bradhindsight

Since she needs surgery, they could be in a bit of a PR nightmare should they just cut her loose right now. I'd imagine she'll sit out the remainder of her contract and then be gone for good.

Agreed. A lot of people are holding onto the (legit at the time mind you) grumblings back before Global Wars, but their solution was KK full-time to ease the load on Delirious and be a liaison to talent. That really started with The Best in the World TV tapings and the product has been exponentially better since.

Daniels has had a really underrated 2016 imo. His singles work (mainly on their house shows + the exceptional match with Fish at SCOH N1) has been great. Tag work with MCMG, i thought they were the better team and really put together nice work earlier the year mixing it up with the Bucks (Philly 3/12 show with the triple threat tag). This ladder war was the cherry on top for both guys. They went balls out on the way to losing the belts. I went ****1/4.

This was amazing to me - only because it seemed like Elgin dropped the IC belt because they knew he'd be jobbing to Cole. So to see Lethal go over Naito - man, I *really* hope this retires the narrative that ROH is NJPW's bitch (which is an ice-cold take anyway).Timothy and I talked about this on a Clotheslines & Headlines show back in August - Global Wars on has seen a stark shift in the booking.

Eh... Their TV is frustrating as fuck to follow. They'll be getting into a good groove heading into a big show and then you have to deal with a month or two of old content. That did happen this year, an unfortunate cost to budgeting a trip to Japan for shows (this is one that peachchaos caught - they were not good). But outside of using that footage in advance of Global Wars, they've covered post PPV tv gaps pretty well. The tag team turmoil episode, the philly tapings had two TVs in the bank to air after DBDH and now the Field of Honor shows. The deal with syndication is TV takes two weeks. Best solution there is an extra TV taping - the Philly one was perfect to keep all the momentum from the Best in the World tapings going through September.

I've enjoyed all three matches we've looked at. I encourage everyone to check out the Match of the Week Club category tag there to see the others. While available, the matches are embedded within the post. I rank them like this so far: Elgin/Naito ****1/2 Dragon Lee/Mascara **** Riddle/TJP ***3/4

^ That's a good point, that TV exposure isn't driving anything ticket-wise, just maybe to the website, merch etc. Toronto is on that seemingly finite loop of regular stops but nothing more.

I'd counter on the exposure front that they went into Canada on The Fight Network earlier this year and you can always find their TV for free on the FITE app (also a 2016 thing I believe). I believe there will be something with the UK, plus their first tour over there in years in the coming months. There are efforts there, but domestically they really don't break out of their regular schedule outside of Mania. PWG and Evolve run once a month, their models aren't in competition with ROH (heck ROH partners with PWG and has a working relationship) when it comes to big indie names and one-off shots. ROH has TV and a regular touring schedule. Roster building won't be the same. I do think there's a shift there when it comes to guys with buzz (noting that these have been leveraged from their partnerships): Ospreay, Scurll, Dragon Lee, plus Cody Rhodes are all coming in, plus the continued NJPW and CMLL guys. I think that is one area that is markedly better than what it was a year ago.

Agree here. They are an enigma - they run heel with the Bullet Club, but they're seemingly booked as faces in this current tag title feud (I feel like MCMG are going to win there though).

^ This is a good talking point. I saw something around the Young Bucks lately in the same vein. It was tweets from intelligent commentators who questioned why the Bucks hadn't had the belts in two years, and insinuated ROH was wasting them. This boggled my mind - here's a tandem that main events TV and house shows regularly (and the upcoming PPV) and is involved in their biggest storyline of 2016! Why do they need belts? How do you define biggest star? Champion? I would say Dalton is easily their most over act, right there with the Bucks. He has a ton of merchandise and is regularly pushed on TV. His character is bullet proof when it comes to wins and loses. I think he *is* one of their biggest stars. He's marketed as such on posters for their shows. He doesn't need a title to get over, which is an accomplishment in itself, but is certainly frustrating then when he's kept out of those stories because we want to see our favorites elevated like that. The TV title seems like a no-brainer (and they could have done something longer and cooler with Fish given their relationship), but looks now like he'll be in the 6-man title conversation. I don't think that's an indication of cluelessness - they clearly know how popular he is and if there is roster turnover, they have someone ready-made to quickly elevate.

Bix does yeoman's work with the time stamps each week should one have an aversion to certain promotions.

