Memphis Mark

I don't know what is going to happen with contracts for next year . However I have been in the business world a long time. Business , like everything , is controlled by the person that has the most leverage. Right now Mr. Runnels and the Massie Brothers have all of the leverage , Delirious has none. Son or not , Runnels could take control of ROH creative as part of a new deal . The Elite are in the drivers seat. In reality we all know the decisions have already been made , the fans are just the last to know. As for money , we all know that SBGI can match any WWE offer, they just won't. SBGI throws nickels around like manhole covers. A stark contrast to the management teams of WCW and TNA.

It They really don't have a lot of talent to develop . Adam Page and Matt Taven were the last two guys that were developed by the company . The only two that are young and have real upside are Gordon and O " Ryan . The others just don't have it . It really should not be this way . There is a large talent pool to draw . You can go to SMV or Highspots and find at least 25 to 30 young talents ROH could sign and develop . There is a lot of indy work , so guys are not going to pay ROH to try out and with no promise of a job. They really should not have to pay a fee to go on a job interview. The company should have identified and locked up young talents a year ago. Just a few names that are out there : Pat Monix , Ace Romero , Ace Austin , Connnor Claxton , Air Wolf , Gunner Miller , Mat Fitchett , Steve Manders , Clayton Gaines , Myron Reed Davey Vega , and many more. There is talent all over the West Coast , Texas , UK , etc . Just have a free camp invite 10 to 15 guys . If you get 2 or 3 out of a camp that can work you more than made your money back.

Does anyone know the inside story on the recent developments in ROH. Some things are really changing for the better. In the past year or so ROH lost the services Roderick Strong , Kyle O 'Reilly , Bobby Fish , Adam Cole , Hanson , Ray Rowe , Mike Bennett , Lio Rush , Donovan Dijack , ACH , Matt Sydal , Moose and Michael Elgin . Recently Alex Shelly and Punishment left the company. Most went to NXT and a few were unhappy and were either quit the company or were let go by management. I don't know all the details and really and am not that interested in the backstory. However ROH made very little effort to replace anyone. The company seemed determined to replace the mass exodus of talent via their training camp system. This must have been a cheap fix , because that is the only reason to go that route . The recent training camps produced Flip Gordon and TK O 'Ryan . These two have potential to draw money down the line. The only vets added were Scorpio Sky and Chuck Taylor , solid choices. However Taylor is over but is only booked part time. I think Chuck Taylor should be on every ROH , unless he is touring with NJPW . Taylor gives the fans their money's worth every time out. A group of us drove up from Memphis to Nashville for a ROH show last winter. We were all shocked by how weak the under card talent was for this show. Now the houses have starting falling . The Las Vegas double shot , Baltimore and the last UK tour did not draw that well . Now out of the blue everything is changing . Jeff Cobb is a regular . The company has booked Tracy Williams, Andrew Everett , Colin Delaney , PJ Black and Luchasarus . Willie Mack worked a one shot. Rumors of Aries returning . Thunder Rosa , Hollidead and Madison Rayne are working some shows. The women's division has mainly been the wives and girlfriends of the male talent. Some female talents from the training camps were used to fill in the cards . I wonder if Delirious and Greg the Office Boy are still running the show. Has Joe Koff or SBGI corporate stepped in an effort to stop the attendance decline and talent drain ? Of course ROH is going to lose talent to the WWE . That said you have to find replacements that will maintain and growth the business. You cannot replace Roderick Strong , Adam Cole , Bobby Fish , Kyle O' Reilly or War machine with the Boys, The Dawgs , Cheeseburger and the the Horror King . Delirious has had a long run as the ROH booker . IMOO , the lizard man has run his course. I cannot name one single hot story line heading into Final Battle. time to give the book to someone else . Christopher Daniels and Dave Lagana or two names that might be an improvement .

As we all know the WWE micro manages everything . It all flows down hill from McMahon. So the thesis that because NJPW is no fun , we want to jump to the WWE holds no water. These comments must just be floated in the media in an attempt to gain leverage . Really if talent thinks NJPW is liking working in a factory wait till they start working for the all controlling McMahon group. If I am a NJPW upper card talent there is no way I would jump unless I got a AJ Styles type deal. Granted I don't know the financial details but I would think that working for NJPW/ ROH would be more lucrative than the average NXT deal . The WWE marks cannot seem to grasp the reality that both NJPW and ROH are smaller business units of much larger companies.. They can both pay to keep certain pieces of talent. They just are not going to pay stupid money . It might be more profitable to just sit back and let McMahon keep spending cash. If McMahon has a couple of bad quarters in a row , the stock holders are going to pressure the WWE to cut costs . So I a lot of these recent signees will be shown the door . The business reality is that NPJW and it promotional partners are trying to position their product as brands that feature quality in ring action , not companies that are held hostage by a few key talents. If spots do open I wonder how many quality wrestlers are waiting in line to fill the void ?

