Ring of Honor Wrestling

[sek69]

The Rock n Wrestling Era was just Moolah's troupe, which...well we know about that. The moment one started to get popular (Wendi) Vince screwjobbed her and things petered out after that. The Madusa era was just her and 2-3 other women, one who was given a completely embarrassing gimmick because lol fat women, amirite?

[El-P]

Well, he first brought Bull Nakano and her and Madusa had quite the killer match at SummerSlam 94, it was totaly serious and bad-ass. Except for Bull coming out to the Orient Express music of course. The issue is that the belt still ended up an afterthought. Then they signed Monster Ripper and we know what they made of her… Then hey had the Zenjo girls at SS 95 and were all about pushing Aja Kong I believe, until she broke ASARI's nose on RAW and then Madusa left. Not sure of the chain of consequences here.

 

Remember when WCW had GAEA girls on their B-shows ? And Madusa was working with Bull again (although that was not nearly as good as the 94 Bull), Hokuto, Luna. That was 20 years ago now. Gail Kim & Amazing Kong has great matches in TNA 10 years ago. So yeah, hurra was Stephy & TriPaul (that's it, that's the way I'm calling him now, he's so confusing with his Paul-guru-of-NXT-fan-service-guy and The Game switch-on switch-off tactics) and the Women's Evolution, but modern history tells us otherwise.

Well, I understand ROH is only crowing their women's champ this week-end ? Well, that's a Sinclair owned company for ya… (just trying to get back on track here)

[sek69]

History is written by the victors. Not saying it's fair, but it's what it is. And it is fair to say that women being seen as more than a novelty act in the "WWE Universe" largely started from the presentation they got in NXT. Yes it's now being done largely to let Steph jill off over how great she is for allowing women to wrestle, but they are in positions and given opportunites they seldom had before.

[Migs]

Not to make light of the discussions above, but just to touch on the actual ROH onscreen product, I thought that this weeks go home promo between Cody and Kenny Omega was pretty compelling, although Omega looking like he was trying not to laugh through some of his parts did take you out of the moment. I wouldn't say either of these two are my favourite guys in the business, and I know a lot of people find the Bullet Club shenanigans a turn off (although given the attendance we are getting at Supercard of Honor it clearly works for a lot of people) but I'm really intrigued to see their match and where they are going with this Bullet Club civil war angle. I know it has echoes of the nWo stuff in 98, but think the storyline has been much more compelling than that, with it seemingly based on personal emotion and motivations rather than what colour t-shirt you are wearing.

 

I also really enjoyed the Mayu Iwitani vs Deonna Purazzo match in the WOH tournament. Deonna is really good, and I'm gutted she's been eliminated. I'd kind of fantasy booked in my mind her finally getting the win over Kelly Klein in the semis and then going over the established name in Tenille in the final to give her the big boost, so disappointed she's out as I thought it was the best story to go with in the tournament.

 

The big difference between this and the nWo infighting is that they're actually doing the right matches. The nWo angle never pays off with most of the obvious rivalry matches, like Nash v. Hogan. Extra points obviously for the matches delivering to varying degrees so far.

[shodate]

 

Wrestling, movies, music, football, etc... etc.. Human beings hard to follow if you want to avoid the scum.

 

There. Corrected.

 

 

WWE is also run by scumbags. There seems to be some hope with them being less scummy in the future,

 

With Stephy "Charity is good PR" McMahon at the helm ? Hum…

 

WWE is still being ran by Neo-Liberal scum it has always been, hold you nose viewing now Linda in with Trump I find it immoral to watch and pay for it

[Loss]

Discussion of Trump should go in the Military Industrial Suplex folder. Trust me, it's best for everyone.

[TonyPulis'Cap]

 

Not to make light of the discussions above, but just to touch on the actual ROH onscreen product, I thought that this weeks go home promo between Cody and Kenny Omega was pretty compelling, although Omega looking like he was trying not to laugh through some of his parts did take you out of the moment. I wouldn't say either of these two are my favourite guys in the business, and I know a lot of people find the Bullet Club shenanigans a turn off (although given the attendance we are getting at Supercard of Honor it clearly works for a lot of people) but I'm really intrigued to see their match and where they are going with this Bullet Club civil war angle. I know it has echoes of the nWo stuff in 98, but think the storyline has been much more compelling than that, with it seemingly based on personal emotion and motivations rather than what colour t-shirt you are wearing.

