El Dragon

Remember last year when Nak won the Rumble? Boy, did he fall off the radar in a year.

Akam is out. It's been said if Rezar and Dawson win both of there tag teams will get title shots.

Akam is hurt and they said if they win both o there teams get title shots. It's interesting, at least.

Sorry for getting my show up late this weekend, been dealing with a bit of an illness and have had trouble keeping my focus. Will try to get it up by tomorrow.

I honestly think Ali might have the best shot of winning this of anyone on Smackdown. I expect a Raw superstar to win, but Ali going from 205 Live to Winning the Rumble in about a a month would be a great story.

I work tonight at 7 central which makes me sad. However, I downloaded the WWE app specifically just to listen to the Rumble at work. Pluses of an overnight shift.

It doesn't bug me nearly as badly as Rollins cause Blacks are short bursts for kicks were as Rollins is fucking running while carrying people with a destroyed leg like an idiot. Main still didn't do much for me, and this Gargano/Ciampa angle needs to fucking eeennnd.

Yeah, that did nothing for me by the end. I assume Black is in the Rumble tomorrow.

It really should have been Dreams belt at this point imo.

This is probably my least hyped Takeover in a very long while. I think I'm completely over the Gargano and Ciampa storyline which now has both the World and TV title match wrapped up in it. The Tag Title match just looks eh. Hero/Riddle will probably be fun but I'm not the biggest Riddle guy so far. Really the one match I am very interested in is Bayzler/Belair.

I haven't posted in this thread in a long time, I just wanted to say I still love the show. I started working overnights a couple weeks ago, and I've listened from the very start all the way to Wrestlerave at this point during them, and it just further solidiied as one of my favorite podcasts. That said, after the great run of shows in 2003 it does feel like we are in the middle of a "dead period" were you are at, but I'm eagerly awaiting the post RF days. Reborn Stage 1 to Death Before Dishonor 2 NIght 2 is one of my favorite runs in company history, and Generation Next and Survival of the Fittest might be Gabes best booking accomplishments on back to back shows.

Breaking News: RoH given permission to add former RoH Champion Cody Rhodes to RoH World Title Tournament, will face Austin Aries on RoH TV on Friday. We have officially received word from RoH officials today that WCW has agreed to send Cody Rhodes to work the Ring of Honor World Title Tournament. RoH officials have stated they are ecstatic over the arrangement, and have been working some last minute changes to there tournament in order to make it work, but thought the opportunity was something they had to take. They were quick to announce that Cody's 1st round opponent will be Austin Aries, and that they are excited to see how his match will go down. Tune in on Friday to see the big match in action, as Becky Lynch's WoH 1st round match, more 1st round matches in the Ring of Honor World Title tournament, and more!

If nobody else would mind I would like to add Humberto Carrillo and Raul Mendoza to the RoH roster.

