SEScoops

Category: ROH

  • *Spoilers* ROH TV Taping Results From New York City (Ep. 4-5)

    The following are results of the first three sets of ROH television tapings held at Terminal 5 in New York City on Saturday evening. Results come courtesy of ProWrestling.com.

    For episodes one through three of the ROH TV tapings from NYC on Saturday night, click here.

    Episode Four

    1. Michael Bennett and Matt Taven beat Corey Hollis and Jonathan Gresham.

    2. Moose defeated Dalton Castle, Cheeseburger, Caprice Coleman, Brutal Bob Evans, and Silas Young.

    BJ Whitmer was joined by Adam Page Colby Corino and tried to cut a promo. He drew major heat from the crowd. He hyped that he had a gift for Colby –
    four wrestlers from the ROH tryout camp to wrestle against. Steve Corino jumped in the ring to confront Whitmer. Nigel McGuinness prevented them from going at it.

    3. Bobby Fish beat ACH.

    Episode Five

    1. The Briscoes, Roderick Strong, and ODB beat Jay Lethal, Donovan Dijak, J Diesel, and Truth Martini.

    -Samoa Joe and A.J. Styles defeated The Addiction in a non-title match in a match that was not taped for television.

  • *Spoilers* ROH TV Taping Results From New York City (Ep. 1-3)

    The following are results of the first three sets of ROH television tapings held at Terminal 5 in New York City on Saturday evening. Results come courtesy of PWInsider.com.

    Dark Match:

    A team named “Nuclear Casserole” defeated former EVOLVE champ AR Fox (making his ROH in-ring debut) and a partner who’s name I didn’t catch. Solid match. Fox got a nice round of applause.

    ROH Matchmaker Nigel McGuinness came out to announce Jay Lethal will defend the ROH title against Roderick Strong in Baltimore, Maryland on 7/24 on iPPV. I think that might be Death Before Dishonor. Nigel then noted that someone else has tapped Lethal out and taken him to a time limit draw in the last year, Kyle O’Reilly. That means he is now a top contender for the title.

    Nigel then said they have to make a decision about the ROH Tag Team championship on 7/24, so it will be The Addiction, The Kingdom, War Machine and ReDragon on iPPV. He pushed that this is ROH, the best professional wrestling in the world today.

    Ring announcer Bobby Cruise announced they would be taping their 200th episode of ROH TV tonight. That blew my mind. Not only was I at the first taping in Chicago, but the first taping for HD Net and hell, the first ROH show ever. I feel really old right now!

    He introduced announcers Kevin Kelly and King Steve Corino.

    First Episode:

    Watanabe vs. Dalton Castle

    Watanabe wasn’t sure of what to make of Castle’s unique approach to the ring. Watanabe knocked him down in the corner and Castle’s cornermen fanned him. The crowd chanted, “Fan up!” Castle grabbed a side headlock and was sent into the ropes. He rebounded and shoulderblocked Watanabe down. Watanabe backed into the corner. Castle’s underlings fanned him as Watanabe wondered what in the world was going on. That was pretty funny.

    Watanabe used his power to control Castle. Castle came back with a front facelock but Watanbe battled his way out. Castle brought him back to the mat and scored with several headbutts before going to a side chinlock. Watanabe worked him over for a long time. He drilled Castle with a nice back suplex for a two count. Castle came back with an inverted Whirlbird for the pin.

    Winner: Dalton Castle

    Castle cut a promo (and wait until you see how he was presented for the promo) after about beating Silas Young at Best in the World. Young came out and told Castle that he got lucky. Castle told him to “eat his heart out.”

    Decent match. Castle has one of the most original, fun presentations to come around in some time. Watanabe looked good here.

    Nigel McGuinness brought out the new ROH champion (as well as ROH TV champion) Jay Lethal, who came to the ring with Truth Martini, J. Diesel and Donovan Dijak. Nigel asked him to say a few works to his fans. Before Lethal could speak, the crowd chanted, “You deserve it.” Martini said that Lethal does deserve it, but these fans are not Lethal’s people. They are Lethal’s people. He said that history was made at the PPV and the fans witnessed the greatest first generation wrestler in the world and the undisputed champion of the entire world, Jay Lethal. Nigel said he wanted to hear what the champ has to say. Lethal said that he wants to say what he’s been saying since the very beginning – that he is the best in the world. He said to be the best you have to be the undisputed champion of the greatest wrestling company in the world – ROH. He said ROH is the greatest company in the world because he is the champion.

    Lethal tried to leave but Nigel wanted to ask him a question. He said fans are wondering if he’s going to vacate the ROH TV title after working so hard to raise the prestige of the belt. Lethal said he’s not giving up a damn thing because he earned them. He said that Nigel knew at the end of Best in the World, one man was going to hold both and got angry Nigel even questioned them. He said to be undisputed champion he has to have both belts. Nigel said that they are separate belts and entities, so it means Lethal might have to defend both belts in one night. Lethal accused him of stacking the deck and trying to take away from his moment and said if he has to do that, he will. They announced Mark Briscoe would be challenging for the ROH TV title next week. Lethal promised to destroy Briscoe and then said at Death Before Dishonor, he’s going to do the same to Roderick Strong.

    This brought out Strong, who came to the ring. Nigel told Strong he obviously has something to say and asked him to say a few words. Strong said he wanted to make Lethal fully aware that he was walking into their match as ROH champion but Strong would be walking out as the new champion. He and Lethal had a staredown.

    Good segment. Lethal got his moment. He and Strong each had good mic work setting the stage for their iPPV bout.

    IWGP Tag Team champions Michael Bennett & Matt Taven & Adam Cole (with Maria Kanellis) vs. Michael Elgin & ReDragon

    Kanellis came to the ring and said that she knows Adam Cole was a little upset about losing at Best in the World, but it’s OK. She said they have been traveling the world and are the Internet darlings they are. She said it wasn’t Cole’s fault because as the leader of the Kingdom, she takes the blame. She said she believes in him and tonight they will show the Kingdom will never fall. It was a pretty good promo. I wonder if that is the start of teasing some issues between Adam Cole and the others.

    Elgin and Bennett opened the match. Elgin used his power to control Bennett, despite Bennett’s brash attempts at taking Elgin down. Elgin held up Bennett in the air for a LONG time for a delayed vertical suplex. Cole and Taven tried to interfere but Elgin held him strong. Finally ReDragon took them down to allow Elgin to finish holding as long as he wanted. Some good action.

    The Kingdom tripped Elgin and pulled himto the floor, allowing Bennett to nail a dive to the outside. Back in the ring, The Kingdom controlled, tagging in and out for a series of near falls. They were pretty great at berating the referee when they didn’t like his calls as well. They have really grown into a hell of a unit. They worked over Elgin in the corner.

    Elgin finally made a comeback with an inverted sitdown suplex. He fought to the corner to make the tag but just as he did, the other members of the Kingdom pulled ReDragon to the floor. That allowed The Kingdom to continue their assault on Elgin. He finally mad the tag to ReDragon who began cleaning house on everyone with all their crazy, athletic double-team maneuvers.

    The battle continued back and forth. Taven hit an awesome dive to the outside in Fish. Elgin cut him off and nailed Taven with a somersault legdrop off the second rope. You can see a marked improvement in the crispness of Elgin’s work. He nailed a double Samoan Drop on the Kingdom, wiping out Adam Cole in the process as well. The crowd chanted, “This is awesome.”