Shingo gets to the work the Garden . Good for him . Shingo is a talented , hard working pro that was more than paid his dues . Hope he has a long and successful run in NJPW .

Tracy Williams has left WWN/ Evolve and is headed to ROH . Nice add by the promotion. Now that have Cobb and Williams they need to add 4 to 6 more new pieces . Hopefully Williie Mack will be the mystery partner in Phiily . Still new a couple of more singles wrestlers and a tag team to work with the Briscoes.

I don't know why Hughes is being booked . I have not seen him demonstrate any wrestling ability . Other than that the product is very enjoyable . Always good to see Robert Fuller on my TV screen.

Cobb will be great . He is a legit wrestler who the ROH fans respect . Cobb , if booked correctly , has the potential to be a big money draw . Martinez was all big moves that are designed to pop the crowd . Just a poor fit for ROH . However , he should fit right into the WWE mold. Now that Cobb is on board , ROH needs to bring in some people that can work with him . Willie Mack , WALTER , Harry Smith or Tim Thatcher would all be solid choices. I am not going to hold my breath because wheels of the Sinclair era ROH move at a snail's pace.

Ok. Punishment Martinez has left ROH for NXT . He drops the TV belt to Jeff Cobb. So ROH replaces Martinez with Cobb. What a upgrade Plus Willie Mack and Luchasaurus worked the TV taping last night . Hopefully is is the start of ROH rebuilding their roster.

If I remember correctly the Von Erich boys wanted to expand , but Fritz actually shrunk the territory . Fritz did not want to run outside of the Dallas / North Texas region. I guess Fritz did not want to tale on a lot of risk at his age.

Doug played football at Tennessee . Before he got into wrestling Doug owned a gym in Knoxville. I worked out at his gym and got to meet Doug . He was a great guy. Worth noting is that arm and legs were like tree trunks yet his waist was slim. Doug must be one of the strongest men in recent memory. Great guy a shame he passed so young. Very underrated talent.

I saw Bob Armstrong in the 1970 's . Bob was always in great shape and just a superior athlete . Another great athlete was Rocky Johnson . Those guys combined speed , strength , conditioning and coordination . Armstrong was a former martial arts instruction in Marines , while Johnson had a strong boxing background . Two of the best .

Wasn't Jarrett behind getting a ROH PPV pulled from either Dish or Direct ? If a recall Impact claimed ownership of Matt Hardy's broken gimmick . Jarrett sent letters to every PPV provider in an effort to get ROH's wrestlemania show off the air. After Jarrett was out of the way , Callis and D 'Amore dropped that policy and let the Impact keep their own gimmicks. Apparently Jarrett has some type of business deal with FITE . Which got him booked at ALL IN and promoting NWA 70. Why does FITE need Jarrett ? He not a money mark and he has heat with ROH and IMPACT ? It will be interested to see if Jarrett can make a comeback and survive in the business . Hopefully he stops sending cease and desist and suing wrestling promotions .

I going to watch this on Honor Club. $ 20 to watch it live is not too bad.

Couple of things . Will this event elevate Nick Aldis and the NWA belt ? Will Flip Gordon be booked at the last minute ? If booked who will Flip 's opponent be ? Who are the unannounced talents in the battle royal ? , Sami Callihan , Trevor Lee, Eddie Kingston , Curt Stallion , Jake Something , DZJ , Jeff Cobb and more are already in town for the AAW double shot. Who will challenge Jay Lethal for the belt ? Will ROH take the title off Lethal ? Will Cody win the NWA title and assume Aldis 's role in that promotion ? Will PAC return ?Wii SCU dethrone the Briscoe's ? Can CD put together a quality match will an actor ? Will the inter-promotional angle between ROH and IMPACT continue to be developed ? It should be an interesting show.