RoH TV for January 18th, 2019, filmed in Las Vegas Pre Show Matches Cheerleader Melissa defeats Kacy Catanzaro with the Air Raid Clash in 5:43 Dominick Dijak defeats A Local Competitor in 2:12 after hitting Feast Your Eyes Bianca Belair and Viper defeat Killer Kelly and Madison Eagles when Belair pinned Kelly after hitting an Argentine Facebuster The show opens with the announce team of Michael Cole and Beth Phoenix welcoming everyone to the new era of Ring of Honor wrestling. They talk about how excited they are to have 4 first round matches in the Ring of Honor World Title Tournament, and that the first tournament match will come on shortly, but first the Ring of Honor General Manager would like to address the crowd. William Regal makes his way to the ring to a chorus of cheers, and he puts over the crowd as being some of the best fans in the world. He tells the crowd with pride that this is the start of a new era of RoH, and says that over the next 2 weeks we will have 8 first round matches in the Ring of Honor Title tournament, with the finals taking place live in iPPV in February for the 17th Anniversary Show. Before he can go any further however, the crowd goes absolutely crazy as Becky Lynch makers her way to the ring. It takes a solid minute before Becky can actually address Regal. Becky says that she signed on the dotted line with Ring of Honor because she was promised that the Women would have main billing right beside the men, yet she hasn't heard anything about any plans for the WoH Title. Regal grins at her and says while he is delighted Becky made her way out to introduce herself to the crowd, she cut him off from his other announcement: Starting next week, the WoH Title Tournament will start next week, and next week Becky Lynch will have her first round match, in the Main Event. Becky And i she wanted a chance to scout her opponent, as she will be wrestling tonight in the six man, before leaving. Becky asks him which one, but Regal just grins and walks away. Becky addresses the crowd, saying that no matter who the opponent is, they will get shown that The Man is gonna run Ring of Honor *Commercial Break* RoH World Title Tournament 1st round match, 20 Minute Time Limit: Tyler Bate w/ Trent Seven vs. Samoa Joe Bate comes down first with his Mustache Mountain partner Trent Seven to a big pop, but when the Godzilla music hits the roof almost comes off as Joe makes his return to RoH. And this match is worked cleanly by both guys, with Joe using his power and ring experience to get the advantage on Bate a good deal of time. However, Bate counters with his own power game, including getting Joe up for an Airplane Spin. However, after 3 rotations, Joe slips out the back straight into the Kokina Clutch. Bate is stuck in the middle of the ring and is forced to tap. Both men shake hands after the match Winner, and moving on to the 2nd round of the RoH Title Tournament in 7:17, Samoa Joe *Commercial Break* Tag Team Scramble Match, 20 Minute Time Limit: The Street Profits of Angelo Dawkins & Montez Ford vs. Fabian Aichner & Marcel Barthel vs. "Big Damo" Damian O'Connor & Dave Mastiff vs. Akira Tozawa & Brian Kendrick (Rules of a Scramble Match: 2 men in the ring, everyone else on the apron, you can tag any member of an opposing team. Also, if you leave the ring, anyone else can enter and it count as a legal tag, one fall to a finish) Interesting match here as Scramble Matches were traditionally for dive fests, but this is a different take on the rules, seemingly, as Damo and Mastiff are huge men and Barthel and Aichner are much more technical based then high fliers. And Aichner and Barthel seem more acutely aware of the rules then the others, as they actually use it to make tags to attack people from behind before anyone else knows what is going on, working over Ford for a large portion of the match using that tactic. At the end of the day though, it does go to a more "Scrambley" type of dive train, with Ford and Tozawa hitting impressive ones. However, it's Damo that really steals it with a Dive onto literally all the other teams, followed by rolling Aichner into the ring... right into a Mastiff Cannonball in the corner, which is more then enough Winners via Pinfall in 9:13 : Dave Mastiff and "Big Damo" Damian O'Connor There victory celebration is short lived, however, as Baron Corbin makes his way to the ring, looking disgusted. He grabs a mic and tells the crowd that he hates that he has been forced to working "low level indies" like this, and talks about how it's a joke a that "guys who look like they should be working at gas stations" like Damo and Mastiff get work here. Damo and Mastiff respond by beating the crap out of Corbin, with Damo throwing Mastiff into an even harder Cannonball in the corner on Corbin, leaving him laying. *Commercial Break* Six Woman Tag, 20 Minute Time Limit: Tenille Dashwood, Sonya Deville, and Mandy Rose vs. Meiko Satomura, Athena, and Io Shirai Big Six Woman Tag, as the face team of Satomura, Shirai, and Athena is basically a dream team. Satomura opens for her team, against Rose, and it sure seemed like Mandy didn't know what she was getting into, because after one kick, she quickly tagged into Sonya. Sonya actually held her own rather well, against the other 3, and Tenille had a nice stand off with Meiko here. The heels get to work over Athena a good deal, which is the first time Mandy actually gets back in a bit once her team has control. Sadly for her, she was unable to prevent the hot tag to Meiko, who went house of fire on all 3. After knocking Sonya and Tenille out of the ring, Io falls up with a giant moonsault outside on both. Meiko tags back in Athena as Mandy Rose is down, and as Mandy stands, she tries to beg off from Meiko. Meiko just tells her to look behind her, and Mandy turns straight into the