    Elgin slugged it out with the Kingdom as they tried to take him out but the three on one odds finally took their toll. They scored several two counts on Elgin after some spectacular moves. ReDragon hit the scene and helped Elgin. They nailed a combination superbomb off the ropes on Bennett but Cole and Taven broke the pinfall at the last second. The Kingdom took over and nailed a spike piledriver for a two count.

    Cole went for a Canadian Destroyer but Elgin backdropped him O’Reillly and Cole drilled each other with forearms. O’Reilly nailed a series of kicking combinations but was snagged with a forearm, Cole nailed a superkick but O’Reilly used the momentum to boomerang off the ropes with a lariat. He scored the pin.

    Winners: Michael Elgin & ReDragon

    A HELL of a six man tag. Just all sorts of cool moves plus they told a great story in Elgin having to persevere and overcome the Kingdom. A PPV worthy main event. Loved this one.

    Cole shook hands with his opponents after the bout, which Taven and Bennett weren’t happy about. ReDragon raised Cole’s hand and Cole left on his own, leaving his partners behind.

    ROH TV results for the second taping continued on page two …

  • Jim Ross Q&A: Vince’s Problem With Sneezing, Issues With ROH, Cena/Undertaker

    WWE Hall Of Famer Jim Ross recently updated the Q&A section on his official website with his thoughts and opinions on a wide variety of topics submitted by fans. Below are some highlights from his latest Q&A update:

    On if WWE should hire more proven talents from the international scene: “Likely all are viable suggestions assuming that they all want to join WWE of which I don’t know. WWE does a good job of evaluating talent such as you mention so I’m sure that they will continue to make good selections.”

    On if the internet provides more behind-the-scenes news than it used to: “Times are always changing I would assume and more info becomes available through various sources today so I’d say the answer would be yes.”

    On Vince McMahon’s issues with sneezing: “Vince can’t control his sneezing, like all of us, and he doesn’t like things occurring that he can’t control. Many of us found it a source of humor.”

    On who he thinks will win at UFC 189: Conor McGregor or Jose Aldo: “UFC is in a no lose situation here but until someone beats Aldo he’s my choice.”

    On which match interests him more: Steve Austin vs. John Cena or Undertaker vs. John Cena: “Austin is out so of the two I’d obviously go with Cena vs. Taker of which I’ve fantasy booked on my podcast months ago. Do you listen to the Ross Report?”

    On problems he has with ROH’s style and how he feels they could improve: “I am a ROH fan but they wrestle too fast, sell too little and need to slow their pace so that when they hit the next gear it means more.”

    Check out more updates from Jim Ross’ Q&A segment by visiting his website at JRsBarBQ.com. You can also order JR’s Bar-B-Q products online at WWEShop.com.

  • Steve Corino Talks About Feuding With Dusty Rhodes In The Original ECW & More

    ROH’s Steve Corino recently appeared as a guest on Busted Open Radio to talk in-depth about his memories of the late WWE Hall Of Famer “The American Dream” Dusty Rhodes. Below are some highlights from the interview.

    On how it was like a family member passed when he found out Dusty passed: “Oh absolutely. He was bigger than life. I went from a kid that would watch him every month at the old Philadelphia Civics Center to being able to look across the ring and face him in the ring and after ECW and WCW he had started his own promotion and I would sit there and I would be his opponent and I would argue with him and he would call me bad names and it was such a fun relationship. I had to sit back sometimes and think, wait this is the American Dream Dusty Rhodes that I am arguing with. And I am sure a lot of guys would tell you that he was like a second father to a lot of the boys and a lot of the women of professional wrestling and going over the tweets from all the NXT talent and fans that were tweeting in and sending me messages and stuff like that… bigger than life is just the best way that I could describe Dream.”

    On how it felt to feud with Dusty in ECW: “It sounds punished but it was like a dream come true and it’s funny that you mention that first promo because I was just talking to Tommy Dreamer about this yesterday. That promo, I didn’t even know that he was in Atlanta… he had just gotten released by WCW that week… ECW happened to be in Atlanta… I had just done the thing with Limp Bizkit and the stars were aligned and I always called Tommy Dreamer “Dream”. And we would always joke and he would talk about himself in the third person just the humor of Tommy Dreamer and myself and CW and Jack Victory … so I asked that night, I go “Hey what am I doing tonight” and he goes “Oh you’re working with The Dream”… so I looked at him and go “So what are we doing?” and he goes “No man, you’re working with the REAL Dream tonight”. And that quick “Here comes the American Dream” and it was like an aura around him, and I’m just like, “You got to be kidding me, this is Dusty Rhodes!” And I remember walking up to him and I said “Sir, is there anything you’d like to talk about or go over?” and he said (Dusty impression) “Kid, if you as good as Bill Alfonso says you is… then there is no need to talk about it beforehand” and I said “Oh… yes sir”. And what a lot of people don’t realize… that fist promo … that was a one shot. We never knew that there was gonna be another chapter to all of this. We just thought that it was something we were gonna do in Atlanta. It was originally supposed to be dark and that’s why you see Joey Styles say “Oh, we’re not gonna put this on TV!” And afterwards he was so thrilled with how the boys treated him and the atmosphere that he said “Hey, let’s do something” and Paul sat me down and said “Are you ready for this? You’re going to become a star”. And it was true because he did what no one else could do for me. At the time I was feuding with Tommy Dreamer and Taz, who were such great talents and the heart and soul of ECW, but I was talking about the old school… these guys were current stars. And when Dusty came into ECW he legitimized the King of Old School character and I just rode that star of his. Now, my wife and I just moved into the house of our dreams and there is no way we could have done that if Dusty Rhodes doesn’t come to ECW. I’ve been riding that star for 15-16 years now because of 3 guys: Dusty Rhodes, Paul Heyman and Shinuhas Moto and a lot of supporting players around me and it’s hard to believe that 2 out of 3 of those guys are gone now and it’s just crazy, just crazy.”

    On how much Dusty has effected the business and his legacy: “Absolutely. People would, you know, the negative would be “Oh he was always on top, he didn’t know when to step down, but that’s not true because he was ALWAYS making guys. JR said it best… Nikita Koloff NEVER should have been the star that he was in 1984 but Dusty gave him that rub and Nikita rode that wave and got better and became a star in his own right. He just did that for so many different guys. And all 3 of his world title reigns that lasted a week to two weeks – he deserved them … he deserved a longer run but you know what? For him it was about the chase and getting the people engaged and stuff like that. I know Rick talked about traveling with him and just learning because he would talk and just tell a story and I would ask about booking things because I’m so interested in that side of the wrestling business and he would talk about it as if it was a movie and it was always the John Wayne reference. I would go watch John Wayne movies or I would listen to Bob Dylan because a match would be a Bob Dylan song. He was so complex and he was on so many different levels that creatively… one of the top I’ve ever been around and I’ve been around Heyman and Cornett and so many different great minds. Dusty was a storyteller. He knew not only how to tell his own story, but how to tell everybody else’s story and it’s a lost art I believe. I totally believe the storyteller in everybody – just, he had it. I asked him once, real quick, and this was after a few beers and I said “Dream, why did you put the NWA title on Ron Garvin?” And at first he joked around, he goes “Because you weren’t available! Do you have any other stupid questions?” I thought Barry Windham was ready. He said “Barry Windham was the chaser. People wanted to see Barry chase. But Ron Garvin deserved it. He worked hard. He worked so hard. And I would do it all again tomorrow and I thought “Wow, this is a guy that, even when people questioned his booking decisions, he stuck by his guns and that was something that taught me, you’re going to make mistakes but stick by your guns and believe in what you say, believe in what you write. I say it all the time, he was bigger than life and I’m gonna miss him.

