bradhindsight

"I've bled you before, this time I'll break you" - great line by Joe in his promo, calling back to 2004 in the cage.

Both parts at PTBN as well: http://placetobenation.com/wrestling-culture-podcast-63-the-history-and-current-state-of-wwe-developmental/

Aside: It may have been different for Supercard of Honor but I thought ROH was $40 for first row, $30 for 2nd through 4th and then $20. I don't recall the $50 option for the War of the Worlds show.

It's a cool name for sure. I echoed the same thing on Twitter earlier, Parv. We've always been fortunate to have Kris be an active part of the site with the reaction shows, and numerous guest spots on the PWO-PTBN feed. Then Pete shoots me a message last night that he's wrapping a Zellner (!) show on the Freebirds and, well, that was pretty exciting all around. Welcome aboard my friend.

ROH has a streaming service - anyone can watch their TV product for free.

I thought the most recent TV was really good also. The Addiction in particular really exceeded my expectations. Best I've seen them look in a while. I think Taven's high-flying offense still works as a smarmy heel because he gets no positive reaction from the crowd. They've positioned the Swanton as a heel move even! On the flipside, Jay Lethal is a borderline babyface with his offense and crowd reactions.

I was really close to voting for the same. If the Network didn't exist and this show was $60, no chance. For $9.99 - I'll probably watch.

Silas is returning this weekend and is in the ROH Proving Ground: Instant Reward match where the winner gets Jay in the main event (Sydal had that slot but is hurt).

Charles = Loss, so there you go.

Baszler was a step-down from Lawlor but I think any kind of crossover like that is good for Ring of Honor. Certainly doesn't hurt. I thought this reaction show was great. - I'm in the minority and with Will, liked the Styles match the best BUT I think Kris said it best that the tag match gave you exactly what you wanted out of that matchup (sans the ref slip-up). - I think there's money in Moose winning the TV title at Best in the World. Not sure he's ROH champ material yet, if they can re-sign him, a slow burn over the next year and half would be ideal. - Love Will's point around how each match was different, which kept the card fresh. It's a great feeling when you think ahead to what is left and can get excited because everything is so different. - Joe was fantastic. They really do a great job booking their part-time guys. Jay/Joe has history and is a great main for Supercard of Honor. - Main event analysis was spot-on. Dylan hit on a huge point, where the f was Briscoe's offense in that match? Only Hanson had less (I like Hanson but thought he was really under-used). Ciampa (while hurt) jobbing out to a sit-out powerbomb from Elgin 20 seconds later after that Briscoe fluke cover was terrible. Ciampa took the fall to Elgin at Final Battle and eats it here as well. Elgin is HEATLESS at this point - and I also agree with Dylan, it's a good heel character for him but man he gets no reaction. His numb entrance music doesn't help. Yet, he's booked the strongest. I don't know, maybe Jay pins him clean at Best in the World to put this to bed. Great job guys.

I was going to ask you how that Strong/Alberto match was to see how it stacked up to his other matches - looks like it was clearly his best in ROH. That Kingdom/Ciampa-Hanson tag is enticing.

I got my money's worth at 10.81. With that said it wasn't at the level of the Atlanta show or the PPV. Now that I'm past the 13th anniversary show, really looking forward to watching Atlanta. The Baltimore lineup tomorrow is great - and should be three TV episodes (maybe two like in Philly)

That tag team triple threat sucked live too (it was taped at Wrestling Finest during Rumble weekend in Pittsburgh) fwiw.