Eclipse. The pinfall is academic at that point Winners via pinfall in 11:32: Meiko Satomura, Athena, and Io Shirai RoH World Title Tournament First Round Match, 20 Minute Time Limit: Roderick Strong vs. Buddy Murphy Murphy comes out to a decent ovation, but "Mr RoH" gets a sizable one, in Roderick's homecoming. And these two have a very physical fast paced match, that really gets the crowd going, and damn are they hitting each other hard. Roddy's chops and Murphys knees are both absolutely on point in this one. Roderick is the surprise of nobody working over the map and is controlling a good deal, but Murphys power and strikes are keeping it close. Roddy tries to lit Buddy with the end of heartache, but Murphy hits knees on his way up, leading to Roddy keeling over and Murphy hitting him with another big knee. Roddy is almost out, but Murphy lifts him straight into Murphy's Law for what might be construed as a minor upset Winner via pinfall in 12:42 and moving onto the second round in the RoH World Title Tournament: Buddy Murphy After the match not only do both men abide by the code of honor, but Roddy actually raises Murphy's hand, and seems to put him over a lit. *Commercial Break* After the break, Scott Dawson and Dash Wilder, The Revival make there way to the ring, getting a mixture of a pretty large pop and almost immediately heel heat. Wilder and Dawson both look incredibly smug, proclaiming they are finally in a promotion that does Tag Team Wrestling right. They say they now have the best tag team in wrestling in RoH, and will take on any challenger. Out comes Uhaa Nation by himself to some decent applause. The Revival make fun of him, saying that in case he didn't hear, this was a challenge for a Tag Team. Crew gets in the ring, and the crowd gives a slightly bigger pop as coming out of the crowd comes Keith Lee behind the Revival, poking them on the shoulder. The Revival bail out of the ring, but the ref tells them the match is official, and is getting started Tag Team Match: The Revival vs. Keith Lee and Uhaa Nation The Revival see somewhat caught off guard early, as the speed and power from the Lee and Nation team is something they just can't match. One on one they are having tons of problems, but the moment Uhaa makes a mistake with going with a Gorilla Press and Wilder falls out the bag and quickly chop blocks him, things turn for the better quickly. And work over the Leg the Revival do, tearing apart Uhaa's knee. Surprisingly, the Revival make a pretty big mistake when they whip Uhaa too close to Lee when they are hitting the Shatter Machine, and Lee blind tags in. As Wilder covers Uhaa, arguing with the ref on why he's not counting, Lee Pounces Dawson. Wilder turns around to a kick to the gut followed by a massive Spirit Bomb! Lee gets the three and scores the massive upset Winners via pinfall in 11:12: Keith Lee and Uhaa Nation *commercial break* RoH World Title First Round Match, 20 Minute Time Limit: Dalton Castle vs. Drew McIntrye Castle gets a big pop returning, and Drew gets a pretty sizable pop at his entrance too, though he seems a lot less receptive to the crowd response then Castle is. And this match got off to a very fast start as Drew hits the Claymore Kick at the Bell, and the only thing preventing this from being over already is that Castle falls out of the ring afterwards. This is a dominant performance from the big man here, using his superior athleticism and size just to bully Castle. Castle always has fire though, and makes a solid comeback, and is seemingly planning to go for the Bang-A-Rang, but Drew is just too big and is putting up too much of a fight and Castle has to release him, Castle lasts a little while but a 2nd Claymore is just too much Winner in 8:16 and Advancing to the 2nd round of the RoH World Title Tournament: Drew McIntrye Post Match, as Castle is walking back, Tyler Breeze comes out and walks past him to the ring for the next match, but Castle and Breeze both pause, and size each other up as they go. *Commercial Break* Four Corner Survival Match, 20 Minute Time Limit: Tyler Breeze vs. Trent Seven vs. Lio Rush vs. Jack Gallagher (Rules of the Match: 2 Men in ring, have to tag in another for them to be legal, 1 fall to a finish) An interesting group of talent who are all looking to find a way to stand out from the pack. Surprisingly Seven is the guy that ends up getting worked over a bit as Gallagher uses his technical skill to damage the arm. While Seven is trapped in the ring a good deal, the other 3 just seem to be getting on each others nerves which each of there antics. Eventually Seven makes a tag to Breeze who goes House of Fire on both Gallagher and Rush. However Seven in his desire to get back in the match to get the win tags back in from Breeze as he hits a dive on Gallagher. That leads to be Seven's undoing, as Lio Rush hangs his arm up over the top rope, and quickly goes up to the top and hits a huge Frog Splash or the win Winner in 12:32: Lio Rush *Commercial Break* Main Event RoH World Title Tournament 1st Round Match, 20 Minute Time Limit: Low-Ki vs. Mustafa Ali Big pop from any long time fans as the first RoH champion makes his way to the ring. And Ali gets a pretty big pop as well as he makes his RoH debut. And this match consists of Low-Ki hitting Ali hard and Ali bumping like a mad man for him. By 7 minutes in the crowd has gotten completely behind Ali who keeps firing back before Low-Ki puts him down with another big move, but it's never enough to put Mustafa away. Low-Ki starts to get frustrated late, taking bigger and bigger chances, and is setting up for the Ki Crusher before Ali fights him off. Ali hits a big Tilt-a-Whirl DDT, and climbs the ropes and hits the 054 to secure the gigantic win Winner in 17:53 and Advancing to the 2nd Round of the RoH World Title Tournament: Mustafa Ali