    Check out the complete interview at BustedOpenNation.com.

  • ROH Wrestler Moose On WWE Tryouts, GFW Rumors, His Contractual Status & More

    Ring Of Honor wrestler Moose was recently interviewed about his WWE tryout, working with Global Force Wrestling, his contractual status and more. Below are some highlights.

    On his WWE tryouts: “I’ve had tryouts with them (WWE) actually more than the one but I’ve had tryouts with them and it was just one of those things where I just felt comfortable with where I was at. I’m not saying that WWE is not somewhere I wouldn’t want to work at some point in my career because it is. Every wrestler in the world would tell you that. That the WWE is somewhere they would want to work at, at some point in their career. But I felt comfortable staying where I was currently at. I’m not saying there they even offered anything, I’m just saying that it’s just one of those things where I looked at what I had in front of me and where I wanted to go I felt that right now that staying with Ring of Honor was the best choice for me. Like I said, not that WWE ever offered me anything because they didn’t. With what I had in front of me and the choices and the options available to me, staying in Ring of Honor was the best possible choice.”

    On the Global Force Wrestling rumors: “I have plans with Ring of Honor and I haven’t signed anything with any other company. It’s crazy because just to segue out here and I normally hear the same thing and sometimes I laugh about it, sometimes it’s just funny because how people get their information and how quickly the information is spread through social media and how truthful or not truthful the information is and by the time it’s because it’s funny by the time hear it one thing and by the time it gets back to me it’s totally different from what I actually said or what I actually told to them and that’s what media is about it’s a fun little circle and its part of the world we live in. So no validation to that. I haven’t signed anything with any other company. Recently, I signed with Ring of Honor and that’s true and that’s it. I will be with Ring of Honor for another year maybe more years to come we’ll see. For the next year I will be with Ring of Honor where I consider home.”

    On his future and ROH Best In The World: “I definitely see some kind of title around my waist. Right now, for those that don’t know and the hardcore fans, I’m in a number one contender match at Best in the World versus Mr. ROH Roderick Strong and Unbreakable Michael Elgin so we’ll see what happens. I’m planning on winning it so I could win the ROH world title whoever has it after Best in the World if its Jay Lethal or if its Jay Briscoe we’ll see only time will tell who wins that match and advance for the title. But it doesn’t matter because whoever wins it is just keeping that title warmed up until I get it. If that doesn’t work out as I planned then there is always the television title which we’ll see who has that title after Best in the World if its Jay Lethal or if its Jay Briscoe so there are a lot of questions to be had but at Best in the World we’ll definitely get answers on what is going on.”

    You can check out the complete interview by clicking here.

  • Ring Of Honor “Best In The World” PPV Results

    Ring of Honor held their Best in The World PPV event on Friday night in New York, New York at the Terminal 5. Here are the results:

    – Mark Briscoe with ODB defeated Donovan Dijak.

    – The Decade (Adam Page and BJ Whitmer) defeated Matt Sydal and ACH.

    – Dalton Castle defeats Silas Young.

    – War Machine defeat C & C Wrestling Factory.

    – #1 Contender’s Triple Threat Match: Roderick Strong defeats Moose and Michael Elgin.

    – The Bullet Club (AJ Styles and the Young Bucks) defeated the Kingdom (Matt Taven, Michael Bennett and Adam Cole).

    – No DQ Tag Team Title Match: The Addiction (C) defeated ReDRagon.

    – Champion vs. Champion Match: Jay Lethal defeated Jay Briscoe to become the new ROH World Heavyweight Champion.

  • ROH “Best In The World” PPV Lineup For Tonight: Champion vs. Champion

    Ring Of Honor will be holding their “Best in the World 2015” pay-per-view event on Friday night, June 19th at 9pm EST., headlined by a “Champion vs. Champion” match featuring ROH Champion Jay Briscoe vs. ROH TV Champion Jay Lethal.

    Below is the final lineup for tonight’s show, which takes place live from New York City’s Terminal 5:

    – C&C Wrestle Factory (Caprice Coleman & Cedric Alexander) vs War Machine (Hanson & Raymond Rowe)

    – Silas Young vs. Dalton Castle

    – ROH Tag Team Champions The Addiction (Chris Daniels/Frankie Kazarian) vs. reDRagon (Bobby Fish/Kyle O’Reilly): no DQ

    – Mark Briscoe (w/ODB) vs. Donovan Dijak (w/Truth Martini)

    – Matt Sydal & ACH vs. The Decade (BJ Whitmer/Adam Page)

    – The Kingdom (Adam Cole/Michael Bennett/Matt Taven) w/Maria Kannellis vs. Bullet club (AJ Styles/Young Bucks)

    – #1 Contender’s Match: Roderick Strong vs. Michael Elgin vs. Moose

    – Title vs. Title: ROH Champion Jay Briscoe vs. TV Champion Jay Lethal

    Make sure to visit us here at SEScoops.com later this evening for a complete ROH “Best In The World” PPV report.

  • TNA Impact Wrestling & ROH TV Ratings For This Week

    The Wednesday, June 17th edition of TNA Impact Wrestling drew 476,000 viewers for the first and second airing of the show combined. Viewership was up from last week, as a combined total of 404,000 viewers tuned into the first and second airing of the show.

    The first airing of Impact Wrestling this week delivered 374,000 viewers, and the replay that followed the ROH show drew 102,000 viewers.

    This week’s edition of Ring Of Honor TV, which was the “Best in the World” pay-per-view “go-home” show, drew 272,000 combined viewers, down from last week’s show, which drew a combined total of 299,000 viewers.

    ROH this week drew 172,000 viewers for the first airing, while the replay drew 100,000 viewers.

  • Ring Of Honor TV Results – June 17, 2015

    Ring Of Honor TV Results
    Taped at Ted Reeve arena in Toronto, Ontario, Canada
    Aired on June 17, 2015 on Destination America
    Report by ProWrestling.net

    The opening montage kicked off the show… The broadcast team of Kevin Kelly and Steve Corino spoke at ringside and hyped the contract signing between Jay Briscoe and Jay Lethal for the Best in the World pay-per-view…

    Ring introductions for The Decade vs. War Machine took place. Before the match, B.J. Whitmer took the mic and was greeted with “shut up, Whitmer” chants from the crowd. Whitmer claimed Colby came within an inch of beating Moose. Whitmer said he doesn’t think Colby’s father Steve understands and needs to see it again. Whitmer had Corino take his spot in the tag match…

    1. Adam Page and Colby Corino (w/BJ Whitmer) vs. Hanson and Raymond Rowe. Page tagged Colby into the match immediately. Colby jawed at Rowe, who told him that he’s not ready. Colby slapped Rowe, who tagged in Hanson. Colby was destroyed by Hanson. Colby eventually went to his corner for a tag, but Page declined. War Machine performed a top rope leg drop move on Colby for the win. Afterward, Steve Corino took his jacket off as Kelly restrained him… [C]

    War Machine defeated Adam Page and Colby Corino in 2:10.

    Cedric Alexander stood in the ring and delivered a promo. He said he was considered a breakout star one year earlier. He said that’s no longer the case. He said it’s do or die time for him. He said he has to start picking up wins so he can prove to his family that his dream of becoming a pro wrestler isn’t a waste of time. Alexander issued a challenge to Moose… As Moose made his entrance, Kelly hyped Moose vs. Michael Elgin vs. Roderick Strong for the pay-per-view…

    2. Moose (w/Veda Scott, Stokely Hathaway) vs. Cedric Alexander. Corino noted that Moose and Alexander are friends. Alexander dodged a Moose move early and had some offense. He ended up running Moose into the ring post. Back inside the ring, Cedric remained on the offensive until Moose caught him with a dropkick when Cedric was on the second rope.