Finally finished this one - catching up on the commentary here and the reaction show now. Sydal/Alexander - perfectly fine opener. I thought it was interesting, and maybe my memory is off, but this match had more big move->dramatic kick-out back and forth than anything else on the card. Even for the short time they had. Moose/Mark - perfect booking and the teased Moose face turn makes sense as well. He was super over at the Philly tapings and once he ditches his entourage he's the perfect guy to dethrone Lethal. The dropkick was awesome and I'm with Zellner, I actually like the somersault spear. Thought Briscoe had one of the bigger bumps with that blockbuster on the outside. My third favorite match on the show easy. Triple threat tag - I'm in the minority, I thought Anderson cutting a promo saying he didn't want a replacement was fine, since the BC are faces in the US anyway. Not that the idea of a random guy being in the BC for one night is bad, totally could have gone that way also. This was what it was (worst analysis I've ever done - hard to describe a glut of spin kicks and dives with the rules thrown out midway for tags anyway). Right guy took the fall, liked the finish. Completely forgettable match. Strong/Whitmer - Man, I think Roddy can work as a face pretty well (Ive also enjoyed his heel work in Evolve of late) and I like the storyline in principal (Mr. ROH, leaves the Decade and wants to make one last run) but as a grudge match this was plodding and I thought they were given TOO much time. I did like that they at least brawled to start before the bell but that was it for grudge-like match qualities. Disappointing but not a Whitmer guy anyway. ODB/Maria - really enjoyed. Paid off the championship of love story plus a bit of revenge for the Kingdom winning the Briscoes feud. Bennett was great. Perfect length and booking. AJ/ACH - my match of the night at ***3/4 and close to **** (I may re-watch). Brought in good psychology with the rope spots and (credit to Corino) even the calf killer at the end. Love the FU elbow from Styles after the dropkick early. I really, really enjoyed this. Bucks/reDRagon - super hot babyface bucks and man the crowd was pissed at that ref pull-out. Standard good stuff from these guys but didn't like quite as much as their War of the Worlds match. Just a hair below the AJ match for me. ***3/4 Alberto/Lethal - maybe it was paint-by-numbers booking but I really do love how ROH leverages their part timers. Pre-match taped promo was great. Since Lethal is one of the best talkers in ROH, he really built this up well. Good nearfall with the first book strike while in the armbar and his finisher actually looked ok given the second one. When Lethal loses, it'll be a big deal (MOOSE). Joe interview - perfect, put over the history of the company and absolutely should be an interim guy for Briscoe. Again, it was easy booking but it's the right booking, especially given their history. 4 corners - Hanson was heatless coming out but somehow Elgin's reaction topped that in the "no one gives a shit" category. Even as a full blown heel, he gets nothing from the crowd. I get using ref bumps but, considering Sinclair took a wicked super kick at BitW, this looked really tame in comparison and he was out FOREVER. the KDE stuff was at least able to get out of the way and not be a part of the finish and I get the Ciampa/Nigel story so that was "ok" but they topped that with a really lame finish. Ciampa looked like an idiot for having his knees bent too. (edit, given his injuries mid-match, this made sense. I wondered why he disappeared like he did for a lot of the finish.

Episode #4 of the History of Wrestling Podcast: This week, The History of Wrestling Podcast delves deep into the early days of the consumer internet and its impact on the wrestling industry. Graham Cawthon, Brad Stutts, and Dan McGinn share their personal experiences with dial-up internet in the mid to late 1990s and how it broadend their view of professional wrestling – from downloading photos of Sunny to downloading wrestler theme songs, reading spoilers to learning more about what happens behind the curtain. http://placetobenation.com/history-of-wrestling-podcast-4-the-dial-up-age/

Thanks El B!

I grabbed two tickets for War of the Worlds when they went on sale. Unfortunately, Joe isn't taking commitments after April so looks like he's out.

Up at PTBN: http://placetobenation.com/brainbuster-the-pro-wrestling-quiz-show-episode-2/

I'm tempted to buy the PPV but leaning towards the VOD (should be up after) - assuming it's at a discount. They also quickly put up the VOD for the Atlanta show from this past weekend - a great move by them given all the press. I'm in for $14.95 there.

re: Sinclair and not expanding their budget, I don't necessarily take that as a big negative (or that ROH financial woes is somehow the headline out of it). Last year they booked NJPW talent for two shows, ran two PPVs and brought in guys like AJ Styles, Hero, Daniels, Kazarian, Sydal, etc. Without knowing the figures, it's a decent budget. I absolutely agree you have to spend money to make money. Given the results in 2014, Sinclair giving them the same number to work through this year isn't surprising. That drop-off for Final Battle is jarring. Attendance is up when they return to places, which is a positive trend though. They've already ponied up for Patron in '15 and more NJPW is on the docket. I feel like Joe could definitely happen, even just a couple of dates.

Moose is facing Mark Briscoe, THK. He was super over with the crowd in Philly. Seemed to hold his own with Elgin in their short match. I agree, the Atlanta card looked better. I may actually bite the bullet and get that on VOD versus ordering the PPV.

I know for Best in the World they had a price point for watching (HD) and watching with the ability to DVR (HD) which was like $5 more. I thought it was $30 and $35 for BitW but could be misremembering. What are they asking for with the 13th Anniversary show?

On the heels of a strong Winter Warriors tour, things seem to be moving into the right direction for ROH. I was at the Philly taping Rumble weekend and the old ECW Arena was jam-packed. Had to have close to 2,000. It was a blast. It sounded like Atlanta was similar last night, if not larger, and they hadn't ran Atlanta since 2011. This is a positive lead-up to the 13th Anniversary Show which is on PPV. The buys for their two 2014 PPVS were 12,000 for Best in the World and then 8,000 for Final Battle. The drop-off is not good but maybe they rebound here. The 13th anniversary show has a deep card, Styles, the Young Bucks, and Anderson/Gallows - the Bullet Club is hot and in three sep matches. Liger has been announced for the Mania weekend show.

Wow - awesome. The second one - dimension-wise - will work great for me updating the site. WH - great work.

^BBM - I've pitched Chad the same thing before re: a deep dive on those four matches. We may do a Taker Mania ranking thing also. re: the Mania 28 discussion from Part 3, I think the match's legacy is crippled also by the fact that both guys wrestled at the next two Manias. If it was Undertaker's last match (truly the "end of an era"), it wraps a good story between 27-28 (and really all four). But we'll talk more on that down the road.