 

I also really enjoyed the Mayu Iwitani vs Deonna Purazzo match in the WOH tournament. Deonna is really good, and I'm gutted she's been eliminated. I'd kind of fantasy booked in my mind her finally getting the win over Kelly Klein in the semis and then going over the established name in Tenille in the final to give her the big boost, so disappointed she's out as I thought it was the best story to go with in the tournament.

 

The big difference between this and the nWo infighting is that they're actually doing the right matches. The nWo angle never pays off with most of the obvious rivalry matches, like Nash v. Hogan. Extra points obviously for the matches delivering to varying degrees so far.

 

 

Excellent point - as you say, apart from the convoluted 3 team War Games and then the nWo battle royal at Road Wild you never really seemed to get any actual matches between the two factions. While it would have been technically pretty dire, I think an actual heated Hogan/Nash match in 98 could've drawn a lot of interest, although we all know how that match ended up going when they finally did do it...

[C.S.]

Madusa left with the belt when they were treating it seriously

Madusa was fired and the women's division was disbanded because money was supposedly tight.

[Mad Dog]

I forgot that part of it.

 

So Sumie Sakai won the belt. That seems like an odd choice considering they hadn't really pushed her a ton. I guess it's not Klein or Leon yet.

[Mad Dog]

And holy shit how long was this show. This is why I always talk myself out of going to RoH shows when they come to town. Get that shit down to 3 hours.

[Migs]

That show was way too long. My podcasting partner had a coffee at 11:30 and then went home after Kenny v. Cody - we were so spent. The Bully Ray angle might have been okay (although I don't get the point of turning a guy who'd been a perfectly fine part of the TV show in his role) but not over three hours into the show.

 

I thought Kenny v. Cody was pretty good and really liked the finish on the assumption that they're building to something else with it. Cody is reaching a really glorious megalomaniacal point here and it's a joy.

 

I did watch the main event and thought it was fine, might have even been good without the burn out. Another championship level performance from Castle. Would be happy to see them go again after a show that's slightly shorter than 4 1/2 hours.

[Mad Dog]

Oh and it's going to shock all of you horribly...

 

Honor Club had streaming issues last night!

[Grimmas]

I don't know how you bring Mayu in and not put her on ppv?

[Mad Dog]

I mean. Why do you build up Kelly Klein for 2 years with an undefeated streak, job her to a 46 year old woman and then not make a big deal about it?

[C.S.]

And holy shit how long was this show. This is why I always talk myself out of going to RoH shows when they come to town. Get that shit down to 3 hours.

To be fair, when I attended Supercard of Honor II, I felt like I had gotten the bargain of my life paying $25 for five hours of wrestling. Of course, that was before the era where every supershow was excessively long.

[Grimmas]

I mean. Why do you build up Kelly Klein for 2 years with an undefeated streak, job her to a 46 year old woman and then not make a big deal about it?

Also fucking stupid.

[Mad Dog]

 

And holy shit how long was this show. This is why I always talk myself out of going to RoH shows when they come to town. Get that shit down to 3 hours.

To be fair, when I attended Supercard of Honor II, I felt like I had gotten the bargain of my life paying $25 for five hours of wrestling. Of course, that was before the era where every supershow was excessively long.

 

 

I think some of it is age too. I'm 37 years old and after 3 hours my back fucking hurts, I'm tired of that smelly guy next to me and I've probably had to piss for an hour but don't know where the fucking bathroom is.

[C.S.]

I think some of it is age too. I'm 37 years old and after 3 hours my back fucking hurts, I'm tired of that smelly guy next to me and I've probably had to piss for an hour but don't know where the fucking bathroom is.

Same here. I'll never attend Mania now that they're this long. The thought fills me with dread more than excitement.

[Mad Dog]

 

I think some of it is age too. I'm 37 years old and after 3 hours my back fucking hurts, I'm tired of that smelly guy next to me and I've probably had to piss for an hour but don't know where the fucking bathroom is.

Same here. I'll never attend Mania now that they're this long. The thought fills me with dread more than excitement.