    [Q2] [C] Cedric continued to get some offense in, but Moose put him down with a mammoth clothesline and got a two count. Moose went for a run up the ropes, but Cedric followed and tripped him up. Cedric hit four running dropkicks in the corner that put Moose down briefly. Cedric hit two more running dropkicks. He went for a third, but Moose speared him.

    Veda Scott pulled a wrench from underneath the ring and slid it to Moose, who didn’t want to use it. Alexander took the wrench and hit Moose with it. Alexander covered Moose and pinned him. Kelly made a big fuss over Moose’s losing streak ending… [C]

    Cedric Alexander defeated Moose in 9:10.

    Mandy Leon hosted the Inside ROH segment. The footage focussed on Christopher Daniels and Frankie Kazarian’s feud with Bobby Fish and Kyle O’Reilly and their No DQ match at the Best in the World event. Adam Cole interrupted Leon and told her to take a walk. Cole hyped The Kingdom vs. The Bullet Club for the pay-per-view. He said the true question is who is number one when it came to the factions and said it’s The Kingdom…

    [Q3] [C] 3. ACH and Matt Sydal vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi and Naito. The teams shook declined to shake hands before the match. Corino said it was rude of NJPW talent not to shake hands with ROH talent. Sydal performed some nice deep arm drags on Tanahashi early on and also performed a standing moonsault. At 3:50, ACH threw a beautiful dropkick on Naito. Tanahashi pulled ACH to ringside and ran him into the guardrail. [C]

    After the break, Tanahashi missed a flip off the second rope when ACH moved out of the way. Naito tagged in and no-sold a couple of ACH punches, then performed a side slam for a two count. Sydal tagged into the match and had a flurry of offense on both opponents, including a standing huracanrana that pulled Naito off the top rope and led to a near fall.

    [Q4] Sydal set up for another standing moonsault, but Tanahashi entered the ring and performed a German suplex on Sydal. Cool spot. Sydal tagged in ACH, who hit a series of kicks on Tanahashi and then put him down with a big clothesline for a two count. ACH got another believable near fall with a German suplex into a bridge on Tanahashi.

    Tanahashi came back with a dragon screw leg whip and then applied the Texas Cloverleaf. Sydal entered the ring and broke the hold with a big knee to the head of Tanahashi. Sydal went for an Asai moonsault, but his opponents broke it up. ACH performed a running flip over the top rope onto both opponents. A short time later, Sydal performed the Shooting Star Press on Tanahashi. ACH went for the cover, but Naito broke up the pin.

    Naito hit a tornado DDT on Sydal. ACH came back with a big kick on Naito, then performed a 450 splash, but Tanahashi caught him with his knees. Tanahashi was right back on his feet and performed a neckbreaker followed by the high fly flow for the win…

    Tanahashi and Naito defeated ACH and Matt Sydal.

    ROH matchmaker Nigel McGuinness stood in the ring where a table was set up for the contract signing. Nigel introduced ROH TV Champion Jay Lethal, who came out with Truth Martini. Nigel introduced Jay Briscoe, who was accompanied by his brother Mark Briscoe. Once everyone was in the ring, Nigel said the terms had been agreed to and now it’s just a matter of signing the contract.

    Nigel emphasized that both the ROH Championship and the ROH TV Championship will be on the line in a one fall match with a 60-minute time limit. Lethal signed the contract. The fans chanted “Man Up” when Jay Briscoe took the pen and signed the contract. Nigel said this is the biggest match in ROH history due to their legacies and histories as champions.

    Nigel asked if they had any final words. Lethal said the only reason he didn’t push the table down and put Briscoe down is that he wants him at his very best on Friday so that there are no excuses when he proves to the world that he’s the number one man in ROH. Lethal said Briscoe will have no business in ROH once the match is over. He said by signing the contract, Jay made the biggest mistake since the one his parents made 31 years ago.

    Jay Briscoe took the mic and said he’d keep it short and sweet. He said that when he gets done whipping Lethal’s ass, he’s going to have to go back to being Black Machismo. Lethal got upset and removed his dress shirt. Briscoe took off his shirt and they jawed at one another. They both held up their title belts and continued to jaw as Kelly gave final hype on commentary to the Best in the World pay-per-view. Lethal continued to jaw at Briscoe about how he made his title, whereas the ROH Title made Briscoe.

  • Frankie Kazarian Talks About His Time In WWE, Current Run In ROH & More

    Ring Of Honor performer Frankie Kazarian recently spoke with the folks at PW Mania for an in-depth interview. Below are some of the highlights.

    On his time in WWE: “My time in the WWE was less than a year and all that had to do with me. I didn’t mature enough as a wrestler or a man to be there. It was the first time that wrestling became a business and not something I loved because I saw the business side of it. Now I realize that what it is and not then. I was like wow, the WWE is a giant machine that is the biggest company in the world and always will be. I just wasn’t ready to be there on a mental level personally or professionally. As for Tough Enough, part of it pains me to see guys coming on and cutting their promos and saying I love this business and I would do anything to be in this business – then why haven’t you done that yet? It always kind of bugs me to see that. There are a lot of us that took the road and did the Indies and went to Japan and Mexico and busted our ass just for a chance to get looked at somewhere and all of a sudden a game show comes along where people can submit their tapes. I’m not going to fault anyone for getting a spot the way they get a spot. If you love this business and your willing to work hard then more power to you. At the end day though it’s a show, and they want to gather numbers or ratings for the network so its entertainment. You have to take it with a grain of salt. People coming in and saying they love this business and they have no idea what this business is going to do to them so. But if it works and the numbers are good enough for the network that’s great. I’m happy for anything that enhances pro wrestling as a whole.”

    On TNA factions he was involved in: “The Serotonin thing was looking back was really good for me but looking back I didn’t appreciate it. To learn underneath Raven was something I probably took for granted but I did learn a lot from him and it was a way for me to reinvent myself because it was a matter at the time of me being just admittedly a good wrestler and I didn’t necessarily have the personality or at least I hadn’t been given the opportunity to express my personality and doing that and putting us under his (Raven’s) wing was something that was good at the time and allowed me to break free from the other guys in the group and eventually go and do my own thing. Raven’s a guy that has an incredible mind for the business so I was able to absorb as much as I could. I changed my look and tried to become comfortable with that and something that was out of my sight. Looking back, I appreciate it more than I did when I was doing it and I think that comes with just maturity as a human being. With Fortune, with AJ and Bobby and later on Chris were my friends and being in a stable with guys like that it was natural. A lot of the backstage stuff we did was us just being natural and working with Ric Flair what can you say? He was great! He was great to me. He always offered a friendly advice. He was always complimentary and was up for anything that we would come up with it was lovely to work with him. Not many people can say they’ve been in the ring with him and been in a faction with him. A second coming of the Horsemen, third of fourth whatever you want to call it. It was fun for me and another step forward to allow me to come out of my shell from a personality stand point.”

    On working with Ring of Honor: “It’s great. I mean being here has made us, me especially raise my game because there are a lot of guys that you are only hearing about, reading about and watching that are getting a lot of notoriety. Guys like Bobby Fish and Kyle O’Reilly, Adam Cole and Michael Bennett and Matt Taven. Guys that I have just kind of seen from afar. Now I’ve been in the ring with all of them and seen what they are all about because they are all the real deal. It’s an incredible roster of young guys and mixed with a lot of veterans and it’s been awesome. It’s been really fun just to reinvent ourselves again and raise our game have these hard hitting and competitive matches, it’s one of the reasons why I love this company.”