Yes, the debut of K-Nox is nigh. Knox only works 4 shows in Shimmer and I was convinced that she was going to be the woman who made womens wrestling matter on the national scale. Then she had her concussion issues and I was heart broken. Now it is the one thing in wrestling that makes me look clairvoyant.

I will admit I had plans for Owens and Steen in my title tournament then went "oh wait" on them.

Ring of Honor announces separation from Sinclair Broadcast Group, New Owner, New Television Deal, and plans for Ring of Honor World Title In the wild state of wrestling in the modern times, Ring of Honor certainly hasn't been immune. In a press conference today it was announced that Ring of Honor was sold from the Sinclair Broadcast Group today. However, many people were surprised that the new buyer was former RoH booker and EVOLVE owner, Gabe Sapolsky. Gabe was joined by former NXT Agents William Regal and Sara Amato, and took questions from reporters. Here are some noteworthy notes taken during the Press Conference -Ring of Honor has declared all of the Ring of Honor World, Ring of Honor Tag Team, and Woman of Honor World Title have been declared vacant, and there will be tournaments to decide the new champions. Furthermore, RoH has officially retired the Television Title, and have said the Six Man Titles are to be considered "Inactive" at this time. -All three of the speakers actually had a 5 minute description of there plans with the company. Gabe went into detail that with the experience of Regal and Sara helping to run things, they are wanting RoH to become the prime destination for young talent, both treating this as an active company and a training facility. At that point both Regal and Sara co-presented a projected training facility, with Regal and Sara as co trainers. It was also added that they had signed a few key veterans who have also given commitments to help train young perspective talent as well. When pressed on the issue, Gabe still insisted there primary goal was to put on the best show for the fans every single time out, he continued that the goal is for fans to be able to watch the next generation of elite wrestlers grow in front of them, but instead of them jumping elsewhere like in the companies past, to become the key cornerstones into the company long term. -Furthermore, Gabe was very vocal about wanting to run with the current wave of young female talent in the industry, and has said he fully wants both the RoH and WoH to be considered main event belts. -Finally, Gabe confirmed that RoH had come to terms with the CW network for a TV deal. The channel will air late, at 10 PM Eastern on Friday nights, starting on the 18th, but Gabe said they are hoping if the ratings support it to move to move to a more prime time time slot. Shortly after this, the following appeared on the RoH website RoH World Title Tournament: All former RoH Champions Welcome! RoH is pleased to announce that they will be holding a 16 man tournament to decide who will be crowned the new Ring of Honor World Champion, and they want to bring back some of the most storied names in company history to do it! Invites have been sent to all former RoH World Champions to see if they would like to participate in the tournament, as we want the winner to be without question a man worthy of holding the gold! So far RoH has gotten confirmation from "The Peacock" Dalton Castle, "The Almighty" Christopher Daniels, "The Greatest Man To Ever Live" Austin Aries, and "The Messiah of the Backbreaker" Roderick Strong! Of course, RoH is also pleased to announce that many of the top up and coming wrestlers in the world are signed on to be included in the tournament as well! Joining them in the field will be "The Man that Gravity Forgot" Pac, Tyler Bate, "The Bruiserweight" Pete Dunne, and "The Best Kept Secret" Buddy Murphy! 1st round matches start this Friday only on the CW! Also, on the card, a Six Woman Tag Team Match, as Meiko Satomura, Athena, and Io Shirai will team up to take on the team of Tenille Dashwood, Mandy Rose, and Sonya Deville! Also, the "Greatest Tag Team in the World" The Revival of Scott Dawson and Dash Wilder have announced an open challenge for any team to answer! All of this and more on RoH TV!