You've heard Travis on the Titans of Wrestling Stampede shows and we're real excited to add in Lucha Afterground to our rotation. As he noted , it's a great companion to TWIW, and I think you'll really enjoy the vibe and commentary.

They are - https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-place-to-be-podcast/id500883402?mt=2 We do not cross post them to the PWO-PTBN feed because both This Week in Wrestling and Between the Sheets are Monday AM drops.

Good Ol’ Will from Texas returns and is joined by Kris Zellner, Johnny Sorrow and Devon Hales to talk WWE’s Backlash 2016. They break down all the title matches, the tag tournament culmination and AJ Styles’ big win. http://placetobenation.com/ptbn-reaction-show-backlash-2016/

fly/Pete - I was off there, for some reason had it in my head it was July 1980. The biggest hurdle is the costs associated with transferring and the priority of the project (which would be pretty low). But there's promise there.

This is the perfect audio supplement after you've watched the match twice. Everyone was on their game - one of the best Titans episodes.

With the WWE Archivist noting on twitter that LBOA was found on a random reel labeled "Omni Shows" - I feel like Backlund/Flair has new legs (although it was years before LBOA).

Couple points -- re: Rich and arm selling (to BrianB's post) - Sawyer stopped working the arm fairly early so it would make sense that Rich would get the feeling back and not be selling as much later. -- The surprise snap piledriver from Rich was probably the one piece that was the least believable (he reversed a strike into it) in a well-constructed gritty match for me. -- Buzz's huge crossbody off the cage was a tremendous spot. I don't get the crowd not cheering as much for that as you would like taking away from the work at all. -- I think it's probably fair to say the Ole match had more heat from the crowd, which is definitely interesting given the historical recounting of the build to the LBOA. I think it was Kris that said they fired this feud back up to blow it off and turn Buzz babyface (hence the team-up the next month) so maybe this is the crowd showing they weren't as invested as maybe they would have been a year earlier.

I felt like the opening arm work worked because Buzz knew it would be a slugfest so why not weaken your opponent's best weapon? It helped limit Rich early (Rich was clenching his fist and coddling the arm) so Buzz could go on the attack and inflict more damage as well. I liked this a bit more after watching a second time. Posted my thoughts in the designated match thread Chad created. ****3/4 from me.

An all-time performance by both guys. I want to put over Rich as being slightly better, but man Buzz was so f'n good here. Better on the second watch to me since the first time you're just taking in the magnitude of actually watching this while also being attracted to little things like the front row of old ladies, the ring announcer counting (including pins), and just the idea of a literal fenced in cage. Best slugging it out exchange with both guys on their knees EVER. Perfectly earned, and the slow climb to get to their feet while still waylaying into each other is so natural it instantly dwarfs any other match that's had the same sequence. It's not even close. I actually think the finish is earned perfectly fine, it just feels weird at first because the announcer is counting and THEN Rich crawls over and covers. Just something you never see so at first may seem like "well that was odd." I also think given the time stamps (and the bonus match) it feels really out of the blue. Was easy to get past the second time I watched. What a war. Then we get Ole setting future fashion trends by ripping his jeans and just sandbagging poor Paul at some points. But I liked Ellering there - a fun tack-on for the most part. The complete 28 minute package is amazing.

I've always assumed yes because months after his PPV appearance, they still used him in an 8-man tag at a local San Antonio show (which seemed really random). Never heard otherwise of an issue.

Enjoyed the newest earlier this afternoon. Kelly's disdain for Iron Mike Sharpe after his loses is great.

I think ROH does a very good job at protecting and promoting their belts so it'll be interesting to see how they continually mix this into their TV. This is a company that can base a TV episode around a talking segment and #1 contender match for their TV title and no one blinks because of how established the championship is. On the other hand, a common gripe was that they only had a handful of storylines going at one time so here's another story that will tie up quite a few guys (I disagree that their roster is slim, plus they have the expanded roster with CMLL and partnering in the UK and that tour). I don't see any of this as a negative and using a tournament to get things started should take them close to the end of the year.

Awesome job getting through that CFCW. It sounds absolutely grueling, I can't even imagine. Rooting for you.

I remixed this - apologies, the original edits we made this morning didn't stick so Kris was noticeably quieter. All fixed now. You can find through the link or re-download through iTunes.