    Check out the complete interview at PWMania.com.

  • Maria Kanellis On Her WWE Release, Being The Bad Girl & Never Winning A Title

    Former WWE Diva and current ROH performer Maria Kanellis-Bennett recently appeared as a guest on In The Room radio on the VOC Nation Radio Network. Below are some highlights from the interview.

    On Her Initial Reaction Being Released by WWE: “I was caught off guard … I know what was going on behind the scenes, and that I was trying to accomplish other things. I think that WWE looked at it like I wasn’t as interested in wrestling because I wanted to do more. I think that they got the wrong impression of what I was trying to do, as well as I got the wrong impression of what they were trying to do. Looking back on it, now five years removed, I would have done things differently. I would have stayed the course. I would have shed a light on women’s wrestling back then, if I would have had the time. And that was being on a mainstream television show and also being in WWE. I think that we were just going in two completely different directions, and it takes time and maturity to be able to see those types of things, and now being removed from them, I definitely would have done things differently. But, at the same time, I’m very thankful that they did release me.”

    On Being the Bad Girl: “It was fun. It definitely came from a place of wanting to try something different. We joke about it now [that we’re] big in Japan, [and] boo’ed in the USA. In Japan we’re good guys. In the US, we’re bad guys. It’s all about performance. It’s all about messing with the crowd and really enjoying that … [And] the Kingdom is such a strong group because we’re all friends. We have that backstory … and that’s what works. These are all guys that go out together, and we all hang out together, and it’s so much fun that we get to perform together.”

    On Never Winning a Title: “I’ve been told on many, many occasions that championships don’t make or break a talent. So I don’t think of it like that. I think of it like how much of an impact can I make in women’s wrestling, whether I have a title or not. I think that right now, with going to New Japan and being the first female to wrestle against another female in New Japan, we’re breaking down boundaries. If somebody wants to give me a title for that, then that’s great. But at the same time, I don’t need that to define my career. Would it be cool to go back to WWE and win a title at some point? Yeah, sure. But at the same time, if I can accomplish more in Ring of Honor with Destination America, if I can accomplish more in New Japan, then it’s not high on my list.”

    Check out the complete interview at VOCNation.com.

  • Adam Cole Talks ROH-Destination America, A Potential Future With WWE

    Former Ring of Honor World Champion Adam Cole joined the Greg DeMarco Show this week to discuss his return from injury, the company’s brand new cable television deal, the Best In The World pay-per-view and more. Here are some highlights of what he said about:

    His reaction to ROH’s Destination America television deal:

    “It’s huge. We’re in 57 million additional homes. It’s pretty exciting. We always knew that this was going to be a slow but steady incline. It’s awesome to be able to saw “Wednesdays at 8pmeastern you can see Ring of Honor on your television on Destination America.” It floored the locker-room. We were just as shocked as you guys were, trust me. When you hear the word(s) national, cable television that just seems big league. It’s exciting for me to say that I’m going to be able to wrestle on cable TV.”

    How soon he’s looking for another chance at the ROH World Championship:

    “I’m looking after Best In The World, that’s going to be my entire focus. A lot of people were surprised that my return match was against AJ Styles, who is arguable the best in the world. So I’m not looking to ease back into anything, I’m looking to jump right back into the fire. The last thing that I challenged for in Ring Of Honor before I said goodbye for five months was the ROH World Championship. After me & The Kingdom take care of the Bullet Club, my goal certainly will be going after the ROH World Championship once again.”

    How being out of action for five months changed him:

    “It’s mentally the most challenging thing I’ve ever gone through in my career. Fortunately Ring of Honor took care of me while I was on the shelf. The truth is, we’re so focused and so driven on being the best that we can be, we want to be a part of the show, anybody on the ROH roster, we want to be a part of the event. It was very, very mentally difficult for me. It was good for me, as a man, to go through that maturing process.”

    On his return match against AJ Styles:

    “There was a second there where I was not going to be cleared to come back and wrestle AJ [Styles]. I was actually cleared on Monday. Not only was that my first match back, I hadn’t stepped foot in a professional wrestling in five month. The butterflies were strong that Tuesday evening.”

    On the potential of wrestling in the WWE:

    “My immediate focus has changed a lot. If you were to ask me this question two or three years ago my answer would have been “I’m focused on Ring of Honor but getting to WWE is my priority.” Of course the thought is there, but that thought is getting smaller and smaller and smaller, and my immediate focus is more and more on Ring of Honor. I really do believe in this group. I’ve literally grown up as a man in Ring of Honor, and I feel like there’s a lot more left for me to do. It’s really cool to be able to be part of a group that you feel like you’re climbing the ladder with. That very much is my focus right now.”

    His Ring of Honor contract status, and if he is exclusive to Ring of Honor:

    “That was a question that has come up quite a bit, and I’ve been waiting for the right time to say it. The contract that I currently am under does only permit me to work for Ring of Honor. They’re much more cautious of their guys being as healthy as they can be, and obviously the financial compensation is very different for those guys who are able to fully commit to Ring of Honor. As of now you won’t be seeing me out in Reseda [for Pro Wrestling Guerrilla], but trust me when I saw “Never Say Never” is a saying you must live by in wrestling.”

    Other topics include exactly what he was doing when he learned of the Ring Of Honor television deal, his amateur wrestling experience, his love for the UFC and Mixed Martial Arts, which present or former UFC fighter he’d like to see in Ring Of Honor and more.

  • Previews For Tonight’s NXT, Lucha Underground, ROH & Impact Wrestling Shows

    It’s Wednesday and that means we’ve got another action-packed night of wrestling from 4 of the top promotions in the world. Highlights for tonight include Samoa Joe vs. Kevin Owens on NXT (non-title), Prince Puma vs. Johnny Mundo on Lucha Underground and Hiroshi Tanahashi in action for Ring of Honor.

    Here’s a preview for all 4 of tonight’s shows:

    WWE NXT On The WWE Network (8pm EST)

    – NXT Champion Kevin Owens vs. Samoa Joe (Non-Title)

    – Enzo Amore, Big Cass & Carmella vs. Wesley Blake, Buddy Murphy & Alexa Bliss

    – The Vaudevillians versus Jason Jordan and Mikaze

    – Charlotte versus KC Cassady

    Lucha Underground On The El Rey Network (8pm EST)

    – Lucha Underground champion Prince Puma vs. Johnny Mundo

    Ring Of Honor On Destination America (8pm EST)

    – Contract signing for ROH Champion Jay Briscoe and Jay Lethal for Friday’s “Best in the World” PPV.

    – Tanahashi & Naito vs. Matt Sydal & A.C.H.

    – The Decade vs. War Machine.

    – Cedric Alexander vs. Moose.

    TNA Impact Wrestling On Destination America (9pm EST)

    – Contract signing for TNA Champion Kurt Angle and Ethan Carter III’s match on the July 1st Impact.

    – TNA Tag Title Series continues with The Wolves vs. Austin Aries & Bobby Roode.

    – Brooke & Awesome Kong vs. The Dollhouse

    – Magnus calls out James Storm.

    – Bram calls out a past TNA star.

    – Chris Melendez makes a “declaration of war” against Eric Young.

    – Jessie Godderz vs. D.J. Zema.

  • Daniels Talks ROH On Destination America, Samoa Joe & Kevin Owens To WWE

    Ring Of Honor star Christopher Daniels recently appeared as a guest on The Rack podcast. Below are some of the highlights from the interview.