 

 

I think I had so much fun at Chikara because it was like 2 hours and 15 minutes. I have really fond memories of that show because they didn't overstay their welcome.

[SomethingSavage]

Exactly. I'm so glad I got my big Mania experience way back at 17 before they decided to punish people for attending this way. A group of friends went to NOLA for 30, but I had to back out at the last minute for work.

 

I still caught the show with some casual friends & family at my place, and I'm still convinced I made the best decision. Bryan's journey and coronation weren't any less special in that moment, and - truth be told - I probably would've been in a grumpy mood regardless by that point.

[fakeplastictrees]

Getting old sucks. 15 year old me would have marked out hard being at an 8 hour wrestling show and getting to see every wrestler on the roster all in one night. The older me can only think about traffic, not wanting to deal with people, refusing to stand in long lines for a 10 second tinkle, not really enjoying arena nachos, etc. All of this stuff enters my mind before I even think about whether or not I want to attend Mania. Its a sad state of affairs.

[Zoo Enthusiast]

Being in the arena that night felt like a prison sentence at times.

 

After the way the show started, I thought we were headed for a nice three hour show. Instead, I was gouging my eyes out four hours later during a half-hour Scurll match that Refused. To. End. I went to nine shows over the weekend. The only ones that dragged for me were the Friday Progress one (just too long) and the ROH one. And yes, that includes sitting through the entire Mania card.

[Edwin]

Being in the arena that night felt like a prison sentence at times.

 

After the way the show started, I thought we were headed for a nice three hour show. Instead, I was gouging my eyes out four hours later during a half-hour Scurll match that Refused. To. End. I went to nine shows over the weekend. The only ones that dragged for me were the Friday Progress one (just too long) and the ROH one. And yes, that includes sitting through the entire Mania card.

Pretty sure I mentioned in the WrestleMania Weekend thread -- I went to a ton of shows last year and the ROH show was by far the worse, so you're not alone.

[SomethingSavage]

Haven't made it through the full show yet, but got some free time to watch a bit of Supercard of Honor.

 

Ian and Colt just might be the best commentary team in wrestling right now. I've enjoyed them together for awhile. They're normally on point but wise enough to sprinkle in some humor here and there. Knowledgeable enough to cover all the bases, but they don't come with all the built-in baggage or hang-ups that plague the WWE commentary teams.

 

Some of their promos to hype this show were just awful. "Just wait until you see the performance we put on in New Orleans!" Ugh. Almost nothing in wrestling is built up to be a fight anymore. It's all about performing. Just the dirt worst.

 

Silas Young's okay when it comes to keeping that sort of stuff grounded though.

 

Cody's promo was surprisingly solid, too. Nothing outstanding, but it was decent trash talk. The insult comparing Omega to an underground rock band was a fitting shot.

 

Punisher Martinez is at the other end of the spectrum. This guy could really use somebody to speak for him. It's been awhile since I've seen him, but he seems to be coming along nicely. Terrible promo, but he's impressive enough with some decent offense. Also glad to see he got away from the pleather Nash pants for his ring gear.

 

What in the actual fuck is Scurll supposed to be? His gimmick is this giant casserole of crap - it's six shades of layered shit - one goofy gimmick piled on top of another. He's got bird masks and vulture wings and pirate eye-patches and ironic facial hair and hipster man-bun hair and on & on & on & on. Looking at him is practically an exhausting assault on your eyes. I get the sense that his entrance and look actually COULD be something special and memorable, but he's just all over the map with it. There's no rhyme or reason to it. I feel like everything about Scurll's act could benefit from some streamlining.

 

He's essentially a Portlandia character come to life.

[Mad Dog]

I think Scurll's philosophy is why have one really over gimmick when you can have two dozen sort of over gimmicks. The eye patch is kind of new to RoH. Because he needed another fucking gimmick. I hate Scurll more than any other wrestler today. He could actually be a good wrestler if he would just stop being lazy. You bitch about all the gimmicks but he's even worse during matches. This is a Marty Scurll match:

 

2 punches

 

Scurll: I'm gonna punch him some more!

 

1 more punch

 

Scurll: Now I'm going to bodyslam him!

 

Bodyslams opponent and then does the bird pose.

 

He seriously can't go 2 moves without needing to pose or announce the next thing he's going to do. And then there's that fucking awful finger break spot.