I agree with 92 being Rude's best year . Rude career was so interesting . I remember Rude working as a jobber for Watts . Then Jarrett and Lawler got him in the Memphis/ Mid-South talent swap and the rest is history . . I got to watch Ric Rude develop during his runs in Memphis , Florida , World Class , JCP , WWF and WCW . One hell of a legacy . It always wondered why Bill Watts could not see the talent in Rude , while the two Jerry's gave him a platform to launch a Hall of fame career .

I just rotate between different promotions and eras. I watched the 2017 and 2018 SCI and the recent ROH UK tour . I am starting G1 Climax which should take a while. I plan on watching Dojo Pro and ALL IN . I watch ROH and MLW every week. Might add Impact .

I really like that addition of Fred Yehi to Team Filthy . Would love to see Lawlor, Simon and Fred work with SCU . Might be possible since Jimmy Havoc worked the UK ROH tour . Maybe ROH , Impact and MLW will start to share talent .

I would add Jeff Cobb to the list. Cobb is not tall but he is built like a tank.

I watched the 2018 SCI. Once again impressed with Joey Lynch . Ike Cross is raw but has a huge upside . Cross is at least 6' 5" , has a great build and moves around the ring like a jr . Cross could turn into a main event guy if he continues to develop .

ROH will survive because SBGI still has a multi - billion market cap and access to millions of dollars to use as working capital. They are still the largest broadcaster in the USA . Talent will come and go but both ROH will be fine.

I got the 10 day free trial to Powerbomb TV . I watched the SCI 2017 and am watching the 2018 NOVA Commonwealth cup. The SCI was really a great event . Still watching the other show. I am really shocked that larger companies have not picked up Gunner Miller, Joey Lynch , Arik Royal and Alexander James . These 4 talents really stood out. All would be a big boost to either ROH or Impact. I would include Darby Allen and Anthony Henry on the list but they are . tied down to Evolve . Both Henry and Darby are made for ROH/ NJPW . I would throw Austin Theory on list on another young WWN talent that I would like to see work ROH / IMPACT , MLW or NJPW . I would recommend that you check out the SCI 2017 if you have not seen the event. Really enjoyed the tourny.

They are so many great promotions. In the 80's Memphis, Mid-South , World Class, JCP and Portland are my favorites . In the 90's Smoky Mountain and ECW were great. The 2000's gave us NOAH and ROH . Today NJPW is the best . I am still loyal to ROH even the match quality and the talent roster have declined during this decade. I have not watched much NJPW and AJPW from the 80 's or 90 's . but plan to check them out when time allows.

PY Chu Hi was Tojo's ring name in Texas. Tojo worked Texas in the 1950's before settling in Tennessee . The whole Phil Hickerson/ PY Chi Hi gimmick was a inside joke. Also , I think the Eric Embry / PY Chi Hi program sold out in Dallas. So I think PY Chi Hi could be called a success . As for Big Phil's career , it was pretty solid. Phil started in the early 1970 's.. He worked full time for at least a decade. After his jobber stint , Phil took Don Greene 's spot . Phil and Al Greene became the Sherman tanks. They were tag champs in Memphis for quite some time. Phil , Al and Lawler were all managed by the late Sam Bass.. A great heel faction. Of course the others became jealous of Lawler . That went Lawler turned babyface for the first time.Later Al retired and Phi and Dennis Condry began their famous run. I think it lasted about 4 years . Hickerson and Condry are considered by many to be the greatest tag team in Memphis history. That is says it all about Phil . He had a great career. Phil and Dennis did work a stint for Ron Fuller in Knoxville as well. In 79 , Lance told us that Phil retired to health reasons. I don't know the real story. I do know that Phil lives in Jackson , TN . He owned a nightclub and worked as a DJ. Phil resurfaced around 85. teamed with Frank Morrell for a while. Then Phil got his single push as the International champ. He worked with talent like Terry Taylor , Harley Race, Michael Hayes and Terry Gordy Later he joined Robert Fuller ' s Stud Stable . Then the Texas run. Great wrestler , great career. I think he would be in the Memphis Hall of fame.

Just a question to ponder. Do the Boys add or detract to Dalton Castle title reign ? I went to the Nashville TV tapings with 3 other guys. Two are just very causal fans and were never expose to ROH until they attended this event. One guy though the Boys were a great comedy act . The other guy was really annoyed by the Boys ringside antics . Both admit to me they were so distracted by the Boys antics they did not focus on the match in the ring. Is Castle better off without the Boys ? i don't know. The Boys do seemed to take the focus off Castle 's ring work .