Hello everyone - it’s us again. Maybe you did or didn’t miss us when we didn’t have an ROH Friday last week - and to think it was the first week of the year, no less - but if you did, the blame is mine and mine alone. I forgot what I was doing last Friday, but I’m pretty sure I was caught up in it. In fact, this is the column that should have gone up that day, but was never written.
Meh, don’t sweat it. I’m sure we still have the faithful fourteen people who read this regardless of missing one day. Besides, maybe we needed a little break from Davey-bashing and such. Granted, we’ll probably get right back into it, but a one-week reprieve probably made everyone a little less spiteful to wolves.
Cheers to those fourteen people.
Anyway, today, as we still wait for Ring of Honor to shift up from first gear following their holiday break, Jeff and I would like to address a column our good friend Hustle wrote last week, where he made known his opinion of present ROH. For those who haven’t read it or are too lazy to click on the link we just provided, he is basically saying that the people in the main event scene (namely, Team Richards and Roderick Strong) are the ones mainly responsible for the promotion’s current decline due to the multitude of reasons we have listed before in previous ROH Friday columns.
And, obviously, we can’t help but agree with Hus’s take on the whole thing. Again, those are the same things we’ve been saying about Richards and Co. Those are many of our same grievances. We’ve been calling for new blood to rise to the top of the drink for a while now, and while ROH has always been relatively quick to listen to their fans, it seems that rebuilding the main event scene is going to be a gradual process - but that’s a story for another column.
While we clearly agree with Hustle’s sentiments on the main event scene, we can’t quite come to terms with the idea that because of it, the entire show is unwatchable. At least for us, that simply isn’t true, and I think we’ve covered that a little bit in past ventures. ROH has a solid midcard scene with that always puts on exciting matches thanks to the likes of Lethal, Generico, Ciampa, Elgin, and Perkins, and a tag scene anchored by the Briscoes, Wrestling’s Greatest Tag Team, and the All-Night Express. There’s certainly more to Ring of Honor than just Roddy chopping Davey while he’s kicking Eddie.
Indeed there is, but that’s a problem we’ll get to right now. So because we have previously identified that it’s not as bad as some people are making it out to be, I suppose the problem now is the actual accessibility of the good parts, and how the company is handling giving us the things we’d like to see.
As with all wrestling promotions, the name of the game is emphasis. It’s a twofold problem, actually. The first prong is something a little more superficial: due to the nature of both the presentation and production the ROH television show, trying to give equal time to around 30 competitors on the roster spread out over three title scenes is proving to be a bit of a difficult task for a one-hour show. One episode might focus strongly on the storylines surrounding the Tag Team Championship, while the next might be all about the stories in the main event.
However, it’s a problem that can be alleviated, if not solved, by learning how to pace properly and distributing in-ring time evenly. The weekly FCW television show has managed to prove that even if their talent pool is mostly generally inferior, and the ROH show itself has previously shown that it is possible (by going to three matches on occasion) if they want to. ROH loves to rely on its video packages to tell its other stories that won’t be playing out in the ring on that episode, but that’s still a problem if the videos lack some oomph, which they usually do. A solution would be to have more in-ring segments, which translate better than video segments.
Or at least some non-video-package interviews. Fuck, I hate what ROH does with those. Everything has to be in or from some sort of video if they want to tell you something. I know they still have ROH on HDNet interviewer Kyle Durden on contract, and he played his role just fine. They need to use him instead of Kevin Kelly for everything. And they need desperately to mix up interviews and video packages more, just for variety’s sake. Interviews and events (seemingly) happening in real-time simply work better than some pre-recorded video. Always have. The backstage interview is non-existent in ROH right now, and that needs to change.
Well, it does exist... only on video.
Now, emphasizing the weaker aspects of the company (i.e. terrible angles and storylines, wrestlers who either aren’t good or the audience doesn’t want to see), whether intentionally or ignorantly, is usually the practice of the major promotions. While I’ve only started watching recently, from all accounts Ring of Honor had always been a company that prided itself on giving its loyal fanbase what it wants. From that, however, I guess the question to ask now is: are the ROHbots (the hardcore ROH fans) dictating the ROH status quo too much? Are the people who freely give out their “holy shit,” “this is awesome,” and “this is wrestling” chants a little too responsible for what everyone is getting now?