I too don't have the familiarity I would like but know enough that Rush vs. Bandido in the first round is a damn big match. Lots of fun in that setup.

BTW my favorite bit about this is that Meltzer goes straight to "But but but, where are my friends?" in response to this news. Got a good chuckle out of me. Really looking forward to seeing the tournaments play out. Should be fun predicting winners.

Damn good start here imo. Gage is a fantastic guy for a modern ECW to build around, and you are already setting up angles.

I really like the feel of this. Feels like how ECW would have marketed itself in modern times.

RoH Mens Roster Akira Tozawa Andrade “Cien” Almas Angelo Dawkins Austin Aries Baron Corbin Brian Kendrick Buddy Murphy Cedric Alexander Christopher Daniels Dalton Castle Damian O’Connor Dash Wilder Dave Mastiff Donovan Dijak Drew McIntrye Eddie Kingston Fabian Aichner Homicide Humberto Carrillo Jack Evans Jack Gallagher Juice Robinson Keith Lee Kevin Steen Lio Rush Low-Ki Marcel Barthel Mil Muertes Montez Ford Mustafa Ali PAC Pete Dunne Raul Mendoza Roderick Strong "El Generico" Sami Zayn Samoa Joe Scott Dawson Trent Seven Tyler Bate Tyler Breeze Uhaa Nation WoH Roster Alexa Bliss Athena Becky Lynch Bianca Belair Cheerleader Melissa Heidi Lovelace Io Shirai Kacy Catanzaro Killer Kelly Madison Eagles Mandy Rose Meiko Satomura Sonya Deville Tenille Dashwood Viper Tag Teams/Alliances The Revival: Scott Dawson and Dash Wilder The Street Profits: Montez Ford and Angel Dawkins British Strong Style: Pete Dunne, Tyler Bate, and Trent Seven Dave Mastiff & Damian O'Connor Raul Mendoza & Humberto Carrillo Fabian Aichner & Marcel Barthel Sonya Deville & Mandy Rose Ring of Honor General Manager William Regal Ring of Honor Announce Team Michael Cole and Beth Phoenix Ring of Honor Managers Zalina Vega Ring of Honor Backstage Staff Sara Amato Ring of Honor Owner Gabe Sapolsky

Oh, one more addition to my roster if people don't mind. I want to use William Regal.

What is everyones plans for regular schedule? Working out what we all want to do is probably a decent way to start.

Oh, I completely forgot to include Zelina Vega to my roster.