    On his upcoming dream tag team match with Kazarian vs AJ Styles and Samoa Joe: “Absolutely. We’ve traveled together; myself, Frankie, Joe and AJ, in one way, shape or form, the four of us have traveled and shared locker rooms for more than a decade but this will be the first time, and now the only time, all four of us will have ever been in the same match. So, I know I’m looking forward to it, Frankie is looking forward to it and I know that, more importantly, the Ring of Honor fan base is looking forward to it.”

    On if there is any pressure on them to make this a good match: “Yeah, definitely that; I think the pressure that is there is self-inflicted. We know what we are capable of, Frankie and I know how good of a tag team we are and we know that despite that Joe and AJ don’t really tag much together or aren’t considered a full time tandem, we know how good they are as well, so I know how good we can make this match. So, any pressure we have is completely self-inflicted and self-imposed by us. We want to go out there and make a match that people are going to remember for years and I think there’s definitely, now that Joe’s future is more concrete, it’s good to know that this will be the last Ring of Honor match that he’ll have and it’s a way for the three of us to send him off.”

    On if he’s happy for Samoa Joe signing with the WWE: “I’m thrilled for him, I’m happy for him and I’m glad that he’s sort of paving a way for a lot of different people, I think; in the next year or so, there’s going to be a lot of people that are modeling that same leap and, truthfully, Joe wasn’t the first one. When Kevin Owens went to the WWE, or when Finn Balor went to the WWE, I feel like there’s a lot more guys that will be brought to the WWE, either through NXT or directly to the main roster. I think there’s going to be a lot of guys who’ve been on the independents that have been honing their craft for a while and will finally get that opportunity to be there. So, I’m thrilled for him, Joe’s been one of my best friends for a long time and you can’t help but to be happy and be proud of someone who has worked as hard as he has to finally get that opportunity to show the world, on the main stage, what kind of professional wrestler he is.”

    On if we will ever see The Fallen Angel in the WWE: “I’ve never said never; right now I’m full-time committed to Ring of Honor but I don’t know what the future holds in terms of that. All I can say is wait and see.”

    On his thoughts of Kevin Owens and his transition to the WWE: “I think he’s doing just fine. I’d be hard-pressed to find someone who debuted on the WWE main roster as successfully as he had in the past 10 years I think. I mean, name anyone whose first WWE match, main roster match, was a pinball victory over John Cena; I think you’d be hard-pressed to find someone, other than Kevin, who does that.”

    On if he feels he had more freedom in the ring with Ring of Honor over TNA: “I think so. I think both Frankie and I, both of us, have been given the freedom to do what we do best and especially in the past few months with the angle with the KRD and what’s happened with us and the World Tag Team Championships, I feel like we’re finally able to show what we do best and with such a deep tag team roster like ReDRagon and the Young Bucks and Roppongi Vica and The Decade, there’s a lot of fresh matches for us as the Tag Team Champions and us as heels again. I feel that there are a lot of possibilities for great match-ups and I’m looking forward to all of them.

    For the Best in the World Pay Per View, (we have) a No-Disqualification Match; we’ve had a lot of matches with ReDRagon already, but I feel like that the story has turned with us as the Champions, I feel that there’s a whole new chapter we can write and those guys are one of the best tag teams in the world and I feel like we are a great antagonist for those guys, so no matter what happens on June 19th, I feel like there’s a lot more we can do with the with story as well between The Addiction and ReDRagon.”

    On his thoughts on ROH’s deal with Destination America and if he is excited with the news: “Absolutely, I feel that one of the things that I wanted to see happen in coming back to Ring of Honor was, as strong as the syndication with Sinclair has been, I felt that one of the difficulties was trying to tell people a set uniform time and date that Ring of Honor could be on. Usually, you’d say ‘check your local listings’ but now we can tell people, if you want to watch Ring of Honor, go to Destination America on Wednesdays at 8:00 pm. So, I feel like we’ve opened up a lot of new eyes to our product in addition to the amount of eyes we had through syndication, I just feel like this opened up more doors for us and gets a lot more people aware of us and that’s definitely a great thing for Ring of Honor.”

    Check out the complete interview at WildTalkRadio.com.

  • TNA & ROH On Destination America Ratings Increase This Week

    The viewership for this week’s TNA and ROH shows on Destination America on Wednesday night were slightly up compared to last week’s shows.

    TNA gained nine percent in viewership this week and ROH was up ten percent.

    Below is the viewership breakdown for this week:

    ROH:

    8pm — 161,000 viewers
    11pm — 138,000 viewers

    Total Viewers: 299,000

    TNA:

    9pm — 330,000 viewers
    12am — 74,000 viewers

    Total Viewers: 404,000

  • WWE Working On New Strategic Partnership With WWN, EVOLVE & SHINE

    As reported last night, WWE is unhappy with Ring Of Honor and Figures Inc. releasing a Kevin Steen action figure before they could release their own Kevin Owens figure, and as a result, WWE is looking to create a pipeline to independent talent to come directly to NXT — with a merchandise agreement — before they can be scooped up by Ring Of Honor or TNA Wrestling.

    WWE is reportedly working with WWN, the parent company of EVOLVE and FIP, and as part of their potential deal they would have WWN continue to sign top independent talents to deals that would now include licensing and merchandise agreements, this way WWE can bring the talent to NXT and they won’t have to worry about the hassle of trying to secure the different rights from other third parties.

    There’s talk right now within WWE that if an independent talent has signed a third party merchandising deal with any kind of exclusivity, WWE wouldn’t be interested in signing them, however they are always exceptions to the rule for significant talent.

    Additionally, WWE is looking to work with the Florida-based SHINE Wrestling promotion, WWN’s all-women’s wrestling company. The idea is that because WWE pushes the NXT Divas division, they are interested in having a pool of female talent that they can have “official access” to for potential use in NXT.

    The basic idea is that WWE would be able to pick up and sign any WWN talents without outside hassles, although the deal is apparently nowhere close to being finalized and there’s no guarantee that it will go through, however talks are ongoing between both sides.

    (Credit: PWInsider.com)

  • WWE Upset With ROH Over Owens Merchandise, How They Plan To Prevent Similar Situations

    Several top WWE executives were said to be very unhappy with Ring Of Honor and Figure Toy Company putting out a Kevin Steen action figure.

    According to the latest issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, WWE is upset because a non-WWE company is the first to enter the marketplace with an action figure of WWE’s hottest new star. They were also upset at the fact that the look and character of ROH’s Kevin Steen and WWE’s Kevin Owens are essentially the same.

    To avoid this happening again, WWE is putting pressure on Triple H and his department to get non-WWE talents with great potential signed to NXT with merchandising deals before they make it to a company like ROH or TNA that has their own merchandise and cable television deals.

    Additionally, WWE is looking to create a pipeline to find the talents with potential before ROH or TNA does. The idea is not to sign talent from ROH or TNA for the main WWE roster and to get the word out to younger talents that if they have WWE aspirations, they shouldn’t sign with ROH or TNA, however there will always be exceptions to the rule for exceptional talent.

    One of the worst parts about the Steen action figure situation is that most independent talent has signed five-year deals with Figure Toy Company, which in this case means ROH has the right to market Kevin Steen action figures for nearly five more years while WWE pushes him as one of their top new stars.

    (Credit: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)

  • Ring Of Honor Promoting Samoa Joe’s Final ROH Appearance On June 20th

    Ring Of Honor issued a press release this week promoting Samoa Joe’s final appearance with the promotion at the June 20th “Aftershock” event in New York City.