Considering that all three of the main event names get exuberantly loud pops for the most menial of things, I think you might be on to something. ROH seems to be giving the fans what they’re asking for. Well, at least the most vocal of fans that can show up to their events. Sometimes they wait way too long to give the fans what they want (like they did with the Tyler Black World Title reign), but they do seem to address what the fans want to appease them. And considering a ROHbot is only a third of a step up from an Impact Zone resident, that’s not actually a good thing. Basic but solid spots get nice reactions, and most anything teetering on being absurd gets an instant orgasm, such as no-selling a superplex.
But why would ROH want to make fans upset by not giving them what they crave? They’re still basically an indy fed even with the Sinclair purchase, and losing fans especially at that level may very well be a death knell. So instead of maybe figuring out that the fans are only smarter than a glue stick and that their “holy shit”s are mostly meaningless, they simply allow the fans to solely dictate who gets pushed, whether that wrestler deserves it or not. See: Edwards, Eddie.
Then the problem turns into one of balance and fine lines that need careful walking. Where is the fine line between giving the fans everything they want, and taking charge of the company’s direction? Or maybe, who would or could embody that fine line? Are you thinking who I’m thinking?
Does his first name begin with a “K”, or am I off-base here?
Definitely on the right track.
I see. Then it must be... Kevin Kelly! Okay, no, bad joke, I apologize. I take it you mean Mr. Wrestling himself, the recently-reinstated Kevin Steen being that “fine line”? The person who is most interesting and watchable as a wrestling personality and someone who the fans are squarely behind? I like it.
See, this is why I chose you to write with me. We’ve already sung Steen’s praises previously, so we won’t get into it too much today for fear of accusations of this column being sponsored by the man. (Although we are trying to line up for an interview with him, if he would only answer us.)
I think 2012 is going to officially be the Year of Kevin Steen, and it has to be if ROH wants to remain relevant as the #3 fed in North America. And for all the flak we’ve been giving the company, at the very least they are still very aware, as they are already grooming Steen to perhaps carry the promotion.
I imagine ROH realized what Steen brought to the table only after he was “exiled” from the company at the end of 2010, and they knew he could be that major player they need to really stand out and elevate themselves. So they brought him back with the intention of really giving him the ball and letting him run as wild and maniacal as he wants with it. At the very least, it’ll create some compelling TV. The fans have always been strongly behind him, so it’s not a risk at all in that regard. If ROH actually follows through on all this - which I believe they will - it’ll show that they indeed are aware of what he can do and that he’s an enigmatic diamond in a pile of rocks.
And I don’t think there is anything more to add to those words. We can only hope now.
***
Before we end, however, here are the results for the Jan 7 ROH episode. I would post this on the main page, but it won’t show up at the forefront due to the abundance of TNA spoilers.
- Jay Lethal defeated T.J. Perkins in a Proving Ground match
- Mike Bennett defeated Adam Cole
- Wrestling’s Greatest Tag Team defeated the House of Truth (Roderick Strong and Michael Elgin) in a Proving Ground match*
* This show was actually a taped road show before Final Battle. Thus, WGTT are still the champs in this episode. We’ll talk about this in a future column.
If you’re an ROH fan, then you’d do well to read my coverage of the recently re-debuted ROH television show. It comes out every week (as much as possible); sometimes it's late, but it still comes.
*****
If you ask somebody who’s followed the WWE in the past year what they think about NXT, you’ll get one of three answers. First, you’ll get the most common “When are they going to start the next season?” because Redemption is getting very close to being on for an entire 52 weeks. The second answer is rather uncommon, because you’ll never get it while people want the next season to get here already: “I think it’s okay,” because there is wrestling and the wrestling is decent.
The third answer is almost impossible to get, however. If someone answers you with a “What’s NXT?” you should give them a pimp slap worthy of the Funkasaurus, because they’re lying if they say they follow the WWE and not know about NXT.
But the first concern is, as mentioned, the main point of contention surrounding the long-running Redemption season. The first two seasons were popular for bringing us a handful of stars (one World Heavyweight Champion, one former Intercontinental Champion and current rising star, four former Tag Team Champions whether you like it or not, and a number of serviceable workers), and Season 4 was responsible for bringing us a Funkasaurus. Meanwhile, this season was full of NXT rejects and a SummerSlam main eventer, so naturally not everyone was too emotionally invested. Eventually, it dragged on for too long, meandering with no clear direction at all, even though they were down to two, then three, finalists. Everybody just wanted to get to a new season and find some new Rookies to get behind, like Seth Rollins, Dean Ambrose, et al, but the company is very adamant on not ending Redemption at all.
