it more closely to TNA and WWE than what it used to be, which was a top indy promotion. In my view it can no longer make decisions purely based on the motivations that other indy promotions can. If an indy promotion books a talent who doesn’t show up consistently but is very popular with the fanbase, then that indy promotion will probably continue to do business with that talent no matter what has happened in the past because in the end, the customers are the driving force. For ROH, that has shifted.
ROH is now owned by a corporation and for the most part their decisions now are going to be based still on what the fans want, but also what is smart for ROH as a whole. For example, unless it is an over whelming request from their fans, it seems SBG is not willing to fly out west coast talents for shows on the east coast that they do not see as fiscally responsible. We can debate that for days on end, but ultimately it is a decision that a corporation would make, not your typical indy promotion.
With that in mind though let’s get to it. How was Glory By Honor XI? For me, it was a raving success and one that will be looked at in the ROH history books as a high point for not just Ring of Honor and it’s owners, but for Hunter Johnston as well. It is being reported that the iPPV buys were “just under” 1500 with 300 comped & 350 first time buyers (read the rest of the report here) but the true test is customer trust. Many fans reached out to PWPonderings and stated they would not be buying the iPPV because of the technical issues as the number one reason. A far distant number two was the booking and the lackluster product that many felt ROH was putting out under the regime of Cornette, fair or not.
This was the first major show, and some would say the first show at all, that Delirious booked since taking over from Rahway (it has been speculated that Delirious had a hand in Rahway but that it was still majorly Cornette and vice versa) and it was for sure going to show where his future visions of ROH would be shown. For those wondering with anticipation, I believe they have been met soundly with renewed excitement in the ROH product. All the matches, even the “worst” of the night were decent and did exactly what they were supposed to do. For my money, all the matches were excellent and if I had to give them a star rating, none fell below a 3 star rating other than possibly the Rhino/Tadarius Thomas bout and that was the first one back from intermission and it still got the fans back into the night easily. This show truly reminded me of what ROH used to be, a full show of matches that any wrestling fan could get into and delivered a style that you cannot get from either TNA or WWE, or at least very rarely.
But that was not the only issue at hand. The technical issued HAD to be addressed here. ROH could not afford another mishap in even the slightest way. I will not say the customer trust can be gained back with one show, in fact I believe it will take at least 3-4 before fans can truly say ROH’s iPPV service is fixed, but tonight they delivered %100. The audio was great, never a mishap on my end. The 360 & 720 viewing were both in sync and overall I did not have any mishaps occur. Even the video packages were smooth and transitioned well whereas in the past they would be faulty and have audio issues going in and coming back to the live feed.
From a booking stand point, excitement in the product was there. Lethal/Richards delivered in my opinion the second best match of the night and it really showed what ROH talent does well. Every other aspect from Roderick Strong and Rhino leaving the House of Truth to the shocking (well maybe not that shocking) ending of El Generico’s mask being delivered to Kevin Steen after a strong match of the year candidate with Michael Elgin where it took a top rope package piledriver to retain his ROH title were bussing about and more importantly vocally excited to see where they will lead. On all accounts this was a great show and no doubt Delirious deserves a huge amount of credit for that as well as all the boys and staff in the back.
I can’t say that this will be the turning point, but it is a start in the right direction. As long as ROH continues with a streak of great, not good but great shows with their technical points in check, this could be the launching point for the number three promotion in the United States heading into 2013.
Any thoughts on this? Feel free to contact me on twitter by clicking the banner below or email me at cgstong@pwponderings.com Thanks for reading and leave your comments.