    Below is the release with all of the details:

    Record setting former ROH World Champion Samoa Joe to make final appearance for Ring of Honor on June 20 in New York City!

    The man known to the world as “The Samoan Submission Machine,” Samoa Joe, is set to make his final Ring of Honor appearance at Terminal 5 in New York City, teaming with current IWGP Heavyweight Champion AJ Styles. The duo will take on current ROH World Tag Team Champions The Addiction, Christopher Daniels & Frankie Kazarian!

    Samoa Joe is a bonafide legend within the ranks of Ring of Honor. He debuted in 2002 to much fan fare and steamrolled the competition with a hard hitting, intense in-ring ability that truly defined the Ring of Honor style. On March 22, 2003 he would embark on a record setting 645 day reign that stands as the longest reign in the history of the ROH World Championship. He would return to Ring of Honor in 2015 to face and defeat some of the very best.

    He will be teaming with both a former foe and friend in AJ Styles and they will be taking on a team that has cemented a legendary legacy of their own in The Addiction. If you do not have your tickets already, you will want to get them now! Don’t miss out on your chance to witness the final match of “The Samoan Submission Machine” Samoa Joe in Ring of Honor. Witness this unique opportunity live in person on Saturday night June 20, 2015 in Manhattan, New York at Terminal 5. Click here to purchase tickets.

    Ring of Honor
    AFTERSHOCK
    Saturday, June 20th, 2015
    Terminal 5
    610 West 56th Street – New York, NY
    Doors open 5:30pm – Bell time 7:00pm

  • Previews For Tonight’s NXT, ROH, Lucha Underground & TNA Shows

    The following are previews for tonight’s NXT, ROH, Lucha Underground and TNA shows:

    NXT On The WWE Network (8 PM EST)

    – Samoa Joe vs. Scott Dawson.
    – Zack Ryder and Mojo Rawley vs. Mike Rallis and Elias Samson.
    – Emma vs. Blue Pants
    – Tyler Breeze vs. Bull Dempsey
    – Becky Lynch vs. Jessie McKay
    – Baron Corbin vs. Angelo Dawkins

    Ring Of Honor On Destination America (8 PM EST)

    – ROH Tag Team champions The Addiction vs. ReDragon
    – IWGP Tag Team champions The Kingdom vs. Doc Gallows & Karl Anderson.
    – Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Dalton Castle
    – “Brutal” Bob Evans vs. Cheeseburger

    Lucha Underground On The El Rey Network (8 PM EST)

    – Cage vs. King Cuerno vs. Hernandez vs. Mystery Opponent (#1 Contender’s Match)
    – The returns of Chavo Guerrero and Blue Demon Jr.
    – A big announcement from Dario Cueto

    TNA Destination X On Destination America (9 PM EST)

    – TNA champion Kurt Angle vs. Rockstar Spud.
    – Austin Aries vs. The Winner of Angle vs. Spud
    – TNA Knockouts champion Taryn Terrell vs. Awesome Kong
    – Low Ki vs. Manik vs. Crazzy Steve (Ultimate X Qualifier)
    – Cruz vs. Grado vs. Kenny King (Ultimate X Qualifier)
    – Tigre Uno vs. Mark Andrews vs. DJ Zema Ion (Ultimate X Qualifier)
    – Ultimate X to determine new X Division champion

  • Kazarian Talks About His Problem With Tough Enough, Marriage To Traci Brooks

    Ring Of Honor star Frankie Kazarian recently spoke with Marc Madison of News Hub for an interview. Below are some of the highlights.

    On his WWE run: “My time in the WWE was less than a year and all that had to do with me. I didn’t mature enough as a wrestler or a man to be there. It was the first time that wrestling became a business and not something I loved because I saw the business side of it. Now I realize that what it is and not then. I was like wow, the WWE is a giant machine that is the biggest company in the world and always will be. I just wasn’t ready to be there on a mental level personally or professionally.”

    On Tough Enough: “Part of it pains me to see guys coming on and cutting their promos and saying I love this business and I would do anything to be in this business – then why haven’t you done that yet? It always kind of bugs me to see that. There are a lot of us that took the road and did the Indies and went to Japan and Mexico and busted our ass just for a chance to get looked at somewhere and all of a sudden a game show comes along where people can submit their tapes. I’m not going to fault anyone for getting a spot the way they get a spot. If you love this business and your willing to work hard then more power to you.”

    On marrying former TNA Knockout Traci Brooks: “It’s great having somebody that has been there and done that. That knows what I’m going through. Being a wrestler’s wife is probably the hardest thing to do on this planet. I can’t imagine regular quote unquote women having to endure and put up with what we put them through but being somebody that did a lot in the business she understands what I go through. So it makes my job a lot easier and she’s very knowledgeable in terms of if I need to talk to somebody about something she’s there it makes my life a lot easier it probably makes her life miserable, so I’m sorry. I don’t she’d entertain the idea of coming back. She probably did more in this business than she ever thought she’d do. She had a very very successful career just being a farm girl from St. Mary’s, Ontario. She achieved a lot and she still has friends in the business. Her days in the ring are probably done but who knows if she might pop up on an appearance here or there. She has no regrets she has her career and she will always love the business but there is a time when you move on. She’s happy with that. She’s just happy to ride off into the sunset.”

    Check out the complete interview at The-NewsHub.com.

  • WWE To Change Samoa Joe’s Name?, Update On His NXT Status

    Although he has signed a new full-time deal with WWE, Samoa Joe is still scheduled to team with AJ Styles to take on Frankie Kazarian and Christopher Daniels at the Ring Of Honor television taping in New York City.

    According to the latest issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, however, WWE has been pushing very hard for that match to not be taped for television, which was the original plan before Joe signed his new WWE deal. As of right now, the belief is that the match will not be taped for the ROH television show.

    It’s said that ROH wanted Joe for more dates, but their new national cable television deal with Destination America is one of the factors that led to WWE offering Joe a full-time deal, which will likely prevent Joe from doing so.

    Joe is no longer accepting independent dates past August 31st, as he is scheduled to begin working in NXT full-time in September. Until then, Joe will be working the big NXT live events and any other WWE Network specials.

    The Wrestling Observer Newsletter is also reporting that a name change for Samoa Joe and a main roster spot are reportedly still up in the air.

    Another key factor in WWE bringing Samoa Joe in full-time to work in NXT is because of the perceived lack of depth of high-profile stars in the promotion. With Kevin Owens moving up to the main roster, and other top stars such as Sami Zayn and Hideo Itami on the sidelines, WWE felt the need to bring in another high-profile name to the NXT brand.

  • Jim Ross Posts Long Rant On The State Of The Wrestling Industry

    WWE Hall Of Famer Jim Ross updated his official blog on Saturday with a long rant about his take on the state of the wrestling industry.

    Below is an excerpt from the blog, which features JR’s rant.

    “I’ve said here many times that I hope that all wrestling promotions are successful and make it through their respective rough waters that many are currently encountering. Nonetheless, some within these organizations can’t handle constructive criticism and seem to take some things that I say personally which is both childish and unprofessional. It is my prerogative to criticize bad acting, over scripted promos, no selling major moves, illogical creative and other eye rolling creative content in an attempt to re-invent what isn’t broken. I think that I’ve paid my dues, earned a decent track record within the biz and, above all, I am still a fan of over 50 years.

    The vast majority of wrestlers these days are not good promo talents. Reason being is that creative staffs seemingly have to justify their existence by role playing with these individuals and scripting virtually every word that the talents say. That system is both outdated and unproductive as fans today can recognize a wrestler reciting a promo from memory instead as from their heart within a few sentences.