So the question now still is: what the hell is happening, NXT? Will you ever end?
Well, something strange happened on this week’s episode; I think we’ve finally been given an answer. Take a look:
For those who either didn’t watch that video or didn’t get it, the opening video does away with any mentions of Rookies and Pros. Instead, there are now clips of people who have appeared on the show, regardless of whether they’re actually part of this season’s machinations. Ladies and gentlemen, NXT has become what I had hoped and foreseen it would be: it has become the new third brand.
We’ve had a third brand not too long ago – in fact, it’s what NXT originally replaced – and it was cancelled, despite having served its purpose as an hour-long pure action show very well. But even though NXT is a WWE.com exclusive, I think it has potential to be better than ECW. It already has an advantage by not being called ECW: a good number of fans did not tune into ECW, even though it was a solid product, because they still couldn’t disassociate the brand name from the ECW of legend. And we can’t blame them for not being able to.
So now, because NXT has already taken the first step towards its much-needed revamping, here are the other things it needs to do to succeed.
First, the brand needs to establish what it aims to do clearly, but not overtly. It must be a breeding ground for young stars. NXT had a novel idea with taking seven unknown Rookies (and one indy veteran) and straight up forcing the audience to get to know them, trusting their Pros to help get them over, but Redemption’s meandering experimented with really focusing the brand on lesser stars. Getting rid of the competition aspect makes that goal easier to achieve.
Given that, NXT must become a halfway house between Florida Championship Wrestling and WWE’s main roster. But not just anyone from FCW, though. Let those who show a little more promise, but not yet at the level of the indy darlings in developmental, get a “soft” debut on NXT. One good example would be the reintroduction of Conor O’Brian, who has really done a good job of resurrecting his career hopes with his new vampire-like character in FCW. Or maybe the return of Abraham Washington, who has been somewhat missed, as an on-screen personality.
To help foster that environment, NXT must not use any big-name stars. The problem with ECW was that even though it did bring in new guys straight up from FCW a lot of the time, the brand also had to take guys like John Morrison, Mark Henry, and Christian just to have big names that could draw ratings. Now that NXT is on the Internet and doesn’t really have that problem anymore, the show could freely operate with lesser stars at the top. They also need to be somewhat isolated from the goings-on of the two main shows, except when somebody is moving up.
Their biggest name right now is Alex Riley, and that’s a guy who’s a big enough name to be over, but isn’t too established to be considered wasted on a minor league brand. So the NXT brand shouldn’t go any further than that, except when…
NXT should become the home of the Tag Team Championships. While the tag titles have recently been elevated due to their association with an over midcard team in Air Boom, lately it feels like their presence on the two main shows is forced. While the titles will need frequent exposure on the main shows, the entire division could be built up in NXT, as well as Superstars.
Consider that we have a pretty decent tag division at the moment, comprising of:
Air Boom (champs)
Epico & Primo
The Usos
The Midcard Mafia (Curt Hawkins & Tyler Reks)
Yoshi Tatsu & Trent Barreta
That’s five, six if you throw in Hunico and Camacho, who should eventually start working as a unit. There might not be a lot of name power in many of those teams, but I assure you that all of them are very exciting to watch, and guess what? Three out of five of those teams work mostly in NXT. Have the champs come down every now and then, and maybe even try to start a three-way tag feud (such things used to exist), and you’ll slowly but surely cultivate a sound tag team scene.
So, there you have it – four strategies that could definitely help this one-hour show. Will they all work? Perhaps not, but suggestions never hurt. It’s also very easy to say that they would make it better than what we have now, but I’d also like to think that whoever’s in charge of NXT is finally trying to make some sense out of the show, even if it means steering it away from its original premise.
Now, I’d like to hear from you, because this is going to be interesting. Do you care about NXT at all? Or, now that you know that it’s slowly changing format, would you start to care (again)? Let me know.
***
The Return of the Best Match You Didn’t See On TV This Week
Because I haven’t given this to you in three weeks, I shall give you three matches this week.
If you’re an ROH fan, then you’d do well to read my coverage of the recently re-debuted ROH television show. It comes out sometime every week (as much as possible).
Also, for my fellow Filipinos, please tune in to my buddy Stan’s radio show S&M: The Morning After every weekend from 6 to 9 am (10 am on Sundays) on Mellow 94.7. If you find yourself up early on a weekend, do check it out!