    Wrestling is best when it comes from a logically, realistic place and is executed inside the ring as an athletic contest built on common sense and not an acrobatic show that exposes the business as a sham with no selling and the complete lack of some talent’s ability to properly apply an actual wrestling hold.

    The faster some talent perform the louder that they tell us that their skill set is lacking and that they are trying to get by on sensationalism instead of realism.

    I get taken to task because of my 21 years in WWE as if I’m picking on the TNA’s, ROH’s, Lucha Underground’s, etc of the world when nothing could be further from the truth. I’ve dedicated 40+ years of my life to the wrestling business, proudly I might add, and would do it all over again if the opportunity presented itself. But that isn’t going to happen. I want the business to be healthy and to prosper long after I’m gone for future generations to enjoy. At the rate of some of the things that I’m watching each week on TV are happening, I’m not sure sure that’s going to occur.

    Some feel that we are allegedly in a pending “boom” period because there is so much TV wrestling product available o n a weekly. Does average, at times at best average, TV product indicate “Boom” to any one who actually thinks about it? I think not.

    The product is by and large over thought and those in creative charge seemingly feel compelled to take a tried and true product and put their personal finger prints on it as if they are going to be the one who is forever known as “changing the wrestling business forever.” The wrestling business changed forever when the territories died due largely because local promoters got lazy and complacent and did not want to move into the modern era of marketing and producing TV programs plus they stopped developing new, young stars. Blame who you want but the territory system stopped doing what brought them to the dance and that was featuring new stars in compelling rivalries that were based in easy to understand, common sense story lines produced in weekly, episodic television. Plus, the talents back in the day were, by and large, better story tellers than we are fed today with some exceptions.

    An essentially, easy to watch, non complex hour of TV that virtually anyone could understand and enjoy was what worked best for many of us lifers.

    Where have those days gone?

    Yes, I’ve been involved with many lame, ineffective and impotent TV storylines in my career but I was always a team player and had no problem cashing the checks to do what my employer instructed me to do in the fictional, show business word of pro wrestling. It was like an actor being cast in a role in a film. Some days were better than others…some shows were better than others, too.

    Perhaps some day someone in a promotion will understand that simpler is better and the majority of fans don’t want bad acting or predictable promos but instead want to get lost in personal issues featuring the stars settling the conflict in the ring utilizing superior athletic representation.”

    Check outt the complete blog at JRsBarBQ.com. You can also order JR’s Bar-B-Q products online at WWEShop.com.

  • ROH COO On Keeping ROH TV Deal A Secret, Reputation With Advertisers & More

    Ring Of Honor COO Joe Koff recently appeared as a guest on Against The Mat radio to discuss a number of topics. Below are some of the highlights from the interview.

    On ROH’s deal with Destination America: “It actually began sometime late last year, I can’t remember if it was November or December… it was right around the time that Spike decided not to carry Impact Wrestling anymore, and they ended up moving over to Destination America, and around that time, once that was announced, because we’re [Sinclair Broadcasting] a broadcasting company, and we’re in the television business, we have a lot of contacts at other broadcasting companies, and one of my colleagues high in the organization made a contact over at Discovery, which owns Destination America, which turned into a lunch with the Destination America people, from there we conversed about the possibility of making Destination America the destination for wrestling in America. That’s really how it all started.”

    On how the deal was kept under wraps: “Well, good question, good point. I think I have a little bit of experience in this, in that, when we [Sinclair] bought Ring of Honor that also was not leaked until it was announced when we bought it. I’m from a business background and we are a big company that does lots of deals and transactions and we just know how to keep things to a minimum, and keep people to a minimum as far as their involvement and I think we’re pretty good at it and I think this bears that out.”

    On his view on wrestling’s reputation with advertisers: “I think the answer is really apparent. So I’m just going to put it into terms for our community, the wrestling world, which we’re a part of. It’s a really small world. It’s big to us because we’re living in it, and we’re thriving in it, and we’re enjoying in it, and we can have this conversation and talk about the business so openly and get excited about it, and talk about the excitement of what we do in the ring, but if you were at a party, and you tried to engage somebody in this conversation, they would probably, maybe walk away and go get a drink and probably talk to somebody else. We have a niche audience. We have a very loyal audience. I love our Ring of Honor fans. They come to the events, they buy the t-shirts, they buy the DVD’s, they come up to me and thank me, they say hello, they take a picture with me, etcetera, etcetera. But they’re comfortable, it’s our environment, they’re safe in there. There’s going to be an advertiser, and there’s some advertisers that seek out that male 18-24, 18-34 audience… but it’s professional wrestling. We’re not going to change some of that stigma that exists with being in professional wrestling or what the sport might represent. So, I just don’t think it’s high on the list of advertisers’ wants or needs. But the advertisers’ who do, and have the foresight to go after this demographic nail 18-24, and I don’t want to be too technical, but this is a gold mine for an advertiser. So if there’s any advertiser’s listening, or of a national scope, who I know that there are because there fans everywhere… this is a chance to reach these audiences…”

    Check out the complete interview at AgainstTheMat.WordPress.com.

  • AJ Styles On If He Would Sign With GFW Or NXT, ROH On Destination America

    Ring Of Honor and New Japan Pro Wrestling performer AJ Styles recently appeared as a guest on the Inside The Ropes podcast. Below are some highlights from the interview.

    On if he would go to Global Force Wrestling: “I think that there’s definitely an opening, it’s just finding an opening in the schedule. That’s the biggest problem we’ve come across is my schedule is so full that it’s hard to fit me in. That’s the problem we’re having right now. I always stay busy but I’d say it’s only a matter of time before I show up in Global Force.”

    On his reaction when he found out ROH was going to be on Destination America: “A huge shock to me. Did not expect something like that. It’s one of those things where I was told and I just started laughing. It was just one of those things, I was so surprised I just started laughing hysterically. I even called a couple of my buddies in Ring of Honor and we just chuckled together. It’s gonna be fun man. We always did a great job with wrestling but now there’s something to prove and I think you’re gonna see a different Ring of Honor, in a good way.”

    On if he would go to NXT: “The first thing I’m gonna do is what’s best for me and my family, that’s what I’m gonna do. People know I was in TNA but I don’t think people think of me now as ‘The TNA Guy.’ Now they see me as a New Japan guy or a Ring of Honor guy. I had to work to make sure I wasn’t known as a TNA guy to get my product, being AJ Styles, out there again but at the end of the day like I say, whatever’s best for me and my family I’ll do. This is a business. Despite what people may think “AJ left TNA” this is a job. I thought I deserved a little bit more for all the effort and stuff into, you know any business, and to not get paid what I think I deserve would be dumb. You don’t work hard to take a step down, you work hard to take steps up. I went out and found a step up in the wrestling business and if there’s another opportunity to step up, then I’ll do that.”

    Check out the complete interview at Podomatic.com.

  • ROH & TNA Viewership For First Wednesday Airing On Destination America

    The debut episode of Ring Of Honor’s television show on Destination America on Wednesday night drew 247,000 combined viewers for the first and second airing of the show, which is a replay of the broadcast that first aired on Sinclair Broadcasting.

    ROH’s first airing on Destination America prior to the first edition of TNA Impact Wrestling to air on the station on Wednesday nights drew 151,000 viewers. The replay of the show that aired after Impact Wrestling last night drew 96,000 viewers.

    Meanwhile, the first episode of Impact Wrestling to air on Destination America on Wednesday night drew 292,000 combined viewers for the first and second airing of the show. The first airing drew 226,000 viewers, while the replay that followed ROH’s second airing drew 66,000 viewers.